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INTELLIGENCE OF BRITISH CHRISTIANS On Slavery?Rev. J. Breckcnridgc in rc- j ply to Rev. Dr. IVardlaw. The occasion of the following letter is in pari explained by the writer. On the 1st ?>f August, a public meeting was held in Glasgow by the members and friends of the Glasgow Emancipation Society, to express their sentiments in reference to the discussion between the Rev. J. Breckcnridge and George Thompson?or in other words, to defend, sanction and applaud the course pursued by Mr. Thompson, and to give expression to their prejudices against the I nited States. ]>r. Wordlaw addressed this meeting at length in support of the resolution quoted below; and in the progress of his speech, he fully sustained the course of conduct pursued by. Thompson, endorsed his gross misrepresentations, and called upon Christians in Great Britain and other countries, "to hasten iheir remonstrances to their erriiiff brethren" in America, ami convince o litem ofsin for countenancingtheexistenceof slavery. He concludes his speecti by saying, "that in consequence of the recent discussion, George Thompson, instead of having sunk, has risen in my estimation, both as to personal character and as to official ability and trust-worthiness; and never stood higher in my regard than lie does the present moment." Repeated references were made in this speech to Mr. Breckenridgo, who replied to it in the following letter, written at Paris, and published in the London Patriot. S. R. Telegraph. To the Rev. Ralph Wardlaw, D. D., o f Gla<goic. Sir.?I observe in the London Patriot, of last week, an abstract of the proceedings of the Glasgow Emancipation Sociey, on ^ the first of this month, at a public meeting held "tor the purpose of expressing the sen- { tirnen s of ihe society in reference to the re-1 cent discussion on American Slavery, be- j tween the Rev. R. J. Breckenridge and Mr. | (reorfre Thompson." The greater portion ? ' , . - . - I of the report belore me, is occupied wtth a , speech made by you oil that occason, tti proposing to the meeting the following resolution, viz: "That in the deliberate judgment of this meeting the wish announced by Mr. Geo. Thompson, to meet publicly any antagonist, especially anv minister of the Gospel from the United States, on the - subject of American Slavery, or on any ! one of the branches of that subject, was1 dictated by a well-founded consciousness of j # the integrity of iiis purpose, and assurance j of the correctness of 11 is tacts; and that the recent discussion in this city between him and the Rev. R. J. Breckenridge, of Baltimore, lias leti, not merely mistaken, but confirmed and augmented, their confidence , ? . ' in the rectitude of his principles, tiie purity of his motives, the propriety ofhis measures, | the fidelity of his statements, and the i straight-forward honesty and undaunted mfrvnidhv of his zeal." This motion was ~r j - . seconded by tlie venerable and respected ! Dr. Kidson; whose speech on the occasion i is but briefly reported. Other resolutions ' ?some of similar import, some of a general character?were offered and seconded j by Dr. Heugh,and Messrs. Eudie,King, M'- ' Laren and Kettle. But above all, the pro- 1 ceedings bear the signature of Robert Gra- J hnme, of Whitehill?whose venerable name j is dear to every good man. These proceedings, Sir, have relieved me j from a state ot great and painful anxiety, as j to the view my countrymen might take of, the propriety of my taking any notice, more ! or less, of Mr. George Thompson. For while nothing is further from my purpose . **r/vi,nrt tl*#? tWdinors of anv friend of man ? ?, o J that individual, it is necessary to say, that in America, every one who is not an abolitionist; or, in other words, ninety-nine hundredths of the people, consider him, not only unworthy of credit, but unworthy of notice. ' At length, I have a tangible proof, by which to make my countrymen feel, that persons ; of the utmost respectability, excellence and piety, in liritain. not only concur in all the ' principles and proceedings, but partake of all the prejudices and ignorance of that individual, and openly defend his flagitious conduct. From this day forth, I deem iii\ s If fully acquitted on the only part of j the subject which filled me with personal j anxiety. For although you have not hesi- 1 ta'ec^ to speak in terms sufficiently disparaging of my humble efforts to defend this truth; yet as you have given no reasons for the judgment you have delivered, those who read for themselves may escape the influ-! cnce of your authority. And as you have I ' - ? .t i.JL I been pleased 10 aeciue on mc ?uuiv; mcms i of the case, as well as on the merits of the ! parties involved in it,?I escape of course from the whole blame of having damaged ' the truth by feeble advocacy. In this state of the case, it cannot stir- j prise you, that I turn with delight from those | who have hitherto assailed me, and address myself to you: that I avail myself of the right arising from your free and repeated use of my name, and your judgments both upon my character and acts, to speak freely j in return. Let us forget the miserable j trifling of Mr. Robert Hall. L ot its pass over poor Moses Roper, who, it is but just to sav. has written the most modes! and sensible attack yet made 011 me. Let us even be moderate, in having absolute!} ! silenced the garrulity of Mr. Thompson, who begsofFin his last note, which litis jutt reached me, in the Patriot of the ITih inst. I have that to say which you have not only invitjd, but challenged me to utter, and to which I ask your serious regard. I have manifested my deference to the judgment ofa Christian people, by discuss, ing at its bar, questions purely national and personal, into which, under erroneous pretexts, they had interfered in a manner the most vexatious. I believed they were in great error,?I presumed they were sincerely disposed to do good,?I knew they were realiv doing us and themselves, and J o the world, harm;?and challenged and forced into the matter, I have discussed it on its merits-admitting you and your people i to be all you professed to be?and only en- J deavorbu'tn r<rov?- that we were r.c - ' < ' as you made us out. So far as you and a? those you can influence arc concerned,, C you have declared that you remain more j ju tirinly than ever set:led in you harsh i?i<!ir- ! t>: ; ments of us, and your fixed purpose to foi- j s: j lowoutallyouroficr.siveeou rscs. Nay,you ; (' | plainly declare, that rather than alter a tit- j C tie of your conduct, principles, opinions, or o! . demands on this subject, you prefer that all ; oi | fellowship between us and }*ou should tcr-1 p; ) minute. Tiiat argument and conclusion,; w . then, being complete and final, we need say . 1] j no tnore, I am content to wait and see, I sj I whether the American people will, at your (J I suggestion, change their national constiru-; fi | tion; or whether, in the event of the adequate y , majority for that purpose not being attain a-, tr ; ble, they will, as the inference of your argil- i ; ment, break up the confederacy?to regain ' \\ i vour irood opinion. , d ' -~ C7 * j There is, as J have said, <jiiue another j s( ! view of the whole case. You sav in the , tl I course of your speech, "If our American! I' i brethren saw any thing in us, which they If i thought, and justly thought, was an evil of ai I sufficient magnitude to induce their kind : }> otiices for its suppression, we ought to feci if ; obliged by tiieir using their endeavors to is stir us up to a due consideration of it, and | o: | to practical efforts for i.s removal." And 1 j in the context you are somewhat pointed in p I onl'.iWMKr t!ii>: irlfn. :i< rMiifnininir in it ;i n j VlliViVIU^ * ^ ^ J great rule of duty, in general we have n I considered the ill-doing of this delicate cilice I al ! more hurtful than its omission. In particu- j d< Iar, it has appeared to us as a pretext liable ! tli to infinite abuse, and practically resorted to ' w most by those who had least ground and j tli least right to display ir. Bu\ sir, I can ! lb hardly either in faithfulness or honor, abstain ! k< any longer from its use. And the main j w O object of this communication is, to point )'< out, in the British empire, evils which really i h< are, or which your parly has declared to be, j th of so palpable and so monstrous a descrip. ! p( tion, that decency would seem to require j si you to suppress them, or l>o very modest j gi 111 rebuking others while they exist. j ol 1. To come at once to the grand cause i of outcry against us?the unhappy and in- j y defensible existence of slavery, in many of! 1,1 the States. Will you be so good as to turn I your eyes to the map of Africa, and fix ; a them 011 u spot longer than half of Western ; >'( Europe? At its southern extremity, lind t'1 Cape Town. Then tind the speech of l)r. j a( Philip, delivered in Exeter Malt ten days af tcr you delivered yours. In that town and j *l) neighborhood are 11,000 British slaves !!? m Scattered over that vast peninsula are many ')r thousand more of British slaves !! And j 'a \ et the ear of dav is dull with being told that in the British empire there wen; no slaves; 111 and the very speech that has elicited these remarks was made at a meeting 0:1 thcatini- w versarv devoted 10 a glorious fact that never ot occurred, namely, ''Slave emancipation in 1 ar the British colonics." j W *J. Turn, now, 1 pray you, to the map ;lc; of Asia, and find the vast dominions which , 'j1 God has lent to you there, embracing a . 'I5 l?opu!ation of one hundred and tiiirty mil- I)l lions of souls. Then look over a file of e{i papers, and read a conversation that occur- cc red in the Commons House of Parliament, ^ but a short time hack, Ixrtween the honora- lv blc Mr. Buxton and Sir J. llobhouse, on Vl the subject of British slavery in India !!? There you will find i-l admitted that *'do- (ll niestic slaverv prevails to a ?reat extent"' in cc "" .'I t V 1*1' India, "especially in Bengal." There you . will find proof that no direct effort was ever Ci made to abolish it,?and reasons urged by t(; the government why it cannot now be aboi- : ^ i ished,?and why treaties now existing seem , ai to render its future a!>olition impossible! ; ai JJ. Turn your attention, next, to the I rj' Western side of the Atlantic Ocean, and ! s<nearly a million of apprentices in the ! West India Islands; and then remember j ^ what you have yourself said and written on j ^ the subject of this system: and call to mind I ^ the innumerable declarations made weekly up and down the country, by those who be- ^ long to your party, and who (at the Houds- jr \ ntLSU:iv.-?rv Sucietv. oil tlie 3d of c, dWltla " | this month) denounced it "as aggravated j slavery, under the delusive nam?of appren- j ^ ticcship," and denounce every proposal of j . government*' as onlv calculated to excite i " r . . * j m suspicion. | ^ Do I draw an inference at all strained,' when I say, that the subjects of a Monarch,, whose dominions in three quarters of the globe are, by their own showing and by | irrefragable proofs, covered with slaves,; . should deal somewhat gentlv with other ' , O ^ (T( nations, who may cliance to be in the same unhappy condition? Do I say too much, when I caution such people to be more rfl guarded in boastful assertions, which are i ^ contradicted by the fact and the record of; the case^ Do I give needless offence, ? ar when I beg you to remember, that your ' vc Pn-linmAiit i >n imrvitoi.f hVVr this SllhjW.t. i . . .v..u r"""V "'7 and is therefore responsible for all the evils J wj which exist, either through their negligence ^ , P o j ]*tj or by their consent? Alas! sir, it is an an- , ^ dent habit, to be bitter against our brother j for a mote, when a beam is in our own eye. , But I have more to add. We have been ' spoken against with great severity-for neg- | a lect of the spiritual welfare of the colored j^j population of the Cubed States: and you i ^ have, in an unhappy hour, said you believed tjc and approved these hard sayings. I have, in , j , vain,denied: in vain disproved them. My , at object now is. to show the condition of the i , country, whose people bring and credit j [p them; still keeping the line of duty indicated tj, j by your suggestion. ' },t 4. Let me beg you then to look at the 1 sii condition of Lower Canada, where the Uo- 1 re man Catholic religion is established by j Ir | treaty and by law, where annual grants of j fo I public money are made to support it, and | la ; where it has had free course, until the peo- i tri pie are so ignorant that by statute law the tie ; grand jurors and the school commissioners Ir j are allowed the privilege of making their rv i marks instead of signing their names, and > ar where, according to the belief of the whole j ex universe, except papists, a system of idola-' of trous worship is guaranteed by the power of j pe the British realm. nc f?. Then look over tijc votes in the Com- j foi ?rfi'S :*v>V :;i 1' rii'c. pjirlram'Ti*. < f'! ul you . .11 see JC9,9:3S 4,for the Roman !; aiholic College at Maynooih," (whitli is * st about the sum the vilified Americans i iv annually to promote the religion of Jejs Christ in Wcs.ern Africa, tiirough the olonization Society,) and i ask you, as a !hris'ian, to resolve the questions, which f these enterprises you deem most injurius to the true religion? which you and your artv have most actively opposed? and hich is most under your eye and control? leaven and earth are moved to prevent the >ivad of the Cospel in Africa through the blonization Society ; and not a whisper is card to prevent the increase of idolatry in j our own land, through governmental pa- i onnge. 0. Hut a more frightful case remains.? : lemember that you have above one hun- ' red millions of heathen in your Indian pos-! Jssions;?then read tiie noble speech of ic Rev. W. Campbell, a missionary from lengalore, delivered at Exeter Hall, at the ist annual meeting of the London Missioniv Snoif.tv There. Sir. vou will find usitive proof that the horrid system of Ilia-! 00 idolatry, in all its cruelty and corruptioa, | uphold, partaken of, and'made a source j f gain by British authorities in India!? 'empies are supported by the government; j nests and dancing women are paid a j lonthlv allowance out of the public revenue; i 1 agist rates are present and aiding officially t their brutal ceremonies; military officers > their peculiar honors to the abominable j ling; and British functionaries collect the j ages of iniquity. And now, sir, what can io eagerness of party zeal find, in all its , Jse allegations against us, equal to the na- , id deformity of these facts ? ( 7. But puss again to another portion of , aur wide empire. In multitudes of pub- , nations I have seen our alleged neglect of j ie religious instruction of the colored , i-.L. i ! jpulntion ot America, mnueiueijuai&ui u.-. nuations against the sincerity of our reli-! ous profession. Ifyou will read thcspecch j fDr. Phillip, already alluded to, you will j | id the following sentence : 4* Hotemen, a .; afire chief, and others, have been petition-!" g me for missionaries, by every mcssen- j ( ;r through whom they could convey to me |, verbal communication, for the last twelve ] :ars; and 1 have not vet been able to send ! em one. (Iracious heaven! what anil :eount will the twenty thousand protestant; j inisters of (ircat Britain have to render j. r the souls of these poor Cadres, whom so l, any of them have forgotten, to abuse their , ethion in America for neglecting a popu-! tion amongst whom a larger proportion , . ar the Go >el, than of the inhabitants of . o capital of the British I^fnpire. j| 8. Lotus look at London, the seat of your calth, power and civilization ; the abode i 'your Sovereign ; the seat of your Parlu I ncnt; tlie see of a bishop whose income ; \ ould support a hundred missionaries. Lis- I 11 to what the bishop says of so much of I s diocese, as is contained in the metropo- j | " There are," says he, u thirty-four l Irishes, containing above 10,000 souls I ich, (omitting all notice of those which < xitain less)-and in the aggregate 1,137- i )0 souls : but there is church room for on101,68-?less than ono-tentli of the !? hole! Allow one church for every 3,- i )0 souls, and 370 churches would be relired ; while in fact there are bnt 09: or if I )nsecrated chapels l>e added, only 100." J i hat is, above 1,000,000 souls, in a single '! tl-.it thp sp.'ir nf votir idorv. ut- ' ; l >, uim i.?? -*v? * ? o ^ - ? . riy unprovided for by the nation, and the j i stablished Church. Now if we should Id what is done by dissenters of all classes, | id add also the destitute of the small pa- ; dies, the result might be varied a little; but; < ill, make the best of it you can, and you j1 c left with more people destitute of the i cans of grace in London alone, than in all 1 e United States ! If you doubt these i atcments of the Lord Bishop of London, 1 insult the proceedings of the last annual < eeting of the City Mission ; and then pon- i :r, whether the hundreds of pounds squan- i ;red on Mr. Thompson's trip to the United i atcs?and in printing his slanders of that ' mntry?and the additional hundreds which i r. Ileunrh nr<?ed the neonle of Glasgow to ; I O" ?n i t w ve liirn by way of " Testimonial Fund'? < iglit not have been fully as well laid out j s sending the Gospel to the British capi. 11 1! . . Besides, the accusations now made your < vn, the general subject of slavery in itself j jnsidered, and neglect of the religious in- < ruction of the natives?the remaining char- ] ;s which we have been arraigned upon? ; ay, to a certain extent, fall under the ge- I ?ral head of severity, injustice, and deep- 1 oted prejudice against the blacks. These 1 ings may be true, or they may be false. < he statements and evidence on both sides i e in reach of the public. You have 1 luched for their truth, and it is not now my < ;sign to show the contrary ; but to show < /* 1 . ho they arc that are so ready to magnily I al errors, and to allege false crimes upon t cir neighbors. i 9. Pray, sir, were you ever in Ireland? c you were, you saw a land fertile and s iiiutiful ; a people intelligent and active, 1 climate more genial than .anyother in so r gh a northern latitude; in short, every 1 ing that should make its teeming popula- \ )ii rich, happy and powerful. I was there, t saw hundreds of people who had no fixed l >odes. I saw the majority of the houses of 1 e lower classes to be worse than the sta- { es and cow-houses in England ; I saw 1 ousands in rags; hundreds naked ; and c mdreds more naked, except a piece of a c nglc old garment. I looked at the third | port on the expediency of a poor law for j i eland, made bv order of Parliament, and j \ und that 2,383,000 souls are out of work, j c iving nothing to depend on, and are in dis- 3 :ss for thirty weeks every year. It is a set;d,indisputable truth, that one-third of the c ish people beg their bread two thirds of eve- c year. And yet enormous quantities of grain \ id live stock, and all sorts of provision are a :ported from Ireland. And yet, in defiance c all this tremendous, long continued, and s riodical suflering, there is 110 poor law, a ?r any sort of general provision, by law, li r the poor of that island. But there are 1 tl >tv ?!::iere"!!rr!V* of horse nnd f<j<>*. nnd ^ i constabulary force of about equal magni-1 tilde?ready to stay the people's stom-' aciis with lead at night, and steel in the ! morning. This is the happy oonsumma tion of six hundred years of British autiiori- j tv! And how can you, Sir, look any tin- > man being in the the face, and charge his country with wrong, till you have strained j every elibrt to redress this vast hereditary i guilt ? Or, if you tail, how can you speak, i nationally, in the hearing of earth, or heaven, about human wrongs ? # I 10. Look, for the last time, to the vast, plains of South Africa, wet with the blood i of murdered nations. Bead the clear and masterly speech of Dr. Phillip, already j twice referred to. " If a traveller who had j visited that country twenty-five years ago, | were to take his stand on the banks of the j Kciskamma river, and ask what had become j of the natives whom he saw there on his j former visit; if he took his stand on the rocks of the Sondags river, and looked, he might ask the same question ; if he were "'?> ^v>-> tliz-i ITi'oI? nirnr 10 ItUvU Ills SI til Hi 0??UI(J w u UIU X lOli IMVI) i and then extend his views to CafFraria, he J might ask the same question ; and were he to take his stand on JSnow mountain, called Graaf Reinet, (he would have before him a ; country containing 40,000 square miles,) 1 and ask where was the immense concourse I he saw there twenty-five years ago; no j man could tell him where they were!" ! Ask Lord Glenelg, his Majesty's principal Secretary for the colonies, and he will admit,! that the system of treachery, plunder and j butchery, by which these brave and upright j savages have been wasted in exterminating oppression, constitutes perhaps the most degrading of all the chapters of the history J of mankind ! It is a chapter written in the ! tears and blood of slaughtered tribes?and J is hardly yet dry upon the paper that re- j cords it for the execration of posterity ! It! is a chapter that had not been fully enacted j when you were concocting plans and ar- i ranging agencies, by which to make illus-; trimicthp hpninrn swav of universal freedom. ' justice, and benevolence in your Monarchy ?and to brand upon our Republic reproaches which all coming generations could not efface. But why need I multiply particulars? When these things are set right, and you seek for us another list we will say to you concerning your polity, in nearly all its parts, things which you will then be better able to bear. We will point out how you may establish real freedom amongst yourselves, and thereby show your acquaintance | i?n cnn.arl npinmnloc lintt' vnil ^nn I Willi IIO OULI VU |71 lllVt|/IVd j IIV ?? T vv? WM*? make your laws just, equal, and humane, nnd thereby manifest in practice your devotion to principles commended lor others. At present such a proceeding would only ' irritate; and is the more readily forborne, because it is not as ?n American or a Republican, but as a Christian, my mission brought me to you. The assurance, too, that the party with which you act, is, in ! point of numbers, a very small minority ofthe British nation, makes me the more willing to adhere to this view of my duty. In- j deed it is chiefly because your party has much of its strength in that sect to which I was more particularly sent, that it seemed clearly necessary for me to take part at all in these discussions. 1 readily admit that time, patience, sacrifices, and much labor, are needful for the rerlrps< of the evils I have pointed out. I ' know that the present generation is not responsible in such a sense, for most of them { as past generations have been. I am convinced that multitudes of Englishmen deplore, and would gladly remove them. I am satisfied that it is by the silent influence of example, and the kind and clear exposition of general principles, rather than rude and personal, harsh or national assaults, that we can do you good, in these or similarcases. And I gladly declare my belief, that | the Christians of America, as such, can and i ought to hold christian intercourse and j sympathy with the Christians of Britain? notwithstanding the British nation may be J responsible in the matters alleged; and that! we can and ought to do it?without perpet-1 nal vituperation and insult, even for what is ; true?not to say without gross perversions of the facts and merits of the case. Such, sir, are my views of the subject. I deeply regret that vours are so widely different. O y And I humbly beseech you to imagine the j whole course of your proceedings and ar- I ?uments?embracing of course the mission af Mr. Thompson, and his conduct since fife return?made ours, and our case made , fours; and then decide what would by this ' :ime have been the feelings of your people :owards us, if he had treated you as you lave treated us ? I declare, in the presence jf God, my firm belief, that if things go on much longer as they have progressed for :he last two years, there will not be found :>n earth men more estranged from each 3ther than the professors of religion in the wo countries. I have already witnessed he spectacle of a part of the religious press n England, urging forward the government >f the country, to an intervention, if necessary, with arms, against the progress of iberty in Texas, upon the false and ignoant pretext that the government of the ; jnited States, unless prevented by force, vould possess itself of that country, and in- < roduce slavery there! The people gcner- < illy of America were long ago roused to the lighest pitch of indignation against your iroceedings in this whole business. You lave now reduced the Christians of that :ountry to a position, where, if they act with I >r admit your previous statements or i irinciples?they become,on your own show, i ng, infamous ! You may now behold in the I (receding statement the posture in which til the world but yourselves have viewed ; 'ou during all this terrific affair! ' < Was it ignorance of your real condition, ; >r was it ignorance, still more gross, of ours, ; >r was it national vaniiy and prejudice, or vas it all these unitedly, that impelled the j < ibolition party in Britain to pursue the I :ourse they have adopted? It is not my de- j ire to give offence, and I will not therefore j i ittempt to decide. Your party profess to |; lave full and accurate information about us:, , hough it is very odd that at your meeting, i V.! movd. and Mr. Eadi** and your " very numerous and highly respectable meeting" unanimously voted, that j our national cor utution contained a very 1 important principle, which is not only not in 1 it at all, but which the very discussion you were pronouncing on cx-caih>'dra% proved j not to bo in it! Well informed gentlemen, not to say just judges, should be more cau- j tious. It does not become me to say that | your party are ignorant of the condition of! their own country; but if they knew the i facts now commended to their notice, it is 1 not easy to reconcile their singular disregard \ of them, with their rampant benevolence on i the other side of the water: and if they were ' unacquainted with them they had better stay at Jericho until their beards be grown, i Upon the delicate and painful subject of national prejudice, it is difficult to speak properly at all; but especially so to gentlemen ( whose passion lies in surmounting all pre- j judioc whatever. The John Bull news-j paper is said to represent the views and j feelings of the extreme High Church and : Tory party; the Record is the reputed vc- j hide for Low Church sentiments; the! Patriot, I am told, stands in the same rela- J tions to the Congregational Dissenters, cm* i bracing both Baptists and Independents^ who arc generally Whigs and Radicals. . The Times, which from its great ability, must i always wield a vast influence, is considered the organ of the Independent Conservative interest. ! ain very likely to be mistaken ; but I have tried to inform myself ol your condition?and this is what I learn. Be so good, yir, as to read any editorial article in j either of these papers, for the last four months, in which it was necessary to express | opinions or feelings in regard to the U. S., j and you will at once catch my present drift. ! But to aid such as have neither time nor ' opportunity for sucli a review, excuse the j following sample from a late number of the j last-named paper:?" In short, this is just ' the wretched "Colonization scheme.'' to ! which these pious slave-owners, the Daptists, Independents, and Presbyterians of the United States have betaken themselves as a plaster to their consciences, rank and rotton with hypocrisy; and though that holy American humbug may command a congenial support from the canting zealots of. iiberty and lashes, hallelujahs and horse-whippings, Bibles and brutality, missions and murders, ' religious revivals merging in slave auctions, ' and love-feasts terminating in Lynch law," < &c. &c. It is but justice to say, that I 1 have seen equal grossness only in the John Bull, and in Mr. Thompson's speeches, to < some of which latter, this has a most sus- ' picious resemblance. It is my duty also j | to declare, which I do with sincere pleasure,! < that the present Foreign Secretary of the King (Lord Palmerston) and the Journals which speak the sentiments of Government, are by far better informed, and more candid in regard to American affairs in general, than any others whose published views have come to my knowledge. I may in the end be permitted to suggest, that perhaps too much has been said in relation to the existing and prospective intercourse between the churches of tlw two countries; and possibly too much consequence attached to it by myself, as well as others. I have uttered the sentiments of those who sent me, in their name; and endeavored to enforce them by such consid * mn mot nnii niinrA. I CHUIUIIS its aj;|juaicu iu uiv ju<n mm u|,j,i vpriate. But I am not aware of any thing ? having transpired which would justify the 11 supposition that America, or her churches, 0 looked for any advantage which was not 1 likely to be reciprocal, in being permitted to hold this intercourse. Still less can I 1 conceive that any one could be justified in demanding of our churches, as conditions of it, not only adhesion to moral principlos a which we reject, but the procurement of I political changes which are impossible, r Yet, if I comprehend the drift of all British f abolitionism, it stops not a whit short of I this. ^ It was the world, more than America, wc j< sought to benefit. We had no purpose of I attemptinga revolution in Britain; nor did j< it ever enter into our conceptions that a ti revolution in America, of the most terrible d extent, would be dictated to us, in terms p h.-irrllv siiDDortablc. It was benighted a J ?rl . heathen for whose good we were laying <) plans; and the thought of personal advan- t< tage, or honor, or enjoyment, to any por. c tion of ourselves, had never place for a 1 moment, nor even ground for exercise; n and, therefore, we must needs be proof d against ill discriminating threats. It is t< quite gratuitous for sects in England to de- t< cline receiving our delegates, except they a be Abolitionists?which many individuals i r and some public meetings have recom- i< mended?which the Baptists, if I am right- tl ly informed, liave virtually done?and r and which seems nothing beyond the com- s pass of your argument. c Indeed, this aspect of the case is so very a far from the one which the facts exhibit, f that I am greatly surprised that wisdom, it P not kindness, did not prevent its presenta- e tion. For I believe no delegate who has " gone from Britain to America, has been as- o sailed, in public and in private, on any of d the great evils at which I have hinted in this " communication, as every delegate who has c come from America to Britain has been k assailed on the subject of slavery. 1 be- b lieve, too, you would search in vain in i( America, for any man who had received a from any sect or institution in Britain, any n token of respect or esteem ; while it will be b equally hard to find in Britain any man fi amongst any sect to which any delegate 3 from America has ever come, who is not indebted to us for all the consequence he has derived from literary and theological I distinctions denied to him at home, but be- j I stowed by the kinder or more discerning j p spirit of strangers! ! h For my own part, without intending to a commit the folly of depreciating a great s< nation, I am obliged to say that the thiug swhich surprised me most in England, was e the universal ignorance which prevails in p regard to America; while the thing which tl grieved me most, was the almost equally ! k universal prejudice against us. b Yet? do r?y fc?y\v "\ < ?*! have 1,f?1<* n sympathy with us. You do us wrong in all vour thoughts. In regard to all these points, I believe there is but one mind amongst all Americans, not bciug Abolitionists, who have been in England. And if you have been pleased to express the hope that I would return to America materially changed in many of my views and principles, I have only to say in reply, that so profound is my sense of the false esti* mate you put on every thing national*, as between us and you, that my visit to England has opened a new sonrce of devotion, in gratitude to God that lie permitted yoiu ancestors to persecute ours out of it. So little impression of the kind you expect, lias all that I have been forced to hear in England against my country and my brethren produced, that when I return 'to embrace again those beloved men, 1 shall revere them more, as I measure them bv all I have known elsewhere; and when my wearv feet touch that sacred land, I shall rejoice in the very ** dust and stones tlinrftrvfnn th/\ nivalin U3 iXJUlU JJid/lUUO U1U1I JllC JJ'JUI X? of all lands beside ! If I may not call myself your fellowchristian without offence, I can at least sign myself Your fellow-sinner, R. J. Breckenridge. Paris, Aug. 20, 1830. "lord is it i/" That there ure evils existing 111 the Christian Church as well as formerly, is douhlless an alarming truth: fac.s speak? speak alarmingly. How few revivals of religion among us; when one is enjoyed, how soon it passes by, notwithstanding the efforts which are made to sustain and ex? tend it. O, how humbling to the shepherd, to hear of a decrease of the flock! But as there is a close connection between cau ses and effects, how important tliat the causo or causes be sought out and removed.? But how natural it is when we search for the'cause of an unhappy effect, to seek for it in another, not in ourselves. What an exceeding proneness to uncharitable judging. How different even the views of good men. One thinks political excitements are exerting a very unfavorable influence on the Christian Church. Others look for the hindrance elsewhere. But liow few of us are jealous of ourselves; what a proneness to blame others, and excuse ourselves. I will not pass judgement upon the influence of any of the above-named supposed causes, why the church does not enjoy greater prosperity; but to me it is evident, that tfie state of religion among us loudly calls for faith fill self-examination. What is the hin. iranee? Who is guilty? Lord is it I?? Let us not think evil of a brother, or accuse in other. Let ministers and people, let 2very one who professes to love the cause )f Christianity, be jealous of themselves.? 'Lord is it I?" Is there any thing in my * ieart, in my life or conduct that counteracts he influence,?the complete triumph of Christianity? If so, he may be, ought to be liain immediately. Do I love the world?? f so, the "love of the Father dwelleth not n me." Am 1 envious at the prosperity >f others? Do I feel uneasy ana unhappy >ecause others are more esteemed and more 1 lonoured than myself? Am I impatient vhen contradicted? Do I render evil for vil? Jf I have discovered evil propensities a my heart, do I strive, through grace to . ivercome them? i .'hou searcher of hearts, in mine thy trying | nmver disolav. 1 I " I ./ ' nto its darkest corners shine, and take the veil away. | What relation do I sustain to the Church? m I one of her acknowledged ministers? f so how important that I should be a holy I nan? Do I "walk closely with God?"? lave I the work greatly at heart?" Do enjoy the fulness of the Gospel in my own lean? Or have I been satisfied with the enjyment of much less than the fulness, which now see and feel it is my privilege to cn. ay and proclaim for others? Do I irbt someimes lose sight of the importance of'being liligent?> of never being triflingly em. Joyed? Do I "visit from house to house," s much as the best interest ol the cause retires??Or does such employment appear a me to be real drudgery? What is the haractcr and effect of my preaching? Do preach Christ and him crucified? Are I ay sermons marked with that seriousness, j ignity, and earnestness that should characterize them? Does the unction of God atend my word? or docs my preaching have bout the same effect on my hearers as the ays of the moon have upon a mountain of x1. Do I love my brethren? Do I have ' hat "charity which envieth not; vaunteth lot itself, is not putted up, nor behaved) it. elf unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not asily provoked, thinketh no evil, beareth 11 things, endurcth all things and never aileth?" May we never forget ih^ indis- * ensible necessity of charity; nor thi ioflunce of the spirit and temper of a minister; like priests like people." Am I a steward r a private member of the Church, if so,, o I think I am freed from all responsibility? Lord is it I?" Does my heart and my life * orrespond with the Gospel, I hear and beevc,?-(at least in theory?) Have I een guilty of that covetousness, which is lolatry? "Do I get all I can, save all I can, nd give all I can?" Other suggestions jay be made in our deep heart-searching efore God; but if these are attended to faithilly and prayerfully by all, we shall lay the x? at the root of the tree." Maine Wesley en Journal. . Confidence in Christ.?I know in whom have believed; I am not ignorant whoso recious blood hath been shed for me; I ave a sheperd full of kindness, full of care nd full of power; unto him I commit my* ft elf; his own finger hath engraven this entence on my heart: " Satan has desird to winnow thee as wheat, but I have rayed that thy faith fail not;" therefore, le assurance of my hope I will endeavor to A eep, as a jewel unto the end; and by la- Ml or, through the gracious mediation of his rn>-er. ] sbnj! kecn ?Rirhord Hooker.