III.; they lived
in Cornhill and Leadenhall Street, and their bones lie buried in the old
church of St. Andrew Under-Shaft; and, in the year 1632, on account of
their nonconformity, they were obliged to seek refuge in the State of
Massachusetts; and I have always felt a love and a veneration for the
Congregational churches of England, more than for any other churches in
any foreign land. [Cheers.] I can only hope, that my conduct, as a
religious man and a minister of Christ, may not bring discredit upon my
ancestors, and upon the honorable origin which I claim. [Hear! and
cheers.] I wish to say, in the first place, that in the United States
the Congregational churches, as a body, are free from slavery. [Cheers.]
I do not think that there is a Congregational church in the United
States in which a member could openly hold a slave without subjecting
himself to discipline.[F] True, I have met with churches very deficient
in their duty on this subject, and I am afraid there are members of
Congregational churches who hold slaves secretly as security for debt in
the Southern States. At the last great Congregational Convention, held
in the city of Albany, the churches took a step on the subject of
slavery much in advance of any other great ecclesiastical body in the
country. I hope it is but the beginning of a series of measures that
will eventuate in the separation of this body from all connection with
slavery. [Hear, hear!] I am extensively acquainted with the United
States; I have lived in different sections of them; I am familiar with
people of all classes, and it is my solemn conviction, that nine tenths
of the people feel on the subject of slavery as you do;[G] [cheers;]
perhaps not so intensely, for familiarity with wrong deadens the
conscience; but their convictions are altogether as yours are; and in
the slaveholding states, and among slaveholders themselves, conscience
is against the system. [Cheers.] There is no legislative control of the
subject of slavery, except by slaveholding legislators themselves.
Congress has no right to do any thing in the premises. They violated the
constitution, as I believe, in passing the Fugitive Slave Act. [Cheers.]
I do not believe they had any right to pass it. [Hear, hear!] I stand
here not as the representative of any body whatever. I only represent
myself, and give you my individual convictions, that have been produced
by a long and painful connection with the subject. [Hear, hear!]