m
of invitation led me to understand that they were "close
communionists;" and such I have ascertained to be the case, not only
with them, but also with all the regular Baptists in America. The
influence of Robert Hall and others was not felt so powerfully on that
side of the Atlantic as on this. I suppose that, while this worthy
pastor would have freely admitted to the Lord's Supper any immersed
slave-holder, he would have sternly refused that privilege to me--a
sprinkled missionary from a distant land. You will readily believe,
however, that the anti-slavery missionary--the pastor of a large
congregation of black and coloured people--was not very ambitious of
Christian fellowship with slave-holders.

LETTER X.

Interview with a Baptist Minister--Conversation with a Young Man in the
Baptist Church--The Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Scott again--A Peep at
the House of Representatives of Louisiana--Contrast between the French
and the Americans in the Treatment of their Slaves--Dinner Table in New
Orleans--American Manners.

The decided part acted by the Baptist missionaries in the British
Colonies, in reference to slavery, made me anxious to know the
whereabouts of the Baptist minister in New Orleans on that subject; and
I therefore visited his place of worship again in the afternoon. They
were engaged in celebrating the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. A very
clean and neatly-dressed black woman was standing in the portico,
looking in, and watching the proceedings with deep interest. She
evidently wished to enter, but dared not. At the close I introduced
myself to the minister as Davies, from British Guiana, attached to the
ministry of the missionaries of the London Society. He was very kind
and cordial, and pressed my wife and myself to go home with him to tea.
We accepted the invitation. Among other questions, he asked how our
negroes worked, now that they were free? I told him, "Very well indeed;
and you may very safely venture to emancipate your slaves as soon as
you please." This led us at once _in medias res_. His views I found to
be simply as follows: how pious! how plausible! how convenient! how
extensively prevalent in reference to other evils than slavery!
"Slavery is a political institution. As a Christian minister, I have
nothing to do with politics. My business is to preach the Gospel, and
try to save men's souls. In this course I am sanctioned by the example
of the Apostle Paul. Slavery existed