d, it is the duty of all ministers of the gospel
to follow the example of our Lord and Saviour, and of his
apostles in similar circumstances, in abstaining from all
interference with the state of slavery, as established among
us by the Commonwealth, and confining themselves strictly to
their proper province of inculcating upon masters and slaves
the duties enjoined upon them respectively in the sacred
Scriptures, which must tend immediately to promote the
welfare of both, and ultimately to restore the whole world to
that state of holy happiness which is the earnest desire of
every Christian heart.

"The above preamble and resolutions having been severally
read, and adopted by paragraphs, the Moderator asked and
obtained leave to vote with the Synod, on the adoption of the
entire report. The question being put, it was unanimously
adopted, every member it is believed, giving it a hearty
response."

The last document I shall quote on this part of the subject, is one
which will fill this meeting with horror; but it is right that it
should be placed on record, to show the opinion entertained by a
minister of the Presbyterian church of his brethren and fellow
Christians, and to show also, what kind of communications pass current
among the professed disciples of Christ in a slaveholding community.

"To the Sessions of the Presbyterian Congregations within the
bounds of West Hanover Presbytery:

"At the approaching stated meeting of our Presbytery, I
design to offer a preamble and string of resolutions on the
subject of the use of wine in the Lord's Supper; and also a
preamble and a string of resolutions on the subject of the
treasonable and abominably wicked interference of the
Northern and Eastern fanatics, with our political and civil
rights, our property and our domestic concerns. You are aware
that our clergy, whether with or without reason, are more
suspected by the public than are the clergy of other
denominations. Now, dear Christian brethren, I humbly express
it as my earnest wish, that you quit yourselves like men. _If
there be any stray goat of a minister among us, tainted with
the blood-hound principles of abolitionism, let him be
ferreted out, silenced, excommunicated, and left to the
public to dispose of him in other respects._

"Your affectionate brother in the Lord,