thy part, is the sincere wish of one who, while he abhors thy
occupation, feels nothing but kindness and good will towards
thyself.

"Thy friend,

"JOSEPH STURGE.

"_New York, 6th Month 30th, 1841._"


The Baptist Convention alluded to in the foregoing letter was one whose
proceedings I regarded with considerable interest, for it had been
generally understood that the ministers delegated from the South, as
well as some of those from the Northern States, intended to exclude
abolitionists from every office on the missionary board, and especially
to remove my friend, Elon Galusha, a distinguished Baptist minister,
from the station of vice-president, for the offence of attending the
London Anti-Slavery Convention, and more particularly for supporting the
following resolutions of that assembly:


"1. That it is the deliberate and deeply-rooted conviction of
this Convention, which it thus publicly and solemnly expresses
to the world, that slavery, in whatever form, or in whatever
country it exists, is contrary to the eternal and immutable
principles of justice, and the spirit and precepts of
Christianity; and is, therefore a sin against God, which
acquires additional enormity when committed by nations
professedly Christian, and in an age when the subject has been