Communications,
FOR THE FREE TRESS.
31r. Howard: Your paper of
the 3d oi March wag recently
" 1 handed me by a friend, and in pe
; rusing it, I discovered the publica-
tion of a request of the Virginia
: Conference of Itinerant Preachers,
recently held in Petersburg, that
? the Preachers within the bounds
of their district, do make a collec
tion on the 4th of July next, in aid
ot the colonization Society. And
I think it not inconsistent with my
situation, as a grey-headed Min
ister of the M. E. Church, to make
a few remarks upon so extraordi
nary a request.. Extraordinary
indeed! that an assembly of Di
vines, a Conference of Ministers,
should leave the word of God, and
serve Tables, or what amounts to
something worse, form an alliance
with partizan politicians; and in
vite their brethren to engage in
the unhallowed work of polluting
their numerous Chapels, by mak
ing them places of .money-gathering
for secular objects. "And
Jesus went into the temple of God,
and cast out all them that sold and
boyght irt the temple, and over
threw the tables of the money
changers, and the seats of them
that sold doves; and said unto
them, It is written, my house shall
be called the house of prayer: but
i i i
yu nave maue u a aen oi tiueves.
And the blind and the lame came
to him in the temple; and he heal
ed them." To collect money in
the temple for the blind, and the
iame, or any other objects or pur
poses of pure Christian charity,
is lawful and right, and a praise
worthy deed: but to collect money
in the Church of God, to aid the
ignis fatuus views of the Coloni
zation Society, is in my estima
tion a sacrilegious act; and I for
one, cannot comply with a clear
conscience. And I would fain
jthc Abbe Grcgoirc, down to 3Td-
rat and Anachar sis 'Klootz. The
speeches, the writings, and the
doctrines of this Society, carried
to San Domingo by emissaries
with "Religion in their mouths,
hell in their hearts, and torches in
their hands," produced that revolt,
the horrors of which yet harrow
up the soul, and freeze the blood;
that revolt, in which the sleeping
babe was massacred in thecVadle
in which the husband and the
father, tied to his own gate, be
held, by the light of his burning
house, the violation of his wife
saw his daughters led off and
received, as a relief from his hor
rors, the blow of the axe which
scattered his brains upon the
ground!!! And how was the news
of these scenes received at Paris,
by the authors of so much mis
chief! Very differently; by the
different members of the Society.
The hearts of the good were rent
with anguish; but the wicked re
joiced with an exceeding joy.
1 heir dens, smeared with human
blood, resounded with acclama
tions "Perish the colonies save
the principal!!" was the cry of the
infernal monsters!!!"
From Ncto- York. By arrivals
at New-York, accounts from Eng
land and France to the ICth Feb
ruary have been received. We
observe nothing new; but we have
a confirmation of different articles
of intelligence previously received.
in the feoutli ot Europe, the pros
pect of war had entirely disap
peared; but in the East, the brave
Greeks had certainly gained ad
vantages over their cruel task
masters the Turks. In England,
Mr. Secretary Canning being too
unwell to attend to business, eve
ry thing, even the "machine of go
vernment" itself seemed to stand
for the Porte, that it was at first
treated ; as incredible. But it
seems certain, that several dis
tricts of northern Greece revolted
anew, after the victory of Karais
kaki, over a portion of Redschid
Pacha's army The Greek plan
of operations' were traced by Eu
ropean officers it succeeded, and
the Seraskier has been reduced to
act on the defensive. Miaulis has
arrived at iEgina, with the Hellas,
to receive the orders of the gov
ernment. The people are in in
surrection as far as Thermopylae
and Volo. Lord Cochrane was
expected.
This unlooked for turn of af
fairs, has produced great sensa
tion here, and may facilitate the
negotiations of Mr. S. Canning
and M. Ribaupierre. Ibrahim
Pacha remains near Gastiny, in
capable of any enterprise. The
Bavarian officers lately arrived,
have been occupied since the 15th
Dec. in organizing a Frank corps
at Napoli.
hold their breaths and keen
fectly still. But - the Jesuits IT
clamorous, and with all their ch C
racferistic cunning, appear to hav
but a moderate share of an c
lightened prudence. 'The Minis'
try are supposed to be divided t
as great a degree as are the cham'
ber of Deputies, and all of them
at present seem to be lyinrr
their oars, for the purpose 0f
watching the development of Po.
pular sentiment. In aword,yjle
ther the project is adopted or not'
the aspect of political affairs ia
France looks squally. If the ia
passes, it may only serve to arouse
instead of smothering popular
opinion if it should not pass its
defeat will be ascribed to fear, and
the press will become more clam
orous than ever. Such are the
two horns of the dilemma, from
which the government are to
choose. Public opinion and the
influence of the press have be
come so omnipotent in France
that the King cannot play witli
censorships, establishing and rp
The fol-ivoking them at pleasure. But I
Still Pnrl
hope that none ot my clerical brc- prorogued on his account- nnrl
thren in this State, will so far for- when the Lords and Commons
get the dignity oi their office, and again assembled, the most impor
the respect due to the civil insti- tant questions were postponed
tutions of our country, and the do- from day to day, in order that he
rncstic peace of society, as to ha
rangue an audience, on so deli
cate a subject: especially on that
eventful day, the return of which
teaches an important lesson, not
only to tyrannical governments,
but to disorganizing conspirators.
I am aware, that some of my iti
nerant brethren will deem me an
advocate for slavery: but are those
of the Virginia Conference the
friends of universal emancipation!
Arc they the friends of ecclesias
tical liberty! If they arc, why
have they assumed the exercise of
all the legislative authority in the
Church? Why have they recently
excluded a number of brethren in
the vicinity of the Plank Chapel,
in the Tar River Circuit, for con
tending for the right of suffrage in
the Church? Why all this sym
pathy for people of colour, and at
the same time regardless of the
rights of others? "Who made the
massacre of San Domingo? Was
it not the Society of Lcs Amis des
Nours, in Paris? And who com
posed that Society? I answer, ev
ery thing human, in the shape of
virtue ortvico, from Lafayette and
The Friends of the Blacks.
might have "further time to re
cruit his health." Yet Mr. Can
ning is not one of the Royal Fam
ilv, nor does hcbolonjr to the aris
tocracybut his claims to consi
deration arc based on the sure
foundation of his merits as a Pat
riot and his talents as a States
man. In France, the quarrel of
tne Uevolutionary Marshals with
the Austrian Ambassador, and the
Ministerial project to re-establish
the Censorship of the Press, ap
peared to claim universal atten
tion and in both cases, the voice
of the nation, from every indica
tion, was decidedly against the
course of the government. As
respects the Markets, the Com
mercial Letters of latest dates,
mention no changes of impor
tance. Pet hit
Constantinople, Jan. 12.- The
Government has just detected an
other conspiracy, by intercepting
the correspondence of the maC
contents here, with the Janissaries
of Asia. The chiefs of it were
immediately seized and executed,
some few only escaninfr. Thn
news from Greece is so disastrous
Spa in a n d Po rtiural.
lowing is an extract of a letter,' have no time for speculations
dated Gibraltar, Feb. 10: '
"In public affairs there is no South-America. By advices
particular novelty. The British direct from Laguira, the rcsigna
troops arc to be stationed for thejtion oi Bolivar is fully authenti
present at from 40 to 50 miles 'cated. We perceive his official
from Lisbon, while a Spanish! communication to the President
force is placed towards the fron-!fthe Congress, wherein he says,
tiers of Portugal, where tlie reb-1 that .the nation must receive his
els (as they appear to be now! abdication as irrevocable. He
called by King Ferdinand) have speaks like a patriot, and we trust
been dispersed, and all seems to; honestly; but we are not without
be quiet for the present, though 1 our doubts. He confesses him
with no - good will towards each1 self ambitious, and seems to insi-
other. The French troops which : nuate that an abdication of power
were atMadrid have left thatcaoi-'is necessary to his purity. If so.
tal, but full 7,000 soldiers of that 'he can never rank with Washing.
nation remain in full military pos-j ton, nor can his present retirement
session of Cadiz and that neigh- fsave him. Indeed it is boldly as
borhood, and where it is general- j sorted, in the Caraccas papers,
ly believed they will remain. We that his resignation is only intend-
have no idea that the peace of the d to pave the way for a higher
Peninsula can be further disturb
ed at present."
France The following extract
step. It is predicted that four
months will not elapse, hefore
there will be a union of Colombia,
Peru, and Bolivia, and Bolivar ap-
of a letter from Mr. Carter, one of pointed President for life. The
the Editors of thp N
Statesman, for sometime travel
ling in Europe, will be found pe
culiarly interesting.
"You will see that the French
papers are filled with d
and memorials on the subject of
uiu rusmciions upon the liberty of
me press. ihe sensation an-
pears to reach the inmost recesses
ot society, and institutions which
have hitherto kept aloof from po
litics, and confined their nursirits
to abstract principles.' are enminrr
forward in the great cause of free
dom, lou will see that a 'moot
ing of the National Institute is to
be held. My own oninion ia.thnt
should the project of the 1 aw in
question be adopted, it will go far
luwurus creating another Revolu
tion, for which many of the peo-
Amu uiu upu. ne impolicy and
rashness of the roval nartv in re
gard to this bold measure surprise
ii is calculated to nwnbn
all the angry passions. At any
period, the experiment would
dangerousat present, it lo.ntr
like madness. His Majesty is
like a man seated linnn nn nvn.
lanchc, which a breai may loos
en and bring down ruin. Under
such circumstances.wisdom wnnW
conjecture is rendered more like
ly by the circumstance that the
papers friendly to Bolivar, highly
applaud the proposed union of the
three States. Should they unite,
and Bolivar accept the Presiden
cy for life, the liberties of South
America will soon find a grave.
Canada. A Buffalo paper. of
the 12th instant says: For se
veral days past, there have been
alarming reports in Circulation ot
commotions in our neighboring
province "of Upper Canada. A
vast number of the inhabitants ot
the province will come within uV
operation of the alien law.
would appear tnat they arc resol
ved not to submit to it; and it i
reporte4 that liberty poles, on
which were displayed, the Ameri
can flag, had been raised in seve
ral places. In York, a liberty
pole was raised and the American
nag waved on it, within a few rod
of the Capitol. It was promptly
put down by the government par
ty. A lame force was then col
lected, from the neighboring coun
try, and the pole and the flag tverc
again raised. These may. be ex
aggerated reports, but we thin
there is something to make the
prompt him and his partisans to
lout of."