Not the Only Case

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 5, 1875

Not the Only Case.

We have seen somewhere a story which is told by Bishop Ames of a slave-master in Missouri, in the days of slave-holding, who had a conversation with one of his bondmen who occupied the exalted position of a preacher to his race. His master said to him, “Pompey, I hear you are a great preacher.” “Yes, massa, de Lord do help me powerful sometimes.” “Well, Pompey, don’t you think the negroes steal little things on the plantation?” “I’m mighty ’fraid they does, massa.” “Then, Pompey, I want you to preach a sermon to the negroes against stealing.” After a brief reflection, Pompey replied, “You see, massa, dat would never do, ’cause ’twould throw such a col’ness over de meetin’.”

There are some plain preachers, who do good service in rebuking popular sins with true moral courage. They do not, however, travel in battalions. There are far too many who are afraid that “col’ness will be thrown over de meetin’,” were they to tell the truth, and the upshot might be the loss of a lucrative position. We do not mean that they purpose being guilty of falsehood. They simply yield to the policy view of the question, and omit to say many things that a close discharge of duty demands. They will not be as frank as the poor negro, and give the reason why they fail to be outspoken. It is, nevertheless, the dread of the “col’ness,” and they shiver at the thought that there may be danger of being frozen out of their situation and salary. —Sel.