220 NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN METHODISTS. Book H. 
both northern and southern Methodists resident here — 
the former appealing to the authority of the Bible against, 
and the latter in favour of, slavery. The northern Metho- 
dists admit amongst them none who keep slaves ; but the 
slaves themselves, of course, belong to the southern Metho- 
dists. " It is the will of God that the blacks are to be 
slaves," said a negro, who was preaching during my stay 
here ; "we must bear our fate ; but in a future world we 
shall be white men and free." A German whom I met 
here told me that the blacks believe the damned among the 
negroes to become monkeys; but if in this shape they behave 
well, they are advanced to the state of a negro again, and 
bliss is eventually possible to them, consisting in their turn- 
ing white, becoming winged, and so on. Whether such ideas 
are fostered by the Christian clergy I do not know, but I am 
almost inclined to this opinion ; nor am I able to say what 
position in Missouri a sect may at the present time hold who 
exclude from their church every slaveholder : the struggles 
in and about Kansas must, however, render this position 
somewhat critical. At Independence I heard much said 
about the strict discipline observed by the Methodists with 
regard to morality and manners. A young lady was ex- 
pelled from their church for having danced on a Sunday, 
and a young man had received a warning for having attended 
a circus. But it is a remarkable fact, as I have been 
assured, that the church grants a furlough for sinning — that 
is to say, she permits a temporary separation from the 
community, which permission is taken advantage of by 
those who wish to seek the amusements of the world. 
This is evidently analogous to an indulgence granted by 
the Roman Catholic Church, and it is an interesting 
proof, in an historical point of view, that endeavours to 
