A fourth anti-slavery society was the Moral Religious, Manumission Society of West Tennessee, which was organized December 18, 1824, at Columbia, Maury County, Tennessee.[35] The spirit of this society is well known in the following extract from the preamble of its constitution: We, the undersigned, having fully considered the subject of Tyranny and Slavery as practiced by individuals on their brethren in our neighborhood, and elsewhere in America; and being fully convinced that it exceeds any other crime in magnitude: 1st. In motive—being moved thereto by the “world, flesh and the devil,” or with pride and laziness. 2nd. In the execution, it is cruel and unjust. 3rd. In the consequences, ignorance, hardness of heart and inhumanity are produced. This ignorance of right and wrong is manifested in the words and actions of tyrant and slave and all of those who approve of the practice in others. They go forth in practical infidelity and irreligion, which tend to destroy the blessings of Christianity and republicanism as they exist in this otherwise happy land.[36] This society limited its membership to fifteen, none of whom could be slaveholders.[37] Any additional membership constituted a branch society. The officers of the society consisted of a board of directors, one of whom was designated as chairman. Majority vote of the membership determined the policy of the society on any question. No levy for funds was made on the membership, but its revenues consisted of contributions and donations. The directors were trustees of such funds. The society met quarterly at the Republican Meeting House about six miles from Columbia, Maury County, Tennessee.[38] One of these quarterly meetings was held on the Fourth of July, and was regarded as the annual meeting of the society. The constitution was rather elaborate, consisting of twelve articles, and could be amended by the consent of two-thirds of its members.[39] The policy of the society was not so radical in method as might have been expected from the general tenor of its documents. The constitution in articles 6 and 7 states that the acceptance of Christianity would destroy in the tyrant “the will to enslave” and would therefore eliminate personal slavery. It was the will of “men of talents” to tyrannize that had to be controlled, and argument was the leading means to use to accomplish this purpose. The society, therefore, proposed to circulate copies of “The Genius of Universal Emancipation” through their several communities, the state, and the nation, to issue addresses, to petition churches and legislative bodies, and to preach the Gospel of humanity to slaveholders.