An address, delivered at Springfield, before the Hampden colonization society, July 4th, 1828

Glass -
Book.

it ji. 6

6 I 0

ADDRESS,

PEUVERED AT SPRINGFIELD, BEFORE THE

July 4th, 1828.

.>^

BY WILLIAM B. O. PEABODY.

PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OP THE SOCIETY.

SPRTJVGFIELD.
PRINTED BY S. BOWLES-

1838.

ADDRE88.

The condition and present success of our parent so-
ciety may be learned from the public prints ; I have
therefore thought it more important to try to excite an
mterest in the subject generally, than to give you a his-
tory of their exertions. My subject is, the reason of
the miperfect influence of Christianity on the public re-
lations of men. This leads me to speak of Slavery
and War ; twin vices, which have grown up together ;
which still outlive many abuses that Christianity has
overthrown ; and which will not be divided in their
fall, when our religion governs in the world.

I may as well say in the beginning, that I am speak-
ing simply of the relation of slavery and the practice
of war. I am not complaining of the owners of slaves ;
they cannot get rid of them ; it would be as humane
to throw them from the decks in the middle passage as
to set them free in our country. Neither do I con-
demn defensive war ; it rests upon the right of self-
defence, which individuals possess, and may delegate
to governments if they will. I have no taste for sweep-
ing condemnation. I can sympathise with the owners

of slaves, and admire the patriotic defenders of their
country, while 1 detest war and slavery with all m>
heart.

Some profess to think it surprising that these evils
should still exist. Christiimity in many a glorious in-
stance has mastered human passions ; it has gained
many a victory o\er hoary abuses, and given liberty,
humanity and happiness to men. Still these great
scandals of the world exist ; and I think it is not sur-
prising that Christianity has not put them dow n. For
in these matters Christianity influences men through
the means of men ; it has no authority here more
than men choose to allow it, and to say that our
religion has not i)roduced its effect is the same as say-
ing what is sadly true, that it has never yet been heart-
ily embraced and cheered onward by men. Our mis-
take is a very common one ; we think ourselves better
than we are ; we take it for granted that we are Chris-
tians, and then wonder that our Christianity has so
little jiow er. But the real cause of wonder is this ;
that men having Christianity, a religion in which all
their enduring interests are bound up ; a religion unit-
ing in itself the power of God and the \\ isdom of
God ; a religion containing inducements, which one
would say were little short of almighty ; it is w ondcr-
ful indeed, that men, having such a religion, should do
so little to correct their opinions by it and to encourage
the feelings it inspires.

When I mention some reasons of the imperfect in-
fluence of Christianity, it may appear that there is some
deficiency on our part. \V(,' have all of us some duties
left undone ; and we must remember that w^e are not
to take the vo3'age of life in a i)leasurc boat ; we must
have some exposure, some efforts and sacrifices to
sho\v before we can bear the name of Christian.

Tlie first reason that Christianity has had so httle
effect upon war and slavery is, that men rei^ard the
letter more than the spirit of the religion. They are
apt to measure and weigh their duties, that they may
learn how far they inust go ; and \\o\\ much can be
left undone. Many have tried to show that these
things are not directly prohibited in scripture, taking
for granted that every thing not forbidden in so many
words, is allowed. This reasoning has had and still
has great efi'ect ; and yet it would be easy to sho^^' that
a man might be thoroughly abandoned, without seem-
ing to violate the letter of the Christian law. Chris-
tianity does not attempt to push back the rushing tor-
rents of passion ; it goes to the fountain head, and
checks them when they are just beginning to flow. —
Whence come ivars and Jightings among you ? If they
come from yeur lusts and passions, Christianity forbids
your indulging these passions, and thus prohibits war.
It forbids slavery, when it commands men to be just
and kind to each other ; and this is enough for one
who desires to know and to do his duty.

This defence however is a mere evasion. No man
criticises in this way the terms of a law which he is
well disposed to obey. If a man is resolved to perse-
vere in vice, this is exactly the course he takes to si-
lence others ; he shows to them though he does not
believe it himself, that the letter of the law is not so
strict as they would make it. In this place I need not
say that such a measured, half-way obedience to the
law of God is not Christianity. The Christian evades
nothing, shuts his eyes to nothing, explains nothing
away ; he traces the broadest possible outline of his
duty, and fulfils it to the utmost of his jjower. The
man must be of a different stamp, who does not per-
cfeive that the spirit of Christianity is a spirit of free-

ilom : iliai its ol)ject is to raise llic valley and bring,
the mountain low, to place men on a level as respects
their rights and privileges ; now, to deprive man of
his self-direction ; to force him to live, move, and have
his being dei)endent on another's will ; to abridge his
means of improvement, and thus cut him off from
the higher destiny of man ; to keep his frame in un-
ceasing labour, and condemn his mind to perpetual
rest ; such vile bondage of the soul is entirely incon-
sistent with the spirit of that religion, which directs
us to measure the rights and claims of others by our
oA\ n. It should seem as if man were bound to show
some high commission for thus fastening his chains on
a body and soul as manly as his own ; to point out
where the command to love his neighbour as himself
has been set aside in his favor, or at least, to explain
how the sun-burnt shade upon the face, disqualifies the
slave for happiness in this world and preparation for
the life to come.

Another reason of the limited influence of Christian-
ity is, that it requires great Christian principle to make
men abandon vices, and very little to make men disap-
prove them. They content themselves with simply
disapproving their own sins. But do you consider it
much, for a man to condemn his own vices ? No such
thing ! You know that even the guilty will go as far
as this, without the least idea of reforming their lives.
Yet we fall into precisely this errour in regard to pub-
lic opinion ; we consider it a matter of triumph \A'hen
the general sentiment sets strongly against any prevail-
ing sin. A triumph perhaps it is; but not half so
great as we imagine ; for long after men have learned
to condemn tlu; public reproach, you find it neverthe-
less impossible to make them castitaway. The public
voice is lifted up against slavery ; against war too,

though less decidedly ; but we must have little expe-
rience, if we suppose that mere censure is to destroy
them. For where is the condemnation of slavery
more general and sincere than in England and the Uni-
ted States? Yet these two nations hold more human
beings in bondage, than all the rest of the civilized
world put together ; \\ here can you find the blessings
of peace set forth more mipressi\ ely, than in an un-
principled declaration of war ?

It is mere romance to suppose that the influence of
Christianity is felt, when men only cease to condemn
their crimes. But if we can see this point gained, it
is something ; it may encourage us to redouble our ef-
forts to bring about the desired reform. Still we
must not regard the nations as fully persuaded to be
Christian, because they tremble for a moment like Fe-
lix before the eloquence of Paul ; for though Christian-
ity simply condemns the practice, men, influenced by
Christianity, must go so far as to put down the prac-
tice ; for right judgement is not the same with right
conduct ; and men must act upon their principles, be-
fore they can deserve the name of Christians.

A third reason of the limited influence of Christian-
ity is that we consider this point as gained already. —
We think that the public feelhig is sufficiently alive to
the criminality of slavery and war, and that no exer-
tions are necessary to add to the prevailing conviction
of their guilt. I must say that we take praise to our-
selves too soon. Christianity can do but little to re-
form the world, if men are so easily satisfied with their
success. I look in vain for the proofs of this general
condemnation of these gigantic sins. I see on the
contrary a lofty ?nd enthusiastic interest everywhere
excited by deeds of battle and blood. I see the guilty
paths of great destroyers, traced upon the map with

breatlilcss emotion ; 1 see the finest productions of
earthly inspiration growing out of this corruption, like
A\ ild llouers from the heaps where the bodies of the
shiin decay, and tlie warmest reverence the world can
give, lavished on those, who trample most widely and
carelessly on the rights and feelings of men. We may
say that we admire not the destruction nor the "^iiilt ;
not the field shaken with artillery and slippery witii
])lood, but the great intellectual energy displayed in
guiding the vast masses of human power ; this will
not do ; for great energy should be detested for its alli-
ance witii crime, rather than crime be forgiven be-
cause united w ith energy. The public religious feel-
ing must be pronounced unsound, so long as men can
admire these splendid sins ; and it is absolutely impos-
sible for one who w orships these destroyers, to have any
real reverence for the gentle greatness of the Son of
God. Still I see this delusion everywhere spread. I
see these magnificent outlaws gazed on by Christians
w ith overpowering admiration, while the fair fame of
mere defenders of their country seems dull and tame
beside them. Even that man to whom this land is
more indebted than to any other ; whose name might
be pronounced here, without taking the place in vain ;
I see that his greatness, beside that of heroes as the
world calls them, seems cold and lifeless as the mar-
ble from which they have hew n his form.

Neither is public opinion more decided on the sub-
ject of slavery. There are not many who will say
that the relation of master of slave is defensible in
itself, but there is no general sense of the importance
of using every endeavour to remove the necessity
w hich is its only justification. Those who visit the
southern section of our country generally return with
thtir aversion to slavery much lessened : if thoy carri

ed with them an aversion to slave-holders, it is well to
to have it removed ; for nothing can be more unjust
than to censure them for receiving this sad inheritance
from their fathers; but it is not well that they should
forget that slavery is an unnatural relation, even in it^
mildest form. I do not doubt that masters treat their
slav with kindness, nor that the slaves arc happier
than they could be if set free in this country ; 1 be-
lieve that many a slave-holder would rejoice to throw
off the burden ; but they should never forget, that
when the necessity which now weighs upon them ex-
ists no longer, no humanity on their part will atone for
their holding man in bondage ; for, deprive man of
freedom, nothing but the animal remains ; and the
permission to live is but a poor indulgence after he
has lost every thing that made life worth possessing,
every thing that distinguishes man made to be immor-
tal, from the beasts that return to the dust from which
they sprung.

It must be confessed, that, if there is any general
condemnation of war and slavery, it is exceedingly de-
licate and sparing ; the stern tones of the accuser sink
into faintness in front of these old and mighty corrup-
tions ; when, to make himself heard through all the
prejudices and follies, interests and passions of men, he
should speak in the thunder's voice.

Another obstacle to Christian influences has been,
that men have applied a different morality to public
and private affairs. In private concerns they j)rofess
to follow Christianity ; but in public relations they have
made up a different standard of right and wrong ; a
standard of interest and convenience, founded on the
right of power. Thus we hear measures defended on
the ground of necessity, in which there is no necessity,
except what oppression creates for itself; thus, bel-

10

ligcrciits claim a lisht to plunder neutral vessek trad-
ing with their enemy ; thus private property is free
spoil on the seas, while all ci\ilized nations profess to
respect it on shore. In more peaceful relations there
have been equally unsocial and unnatural opinions ;
thus it AA as formerly, i)erhaps is still believed, that one
nation could not increase in wealth except in propor-
tion as others lost. We have sometimes heard it sug-
gested that slavery is justifiable in Wdtm climates, be-
cause the heat makes it hard for whites to labour ; and
that it is right to involve half the world in war, because
an insult has been offered to some paltry flag upon a
distant sea. This is national honour ; a word which
deserves the curse which David breathed upon the
mountains ^^•here the mighty had fallen.

What influence can Christianity have on public re-
lations where such maxims are tolerated or forgiven?
The law of nations is only an enlargement of the rules
of justice and kindness that are binding on individuals,
fs a man who has a quairel with a neighbour, justified
in preventing all others from trading with that neigh-
bour ? Docs any man feel as if he had personally a
better right to rob and steal on the water than on
shore ? Yet such is the claim of belligerents, and
such the piracy which is called privateering and repri-
sal. Does any one think that there is no such thing
as fair exchange between individuals ; that no man can
prosper in business except by injuring others ? Does
any one think it right to involve all his friends in mis-
cry, because some trifling insult has been offered to
himself? Such is the duellist's principle. More pro-
found absurdities than tiicsc cannot be imagined ; still
they rise up in the world and set bounds to the influ-
ence of Christianity. But Christianity requires the
same of nations as of individuals : and if any nation

u

under pretence of barbarous precedent or selfish inter-
est refuses to submit to it, that nalion\s God is nut
the Lord.

But one reason of the limited influence of Christian-
ity on public relations perhaps includes all the rest that
can be given. Where is there a Christian nation ?
where is there a community to exert this happy influ-
ence ? I know that many individuals everywhere arc
faithful, and there are many regions where religion is
honoured and regarded ; but I know of none on the
face of the earth, where Christian principles govern,
nor where the spirit of Christianity prevails against the
spirit of selfishness and the world. ^Vhere is the fear
of God foremost among those thoughts which every
day pass over the hearts of men by millions ? where
do men even think of doing to others as they would
have others do to them ? What community maintains
on the whole such a character as our religion is de-
signed to form ? In a Christian country, the law of
God should be at least as well obeyed as the law of
the land ; but if the laws of the land were as often
and fearfully broken as those of Christianity, society
could not hold together. Christian communities then
must not be expected to remove these evils fron^ the
world.

Are they to operate through their representatives in
national councils ? In the first place there is no coun-
try but this, where the popular feeling is directly rep-
resented ; in the second, we have no right to expect
representatives to take a higher moral stand than the
people who send them. In gathering the collective
wisdom of a nation, collective folly must go with it ;
many legislators without consulting the general wel-
fare will talk of the interests of those who send them,
ais if they were bound to regard nothing beside, and

meantime ^^ ill forget to ask what should he the dcciel-
jiii; question, is this right oris it wrong? Legislation
strongly tends to hcconie partial, malicious, and re-
vengeful ; the savage passions of a people rush to con-
centrate themselves in national halls, like the electric
fluid, harmless \a hen diffused among the elements, but
terrible when gathered in the thunder-cloud. AVhilc
such arc the tendencies of those assemblies aa hatever
proportion of talent and \\isdom they contain, and
A\ liile public opinion, supposing it to be correct, affects
them only by the slow process of changing the mate-
rial of M hich they are composed, it must be evident to
all, that it is not in national councils, that national im-
provement must begin.

Some may suppose that these vicious institutions
are too firmly established for Christianity to attack
them, with any hope of success ; that they have a
grasp w hich can never be unclenched from the habits
and affections of men. A strong grasp they certainly
have even now ; but what was it a century ago ? The
world has outgrown them, and begins to see their fol-
ly, if not their guilt. The truth seems to be, that they
derive their principal strength at i)resent, from the
strange reverence with which men regard them, as in-
stitutions founded in the nature of man. There has
been neither heart nor hope in the exertions made to
put them down.

Look hrst at war. What rational being thinks that
national (juarrels are decided, by sending men who
know not the provocation, to shoot at each other ?
they are of course not decided justly ; and they are
not in fact decided at all. One party may submit from
exhaustion ; but the difference remains, to be revived
at some future time, or give place to some other. War
may gratify the passions of nations, but it will not dc-

1*

cide their disputes ; and in most cases it would l)e in-
finitely better for both parties to sit down with their
fancied wrone;s, than make any attemi)t to avenge
them. It may be asked how will nations decide theiv
quarrels w ithout w ar ? The answer is, let them learn
that their true interests can never be opposed to each
other ; and if they cannot believe this, let them settle
their disputes as they will ; in any way but this. It is
enough to know, that they cannot devise a way more
foolish, unchristian, and unsatisfactory than this.

Then look at slavery. It has become so alarming,
it is now so evident that at no distant time, unless the
order of nature is altered, the slaves must have the
power, that all reflecting slave-holders, though they
cannot be expected to give up their property, would
prefer to have it in a safer form. Now there are
painful restraints upon their generosity and kindness ;
those who desire the religious improvement of their
slaves, naturally fear to enlighten them, when it seems
as if the letting in of light to such a race would reveal
the secret of their physical strength, and like the can-
dle in the fire-damp of the mine, cause a quick and
awful explosion. With the tremendous example of
Hayti before their eyes, they would be glad to get rid
of their slaves, if you would show them a w^ay ; such a
w^ay as this Society, now in its beginning, may at some
future time afford them. We are associated in our
civil interests with the owners of slaves ; they share
our burdens and we must aid them under theirs ; there
is guilt at our doors as well as theirs, if something is
not done to avert the threatened evil. If something
is not done, as sure as the decree of fate, the hour will
arrive, which some prophetic voice seems already
to foretell. Oh ! thou that dwellest upon many icat€r^\
abundant in treasures; thine end shall come I

11

Said I not rightly that we share the guilt ? We are
always guilty, if we refuse to aid when evil may be
prevented or good may be done. There is a way ))ro-
posed, which if properly supported, affords some hope
of reducing this immense population ; not, of course
while its means are as at present few and small ; but
when streams from a million fountains shall swell it
into a tide, which, like the great rivers of our country,
shall cut its way through the barrier mountains that
seem impassable tc man. If you say that its resources
are too small to effect much, I allow it ; and permit
me to remind you, that if 3^ou give as you are able, its
resources will be so much greater. The colony in
Africa has been prosperous beyond hope ; it affords at
least as great a prospect as the infant settlement of
New England, of laying the foundation of an enlight-
ened, happy and religious peo[)le. But it is so easy
and common to call this a visionary plan, that I am
content to put it upon that ground. Allow it to be as
visionary as its worst enemies would make it ; still, if
there is the least chance of its affording even to a few
of that miserable race, the means of rising to happi-
ness and religion, we are bound to cast in the little of-
ferings of common charity ; if the chance was only
one in a thousand in favour of its success, still, so
long as it requires nothing that we cannot well spare,
nothing but what most of us would be the better for
sparing, we arc not at liberty to balance our doubts
against the smallest hoi)e in the cause of God and man.

When I reflect on the prosperity of the people of
this country, such prosperity as the world never saw
before, there seems to rest upon us a momentous
weight of obligation to God. When I see the vast
tracts subdued by man from barrenness unto verdure
and beauty, and liberally rewarding his care ; when I

15

sec the Aillages gathering tlieir ahodes of plcntj- and
peace round tiic spires that rise like l)anners of love
above them ; when I see the wild streams lamed and
led to tmn the sparkling wheels of lahour ; v\ hen I see
the sails on c\eTy wave oi' ocean l)rjngiiis home
through their beaten paths the learning and luxuries
which our own land fails to supply ; when 1 see the
mighty cities that throng our shores, filled with the re-
finements of the old w orld, and far too nnicli of its
corruption ; when I think of the vast reach of our
country's boundaries, the magnificence of its military
preparation, and the navies bearing its thunder to the
utmost limit of the deep ; I leave it to others to boast
of this growing power ; these things remind me of a
responsibility such as never rested upon any people.
I look for the gratitude which this unmeasurable bles-
sing should inspire, for mighty efforts in the cause of
humanity and religion, at least for an attempt to efface
the wdde and deep stain that now covers half our
country, such as no other Christian nation now toler-
ates within its bounds.

If our prosperity is growing avaricious, sensual and
unfeeling, the fate of a city recorded in scripture
may afford us some instruction. Once the ships of
every nation were in the harbours of Tyre, and its
prosperity seemed set on an everlasting foundation.
Now the very ruins cannot be found on the forsaken
rock where it stood. There is nothing to exempt us
from the fate of others ; vessels of state that sailed as
gallantly as ours, have foundered and gone down.
When that time shall come, may our country be re-
membered not by the splendour of its ruins nor the
melancholy glory of successful wars. May its vestiges
be found in the gratitude of a much injured race, to
Whom in late atonement, it has given liberty, happiness

Hi

;uid rclii^ioii ; ilieii the historian of future time, when
he turns with disgust from the uniform records of vice
;uk1 oppression, may find relief in dwelling on our
country's annals, and feel his heart burn within hinj as
he writes them down.

Oh ! thou whose holiest name is Love !

Whose beams of mercy flow

From all the radiant heavens above

To bless the world below ;

Thy kindness, shared by all that live,

Is most divinely known

To those, whose hearts have tears to give

To sorrows not their own.

While each, beneath thy bounteous hand,

Some gift of mercy bears,

Thy love hath blessed our native land

Beyond our warmest prayers.

The blessings given to ages past,

The light they asked in vain

Are blended in our land at last ;

An Israel lives again !

.Soon as our cry was heard above

Thy mercy made us free :

But oh ! how thankless for thy love

The human heart can be.

For millions deeper in despair

Implore our aid in vain,

When if one spark of heaven were there

Our hands might rend their chain.

How long shall man resist thee so'f
"Tis time the hour began
When hearts shall feel for human woe,
And man be friends with man.
(Jnfailiiig, boundless, and divine,
Thy glorious mercy towers !
And since unwearied love is tliiii';
AJfiy grateful hearts be oijr?-.

lBaa'12