Bondage a moral institution , sanctioned by the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and the preaching and practice of the Saviour and his apostles

UC-NRLF

BONDAGE

A

MKDBA3L EH

SANCTIONED BY THE

SCKIFTUMES

OF THE

AIT® if 3HF

D 'THE

AND PRACTICE

OF THE

SAVIOUR

BY A SOUTHERN FARMER.

Abraham, the father of the faithful and the friend of Gad and man was a slave
owner. Genesis 14 ; 14.

The beet man that the Saviour found in all Israel was a slave-owner. Matt. 8 / 10 .

St. Paul rejoiced that there was a hope laid up in he'aven for slave-owners. CoJ-
etsiana 1 ; 1, 3,

,MACON:

PRINTED BY GRIFFIN <fo PURSE.

1837.

To the honest YEOMANRY of the South
ern States, the following pages are dedicated by
their fellow-citizen.

THE AUTHOR.

[Copy RIGHT SECURED.]

WHEN the destiny of millions is suspended on the
adoption of a sentiment said to be moral, it becomes
the duty of the most humble citizen to enquire wheth
er indeed it be founded on truth. That such a senti
ment pervades our country, is obvious to all who have
read the moral essays of the Abolitionists, and marked
their unhallowed influence on the minds of the credu
lous. No circumstances however delicate, nor events
however perilous, have prevented them from affirming
that u neither the New-Testament Scriptures, nor the
preaching and practice of our Lord and his Apostles
will justify slavery." Nor have they been idle ID their
efforts to secure the patronage of the virtuous and tal
ented in the publicity of the sentiment. The Press
has announced it as sacred truth — the minister of God
has hailed it as the messenger of Heaven to the slave ;
and the Statesman has laid it on the Altar of his coun
try, invoking the genius of Liberty to sanctify the
offering. Under such circumstances, modesty would
seem to forbid the humble farmer to utter a word ; but
viewing the sentiment as a reflection on the wisdom and
piety of our fathers who framed the Constitutional

Compact 'cf our country, he could not subscribe to
the sanctity of its character, until he had searched the
Scriptures and found it written in letters intelligible.
He has searched them most carefully and the result
of his researches is offered to the public in the follow
ing pages.

In the adoption of the sentiment " neither the New
Testament Scriptures, nor the preaching and practice of
our Lord and his Apostles, will justify slavery" the vota
ries of emancipation seem to have lost sight of the con
flict with which it involves the moral laws of the Old
and New Testaments. The words are so arranged
as to admit the conclusion, that the Old Testament
Scriptures do justify slavery ; and if according to their
declarations, " Slavery is a moral evil, for which human
ity blushes and the angel of mercy weeps" then the mor
al law of the Old Testament sanctions a moral evil,
which humanity, mercy and the New Testament Scrip
tures condemn. Nor does the absurdity of the senti
ment rest here — it implies that the HOLY TRIUNE GOD
who inspired the patriarchs and prophets with the purest
principles of piety, did not only permit them to live in
the perpetration of the moral evil, but decreed, that
for " the poor unfortunate slave? the dictates' of humani
ty should not be felt, nor the voice of mercy heard.,
until the days of the Abolitionists : for Abraham, with
all his sterling virtues and holy faith, seemed to have
been a stranger to the warm pulsations of that humani
ty with which their bosoms throb ; and the angel of mer
cy who permited him to bequeath his bond-servants to
Isaac and sustained his immortal spirit in its last con
flict, must either have forgottonto admonish the Patri-

arch of the wicked deed, or reserved for the present gen
eration, the more melting sounds of his voice : strange
divinity this, but it is as plainly written in the moral es
says of the Abolitionists, as the perpetual bondage of
the descendants of Ham is revealed and sanctioned in
the Koly Scriptures.

Moses, we are told, possessed in an eminent degree
the principles of philanthropy. Ho communed with
his maker, and on the Holy Mount where he was con
secrated the first Law-giver of the human family,
received such instructions as INFINITE WISDOM perceiv
ed would best promote their present and future happi
ness. And did he grant unto the Israelites the moral
right to hold the descendants of Hain in bondage ?
Hear his words : " And the Lord spake unto Moses in
Mount Sinai, sayinz : if thy brother that dwelletli by
the?, be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, thou shall
not compel him to servo as a bend servant; but as a
hiredservant, and a gbjourner, he shall be with thee and
shall servo thee unto the year of Jubilee ; and then
shall ho depart from thee, both he and his children
with him, and shall return unto his own family, and un
to the possession of his fathers shall he return.

Both thy bondmen and thy bondmaids which thou ;
shalt have, shall be of the Heathen that are round ;
about you ; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bond
maids. Moreover, of the children of the strangers
that do sojourn among you, of them shall you buy, and
of their families that are with you, which they begat in
your land ; and they shall be your possession ; and ye
shall take them as an inheritance for your children af
ter you, to inherit for a possession ; they shall be your

bondmen forever." * Can language be more emphatic
than this ? where in all the vocabularies of earth can
words be selected, which more clearly justify perpetu
al bondage ? But we are told that the woidforevci with
which this moral and legal instrument concludes,
" should not be construed literally but definitely, for tho
institution of Jubilee was specially designed to break
the fetters of bondage." By what authority this re
mark can be applied to the descendants of Ham, we are
at a loss to conjecture. With the most careful peru
sal of the writings of Moses and the Prophets we have
not been able to discover any other distinction between
the bondage of the poorer class of Israelites and that
of the Heathen and Stranger, than is recorded in the
words we have quoted: the former were released from
their bonds in the year of Jubilee, but not the latter ;
thus fulfilling as early as the days of Moses, and from
thence to the present period, the dying but prophetic
words of the Patriarch Noah, " God shall enlarge Ja-
pheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem ; and
Canaan shall be his servant." t

But " this distinction between the creatures of a just
and merciful creator," is said to be " at war with all
his moral attributes, consequently slavery cannot be
right." That such an objection, involving so many ex
tremely delicate illusions, should be offered by those
who have but little regard for either the attributes of
Deity or the precepts of his word, is not astonishing ;
but that it should be advocated by those who minister
at the Altar, and whose business is- to defend the pre-

* Leviticus, Chapter 25.
t <ycn<;*i.«, Chapter 0 ; v. 27.

cepts and institutions of the Bible, is truly marvelous.
If the distinction on which the objection rests be a
reflection on the attributes of Deity, it is also a reflec
tion on his word and will which sanction it ; conse
quently, his word and will are arrayed against his at
tributes, by the moral logic of the Abolitionists. A
sad dilemna this in which the Priests have involved
themselves, for they have invariably taught us that there
is no conflict whatever between the word and will, and
attributes of Jehovah, but the most perfect harmony ;
otherwise the whole moral Code would be imperfect
and consequently beneath the esteem of man. If this
be moral truth, and who can doubt it? by what authori
ty will they affirm that the bondage entailed on the
descendants of Ham, under sanction of the word
and will of God, " is at war with his moral attributes?"
We leave the solution of this problem, to the morbid
mind that conceived it, not however without a word
in reply to the objection on which it is founded. That,
we conceive, rests upon a contracted view both of the
agency of man, and the purposes of Deity. If we seek
instruction from the precepts of the moral law, we
learn that the great Creator of the Universe is not
accountable for that deficiency of human intellect,
which distinguish so many of his creatures and from
whence spring the ills of poverty and want : and from
them we also learn, that in all the dispensations of a
merciful providence, our eternal felicity is regarded
with a more compassionate eye than our present com
fort ; hence the stations we occupy and the spheres in
which we move, are not to be received as evidences
either of his approbation or disapprobation. His om-

nlscicnce is as boundless as his mercy, and if IFINITH
WISDOM perceived that the capacities of the " Heathen
and Stranger' would not permit them to provide for
their necessities, INFINITE MERCY could but provide
masters for them, and if infinite wisdom perceived
that the condition of bondage would better secure
their eternal felicity, JUSTICE and MERCY could but
sanction the deed.

With this view of the subject, we can perceive no
conflict whatever between the word, and will, and at
tributes of Deity in the permission of slavery. Could it
be proven that its subjects were thereby excluded from
the means of grace and their condition rendered more
intolerable by their bonds, the morality of the institu
tion might be questioned ; but the history of the Pat
riarchs and Prophets, is replete with evidences to the
contrary of this, nor is there an instance recorded, of
that rebellious spirit among their slaves, which is said
to be produced " by the iron hand of bondage." They
had once enjoyed freedom, and with all its "munificent
gifts," they could but sip of the bitter cup of poverty
and realize in the cries of their hungry little ones, its
heart-rending ills — now, their bread was given them,
their wants supplied, and they gave thanks to Heaven
for the ample provision. Would they have exchanged
their condition, for the priviliges now granted to the
peasantry of enlightened England? It is hardly proba
ble : nor is it probable that the slaves of Baoz, would
have exchanged their servitude for that imposed upon
the hired servants of the Abolitionists. Why then
should the voice of humanity be roused to plead the
injustice of God and man in the institution of bondage?

Is it iurloed nu act of inhumanity to meliorate the
dition .ri beings' We appeal to teason and inspfc

ration for the r< ply, and proceed to the second part at"

our argument.

If " neither tlic New Testament Scriptures^ nor the
j« aching and practice of our Lord and Jus Apostles w ill
.jut* 'j]l slavery ," they must condemn it, and whatever
our Lord and his apostles condemn, every good man
should also condemn, Tims the Abolitionists reason^
a: 1 according to their premises they reason correct*
] •! 'at are \ • s< s correct? We uisw^r in the

n.-rntive: th/To is- not a prec--^i :n the writings of the
Saviour and his Apostles which denounces the morali
ty of the institution of slavery established in t.h~ <ir<ys
€»\' Moses; on the contrary,- we find the moral right to
oun slaves, justified by the act of the Saviour and his
apostles receiving slave-owners in the church and
greeting them as brethren in the faith.- Can thi.3
be denied ? In the face of truth and evidence, it has
been denied: some of the philanthropists of the pres^
ent age, have assumed the right to say that "the condt-
$on of the Roman slaves was nothing more than that
•f hirelings," and the more effectually to impose this*
specious illusion on the minds of the credulous, they
h'ive asserted that " the word slave appertaining to the
condition of our slaves^ is not to be found in tlie New
Testament." Into what mazes of error may not the
uiind of man be driven in support of a false -position,-
If the testimony of the best historians is to be reject
ed, if the "galling yoke of Roman bondage" of which
•fli y speak, be ino < ve be.^ leave 'o -ssk

votaries of emancipation for a literal definition &$

10

the original word, Doulos, translated servant in the
Scriptures of the New Testament. We have endeav
oured to consult the best lexicographers and from them
we derive authority to say, that the more correct trans
lation, is slave ; and this opinion is sustained by the
distinction which the sacred writ rs have invariably
marked between the origin d words Didaskalos and
Bcspotas, both of which are translated master in our
yersion. In the Gospel recorded by the four Evan
gelists and in other parts of the New Testament Scrip
tures where the word master is used to designate a lord
or officer of the Roman Empire, the original is Di
daskalos ; and wherever the word implies a relation to
servants, the original is Despotas, the literal interpre
tation of which is a Despot, the peculiar characteristic
o! a Roman slave-owner. On such authority we as
sume our position; and until it can be proven that the
whole Roman history is a farce and its authors deserve
to be numbered among the fabulous, we shall con
tinue to believe that St. Paul in the following words
addressed slaves whose masters were members of the
Church of Christ — " Let as many servants as are under
the yoke, count their own masters worthy of all honor ;
that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphem
ed. And they that have believing masters, let tbein not
despise them because they are Brethren ; but rather
do them service, because they are faithful and beloved
partakers of the benefit. These things teach and ex
hort." *

If we are not mistaken, those words of St. Paul
were addressed to the slaves of Rome, by the hand of

* Timothy 6th Chapter 1-2.

11

Timothy, who was sent to visit them in the character
of a missionary. Ti'ie heart of the Apostle burned
with a holy zeal for that class of human beings The
first to appeal to the humanity of their masters for
their temporal comfort, he was not the last to cherish
the most compassion ue regard for their ctcru
licity. Nor did ae s irink from the duty of exposing
the crimes ol each. No circumstances, "neither
stripes, nor bonds, nor imprisonment,* could deter
him from declaring "tlie whole counsel of God"' and
exposing the moral errors of man wherever he discov
ered them. What then but precepts of the purest
morality could have been expected from him in a
charge involving the eternal interests of the slave —
Let us analyze ins words, that we may correctly as
certain his view of their moral obligations to their
masters. " Let as many servants as are under the yol:c" :
wlmt Yoke? surely it could not have been that of a
hired servant, for the very introduction tof the word
in the sentence implies that there were two distinct
classes of servants in Rome — one bond, and the other
free — one under a yoke, and the other not — what then
but the yoke of Bondage could the Apostle have meant?
" Count their own masters worthy of ail honor" — and
could such masters as held their slaves in bondage
contrary to the principles of humanity and " the Scrip
tures of the New Testament," have been worthy of all
honor ? Did the great Apostle of the Gentiles in all
the purity of his heart and the light of his extraordi
nary learning, ever advance a sentiment so repugmint
to the precepts of tromlity and the dictates of com-
mon sense?" that the name of God and his doclrino be

12

blasphemed ;" and could the name of God, ami [11$
dootrme, have been blasphemed by the disobedience
of freemen, held in bondage contr; ry to "the Scrip.-.
tares of the New Testament ??? In tin; name of morali-,
ty and consistency, we ask the question ; where in aU
the sacred volume can be found a solitary sen^nee^
representing the sons o ftrcmen blaspheming the.
name and doctrine of God by contending for the birth
right of Liberty/ Did not the Apostle himself con
tend tor the liberty of a Ivo-nan citizen when his rights
were assailed ? If then the slaves of Rome whom he
directed Timothy to admonish in tho words we have
quoted, where also entitled to the privilege* KH-IB

citizens, by what principle of morality or -, :^

could he have been justified for the act / \ ind ^ d

painful to see into wlrot depths of error
tency, the votaries of emancipation have thrown the
sacred writers. No principle o humanity, putriot-
is;-;i, or virtue^ could have sustained the Apostle m uri^-
irig the most unqualified obedience on the skm-s of
Rome, if their masters had robbed thv'.m of their lib
erty or held them in bondage contrary to tue precepts
of the Bible.

Wo :nvo already insiiuited that St. Paul devoted
mucli of las time to the instruction of slaves, andl
that he was by no moans deficient .in moral courage?
in ins elibrts to meliorate their condition. To tu-ir
niaslers h(} applied the precepts of tiie moral law and
urged tlicrn to bo compassionate to their slaves. ':^ut
•\vLore auioii^ all his preeepis do we fin-] a word on
the sdbjec:.ol abolition/ Did ho shrink fro it.hot fk
fearing it might co^t nira bis life ? certainly noi> for

13

life he assures us, "/.-•</$ kid with Christ -in
nor did he counr, it dear to iiim wiien he entered the
Athenian Court, exposed the fallacy of idol Gods, and
planted within the walls of Iniidelity the standard of
the Cross. Whence that holy zeal and god-like mag-*
nanimity? surely from ardent desire to correct the
moral errors of the Athenians which threatened their
destruction. And was he less merciful to the slave
owners of- Rome ? Did he believe that the bonds of
their slaves would expose them to the vengeance of
Heaven, and yet was he silent ? We cannot perceive
the consistency of that logic, or the morality « f that s\ s-
ti-mof Ethics, which admits such conclusions. If ti
midity or partiality could have occupied any sp^co in
the bosom of the Apostle, surely the former would have
yielded to the dictates of the latter m the case oi 1 hile-
mon. He was a fellow labourer in the Gospel ^nd
bound to him by the most sacred ties. To such a
friend who possessed his entire confidence, he could
freely have imparted his thoughts on the most delicate
subjects; nor could he consistently with the duties of
his apostolic office have refused to instruct him on a
subject of so much interest as the bondage of his
slaves. He did instruct him by the hand of his serv
ant Onesimus, who h d absconded from his mastf.r,
and to whom he applied the precepts of the mor.l
Jaw on obedience and fidelity witn such force, as to
effect his conversion. Being fully persuaded of o
sincerity of his repentance, he made him the bearer
of a letter to his master, pr<;> r>r; that? r >' • \ par
doned lor his trcmsgn ss.on.* is H not rnarveious that

* Epistle of St. Paul to r

14

the Apostle should hare entreated Philemon not to pun
ish the -runaway, if he regarded it repugnant to the
" Scriptures of the New-Testament," even for suck a
master, a minister of the Gospel, to punish such a slave?
Could he have viewed the condition of the fugitive
with the light reflected from the gteat moral luminary
of the Abolitionists, rather would he have concealed
him from the sight of his master, until he had sent up
his PETITIONS to the Senate of Rome and the Throne
of Heaven to release him from his bonds ; but guided
by the light of INSPIRATION only, he admonished him
of having been an " unprofitable servant, " and desired
him to return to his master's service, with the best pur
poses of his heart to be " profitable" for the future.

No reproachful epithets did he cast on Philemon, nor
did he insinuate that it was contrary to the precepts of
the Bible or the duties of his sacred office to own a
slave. *

44 Servants," said the same Apostle, to the slaves at
Colosse, " obey in all things, your masters according
to the flesh ; not with eye service as menpleasers ; but
in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever
ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men ;
knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward
of the inheritance : for ye serve the Lord Christ. But
he that doeth wrong, shall receive for the wrong that he
hath done, t

* In the election of Bishops at the last General Conference, fhe Northern French-
ew were quite too consciert//yj«j to agree with St Paui on this subject. As their ten
der, feeling would not permit them 10 suffer " a slave owner" to exercise the Episcopal
Oilbe at the North, we h->pe they will favor us>, in the future, with the services of
Bishops SOULB and ANDREW oaf:/. We want no Bishops in the South who assume
more humanity and pietv taan St. Paul, and should the service* rf eueh be imposed
upon u«, we hope they w.li come prepared lor a CATECHETICAL EXAMINATION, and
for a COURTEOUS DISMISSIO.V, in the event of their proving heterodox to the i<uitli of
ihe Apo^vie and the principles of the Constitution.

t Co)lusj-iane» 3, Clir^r. 22, tt.

15

Jn this mornl lesson, the sbves at Colosse were not
only t-ai^iit tiiat the sincerity of their piety should be
u by their obedience and fidelity to their masters,
but that the blessings of Heaven would be bestowed
on none but faithful and obedient servants ; and if their
bondage was contrary to the will of God and " the
Scriptures of the New-Testament," we cannot per
ceive by what principle of morality the Apostle could
have been justified for so teaching tkem. The Epis
tle, of which the words we have quoted compose a
part, was addressed to members of the Church of
Christ, and to such members as were called " Saints
and faithful Brethren." Astounding fact ! that slave
owners should have been denominated Saints and faith
ful Brethren — and that too, by an Inspired Apostle.
It is nevertheless true, and it is also true that such was
the peculiar character of the Colossian slave-owners
and their brethren. There piety and simplicity of
heart were known abroad, and having escaped the
snares of " vain philosophy, traditions, and the wor
shiping of angels," into which other members of the
Church had fallen, the Apostle approved their fidelity
and exhorted them to abide in the faith. Surely to
such saints and faithful brethren he could freely have
imparted his mind on slavery, and the more so, if he
regarded it a " moral evil." Why then was he silent?
And why did he conclude his admonitions with the
threat " but he that docth wrong, shall receive for the
wrong he hath done." If their masters kept them in
bondage contrary to " the Scriptures of the New-Tes
tament," and their bonds prevented them from re< 1-
izing tiie necessaries of life and tke moral enjoyments

*

of which their capacities \vrre susceptible* they edukl
not have done wrong by contending for the:r li:
nor could St. Paul as an expounder of " the Scriptures
of the New-Testament*" have done right to teach them
otherwise ; but admit the conclusion, which is inevita
ble, that the coriditicn of bondage was better adapted
to their wants and capacities than any other, an* by
no means prevented them from the enjoyment of reli
gious privileges, then is the lesson of the Apostle jus
tified by every principle of humanity and moral truth.
No sentiment has saluted our ears more frequently,
or with more pleasure from the s acred desk, than that
which portrays the object of the Saviour's mission.

" Ho ca;ne the crimes of masi to efface
And lift his immortal spirit to the skies."

It was for this purpose he came, says the minister at
the North, and for this purpose did he come, says the
minister at the South. Who then can doubt it? And
wiio should presume to question his moral ability to ac
complish the benevolent object ? Surely those who
greet in the holy sanctuary the votaries of emancipa
tion, should be the last to advance a sentiment so ex
tremely absurd. But is not the absurdity with which
it is marked displayed in their moral essays on slavery?
We think so : for if " slavery be a crime for which hu
manity blushes, and the angel of mercy weeps" the Sav
iour did either not possess the moral ability to abolish
it, or he did not possess the philanthropy to denounce
it; for it is manifest that he did neither abolish the in
stitution, nor denounce its advocates. What then is
the- eoodusion ? It should not be told but in terms of
human compassion, for the heart sickens at the thought

1?

of that morality which exalts itself above the Gos
pel, and that philanthropy which assumes more than
the Saviour. It is not true that the Gracious Re
deemer did not possess the moral ability to correct
the errors of man, nor is it true that the measure of
his philanthropy, was beneath the standard of his
creatures. No circumstances nor events, neither prin
cipalities nor powers, could arrest his omnipotent arm
in the accomplishment of his benevolent purposes.
The rich and poor, the bond and free, were all permit
ted to hear the admonitions of his compassionate
voice, in accents alternately gentle as the dews of
Heaven. Nor wrere transgressors excluded from its
hallowed influence. " I will have mercy," said he,
" and not sacrifice ; for I am not come to call the
righteous ; but sinners to repentance." Why then
did he not address the slave owners of Rome, as sin
ners and transgressors of the Moral Law 1 If he re-
oarded slavery " a moral evil and a curse to the poor"
could he in the plenitude of his mercy have refused
to admonish them of its baneful effects ! The poor,
(and surely the Slaves of Rome were included among
the number,) seemed to be the objects of his most
tender regard. And did he look upon their bondage
as " a grievous burthen, a curse to their posterity,"
and! an object of his compassion? Certainly not, for
where is recorded his compassion for their bonds!
And where in the spirit and words of the Abolition
ists, did he rebuke their masters as " cruel oppressors
— tyrannical lords — destitute of the finer feelings of
humanity'' We have not found the semblance of
such epithets in his admonitions, but in our research-

3

18'

es for the truth on this subject, we found the Centuri
on,* one of the wealthy slave owners of Rome, be
seeching the Saviour to come and heal one of his slaves
afflicted with the palsy — his petition was granted, and
the Saviour said of him, " I have not found so great
faith ; no, not in Israel" — How marvelous that the
best man in all Israel should have been a slave own
er — and how much more marvelous that the compas
sionate Redeemer should not have torn from the
bosom of that honest slave owner, a principle opposed
to " the Scriptures of the New Testament," if indeed
slavery was that principle-- Away with the sentiment,
" the finer feelings of humanity dwell not in the bo-^
soms of slave owners." The Saviour found in at
least one of that class of human beings, all the vir
tues of the Christian faith ; and if an angel was now
sent to select those from whose hearts the milk of hu
man kindness pours its thousand streams of charity,
we honestly believe that he would make his selection
among the vilified " KIDNAPPERS OF THE SOUTH." We
may be regarded selfish in this opinion, but we have
so often seen the hand of compassion and bounty ex
tended to the aged, helpless slave, and the most me
nial offices performed for the comfort and happiness
of such objects as are doomed in the "Classic land of
Liberty," to beg their crums in the Streets and High
ways, we can but indulge it.

We have assumed the position that slavery was
and is a merciful dispensation to that class of men

* Sec St. Matthew S Chapter, 9 rors«, whore the distinction of the terms man an«J
servant is observed according t« the custom of the Renitse— tht former
mldicr — the latter a sfcrrr.

19

who hare neither the means nor capacities to provide
for their wants ; and our position is sustained, not
only by the moral truth, that the Supreme Being is
not accountable for the deficiency of the means and
capacities of his creatures, but by the passive acknowl
edgment of the morality of the Institution observed
by the Saviour in all his precepts. He is a merciful
man, says the voice of Christianity, who meliorates
the condition of his fellow men — hence, our Lord re
buked not the Centurion for holding his slaves in bon
dage, because their condition was thereby materially
benefitted, nor did he forbid him to bequeath them to
his posterity, in conformity with the Mosaic Law.
" But he came not destroy, but to fulfill the Law,"
say the Abolitionists, " consequently he could but be
silent on the subject of slavery." This is another of
the many sophisms which seem to have been strained
from the sacred Code, to mar the peace of the slave
and excite his vindictive passions. It is true the Sav
iour came not to destroy the Monal Law delivered to
Moses on Sinai, but every precept of the Ceremoni
al Law which he regarded contrary to the spirit of
Christianity he did abolish. And wrhy 1 Because the
former bore tire impress of Deity, and was therefore
perfect — the latter was a human production and there
fore imperfect — and having come to correct the er
rors of man, he was bound by all his attributes to cor
rect every immoral precept of the Ceremonial Law ;
accordingly, in his sermon on the Mount, particularly
that part of it recorded in the 5th Chap. St. Matthew,
he performed that office. And why may we ask, if
he regarded slavery " a moral evil" was it not inclu^

20

ded among the number of moral evils denounced or*
that solemn occasion ? The descendants of Ham
were then in bondage— and the poor Hebrew had not
heard the glad sound of a Jubilee since the days of
Nehemiah, a period of 415 years anterior to the chris-
tian era. Why was the compassionate Redemer si
lent on a subject so momentous 1 Was it because
" his kingdom was not of this world," as we have been
told ? True, his kingdom was not of this world, for
his word assures us it was " a kingdom of righteous
ness, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost." And who
but the righteous could have been received as its sub
jects — who but the righteous could have been par
takers of its joy and peace ? The Centurion was not
excluded, nor were the saints and faithful Brethren at
Colosse. Were they received as probationers only
until they had atoned for " the accursed sin of slave
ry V Why then were not their privileges as subjects
of that kingdom suspended on the emancipation of
their slaves ? Did the INFINITE WISDOM of the Sav
iour perceive that such an injunction would meliorate
their condition and the condition of myriads yet un
born, but his INFINTE MERCY could not enforce it ?
Did his DIVINITY look through the events of distant
ages, and perceiving that the present and future hap
piness of millions would be destroyed by the bonds
of servitude, would fain have rebuked the world — but
it was more than his HUMANITY could do ? Did he in
deed regard slavery, " a reproach to Christianity — a
principle at war uith every emotion of humanity and
mercy" and refused to lift his voice against it ? Was
the measure of his compassion ;>o far beneath the Ab-

81

olitionists that he could not utter a word of commis
eration for the bonds of " the Heathen and Strang
er ?" — Well indeed may " humanity blush" at such
a picture of the compassionate Redeemer — and well
may " the Jlngel of mercy weep" when within the
temples of the MOST HIGH, it is engraven by the holy
hand of Priesthood, and sent forth to rouse a rebel
lious spirit. It is not true that the Immaculate Sav
iour passed by " the heathen^ and stranger" as objects
beneath his care — nor is it true that he reserved for
the Satellites of Tappan and Garrison, that compas
sion for their bonds, which he could neither cherish
himself, nor permit his Apostles to cherish He be
held their condition — he looked to their future destiny,
and viewing the events and calamities of ages and gen •
erations yet to come, he released them not from their
bonds, because he regarded them essential to their
wants — and he rebuked not their masters, because they
were acting under the authority of a moral Institu
tion, sanctioned by the precepts of a moral law.

With this view of the subject, (and we can perceive
no other that does not represent the Almighty as an
unjust, cruel tyrant, accountable for the incidental
deficiences of the means and capacities of his crea
tures,) it is obvious that " the New Testament Scrip
tures and the preaching and practice of our Lord and
his Apostles" do justify slavery ; and we will now
enquire by what authority the Abolitionists have af
firmed, that an institution stampt with the seal of Si-
nia — justified by the patriarchs and prophets, and
sanctioned by the Saviour and his Apostles, " is con
trary to the SPIRIT of Christianity ?" The falla-

ey of th,e sentiment, when fairly presented, must be
obvious to the most superficial reasoner ; but it is so
often viewed in the abstract, and so long and repeat
edly has it been acknowledged as a self evident truth,
it has assumed the character of tradition, we will
therefore examine its moral worth. And what is
Christianity 1 The religion taught' by the Saviour.
And what is the religion taught by the Saviour? Re
pentance, faith and holiness ; the sincerity of which is
exemplified by a due obedience to the precepts of the
moral law. We have been taught no better defini
tion of Christianity than this, nor have we been able
to learn that its spirit is a separate immaterial parti
cle, inculcating precepts more moral and divine than
Christianity itself. It cannot be true ; for if there be a
moral principle in the spirit of Christianity that is not
to be found in its precepts, it must require more than
ordinary capacities to comprehend it: then is grace
limited to the wise, and God is unjust by excluding
the ignorant from its holy influence. We cannot be
lieve it ; for the sublimity of the whole moral code,
apart from its divine character, consists in the sim
plicity of its precepts ; and those precepts most hap
pily adapted to every grade of human intellect, em
brace not only the whole duty of man, but all that the
spirit of Christianity can possibly inculcate ; hence
saith the Apostle, " there is one body, and one spirit"
and inasmuch as the spirit of man is judged by the
deeds of the law, so is the spirit of Christianity testified
by the precepts of its author ; for " as the body tcithout
the spirit is dead" so the word of God without the
spirit of Christianity is dead also. There can be no

23

just distinction of the terms, for it is not possible to
conceive an idea more absurd, than that of the Saviour
and his Apostles inculcating precepts of moral obedi
ence contrary to the spirit of Christianity. What,
then, is the conclusion ? It is this ; that all the pre
cepts of the Gospel addressed to the slaves of Rome,
were not only consistent with the letter, but the spirit
of Christianity, for " the words that I speak" said the
Saviour, " they are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE."

With these reflections, we will now proceed to ex
amine those precepts which were specially directed
to masters, and such others as are conneted with them.
St. Paul thus addressed the slaves at Ephesus and
their masters : " Servants be obedient to your masters
according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sin
gleness of your heart as unto Christ ; not with eye ser
vice, as men pleasers ; but as the servants of Christ,
doing the will of God from the heart ; with good will
doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men : know
ing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the
same shall be receive of the Lord, whether he be bond
or free. And ye masters, do the same things unto
them, forbearing threatening : knowing that your
master also is in Heaven ; neither is there respect of
persons with him. Finally, my brethren, be strong in
the Lord, and in the power of his might."* In these
words the principles of obedience and humanity are
enforced in a manner peculiarly emphatic, The slave
is taught that to secure the approbation of his Heav
enly Ma»ter,he must conscientiously discharge his du-

•' Ephesians, Chap. 6, 5-10.

24

tie's to his earthly master ; and his master is taught
that if he would obtain the like favor, he must ex
ercise benevolence and compassion to his slave ; and
having thus discharged their duties to each other, they
are exhorted to " be strong in the Lord, and in the
power of his might" Whether it was possible for
the master who held his slave in bondage contrary to
the word and spirit of Christianity to be strong in the
Lord, and in the power of his might; and whether
the Apostle could have been justified for thus affec
tionately exhorting such a master, we leave the reader
to determine. It is the opinion of a learned com
mentator, that the words "forbearing threatening"
were intended as a rebuke to such masters as were in
the habit of using menacing language to their servants;
the act not being consistent with the spirit of Christi
anity, the Apostle admonished the Ephesians of its
evil tendency. But here his admonition ended : they
were his brethren in the church, and so much confi
dence had he in the sincerity of their piety, that he so
licited an interest in their prayers.? Not a word did
he utter on the subject of emancipation, nor did he in
sinuate that it was contrary to the word or spirit of
Christianity, for the relation which then existed be
tween masters and slaves to be perpetuated. The
words "for there is no respect of persons with him"
which have been so cruelly tortured to prove the ini
quity of slavery, refer specially to the future and eter
nal inheritance, which, without regard to poverty or
wealth, freedom or bondage, is bestowed upon the vir
tuous. They can have no reference whatever to earth-

* Read the Gth chapter of Ephesians.

25

ly distinctions, for MoseS was placed in a more exalt
ed station than the rest of the Israelites by the special
will of Heaven, Samuel also \vas anointed king by his
MAKER'S permission, the priests and rulers were en
dowed with special privileges, and the Apostle him
self enjoined it on the Komans."to render to all their
dues, tribute to whom tribute is due ; custom to whom
custom ; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor."

"Masters" said the same Apostle to the Christians
at Colosse, "give unto your servants lhat winch is
jtist and equal; knowing that ye also have a. master
in Heaven.'''* Dr. Clarke (who though not an Abo-
litioilist, cherished against slavery the prejudices pe
culiar to the English.) admids that these words were
addressed to the owners of slaves who are requi
red by them to give their slaves comfortable food
comfortable raiment and a reasonable task of labor .
This was what he conceived equivalent to their ser
vices, and justly due them. We have no objection t6
his opinion, nor do we believe a more correct exposition
of the words can be given. They were addressed, as
we before stated, to " the saints and faithful brethren"
at Colosse, who enjoyed the entire confidence of the
Apostle, and for whom he said "there was a hope
l;iid up in Heaven.'' They contain his last admoni
tion to masters, and the last that we have discovered
in the New Testament. Is there a word in the sen
tence on the subject of emancipation? There is not
— nor did the Apostle insinuate that it was inconsist
ent with the spirit of Christianity for saints and faith-
Jut brethren to hold their servants in perpetual bond
age. Whence, then, have the Abolitionists derived

ColoRsians, 4, 1.

4

their authority for the declaration ? Have they re
ceived a special dispensation of gracie to which the
Apostle was an utter stranger 1 Was it reserved for
their lucid minds so thoroughly to explore; the science
of salvation, as to discover that on the subject of slav
ery, there is neither the spirit nor life of Christianity
in the words of the Saviour and his Apostles I Would
to God we could cover their daring arrogance with
the mantle of charity, and attribute their unholy
purposes to the spirit of fanaticism. But we cannot
—the disturbing spirit has been roused, not by the
credulous and visionary, but by the voice of learned
priests— and those whom the Saviour and his Apos
tles approved as saints and faithful brethren, they de
nounce as "unjust, cruel, kidnappers guilty of the
most atrocious transgressions against Godandman"
Well for them — if after all their pious efforts to fill the
coffers of monopolists, at the cost of ttie tears and
blood of Southern slave owners, some Hetavenly mes
senger shall greet them with the salutation of St. Paul
to the slave owners at Colosse ; " We give thanks to
God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, since
tee heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the
love which ye have for all the saints, and for the hope
which is laid up for you in Heaven"

It has been maintained by the Abolitionists, that St.
Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians most unequiv
ocally condemns slavery in the following words —
" Let every man atiide in the same calling wherein he
was called. Art thoti called being a servant! care
not for it; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rath
er. For he that is railed in the Lord, being a servant,

27

is the Lord's free man : likewise also, he that is cal
led, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought
with a price ; be not ye servants of men. Breth
ren, let every man, wherein he is called, threin abide."
We intend that a trio as worthy as Locke, Coke and
Whitby shall expound these words. " Let every man
abide in the same calling wherein he is called, desir
ing no alteration in his condition, but satisfied with
the dispensations of God's providence — Jlrt thou cal
led being a servant 1 care not for it ; because thy
condition as a servant or a slave is therefore not the
less acceptable to God — but if thou mayest be made
free, use it rather; if thou canst obtain thy liberty by
righteous means, it may be lawful for thee to desire
it ; but if thou canst not, content thyself, and look not
upon thy condition as a mark of God's displeasure —
For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is
the Lord's free man ; brought from the bondage of
sin to the most desirable freedom, the glorious liberty
of the sons of God — Likewise, also, he that is called
being free, is Christ's servant ; for whatever thy civ
il privileges may be, when thou hast taken the Lord
for thy master, thou art as much bound to obey
his commandments as the meanest slave — Ye are
bought icit/i a price, even the blood of Jesus — be not
ye the servants of men ; in their ungodly practices
and idolatrous worship, but serve the Lord thy God —
Brethren, let every man wherein he is called, whatev
er his station in life may be — therein abide with Gvd,
resigned to his will and the dispensations of his prov
idence" — We wish it distinctly understood that these
reflections are from the pens of the learned and pious

28

who were free from what is called " the sin of slavery*'
and who had imbibed prejudices quite strong enough
to permit them to discover some moral injunctions
against it, if such were contained in the words. The
Epistle from which the words are selected, seems to
have been written by St. Paul in reply to a letter of
consultation addressed him at Ephesus by some mem
bers of the Church at Corinth.* In the ardor of his
holy zeal, he had visited all the Asiatic provinces of
Greece and remained some time in the city of Corinth,
then the capital of Achaia in the Peloponesus, where
many were converted by his ministry, and whose par
tiality for him induced them to consult him on some
important matters which occurred after his departure.
Contests and divisions had arisen among them, and
while some exclaimed "/ am of Pain" — others, " /
of Jlj>vllo$"—nnr3. others, " / of Cephas" a certain
class contended that the privileges of their Christian
stdtt; and the franchises of the kingdom of Christ had
released them from the ties and obligations which had
previously bound them as members of the cicil no-
ciety. To that class, the Apostle addressed the words
we have quoted. They were servants, and it is obvi
ous that they were servants of a peculiar class, other
wise they would have been admonished as were the
servants of Ephesus and Colosse, for the Apostle
could not have been partial and just also. The word?
rfpvfeuthcros, rendered freed man, in Lathi lAbtrtut
— signifies says Locke, not simply a free man, but one
who having been a slave, has had his freedom given

* The Reader is referred to the tan or of that part of the Episile embraced in th« 7
fast Chapters for the proof of our remarks.

29

him by his master, and as the Grecians on special
occasions liberated such slaves as had once enjoyed
freedom, but by the fate of war had fallen under the
yoke of bondage, and in that condition proved them
selves worthy of their former state, the servants at
Corinth contended (after their conversion) that their
relation to their masters in the Church entitled them
to like privileges. That such had been their fate and
such their maans and capacities, St. Paul believed, (as
some of our Southern shive owners believe when they
emancipate certain slaves) that they might be happi
er in a state of freedom, the words ''-if'tkou ma'/cxt be,
mrlrfrrr, use, it ratfirr" most conclusively imply, but
nothing more — for the Apostle rebuked them as often
as three times in the compass of seven verses for con-
teirlingthat Christianity either by the influence of its
g/nritoriteprecrijts, gave them a ?irw or peculiar lib
erty to change their condition, or imposed that obli
gation on their masters. And why may we r»sk did he
withhold his admonitions to their masters if it were
contrary to the spirit of Christianity for them to hold
even *uch servants in bondage ? The occasion was
one of peculiar interest and must havu enlisted the
sympathies of his heart. As an umpire, a mediator
and the spiritual father of both master and slave, his
counsel was solicited on a subject embracing their
present and future happiness. Behold my bonds and
pity me, ciied the slave — tell me my duty and I will
perform it, responded the master. And what said the
Apostle ? " 'Brethren, Id every man wherein he is
called, therein abide icith God. For he that is cal
led in the Lurd, being a servant, is the Lord's free-

30

man : likewise also, he that is called, being free is
Christs servant." Such were his words. And where
are those which breathe more of the spirit of Christi
anity — where shall we find others that more clearly
prove the compassion of its author? Shall we seek
them in the crimson pages of a Garrison and his god
ly companions? — The words "ye are bought with a
price; b not ye the servants of men" which they have
Tauntingly exclaimed, " prove the iniquity of slavery
beyond the possibility of doubt," according to their
hypothesis, impeach not only the consistency but the
morality of the Apostle, For if they contain an ad
monition to servants and refer especially to the condi
tion of bondage, why should St. Paul have charged
the servants at EpheSus and Colosse to " obey in all
things their masters according to the flesh ?" St. Pe
ter who partook of his spirit and seemed to have cher
ished no little concern for the moral instruction of the
slaves at Galatia, thus addressed them—" Servants
be subject to your masters, (detpotai) with all fear ;
not only to thegnod and gentle, but also thsjroward"
For this is thank-worthy if a man for conscience to
wards God endure grief, suffering wrongfully — For
what glory is it, if, when ye be bu(Fett«'d for your faults,
ye take it patiently ? but if when ye do well, and suf
fer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable to
God."* We can perceive no morality or consistency
in these and such admonitions as St. Paul addressed
to the slaves of Ephesus and Colosse, if it were con
trary to the express word of God for "no man to be
calkd the servant of another" as the Abolitionists in-

* 1 Peter 2nd Chap. 18-20-

31

form us, but reverse the position, and the Apostles aro
free from reproach.

We beg leave to compare the admonition of St.
Peter with the moral scntimtnls of a learned priest of
the Abolition School, which, if they did not procure
him the degree of D. D. at least prevented him not
from receiving it : " slavery" says the divine, "is made
up of every crime that treachery, cruelty and murder
can invent; and slave owners, who are men slealcrs,
are the very worst of thieves. The most knavish
tricks are practised by those dealers in human flesh ;
and if slaves judge of our moral character by that of
their masters, they must suppose that Christians arc
devils, and that Christianity teas forged in hell. Can
devils plot against us, worse than they do against
them ? In art and wickedness, as it respects princi
ple and practice, their masters abundantly exceed"
4i Out of the abundance of the heart," said the Saviour,
" the mouth speaketh ;" we may therefore justly con
clude, that there was at least as much of the; spirit of
piety in the heart of the writer, as in the words of his
mouth. St. Peter, however, differed with the learn
ed divine, for, among " the men stealers" of Galatia
he found some whom he called good and gentle— the
people of God — elect through sanctification oj the
spirit, and to whom he applied the Gospel salutation,
" brethren, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied"
Strange indeed, that the Apostle should have been so
charitable to " thieves and murderers," and still more
strange that he should have rejoiced ((that there was
reserved in Heaven for them, an inheritance incor
ruptible, undejiled, and that faddh not aicay" W«

32

had thought that the Heavenly inheritance was re
served for a different class of beings to those " who
are pruilly of curry c.riin1.' thai tec&fh-ery, cruelty and
mwtlr.r c'tn invent" and we still think sa: but we are
admonished by one' of the fwfy spirits of the Aboli
tion school, to be cautious how we form favorable
opinions of the future happiness of slave owners, for
if //*s words be trrc, what St. Peter said is false;
moreover, the Apostle was not farnrd for much learn
ing, and it could not be expected that a fisherman of
Galilee could so comprehend the principles of matter
and spirit as to discover the distinction between the
icord and spirit of Christianity. It may be true that the
Apostle never received the honors of the literati, and
we are sure if is true that he never studied the science
of Abolition Divinity; but he learned at the lips of a
Teacher, even the immaculate, omniscient Saviour,
that " as the body without the spirit is dead," so the
word of Christianity without its spirit is dead also:
therefore, as the WORD of G od justified slavery and
promised an eternal inheritance to the merciful slave
owner, the SPIRIT approved the deed— St. Peter re
joiced to proclaim it — and we are happy to believe it.
It has been asserted by some whose moral sensibil
ity is not quite so austere as others, that "slavery is
repugnant to the precpt, t/wu shaft Jove tin/ neighbor
as thyself '." A contrary opinion is maintained by the
best Commentators, who, to show the obvious mean
ing of the words, have thus transposed them, as t/iou
Invest thyself ", so shouklst thou love thy neighbor.
Thu duties of religion, says Dr. Coke, " are all rela
tive, regarding either God or man; and there is norel-
ative duty which love does not readily transform it-

self into, upon the uiere view 01" the different circum
stances of the persons concerned. X,«n?<?, with regard
to a superior, becoriles honor and respect — with res
pect to equals, it is friendship and benerolenc^, towards
inferiors, it is courtesy and condescention. Love com
pels us to regard the person, property arid character
of our neighbor, and makes us ready at all times to
do him service, and to act towards him in every situ
ation as we would reasonably expect him to act to
us, if he was in our circumstance." Thiis the master
is impelled by this law of love to treat his slave with
humanity and benevolence — not as his equal, for
providence has drawn a line of distinction between
them — not to emancipate him, for it is not written in
the law of Invc that ho should do so, nor has he just
cause to believe that it. would meliorate his condi
tion. "But not so — away with your doctrine of dis
tinctions," exclaim the Abolitionists, " the words are
to be construed literally, for God is no respecter of
persons." And if we are to love every member of
the human family as much as we love ourselves, pray
tell i:s what is to become of the lawr of nature, and of
all the moral and endearing ties of life. How unnat
ural must be the feelings of that father who esteems
his neighbor's son as much as his own; and how
more than brutal the affections of the mother wh6
loves her neighbor's child as tenderly as her own off
spring. It cannot be true ; for if this view of its mor
al influence be repugnant to nature, how rnuch more
appalling to behold the turmoils and jealousies it pre
sents to the rilore delicate relations of life : for it is
hardly probable that the r^/med Abolitionist (with all

5

34

his benevolent feelings for the slave) would be happy,
to believe that the sable son of the Ethiopia enjoyed
quite as large a share of his wife's affections as she
had reserved for her husband ; and that his daughter^
in all the delicacy of her nature, knew -no difference
in her esteem for the uncouth negro, than for the re
fined gentleman of her own color. Upon such prem
ises, the doctrine of AMALGAMATION is based, which*
though advocated by the depraved Garrison, and
sanctioned by the suffrages of honored Senators as
the happiest method to effect a general emancipation of
our slaves, is nevertheless repugnant to every senti
ment of refined humanity and moral truth. For when
Ezra heard that the Israelites had taken the daugh
ters of the Canaanites for their wives and the wives
of their sons, the venerable old priest rent his garment
and his mantle, and plucked off the hair from his head,
exclaiming in the bitterness of his heart, " Omij God,
1 am ashamed and Mush to lift up my face to theey
my God ; for our trespass is grown up unto the
Heavens, and LO ! ! ! the PRINCES and RULERS
of the people have been chief in the trespass"* Nor
did the idea of the grovelling and demoralizing influ
ence of the transgression originate with him; for
Abraham who dwrelt among the sable sons of Canaan,
shuddered at the thought of Isaac's forming a connec
tion with one of their daughters; for it is written that
" when he was old, and well stricken in age, he said
unto his eldest servant that ruled over all that he had;
put, I pray thce,thy hand under my thigh, and I will
make thee swear by the God of Heaven, and the God

•* Ezra, clioptrr 9, 3 6.

35

of the earth, that tliou shalt not take a wife unto my
son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom
I dwell ; but thou shalt go unto my country and to my
kindred, and take a wife unto Isaac my son."* Nor
was the thought less afflictive to the feelings of the
chaste Rebecca, for when she heard that Esau had
married the daughter of the Hittite, she exclaimed in
the anguish of her heart, "I am weary of my life be
cause of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob also take a
wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are
of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life
do me."f Moses also expressly commanded the Israel
ites to form no covenant with the tribes of Canaan —
" thou shalt make no marriages with them ; thy
daughters thou shalt not give unto their sons, nor their
daughters shalt thou take unto thy sons ;"|| and
it should not be forgotten, that for the violation
of this command, it is written, "the anger of the Lord
was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the
hands of the King of Mesopotamia,":): who held
them in bondage eight years, as a punishment for in
dulging their beastly passion for amalgamation.

We have now reached that part of our argument
which rests upon the Golden Rule, " all things what^
soever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye
even so to them ;for this is the law and the prophets"''
According to the exposition of the ABOLITION SCHOOL
MEN, this passage of Holy Writ, paralyzes the ener
gies of social and moral society and arrests the arm of
civil authority in all criminal cases. The son, the

* Genesis 24, 14.

t Genesis, 27,46. The reader i* also referred to Genesis 10th chapter, for proof th**-
the daughter* of Heth were the descendants of Ham

I Deuteronomy 7, 1 3. || Judges 3, 5 8,

36

pupil and apprentice, have a right to demand a release
from the restraining obligations imposed upon them:
contrary to their will, and the thief, the murderer, and
the wretch who prostitutes female innocence, when
arraigned at the tribunal of justice, have only to ap
peal to the moral sympathies of the Judge and Jury
with the prayer, "forgive us, for even so icouldice do
unto f&eeifwewere in thy circumstances," and they
are morally bound to grant the prayer. And according
to their exposition, the rich are required by these words
to make such a distinction of their goods to the poor as
to render their condition more than tolerable. They
seem, however, to have forgotten that their hypothesis
embraces more than Southern slave owners as trans
gressors of the precept, we therefore beg leave to il
lustrate the consistency of their exposition by an al
legory.

A certain poor man at the North approached the
dwelling of a wealthy Abolitionist and thus accosted
him — Sir, I am poor and have no home for my family ;
I would that thou shouldst give me a small portion
of thy large estate, if it be but one of thy smallest
farms, that I may the better provide for my little ones,
and not be tortured in my last hour with the heart ren
ding thought of leaving them to be fed by the cold hand
of charity — do this I pray thee, for even so would I do
unto thee, if 1 were in thy circumstance. Now the
poor man was silent for a while and likewise was the
rich man, for the prayer of the suppliant had entered
his ears, but the thought of granting it had not enter
ed into his heart : wherefore the poor man importuned
him again, and appealinj to his own exposition of the

37

i

precept, and to his benevolence and his piety, he as
sured him that inasmuch as he possessed a more abun
dant store of goods than his wants required, he could
not consistently with the spirit of Christianity reject
his prayer,for thus is it written "having foodSf rui <nf?it,
let us therewith be contmt." Now these words were re
ceived by the Abolitionist as something more orthodox
than the prayer of the suppliant, wherefore he thus ac
costed him — friend, thou hast done well by reminding
me of those words of St. Paul, for they were written'
specially for the poor, therefore take them to thy sell—
moreover, thy request is unreasonable, for if I were
to grant unto thee what thou desirest, another and
others would desire the same, and when S should have
done likewise to them, then would I be left to pine in
poverty also — furthermore, I would have thee know
that I do no violence to the spirit of Christianity nor
the precepts of the Bible by holding my wealth; for
Abraham and Job and the Centurion and many others
of old abounded in wealth, and it is said of them that
they were the servants of God, yet they suffered not
their charity to extend so far as to the giving away of
their estates ; nevertheless to the poor they were kind,
and so I trust am I. Now when he had thus spoken,
the poor man looked with indignant pity at the Ab
olitionist and answered hini saying— and so, sir, Abra
ham and Job and the Centurion were quite orthodox
in thy faith of not sharing their fortunes with the poor,
but hast thou forgotten that a large portion of their
wealth consisted in slaves? They were slave owners,
Sir, " base criminal kidnappers" according to thine
own words, u icho in art and wickedness exceed the

devil" and wilt thou take such characters as ensam-
ples of thy faith and practice in deeds of charity? — <
Consistency, sir,is ajewel that belongeth to thephilan-
thropist, and if the measure of thy philanthropy be so
vast as to embrace the poor sons of Ham who dwell in
the South, how canst thou look with pitiless concern
on the poverty and wretchedness of thy kindred of the
Tribe of Japheth, who sojourn in the North ? Wouldst
thou know the burthen of my heart and the cause of
these my tears I Go thou to the Alms House even of
the great city of the North, and look at the pittance
provided by the rich for the hungry poor who call for
their morsel. And of what does it consist ? Potatoes,
sir, Potatoes — a scanty share of Potatoes. And is
this the boon of thy charity that is to soothe a parents
heart in his last hour ? Rnowest thou not, that thy
most " cruel kidnappers" do more than this for their
slaves 1 Go thou to the South and see the comforts of
life which the more humane bestow on their servants
of the Tribe of Ham, and not on them only, but on
our kindred of the Tribe of Japheth. If thou wouldst
find that charity which bids the poor man die in peace,
go thou to Charleston the city of thy " hard hearted
men stealers" and view their Orphan House filled
with fatherless children, fed and clothed and nurtured
in the admonition ojtke Lord— Go view the POOR of the
City and the Suburbs thereof, ' supplied abundantly
and daily with the best of Bread and Flesh — see the
physicians of skill and science employed to minister to
the sick, and the great men of the City, like good Sam
aritans of old, alternately acting as Overseers of their
cares and their wants without fee or reward — there

go, il thou wouldst find that charity which lain would
wipe the tears that fall impitied at the door of thy
dwelling. And wilt thou suffer those whom tho§
callest 'the most depraved of mankind' to exceed thee
so jar in chanty? In the name of thy boasted phil
anthropy, I adjure thee, go thou and do likewise, that
the poor man of the North may also die in peace. —
Now when he had thus spoken, the door of the Aboli
tionist wras closed against the suppliant, for his heart
sickened at the thought of the many virtues of his
li Southern kidnappers" therefore he determined to
hear no more of them.* Nor will we trespass any
farther on his patience by seeking a just exposition of
the precept in the consistency of his words and deeds :
neither will wre be our own expositor — we prefer offer
ing the exposition of one who never advocated slave
ry, but who having viewed it in the abstract, imbibed
prejudices quite as strong as the spirit of piety would
permit him to indulge. " The words, says Dr. Dodd-
rige, imply that wre should treat men in every respect just
as we would think it reasonable to be treated by them,
if we were in their circumstances and they in ours;
for this is in effect the summary and abstract of all

* There is not a City in the world where such ample provision is made for the Poor,
and the Orphans of the Poor, as in Charleston. " Leave thy fatherless children with
us," Bay the benevolent inhabitants to the Poor in their dying: moment?, "and we will
teach them to fear God&walk uprightly." Thousands of such Orphans have been reared
under the parental care of'THE HARDHEARTED KIDNAPPERS" ofthe Orphan House,
all of whom h-nve distinguished themselves for honest industrious habits; some are
numbered with the most talented citizens of Carolina, and not one has ever been con-
victcn of a penal offence. We have Institutions of a similar character but of less mag
nitude among: us, andJOSIAfi FLOURNOY ESQ. of Putnam, has recently contribu
ted 40,000 Dollars to the Afethodist Conference of Georgia, to aid in establishing a
MANUAL LABOUR SCHOOL in which some Orphans are to be educated. Will not a few-
more of the GENEROUS BENEFACTORS of Georgia do likewise and enable the Conference

to erect a Manual Labour School Asylum for all the POOR ORPHANS of the state 1

What a vast amount of good would result from t<uoh a*n Institution, and how appropri
ately might the Epitaph of ATOLUS of Rhetnif, be engraven on the tombs of?uch friends
of Gotland raan — u He f.rpf»-(cd his Fortune before him into Ifcavcn by his charitic*,
he is gone thitherto enjny ?7.M

40

the moral precepts of the law and the propfots, and
it was one of the greatest ends of both to bring men to
Tms humane and equitable temper." Thus the mas
ter, like Abraham and the faithful of old, is required
by this precept to treat this slave with all that human
ity and benevolence with which he would wish his
slave to treat him, provided their circumstances were
reversed.

But what is the measure of that humanity and be
nevolence, and how shall it be meted to the slave I
Th<» Jews understood it to embrace all that was writ
ten concerning humanity and benevolence in the law
an .7 ike prophets, for the precept was familiar to them
being one of their own maxims* and Wetstein and
Gro-tius inform us that some of the Heathen writers so
understood it; but the Abolitionists have discovered
that the spirit of Christianity is not to be found in the
lain and the prophets concerning shivery, consequejit-
ly they reject the construction. The Saviour, how
ever, perceiving in the plentitude of his wisdom that
the members of civil society would be disturbed by
the discordant opinions of such extraordinary teachers,
expressed the precept in words so plain as to permit
even the Heathen to perceive that it embraced no
thing more than wras written in the I <w and the proph
ets ; therefore, if the master would learn how far his
humanity and benevolence should be extended to his
slave, and if the slave would know how far his obedi
ence and fidelity should be extended to his master's
precepts and interest, let them both go to the law and
th$ prophets, for more than is written therein, is not

S«« Tobit chip. 4, 15.

41

required of them nor embraced in the pr*>*pn1. And

d .V ' I'tw nn » / - •/• */;// if.s require 'him to enimicb-

pate his slave? We have already proven t! at tit re

is neither vrrcrpt nor cj-^mpff in the Bible to t< ; < h

hi .» that it would be an ;»ct of justice or humanity for

to do so, nor his he cause to believe that it would

be iwi act of behrvok'toce to expose his slave to such

«ruel treatment as the Free Blacks of Ohio received

at the ban Is of the Abolitionists of that State, :».id

then, like them, to be driven to the frozen peaks of

Canada, to perish in the snow.* Thr. kitr and the

prophets require him to protect his slave from the h<j,nd

of injury and cruelty — to impose a reasonable task of

1 ibour on him, and no more — to provide for his w :uts

and to reader his condition comfortable, by remov ng

from his mind that burthen of care and anxiety for ihe

Ri-cess:irics of life, .under which millions of the labour

ing cUssof freemen uro doomed to groan — to adrnon*

ish him of his moral obligations arid to use iill the

as in his power to have him, taught his duty to his

Ma,k< T — and having done tins, he has done all thiit the

lad' and the prophets require; lie has obeyed the pre-

«cpt of the Saviour ; and thru, like Abraham the fa,--

ther of the faithful and the friend of God and man, he

may bequeath his servants to Ids Isaac arid a'scend to

Paradise.

And why, may we ask, should such a master w'/oui

* The remnant of the Black Colony ol Ohio may now be found in Canada, r poor,
friendless, un-tched, w;«n<iprinii tribe of him. an beings To the^i ulien ps ai d (iceof
fljousnee| is .utribuled Tlif.ciiti^i1 o, tlu ir lands being .a:-rn tnm .;.( n. .1 theii I ;i.^lb*
men: . Le it so A nd if, in such a country HS Ohio, the negro \Mtliout imasi •• > , -.Id

n<.: iv.i-iv.uino Itis nf.tiirai pri);r-iisii\ lor i<ll 'iH---; and iicentiousn^ s,j- it . vo!.;,! i that
v ould in Ai'ri'a ? A'ui dues n.-tthi- [>rpVe that'ie i- better off tr«»,- thai w -id a.
; ;•• ' vVn tii n ge ! hi Bun 1,-ij.pMtioi, — tmd wfr; r jno,,(.h liao Aimigiify t«r iiv

u o* his c

the law and the prophets approre ; wham t^e Jhviour
and his apostles hail rs an heir of tlic Ln v n ) ini trit-
ance ; why should such a master be up' raid d as "a
monster, who in art and wickedness exceeds the Prince of
darkness? " And wrhy should his slave be told, it mat
ters not what is written in the Law arid the Prophets,
nor what the Saviour and his apostles may have s ,id
about slavery, " your master, who claims your chvd as
his property and nurtures and detains it in slavery, is
0qually a man theif with the negro stealer on the coc.st :<f
Guinea." Whence the authority for such outrage oui
declarations? Has another STAR indeed appeared
in the EAsT, ominious of a more merciful f'ispensa-
tion to tlie slave, than that which was seen in Bet >!e-
hern or' Judea? — and moving alternately o'er the
dwellings of TAPPAN and GARRISON and thence
in its marvelous revolutions pursuing REMAN on hi*
holy embassy across the Deep with his " image of Je-
su* the price of his slaves in his pocket," * have uie
Angels of heaven proclaimed with louder acclamation*
of joy than saluted the Shepherds oT Israel, LQ ! | [
THESE, THESE are the friends of the slave, j nd
not the Saviour and his Apostles ? Fr.iil hum«'.n' v —
thou must be prone to the most appalling presuiip 'on,
when thy children measure arms with JEHOVAH, and
extol their benevolence above the standard of his mer
cy-
*

marked,
the vrnc(

eted rhe price — nrrl it is said that ;f ever he did an act that '•/;><-• move r>cop I'H' 'f -f»
Ifs ranker, he certainly never did one that v.-a.c so acceptab'e to I'.i* slavt*. H<- ie
gone fo fl;iropet') negociate a-ialliaiicc \\\ 'he holy -var:^re a^uiiT-f, ?!.?v.:--->T, Qt'e. —
is he »o seer' aid of hi* Bntgnnic Majesty, or of rbr Fci-e, or o' b^:h A'- '-:e Ci^»
»aaa Co-,1:-* affords ^pri- qu^ec-JU^enialt«kJ»l>€«iv<sl*fUpurpose«, k« wifl
m»et witk.a gr»«t»ts rw«§j?u»j& rii«ro.

43

If by pr<*s<*ntin^ our argument in this point of view,
we saouid unfortunately trespass on the sensibility of
those who would suggest a happier method to illus
trate the absurd and impious opinions of our most dead
ly foes, we cannot help it ; we have not been favoured
with the counsel of such friends, nor do we know that
j;i..t\ce and truth would have permitted us to heed their
ad vioiiitions. There is such a thing as charity, ana it
LS said uu.it in the measure of its long suffering nd
less, "it beareth all things, belie veth all tunics,
hop*-».h ail things, endureth all things ;" that " it ( nvi-
€ta not, vaunieth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not
beaave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not
c.us.'iy provoked, thinluth no evil, rejoiceth not in ini
quity." We admire the apostles inimitable picture of
the Virtue, and would be extremely happy to believe
th a we possessed it in all the loveliness of its true
, jtcr ; but that chanty which " envieth " the pros*
p r. y o; ct er- — that " vaunteth itself" above aiivir-
tt, — .1 t iS *o " puffed up " as to exalt itself above
God aad .iis holy precepts — :hat " behaveth itself so
Uliseeml) " as ro curse those whom the Saviour and
his apostles have blessse* — hat " seeketh her own *
prosperity and happiness with such intense desire, ,js
to M rget the poverty and wretchedness of those around
it — li .t is so " easily provoked " as to excite others to
WiYich and vengeance ior no caus — so " thinketh evil"
Oi its neighbor as riot to discover one virtue in his
he^rc so "rejoiceth in iniquity " as to be comforted
with no ii u -.r loss thantae te-irs ard blood of the inno-
ce, — "roin such ch'drity, " -ood Lori deliver us ; " nd
if liiac ue its voice wiucii biiig us " bear alt these things

44

with meekness and patienc* — "believe " that they
indited with t .e purest motives — "hope," that they are
th ' effusions of pious hearts — ,nd "endure" them as
a burthen not too grievous to he home;" if this be
Heaven-horn charity, nev<-r did our Fathers hr»r its
Yoic<>, ,md never do we desire to \v».ir it; for its Ion*
suffering ?s PU:BT:LLION, and its kindness, DEATH.'

Thattiie institutvn V Bondage was written with
the linger of uod and s tnctioned by the Saviour and
his Apostles, is a fact as clearly proven in the Bible
as the creaiion of the world ; and lie who affirms that
" it is an unjust, cruel institution," is either ignorant of
the Scriptures or guilty of the most appalling presump
tion. God is not unjust; he cannot be cruel ; nor is
injustice and cruelty marked in the institutions of ! is
word or the dispensations of his providence. He crea
ted nun a p re, intelligent spirit, free to choose good
or e< ii. The latter was unhappily his choice, and that
choice constituted him an heir of mortality, entailing
on His posterity its numberless ills. It was then that
the compassionate eye of his Creator was specially di
rected to his condition ; and when he beheld his pos-
tcr.ty already oppressed with the crres of poverty and
want — "when the children and sucklings swooned ;a
thr- streets; when they cried for bread, and no mam
gave it unto them," then did he institute Bondage as
L;e means of affording protection and succour to those
who were destitute of both ; not to augment the mise
ries of the poor, hut to save them from greater calami-
fees ; not as a license hi injustice and cruelly , for MER
CY, with her own right hand indited its Laws, and JUS
TICE, wii& &e beal *j Meavea stair/pt

45

That the imstit.iit.ion has b^rn nii.^rd and its laws

! olated in many instances, we do not deny ; but

r i r the proof of its injustice and cruelty, nor

®f the accountability of its author -or its abuses. For
ii its abuses be received as evidences of its injustice
and cruelty, tbe same may be said of Christianity

•o liistory is marked with darker features of rnor-
,»r;j,\ry than bondage itself — and if God be ac
countable for the abuses of one. he is equally accounta
ble tor the abuses of the other ; and if accountable
for both, " then is the just God, whose justice " is said
to be " dr.j habitation of his throne ; " " whose merer
is lire at unto the heavens and who has reserved the un
just and cruel man unto the day of Judgment to be
punished" — then is that just and merciful Being the
author of that injustice and cruelty, which he is bound
by his holy word to punish in the day of judgment. It
is not true — God is riot the author of the injustice ani
orueity which is marked in the history of slavery. T*
man belongs the guilt, the guilt of having violated the
L;W.> oi a merciful institution, which, with all its abus
es has proven a blessing to millions of the human race
ami afforded protection and succour to millions of oth
ers, who would otherwise have fallen victims to the
sword or famine.

Uoiidage was originally a compact between
tfie master and the slave, based upon the princi
ple of mutual benefit and sanctioned by the Law of
$ nai. The morality of that law we have defended

i.ist the insidious attacks of the A olition Priest-
hood, but we find another law imposing bondage on
•!' man, winch, though stanipt witk Ike

46

of human depravity, is nevertheless an additional
proof of hb having meliorated tne condition or mil*
lions even in its worse state. History informs us that-
all nations of antiquity, the Israeli^ s nor excepted, re-
g i.rtkd tile privelege either to lull or enslave their priso
ners, as a ri-ht secured to them by the laws of war.
The uibeon.ces were enslaved by the special order of
Joshua ; the Assyrians and Babylonians followed the
«x mple, ana Shaimanezar and Nebuchadnezzar with
all tiller evil propensities, preferred rather to enslave
tin.: tr.bes of Israel than destroy them. The Phoenician*
ami Cartimgenians were governed by the same motives,
an:! tiie tuvcians, Trojans and others continued ta*
tiortof enslaving their captms. Thus when Juliu*
Cesar nad ciosea ins invasion against Britain, he trans
ported iiis pnst ners to Rome and sold them as slaves,
soon r lh<;n put them to tiie sword, Faulu* Enaims
also transported 150,000 after the seige of Epnus ;
ami it is said that when Augustus Cesar had conqu r-
eu tiie Sahssii his noble spirit prompted him to mjict
^mildest punishment on his captives that the law*
©i vvar \vouici permit, and he accordingly sold them a*
*i.-i 3-s. in Airica also, where the horrors of war hav*
b- en extended so lar that it was customary for King*
aii,i Princes to thatch their inns and walls with ih*
boa; 6 of ciieir capdvos, bondage with ail its " moral
in^uity/' has been the means o' transporting millions
w:.o would otherwise have fallen victims to the barbari
ty of man. And would it indeed have been better ior
those who were brought to the south to have b < n
butchered in Africa or held there in bondage to more

o

s ? We aaunot look <tt Ui« k^terv *f 1»«

49

AY:c?m «l?iTe trade and mirk with paffcn^ the pirt
w'.ich ut<" Abolitionists and tiieir L^IMS {? r or .SUM n
i tragic sociio. li #uilt be attached to the " ;ct of
transporting the poor sons of A r >m the hou of

their i;ulu r,-," u> them i not to us * a

1 20, a Dutch vessel under authority fyom t
Cv>v ni;:«« n , i.ro.i^ni die first Airic.iiis 10 the United
States and sold ti.ei- ves in Virginia. Froa, that

pcr.od the trade was continued under the s;:n..tiou of
his Britannic iYlajes:^, mril millions had been import
ed within his <,oiit. irons In 176o, South C:.n
that native stati Oi painctisiii, virtue arid elo«..Uv-iiee^
]> issed an ace in her colonial capacity interdicting the
Trudeiii her i or:s. • Oid England, by \\vi voice o ti-.r
' i spirits spurned the act, and IS etc Eti^lanu, ,.-v
the voice of her compassionate sons rosj-j ed, cur
snu.sareladt-n and ready ior the Traffic. Thus was
th ride continued; and so long as they couid baiv^r
tli r Riim ior u the poor som of Africa," it was y.n act
of .larnaititij LO cram them int;te filthy holes of \\\ ir
sh ps in sucli crowds, as to cause hundreds to per.sk
.€>ii ti.i. wa) "fruM, the home of their fathers" — hut v/l,«..i
tli j can no ongcr be beneiiited by tiie triric, when thry

* Li the debate on the Missouri question, a Senat(,r from South Carolina iirroc'noei
»t:u senate 01 the Unite.; States, a document from the Custom fiou^e .-,{ s
' g tht name;- and owners . i vessels engaged ii. the Atrerui elav<

In ream the document, the name of De Wolfe was repeatedly called. Lc i t
wa- the senator eteciot Rhode Island, was pre-.i :t, but had ,.ot lipen qua^'flt-d 1 lie
Carolina Senator was ca':ed to order— ' order, onitr," ecluecl thn-b-h thr Sei nte
Hall, 'it 11 con rary to order to call the iia.ne OT a Senator," said ;
Meman The senator contended that he was not owt of --rder, tor the *. n

Kn ,;le Jwand had not been qualified and consequently \va>iiotei ? — he

appealed to the Chair ; Mie Ciia r replied " \ c..u are correct, sir, proceed "—
hedi/J,calhngtbenameof De Woll( ooften- that beibrehehadfin I i

m

the fat? wretcft&s " whdrfl they sold if* ra»s asd
savage ignorance, comfortably clothed and nur ureel in
the principles of Christianity, then is discovered " a
f loud of vengei'nee ready to pour its streams of fire
on our beloved country because of the bonds of the
poor slaves " w1 101 11 they brought in fetters from he
coast of Africa. "Something must be done to MY rt
the awful calamity," s:;ys one ; " we must wage an ' x-.
terminating war against the accursed sin of -slavery,"
eries the holy Priest, with the price of his slaves in
his pocket — "yes, we must send an ambassador to the
Throne of his Britannic Majesty to negocaite an alli
ance in the holy war'.urc," says anoih'-r godly Priest*
"for if our Republic cannot stnnd but upon the nocice
•f two millions of my fellow beings— l^t it fall, let it
fall, though I be crushed ben-ath it." * rious souk ! ! !
eould they prevail on the noble friends of Liberty and
ef the Union at the North, to heed their admonitions,,-
kow soon would we realize the horrors of a civil war.
These compassionate friends of -these " two million*
•f fellow beings " desire to have them exported to " the
beloved home of their fathers," and Parke in his travel*
in Africa, informs us that there is no section oi the
Globe which exhibits such app din 4 pictures of slave*
ry £.s this beloved home of their fathers, nor is there %
country to be found where liberty is less value d or sus
pended on more fortuitous circumstances. There the
late of war seals the destiny of the captive, and if we
add famine"; says he, to the unceasing and bloody con
flicts which prevail throughout Africa, these constitute
the fruitful and endless sources of that cruel bondage

'* Sec ihc Rev. Mt.JMay's Disortatita on the

41)

with which millions of its inhabitants are oppressed.
During the years of scarcity which frequently occur,
great numbers are seen surrendering their liberty to
save their lives ; and as large families are generally
the more exposed to absolute want, it is not uncom
mon to see children sold by their parents to purchase
provisions for the rest of the family. Bruce in his
travels in Africa, al^so testifies to the truth of these
statements, and gives the most appalling picture of its
walking skeletons, and of the lawless rapine which
every where prevail during those years of scarcity.
To export our slaves to such a country where misery
abounds, and where life and liberty are suspended on
the whims of savage kings, may be an act of the kind
est charity in the estimation of the benevolent Aboli
tionists, but in the opinion of their masters, it would
be such an act of inhumanity as would have brought
upon the slave owners of Ephesus and Colosse, the
reprobation of the Saviour and his Apostles. '

We will now proceed to examine the practicability
of the schemes which have been devised by the com
passionate friends of our slaves for their emancipation
and to present them in the most favorable point of
view, we will suppose that their holy embassador had
returned from his Majesty's kingdom with the glad
tidings of a happy revolution of the laws of nature and
barbarism in Africa — that the Apocalyptic Angel of
Mercy had visited the country and at his appearance
disease and rapine hid their ghastly faces and the din
of war and rumours of wars had ceased to be heard —
that he produced credentials of the fact, under the seal
of his royal Majesty and witnessed by the sainted

7

50

Thompson — that he also produced testimonials from
the Queen of Spain stating that through her agency
the Court of Madrid had formed an alliance with the
republics of South America, to which was appended
their most solemn asseverations, that the annual im
portation of 100,000 Africans within their dominions
should now and forever cease, and if "the Southern
kidnappers" would consent to have their slaves ex
ported to Africa, not a hair of their heads should be
touched — under such auspicious circumstances, we
will suppose that they assent to the proposition pro
vided they be paid a reasonable price far their slaves,
and that the Government and the Abolitionists. agree
to the terms — now let us see whether their united en
ergies will be adequate to the task of exporting them
to " the home of their fathers" The number of slaves
in the United States is estimated at 2,400,000— the
average price could not be less than 300 dollars—add:
to this the expense of transportation and support tin-
til they could clear and cultivate a sufficiency* of land
to support themselves, 100 dollars more ; this increas
es the price of each slave to 400 dollars — 2,400,000
slaves would therefore cost the General Government
and the Abolitionists 960,000,000 of dollars. Not
withstanding many princely fortunes may be found
among the followers of Tappan, we fan ijy that before
one tenth of that amount was paid, there would be
such a scarcity of cash in their pockets and of' spoils'
in the Treasury, as to produce more doleful lamenta
tions in Congress than were ever uttered there for the
fate of our slaves.

But it is said by some, " we do not propose to export

$

them immediately — the work must be gradual." Pro
fessor Dew in his learned and masterly rerien of the
debate in the Virginia Legislature on this subject, l\as
proven with mathematical accuracy the impossibility of
effecting the object even in this way. The annual in
crease of our black population is at least 100,000, and
this number is proposed to be sent off, so as to prevent
an increase of the original stock. Here is at once
the enormous sum of 40,000,000 of dollars to be paid
annually, and at the expiration of a hundred years, the
original stock of 2,400,00 would remain to be export
ed. And " long, very long, says Professor Dew, be
fore the colony in Africa could receive even the in
crease of this accumulating capital, its recipient would
be checked by the limitation of territory and the rap
id tilling up of the population, both by emigration and
natural increase. Ring Canute the Dane, seated on
the sea shore and ordering the rising flood to recede
from his royal feet, was not guilty of more vanity and
presumption than the Government of the United
States would manifest, in the vain effort of removing
and colonizing the annual increase of our blacks. So
far from doing it, they would not be able to send off a
number sufficiently great to check even the geometri
cal rate of increase" The colony in Liberia, after
all the efforts of its friends for nearly twenty years^
contains perhaps, not more than 3000 inhabitants ;
and the Rev. Mr. Bacon, one of its most zealous sup
porters, declared in a speech before the Colonization
Society, that "the additional number of 1000 landing
at once, might ruin the colony." Again, we are told
by Mr, A&hmun, the friend and agent of the colony,

52

that " rice does not grow spontaneously in Liberia, and
laborious men accompanied only with their natural
proportion of inefficients must be sent there, lest the
inhabitants be reduced to want" — and he further ad-
yises that "inefficient laborers should be kept in
Jlmerica where they can do something by picking out
cotton or stemming tobacco, to wards supporting them
selves." Thus we see with all the fine things that
have been told us of that "Asylum of Liberty'" — it is
no place for such slaves as can only pick out cotton
and stem tobacco, nor is there space nor means with
in its borders, for the support of one-ninetieth part of
the annual increase of our slaves.

If with these facts we take into consideration the
mortality which has always attended the settlement
of Colonies, we will at once perceive the benovolence
of the scheme of colonizing the blacks. Professor
Dew remarks that one of the greatest attempts at col
onization in modern times, was the effort of the French
to plant 12,000 emigrants on the coast of Guiana.
The consequence was, that in a very short time 10,000
of them lost their lives in all the horrors of despair —
2,000 returned to France — the scheme failed and 25,
000,000 of Francs, says Raynal, were totally lost.
Seventy five thousand Christians, says Mr. Eaton in his
account of the Turkish Empire, were expelled by
Russia from the Crimea and repaired to the country
deserted by the Nogai Tartars — and in a few years
7,000 only remained. In like manner if 100,000 Ne
groes with careless and filthy habits were annually
sent off to the insalubrious clime of Africa, what would
foe their fate ? In 1787 the British planted a Colony

of negroes in Sierra Leone — The intemperance and
imprudence of the emigrants brought on a mortality
which reduced the number nearly one half the first
year, and after a lapse of twenty years, their rights and
possessions were surrendered to the British Crown.
During the brief period of its existence, says Mr.
Dew, " it has been visited by all the plagues that Col
onial establishments are heir to. It has been cursed
with intemperance, desertion, civil wars and insurrec
tions. It has experienced famines, and suffered in
sult and pillage. Its numbers have been thinned by
the blighting climate of Africa, and it has been con
tinually engaged in wars with the neighboring African
tribes" — Colombia and Gautemala have tried the dan
gerous experiment of Colonization, and Mr. Dunn
has given the following picture of the latter — " With
a colored population drunken and revengeful, her fe
males licentious, and her males shameless, she ranks
as a true child of that accursed city which still re
mains as a living monument of the fulfilment of pro
phecy and of every unclean and hateful bird. Not
a day passes without murder — on fast days and on
Sundays, the average number killed is from four to
five. From the number admitted in the Hospital of
St. Juan deDios in the year 1827 near 1500 were stab
bed, of whom from three to four hundred died." With
these and many other instances of the hazardous
schemes of Colonization which stand in " bold relief"
before the eyes of the compassionate Abolitionists,
they seem determined to wage a perpetual warfare
against the happy condition of our slaves.

But we had almost forgotton to mention another of

54

their benevolent schemes. Some have suggested the
plan of " taking off the breeding portion of the slaves
to Jlfrica, or carrying away the sexes in such dispro
portions as will in a measure prevent those lejt be
hind from breeding:" All these plans says Profes
sor Dew, " merit nothing more than the appellation
of vain juggling conceits, unworthy of amoral man.
If our slaves are to be sent away in any systematic
manner, humanity demands that they should be sent
in families. The voice of the world would condemn
us if we sanctioned any plan of deportation by which
the male and female, husband and wife, parent and
child, were systematically and relentlessly separated."
If the compassionate feelings of the Abolitionists
prompt them to choose this method to regulate " the
moral evil of slavery" they had better adopt the plan
suggested by the learned Professor, of keeping the
male and female separate in ergastula or dungeons,
and then when one generation will pass away, the
moral evil will cease of itself— leaving them the pleas
ing reflection of being sustained in the humane and
merciful scheme of its destruction, if not by " the
Scriptures of the New Testament," at least by the
counsel of Xenophon in his Economics and the prac
tice of Cato and Censor.

With this brief view of the impracticability of the
schemes of emancipation, we beg leave to remark that
from the da) s of the Patriarchs to the present period,
whether from choice, necessity or misfortune, at least
two thirds of mankind have been working for the rest ;
and whether they toil in the capacities of hirelings
or bond-servants, so long as man is clothed with mor-

lality, this state of things will exist. \ow the ques
tion occurs, which state is best adapted to the capa
cities and wants of the negro 1 To ascertain this im
portant point of our argument, we must resort to
comparisons. We have already spoken of the wretch
ed condition of the colonists in Sierra Leone pnd Gau-
temala, and if we add the free blacks of Hayti to the
number, the aggregate amount of their miseries will
be diminished but little. And who cannot perceive
thaUAetr condition is infinitely worse than the slaves
of the most cruel owners ? But we will not confine
our comparison to persons of their own color and
habits — In England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland,
where it is said the benign influence of Christianity has
driven domestic slavery " to a more savage clime,"
the generous and benevolent lords of the soil exact
such exorbitant rents from the Peasantry as to com
pel much the larger portion of them to feed all the
year on oatmeal and potatoes and frequently without
salt — and when bowed under the weight of years and
infirmity, they are exported either to the "land of sla
very" to be fed by the hand of charity, or suffered to pine
under the griping pangs of hunger, in " the land of
Liberty " In Poland the fate of the laboring class is
still worse, and it should not be forgotten that their
miseries have been increased since their personal lib
erty was granted them. Through the agency of Sta
nislaus Augustus, that boon was conferred in 1791,
and so far from its proving a blessing to the peasan
try, it has proven a curse, both with regard to its influ
ence on their morals and their means of subsistence.
They are in fact still slaves, says Burnett in his view

5G

the present state of Poland, and relatively to their po
litical existence, as absolutely subject to the will of
their lords, as in all the barbarism . of the feudal
times. In China millions of freemen are said to taste
notcholesome meat throughout the whole of the toil
some year — frequently see their families perishing be
fore their eyes — seek with eagerness the vilest garbage
from the river or canal and voraciously devour meat
which our negroes would cast to the dogs and vul
tures of the air. And will any man affirm that the
bondage of our slaves is not more than equivalent to
the liberty of such freemen ? But let the contrast be
brought even nearer home — thousands at the North,
who having toiled all their lives in the service of the
landholders and manufacturers for no more than a mea
gre support, are doomed in the evening of their days to
beg a morsel in the Streets and Highways — And is not
their condition infinitely wrorse than the bondage of
our slaves who are daily supplied with bread, meat,
and vegetables, and frequently with milk and refresh
ing drinks ? But the other day, we saw a lady of re
finement making with her own hands a comfortable
bed for an old slave who told her that his mattrasg.
was too hard to afford him comfortable sleep. For
his owners, who are in very moderate circumstances,
he has not toiled an hour for many years, and their
children vie with each other for the privilege of wait
ing on " DADDY" with his meals, consisting of meat,
bread and coffee, and such other articles of food as
their table affords. Nor are such instances uncom
mon in the slave-holding States — the slave who is
bowed under the weight of years and infirmity is the

favorite of every humane family — and it should not be
forgdtton, that the anticipation of being overtaken by
age and infirmity without a penny iii our pockets or a
friend to minister to our wants, constitute the sum
mary of that care and anxiety writh which millions of
freemen are oppressed, and from which our slaves are
relieved. /

" Hut they groan under bondage — perpetual
bondage, and who" says the Abolitionist, " can
bear the thought of perpetual bondage ?" These ab
stract and vindictive remarks have been uttered with
as little regard for the history of man as for the pre
cepts of the Bible. It is a fact as notorious as the
divinity of the Scriptures, that the merciful Creator
of the universe has implanted in the bosom of man a
principle of contentment, which if not disturbed by av
arice or some rebellious spirit, never fails to produce
that resignation to his condition and the dispensations
of Providence, which is essential to his present and
future happiness. But for the influence of this moral
principle, "godliness with contentment" wonldbe driv
en from the cottages of the f virtuous poor — the mis
sionary would exchange the toils and privations of his
beggarly life, for a more lucrative occupation— and
our slaves would long ago have heeded the counsel of
their compassionate friends and imbrued their hands
in the blood of their owners. The existence of this
principle is not only essential to the peace" of society
but to all the operations of honesty and benevolence;
and that charity which supposes that the slave under'
its moral influence is capable of estimating liberty so
high, as to render life intolerable, has neither history

8

58

nor scripture to support it. Greece and Rome hart
furnished many instances of persons distinguish
ed for learning and talents, who were so governed by
this law of contentment as to be happy in bondage. —
Epictetus, Terence, ^Esop and Phoidrus were slaves;
Daphnis the Grammarian was a slave, and Roscius
the actor, whose talents it is said, permitted him to
gain annually for his master upwards of 1 7,000 dollars,
was also a slave. Thus we see that the minds of men
have not all been cast in one common mould — for
while some prefer death to bondage, others like the
Gibeonites prefer to be "hewers of wood and drawers
of water unto all the congregation of Israel," sooner
than perish by the sword of Joshua.*

Nor does this variety of human opinions end here?
for we find that from the days of the Patriarchs to the
present period, some have even prefered bondage to
liberty, and so far from the act being repugnant to the
will of Heaven, it has received the special approbation
of Deity — "And God spake these words, saying — If
thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve,
and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. —
If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne
him sons or daughters ; the wife and her children shall
be her masters, and he shall go out by himself. And
if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my
wife, and my children ; I will not go out free : Then
his master shall bring him unto the Judges ; he shall
also bring him unto the door, or unto the post of the
door ; and his master shall bore his ear through with

" Sec Joshua,- Chapter 9.

59

an awl ; and he shall serve him forever-."* Thus we
sec instances of men prcfe ring bondage to liberty,
even among the Israelites. But how do these pre
cepts of the Almighty Arbiter ofthe universe accord
with the divinity of the Abolitionists I Most wretch
edly— for according to the opinions of their most holy
and learned Divines, the master of the Hebrew—
"wkf> nurtured and detained his children in bondage
to as as verily a kid tapper as if he* had stolen them
jrom the coast of Guinea" — and not to upraid him as
" a base, criminal monster'11 unworthy of the esteem of
his servant — -not to threaten him with "Heaven's deep
est, vengeful curse" — and not to denounce slavery as
" amoral evil — a curse to the poor — and a disgrace to
Christianity" — not to do at least so much for the com
fort of the poor Hebrew slave, was such " an outrage
on the principles of philanthropy" as their tender con
sciences cannot endure. But as the beneficent Crea
tor was not an Abolitionist, his compassion would
neither permit him to order the Israelite to emancipate
his slaves, nor to denounce him as "a kidnapper" for
" nurturing and detaining them in bondage" — and as
the Hebrew loved his master, his wife and his chil
dren, and prefered bondage to liberty, he indulged
him in his choice, not only because it was congenial
to his feelings, but because INFINITE WISDOM perceived
that its condition was better adopted to his capacity
and his wants.

Similar instances have frequently occurred in the
Southern States, and we recollect to have been pres
ent at the appraisement of an estate of a wealthy

* Gencaia 20 Chapter 1, and 21 Chapter 2,6.

60

Planter, where a scene occurred which would have
afforded the benevolent advocates of emancipation
but little comfort. The master of that estate had
been in the habit of giving his negroes a portion of
land to cultivate, the proceeds of which were applied
to their own purposes. A slave as remarkable forjiis
intelligence and morality, as for his industry and fru
gality, was appraised at a sum not equivalent to the
treasure of his chest. A gentleman aware of the
fact observed to him, " well uncle Tom, you have now
an opportunity of appropriating your funds to the
purchase of your freedom — no, no, Sir, said Tom —
I've no desire to part with Mistress and my young
Masters,"1 especially at this time — and I don't know,
Sir, what I'd gain by buying myself — for if I was to
buy myself, I'd have to take care of myself, and if
I don't buy myself. Mistress and my young Masters
will have to take care of me." This remark induced
the gentleman to ask him why he had been so careful
of his money if he wished not to apply it to that pur
pose ? To this he readily replied — " why Sir, my
Master who I know is gone to Heaven, always gave
me a plenty of food and clothes, and I had no occa
sion to spend it — and as I've seen some folks rich one
year, and poor next, I thought I'd keep it, and if ever
thai lot fell to my Master, I'd give it to him if I was'nt
too old to work, and if I was, I'd live on it and save
him the expense of supporting me in my old age —
and now he's dead and gone, I feel like doing all I
can for Mistress and the children, and I'll keep it for
the same purpose." Such instances are not uncom
mon among the slaves of the Southern States — indeed

61

there is not a farm or plantation of a humane Mas
ter which affords not similar evidences of their sin
cere esteem for their owners. Out of the bosom of
his own family, the kind master finds no friends who
feel a more lively interest in his prosperity and happi
ness than his slaves — in health, it is their pleasure to
promote his welfare— in sickness, they are his con
stant and sympathizing attendants, and at his grave,
their tears and lamentations evince the sincerity of
their affections, in terms which can neither be descri
bed nor forgotten. And do not such instances prove
that there is nothing in the condition of bondage cal
culated to mar the peace of the slave ?

However repugnant the assertion may be to tho
feelings of the Abolitionists, there is not to be found
among the laboring class of freemen in any quarter
of the habitable Globe, such a proportion of cheerful
happy beings as our slaves; and if the mad and brutal
scheme of exporting them "to the home of their fath
ers" were now to be executed, their tears and lamen
tations would require hearts stouter than " Southern
Kidnappers" to witness the scene. And why should
their happiness be marred by the voice of an evil
spirit? Why should they be pursuaded to murmur
at the lot which a merciful Providence assigned their
fathers as the means of alleviating their cares and
their wants, and the cares and wants of their posteri
ty ? Why should the most brutal and unceasing ef
forts be made to alienate their affections for their own
ers, who are indeed their best and onlv friends and
protectors?— One of the deepest and most deadly
schemes of insurrection that was ever devised in the

South, originated with the poor deluded Blacks of
Camden, who were pursuaded that their condition was
similar to the Israelites when oppressed by Pharoah,
and if in the name of Israel's God they would make
an effort, he would miraculously deliver them from
bondage. Under the influence of this base and delu
sive suggestion, their meetings for the execution of
their bloody purposes, were opened and closed with
prayer. The plot was disclosed — its deluded leaders
were hung, and their more guilty accomplices esca
ped the Gallows. The same doctrine is now preach
ed, and in despite of the sacred and constituted au
thorities of God and our Country, it has been affirm
ed again, and again, as the truth of Heaven. Our
motives — our principles — our humanity — our morali
ty and our patriotism are assailed with relentless and
unceasing fury. Members of the same confederacy—
followers of the same Lord, are the agents of these sa-
tannic deeds — and with an effrontery that bids defi
ance to truth and modesty, they have attributed that
forbearance which rests upon the conscious integrity
of our principles and the affections of our slaves, " tq
a servile fear of realizing their vengeance."

Should the question be asked, why are " holy mm"
thus busy in the Devil's work 1 The answer is at
hand — it is to effect a dissolution of the Union under
the specious guise of philanthropy. No other reason
can be assigned ; for with the most conclusive evi
dences of the fact, that bondage is peculiarly adapted
to the com/ort and happiness of the negro, they have
assailed the institution, with a recklessness and mal
ice, more in character with the Huns of Barbarv, thaia

63

\viththespirit of Christianity. By one class, the word
of God is rejected for the impurity of its precepts, and
by others, it is perverted to the purposes of their
rebellious schemes.

" If usages sanctioned in the Old Testament," says
an eminent divine," and not forbidden in the New, are
right then our moral code will undergo a sad deterio
ration ; for Polygamy was allowed to the Israelites,
and was common and licensed in the age of the Apos
tles."* In the name of truth and morality we ask
how can " holy men" publish such barefaced false
hoods! Where in the writings of the Immaculate
Saviour and his Apostles is POLYGAMY justified ? A nd
where is the authority for the following words of the
Rev. Gentleman — " why therefore may not Scripture
be used to stock our houses with WIVES as wrell as
with SLAVES!" Well may " humanity blush" at such
outrageous declarations. The pious and learned au
thor well knows, that the Saviour and his Apostles
have no where told us, how " an adulterer" can live in
the crime of adultery, and go to Heaven — how a
" blasphemer" can live in the act of blaspheming, and
go to Heaven- — how " a Liar and a thief" can live in
the act of lying and stealing, and go to Heaven- —
but they have told us how " slave owners" may live
in what the Rev. Gentleman calls " the accursed sin
of slavery" and be numbered with " the Saints and
faithful Brethren" of Ephesus and Colosse, at the
right hand of God.

These specious and impious declarations but too

* See the Rev. Dr. Channing's work on Slavery,page 119, the sight of which we were
not farored with tntil we had proceeded thus far with our work,

G4

clearly prove the position we have assumed. They
exhibit the deadly influence of prejudices which hare
been nurtured for many years, and which now threat
en to crush the temple of liberty and drench our coun
try with the blood of the innocent. In the illustration
of this fact, the kindest feelings of our hearts are
brought in contact with duly. We revere the ashes
of the dead — we revere the names, we esteem the
characters of the holy men of whom we are about to
speak, as cordially as do their dearest friends, and we
rejoice to believe, that having seen and repented of
their fallacious opinions of bondage, they are now
reaping the reward oftheir pious and unparalleled la
bours in the vineyard of the Lord ; but duty, imperi
ous duty to our country impels us to advert to events in
their lives, which our inclination would fain with
hold.

Many years ago the venerable Bishops Coke and
Asbury published a pamphlet on slavery which com
pelled the enlightened and benevolent Legislature of
South Carolina to pass an act authorizing any persons
to repair to Methodist meetings and disperse the ne
groes, whether assembled with or without the permis
sion of their owners. The act was justified by the1
first law of nature, self-defence, and based upon the
fact, that Methodism at that period, whether at the
North or in the South was identified with the most
deadly opposition, to slavery. It continued in force,
(and with the utmost propriety too,) until the ministers
of that denomination ceased to assail the institution of
bondage, and to expel the members oftheir societies
for buying and selling a negro under any circumstan-

But the spirit of Abolitionism thus arrested ii^5
the South, was still cherished in the North. Immedi-
atcly after the discussion of the Missouri question
which convulsed the Union, a resolution was intro-
ducedin the General Conference to expel the members
of the church who would not emancipate their slaves,,-
T'ie discussion was conducted Svith great asperity ,- and
ended without a dissolution of the union of the socie
ties, with the utmost difficulty, A few years after
this, the General Conference received a letter from'
the British Conference by the hand of their delegate/
the Rev. Mr. Reese, desiring an interchange of visits
as brethren of one iiamo and household, and tendering
copies of their theological works for their press The
delegate w as cordially greeted, and a resolution pass
ed, directing the Bishops to elect and send a delegate
to the ensuing British Conference in London. They
met at the time and place appointed and ballotted
again, and again, Bishops McKendree aiid Soule,-
voting for a Southern, and Bishops fledcling and
George for a Northern delegate — the former contend
ing for their favorite on the score of pre-eminent quali
fications,- and the latter esteeming it an outrage to send
a slave-owner in the robes of a minister to " the land-
of liberty," refused to vote for him. They adjourned
without making an election, and at the ensuing Gener
al Conference, the slave-owner was elected, r'eteivmg
but one vote North 6f the Potomac. At the last Gen-'
eral Conference, the same spirit of hostility prevailed
so far as to exclude a slave-owner from the Episcopal
Office, and though Resolutions were passed, disappro*-
bating the course of the Abolitionists, those Resohi>

I

If! titi

tions, like the INAUGURAL of Mr. Van Buren, had
word too many to disprove our position, or check the
career of the bloody host. * They were introduced
with the words, " we disapprove of MODERN aboli
tionism," an implication as clear as mathematical de
monstration, that they approved of ANCIENT aboli
tionism ; aftd if there be any difference between anci
ent and ?7wdern abolftionism, save the abstract question
of ways an<f means to effect both, we have yet to dis
cover it. This was evidently the construction placed
on the Resolutions by the Northern Ministers, as we
are informed several of them Ira ve &inee become mem
bers of the Abolition Society. Quite in character
with these Resolutions was the address of Bishops
Hedding and Emory to the Ministers of the New-
Hampshire Conference. It contained the kindest ex
pressions of concern for the peace and safety of their
brethren in the South, while on its front was impressed
the sweeping declaration"- neither the New-Testament
Scriptures, nor the preaching ainJ practice of our Lord
and his Apostles were ever designed to justify slavery."
This being the corner stone of the great Abolitiog
Templef the address was- hailed as a license for seven-

* $It. Van Buren'in his Iriftujmral, pledged himself not to itive his CONSTITUTFONAI..
sanction to any Bill conflicting with the institution of slavery.- Why was the word cov
STITUTION-AL prefixedTo its substantive, but to render die pent&rfre more ainbigior.s and
Jess explicit ? We wish it had been KXPUNGED, for the President is quite lawyer enough
to know, that no Bill conflicting with the domestic institutions of the South can be
' -O,N STATION AL — nevertheless, should such an one be passedin accordance \\iihthe'
schemes and wishes of the Abolitionists, he has taken speeitri cure not to pledge hiror
self to gives it his UNCONSTITUTIONAL sanction. Whvin the plain, simple words of hon
est canfiori did he not tell us tiiat no such Bill would ever receive his sanction — that he
would put his VETO oriit'? Is* there an orthodox Jeffersonian Republican, er a genuine
friend of the South and of the Union, who could refuse to do so ? Who but the Aboli-
•ionists, would have beeJi^ofTended at such a declaration ?

iy of the ministers of that Conference to form an
Abolition Society. * To these facts, we add the anti*
.slavery law in the moral code of the Church, which
was annulled nearly thirty years ago, hut carefully pre
served and exhibited in every new edition of the Dis
cipline, as a monument of the hostility of the North
ern Methodists to the institution of bondage.

Let not the confinement of our remarks on this sub
ject exclusively to the Methodists, be attributed to a
want of respect or affection for them. Our dearest
friends are Methodists— r-the kindest feelings of our
hearts are with them — and 'ere we shall refuse to share
our last brown loaf with the way-faring Itinerant, who
as he goes forth sowing the seed of life broadcast o'er
the earth, takes care to let some fall by the door of
the negro hut, we trust we shall cease to breathe. Our
remarks have been exclusively applied to them, be
cause we are intimately acquainted with the history of
no other church. Facts quite as conclusive, can
doubtless be deduced from others, and we have this
day been informed by a very worthy and eminent min
ister of the Presbyterian denomination, that the Sy
nod of Ohio have recently passed a resolution, abne
gating all fellowship and communion with the Presby
terians of the South, who will refuse to co-operate
with them in " the benevolent schemes of emancipa
tion." We have deduced the facts under an honest
conviction of duty to our country, and we submit them
as evidences of the deep rooted prejudices which have
existed for more than half a century, against an insti
tution, sanctioned by the word of God and the Con
stitution of the United States.

* See " the South vindicate 1 from thfi Trea~o i and Fanaticism of the Abefltion
'•fits " page 193.

68

And with such evidences of deadly hostility to
ihe institution of slavery since the adoption of the
federal Constitution, why have its advocates refused
]Lo organize— why were not Abolition societies
formed until about four years ago ? Have our statesr
men thought of this matter ? Have they been perus
ing the vindictive essays of Northern Fanatics for the
past fjfty years, without an inquiry into the cause of
their recent efforts jn forming societies and rallying their
forces ? Have they asked themselves the question,
why, long ere this, they made no efforts to exhibit
their wealth, their talent, and their numbers, and to
shake the temple of Liberty with the thuaders of an
pmbattled Host ? These important questions, demand
at this crisis, the most serious attention of every friend
pf the Union. There is a cause for the recent efforts
of the Abolitionists ; it should be thoroughly investi
gated ; and that cause must be removed, or the effects
of their bloody purposes will be realized, ero we ex
pect them.

For our self? we have no hesitation in bringing our
views before- the public and the more so, because we
cannot be personally benefitted by the act. Our sphere
in life, is an humble one — -we aspire to no other — we
have sought no other — arid before God and our

O •

country we say, that political honors or preferment are
objects beneath our personal esteem ; nevertheless we
hope we shall cease to live, ere we cease to cherish
the pure " apwr patri.cc " of a patriot. The ardor with
which we have nurtured this principle, has frequently
brought us in contact with our interest and our friends.

t>9

and in no one instance of our life has it been more
painfully exemplified, than in the frank expression of
our opinions of the doctrines of the memorable Proc
lamation and Force Bill. Hundreds, in whose hands
we hcpe these pages may fall, heard us denounce them
as doctrines that would move the Abolitionists to con
cert and action. In justification of this'sentiment we
stated that the deadly hostility of a Host against slave
ry, would have impelled them to concert and action
long since, but the dread of the old Constitutional
doctrine of State Sovereignty, which they now saw
prostrated at the feet of the Chief Magistrate, quelled
their rage. We spoke of the hostility o f the Tariff
men, of their jealous and deadly spleen, and predicted
that they would immediately enlist a Clerical host to
decry the institution of slavery, and crush the South
under the weight of the Proclamation. We adverted
to the fears of the illustrious Jefferson that the subject
of slavery would one day be used as an engine of de
struction to the Union, and but for the interposition of
the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, we would long
ago have been assailed by enemies within our own bor
ders, who dared not move in the face of those resolu
tions, We told them the die was now cast ; those
resolutions were now defunct ; the states were no^r
stripped of their Reserved Rights ; they had neither
the povyer to resist the enforcement of an unconstitu
tional Jaw, * nor to judge of their own greivances ;
they had delegated that power, together with their
Sovereign Rights to their Agent, the General Govern*
ment, and whatever the majority of Congress should
say was Constitutional Law, the minority was bound

t.o submit to, T'hose wo maintained to be the plain,
simple deductions of the Proclamation, deductions
that would license the action of a rebellious spirit
which had long been lurking in the bosom of our coun
try ; deductions that would sever the only bond which
secured the perpetuity of the Union. We stated that
GeneralJackson'.s construction of the powers Vested
in the Agent of the States,, was perfectly in character
with the views of the old Federalists who were mem-»
hers of the Convention which framed the Constitution:
and in support of this fact we adduced the following
Resolutions from the Journals of the Convention.

<• Resolution 01 Mr. Chuik^ Pmckaey — Resolved that the Legis
lature of the United States have power to revise the laws of the sev
eral States, that may be suppossd to infringe the power exclusively
delegated by this Constitution to Congress, and to negative and an-
mil such as do."

44 Resolution of Mr. Patterson — Resolved, if any State, or body oi'
men in any State, shall oppose or prevent the carrying into execu
tion Acts, or Treaties of the Union, the Federal Executive shall be
authorized to call forth the powers of the Confederated States, or so
much thereof, as shall be necessary to enforce or compel the obedi
enee to such acts, or observance to such treaties."

" Resolution of General Hamilton — Resolved, that all laws of the
^articular States, contrary to the Constitution or Laws of the United
States, be utterly void ; and the better to prevent such laws being
passed, the Governor or President of each state shall be appointed by
the General Government, and shall have a negative on the laws about
to be passed, in which he is Governor or President-"

" Resolution of Governor Randolph — Resolved, that the President
of the United States be vested with power to negative all laws con
trary, in the opinion of the National Legislature, to the articles of
the Union, or any treaty subsisting under the authority of the Un
ion : and to call forth the forces of the Union, against any member
of the Union failing to fulfil its duty under the articles thereof."

We stated that these, resolutions were introduced in

•l

the Convention lor the special purpose of clothing the
President of the United States with power to do, what
General Jackson assumed the authority to do, viz — to
strip the states of their Sovereign Rights and coerce
their submission to the will of the General Government
— and in the face of such resolutions, advocated by
the Federalists of the old school t*nd rejected by a large
majority of the Revolutionary Republicans of the
Convention, the General's arbitrary assumption of pow
er could only be attributed to his cordial approbation ol'
the exploded doctrines of the old Federalists and advo
cates of a consolodated despotism. We offered it as
our opinion that Gen. Jackson was not the author of
the Proclamation ; that some artful advocate of the
Tariff penned it, and we would soon see the baneful
effects of its Anti-Republican principles. For these
remarks made in the face of the foregoing resolutions.
we were reviled ana1 anathematized in epitWfets more
profane than " an old Piney Woods traitor." And
now in view of the desolation with which our country
is threatened, and in sight of all the horrors of acivij
and servile war, we ask, not with feelings of exulta
tion — no God forbid ; we ask with emotions of deep
heart-rending grief, who spoke the truth on this sub
ject? We Jntreat our fellow citizens to look at the
calamities with which our country is threatened, and
impute the causes, if they can, to any thing but tlu;
doctrines of the Proclamation and Force Bill.

When the Proclamation was published, there was
not an organized party of Abolitionists in the United
States, At that time, thev were sneered at as •• ;» f;^v

tiiis'erable fanatics." Who, says the Editor of a Hi -
MAN RIGHTS " in his paper of the past year —

"Who 'does not remember the ridicule that was
thrown upon the handful of Fanatics in Boston three
years ago ; upon the twenty-two men and two wo
men in New-York, two years ago ; upon the fifty or
sixty men who met in Philadelphia a year and a half
ago ; what a fine joke it was that such a handful should
meet to form an American Abolition Society ? Now
this same society numbers 250 Auxiliaries in 13 States.
A few pens, a few tracts, a few periodicals, a few lim
ited agencies have electrified the nation, and already
stirred up a mighty Host to plead for the oppressed.
Our cause is rapidly getting the supremacy ; it has re
ceived accession of wealth, of talent, and of uncon
querable zeal, that insures its speedy triumph/'*

Rapidly indeed is their cause gaining ascendency,
for since tfie publication of this article 18 months ago,
their organized associations have increased to 1000,
comprising men of the most unconquerable Zeal, and
more wealth than our Revolutionary Fathers commenc
ed their struggle with. " Fifty thousand copies of the
niost inflammable and treasonable matter are published
weekly and gratuitously distributed, and a party have
already proposed to haVe 20,000 followers in the City
of New- York and nominate its Candidate for the
Presidency of the United States." f

In the face of these facts and the innumerable evi
dences of the long cherished hostility of the Aboli
tionists to the institution of bondage, will any mair

* St-e'*the South vindicated from the Treason and Fanaticism of the Northcn.
Abolitionists— page 191. t See the same work page 79.

say tliey have not been recently impelled to action by
some mighty impetus ? And 'what but the doctrines
of the Proclamation, have moved them to action!
While they believed that the States would exercise
their Reserved Rights in opposing any Act of Con
gress conflicting with theirdomestic institutions, they
made no effort whatever to rally their forces and ob
tain ascendency in Congress; but when the President
announced the States subservient to the will of the
National Legislature, and ordered his Frigates and
Army to enforce an unrighteous and unconstitutional
law, against which prayers and remonstrances had fol
lowed in succession for years, that day gave birtli to
schemes and purposes which now convulse the Union.
The fact cannot be denied that the Abolitionis s are
determined to gain the ascendency in the Anti-slavery
States and control the elective franchises of the same.
For this purpose they have enlisted two hundred trav
elling agents, who go forth " conquering and to con
quer," In addition to their treasonable pamphlets;
they take with them

'* Pictures of slaves in chains, with the negro's complaint in
Poetry."

4* Anti-Slavery Handkerchiefs, ornamented with four cuts and
Extracts from the Slave's Friend, printed with indelibfe ink."

II Anti-Slavery Seals, giving a fair impress of a slave in chains
on sealing wax &n. &c. &c." *

III a work entitled " the South vindicated from the
Tieason and Fanaticism of the Northern Abolition
ists "published in Philadelphia, these and such other
facts are exhibited, as should make the advocates of
the Proclamation and Force Bill, blush and weep,

•¥ See '« South Vindicated &c." poge 197.

J

74

4

The work has been imputed to the pen of Col. Wni
Drayton, formerly of Charleston, South Carolina, but
for the past four years a citizen of Philadelphia. Col
Drayton' s character as a scholar, a statesman, a pat
riot and a "Union man," entitles the work to the
confidence of every friend of the Union. It embo
dies 300 pages, from which we have already taken
extracts and to which we beg leave to add the follow
ing.

" It is impossible that any reasoning man can contemplate the
resources and activity of the Abolitionists and wonder at their pro
gress. It is impossible that any patriot can view, in connection,
their past success, their present energies and activity, and their fu
ture prospects, without coming to the conclusion, that cither this
band of traitors must be crushed, or the Union abandoned. Thev
cannot exist together."

" Let the South look to it. We have already demonstrated that
the advocates of abolition are neither few nor feeble ; that they are
\Vealthy, powerful and united: possessed of a number of influen
tial presses ; and led on by men whose intemperate zeal is only
equalled by their untiring energy. Their strength is despised, be
cause it is not known. Let him that takes an interest in this mat
ter examine the open evidence of facts ; let him observe the extend
ed and insidious operation of Presses, Agents and Societies ; let
him mark the progress and results of these efforts for the last four
years ; and then if he is still secure, he may sleep on, until he is
roused by the glare of the midnight conflagration, or startled b)
the whoop of the negro at the door of his chamber."

'* A few years ago it was announced in the Emancipator " slave
ry will never he abolished until it is done by THE SWORD or
the fear of THE SWORD— Me slaves trill soon be free." This
was then, and is now their policy. They cry ptace^ peace, but pur
sue a course which is designed to end and must end (unless the
South erect herself and interpose the only shield which can ward
off the blow,) in a servile war, and render the whole South a Pan
demonium, from which the shout of exulting rapine, and the shriek

75

.-qt* murder and violeuce will go forth. We repeat, THE ABOLI
TIONISTS MUST BE CRUSHED, OR THE UNION ABAN
DONED."

With these stubborn facts in the face of the world,
and in the face of the Representatives of the people
•f the United States in Congress assembled, Mr. Wise
of Virginia raised the all important question, whether
any set of men had the right to petition the Govern
ment to do what the Constitution said it could not do.
and should not do — in other words, whether the Abo
litionists had the Constitutional Right to petition Gov
ernment to take away the property of its citizens and
to grant them license to create a servile war that must
end in the dissolution of the Union. This question on
which was suspended the very life-blood *>f Aboli
tionism and the salvation of the Union, roused the vin
dictive passions of the advocates of the Tarriff, the
Proclamation, and Force Bill, who united and voted
it down by a majority of 48.

Fellow citizens of the South, look to this matter.
Your rights, your liberty, your all is at stake. It. 15
not our purpose to enter the arena of political discus
sion, nor to offer you reasons why the party in the mi*
noritij on the question of " the right oj Petition*'
were classed with " the Catalines and Robespierres.
Arnolds and Burrs of notorious villany "* for their
honest opposition to the doctrines of the Proclama
tion and Force Bill, and why the said " Traitors" and
opponents of the Prociamtion and Force Bill, were
the only oponents of the TREASONABLE ' PRAYERS of
the Abolitionists. We leave this to those better qnali

* " See tho Federal Union " December I8^> and others.

re

tied, to the statesmen of our country whose duty it is*
but we entreat you to examine " the open evidence of
faj&s" which we lay before you — facts which have
been deduced under a'i imperious sense of duty to God
and our country, and which we would have rejoiced
to have seen presented by some abler hand.

It is a tiuth, a most appalling iiicoiitroierti bk*
truth* that the Abolitionists already wield a powerful
influence in Congress — that they are determined to
obtain the supremacy — then to pass a law of general
emancipation — then to coerce the states to submission
peaceably, if they can by the doctrines of the Procla
mation and Force Bill, otherwise, by virtue of the
sword. Mark die words of our own illustrious Dray ton,
"unless the Smith, erect herself and interpose the *mly
xfiield that can ward off the blow, ere long the shout
of exulting rapm* wil/ go forlh, and t/;<" shriek of
murder and vioteuce, be heard in Heavui" Where
is that Shield — the -shield of State St:vmi<rntt/ — to
Liberty mid the Union, the only " Helmet of !$alra-
tion?" Ask where it is ? where is that skidd that is
u to ward off the fatal blow ?" and echo from the dark
est page of your country's Records will tell you, the
Proclamation and Force Bill have torn from the States,
the sacred bequest of our Fathers. — Behold members
of one Confederacy, followers of one Lord, (locking
to " the .Banner of Liberty" on which is engraven
the crimson m otto, "K ncll shall '' be, tolled on Kn,efl,
J&edrse follow IL-ar*e, and C tiffin ramble <m Coj/in,
until Ike last s?.«r/y slave- owner shall s>nf 1o Ins slave
depart to Africa the home of thy Fathers" — ask- why
this embattled Host 1 and they will tell you, »o to the

Proclamation and Force Bill, and from them you shall
learn that the citizens of a Sovereign State at the
peril of their lives, dare not arrest the enforcement oi'
a law passed by a majority of Congress.

Alas ! for those doctrines — those instruments of
destruction to Constitutional Liberty. But thanks,
unfeigned thanks to Heaven, the calamities with which
they threaten us, are suspended for a season Our;
country may yet be saved from the destroying '• An
gels of M< /v-y"' — the South may yet be rescued from
the vengeance of a " Godly Host." She has friends
in the North — friends who breathe the spirit of
Liberty — friends who have been nurtured in the genu
ine principles of Jeffersonian State Sovereignty—
friends who are rea>|vto risk their all in defence of
her Constitutional Rights and the perpetuity of the
U; ion. Let her own sons be true to her honor and
integrity, and all will yet be well. Let the voice of
her rights and wrongs be heard throughout her borders,
and let not her Priests refuse to respond. No— let
them remember that when Adonijah usurped the doniiu*
ion of Israel, and seized the treasures of the people
and feasted his minions, and threatened proscription
and h(tlter< for all who refused to bow to his will and
share his spoils, ZADOCK and NATHAN, «• Priests oi
the living God," were the first to call upon the Tribed
of Israel to rise in the majesty of their Covenant
lights, and Israel's Rights, and put down the Usurp
er. — L.et the Standard of State Sorc-eignty be one*
more uplifted — let every man be determined that the
South shall present one undivided, formidable front— t
that her Legislative Hails shall be filled with the ad-

vocates of the Reserved Rights of the States— that
her Representatives in the next Congress shall be men,
who will unite with her friends in the North, in restor
ing to the States their SOVEREIGN POWERS—
then will the prayers and anathemas of our " Godlif'
enemies cease to be heard — then will our Nati nal
maladies be healed, and our country once more free
from the grasp of a despotic construction of her rights
will again be hailed as "the pride of nations and the
glory of the world." But reverse the scene — fill her
councils with the votaries of " the right of Petition''
— "the Sovereignty of the Government" — and "the
subordination of the States" — let these doctrines b^
maintained, and the day is not far distant, when the
Abolitionists will enact a law,Xhe enforcement of
which will cause our cities to be demolished, our fields
laid waste, and our rivers reddened with the blood
of our wives and children.

FINIS.

JBRRATUM.

Page 36, llth line from top. for distinction read
distribution.

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