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THE
CHURCH Ai\D THE REBELLION:
A CONSIDERATION OF
THE EEBELLIOI^
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES;
AGEXCY OF THE CHURCH, XORTH AND SOUTH,
IN RELATION THERETO.
By R. L. STANTON, D.D.,
PEOFESSOR IX THE THEOLOGICAL 8EMINAKT OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHITECB
DANVILLE, KENTUCKY.
c
NEW YORK: ^^
DERBY & MILLER, 5 SPRUCE STREET
1864.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864,
Bt DEEBT & MILLER,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York.
C. A. ALVOBD, STKREOTYPER AND PEINTBB.
TO THE
YOUNG MEN OF THE UNITED STATES,
OP
EVEET CREED IN RELIGION AND EVERY PARTY IN POLITICS,
WHO PREFER
FREEDOM TO SLAVERY;
WHO ARE LOYAL TO THEIR COUNTRT,
AND WHO ARE
AIDING TO SUSTAIN ITS GOVERNMENT AGAINST REBELLION:
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
This volume does not claim to loe a History,
thoTigli some of its chapters are chiefly historical.
The time for writing the History of the Rebellion
has not come. It is, however, just as opportune
now as it will be at any future period, to inquire
into the causes of the revolt against the Govern-
ment of the United States, ap.d to examine the
agencies wliich have been concerned in initiating
and impelling it forward. These lie upon the sur-
face of observation and are patent to all men. Time
can throw no light upon them which will essen-
tially change their character.
Believing that the Church of God in this land, —
or, properly speaking, many of those in the dififer-
ent branches of the Church who have been leaders
in its councils, and who are largely responsible for
the formation and character of its public opinion,
— may be justly held to have done much tovv'ards
precipitating the Rebellion, as well as aiding it
PEEFACE.
during the whole course of its progress, it is one
aim of these pages to set forth the proofs and illus-
trations, in some small degree, of a record eo deeply
humiliating. No complaint need be enter-ed in be-
half of those whose conduct we unfold. Least of
all will thej themselves complain, for they glory
in what they have done, and call on the world to
applaud them.
There is another reason why it is essential to ex-
amine this record. Politicians, secular and reli-
gious journals, pamphleteers, men in all classes of
society, freely lay thfe blame of this Rebellion, in
a great measure, or wholly, at the door of the
Chui'ch ; charging the ministry, more especially,
with having caused it. This is a very prevalent
sentiment, if we may judge from what has been
said and written. There is iindoubtedly justice or
injustice in the charge, according to the direction
given to it. It is then essential that the matter be
probed, so that if the Church or its ministers are
improperly impugned, they may liave justice done
them ; and that the really guilty may be held re-
sponsible.
We have examined many works which have i^-
PREFACE.
sued from tlie press, calculated to elucidate certain
phases of the Rebellion and the War, but we have
observed no one designed to meet the demand
which this volume is intended to supply, or which
at all occupies the ground which several of its
chapters cover.
We are indebted to many writers for the facts we
present, and as far as possible have endeavored to
give them credit in the body of the work, though
omissions may have occurred.
With tills statement of the object of this vol-
ume, we lay it before the public, in the confident
hope that the Church and the Nation may soon
come out of this strife, purified and invigorated,
restored to those principles which were the glory
of the earlier and better days of the Republic, and
prepared for that great mission to which we have
always fondly believed they were destined by the
Ruler of the whole earth.
New York, August, 1864.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Character of the Rebellion Page 1-35
Against Popular Government, 1 ; Southern Domination in the Government, 3 ;
False charges by the South, 5 ; Against all Measures for Peace, 7 ; Perpetrated
by fraud and violence, 16; Prosecuted by cruelty and terror, 21 ; Its desolation
of the country, 27; It aimed to usurp the Government, 2S; Popular Govern-
ment universally endangered, 32 ; To perpetuate Negro Slavery, 3t
CHAPTER n.
Cause of the Rebellion 36-70
Slavery the cause, 36; An opposite view, 38; In what sense Slavery is the cause,
40 ; Modern views and power of Slavery, 42 ; Proof that Slavery is the cause-
official testimony, 45; Individual witnesses that Slavery is the cause, 48; Testi-
mony of Religious bodies to the same effect, 51 ; Incidental confirmatory evi-
dence, 54; All Slave States officially claimed, 55; Unlimited extension of Slavery,
57; The restrictive policy, 58; The expansive policy, 60; Reopening of the
African Slave trade, 61; Reopening of the trade denied, 62; Proof of the de-
signed reopening of the trade, 64 ; The cause fully developed, 68.
CHAPTER UL
Responsibility for the Rebellion Tl-lOS
Abolitionists charged with the responsibility, 72; Fallacious reasoning to sustain
the charge, 73; They would discuss the subject, 74; Abduction of Slaves, 75;
The whole North charged with it, 76; Abolitionists not Republicans, 77; Aboli-
tionists complimented— the People disparaged, 78; Responsibility of Abolition-
ists disclaimed at the South. 81 ; Discussion the germ of the troubling element,
84; What class of Northern men responsible, 87; Responsibility among Politi-
cians, North, 87; Responsibility among Churchmen, North, 88 ; Southside.view
of Northern Clergymen, 89 ; Responsibility of Northern men thus determined,
93; Northern responsibility in another light. 96; Slavery may be examined at
the North, 97 ; A subject for all mankind, 99 ; Free society pitied and lamented,
100 ; Slavery the proper condition for all laborers, 101 ; "Who, now, is responsi-
ble? 104.
CHAPTER ly.
Responsibility for Beginning and Continuing the War. 106-151
John Minor Botts on Secession, 107; Narrative of events, 108; Rebel Government
formed— the South arming, 110; Qur Government Inactive, 110; Siege of Fort
COJ^TENTS.
Sumter, 111 ; Congress not aggressive— Star of the West, 112; New Administra-
tion—attack on Fort Sumter, 114; The unavoidable issue, 115; Gen. McClellan's
opinion, 116; Southern assumptions vs. "Northern aggressions," IIT; Diplo-
matists from South Carolina, US; Their demand insolent, 120; What President
Buchanan intended, 122; Hypocrisy of their peaceful pretensions, 123; Irrefra-
gable position of the President, 124; Further negotiations — Confederate Com-
missioners, 125; Peaceful solution declined, 128 ; Unjustifiable reasons for refusal,
130 ; The Commissioners defiantly court War, 131 ; A Diplomatic quibble, 132 ;
Public facts decide the case, 134; liebel conditions of Peace since the War be-
gan, 135; The Kebel President and Kebel Congress on Peace, 18T; They mis-
represent the case, 139 ; The real question ignored by the Eebels, 141 ; Rebel
official mendacity, 143; Another effort for Peace — Niagara Falls Conference,
146 ; Missioa to Eiclmiond — Peace again, 148.
CHAPTER V.
Eesponsibility of the Southern Chuhch for the Rebellion and
THE War Page 152-206
Early agency of leading Divines, 155; Dr. Thorn well aids the Rebellion, 155; His
Fast-Day Discourse, Nov. 21, ISOO, 157; He vindicates the Secession of South
Carolina, 158 ; Open resistance counselled, 159; Charge of Treason established,
160; Drs. Thornwoll, Leland, Adger, and others, upon the stump, 161 ; Early aid
of Dr. Palmer, 163; Dr. Palmer and the mission of Senator Toombs, 163; Speci-
men of his Thanksgiving Discourse, 165; Resistance counselled — ''the last
ditch," 16"; War welcomed — the Union denounced, 167; Prophecy fulfilled un-
expectedly, 168; His Sermon steeped in sin, guilt, and crime, 169; He further
vindicates Secession, 170; Dr. Smyth strikes the same chord, 171; Judgment
and blessing, 172; Resistance universally instilled, 172; The Clergy of all De-
nominations aid the Rebellion, 173; Leading Clergymen in the Rebel army, 174;
Many Ministers go South and aid the Rebellion, 175; Other Rebel Clergymen at
the South, 176; Southern Churches organized in aid of the Rebellion, 177; Ad-
dresses of Southern Churches sustaining the Rebellion, 179; The Presbyterian
Church, 179; The Protestant Episcopal Church, 18(5; Christian Association, 181;
The Baptist Church, 182 ; Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians,
Lutherans, German Reformed, and other Churches, Ninety-si.x Ministers, 183;
Southern Religious press on the Rebellion, 184 ; At New Orleans, 184 ; At Co-
lumbia, S. C, 185; At Richmond, Va., 186; At Fayetteville, N. C, 187; Educa-
tion in aid of the Rebellion, 188; Great Southern University, 189; Disunion —
Fighting men to be educated, 189 ; Endowment, five or ten million.s, 191: Pro-
fessorship on Patriotism, 191; Episcopal University of ihe South, 192; Rebel
Major-General Ilill as au Educator, 193; His hatred of the Nortli, 194; He
teaches Secession by algebra, 194; Specimen of algebraic problems, 195; Aid
of the I hurch indispensable to the Rebellion, 196; This aid acknowledged by
Rebel Statesmen, 197; A Statesman's view indorsed, 198; The Church led the
Politicians, 199; The proof conclusive, 200; Loyal Clergymen in t^e Border
States, 201 ; Loj'alty of Northern Churches— their duty, 202; Duty of the South-
ern Church the same. 204.
CONTENTS. XI
CHAPTER VI.
Cleeical DrsLOTALTT IN LoYAL STATES Page 207-246
Clerical Sympathizers iu Maryland, 20S ; Disloyal Ministers in the District of Colum-
bia, 209; Rebel Sympathizers among Kentucky Clergymen, 211 ; Rev. ThomabA.
Hoyt, 211 ; Mr. Hoyt's Disloyal Sermon, 212 ; Political Preaching Defined, 214 ; Re-
ligious Preaching defin-ed, 215 ; War preached in the name of Peace, 216 ; The grand
distinction— Religion and Politics, 21T; No possible Neutrality, 218 ; Dr. Stuart
Robinson, 219 ; He edits a Disloyal paper, 220 ; Its Disloyal course In general, 222 ;
It vilifies the Church for Loyalty, 223 ; It abuses the Government, 224 ; Speci-
mens of its Disloyalty — his position defined, 227 ; God's " curse" with the Presi-
dent, 229 ; The War charged on Northern men, 230 ; Our Government worse than
the French Revolutionists, 231 ; Charge of Disloyalty, 233 ; Calumny self-refuted,
233; The Remedy — two examples, 234; Government Orders vindicated, 236 ;
(Church application vindicated by the facts, 239 ; Chief ground of complaint, 241 ;
Government and Church vindicated by the Law, 242; Vindicated by Rebel au-
thority, 244.
CHAPTER VII.
The Church, North and South, on Disloyalty 247-275
All men subject to Civil authority, 248 ; Obedience to Civil authority a Religious
duty, 248; Ministers to preach subjection, 249; Omission of this duty a sin,
250 ; The crowning guilt, 251 ; Disloyalty punishable by the State, 252 ; What
Loyalty and Disloyalty are, 253 ; Disloyalty punishable by the Church, 254 ;
Reasons founded on Revelation, 255 ; Spiritual jurisdiction broader than Civil,
256; Disloyalty actually condemned by the Church, 258; Presbyterian Church
— Dr. McPheeters, 259; Individual opinions in the General Assembly, 261 ; Dr.
McPheeters on Military Orders, 264 ; False criterion of Loyalty, 265 ; Gen.
Kosecrans's Orders, 268 ; " Honor to whom honor," 271 ; Doom of Traitors — self-
condemnation, 273.
CHAPTER Vni.
Southern Providence in the Rebellion 276-302
God's providence extends to Nations, 276 ; Its designs toward the United States,
277; The dead fly in the ointment, 278; The Irrepressible Conflict, 279; The
difficulty beyond human wisdom, 260 ; Hopes dashed and raised again, 2S1 ;
Providence from a Southern stand-point, 282 ; It upsets their Theology, 284 ;
The true doctrine of Providence, 286; Southern exposition of it — Dr. Palmer,
286; Providence frustrated, 287 ; Southern Theology rebuked by Scripture, 288;
Providential rule supreme, 290; An explanation needed, 291; A solution pro-
posed, 292; A providence of man's devising, 292 ; Southern providence further
illustrated — Dr. Smyth, 293 ; Blasphemy and Fanaticism sublimated, 294 ; The
providential climax — Dr. Stiles, 295; The Southern Confederacy to usher in the
Millennium, 296; Rebel Victories by miracle, 298; A new Siege of Jericho, 298;
The Confederate Armageddon, 300.
Xii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
Providential Designs in the Rebellion Page 303-362
Slavery to be terminated, 305; Manner of its termination, 806; Action in certain
Border States, 308 ; Signs of its termination— the Loyal States, 310 ; Fugitive
Slave Law repealed, 311 ; Slaves freed by the War, 312; All traceable to the Ee-
bellion, 313; Termination of Slavery in the Rebel States, 3U; Slavery doomed,
though Disunion triumph, 316; Litenial causes of its destruction, 317; Illustra-
tive incident— Colonel Dahlgren, 31S; Facts and their Lesson, 319; War educa-
ting Slaves for Freedom, 320; External causes of its deatruction, 321; Fnvironed
by enemies, 322; Cotton Dreams, 323; Slavery doomed and the Union main-
tained, 324 ; Reasons for this position, 326 ; Strength of the parties in Soldiers,
32T; Negro Soldiers— their number unlimited, 329; White Soldjers sufficient,
330; National Resources and Credit, 331; The Result, 832; Governmental de-
termination confronted, 332 ; Opposition to Slavery fighting against God, 334 ;
The Government vindicated in destroying Slavery, 335; Its right of self-preser-
vation, 336; Destruction of Slavery a lawful means to this end, 338; Forbear-
ance of the Government with Slavery, 340; Emancipation Proclamation, 342 ;
Its final determination justified, 343; Sustained by the Laws of War, 344; Sus-
tained by examples of several Nations — Great Britain, France, 346; Spain, Co-
lombia, United States, 347; Illustrated by cases in the United States — Generals
•Jesup, Taylor, Gaines, Presidents Van Buren, Tyler, and Congress, 347 ; An-
other case between Great Britain and the United Statos — decision of the Rus-
sian Emperor Alexander, 349 ; Opinions of eminent Statesmen— Jefferson, J. Q.
Adams, Hamilton, Jay, Madison, 350 ; Vindication complete against idle decla-
mation, 354; Sustained against the Rebel Congress, 354; Sustained by Southern
men, 856 ; The sum of Providential indications, 860.
CHAPTER X.
The Church and Slavery i 363-421
Three periods of Opinion, historically, 863; The Church largely responsible for
Opinion, 366; Presbyterian Church illustrative of others. 363; First period —
early Testimony of the Church, 1737, 86D; Politics and Religion — a Prophet, 370;
Aclion upon a c.Tse submitted, 1795,371; Another case acted upon, 1815, 872;
The most elaborate Testimony, 1S18, 373; Characteristics of the paper of ISIS,
877; Second period — more " conservati*'e" views, 378; Action postponed in
1836, 380; Formal ''conservative" action of 1845, 382; Contrast — Aclion of 1818
and 1845, 885; Action of 1S46 — Declaration of acreement, 3SS; Another contrast
—1818 and 1S49, 391; A Prottst- Action of 1S45 equivocil, 393; Action of 1861—
Synod of South Oaiolina, 394; Action of 1360 — Repudiation of 1S45. 895; Review
of Testimonies — 17S7 to 1863, 397; Corroborative Testimony to the positions
taken, 400; Proof and Illustration.s 403; The inevitable effect — ^Northern re-
sponsiliility, 405; Action of the General Assembly of 1864, 408; Features of the
Report, 413 ; Te Deum Laudamus, 420.
CONTENTS. XUl
CHAPTER XL
Kentucky OninoMS — The Past and the Present Page 422-451
Paper of the Committee of the Synod on Slavery, in 1S35, 433; Movement for
Emancipation, in 1S49, 440; Principles of the State Emancipation Convention,
441 ; Emancipationists defeated in the State — causes, 442 ; Preshyterians unani-
mously for Emancipation — Drs. Breckim-idge, Young, and " Eev. Mr. Robinson,
of Frankfort,'" 443 ; Drs. Humphrey and W. L. Breckinridge upon Emancipation
in 1849,444; Position of Dr. R. J. Breckinridge In 1849, 445; Hon. Garrett
Davis on Slavery in 1S49, 449; A glorious record tarnished, 450.
CHAPTER Xn.
Modern Southern Yiews of Slavery 452-472
Defended by Northern men, 453 ; Positions taken, 454 ; Authorities for these
positions, 455 ; I. As related to Natural and Municiijol Laic, 4^6; Dr. Thorn-
well, 455; "General Assembly of the Confederate States," 457; Dr. Seabury,
457; The True Presbyterian, 457 ; II. As related to Divine Iievelution,4:6%;
Dr. Thornwell, 458 ; " General Assembly of the Confederate States," 458 ; Prof.
S. F. B. Morse, 459 ; Dr. Stuart Eobinson, 460 ; Dr. Fred. A. Pvoss, 4U2 ; Gen.
Thomas Pv. E. Cobb, 4G2; Dr. Thomas Smyth, 463; Dr. Seabury, 464; The TruB
Presbyterian, 4&4; Dr. J. E. Wilson, 465; Dr. Geo. D. Ai-mstrong, 465; Bishop
Hopkins, 466; Prof Bledsoe, 466; Dr. Nehemiah Adams, 466; Eesponsibility of
the Church for the Eevolution in Southern Opinion, 407 ; Early position of Eev.
James Smylie, 463; Paper of the Synod of Mississippi, 469; Confirmatory Tes-
timony, 471.
CHAPTER Xm.
Slavery in Poleihcs — Divine Revelation 473-509
Preliminary considerations, 473; The Scriptures grossly libelled, 474 ; Points of
difference between the Jewish and Southern systems, 476; Professorial judg-
ment of the case, 4S3; Proslavery arguments examined, 484; The argument
from the Decalogue, 485 ; The Abrahamic and Mosaic system, 433; Authority
in contrast, 490; The New Testament argument, 492 ; Slavery hanging by a
word, 493; Prof. Lewis on /)o«Zo«, 493 ; Prof. Lewis on Slave -traders, 495; Sla-
very among the Eelation.s, 497; The reductio ad absurdum, 498; Slavery univer-
sally essential, 498 ; Emancipation a sin, 500 ; Invasion of God"s prerogative,
501; The Eelations in dialogue, 502; A Southern family established, 504; Divine
Ordinances plain, 506; The Servile Eelation as an " Ordinance," 506 ; The only
loophole, and that closed, 508.
CHAPTER XIV.
Slavery in Polemics — Law of Is ature 510-538
Disagreement on what is the Law of Nature, 510 ; Disagreement in applying the Law
of Nature, 512; Moral phases involved in the application, 513; Illustrative con-
tradictions, 514; Slavery against Nature — Code of Justinian, 515; The Justinian
Code overthrown, 516; Slavery from an Ant-hill, 513; Ant-slavery — Striking
XIV CONTENTS.
analogies, 519 ; Slave-trade justified, 520 ; Cannibalism justified on similar ground,
521 ; Its practical advantages, 521 ; Dr. Thorn well's argument from Nature, 523;
Pagan an example for Christian States, 525; Slavery submitted to a popular vote,
526; The inevitable conclusion, 52T; American Slavery founded on Human Law,
627; Conflicting authorities — Law •versus Divinity, 528; Origin of Negro Sla-
very in the United States, 530 ; Its History traced— African Slave-trade, 530 ;
Founded in Human Law, or without legality, 532 ; Positive Law — Inevitable
crime, 533 ; Positive Law theory sustained by the highest Southern authority,
534; The impregnable conclusion, 535 ; The consoling alternative, 536.
CHAPTER XT.
Review and Conclusion Page 539-562
The external situation, 539 ; Eesponsibility of Foreign Powers, 540 ; The coming
reckoning, 542 ; Ketributive Justice, 543 ; Essential discriminations, 543; Pocket
Philanthropy, 544; Our cause misrepresented, 545 ; Foreign enmity persistent.
545; The jiopular masses with us, 546; The internal situation, 548; What tho
contest exhibits, 548; Friends and foes, 550; Subordinate questions, 551 ; Ad-
ministration and Government, 552; True principle of support — Objections, 553;
Opposing the Administration-^change demanded, 555 ; Loyalty practically tested,
556 ; Loyalty above partisanship — Violence, 557 ; God reigns — Our trust, 559 ;
The Patriot's Beward, 559 ; The Traitor's Doom, 561.
THE CHURCH AND THE EEBELLION.
CHAPTER I.
CHARACTER OP THE REBELLION.
The rebellion against the Government of the United
States, now in the fourth year of its progress, is among
the most extraordinary phenomena in the annals of man-
kind. It is so remarkable in its objects, so determined in
its spirit, and has brought into action, upon one side and
the other, material and moral forces of such gigantic mag-
nitude, that the world stands appalled at the spectacle it
presents.
In any proper consideration of the subject, the logical
order brings us first to look at the character of the rebel-
lion. It has certain palpable features which might profita-
bly admit of an extended examination. Our plan will
allow us to give them only a passing notice.
AGAIXST POPITLAE GOVERNMENT.
1. The primal characteristic it exhibits is that of a vio-
lent demonstration against the Ufe-principle of Popular
Government.
The ultimate sovereignty and true source of all political
power, under God, are in the jjeo^^e, for whose benefit civil
society has been ordained. In God's i^rovidence, mankmd
are distributed into nations, in which political power is to
be exercised through the modes which the people of each
2 CHAEACTEE OF THE EEBELLION.
may devise. To establish government, and to alter its
form or character, so as to meet the varying wants of
society, are among the inherent rights of every people.
These are very generally conceded as fimdamental princi-
ples in political science. They are denied by those who
contend for the divine right of kings, and who hold that
the many were created for the few ; "but the ablest writers
acknowledge these rights as belonging primarily to the
people, and of which they cannot be justly divested.
In regard to changing the government which exists over
a people, eithei- in its form or in matters of substance, the
modes are various. In a monarchy, a people may wish to
go no farther than to demand and receive concessions from
the sovereign, leaving the form and structure of the gov-
ernment intact. Under a despotism, tyranny may become
so oppressive as to be miendnrable, with no hope of relief
from the ruling power. Then, revolution may become a
duty. This remedy is deemed justifiable in extreme cases,
and a right which a people can never surrender. The pro-
priety of resorting to it must, for the most part, be deter-
mined by the circumstances of each case.
In a popular government, however, republican or demo-
cratical, M^hose form and structure have spnmg fi'om the
free consent of the whole people, and where the rulers,
from the highest to the lowest, are chosen and frequently
changed by their common suffrages, the right of violent
re\olution would seem to be well-nigh or quite excluded.
All abuses of power are subject to that peaceful remedy
Avhich the people ahvays have in their hands. Any bianch
of the government, executive, legislative, or judicial, which
usurps authority, may be speedily reached and the correc-
tive applied, — as, for example, in the United States, — by
im])eachment, or by the ballot. If the remedy belong
directly to the people, the determination is with the major-
SOUTHEEN DOMINATION IN THE GOVERNMENT. 3
ity, in the manner prescribed by law ; and, when made,
the decision must be Snal if the people are the ultimate
source of power. A denial of these simple principles ren-
ders popular government impossible.*
!N^ow, it is the invasion of that life- principle which under-
lies the whole structure of popular government, that con-
stitutes the primal item in the catalogue of crimes which
make up the terrible guilt of this rebellion. It is an appeal
from the ballot-box to the sword ; a determination to
defeat by war the results of a poj^ular election, fairly con-
ducted in all respects according to the Constitution and
laws, as those who have revolted admit ; an election in
which they, equally with the rest of the nation, freely
embarked, and by the results of which they were there-
fore solemnly bound. This is the charge which stands
recorded against them in the face of the whole world.
SOUTHEKN DOMINATION IN THE GOVERNMENT.
2. Another item in the character of the rebellion is,
that it is waged against a Government whose administrar
tion the rebels, through the ])arty with which they had
generally acted, had almost uniformly controlled, from the
oric/in of the Govermnent to the time of their revolt, and
every branch of which icas still in their possessiori.
This is one of those facts in our history, so well known
and so public that it will scarcely be questioned. But an
authority so valuable as that of Vice-President Stephens,
of the " Confederate" Government, may here be given.
* Says M. De Tocquetille, in his Democracy in. America : " All authority origi-
nates in the will of the majority." " In the United States, the majority governs in
the name of the peojile, as is the case in all the countries in which the people is
supreme.'' "The very essence of democratic government consists in the absolute
8overeignt3' of the majority." "The moral power of the majority Is founded upon
yet another principle, which is, that the interests of the many are to be preferred
to those of the few."
4 CHAKACTER OF THE REBELLION".
In a speech at Washington, Georgia, June 8, 1861, he
It has been our pride that out of the seventy -two years of the ex-
istence of the Government under the Constitution, it has been for sixty
under the control of Southern statesmen. This has secured whatever
of prosperity and greatness, growth and development, has marked the
country's career during its past history. The Northern masses gener-
ally agreed with Southern statesmen in their policy, and sustained them.
These were the democracy of that section. Mr. Jefferson said they
were allies. "Washington's administration lasted eight years. It was
Southern, and in the line of Soutliern policy. Then came the elder
Adams. He was from Massachusetts. Opposite ideas shaped his poli-
cy. At the end of four years, the people indignantly turned him and
his counsellors out of power. Then came Jefferson, Madison, and Mon-
roe, each eight years — all Southern men. Here we had thirty-two
years of Southern administration to four Northern. Then came the
younger Adams from the North. He was the great embodiment of
those ideas which now control Lincoln's administration. At the end of
four years he was turned out of power, and Jackson, a Southern man,
came in for eight years. Then came Van Buren, a Northern man, for
four years. Then Harrison, Tyler, and Polk, which added eight years
more of Southern control. Next, Taylor and FUlmore. Fillmore was a
Northern man, it is true, but his administration was sustained by the
South, and so was Pierce's. These may be called Southern adminis-
trations ; and so was Buchanan's — thus making sixty out of the seven-
ty-two years of the Government's existence under the Constitution. All
the important measures which have marked the history of the Govern-
ment, which have made it what it is, or was before the dismemberment,
and made it the admiration of the world, were the fruits of the poUcy of
Southern statesmen.
This statement of Mr. Stephens requires one modifica-
tion. The policy of Mr. Van Buren's administration was
as intensely Southern as that of any one he claims. It was
not till sevei-al years after his retirement from public life
that he gave expression to those views which rendered
him odious to his quondam Southern friends. The balance
may then be adjusted so as to give to the South, upon the
principle Mr. Stephens lays down, sixti/-J'oi<r years of con-
FALSE CHARGES BY THE SOUTH. 5
trol of the Government, and to the North eight years ;
aud that, too, while the North had a large majority of the
population of the country.
Besides thus wielding the power and shaping the policy
of the Government from its origin, the party of which
Mr. Stephens here speaks had control of every branch of
the Government when the revolt began, and even the Ex-
ecutive was not to be changed for a period of four months.
From this state of facts, it seems in a high degree probable,
that, had this powerful party remained intact, and had its
Southern leaders exercised only a modiciira of that saga-
city which had characterized them in its better days, it
could have secured for the South all that the South had a
right to demand under the Constitution, and saved the land
from a deluge of blood. But the instigators of this rebel-
lion wantonly threw away the power which they possessed,
to grasp a shadow which their ambition had pictured.
FALSE CHARGES BY THE SOUTH.
3. While this is a rebellion against the Government
proper, it was instigated against an incoming Adminis-
tration 071 false grounds.
It was charged at the outset throughout the South, that
it was to be the policy of Mr. Lincoln's Administration to
destroy slavery. This charge was known and proven to
be false in every possible way which the case admitted.
It was denied in the most formal manner in the platform
of the party, adopted in the National Convention by
which the present Executive was nominated. It was
denied by many of the leading men of the party, in their
numerous speeches during the canvass, and by the resolu-
tions of many assemblages of the people ; and if there
were any contrary declarations they were wholly without
authority, in the face of the formal announcement of the
6 CHAEACTER OF THE REBELLION.
National Convention. And finally, it was denied by the
President in his Inaugural Address.* In short, it would
seem to he impossible to meet such a charge in any way
in which it was not met. And yet, the revolt began im-
mediately uj)on the result of the Presidential election
* The folIo^^'ing is an extract from the Inaugural Address of President Lincoln, in
which is embodied the resolution above referred to from the platform of the National
Convention : " I do not consider it necessary, at present, for me to discuss those
matters of administration about vchich there is no special anxiety or excitement.
Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States, that by the ac-
cession of a Ivppubllcan Administration, their property and their peace and personal
securitj- are to be endangered. There never has been any reasonable cause for such
apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while exist-
ed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches
of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches, when I
declare that 'I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institu-
ti(m of slavery in the States where it exists.' I believe I have no lawful right to do so ;
and I have no inclination to do so. Those who nominated and elected me, did so with
the full knowledge that I had made this, and made similar declarations, and had never
recanted them. And more than this, they placed in the platform, for my acceptance,
and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now
read : ' Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and
especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions
according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on
which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we de-
nounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory,
no matter under what pretest, as among the grossest of crimes.' I now reiterate
these sentiments; and in doing so I only press upon the public attention the most
conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible, that the property, peace, and
security of no section are to be in any wise endangered by the now incoming Ad-
ministration. I add, too, that all the protection ^Wlich, consistently with the Con-
stitution and the laws, can be given, will be cheerfully given to all the States when
lawfully demanded, for whatever cause, as cheerfully to one section as to another."
The foregoing sentences completely disprove the charge under consideration. The
President closed his Address as follows: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow,
countrymen, and noi. in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Govern-
ment will not ass.ail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the
aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government;
while I shall have the most solemn one to ' preserve, protect, and defend it.' I am
loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though
passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of atfection. The mystic
chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every
living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of
'the Union, when again touched, as sorely they will be, by the better angels of our
nature."
AGAINST ALL MEASURES FOR PEACE. 7
(Nov. 6, 1860) becoming known, and four months before
the Administration was to assume power, in those acts of
secret and open aggression upon the public authority and
property throughout the Southern States, with which the
world is so familiar.
The third item, therefore, which characterizes the rebel-
lion, is, that it began with a most barefaced and palpable
he in its right hand, forged by the leaders against the
sovereign people of the United States, in the face of the
most public and indisputable facts to the contrary, and
employed as a rallying cry to deceive the masses at the
South and precipitate the States into secession.
It cannot be said, in answer to this, that the event has
proved the charge true ; that the present policy of the Ad-
ministration towards slavery shows that it was from the
first its design to destroy it. There is no shadow of evi-
dence that the President, or the party that elected him,
intended originally to interfere with it in the States, but
overwhelming proof to the contrary. But when open war
was made in the interest of slavery, to supplant the Gov-
ernment and dismember the Union, the whole case was
changed ; and as, on the one hand, the rebels did not enter
upon the war to prove their prediction true, so, on the
other, the Administration were not bound to abstain from
touching slavery in order to prove the prediction false.
AGAIXST ALL MEASURES FOR PEACE.
4. After the rebelhon began, it was persistently adhered
to and prosecuted, in spite of the 7nost urgent means to
preserve peace^ made by the party which had triumphed in
the Presidential election, and by many of the patriotic of
all i^arties.
Among other important measures which were taken
during the winter and prior to the fourth of March, ISGl,
8 CHARACTER OF THE REBELLION.
while President Buchanan was still in power, were three
which deserve special notice : The Acts of the Peace Con-
vention, as it was called; the proposed Amendment to the
Constitution from the Committee of Thirty-Three of the
House of Representatives ; and the organization of the
Territories.
The Peace Convention met in Wadiington in January,
1861, and continued in session several weeks. It was con-
vened on the recommendation of the Legislature of Vir-
ginia, and composed of delegates from thirteen free States,
and seven slave States ; to devise measures which should
be recommended to Congress for its adoption, in order to
harmonize the views of the two sections of the country
and prevent bloodshed. It embraced many of the ablest
men of the country, of the different shades of political
opinion in each State represented. Although it was a body
of no legal authority, yet from the weight of character of
the men composing it, presided over by one who had fiUed
the office of President of the United States, and from its
humane and patriotic objects, its proceedings were watched
with intense interest.
As the result of its deliberations, this Convention pre-
sented to Congress the recommendation of an article for
an amendment to the Constitution, consisting of seven
sections. As the questions which divided the country
related mainly to slavery, the provisions of this proposed
article were framed with special reference to that subject.
Among them were the following, some of which were
made apparently to the demands and others to the fears
of the party in revolt, and nearly all of which were most
marked concessions to the whole South. The article
restored the Missouri Compromise line, with very serious
modifications, on the parallel of latitude of 36° 30'. It
admitted slavery into "all the territory" south of that
AGAINST ALL MEASURES FOR PEACE. 9
line, guaranteeing that the status of sLives then within it
should " not be changed," and prohibiting Congress and
the Territorial Legislature from passing any law against
taking slaves into such territory. It guaranteed the admis-
sion of States into the Union from "any Territory North
or South of said line," either with or without slavery, as
the Constitution of each State should provide. It pro-
hibited such a construction of the Constitution as would
give to Congress any power whatever over slavery in any
of the States ; or to abolish slavery in the District of
Columbia without the consent of Maryland, and without
the consent or compensation of the owners ; or to prevent
any one from taking his slaves to and from the District of
Columbia at pleasure ; or to interfere with or abolish sla-
very in any place, either in State or Territory, " under the
exclusive jurisdiction of the United States ;" or to inter-
fere with the domestic slave-trade between the slave
States. It also prohibited such a construction of the Con-
stitution as would " prevent any of the States," so dis-
posed, "from enforcing the delivery of fugitives from
labor" to their owners ; and made it obligatory upon Con-
gress to " provide by law that the United States shall pay
to the owner the full value of his fugitive from labor in all
cases" where fugitive slaves should be prevented from
arrest or rescued from the oflficers of the law " by violence
or intimidation from mobs or riotous assemblages." And
finally, it provided that the sections embodying these sev-
eral guarantees and prohibitions (with two minor excep-
tions), together with the several parts of the Constitution
which now relate to slavery, should " not be amended or
abolished, without the consent op all the States." A
majority of "three-fourths" only of the States is now
requisite for amending any part of the Constitution.
It is perceived at a glance that these propuaitions of the
]*
10 CHARACTER OF THE REBELLION.
Peace ConA-ention made concessions to the whole South in
several important particulars. The only question touching
slavery which was brought into the Presidential canvass
of 1860, was that concerning the Territories, over which
Congress has full jurisdiction ; and the result of the elec-
tion was deemed a solemn judgment by the people that
the Territories then free should remain free. This was
simply in accordance with a principle which Congress ha<]
recognized several times in our history, by prohibiting sla-
very in portions of the territoiy of the United States, and
these prohibitions had been sanctioned as constitutional by
Southern Presidents and by the general acquiescence of
all political parties.* But after the revolt commenced, and
*IncludiDg the action of tlie Continental Congress under the Articles of Confede-
ration, and the several acts of Congress under the present Constitution, there has
been direct legislation many times, prohibitory of or interfering with slavery in the
rerritorial domain under the immediate jurisdiction of the Government of the
United States, between that earlier ^period and the administration of President
Polk. The Continental Congress passed the famous " Ordinance for the Govern-
ment of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the Ohio Kiver," July 1'^,
■■787. Eight States were represented, and voted on this Ordinance, three of which
/Ffre free at the beginning of the rebellion, and five were slave, each State having
ont f ?te, viz. : Free States, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey ; Slave States,
Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Every one of
these States voted for this Ordinaiice prohihiting slavery, and also every mem-
ber but one, Mr. Yates, of New York. The Constitution of the United States was
adopted in the same year, and in the Convention wliiuh framed it were several of the
same men who in the Continental Congress passed Ihis Ordinance. One of the ear-
liest acts of the First Congress passed under the Constitution ami during the admin-
istration of General Washing;ton as President, embracing again several men who had
been in the Convention that framed the Constitution, was an act to enforce the
Ordinance of 17S7, excluding slavery from the Northwest Territory ; and in doing
this, the fathers who had made the Constitution so recently did not of course sup-
pose they were violating it. Whatever else, therefore, may be said about this Ordi-
nance and the Act of Congi-ess last referred to, and whatever else they may havo
included or covered, it is clear that they p>'o/(?&j<e(f sirt^jeri/ in United States Ter-
ritory; and they so far forth show that, in the judgment of the men who understood
the real intent and meaning of the Constitution as well probably as any men who
have since lived, it is perfectly within the power of Congress to prohibit slaverj^ in
any Territory of the United States whenever in its opinion public policy demands
it. Nor lias the exercise of such power been pronounced an infraction of the Con-
stitution by the Supreme Court, or been so deemed by any class of public men (and
AGAINST ALL MEASURES FOE PEACE. 11
solely for the sake of preventing bloodshed, the Peace
Convention, in which were some of the leading men of the
triumphant party, presented to Congress /b/' adoj^tion into
tlie Constitution., the foregoing provisions, which would
secure greater immunities to slavery than it had ever
before enjoyed.
How were these generous proposals received? The
leaders of the rebellion scouted them with scorn. Some
of them publicly declared, — as in the case of the Hon.
Lawrence M. Keitt, member of the House of Represen-
tatives from South Carolina, — that if a blank parchment
were given them on which to write the demands which the
North should grant, they Avould reject it with contempt.
Mr. Tyler, the President of the Peace Convention, went
home to Virginia, and with other leading men of that
State used all his influence against the favorable reception
of these proposals by the Legislatui-e. We witnessed, per-
sonally, the manner in which these propositions were
received in the Senate of the United States. On being
reported from the committee to whom they had been
referred, we heard five speeches made upon them which
consumed the chief portion of one day's session. Messrs.
Mason and Hunter, of Virginia, spoke earnestly against
never by any political party), until within a very recent period. The last instance
in the series of Congressional prohibitory acts now referred to, occurred as late as
the administration of James K. Polk, a Southern President. With a Democratic
majority in both Houses of Congress, slavery was prohibited in the bill for the
organization of the Territory of Oregon. The Southern doctrine, therefore, that the
Constitution carries slavery into the Territories by its own inherent force, and that
Congress therefore cannot prohibit but is bound necessarily "to protect" it there by
positive law, is a modern notion— f«ry modern. And yet, this question of slavery
in the Territories was made a chief element in the South (see next chapter) for urg-
ing the people into rebellion. Dr. Thornwell but announces the new doctrine on
this point upon which rebel statesmen and the whole South acted,— and it goes
beyond the Territories and into the States,— v,-hca he says: "The Constitution
covers the whole territory of the Union, and throughout that territory has talcen
slavery under the p?-ofec«o;t of law.""— Southern Frenhyicrian Review, Jan.. lg«l.
2
12 CUARACTEE OF THE EEBELLION.
them, as did also Mr. Pugh, of Ohio, these three men
being of the party in the Senate having the majority ;
while their adoption was earnestly and most eloquently
urged by Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky, and by IVIr. Baker,
of California, the latter being of the Republican party,
and showing a few months later, in the unfortunate battle
at Ball's Bluff, that he was as ready to pour out his heart's
blood for his country, when the clash of arms had actually
come, as he was to speak eloquently for peace as long as
peace was possible.
What good fruit could be expected from the labors of
the Peace Convention, when their extreme and generous
concessions to the South w^ere spurned with disdain by all
those who controlled Southern opinion ?*
The second measure to which we have referred, was
taken in the same spirit which actuated the Peace Conven-
tion. It w^as another proposition to amend the Constitu-
tion, emanating from the Committee of Thirty -Three of the
House of Representatives, of which Mr. Corwm, of Ohio, a
* The late Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. Salmon P. Chase, was a member of this
Peace Convention. On visiting his home in Ohio, in October last, addressing his
fellow-citizens in Columbus aud again in Cincinnati, he incidentally refers to the
labors of this Convention, as follows: " When he loft the SUte, it had been at the
invitation and appointment of his friend and most honored successor (Governor Den-
nison), a Governor, he must here take the opportunity to say, who had worthily dis-
charged the great trusts the people had confided to^iis bauds. In the Peace Confer-
ence, to which he had thus been appointed, he and his Northern colleagues had been
animateil by the sincerest and most anxious desire to preserve the peace and har-
mony of the Republic. They had no wish save to give effect to the Constitution
and laws as they stood. They had assured the delegates from the South that if they
would be content with slavexy whore it was, there was no considerable body of men
anywhere who sought to interfere with them. Join us, then,— they had proposed, —
in assuring your people of this plain, indisputable fact, and allay this dangerous ex-
citement. Then call for a Nation.al Convention and let the whole country decide on
the new claims you prefer. But for that fair, simple proposition, not one single vote
from a single slaveholding State teas recorded, .lohn Tyler was the Chairman of
that Convention. Mr. Scddon, the present rebel Minister of War, and nearly every
other mombor from the ^outh, was now identified with the rebellion. They did not
oi.tisont to the proposition, because they had made up their minds before they entered
iho Convention, to rule the nation or niia iC — Cincinnati Gazette, Oct. 13, 1863.
AGAINST ALL MEASURES FOK PEACE. 13
leading membei- of the Republican party, was the Chair-
man. It was in these words : " No amendment shall be
made to the Constitution which will authorize or give
Congress power to abolish or interfere, in any State, with
the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons
held to labor or servitude by the laws of said State."
This proposed amendment was intended to meet tlie spe-
cific charge, made all through the South dui*ing the Presi-
dential canvass, that the Republican party designed to in-
terfere with slavery in the States. It was indeed a work
of supererogation, for no statesman of any party had ever
pretended that Congress had any such power as it was
proposed here to restrict. But it shows how earnest were
the national authorities to promote concord between the
North and the South. This measure passed both branches
of Congress by the requisite majority of two-thirds, and in-
deed almost unanimously. It is highly probable that it
would have been passed by the required number of the
States, had not the violent measm-es of those in rebellion
soon revealed that a prevention of actual hostilities was
hopeless.*
The third measure showing a disposition to remove all
causes of complaint as far as possible, is seen in the action
of Congress upon the organization of Territories. As be-
fore stated, the only question touching slavery upon which
the Presidential election turned, was concerning its status
in the Territories. Congress, before its close on the 4th
* To this proposition to amend the Constitution, President Lincoln referred in his
Inaugural Address, as follows: "I understand that a proposed amendment to the
Constitution (which amendment, however, I have not seen) has passed Congress, to
the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic insti-
tutions of the States, including that of persons held to service. To avoid miscon-
struction of what I have said, I depart frcm my purpose not to speak of particular
amendments, so far as to say, that, holding such a provision to be now implied con-
stitutional law, I have no objections to its being made express and irrevocable.'"
14 CIJARACTEK OF THE REliELLIUiN-.
of March, 1861, organized several Territorial Gover;:meiit8
for the remaining portion of the public domain. But in-
stead of ingrafting upon these bills any prohibition of
slavery in these Territories, — wliich they had the power of
numbers to do after the withdrawal of the Southern mem-
bers, as well as the authority of many precedents by Con-
gress from the earliest period, and which would have been
in accordance with the sentiments of the people expressed
in the election, — the whole question was left open to the
decision of the people in each Territory when they should
form their respective State Constitutions ; thus practically
allowing to the South all that had been yielded by the
decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case, that
they might go to the Territories with their slaves, and
abide the decision of the people whether they should be
ultimately free or slave States.*
When such advances were made to the party then in
revolt, and when they were met in the WfU-kiiown manner
indicated, no seer was needed to predict the result. In
the words of the Hon. Edward Everett, the leaders of the
rebellion " were resolved not to be satisfied." They looked
with proud contempt upon the men Avho endeavored to
conciliate them, and regarded their most generous conces-
sions as prompted by pusillanimitv and cowardice. They
believed that a people who could so act would not fight
when the trial of arms should come — a mistake of which
they have since had ample proof.
This characteristic of the rebellion thus exhibits the most
indubitable evidence, — and it is furnished in many other
* In an account of a public meeting hold at Louisville, Kentucky, the Louisvillo
Journal of the next day, April 21, ISOl, says : "The lion. John Brown Young fol-
lowed in a speech unsurpassed in power and brilliancy. This gifted young orator
rehearsed the history of the last Congress, the efforts for compromise, the fturrender
hy the Republicnnn of the fund a mental idea of the Chicago Platform, in the posi-
tioe non-extension of Slavery in the formation of the new Territories."
AGAINST ALL MEASURES FOE PEACE. 15
public facts, — tliat while the people of the North, repre-
sented by their leaders, were disposed to go to extreme
lengths in preserving peace, the leaders of the rebellion
were as persistently determined, in the face of these over-
tures, to brave all the hazards and horrors of civil war to
carry out their foregone purposes.*
*One of the most thorough specimens of sympathy with the South which we have
met with in Northern literature, from a respectable source, since the beginning of
the rebellion, is a pamphlet of thirty-two pages from the pen of Rev. Samuel J.
Baird, D.D., of New Jersey, entitled "Southern Rights and Northern Duties in the
Present Crisis." It is in the form of a Letter, dated February 6, 1801, to the Hon.
William Pennington, then Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United
States. Dr. Baird says : ." When a free, enlightened, and Christian people, — and such
are our Southern brethren, — are induced to peril all, to rend the ties which have
hitherto held them, or even to hesitate upon venturing the fearful experiment of
revolution, the causes must be such as stand justified to conscience, and appeal to the
highest principles of onr nature. Either they are victims of a gigantic fraud, oi- tliey
labor under grievances of the most serious nature. Upon either alternative, their
position is entitled to profound respect, generous forbearance, and anxious study to
discover and expose the fraud if they have been deceived, or to rectify the wrong if
they are the subjects of real grievance; by any honorable means to allay their anxie-
ties and restore the Union." It is very clear, from the whole pamphlet, that he
deems the South the injured party, and most grievously wronged ; and the chief
responsibility is laid at the door of the '■^ Republican party" which put Mr. Lincoln
into office, whose ' attitude" he is led to " examine more particularly," " because the
power is in their hands at this momentous crisis." Hence he criticizes their platform
and condemns their principles and general course, and in these finds justification or
palliatives for the South. Here is a specimen : " So long, in a word, as the repre-
sentatives of a great party, professing to reflect the sentiments and act in the name
of the North, form intrenchments around the Southern States, with the avowed pur-
pose of arresting their further expansion, it is in vain to deny that the South has the
most grave and momentous cause of apprehension. * * * It may be our duty to
treat the institutions of the South as a crime, and themselves as enemies, to be sur-
rounded and kept in subjection. Upon that question I now say nothing. But,
manifestly, the alternative is, that all this is wrong, and an aggression which the
South ought 7ioi to suffer; or that if right, in absolving us from the obligations to
the South which have been heretofore recognized, it releases the latter from alle-
giance to the Union." Further on. Dr. Baird says: "My single object has been, to
bear a testimony to the claims of justice against us on her behalf— to expose the
assumption that It is our peculiar prerogative, as guardians of the Territories, to
protect them from the crime and curse of our Southern brethren. To this purpose,
it has been shown that the South has just cause of grievance of the most serious
character, ichich demands prompt and cneerful redress at our hands; and rights
in the Territories, which neither in honor nor honesty may we disregard." Again:
"Our first and imperative duty, in faithfulness to our covenants and to the claims of
1(3 CHARACTER OF THE EEBELLIOX.
PERPETRATED BY FRAUD AKD YIOLEXCE.
5, The rebellion was carried through the forms of seces-
sion, in many of the States, hy fraud and violence, against
the loishes, and in some against the direct vote, of a
majority of the jyeople.
The facts which illustrate this are voluminous, and
generally well known. We are compelled to glance at
them briefly, and can refer to a few palpable cases only.
The popular vote of Louisiana upon the ordinance of
secession was never ofticially made public. It was charged
by the New Orleans papers at the time as being largely
against secession, and the officers of the Convention were
challenged to proclaim the result. To this day that duty
has never been performed by them, while there is the most
unquestionable evidence that the State was forced into
honor and justice, is to accord to the South any necessary protection against the
piratical policy of abolitionism, and a distinct recognition ot her rights in the Terri-
tories at Vao. United States." What, then, does Dr. B.iird wish to have done, and by
•whom? lie would probably haveh.ad Congress, when assembled in December, 1860
immediately get down on its knees and beg the South's pardon that the people had
elected Mr. Lincoln, even when that Congress had a Demoeratio majority in both
Jlotises. Hear him : "No one capable of forming an intelligent judgment on the
subject, can look over the progress of events at the South, and the results thus far,
and doubt that had Congress, at the opening of the present session, rKOMPTLT shown
a spirit of magnanimous patriotism, such as was so eminently becoming from the
stronger to the weaker, and which the circumstances so clearly demanded, tho tide
of secession would have been stayed on the borders of South Carolina ; and that State
would soon have returned to her place in our midst." We have shown what measures
for "peace" Congress did actually propose when that Democratic majority had been
reduced to a minority by the withdrawal of the Southern members. Dr. Baird,
nevertheless, mourns over "Congressional inactivity," and denounces " the treach-
erous passivity of the present session." It is but just to suppose, however, that he
would not have belabored Consress in exactly that style, h.ad the proceedings of the
whole session been before him at the time he wrote ; especially when, at the opening,
his friends were in the majority. But after making allowance for this, the character
of his pamphlet is such, thro'ighout, that, although by no means as we suppose so
intended, it was well calculated and unquestionably did give "aid and comfort" to
the rebellion, both among those who were then and long before had been mustering
and arming soldiers for the overthrow of the Government, and their hearty sympa-
thizers all through the North.
PERPETRATED BY FRAUD AND VIOLENCE. 17
secession against the direct vote of a majority of the
people.
Governor Hamilton, of Texas, in an address to the peo-
ple of that State in January last, not going into any proof
of the fact, but incidentally referring to what those whom he
was addressing well knew to be true, says : "When you
v;ere forced, hy a minority, into rebellion, you were in the
enjoyment of ev^ery blessing ever conferred by ci\il govern-
ment upon men."
Vii'ginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, were carried
into secession by violence and terror, as many of their .
own newspapers and public men at the time declared.
Proof of this which we have in possession would fill many
pages. In some States, the whole work was done by a
Convention, or by the State Legislature, without the voice
of the people taken upon the ordinance of secession ; in
others, the submission of the question to a popular vote
was but a burlesque on the elective franchise. We men-
tion facts which are too recent and too familiar to be
doubted, and only refer to them to exliibit another of the
striking characteristics of the rebellion.
A single testimony, chiefly concerning the manner in
which Virginia was carried " out of the Union," will serve
as an example of other cases. It is furnished by a dis-
tinguished Southern statesman who was familiar with the
scenes he describes :
In these circumstances was the 'peaceful process of secession set on
foot, and the deceived masses of the Southern States stimulated into
that unnatural frenzy which wildly hurried them into a treason from
which retreat soon became impossible. "When this drama of secession
came to the stage of its formal enactment in the passage of secession
ordinances, it was characterized by frauds only more stupendous than
those I have described, because they implicated a gi-eater number of
actors and spread over a wider surface. Whilst some of the States,
perhaps a majority of them, were in earnest in their resolve to secede
18 CHARACTER OF THE KEBELLIO]!^.
the most important States were not ; and if the people in these had
been left to the free expression of their wish they would have refused.
The Convention of Virginia had been elected bj a vote which waa
largely against secession, and the Legislature which authorized that
Convention had taken care to provide that no ordinance of secession
should have any effect unless ratified by a subsequent expression of the
popular will in the regular election. When the Convention assembled
at Richmond, there was a majority of its members opposed to the ordi-
nance. The scenes that were enacted in the sequence of the proceed-
ings, by which that majority was reduced to a minority, are only
partially known to the country. Whilst the sessions were open to the
public observation the majority held its ground, but amidst what perils
'and appUances, every inhabitant of Richmond at that time knows. The
best men of the State, and there were many, who had dared to speak
in the Convention in favor of the Union, were exposed to the grossest
insults from the mob that filled the lobbies, and by whom they were
pursued with Lootings and threats to their own dwellings. Still, no
vote could be got sufiicient to carry the ordinance. The Convention
then resolved to exclude the pubHc and manage their work in secret
session. From that day affairs took a new turn. The community of
Richmond was filled with strife. The frieuds of the Union, both in the
Convention and out of it, — a large number of persons, — were plunged
into the deepest anxiety and alarm. They felt that the cause was lost
and that the sentiment of the majority of the State would be overruled.
Quarrels arose. Ardent and reckless men were distempered witli
passion. It was no longer safe to discuss the subject of the day in the
streets. The hotels were filled with strangers, loud, peremptory, and
fierce. A friend of the Union could not mingle in these crowds with-
out certainty of insult, nor even sometimes without danger of personal
violence. The recusant members of the Convention were plied with
every expedient to enforce their submission. The weak were derided,
the timid bullied, the wavering cajoled with false promises and false
representations of the state of opinion in tlie country. Those who
could not be reached by these arguments, but who were found pliable
to more genial impulses, were assailed by flattery, by the influences of
friendship, by the blandishments of the dinner-table, and finally carried
away by the wild enthusiasm of midnight revelry. If the Convention
had sat in Staunton or Fredericksburg,— anywhere but in Richmond.
no ordinance of secession could have been passed. As it was, it was a
work of long and sinister industry to bring it about. It became ncccs-
PERPETKATED BY FRAUD AND TIOLEJN'CE, 19
sanr to fire the people with, new and startling sensations — to craze tlie
public mind with excitement. To this end, messages were sent to
Charleston to urge the bombardment of Sumter. * * * The whole
South became ablaze. Men lost all self-control, and were ready to obey
any order. The vote of the Convention had been canvassed from time
to time during this process of ripening the mind for the act of secession,
and it was now found that it might be successfully put. It was taken
three days after the surrender of Fort Sumter, and the public were
told that it was carried by a large majority. Subsequent disclosures
show that upwards of fifty of its members stood firm and preserved their
equanimity in this great tempest of passion. The scene at the taking
of the vote is described by one of the members as resembling the riot
of a hospital of lunatics. The ratification of tliis act was yet to be gone
through, as prescribed by the law, in a vote of the people to be taken
in May. That proceeding was substantially ignored in aU that fol-
lowed. An appointment of members to the rebel Congress was imme-
diately made, to represent the State in the Provisional Government
then established at Montgomery. The President of the new Con-
federacy was forthwith invited to send an army into the State ; and
accordingly, when the month of May arrived, troops were stationed in
aU those counties where it was supposed any considerable amount of
loyalty to the Union existed amongst the people. The day of election
appointed for the ratification found this force stationed at the polls, and
the refractory people mastered and quelled into silence. Union men
were threatened in th?ir lives if they should dare to vote against the
ordinance ; and an influential leader in the movement, but recently a
Senator of the United States, wrote and published a letter, hinting to
those who might be rash enough to vote against secession, that they
must expect to be driven out of the State.* Of course, the ratification
* Eeference is here made to .James M. Mason, now the Rebel Commissioner to
London. His letter is dated " Winchester, Va., May 16, 1S61,"' and was published
in the Wincheder Yirginian. In this letter he says : "The ordinance of secession
withdrew the State of Virginia from the Union, with all the consequences resulting
from the separation. It annulled the Constitution and the laws of the United
States within the limits of this State, and absolved the citizens of Virginia from all
obligations and obedience to them." This is a little remarkable, when the Conven-
tion provided that the ordinance should be submitted to a vote of the people of the
State. But we see from another paragraph of the same letter, what sort of an elec-
tion this was to be : " If it be asked, what are those to do who in their consciences
cannot vote to separate Virginia from the United States, the answer is simple and
plain : honor and duty alike require that they should not vote on the question ; if
they retain such opinions, they -must leave the State." All very " simple" and very
" plain :" and the plan was very faithfully executed.
20 CHARACTER OF THE REBELLION.
found no opposition in any doubtful county. * * * jyfy object is to
show that the whole secession movement was planned and conducted
in the spirit of headlong revolution and premeditated war. In Ten-
nessee the proceeding was even less orderly than in Virginia. In
Missouri it was no better. The attempt was made to carry Kentucky
and Marj-land by the same arts and the same frauds, but utterly failed.
Maryland has repudiated secession and its abettors with a persistent
and invincible loyalty. Kentucky, under severe trial and in the actual
contest of civil war, has bravely and honorably preserved her faith and
repelled every assault.
We have given this long extract, not because any proof
is wanting of the fraud and violence by which the rebel-
lion was inaugurated, but to show in these graphic details
what loyal men all through the South suffered at the outset
for opposing the insane movement. This authority is
unquestionable. The extract is taken from the JVaflonal
InteUiff€7icer, of Washington, D. C, of Feb. 23, 1864.
The editor indorses the writer as " evincing ability, sa-
gacity, and fine analysis, in laying bare the secret springs
of the great insurrection," and says he is a " Southern gen-
tleman who for many years occupied with distinction a
seat in the National Legislature, and who subsequently
held a responsible post in the administration of an impor-
tant Executive Dei^artment of the Government."*
* At a Union meeting in Huntsville, Alabama, on the 5th of March, 1864, the
Hon. Jeremiah Clemens, formerly a United States Senator from that State, addressed
the meeting, and said "he would tell the Alabamians how their State was got out
of the Union." He proceeded to say : " In 1861, shortly after the Confederate Gov-
ernment was put in oi)eration, I was in the city of Montgomery. One day I stepped
into the office of the Secretary of War, General Walker, and found there, engaged in
a very excited discussion, Mr. Jefferson Davis, Mr. Memminger, Mr. Benjamin, Mr.
Gilchrist, a member of our Legislature from Lowndes county, and a number of other
prominent gonllemen. They were discussing the propriety of immediately openinf
fire on Port Sumter, to which General Walker, the Secretary of War, api)eared to
be oiiposed. Mr. Gilchrist said to him : 'Sir, unless you sprinkle blood in the face
of the people of Alabama tJiey will be back in the old Union in less than ten days!'
The next day General Beauregard opened the batteries on Sumter, and Alabama was
saved to the Confederacy." Another distinguished statesman says upon the same gen-
PKOSECUTED BY CRUELTY AXD TERROR. 2]
PROSECUTED BY CRUELTV AND TERROR.
6. This reliellion was not only initiated by fraud and
violence, through the means by which its ordinances of
secession were enacted, but during every stage of its pro-
gress, from its birth to the present hour, it has been jjrose-
eutecl tcith the most atrocious cruelty towards those in the
revolted States who have dared to oppose the designs of
its leaders.
From its inception till now, the w^orld has been told by
public men and by the organs of public opinion in the
South, that the people were a unit in support of the
rebellion, while the world has all the time had the most
certain knowledge that this was only a stupendous false-
hood, concocted and persisted in for political purposes.
The evidence of this is overAvhelming, and is sustained by
facts which meet us at every stage of the movement.
The people have heard so much during the present
year, since the opening of the rebel Congress in December
last, of the sweeping conscription measures by which all
from sixteen to fifty-five capable of bearing arms have
been driven into the army, and of the total repudiation
of plighted faith in forcing those to enter it who had
secured legal exemption by furnishing substitutes, and
other oppressive acts of a like character, that they forget
that impressments into their armies by the most violent
means have been a marked feature of their recruiting ser-
vice from the beginning of the war. Looking back over
eral subject : " Future history will record, that, perhaps with two exceptions, the
ordinance of secession would not have been carried in any of the seceding States, if
the people couldhave been permitted a fair, uncontrolled election, by ballot upon it.
But they were overwhelmed by fraud and force ; and then they were told, accord-
ing to the improved theory of State rights, that whenever a majority of a State had
resolved to commit treason, the minority were bound not only to submit, but to
share the sin and shame. Those whom argument foiled to convince, the military
despotism had silenced, for the time being."
22 CIIARACXEK OF THE BEBELLIOX.
the events of thy spring and summer of 18G1, — a period
when rebel fervor was at its height, and when the
expectation of sj^eedy succe-s to their arms was upon the
lips of all their leaders, — we find that rigorous impress-
ments pervaded all parts of the South. The proof is fur-
nished in the Southern papers of that period, but we can-
not occupy space with the details.
But these are among the least offensive measures which
were taken to crush out loyalty to the United States. The
tens of thousands of individuals and families who have
been forced to fl.ee for life, leaving home and property,
penniless and friendless, and the many who have remained
only to suffer imprisonment, indignity, and death, are facts
well attested, and have occurred from the beginning of the
revolt down to a late period.
As early as August 14th, 1861, after multitudes had fled
from rebel tyranny, Jefferson Davis issued the following
edict of banishment :
I do hereby warn and require every male citizen of the United
States, of the age of fourteen j^ears and upwards, now within the Con-
federate States, and adhering to the Government of the United States,
and acknowledging the authority of the same, and not being a citizen
of the Confederate States, to leave within forty days after the date of
this proclamation. And I do warn all persons above described who
shall remain within the Confederate States, al't^r the expiration of the
said period of forty days, that they will be held as alien enemies.
All know what followed the issuing of this decree. The
North was soon filled with Southern refugees. A well-
informed witness declared at the time that "two hundred
thousand men, women, and children, in the single State
of Tennessee, had thus received ' notice to quit,' the most
of them thus driven from the land that gave them birth."
The persons who have thus suffered persecution at home,
and b:i.nishment, are from every rank in life, from the
PROSECUTED BY CRUELTY AND TERROR. 23
mechanic and day-laborer, to those iu all the professions :
clergymen, lawyers, physicians, members of Congress,
Uiiited States Senators, and judges of the liighest courts of
the State and of the Nation. In the spring and summer
of 1861, Senator Johnson and Messrs. Etheridge, Bridges,
Maynard, Nelson, all then or previously members of Con-
gress, were compelled to flee from the single State of Ten-
nessee, or, being out of the State, found it unsafe to return.
Judges Catron and Trigg, of the same State, with others
of the bench, the former of the United States Supreme
Court, were treated in like manner. Judge Catron did
not dare, nor was he permitted, to visit his home in Nash-
ville until Middle Tennessee was repossessed by the
United States forces. Judge Wayne, also of the Supreme
Court of the United States, whose residence was in
Georgia, being in attendance upon his ofiicial duties at
Washington when the rebellion began, and detormined to
remain loyal to his oath and his country, has never since
ventured to visit his State, and will not be able to do so
except under the protection of the arms of the Union.
The only crime for which these men were exiled from the
land of their birth, and for which others have suftered
imprisonment at home, was their determination to adhere to
the Government which had always given them protection,
their regard for their solemn onths of office, and their un-
willingness to yield to the demands of a godless rebellion.
If persons of such distinction can be so treated, and
were so treated at the beginning of the revolt, no large
amount of credulity is demanded to believe that thousands
of less note have been subjected to the most cruel doom.
We have undoubted proof of this, relating to every period
since the beginning of the war, and we fairly infer that
there are multitudes of hke cases of which the public never
hear.
24 CHARACTER OF THE REBELLION.
Among numerous testimonies at hand, we give an illus-
tration of this point from the address of Governor Hamil-
ton, of Texas, to the people of that State, issued in January
last. We too well know that Texas does not stand solitary
and alone in the work here graphically described. The
same tale is true of every rebel State. Governor Hamilton
begins by barely referring to his own treatment :
Citizens op Texas : Through the instrumentality of ambitious and
designing men, you have been for more than two and a half years
engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States.
Hunted as a felon, and expelled from the State because I would not
join the conspiracy to overthrow free government, I now, after an exile
of eighteen months, return to it, charged with the duty of organizing
such Provisional State Government as may be best calculated to aid in
restoring you to the blessings of civil liberty. When you were forced,
by a minority, into rebellion, you were in the enjoyment of every bless-
ing ever conferred by civil government unon men. Not a single wrong
had you ever suffered from the Government. * * * Martial law has
been visited upon you, and in every town, and village, and neighborhood,
some petty despot appointed, to whose edicts you were required to bow
in meek submission. Tou have been denied the right to travel through
the community near your homes, on the most necessary business,
without the written permission of one of these tools of tyranny. You
dare not convey to market the product of your farms and your
labor without permission. Your wagons and teams have been seized by
Government agents at home and on the road to market.in order to com-
pel you to sell them your crojjs for a nominal price in worthless paper.
No interest has been secure, and no right sacred. Law and order no
longer exist among you. * * * T^g vicious and depraved, the mur-
derers and ruffians of tlie country, are banded together in secret socie-
ties, known as "Sons of the South," and are from day to day sitting in
judgment on the lives of the best citizens of the State. Three thousand
of your citizens have perished because they loved good government, and peace,
and order in society — perished as felons. They have been hung, shot, and
lUerally butchered ; they have been tortured, in many instances, beyond any
thing known in savage warfare. Uncertainty, and gloom, and despair, are
resting upon you to-day like the frown of God. Are you in love with
t'.iis, and do you desire it to continue ?
PROSECUTED BY CRUELTY AND TERROR. 25
He ibeu draws a picture of the condition of things just
before the rebellion began, from which we take a single
paragraph :
In our own State, during the summer and fall of 1860, according to the
published account of the murderers themselves, two hundred and fifty of our
free citizens were hung as felons, and thousands driven from their homes
and compelled to leave the State, because they were suspected of infi-
delity to slavery. And, finally, gathering temerity from its successful war
upon the rights and lives of the citizens, it lifted its unholy hand to
destroy the Government to whose protection it owed its power.
We close these illustrations of rebel cruelty by one more
quotation. It is from the distinguished Southern states-
man referred to under the foregoing head, and commended
so highly by the National Intelligencer^ a journal that will
not be suspected of favoring what is called " radicalism."
He is speaking chiefly of the violence practised towards
loyal citizens of Virginia, and says :
What argument can Virginia, for example, make in favor of a revolt
against the authority of the Union, that may not be used with tenfold
force by her own western counties to justify a revolt against her ? Vir-
ginia herself had really no definable grievance against the Union.
* * She has never yet indicated a single item of grievance resulting
from the acts of the Federal Government. In fact, that Government
has always been, in great part, in her own hands, or under the control
other influence. If she has not been happy and prosperous it is sim-
ply her own fault. I mean to say, she has no cause whatever to excuse
her rebellion against the Union. Yet slie revolted ; we may say, gave to
the revolution a countenance and support, without which it would have
speedily sunk into a futile enterprise. Having come to it, she assumed
the right to compel her unwilling citizens to cast their lives and fortunes
into the same issue. A large portion of her people, comprising the
inhabitants of many counties in the mountain region of the AUeghanies,
have always been distinguished, — as, indeed, seems to be the charac-
teristic of all our mountain country, — for their strong attachment to the
Union. These people have an aversion to slaves, and have been steadily
intent upon establishing and expanding a system of free labor. They
have, therefore, very little in common, either of sentiment or interest,
26 CHAEACTEE OF THE EEBELLION.
with the governing power of the State. When, therefore, the question
of secession was submitted to them, they voted against it. From that
moment they were marked, and when the State, under the control of its
lowland interest, raised the banner of revolt, its first movement was to
invite the Southern army to occupy the mountain districts, to overawe
and drive the people there, not only into submission to the dominant
power of the State, but into active hostility against the Union. To this
end these loyal people were pursued with a bitter persecution, harried
by a rufSan soldiery, hunted from their homes into the mountain fast-
nesses; their dwellings burned ; their crops destroyed ; their fields laid
waste, and every other cruelty inflicted upon them to which the savage
spirit of revolution usually resorts to compel the assent of those who
resist its command. The inhabitants of these beautiful mountain val-
leys are a simple, brave, and sturdy people ; and all these terrors were
found insufficient to force them into an act of treason. They refused,
and in their turn revolted against this execrable tyranny and drew their
swords in favor of the Union. What more natural or righteous than
such a resistance? And yet, Virginia affects to consider this the
deepest of crimes, and is continually threatening vengeance against what
she calls these rebels — Virginia, the rebel, denouncing rebellion 1 Her
own plea is that she has only seceded, but Western Virginia reheh —
there is a great difference.
When it is considered that unnumbered multitudes all
through the South have been subjected to similar cruelties
for the crime of loyalty to the Government, and for refus-
ing to be driven into treason and rebellion against it, — and
when this is contrasted with the " leni^ency" of our Govern-
ment, which, as Governor Hamilton says, is without a
parallel in the histoiy of nations dealing with treason and
traitors, — it places the unblushing cruelty of the Southern
leaders and their minions out of the pale of all comparison
with that of any tyrannical power, claiming to be civilized
and Christianized, which tlie world has ever known.*
• In his address to the people of Texas, Governor Hamilton truly saj-s: "In thehistory
of tlie world, there cannot be found one example of a government dealing with a
ri'ljullion against its rightful authority with the mercy and leniency which have charac-
terized the United States 'in this war. Out of the multiplied thousands who have
been taken in arms against the Government, no* one has been made to suffer for liis
ITS DESOLATION OF THE COUNTRY. 27
ITS DESOLATION OF THE COUNTET.
7. We pass over some of the other characteristics of the
rebellion, with a bare mention of them : the wide-spread
desolation which it has brought upon the whole disloyul
region^ to every interest, material, moral, social, and reli-
gious / bringing to premature and dishonored graves the
flower of a whole generation of their young men, with
multitudes of aged fathers and stripling boys, pressed into
their armies by the merciless conscription ; leaving their
land filled with widows and orphans, to mourn and weep
out the remainder of an embittered life ; the threat-
ening of wide-spread starvation within their borders ; the
laying waste of nearly the whole producing regions of
agriculture, from the desolation which more or less always
follows the track of armies in civil war ; the disbanding
of their institutions of learning of the higher grades, to
furnish material for their armies ;* the injury which, from
treason. How has it been in Texas and throughout the South? Hecatombs of
victims have been offered upon the altar of rebellion! The men who are responsible
to society and to God for the blood of a thousand good citizens, are those who are
praiing about the tyranny of the President and the Government of the United
States."
* We may perhaps take this as a specimen of what has befallen institutions of
learning at the South. If this is true of North Carolina, where there has always
been great disaffection with the rebel leaders, we may readily infer the condition
of colleges in other States: "The effect of the rebellion on Southern Colleges is well
illustrated by the case of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1860,
it had four hundred and thirty students; in 1863, but sixty-three, nearly all of whom
were too young or physically incapacitated for service. In 1S60, eighty-four young
men graduated, of whom one-seventh are known to have fallen in battle. Of the
eight who ranked highest in the class, four are in their graves, a fifth is a wound-
ed prisoner, and the others are in the army. Of the Freshman Class of that
year, eighty in number, only one remained to graduate, and even he had been in the
army, and was discharged for bad health. Though none of the fourteen members
of the Faculty were liable to conscription, five enlisted, one of whom was killed;
another has been taken prisoner ; the third was severely wounded, and the fourth
has a mined constitution. Every son capable of service of the remaining nine,
eight in number, entered the service, and two of them have been mortally wounded.
Fifteen young men of the village, being more than half of the whole, have perished
in battle."' — New York paper.
28 • CHARACTER OF THE REBELLION.
the natixre of the case, mixst have befallen the churches,
and every interest of religion ; and the inevitable condi-
tion of the South, in all these respects, for many years to
come, which no pen can portray; — together with the
blighting influence upon both sections of the country
which must ever attend such a war, in the burdens of tax-
ation, which must be felt for generations to come ; in the
social demoralization of the people at large, the corru])tion
of public men, the familiarizing of the mind of the nation,
and especially of the young, with scenes of bloodshed and
carnage, and the desire for other wars, all which are the
common fruits of all such conflicts ; the like destruction, in
the ISTorth as in the South, of the thousands of the noble
and the brave who have fallen in battle, with the agony
which has been brought upon the households of the whole
territory of the Union ; and the social alienation and bit-
terness which the strife has engendered, not only between
the two sections of the country embroiled, but in many
instances between those of the same household, both
North and South.
This is but the bare mention, — and by no means all, —
of that heritage of woes, now pressing, and long to be
continued, every one of which is justly chargeable to
this rebellion.
IT AIMED TO USURP THE GOVERNMENT.
8. Another characteristic of the rebellion is seen in
wliat it aimed at first to accomjMsh.
Much declamation has been expended by public men
and public journals, in both sections of the country, be-
cause the people in i-ebellion are not allowed to have their
independence and separate nationality. But it was not
for a separate Confederacy that the rebel leaders first in-
augurated secession. They aimed to prevent the instaJ-
IT AIMED TO USUEP THE GOVERNMENT. 29
lation of the present Administration, to seize the Govei'n-
ment and the public offices and archives at Washington,
and by a coup de main to estabhsh themselves in power
as the legitimate succession to the present Government,
and to impress upon it that character which they have
given to their own Constitution ; while their independence,
as a separate nation, was resolved upon only in the event
and as the result of the failure of their original plan.
That this was the programme laid down by the rebel
leaders is the very general conviction of the intelligent and
loyal people of the country, and many facts fully warrant
this conclusion. It was the oj^inion freely expressed by
members of Congress and other public men in their pri-
vate circles, during the last two months of Mr. Buchanan's
administration ; and it is believed that to General Wiufield
Scott, more than to any other man, is the country indebted
for the frustration of the scheme. The scattering of the
small forces then composing the army of the United
States to distant military posts, and the sending of the
vessels of the navy to distant seas, by the respective Sec-
retaries of the War and Navy Departments ; the speedy
gathering of a few hundred regulars, with several batteries
of artillery, at Washington, by order of General Scott,
when he apprehended danger, especially at the time the
electoral votes were to be opened and counted ; the wrath-
ful speeches of Senator Mason, of Virginia, and other
Southern statesmen, when they saw their plans foiled, be-
cause " the two Houses of Congress were surrounded by
armed soldiers, as though they were sitting in an Austrian
capital ;" the subsequent well-matured plot to assassinate
the President elect, as he should pass through Baltimore ;*
* In a speech in the United States Honse of Kepresentatives, April 8, 1S64, Mr.
Long, of Cincinnati, said: "A little over three years ago, the present occupant of the
Presidential >aansion, at the other end of the Avenue, came into this city under cover
3 J CHAEACTER OF THE EEBELLIOJf.
tlie vigilant prepanitions deemed essential at the time of
jMr. Lincoln's inauguration, when the troops were station-
ed at difterent points in the city, and Generals Scott and
Wool and other officers stood ready to mount at a mo-
ment's warning ; these are all well-remembered facts, and
the measures then taken by the illustrious head of the
army reveal his sagacity and patriotism, and illustrate, in
their warding off the threatened evil, the debt of grati-
tude due him from his countrymen.
The scheme of seizing the Government was not aban-
doned on the successful inauguration of Mr. Lincoln. On
the evening of the ■12th of April, 1861, when the citizens
of Montgomery, then the rebel capital, were rejoicing in
the prospect of Fort Sumter's speedy fall, the bombard-
ment being then in progress. General Walker, the rebel
Secretary of War, made the following declarations in a
public speech : " That before many hours the flag of the
of night, disguised in plaid cloak and Scotch cap, lest, as was feared by his friends,
he might have received a M'ariner greeting than would have been agreeable, on his
way through Baltimore, at the hands of the constituents of the gentleman from
Maryland." Mr. Long is one of the opponents of the present Administration. The
Albdny Evening Journal speaks of the contemplated assassination, and of the
measures taken to prevent it, on the part of the President's friends, as follows :
"They employed a detective of great experience, who was engaged at Baltimore in
the business some three weeks prior to Mr. Lincoln's arrival there, emploj'ing both
men and women to assist him. Shortly after coming to Baltimore, the detective
discovered a combination of men banded together under a^'solemn oath to assassinate
the President elect. * * * it was arranged, in case Mr. Lincoln should pass
safely over the railroad to Baltimore, that the conspirators should mingle with the
crowd which might surround his carriage, and by pretending to be his friends, be
enabled to approach his person, when, upon a signal from their leader, some of them
would shoot at Mr. Lincoln with their pistols, and others would throw into his carriage
hand-grenades filled with detonating powder, similar to those used in the attempted
assassination of the Emperor Louis Napoleon. It was intended that in the confusion
which should result from this attack, the assailants should escape to a vessel waiting
In the harbor to receive them, and be carried to Mobile, in the seceding State of
Alabam.i." Then, speaking of Mr. Lincoln, the Journal says: "The party then
took berths in the slfeping-car [at Philadelphia], and, without change of cars, pas-
sed directly through to Washington, where they arrived at the usual hour. Mr.
Lincoln wore no disguise whatever, but journeyed in an ordinary travelling
dress."
IT AIMED TO USUKP THE GOVERNMENT. 31
Confederacy would float over the foi'tress ; and no man
could tell where the war this day commenced would end,
but he would prophesy that the flag which now flaunts the
breeze here, vioidd float over the dome of the old capitol at
Waslilngton before the first of May^'' This speech of
General Walker struck the key-note which was imme-
diately echoed by the newspapers throughout the seceded
States. Though Virginia had not yet seceded, the papers
of that State sounded it. Tlie Richmond Enquirer of April
13th, the day of the fall of Fort Sumter, had the following:
" Nothing is more probable than that President Davis Avill
soon march an army through Korth Carolina and Vir-
ginia to Washington. Those of our volunteers who desire
to join the Southern army as it shall pass through our
borders, had better organize at once for the purpose."
This was published nearly a week before the Virginia
Convention passed the ordinance of secession, and forty
days before the people were to vote on the ordi-
nance. This was also two days before President Lincoln
issued his Proclamation (dated April loth), calling for
troops, and before it was known, either ISTorth or South,
how the intelligence of the taking of Fort Sumter
would afiect either the Government or the people. Mr.
Stephens, the rebel Vice-President, soon afterAvards
uttered the same sentiment respecting the taking of
Washington, in a pubhc speech at Richmond, on his arii-
val there before the secession of Virginia, and before the
ordinance had passed the Convention, when on a mission
to conclude a " military league" between that State and
the Southern Confederacy.
There is nothing clearer in the early history of the
rebellion, than that the primary plan of its leaders was to
overthrow the Administration at Washington, to usurp its
power and authority, and to install the rebel Government
32 CHARACTER OF THE REBELLION.
as its legitimate successor. This from the first was the
battle-cry of their rulers, their armies, and their people. It
is only because they were foiled in their original purpose
that they have been content to seek to establish their sep-
arate independence.
POPULAR GOVERNMENT UNIVERSALLY ENDANGERED.
9. Another thing settled in the character of this rebel-
lion, is, that its success would have destroyed the hope for
popular government throughout the world.
A successful rebellion resulting in the overthrow of any
other government on earth would be of little consequence
in the great scale of human interests when poised against
such a result to the Government of the United States.
This is illustrated in the deep anxiety with M'hich the con-
test has been watched on both sides of the Atlantic and
by the j^eople of every nation. The aristocracies of the
Old World have aided the rebellion as far as they have
deemed it safe, and have earnestly desired our dismember-
ment and downfall. They have felt that in such an issue
their own power would be more secure. From the great
heart of " the peoples" alone has there been for us a single
genuine throb of sympathy. The only notable exception
to this among the rulers in the monarchies of Europe is
that of the Russian Empire. Even 'many of the middle
classes of the nations of Western Europe, and among them
many of the merchant princes of her marts of commerce,
have given their good wishes and their active aid and
their stores of gold to the rebellion, making a gain out of
our national peril.
But the millions of the real people have desired our
success and deserve our grateful remembrance. They feel
that their own interests are bound up in our triumph.
When, therefore, the nation shall come out of this strife
POPULAR GOVERNMENT ENDANGERED, 33
successful, they will feel as do we, that what the nations
of the earth have ever regarded as but "the American
experiment," will be settled in favor of popular govern-
ment for all time to come. One universal shout of re-
joicing will then go up from the down-trodden millions
of the world, and at its reverberations among the habita-
tions of men, tyrants will everywhere tremble as they
have never done before.
Among the characteristics, therefore, which stamp this
rebellion with peculiar odium, is the fact not only that it
is made against popular government, but in its success the
last hope of liberty would have perished from among men.
No people could have dared reasonably to hope for suc-
cess in an experiment of free institutions after ours should
have failed, commenced as it was under such favorable
auspices, and having had such prosperity in all that can
make a people great and glorious for nearly three genera-
tions.
It is too well known for doubt that a part of the original
scheme of the rebel leaders Avas to establish an aristoc-
racy, and perhaps a monarchy, and if we may judge from
very recent utterances the plan is not abandoned. To this
end, as well as to secure their independence, they have
sought an alliance with several monarchical powers, and
have been willing to place themselves under their protec-
tion without much scruple about conditions provided their
independence could be gained.
Should the rebellion therefore succeed, and the plan
of the Southern oligarchy be consummated, popular gov-
ernment throughout the world would thereby receive
a double blow, in the dismemberment of that system
of government, where it has now its fairest illustra-
tion, and in the establishment of aristocratic institutions
in its stead over a large portion of the teriitory of the
34 CHARACTER OF THE KEBELLIOJS^.
United States, and over several millions of the people now
embraced ■within its legitimate rule.*
TO PERPETUATE NEGRO SLA^VERT.
10. And finally, this is a rebellion whose chief prompt-
ing impulse, at its inception and through its whole pro-
gress, has been the security^ the exjiansion of the area^ and
the perpetuation, of human bondage.
That the slavery of the negro race, as the stimulating
power, is the foundation on which the whole superstruc-
ture of this rebellion rests, is a foct patent to the eyes of
all men. But as we reserve this point for a separate
chapter, to be canvassed when we come to speak of the
causes of the rebellion, we shall not dwell upon it here.
We barely mention it now as completing the summation
and forming the climax in the catalogue of those elements,
— all of which we have not attempted to enumerate, — which
give a special character to the rebellion, and stamp it as
monstrous and diabolical without a parallel in the history
of mankind.
When we speak of negro slavery as beihg at the bottom
of the rebellion, we are aware that this is denied. The
proof of our position, however, to be given hereafter, will
be found in Southern testimony which cannot be confuted.
We are also aware tha-t other causes are assigned, the
chief of which are : that the rebellion is the scheme of dis-
* No man bettor understande the character and aims of the rebellion and its lead-
ers than Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, a candidate for the Vice-Presidency. In a
speech at Nashville, June 10, 18C4, he said : "One of -the chief elements of this rebel-
lion, is the oi)i(osition of the slave aristocracy to being ruled by men who have risen
from the ranks of the people. This aristocracy hated Mr. Lincoln because he was of
humble origin, a rail-splitter in early life. One of them, the private secretary of
Ilowell Cobb, said to me one day, after a long conversation, ' We people of the South
will not submit to be governed by a man who has come up from the ranks of the
common people, as Abe Lincoln has.' lie uttered the essential feeling and spirit of
this Southern rebellion."
TO PERPETUATE NEGRO SLAVERY. 35
appointed and ambitious politicians ; a desire for an inde-
pendent nationality ; a wish to foixnd an aristocracy, or a
monarchy, or both ; a strike for free trade, and to be rid
of Northern competition ; a vindication of the doctrine of
State rights ; a jealousy and chagrin at !N"orthern growth
and prosperity, in comparison with Southern ; or, these
and other similar causes all combined ; and that slavery,
and the Presidential election of 1860, were "a mere pre-
text." We grant the substantial truth of what are here
given as auxiliary causes of the rebellion ; and yet, it is
further true, as we shall see, that it is Negro Slavery, in
its emoluments in the Rebel States, in its fears of en-
croachment and . apprehended dangers, and especially in
its modern garb as "divine," and a political and social
" good in itseir' to all concerned, that underlies all other
causes, and gives the vital and essential force to carry these
desires and aspirations into execution in the form of open
rebellion.
3
36 CAUSE OF THE REBELLION.
CHAPTER II.
CAUSE OF THE REBELLION.
It is among the marvels which our civil war has exhib-
ited, that there should be a difierence of opinion concern-
ing the reasons which have prompted the rebellion now in
progress against the Government of the United States.
But if we may judge from the speeches of public men in
Congress, in State Legislatures, upon the stump, from the
messages of Governors of States, from the resolutions of
political bodies, and from the current literature of public
journals, — all confined, however, to the loyal States, but
found in every stage of the contest from the beginning till
now, — we see that there is as wide a variance upon this
simple point as can be found upon any other question of
fact or policy touching the rebellion, or any other matter
concerning human interests upon which men are commonly
divided. Upon discovering this, one might be led to the
conclusion that there are inherent difiiculties in the solu-
tion of the case. But it is one of the plainest of all things
connected with the whole movement, and it is quite re-
markable that there should be disagreement upon it, at
least among truly loyal men.
SLAVERY THE CAUSE.
As perfectly decisive of the difiiculty, if there be any
whatever, it is well known that in the Rebel States and
among those engaged in the rebellion, there has been but
one prime reason assigned for it from first to last, as put
forth by their public men and echoed by all their organs
-SLAVERY THE CAUSE. 37,
of public opinion. This is so plainly true, and the reason
itself is so plain and so plainly stated, that it would seem
a little wonderful, did we not know too well the political
corruption which abounds, that all men in the loyal States,
including those who sympathize with the rebellion, should
not be content to permit the rebel leaders to make their
own statement of the case on this point, and to allow that
statement to be true. With all the frenzied fury and dis-
regard of truth which they have shown, and the want of
sagacity and ordinary good sense which have characterized
ten thousand things which they have said and dene in the
progress of their horrid w^ork, we must certainly allow a
sufficient method to their madness to suppose that they at
least knew and could tell for what they rebelled. They
probably did know ; they certainly have told ; and they
all agree.
In a word, they declare that it was for negko slavery
that they rebelled : for its security against apprehended
peril ; for its expansion into free territory, wherever their
inclinations and interests might prompt them to carry it ;
and for its perpetuation. This is what they universally
present as the reason for their course, warranting, with
certain discriminations, the concise remark we often hear,
that " slavery is the cause of the rebellion," and that
" slavery is the cause of the war."
Here then we might rest and dismiss the case. But as
this is a controverted point, we shall present the opposite
view as held by rebel sympathizers and certain Union men,
and then give the conclusive evidence which sustains the
position we take, that it was in the interest of slavery alone
that the rebellion was undertaken; that "the duty" which
devolved upon the South was " plain, of conserving and
transmitting the system of slavery, with the freest scope
for its natural development and extension."
88 CAUSE OP THE KEBELLIOX.
AX OPPOSITE "VaEW.
Among other distinguished Avitnesses to the position,
that to secure greater immunities to slavery was not the
cause of the rehellion, is found the Hon. George Robertson,
a former Chief-Justice of Kentucky, and a friend of the
Union. In a series of elaborate papers on national affairs,
published a few months since in the Louisville Journal^ he
declared that it was not slavery, — " not security for an in-
stitution that needed none better than the Constitution," —
for which " the leading conspirators" rebelled ; but it Avas
because the " South sought independence.^'' He presents
seven reasons, formally laid down, for this opinion, con-
cluding thus : " Vth and lastly. Some of the leaders, with-
out contradiction or dissent, said in Convention (we pre-
sume the Judge refers to that of South Carolina), that they
had been hatching independence for more than thirty years,
and ridiculed the idea that antislaveryism, in any of its
phases, was the cause of their secession." He elsewhere
says : " Thus the treacherous and prescriptive concoctors
of rebellion initiated this unholy war ; and hence some of
them truly said in Convention, that the warfare waged by
abolitionists against the institution of slavery and the
security of slave property, was a ' God-send' to the advo-
cates of Southern independence."*
* We deem it bnt jast to Judge Eobertson to give his seven propositions together
and in full: ''That the leading conspirators South sought independence, — and not
security for an institution that needed none better than the Constitution they so long
consi)ired to destroy, — should not be doubted for these among other reasons: 1st.
They knew that, from time to time, they had obtained every supplemental security
which they had asked or desire4 excepting only the humbug of 'protection' in North-
ern Territories, where slavery could never long or usefully exist, and where majori-
ties of the inhabitants would not want it. 2d. They knew that no person claimed
for Congress power to alxjlishor disturb slavery in the States, and that Congressional
non-intervention in Territories, — which they had secured as far as useful to the South
by the Miiisourl Compromise of IS'iO.and everywhere by the'finality' of iSoO. — was
nil they wanted or had any right to expect 3d. They wantonly tlirew away these
AN OPPOSITE VIEW. 39
Our space will not allow us to quote more at large from
the Judge ; but as we have said he is a Union man, we give
a sentence or two among many to show this, and to show
his view of slavery as an institution, and that he would not
allow it to come into competition with the preservation of
the Union : " I am not, nor ever was, pro-slavery in feeling
or in principle. I would delight to see all men free. But
I know that this is impossible untU the different races ap-
proximate more nearly to moral equality." Speaking of
the " less ambitious masses" in the South, who " rushed
inconsiderately into the maelstrom of this shocking rebel-
lion," he says : " They ought to have known better, and
set up for themselves. But, had they not been deluded,
securities for the normal expansion of slavery by their suicidal abrogation in 1S54 of
these pledges of national fiith, thereby indicating that their agitations of moot ques-
tions of slavery were intended, not for that institution or its incidents, but only for
independence and power. 4th. They knew, that, before President Lincoln's inaugu-
ration. Congress had organized all the new Territories without any Interdiction of
slavery, and proposed also an amendment to the Constitution expressly and irrevo-
cably providing against any Congressional interference with slavery in any State ;
and they knew that the incoming President and party were committed, by their
Chicago platform, against all such intervention; and, moreover, knowing that a
majority of Congress and of the Supreme Court were on their side, enough of the
Southern members of Congress abdicated to give the Republican party a majority,
thus showing that they were plotting pretexts for revolt ; not for security to slavery,
but for independence and a dilTerent form of government. 5th. They knew or
ought to have known that their peculiar institution woMld be safer and more peace-
ful under our National Constitution binding on all tfis peopl-e. North, as well as
South, than under a 'compact' of Confederation by 'sovereign States,' without a
semblance of legal obligation on any i>eople or States not parties to it. 6th. They
wantonly destroyed the unity and nationality of their Democratic party lnlS60, and
thereby promoted Mr. Lincoln's election, which they preferred to that of Douglas or
Bell, and then made that election a prominent preteTct for secession. 7th and lastly.
Some of the leaders, without contradiction or dissent, satd in Convention that they
had been hatching independence for more than thirty years, and ridiculed the idea
that antislaveryism, in any of its phases, was the cause of their secession." — Louis-
ville Journal, Oct 19, 1S63. Many persons at the North, and some papers, both
secular and religious, embracing those who are loyal and disloyal, have most strenu-
ously maintained that slavery was not the cause of the rebellion ; that it was not
to render it more secure against supposed aggressions that the States seceded ; that
this was "a mere pretext." We shall see the fallacy of this position from testimony
which cannot be overthrown.
40 CAfSE OF THE REBELLION.
and the issue had really been between the Fnion and
slavery, even then they ought, for their own welfare, to
have stood by the Union, which would surely be better
without slavery than could be slavery without such a
Union."
Judge Robertson's position as to the ground of the
rebellion is very much like that of some others among
loyal men. We are not, at this point, concerned with the
reasons which he gives for it, but rather with the question
of its correctness. But before adducing the proof for a
contrary position, we will state some of the obvious dis-
criminations which should be borne in mind.
IN WHAT SENSE SLAVEET IS THE CAUSE.
When slavery is charged with having caused the rebel-
lion and the war, no more can justly be meant than that
it is the occasion of both. Nor is this all. It is scarcely
just to hold the institution, as such, to this responsibility.
It has been made the occasion. Nor does this exhaust the
proper distinctions of the case. It has been made the
occasion only in the hands of wicked and designing men.
Many slaveholders are as true and loyal to the Govern-
ment, and have shown this during the whole progress of
the rebellion, as any men in the country. Nor is this seen
in the Border States only. If these designing men,
whether open or secret rebels, are found among the slave-
holders of every Border State, so also loyal slaveholders,
who have been such from first to last, may probably be
found in every seceded State. As our arms have advanced,
this has been found true ; not merely where men have
avowed their loyalty in the hope of retaining their slaves,
or of receiving compensation for them from the Govern-
ment, but where some of the largest slaveholders have
always retained their loyalty notwithstanding the terrors
IN" WHAT SENSE SLAVERY IS TUE CAUSE. 41
of rebel rule. We personally know such cases in the
Southwestern States, those of men who have been obliged
to keep silent, but who nevertheless have maintained their
allegiance to the Government. It is also no doubt true,
that many in those States who gave in their adhesion to
the rebel leaders did so under duress, to save property and
life, and who may therefore be regarded, without any
straining of that charity and patriotism which both moral
and political justice should extend to them, as truly loyal
men. It would be among the strangest of all phenomena
if these things were not so. It would be tantamount to
saying that all men in the South conceded the superior
wisdom and approved the measures of the rebel leaders,
and sustained them on these grounds ; whereas, it is known
that from the first, many men in the seceded States, far
more sagacious and less blinded by ambition than those
who assumed the control of affairs, warned the people
against rebellion, pointed out the failure of their schemes,
declared the falsity of their prophecies, foretold the ruin
which would come upon their section of the country, and
the result has already vindicated their sagacity and sealed
their patriotism. It is therefore not just to hold the insti-
tution of slavery, as such, — embracing, of consequence,
all slaveholders, — responsible, either for the rebellion or
the war.
What is true is this : that ambitious men, fearing with-
out just cause that the Administration now in power, and
the party that had put it in power, designed to destroy
slavery in the whole country, — or, if not believing this,
pretending at least to believe it, and taking this ground
before the people, and convincing large numbers that this
was their design, — induced the States to rebel, that they
might give to the institution greater expansion, security,
and power, and, with God's permission, perpetuate it for-
42 CAUSE OF THE KEBELLIOX.
ever. This was substantially the position taken by lead-
ing men, the controllers of public opinion, in both Church
and State.
MODERN VIEWS AKD POWER OF SLAVERY.
It is among the clearest facts known, that within the
period of some thirty years or more, a total revolution had
taken place in the Southern mind, extending to almost the
entire people, regarding the status of slavery as an institu-
tion, embracing its political, social, and moral character
and relations. The causes of this change W€re, in part,
the enormous pecuniary profits of the institution, which
led political economists and statesmen to defend and com-
mend it, and thus to repudiate the views of the fathers of
the Republic ; and, in part, the teachings of the ministers
of religion, who had discovered new light in interpreting
the word of God, which led them to defend and commend
it as a Divine Ordinance, and thus to repudiate the views
of the fathers of the American Church. And it is a fact
of inarked significance, that, in this change of opinion, the
clergy, in many distinguished instances, led the way, and
they are no doubt justly held to a higher responsibility for
it than any other class of men. They will not of course
deem this any disparagement, although they might decline
the distinction here given them, for they claim to have
done a good work. Of the reality of this change, and who
are mainly responsible for it, we shall give the evidence in
due time.
This revolution in Southern opinion, made slavery, in
many important respects, a totally different afiair in South-
ern society from what it had ever hitherto been regarded.
It was so interwoven with its whole structure, was so com-
pletely the basis of labor, in a section of country almost
wholly agricultural, and brought to the coflers of the mas-
MODEKK VIEWS AND POWER OF SLAVERY. 43
ter such untold wealth, that it had become tlie most vital
element in Southern civilization.* It gave social position
and political power. It prescribed customs to the house-
hold and gave laws to the State. It influenced all their
systems of education and made a tenet in their religion.
The mechanic and the day-laborer, the gentleman of leis-
ure and the man of business, the lawyer and the physician,
the judge and the clergyman, all professions and all insti-
tutions, came under its sway and called it master. It was
respectable, honorable, a necessity, divine. It had no
traceable origin ; it had always existed. It was sanctioned
by the law of nature, by the consent of all times and all
peoples, and by the law of God. It had come from the
Patriarchs, was embedded in the decalogue, regulated by
the institutions of Moses, sustained by the Prophets, vin-
dicated by Christ and the Apostles. All this had become
the staple of Southern thought, the touchstone of South-
ern fidelity. It was promulgated in books and news-
papers, harangued from the stump and in legislative halls,
taught in the schools, pronounced in the courts, and
preached from the pulpit. Southern society had become
permeated with these views. It lived and breathed in this
intellectual and moral atmosphere. The sentiments and
feelings which such a system begat, sustained men through
the activities of the day, gave them repose at night, and
administered consolation in the hour of death.
When matters had come to this pass, under the teach-
ings of recent times and the golden reign of the Fibrous
King, how was it possible for the leaders in such opinions
to be content that slavery should remain in the strait-
jacket put upon it by the fathers of the Republic ? How
*"Must I pause to show how it (slavery) has fashioned our modes of life, and
determined all our habits of thought and feeling, and moulded the very type of our
civilization?" — Dr. Palmer^ Thanksgiving Discourse, New Orleans,'Say. 29, 1S60.
3*
44
CAUSE OF THE REBELLION.
could they any longer revere the political maxims of
"Washington and Jefferson, Madison and Henry, any more
than they could regard with favor their sentiments upon
slavery ? The institution had become so important in their
eyes that verily they thought the whole country was theirs ;
that they could take their slaves to every State and plant
them in every Territory ; that Congress was theirs, that
the Presidency was theirs, that the Supreme Court was
theirs ; that, indeed, the whole people were theirs, with
the wealth, greatness, prosperity, and glory of the nation
— in a word, that they had made them all.*
* " The unexampled prosperity and growth of the United States, have been in exact
accordance with the development of the slave population, the slave territory, and
the slave products, cotton, rice, tobacco, sugar, and naval stores, of the South." —
J>r. Smyth, of Charleston, S. C, in the Southern Presbijterian Review, April, 1863.
Dr. Palmer, contrasting the North and the South, speaks of " the exemplary patience
with which she (the South) has endured a system of revenue legislation, flagrantly
and systematically discriminating against her, and in favor of the North. But the
abundant fertility of her soil has enabled her to grow rich, even whilst contributing
two-thirds to the revenue of the Government." — Jbidem, April, 1S61. To show the
absurdity of Dr. Palmer's statement, we only need to present the official figures.
The "revenue" raised from imports will bo a proper criterion; and, with the excep-
tion of the public lands, duties on foreign importations were almost the only source
of "revenue" to the General Government. We do not find in the latest census
returns (for 1860) the amount so stated as readily to show what proportion was col-
lected in the Free States and what in the Slave States; nor do we find, in any one
year, returns from all the ports given in the tables. But in De Bow's " Compendium
of the Seventh Census," the revenue for 1853, collected frpm the following ports, is
stated. This is probably a proper standard for any year :
POKTS IN FBEE STATES.
New York $38,289,341.58
Boston 7,203,048.52
Philadelphia ■ 4,537,046.16
Sail Francisco 1,794,140.68
Portland 350.349.22
Cincinnati 251,649.90
Oswego 128,667.27
New Haven 125,173.40
Total, eight Free ports. .$52,679,416.73
PORTS IN SLAVE STATES.
New Orleans $2,628,421.33
Baltimore 836,437.99
Cliarleston 432,299.19
St. Louis 294,790.78
Savannah 125,755.86
Mobile 102.981.47
Richmond 73,992.98
Louisville 4:8,301.67
Norfolk 31.255.51
ToUl, nine Slave ports. . . .$4,574,242.77
rPvOOF THAT SLAVERY IS THE CAUSE. 45
When tluy at length found that the people of the whole
land had become aroused by then- aggressions, and in their
sovereign majesty at the ballot-box, in November, 1 860,
pronomiced against these extravagant claims, they resolved
on rebellion, in the mistaken interest of slavery, and be-
lieved that they had only to do this to bring the whole
civilized world to their feet. Every one who has been a
close observer of passing events in Church and State for
twenty years past, well knows that this is but a true pic-
ture of the change which has taken place in the mind of
the extreme Southern portion of the country.
rROOF THAT SLAVERY IS THE CAUSE OFFICIAL TESTIMONY.
It seems almost a "work of supererogation to set forth
the evidence of a fact so well known, that slavery, in the
sense we have explained, caused the rebellion. Men might
as well deny the testimony of their senses, — which do
By the same " Compendium," the total of revenue collected, was, from " all other dis-
tricts, $1,678,206.04," to be divided between Free and Slave ports. It thus appears,
that, so far from the Slave States " contributing two-thirds to the revenue of the
Government," they did not contribute one-thirteenth, according to the above
returns; and as De Bow was a ring-leader among the disunionists, at the very time
he published this " Compendium," it is probable that his figures " don't lie." We
are of course aware of the logic by which Dr. Palmer's statement is supported by
some writers (though he gives simply the naked afliruiation, as quoted), but it
involves a greater absurdity than the statement itself. The revenue from foreign
importations, comes, ultimately, from the consumer; and it is said that the South
consume the vast amount of foreign goods, and therefore pay the mass of the rev-
enue. It is not so easy to determine this by exact data from figures, as It involves so
many minute details. But when that large class of the "poor whites" in the Slave
States who never see, much less wear or use a dollar's worth of foreign goods, is
deducted from those who consume them, and then the latter are compared with the
millions of the vastly preponderating population of the Free States who use foreign
articles of every description, it is the most preposterous of all conclusions, — a sim-
ple unsnstained assertion, — to maintain that the consumption of imported goods in
the Slave States comes within the longest cannon-range of the amount consumed in
the Free States. Dr. Palmer is good at the " h)ijg-bow," and his unsustained state-
ment has been so often made that many, both North and South, believe — or pretend
to believe it.
46 CAUSE OF THE REBELLION.
sometimes deceive them, — and it is only because this is
denied that we spend a moment in collating the proof.
The seventh reason which Judge Robertson assigns for
his position, that " some of the leaders" in the South Caro-
lina Convention " ridiculed the idea" that slavery or anti-
slavery " was the cause of their secession," is plausible,
and would seem to be conclusive, ha.i we not testi-
mony which completely overwhelms it. We place over
against the sayings of these men, Avhatever they may have
uttered in loose and heated harangues, the solemn, delibe-
rate, official act of the Convention itself, which was passed
unanimously. It sets forth, to use their own Avords, " the
immediate causes which have led to this act" — the seces-
sion of the State. After a long historical statement from
their peculiar stand-point, and an argument to show that
secession is authorized by the Constitution of the United
States, they state the grievances which have impelled them
to secede. There is not a solitary allusion in the ordi-
nance of secession to grievances on any subject hut slavery.
But the relation of the General and State Governments to
that institution, and their apprehensions for the iutuie,
they argue at length. A sentence or two will show their
position.
Those States (the non-slaveholding) have assumed the right of decid-
ing upon the propriety of our domestic institutions ; and have denied the
rights of property established in fifteen of the States and recognized hy
the Constitution ; they have denounced as sinful the institution of slavery;
they have permitted the open establishment among them of societies,
whose avowed object is to disturb the peace and eloin the property of
the citizens of other States. They have encouraged and assisted thou-
sands of our slaves to leave their homes ; and those who remain, have
been incited by emissaries, books, and pictures, to servile insurrection.
For twenty-five years this agitation has been steadily increasing, until
it has now secured to its aid the power of the common Government.
* * * On the 4th of March next this party will take possession of
PROOF THAT SLAVERY IS THE CAUSE. 47
the Government. It has announced that the South shall be excluded
from the common territory, that the judicial tribunal shall be made sec-
tional, and that a war must he waged against slavery until it shall cease
throughout the United States. The guarantees of the Constitution will
then no longer exist ; the equal rights of the States will be lost. The
slaveholding States will no longer have the power of self-government,
or self-protection, and the Federal Government will have become their
enemy.*
Whatever may be true about the justice of these
charges, the proof is conclusive, from this official act, that
slavery, in its extravagant claims and unfounded fears,
was at the bottom of the secession of South Carolina.
This conclusion cannot be avoided, unless we take the
ground, either that the men of that Convention did not
know and were unanimously mistaken as to what their own
complaints were, or that they were-utterly hypocritical in
stating them and are not to be believed at all, and that too
in a document intended to vindicate their course before
the world.
The acts of secession, along with the other proceedings
of the Conventions of the other rebel States, resj^ectively,
* This ordinance of the South Carolina Convention was passed "by a unanimous
vote of one hundred and sixty-nine," Dec. 20, 1S60. The unscrupulous false-
hoods solemnly declared in this official act, are palpable. The proof of several
of them we have already given. We choose to speak plainly, and therefore
say: It is notoriously false (1.) To charge the "non-slaveholding States" as
a body with arii/ of these things; (2.) To charge any one of them upon the Fede-
ral Government; (3.) To charge that the "party" then to come into power
" on the 4th of Marc h," had ever declared its intention or assumed the right to
wage war "against slavery until it should cease throughout the United States;"
but this "party" had officially declared /(«< the contrary, and this the South Caro-
lina Convention perfectly knew. That official declaration is given in a note to
Chapter I. Mr. Lincoln's letter accepting the nomination of this "party" for
the Presidency, dated " May 23, 1860," contains an explicit indorsement of that
declaration, as follows: "The declaration of principles and sentiments, which
accompanies your letter, meets my approval ; and it shall be my care not to violate,
or disregard it in any part." This letter of the Presidential candidate of this
"party," the members of the South Carolina Convention had seen. They had,
therefore, within their own positive knowledge, the complete disproof of their
official charge ; and thus their falsehood stands before all men.
48 CAUSE OF TUE EEBELLIOIi.
show precisely the same cause for the revolt as that assigned
by the Convention of South Carohna, — the assumed hos-
tility of the General Government to slavery, and the cor-
responding sentiments of the people of the North, — and
there is no other reason given in any ordi7iance of secession.
A more recent and conclusive official testimony is found
in the action of the Rebel Congress, at Richmond, in an
" Address to the People of the Confederate States," issued
in February, 1864, in which they speak of the cause of
their secession, as follows :
Compelled by a long series of oppressive and tyrannical acts, culmi-
nating at last in the selection of a President and Vice-President by a
party confessedly sectional, and hostile to the South and her institutions,
these States withdrew from the former Union and formed a new Con-
federate alliance, as an independent Government, based on the proper
relations of labor and capital. * * * The Republican party was
formed to destroy slavery and the equality of the States, and Lincoln
was selected as the instrument to accomplish this object.
INDIVIDUAL WITNESSES THAT SLAVERY IS THE CAUSE.
Besides this official testimony, many witnesses to the
same effect might be cited from among leading statesmen
and divines. We give a sample of this testimony.
Alexander H, Stephens, Vice-President of the Southern
Confederacy, is a representative man among Southei'n
statesmen, and one of the ablest of them all. In his speech
at Savannah, Georgia, March 21, 1861, showing the supe-
riority of their Constitution, he said :
The new Constitution has put at rest forever aU the agitating ques-
tions relating to our pecuUar institutions, — African slavery as it exists
among us, — the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization.
This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution.
Jefferson, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the "rock upon which
the old Union would split." He was right. What was conjecture with
him is now a realized fact. But whether he comprehended the great
truth upon whicli tliat rock stood and stands, may be doubted. Tho
WITNESSES THAT SLx\.VERT IS THE CAUSE. 49
prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen
at the time of the formation of the old Constitution were, that the en-
slavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature ; that it
was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil
they knew not how to deal with ; but the general opinion of the men of
that day was, that, somehow or other, in the order of Providence, the
institution would be evanescent and pass away. This idea, though
not incorporated in the Constitution, was the prevailing idea at the time.
The Constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the
institution while it should last, and hence no argument can be justly
used against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the
common sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were funda-
mentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of
races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the idea of
a Government built upon it — when the " storm came and the wind blew
it fell." Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite
ideas ; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth
that the negro is not equal to the white man ; that slavery, subordina-
tion to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our
new Government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon
this great physical, philosophical truth.
The late Rev, Dr. Thornwell, of Columbia, S. C, was one
of the representative men of the Southern Church. In a
Fast-Day Sermon preached in Columbia, S. C, Nov. 21,
1860, upon "National Sins," occasioned by the then in-
cipient troubles of the country, he says :
Let us inquire, in the next place, whether we have rendered unto our
servants that which is just and equal. Is our legislation in aU respects
in harmony with the idea of slavery ? Are our laws such that we can
heartily approve them in the presence of God? Have we sufficiently
protected the person of the slave ? Are our provisions adequate for
giving him a fair and impartial trial when prosecuted for offences ? Do
we guard as we should his family relations? And, above all, have we
furnished him with proper means of religious instruction ? These and
such questions we should endeavor to answer with the utmost solemnity
and truth. "We have come before the Lord as penitents. The people
whom we hold in bondage are the occasion of all our troubles. "We have been
provoked by bitter and furious assailants to deal harshly with them.
50 CAUSE OF THE REBELLION.
and it becomes us this day to review our history, and the history of our
legislation, in the light of God's truth, and to abandon, with ingenuous
sincerity, whatever our consciences cannot sanction.
Immediately after the secession of South Carolina, De-
cember 20, 1860, Dr. Thornwell puhlished an elaborate
paper in its defence, in the Southern Presbyterian jRevieio.
In reference to the justifying cause of secession, we take
from the article the following sentences :
The real cause of the intense excitement of the South is not vain
dreams of national glory in a separate confederacy ; * * * n {g the pro-
found conviction that the Constitution, in its relations to slavery, has been
virtually repealed ; that the Government has assumed a new and dan-
gerous attitude upon this subject ; that we have, in short, new terms of
union submitted to our acceptance or rejection. Here lies the evil.
The election of Lincoln, when properly interpreted, is nothing more nor
less than a proposition to the South to consent to a government funda-
mentally different upon the question of slavery from that which our fathers
established. * * * The Constitution covers the whole territory of the
Union, and throughout that territory has taken slavery under the protec-
tion of law. * * * Let the Government permit the South to carry her
persons held to service, without their consent, into the Territories, and
let the right to their labor be protected, and there would be no quar-
rel about slavery. * * * "We are sure that we do not misrepresent the
general tone of Northern sentiment. It is one of hostility to slavery, —
it is one which, while it might not be willing to break faith, under the
present Administration, with respect to the express injunctions of the
Constitution, is utterly and absolutely opposed to any further extension
OF THE SYSTEM. * * * Thb EXTENSION OF SLAVERY, in obedionce to
Northern prejudice, is to be forever arrested. Congress is to treat it as
an evil, an element of political weakness, and to restrain its influence
within the limits wliich now circumscribe it.
Another representative man among the Southern clergy
is the Key. Dr. Palmer, also a South Carolinian by birth.
On the breaking out of the rebellion he was pastor of the
First Presbyterian Church in New Orleans, a post which
he maintained until a little before the recovery of that city
TESTIMONY OF RELIGIOUS BODIES. 51
by the Union forces. On Thanksgiving Day, November
29, 1860, he preached a sermon, entitled, " The South : Her
Peril and Her Duty," in which he presents the grounds
which justify secession. His fundamental proposition is,
that it is the great " providential trust" of the South, " to
conserve and to perpetuate the institution of slavery as oioio
existing f and that it is
Our present trust to preserve and transmit our existing system of
domestic servitude, with the right, unchanged by man, to go and root
itself wherever Providence and nature may carry it. * * * No man has
thoughtfully watched the progress of this controversy without being
convinced that the crisis must at length come. * * * The embarrass-
ment has been, while dodging amidst constitutional forms, to make au
issue tSat should be clear, simple, and tangible. Such an issue is at length
presented in the result of the 7'ecent Presidential election. * * * It is no-
where denied that the first article in the creed of the new dominant
party is the restriction of slavery within its present limits. * * *
The decree has gone forth that the institution of Southern slavery shall
be constrained within assigned hmits. Though nature and Providence
should send forth its branches like the banyan tree, to take root in con-
genial soil, here is a power superior to both, that says it shall wither
and die within its own charmed circle. * * * j^ is this which makes
THE crisis. Whether we will or not, this is the historic moment when
the fate of this institution hangs suspended in the balance.
TESTI3IO>^Y OF RELIGIOUS BODIES TO THE SAME EFFECT.
All the religious public bodies of the South, which speak
on the subject at all, present slavery as the cause of the
disruption. Among other numerous instances, the " Ad-
dress of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
in the Confederate States of America, to all the Churches
throughout the Earth," adopted "unanimously," at
Augusta, Georgia, December, 1861, states the matter as
follows :
In addition to this, there is one difference which so radically and
fundamentally distinguishes the North and the South, that it is becoming
52 CAUSE OF THE KEBELLIOK.
every day more and more apparent, that the reUgious as well as the
secular interests of both, wiU be more effectually promoted by a com-
plete and lasting separation. The antagonism of Northern and Southern
sentiment on the subject of Slavery lies at the root of all the difficulties
which have resulted in the dismemberment of the Federal Union, and in-
volved us in the horrors of an unnatural war.
The Southera Baptist Convention, a body representing,
as they say, " a constituency of six or seven hundred thou-
sand Christians," sitting in Savannah, Georgia, May 13,
1861, " unanimously" adopted a paper in which they thus
refer to slavery as the cause of disunion :
The Union constituted by our forefathers was one of coequal sovereign
States. The fanatical spirit of the North has long been seeking to de-
prive us of rights and franchises guaranteed by the Constitution ; and
after years of persistent aggression, they have at last accompUshed their
purpose.
And similar testimony is borne by all the leading deno-
minations of Christians at the South, which might be given
did time and space permit ; the purport of all being, — that
slavery, its claims and apprehensions, as urged by the
Southern leaders, caused the rebellion.*
* Besides the proof given from official sources, both secular and religious, and
from distinguishL-d civilians and divines, that slavery, in the sense explained, caused
the rebellion, we add the statements of a few well-known public men of the South
to the same effect, out of a thousand of a similar kind. Governor Andrew Johnson,
of Tennessee, in a speech made at Nashville, in March, 1S62, is reported as saying of
the rebel leaders : " Look at the hypocrite Yancey, telling Great Britain now, that
slavery was not the cause of the war. They made the slavery question the sole
pretesei/or their rebellious iicte." In an address at Nashville, June 10, ISM, Governor
Johnson says: "I told you long ago what the result would be, if you endeavored to
go out of the Union to save nlarery, and that the result would be bloodshed, rapine,
devastated fields, plundered villages and cities; and therefore I urged you to remain
in the Union. In trying to save slavery, you killed it, and lost your own freedom."
Governor Hamilton, of Texas, in his Address to the people of that State, before referred
to, says of slavery: "Gathering temerity from its successful war upon the rights
and lives of the citizens, it lifted its unholy hand to destroy the Government to
■whose protection it owed its power. In its efforts to accomplish this, you have onlj
been considered as so much material to be used." lion. E. W. Gantt, of Ai-kansas,
who had been a General in the rebel army, in his speeches in New York, Little Eock,
TESTIMONY OF RELIGIOUS BODIES. ^3
It is thus as clear as any proposition can well be made,
from testimony^ — and the testimony of those who ought to
know, — that the great underlying cause of all which
prompted the Southern rebellion, was the endeavor to give
to the institution of negro slavery greater security, expan-
sion, and lasting perpetuity ; and the incitement to this
step for these ends was the hue and cry falsely raised
through the South, that the incoming Administration of
the General Government was pledged to the people who
had put it in power, to interfere with the constitutional
rights of the institution, or wholly to destroy it.
Ark., and other places, says : " What is the cause of this war ? We knmo that there
is hut on-e distnrhhig element in the country. In the South, where the struggle
commenced, there were but two ideas, and they revolved around the negro. One
was. we should stay in the Union to protect the negro ; the other was, to go out, still
to protect the negro. Had there been no negro slavery, there would have been no
war. I say so, because I never saw any bitter contest in the country that negro
slavery was not the foundation-stone to. Let us, fellow-citizens, endeavor to be
calm. Let us look these new ideas and our novel position squarely in the face. We
fought for negro slavery. We have lost. We may have to do without it." Governor
Bramlette, in his message to the Legislature of Kentucky, says : " Ambitious men
of the South, who first sought to create a sectional division upon the tariff, in order
to build up a Government based upon the aristocraci/ of the slave-owner, having
been foiled by the incorruptible patriotism and indomitable will of Andrew Jackson,
nejft gave and accepted a sectional quarrel about the slave." '■ The blinded ambition
and obduracy of the Southern secessionists, per*i«fe«<Zy iArjtsi/oricard the slave
as the object of strife, although the Administration and the ruling powers for more
than one year waived it aside, and refused to accept the issue." Hon. J. B. Hender-
son of Missouri, in a speech in the United States Senate, on the 7th of April last,
" in favor of amending the Constitution so as to abolish slavery," thus speaks of the
cause of the rebellion: "Shall it be answered that the South made the war before
the institution was attacked, and that their only wrong consists in this? TTie South
declares that the rebellion was inaugurated to protect slavery against Northern
aggression. Then the Northern Democracy must admit, at the least, that such is
the character and influence of the institution that it drove the Southern people
into unnecessary war before it was jeoparded by the action of the Government.''''
"The Union is severed in the n.ime of slavery. The civilized world regards slavery
as the remote or proximate cause of the war." "In the interest of slavery, they
claimed the right to sever the Union. They have done so, to the extent of their
power." "If the South be wrong, the wrong springs, as they say, from slavery.
'J'hey themselves give no othee cause for their withdraical." To this testimony
might be added that of the entire press of the South, both secular and religious, that
slavery is the grand underlying cause of the rebellion.
54 CAUSE OF THE REBELLION.
INCIDENTAL CONFIRMATOEY EVIDENCE.
A great many other public facts known to the whole
country confirm this testimony. Secession has been at-
tempted by the public authorities, more or less acting
together, in every Border slave State. In Kentucky, in
the year 1861, a patriotic and determined Legislature
prevented the disloyal designs of Governor Magoffin and
other officials. In Maryland, Governor Hicks, sustained
by certain Union Senators, refused for a long period to call
a meeting of the Legislature, when it was well known that
their design, if assembled, was to pass an act of secession ;
and when at length the body did meet, they were pre-
vented from consummating such a purpose only by the
prompt action of the General Government. Governor
Burton and other officials did all in their power, consist-
ent with their personal safety, to carry out Delaware.
Western Virginia Avas only saved to the Union by a divi-
sion of the State. Governor Jackson, of Missouri, and tlie
disloyal element in the Legislature, claimed to have carried
that State into secession legally ; at least by a process
which commended itself to their political consideration.
And thus, while every one of the Slave States has either
formally enacted or attempted to ena/jt secession, 7iot one
of the Free States has made such attempt.
Nor is this all. Some of the Border States which ma^le
the attempt to secede, — as in the case of Kentucky and
Missouri, — pretended to organize regular State Govern-
ments, in connection with the rebel Southern Confederacy,
and have since continued such organizations, "dwelling iu
tents" and itinerating like menageries, but still claiming
authority over the territory of their respective States.
For the past two years or 'more, every Slave State except
Maryland and Delaware has been represented in the rebel
SLAVE STATES CLAIIMED BY THE REBEL PRESIDENT. 55
Congress. And finally, in full accordance with these sig-
nificant facts, the State papers and military orders issued
fi-om Richmond, together with the whole Southern press,
have always regarded every slave State as making a part
of the Southern Confederacy.
ALL SLAVE STATES OFFICIALLY CLiUMED BY THE REBEL
PRESIDENT.
Mr. Davis, the rebel President, gives, among other
oflicial proofs, incidental evidence of the position here
taken, in his specification of Kentucky, when addressing
Vice-President Stephens, in July, 1863, relating to his pro-
jected visit to Washington on the " Confederate steamer
Torpedo." Mr. Davis says :
The putting to death of unarmed prisoners has been a just ground of
complaint in more than one instance ; and the recent executions of our
officers in Kentucky, for the sole cause that they were engaged in recruit-
ing service in a State which is claimed as still one of the United States,
but is also claimed by m' us one of the Confederate States, must be repressed
by retaliation if not unconditionally abandoned, because it would justify
the like execution in every other State of the Confederacy.
This refers to the spies executed by order of General
Burn side in Kentucky ; although that State, in every popu-
lar election, in some half dozen instances since the rebellion
began, has given overwhelming majorities for the Union
as against secession.
Now; do these imiform, consistent, public, oflScial acts
(tliough of course without just authority), admit of any
other explanation than that secession was undertaken, and
that the rebellion has been prosecuted through every step
in its progress, in entire subserviency to slavery ? Their
pretended rule was only claimed to extend over the slave
States, but yet over all of them. All their acts were niarked
by a geographical line, and that line bounding freedom
5G CAUSE OF THE EEBELLIOIf.
and slavery. Their indei^endence, from first to last, they
have insisted, must be acknowledged by granting to them
every slave State, and their President, members of Con-
gress, and public journals, have constantly declared that
they will never consent to peace on any other terms*
It would seem that no proposition was ever more fully
sustained by testimony of every species, both positive and
negative, than that this rebellion has its hfe-spring in sla-
very. To preserve, perpetuate, and extend it, has animated
its civic councils, furnished the theme for the eloquence of
its pulpits, given prowess to its military leaders, sustained
the heroic endurance of its soldiery, and nerved to the sac-
rifices and stimulated the prayers of its people. We know
not what more could be possibly added to make out a
plainer case.
In regard to the first six reasons presented by Judge
Robertson to show that protection to slavery could not
have stimulated " the leading conspirators," and in which
he says " they knew" this and " they knew" that, we need
only reply that sane men might have seen and known all
he states, of the then past, present, and future. But the
difficulty with those " leading conspirators" was that they
were 7iot sane. They were demented. The profits, the
crlory, and the divinity of slavery had intoxicated them to
frenzy. They could see nothing as It Avas. Our belief is
that God had smitten them with judicial blindness; and
that, through their infatuation. He intended to accomplish
for this nation great purposes of His own — of which we
shall speak hereafter. But be this as it may, no truth in
the world is better sustained than this, that slavery, as
* Among the "terms" of peace, on which alone the liichinond Enquirer says the
rebels are willing to negotiate, this is stated : " 2. Withdrawal of the Yankee forces
from every foot of Confederate ground, including Kentucky and Missouri." "The
North must yield all; we nothing." These " terms," in which they claim all the
Slave States, are given in full, in a note to Chapter iv.
UNLIMITED EXTENSION OP SI AVERY. 57
explained, is the cause of tlie rebellion against the Gov-
ernment of the United States.
UNIilMITED EXTENSION OF SLAVEBY.
But it was not only to preserve slavery where it was
established that the rebellion was undertaken. Nor was
it, in addition, merely to carry it into the unoccupied do-
main of the United States. Their scheme was mucli more
grand than this. They aimed to build up a great Slave
Empire around the Gulf of Mexico. Mexico and the States
of Central America, now free, were to be peopled with
negro slaves ; and the isles of the sea, noAV consecrated to
freedom, were to be re-enslaved ; and with Cuba, these
fertile lands of the tropics, united to the Southern States,
were to constitute the territory of a nation whose " corner-
stone" was to be human bondage.
The proof that this was the magnificent plan contem-
plated, is overwhelming. General Gantt refers to this in
his speeches, from which we have quoted. It was for this
he himself fought in the rebel army. He says : " I was a
very good type of a -pro-slavery man. I said, if the Con-
stitution of our fathers would not protect slavery, no guar-
antees would do it. I wanted to give that p)Oioer an expan-
sion., westward to the ocean, and in another direction to
take in Cuba and a part of Mexico, and all we coidd get
heyondP
Any one who doubts that it was the scheme of the lead-
ers of the rebellion to extend slavery south and west over
countries now free, " to go and root itself," in the language
of Dr. Palmer, " wherever Providence and nature might
carry it," and " with the freest scope for its natural devel-
opment and extension," has not had his eyes open to cur-
rent and notorious events.
But this is by no means all. To make this " extension"
58 CAUSE OF THE REBELLION.
of slavery over so vast a region either practicable or profit-
able, another thing was absolutely essential. Where were
the slaves to come from to occnpy these immense domains
of the tropics? or even profitably to develop our own un-
occupied Territories, could slaves have been brought into
them, or could the South have obtained the portion claimed
by her on "an equitable division" of the Union? The
answer to this is easy ; but it is not found where certain
" conservatives," so called, at the North find it.
It is one of the curious things which the discussions of
the times have developed, that certain Northern men charge
those who would hinder the " extension" of slavery into
our own free territory, with throwing obstacles in the way
of emancipation; declaring that the way to perpetuate
slavery is to confine it where it is, whereas, to allow it to
expand, according to the wishes of its friends, is the
certain way to promote emancipation and eventually to
destroy it.
THE BESTKICTIVE POLICY.
Among those who have taken this view is Rev. Dr.
Samuel J. Baird, of New Jersey. In his letter before
referred to, entitled "Southern Rights and Northern
Duties in the present Crisis," he says upon the point in
hand : " The distraction now realized by our country, has
attained its portentous character in consequence of two
assumptions which are both demonstrably false." Our
present concern is with only one of these " assumptions,"
which he states thus : "It is assumed that the effect of the
erection of new Slave States, is to increase the amount of
slavery in the country." He then proceeds " to state the
grounds upon which" he has " long held the opinion, that
tlie restrictive, or free soil policy, so far from tending to
the advantage of the negro, and the extirpation of slavery,
I
J
THE KESTEICTIVE POLICY. 59
has directly the opposite ciFect, — that its influence is to
retai-d his elevation, and render early emancipation impos-
sible."
Dr. Baird here takes precisely the oi>posite view of the
"restrictive" policy from that taken by both Drs. Palmer
and Thornwell. The former, in his Thanksgiving Discourse,
before quoted, says : " The decree has gone forth that the
institution of Southern slavery shall be constrained within
assigned limits. Though nature and Providence should
send forth its branches like the banyan-tree, to take root
in congenial soil, here is a power superior to both, that
says it shall loither and die icithin its oxen charmed circle'''
Dr. Thornwell, in his article before referred to, says : " The
extension of slavery, in obedience to Northern prejudice,
is to be forever arrested. Congress is to treat it as an
evil, an element of political weakness, and to restrain its
influence within the limits which now circumscribe it."
" You may destroy the oak as effectually by girdling it as
by cutting it down. The North are well assured that if
they can circumsci ibe the area of slavery, if they can sur-
round it with a circle of non-slaveholding States, and pre-
vent it from expanding, nothing more is required to secure
its idtimate abolition. ' Like the scorj^ion girt by fire,' it
will 2jlMnge its fangs into its oxen body and perish.''^
There seems to be, then, a slight diflference of opinion
between the New Jersey Doctor and the High Priests of
the Slavery Propaganda, as to the effect of the "restrictive"
policy. He thinks, and has " long held the opinion," that
the restriction of slavery " would render early emancipation
impossible :" they, that " nothing more is required to se-
cure its ultimate abolition." We judge that the Southern
Doctors had the more ample knowledge and sounder view
of the case. Dr. Baird reasons theoretically, while the
Other gentlemen reason practically.
60 CAUSE OF THE REBELLION.
THE EXPANSIVE POLICY.
But our main object in referring to Dr. Baird is to notice
the other side of the problem ; to compare his opinion of
the " expansive" policy with the designs of Southei*n men.
We do not aim, for want of space, to give his argument,
but merely his positions. He says :
It is true, as an ordinary rule, that dispersion tends to stimulate the
increase of population ; * * * but it is evident that this principle does not
apply, in any appreciable degree, to the slave population. The respon-
sibility of providing for the support of the family rests not on the parents
but on the master. * * * Jq q^^q -word, the immediate effect of the wider
dispersion of a given number of slaves is, to elevate and fit them for
freedom, and to secure for them that boon, in the surest and safest man-
jjgj._ * * * As a question of State po]ic\% it may be wise for the North-
ern States to prohibit the introduction of slaves from the South. But as
a question of national policy, a question of humanity to the negro and
emancipation to the slave — as a question of national strength, political
and military, no proposition is more demonstrable than that the utmost
possible dispersion of the slaves is the policy dictated by sound reason,
and approved by enlightened humanity. It may bo objected that the
"curse of slavery" ought not to be inflicted on the Territories. Waiving
all cavil as to the phrase, it would seem that true patriotism must have
at least as great concern for the welfare of the people of the South as for
the trackless wilds of the West.
The point here made is, that the wider the " dispei'sion"
of the slaves, permitting the " extension" of the system
into all the Territories as the South demanded, would tend
to " emancipation," and be the proper " policy" for all who
desired that end to advocate; just as the "restrictive"
policy would tend to perpetuate the system. Does Dr.
Baird then suppose that this was the motive the South had
in view when demanding admission into the Territories ? —
that this was, with them, a measure of " emancipation ?" —
and that being refused, they sought to get out of the Union ?
I
KEOPEXING OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. 61
Or, if this was not tlitdr direct motive^ does he suppose that
they were not quite as well able to determine the " effect"
of opening the Territories to slavery, as himself? — that
they could not see whether such a course would promote
" emancipation" or not ? Is it not at least highly prob-
able, that, as he is proved by Southern testimony, — from
those who " live, and move, and have their being," in tho
atmosphere of slavery, — to be in error about the " restric-
tive," so also he may be about the "dispersive" policy?
"We would not call in question the correctness of his rea-
soning, in its general application, upon the " increase of
population," under the aspects of the respective policies of
a scattered or crowded condition ; but it does not cover
the present case. We shall see this when we understand
the ultimate designs of the South concerning this question
of " dispersion" through the Territories.
REOPENIXG OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE.
There is too much known for doubt, that it was the ulti-
mate plan of the rebel leaders to fill up the Territories,
could they have free access to them, witli slaves from the
Old States, and to supply their places with fresh importa-
tions from Africa^ or introduce those newly imported into
both, as occasion might require.
They were to clamor for a repeal of the law prohibiting
the African slave-trade as "piracy," and in case of failure
were to evade it, or to pursue the traffic openly in spite of
it, as was done in the case of the slaver 'Wanderer and
others, that brought cargoes into Southern ports and sold
and dispersed them through the Southwest a few years
ago. Prosecutions against them would fail, as they did
fail in some of these cases, because Southern Courts were
corrupted by the prevailing opinion.
Thus, the " effect" pointed out by Dr. Baii'd of opening
62 CAUSE OF TUE KEBELLION.
the Territories to slavery, would not he to elevate the ne-
gro and ultimately to emancipate him tlirough the policy
of" dispersion ;" but an expansion and perpetuation of the
system on new ground, by new recruits from Africa, was
the grand design of the rebel leaders. In case the war
against this course should become too hot, or they should
not gain access to the Territoiies, the plan was to go out
of the Union, buiLl up a Slave Empire around the Gulf of
Mexico, and people the fair regions of Central America with
their newly-caught victims,
EEOPENIKG OF THE TRADE DENIED.
When this project of reopening the African slave-trade is
charged, it is by some denied, even despite of the foctthat
it teas actually in progress against all the power of Ameri-
can courts of Jaw, and American and English fleets on the
Afi-ican coast. The fact which is often appealed to as per-
fectly conclusive, is, that the rebel Constitution, adopted
at Montgomery, specially prohibited the opening of that
traffic. But the power that made that instrument could
change it, and undoubtedly would do so at the proper time.
That prohibition was inserted manifestly for two reasons :
to conciliate the Border States which had slaves to sell,
and to conciliate European Powei:s whose favor they
wished to gain. It certainly was not inserted because of
any opposition to the traffic in itself considered, either on
the ground of principle or policy. Such a supposition
would belle the well-known sentiments of the leading
spirits among its framers.
Even the good and great Dr. Thornwell, while denying
that the desire for reopening the trade was a cause of the
disruption, does not condemn, but rather palliates, if he does
not actually approve, the traffic in itself considered, and
when properly conducted. He is rather facetious, and
KEOPENING OF THE TEADE DENIED. Cil
seems to think that those at the South who liave advocated
it, have done it simply for the purpose of " teasing their
enemies" and "providing hard nuts for abolitionists to
crack." We shall soon see whether this is true. In the
mean time, hear Dr. Thornwell, in the same article before
referred to :
It has also been asserted, as a ground of dissatisfaction witli the
present Government, and of a desire to organize a separate Government
of their own, that the cotton-growing States are intent upon reopening.
as a means of fulfilling their magnificent visions of wealth, the African
slave-trade. The agitation of this subject at the South has been griev-
ously misunderstood. * * * They wished to show that they could
give a Rowland for an Oliver. Had abolitionists never denounced the
domestic trade as plunder and robbery, not a whisper would ever have
been breathed about disturbing the peace of Africa. The men who were
loudest in their denunciations of the Government, had, with very few
exceptions, no more desire to have the trade reopened than the rest of
their countrymen : but they delighted in teasing their enemies. They
took special satisfaction in providing hard nuts for aboUtionists to
crack.
Dr. Thornwell thus resolves the whole thing into ■a.johe /
regards the utterances of the leading spirits in Southern
Commercial Conventions, and the deliberate resolves of
those bodies for many years, with the advocacy of leading
Southern papers and periodicals, — coming from the Yan-
ceys, the Rhetts, the De Bows, and their colaborers, the
very men who at length wielded power to carry the whole
eleven States into that very rebellion which he defends
with his powerful pen, — as evincing nothing more serious
than the employment of their pastime in a little innocent
'' teasing." If he himself is serious, we pity his incredu-
lity. The proof is too full to admit of a doubt among
common men. But why should he present this caveat at
all ? — especially in the lace of abundant testimony ? He
seems to have no objection to the reopening, on the ground
64 CAUSE OF THE KEBELLIOX.
of any v}rong in the traffic ; nor, according to him, does
any one else in the South. The only thing is to see that
it is well conducted. Hear him :
There were others, not at all in favor of the trade, who looked upon
the law as unconstitutional which declared it to be piracy. But the
great mass of the Southern people were content with the law as it stood.
They were and are opposed to the trade, — not because the trafiBc in
slaves is immoral, — that, not a man of us believes, — ^but because the
trafiQc with Africa is not a traffic in slaves. It is a system of kidnap-
ping and man-steahng, which is as abhorrent to the South as it is to tiio
North.
If then it could be divested of some of its odious fea-
tures, it would all be right ! But even if "the great mass
of the Southern people" were against the African slave-
trade, we only need to bear in mind that so also they were
against disunion until led astray by demagogues in Church
and State ; and as " the men who were loudest in their
denunciations of the Government," and finally led the peo-
ple into rebellion, were the very men who were for open-
ing the slave-trai-le, so, we may reasonably suppose, they
would eventually have been equally successful, under the
new Government, in carrying " the great mass" with them
in favor of the latter scheme.
PROOF OF THE DESIGNED OPENING^ OF THE TRADE.
Let us now see what evidence there is that it was a
part of the plan of disunion to reopen the African slave-
trade.
De Bovi's Review^ an able commercial periodical pub-
lished at New Orleans before the rebellion, was an acknowl-
edged organ of the rebel leaders, and an oracle on all sub-
jects connected with their movements. For several years
it had openly advocated the reopening of the trade, and
some of its articles made this a sine qua noii with the
PEOOF OF THE DESIGNED OPENING OF THE TRADE. 6 5
Soutli for remaining in the Union. Its editor, Mr. J. D.
B. De Bow, Superintendent of the Census Bureau under
President Pierce, and many of his correspondents, wrote
in favor of the project. Almost every number had some-
thing upon it. We can only give a specimen of this hter-
ature. The first citation is found in the number for No-
vember, 1857, in an article advocating a " Central South-
ern University," to educate young men in the political
views peculiar to the South ; and as a reason for showing
its necessity, the writer thus speaks of American and Euro-
pean views of slavery and the slave-trade:
These fifteen hireling States, together -with all the rest of North
America, except the slaveholding States mentioned, and more than one-
half of South America, reinforced and sustained by England, France,
and most of the other nations of Europe, have openly declared them-
selves against American sla\'«ry, and may be said to be engaged in a
crusade against our domestic institutions. The African sla'ce-trade has
been denounced as piracy, not only by several European powers, but
by the United States. From the beginning of the present century up to
this time, the influence of the Government has been against the South ;*
and for fifteen years this Government has kept a fleet on the African
coast for the express purpose, acting in conjunction with England and
Frauce, of suppressmg the traffic in slaves, and for preventing their
importation into America. And at least tliree-fourths of the expense
of maintaining this fleet have been paid by the South. * * * The
diffi,citJty between the South and the North can 7iever arrive at a peaceable
seiUemtni. The supreme and ultimate arbiter in the dispute now pend-
ing between them mint be the bword. To that complexion it must come
at last.
The foregoing is mild compared with what follows from
the number for December of the same year. The article
is upon the " Wealth of the North and the South : the
* And yet, from the facU^ and the testimony of the rebel Vice-President, it
appears that the Government was controlled by " the South" and its Northern
"allies," eixty-four out of seventy-two years from Its origin. This is shown in
Chapter L
66 CAUSE OF THE REBELLION.
Slave-Trade and the Union." Speaking of the North, the
writer says :
Her industrious and enterprising population, her commercial, manu-
facturing, and mechanical sliill, her fine harbors, her fisheries, and her
Union with and vicinity to the South, are the true sources of her pros-
perity. A revival of the African dave-trade at the South, would furnish
her with cheaper raw materials, cheaper provisions, and extend and
improve the market for her commerce, merchandise, and manufactures.
This is probably the only measure that can save the Union. It will meet
with some opposition from a few inconsiderate Southern slaveholders,
because it will lessen the price of slaves and of slave products. But it
will greatly increase the price of Southern lands, half of which are noiu
lying waste and useless for ivant of labor,* whilst Christendom is almost
starving from the deficiency of Southern products. Such a step would
give political security to the South, because it would identify still more
closely the interest of all sections in upholding and increasing Slavery.
Texas would speedily be settled, and Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee,
Missouri, and Maryland, with slaves at two hundred dollars around,
would bring all their now vacant lands into successful cultivation. It
is most probable that New York, Pennsylvania, and the whole Northwest,
WOULD ALSO BECOME SLATEHOLDiNG With slaves at two hundred dollars.
Events are tending this way. * * * It is our true interest to
secure and preserve the monoiX)ly of cotton production, and we can
effect this only by the renewal of the slave-trade. It is highly credita-
ble to the much abused "extremists of the South," that they, with a few
exceptions, and their press, are the most prominent advocates of the revi-
val of the slave-trade, which in a pecuniary way most of them think
injurious to themselves. But they are patriots, dnd readij to make great
sacrifices to preserve peace and Union. * * * Is it possible to con-
ceive that THE North will not, when it surveys the whole ground in
controversy, advocate the renewal of the old slave-trade as a
measure of humanity, as weU to the idle, savage, pagan negroes, as to
the starving, laboring whites of Europe and the North ? * * * All
sections have confidence in the present Administration, but let it go out
* What, then, we would ask Dr. 15aii-d and others who ajrree with him, could
the South do with the Ten-itories, except to introduce slaves from Africa, if "half
of the "Southern lands" in lb57 were '-lying waste and useless for want of labor?"'
Nothing, clearly, unless on his principle they wished to promote " emancipatioD"
by "dispersion."
PROOF OF THE DESIGNED OPENING OF THE TRADE. 67
of power — and '• then the deluge." Mr. Buchanan will be the "last of
the Presidents," unless abolition is arrested in its course, and some mea-
sure, some line of policy adopted, which shall plainly and obviously
make the extension of Slavery the intereat of the North. * * * ^n
exasperated South will blow the Union to shivers, if hordes of Northern
immigrants continue to seize upon and monopoUze the whole of that
territory, which she, the South, chiefly acquired, despite of much North,
ern opposition. The revival of the African slave-trade, the reduction in
the price of negroes, and the increase of their numbers, will enable us
successfully to coxtexd ix the settlement of New Territories with
tlie vast emigration from the North. Nothing else can. It is the
oxLT iiEASCRE THAT CAN preserve THE Union. * * * Let her (the
North; examine the subject calmly, historically, religiously, morally,
statistically, and philosophically, and she wUl find the proposed proce-
dure quite as humane as profitable. If this does not satisfy her, calcu-
late the costs and consequences of disunion, for it has come to tJds —
either a renewal of the slave-trade, or disunion. There can be
no drawn battle between abolition, and slavery and the slave-trade.
Truth will prevail. One or the other must conquer. God defend the
right.
We give but one more specimen, taken from the same
periodical, Dc Doio's Revieic for May, 1859 :
How often have we been told from our legislative halls, that Con-
gress has no power or jurisdiction over slavery, as it exists in the
United States — that each one of the States is sovereign, and competent
to manage its own internal affairs. How comes it then, we ask, that
Congress has, for so many years, legislated, and entered on her rolls,
laws eziJressly prohibiting the slave-trade, and entering into compact with
foreign nations with force of arms to suppress it? * * * "Where is the
propriety or fitness or evenness in action, to send a United States Mar-
shal to aid in the recapture of a runaway slave in any of the mis-
called free States, and at the same time having a fleet on the African
coast to intercept and suppress it altogether ? If any one can solve
this riddle, why then we confess he is more shrewd than we are, and
most cheerfully resign to him the palm of victory in discrimination.
* * * ■^'"as not the seizure and capture and confiscation of the bris;
Ectio, a direct preventive of the people of a certain latitude from the
use of that kind of laborers only, and property suitable to their climate,
4*
68 CAUSE ©F THE REBELLION.
soil, and production ? * * * Ever since the time thai Congress first
took action to supj^ress the slave-trade, at that crisis and moment
WERE SOWN THE SEEDS OF DISUNION
THE CAUSE FULLY DEVELOPED.
"We now see the ultimate purposes sought to be accom-
plished by the rebel leaders. We are now ready to draw
the grand conclusion as to the cause of the rebellion. We
are able, somewhat, to approach to an adequate concep-
tion of the enormity of that wickedness, to perpetrate
which, through treason, fraud, war, and carnage, ministers
of the Gospel and Christian Churches, with o^lieis, — as
we shall see further on in these pages, — gave their personal
and oificial influence at an early stage in this drama of
blood, and in some instances took the lead in counsel and
action, and have been its most ardent siipj)orters to the
present hour. We see the special end to be reached by
an overthrow of the Government of the United States,
and the building up of anotlier nation in its stead, upon
such a " corner-stone" as no other nation, according to
Mr. Stephens, ever rested upon "in the history of the
Avorld."
The project was grand. The means were appropriate.
The conception was worthy of the greatest intellects and
the largest hearts. We seriously doubt whether any other
people but " our Southren brethren" could have compassed
it. It was not merely to perpetuate a system of human
bondage which was the scorn of tlie whole Christian world
outside of the immediate region in which it was upheld;
not merely to preserve for themselves and transmit to
their children the status of slavery as it existed among
them ; but it was to inaugurate and consummate a great
system of Slavery Projiagandisra, and that not merely
upon the virgin soil of the Territories ; these modern
THE CAUSE rULLY DEVELOPED. 69
Afiostles were to carry their raissioiiai-y enterprise into tlio
Free States ; " New York, Pennsylvania, and the whole
Northwest," were among the first benighted regions that
were to be visited; and " with slaves at two hundred dol-
lars" a head, every farmer could become a gentleman of
leisure, with an abundance of laborers to till his grounds.
To realize these glowing visions of wealth and the otium
cum dignitate^ the slave-marts of Africa were to be again
thrown wide open, and "all sections" were to go in for
" the revival of the slave-trade." Dr. Thoriiwell and other
leading clergymen would approve of the trafiic, and de-
fend it in the Religious Reviews, as De Bow had long
done in his Commercial Review, if it could only be divested
of some of its repugnant adjuncts; and for the sake of
enlisting their vigorous pens this could easily be done, or
at least easily promised.
And why sliould not all hands at once join in this, and
all become rich together ? — and why should we not, too,
" as a measure of humaniti/^^'' when appealed to " calmly,
historically, religiously, morally, statistically, and philo-
sophically ?" And, above all, we are appealed to patrioti-
cally. If we do not join in this grand religious and politi-
cal regeneration of our country and the rest of mankind, " an
exasperated South will blow the Union to shivers" and
set up for themselves; "for it has come to this — either a
renewal of the slave-trade, or disunion," But they do not
wish to do so bad a thing — oh, no ! " They are patriots,
and ready to make great sacrifices to preserve peace and
Union !"
As, then, the " renewal of the old slave-trade" is the
" only measure that can preserve the Union," the responsi-
bility of its preservation is upon the North. Why will
she not step forward and sign the bond? Who can hesi-
tate when such interests are in the trembling balance ? —
70 CAUSE OF THE REBELLION.
wealth, ease, religion, humanity, patriotism, Union, and
universal slavery ; all made sure forever, with " the price
of negroes at two hundred dollars" a head!
Another idea looms up under all this which certain
moralists should ponder, and correct their logic. They
have said all along that it was the " Abohtionists" who
had bred all the trouble, and finally brought disunion.
But let them take a lesson here from their Southern teach-
ers. Tt was not the Abolitionists at all; not even the
more moderate opponents of slavery; but it was op-
position to the slave-trade which at the very first threat-
ened to destroy the Union, just as a refusal to reopen it
has led to its actual disruption. The Southern oracle
says: " Ever since the time that Congress first took action
to suppress the slave-trade, at that crisis and moment
were sown the seeds of disunion." A truce then to this
war upon the Abolitionists. The " seeds of disunion"
were sown before they were out of their teens.
But to look at the matter " calmly," as we are exhorted
to do : the American People may here behold the sump-
tuous repast to which they were sincerely and soberly
invited l)y the leading spirits of the South, the men who
controlled public opinion there, and were successful in
precipitating the rebellion. Nothing short of consenting
to these demands could have satisfied them. If the North
had been ready for this humiliation, the Union and the
Government could have been saved and peace maintained.
But in no possible way could war have been avoided with-
out this, except upon a complete abandonment of their
ground by the South. That ground they would not aban-
don,— and hence the rebellion.
I
I
RESPONSIBILITY FOE THE BEBELHON. 1 1
CHAPTER in.
RESPOXSLBILITY FOR THE REBELLION.
As in regard to the cause of the rebellion, so also as to
the responsibility for it, there has been a wide diversity
of opinion. While the former is too plain to admit of
doubt, there appears to be more plausible ground for dif-
ference about the latter ; and yet, laying aside prejudice,
the facts seem to place this also within the pale of com-
plete moral certainty.
It has been very freely charged, and is still, by many in
the loyal States, that the abolitionists have brought all
the troubles upon the country, have provoked the South to
rebel, and are therefore responsible for the war and all its
consequences. Another class divide the responsibility
about equally between the abolitionists and secessionists.
Still another class charge the whole responsibility upon
the rebels, insisting that whatever grievances they may
have had, real or imaginary, they were not justified in
seeking to redress them by revolution.
Few questions, either political or moral, connected with
the contest, can be more important than this ; important as
affecting the interests of the coimtry at large ; important
in the eyes of the nations of the world, and in the judg-
ment which posterity will form ; as well as important, offi-
cially and personally, to the rulers, and the leaders of parties,
both North and South, and to every individual who has
given aid on either side, in however small a degree ; and
not only important for the life that now is, but in reference
72 KESPONSIBILITT FOE THE REBELLION.
to that account whicla all must render to God when He
shall make inquisition concerning the responsibility for hav-
ing plunged thirty millions of people, in a Christian land,
into a war which has in its bearings and magnitude no
parallel in history. No question, therefore, deserves to be
approached with more candor and examined more dispas-
sionately.
ABOLITIONISTS CHAEGED WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY.
On this point we refer again to the papers of Judge
Robertson ; chiefly because he represents an extensive
class. He condemns the secessionists unsparingly, but he
holds the abolitionists largely responsible for the woes
which have befallen the land. He says : "For that per-
nicious ferment, abolitionists are primarily and pre-emi-
nently accountable, and are, therefore, justly chargeable
with a large share of the responsibility for all the conse-
quences ; for, had there been no abolitionism, there would
have been no secession yet, if ever, and had there been nf)
secession there would have been no war. He plainly
does not mean by " abolitionists" those who are simply
ematicipationists, or o^jposed to slavery, as nearly tlie
whole North and many in the Border slave States are ;
for, he says, even of himself: "I am ^ot, nor ever was,
jDroslavery in feeling or in principle; I would delight to
Bee all men free." By " abolitionists" he means those of
the Garrison and Phillips school ; for in the same article
he describes them thus : " Abolitionists, it is true, have
complained of the Constitution as ' a league wilh hell,'
only because it tolerates and protects slavery in the slave-
holding States ; and this pestilent band of fonaties and
demagogues have, for thirty years, been plotting a disso-
lution of the Union as the only or most speedy and sure
means of abolishing slavery."
FALLACIOUS EEASOKIXG TO SUSTAIN THE CIIAKGE. VS
Bj tills description the Judge means by " abolitionists"
those whom the country commonly accept under this
designation, headed by Garrison, Phillips, and their coad-
jutors, some of whom have heretofore joined with their
opposition to slavery, opposition to the Sabbath, the min-
istry, the Church, and the Bible. He quotes one of their
pet phrases which shows that he means them. We enter
no defence of this class, as abolitionists. We have always
been opposed to their schemes and to the spirit by
which they seem to have been actuated. We make these
quotations, however, and we remark upon them, for the
purpose of endeavoring to determine where the real re-
sponsibility we are seeking lies. We believe in giving
" the devil his due," and even William Lloyd Garrison
and his associates are entitled to at least that measure of
consideration. As we totally disagree with the eminent
jurist in locating this responsibility, we cannot refrain
from a vindication of these men, so far as the charge is
concerned, that they are "primarily and pre-eminently
accountable" for the rebellion and the horrors of the war.
We not only deny the allegation, and shall give ample
evidence to sustain the denial, and show where the respon-
sibility lies, but we are amazed at the reasoning by which
the Judge would sustain the charge, though we have fre-
quently met with the like before.
FALLACIOUS EEASONING TO SUSTAIN THE CHARGE.
In the first place, we do not see why, in the chain of
sequences which the Judge employs, he should either
begin or end just where he does. His point is, that the
aboHtionists are responsible for the war; "for, had there
been no abolitionism, there would have been no secession
yet, if ever, and had there been no secession there would
have been no war."
74 RESPONSIBILITY FOE THE HEBELLIOX.
Why may we not, with equal cogency, so far as the logic
of the case is concerned, begin with at least one prior
step ? — thus : " Had there been no slavery, there would
have been no abolitionism," tfec. The case admits of this,
beyond question. The pioposition is logically true, and
true in fact. Abolitionism, whether right or wrong, is
aimed only at slavery, and could not exist without it.
They have lived side by side, and they will die together.
Nor is there any logical necessity for beginning with this
one prior step. With perfect truth, Ave may reason thus :
" Had there been no sin there would have been no slavery."
And the chain might be extended further. But the
position of slavery in this longer chain is not only logically
correct, but it is so in morals ; and this, too, whether
slavery is a sin ^:)er se or not. It is, at the very lenst, the
fruit of sin, as all classes admit, and one of the palpable
signs of a fallen race. The ablest defenders of slavery as
a divine institution, declare it to have originated in a
" curse" inflicted for sin, and to be one of its most striking
badges; and all this, while arguing that in these latter
days it has been transmuted into a '' blessing" to all con-
cerned, political, social, and moral, by a sort of metaphy-
sical alchemy in which its defenders are peculiarly skilled.
THEY WOULD DISCUSS THE SUBJECT.
But in the next place, passing by the logic of this pas-
sage, there is a moral aspect which the case suggests be-
yond that which we have incidentally stated. Remarkably
few, taking the general judgment of Christendom, agree
with the m(?n of the extreme South in their modern views
of slavery. With a unanimity that' has few parallels, it is
regarded as an evil, political and social; and by great
numbers, as a sin. Whether they are right or wrong in
th<ir judgment is not now material ; they claim the right
ABDUCTIOX or SLAVES. 75
to discuss the question. It is idle to tell men in our coun-
try that they shall not discuss any question of morals, poli-
tics, or religion. It cannot be prevented. There is neither
auihority nor power to jiievent it; and we trust it will
never be attempted, unless the liberty of speech or of the
press shall be abused to the injury of individuals or of
society.
Now it is notorious that the head and front of the offence
committed by the class of whom Judge Robertson speaks, is
that they would discuss the question of slavery ; or, if the
term suits any better, that they would " agitate" the sub-
ject. They had, as all the world knov/s, a peculiar way of
their own ; but if they transgressed no law, that pecu-
liarity was a part of their right. They called hard names,
and unnecessarily stirred up bitter feelings. In this they
committed an offence against good taste and Christian pro-
priety, and we have always disapproved of their course.
But that they, in common with all men, had a perfect right
to discuss the subject to their hearts' content, all must
admit. If discussion disturbed slavery, as it is universally
conceded it did, — and must necessarily do so, how^ever con-
ducted,— it was one of the misfortunes of the institution
which from its nature could not be avoided, and for which
it was alone responsible. And it will be seen in the sequel,
that here is where the great " grievance" lies, when the
case is sifted to the bottom. Mankind would discuss the
merits of slavery. Hence the germ of Southern dissatis-
faction.
ABDUCTION OF SLAVES.
But the abolitionists are charged with doing far worse
than discussing the subject. It is said, they stole Southern
property; when fugitive slaves were pursued, they made
open resistance to the lavrs ; and finally, their schemes cul-
76 RESPONSIBILITY FOE THE KEBELUON.
minated in the John Brown raid. We shall not defend
any of these things. We have always condemned them.
We have advocated in the pulpit, in a Northern State,
obedience to the laws, active or passive, the Fugitive Slave
Law included, sjiecifying it by name, and have condemned
mob violence, and our views have heretofore been pub-
lished. We should take the same course with regard to
any properly enacted law, without regard to its character.
We know of no other course which a Christian can justly
take.
But suppose it be admitted that the abolitionists did all
that is here charged, what does it amount to as justifying
or even extenuating this gigantic rebellion ? South Caro-
lina formally presents in her " Declaration of Causes which
induced the Secession" of the State, and as "justifying" it,
this spoliation of her slave property ; and yet, South Caro-
lina, as the men of her Convention must have known from
the statistics extant, suffered very little in this regard,
and even less than any other State. All the seceded
States suffered comparatively little, and those most noisy
about secession least of all, from their geographical posi-
tion; while the Border States, from which the largest
number escaped, were content to remain in the Union, and
condemned iu not very measured terr&s the course of the
States farther South. This complaint of the rebel States,
of the loss of their property, when presented to justify
either secession or rebellion, is too well known to be the
most shallow and hypocritical of all false pretences.
THE WHOLE NORTH CHARGED WITH IT.
The attempt has been made to implicate the mass of the
Northern people in these breaches of the law and good
faith towards the South. Certain newspapers, North and
South, have rung with such charges, and certain Northern
I
ABOLITIONISTS XOT REPUBLICANS, 11
and many Southern orators in Congress have made them.
But their falsity is obvious. No evidence has ever been
found to sustain them, even after the most dihgent search.
It was charged, for example, that the whole North aided
and abetted John Brown ; or, at least, as was again said,
the whole Republican party ; or, with still another abate-
ment, certainly the leaders of that party, though in the face
of their positive denials. Senator Mason, of Virginia, was
so sure of his game that he called for a Committee of the
United States Senate, " with full power to send for persons
and papers," to investigate tlie subject. He was promptly
accommodated, and was made chairman. After a long
research without let or hindrance, and with all the power
of a willing Administration to aid him, he made a report
and asked for the Committee's discharge. He found
nothing — and reported it.
ABOLITIONISTS NOT REPUBLICANS.
In regard to the abolitionists, who are held " primarily
and pre-eminently accountable" for the horrors of this
rebellion, it is well known that they have ever formed a
remarkably small fraction of the community, and that their
influence with the mass of the people has been insignifi-
cant. They have never, in any Presidential election, as a
party, acted with the Republican party, but have opposed it
with violence and bitterness, always having their own can-
didate. Since the rebellion has been in progress, the leaders
of that faction have sometimes been found supporting the
Government and sometimes abusing it ; according to our
observation, most commonly the latter. Wendell Phillips,
the most renowned orator among them, has frequently, and
of late, denounced the President by name, and the Adminis-
tration, for the policy jjursued in conducting the war, and
78 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE REBELLION.
he has publicly identified himself with a party opposed
to Mr. Lincoln's re-election.
But granting all tliat may with truth be said of these
men, their numbers and influence have always been so
small in the country, that it is perfectly preposterous to
hold them " primarily and pre-eminently accountable" for
the war and its consequences. Or, granting that the ut-
most that has been charged upon this class is true to the
letter, — yea, and that vastly more than is charged specifi-
cally, is true of them, — yet, it cannot before God, nor will
it before candid men, be deemed sufficient to justify, or in
the least possible degree to extenuate, an open and bloody
revolution against the General Government. And although
it may be urged against the Garrison and Phillips
school that they for many years strived to divide the
Union, — and they freely admit the charge, at least their
leaders, — their weapons were the tongue and the pen.
They never, as a party, put themselves in battle array to
overthrow the Government, seizing the ships, mints, cus-
tom-houses, and forts of the Government, and using them
in a bloody contest for its destruction. These memorable
deeds were left for the Southern chivalry, — " our Southern
brethren," — and for the sake of slavery.
ABOLITIONISTS COMPLIMENTED THE PEOPLE DISPARAGED.
But do serious people see the bearing of such a charge ?
In holding the Abolitionists responsible, do they perceive
what power over twenty millions of people in the Free
States they ascribe to the merest fraction of the popula-
tion ?
Here is a small body of persons, led by some half a
dozen orators, male and female, who have, within a few
years, by meetings, speeches, and publications, — all peace-
ful and legitimate means under a free Government, — put
ABOLITIONISTS COMPLIMENTED. 79
forth their sentuiients on a given subject, and have pro-
duced one of the most astounding revolutions in human
history in the sentiments of au enlightened, educated, and
religions people ; leading this people, to such an expression
of opinion at the balbt-box, as is deemed a solemn politi-
cal judgment on one of the mightiest questions of State
which ever aflfected any people resulting in so disaffect-
ing another portion of the same nation, in population
relatively not more than one-third of the whole number,
as to induce them to take up arms to ''recover their
rights," and to induce the majority also to take up arms
to maintain that political judgment; and thus exhibiting
to the world one of the greatest and most bloody wars
ever known among men. All this is charged upon this
" contemptible faction," as it is called ; but by no means
contemptible, if the charge is true.
Wliilo this "faction" was engaged in this work, they
were opposed, in both sections of the nation thus aifected
by them, by the much larger portion of the " fourth
estate," the press, secular and religious, daily, w^eekly,
and periodical ; they were covei-ed with reproach, and the
most ()i)probrious epithets of the English language were
liea])ed upon them, by orators in Congress and among the
peopio, by the press, and by all the usual appliances for
affecting public opinion. During all the earlier period of
their career, they were frequently assailed with other
weapons ; showered with rotten eggs, their meetings
broken up by mobs, their public halls burned, ordinary
places for popular assemblages denied them, their printing-
presses broken and their offices sacked and burned ; and
if one of them chanced to be found South of a certain line
of latitude, or a person who was no more than " suspected"
of being one of them, a coat of tar and feathers was the
least comphment paid him ; and if his visit was welcomed
80 KESPONSIBILITI' FOR THE EEBELLIO:?^.
with whipping or hanging, it was deemed no more than
was deserved for such sentiments and conduct as he was
" reasonably suspected" of entertaining.
Beyond this, the mass of the religious portion of the
nation was against them, and had no manner of sympathy
with or for them. The pulpits belonging to the larger part
of the various denominations were opposed to them,
whether any thing was preached in that line or not. The
jiulpits they controlled, or even had access to, were re-
markably small in number. In the religious bodies of
every Church, — Conventions, Associations, Conferences,
and General Assemblies, — resolutions were passed against
them, again and again. To be know^n as an " Abolitionist,"
or to be branded as such, w^hether justly or otherwise, was
enough to shut a man out of the social circle, and out of
the sympathy of religious men and religious bodies, in
many places where the cue was given to the habits and
usages of the higher grades of society ; while " dis-
tinguished consideration," wnth more than a diplomatic
significance, was often shown at the North to men who
were identified with Southern institutions, and simply
because they were so identified.
All this is well known to the world. And yet, this " vile
faction," in the face of such opposiHon, and. with the
simplest means, has revolutionized a mighty nation ; lias
led even the mass of the people who have been their re-
vilers to sustain the Government in now at length vindica-
ting those sentiments, and sustaining by a powerful array
of armies that cause, for the whole origin of which they are
held responsible. This is the aspect which the charge
puts on, from the lips of those who make it, Avhen it is con-
fronted with the facts. What power wielded by a "con-
temptible faction," thus to take twenty millions of enlight-
ened people by the nose and mould them as though they
I
EEPONSIBILITT OF AB0LITI0:N'IST,S. 81
were bui a nose of wax ! Did the world ever see the like
before, except under Jesus of Xazareth and the twelve
fishermen of Galilee? Either, then, it must be admitted
that it was the ideas which tliis "faction" propagated
which have done the work, — liorrible as those ideas
Avere held to be, — or we must look elsewhere for the
responsibility for the revolution through Avhich we are
passing.*
RESPONSIBILITY OF ABOLITIONISTS DISCLAIMED AT THE
SOUTH.
It is well to note, that the more considerate among the
advocates and apologists of the rebellion, even at the
South, in Church or State, do not hold the Abolitionists
responsible, as furnishing in their conduct the justifiable
ground for secession. Take one example, fi-om the South-
* Here is a recent charge of the responsibility upon the abolitionists, from one of
the most influential secular prints of the country, illustrating and sustaining what
is said above. It is one of a thousand similar cases. The Kew York Herald, of
July 16, 1864, closes an article upon " The Truth of History,'' thus :
" The abolition agitators did cause the rebellion at the South ; for they gave the
rebel leaders the only pretext they needed to fire the Southern people and drag them
into civil war. The fire-eaters tried to raise a rebellion on the tariff question ; but
the people would not revolt. Then Greeley, Garrison, and the other abolitionists
deliberately set to work to drive the South out of the Union. This has been con-
fessed by Greeley, by Garrison, and by Wendell Phillips, all of whom were original
disunionists. Greeley wrote the first article in favor of secession that appeared in a
Northern paper ; Wendell Pliillips delivered the first speech in favor of the rebel con-
federacy from a Northern rostrum. Garrison declared that he trampled upon the
infamous Constitution. The rebel leaders simply took advantage of the utter-
ances of these aholitionists to coax and frighten the people of the South into
treason. They used the weapons with which Northern fanatics supplied them.
They employed the arguments which Greeley and his colleagues furnished them.
They worked in concert with the abolitionists, and for the same traitorous end.
When South Carolina seceded, Greeley and Wendell Phillips raised howls of joy,
which were only silenced by fears of the consequences when Northern patriots
began to arm themselves against the rebels. This, we assert, is the exact truth of
history. If Greeley's history asserts any thing different it is a false and lying book,
and if General McClellan is abused for stating these facts he is abused for speaking
the tiuth. and Greeley knows it."
82 RESPONSIBILITY FOK THE REBELLION.
em Presbyterian Eevieio, April, 1861, where the grounds
of secession are argued at length, and justified. " This is a
fair specimen of the view taken by the more calm and
reflecting portion of the rebel leaders ;
Let us proceed to tha second question : "Why do the cotton-growing
States desire to secede ? What reasons have induced them to brave all
the real difficulties, and all the possible dangers of secession? Among
the reasons assigned by the Princeton writer, only one is true, and
that one is stated as it never entered the mind of any Southern man,
living or dead, and could not, therefore, be subjectively a motive for
their conduct. Tlie fierce ravmgn of the Abolitionists have not caysed the
secession of the Southern States. This has, for many years, been a great
annovance ; but it could hardly be cahed a grievance. The wild outcries
of the Abolitionists have excited very various emotions in the breasts of
difterent Southern men. Some have been aroused to anger and scorn ;
others have been amused ; while those who agree with the Princeton
Review, that their language and spirit are execrably wicked, have
heard them more in sorrow than in anger. They have felt that the dan-
ger to be feared was for those in whose hearts these fierce fires were
burning, and by whose lips such words of blaspliemy were uttered.
The high-spirited and fiery Southerners, as they are called, have borne
for thirty years all that the fanatics could say, and they might very
well have endured it a little longer. The proceedings of the incendiaries
sent to the South to entice the slaves to abscond, or to stir them up to
revolt and massacre, have not caused the secession of the Southern States.
This is undoubtedly a very great grievance, but by no means so formi-
dable as the people of the North generally supp'ose.
As this disclaimer comes from a high source in the
Presbyterian Church at the Soutli, and undoubtedly repre-
sents the sentiment of leading Southern men, — ex-
cept among noisy politicians, who had sinister ends to
gain by giving the abolitionists a prominence, — we ask for
it the particular attention of a large class at the North
(of whom Rev. Drs. Nathan L. Rice, of New York, and
Samuel J. Baird, of New Jersey, are a good type among
clergymen, and embracing also the editorial corps of the
EESrOK^SIBILITY OF ABOLITIONISTS. 83
major portion of the religious press, weekly and quarterly),
who have wasted much time in trying to convince the pass-
ing generation of mortals, that, among Northern men, the
abolitionists, and others whom they have stigmatized and
misnamed such, have been the great fomenters of discord
between the North and the South ; predicting that their
course would at length bring the country into open conflict ;
and, therefore, holding them now chiefly responsible for a
fratricidal war. The world well knows how persistently
such declamation has been uttered for manr years past.
But the most serious-minded men of the South openly deny
this. They " hardly" regard such opposition to slavery as
a " grievance," in tlie manner in which they have most com-
monly waged it. The real cause of their secession is quite
another thing; in a word, the tinvnllingness of the ichole
people of the Korth and the National Government to yield
to their exorbitant demands.
And here is just where Judge Robertson and others
make a serious mistake in interpreting the sayings of
certain men in the South Carolina Conveiition. They
deny that the " ravings of the abolitionists" had disturb-
ed them seriously, just as the writer in the Review we
have quoted does. But, at the same time, they present
the fact that the Northern people and Government as a
WHOLE were against them ; that is, could not agree in ad-
mitting " their rights" upon the slavery question to the
full extent to which they demanded them ; and hence
they were determined to remain in the Union with them
no longer.
Instead of the abolitionists being held to the responsi-
bility for what has occurred, so far as the revolt has any
extenuation in the conduct of Northern men, it may yet be
found that the chief responsibility rests upon quite another
class ; upon many of those who have been the loudest in
5
84 KEsroNSir-iLiTT fok the rebellion.
their denunciations of them, anil who are ranked as lead-
ing men in the Church and in the State.
DISCUSSION THE GERM OF THE TROUBLING ELEMENT.
The real difficulty, so far as irritating the South is con-
cerned, was far more wide-spread than any thing which
could be charged upon the abolitionists. It was not so
much that they would " agitate" and act in their peculiar
way, as it was that any action whatever should be taken
upon slavery. That man has been a poor obsei'ver of events
who does not know that the offensive manner oi dealing
with the question was not the thing which gave the South
imeasiness. It certainly Avas not, so for as tlie religious
portion of the community was concerned. It was, rather,
the discussion of the subject at all, in any manner, in any
place, and by any persons. It had come to be fashionable
to regard any entertainment of the subject as " agitation,"
and the term "abolitionist" was freely applied in order to
frown down the most respectful inquiry. It had not been
possible for m.any years to introduce the subject into any
of the large religious bodies in which men of the extreme
South were menibeis, without giving mortal offence, and
leading to threats of ecclesiastical secession. The pleas
against it were specious and plentiful^ and somewhat con-
tradictory. The matter had been " acted upon and settled"
by the Church, and therefore should be " let alone." It
was a " political question, with which the Church has noth-
ing to do," and therefore shouhl not be introduce<l. It
was a " troublesome subject, and would rend the Church
asunder." These and many more reasons were given;
while Southern extremists, who Avould keep the subject
out of the Church lest the Churcli shouhl be dehledbyits
examination, weie ever contending that it was an institu-
tion sanctioned and regulated by the word of God. Any
DISCUSSION TilE TKOUBLING ELEMENT. 85
form of its consideration, by the most serious minded men,
except in the favoring interest of slavery, was stigmatized
as " wicked agitation." Nothing but utter silence upon the
question, imless in its favor, was pleasing to the class of
slavery propagandists. We speak from personal knowledge
and extended observation, and declare only what is noto-
rious.
x\.t the very same time, the South was teeming with pub-
lications, the newspaper, the sermon, the pamphlet, the
quarterly and the octavo volume, put forth by her ablest
writers, her Thornwells and Palmers, her Hammonds and
Cobbs, her Elliotts and Bledsoes, her Armstrongs and
Smylies, statesmen, lawyers, divines, vying with each
other to sanctify and glorify the system of Southern bond-
age as a " blessing," socially, politically, religiously ; wdiile,
in perfect accord with all this, in the North were found
apologists and defenders of the system from the same
classes and professions, and through the same means ; and
yet, many of these Northern men were ready to raise the
hue and cry of " agitation" and " abolitionism" if any thing
were said against the system, unless it were emasculated of
all the pungency and pith which would give it force. In
a word, although discussion was feared as a fiend, it could
be tolerated, and even applauded, jirovided it were on the
riofht side.*
* To give an illustration of what some great men thought about discussion on this
subject, and how it could be disjiosed of, we refer to the proposition of a distin-
guished statesman. In the early part of 1S61, soon after the secession of South Caro-
lina, when many men in the Border States were striving to produce a " reconciliation
between the North and the South." the Hon. John P. Kennedy, of Baltimore, pub-
lished a pamphlet, entitled, " The Border States : Tlieir Power and Duty," &c. He
gives a series of propositions which the Border States should submit to the two
sections, and among them this about discussing the subject of slavery: "Finally,
a pledge to be given by the free States to exert their influence, as far as possible,
to discourage discussions of slavery in atoneoffensife to the interests of the slave-
holding States." The alternative, on the failure of the proposed negotiations, is thus
86 KESPONSlIilLITY FOR THE REBELLION.
It is a notorious fact, as regards the great body of the
people of the United States who were in principle opposed
to slavery, that the utmost they did to manifest their oppo-
sition was to discuss and determine its merits ; and this
they felt bound to do, especially in consequence of its more
recent and extravagant claims. The measure of their re-
sponsibility for the rebellion and the war is thus easily
gauged. It is equally notorious, that this discussion, and
the conclusions formed concerning the system, were the
chief things which gave the concocters of the rebellion
mortal offence. Their responsibility is thus just as easily
determiued. Who, then, are responsible for this heritage
of woes ? Must the South bear it all ? Is the North to
bear no share of it ?
presented: " But in the adverse event of these stipuLitions, or satisfactory equiva-
lents for them, being i-^fused, the Border States and their allies of the Sonth who
may be disposed to act with them, will be forced to consider the Union impractica-
ble, and to organize a separate Confederacy of the Border Stales, -with the associa-
tion of such of the Southern and free States as may be willing to accede to the
proposed conditions." On a subsequent page he saye, the italics being his own :
"But let the free States everywhere, and the sober, reflective, and honest men'in
them, understand, that the old Union is an impossihility unless the agitation of
sl(n':cry is brought to an end.''^ These extracts are suggestive : (1.) Mr. Kennedy,
like some other men in the Border slave States, takes the position that slavery was
not the cause of the rebellion, and yet all his proposals for " reconciliation" are
made with reference to slavery in some of its bearings; giving thus, unwittingly,
the proof that slavery was in re.alitj- the cause, (i) The real difficulty was not that
the subject was discussed " In a tone offensive,''" but that it was discussed at all.
Discussion in any form or spirit was "offensive," unless it was in favor of the sys-
tem. (3.) But the most remarkable thing here is, that so distinguished a gentleman,
once a cabinet minister, should at any time have seriously proposed (and he is by
no means the only statesman In this category) any State action, in a popular govern-
ment, " to discouraga discussion" on any subject; and especially with the altern.a-
tive of dissolving the Union, unless his proposed concessions, demanded by the sub-
ject upon which discussion was to be precluded, were granted. But the country
can well afford, at this later day, to pass over some things of this kind which then
took strong hold of many minds; and of Mr. Kennedy this can be said on two
grounds. He, like a farge portion of his countrymen, has obtained some new ideas
since then ; and during the present year he has given his powers, with other leading
men of Maryland, to the work of entirely removing slavery from that State. Some
Border State men make no advance on the subject— unless it be backward.
RESPONSIBILITY OF POLITICIANS. 87
WHAT CLASS OF NORTHERN ilEN RESPONSIBLE.
Here is where the case pinches, and yet the solution of
the question is most easy. We fieely concede that a cer-
tain part of the people of the North have a portion of this
responsibility to bear, but it is not that small and un-
intiuential class whom Judge Robertson, and other writers
who agree Avith him, would hold up to the public gaze ;
nor yet that larger number who manifested their dissent
by discussion. It is rather that class of men in Church
and State, — politicians, editors, divines, and others, who
are always influential in forming, controlling, or echoing
public opinion, — who have ever been crying out about an
infringement of Southern rights, making apologies for the
South, courting the smiles of the Southern people, and
yielding, step by step, to their extreme demands. So far
as provocative action may be charged with responsibility,
in yielding to the clamors of Southern passion, and ex-
citing Southern men to demand more and more in conces-
sion to slavery, this class may be justly held to a large
measure of it.
RESPONSIBILITY AJfONG POLJTICIANS NORTH.
The " claims of the South" were always in the market.
They were put up to the highest bidder in the political
contests of the country. They formed the central plank
in political platforms. We state nothing more than is
known and read of all men, when we say that that party
which for many years before the rebellion began had com-
monly the control of the General Government, was always
the successful competitor ; and having once and long ago
established with the South its subserviency and fidelity,
it held its position undisputed. ISTo slave was ever more
obedient to his master. This was seen in its conventions,
88 RESPONSIBILITY FOR TitE REBELLION".
in its platforms, in its primary meetings, upon the stump,
at elections, in Congress, in the Supreme Court. Certain
concessions emboldened Southern politicians to demand
what had never been dreamed of by the founders of the
Government ; but the demand was no sooner made than
it was granted, and generally, in latter days, in the name
of the supreme organic law ; so that, at length, the doc-
trine of Southern Statesmen, and of nearly the wliole
Southern people, was precisely that stated by Dr. ITiorn-
well, in his elaborate vindication of the secession of South
Carolina : " The Constitution covers the whole territory
of the Union, and throughout that territory has taken
slavery under the protection of law ;" a doctrine, as un-
derstood at the South, which would have startled the
framers of the Constitution, and which is nevertheless but
the echo of the celebrated declaration of President Bu-
chanan about Kansas while it was yet a Territory, that
slavery existed there in fact and by the Constitution of
the United States, as truly as it existed in Georgia and
South Carolina.
KESPOXSIBILITY AMONG CHURCHMEN NORTH.
The subserviency of Northern politicians had its coun-
terpart within the Northern Churched, and in those eccle-
siastical bodies which extended into all parts of the Union.
We do not mean that corruption, bargaining, and sale, for
place and profit, occurred in like manner ; but the dispo-
sition to apologize, extenuate, stifle discussion, and yield
to Southern wishes, lest slavery should receive some dam-
age, or somebody or something connected with it, some-
A\ here or somehow, should be in some manner or in some
degree hurt, in purse, feeling, or character; all this has
been too frequently illustrated in the higher courts of the
Church, and defended by religious journals, and makes too
SOUTHSIDE VIEW OF HOKTHEEN CLERGYMEN. 89
prominent and frequent a figure in our recent religious
history, scarcely to need in these pages any recurrence to
the tacts except in a general statement. And yet it may
be well to confirm this view by a bare reference to the
influence this course had upon the South, as seen in
Southern testimony.
SOUTHSIDE VIEW OF NORTHERN CLERGYMEN.
A man's standing and influence are generally pretty
Well determined by the estimation in which he is held by
his judicious friends. Taking this as a fair criterion of
judgment, we have only to turn the eye South to perceive
how certain Northern men in the Church were regarded
upon tho>e questions which politically and religiously
divided the country, and at length terminated in rebelhon
and war, and thus to see on which side their influence for
many years, when these difiiculties were culminating, was
thrown.
If in taking this Southern observation we are led to
give names, it is because we find them presented in the
South, and because they are prominent persons and repre-
sentative men of a large class at the North. If special
distinct on i^ given to individuals, it only shows how
highly their services were valued ; and if they are now
found at last upon the side of the country and its real
interests, it only serves to make the lamentation at the
loss of their services the more bitter, and to give the sar-
casm in which it is expressed a keener point.
The Southern Presbyterian^ a religious weekly published
at Columbia, South Carolina, is a good authority upon the
point in hand. In its issue of February 23, 1861, it refers,
as " a sign of the times," to a discussion then going on
between Rev. William Matthews, of Georgia, and Rev.
Dr. N. L. Rice, then editor of the Presbyterian Expositor^
90 KESPONSII3ILITT FOB THE REBELLION.
at CMcago. The Southern editor, Rev. A. A. Porter,
says :
We do not intend to rei^ort the particulars of this correspondence,
which would be profitless. We allude to it for a different purpose.
We have called it a sign of the times 1 We regard it as such for
several reasons: Because Dr. Rice, who has heretofore been dis-
tinguished as a deftndtr of slavery and the South, and as an antagonist of
the antislaverv party, now has wheeled about with Dr. Hodge, and,
lilce him, appears on the other side, against the South and Slavery.
We have heard much of late about a reaction in the North in favor of
the South, and have been assured that our cause was gaining ground
there. Does this look like it ?
To appreciate fully the point here made, it is only ne-
cessary to bear in mind that this comes from one who
well knows the course of opinion and discussion in the
Church and the country, and that it comes from the capi-
tal of iSonth Carolina. If the course of Dr. Rice for
twenty years past has such an estimation in such a quar-
ter,—where, to be " a defender of slavery and the South,"
and to be "distinguished" as such, has a meaning whose
significance cannot be mistaken, — it is better testimony
than any we could give to s])ow how great has been his
influence, and on which side it has been exerted, during
the gestation period of that gigantic miquity which at
length gatliered suflicient strength from such nutriment
to come forth armed and equipped to make war upon
good government and popular liberty. This same article
pronounces Dr. Rice " probably the adroitest debater now
living," — another indication of the high esteem in wliich
his defences of " Slavery aud the South" were held,— and
thousands at the North well know, that had not the class
of which he is so j>rominent a representative taken the
course they did, there would have been formed such a
public sentiment in the Church at least as would have
SOUTHSIDE VIEW OF NOKTHEKN CLERGY JIILN. 91
checked the growing proslaveryism and spirit of doiniaa-
tion in the South, and which, would have gone far towards
preventing secession, treason, rebellion, and war.
The name of Dr. Hodge occurs in the foregoing para-
graph, associated with that of Dr. Rice. It appears, how-
ever, and we should in justice state, that he is not claimed
as having given his influence to the South in the same
manner. Southern men differ upon the point, it is true.
Dr. Armstrong, in his *' Christian Doctrine of Slavery,"
frequently quotes Dr. Hodge as sustaining his own views ;
and Dr. Armstrong, it is well known, as seen in that book
and in his discussions with Dr. Van Rensselaer, though
mild in his terms and eminently Christian in his spirit,
maintained and vindicated the extreme view, substantially,
of the system taken at the South. It is well known, too,
that Dr. Hodge's writings on slavery have been extensively
circulated and approved at the South, and have undoubt-
edly exerted a large influence to make the Southern people
quite contented with the status of the institution, and quite
willing it should be perpetuated. It is possible, also, that
in the above paragraph the editor designs to put Drs. Rice
and Hodge in the same category, and yet it is not proba-
ble ; for in a subsequent paper he speaks very diflerently
of the latter.
In reply to a correspondent, Avho refers to " the course of
Dr. Hodge, Dr. Rice, Dr. Lord, Dr. Breckinridge, and Dr.
Engles," in regard. to the state of the country, as " xinex-
pected," and who, notwithstanding that " course," says of
them, " They are every one icith ks, and against aboli-
tionists, on the slavery question,''^ — deeming the fact so
important as to array the sentence in italics, — the editor,
the Rev. A. A. Porter, in The Southern Presbyterian of
March 30, 1861, thus excepts by name two of the persons
concerned :
92 RESPONSIBILITY FOK THE BEBELLION.
"We cannot agree with our correspondent that the views of the eminent
men whom he names, on the slavery question, are acceptable to South-
ern Presbyterians. Our readers, who noticed the communication of
"Georgia," in our last number, must be convinced that there is a wide
and radical difference between us and Dr. Hodge on that subject. Dr.
Breckinridge, it is well known, is, and always has been, an emancipa-
tionist— that is, in favor of the gradual abolition of slavery. So is Dr.
Hodge. So, we doubt not, are almost the entire body of Northern
Presbyterians.
It tluis appears, that while Dr. Hodge is quoted favor-
ably by Dr. Armstrong at Norfolk, Virginia, he is not
deemed sound in South Carolina and Georgia. Latitude
sometimes affects men's views of moral questions. He is
by no means put in the category with Dr. Rice, at the
South ; for, although Dr. Rice has said some hard things
of slavery, and has been regarded as an " emancipationist"
also, at least at the Xorth, he has, nevertheless, always
taken such a course, and illustrated so highly the peculiar
skill of " the adroitest debater noAv living," that the South,
— even "the extremists" among them, as we see, — claimed
him as their maj^t par excellence, to do their work at the
North, and thus give them substantial " aid and comfort."
Hence they have always spoken of him kindly, and valued
his services at a very high figure. This is shown as truly
in their incidental references as it Ttould be in a more
elaborate commendation, and at the same time the thing is
done with a better grace. Here is another specimen, in
T7ie Southern Presbyterian of April 27, 1861, Avhere the
South Carolina editor again laments that he can count no
longer on the services of his quondam friend :
No less authority than Dr. N. L. Rice, who has teen regarded in the
South as CUB BEST FRIE^^) at the North, and who, if we mistake not,
drew up the act of 1845, which was supposed by the South to be a
decision in our favor, tells us that we must not interpret tliat as revers-
ing former acts.
EESPOXSIBILITY OF NOEXnERX MEN. 93
Et TUT, Brute ! The " decision" here referred to, is
that made by tlie General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church upon slavery, and tliis is one of the incidental
evidences to show how that famous paper, of which Dr.
Rice is the aullior, was regarded by the South Carolina
type of i:»roslaveryism.
EESPONSIBILITY OF JfORTHEEN MEN THUS DETERMINED.
We need not go further in our citations. The fact is
undeniable, that a lai-ge and influential class among cler-
gymen and editors in the Church of all branches at the
North, exerted such an influence for a long course of
years, whether so intended or not, as to foster that
spirit, and countenance those claims put forth by the
South, which led Southern demagogues to believe that
they could rule the country according to their own pecu-
liar notions, and could count upon their Northern friends
to sustain them; or, fiiiling to rule it, could divide the
country, and still look with confidence to their support.
Hence their pitiful cries when, in the hour of need, they
found they were forsaken.
In regard to certain religious men at the North, — and
perhaps the same may be said of politicians, who, Mr.
Jefferson said, were " allies"' of the South, — we accord to
them a sincere, though, we think, a mistaken course of
speech and action. Some of tliem have since frankly
acknowledged that their course was \vrong. It tended to
deceive the Southern Church. Since the rebellion began,
Southern divines have denounced tliis class of men most
unsparingly, and so have Southern journals, both of the
weekly and periodical press. They have even pronounced
them hypocrites. All this is very natural, even though
we admit it to be unjust. But of those who have always
opposed their extravagant claims, tliey have spoken with
94 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE REBELLION.
more respect, though, for them, they have manifested no
warmer love.
It is likewise well known, that those Northern poli-
ticians Avho were Southern " allies," have been treated in
no mild manner at the South, while the Republican
party, and even the Abolitionists, have been spoken of
with that higher consideration, comj^aratively regarded,
which one esteemed an open foe always inspires. It
is, for example, quite probable, that the reason why
they so bitterly denounce General Butler, is as much
owing to the fact that he was always so prominent and
able in their political comicils, and instead of taking a
stand with them when the breach occurred, as they had
hoped he would, was found in command of a Union army,
as it was owing to the stringent rule he exercised in New
Orleans. We do not hold this class of public men entirely
responsible for the rebellion, though it is unquestionable,
from the speeches of some of them, durmg the winter and
spring of 1860-61, before the attack upon Fort Sumter,
made in Congress and out of it, that the Southern leaders
still counted upon them as " allies," believed they would
stand by them in an open clash of arms, that the North
would thus be divided, and that the rebellion would have
an easy triumph. The fact cannot be ^ denied, that there
was good reason for believing that this reliance had a bet-
ter foundation than many things that are taken for granted.
It is undoubtedly true that the Southern leaders were so
far forth deceived, and were thus emboldened to do what
otherwise they might have been restrained from doing,
and to this extent these Northern politicians were responsi-
ble; while, on the other hand, some of these "allies"
were themselves deceived, believing that Southern men
would not dare to strike the blow.*
♦ We do not put General Butler in this category. He did not, at tlik period, take
RESPONSIBILITY OF NOKTHEKN MEX. 95
We have good reason to believe, also, that the leaders
of the Southern Church, as we have already intimated,
■were stimulated to become active promoters of the rebel-
lion, by virtue of the hold which they believed they still
had upon their special friends at the North ; supposing, at
first, that their secession might be effected peaceably, or,
if it came at last to an open clash of arms, that their faith
ful " allies " would still stand by them.
The responsibility for the rebellion, so far as the North is
concerned, is thus not difhcult of adjustment. It rests not
upon the abolitionists; the South themselves repudiate
this idea. It rests rather upon those, in Church and State,
who have countenanced Southern extremists, and who
were claimed by them as favoring their views ; the " adroit-
est debaters" in Congi-essional halls and Church courts, and
who upon the stump and through the press were " distin-
guished as defenders of slavery and the South ;" in this
manner nourishing and sustaining Southern men up to such
any course to deceive the rebels, nor was he himself deceived as to their designs.
On the contrary, in December, 1860, soon after the secession of South Carolina,
"General Butler went to Senator Wilson of Massachusetts, an old acquaintance,
though long a political opponent, and told him that the Southern leaders meant
war, and urged him to join in advising the Governor of their State to prepare the
militia of Massachusetts for taking the field." " One thing he considered absolutely
certain: there was going to be a war between Loyalty and Tre.ison; between the
Slave Power and the Power which h.ad so long protected and fostered it. He found
the North anxious, but still incredulous. He went to Governor Andrew, and gave
him a full relation of what he had seen and heard at Washington, and advised him
to get the militia of the State in readiness to move at a day's notice. He suggested
that all the men should be quietly withdrawn from the militia force who were
either unable or unwilling to leave the State for the defence of the Capital, and
their places supplied with men who could and would. The Governor, though he
could scarcely yet believe that war was impending, adopted the suggestion. About
one-half the men resigned their places in the militia; the vacancies were quickly
filled; and many of the companies, during the winter months, drilled evoy
evening in the week, except Sundays.''— Farion' a Butler in ^eio Orleans, ch. ii.
It was unquestionably owing to General Butler's suggestions, as above related,
that so large a number of Massachusetts troops were able to obey the call of
tlie President so promptly, in April, 1S61, occasioned by the attack upon Fort
Sumter.
96 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE REBELLION.
a point of preposterous demand for their claims, that at
length the masses of the people rose in their sovereign
majesty to throw off the incnbus, and restore the Govern-
ment to its true and original status.
NORTHERN RESPONSIBILITY IN ANOTHER LIGHT.
It has often been said that the people of the North had
no business to trouble themselves about the question of
slavery in any aspect of the case, as the South were alone
responsible for tlie institution. This has been the short
argument, many a time, employed against Northern men :
" It is none of your business ; if it is a sin, the Southern
people only are guilty of it ; if it is a social evil, or a polit-
ical matter, it is wholly their concern; therefore, let it
alone."
These are radical errors ; and yet, so shrewd a man as
Dr. Thornwell sustains them. He says :
The responsibility of slavery is not upon the non-slaveholding States. It
is not created by their laws, but by the laws of the slaveholding States ;
and all they do in the case of the fugitive from his master, is to remand
him to the jurisdiction of the laws from which he has escaped. They
have nothing to do with the justice or injustice of the laws themselves.
— Fast-Day Sermon, Nov. 21, 18G0.
We have no complaint to make of the opinians of the North consid-
ered simply as their opinions. They have a right, so far as human
authority is concerned, to think as they please. The South has never
asked them to approve of slavery, or to change their own institutions
and to introduce it among themselves. The South has been willing to
accord to them the most perfect and unrestricted right of private judg-
ment But what we do complain of, and what we have a right to com-
plain of, is, that they should not be content with thinking their own thoughts
themselves, but should undertake to make the Government think them
likewise. — So. Pres. Rev., Jan., 1861.
These are erroneous opinions, in any true consideration
of the case • and most flagrantly so in view of the changes
SLAVERY MAY BE EXAMINED AT THE NORTH, 97
which have occurred, within a recent period in onr history,
in Southern sentiment, upon the social, moral, and politi-
cal status of slavery.
SLAVERY MAY BE EXA]^nNED AT THE NORTH.
These ai*e errors, politically considered. Dr. Thorn-
well's argument, in both the articles above quoted, is to
show that slavery is national. He says, as before given :
" The Constitution covers the whole territory of the Union,
and throughout that territory has taken slavery under the
protection of law." Admitting for the sake of the argu-
ment that this is so, it follows that slavery is a matter for
the consideration of the whole people, and tlieir responsi-
bility is involved in every national aspect of the institu
tion ; to see that its relations to the Constitution are un-
derstood aright and are properly maintained. His prem-
ises being admitted, the conclusion is inevitable. But
without admitting the extreme views which Southern
politicians have often advanced in more recent times,
which are not sustained by the founders of the Govern-
ment, and wliich we presume Dr. Thornwell intends to
cover by the sentence just quoted, all statesmen agree that
in any true relation of the Constitution to slavery, the insti-
tution, in some of its most important bearings, is one of
national concern and national responsibility. More espe-
cially is this true in the light of Southern claims which are
believed to be totally at variance with the Constitution.
It was incumbent, on every Northern statesman, and Upon
every Northern citizen, to note whither such sentiments
were tending, and to act accordingly. It is perfectly
immaterial, however, to the present point, which construc-
tion of the Constitution is right, the Northern or the South-
ern. In either case, slavery is a matter for national con-
sideration. In a purely political light, therefore, Dr.
98 BESPONSIBILITT FOB THE KEBELLION.
Thornwell makes a most ill-founded complaint of the peo-
ple of the non-slaveholding States, in "that they should
not he content with thinking their own thoughts them-
selves."
His position is equally false in morals. The relation
Avhich the people of the North sustain to slavery political-
ly, makes its moral status of necessity one of just concern
to them. If it is an evil in any sense, if a sin in itself, or
if all its evils are merely incidental to the relation, still the
inevitable connection of the whole people with it, through
the structure of the common Government, fixes upon them
the responsibility in no small degree of its moral status and
relations, whatever they may be. It is utterly erroneous
to say that the people of the non-slaveholding States " have
nothing to do with the justice or injustice" of the institu-
tion, or even " of the laws themselves" by which it is reg-
ulated. If they are concerned with it at all, if they are
obliged to return fugitives that escape froin slavery to the
jurisdiction of the laws from which they have fled, or if
they have any other duty to discharge under that instru-
ment which gives the institution any national status what-
ever, then they have a right to incpure into any thing and
every thing which gives it character ; and especially into
its moral status, for they and the slaves themselves are
moral beings. The whole people of the non-slaveholding
States may consider every moral element and bearing of
the institution, and may approve or condemn, in whole or
in part, according to their best judgment, and act as right-
eousness demands. Nor can any past settlement of prin-
ciples concerning it, or any opinion entertained of it, by
the fathers, or by anybody else, preclude their right thus to
do ; for they must act on their own responsibility before
God.
But most especially, — if, indeed, there can be any differ-
A SUBJECT FOR ALL MAXKIND. 99
ence, — is it their privilege not only, but theii* right and
solemn duty, to compass the whole subject, when the
South, well nigh or quite universally, abandoning the opin-
ions concerning it held substantially by the whole country
in the early days of the Republic, — by statesmen and di-
vines,—have latterly taught that slavery is right and a
" blessing," is an " Ordinance of God" and a " school of
virtue,"* and is vindicated throughout the whole Scrip-
tures. What the people of the North have claimed, is, to
examine these pretensions, to see whether the Fathers both
of the Church and of the State in this country were right
or wrong, and having formed a judgment to act accord-
ingly ; and this is the whole they have claimed.
A SUBJECT FOE ALL MANKIND.
Nor is this all. The moment the claim is made that
Southern slavery is sanctioned and sanctified by the Word
of God, and is on a par with the conjugal and parental
relations, the whole subject is thrown open to the discus-
sion of all people in this country not only, but to the entire
Christian world to whom the Scriptures are given. Under
the modern claims for Southern negro slavery, it is the
idlest of all possible ol)jections to say of Christians of even
any foreign nation, that "they have nothing to do with
the justice or injustice" of the institution. If it is a per-
fectly Scriptural system, as is claimed, they may inquire
into it, as they may into any social system claiming such a
sanction; as into polygamy in Utah, or into any of the
* " StraTi£re as it may sound to those who are not familiar with tlie system, Slave-
ri/ is a schoid of virtue, and no class of men have furnished sublimer instances of
heroic deviition than slaves in th'eir loyalty and love to their masters. We have
seen them rejoice at the cradle of the infant, and weep at the bier of the dead ; and
there are few amongst lis, fierhaps, who have not drawn their nourishment from
their generous breasts." — (F<i-st-I>a it Sermon.) Some naturalists tell us that there
are certain ''irrational animals'' who give the same illustrations of " virtue."
100 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE REBELLION.
systems of heatlienism ; and the same if it is not sustained
by Scripture ; and to determine whether it is or not thus
sanctioned, they must examine it, for there is no other way
of arriving at the truth.
And beyond tlii^, we may say that the principle of self-
defence and self-preservation, — " the first hiw of hfe," —
impels to this com-se. We have seen that it was a part of
the scheme of the rebel leaders to make the whole North
slaveholdinp:, and to people its lands with slaves fresh from
Africa. The same men think that Europe would be better
off with slavery. If, then, such a change has taken place
in this country as to lead men to applaud it where it was
once only tolerated, and to declare it in every sense a
"blessing," where once it was pronounced a "curse" to
all concerned, who can tell but like transformations may
occur elsewhere, and among other nations ?
FREE SOCIETY PITIED AND LAMENTED.
Is it not well known that eminent Southern writers, not
content to enjoy the blessings of slavery alone, have ex-
pressed their pity for the social condition of the North ;
have lamented " the failure of free society ;" have become
eloquent upon " the organizatioTi of labor ;" have predicted
that the North would be obliged to xesort to their system
to prevent anarchy and ruin; and upon these convictions
have recommended themselves to imitation by all the
nations of the earth ? Dr. Thornwell says :
"We confidently anticipate the time when the nations that now revile
us would gladly change places with us. In its last analysis, slavery is
nothing but an organization of labor. * * * Society is divided be-
tween princes and beggars. If labor is left free, how is this condition of
things to be obviated ? The Government must either make provision
to support people in idleness, or it must arrest the law of population and
keep them from being born, or it must organize labor. * * * Qq
what principle shall labor be organized so as to make it certain that the
SLAVERY THE CONDITION FOR ALL LABORERS. 101
laborer shall never be without employment, and employment adequate
for his support? The only loay in which it Citn be done, as a permanent
arrangement, is by converting the laborer into aqntal; that is, by giving
the employer a right of property in the labor employed ; in other words,
BY SLAVERY. * * * That non-slavehoUing States will eventually hare
to organize labor, and to introduce something so like slavery that it will
be impossible to discriminate between them, or to suffer from the most
violent and disastrous insurrections against the system which creates
and perpetuates their misery, seems to be as certain as the tendencies
in the laws of capital and population to produce the extremes of poverty
and wealth. We do not envy them their social condition. * * * We
desire to see no such state of things among ourselves, and we accept as
a good and merciful constitution the organization of labor which Provi-
dence has given us in slavery. — Fast- Day Sermon.
SLAVERY THE PROPER COXDITIOX FOR ALL LABORERS.
The plain English of the foregouig is, that Dr. Thorn-
well would have cell the laborers in every nation reduced to
slavery. He would not merely go to Africa for laborers,
but would reduce every white man who is compelled to
labor, from freedom to slavery. Dr. Pahner joins his
lamentation over freedom to the laborer, and over the
perils of free society, as follows :
The so-called Free States are working out the social problem under
conditions peculiar to themselves. These conditions are sufficiently hard,
and their success is too uncertain to excite in us the least jealousy of
their lot. With a teeming population, which the soil cannot support —
with their wealth depending upon arts, created by artificial wants — with
an eternal friction between the grades of their society — with their labor
and their capital grinding each other Uke the upper and nether millstones
— with labor cheapened and displaced by new mechanical inventions,
bursting more asunder the bonas of brotherhood j amid these intricate
perils we have ever given them our sympathy and our prayers, and have
never sought to weaken tlie foundations of their social order. God
grant them complete success in the solution of all their perplexities I —
Til anksg iving Discourse.
We sincerely thank the kind man for his " sympathy and
102 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE REBELLION.
prayers" concerning a state of tilings of which he knows
so little ; but we do not think the greatest sulFerers in
" the so-called Fi-ee States" are quite willing to say they
are ready to be reduced to that "system of organized
labor" which is here marked out for them.
The mild and amiable Dr. Armstrong, of Norfolk, Vir-
ginia, does not leave it to inevitable inference, but states
it in terms, that the tchitc laborers of Europe are the pro-
per subjects of whom to make slaves. This is his view of
the matter :
It may be that such a slavery, regulating the relations of capital and
labor, though implying some deprivation of personal liberty, will prove
a better defence of the poor against the oppression of the rich, than
the too great freedom in which capital is placed in many of the Pree
States of Europe at the present day. Something of this kind is what the
masses of free laborers in France are clamoring for under the name of
the " right to labor." * * * It may be that Christian slavery [the
author's italics] is God's solution of the problem about which the
wisest statesmen of Europe confess themselves "at fault." — Christian
Doctrine of Slavery.
These Christian Doctors of Divinity, so eloquent and
earnest upon " Christian Slavery ;" so tearful and prayerful
over the condition of society at the North ; so anxious to
have all laborers, white and black, bfende and brunette, in
America and Europe, reduced to slavery, the only distinc-
tion being that the "rich" shall be the masters and the
"poor" their slaves, — and who would, upon this principle
alone, illustrate "the organization of labor" in every nation
upon earth, allowing masters only to carry a pocket dic-
tionary from a Southern pi-ess (if the South ever printed
one) to define "poor" and "ricli," — are of course sup-
ported in all this by the politicians and economists of the
South. In Be Bow's Review for ISTovembei', 1857, one of
them discourseth as follows, on " Southern Thought :"
SLAVERY THE CONDITION FOK ALL LABORERS. 103
"We must teach that slavery is necessary in all societies, as well to pro-
tect, as to govern the weak, poor, and ignorant. This is the opposite
doctrine to that of the pohtical economists. "We should show that slave
society, which is a series of subordinations, is consistent with Christian
morahty — for fathers, masters, husbands, wives, children, and slaves,
not being equals, rivals, competitors, and antagonists, best promote each
other's selfish interests when they do most for those above or beneath
them. "Within the precincts of the family, including slaves, the golden
rule is a practical and wise guide of conduct. But in free society, where
selfishness, rivalry, and competition, are necessary to success, and
almost to existence, this rule cannot be adopted in practice. It would
reverse the whole action of such society, and make men martyrs to their
virtues. * * * "We, of the South, can buUd up an ethical code
founded on the morality of the Bible, because human interests with us
do not generally clash, but coincide. "Without the family circle, it is
true, competition and clashing interests exist, but slavery leaves few
-without the family, and tlie little competition that is left is among the
rich and skilful, and serves to keep society progressive. It is enough
that slavery will relieve common laborers of the evils of competition,
and the exactions of skill and capital. * * * Southern thought will
teach that protection and slavery must go hand in hand, for we cannot
efficiently protect those whose conduct we cannot control. * * *
It is the duty of society to protect all its members, and it can only do so
by subjecting each to that degree of government constraint, or slavery,
which will best advance the good of each and of the whole. Thus
ambition, or the love of power, properly directed, becomes the noblest
of virtues, because power alone can enable us to be safely benevolent to
the weak, poor, or criminal. To protect the iveak, we must first enslave
THEii, and this slavery must be either political and legal, or social.
* * * Slavery is necessary as an educational institution, and is worth
ten times all the common schools of the North. Such common schools
teach only uncommonly bad morals, and prepare their inmates to gradu-
te in the penitentiary, as the statistics of crime at the North abundantly
prove. * * * ^Q^ of the South, assume that man has all along in-
stinctively understood and practised that social and political government
best suited to his nature, and that domestic slavery is, in the general, a
natural and necessary part of that government, and that its absence is owing
to a decaying diseased state of society, or to something exceptional in
local circumstances, as in desert, or mountainous, or new countries,
where competition is no evil, because capital has no mastery over labor.
104 EESPONSICILITY FOR THE REBELLION.
WHO, NOW, IS RESPONSIBLE T
The reader is no doubt willing to rest here ; these les-
sons in political economy are sufficient for his present
reflection. The divines and the economists whose views
are now given, are among the foremost leaders of the
rebellion ; Avere those who, at the earliest moment, urged
it on, and those whose teachings for twenty years past
had helped to prepare the Southern people for the work
in which they are to-day engaged, on a hundred fields of
carnage and blood, where lie the bleaching bones of the
flower of a generation of young men ; and they are those
Avho have, during every 'step in the progress of the wai', by
prayers and coimsels, and active aid in the armies of trea-
son, given all their might to bring forth these legitimate
fruits of the seed they have sown. This is their work ; for
it they are responsible.
The laborers and mechanics of the North, — all the
"poor," indeed, of every class, — may see the feast which
w^as elaborately prepared for them, and the destiny which
inevitably awaited them, could the South have had their
way in the unlimited and unchecked control of the Gov-
ernment ; and they may learn, in this, the real character of
that rebellion, to put down Avhich -the Government has
called the people to arms.
All may see, in the light of these sentiments, the real
nature of that system, and the real character of its suppor-
ters, that have found apologists and extenuators in the North
for these many years past, in the " adroitest debaters" and
most *' distinguished defenders of slavery and the South,"
hi Church and State. While tliese men were sowing
broadcast these seeds through every means in their power,
it was deemed a labor of love to prepare for them the soil.
While they could teach t'.ieir doctrines at will, and pity
WHO, NOW, IS KESPOXSIELE ? 105
that condition of "free society," and mourn over that hard-
ness of heart wliich would not receive them, it was deemed
"agitation," "agitation," "agitation," nothing but wicked
interference with matters which concerned them not, for
pulpit, or press, or Church court, to raise even a gentle
note of remonstrance. While some who had the sagacity
to see what was inevitably coming upon the Church and
upon the country from stxch teachings, and Avho had the
boldness and the faithfulness to God's truth to declare it,
— and whose far-sightedness the result has remarkably
verified, — have been, for that very faithfulness, exiled by
the Church from posts of usefulness to which their qualifi-
cations and labors eminently entitled them, others, chiefly
instrumental in this ostracism, have been honored by South-
ern votes with high stations, and have illustrated their
faithfulness by eminent subserviency to those who so long
controlled them. But for all deeds there is a day of reck-
oning ; and we are quite sure the Clmrch itself is begin-
ning to understand those who have been true to her inter-
ests and those who have dishonored and betrayed her.
When the day shall eventually come to write the history
of this rebellion, it will not be difiicult, so far as men of
the North are concerned, to determine the true measure
of their responsibility. And when the full character and
aims of the rebel leaders shall be understood, it will be the
judgment of the historian, as it is now the conviction of
the loyal masses of the people, that such a disease as had
thus fastened itself upon the body politic, could not be
purgi^l from it except through the agency of gunpowder
— the means which the rebels themselves invoked.
106 BESPONSIBILITT FOB THE WAE.
CHAPTER IV.
RESPONSEBILITT FOR BEGINNING AN"D CONTINUING THE
WAR.
The South admit that they took the initiative for seces-
sion, but charge the North with having begun the loar.
This charge has been made from the beginning, and is
deemed so clear that it admits of no dispute. It is found
in their public journals, secular and religious, in the speeches
of their public men, and is formally set forth and reiterated
in the State papers of the rebel President and the members
of his Cabinet, and by the rebel Congress.* From the
moment of the actual outbreak of hostilities to the present
* "A sense of oppression and wrong, on the part of the North, in instituting and
mistaiiUng this war upon the South, is deep seated and abiding in their minds, and
they will shrink from no sacrifices and turn away from no dangers in resit<ting it.'"
—Presbytery of Western District, Tennessee, July, 1S61. Eev. Dr. Thomas Smyth,
of Charleston, 9. C, when speaking of " the defensive character of the war of the
South," says : " That war, as we have already proved, was provoked, threatened, per-
fidiously commenced, and openly proclaimed by the North.'' — Southern Presbyterian
Review, April, 1S63. In an " Address of (the EebelfCongress to the People of the
Confederate States," issued in February, 18&4, it is said: "That a people, professing
to be animated by Christian sentiment, and who had regarded our peculiar institution
as a blot and blur upon the foir escutcheon of their common Christianity, should
wfM-e Mar Mpow i!/i<3 /SoMi/i for doing what they had a perfect right to do, * * *
was deemed almost beyond belief by many of our wisest minds. * * * These
reasonable anticipations wore doomed to disappointment. The red glare of battle
kindled at Sumter, dissipated all hopes of peace, and the two Governments were ar-
rayed in hostility against each other. We charge the responsibility of thi^ war
-upon the United Stafts. They are accountable for the blood and havoc and ruin it
has caused. * * * The war in which we are engaged was wickedly, and against
all our protest's and most earnest elTorts to the contrary,. A>roerf upon «.s." The rebel
President, Jefferson Davis, in one of his messages to Congress, referred to in the
above-mentioned Address, says : " Our efforts to avoid the war, forced on us as it
was by the lust of conquest and the insane passions of our foes, are known to man-
kind."
JOHN M. BOrrS ON SECESSION. 107
hour, they have persistently declared that the General
Govern-nent, sustained by the body of the N'orthern peo-
ple, are alone responsible for having begun, and for having
continued^ the war.
They insist that secession was a peaceful remedy for
their wrongs, against which war could not justly be made ;
and they declare, that, ever since war began, they have
been ready to make peace, but that the General Govern-
ment would not have peace.
These are grave issues, Ipng at the root of the contro-
versy in which the two sections of the country are involved.
We cannot here canvass the alleged right of secession,
which is claimed to be a Constitutional remedy for the
grievances complained of. Our object, at present, is dif-
ferent. Whether secession, under the Constitution, be a
justifiable remedy for any invasion of right or not, it i»
only necessary, in reference to the immediate object now
in hand, to show, that the kind of secession which the
South undertook, was early begun, and was vigorously
prosecuted, by acts which can have no other terms of de-
scription than those which belong to the vocabulary of war.
To assume that such acts are authorized under the Con-
stitution, that they are what it contemplated as proper to
be done in carrying out secession, that these are acts of
peace, and that therefore secession is a peaceful remedy
for supposed wrongs, are propositions so monstrous, that
no one can be deceived by them the moment the acts in
question come to be examined in their nature and the time
of their occurrence.
JOHN M. BOTTS ON SECESSION.
As introductory to a brief narration of early events, well
remembered by the whole world, we refer to a letter of
the Hon. John Minor Botts, of Virginia, dated Richmond,
108 EESPONSrBILITY FOR THE WAE.
January 24, 1861, written in answer to a request made to
him to become a candidate for the Convention, which
passed the Ordinance of Secession for Virginia. It is well
known, that so eager were the Southern rebels for a dis-
ruption of the Union, that they rejoiced over the election
of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency, with exceeding great
joy, as furnishing the justifiable ground for the step. Re-
ferring to this, Mr. Botts says :
I am not willing to sacrifice the best interests of my State and my
country, and the hopes of oppressed mankind throughout the world, in
upholding South Carolina in a bad cause ; in a wholly unjustifiable and
petulant whim, which she avows she has indulged for thirty years. I
am not willing to rush upon destruction, for a misplaced sympathy for a
State that exulted over the election of a Republican President, burned
their tar barrels and illuminated their cities, because it afibrded them
the pretext for rebellion, and that has violently seized upon the forts,
arsenals, arms, and ammunition, and money of the United States, and
has fired upon, and driven from her waters, an unarmed vessel bearing
that flag of the Union which has borne us triumphantly through every
war and every trouble.
NARRATIVE OF EVENTS.
These words of Mr. Botts, suggest the events of the fall
and winter of 1860-61, which fix indelibly upon the South
the responsibility of having begun the'war, in repeated and
long continued acts of war. The work of revolt began
immediately after the election, and in the midst of the
rejoicing at the result of it. State after State, by formal
acts, openly repudiated the authority of the United States,
and " seceded." The people of these States, in various
localities, sustained by the public authorities, forcibly seized,
as Mr. Botts declares, the public property of the nation.
The forts, ships, mints, custom-houses, public money, arms,
arsenals, ammunition, and other public property, were
taken. All these, confessedly, belonged, not to the re-
NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. 109
spective States, but to the TJnited States. They Avere
built, manufactured, or purchased, as the property and by
the money and authority of the TJnited States. The title
was not questioned by any one. Many of these thmgs
were taken by force. The guards of mints and custom
houses were eluded or overborne ; and the forts and ships,
in some of the former of which were garrisons, and in the
latter armed officers, were seized by bodies of armed men
in superior numbers, and the United States forces were
compelled to surrender. These were not the acts of mere
mob violence. They will take in history, as they have in
the eye of public law, a different character. These tcere
ACTS OF WAR ; the early ineasures of an open revolution.
They were directly authorized by organized States, which
claimed to have thrown off the national authority. They
were taken that they might resist by force any attempt on
the part of the TJnited States to repossess them, and to
re-establish the authority which had been subverted. These
acts were, therefore, severally, acts of loar, so far as such
acts can be, before war has been formally declared by com-
petent authority, or in a revolution before there has been
any forcible step taken to resist it. It is possible, that
technically these acts may not be acts of war, for there
was, as yet, no legal power to declare it ; but practically
such was, to all intents and purposes, their character.*
* Soon after the secession of South Carolina and the seizure of the Forts in the
harbor of Charleston, and the like seizure of the Forts within the limits of Georgia
and Alabama by those States, the sluggishness of Florida was thus chided by the
Charleston Mercury : "To our friends in Florida we would respectfully pass a
■word. There are two powerful strongholds and most important points of military
offence and defence in Florida— Pensacola and Key West. The States both of
Georgia and Alabama have wisely taken time by the forelock, and put themselves
m possession of such fortresses as lie within their borders." " In this view, it is im-
portant for the people of Florida to reflect that there are perhaps no fortresses along
our whole Southern coast more important than those of Florida. These Forts can
command the whole Gulf trade. And should Mr. Buchanan carry out what appears
to be his present plan, he certainly must desire to hold possession of these Forts."
110 EESPONSIBrLITT FOE THE "VrAE.
EEFEL GOTEKXMENT FOEilED THE SOUTH ARilTS'G.
In the mean time, and before all these acts had been con-
summated, the several States which had " seceded," formed
what they termed a Provisional Government, called the
"Confederate States of America,'* ia opposition to the
Government of the United States, and soon afterwards
adopted a Constitution, elected officers, and invested this
Government with a permanent character and authority.
This Government called out, as some of the seceded States
had previously done, thousands of troops, armed and
equipped them with the munitions taken from the United
States arsenals, placing some of them in the forts and ships
they had seized, the garrisons and crews of the national
Government having already surrendered to them.
OUK G0VEEN3IEXT INACTIVE.
During this time, and while all these things were pub-
licly occurring, and the public journals of the country
were publishing the details, the General Government took
^ Bnt let Florida hold these Forts, and the entire aspect of affairs is changed." " Ths
commerce of the Xorth in the, Gulf wiU fall an easy prey to our bold prirateers ;
and California gold will pay all such Utile earpense.? on our part.'''' In enumer-
ating these and other seizures, in a Report made to >the House of Representatives
soon after, the Hon. John A. Dix, Secretary of the Treasury, says : " Third. — The
seizure by Louisiana of all United States moneys, as well as those of private deposi-
tors in the mint and sub-treasury at Xew Orleans and other places. Fourth. —
The seizure of revenue cutters, by arrangement between their commanders and the
collectors of Mobile, New Orleans, and Charleston. Fifth. — The expulsion of the
sick and invjilid patients at the United States hospital at New Orleans, in order to
provide accommodation for Louisiana troops." On the general subject, in this s;inie
Report, Mr. Dix says : " Throughout the whole couise of encroachment and aggres-
sion, the Federal Government has borne itself with a spirit of p.iternal forbearance,
of which there is no example in the history of public society: waiting in patient
hofie that the empire of reason would resume its sway over those whom the excite-
ment of passion has thus far blinded, and trusting that the friends of good order,
wearied with submission to proceedings which they disapproved, would, at no dis-
tant day, rally under the banner of the Union, and exert themselves with vigor and
success against the prevailing recklessness and violence."
SIEGE OF FORT SITMTEE. Ill
no measures to preverd them. K names are things, and if
things have names descriptive of their character, these
acts of aggression were acts of tear ; and to whatever we
may now attribute the non-interference by the General
Government, under the administration of President Bu-
chanan,— whether to fear, timidity, imbecility, hope of
restoring authority and preserving peace by doing noth-
ing ; or, to direct complicity with treason, — still, the facts
Avill go down to history, that while the rebels were spend-
ing months in these acts of war, and in open preparation
for war, the Government against which they had rebelled
did nothing of a warlike character to oppose them.
SIEGE OF FOET SUMTEE.
During the progress of these events, the rebels, not
being able easily to seize some of the forts of the United
States, — as Forts Pickens, Sumter, Moultrie, and others, —
commenced against them a regular siege. Fort Sumter, in
the harbor of Charleston, had a garrison of some seventy
men, under the heroic Major Robert Anderson. Beiag
instructed by the Government not to surrender the fort,
and also instructed not to fire upon the besiegers unless
fired upon by them* they were quietly permitted to en-
* President Buchanan, in his Annual Message to Congress, December 3d, 1S60,
speaking of the ^' property of the United States in South Carolina," savs : " It is not
believed that any attempt will be made to expel the United States from this prop-
erty by force ; but if in this I should prove to be mistaken, the olBcer in command
of the forts has received orders to act strictly on the defenmte. In such a contin-
gency, the responsibility for consequences would rightfully rest upon the heads of
the assailants." An order given to Major Anderson from the War Department,
delivered at Fort Moultrie, December 11, 1S60, says : " Tou are carefully to avoid
every act which would needlessly tend to provoke a/jgreviion. and for that reason
j-on are not, without necessity, to take up any position which could be construed
into the assumption of a hostile attitude ; but you are to hold possession of the
Forts in the harbor, and if attacked, you are to defend yourself to the last extrem-
ity. The smalbiess of your force will not permit yon, perhaps, to occupy more than
one of the three Forts, but an attack on or an attempt to take possession of either
of them, will be regarded as an act ot hostility, and you may then put your com-
112 KESrONSIBILITT FOR THE WAK.
circle the fort with powerful siege-works, mounted by the
heaviest guns belonging to the United States, until the
reduction of the fort was made morally certain, whenever
the rebels should choose to open fire. The force which
was under arms to man and support the batteries erected
around Fort Sumter, numbered, according to their own
estimates, from seven to ten thousand men. They were
armed mostly from the Government arsenals. Major Ander-
son could at any time have demolished the works in course
of construction around him, or prevented their construc-
tion at all ; but he was ordered by the Government to
stand strictly on the defensive. Whether anybody had
" blundered," most surely " all the world wondered."
However humiliating to its loyal citizens such a course was,
and reproachful to the national honor and power in the
eyes of other nations, it is yet true that the Government
made not one solitary eflbrt of a warlike nature to recover
its property or reassert its jurisdiction. Not a soldier was
called out by the Government, while the rebels were mus-
tering and drilling their forces.
CONGRESS NOT AGGRESSIVE. STAR OF THE WEST.
Congress was in session during four months after these
measures of revolt were initiated, and for several weeks
after the warlike deeds referred to had well nigh reached
their climax. Yet, Congress passed no act and took no
step of a warlike character to meet these aggressions, but
was, at this very time, maturing measures for peacefully
settling, if possible, the difficulties of the country. In one
instance, while Congress was in session, the Administra-
tion then in power (Mr. Buchanan's), as was clearly its
mand into eUher of them which you may deem most projjer to increase its power
of resistance. You are also authorized to talie similar steps whenever you havo
tangible evidence of a desi^'ii to proceed to a hostile act."
CONGRESS NOT AGGRESSIVE. — STAB OF THE WEST, 113
right and duty, sent the Star of the West, an unarmed
vessel, with provisions for the garrison in Fort Sumter.
The men were nearly in a starving condition, cut olf from
their usual supplies^ from the Charleston markets. The
Star of the West was fired upwi^ and compelled to aban-
don the enterprise. This was another open act of war^
committed by the assumed authority of the rebel Govern-
ment. Yet, the Government of the United States did not
retaliate. N^ot a single shot teas fired in return. The
brave garrison looked on in silence ; no provisions were
landed ; their stores were nearly exhausted ; they saw the
flag of their country dishonored and fired upon by traitors ;
but all was borne, as the Government had so ordered.*
Nor did Congress take any action, such was the disposi-
tion towards conciliation. It was during this very period
that the several successive measures looking to peace, — by
* At this time, Major Anderson addressed a note to the Governor of South Caro-
lina, in which he says: "Two of your batteries fired this morning upon an un-
armed vessel bearing the flag of my Government." " I cannot but think this a
hostile act, committed without j'our sanction or- authority. Under that hope, I
refrain from opening a fire on your batteries." " I respectfully ask whether the
above-mentioned act was committed in obedience to your instructions, and notify
you, if it is not disclaimed, that I regard it as an, act of war." This vessel was the
Star of the West. The Governor replies to Major Anderson: "She w-as fired into.
This act is perfectly justified by me." Governor Pickens further says: "Tour po-
sition in the harbor has been tolerated hy the authorities of the State;" and "the
act of which you complain is in perfect consistency with the rights and duties of
the state." Major Anderson rejoins: "I have deemed it proper to refer the whole
matter to my Government." These notes bear date, January 9, 1861. The Oharle^s-
ton Courier of January 10, shows the amount of the firing at the vessel : " The
Star of the West rounded the point, took the ship channel inside the bar, and pro-
ceeded straight forward until opposite Morris Island, about three-quarters of a mile
from the battery. A ball was then fired athwart the bows of the steamer. The
Star of the West displayed the star.s and stripes. As soon as the flag was unfurled,
the fortification fired a succession of shots. The vessel continued on her course
with increased speed; but two shots taking effect upon her, she concluded to retire.
Fort Moultrie fired a few shots at her, but she was out of range. The damage dono
to the star of the West is trifling, as only two out of seventeen shots took effect
upon her. Fort Sumter made no demonstration, except at the port-holes, where
the guns were run out bearing on Morris Island."
114 EESPONSIBILTTT FOB THE WAR.
the Peace Convention, and the proposed Amendments to
the Constitution, — were under consideration. This forbear-
ance, in the face of those repeated insuhs to the national
authority and honor which culminated in firing upon the
national flag without resentment, was mistaken by the
rebels for timidity and cowardice. It only served to
stimulate their determination toward resistance to that
power which they could so easily defy, and whose measures
had only inspired their contempt.
KEW ADMINISTRATION. ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER.
Weeks passed on. The session of Congress had expired
by its Constitutional limitation, and the new Administra-
tion, with Mr. Lincoln as President, came into power on
the 4th of jNIarcb, 1861. On the sixth of that month, only
two days after Mr. Lincoln's inauguration, the " Confede-
rate" Congress passed an Act authorizing a military force
to be raised of one hundred thousand men.
At length tlie works for reducing Fort Sumter were
nearly completed. At this time the garrison had but some
two or three days' supply of provisions. This was well
known to the rebel authorities. The Government, as in
duty bound, determined on a second attempt to send a
supply ; and, at the same time, as a still further evidence
of its forbearance and of its disposition to conciliation and
peace, the Government gave the voluntary assurance to the
besiegers that no reinforcement of men or munitions would
be attempted, but that it w^ould only supply the desti-
tute garrison with provisions, and that no w^arlike demon-
stration would be made unless this should be interfered
with. IViis peaceful determination of the Government
was made the occasion of an attack tipon the fort, even
before the provisioning vessels had arrived. Here was
another, and the climax in a series, of open acts of war.
THE UNAVOIDABLE ISSUE. US
under express orders from the rebel Government at Mont-
gomery ; while the General Government, against which
they were made, had not called out a soldier, nor fired a
gun, nor done one loarlike act in opposition to them. As
an inevitable event, after a gallant resistance of an attack
of some two days, by a circle of batteries constructed
without opposition and completely investing the fort, the
starved garrison of seventy men surrendered to the army
of seven thousand.* It was then, and not till then, that
the Government laid aside its forbearance, that the Presi-
dent MADE THE FIRST cAix FOR TROOPS, to defend the
nation's honor and rights, to recover its property, and to
restore its authority.
THE UNAVOIDABLE ISSUE.
The Government of the United States thus forbore as
long as forbearance was possible, and perhaps much longer
than was wise ; until, indeed, this inevitable issue was
presented, — that it must succumb, without resistance, to an
open, well-organized, armed, and bloody rebellion, against
its authority, property, honor, and power, and become a
scoffing and a byword among all the nations of the earth,
and a prey to their insults and rapacity ; or that it must
make at least an attempt to recover and maintain its rights
by the sword, which God had put into the hand of its
Cliief Magistrate for the punisnment of evil-doers and for
the praise of them that do well. This simple alternative
was forced upon the Government, as the whole world
plainly saw.
The foregoing facts are so recent as to be within the mem-
* The Charleston Mercury, of May 3, 1S61, gives the amount of " shot and shell
expended during the bombardment of Fort Sumter," from fourteen batteries which
had been specially erected for its reduction,— not including Fort Moultrie,— as "two
thousand three hundred and sixty-one shot, and nine hundred and eighty shell."
6*
116 EESFONSIBILITY FOE THE WAR.
ory of those who have paid attention to the current events
of the early period of the war. And yet, it is with such facts
before theui, that the rebels and their sympathizers persist
in asserting that " the Government of the United States
is the aggressor," that " the North began the war," and
that " the South is fighting in self-defence ;" and it is upon
the issue, thus falsely made, that much eloquence is ex-
pended in the endeavor to get up sympathy for " our op-
pressed Southern brethren," and to cast odium upon the
National Government and upon those who are sustaining
it in its effort to regain rightful authority over the whole
domain of the Union.
The earliest possible date when the United States Gov-
ernment began, on its part, the war which it is now pro-
secuting to resist secession, and put down treason and
rebellion, was April 15, 1861, when President Lincoln, by
proclamation, called for seventy-five thousand troops. Up
to that moment, no vmrlike step for these ends had beeti taken.
And even then, by that proclamation, the rebels were allowed
" twenty days to disperse and retire peacefully to their
respective abodes," Had they availed themselves of this,
no act of war upon their persons or property would have
been committed ; but they laughed this to scorn, and went
on more vigorously in their warlike measures, which they
had been steadily ^vo'^.ecwtmg five full months.
GENERAL m'cLELLAn's OPINIO]!^.
General McClellan, in his address at the dedication of
the Battle Monument at West Point, on the 15th of June,
1864, mentions the cause of the war, the unjustifiableness
of the rebellion, and the necessity of maintaining our
nationality, in the following terms :
Stripped of all sophistry and side issues, the direct cause of the war,
as it presented itself to the honest and patriotic citizens of the North,
SOUTHERN ASSUMPTIOXS. 117
\vas simply this : Certain States, or rather, a portion of the inhabitants
of certain States, feared, or professed to fear, that injury -won Id result to
their rights and property from the elevation of a particular party to
power. Although the Constitution and the actual condition of the Gov-
ernment provided them with a peaceable and sure protection against
the apprehended evil, they preferred to seek security in the destruction
of the Government, which could protect them, and in the use of force
against the national troops holding a national fortress. To efface the
insult offered our flag; to save ourselves from the fate of the divided
Republics of Italy and South America ; to preserve our Government
from destruction ; to enforce its just power and laws ; to maintain our
very existence as a nation — these were the causes that compelled us to
draw the sword. Rebellion against a Government like ours, which
contains the means of self-adjustment, and a pacific remedy for evils,
should never be confounded with a revolution against despotic power,
which refuses a redress of wrongs. Such a rebellion cannot be justified
upon ethical grounds, and the only alternative for our choice is its sup-
pression, or the destruction of our nationality. At such a time as this,
and in such a struggle, political partisanship should be merged in a
true and brave patriotism, which thinks only of the good of the whole
country.
SOUTHERN ASSUMPTIONS VS. " NORTHERN AGGRESSIONS."
Taking the ground that the North began the war, the
leaders of the rebellion have aimed to stimulate their own
people, and to make out a case before the Avorld, that they
are fighting in self-defence.
Says Dr. Smyth, in the article before referred to, in the
Southern Presbyterian Review^ April, 1863: "By every
instinct of self-preservation and defence, by the divinely
authorized as well as inherent natural right of all her citi-
zens in the Government ordained by them, as ' free,' and
' using their liberty' (l Pet. ii.), the South was imperatively
required to defend life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi-
ness, even unto blood, against the arrogant and rapacious
usurpation of the North." Dr. Smyth refers to "the con-
clusiveness of the facts adduced, in proof of the aggrcs-
1 ] 8 EESPONSIBILITT FOE THE WAR.
slon of the ISTorth in originating this war,''^ as set forth iu
tin article of this Beview, in 1861, on the "Battle of Fort
Sumter," which we have not seen. From some incidental
allusions, however, it is clear that he rehes for "proof"
upon certain " negotiations" attempted by the Southern
leaders with the Government, in which they were unsuc-
cessful, and which are known to the country. He takes
the view of Southern writers generally.
The argument based upon this feature of the case they
push with zeal ; but their premises are false, their reason-
ings illusive, and their conclusions natural. Not being
able to set aside the warlike character of the acts which
we have detailed, they set forth that they were trying,
r>t the same time, to negotiate with the Government a set-
tlement between the North and South, but that the Gov-
ernment would not come to any terms, and thus forced
upon the South the necessity of a war of self-defence in
behalf of secession.
DIPLOMATISTS FROM SOUTH CAROLINA.
We need not go into any long statement of the measures
on which the rebels rely to show that they were seekmg a
peaceful solution of their troubles by negotiation^ while, as
we have seen, they were making war in fact.
Soon after the secession of South Carolina, she sent three
Commissioners to Washington, Messrs. Barnwell, Adams,
and Orr, to treat with the General Government. Tiiey
address a communication " To the President of the United
States." They exhibit their credentials, and declare the
object of their -mission. They do not come to negotiate
with the Executive about the " secession" of their State.
That is, with them, a fact accomplished. Deeming the
Constitution but a "compact," and not establishing a
" Government" proper, but merely forming a " league"
DIPLOMATISTS FROM SOUTH CAEOLINA. 119
between several " nations," any one of them can withdraw
at pleasure. The separation, or " secession," is a fact of the
past. One party has dissolved the " compact ;" and that
is the end of the matter. These diplomatists have nothing
to say on that subject ; the deed is done ; the case is
closed. They are the accredited representatives of a
Foreign Power ; they are from the " nation" of South
Carolina. They state to President Buchanan :
"We are authorized and empowered to treat with tho Government of
the United States for the deUvery of the forts, magazines, light-houses,
and other real estate, with their appurtenances in the limits of South
Carolina; and also for an apportionment of the public debt, and for a
division of all other property held by the Government of the United
States, as agent of the Confederated States, of tohich South Carolina was
recently a member, and generally to negotiate as to all other measures
and arrangements proper to be made and adopted in the existing rela-
tions of the parties, and for the continuance of peace and amity between
this Commonwealth and the Government at "Washington.
They also furnish the President " with an official copy
of the Ordinance of Secession," and intimate that they
" were ready to negotiate" with him " upon all such ques-
tions as are necessarily raised by the adoption of this ordi-
nance ;" and they had hoped all things would go on well.
But the scene suddenly changes. " The events of
the last twenty-four hours," say they, " render such an
assurance imj)ossible." What is the matter ? Why, they
hear that Major Anderson has " changed his base," and
"retired" from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter. They
complain bitterly ; tell the President : " We came here the
representatives of an authority which could, at any time
within the past sixty days, have taken possession of the
Forts in Charleston harbor ;" but the game has flown.
" Until these circumstances are explained," they say to the
President, " we are forced to suspend all discussion as to
120 EESPONSIBILITT FOR THE WAR.
any arrangement by which our mutual interests may be
amicably adjusted."
And then, "in conclusion," — for all documents must
have an end, — they " urge upon" the President " the im-
mediate withdrawal of the troops from the harbor of
Charleston. Under present circumstances, they are a
standing menace which renders negotiation impossible,
and, as our recent experience shows, threatens speedily to
bring to a bloody issue questions which ought to be settled
with temperance and judgment."
The President makes a long reply ; the Commissioners
of the Palmetto " nation" put in a long rejoinder ; and
npon the latter the following indorsement is made : " This
paper, just presented to the President, is of such a char-
acter that he declines to receive it." The inference is, that
the President deemed the rejoinder insulting ; and thus
ends the first attempt at negotiation, and the last made by
the South Carolina patriots.
Without going into an analysis of this correspondence,
it is clear that the turning point of the case, and which
occasioned the breaking down of the negotiation, was the
change of the garrison under Major Anderson from Fort
Moultrie to Fort Sumter. What would have happened,
had not that occurred, no one can tell ; but what did
happen was occasioned by that movement.
THEIR DEMAND INSOLENT.
And now, what is here plainly involved ? South Caro-
lina claims to have " seceded," to be " out of the Union,"
to be a " sovereign and independent nation," self-cnated,
" born in a day ;" to have sprung like Minerva from the
head of Jove, " armed in all the panoply of wisdom." For
the argument's sake, grant it all. By her Ministers Pleni-
potentiary she complains that the soldiers of another nation
THEIR DEMAND INSOLEIH:'. 121
are removed from one fort to another, both of which are
confessedly its own. Had not the United States Govern-
ment a right to order this change, without asking permis-
sion, or giving a reason to South Carolina, or anybody
else ? Wlio shall doubt it ? If it had not, then the
United States is not itself an independent nation. If it
had, who shall complain, if the Government choose to give
the order ? Or, if Major Anderson took the initiative, and
the Government thought fit to sustain him, the authority
for the change was the same. If it be said that the United
States is not a nation, but only an " agent of the Confed-
erated States," as the Commissioners jihrase it, the case is
not altered ; for, unquestionably, this is one of the very
functions with which the " agent" is intrusted. The Gov-
ernment has supreme command of the army and navy, of
the national forces and fortresses, of its ships and munitions
of war. It cannot surrender this agency at the request or
dictation of mie of this " congeries of nations," without
any regard to the will of the other thirty-three.
But the insolence of this newly-born "nation" does not
stop here. It demands " the immediate withdrawal of the
troops from the harbor of Charleston," and adds that "they
are a standing menace which renders negotiation impos-
sible." This is diplomacy on stilts ; which, being inter-
preted, is this : We have come here on our own business
to talk with you; evacuate your fortress, that our
" nation" may take quiet possession, or we will not open
our lips ! And this is the^^?a^e .• Unless this is done, the
" questions" we have come to discuss will " speedily" be
brought " to a bloody issue."
This is Southern statesmanship. This is South Carolina
" negotiation." This is the diplomatic etiquette of chivalry.
This, we suppose, is in part, at least, " the correspondence
since made public," by which Dr. Smyth would make out
122 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WAR.
the general charge against tlie Government, that the war
"was provoked, threatened, perfidiously commenced^ and
openly proclaimed by the North ;" and by which he w-ould
establish " the defensive character of the war of the South."
WHAT PRESIDENT BUCHANAN INTENDED.
But before we admit this aspect of the issue which Dr.
Smyth presents, let us look a little more closely at this
diplomacy. Dates here are important. The letter of the
Palmetto Commissioners to President Buchanan, bears date,
"Washington, Dec. 29, 18G0." The President's reply
was written the next day. He states that on hearing that
Major Anderson had gone to Fort Sumter :
My first promptings were to command liim to return to his former
position ; * * * &Mf before any step could possibly have been taken in
this direction, we received information that the " Palmetto flag floated out
to the breeze at Castle Pinckney, and a large military force went over last
night {the 21th) to Fort Moultrie:' Thus the authorities of South Caro-
lina, without waiting or asking for any explanations, and doubtless be-
lieving, as you have expressed it, that the officer had acted not only
without but against my orders, on the very next day after the night
when the removal was made, seized, by a military force, two of the Fed-
eral Forts in the harbor of Charleston, and have covered them under their
own flag instead of that of the United States. * * * On the very
day, the 27th inst., that possession of these' two Forts was taken, the
Palmetto flag was raised over the Federal Custom-House and Post- Office
in Charleston. * * * Iq tj^e harbor of Charleston we now find
three Forts confronting each other, over all of which the Federal flag
floated only four days ago ; but now, over two of them, this flag has
been supplanted, and the Palmetto flag has been substituted in its
stead. It is under all these circumstances that I am urged imme-
diately TO WITHDRAW THE TROOPS FROM TOE HARBOR OF CHARLESTON,
AND AM INFORMED THAT WITHOUT THIS, NEGOTIATION IS IMPOSSIBLE.
This I cannot do— this I will not do. * * * At this point of
writing, I have received information by telegraph from Captain llumph.-
reys, in command of the arsenal at Charleston, that " it has to-day {Sunday,
the 30th) been taken by force of arms." It is estimated that the munitions
of war belonging to this arsenal are worth half a million of dollars.
HYPOCRISY OF THEIR PEACEFUL PEETENSIOKS. 123
HYPOCRISY OF THEIR PEACEFUL PRETENSIONS.
Now we have the true altitude of the diplomatic seat
taken by the South Carolina envoys. Writing to the
President on the 29th of December, they of course knew,
as the whole community did, by telegraph, the occurrences
of the 27th, at Charleston ; and by private telegrams to
themselves, undoubtedly, they knew a great deal more.
They knew that Forts Moultrie and Pinckney, and the Cus-
tom-House and Post-Office, had all been " seized," by the
employment of a " large military force" as far as neces-
sary, and that the Stars and Stripes had been pulled down
and the Rattlesnake flag run up, and the latter now floated
over each, of those structures owned by the United States ;
and they no doubt knew what was to happen the next day,
when the arsenal would be " taken by force of arms," and
the reptile banner cover that too.
Thus forewarned and forearmed, they propose to " nego-
tiate" on behalf of the Palmetto " nation" which at home
has adopted these little customary preliminaries to peace-
ful diplomacy, provided always the President will now on
his part add to them one little item more which they deem
indispensable ; that is, cause " the immediate loithdrawal
of the troops'^ from the only remaining Fort in the harbor.
" Negotiation" is absolutely " impossible" without this ;
and, unless this is done,- — and here is the grand and ami-
cable outcome, — " a bloody issue" will " speedily" result!
The ridiculous figure cut by these Falstaffiau gentlemen
and one of the " Great Powers" which they represent, as
the world beholds it, ought to be in itself a sufficient cas-
tigation for their insolence ; but when we see the studied
and persistent attempt to substantiate the chai-ge, in the
face of such facts, that the Government sustained by the
North was the aggressor, and the South was acting purely
124 EESPOIJSIBILITY FOR THE WAE.
on the " defensive," the whining hypocrisy of such pre-
tensions deserves the scorn of all honest men.
IRKEFEAGABLE POSITION OP THE PRESIDENT.
Passing by the " ground and lofty tumbling" of the
South Carohna envoys in the role of diplomats, the Presi-
dent presented an argument in his communication to them
which was conchisive of the whole case. They had come
as the representatives of a Foreign Power, to "negotiate."
He told them he had no authoiity to meet them in that
character, and he could only treat them and their mission
accordingly. He refers them to his Annual Message to
Congress, presented a short time before, at the beginning
of the session, in which he says :
Apart from the execution of the laws, so far as this may be practica-
ble, the Executive has no authority to decide what shall be the relations
between the Federal Government and South Carolina. He has been
invested with no such discretion. He possesses no power to change the
relations hitherto existing between them, much less to acknowledge the
independence of the State. This would be to invest a mere Executive
officer with the power of recognizing the dissolution of the Confederacy
among our thirty-three sovereign States.
The Southern leaders, in Church and State, rest the
strength of their case, in attempting to show their })eaceful
and the North's warlike disposition, upon the fact that the
Government would not " negotiate ;" that is, would not at
once acknowledge their " secession," and recognize their
independence of the United States. This was all they
M'anted. They " secedcil," and only asked to be "let
alone." They sent Commissioners from South Carolina,
the leader in secession, to " negotiate" a partition of the
public property of the Union. As above related, we have
seen how this mission failed, and the immediate occasion
of the tail u re.
FURTHEE IfEGOTIATIONS. 125
Passing these incidents by, and coming to the root of
the matter, what the South sought, in the xcay they sought
it, could not be granted ; for the President truly says he
had been invested with no such authority. Nor had Con-
gress. The Constitution gives no such power either to the
Executive or Legislative branch of the Government ; nor
to both combined. The position of President Buchanan
was therefore conclusive of the whole matter, as between
the South Carolina Commissioners and the Government of
the United States to which they were accredited.
There was but o??e conceivable way to reach the end
sought by the secessionists, if they meant peace. Any
other course than that one, was rebellion, revolution, and
war. We shall speak of that one way, after noticing fur-
ther negotiations which were attempted. All we need to
Bay just here is, that the Southern leaders never took one
step toioard the only possible xoay for a peaceful solution
of the question of separation.
FURTHER NEGOTIATIOXS COXFEDERATE COMillSSIOlSrERS.
After seven States had seceded, the " Government of the
Confederate States of America," as they styled it, was
formed at Montgomery, Alabama.
After the inauguration of President Lincoln, that Gov-
ernment sent Commissioners to Washington. They were
Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford. They arrive, and under
date of " Washington City, March 12, 1861," they address
a letter to Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, in which
they say : " The undersigned have been duly accredited
by the Government of the Confederate States of America,
as Commissioners to the Government of the United
States ;" and through the Secretary, they " make known to
the President of the United States, the objects of their
presence in this Capital," They proceed to state, that
126 EESPONSIBILrTT FOR TIIE WAR.
" seven States of the late Federal Union" have " v:iih-
drawn from the United States," and " have formed a Gov-
ernment of their own ;" and they declare, that "the Con-
federate States constitute an independent nation, de facto
and de jure, and possess a Government perfect in all its
parts, and endowed with the means of self-support."
After giving this official information, they announce the
groat object of their mission thus :
With a view to a speedy adjustment of aU questions growing out op
this political separation, upon such terms of amity and good-will as the
respective interests, geographical contiguity, and future welfare of the
Ivjo iiations may render necessary, the undersigned are instructed to
make to the Government of the United States, overtures for the open-
ing of negotiations, assuring the Government of the United States that
the President, Congress, and people of the Confederate States, earnestly
desire a peaceful solution of these great questions.
It can scarcely be sup])osed, for a moment, that these
Commissioners, or the " Government" they represented,
expected " negotiations" to be opened with them by the
Government of the United States, based upon any acknow-
ledgment, open or tacit, of the political status which they
assumed to exist. After the failure to negotiate with Mr.
Buchanan, on the ground which he^ announced to the
South Carolina Commissioners, — that he had no authority
in the case, — Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford could not
have anticipated a different result with the Administration
of President Lincoln, unless, possibly, they supposed the
Government might be frightened into a recognition of their
de facto and de jure " nation," by reason of the more
formidable proportions which the rebellion had noAV as-
sumed. But if such was their expectation, they soon
learned their mistake.
Mr. Seward took respectful notice of their letter, in a
" Memorandum" he penned and sent to them, though not
FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS. 127
signed officially or in any other way, but dated at the
"Department of State," March 15, 1861. He declines
their request for an official interview, saying it is, " upon
exclusively public consideration, respectfully declined."
He states that "he understands the events which have
recently occurred, and the condition of political affiiirs,"
tfec, " very difterently from the aspect in which they are
presented by Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford. He sees in
tliem, not a riglitfol and accomplished revolution and an
independent nation, with an established Government, but
rather a perversion of a temporary and partisan excitement
to the inconsiderate purposes of an unjustifiable and uncon-
stitutional aggression upon the rights and authority vested
in the Federal Government." The Secretary then says to
those gentlemen that " he looks patiently but confidently
for the cure" of existing evils, " not to irregular negotia-
tions," prosecuted " in derogation of the Constitution and
laws, but to regular and considerate action of the people
of those States, in co-oi)eration with their brethren in the
otlier States, through the Congress of the United States,
and such extraordinary Conventions, if there shall be need
thereo:", as the Federal Constitution contemplates and
authorizes to be assembled." He then refers them to
President Lincoln's Inaugural Address, from which they
Avould perceive that he could not admit the political status
they assumed, — " that the States referred to by them have,
in law or in fact, withdrawn from the Federal Union," —
" or that they could do so in the manner described by
INIessrs. Forsyth and Crawford, or in any other manner
than with the consent and concert of the x>eople oftheTTni-
terl States, to be (jiven throuqh a National Convention, to
be as-^embled in conformity with the provisions of the Con-
stitution of the United States." He closes his "Memo-
randum" by saying that the President "tioincides gener-
128 RESPONSIBILITY FOE THE AVAK.
ally in the views it expresses, and sanctions the Secretary's
•decision declining official intercourse with Messrs. Forsyth
and Crawford."
PEACEFUL SOLUTION DECLINED.
The case was thus a plain one, as between war and
peace. There was one course open for peaceful negotia-
tions recognized by the Constitution. To that, the Gov-
ernment of the United States was shut up; but into that,
though invited, the secessionists would not enter. If a
possibility existed of a peaceful separation, through " nego-
tiation," it was in the way the Secretary of State men-
tioned, and which the President in liis Inaugural Address
suggested, — through a National Convention of the people
of all the States, — and there teas no other way under the
Constitution.
It is true, that the Constitution does not contemplate
the disruption of the Union in any^ manner ; does not pro-
vide for even co7isiderinr/ the question of separation, or
" secession ;" it says notliing about it ; and it may be that
a National Convention, held under the provisions of the
Constitution, would have no authority to entertain the
question in any shape. It has been insisted, however,
that, as the people in a National Convention made the
Constitution, and the people of the several States ratified
it, the people of the United States and of the several
States have the power, through the same process, to
undo the work of their hands, to take down the edifice
they erected, and to dissolve the Union. If this be so,
it is a peaceful mode of separation. But whether there be
any Constitutional mode of separation or not, — and if
there be, this seems to be the only one inferrible from
the instrument itself,— M,/s was the course to which the Ad-
ministration in power was willing to resort, for the con-
PEACEFUL SOLUTIOiSr DECLINED. 129
sideration of all grievances between the Government and
the complaining States ; and it was a measure of peace.
But the Southern leaders never took one step, or expressed
any desire, for a National Convention, but always spunied
every suggestion of the subject.
Kor did they propose any other measure for a peaceful
solution of the vital issue between them and the Govern-
ment ; that issue which was regarded as underlying all
other questions in debate. But they took the ground,
openly and defiantly, that they were " out of the Union"
by their own act ; that they Avere separated already from
the jurisdiction of the United States ; that they had
" seceded," and that was the end of controversy. Suppose
they were in fact right, — that "secession" was their
proper remedy, — but yet that they could not convince the
opposite party, the Government of the United States, of
the truth of their position. There were then two parties
to the case. The Government did not and could not agree
with them. How, then, do honest men, disposed to peace,
act, when they cannot agree ? Before resorting to extreme
measures, they exhaust every possible effort for a peaceful
settlement. Did the South do this ? Who could be an
umpire, for a peaceful solution, between them and the
Government ? Only the whole people, represented in a
National Convention. Did they agree to this? They
spurned it. Did they propose any other measure? None
ichatever. Nothing short of a direct, full, immediate, un-
conditional yielding to them of the whole case in con-
troversy, as one of the parties, would satisfy them. Does
this carry on its front the compelling conviction that they
were for peace, and the Government was for war ?
Were this simple question submitted to any disinterested
body of twelve men, in any nation under heaven, they
would give a verdict against the rebel pretension.
130 KESPONSIBILITT FOE THE WAR.
UNJUSTIFIABLE EEASONS FOB REFUSAL.
It may possibly be said, in answer to this, that the as-
sembling of a National Convention would have been
useless ; that the majority of the people were no doubt
against " secession," and with the Government, and there-
foi-e the South would not have obtained " their rights" in
that manner.
To this we reply, firsts that such an opinion could not jus-
tify a refusal to make the trial. Those who, if any, enter-
tained it, might have found themselves mistaken. Our own
conviction is, that had the whole people, represented in a
National Convention, been brought face to face with the
alternative of some peaceful settlement or civil war, one of
two things would have occurred : either, propositions of
" compromise" would have been agreed upon, satisfactory
to the vast majority of the South, — which the Southern
leaders no doubt feared, — or, a proijosition for an amicable
separation would have passed. We do not say that a
" compromise," if subsequently ratified, would have been
well. It would only have postponed the evil day. Nor
do we say it would have been wise to dissolve this one
nation and make two. It might have saved us the present
strife, and its untold borrors, but numerous and bitter
wars would no doubt have followed. All we mean to say,
is, that we believe tbe people, compelled to face this
"rugged issue," would have chosen the peaceful side of
the alternative, in one of these two modes.
But, secondly, even if the Southern people had failed in
Convention, either to gain a satisfictory " compromise"
or an acquiescence in their " secession," and had thereupon
felt compelled to withdraw from the Convention and enact
and carry out " secession" in the way they are now doing,
they would, in that case, — if able to exhibit a clear record
THE COMMISSIONERS DEFIxVNTLT COUET WAK. 131
of unendurable wrongs, — have made a far better showing,
and would have had a deeper sympathy from the civilized
world, than is now possible ; and more especially so, in
the matter of showing a disposition for 2:>eace.
But as the foots now stand, it is the baldest of all pos-
sible pretensions, the most naked and monstrous proposi-
tion ever penned by sober and Christian men, to assert that
they were all the while for peace, while the Government
was all the while for war. The Government was driven
into war, to save its authority, to recover its property, to
maintain its honor, to preserve its existence ; and the Ad-
ministration, constitutionally put in power by the people,
could do no less, under its oaths of office, than to guard
and defend these interests to the last. But the conspira-
tors against the Government could not be coaxed ov goaded
into any measure for peace; but to be "let alone," after
they had stolen all they could grasp, and would subvert
forever the authority of the Government throughout half
the territory of its jurisdiction, Avas the least of their
modest demands.
THE COMMISSIONERS DEFIANTLY COURT WAR.
If any further evidence be desired to show the deter-
mination of the South for war, we find it officially certified,
by the Confedei'ate Commissioners. In reply to Mr.
Seward's " Memorandum" of March 15th, 1861, they ad-
dress him a long and their final note, dated April 9th.
They assert that the people of seven States " have rejected
the authority of the United States and established a Gov-
ernment of their own." Mr. Seward had referred them to
a National Convention as the only Constitutional method
for negotiation. Notwithstanding this, they complain,
that, while they had come " with the olive-branch of
peace," the Government, — which the Secretary of State
7
132 EESPONSIBILITT FOR THE WAK.
had assured them had no authority in the premises, —
would not treat with them, nor "recoguize the great
fact of a cotnplete and successful revolution.''''
To show whether the leaves of this " olive-branch" were
fresh or withered, observe what they further say :
The undersigned would omit the performance of an obvious duty,
were they to fail to make known to the Government of the United
States, that the people of the Confederate States have declared their
mdependence ivith a full knowledge of all the responsibilities of that act, and
with as firm a determination to maintain it by all the means with
which nature has endowed them, as that which sustained their fathers
when they threw off the authority of the British crown, * * * The
President of the United States knows that Fort Sumter cannot he pro-
visioned without the effusion of blood.
That is, if the United States sliall deign to send provi-
sions to its starving garrison, they Avill, if possible, prevent
it by force. This is the kind of "peace" in the interest
of which these gentlemen present the " olive-branch," and
for which they stand ready to " negotiate" if the President
will but receive them.
A DIPLOMATIC QUIBBLE.
There is one feature of this diplomatic note which
exhibits true Southern chivalry. The Commissioners say
to the Secretary of State, that they understand him to
decline any interview :
Because, to do so, would be to recognize the independence and
separate nationality of the Confederate States. This is the vein of
thought that pervades the memorandum before us. The truth of his-
tory requires that it should distinctly appear upon the record, thai the
undersigned did not ask the Government of the United States to re-
cognize the independence of the Confederate States. They only asked
audience to adjust, in a spirit of amity. and peace, the new relations
springing from a manifest and accomplished revolution in the Government
vf the LATE Federal Union.
A DIPLOMATIC QUIBBLE. 133
How humiliating it is to see the Plenipotentiaries of a
'' first-class Power" resort to such miserable quibbling.
In their first note, they declare at the opening, that they
" have been duly accredited by the Government of the
Confederate States," and they ask at the close, a day to
be appointed, " in order that they may present to the
President of the United States the credentials which they
bear, and the objects of the mission with which they are
charged." In their second and final note, they say to
Secretary Seward, at its opening: " You correctly state
the purport of the official note addressed to you by the
undersigned on the 12th ult." They close this note by
saying : " The undersigned, Commissioners of the Con.
federate States of America^ having thus made answer
to all they deem material in the memorandum filed in
the Department on the 15th of March last, have the
honor to be," &c. And throughout the body of both
notes they assert the nationality of the " Confederate
States" they represent, both de facto and de jure, and
formally declare the grounds on which they assert
such claim. And yet, in the face of all this, they declare
that they '•'■did not ask the Government of the United
States to recognize the independence of the Confederate
States."
What a paltry piece of finesse for " chivalric" gentle-
men! Suppose they "did not ask" this, in terms, did not
the whole proceeding on their part imply that such was
their demand ? And had the United States Government
held any intercourse with them, without an express dis-
claimer, would it not have been pleaded as a virtual re-
cognition? This is on a par with their pretension that
they bear " the olive-branch oi peace,''' while they threaten
the Government with an " efifusion of blood.'''' It is like
every thing else connected with " secession" from first to
134 KESPONSIBILITT FOR THE WAR.
last, — a lie and a cheat; mendacity and hypocrisy, diplo-
matically combined.
It is fm-ther noticeable here, that these Commissioners
had got beyond the " secession" stage of the fever, which
is always claimed to be a peaceful type of this Southern
malady. They speak of "seven States" having effected
"a complete and successful rev olutio7i f SiXidi o^ sea. "ac-
complished revolution^'' &c. They use these terms, not
with reference to any aspect of the case occasioned by
their failure to negotiate with the Government, nor in
consequence of the hostile attitude which they charge the
Government with having taken ; but they claim this as the
status of the seceded States from the first. " Secession,"
then, when defined by themselves, is " revolution ;" and
this revolution, like most others, was begun and has been
carried on till now by acts of war. " Revolution," says
a distinguished writer, " always implies rebellion, and re-
bellion is war."
PUBLIC FACTS DECIDE THE CASE.
But take any view of the case which the facts disclose ;
trace the history of the movement from the first demon-
strations immediately after the ^^residential election,
November 6th, 1860, to the attack upon Fort Sumter,
April 12th, 1861 ; call to mind the seizures of every de-
scription of the property of the United States, made at
every stage between these dates, within rebel reach, upon
land and Avater ; note the pulling down of tlie United
States flag from every place where it floated, on Custom-
Houses, Post-Oflices, Arsenals, Mints, Forts, and Vessels
of War, and the unfurling upon them instead, the flags of
the respective States where this public property was
located, from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, and from
the Missouri to Cape Sable ; estimate the thousands of
EEBEL CONDITIONS OF PEACE. 135
troops called out, mustered, organized, drilled, and equip-
ped with all the munitions of war, in every State which
seceded; observe the formation of the Confederate States
Government, and the adoption of a Constitution other
than that of the United States, and the establishment of
the offices and the exercise of all the functions of an inde-
pendent nationality ; bear in mind that the seizures of this
United States property and the organizing of these armies,
first undertaken by the separate States, and afterwards
sanctioned and adopted by the Government of the Con-
federate States, was for the purpose of maintaining the
independent authority which this new Government had
assumed ; and then, having pondered the case well, let
any honest man ask himself if all this means peace ? — or,
if this be not revolution., and these the movements which
were undertaken to maintain and defend this revolution,
by all the appliances of tear f
That is one side. The other is equally clear, and more
briefly told. The first act of war undertaken by the Gov-
ernment of the United States was on the ]5th of April,
1861, in the calling out of the first body of troops; and
that was done simply to repel the open assaults of its
enemies, to recover its stolen property, and to maintain
itnS rightful authority; with, even then, "twenty days"
given, which might have prevented collision. No Gov-
ernment on earth, called as an umpire, could give any
other judgment between the parties upon the simple ques-
tion of peace and war.
REBEL CONDITIONS OF PEACE SINCE THE WAR BEGAN.
The rebels have talked much of a desire for peace, ever
since the war has been in progress. To show on what
terms they would conclude peace, we insert the conditions
138 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WAR.
given in the JRichniond Enquirer^ of the 16th of October
last. Tliat paper says :
Save on our own terms we can accept no peace whatever^ and must
fight till doomsday rather than yield an iota of them ; and our terms
are: 1. Recognition by the enemy of the independence of the Con-
federate States. 2. Withdrawal of the Yankee forces from every foot
of Confederate ground, including Kentucky and Missouri. 3. Withdrawal
of the Yankee soldiers from Maryland, until that State shall decide by
a free vote wliether she shall remain in the old Union or ask admission
into the Confederacy. 4. Consent on the part of tlie Federal Govern-
ment to give up to the Confederacy its proportion of the Navy as it
stood at the time of Secession, or to pay for the same. 5. Yielding up
all pretension on the part of the Federal Government to that portion
of the old Territories which lies West of the Confederate States. 6.
An equitable settlement, on the basis of our absolute independence and
equal rights, of all accounts of the public debt and public lands, and the
advantages accruing from foreign treaties. * * * These provisions,
we apprehend, comprise the minimum of what we must require before
we lay down our arms. That is to say, the north must yield all
— WE NOTHiNa. The whole pretension of that country to prevent by
force the separation of the States must be abandoned, which will be
equivalent to an avowal that our enemies were wrong fi-om the first ;
and, of course, as they waged a causeless and wicked war upon us,
they ought in strict justice to be required, according to usage in such
cases, to reimburse to us the whole of our expenses and losses in the course of
that war. Whether this last proviso is to be insisted upon or not, cer-
tain we are that we cannot have any peace at all until we shall be in a
position not only to demand and exact, but also to enforce and collect
treasure for our own reimbursement out of the wealthy cities in the
enemy's country. In other words, unless we can destroy or scatter
their armies, and break up their Government, ive can have no peace ; and
if we can do that, then we ought not only to extort from them our
own full terms and ample acknowledgment of their wrong, but also a
handsome indemnity for the trouble and expense caused to us by their
crime. * * * Once more we say, it is all, or nothing. This
Confederacy or the Yankee nation, one or the other, goes down, down
to perdition. That is to say, one or the other must forfeit its national
existence, and lie at the mercy of its mortal enemy. * * * ^g
Kuiely as we completely ruin their armies, — and without that, is no
THE KEBEL PRESIDENT ON PEACE. 137
peace or truce at all, — so surely shall -we make them pay our war debt
though we wring it out of their hearts.
All loyal men will of course cheerfully accept the alter-
native here presented, that " one or the other" of these
" nations" " goes down ;" and that there can be peace in no
other way. It has been our opinion from the beginninor,
that there is no other road to "peace" but to " conquer"
it; to crush the military power of the rebellion, which
means to crush the leaders. They will fight as long as they
can keep their armies together ; but the time may come
when the people, who have been their dupes, will rise up
and themselves dispose of them.
These " terms of peace" are instructive to two classes, —
the truly loyal and the " peace" men. These " terms" un-
doubtedly express the views of the rebel leaders. They
show to the loyal the utter hopelessness of any conditions
emanating from the South, which can for a moment claim
serious consideration ; and they thus show the paramount
duty of every citizen, in sustaining the Government in its
eftbrts to crush the rebellion, that peace may be attained.
They show to that class who are always crying " peace,"
and who are mourning over the grievous burdens of the
Government, to what a repast of tnxation and plunder they
are invited by their Southern friends.
THE REBEL PRESIDENT AND REBEL CONGRESS ON PEACE.
These "terms" also explain what has been meant by the
rebel President and his Congress when they have spoken
of " peace," and when they have attempted to make capital
for foreign consumption out of their complaints against the
United States Government, that the precious boon could
not be obtained by them.
In an " Address of Congress to the People of the Con-
138 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WAR.
federate States," issued from Richmond in February last,
it is said :
This cruel war has been waged against us, and its continuance has
been seized upon as a pretext by some discontented persons to excite
hostility to the Government. Eecent and public as have been the occur-
rences, it is strange that a misapprehension exists as to the conduct of
the two Governments in reference to peace. Allusion has been made
to the unsuccessful efforts, when separation tool^ place, to procure an
amicable adjustment of all matters in dispute. These attempts at nego-
tiation do not comprise all that has been done. In every form in which
expression could be given to the sentiments, — in public meetings, through
the press, by legislative resolves, — the desire of this people for peace,
for the uninterrupted enjoyment of their rights and prosperity, has been
made known.
We know what they regard as " their riglits," and there-
fore know what kind of " peace" they have desired and
manifested in all these modes. They are set forth in the
*' terms" above given.
Then the Address of this Congress goes on to say that
President Davis has joined in this pervading " desire," and
many times expressed it in his State papers :
The President, more authoritatively, in several of his messages, while
protesting the utter absence of all desire to interfere with the United
States, or acquire any of tlieir territory, has avo'<ved that the "advent of
peace will be hailed with joy. Our desire for it has never been concealed.
Our efforts to avoid the war, forced on us as it was by the lust of con-
quest and the insane passions of our foes, are known to mankind."
And having thus spoken of their President, of themselves,
and their people, they speak of the Government of the
United States, as follows :
The course of the Federal Government has proved that it did not de-
sire peace, and would not consent to \t on any terms that we could possibly
concede. In proof of this, we refer to the repeated rejection of all terms
of conciliation and compromise; to their recent contemptuous refusal to
receive the Vice-President, who was sent to negotiate for softening the
THEY MISEEPBESEKT THE CASE. 139
asperities of the war ; and their scornful rejection of the offer of a neu-
tral power to mediate between the contending parties.
THEY MISREPRESENT THE CASE.
If the gentlemen composing the Congress that issued this
Address, or Mr. Davis in his Message, can seriously believe
tliat any person who understands the case will be duped
by such representations, it is evidence that rebel infatuation
has gone deeper into their souls than we had supposed. To
protest, as they do, that there is in them an " utter absence
of all desire to interfere with the United States, or acquire
any of tJieir territory^'' and to charge that " the lust of
conqicesf'' is the motive of the United States in prosecuting
the war, is to assume the whole matter in dispute. They
make it a condition precedent to negotiation for " peace,"
or even to negotiation " for softening the aspei-ities of the
war," that the United States shall give up the vital point
at issue between the parties. If they will but do that, at
the outset^ then the door will be open for settling aU matters
of detail.
The whole question in issue is one involving nationality^
and hence of territorial jurisdiction. The United States
claim jurisdiction over the whole country. The Confede-
rates claim jurisdiction over a part of it. Which claim is
just, is not now material; nor is it material, here, which
party began the Avar. The parties are at war, to determine
the claim ; the South fighting for their independence, the
United States for maintaining their rule intact over the
whole country.
These being the facts, the point in hand is. Which party
is bent on war, and which is burning with a desire for
peace ? The " Confederate States" charge the United
States with a wilful indisposition to peace, and a ferocious
thirst for war ; a^d insist, before all the world, that they
7*
140 RESPONSIBILITY FOE THE WAR.
are anxious for peace, and they only. The solution is simple.
Our amazement is, that men, in their official acts and man-
ifestoes, should not admit the truth in so plain a case. That
the " dtsii-e for peace" is mutual, is unquestionable. The
deter minat ion lor " war" is also mutual, and the alternative
on wliich its prosecution rests is the same with both par-
ties ; the " Confederate States" determined to prosecute it
until they gain their independence, and establish their na-
tionality unmolested over a part of the country, and the
United States determined to prosecute it until they regain
their rule over the whole country. So far as declarations
and corresponding acts go, this mutual determination is as
plain as terms can make any proposition. What the final
result will be, — which party will carry out its determination
to the end, and triumphantly, or whether either will, — are
matters foreign to the j^resent point.
Now in view of these indisputable facts, it is worse than
idle for either party to monopolize all the " desire for
peace," as the case now stands, and to charge the other with
possessing the sole passion for " war." Both the desire
and the determination mentioned are mutual, when we con-
sider the ends at which the parties are aiming. We are,
therefore, somewhat surprised that sensible men, — and Mr.
Davis and his Congress claim to be sensible, — should make
so lame an attempt, in official documents, to mislead the
world on so plain a point ; to charge that the United States
are ferocious, while they are so lamb-hke. The United
States are ready for peace at any moment, on their terms y
and the rebels are ready for peace on their terms ; and, at
present, both are determined for war, until their respective
terms shall be granted.
This is the 'whole case as it now stands; and he who
represents it otherwise, writes himself down a falsifier of
the plamcst public facts.
THE QUESTION IGNORED BY THE REBELS. 141
THE EEAL QUESTION IGNORED BY THE REBELS.
While the question of nationality plainly underlies the
whole contest, and while to settle it the war is prosecuted,
the rebels constantly attempt to ignore this question. Mr.
Davis does this in his Message above quoted, when insist-
ing that the United States are prosecuting a war of " con-
quest." The rebel Congress do the same in their Address,
as seen m their illustrations to prove the charge that the
Federal Government " did not desire peace." They refer,
as an example, to the " contemptuous refusal to receive the
Vice-President, who was sent to negotiate for softening
the asperities of the war." Why was he not received, and
why is the " refusal" deemed " contemptuous ?" Look at
the facts.
Mr. Stephens was in James River, on a " Confederate
steamer" called the Torpedo, with a " Confederate flag"
flying. From tliat vessel, under a flag of truce, he sent a
letter to an ofiicer of the United States Navy, asking per-
mission to come up to Washington in his vessel, and deliver
his credentials, embracing a letter from Jefierson Davis,
" President of the Confederate States," to Abraham Lin-
coln, President of the United States, and as a Minister of
one Government to open negotiations with the other.
This was in July, 1863. That is to say — He was there in
his official character as Ambassador, upon a national ves-
sel of the Confederate States, bearing official dispatches
from his Government to that of the United States, to nego-
tiate tvpon inatters of tJie highest national concern, namely .,
of 2'>eace and war. This is the rebel view of the case.
Had he been received, in the manner sought, it would
have been equivalent to a concession of all the rebels claimed
on the simple issue of nationality y hence, his mission was
declined. Because it was declined, the rebel Congress
142 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WAR.
take it in high dudgeon, and pronounce it a "'contemptuous
i-efusal." The contemiDt consisted in not at once virtually-
acknowledging their natiouaUty.*
Why not fight it out, gentlemen, as the question has
been referred to the sword ? Or, if tired of that, why seek
to gain your end by a trick of diplomacy ? If it was sim-
ply Mr. Stephens w^hom you wished to intnist with the
negotiation, — an acknowledged statesman, of high char-
acter, and a man as likely to be received by the Govern-
ment as any other prominent rebel leader, — why not send
him simply as Mr. Stephens ? But, plainly, it was Mr.
Stephens as " Confederate States" Ambassador, whom you
insisted should make his august approach to Washington.
You would thus, if possible, gain the whole case by diplo-
macy, which might not be gained by the sw^ord ; and you
would have the point acknowledged by the United Slates
Government at the start, in order that negotiation might
begin, or else you Avould pour complaints into the ears of
all the earth.
* Mr. Davis's Letter of " Instructions to Mr. Stephens" is dated Richmond, July 2,
1863. He gives him also a " Letter of authority to the Commander-in-Chief of the
Army and Navy of the United States," and it is " signed by me," Mr. Davis says, as
"Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Land and Naval forces." In the former
document, Mr. Davis says : "If objection is made lo receiving your Letter on the
ground that it is not addressed to Abraham Lincoln a^ President, instead of Com-
mander-in-Chief, &c., then you Avill present the duplicate Letter, which is addressed
to him as President, and signed by me as President. To this Letter, objection m.iy
be made on the ground that I am not recognized to be President of the Confederacy.
In this event, you will decline any further attempt to confer on the subject of your
mission, as such conference is admissible only on the footing of perfect equality."
With these documents in his pocket, Mr. Stephens sailed down James River, and
addressed a note to Kear- Admiral Lee, of the United States Navy, dated, " Confed-
erate States steamer Torpedo, on James River, July 4, 1863," in which he says : " I
desire to proceed directly to Washington in the steamer Torpedo, commanded by
Lieutenant Hunter Davidson, of the Confederate States Navy, no person being on
board but the Hon. Mr. Ould and myself, and the boat's officers and crew." (Signed)
" Alexander H. Stephens." These documents show the ground on which the re-
spective parties were placed by the Richmond authorities, and what was required
to be conceded by the United States Government, antecedent to the opening of
negotiations.
KEBKL OFFICIAL MENDACITY. 143
When the question had been debated for two whole
years, with powder and shot and shell, and the discussion
was still going on in that manner, truly these kind gentle-
men were very sensitive, if such " contemptuous" conduct
could disturb them seriously.
REBEL OFFICIAL MENDACITY.
But there is something more serious here than this
rebel charge of contempt. When these sensitive gentle-
men charge that " the Federal Government would not
consent" to peace " on any terms" that they " could pos-
sibly concede," and say, "in proof of this we refer to the
repeated rejection of all terms of conciliation and com-
jyromise,^^ the charge attains a seriousness which claims
consideration. It is nothing short of the most deliberate
and direct official mendacity. Do they, in their long and
labored Address, specify any " terms of com]yromisel!'' to
which, they say, " we refer ?" None whatever. Were there
any such "terms" extant to which they co?<Zc? "refer?"
None whatever. Did their authorities ever, in any shape,
propose ANY " terms of conciliation and compromise ?"
Never, in a single instance. Let him who denies it, show it.
Much less is the Federal Government guilty of " the repeat-
ed rejection^'' or even one " rejection" of any such " terms ;"
for, none such were ever once made. This is well known.
The whole question, as we have said, respects the claim
of the Federal Government to the entire territory of the
Union, and that of the " Confederate Government" to a
part of it. The Federal Government has never proposed
to " compromise" that question, and undoubtedly it never
will. On the other hand, is it pretended that the rebel
authorities have ever presented, in any way, even indirect-
ly, " terms" that did not embody their claim to an inde-
pendent nationality over a portion of the territory claimed
144 RESPONSIBILITY FOE THE WAR.
by the Federal Government ? No honest ninn will pretend
this. What, then, have they proposed to " compromise,"
a rejection of which warrants them in charging that the
United States " would not consent" to peace ? JSFothing
tinder heaven. Tliere has been no " compromise" on eitlier
side offered, touching the question of territorial jurisdic-
tion,— the radical point at issue, — the only question which
has broken peace, and the only question which continues
w'ar. We therefore speak plainly, but truly, when we say
that this rebel charge is nothing short of an oflBcial and de-
liberate falsification of the truth; and no persons know it
better than the rebel Congress who adopted this Address.
So, also, on another point, these chivalric gentlemen
show an equal disregard of truth, where the plainest his-
torical facts confront them. They say in this same Address :
" Allusion has been made to the unsuccessful efforts, when
separation took place, to i^rocure an amicable adjustment
of all matters in dispute;'''' and for this result, they hold
the United States Government responsible. They of course
allude in the phrase, " when separation took place," to the
time and the " efforts" of the South Carolina Commission-
ers Avho corresponded with President Buchanan, and to
those of the " Confederate States" Commissioners who cor-
responded with Secretary Seward, both of which cases we
have already noticed. Bat, so far from those Commission-
ers proposing to negotiate upon " all matters in dispute,"
the matter which one party regarded as the u^hole question
at issue, — the right of jurisdiction, in the Federal Govern-
ment, o^er the whole territory of the Union, — neither set
of those Commissioners opened, or would open, at all.
They did not regard it, in any sense, as an open question,
but in every sense as a question settled forever by the sole
action of one of the parties, the authorities they represented.
Wlien the Secretai-y of State referred them to a National
REBEL OFFICIAL MENDACITY. 145
Convention as the only tribunal for negotiation upon that
Cj'iestion which the Federal Government regarded as the
vital one, and as underlying " all matters in dispute," the
Confederate Commissioners replied in a style which shows
that dijjlomacy and negotiation were at an end. They say
to the Secretary, in their iinal note : .
Persistently weddea to those fatal theories of construction of the
Federal Constitution always rejected by the statesmen of the South, and
adhered to by the Administration school, * * * you now, with a
isersistence untaught and uncured by the ruin which has been wrought,
refuse to recognize the great fact presented to you of a complete and
successful revolution; you close your eyes to the existence of the Govern-
ment founded upon it, and ignore the high duties of moderation and
humanity which attach to you in doaUng with this great fact.
It thus appears, that in each and every instance of at-
tempted negotiation, beginning with the South Carolina
Commissioners and Mr. Buchanan, and coming down to
the proposed visit of the Rebel "Vice-President," in July,
1863, and to the time of putting forth this Address by the
Rebel Congress in February, 1864, the rebel authorities
have uniformly adhered to their claim of nationality ; and
yet, in the face of all this, they pretend to have repeatedly
offered " terms of conciliation and compromise," and di-
rectly charge the Federal Government with " the repeated
rejection" of such terms.
In all the instances of plain, deliberate, imvarnished
falsehood, both oflScial and unofficial, which have charac-
terized the leaders in this rebellion, — and they have been
neither few nor far between, — this case of the Rebel Presi-
dent and the Rebel Congress is among those which are
noteworthy ; first, on account of its perfect stark naked-
ness, having not the least shadow of a basis to rest upon ;
and secondly, because it is a hyj^ocritical whining to make
an impression that they are the most peaceful and meek
creatures upon earth.
146 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WAE.
The case is a simple one. The facts show that the South
are responsible for beginning the Avar, as they are respon-
sible for beginning the rebellion. They also show that
both parties are ready for peace, when their terms can be
granted ; and that they are equally bent on war, in the
hope that their ends may be gained.
ANOTHER EFFORT FOR PEACE. NIAGARA FALLS CON-
FERENCE.
We have already seen that every movement, official and
unofficial, on the part of the rebels, for peace, has been
based on a dismemberment of the Union, and the recog-
nition and establishment of the Southern Confederacy as
a separate nation. From the beginning till now, while
mourning over the horrors of the war, and attempting to
fix the whole responsibility for its continuance upon the
Government, the rebel leaders and their presses have in-
sisted on this condition as a sine qua non in any terms of
peace ; and generally, too, they have taken a course which
involved this condition, as antecedent eY&n to entering upon
negotiations.
The case is not in the least altered by the latest efforts
which have come to our knowledge. Mr. C. C. Clay, Jr.,
formerly in the United States Senate from Alabama, and
Professor James P. Holcombe, lately of the Rebel Con-
gress, from Virginin, met at ISriagara Falls with Hon.
Horace Greeley, of New York, about the middle of July,
and held a consultation about terminating the war and
settling conditions of peace. It was at first supposed, as
appears from the correspondence which has been widely
published, that Messrs. Clay and Holcombe were "duly
accredited fit)m Richmond, as the bearers of propositions
looking to the establishment of peace." That impression
was in some way made upon the mind of Mr. Greeley, and
ANOTHER EFFORT FOR PEACE. 147
as lie had been requested by them through a third person
to obtain for tbem a safe-conduct to Washington, he com-
municated their desire to the President of the United
States ; and, thereupon, Mr. Greeley and the President's
Private Secretary were promptly authorized- to go to Nia-
gara to consult with them, and to " tender" to them the
President's "safe-conduct on the journey proposed," pro-
vided their character and mission w^ere such as Mr. Greeley
had imagined. It turned out, however, that they were
not authorized by the Rebel Government. They wholly
disavow any official character in -which to conduct negotia-
tions " looking to the establishment of peace," but declare
that they are " in the confidential employment of their
Government, and are entirely ^miliar with its wishes
and opinions on that subject," and think, if they can be
allowed to go to Washington and to Richmond, that they,
or other gentlemen, " would be at once invested with the
authority" to negotiate.
Mr. Greeley thereupon determined to " solicit fi-esh in-
structions" from the President. He immediately obtains
them; and the President announces the terms on which
he will receive and consider a proposition for peace " which
comes by and with an authority that can control the
armies now at war against the United States." No terms
had been intunated, by Messrs. Clay and Holcombe, on
which "their Government" would make peace, though
they claimed to be "famihar with its wishes." Among
the terms named by the President as a basis for negotia-
tions, is that which has always lain at the bottom of the
strife, and to maintain which the Government has been at
war from the first, viz.: "the integrity of the whole
Union." This has always been deemed the great and un-
alterable condition,— the maintenance of our nationality.
At this point, this conference on the part of the " con-
lis RESPONSIBILITY FOB THE WAR.
fidential" employes of tlie Rebel Government breaks
down. Jeiferson Davis " controls the armies now at war
against the United States," as the head, of that " Govern-
ment" with whose " wishes and opinions" on peace they
" are entirely familiar." KnoAving that " their Govern-
ment" is unalterably determined on maintaining indepen-
dence against " the integrity of the whole Union," they
declare that their rulers "have no right to barter away
their priceless heritage of self-government.'''' They also
say for their people at large : " While an ardent desire
for peace pervades the people of the Confederate States,
we rejoici to believe that there are few, if any among
them, who would purchase it at the exj^ense of liberty,
honor, and self-respect. If it can be secured only by their
submission to terms of conquest, the generation is yet un-
born which will witness its restitution." And so the affair
terminates.
It thus appears from this last semi-official effort, con-
ducted by these " confidential" gentlemen, that the rebel
authorities and people, although anxious for peace, and
anxious to throw the whole responsibility of continuing
the war upon our Government and people, still insist, as
the only possible basis for peace, on a total dismember-
ment of the Union, and a complete establishment of the
Southern Confederacy as a separate nation.
MISSION TO RICHMOND. PEACE AGAIN.
About the time that the Niagara Falls conference was
in progress, a mission was undertaken by two gentlemen
to the rebel capital, which lias generally been understood
to have some connection with movements for peace ; or,
at least, to ascertain, if possible, the temper of the Rich-
mond authorities on that 'subject.
Whatever its object may have been, it is known that
MISSION TO EICHMONI>. — PEACE AGAIN. 149
Colonel Jaques, commanding an Illinois regiment in the
Federal army, and Mr. James R. Gilmore, of Boston, made
a vi-sit to Richmond in July, and after having intercourse
with the Rebel President and other officials, returned
within the Union lines. Their mission was authorized or
permitted by the Government at Washington, and they
were passed through the lines of the army by General
Grant. They were kindly and hospitably received, as
they report, during their brief stay in Richmond, and had
an opportunity to gain valuable information.
All that bears upon our immediate subject, so for as the
object of this mission has been made public, is found in a
letter of Mr. Gilmore, under date of July 22, 1864. Re-
ferring to the Niagara Falls conference, between Messrs.
Greeley, Clay, and Holcombe, he says :
It will result in nothing. Jefferson Davis said to me last Sunday, —
and, with all his faults, I believe him a man of truth, — "This war must
go on till the last of this generation falls in his tracks, and his children
seize his musket and fight our battle, unless you acknowledge our right to
self-govermnent. We are not fighting for slavery. We are fighting for
Independence^ and that, or extermination, we will have."
This statement shows, that the position taken by Mr.
Davis as late as Sunday, the 1 7th of July, is precisely the
same in terms, upon peace, as that declared by Messrs.
Clay and Holcombe, in their final note to Mr. Greeley, un-
der date at Niagara of July 21st. The great point which
divides the parties is the same now as in the beginning,
and is that which led to the war ; the rebels determined
on dividing the Union, destroying our nationality, and
claiming " self-government and independence ;" and our
Government determined on maintaining our nationality
and preserving " the integrity of the whole Union."
Whatever Mr. Davis, — who is indorsed by Mr. Gilmore
as "a man of truth," — may find it convenient to say at this
150 BESPONSIBILITY FOB THE WAR.
late period, for private or public effect, for domestic or
trans- Atlantic consumption, about their " not fighting for
slavery," the world well knows, — the proof comes from
the rebels themselves, and we have given it in full, — that
" slavery" was the prompting cause which led them first
to " secede" for " independence," and then to " fight" in
order to establish it.
Our main purpose, however, in referring to these late
movements upon peace, is to hold up the fact that it is
OUT nationality which is at stake in the war; that the
rebels will not make " peace," though they may constantly
clamor for it, except on the condition of a total destruction
of the Union. This is their ulthnatwn^ and it has been
their position from the first. We are free to say, that as
to maintain " the integrity of the whole Union" was the
position taken by our Government and people from the
first, we hope this position will be held to the end. If on
that issue the rebels, in the words of their President,
court " extermination," then let them be exterminated.
We have said, as simply indicating our opinion, that we
believed there would be no peace till it was conquered by a
destruction of the rebel armies, and resulted in the com-
plete triumph of the Government and the re-establishment
of the national authority over every foot of the Union.
This has been our conviction from the first, and it is our
conviction still. And yet, we have many times seen it
illustrated since the war began, that it is safest not to pro-
pHiBsy. It is possible that the leading conspirators may
be willing to submit to the Government before their mili-
tary power is totally overthrown, but we doubt it; and it
is among the possible eventualities which may occur, as
the result of the pending Presidential canvass, that the
people may be willing, in order to spare tlie effusion of
MISSION TO RICHMOND. — PEACE AGAIN. 151
blood, to submit to a settlement on the basis of a recogni-
tion of the Rebel Confederacy ; but we have much mis-
taken Avhat Ave believe to be their fixed purpose if this
shall be finally achieved. We shall therefore adhere to
our earliest and present opinions, until the event shall
prove them erroneous.
152 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHUKCH.
CHAPTER V.
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH FOR THE
REBELLION AND THE WAR.
In charging the full responsibility for the rebellion upon
the South, we must go back of the public actors on the
political arena to find a proper lodgment for a large share
of it.
Immediately upon the result of the Presidential election
of 1860 being made known by the electric flash, the trea-
sonable work began.
Upon the sixth of November (the day of the election) [sa,ys Dr.
Palmer, speaking of the people of the seceded States generally], these
masses went to bed as firmly attached to the Union as they had ever
been, and awoke on the seventh, after Mr. Lincoln's election, just a3
determined upon resistance to his rule. The revolution in public opin-
ion was far too sudden, too universal, and too radical, to be occasioned
by the craft and jugglery of politicians. It was not their wire-dancing
upon party platforms which thus instantaneously broke up the deep
foundations of the popular will, and produced this spontaneous uprising
of the people in the majesty of their supremacy ; casting party hacks
aside, who shall have no control over a movement not having its genesis
in their machinations.
The substantial truthfulness, in good part, of what is
here related, suggests the most painful and humiliating
feature which the three years' progress of the rebellion
exhibits. The above was published in April, 1861, in the
Southern Presbyterian Revieic, of Columbia, South Caro-
lina, before the attack upon Fort Sumter. At that time
the secession of seven States had occurred. As stated in a
former chapter, it is well known that a majority of the
KESPONSIBILITT OF THE SOUTHERN CHUECH. 153
people in nearly every one of the seceded States was at
first against secession ; that in fact many of the States were
carried out by violence, and in direct opposition to the will
of the people ; and that, as regards the most of them, their
ordinances of secession were not submitted to a popular
vote. Dr. Palmer's language is therefore altogether too
sweeping, as to the suddenness and universality of the
change in the popular sentiment of even the seven States
to which he refers. It did not become "universal" and
" radical" for secession till long afterwards, even if there
has not always been, as indeed facts assure us, a strong
Union element in the seceded States. Writing in the
spring of 1861, he gives the impressions which things then
occurring about him made upon his enthusiastic nature,
rather than the facts as they existed immediately after the
Presidential election.
The Gulf States had then seceded ; the Provisional Gov-
ernment at Montgomery had been inaugurated ; the bat-
teries of his own native Carolina were thickly gathering
around beleagured Sumter ; their opening upon the devoted
fortress was anxiously awaited, to bring the Old Dominion
and other States into the ranks of treason ; and already
Southern orators were painting the visions of coming glory
which would soon burst in full-orbed splendor upon the
great Slave Empire of the Gulf The eloquent divine was
too much dazzled by that bewildering present and its glow-
ing future to be a safe chronicler of the events of even the
then recent past.
But admitting substantially what he declares on this
point (only with abatement as to time), and freely con-
ceding that " the revolution in public opinion" was by no
means " occasioned by the craft and jugglery of politicians,"
we are then led to inquire, what mysterious and potent
agency it was which " broke up the deep foundations of
154 EESrOXSIBILITT OF THE SOUTHERN CHUKCH.
the popular will," and which, if it did not assume, by
" casting party hacks aside," absolute control over a
movement not having " its genesis in their machinations,"
did at least furnish the intellectual and moral pabulum
upon which the popular appetite was feasted, and the
popular strength nerved for the dark deeds which were
before it? We would know who is to be held cldejly
responsible^ when we are told that " the deep foundations
of the popular will" were broken up in a single night, and
that the great popular heart, hitherto " firmly attached to
the Union," was so suddenly, by a " spontaneous uprising
of the people in the majesty of their supremacy," brought
to abjure the Union, and to love all that was treacherous
and perjured and vile !
There must have been some powerful cause for this, of
which he does not inform us. The people never act with-
out leaders, in a revolution or in any other great move-
ment. We have no difficulty in finding the secret which
perhaps Dr. Palmer's modesty would withhold. His own
teachings, in good part, and the teachings of others of his
own profession, furnish the mournful answer to these
astounding questions.
The real truth of the case deiiberately and solemnly
holds the Southern Cliurchand the Southern ministry, — or
the Southern ministry, with a few influential laymen, lead-
ing the Southern Church, and they together leading the
more influential portion of the Southern millions, — to a
vastly higher responsibility for the inception, advocacy,
progress, and the consequences resulting, of this treason
and rebellion, than any other class among the Southern
people ; and, in asserting this, we but agree with Southern
statesmen, whose testimony, to be given in due time, coi'-
roborates what the pal])able facts so fully and lamentably
declare.
KEV. J. H. THOENWELL AIDS THE REBELLION. 155
EARLY AGENCY OF LEADING DIVINES.
To substantiate this grave indictment, it is only neces-
sary to notice events in the order of their occurrence, at
the beginning of the rebellion and for the few montlis
which immediately succeeded. The Presidential election
occurred on the sixth of ISTovember, 1860, and the ferment
in South Carolina commenced immediately after, and soon
spread into other States. The State authorities of South
Carolina, — who, we presume, are included by T)v. Palmer
among those that on the sixth of November " went to bed
as firmly attached to the Union as they had ever been (for
thirty years at least), and awoke on the seventh, after Mr.
Lincoln's election, just as determined upon resistance to
his rule," — were not at least then so taken up with " their
wire-dancing upon party platforms," that they could not
think upon their schemes with what we must charitably
suppose was some little serious concern ; and so they ap-
poiQted a State Fast for the twenty-first of November,
just fifteen days after the election. We have the sermon
which was preached on that day by Dr. Thornwell, at
Columbia, the State capital.
REV. JAMES H. THORNWELL, D. D., AIDS THE REBELLION.
All who have known the preacher, and the reputation
he had, know that he was a man of master mind and com-
manding influence. He combined logical acuteness,
strength in argument, perspicuity of style, and oratorical
power, as they are found in but very few men. He was
idolized and honored both in and out of the Church, in his
native State and elsewhere, for his great natural abilities,
profound attainments, and ripe scholarship. We cannot
detract from his fair fame in any of these respects, nor
have we the least disposition to do so. He was in all
15(3 EESPOXSIBILITT OF THE SOUTHEKN CHURCH.
respects a very eminent man. In the South he was called
"the Calhoun of the Church." He had been President of
the State College at Coltnnbia, had often preached before
the South Carolina Legislature, at their request, and was,
at the time the rebellion began, a Professor in the Theo-
logical Seminary of the Presbyterian Church at Columbia.
As his work is done on earth, and he has departed this
life, we cannot say any thing disparaging to his memory,
further than a condemnation of his sentiments and great
influence, as giving early and efficient aid to a most wicked
rebellion, maybe construed as doing so. We know of no
principle in ethics, however, which would justly condemn
a candid examination at the present time of what he wrote
and published, and the holding of the influence which he
exerted in favor of the rebellion to its just measure of re-
sponsibility, v^hich would not also condemn the animad-
version of the historian a hundred years hence. In what
we say, therefore, here and elsewhere, we shall exhibit no
squeamishness in dealing Avith his views. We admired
him when living, and for the same qualities we admire
him now, dead; and simply of the man we can sincerely
say, Requiescat in pace. But his published sentiments
upon the rebellion, as upon every other subject, are the
property of the public.
This sermon of Dr. Thornwell, preached so soon after
the Presidential election, and only wanting a day of one
full month before the secession of the Staie of South Caro-
lina and the assembling of her Convention, enters into and
urges the whole doctrine of secession on the ground of
Constitutional right, the alleged encroachment upon
slavery being given as the justifying cause. We nc^ed not
say that this work was done with ability. It could not
be done otherwise, when tlie preacher attempted to layout
his strength. We give only a sentence or two from this
DE. THORN well's FAST-DAY DISCOURSE. 157
discourse, the object being simply to show his position
rather than his argument, as our only aim here is to pre-
sent the simple fact of responsihility^ as seen in the order
of time. An article published soon after, to which we
shall subsequently refer, presents his argimient for seces-
sion more fully, justifying it on the same ground here
assumed, the alleged encroachments upon slavery.
niS FAST-DAT DISCOURSE, NOV. 21, 1860.
In his sermon he says :
The Union which our fathers designed to be perpetual, is on the
verge of dissolution. A name once dear to our hearts, has become in-
tolerable to entire States. Once admired, loved, almost adored, as the
citadel and safeguard of freedom, it has become, in many minds, synony-
mous with oppression, with treachery, with falsehood, and with vio-
lence. The Government to which we once invited the victims of
tyranny from every part of the world, and under whose ample shield
we gloried in promising them security and protection — that Government
has become hateful in the very regions in which it was once hailed
with the greatest loyalty.
The cause of this feeling in the South is thus stated :
There is one subject, however, in relation to which the non-slavehold-
ing States have not only broken faith, but have justified their course
upon the plea of conscience. We allude to the subject of slavery. They
have been reluctant to open the Territories to the introduction of slaves,
and have refused to restore fugitives to their masters. * * * I sliall
restrict myself to our dealings with the institution which has produced
the present convulsions of the country, and brought us to the verge of
ruin. [And near the close he warns his hearers, that, for the sake of
"the institution," they may have to meet the horrors of war and car-
nage— prophetic, and awfully true:] Even though our cause be just,
and our course approved of Heaven, our path to victory may be through
a baptism of blood. Liberty has its martyrs and confessors, as well as
religion. The oak is rooted amid wintry storms. * * * Our State
may suffer; she may suffer grievously ; she may suffer long. Be it so:
we shall love her aU the more tenderly and the more intensely, the
more bitterly she suffers.
158 EESPONSIBILITT OF THE SOUTHERN CUURCH.
The foregoing sentences, to which many in a similar
strain naight be added, show the key-note thus early
struck. How eloquent and earnest men become, — and the
ministers of religion, too, — when pleading for "slavery"
in the name of "liberty," and braving all the miseries of
war for its sake !*
HE VINDICATES THE SECESSION GE SOUTH CAROLINA.
South Carolina seceded on the 20th of December, 1860.
Immediately after, Dr. Thornwell wrote his elaborate
vindication of the act, reviewing the " Ordinance" and
" Declaration of the Immediate Causes," &c., put forth by
the Convention. It was published in the Southern Pres-
byterian (Quarterly) 7^6 z'?*e?r, for January, 1861. It was
regarded by Southern statesmen as by fir the ablest paper
written on the subject, and several editions were published
and sown broadcast over the South. In this article he
says :
*An event showing Dr. ThornwelTs animus about secession, occurred still
earlier. The Presidential electors in South Carolina are chosen by the Legislature
instead of by the people. The Legislature met on the day of election (Nov. 6th,
1860) to choose electors. Dr. Thornwell opened the session with prayer. We have
this prayer, at length, as taken at the time from a Southern paper. In the midst of
much that is excellent, these sentences are f(>«nd, which, considering the time,
occasion, and circumstances, are significant of what soon after became open treason
and rebellion : "O God! the destiny of this country may turn upon the events of a
few short hours." " Give wisdom to all our assemblies ; give the spirit of a sound
mind to the members of this Confederacy, and grant that Thy name may be glorified.
If it be Thy will that a dilferent destiny awaits u.s, we ask Thy blessing upon our
Common we.alth." " We beseech that Thy favor may rest upon all those States that
have a common interest with us. We beseech Thee that they may be bound to-
gether in the holy ties of truth, justice, and love. Give us, we beseech Thoc, an
honorable name among the nations of the earth." Dr. Thornwell avowed himself
for rebellion even earlier than election day, by at least some si.t months. When
the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church was sitting in Rochester, New
York, in May, the news of Mr. Lincoln's nomination at Chicago, just then made,
became a topic of conversation. Dr. Thornwell declared that if either Mr. Lincoln
or Mr. Douglas were elected, the .Southern States would inevitably secede ; that
neither was acceptable to the South ; that secession was a foregone condusion; and
that the South would not and ought noi to acquiesce in the election of either.
OPEN RESISTANCE COUNSELLED, 159
South Carolina lias now become a separate and independent State.
She takes her place as an equal among the other nations of the earth.
This is certainly one of the most grave and important events of modern
times. It involves the destiny of a continent, and, through that conti-
nent, the fortunes of the human race.
This fixes the writer's own estimate of the responsibility
which he and his telle w-clergy men assumed in taking the
lead in a matter so momentous.
He then proposes to declare " the causes which have
brought about this astounding result ;" declares, " that
there was a cause, and an adequate cause, might be pre-
sumed fiom the character of the Convention which passed
the ordinance of secession, and the perfect unanimity with
which it was done ;" that " it embraced the wisdom,
moderation, and integrity of the bench, the learning and
prudence of the bar, and the eloquence and piety of the
jMlpit f and then says, showing the cause to be what we
have before stated, that it was " the universal sentiment
of all, that the Constitution of the United States has been
virtually repealed, and that every slaveholding State has
just ground for secession?'' He then, in view of the fact
assumed, " that the Constitution, in its relations to slavery^
has been virtually repealed," says : " If this point can be
made out, secession becomes not only a right, hut a bounden
duty.'''' Such is the burden of the argument which per-
vades the entire article.
OPEN RESISTANCE COUNSELLED.
The following sentences will show still further, from
the same article, how o^yen resista?ice to the Government
was urged at this early period by this stanch Churchman,
and the responsibility which he, as an influential leader of
God's people, thus voluntarily assumed :
Now, we say that this state of things is not to be borne- A free people
can never consent to their own degradation. * * * if^ therefore,
160 EESPOISrSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHUKCH.
the Soutli is not prepared to see her institutions surrounded by enemies,
and wither and decay under these hostile influences ; if she means to
cherish and fjrotect them, it is her boundeu duty to resist the revolution
which threatens them with ruin. The triumph of the principles which
Mr. Lincoln is pledged to carry out, is the death'-knell of slavery.*
More exhortations to open resistance are found in this
article :
If the Soutli could be induced to submit to Lincoln, the time, we con-
fidently predict, will come when all grounds of controversy will be
removed in relation to fugitive slaves, by expunging the provision under
which they are claimed. The principle is at work and enthroned in
power, whose inevitable tendency is to secure this result. Let us crush
the serpent in the egg. * * * "We know it to be the fixed determina-
tion of them all (the slaveholding States), not to acquiesce in the prin-
ciples which have brought Mr. Lincoln into power. * * * Xhe evil
day may be put off, but it must come. The country must he divided into
two people, and the point which we wish now to press upon the whole
South, is the importance of preparing at once for this consummation.
* * * Conquered we never can be. * * * To save the Union is
impossible. * * * "^"g prefer peace — b^d if war must come, we are
prepared to meet it with unshaken confidence in the God of battles.
CHARGE OF TREASON ESTABLISHED.
The foregoing is sufficient to show the influence which
the powerful pen of Dr. Thornwell gave to secession, when
it was yet in its embryo state, witli the exception of South
Carolina. If these utterances are not, — morally and be-
fore God, and by the Constitution and laws, — instinct with,
treason., then it is difficult to define the term. The Con-
stitution of the United States ("to whicli," even Dr. Thorn-
well admits, " these States swore allegiance") says :
* Wc liave shown in previous pages, by docameiitai-y proof, that so far from Mr.
Lincoln having been "pledgerl to carry out" any " principles" which would interfere
with the rights of the States over slavery, he was "pledged" to do just the contrary;
by all the speeches he made and letters he wrote when a candidate, by the platform
of the party that nominated him, by his letter of acceptance, by his Inaugural
Address, and by all else he said and did.
DR8. THORJfWELL, LELANP, AND ADGER. 161
"Treason against the United States shall consist only in
le\yiiig war aoainst thetn, or in adhering to their enemies,
giving them aid and comfort." Dr. Thoniwell's writings
and speeches show an adherence to the " enemies'' of the
Government, and were a powerful incitement to the " war"
now raging ; were so used, and thus gave the most sub-
stantial " aid. and comfort" to rebels in arms, — that of
moral countenance and earnest support, the most essential
element of success, and without which powder and lead
and all other " aid" are worthless.
But hoAv civil tribunals would regard such a case, is not
with us the chief question. By the doctrines of religion,
and before tlie bar of God, he was guilty of one of the
highest crimes against the State, — God's own ordinance, —
which any man can commit. That he was sincere, we do
not doubt, but that does not relieve his criminality. He
was a minister of the Gospel, of the highest ability and in-
fluence. He is largely responsible for bringing the Churchy
— one of the most powerful elements of society, — to " aid"
in the horrid work of treason, rebellion, and war.
DBS. THOENWELL, LELA>fD, AND ADGEE, UPON THE STUMP.
In addition to the power of his pen, Dr. Thorn well gave
his eloquent voice to the cause of treason, at a meeting
held at the capital of South Carolina, to ratify her seces-
sion.
In the North Carolina Presbyterian^ of January 5,
1861, is found a letter from " a student of Columbia Semi-
nary," detailing the proceedings of " the great ratification
meeting," held at Columbia, " which was called to indorse
the action of the Convention." lie says: " Many of the
clergy were called on to express their views in regard to
this important matter. Rev. Drs. Thornwell, Leland,
Adger (all Professors in the Theological Seminary), and
I
162 EESPONSIBILITT OF THE SOUTHERN CHUECH.
Keynolds, and Rev. Messrs. Mullaly and Brecker, addressed
the meeting." This shows how early, and how exten
sively, the clergy of the South became the open advocates
of treason and rebellion. The writer then gives an ac-
count chiefly of Dr. Thorn well's speech, as follows :
Dr. Thornwell spoke at some length. lie said that he had foreseen,
and some time ago predicted, the course which our affairs would take,
in case that Lincoln, or any other man with his avowed principles, was
elected President. As to the right of secession, he said that he held
that the election of Lincoln is equivalent to presenting a new Constitution
to the States, and asking them to subscribe to it. Secession is only re-
fusing to abolish the old and adopt the new Constitution now presented
to us by the Black Republican party. The avowed principles of this
party are not constitutional, and its success in electing the President of
the United States upon principles which, if carried into effect, will sub-
vert the National Constitution, and trample it under foot, and set up a
sectional one in its stead, is equivalent to putting the question to the
States, Will you submit to this new Constitution or not ? Secession is
the refusal to submit, and is therefore not unconstitutional The Con-
stitution to which these States swore allegiance has been wrested from
us, and something else, gotten up by a sectional party, is presented to us
in its stead. He advised that the State act with calmness, caution, and
decision, and so demean herself towards her sister Southern States, as
to secure, if possible, their co-operation with us. He believed that all
our sister Southern States would co-operate with us, and that we would
be permitted to withdraw peaceably from the United States. He hoped
to see two Rejjublics standing side by side, and becoming all the greater,
by the honest rivalry that would exist between them. Rashness and
temerity on our part would repel our sister States from us, which are
one with us, — one in race, one in institutions, one in interest, and we
believe that they should be one in a separate, Southern Confederacy.
All the other speeches were of a similar tone, and breathed the same
spirit. I think I can safely say, that this report expresses the senti-
ment of the people of this State.
Dr. Thornwell admits tliat " the States swore allegiance
to the Constitution;" then they violated that "allegiance"
by secession.
DR. PAI.MER AND SENATOR TOOMBS. 163
EARLY AID OF REV. B. M. PAL]S£ER, D. D.
The influence of Dr. Palmer was publicly given in favoi
of secession only eight days after Dr. Thorn well's Fast-Da}
discourse was preached. On the day of the State Thanks'
gi\diig in Louisiana, the 29th of November, 1860, hi
preached in New Orleans a discourse (before quoted), ir
which he vehemently urged secession, justifying it on the
same ground taken by Dr. Thornwell, the apprehensions ol.
governmental interference with slavery.
DR. PALMER AND THE MISSION OF SENATOR TOOMBS.
We have heard related an occurrence of singular signifi-
cance connected with this Thanksgiving service. We
cannot personally vouch for its truth, but its authority is
said to be the Hon. Miles Taylor, a member of the United
States House of Representatives of the Congress of
1860-61, and among the last of the Union members from
Louisiana to give up his seat after the secession of that
State. The case strongly illustrates the estimate which
Southern statesmen had of the ability of the Church to aid
the rebellion, the necessity they felt of enlisting the Chris-
tian portion of the commimity in leading the way, and the
ready compliance of an eloquent divine with their wishes.
It is well known that a strong Union sentiment existed
in Louisiana, and especially in New Orleans, long after
secession had carried over other States, and that the
vote of the people of Louisiana, when it was finally taken,
was actually against secession, and was never ofiicially
declared. So important was it deemed to have New
Orleans move in the matter early, that Mr. Robert Toombs,
of Georgia, still holding his seat in the L^nited States
Senate, and occupying it long afterwards, was sent with
other distinguished gentlemen on a mission to that be-
IQi BESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
nighted city, to stir up its sluggish waters. He went and
surveyed the ground, canvassing the matter with leading
citizens privately, but met with little success. He was
about to abandon the field of his missionary enterprise in
despair.
At length, it was agreed that Dr. Palmer should be
sounded by some of his friends, and it was found that he
was willing to break ground publicly. He entered on the
work con amore^ and preached on Thanksgiving Day.
The result is known. Previous to the 29th of November,
Mr. Toombs, in the role of a missionary, was likely to
prove a sad fliilure. True, indeed, his native abilities, edu-
cation, long course of training, and other qualifications for
the peculiar work in hand, were of a high order, but he
could make no headway, and could scarcely get a congre-
gation to hear his discourses. He had only mistaken his
field. He had come among a people where the heresy of
fealty to the Union was too deeply rooted for Mm to
eradicate. They abjured this kind of " political preachers."
They must first hear the new Gospel, founded on slavery as
the chief " comer-stone," from the pulpit rather than the
rostrum. Dr. Palmer supplied what Mr. Toombs lacked,
and the effect was sudden and wonderful. Mr. Toombs
had sown some seed, but Dr. Palmer gathered an imme-
diate harvest. It was found, after the delivery of his ser-
mon, that the secession mania spread like fire in a pi'airie ;
a great revival of the spirit of latent treason occurred, and
conversions to the new faith were greatly multiplied.
Dr. Palmer's congregation, by far the largest and most
influential in the city, were mostly taken by surprise, and
some among its leading men at first strongly dissented.
But his eloquence, alw ays of a high order of a certain kind,
carried the mass of his hearers captive, and the dissentients
at length for the most part yielded. His discourse was
SPECIMEN or THANKSGIVING DISCOURSE. 165
immediately published, not only in New Orleans, but in
Georgia and South Carolina, and spread over the South
for and wide. We have in our possession copies of it from
several diflerent editions. This was the work of Novem-
ber, 1860.
SPECIMEN or HIS THANKSGIVING DISCOURSE.
A few passages from this discourse are here given, simply
to show the lead which the Church took, through her ablest
ministers, at the earliest moment, and before the seces-
sion of a single State. His treasonable exhortations are
found in the introduction, and pervade every part of his
discourse. We give a sample of them :
In the triumph of a sectional •majority, we are compelled to read the
probable doom of our once happy and united Confederacy. * * *
The hour has come. At a juncture so solemn as the present, with the
destiny of a great people waiting upon the decision of an hour, it is not
lawful to be still. Whoever- may have influence to shape public opinion,
at such a time must lend it, or prove faithless to a trust as solemn as
any to be accounted for at the bar of God.
Truer words were never spoken, both as to the duty
and the resp07isibility. Dr. Palmer had such influence ;
but how disastrously did he use it ! But hear hira further :
Is it immodest in me to assume that I may represent a class whose
opinions in such a controversy are of cardinal importance — ^the class
which seeks to ascertain its duty in the light simply of conscience and
religion, and which turns to the moralist and the Christian for support
and guidance ? The question, too, which now places us upon the brink
of revolution, was, in its origin, a question of morals and religion.*
It was debated in ecclesiastical councils before it entered Legislative
halls. * * * The right determination of this primary question will
* Why cannot Prof. Christy, and all that class of Northern "allies" of the South,
as Jefferson termed such men in his day,— who are ever declaiming, when the
Chnrch takes action upon slavery, that she is meddling with that which docs not
properly concern her, — learn a. lesson here from their friends ? Dr. Palmer allows
slavery^ the " question" to which he here refers, a place within the domain of
" morals and religion ;" but they call it " politics. '
166 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHEKN CHURCH.
go far towards fixing the attitude we must assume in the coming
struggle.
How clearly does he recognize the fact that the people
of God, and the mass of the community too, look to their
religious teachers for guidance ; and how momentous must
be the guilt if they lead them astray, — into treason, rebel-
lion, and war, against lawful authority embodied in a
Government which their own ablest statesmen declared,
during the very month when Dr. Palmer preached, had
done the South no manner of harm !*
* Mr. Stephens, the rebel Vice-President, in a speech befoi-e the Georgia Legisla-
ture, November 14, ISOO, says: "The first question that presents itself is, Shall the
people of the South secede from the Union in consequence of the election of Mr,
Lincoln to the Presidency of the United States? My countrymen, / tell you
frankly, candidly, and earnestly, that 1 do not think they oxtght. * * * Xo
make a point of resistance to the Government; to withdraw from it, when a man
has been constitutionally elected, puts ns in the wrong. We are pledged to main-
tain the Constitution. Many of us have sworn to support it * * * Let not the
South, let us not be the ones to commit the .aggression. We went into the election
with this people. The result was different from what we wished; but the election
has been constitutionally held. Were we to make a point of resistance to the Gov-
ernment, and go out of the Union on that account, the record W(Uild be made up
hereafter against us. * ♦ * I do not anticipate that Lincoln will do any thing to
jeop.ard our safety or security. * * * He can do nothing unless he is backed by
power in Congress. The House of Representatives is largely in the majority against
him. In the Sen.ate he will also be powerless. There will be a m.ajority of four
against him. * * * Why, then, I say, should we disrupt the ties of this Union
when his hands are tied, when he can do nothing agjiinst us? * * * My coun-
trymen, I am not of those who believe this Union has been a curse up to this time,
* * * This Government of our fathers, with all its defects, comes nearer tJi*
objects of all good Governments than any other on the face of the earth. Thisii
my settled comviction. Contrast it now %oith any on the face of the earth. * * *
This Model Republic is the best which the history of the world gives any account
oy: * * * Where will you go, following the sun in his circuit round the globe,
to find a Government that better protects the liberties of its people, and secures to
them the blessings we enjoy ? I think that one of the evils that beset us is a surfeit
of liberty, an exuberance of the priceless blessings for which we are ungrateful.
* * * Suppose it be admitted that all of these are evils in the system, do they
overbalance and outweigh the advantages and great good which this same Govern-
ment affords, in a thousand innumerable ways that cannot be estimated ? Have we
not at the South, as well as at the North, grown great, prosperous, and hajipy under
its operation? Has any part of the world ever shown such rapid progress in the
development of wealth, and all the material resources of national power and great-
nesK. as the Southern States have under the General Gorernmeni, nntwithi^fand-
WAR WELCOMED. THE UNION DENOUNCED. 167
RESISTANCE COUNSELLED. THE LAST DITCH.
But to proceed witk this traitorous and war-exhorting
discourse. Ou speaking of the "trust" committed to the
South, " to preserve and transmit our existing system of
domestic servitude," he says :
This trust we will discharge in the face of the worst .possible peril.
Though war be the aggregation of all evils, yet, should the madness of
the hour appeal to tlie arbitration of the sword, we wiU not shrink even
from the baptism of fire. If modern crusaders stand in serried ranks
upon some plain of Esdraelon, there shall we be in defence of our trust.
Not till the last man has fallen behind the last rampart, shall it drop from
our hands ; and then only in surrender to the God who gave it.
This, we presume, is the true origin of the favorite
phrase, — so far as the present war is concerned, — which
has filled so large a space in Southern belligerent literature,
of " dying in the last ditchr As to the " surrender" of
the " trust" of preserving and transmitting slavery, for
which the rebellion was undertaken, events look very
much as though God had already made the demand.
WAR WELCOMED. THE UNION DENOUNCED.
But there is more ti'eason and war here, and so much
indeed that one can almost take the sentences at random :
The moment must arise when the conflict musi be joined, and victory
ing all its defects? * * * This appeal to go out, with all the provisions for
good that accompany it, I look upon as a great, and I fear a fatal temptation. "When
I look around and see our prosperity in every thing, agriculture, commerce, art,
science, and every department of education, physical and mental as well as moral
advancement, and our colleges, I think, In the face of such an exhibition, if we can
without the loss of power, or any essential right or interest, remain in the Union, it
is our duty to ourselves and to posterity to do so."
While this foremost statesman of the South was thus truthfully portraying be-
fore the Georgia Legislature the blessings of the Union, and the great prosperity
and good of every kind, to every part of the country, resulting from the action of the
General Government, the leading clergymen of the South, in that very month of
November, were, from the pulpit and the press, striving to bring that Government
into contempt in the eyes of all men, and were exhorting to treason and rebellion
against it, braving defiantly all the horrors of «\ar!
1G8 EESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
decide for one or the other. * * * Is it possible that we can hesitate
longer than a moment ? In our natural recoil from the perils of revolu-
tion, and with our clinging fondness for the memories of the past, wo
may perhaps look around for something to soften the asperity of the
issue, for some ground on which we may defer the day of evil, for some
hope that the gathering clouds may not burst in fury upon the land.
Then, after answering the objections of those who might
be supposed to be not quite ready for the wicked work to
which he exhorts them, and to strengthen the timid, he
proceeds :
But the plea is idle. * * * l gay it with solemnity and pain,
this Union of our for(fathers is already gone. * * * I throw off the
yoke of this Union as readily as did our ancestors the yoke of King
George III., and for causes immeasurably stronger than those pleaded
in their celebrated Declaration.
Then, after replying to other objections of the wavering
and the Union-loving, he urges " the Southern States" to
" reclaim the powers tliey have delegated ;" to " take all
the necessary steps looking to separate and independent
existence ;" and " thus, prepared for every contingency," to
" let the crisis come." Fearing that these exhortations
may not be effective, he flatters Southern pride a little :
The position of the South is at this moment sublime. If she has
grace given her to know her hour, she will save herself, the country, and
the world. It will involve, indeed, temporary prostration and distress ;
the dikes of Holland must be cut to save her from the troops of Philip.
But I warn my countrymen, the historic moment, once passed, never
returns.
THE PROPHECY FULFILLED UNEXPECTEDLY.
It is a noticeable fact, and finds its illustrations all over
the Southern rebel States, that the very evils which the
rebels imagined were to be averted by their revolt, are the
evils which their rebellion has brought upon them. Dr.
DR. palmer's sermon STEEPED IN SIN. 169
Palmer, in view of the consequences of " submitting to
Lincoln," thus Avarns :
Our children will go forth beggared from the homes of their fathers.
Fishermen will cast their nets where your proud commercial navy now
rides at anchor, and dry them upon the shore now covered with your
bales of merchandise. Sapped, circumvented, undermined, tfie institu-
tions of your soil tvill be overthrown ; and within five-and-twenty years,
the history of St. Domingo will be the record of Louisiana.
The picture here drawn of New Orleans is wellnigh
true, but from " resistance" rather than " submission," and
much sooner than was anticipated ; and so of the South at
large. We hope the horrors of St. Domingo are not to be
added to what they already suiFer, but if they are, poster-
ity will blame none but the rebels themselves.
On the last page of this eloquent utterance of treason,
Dr. Palmer says :
I am impelled to deepen the sentiment of resistance in the Southern mind,
and to strengthen the current now flowing toward a union of the South
in defence of her chartered rights. It is a duty which I shall not
be called to repeat, for such awful junctures do not occur twice in a
century.
HIS SERMON STEEPED IN SIN, GUILT, AND CRIME,
No man who has correct ideas of the moral responsi-
bility of a minister of the Gospel in the pulpit, — to God.
and religion, to society and civil government, — can rise
from the perusal of this discourse, delivered at such
a juncture and in such a place, without a painful sense
of the great guilt of making such an utterance. Our
hope is, that such men may see the sin and repent of
it before they die. It was a sin, and an exhortation
TO sin.
It will be seen from the date of the discourse, that three
weelcs before the secession of the first State, and before
170 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
any public movement for secession had been made in New
Orleans, and while the masses of the people there were
still strongly attached to the Union, as is known by the
Union meetings which were held long afterwards, Dr.
Palmer threw himself into the van and made these bold
utterances for treason. He mounted the very crest of the
wave and became the king of the storm.
HE FURTHER VINDICATES SECESSION.
In April, 1861, Dr. Palmer published in the Southern
Presbyterian (quarterly) Mevieto his "Vindication of Se-
cession and the South." In this article, as Dr. Thornwell
had done before him in the same periodical, he argues at
length in favor of the Constitutional right of secession,
justifying it on the charge that the rights of slavery had
been infringed and were in danger. Here, Dr. Palmer
again strikes out boldly for secession, vindicating it in
seven States which had already gone out, and indicating
the hope and making the prophecy that all the remaining
slave States would follow them. We give a brief extract
from the article, where he speaks of the course of South
Carolina, his native State :
"When all hope of safety had died within her, she stood calmly under
the shadow of the Capitol, before the clock which silently told the Nation's
hours, and which would ere long sound the knell of its destiny. No
sooner was this heard, in the shout of Black Republican succ&ss, than
she leaped, feeble handed and alone, into the deadly breach. History
has nowhere upon her records a more sublime example of moral hero-
ism. Ignorant whether she would be supported, even by her sister
across the Savannah, relying on nothing save the rigliteousness of her
cause and the power of God, she took upon her shield and spear as
desperate and as sacred a conflict as ever made a State immortal. * * *
The Genius of history has already wreathed the garland with which
her brow shall be decked. Long may she live, the mother of heroes
who shall be worthy of their birth I
EEV. THOS. SMYTH, D. D. iVl
There is the same strain of eloquent treason all through
the article. But v.-e foibear further quotations, as we have
given the same sentiments, at considerable length, in his
earlier utterances.
REV. THOMAS SMYTH, D. D., STRIKES THE SAME CHORD.
Among many other examples of labored essays and dis-
courses similar to the foregoing, we give bat one. Dr.
Thomas Smyth, of Charleston, S. C, a distinguished eccle-
siastical author, has written one of the most earnest and
passionate articles which the literature of the rebellion
has produced. It is found in the Southern Presbyterian
Eeview for Apiil, 1863, entitled, "The War of the South
Vindicated," and is divided into four parts, as follows :
" 1. The war of the South is in self-defence ; 2. The war
of the South vindicated by the fundamental principles of
American Liberty ; 3. The war of the South is justified
as a defensive war against fanatical abolition ; 4. The
Divine right of secession."
Like all Southern writers, he makes the dangers to be
apprehended to slavery, the cause of secession and justify-
ing resistance to the Government ; and making slavery, in
its presei-vation and extension, a religious duty, he thus
justifies the war on their part :
We have taken up arms for the defence of our civil and religious
rights, and God, our country, and the world at large, call upon us to
acquit ourselves like men, for our wives and our little ones, for our
homes, our sanctuaries, and even our religion itself. * * * The war
now carried on by the North is a war against slavery, and is, therefore,
treasonable rebellion against the Constitution of the United States, and
against the word, providence, and government of God.
The groundless asseitions of Dr. Smyth form a striking
characteristic of the article :
172 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
The Missouri Compromise, forced upon the South by the North, only
to be immediately and constantly resisted and perverted, rung the
death-kneU of the Union. * * * The North first entrapped the
South into the Union, under false pretences and hypocritical promises.
* * * The sure beginning of the sad end was formally laid down in
the platform of the Republican party, on whose basis the present aboU-
tion administration was clothed with power to rend the Union, and to
involve in one common ruin the happiness of both North and South.
The total untruthfulness of what is here asserted about
this " platform," we have demonstrated in previous pages.
JUDGMENT AND BLESSING.
Here is a contrast between the North and the South :
This war is a judgment upon the North, for its persistent, perjured,
abolition fanaticism. Nearly severing the Union in 1190, it rung its
death-knell in 1820, and has since then inflamed an irrepressible con-
flict, which has now destroyed the Union, and is overwhelming the
North in inextricable difficulties.
Dr. Smyth tlius regards attempts to destroy the Union
as wicked, bringing down Divine judgment. What, then,
is the South to receive for her present attempt ? Only
blessing, in this way :
God is working out a problem in the physical, social, political, and
world-wide beneficial character of slavery, as a great missionary agency,
of unexampled prosperity and success, which He is now demonstrating to
the family of nations. In this war the South, therefore, is on God's
side. She has His word, and providence, and omnipotent government,
with her. And if she is found faithful to Him, and to this institution,
which He has put under her spiritual care, then the heavens and earth
may pass away, but God will not fail to vindicate His eternal providence,
and defend and deliver His people, who walk in His statutes and com-
mandments blameless.
RESISTANCE UNIVERSALLY INSTILLED.
This whole article is very much of the character of the
foregoing extracts. We give its closing paragraph, as an
example to show how the Southern clergy, besides being
THE CLERGY OE ALL DENOMINATIONS. 173
leaders in treason, have blown the rebel war-trumpet from
first to last :
Let the spirit of resistance be infused, with its mother's milk, into the
baby in its cradle. Let it mingle with the plays of childhood. Let it
animate the boy in its mimic manhood; the maiden in the exercise of
her magic, spell-binding influence ; the betrothed in her soul-subduing
trance of hope and memory ; the bride at the altar ; the wife in the arms
of her rejoicing husband ; the young mother amid her whirl of ecstatic
joy ; the matron in the bosom of her admiring children ; and the father
as he dreams fondly of the fortune and glory of his aspiring sons — let it
fire the man of business at his place of merchandise ; the lawyer among
his briefs ; the mechanic in his ^'orkshop : tlie planter in his fields ; the
laborer as he plies his pruning-hook and follows his plough ; — Itt the
trum-pet hloiv in Zion, and Id all her ivatchmen lift up their voice ; — let all
the people, everywhere, old and young, bond and free, take up tJie tva.r-
cry, and say, each to his neighbor, "Gather ye together, and come
against them, and rise up to tlie battle."
These extracts would seem to show that the fervency of
the clergy of the South ia the rebel cause advances with
the progress of events. Dr. Smyth, if possible, is more
intensified with the furor and frenzy of the strife than the
other South Carolina Doctors. But these things from his
pen were written at a later period. Nor have we given
hy any means the most glowing of his sentences, as will be
seen in a subsequent chapter, where we illustrate another
phase of the subject.
THE CLERGY OF ALL DENOMINATIONS AID THE REBEL-
LION.
Other ministers of every denomination all over the SoutL
joined in urging on the rebellion, and some of the more
distinguished of them were as early in the work as those
we have mentioned. Tise course of the Right Reverend.
Leonidas Polk, D. D., Bishoj) of the Episcopal Church in
Louisiana, early a Major-General in the rebel army (lately
174 RESPONSIBrLITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
killed in battle in Georgia), is too well known to need
any thing more than to be named. Bishop Elliott, of Geor-
gia, Cobb, of Alabama, Green, of Mississippi, all of the same
Church, — and, indeed, nearly all the influential ministers of
all the Protestant denominations in the South, — took early
position and gave the whole weight of their social and offi-
cial influence in direct aid of the rebellion. Names of the
most distinguished could be given in great number if neces-
sary. Drs. Mitchell, of Alabama, and Waddel, President
of La Grange College, Tennessee, wrote elaborate articles
in aid of the rebellion at a very early period.
Every religious newspaper of the rebel States,— and they
were all edited by ministers of the Gospel,— located at
Nashville, New Orleans, Columbia, Fayetteville, Kieh-
mond, and other cities, urged secession in most cases from
the first step in the movement, and in all at a very early
period. And the houses of worship of all denominations,
from first to last, have echoed the utterances of treason and
rebellion from the pulpit in all parts of the South.
LEADING CLERGYME:N^ IN^ THE REBEL ARMY.
Many distinguished ministers, after preparing those
under their care for the terrible work of war in defence of
the treason they had inspired, led them to the field in per-
son. Dr. Atkinson, President of Hampden Sidney College,
Virginia, became Captain of a company composed mostly
of his College students, fought in the first battles of the
war, was taken prisoner at Rich Mountain, Western
Virginia, and was paroled. Dr. Dabney,* Professor in
* At the beginning of the movement for secession, Dr. Dabney took strong ground
for peace, urging liis brethren farther South to desist. In an Address to Christians
"of the Southern country,"' dated, "Hampden Sidney, Nov. U, ISGO." he says:
"Whence, too, is the great divisive question lx)rrowed? Is it not from Chris-
tianity ? Her sacred authority is the one which is invoked to sanctify the strife."
Ho here refers to that feature of Southern "Christianity,"— modern views of sla-
MINISTERS GO SOUTH AND AID THE KEBELLION. 175
the Union Theological Seminary, Virginia, early became an
Adjutant-General in the army, and was upon the staff of
Stonewall Jackson. Dr. McNeill, for many years one of
the Secretaries of the American Bible Society, and living in
New York, left his post and returned to his former resi-
dence in North Carolina, joined the array as a Lieutenant-
Colonel, and was seriously wounded in a cavalry contest
at one of the Mountain Gaps in Virginia, just before the
battle of Gettysburg. And besides these, many other min-
isters of distinction have had military commands in the
rebel armies. Dr. Palmer, of New Orleans, after that city
was occupied by the national forces, went on a mission to
the rebel army in Northern Mississippi, and harangued the
troops at various points ; and the testimony of one of the
Generals in command was, that his services were worth
more to the rebel cause than a soldiery of ten thousand
men. We cannot vouch for the fact, but it has been fre-
quently stated in New Orleans within the present year, and
has been published in some of the religious journals of the
country quite recently, that Dr. Palmer is now a Colonel in
the rebel army. It has also been published that he is a
cliaplain. Both are probably true.
MANY MINISTERS GO SOUTH AND AID THE REBELLION.
While an exodus of ministers took place from the South
immediately after the rebellion began, either leaving vol-
untarily, from patriotic motives, or being driven out on
account of their Union sentiments, many ministers, some
of Northern and some of Southern birth, left their stations
at the North and went South to give in their adhesion and
influence to the Southern Confederacy. Among others of
■^'^T; — as the cause of " the strife ;" and charges upon the I'eligious portion of the
comrannity a heavy responsibility. But, a little later, despite his earnest call to
peace, he took the sword himself, and mingled in " the strife."
176 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
distinction, are the following : Dr. John Leighton "Wilson,
leaving his secretaryship in New York, went to South
Carolina. Dr. Hoge, of New York, colleague of Dr. Spring,
though born and educated in Ohio, son of a former Pro-
fessor in the Ohio University, at Athens, himself afterwards
Professor and Pastor there, resigned his charge in New
York and went to Virginia. Dr. Leyburn, of Philadelphia,
and Dr. Lacy, of Frankfort, Kentucky, gave up their re-
spective posts as Editor and Pastor and went to Virginia.
And many other well-known cases occurred in various parts
of the country, which many persons will remember. The
motive for these movements, openly avowed, was the sym-
pathy felt for the cause in which the I'ebel States had
embarked.
OTHER REBEL CLERGYMEN AT THE SOUTH.
As our armies Lave advanced into the rebel territory,
while many of the peojjle have rejoiced in the deliverance
thus afforded, and while in this number may possibly be
found, here and there, a minister of the Gospel, — though
the cases of which we have heard are remarkably few, and
that, too, over the extensive regions of the Southwest
where we are personally acquainted, — many clei'gymen
have only availed themselves of the approach of the Union
forces to show a deeper hatred to the Union, and have been
kept partially quiet only by reluctant oaths of allegiance ;
while many others have gone, in advance of the armies,
" farther into the Confederacy," or are now enjoying, in
the loyal States, the protection of that Government whose
overthrow they desire. Among tliese, are Drs. Palmer,
Leacock, Goodrich, Mr. Hall, and others, from the single
city of New Orleans ; Dr. Leacock, a native of Old England,
and Di. Goodrich, a native of New England, both of whom
refused to take the oath of allegiance, and were required
SOITTHEKN CHURCHES ORGANIZED. 177
to leave the city ; Messrs. Marshall, Lord, Rutherford,
and one other, of four diiferent denominations, and some
of them of Northern birth, left Yicksburg on the fall of
that city, and went " into the Confederacy ;" besides
others, located in Nashville and Memphis, and in many of
the towns of Northern and Western Virginia; and, in-
deed, from almost every important city and village,
wherever Churches were planted, have similar exits
occurred, as the national arms have recovered the
country.
SOUTHERN CHURCHES ORGANIZED IN AID OF THE
REBELLION.
Besides the influence which so many of the ministry in
the rebel States, in the many ways mentioned, have
exerted in aid of the rebellion, the Church as a body, and
in its separate organizations, was early consecrated to the
same work.
TIjc leading ministers, and other influential men in the
respective Churches of all denominations, at the earliest
moment, brought all the religious bodies of the South to
break their connection with those of the North, — that is,
with those religious organizations which hitherto were co-
extensive with the Union, — cliauged their formularies of
Church Polity, their Prayer-Books, and Directories for
Worship, so as to give in their adhesion to the Government
set, up by the rebels, and thus recognize it as a lawfully
established Civil Power. The words " United States of
America" were blotted out, and the words " Confederate
States of America" took their place, in the Liturgies,
Players, and Standards of Faith, of every Church in the
rebel dominions.
It is to be especially noted here, that the church, as
such, — the Church in its organic capacity as a spiritual
178 KESPONSIBIXITT OF THE SOUTHERN CHUKCH.
hody^ acting through its highest corporate tribunals, and
not its individual members in their capacity as citizens^
— made these radical and formal changes before the
" Southern Confederacy" had been recognized as a lawful
Civil Power, or admitted into the family of nations, either
de jure or de facto^ by any Civil Power of the world.
And not only was this done while the contest of arms,
whose issue should decide the claim of the Confederacy to
such consideration, was pending, but it was done at the
earliest convenient moment after the opening of the strife ;
and, in some cases, the initiatory steps of ecclesiastical
bodies, which culminated in this more general action,
were taken at the very beginning ; and, in some others,
even before the Southern "Confederate Government" was
formed, or the States, out of which it was at length
organized, had seceded. Such facts as these, in a most
striking manner, illustrate the animus of the Church, and
show its tremendous responsibility, not only for its sup-
port of the rebellion, but for the lead which the Church
took in the cause, under the guidance of those men Avhose
sentiments we have given, who preached, prayed, wrote,
labored, and finally fought, for it from the begi.niiing.
As an instance of the Church's course in anticipating
the State in its eagerness for secession, it may be noted
for illustration, that before the secession of South Carolina,
the Presbyterian Synod of that State, by the most delibe-
rate and formal action, under the lead of Rev. Dr. John
B. Adger, Professor in the Theological Seminary at
Columbia, decided to cast in its fortunes with those of the
State in case it should secede from the Union ; thus
becoming an accessory before the fact to the crime of
treason, and giving the influence of the Church, and
pledging its suppoj-t in encouragement of politicians, to
conmiit the higliest crime known to the laws.
THE PRESBTTEEIANT CHUECH. 179
Rev. Dr. Yerkes, in the Danville Keview for September,
]861, thtis alludes to this proceeding on the part of the
Synod of South Carolina :
If the statement made on the floor of the Assembly (at Philadelphia,
May, 1S61) is to be credited, that Synod approved in advance the act of
secession which it was well known the State Convention would pass.
They could not wait till the foul deed was done. They were so fondly
anxious to baptize the cockatrice, that they could not wait till the cock's
egg hatched. They anticipated the monstrous birth, and sanctioned it
hj a decree of the Church.
ADDRESSES OF SOUTHEEX CHURCHES SUSTAIXING THE
REBELLIO^f.
Besides organizing all the Southern Churches on the
basis of supporting tlie rebellion, and changing their
respective corporate titles so as to conform to the name
of the rebel Government, the larger religious bodies at the
South adopted formal addresses, either to their own
people or to the Christian world at large, vindicating
their course in sustaining the rebellion through a dis-
ruption of the Church.
THE PRESBTTERIAK CHURCH.
Among others, the largest body of Presbyterians at the
South put forth an address, from which v>"e have already-
quoted, entitled, " Address of the General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of
America, to all the Churches throughout the Earth," in
which they speak as follows :
It is probably known to you, that the Presbyteries and Synods in
the Confederate States, which were formerly in connection with the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of
America, have renounctd the jurisdiction of thai body, and dissolved the
ties vjhich hound th'^m ecclesiaMically with tJieir brethren of the North. * * *
Commissioners, duly appointed from all the Presbyteries of these Con-
9
180 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
federate States, met accordingly in the city of Augusta (Georgia), on
the 4th day of December, in the year of our Lord 1861, and then and
there proceeded to constitute the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in the Confederate States of America. The Constitution of
the Presbyterian Church in the United States, that is to say, * * *
were unanimously and solemnly declared to be the Constitutior of the
Church iu the Confederate States, with no other change than the sub-
stitution of "Confederate" for "United," wherever the country is
mentioned in the standards. The Cliurvh, theriffore, in these seceded
States, presents noiv the spectacle of a separate, independent, and complete
organization, under the style and title of the Presbyterian Church in the
Confederate States of America. In thus taking its place among sister
Churches of this and other countries, it seems proper that it should set
forth the causes which have impelled it to separate from the Church of
the North, and to indicate a general view of the course which it
feels it incumbent upon it to pursue in the new circumstances in which
it is placed. * * * A political theory was, to all intents and purposes,
propounded, ivhich made secession a crime, the seceding States rebellious,
and the citizens who obeyed them traitors. * * * The Presbyterians of
these Confederate States need no apology for boxing to the decree of
Providence, which, in withdrawtxg their couxtry from the Govern-
ment OF THE United States, has at Oie same time determined that they
should iviihdraw from the Church of their fathers.
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Another instance is st'en in tlie action of the Epir^co-
pal Church, in the form of a " I'astoral Letter from the
Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church, to the
Clergy and Laiiy of the Church in the Confederate States
of AnnTJca," issued fiom Augusta, Georgia, November 22,
1862, in which the Bishops say :
Forced by (he Providence of God to separate ourselves from the Protest-
ant Episcopal Church in the United States, — a Church with whose doc-
trine, discipline, and worship, we are in entire harmony, and with whose
action, up to the time of that separation, we were abundantly satisfied, —
at a moment when civil strife had dipped its foot in blood, and cruel war
was desolating our homes and firesides, we required a double measure
of grace to preserve the accustomed moderation of the Church, &c.
* * * The Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the
CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. 181
Confederate States, under which we have teen exercising our legislative
functions, is the same as that from which we have been providentially
separated, &c. * * * xiie Prayer Book we have left untouclied in
every particular, save wliere a change of our Civil Government and the
formation of a new nation have made alteration essentially requisite.
Three words comprise all the amendment which has been deemed ne-
cessary in the present emergency. [Among several " sources of encou-
ragement," this is given :] In our case, we go forward with the leading
minds of our new Eeimhlic cheering us on by their communion with us, and
with no prejudications to overcome, save those which arise from a lack
of acquaintance with our doctrine and worship. * * *
Another source of encouragement is, that there has been no division
in the Church in the Confederate States. Believing, with a wonderful
unanimity, that the providence of God had guided our footsteps, and for His
own inscrutable purposes had forced us into a separate organization,
there has been nothing to embarrass us in the preliminary movements
which have conducted us to our present position. * * * Many of
the States of this Confederacy are missionary. * * * Hitherto has their
scanty subsistence been eked out by the common treasury of our united
Church. Cut off from that resource hy our political action, in which they
have heartily acquiesced, they turn to us and pray us to do at least as
much for them, as we have been accustomed to do for the Church from
which they have been separated iy a civil necessity. * * * It is
likewise the duty of the Church to press upon the masters of the coun-
try their obligation, as Christian men, so to arrange this institution
(slavery) as not to necessitate the violation of those sacred relations which
God has created, and which man cannot, consistently with Christian
duty, annul. The systems of labor which prevail in Europe, and which
are, in many respects, ^107-6 severe than ours, are so arranged as to pre-
vent all necessity for the separation of parents and children, and of husbands
and ivives; and a very little care upon our part, would rid the system
UPOX WHICH WE ARE ABOUT TO PLANT OUR KATIONAL LIFE, of these
unchristian features.
CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.
The Young Men's Christian Association of New Orlenns,
under date of May 22, 1861, issued an Address "to the
Young Men's Christian Associations of North America,"
in which they say, in their Circular Letter :
182 EESPONSIBIIITT OF THE SOUTHERN CHITECH.
We wish you to feel with us, that there is a terrible responsibility
now resting upon us all as Christians, in this trying time of our coun-
try. * * * "V^e in the South are satisfied in our judgments, axd
IN OUR HEARTS [their own capitals], that the political severance of the
Southern from the Northern States is permanent, and should be satis-
FACTORT. We beheve that reason, history, and knowledge of human
nature, will suggest the folly and futUity of a war to re-establish a poli-
tical union between the severed sections. * * * ijag it not occurred
to you, brethren, that the hand of God iiAT be in this political division,
that both Governments may more eflectually work out His designs in
the regeneration of the world ? WhUe such a possibility may exist, let
His people be careful not to war against His wiU. It is not pretended
that the war is to maintain religious freedom, or extend the kingdom of
Christ. Then, God's people should beware how they wage or encou-
rage it. In the name of Christ and His divine teachings, we protest
against the war which the Government at Washington is waging
against the territory and people of the Southern States ; and we call
upon all the Young Men's Christian xVssociations, in the Xorth, to unite
with us in this solemn protest.
THE BAPTIST CHUECH.
The Southern Baptist Convention, a body representing
" a constituency of six or seven hundred thousand Chris-
tians," in session at Savannah, Georgia, May 13, 1861,
" unanimously" adopted resolutions, in which the following
sentences are found :
In view of such premises, this Convention cannot keep sUence.
Eecognizing the necessity that the whole moral influence of the pe&ple,
in whatever capacity or organization, should be enlisted in aid of the
rulers, who, by their suffrages, have been called to defend the endan-
gered interests of person and property, of honor and liberty, it is
bound to utter its voice distinctly, decidedly, emphatically, &c. * * *
Resolved, That we most cordially approve of the formation of the Grovernment
of (he Confederate States of America, and admire and applaud the noble
course of that Gor-ernment up to the present time. * * * Resolved,
That we most cordially tender to the President of the Confederate States,
to his Cabinet, and to the members of the Congress now convened at
Montgomery, the assurances of our sympathy and entire confidence.
OTHER CHURCHES. 183
WiihfJiem are our hearts, and our hearty co-operation. * * * Every
principle of religion, of patriotism, and of humanity, calls upon us to
pledge our fortunes and lives in the good work. * * * Resolved,
That these resolutions be communicated to the Congress of the Confed-
erate States at Montgomery, with the signatures of the President and
Secretaries of the Convention.
METHODISTS, BAPTISTS, EPISCOPALIANS, PRESBYTERIAJfS,
LUTHERANS, GERMAN REFORMED, AND OTHER CHURCHES.
In April, 1863, all the leading religious bodies of the
South, as above named, united in putting forth " An
Address to Christians throughout the World," declar-
ing the causes of the revolt, and intended to justify their
course in sustaining the rebellion and the war against the
Government of the United States. The Address is signed,
on behalf of these various branches of the Church, by
ninetj'-six ministers. It is a very long document, going
fully into the religious and political " situation," and takes
substantially the same views as are found in tlie extracts
from other Addi-esses, above given.
Among other things, they set forth that " the war is
forced upon us — we have always desired peace ;" that " the
Union cannot be restored ;" that the " Confederate Govern-
ment is a fixed fact ;" and, assuming that the President's
Proclamation of freedom to the slaves was desi.gned to
provoke an insurrecticn, and that it would result in " the
slaughter of tens of thousands of poor, deluded insurrec-
tionists," they thus speak further of this document, and
what may result from it :
The recent Proclamation of the President of the United States, seek-
ing the emancipation of the slaves of the South, is, in our judgment, a
suitable occasion for solemn protest on the part of the people of God
throughout the world. * * * ilake it absolutely necessary for the
public safetj- that the slaves be slaughtered, and he who should write
the history of that event would record the darkest chapter of human
woe yet written.
Ibi REorOXSIBILITT OF THE SOUTUEEN CHURCH.
They ai'gue at length to show the grounds on which all
Christians in the world should unite with them in a solemn
protest against this Proclamation, and yet, like other
Southern writers, pretend to regard it, after all, but a
brutum fulmen^ a " mere political document." They
heartily approve of and sustain the "Confederate Govern-
ment," and the war it is prosecuting against the lawful
Government of the United States, and f ley highly com-
pliment the Christian character of their rulers, generals,
soldiers, and people ; and, in a word, throw the wh(jle
power of the Southern Church, in all its denominations,
into the scale of treason, rebellion, and war.
SOUTHERN RELIGIOUS PRESS ON THE REBELLION.
One of the most efficient aids of the rebellion, early and
late, has been the religious press of the South, conducted
by leading clergymen. We have given long citations from
Southern quarterlies. We give a sample of the weekly
religious press.
AT NEW ORLEANS.
The New Orleans True Witness, long before the Presi-
dential election in November, 1860, warned its readers at
the North, that, in case of Mr. Lincoln's election, there
woidd be great trouble, and disunion wouM be the result.
Immediately upon the issue being joined between Union-
ists and Secessionists in New Orleans, soon after the cIp^-
tion, it openly espoused the rebel fortunes, and from that
day until New Orleans surrendered to the Union aims, it
battled heartily in the cause. A single paragraph from its
issue of April 27, 1861, upon the attack made upon the
Massachusetts troops in Baltimore, on the 19th of that
month, will serve to show its spirit, and the means used by
a religious journal to " fire tlie Southern heart."
RELIGIOUS PRESS AT COLUMBIA, S. C. 185
Maryland is kindling with Southern fire, while Baltimore has stood at
the font of haplismxl blond, in solemn covenant for the Confederate States ;
and Providence ordered that this thrilling deed, this sealing ordinance,
should be on the anniversary of the battle of Lexingtou, Mass., the
memorable 19th of April. Thus the same day beheld the first blood of
'76 and of '61 — fortunate omen of the result.
The eilitor of that paper, who is responsible for this
transparent blaspliemy, Rev, Richmond Mclunis, took his
seat, in May following, in the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church, which met in Philadeli^hia, and
"solemnly protested" against the terrible defilement of
religion with politics, because the Assembly resolved to
stand by the Government which he, through the encour-
agement thus given to treason and rebellion, was using all
his might to overthrow.
AT COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA.
Another specimen of the Southern religious press is seen
in the Southern Presbyterian., published at Columbia, South
Carolina. We of course do not look for any thing else
from that quarter but treason. Its utterances, however,
do not outrage the solemn ordinances of religion, when
commending a cowardly attack upon the country's gallant
defenders. On the 15th of December, 1860, when as yet
no State had seceded, it thus speaks of the contemplated
Convention of South Carolina :
It is well known that tlie members of the Convention have been
elected luith (Tie understanding and expectation that they will dissolve the
relations of South Carolina with the Federal Union, immediately and
unconditionally. This is a foregone conclusion in South Carolina. It is
a matter for devout thankfulness, that the Convention will embody the
very highest wisdom and character of the State ; private gentlemen,
judges of her highest legal tribunals, and 7r(M«!'.>f'fr.so/<Ae Cos/i^Z. * * *
Nothing, at present, assumes any definite shape, except the resolve in
South Carolina, in the face of all obloquy, and ridicule, and menaces, of
all the wratli and contempt of tlios.3 who alternately curse and jeer her,
186 EESPONSIBILITT OF THE SOUTHERN CHITRCH.
to assert her independence. Before we issue another number of this paper
the deed may be done — the Union may be dissolved — we may have
ceased to be in the United States.
Thus, we have another instance in which the religious
press, controlled by the clergy, went ahead of any acts o
the civil authority, in " aiding and abetting" the rebellion.
In the same issue, this paper, in an article on " Be not de-
ceived," and in still another, in reply to a " Boston corre-
spondent," thus speaks of the cause of the " contest" upon
which the "foregone conclusion" is given :
"We entreat our readers to let nothing mislead them on this point.
The real contest now in liand between the North and South, is for the
preservation or destruction of slavery. * * * We ask our corre-
spondent, we ask all or any of the sober men of the North, if it is not
the almost unanimous resolution of the Northern people to forbid the
EXTENSION OF SLAVERY ? We believe it is ; and the Southern people, for
a thousand reasons, must regard that as a wrong that canxot be sub-
mitted TO.
AT RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.
The Central Preshyterian., oi^\chmor\^., Virginia, edited
or mainly controlled at the time by two clergymen of
Northern birth, and Pastoi-s of Jarge Churches in Rich-
mond, Dr. Moore, a native of Pennsylvania, and Dr. M. D.
Hoge, a native of Ohio, in connection with Rev. Wra.
]5rown, spoke as follows, before the secession of Vii-ginia,
after the attack upon Fort Sumter :
We are lienceforth a divided nation. We do not now search for the
causes, or the place of blame. The stupendous fact is before us, "like
the great mountains" of God, deep-rooted and high — plain to the eye of
the whole world and immovable. We are a separate people. The
answer of the President at Washington to our commissioners, and his
proclamation calling for an armed force of seventy-five thousand men to
"execute the laws," — that is, to subjugate the seven seceding States, —
is an end of the matter. Separation is -unavoidaUe. * * * 'y\^q
RELIGIOUS PKESS AT FATETTEVILLE, ST. C. 187
position of Yirginia, so far as the act of her Convention can fix it, will
soon be known. It is not our place to assume anything in anticipation.
* * * Their determination will be such as may give reason to
every member of our Commonwealth for saying, in the face of the
world, and of Heaven itself, "it is risht." Its bupport will then he
accepted as a religious trust.
These modest gentlemen say, " It is not our place to
assume any thing in afitici^yation y" and yet they both as-
sume and anticipate a large amount that is political, for a
religious journal. They openly declare for separation ;
"assume" to know, "in anticipation," that the action of
the Convention will be " right" before " every" Virginian,
and before " Heaven itself;" and all this, when the Con-
vention gave the 2^&ople of the State some forty days to
think u[)Ou the matter, before they should be called to vote
upon the Ordinance of Secession. How valiantly these
" Northern ministers with Southern principles,"— who
have constantly protested against " mixing politics and
religion," — can fight with religious weapons on the arena
of politics, when they become leaders of the people, and
declare their will forty days before they are called on to
express it, and seal it " in anticipation" with the signet of
" Heaven !"
AT FATETTEVILLE, ?rOKTH CAROLINA.
So, also, the North Carolhia Preshyterian^ with no more
modesty than the Virginian, and likewise before that State
seceded, while disclaiming to " assume," does yet declare,
what should be done, as follows :
What, then, shall North Carolina do? "Where does she stand? On
which side ? Without assuming to speak for others, though we doubt-
less reflect the opinions of four-fifths of the clergy and membership of
the Southern Presbyterian Church, we say that the Suuth should unite for
the sake of the South — for the sake of peace, humanity, and religion — of
our soil, our honor, and our slavei ; and that all the slave Stages
should moke common cause in thk hour of their eytremity.
188 EESPOBTSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
And SO it was with the conductors of the religious press
all over the South, of every denomination which had its
organs. They were among the early champions of treason
and rebellion, urging resistance to the Government " in
anticipation" of Conventions and votes of the people ; and
thus becoming open leaders, and ••' assuming" momentous
responsibilities.
EDUCATION IN AID OP THE EEBELLION.
Another item in illustration of our subject, relates to the
eiforts in behalf of Education in the South, on a footing
which should secure its independence of jSTortheru Colleges
and Universities, and strike out a curriculum within which
should be safely ensconced all the interests of the " pecu-
liar institution."
The world is familiar with the fact, that for many years
the South has attempted to provide itself with an expur-
gated literature ; that nothing in the shape of books and
periodicals, from the North or from across the Atlantic,
suited its tastes ; that nothing of this sort was deemed
" safe" or " sound," from a Child's Primer up to a work
on Moral Philosophy ; and as for tcacliers of both sexes,
for whom it was largely dependent on the IS'orth, and most
commonly upon New England, they could "not be borne
with much longer, even though Southern children should
have to grow up in ignorance." Their progress in this
direction was small, though of late years something was
accomplished. As they supposed the time nearly ripe for
national disruption, a stimulus was given to their eiforts.
We aim here only to notice one recent movement of a
different kind. The South has been constantly increasing
the number of its Colleges, and some of them are of a high
character. But since the Presidential election of 1856. a
bold scheme for a Southern University of magnificent pro-
GREAT SOUTHERN UNIVEESITT. 189
portions -was projected, wliich is worthy of a passing con-
sideration. Its design will be seen to have been to " con-
serve and perpetuate" the educational interests of the South
in behiilf of Sla\ eiy.
GREAT SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY.
The plan is developed in De Bovo's Ilevieio, a monthly,
issued in New Orleans, which has been a leading organ
of disunion, and one of the stoutest champions for per-
petual slavery. The project is treated in several numbers,
and seems to have occupied the attention of leading minds
in Chui'ch and State for several years. In the number
for November, 1857, is one of a series of articles advo-
cating the plan, written by a gentleman of Georgia. It
is entitled, " Central Southern University : Political and
Educational Necessity for its Establishment." The editor
prefaces the article, representing the author as saying :
That the Southern people, through individual, municipal, and State
action, comprising all denominations, orthodox and heterodox, Jew and
Gentile, should move with one accord to secure, for our political as well
as intellectual redemption and development, at some advantageous point,
a vast Central University, towards which should radiate, to be after-
wards condensed, intensified, and reflected, the emanations of our
municipal and State Schools, Academies, and Colleges.
DISUNION. FIGHTING MEN TO BE EDUCATED.
The article presents the subject in four parts. The fol-
lowing sentences are taken from the first, illustrating the
*' necessity" for such an institution, and the grounds on
which it rests :
The opinion that it is vitally important to the interests and gene.i-al
welfare of the South, for the slaveholding States to endow and organize
as speedily as possible a great Central Soutliern University, seems to
be rapidly gaining ground. * * * That there does exist & political
necessity for the establishment of an institution of learning of tlio
190 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
character alluded to, an institution around wliich shall cluster the
hopes and the pride of the South, the teachings of which shall he thoroughly
Southern, one pledged to the defence and perpetuation of that form of
civilization peculiar to the slaveholding States, will not, perhaps, be ques-
tioned, although some may entertain doubts as to the pressure of that
necessity. * * * The difficulty between the South and the North
can never arrive at a peaceable settlement. The supreme and ultimate
arbiter in the dispute now pending between tliem, jiust be the sword.
To that complexion it must come at last. The first step then which the
South shoidd take in preparing for the great contest ahead of her, is to
secure harmony at home. * * * xhe safety of the South, the
integrity of the South, not the permanence of the Union, should be re-
garded as the "paramount political good." No true Southerner, no
loyal son of the South, can possiUy desire the continuance of the Union
as it is. * * * The University of Virginia w no< sufficiently Southern,
sufficiently central, sufficiently cottonized, to become the great educa-
tional centre of the South. * * * According to the census of 1850,
the number of white inhabitants of the Southern States is 6,113,308.
The number of fighting men is usually estimated at about one-fifth of
the population. That gives 1,222,661 fighting men. Of these, at least
one-fourth are of an age suitable for going to College. * * * xhe
establishment of the University has been proposed as a measure certain
to produce, by its working, unity and concord of action on the part of
the slaveholding States. The young men of the South will tlien
assemble and drink pure and invigorating draughts from unpolluted
fountains. They will meet together as brethren, and be educated in
one common political faith, at one commonr alma mater.
The writer urges, in this article, the necessity of action,
on the further ground that " each of two denominations
of Christians at the South proposes to estabhsh a Central
Southern University," — the Methodist Episcopal South,
and the Protestant Episcopal, — for the same general ends,
of promoting the special interests of the South ; and lie
thinks other denominations may follow suit, and hence the
Hystem may lack the power which one institution of his
type would liave for making " thorough Southerners."
In this same number of De Jjou:, is found a brief notice
PROFESSORSHIP ON PATRIOTISM. 191
of a pamphlet issued by the Bishops of the Episcopal
Church at the South, exhibiting a plan for a "• Southern
Episcopal University ;" one of the cases referred to.
This institution was not to go into operation until
$500,000 had been subscribed. Tlie agreement entered
into by the Southern Bishops and several distinguished
laymen, all of whose names are given in De Bow, was
" signed at Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Ten-
nessee, the sixth day of July, A. D. 1857."
ENDOWMENT, FIVE OR TEN MILLIONS.
In the number of De Bow for December, 1857, the
Georgian further develops his plan for a great " Central
Southern University," from which we learn something of
its grand proportions :
A total, then, of fice millions is supposed to be sufBcieut, both to
estabhsh the Universit}^, and to endow it in perpetuity. This is not a
very large sum ; and even should it be advisable or necessary to double
the amount, and make it ten millions, that would be a very small sum
to be paid by fourteen sovereign States, for the innumerable blessings
and advantages which are sure to result from it. * * * The
method which I suggest for raising the five millions of dollars, is to
levy a tax on population, a tax on area, and a tax on property.
PROFESSORSHIP ON PATRIOTISM.
The writer then presents at length his programme for
"professorships," of which he proposes forty-three, num-
bered in order. The eighth is devoted to "Patriotism,"
on which the writer thus descants :
The duty of the incumbent of this professorship should be, to instil
into the minds and hearts of his pupils a imre and undividtd love of
country ; to vindicate the domestic institutions of the South ; and to hokl
them up as worthy of their hearty support, their love and admiration. He
should be a man of commanding presence, of fervid eloquence, of un-
doubted integrity, of extensive erudition, great in historic lore, a
TUOROUGH SOUTIIERXER.
192 EESPONSIBILITT OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
EPISCOPAL UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH.
In the May number of De Bald's Review for 1859, we
find the "Address of the Commissioners to the people of
the Southern States," in behalf of the Episcopal University
before spoken of, which had now taken the name of "The
University of the South." This Address is dated, " New
Orleans, February 24, 1859." These Commissioners are
Leonidas Polk and Stephen Elliott, Bishops respectively
of the Dioceses of Louisiana and Georgia, by whom, on
behalf of the other Bishops and the Trustees, the Address
is signed. They set forth the plans of the institution.
It is to subserve the interests of slavery and Southern
independence. They speak of their resources and propects
thus: "Nine thousand acres of land have been given us
by the Sewanee Coal Company, and by the citizens of
Franklin county, Tennessee." "We have bound our-
selves not to take a single step, until we have received
obligations to the amount of $500,000, bearing interest, as
the lowest point at which we should commence." They
also say that " one million of dollars is much less than we
hope to raise," and that this sum " should be subscribed
for its endowment." They say f^irther : " Thirty persons
have given us, within a few weeks, over |200,000." At
length, the minimum, $500,000, having been secured, their
location was chosen on one of those lofty mountains near
Chattanooga, where the corner-stone was laid, with great
pomp and ceremony, in the presence of the Bishops and a
great multitude.
But alas ! for all human calculations ! Before the in-
stitution had accomplished its great mission of instructing
the young men of the South in the peculiar notions of
" Patriotism" developed in th;it projected " professorship,"
and before even the main building had risen on that ample
MAJOK-GKNJiEAL HILL AS AN iiDUCATOE. 193
cori'.er-stone, lessons oi genuine patriotism were taught on
t'lJiit very spot. The Union army of the Cumberland,
under Rosecrans, there fought and won a battle for
liherft/, enriching with the best blood of an heroic soldiery
the soil consecrated with religious rites to slavery. The
soldiers occupied for barracks the surrounding buildings,
and that corner-stone was blown to fragments by Union
powder, no more to be an " aid and comfort" to treason.
We sincerely trust, that, by the grace of God, the armies
of Union and of Liberty may shiver to atoms, with equal
ease, in His own good time, that other " corner-stone" on
which the rebel Vice-President boasts that the rebel
" nation" is built.
These were some of the schemes, — in actual operation
and projected,^by which all the appliances of Education,
in its highest grades and most systematic and enlarged
plans, were to aid the press, the pulpit, and the politicians,
in training up a race of " Southrons" to regard human
slavery as " worthy of their hearty support, their love and
admiration," under the name of " Patriotism," while they
should be taught to give other illustrations of that virtue
by preparing to attack and plotting to overthrow that
Government which had never wronged them, which the
South had most commonly controlled, and whose founda-
tions were laid in the blood of patriots of all sections of
the Union.
REBEL MAJOR-GENEEAL HILL AS AN EDUCATOR.
As a fitting conclusion to our notice of the schemes for
" peculiar" education at the South to foster the " peculiar
institution," we present Major-General D. H. Hill, of the
rebel army, in the character of an educator. He is an
Elder in the Presbyterian Church, and was a member of
its General Assembly which met at Indianapolis, Indiana,
194 EESPOXSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHUKCH.
in May, 1859. lie is a native of South Carolina, was
educated for the army at West Point, fought under Gen-
eral Scott in the Mexican War, and rose to the rank of
Major. He resigned his commission and entered on the
duties of civil life ; first, becoming a Professor of Mathe-
matics in Davidson College, North Carolina, and after-
wards, in 1859, taking the office of Principal of the
North Carolina Military Institute, at Charlotte. In this
post, if we are rightly informed, he remained until the
occurrence of the rebellion, into which he threw his whole
soul, and finally rose to the rank of Major-General.
HIS HATRED OF THE NORTH.
A writer who appears to understand and appreciate his
character, thus speaks of him :
General Hill is a South Carolinian in all his feelings, principles, and
prejudices, and doubtless rejoices that he is such. He has nursed bus
hatred to the North to such a degree, that it has become as near to a
passion as his cold nature permits. In the year 1860, he delivered a
lecture at several places in North Carolina, in which he complained
bitterly of the injustice which had been done to the South by the North-
ern historians of the Revolutionary' War; and in which he asserted, iu
substance, that all the battles gained in the Revolution by Northern
troops were a series of "Yankee tricks," and that the real, hard, open
fighting had been done by the South. So inveterate is this enmity
to Northern men and the Northern character in General Hill, that it
crops out in unexpected places, and in most remarkable ways.
SECESSION TAUGHT BY ALGEBRA.
This writer goes on to declare of General Hill that
which reveals the ingenuity of his intellect, the bitterness
of his heart, and his zeal as an educator, in training up
the young at the South to hate the Northern people, and
preparing them for the work of rebellion in which they are
now engaged. He thus continues :
SPECIMEN OF ALGEBRAIC PliOBLEMS. 195
It would puzzle the ingenuity of most men to import sectional feel-
ings and prejudices into the neutral region of pure mathematics ; but
General Hill has succeeded in conveying covert sneers by algebraical
symbols, and insinuating disparagement through mathematical prob-
lems. In 1857 he published a text-book, called the "Elements of
Algebra," of which Thomas Jonathan Jackson (the famous Rebel Gen-
eral, "Stonewall," another Elder in the Presbyterian Church), then
Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in the Virginia Mili-
tary Institute, said, in a formal recommendation, that he regarded it as
" superior to any other work with which I am acquainted on the same
branch of science.'"
SPECIMEN OF ALGEBRAIC PROBLEMS.
Here are a few examples of the manner in which Gen-
eral Hill taught "the young idea how to shoot," of which
the present rebellion furnishes the best illustration that
his teaching was not in vain :
A Yankee mixes a certain number of wooden nutmegs, which cost
him one-fourth of a cent apiece, with real nutmegs worth four cents
apiece, and sells the whole assortment for $-14, and gains $3 75 by the
fraud. IIow many wooden nutmegs were there ? Again : At the Wo-
man's Rights Convention, held at Syracuse, New York, composed of
150 delegates, the old maids, childless wives, and bedlamites, were to
each other as the numbers, 5, 7, and 3. How many were there of each
class? Again: A gentleman in Richmond expressed a willingness to
hberate his slave, valued at $1,000, upon the receipt of that sum from
charitable persons. He received contributions from twenty-four per-
sons, and of these there were fourteen-nineteenths the fewer from the
North than from the South, and the average donation of the former
was four-fifths the smaller than that of the latter. What was the
entire amount given by the latter ? Again : The year in which the
Governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut sent treasonable messages
to their respective Legislatures is expressed by 4 digits. The square
root of the sum of the first and second is equal to 3 ; the square
root of the product of the second and fourth, is equal to 4; the first is
equal to the third, and is one-half of the fourth. Required the year.
Again: The field of battle at Buena Vista is six and a half miles from
Saltillo. Two Indiana volunteers ran away from the field of battle at
the same time ; one ran half a mile per hour faster than the other,
196 EESrONoIBILlTY OF THE SOUTHERN CHUKCH.
and reached Saltillo five minutes and fifty-four and six-elevenths seconds
sooner than the other. Required, their respective rates of travel.
Who does not perceive that treason and rebellion, and
hatred and contempt for the North, would inevitably re-
sult from such appliances of education, under the direction
of leading religious men ? They set themselves soberly
at work to prepare for this horrid business, and were
training the young of both sexes for it, with a zeal and
ingenuity which were truly Satanic*
AID OF THE CHURCH INDISPENSABLE TO THE REBELLION.
We have now given sufficient proof, — to which, indeed,
much more might be added, — to show that the Southern
Church, through its leaders, has a very large share of re-
sponsibility to shoulder for stirring up in the beginning,
and for urging on with zeal and energy through every
stage of its progress, tiie fiendish work of treason and re-
bellion, and in all possible modes of action which the case
admitted ; in the pulpit and through the press, writing for
it, preaching for it, praying for it, and lighting for it; be-
coming leaders in all this work, entering upon it earliest,
and drawing the better and more influential classes of
society along with them. ^
* Here is an example of what was in progress at the South to instil the same
spirit into the female mind of its leading families. The fallowing is from an adver-
tisement of the widely-known Nashville Female Academy, under the Rev. C. D.
Elliott, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who is a native of Hamilton, Ohio:
" Teachers. — We employ a full Faculty of Teachers in all departments. This we
can do safely, since our teachers, being Southern, are willing to invest their labor in
the cause of the South, and to receive pay according to the number of pupils pre-
sent. The Academy will continue to wage war, — uncompromising and unrelenting'
— against all Yankee teachers, teachings, tricks, isms and ideas. We hope, in one
more j'ear, to be able to say that we do not use a single book written or published,
North of Mason and Di.\on"s line." In regard to Rev. Mr. Elliott, the Prineii)al, a
Nashville writer says: "With most indefatigable industry he has labored to fill the
tender hearts of little girls with hatred of Northerners, telling them in precept
upon precept, here a little and there a little, that the Yankees were thirsty for
blood."
CHUECH AID ACKNOWLEDGED BY STATESMEN. 197
Tiiere is the clearest testimony to show that Southern
statesmen deemed this aid of the clergy invaluable, indeed
ESSENTIAL, going SO far as to say that were it not for the
clergy leading on the Church, poHticians could not have
succeeded in arousing the masses of the people, could not
have made a successful beginning in the work. We have
already instanced the failure of Mr. Toombs in the charac-
ter of a missionary, and the aid rendered him by Dr.
Palmer. An item of evidence on this point, which is broad
in its ajjplication, may be obtained from a single source.
THIS AID ACKNOWLEDGED BY STATESMEN.
In the Southern Presbyterian, under date of April 20,
18G1, the indispensable aid rendered by the Southern
Church and clergy is argued. A communication appears
from Macon, Georgia, entitled " The Church and the Con-
federate States of America." Tl;e editor introduces the
Avriter to his readers thus : "Many of them will recognize
it as written by a gentleman occupying a high civil jjosi-
tion in the Confederacy, and an Elder in the Presbyterian
Church." This high civilian and Elder is supposed to be
Thomas R. R. Cobb, a General in the rebel army after-
wards, who was killed in battle near Fredericksburg,
Virginia, in December, 1862. In this article, he says :
This revolution has been accomplished maixly by the Churches
I do not undervalue the name, and position, and ability of politicians;
still I am sure that our success is chiefly attributable to the support
which they derived from the co-operation of the moral sentiment of the
country. Without that, embodying, as it obviously did, the will of God,
the enterprise loould have teen a fah^uee. As a mere fact, it is already
historical, that the Christian community sustained it with remarkable unani-
initij. * * * jn times like these upon which we have fallen, the
opinion of the Church upon political questions, when unanimously and
freely declared. Is far more potent than the tricks of the demagogue,
or the eloquence of the renowned orator, or the oracular instructions of
198 KESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CnUECPI.
the retired sage. The reason is, that our Church, being sound, has the
confidence of tlie irreligious world Let the Church know this, and
realize her strength. She should not noiu abandon her own grand
CREATION. iShe should not leave the creature of her prayers and labors
to the contingencies of the times, or the tender mercies of less con-
scientious patriots. She should consummate what she has begun.
A statesman's view indorsed.
Upon the position and influence of the Southern Church
in aid of the rebel cause, as set forth in the foregoing
article, the editor, Rev. A. A. Porter, writes his indorse-
ment, as follows :
We have no fears but that the Christian people of the land will prove
faithful to their country, in this day of trial, to the very last. As our
correspondent suggests, this jiresent revolution is the result of their up-
rising. Much as is due to many of our sagacious and gifted politicians,
they could effect nothing until the religious union of the Xortli and South
was dissolved, nor until they received the moral support and co-opercdion
of Southern Christia'ns.
This is quite to the point. The men who vrrite thus, —
one nn Elder of the Presbyterian Church, holding a high
ofiice in the Rebel Government, and the other a mini>-ter,
and an editor on the mount of observation, — know whereof
they affirm. The status of the Southern Church and clergy
is tixed, and it is acknowledged by their leading politicians ;
and their testimony is, that, without the early influence
and powerful moral co-operation of the Church with the
leading politicians, the work of treason and foul rebellion
"would have been a failure." The Southern Church
may thus look upon " her own grand creation." As
they gloiy in Avhat they have done, we leave them to enjoy
the spectacle.
It is perceived from this, that the charge wiiich we
bring against the Southern Church, of being chiefly respon-
sible for the rebellion, is not a Northern fxbrication.
THE CHTIECH LED THE POLITICIAJSTS. 199
THE CHTJECH LED THE P0LITICIA:N'S.
An important fact in an earlier number of the Southern
Presbyterian, February 23, ISei, is stated iii an article on
"Northern Misconception," as follows:
They (the Xorthern people) persist in believing this universal up-
heaving, this unanimous and determined protest, is a mere matter of
politics, the movement of a few hot-headed and ambitious men; where-
as, nothing is so well known among us as that the people have driven, not
been led by, the politicians; and by their own calm, great voice, have
pressed them on to carry out tlieir will.
Admitting the correctness of this, then, who have
"driven" or "led" the people? The people never act
without leaders; the case never was known, since time
began, in a revolution, religious or political, or any
other great movement ; not even in a mob. The jieople
always have leaders. If they were not "led" by the
"politicians," no doubt they had the clergy for their lead-
ers or " drivers." Their own statesmen so declare. We
are willing to leave it there.
This view of the case is stiU further insisted on, and the
opposite view resented as an insult, in an article in the
same paper, of March 16, 1861. In replying to a Northern
paper, the editor says :
"^'ill he still refuse to believe that the Churches of all denominations and
the State are at oxe on the questions involved? that, as Christian
citizens, the whole heart of ministers and people is in this matter ?
* * * And for the Churches of the whole South, of every denomina-
tion, we indignantly deny that they have been, are now, or ever will be,
" the humble and obedient servants of politicians." No honest man, who
knows any thing of Southern Churches, will assert it of them. It is
utterly false. He finds "ministers of the South urging political men to
uncompromising resistance." Just now it was politicians leading min-
isters! Yes! And so long as we have tongue or pen to use, ivill ive
urge, as a duty to God and man, resistance to this unholy crusade against
what we believe God's truth, right, duty, honor, and interest.
200 KESPOXSIBILITT OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
THE PROOF CONCLUSIVE.
Thus it appears that this influential religious journal,
located at the capital of South Carolina, cloth "indignantly
deny" the charge, as a gross slander upon their cliaracter,
that the clergy of the South were the "servants of politi-
cians" in the cause of rebellion ; and it denies this, further-
more, "for the Churches of the whole South, of every
denomination ;" and it undoubtedly is well qualified to
make the denial, from its ample knowledge in the premises.
But when the counter-charge is made, that the clergy led
the politicians, " urging political men to uncompromising
resistance" to the United States Government, it does not
deny the soft impeachment ; but it says, " Yes !" — we did
do it — " and so long as we have tongue or pen to use," we
will continue the good work!
Well, — we must leave it so. If they make up such a
record for themselves, and if the politicians in the highest
places in the " Confederate Government" agree to it, as
we have seen they do, then the clergy of the South, " of
every denomination," have a most fearful responsibility
upon them for the horrors of this rebellion ; a responsibility
claimed, gloried in, and of which they are so jealous that
they will not divide it with politicians. Be it so ; and let
God I'eward them " according to their works."
This, be it observed, was the language used a month
before the crisis brought on by the attack on Fort Sumter.
There can be no doubt that nothing beyond the simple
truth is stated in the foregoing extracts. It would have
been impossible for the political demagogues of the rebel
States to carry the people with them into rebellion, had
not THE Church, at the earliest moment, under her leaders,
given to it of " her strength ;" and even after the work had
been thus begun, " the enterprise would have been a fail-
LOYAL CLEEGYMEX IN THE BOEDER STATES. 201
ure," and that soon, had not the Church stood by the ob-
ject of "her own grand creation."
The power, and of consequence the responsibility, of the
Church of the South in aid of the rebellion, may be illus-
trated by contrast, and that in two respects ; by mention-
ing what is well known concerning an early period of the
strife in some of the loyal Border States, and by noting
the action of the larger religious bodies all over the loyal
States.
LOYAL CLERGYMESr LN" THE BOEDEE STATES.
As illustrating the first point, take the case of Kentucky.
What would have been its condition had all its leading
c'ergymen, ns in the rebel States, taken open ground for
the rebellion at the beginning of the contest? Does any
one suppose, in such case, that the State would not have
been carried into secession, so far as the action of its own
people is concerned? On the other hand, take the case as
it is. Does any one doubt that leading clergymen uf the
State, taking open and public ground for the Union,
through the press and in other ways, at the earliest and
most critical period, contributed most essentially to form
the public sentiment of the more influential classes of the
people, to preserve the State to the Union, and to save its
fair fields from becoming, far more than they have been, the
scene of the most bloody and suicidal carnage ?
It is stating no more than what is believed throughout
the country, as we have often heard expressed, that, in
addition to the valuable aid rendered by others, Kentucky's
adherence to the Union is due to the influence of Dr.
Uobert J. Breckinridge more than to that of any other
man in the State ; and we only repeat what we have many
times heard stated by citizens of Kentucky, that had he
taken the course of the Thornwells and Palmers of the
202 EESPONSIBILITT OF THE SOUTUEKN CHURCH.
South at that early day, the power lie would liave wielded
in the Church and among the leading politicians of the
State would have carried Kentucky out by an act of
secession, and thus have made her territory the great early
battle-ground of the West. We quite as confidently be-
lieve, that, had the distinguished ministers of the South
taken a determined stand against secession, they would
have been equally successful. It is but stating what their
own politicians declare.*
LOYALTY OF NORTHERN CHURCHES. THEIR DUTY.
The other point is illustrated in the action of the reli-
gious bodies in the two sections of the country. They
have given, in their influence over the people, the most
powerful aid to the respective Governments. .Those in
the North could, in conscience and before God, do nothing
less. They did but their duty. We say nothing here
* We find the views wc have taken concerning the responsibility of the Southern
Church and the Southern Cler<ry, fully sustained by the Rev. Dr. George Junkin, in
his work entitled " Political Fallacies." Dr. Junkin was, at the beginning ol' the
rebellion, President of Washington College, at Lexington, in the Valley of Virginia,
and, from his jiosition and enlarged acquaintance, is a most competent witness. He
says: "These Southern Presbyterians are either laughing at your simplicity or
pitying your stupidity. For, fii-st, it is notorious that they held the controlling
power in their hands. I could name half a dozen of Presbyterian ministers who
could have arrested the secession, if they had seen fit. Notoriously^ the Presby-
terittn miiiMem of the South irerc tlie hading fipirits of the rehelliov-. It could
not have been started without the-m. That stupendous victory, won by ten thou-
sand of the unconquerable chivalry, over Kobert .\nderson and his seventy-two half-
starved soldiers, after thirty-six hours of heavy cannonading, could nevtr have been
achieved but for the encouraging shouts of Kcv. James H. Thornwell, D. D., and
Rev. Benjamin M. Palmer, D. D. But secondly, even in the Border States, the
Presbyterian ministers alone, if they had had a moiety of the heroic martyr spirit
of Robert J. Breckinridge, (H)uld have shut up the sluices of treason and turned the
battle from the gates. All that was needed was to present a solid front, and the
demon spirit would have cowered before them and slunk back to his own den.
Had my beloved brother, Dr. W^hite, and his twelve Union elders, stood firmly to-
gcthi'r, all the demons of ]y,indemonium, and Charleston, too. could not have driven
them from Rockbridge county, and forced treason and rebellion on a people ichohad
voted more than, ten to one in favor of tlie Union ejindidates for the (Virgiuia State)
Convention."
LOYALTY OF NOKTHEKJf CHURCHES. 203
upon the character and details of the " deliverances " and
"resolutions" adopted. Some of them, in some branches
of the Churcli, may have points of spechil faultiness. We
now speak only of the one principle running through them
all, of allegiance to the Government. To express that
unequivocally, at such a time of civil war, was their mani-
fest duty ; for the same civil obligations rest upon the
Church, in her corporate or organic capacity, as rest upon
any other organizations of men, or upon the individual
citizen, so far as they may apply to each respectively.
These religious bodies, as such, are under civil protection,
which the Government is bound to render ; they enjoy
immunities which the civil authorities grant and guard ;
they hold property under the laws of the land ; their char-
ters and franchises are from the State ; they have the same
rights and privileges at law and in equity which other cor-
porations enjoy ; and in other ways, in their organic cha-
racter, do they stand related to the Government.
By virtue of their public organization, and of their rela-
tions to the civil power, these religious bodies wield a vast
influence over society, and especially over its more influen-
tial classes. By virtue of these things, they owe, in their
organic character, full allegiance to the civil authority.
Every principle of the Word of God, of human law, of
common sense, and every principle in any way entering
into the welfare of society, shoAvs this beyond dispute.
It is, therefore, their manifest duty, in their organic char-
acter as public bodies^ when the land is rent and torn by
foul rebellion, striving to overthrow the Government, for-
mally to express their allegiance to the Government before
all men. If it be said that this \^ political action, we meet
it with a denial. It is action which God enjoins as a duty
of relhfwn ; and should be recognized among the demands
of conscience.
10
204 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH.
DUTY OF THE SOUTHERN CHURCH THE SAME.
On the Other hand, it was equally the duty of the Church
in tlie South to stand by the Government in opposition to
rebellion. Had she done this, it is the testimony of South-
ern politicians that they could not have sucteeiled in
initiating civil war. But be this as it may, it was equally
her duty.
What right had the Presbyterian Church in the rebel
States, for example, in defiance of her civil and religious
obligations, to give in her adliesion, organically, to a
rebellious Power styled the " Confederate States of Amer-
ica," at tlie earliest stage of the rel)elli()n? A time might
possibly come when it would be right for her to acknowl-
edge such a Government de facto. But that time had not
arrived when her leading men took their earliest step.
They bounded into the arena at the ve y beginning of tlie
civil strife. Some of them, in their public utterances, went
ahead of the politicians around them ; and some ecclesi-
astical bodies did the same.
Was tliis a proper spectacle to be presented by tlie
Church of God? It is, rather, her decent mission to ad-
here to "the powers" which Godlias placed over her, an 1
when the issues of a bloody rebellion sliall have been de-
termined^ then to acquiesce in the re-ult. The case is nut
altered, even when, as in the South, the fires of revolution
were burning around or even within her. She is still to
stand to her civil as well as to her religious obligations,
and abide the issue.
But this, it may be said, would have subjected lier to
persecution, and l)rought her ministers to the halter.
Well — what of that ? May Ave abandon duty for safety ?
Are we not to suffer., as well as do, the will of God ? We
do not suj)i)0se we should have been, personally, mor.^
DUTY OF THE SOUTHERIST CHTJKCH THE SAME. 205
ready for Southern martyrdom than other people, but that
cannot in the least aifect the vital principle here at stake.
It is merely a question whether allegiance to the civil
authority is a duty of the Church. If that be decided
affirmatively, as it clearly must be, then it is as incumbent
on the Church to discharge that duty as any other; and
if God in His providence call her to suffer, it is as much
her duty to suffer in defence of her civil rights and in the
discharge of her civil obligations as for any others, for
they are all founded on and enforced by the highest re-
ligious sanctions.
This path of duty is, too, after all, the only path of
safety; for if it shall ever come to a practical question of
halters, it may be found that they can be used by the law-
ful Government of the Union as v^^ell as by the abortive
Government of the rebellion. And when the future Church
historian shall record the sufferings for righteousness' sake
endured in this Avar, he will give a high place in the niche
of fame to those ministers of the South, though few in
number, wlio have been incarcerated and hung because
they would not bow their necks to treason; while the
memory of those who have led the Church astray, and
thus prepared an easier triumph for political demagogues,
and a more ready altar for the sacrifice of thousands of
their countrymen, will go down to posterity with an in-
supportable load of infamy.
If, for the sake of present safety and peace, the Church
may even quietly acquiesce in all the horrid work of this
lebfllion, without raising her voice in remonstrance to
even her own members who are giving all their energies
to its support, then there is no duty of Scripture which
she may not neglect, and no fact which gives glory to her
past history which she may not ignore. Had the Southern
Church taken and maintained a righteous and heroic stand,
206 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOUTIIEKN CHUKCH.
and been subjected to persecution therefor, she would have
come out of the furnace with no such odious smell upon
her garments as must now attach to them, for leaping into
the front rank of the hordes of treason, winning the earli-
est and highest honors in its apologetic literature, and
leading on its armed legions to battle. We envy not the
fame which these men will have in the opinion of mankind,
nor the reward which will be meted out to them in the
just judgment of God !
CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES. 207
CHAPTER VI.
CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
It is a phase of the general subject in close alliance with
that treated in the preceding chapter, that a similar oppo-
sition to the Government is seen in marked instances
among clergymen in some of the loyal States.
The great body of the clergy of all denominations in the
loyal States, have unquestionably been loyal to the Gen-
eral Government. But not a few, and among them men
of ability and influence, liave shown decided sympatliy
with the rebellion ; sometimes in overt acts, often in speech
and in their writings, and through other methods ; and
sometimes by a reticence which has been quite as signifi-
cant as any open line of conduct. Some of this descrip-
tion have been required to take an oath of allegiance to
the Government, which they have done reluctantly. Some
would not take it, or their course was such that the alter-
native was not oflered them ; and they have voluntarily
left, or have been sent out of the country. Others, whose
acts liave been deemed more highly criminal, have been
imprisoned ; while still another class have been sent South
beyond the lines of the Union armies, as in several in-
stances in Tennessee and other States.
The more numerous cases of disloyalty among clergy-
men in the loyal portion of the country, ai'e to be found in
the Border Slave States and in the District of Columbia.
We give illustrations in a few examples, from which others
will be readily called to mind by those who are familiar
with current events. Similar instances may probably be
found in all the Border States.
208 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IX LOYAL STATES.
CLEEICAL SYMPATHIZERS IX MARYLAXD.
The difficulties which Bishop Whittingliam, of the Epis-
copal Church in Maryland, had with some of his clergy, in
the early period of the rebellion, are well known. As a
loyal Prelate, he observed the recommendation of the Gov-
ernment in its appointment of Fast and Thanksgiving
Days ; issued his letter to his clergy, enjoining observance,
and prescribed suitable prayers for the service; but from
some of the Rectors under his charge, earnest protests
were made, clearly revealing their rebel proclivities. The
prayers he has written, to be used during the continuance
of the war, are even now omitted in some Cliurches, or th.e
clergy and the Bishop have been brought into open col-
lision upon the issue ; while the customary prayer for the
President of the United States, co-existent with the Church
service itself, is omitted in some cases, or hypocritically
uttered.
Other denominations in Maryland, especially in Balti-
more, have had ministers in their pulpits who would not
observe the public days and service recommended by the
Government, by reason of their rebel sympathies.
Ministers in some Churches in Baltimore, as reported
in the daily papers of that city, have succumbed to the
demand of their parishioners that prayers should not be
oifered for the President, and have left their charges ;
while in other congregations, both Protestant and Catho-
lic, where sueii prayers have been offered, open manifesta-
tions of disapprobation have been made, sometimes by
Avorshippers leaving the house during that part of the ser-
vice, and at other times by significant raai-ks of dissent
while retaining their seats. Some ministers left Maryland,
by reason of tlieir Southern sympathies, and early cast in
their lot with the fortunes of the rebellion.
MI1S7STERS IN THE DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 209
DISLOYAL MIXISTEES IX THE DISTRICT OF COLTJMBIA.
It is somewhat surprising that ministers should sympa-
thize with a rebellion seeking the overthrow of that Go\'-
ernment under the very shadow of whose seat of Admin-
istration they live, and whose protection makes their homes
safe and their daily bread sure. But so it was, at the
beginning of the rebellion, with two prominent clergymen
of Georg'&town, in the District of Cohimbia. We cannot
account for it except on the principle tliat they had Vir-
ginia blood in their veins, of the modern quality. It cer-
tainly could claim no affinity with that which character-
ized the era of Washington and his compeers.
One of these men is the Rev. John H. Bocock, D. D.,
at the time Pastor of the Biidge Street Presbyterian
Church, in Georgetown. On the call of President Lin-
coln for seventy-five thousand troops, April 15, 1861, the
amiable Doctor said, that " the yellow fever, in the course
of the summer, would be worth seventy thousand troops
to us y" accompanying tlie remark with significant signs
of satisfaction. His rebel proclivities became so demon-
stiative, at a period a little later, that he was obliged to
go South, beyond the lines of the Federal army. He has
since given in his full adhesion to the rebellion, and was
at one time engaged in superintending a manufactory of
the munitions of war in Richmond, where it was reported
he was seriously injured by an explosion which occurred
in the establishment during the summer of 1863.
The other gentleman referred to is the Rev. Dr. Nor-
wood, Rector of an Episcopal Church in the same city,
when the rebellion began. On the latter part of that
mournful Sabbath on which the first battle of Bull Run
was fought, July 21, 1801, the secessionists of tlic North.,
and especially those near the seat of the G^-neial Go'.ern-
210 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
ment, were in high glee. During the early part of the
day, and until Bear its close, it was supposed the Uniou
troops had been victorious ; but when stragglers from our
army poured into the capital, and wended their way
through the streets of Washington tmd Georgetown, and
the result of the contest became kno-\vn, the rebel joy
could no longer be restrained. The pious Rector referred
to was too much elated to hold religious service in the
evening of that Sabbath, and hence ordered that the
Church-going bell should not be rung, and it was accord-
ingly silent, and the Church closed. But, instead of the
usual worship, so "irrepressible" was the gladness at the
defeat of the Federal arms, that the good Rector and a
portion of his parishioners held a sort of levee on the porch
of his house ; and as the flying rumors of disaster came in
quick succession from the battle-field, they eagerly drank
them in, and their congratulatory " resjjonses" resounded
through the balmy Sabbath evening air ; and this, too,
when some of the loyal citizens feared for the safety of the
capital. On the announcement of one "rumor," the joy
over the Union disaster seemed to reach its clunax. It was
reported that Colonel Corcoran, of the New- York Sixty-
ninth (Irish) regiment, who was laken prisoner, had been
killed. The "Thank God for that," which was uttered
from the lips of feminine delicacy by a member of the
Rector's family, was " applauded to the echo."
Dr. Norwood soon became too demonstrative to suit the
military authorities, and he too went to "his own place" —
within the rebel lines.
It is believed tliat in no place within the jurisdiction of
the General Government, are rebel sympathies among the
reWgions peo/ylc more demonstrative than in the two cities at
the seat of Government ; a sad testimony for their r.''ig'o';3
guides.
KEV. THOS. A. HOTT. 211
REBEL SYIIPATIIIZEES AM0:N"G KENTUCKY CLERGTME]^.
The more prominent open sympatlmers with the rebel-
lion, among clergymen in Kentucky, are two Presbyterian
Pastors, the Rev. Thomas A. Hoyt, and the Rev. Stuart
Robinson, D. D. The former is a South Carolinian by
birth, and the latter an Irishman. The former is Pastor of
the First, and the latter of the Second Presbyterian Church
in Louisville. Though they have both been exiled from
Kentucky for some two years or thereabouts, they still
retain, we believe, in form at least, the Pastoral connection
with their respective Chuiches. Why this is, we do not
know, unless it be that a large portion of their congrega-
tions sympathize with them. Whether they are, for the
time, "retired on half pay," or have their salaries paid in
full, are private matters, and best known to those who foot
the bills. We refer to tliem because they are represent-
ative men of a considerable class, and because tlieir
respective cases illustrate important principles involved in
the struggle between loyalty and treason.
KEV. THOMAS A. HOYT.
Some two years since, Mr. Hoyt was arrested in Ohio
for certain proceedings alleged to be disloyal, in connec-
tion with a Presbyterian clergyman of St. Louis, and they
together were for a short time imprisoned in Newport
Barracks, opposite Cincinnati. On being released, Dr.
Brookes, of St. Louis, as we were informed, took the oath
of allegiance ; and we learn that he has since been cora-
mendably loyal, and is now a warm supporter of the
Government in its contest with treason. Mr. Hoyt would
not take the oath of allegiance, and was sent by the mili-
tary authorities away from his charge in Louisville. Why
he did not return to his native South, wh^^n offered the
• 10*
212 CLERICAL DISLOYALTT IN LOYAL STATES.
privilege, was surprising to some who had the matter in
charge. He was permitted to go to the "hated ISTorth."
For a time, we believe, he sojourned in Canada. But
New York city is understood to be his " Head-quarters ;"
Avhence, as occasion requires, not being pei'mitted to preach
in Louisville, "for his oath's sake," he can preach for his
sympathizing brother Van Dyke, of Brooklyn, where it
may be oaths are not required.
We have never been able to understand why a clergy-
man who is not permitted to remain at liome and preach
because of his disloyalty, or for refusal to take the oath of
allegiance, should be permitted to go elsewhere within the
jurisdiction of tlie Government with entire freedom and
" exercise his gifts." If it is the principle of crimiyiality
for which he is exiled, he should be turned over to the
rebels or exiled out of the country ; for a man who will
not acknowledge the first duty of a citizen, to be obedient
to the Government under which he lives, puts himself
entirely without the Gov^ernment's protection. If it be
merely to prevent the harm which a disloyal man may do,
we think he could do less at home than abroad. The co'i-
gregating of disloyal clergymen who have been exiled
from New Orleans and from other Southern cities because
they would not take the oath, in the city of New York, for
example, — the head-quarters of rebel sympathizers, — aifords
greater facilities for aiding the rebellion than they would
have if they were back in the Crescent City, under the
watchful eye of a military police.
MR. iiott's disloyal SERMOM".
Mr. Hoyt's position was defined at an early period of
the rebellion. On the National Fast Day appointed by
President Buchanan, January 4, 1861, he preached in his
Church in Louisville, and published liis sermon in the
ME. HOYT S DISLOYAL SERMOK. 213
Presbyterian Herald, tlion issued in tliat city, January
10th. Tliis discourse is instruc'dve on the following points :
It shows that 3Ir. Hoyt agrees with other Southern men,
tliat slavery lies at the root of the strife ; it is an exhorta-
tion to the citizens of Kentucky and other slave States, to
resist the Government, and let the seceders go their way ;
and wliile he is one of that class who deem it sacrilege to
introduce "politics into the ])u]pit," he here shows us
what, on tliis question, in his judgment, is not " politics,"
by deciding the gravest matters of political duty concern-
ing the Government, and exhorting his congregation to
the most definite line of action upon them ; and much more
of the same sort. We here give a few illustrations.
In the following paragraph, he intimates the importance
of the issues involved, in the contest then impending :
And first, we should settle in ovir minds that great principles under-
lie this whole matter ; we should avoid superficial views, and strive to
see the mighty issues that are pending. This is no temporary, though
acute, disorder of the body politic, but a chronic distemper, now break-
ing out afresh and throwing the patient into convulsions. This young
giant would not writhe and perish under a mere functional derange-
ment; an organic disease preys upon the vitals. The different portions
of our country could not come into such hostile and deadly colhsioa
upon the ordinary questions of public pohcy.
Then, under the carefully-guarded phraseology employed
in the following paragraph, he means to intimate that
slavery is the disturbing element. Nothing else of a reli-
gious nature can be referred to, w^here he speaks of " re-
vealed truth ;" and slavery is also covered up under some
other phrases. Tlie italics are his. The " one section" is
of conrse the South :
One section of this country believes that its dearest riglits are injured
— the right of self-government, the right to Constitutional liberty, the
right to equahty in the common Government and common domain ; she
beUeves that along with these rights is impUcated the truth, the truth of
214 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
God, the revealed truth of God ; and belioving that these priceless trea-
sures are gliding from her grasp, she is struggling to regain them. If
aU this be true, if our liberties and our religion are in danger, what have
we to do but to stand up boldly for our rights ?
POLITICAL PREACHING DEFINED.
He determines against his right to " preach politics ;"
and shows what is involved therein, as follows :
Questions of great magnitude and difficulty arise as to the time and
mode, the when and the how, of discharging our duties in this matter.
But these are purely political questions, and as such cannot properly
be discussed in the pulpit.
We think we see it now. The " time" and the " mode,"
and the " when" and the " how," in regard to " discharging
our duties," make up the political ; whWe tlie "duties"
themselves are religious. Mark this distinction, all ye who
preach the Gospel, and whose vocation it is to teach others
how to preach it. This we should deem one of the latest
South Carolina distinctions. After having clearly stated
it, Mr. Hoyt then expatiates on the -political and non-
pulpit side of it, still further :
Born on the soil of South Carolina, and educated in her views, I have
not abjured the convictions of a lifetime and professed to have received
a new revelation, but I have been true to the instincts of nature, and
have cherished the lessons that I drank in with my mother's milk. But
what I may think as a man is of no consequence to you on this occa-
sion and in this place ; you only wish to know the message of the Lord
at my mouth. The terms of my commission are limited — I am com-
manded to tea^ch religion, and am allowed to touch on other topics only
so far as they touch on religion. Were it otherwise, were I allowedfuU
scope, my natural feelings would spring forward with alacrity to discuss
this whole matter. But I dare not do it ; my commission forbids it.
* * * For these reasons, I cannot take up those questions — they
are civil, and not at all religious.
That is, the " civil" questions concerning the " time,"
KELIGIOUS PPvEACHIXG DEFINED. 215
the " mode," the " when," and the " how ;" for he speci-
fies no others which are political.
EELIGIOUS PEEACHISTG DEFI:NED.
He then exhibits the religious side :
But there are other aspects of the matter ^vhich rightfully fall within
the scope of this day's discourse — aspects which are so strenuously urged
by every dictate of humanity and religion, and which so exactly tally
with the precepts of the Gospel of peace, that I feel bound to press them
upon your attention. The question that lifts its solemn presence
amongst us this day is, " ShaU we have peace or war ?"
How easily a man can deceive himself by using the
phrase "Gospel of/^eace," and how convincinuly persuade
a certain class of his hearers that he is not meddling with
either j^oUtics or icar. We have a good illustration of
this before us. Mr. Hoyt abjures " politics ;" bnt when
he comes to put in practice his right to preach relifjion^ he
shows that it emboilies the following j^olitical things, as
exemplified in this particular discourse : Allowing him to
decide, that the " secession" which had then taken place
was " a revolution accomplished" and so to instruct the
Xjeople ; that the Federal Government has no right to
employ force to maintain its authority over the seceded
States ; that " the whole power of the Federal Govern-
ment" cannot do this ; that, should it be attempted, the
people of Kentucky and other Border slave States, a por-
tion of whom he was addressing, should resist the Federal
Government, " should rise up and hough the horses of
war," — that is, if the Government should undertake force
of arms against the rebels, Kentucky and the other Border
slave States should put themselves into an attitude of
rebellion by openly opposing the Government ; and then,
that the seceded States must enter on war, at all hazards
216 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
if need be, to maintain the doctrine of secession : all
which he felt " bound to press"' upon the people as their
religious duty.
The point here is none other than this, — that these
"duties" are " religious," and as such Mr. Hoyt is author-
ized to preach them, and exhort to their discliarge ;
whereas, to point out the " time" and the " mode," the
" how" an i the " when," would be " political," and a vio-
lation of his commission.
WAR PREACHED IN THE NAME OF PEACE.
Let us see how fully the points we have made are sus-
tained by his own language. Commencing our quotation
immediately after his question, " Shall we have peace or
war ?" he proceeds :
The responsibility of its answer rests upon you as citizens of Ken-
tucky, and as a portion of the middle slaveholding States, it is for them
to say whether blood shall be shed. They may have delayed their
answer too long, but I trust not. These great States should rise up from
their knees this day and hough the horses of war. [That is, as appears,
the Northern or Government " horses."] They should say to the North,
Tou SHALL NOT attempt force towards the seceding States — they must
be allowed peaceably to go out, if they choose. It is not necessary that
you should admit the right of secession. "Sou may regard it as a revo-
lution, hut as a revolution accomplished. You may say, if you choose,
that we do not admit that our Constitution contemplated secession, and
that we do not think the cotton States warranted in what they have
done ; but, as they have done it, we will not permit them to be assailed.
And is it not a revolution accomplished? Does a revolution ever go
backward ? Can force compel South Carolina to return ? No ! the
whole power of the Federal Government is inadequate to the task. She
may be overrun by invading armies ; her cities may be demolished, and
her fields ravaged; her churches may be deserted to the moles and the
bats; her classic halls may echo the hoot of the midnight owl; her
sons may perish on a hundred battle-flelds ; her women, and children,
and old men, may fly from their burning dwellings; but she can never
be conquered — never, never I
THE GRAND DISTINCTION. 217
On speaking of the rights and dangers of the South, he
thus enharges upon the duty of maintaining them by force,
if need be, even to the decapitation of the supreme
authorities :
If all this be true, if our liberties and our religion are in danger, what
have we to do but to stand up boldly for our rights — rights that we
inherit as Englishmen and as Americans; rights that began to be
secured to us when the Barons wrested Magna Charta from the nerve-
less grasp of King John ; rights that sought revenge for their violation
in the royal blood of Charles I.; rights, the vindication of which
hurled James II. from the throne ; rights, that, rising to still grander
proportions in this New World, found a champion in Washington, and
an, embodiment in the institutions of our country.
THE GEAND DISTINCTION RELIGION AND POLITICS.
We have then, here, a practical illustration of what it is
for the pulpit to eschew " politics" and preach " religion."
It is preaching religion to decide high questions of State ;
to declare what the Government has a right to do, and
what it has no authority or power to do ; to settle the
whole doctrine of " State rights," of which " secession,"
deemed " a revolution accomplished," is the culmination ;
to determine constructions of the Constitution, wherein
statesmen differ ; to decide, that in case the Government
determines on asserting its authority to overthrow trea-
son, it is the duty of the people of other great States to
run into treason and rebellion likewise ; and, most espe-
cially, imder the specious language, "the Gospel of/)eace,"
to cause the Church to resound to the blast of the v-ar-
trumpet, to summon men to join the armies of revolt
against a lawful popular Government. All this is religiov.,
and in it the people are instructed by authority. To add
the ingredient <yi politics^ which would defile the whole ser-
vice, it is only necessary to determine the " time" and
the "mode," the "how" and the " when."
218 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
This is a pretty fair specimen of the vahie which that
class of men, who are ever harping about " j.'olitical
preachers," place upon their own doctrine. The senti-
ments preached are sufficiently " religious," if they are on
their side ; but they are wickedly " political," if opposed
to their view 8.
NO POSSIBLE NEUTKALITY.
We commend the outspoken frankness of Mr. Hoyt, so
far as seen in contrast with another class, remarkably re-
ticent. In a time of treason, rebellion, and devastating
civil war, it is every man's solemn duty,^ — clergyman or
layman, — to show his colors. It is a sin to do otherwise.
Neutrality, at such a time, is a sin against God, and a
crime against the country. But there is, in fact, no next-
trality, regarding this contest, in the breast of any Ameri-
can citizen. It is an impossible thing, and every man
knows and feels it. He is either for the Government in
this struggle, or against it. And yet, there are men in
the Border States, and elsewhere, who have at least the
form of manhood in outward appearance, — men, too, who
liold a commission, as they declare, from God, to instruct
the people in their religious duties, — who, in this contest
between loyalty and treason, claim to be "neutral," to
have "no opinion," and to deem it best that "a minister's
views should not be known." We can only utter for such
the prayer of the Judge for the culprit sentenced to the
gallows, "May the Lord have mercy upon their souls!"
While we admire Mr. Hoyt's candor, infinitely better
than that feigned " neutrality" which many Border State
ministers pretend without practising, we place him in the
same list of guilty res[)onsibility for the treason and rebel-
lion now desolating the land, with distinguished ministers
in the Rebel States ; with this marked diiference, that he
EEV. STUAET EOBINSOISr, D. D. 219
is living within the loyal district covered by the Govern-
ment, Avhile giving his heart and his preaching in the line
of that rebellion which is seeking its overthrow.
EEV. STUAET EOBIXSOX, D. D.
We have already spoken of Dr. Robinson as Pasrfcor of a
Church in Louisville, at the beginning of the rebellion, and
still holding a formal connection with it. For some two
years he has been an exile in Canada, living in Toronto.
The facts about his exit from his adopted country, and
taking refuge under the flag which waves over the " swate
isle" in which he was borji, are about as follows :
Durmg the summer of 1862, when temporarily absent
from Louisville, such was the feeling entertained toward
him by the military authorities in that city, as his friends
beheved, that they advised him not to return. He took
their advice, and voluntarily betook himself to a jjlace
without the jurisdiction of the United States, where he has
since remained. We have never heard what was charged
against him, nor why his friends were apprehensive for his
safety, in case he should return home. It has been said by
some of them, that he would not take the oath of allegiance,
and hcTice would not return, knowing that this would be
required of him. Dr. Robinson himself has admitted, sub-
stantially if not directly, in what he has since written upon
this express point, that he would not take the oath of
allegiance to the United States Government. It may be,
for aught we know, that this is the sole occasion of his
exila Even if this is all, it is sufficient proof of disloyalty
with right-minded men.
But a question lies back of this. Why was such a de-
mand made of him ? What Avords, or acts, or other con-
duct, was he guilty of, that led the authorities to deem tlie
oath requisite in his particular case ? All ministers are
'220 CLEEICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
not required to take an oath of allegiance. But in special
cases, such requisition has been deemed essential for pub-
lic safety. A minister of the Gospel, above all other men,
should so conduct, that he cannot even be suspected othehig
disloyal to the Government which protects him. And we
venture to say, that there has been no case of arrest, or
infringement, or threatening of any one's liberty or safety,
in the loyal States, concerning whom there was not some
good ground for the si(spicio?i, at least, that he Avas in
some way aiding the rebellion. But the simple fact that
Dr. Robinson's friends thought, and his judgment and con-
science approved the suggestion, that Canada was a safer
place for him than Kentucky, is 2)rima facie evidence that
the case is against him ; that his presence and influence in
Louisville were deemed to be against the Government by
the military aiithorities, and that it would be improper for
him to return there without taking the oath of allegiance ;
all which is strengthened by the consideration that the
Commander of that Military Department at the time was
Dr. Robinson's particular fi'iend, and would do him no
injustice.
HE EDITS A DISLOYAL PAPER,
Our object in referring to this case at all, is, that it fur-
nishes a striking illustration of disloyalty to the Govern-
ment, and sympathy with the rebellion, in a leading
minister of a Border State, which, by successive votes of
its people at the polls, has determined to stand by the
Government and the Union. We need not go for proof to
Avhat he did, immediately leading to his exile. Ever shice
he has been in Canada, he has edited a paper, which is
issued in Louisville, and widely circulated in Kentucky,
from which the proof of his disloyalty and sympathy with
treason and rebellion is patent to all who read the sheet.
DE. EOBINSON EDITS A DISLOYAL PAPER. 221
Tliis paper is called The True Preshyterian. It was
published for some time before Dr. Robinson left Ken-
tucky, and edited by him, and was at one time suspended
by niilitary authority ; and afterwards, through the inter-
ference of a friend, the resumption of its publication was
allowed. During the last year or more, its disloyal utter-
ances have been more outspoken than usual, though fiom
first to last its whole tone and Spirit have been pervaded
with hostility to the course of the Government and sym-
pathy with the rebellion. Its articles are spiced with a
venom which is scarcely rivalled by the secular prints of
Richmond.
The animating spiiit of the paper is Dr. Robinson, safely
housed in Toronto under the protection of the British flag,
while the paper emanates from Louisville, protected in its
treasonable influence by the flag of the United States,
We have not the least doubt that The True Presbytericoi
is one of the most powerful auxiliaries for keeping alive
the spirit of the rebellion among the secessionists of
Kentucky.
In saying that this is a disloyal sheet, we do not speak
at random ; we shall give the proof For the responsi-
bility of its influence, its editors, publishers, correspond-
ents, subscribers, and patrons, must be held to account,
on any correct principles of judgment ; though, as we have
said, Dr. Robinson is the soul of the concern. For our
individual self, as we have taken this paper from tlie
beginning, our conscience is vindicated on the same gromid
that tlie late Dr. Emmons justified himself for purchasmg
infidel books. He said his library contained " the best
and worst books in the world :" that it was necessary Ibr
a minister to consult infidel works such as he would not
recommend to his people, for " thoy should know what the
Devil is about." On the same priuci|)le, in this time of
222 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
rebellion, we by no means confine our reading to one side
of the question, eitlier in secular or religious literature.
We consult papers and books of all parties, and especially
those which claim to be of the " religious" sort. For this
purpose we have taken, as long as the mails were open,
several of the religious papers and periodicals of the
South. On the same principle, if his Satanic Majesty
should escape to the earth, and set up a religious or secular
joui-nal in some metropolis of our country, we should
become one of his subscribers. But we seriously doubt
whether he could carry out his designs more efiectually
through such means than they are now being executed by
some of the servants he employs ; of which The True
Preshyterian is a fair specimen of tlie " religious" press,
and indeed the only paper of any denomination that we
know of in all the loyal States that is not openly and
decidedly sustaining the Government in its efibrts to put
down the rebellion.
ITS DISLOYAL COURSE IN GENERAL.
We do not intend to wade through the entire files of
this paper for our proofs, but will take a single number of
a recent date as a sample of many more.
Before quoting it, however, we will simply note the
leading characteristics of the disloyalty which runs
through this paper, from the first number to the last, as
must be well known to eveiy loycd person who reads it.
It started out on the avowed principle that it was going
to maintain a high tone of spirituality ; that the necessity
for this arose from the fact that the religious papei's of the
country had become secularized and political, — the best
illustrations for which Wei*e, that they spoke out boldly in
opposition to the rebellion, and in support of the Govern-
ment and the Avar for its suppression, — and that iho
THE CHFECH VILIFIED FOR LOYALTY, 223
Churches of all denominations had become openly corrupt
and utterly apostate, as seen in their resolutions and acts
adopted in support of the Government. In this extraor-
dinary state of religious degeneracy, The True Preshy-
teriari was going to be strictly and purely "religious,"
would abjure and eschew " politics" altogether, and set a
high example of what a religious '^onvn^X should be. The
mask was soon thrown off. It is, and has been from its
first number, for a paper claiming to be "religious," one
of the most intensely political journals in the country; and
its politics are disloyal and treasonable in their spirit,
tendencies, terms, and intent.
IT VILIFIES THE CHURCH FOE LOYALTY.
There is not a branch of the Church which has passed
resolutions in support of the Government which it has not
denounced and maligned in the most bitter and vile terms.
There is no body of religionists in any part of the loyal
States which has manifested disfavor with the Government
and sympathy with the rebellion, which it has not held up
for approbation ; as, for example, that of a Methodist
congregation in the interior of Pennsylvania, which
recently passed resolutions against the loyal action of the
General Conference of that large and influential Church in
May last in Philadelphia, and that of a Methodist Conven-
tion held in Louisville, which took action against tlie
proceedings of the Bishops of that Church. There is not
a distinguished man in the Church who has shown his
loyalty in his writings, nor a periodical that has taken the
same course, — especially those in the Presbyterian brancli,
— that has not been blackballed by that sheet by name, in .
terms that would eclipse a London Fish Market ; embi-acing
such venerable names as Drs. Hodge, Spring, Breckinridge,
Junkin, Musgrave, and hosts of others, including all the
224 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
editors of the religious press ; and not a prominent man
in the Church sympathizing with treason, nor an insignifi-
cant one of that character, has escaped its commendations.
On the other liand, wlnle it has often been very earnest in
its exhortations for '' peace," and lias continually denounced
and mourned over " this cruel war against our Southern
brethren," — a war begun by themselves for the destruction
of our nationality, — and while the ministers of the South-
ern Church of all branches have been the foremost in
urging on the war against the National Government, the
Constitution, and the Union, and many of the more ])roni-
inent of them have held commissions as officers and have
fought in the rebel army, no article has ever appeared in that
paper whose object was to condemn the wickedness of this
pious work of " our Southern brethren," but many p.ara-
graphs are found in its columns extenuating their course,
which were well calculated and directly designed to give
them substantial " aid and comfort ;" while, also, some of
these leading men have been especially commended by name
for their exalted virtues, and held up as models worthy of
imitation by all men. It sometimes waxes very warm
upon the question of Nort/iern infraction of " Constitu-
tional rights," but this paper may be searched throughout
for a single condemnation of the infractions of the Consti-
tution by treason and rebellion which Southern men have
committed, and not one such line of condemnation can be
found.
it abuses the government.
In regard to the General Government, whose flag pro-
tects the property of The True FresJtylcrian, — and under
whose jurisdiction the "unclean spirit" of the paper,
" walking through dry places, seeking rest," does not find
it well to reside, — its course is very similar to that towards
the loyal action and loyal men of the Church. There is
THE GOVERNMENT ABUSED. 225
scarcely any thing wliich the Government does towards
putting down the rebellion which it does not condemn.
We challenge the most careful reader of tliat sheet,
whether he be loyal or a secessionist, to point to a single
article it ever published, whose object Avas to show
sympathy for the Government in its contest with treason,
and that it favored putting down the rebellion by any
means whateoer; or that it ever contained an editorial or
any other article, whose object w^as to show that the rebel-
lion is wrong, as an oifence against either man or God ; or
that its editor, Dr. Robinson, has ever explicitly stated in
that paper, that he is 7iot in favor of the triumph of the
rebellion and of the dismemberment of the Union in the
setting up of an independent " Confederacy" in the South,
' — that he is not, heart and soul, in. full synqKithy tcith the
rebels, — although the charges that he is so have been
frequently made against him publicly, and he has been
challenged to deny them in his cohxmns in direct terms.
While this negative view of the case is sufficient of
itself to condemn any such editorial course in a time of
rebellion, and to brand an editor who pursues it with
public and open disloyalty, the charge cannot be evaded
in this case on any plea of neutrality, and that silence is
maintained for spirituality'' s sake, and because it is a " re-
ligious" journal. On tlie contrary, this paper speaks out
openly against the Government ; against almost every
department of it, civil and military ; against its general
course and its specific measures towards the rebellion ;
against the acts of the Administration, and of the War
Department ; against the Military Orders of the Govern-
ment ; against the course of its Commanding Generals ;
against iis interference with slavery in the rebel States;
against, indeed, every thing which it is doing to put down
the rebellion ; including abuse of it for interfering with
226 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
openly disloyal citizens at the North. As a fitting illustra-
tion of this, it evinces its deep sympathy for treason and
traitors, by holding up as martyrs some whom the Govern-
ment has laid hands upon to protect its own safety and
the safety of the peo])le at large. Mr. Vallandigliam is a
special object of its editorial compassion, although he was
condemned by a regular Military Court, which was sus-
tained by the United States District Court, and again by
the non-interference of the Supreme Court of the United
States, as well as by the Executive of the nation, and
although he was repudiated by the people of Ohio. While
making a martyr of one thus judicially condemned for
disloyalty, it abuses most especially and repeatedh' in its
columns, the upright and honored Judge who declined to
iuterfei'e with the regular course of lawful authority in the
case.
The terms which it employs to vent its spleen at the
whole administration of the Government, civil and mili-
tary, are fully equal to any emanations from the secular
press at Richmond, and in many respects the rebel journals
of the rebel capital are left far in the rear in the effort to
seek out phrases of treasonable malignity.
In giving these general characteristics of The True
Presbyterian^ every loyal reader of the paper knows that
they are fully maintained by the facts, and that, if there is
any difference, our representation fdls below the truth.
This is the kind of paper which is sustained by resi:)ectabl8
people in Kentucky, some of whom are loyal ; sustained
largely by the Presbyterian Church, in which, among the
ministry and people, are specimens of as rank sympathy
with the rebellion as can be found in any part of the
Union. Is it any wonder, with such aids at home, that
the State is overrun with rebel raiders, under the lead of
John Morgan, "the chivalrous Southern gentleman," as
SPECIMENS OF DISLOYALTY. 22*7
refined ladies style him, and that its loyal people are con-
stantly harried and harassed in person and property ?
SPECIMENS OF DISLOYALTY. HIS POSITION DEFINED.
For an example of many, we take a single issue of The
True Presbyterian., that of March 17, 1864. One article
is specially noticeable in the fact, that while Dr. Robinson
is apparently attempting to vindicate his loyalty, he abuses
the Government in the same breath. Referring to the
N'ew York Observer's remark, that it is a " sin and shame
not to be for the Government," Dr. Robinson says :
"We are not sure that we and the Observer " understand the case alike"
here, as President Lincoln says. If he moan by " Government" the
Constitution, and official acts of the Administration according to the Con-
stitution, then we have given stronger proof of loyalty than the 06-
scrver. For though maligned, insulted, and robbed, by minions of the
Administration, we have steadfastly withstood the temptation to swerve
from our fidelity in "word or conduct" to the Government. But if, by
"the Government," the Observer means an Administration in the hands
of cut-ihroat abolition infidels, setting at defiance alike the ordinance of God
and the Constitution of the country, the>t we are " not for the Gov-
ernment," whatever "sin and shame''' may be involved in it.
This is sufficiently plain as defining his position. It em-
braces the essence of the usual resort of traitors, who
sometimes attempt to distinguish between the " Govern-
ment," and the "Administration" in which, for the time
being, all the authority, dignity, and power of the Govern-
ment are embodied. It qualifies this, however, by the
distinction between the Government constitutionally and
unconstitutionally administered, — a very p.alpable dis-
tinction. And then, — passing by the official and authori-
tative decisions of every department of the Government,
Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, in which they have
been agreed on all questions which have been acted upon
11
228 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
by them respectively touching the rebellion and the wnr,
— Dr. Robinson takes upon himself to be sole jiidge in
the matter, and to decide on his individual respons^ibility
that the Government is acting unconstitutionally, "set-
ting aside the Constitution of the country," and therefore
openly announces, " xce are not for the Government?'' If
this is not disloyalty, it would be difficult to define the
term.
The spur of his zeal for Constitutional liberty^ is his
devotion to negro slavery. To deify and sanctify the
right to enslave /b?^;" millions of human beings, who have
an infinitely clearer right to liberty before the bar of
justice, than he hn.s to his personal freedom before the
laws of the country he is betraying. The True Presbyterian
is largely devoted ; and he deems it God-service to abuse
the Government because it has stopped the mouths of a
feio prominent men, who, like himself, were acting in
sympathy with those who are in arms to overthrow it. It
is not difficult, therefore, to select the term out of the phrase
in which he characterizes the rulers of the country, — " cut-
throat aholition infidels," — which most of all expresses the
depth of his soul's abhorrence.
In the same article from which we have quoted, Dr.
Robinson further shows his contempt for " the powers that
be," by speaking of some of the Generals in the army high-
est in rank as " petty military despots,'' and of their " rule"
as being " instigated by the canaille of the neighborhood ;"
and of the head of the Department of War, as " thai emi-
nent father in God, Secretary Stanton ;" and elsewheie, so
exact are his rebel instincts, that he falls into rebel phra-
seology aptly, when characterizing General Butler as
" Beast Butler," and other leading Generals of the army
as " military satraps," and much more of the same sort,
found in every number.
god's ctjese with the president. 229
god's " cuese" with the pkesidext.
Another instance revealing bis strong rebel leanings in
the paper of the same date, — for all our extended extracts
are confined to one number, — is seen in an editorial in
which he objects to the course of certain religious gentle-
men, wherein he takes occasion to draw a comparison
between preceding administrations of the Government and
the present one^ much to the disparagement of the latter,
in this style :
Under the thirteen preceding Presidents, God's blessing seemed to
rest upon the nation from generation to generation, ivhile His awful curse
comes with Mr. Lincoln. We are free to say, wicked as we no doubt
will seem to these holy men, that judging from the history of our coun-
try, while "we as a nation had no religion," we were far better off than
now, with all the religion that Mr. Lincoln's official piety has infused into
thena'ion. As "a nation with no rehgion," we had generally peace
and quietness — faithful observance of public covenants — respect for the
amenities of civil and social intercourse between aU sections of the land
— unparalleled success in all secular enterprise, and marvellous suc-
cess in all our efforts for the advancement of Christ's kingdom. As a
nation with a religion, in spite of Presidential fastings and prayers and
thanksgivings, we are rapidly verging to barbarism, the land filled with
rapine and blood, &c.
These comparisons are understood. Under al] former
administrations, " public covenants" were scrupulously
kept ; under the " curse" of Mr. Lincoln and his " official
piety," they are broken. Under former Presidents, proper
" civil and social amenities" were shown toward " our
Southern brethren ;" but now, poor souls, they are treated
very uncivilly with shell and canister for their pious offer-
ings on the altar of treason. Under Presidents Pierce and
Buchanan, when, through their pecnliarlr/ " faithful obser-
vance of public covenants," slavery had a fair prospect of
becoming universal in the country, — either by importing
230 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
more Africans, or enslaving, as the amiable Dr. Armstrong
would have it, all the " poor whites," — we had " unpar-
alleled success in all secular enterprise," and cotton was
to reign over all nations ; bat now, under the " awful curse
that comes with Mr. Lincoln," gold goes up and greenbacks
go down, and as for the great Apostles of the rebellion
among " our Southern brethren," their idol king is de-
throned and they are reduced to quite an apostolic condi-
tion, as many of them have " neither gold, nor silver, nor
brass, in their purses, neither two coats, nor shoes," and
as for their " scrip," it has long since gone down far below
zero. Under former Presidents, when it was orthodox to
preach xap the divinity of slavery, and when it was sin,
" infidelity and apostasy," to preach or resolve against it,
" Christ's kingdom" had a most " marvellous success ;"
but now, under " Mr. Lincoln's official piety," when the
country is ready to throw ofi" the incubus of slavery, " we
are rapidly verging to barbarism." These may be en-
titled "The Pious Lamentations of Stuart Robinson," and
will do to keep company with the " Sorrows of WerLer."
THE WAK CIIAKGED ON NORTHERN MEN.
We give two extracts more from the same number of
the paper, contributed by other writers. We cannot vouch
for the correctness of the writer's quotations in the first
extract, except in one instance, but we give them as we
here find them. He is mourning over the war, and charg-
ing the responsibility for its sad events upon the men he
names. It shows on which side his own heart is, — that
of the rebellion or the Government:
How naturally the poor dying soldier might claim, that in a very ac-
ceptable manner he must have been serving God, wiiile employed in
butdiering rebels 1 Could he not refer to the calmest utterances of the
moat ejninent of the so-called conservative preacliers of the land, repre-
DENUIfCIATIOXS OF OUR GOVERNMENT. 231
eentative men of by far the largest part of the Presbyterian Church,
that the war is, on the Federal side, a just, a necessary, and a holy ivar f
Did not the learned and able Rev. George Junkin, D. D., on the floor of
the General Assembly, in 1862, unrebuked by that Assembly, declare,
that "the present rebellion is a heU-born delusion, an ungodly, wicked
delusion ; the present war was founded in treason, in deception the
most terrible that ever was on earth, except the deception in Eden ?"
Did not the meek and gentle Rev. S. I. Prime, D. D., editor of the New
York Observer, write in his paper in May, 1862, that no punishment in
this world or the next was severe enough for those Southern traitors ?
Did not the amiable and fearless Professor in the Danville Theological
Seminary, even Rev. Robert L. Stanton, D' D., deliberately characterize
this Southern movement — so written in the DanviUe Review, — as " the
most wicked and causeless attempt to overthrow good government
which has ever been made since the rebelUon of the angels which
kept not their first estate ?" Did not the sober and earnest Rev. George
W. Musgrave, D. D., long a Secretary of the Board of Domestic Missions,
tell the Almighty in his public prayer, in the hearing of assembled thou-
sands, as met at the second anniversary of the Christian Commission,
in Philadelphia, January 28, 1864, that "the treason of the rebels is a
crime against their country not only, but a crime against the Almighty
Himself; that they are resisting His servants. His divine, established
ordinances?"
The article from which the above is t.aken, is headed
"Who slew all these?" The writer indicates his answer,
which shows that he relieves "our Southern brethren"
from the responsibility.
OUR GOVERNMENT WORSE THAN FRENCH REVOLUTIONISTS.
The only further reference we make, is to an article in
which the writer draws a comparison between the French
Government, in the Revolution of 1793, and the General
Government of the present time, and strives to make out
a case most decidedly in favor of the French. He quotes
at great length from a discourse of Dr. Timothy Dwight,
of Yale College, delivered in 1 81 2, upon Infidelity. Speak-
ing of the French, Dr. Dwight says :
232 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
They raised armies, in dififerent years, amounting to five, seven, nine,
and twelve hundred thousand men ; " the strongest and most formida-
ble body which was ever assembled on this globe." This multitude
they emptied out upon every neighboring State. The hfe, liberty, and
property of every bordering nation was consumed; and a boundless
scene of desolation everywhere marked its course. It made no differ-
ence whether the nation was a friend or a foe, was in alliance with
them, or at war. Whatever was thought convenient for Prance, was
done ; and done in defiance of every law of God or man ; of the most
solemn treaties, of the most absolute promises.
This is but a small portion of the extract, and although
we have not verified it, we presume it is correctly taken
from Dwight's works. Upon the whole extract, as he gives
it, the writer says, referring to the course of the United
States Government, and those who support it in putting
down the rebellion :
In making this quotation, it is not my purpose, Mr. Editor, to enlarge
uj>on the similarity of the events and doings of the French Revolution,
and those of our own land and day. "Were your columns the proper
place (how scrupulous 1), it would be no difficult task to show a, most
striking, resemblance in the events and doings of the two countries and
times. Indeed, it could be demonstrated, that, taking all things into
consideration, the wickedness and crimes of the fanatical infidels, and
their adherents of our day, far exceed in atrocity and enormity those of
the time of the French Revolution. * *'' * Like their elder brethren,
the infidels of France, they (the " Gospel ministers and Christians in the
Northern States") have allowed an adoration of our natioxal unity,
greatness and glory, equality and fraternity, to supplant in their hearts
the adoration of the Prince of Peace ; and principles and precepts of
corrupt humanity to rule their actions, instead of the principles and
precepts of the Gospel of God.
It is only necessary to observe, in reference to the above,
th:it the character drawn by the graphic pen of Dr. Dwight
of the ruling party in France, leu by Robespierre, D.uiton,
and their C07ifrdres, is held up by this writer as furnishing
a good picture of the character of the Government of the
CALUMNY SELF-BEFUTED. 233
United States and its supporters in tlie present war against
rebellion, except that " the wickedness and crimes" of the
latter "far exceed in atrocity and enormity those of the
time of the French Revolution."
CHAEGE OP DISLOYALTY SUSTAINIED.
It may be thought that we have given far too much
attention to the course of a single paper. Our apology is,
that it is probably the only paper claiming to be " reli-
gious," within the loyal portion of the country, which is not
friendly to the Government ; that it is published and mainly
circulated in a State which has repeatedly voted against
secession, and which is at this moment, and has frequently
been since the beginning of the war, overrun by guerrillas
who are laying waste the country, and that the course of
this sheet is well calculated to give " aid and comfort" to
this mode of rebel warfare.
And now we ask, can any candid man read the evidence
we have adduced in the foregoing extracts, — all taken from
a single number of the paper, — and say that The True
Presbyterian is not a disloyal print ? — that its editor, pub-
lishers, and correspondents, are not inimical to the Gov-
ei-nment which protects their homes, and that their inner-
most souls are not in full sympathy with rebels in arms
who are seeking to overthrow it? Xo jury of twelve
honest men could hesitate to bring in a verdict of guilty.
CALUMNY SELF-EEFUTED.
This paper and certain secular prints from which it often
quotes, denounce the Government for its tyranny and op-
pression, for its interference with the liberty of person,
speech, and the press. Dr. Robinson says of himself, in
the first extract given, that he has been " maligned, insult-
ed, and robbed, by minions of the Administration." The
234 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IK LOYAL STATES.
reply to this is unanswerable. The simple fact that such
men and such papers are permitted to live and labor to
thwart the Government and to aid the rebellion, is an
overwhebning disproof of its op[)ression. If the Govern-
ment were really acting with stern justice^ they would
never more be permitted to trouble it. If they were pur-
suing such a course at Richmond, they would instantly
have a lodgment in Castle Thunder, or be hung by the
neck — or the heels. This they well know. It would be
no better with them if they were doing tbeir traitorous
work in Paris or London. There is no nation under heaven,
but that of the United States, where such things would be
tolerated for a moment in a time of foul rebellion, whil-e
possessing the power which this nation has developed.
And yet, the Government is mahgned as oppressive ! The
very paragraph which contains the calumny is its own
refutation.
THE REMEDY. ^TWO EXAMPLES.
K such is the guilt, what is the remedy? We have
already indicated what would be done elsewhere. But we
incline to the opinion that the Government would act
wisely to allow such prints to go/on unmolested ; though
many think differently. They unquestionably exert a povv-
erfid influence against the Government, and give to the
rebel cause substantial " aid" and much needed " comfort."
But they serve at least two good purposes. They afford
to the world the best illustration of the leniency of the
Government ; and they give striking examples of the depth
of human depravity. Both of these may have an hnpor-
tant end to serve in the development and final elevation
of mankind.
An example may be given, however, of a remedy which
eminent statesmen of a Border State approve. The Mary-
THE REMEDY. — TWO EXA.MPLES. 235
land Constitutional State Convention, July 19, 1864,
passed the following order, by a vote of thirty-three to
seventeen :
Ordered, That this Convention, representing the people of Maryland,
hereby respectfully request the President of the United States, and the
Commandants of Military Departments in which Maryland is included,
as an act of justice and jn-opriety, to assess upon sympathizers with the
rebellion resident in this State, the total amount of all losses and spolia-
tions sustained by loyal citizens of the United States resident in this
State, by reason of the recent rebel raid, to compensate loyal sufferers.
It is as clear as the light, that these raiders in the loyal
Border States are encouraged by the sympathizers with the
rebellion therein ; sometimes by secret organizations, which
the President's Proclamation of Maitial Law in Kentucky
declares, upon the authority of military men and others, to
exist in that State ; sometimes by information given to
them ; and powerfully by the disloyal presses m tlie Border
States. Through these means, the raiding parties, and
especially those guerrilla bands that are nothing more than
highway robbers and land pirates, are emboldened in their
work. The Maryland Convention has expressed its solemn
judgment, proposing a remedy. At the very time that
State was thus suffering, and the national capital was threat-
ened, raiding parties were laying waste Kentucky, through
encouragement given by " their friends" at home. K the
remedy suggested by a body of eminent statesmen, is " an
act of justice and propriety" for the longitude of Mary-
land, it would be no less so for that of Kentucky. If the
rule were applied there, many men, now rolling in wealth,
who have aided John Morgan, and ladies who have kissed
his hand and wept tears of joy over his photograph, would
be made penniless. If, under this " act of justice," that
quality were meted out in the manner proposed, and the
guilty were rewarded " according to their works." the edi-
236 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
tors, publishers, and correspondents of The True Presby-
terian would be reduced to beggary.
Another exainple is found in what the papers state, that
Major-General Burbridge, commanding in Kentucky, has
lately issued an order similar in principle to that recom-
mended by the Maryland Convention, and even going
much farther in retaliatory measures. We have not seen
it, and cannot speak of its provisions ; but if founded on
"justice and propriety," as we presume is the case, it may
turn out that editors and others who are sowing broadcast
those seeds which produce such a harvest of desolation
and blood through the fair fields of Kentucky, may yet
receive their deserts in the visitations which will be made
upon their persons and property.
GOVERKMENT ORDERS VINDICATED.
It will be appropriate, at this point, to notice one of the
grossest charges which the " religious" journal above
named has brought against the Government, and against
every branch of the Northern Church. On application to
the War Depaitment, by the Bishops of tlie Methodist
Episcopal Church, and by Missionary Boards of the Bap-
tist, Presbyterian, and other yhurches at the North,
for permission to occupy the pulpits and vacant neighbor-
hoods of the Rebel States, that the Gospel might be
preached, the Government granted these requests, regard-
ing the commission given by these several Church author-
ities as a guarantee that the men sent South would be
loyal, and imposing no other condition. Orders were
issued to the different military commanders to give persons
thus duly commissioned by the Church, all proper facili-
ties for their work, and to put the pulpits at their disposal.
The Generals in command issued their orders accord-
ingly.
GOVERNMENT OKDEES VINDICATED. 237
This proceeding on the part of the Government has
been denounced by the above-named paper ; and that the
Church should seek such authority from the State, has
been paraded as one of the conclusive proofs of its utter
apostasy. At least one religious body, the Presbytery of
Louisville, complained to the General Assembly of the
Church that its Board of Missions should thus seek to
have the commissions of its ministers indorsed by the
State ; and, in this course, it saw nothing but shame and
"ruin" impending. It is in regard to these measures par-
ticularly, that Dr. Robinson speaks so contemptuously of
the Secretary of War, and of the orders of certain mili-
tary commanders. In the same numher of his paper be-
fore quoted, he speaks of " Secretary Stanton's letter in-
stalling Bishop Ames as Military Pontiff in a vast district,
and the infamous Norfolk order of Gen. Wild ;" and also
has the following :
"What though Methodist and Baptist Mohammedans grasp the sword
offered them by that "eminent Father in God," Secretary Stanton, to
drive back their Southern brethren into the fold out of which Xorthern
faithlessness to covenants and semi-infidel opinions had driven them
twenty years ago. * * * We had fondly hoped that so far as
Churches are concerned, this disgrace might be confined to Northern
Methodists and Baptists. To our mortification, and the disgrace of our
own Church, we find the (Philadelphia) Presbyterian, a journal that will
be understood to speak for Presbyterians because it once did, — for the
pubhc at large will not understand its miserable fall, — proposing that
the Presbyterian Board of Missions should apply to the War Depart-
ment for an order similar to the Methodist order ! We have httle fear
that this Board will adopt the suggestion. Even should it be so run
mad, the Church would be apt to stop supphes till a saner Board were
put in its place.
The Board here referred to did " apply to the War De-
partment for an order," and obtained it, and if not entirely
" similar to the Methodist order," it is nevertheless based
238 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
on the essential principle which underlies the whole case
as between the Church and the State ; and it is in regard
to that principle, chiefly, that we now refer to the case.
It is in reference to this latter application that the Louis-
ville Presbytery complained ; and it need only be said
here, in contradiction to the above prophecy, that the
General Assembly, in May last, did not elect " a saner
Board," but approved and sustained its course.
The order from the War Department to the Methodist
Bishops, and that of General Wild, are before us. We
see nothing " infamous" in either, although both are so
styled. In the first, " transportation and subsistence" are
to be furnished " Bishop Ames and his clerk, when it can
be done without prejudice to the service." This is mostly
an afiair of the Government, and is of minor consideration.
In that of General Wild, it was ordered that the Churches
should be " open freely to all oflicers and soldiers, white
or colored^'' &c. Perhaps the infamy is found in the
hue of the skin. But these, as we have said, are subor-
dinate matters. We only desire to look at the radical
principle at the bottom of these cases, as furnishing or not
a just ground of complaint, to say nothing of vile abuse,
both of the Church and the Government.*
* That the reader may see the two orders referred to, each of which is pronounced
"infamous," we here insert them as found in Tlie True Presbyterian of March IT,
1864:
"War Department, Adjutant-Geneual's Offiob,
" Washington, Kotemher 30, 1863.
"To the Generals commanding the Departments of the Missouri, the Tennessee,
and the Gulf, and all Generals and Officers eommandincr armies, detachments, and
corps, and posts, and all Officers in the service of the United States in the above-
mentioned Departments: You are hereby directcil to place at the disposal of Key.
Bishop Ames, all houses of worship belonging to the Methodist Episcopal Church
South, in which a loyal minister, who has been appointed by a loyal Bishop of said
Church, does not now officiate. It is a matter of great importauce to the Govern-
ment, in its efforts to restore tranquilliiy to tlie community and peace to the nation,
that Clu'istian ministers should, by example and precept, support and foster the
loyal sejitiment of the people. Bishop Ames enjoys the entire confidence of this
Dejiartment, and no doubt is entertained that all ministers who may be appointed
by him will be entirely loyal. You are expected to give him all tne aid. countenance,
and 8U])port, practicable in the execution of his important mission. You are also
authorized and directed to furnish Bishop Ames and his ch i k with transportation
CHURCH APPLICATIO:?^ VINDICATED. 239
What is here involved ? Here is no union of Church
and State, as some have pretended ; no subordination of
the Church to the Government, out of its proper sphere, nor
of the Government to the Church ; no " indorsing" by the
Government of a minister's " commission to preach the
Gospel ;" no improper position for the Church at the
North to take; and no injustice to the Church at the
South, so far as it is in rebeUion, as to rights of property,
organization, or spiritual teachers.
CHURCH APPLICATION VINDICATED BY THE FACTS.
In regard to the action of the Church at the North, its
several branches have apphed to the War Department for
a " permit" or a " passport," that their ministers might go
within the lines of the army, and occupy the vacant pul-
pits of the South, from some of which disloyal ministers
had fled within the rebel lines, and from others of which
they had been ejected by the Government. In its essence,
this is all that the application involves. And what is it ? It
is precisely similar, and nothing more, than the permission
which is sought and obtained from the War, Treasury,
Navy, and State Departments, for citizens to exercise
their business, trade, or profession, of a secular character,
and subsistence, when it can be done ■without prejudice to the service, and Avill
afford them courtesy, assistance, and protection. By order of the Secretary of War.
"E. D. T<j^s%m:ii>, Assiniant Adjutant-Generid"
" Head-Quarters, Norfolk and Portsmouth,
" Norfolk, Va., Feb. 11, 1864.
" General Orders, ITo. 3. — All places of public worship in Norfolk and Ports-
mouth are hereby placed under the control of the Provost-Marshals of Norfolk and
Ports iiouth respective!}', who shall see the pulpits properly filled by displacing,
when necessary, the present incumbents, and substituting men of known lo}-alty
and the same sectarian denomination, either military or civil, subject to the
approval of the Commandms General. They shall see that the Churches are open
freely to all officers and soldiers, white or colored, at the usual hour of worship, and
at other times, if desired, and they shall see that no insult or indignity be oflered to
them, either by word, look, or gesture, on the part of the congregation. Tbe neces-
sary expenses will be levied, as far as possible, in accordance with the i)revi(m8
usages or regulations of each congregation respectively. No property shall be re-
moved, either pablic or private, without permission from these head-quarters. ISy
command of " E. A VfihP, Brig. -Genera',.'^
240 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
within the " seceded" States, or within the lines of the
Federal army, or to go there at all for any purpose ; the
conditions being that the business, in the judgment of the
Government, shall be proper in itself, and warranted by
the circumstances of the case and the state of the country,
and that the persons concerned in it shall be loyal.
The Church looked at the simple facts, that many
Southern pulpits were vacant, and that others would
become so as our armies should advance ; that Southern
ministers had abandoned and had been driven from their
positions; and that the Government would not allow any
but loyal men to fill their places. Besides this, tens of
thousands of freedmen, women, and children, were as
"sheep without a shepherd." The Gospel, therefore,
would not be preached at all to multitudes of people,
white and black, many of whom were loyal, and would
gladly welcome it, unless the Government should open
the way. Under these circumstances, was the Church
doing wrong or right in asking the sanction of the
Government, — obtaining a " permit," for it was no more
than that, and just what is sometimes done on heathen
ground, — to " go into all the South and preach the Gospel
to every creature ?" Looking at the flicts alone, it is
clear that the Church at the Korth has done nothing
more than her duty. Had she not done it, she would
have been verily guilty before God, and the blood of
multitudes of souls would have been found upon her.
We do not say what might or might not have been the
duty of the Church, in this case, had the application been
denied. It is not necessary to raise any question of the
Church's duty to preach tlie Gospel, even in the face of
opposition from the civil power. That has nothing to do
with the present issue. This, however, may be said, as a
principle universally applicable, — that, if the civil power is
CHIEF GROUND OF COMPLAINT. 241
opposed to the Church's proper work, the Church should
seek to conciliate rather than disregard such opposition.
In this case, we simply look at the facts as they are.
The Church could not send men South to preach without
permission of the Government, or provoking its hostility.
It was, then, its duty to ask permission to go within the
lines of the army, and, if granted, to accept it, provided
the work itself was proper. The actual condition of the
South reveals the duty, and the application vindicates the
Church in seeking to discharge it in a way not to provoke
collision with the Government.
CHIEF GROtJND OF COMPLArNT.
But suppose the Church, looking beyond the facts,
should entertain the question, whether she might not, in
this course, be conniving at a great wrong done by the
Government to the Southern people ; how would her con-
duct be affected ? This brings up the other side of the
case. It is no doubt here that The True Presbyterian,
and those who agree with it, found their great objection,
denying that the Government has any right to take pos-
session of the Southern Churches, or turn them over to
loyal men from the North or elsewhere ; and that the
Church, in asking and accepting this from the Govern-
ment, is guilty of compounding a felony with the State.
Dr. Robinson speaks as follows upon this point :
When the Administration, or any of its functionaries, obtrude
themselves into the affairs of religion, and undertake to direct the
aflfairs of Christ's kingdom, from which they are restrained both by the
law of Christ and the Constitution of the country, we are obliged to
treat them as any other false teachers and usurpers in the Christian
commonwealth. * * * It comes to settling the powers of civil and
military government over religion. * * * The people of the co\mtry
will surely be slow to recognize such powers over religion in this
Government ; for who knows how soon the order may be extended to
242 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN" LOYAL STATES.
embrace Ohio, Xew York, and Pennsylvania, as well as Missouri,
Tennessee, etc. 7
When the cases become similar in Ohio, New York,
and Pennsylvatiifi, and through treason and rebelhon the
ministry and people of the Churches in those States turn
traitors, and their pulpits become vacant, as is now the case
all through the South within the lines of the Federal armies,
then " the order may be extended to embrace" them also, on
the ground of the most unquestionable principles of public
law, as recognized among all nations. It is on this ground
that the course of the Government toward disloyal minis-
ters and people at the South is justified.
GOVERNMENT AND CHURCH VIN^DICATED BY THE LAW.
The laws of war regard all citizens of a hostile nation
as public enemies, whether actually engaged in war or
not.* When a nation is engaged in civil war, and, as in
the present case, is attempting to put down a rebellion
undertaken by organized States, all persons within the
territory in rebellion are in like manner deemed enemies
of the Government, This is settled public law among all
nations ;t and it has been so held in regard to the present
rebellion, by the Supreme Court of^the United States.
But the case immediately in hand goes far beyond this.
It concerns ministers and churches that are notoriously in
* " It is understood that the whole nation declares war against another nation ; for
the sovereign represents the nation, and act< in the name of the whole society; and
it is only in a body, and in her national character, that one nation has to do with
another. Hence, these two nations are enemies, and all the subjects of the one aro
enemies to all the subjects of the other. In this particular, custom and principles
are in accord. * * * Since women and children are subjects of the State, and
members of the nation, they are to be ranked in the class of enemies. But it does
not thence follow that we are justifiable in treating them like men who bear arms,
or aro cajiable of bearing them. It will appear in the sequel, that we have not the
same rights against all classes of enemies."— Vnttel, b. 3, ch. 5.
t " It is very evident that the common laws of war ought to be observed by both
parties in every civil war."— Ffrrtei, b. 8, ch. 18.
GOVERNMENT AND CHURCH VINDICATED. 243
open rebellion, and are among the leaders in the revolt.
"What the Government has done is to recognize these
facts, and to assume control of the property which these
fugitive rebels left behind them, and which had been used
against the Government. So far as this church property
is concerned, the Government might have confiscated
every dollar of it to its own use by the I'egular operation
of military law ; for, notoriously, these abandoned pulpits
were the places which bred and fostered treason, and with-
out which the rebellion would never have had more than an
abortive birth ; and they were the most powerful instigators
of the war against the Government, up to the very
moment its armies reclaimed the ground on which they
were built.*
When Admiral Farragut captured Xew Orleans, he or
General Butler might have taken Dr. Palmer's Church for
a hospital, or for any other military purpose, and the
Government might retain it forever as such, a standing
monument to the infamy of his treason ; for the trustees,
elders, pew-holders, and all claiming an interest in the
property, had permitted him from that pulpit to assail the
Government with his unwonted eloquence, and to urge the
people to open rebellion against its authority. All property,
public or private, used in open aid of war, is liable to
* " When once we have precisely determined who our enemies are, It is easy to
know what are the things belonging to the enemy (res hostiles). We have shown
that not only the sovereign with whom we are at war is an enemy, but also his
whole nation, even the very women and children. Every thing, therefore, which
belongs to that nation, — to the state, to the sovereign, to the Fubjects of whatever
age or sex, — every thing of that kind, I say, falls under the description of things be-
longing to the enemy." — Vitttel, b. 3, ch. 5. '■ We have a right to deprive our enemy
of his possessions, of everything which may augment his strength and enable him
to make war. This everyone endeavors to accomplish in the manner most suitable
to him. Whenever we have an opportunity, we seize on the enemy's property, and
convert it to our own use ; and thus, besides diminishing the enemy's power, we
augment our own, and obtain, at least, a partial indemnification or equivalent, either
for what constitutes the subject of the war, or for the expenses and losses incurred
in its prosecution, — in a word, we do ourselves justice." — Tbidem, b. 3, ch. 9.
244 CLERICAL DISLOTALTT IN LOTAL STATES.
condemnation on its capture. No principle of pul)lic law
is more fully laid down by all writprs on the Laws of
Nations and tlie Laws of War than this ; aud it applies to
the vast majority of Church edifices throughout the South.
By tlieir being used as among the most powerful means
for sustaining and prosecuting the war, the Government
has an indefea.-ible title to use tliem if it can capture theui ;
to eject disloyal ministers and people from them, and to
appropriate them to any proper purpose in maintenance
of its just authority.
But what has the Goverimient actually done ? It has
preserved these Churches for religious worship, and has
simply taken a course wliich would secure loyal men to
occupy their pulpits. This is the whole case, and the
Government stands justified, while in fact it might have
appropriated them to other uses.
And what has the Church done ? Its course is folly
vindicated both by the /acts and the laio.
And yet a howl of indignation has come over from
the city of Toronto, week after week, and has taken form
in traitorous paragraphs in the city of Louisville, and its
senseless bellowings are echoed through the land to
frighten pious and timid women.
VINDICATED BY REBEL AUTHORITY.
If Dr. Robinson is willing to receive instruction touch-
ing the relations of Church and State, bearing directly
upon the point in hand, we refer him to a teacher
whom at least he ought to respect. It comes from the
pen of Dr. Thornwell. It is found in the " Address of
the General Assembly of the Presbyteiian Church in the
Confederate States of America," which was republished
in Louisville Avith commendation, and Avith which Dr.
Robinson probably had something to do. The following
GOVEKNilKNT VINDICATED BY REBELS. 245
sentences from that Address are all that are necessary for
our present purpose.
When the State makes wicked laws, contradicting the eternal princi-
ples of rectitude, the Church is at liberty to testify against them, and
humbly to petition that they may be repealed. In hke manner, if the
Church becomes seditious, and a disturber of the peace, the State has a
BIGHT TO ABATE THE NUISAKCB.
That is good doctrine, and we commend it to Dr. Robin-
son's acceptance. It comes from a man for whom he has
always, with ourselves, had a high admiration. And
besides, it is tbe doctrine of the whole " Confederate Gen-
eral Assembly," for this Address was " unanimously
adopted by the Assembly." It is true, indeed, that they
write their own condemnation, for no nation under heaven
ever tolerated a class of men within it who were more
"seditious," and were moie influential "disturbers of the
peace," than these same men have been during this whole
rebellion ; but that does not aifect the matter ; it is sound
doctrine, nevertheless.
We insist, then, that the case shall be tried upon their
own principles. The Government has done nothing more
than carry out the law as here laid down. If any fact is
well established, it is that the mass of the Southern
Churches, led by their ministers, have gone heart and soul
into the rebellion and the war against the Government.
These Churches have been recruiting agents for the rebel
armies, and many of their ministers are now commissioned
officers in them. For this course of the Southern Church,
the Government, upon their own showing, " has a right to
! abate the nuisance." This only is what it is doing, and
the manner of the abatement is mild and gentle, infinitely
more so than what simple justice would sanction, but
probably dictated by sound policy. It merely forbids these
" seditious" men and " disturbers of the peace" to occupy
2!6 CLERICAL DISLOYALTY IN LOYAL STATES.
tlie pulpits they have profaned, and turns them over to
men who will preach the Gospel instead of treason, and
Avho will enjoin obedience to lawful authority instead of
rebellion against it. Its course stands approved by the
laws of God and man, as these laws are understood by the
rebels themselves. It is condemned by certain men in the
Border States and elsewhere, because they are hostile to
the Government and in sympathy with its enemies.
We have now shown, in a few examples, that there is
disloyalty of the rankest kind among the ministers of the
Gospel in some parts of the loyal States. These cases will
serve to illustrate others. That such deeds should be per-
mitted, is proof of the leniency of the Government ; that
they should pursue such a course, is proof of their deep
guilt, and of their utter insensibility to the prime obliga-
tions of citizenship. We shall see, in a subsequent chapter,
how such things are regarded, and what punishment is
justly due them, in the judgment of their Southern friends.
THE CHURCH ON DISLOYALTY. 247
CHAPTER Vn.
THE CHURCH, NORTH AND SOUTH, ON DISLOYALTY.
The contest in which the nation is now engaged for its
hfe, has brought into discussion, both among politicians
and churchmen, many important principles regarding men's
duties and rights under civil government. Among them
are the relations of the Church and the State, in the differ-
ent spheres marked out for them by that divine authority
on which, as organizations, they both rest ; and the respon-
sibilities and immunities of citizens in regard to their civil
and religious character.
The principles involved in these branches of the general
subject are always theoretically important. At the present
moment, within the United States, they are more practi-
cally and vitally so than they have ever been before. They
affect more numerous classes, a greater multitude of indi-
viduals, and more widely extended interests, relating to the
political, social, and moral welfare of the whole people, in
every section of the country, than has been the case at any
previous period in our history. Personal liberty, of sjDcech,
of the press, and of action ; reputation and character for
good citizenship and for piety on the one hand, and a wreck
of these on the other ; property, and even the means of
earning one's bread and educating one's family ; the good
or bad name which a man will consign as a heritage to his
children ; the punishment from the authorities of his
country, if he prove false to her interests in a time of civil
peril, or, if he escape that, the judgment which may over-
take him from God ; these are only the obvious bearings
which the case presents.
248 THE CHUEcn on disloyalty.
It is not our purpose to go into a fall discussion of this
broad subject in this place. Each branch of it would
requite more space than we can devote to the whole.
There are a few points, however, which it is essential to
consider, to meet the demands of the general object which
this volume is designed to serve ; and these we propose to
view chiefly in a practical rather than a theoretical light,
and to note the principle which is sanctioned from the
action which is taken upon it.
ALL MEJSr SUBJECT TO CIVIL AUTHORITY.
The authority of civil government extend to all men,
and all organizations of men. It rests ultimately upon the
fact that civil society is ordained of God. This is declared
in His word. The first civil duty of every citizen, there-
fore, is to render obedience to the lawful government
under which he lives. When he violates this duty, he
puts himself without the pale of its protection, and renders
himself liable to punishment. There can be no exception,
in either of these aspects, — as to the duty, or the conse-
quences of failure to discharge it, — in the case of any per-
sons or classes of persons. These are obvious truths, and
are commonly admitted.
OBEDIENCE TO CIVIL AUTHORITY A RELIGIOUS DUTY.
If civil society is ordained of God, and if civil govern-
ment derives its authority from Him, then obedience to
civil rulers is not only a civil but a religious obligation ;
and hence it follows, that any infraction of this duty, either
in omission or commission, is not only an offence against
the laws of the land, but is a sin against God. Here, like-
wise, there are no exemptions. The religious as well "■■
the civil sanction binds all men, whether they believi' in
God or deny Him, whether they have religious aHL-'ctions
MINISTERS TO PREACH SUBJECTION. 249
or are corrupt. The obligation is perfect, and if disre-
garded or violated, the sin is complete ; and they rest upon
God's ordinance, and not upon men's views of it or their
feelings in regai'd to it. An atheist is bound to render
obedience to civil authority as really as any one else, and
if he falls short of this he sins as really as any other person.
His unbelief can neither destroy his obligation nor cancel
his guilt.
While this is so, the weight of obligation and the
heinousness of guilt may be affected by men's light and
advantages. This all men admit, and this the Scriptures
teach. Hence, a man who has been taught from childhood
to render religious obedience to civil authority, and in
whose soul dwells the power of divine grace, — who recog-
nizes the full weight of Christian obligation in all things,
and gives to it the voluntary homage of his heart, — is
deemed a far more guilty man, when he commits treason
against his country, than is he who commits the same
crime and yet who has enjoyed none of these advantages,
but has been sunk in ignorance and corrupting immoralities
all his life. This doctrine commends itself to every man's
common sense, and has the sanction of Scripture.
I
MINISTERS TO PREACH SUBJECTION.
The same doctrine holds good in the practical applica-
tion of the principle to ministers of the Gospel. They with
all other men are bound to render religious obedience to
the civil authority. But in the sight of God, simple obedi-
ence on their part, while a high duty in itself, is at the
lowest point in the scale in this class of their duties. They
are not only to obey the powers that be, but they are in
this to be an example to others ; and, above all, they are to
preach this truth to the people; to give instruction in all
the principles of God's word in regard to obedience, to
250 THE CHURCH ON DISLOYALTY.
point out tlie obligation, and to hold up the guilt of vio-
lating it.
Nor are they to deal in vague generalities and abstrac-
tions on tills theme, any more than upon any other doctrine
of the Scriptures. They are to point out in what obedi-
ence consists, what it involves, and what it demands, in
heart, word, and deed, just as in regard to any other reli-
gious duty ; and they are to declare wherein it may be
violated in any of these respects. They are to endeavor
to make this as plain, both regarding the duty and the sin
of violating it, as any doctrine of salvation, for all are alike
from God ; and, indeed, if duty and sin are involved herein,
even salvation may be endangered or promoted by a wrong
or right direction given to the judgment, heart, conscience,
or conduct, in reference to this as truly as to any other
subject of revelation. In a word, all that God has declared
upon these themes, the minister is bound to unfold to the
people.
OMISSION OP THIS DFTY A SIN.
Ksuch be the weight of obligation resting upon a minis-
ter, under such a view of his office, his guilt must be cor-
respondingly great if he barely 'omit this branch of his
public duty. The failure to instruct the people upon these
themes, to the full extent that they are revealed in the
Scripture?, becomes, in him, a heinous sin ; for he is placed
in the pulpit by the authority of God for this very purpose.
It may be furthei- true, that the time when especially
this duty should be fully met, is the time when men openly
set at naught these obligations, — when they turn against
the authority of lawful civil rulers, and combine and con-
spire together for its overthrow; and more especially may
this be true when so great a scandal rests upon tiie Church
itsell', when the people of God, to so great an extent, meet
THE CROWXIXG GUILT. 251
in His sanctunry to henr His law from the priest's lips, and
then turn delilieraiey agai st that lawful Government
Avhich G( d in His provldince has pliced over them ; and
most conrlusiwly must this he the time for God's ministers
to cry aloud and spare not, when the members of his
Church extensively engage in the work and guilt of treason
and rebellion with others not only, but when they take
the foremost ranks in the movement, and plead religious
obligations as a justilication. Then, above all times, is it
a minister's duty to declare the law of God, and warn his
people of sin. If he omit it, he is verily guilty. If he dis-
charge it, he is but doing his oific-ial work.
THE CEOW>nXG GUILT.
What, then, must be tli ought of that class of ministers
whose guilt consists not merely in the omission of this
duty, but who publicly and privately counsel open resist-
ance to the civil authority? — who prostitute the pulpit to
preaching lebelliou against their civil rulers, and who be-
come leaders in a stupendous revolution against a popular
Government, and the open advocates of war upon it which
is slaying millions of tlieir fellow-countrymen, and filling
the land with widowhood and orphanage?
And what shall be thought of the religious press which
openly teaches such doctrines, and becomes the most
powerful ally, with the pulpit, in leading the people of
God mto these crimes? Under the garb of religious doc-
trine, it teaches that which is at war with its first prin-
ci[)les ; under a pretence of piety, it openly encourages
sin; with the plea of serving God, it is the most powerful
agent of the devil ; pretending to a regard for human life,
a desire for peace, and a horror of blood and carnage, it is
directly aiding those who have raised the standard of a
bloody rebellion against a Government which, by the con-
12
262 TtiK ciirucii ox dtsloyalty.
fcs8i(»ii oi" llu>ir iiMc^l siMti'siiicM, iii'ViM" injured llictn, mikI
wliosc |Mi\vi'r and |»:iLi'ona!;i.' liad al\\:i}s ln'cn in llu-ir
hands.
If miilt Hnrpassinu; this lias i'\r\- hi en coiiimitltMl, since
time hi'gan, among so I'liliglid'ni'd a j)('0|»lo, and nndiT
prottMjco oT rc/if/iofi, (ho case has ontirely escaped our
notice.
Disr.ovAr.TV iM'vrsiiAiu.i; nv tiiic staik.
It hcconios an inti'ii'sl ing (lucstion, Wlial, docs disk>yaUy
deserve, and who may nieie out iis punislnnenl ? Upon
this men \\:\\v disagreed, and (h) still.
Thai the civil autlioriiy may punish it, no one douhts.
Treason, its highest tyj)e, is a crime committed directly
against the Stale. It seeks the overthrow of its authority,
or tln^ destruction or usurpation of tlu' (lovcrnment. In
all coiuitrii's it is rcg.irdeil as the hiuliest of crimes, ior it.
perils the (Jovernment and .all it guards, and hence it is
gi>nerally punishable with (h'.ith, though some (h-grees of
it uilh hiinishinciil or wiih the heaviest civil dis.iliilitics.
Tlie Constitution of llie Tnited St.ates delines treison, and
the laws enacted under it declari' the pen.dly of death.
There i^ alsi) misprision ol" treason, ami there are other
crimes whieh come under the general designation of dis-
loyalty. .\s ilies(>, in all their grades and degri'es, arc
crinu's against the Stale, they may be puiuslied by ila
authority.
\\'e of course use the term " ioy.alty" m>t in any legal,
hut wholly in a popular sense. We are not aware that
the word is found in .any of our statute Laws as a legal
term. l>iit this is of no oonseciueuec ; all unilerstand what
is meant by il,as .applied i.u the contest now raging in our
coimirv. Nor is it of the least moment where, how, or
when, tlir \cv\i\ originati'd. ll is amusing to ice how
vnAr r,<iVAi.TY anh disloyalty akk, 2"i3
nriny \vords Imvc beoi) wnstcil in ;in attonipt to slunv tliat
Joifitlt>i and disloifafti/ can hnvo im applii-ation to llic |h>(i]i1ii
in o^^r civil war. It is ot" n^ manner of inijiortani-c tlial
"loyalty" was lonnorly nsod to oxpress aftaehmtMit to llic
soviTiMiin and the roigning taniily in iiuMiarchioal ooun-
trios. It has become popularized in tlio United States,
and at the present moment expresses attachment to the
(Tovernment now imperilled and a desire lor its mainte-
nance against the rebellicn seeking its subversion.
AVIIAT LOYALTY AND OlSLOY'ALTY ARK.
Lot/alt \/ means faithfulness to the obligations of hxir ;
obedience to lawful authority. IMeu will ditVer as to
whether a certain act or line o\' conduct \h f<u/al or (h't<-
lof/(i/, according as they define these fenns. Tlie guih or
inuooenee of a j>erson on trial for any ciime. must be
determined by the facts and circunislances ol' the particu-
lar case, and which may not belong to any other ease; nor
would fiill light be thrown u]n>n the proper residt by the
most accurate verbal delinition ot' I lie erimi> under which
be were arraigned.
It is of little practical avail, theref.Me. that men dilVer
upon the meaning of the frn)/ " loyalty.'" It is of tar more
importance that they agree u]ion the duty of manilesling
it in supp'UM of the (bnernnuMit, (>Ten though they ditVer
a8 to the mamuM- and degree in which such manifestation
phouhl be evinced. For ourselves, we deem it a citizen's
duty to sustain the Government in puffhif/ down the rehd-
lio)i liy all the ])Ower he can command ; by his pcrsotial
inlbience, by word and diH'd, by his purse, his sword, and
his prayers. By ]>utting it down, u <> uu>an, </> sfnij/iiit/ if
roof and hnvich^ crunhiiKj f/i>' lifr onf oj' if, an<l putting it
forever past the faintest hope of resurrection ; and we aro
free to say, that we value that citi/.en's loyally at a very
254 THE CHUKCH OX DISLOYALTY.
low figure which does not coiue up to that point. It is
worth nothing, and may be worth infinitely less than
nothing in such perils as are now upon the nation, — yea,
may be counted upon the other side, — unless it be openly
demonstrative, in all proper ways, times, and places, in
sustaining the Government against its deadly foe.
DISLOYALTY PUNISHABLE BY THE CHURCH.
We have seen that disloyalty is pimishable by the State.
It is equally clear that it is punishable by the Church.
Men have differed upon this point, and do still, as they do
upon other mattei's that are plain. We cannot expect
them to agree in those things in which their prejudices
are deeply enlisted, until they are willing to lay them
aside. It is perfectly demonstrable, hoAvever, that dis-
loyalty is an offence of which the Church may take cogni-
zance.
In saying this we wish not to be misunderstood. We
have indicated yf\\^i, personally, y^e deem to be genuine
loyalty for every citizen of the United States in this time
of civil peril. We do not, however, announce that as a
standard for the Church, on which she should act in eccle-
siastical discipline ; nor do we lay it down as a standard
for other men. To his own Master each one standeth or
falleth. We give it, simply, as our own view of what
duty demands. It is our opinion ; nothing more. We
allow other men to have theirs.
But that disloyalty is an ecclesiastical offence which the
Church may consider and judge, is something higher than
mere opinion. It follows inevitably from the teachings
of the word of God. What loyalty and disloyalty are, in
any case that may come before the Church for adjudica-
tion, those who have to deal with it must determine ; for,
as before observed, each case must be settled by the facts
REASONS FOUNDED ON EEYELATXON, 255
and circumstances which are peculiar to it. But that the
principle of disloyalty is such that it may involve an
ecclesiastical offence by the word of God, is beyond
doubt; and it is only to the principle that we now give
any consideration.
REASONS FOUNDED ON REVELATION.
The doctrine we maintain arises inevitably from the
nature and duty of obedience to the civil authority. The
nature of the obedience enjoined is religions. It has God's
highest sanctions. To violate the injunction is sin. Sin
is to be removed by inculcating truth ; and when it breaks
out in open acts of scandal, it may be met by ecclesiasti-
cal supervision, tri:d, and censure. Th-is is the case with
every grade and kind of offence which affects private or
public morals, or the welfare of society, or the influence
and good name of religion among men.
Disloyalty is no exception to this. Open disobedience
to rulers, when it manifests itself in disturbing or threaten-
ing the peace of society, or aims or connives at resistance
to lawful authority, or subverting the Government, is a
sin and a scandal by the word of God ; and if committed
by a member of the Church, he may be arraigned and
punished for it as clearly as for any other scandal. If not,
why not ? Is it because this is a civil offence, and punisha-
ble by the State ? So is arson, so is murder, so is fraud ;
and yet, will a man pretend that one may burn down his
neighbor's house, or take his life in cold blood, or cheat
him out of his property, and not be disturbed by the
Church, because the State may take cognizance of these
offences ? This is in the highest degree preposterous.
N"or is it enough that the State does actually punish for
these crimes ; the Church may also inflict censure for
them, in the same case, in the person of the same indi-
256 THE CHURCH ON DISLOYALTY.
vidual on whom the State has inflicted its highest sentence.
It would be a singular spectacle to behold a man incar-
cerated justly as a civil penalty for forgery, and yet the
Church take no action, and he, in consequence, remain in
good standing, on the ground that he was already suffer-
ing punishment from the State. ISTor, on the other hand,
is the Church to be governed or limited by the State in
such cases. The State is not infallible. A man may be
punished unjustly. If the victim of tyranny, or prejudice,
or ignorance, or incompetency, be a member of the
Church, the Avhole case may be ecclesiastically considered
and decided, notwithstanding the State may have acted
upon it. The Church is not bound in such case by what
the State has done, so far as to be debarred an adjudica-
tion; and if, in her judgment, her member is oppressed,
she may so declare. She may consider the testimony,
conduct the case by her own rules of proceeding, and
come to a decision independent of the State and contrary
to its judgnient. She cannot release from prison, nor
restore to life, but she may place the man in good stand-
ing withhi her pale, and show the most clear reasons, it
may be, for her decision ; and in nothing of this does she
show the least insubordination of disres])ect towards the
civil authority, but may be entirely submissive to it. All
this arises from the fact that the respective jurisdictions
of the Church and the State, though embracing the same
persons and covering the same offences, have different
spheres to fill, and different ends to serve, in their cogniz-
ance of the same conduct,
SPIRITUAL JURISDICTIOSr BROADER THAN CIVIL.
But the difference between these separate i-uling powers
does not stop here. The spiritual jurisdiction is both
deeper and broader than the civil. It embraces ofieuces
SPIRITUAL JURISDICTION BROADER THAN CIVIL. 257
wliicli the latter does not touch ; and in those which the
civil power does consider, there are moral elements which
the sjjiritual power alone deems important. There are a
multitude of offences, any one of whicli, habitually com-
mitted, would destroy a man's standhig in the Church,
and upon trial would cast him out of it; and yet, though
guilty of .il! of them, his good standing before the laws
of the land would not be affected. And there are grades
of the same ra<lical offence which the Church holds to be
stamped with guilt, but which the State overlooks. A
man may be guilty of "perjury," and the State will punish
him ; but all false swearing, or false statements under
oath, are not "legal perjury." But by the laws which
regulate ecclesiastical discipline, lying, deception, false-
hood,— all which enter into the moral elements of perjury,
— are themselves offences which the Church may consider,
whether committeil under oath or not. A variety of hear-
ings and pleadings in almost any case before a Church court,
which a civil court would not consider, or would rale oiit
entirely, may be deemed important, and may be decisive of
the result which is reached. The ]n-incij)le here involved
is of the highest moment. The jurisdiction of the Church,
as embracing a man's conduct, or as cognizant of any act
of his life, reaches where the State cannot go, because its
rule is spiritual, and deals primarily with the heart and
conscience ; and although in actual discipline the Church
deals only with acts, there are classes of actions and. ele-
ments of conduct which are deemed proper for its con-
sideration which do not come within the civil statute.
This may be illustrated in regard to the offence of dis-
loyalty. Who will pretend to say, that, because a man
may not have committed " treason" in the technical sense
of the statute, he may not have been actually guilty of it
before the law of God ? or that, because there may not be
258 THE CHURCH 0:S DISLOYALTY.
ground for prosecution before a civil court for that offence,
it therefore follows necessarily that there cannot be ground
for charges before a spiritual court ? To decide that there
cannot be, is to decide that the Church must simi)ly fol-
low in the wake of the State ; to take the position that
only offences of the same nature belong to both ; to con-
found the jurisdictions, which are distinct, into one; to
join together what God has forever separated. Any per-
son may be safely challenged to point out where such a
position is sustained by the word of God. It is, there-
fore, a totally erroneous doctrine to maintain that the
Church cannot go beyond the State in inquiring into this
or any other alleged offence ; or that either is precluded,
within its own proper sphere, from canvassing an offence
against its own law, by leason of what the other may have
done or not done.
DISLOYALTY ACTUALLY CONDEMNED BY THE CHUECH.
Passing from these abstract p-inciplea, we find that the
Church has sustained them in its actual practice. Nothing
is better settled in its whole history. Disobedience to the
civil authority, disloyalty, treason, and misprision of trea-
son, have always been treated ^Is ecclesiastical offences.
This is shown in the records of every Church. Members
have been excommunicated, and ministers have been de-
posed, for such offences by the Church ; and they have also,
for the same crimes, been punished by the State. These
things have occurred, as is well known, in every country in
Christendom.
Sometimes they have occurred in times of quiet, but most
commonly in times of civil war. We say nothing upon
the meiits of any particular case. Great injustice may
sometimes have been done in ecclesiastical convictions for
disloyalty ; while, on the other hand, no doubt, some men
PRESBTTEKIAK CIIUKCII. DE. M^PHEETEES. 259
may have gone " unwhipt of justice" by the Church, as
some will go hereafter. All we are seeking is the sanction
of the principle, and we find that abundantly sustained in
the history of the Church.
Several of the leading denominations at the North,
during our present civil war, have acted on the right and
duty of the Church to discipline their members, and espe-
cially their ministers, for disloyalty. In some instances
they have censured, suspended, or silenced them. We
know nothing of the merits of these special cases, but they
illustrate the principle, that disloyalty is deemed to be an
ofience within the proper cognizance of the Church. The
secular prints, in some cases, and at least one " religious"
journal, have made a great outcry that such proceedings
were a violation of the Church's spiritual j^rinciples, and an
interference with the rights of the citizen. But all such
outbursts are senseless, stupid, silly, and have no other
importance than that they give " aid and comfort" to
rebels in arms against the Government. The Church has
as clear a jurisdiction over its ministers and members,
touching loyalty and disloyalty, as over their conduct
touching drunkenness or profanity.
PEESBTTEEIAN CHUECH. DR. MCPHEETEES.
One of the most noted cases, of recent occurrence, by
which the doctrine f jr which we contend has been illus-
trated by an actual adjudication, is that of the Rev. Samuel
B. McPheeters, D. D., Pastor of the Pine Street Presbyte-
rian Church in St. Louis, Missouri. It was decided in the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, at Newark,
New Jersey, in May last. The trial lasted several days,
and the decision was given after a full discussion, in which
Dr. McPheeters and a large number of members of the
Assembly participated.
12*
260 THE CHURCH ON DISLOYALTY.
It is not necessary for our present purpose to go largely
into this case, or to discuss its merits, or to pass judgment
upon the decision. None of these are essential to the im-
mediate matter in hand, or to an understanding of the prin-
ciples we are considering. We have only to say of the
decision, that as it was made by the court of last resort, by
conscientious and intelligent men, and by a majority of one
hundred and seventeen to forty-seven, after a full hearing,
we there let it stand.
It is proper to say, however, that Dr. McPheeters was
not on trial before the Assembly on a formal charge of
disloyalty. Indeed, there were no charges, strictly so
called, and no testimony in the usual sense, either before
the Assembly or the court below, on which the case pro-
ceeded. It was a dissolution of the pastoral relation exist-
ing between Dr. McPheeters and hLs congregation, made
by the Presbytery of St. Louis, and their forbidding him
to preach, out of which the case grew, and of which Dr.
McPlieeters complained to the Assembly. Irregularities
in the proceedings, a want of authority in the Presbytery
to act in the premises, gross injustice done to his pastoral
and ministerial rights, and acting without the wishes of a
majority of the congregation, v^ere among the things
charged in the complaint against the Presbytery. The
merits of the case thus involved many radical principles of
purely ecclesiastical law, and in dismissing the complaint
and sustaining the Presbytery, the Assembly overruled the
grounds on which the complaint was based.
It is nevertheless perfectly clear, that Dr. McPheeters
regarded himself, and was regarded by his friends, as vir-
txmlhj on trial for "disloyalty." This is the aspect given to
the case by the proceedings of the Assembly, by the argu-
ments on both sides, though not of course by the judgment.
Disloyalty was the ground of dissatisfaction in a large mi-
INDIVIDUAL OPIXIOXS IN' THE ASSEMI'.LT. 2C1
nority of his congregation, and this alone led to the action
of the Presbytery, This is a simple matter of fact, and of
record. The Assembly's decision, by the large vote given,
was thus deemed a virtual condemnation for disloyalty,
was foreshadowed in many of the speeches as involving
that consequence, and has since been so accepted by the
friends of Dr. McPheeters in their animadversions upon
the proceedings of the Assembly.
It then appears that the General Assembly of the Pres-
byterian Church, has virtually sustained the doctrine that
"disloyalty" may be treated as an ecclesiastical oiFence
by its action in tlie case of one of its ministers.
INDIVIDUAL OPINIONS IN THE ASSEMBLY.
It must not be supposed that the vote given in the case
of Dr. McPheeters, is the criterion for determining how
large a portion of the General Assembly consider " dis-
loyalty" as a proper offence for ecclesiastical action. On
the contrary, we have" not observed (though, possibly,
some case may have escaped our notice) that a single
member took open and distinct ground that disloyalty was
not a proper subject for Churcli censure. Certain it is,
however, that the most distinguished ministers and other
members of the minority, as well as Dr. McPheeters
himself, directly admitted, in their arguments, that disloy-
alty is an ecclesiastical offence. We refer to a few of
them.
Dr. McPheeters said in his defence :
He was prepared to admit that a man might render & formal obedience
to all lawful requirements, and so demean himself as to avoid liability
to punishment, and yet. in times like these, lead such a course as to
render him a dangerous member of the community, and an intolerable
citizen of an agitated State. * * * The Assembly must decide what
liberty the Church will allow her pastors, whose conscientious convic-
tions lead them to stand aloof, in the pulpit, from the civil strife now
202 THE CHUBCII ON DISLOYALTY.
desolating the land. This^ after all, u^iderlies the loliole case. * * *
The Assembly must decide, if they do not sustain this complaint, that
I cannot preach to Pine street, because, as a minister, I stand aloof
from civil strife. But if not in Pine street, then nowhere ; for the same
principle applies everywhere. * * * If he was disloyal m axxj &Qii&Q
that should mar his case before this court, he was also guilty of perjury,
for he had taken an oath of allegiance, and kept it too ; and when he
was tried, he wished it done on charges regularly tabled. He wished
evidence ; not in loose statements, innuendoes, and patriotic speeches,
but evidence under oath. * * * Now, what he had asked as a
defiance to his accusers, he demanded as a right of this Assembly, that
if any statements were made or insinuations thrown out that he had
been guilty of such offences, that you wiU order the Presbytery of St.
Louis to take up and issue the case.
Dr. McPheeters tlms makes the most explicit acknowl-
edgment of the right of a Church court to try a person on
charges of disloyalty. Dr. William L. Breckinridge said
upon this case :
It has been attempted to thrust him out of his work among the flock,
over which the Holy Ghost hath made him overseer, and to brand into
him a mark of dishonor — with the allegation of that, which on all sides
is called a crime. * * * He is called a disloyal man — not true to the
country- -and on this clamor it is attempted to drive him from his work
in the Church.
Dr. N. L. Rice took ground that disloyalty was an
offence which may be dealt with by the Church, and spoke
as follows :
"We have virtually a minister on trial — virtually oft trial ; visited too
with the severest penalties that could result from a trial. * * * We
have been told that a majority of the ministers of the Synod of Missouri
are disloyal, and, of course, immoral. * * * The real charge brought
against Dr. McPheeters was disloyalty ; on this the opposition of the
minority of his Church was based ; on this the allegation of loss of use-
fulness was founded ; on this charge the Presbytery proceeded. Tliis
is manifest in all the pleadings there, and in all the pleadings here.
This was a charge affecting his moral character ; for disloyalty is a sin.
Had the Presbytery a right to punish him for this sin, and to fix tliis
blot upon his character, without arraigning him, and tabling charges,
INDIVIDUAL 0PIN10Js\S IN" THE ASSEMBLY. 2u3
and giving him au opportunity of defence? * * * They enter-
tained this charge affecting his moral character. * * * If Presby-
tery beUeved that he was disloyal, they should have tried him, and given
him the usual opportunity of defence. They did not go far enough, if
the charge is well founded ; if he was loyal, they have gone too far.
* * * He (Dr. Rice) did not know whether that brother is loyal or
not. * * * Prove his disloyalty, and he would go farther than the
Presbytery went.
Mr. Cleland said :
If Dr. McPheeters is guilty of treason — this is the highest crime
against the laws of God and of man, against the Church and the Com-
monwealth— ihen he ought to he suspended from the Church by the Presby-
tery, and from the gallows by the sheriff of his county I
All those whose remarks we have given above voted in
the minority. Certain friends of Dr. McPheeters, belong-
ing to the Presbytery that acted on his case, sent a
"memorial" in his behalf to the General Assembly, in
which they state as follows :
He openly announces his recognized obligations to "be subject to the
powers that be," and his enemies have been challenged in vain to point
to one word or one act inconsistent with those obligations. If such ivord
or act can be fairly pointed out, your memorialists hereby agree to with-
draw all interest and effort in his behalf, and to consign him to his
just deserts at the hands of a Presbytery which has shown every dispo-
sition to deal with him in the utmost severity.
The foregoing extract, (together with a much larger
portion of this memorial), we take as we find it embodied
in the speech of Dr. W. L. Breckinridge.
It thus appears, that not only the Assembly in its virtual
act, but the minority of the body, in their speeches on the
case, with Dr. McPheeters and the St. Louis " memorial-
ists," put themselves on the record in favor of the doctrine
that a minister may be prosecuted in a Church court on a
charge of " disloyalty," and that therefore this is an eccle-
siastical offence. We trust they will be found standing
there in any time of future need.
264 THE CHUECH ON DISLOYALTY.
DR. MCPIIEETEES ON MILITARY ORDERS.
We had occasion to notice in the last chapter the malig-
nant denunciations of T/ie True Preshi/terian against the
Government, for not allowing the ministerial traitors at
the South to occupy the pulpits from which they had
preached treason. We shovv'ed that the orders of the
War Department were justified, both by the law and the
facts, in turning the Southern Churches over to loyal min-
isters ; and that, even according to rebel authority, from
the " Confederate General Assembly," it was admitted
that " the State has a right to abate the nuisance," Avhen-
ever " the Church becomes seditious, and a disturber of
the peace." as was notoriously the case with the mass of
the whole Southern Church of all denominations.
It is but just to allow Dr. McPheeters to be heard on
this point, as his Church w^as taken from him by military
authority. In his late speech in the General Assembly,
he said :
It was seized * * * to the exclusion of the session, trustees,
and its own congregation. He had no wish to arraign or find fault with
the officers of the Government. He wished to treat them fairly. He
acknowledged that, in a State convulsed /by armed resistance to the
Government, thetj ivould he justified in doing whatever tliey deemed neces-
sary for the public safety, Nor would he have thought them wrong in
seizing his Church, banishing him from the pulpit, or dragging him from
the very altar, if he or his people had used these for fomenting treason, or
in any way opposing the Governmerd.
We commend these just sentiments, applied here by
Dr. McPheeters to himself and Church hypothetically, —
but true to the letter of the Churches in the South taken
possession of by the War Department, — to the serious
consideration of TAe True Presbyterian; but we doubt
Avhether its conductors are in a state of heart to learn any
FALSE CRITERION OF LOYALTY. 265
thing even from one for whom they manifest so deep a
sympathy.
Dr. McPlieeters might, furthermore, become their in-
structor upon the nature of the order of General Rcjse-
crans, which they have so assiduously perverted, if, indeed,
tliey were not callous to instruction from any good quarter.
Dr. Robinson speaks of it, as "Rosecrans's impious and in-
fomous order of Caesar's oath as a qualification for sitting
in Christ's court." But Dr. McPheeters, in his speech,
while mentioning his " scruples of conscience which made
that order a restraint," speaks of it as follows:
In making this statement, Dr. McPheeters said that the end aimed at
by the General tvas a justifiable one, one which it was necessary they
should try to accomplish, viz. : to prevent bodies of men from meeting
and acting in a way injurious to the State, if thtre is good reason to sus-
pect that they will so act.
One more point of comparison will suffice. Speaking of
the proceedings of the Assembly in the c.ise of Dr. Mc-
Pheeters, Dr. Robinson says: " Others, in the very slang
of Strong & Co., declared the issue to be, Dr. McPheetei s's
loyalty or disloyalty." But Dr. McPheeters himself, in
reference to this very issue, said : " This, after all, under-
lies this whole case.'''' And so the mass of the General
Assembly regarded it, the minority as well as the major-
ity ; and so did the friends of Dr. McPheeters, the St.
Louis '' memorialists."
FALSE CRITERION OF LOYALTY.
While the whole Church seem to agree that disloyalty
is an ecclesiastical offence, — always excepting the Canadian
exile and his paper, — it is well to note what is often re-
sorted to as a standard of loyalty, and which is in reality
no just criterion at all.
Nothing has been more common, as a defence against
266 THE CHURCH ON DISLOYALTY.
chai-ges of disloyalty, in the case of certain clergTmen,
than to point to their " piety." Our " Southern brethren,"
tlie rankest rebels among them, have had the shield of
such defences thrown around them; and so have ministers
in the Border States, and some whose homes are farther
North. Such a man " cannot be disloyal ; he is a lovely
character, meek, devoted ; his piety is a disproof of the
charge." Many persons are disposed in this manner to
shield disloyalty under the garb of piety. This was one of
the views presented in the General Assembly in vindica-
tion of Dr. McPheeters ; and Dr. Robinson, in his paper,
speaks of " the universally admitted character of Dr. Mc-
Pheeters for piety, prudence, and meekness." Nor do we
call this in question. We judge no man's piety. Our ob-
ject, in referring to this feature of the case, is to present a
Southern standard, that we may perceive how these men
are judged by their friends. We shall see how clearly
tlie " Confederate General Assembly," by the pen of Dr.
Thorn well, " unanimously" write the condemnation both
of the patriotism and the piety of certain clergymen in the
Border States and elsewhere.
In the Address of that Assembly " to all the Churches
throughout the earth," they formally, solemnly, and " una-
nimously" declare :
We cannot condemn a man in one breath as unfaithful to the most
solemn earthly interests of his country and his race, and commend him
in the next as a loyal and faithful servant of his God. If we distrust
his palriolism, our confidence is apt to he very measured in his piety. The
old adage will hold here as in other things, falsus in uno, falsus in om-
niJfVS.
What a withering condemnation is this, of many a
minister withiii the loyal States, whose piety should be
subjected to such a test ! From the stand-point of the
nation at large, indeed, it equally condemns the very men
FALSE CRITEEIOX OF LOYALTY. 267
who wrote and published it ; for their " patriotism" may
not only be " distrusted," but they are in open rebellion
against their " country," and are waging a traitorous war
against their " race." But, without allowing that ethics
are to be determined or applied by lines of latitude, how
pointedly does this consign to hopeless disrepute both the
"piety" and the "patriotism" of many Border State men,
and of some farther North, " Distrust" of their " patriot-
ism" rests upon multitudes, while in others disloyalty is
proved by their deeds; and this is the "Confederate"
standard for their " piety." How must " our Southern
brethren" regard such men ?
Take the Border States, for example. They have stood
by the Government, by overwhelming majorities, in all
their elections. And yet, many citizens within them, —
embracing religious men and some ministers, — are deci-
d; dly in sy.rqnithy with the "Southern Confederacy," and
others hesitate not to declare it, and some labor for its
success. Can " our Southern brethren" do any thing less
than despise them for their want of " patriotism ?" — and
more heartily for their pretension to it ? Can the " Confed-
erate General Assembly" do any thing less than despise
their " piety," and abhor their />rq/e.s\';«'o»s of it ? They
have done both already. K they are honest, they mean
what they say.
That, as a general rule, both politicians and clergymen
in the Rebel States, heartily despise those of their class at
the North who manifest sympathy fur them and a desire
for their success, — and who are in an underhanded, cow-
ardly way, Avorking for it, in opposition to the Govern-
ment under which they live, — is most unquestionaUe, both
from the well-known ficts, and from the common piinci-
ples of human nature. They would trust a hated " Abo-
litionist" sooner. They may love the treason, but they are
268 THE CIITJRCn ON DISLOYALTY.
certain to despise tlie traitoi", just as the English did
Benedict Arnold. We hope all Northern " sympathizers"
will take comfort from the estimation in which their
" patriotism" and their " piety" are thus held by " our
Southern brethren."
GENERAL EOSECRANS'S ORDERS.
It has appeared to us a little remarkable that certain
military orders of this General, and one in particular,
should have called forth a condemnation from the religious
press which we have seen visited upon no other Federal
Commander. We notice it here, because it stands con-
nected with the subject we are illustrating. We of course
looked for nothing mOre nor less from Dr. Robinson and
The True Presbyterian. But we did not ex2)eet to find
every religious paper of the Presbyterian Church (we now
call to mind no exception), and possibly some of other
denominations, join in this special hue and cry at the time
the order in question was issued.
What was the purport of this condemned order ? It
was issued at a time when the Department of Missouri, of
\\hich General Rosecrans was in command, was exten-
sively infested with guerrillas anc) threatened with rebel
invasion ; when, in certain parts of the State, and in and
aliout St. Louis, citizens claiming to be loyal, and others
known to be disloyal, were aiding and ready to aid the
invaders ; when, notoriously, some even of the ecclesias-
tical bodies, when assembled, would so act, as the authori-
ties feared, as to end:mger tlie public safety, as for example,
the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and others; when
certain religious men were suspected of infidelity to the
Government, and felt the requisition of an oath of alle-
giance to be an indignity and a burden ; and when thou-
sands felt that their property, and the peace and lives of
i GEIfERAL R0SECKAN"S'S OUOELtS. 269
I
' themselves and families, were at stake. It was under these
circiirastances that the General Commanding issued an
, order, which, from our recollection, was to this efiect :
i prescribing an oath of allegiance to the General Govern-
ment, as a condition precedent for sitting and transacting
j business in any religious court, conference, or convocation,
I of any Church. This was the essence of the order.
I This order was attacked at the time by religious loyal
journals, and was condemned by certain speakers in the
! late General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church at
I Newark, as interfering with religious freedom, ns allow-
ing the State to determine the qualification for sitting
in a court of Christ. This was urged in discussing the
case of Dr. McPheeters before the Assembly. It was said
that the Presbytery that acted in his case " could not be
a free Presbyter}," because of this required oath.*
To say that this order " prescribes a qualification for a
seat in an ecclesiastical court," is one of those statements
which may convey both a truth and a falsehood. It does
not prescribe such qualification in any improper sense.
The Government may at all times do what is essential to
the public safety ; and especially is this true in a time of
rebeUion and civil war, and within the immediate sphere
of military rule, when the Government is contending for
its life against enemies within and without. Of v;hat is
essential in any emergency, the Government and its agents
must be the sole judges. Nor can they know any distinc-
I * Dr. Rice, with his accustomed caution, said : " He would not go into a discns-
1 sion of the military order, requiring men to take a certain oath, in order to qualify
for a seat in eealemantical bodies. It was certain that many good men could not
! take that oath. Had he been there, he might have taken it ; bnt when he went to
I Presbytery, he was bound by a previous oath to go into Presbytery by our Book.
One principle involved in this case is the validity of a Presbytery and of its action,
iwhen a majority of the body were not there through restraint. Wise and good men
could not take the oath an a qualification to attend Prenhytery ; they thought it
compromised their rights of conscience." — Phila. Preshyierian.
270 THE CHURCH ON DISLOYALTY.
tions among citizens by their professions, business, or
other circumstiinces ; they can know and deal with two
chasses of persons only, friends and foes, the loyal and
disloyal. Nor, if they would save what is at stake, can
they always wait for treason to develop itself in overt
acts. They may act on reasonable grounds of apprehen-
sion, with regard to individuals and bodies of men. He
who denies this, denies the most settled principles of
public law and the most common usages among all civilized
nations.
Now, how do these rules apply to tlie present case?
General Rosecrans believed that ecclesiastical convocations
within his Department needed watching, — might act, or
counsel, or concoct disloyalty, or in some way add to the
perils with which the people and the Government were
environed. Any man, having but half an eye open to
Avhat has occurred in the history of this rebellion, must
see that there may be ample reason for such apprehensions.
What, tlien, does he <lo ? Does he forbid the meeting of
ecclesiastical bodies ? By no means. He might even do
thaf^ if in liis judgment the facts should warrant it. But
he allows all to meet when and where they please, and sit
however long, Protestant and Catliolic, Jew and Gentile ;
only prescribing that they shall take an oath. What ! the
State prescribe a religious test for the Church ! How
dreadful ! He prescribes an oath of allegiance to the
Government of the United States ; that Government
which protects their assembling by its civil and military
power ; and, even then, allows a dispensation to all who
had previously taken the oaih prescribed by the State
ch)'d authority, the Convention of Missouri ! This is the
whole of the dreadful thing.
We should like to know^, on what principle of Scripture,
public law, reason, or common sense, those individual men
" HONOR TO WHOM HONOR." 271
composing a body calling themselves "the Presbytery of
St. Louis," can claiui exemption from such a requisition ?
It was just that which might be made of a body of mer-
chants, shoemakers, or any other clnss of citizens propo-
sing to assemble. The order regarded religious bodies
simply as citizens. It could regard them in no other
character. It specified them by their ecclesiastical names,
— Conferences, Associations, or whatever terms were use>l,
— simply as descriptive terms of certain bodies of citizens ;
just as it might have said of others, Knights of the Golden
Circle, Red Men, or " Anacondas."
If the members of the Presbytery of St. Louis, or any
other ecclesiastical body in that military department,
cannot take the oath prescribed, so much the worse for
them. We respect their tender consciences, but they
need a more enlightened conscience. Without any dis-
paragement of tliem personally, — for they are mostly
strangers, — conscience, in these times, like some other
mental and moral qualities brought into action, is afiected
by latitude, particularly where it respects taking an oath
of allegiance to the Government. But be that as it may,
it cannot be taken as a rule of public duty for the Govern-
ment, nor be made a criterion by which it is to be
condemned.
" HONOE TO WHOM HONOR."
One word with the religious press. As we have
already said, so far as we have seen, the religiofus press,
with one accord, condemned this order of General Rose-
crnns at the time it was issued. In every instance of this
condemnation that we saw, the fact was prominently
brought out that General Rosecrans was a Catliolic, and
a brother of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Cincinnati.
This was dwelt upon as an important ingredient, as was
212 THE CHURCH ON DISLOTALTV.
believed, leading to the issuing of the order. The fact,
also, was mentioned in at least one religious journal in a
Metropolitan city, that while commanding the army in
Tennessee, General Rosecrans never disturbed a Catholic
Church, while Protestant Churches were freely taken for
military purposes.
Let us do justice to the patriot-soldier. Let us honor
the man, if honor is his due, who took the demoral-
ized army of General Buell, and led it in triumph over
the terrific fiehls of Stone River and Murfreesboro', and
finally planted it in Chattanooga. We claim, personally,
as strong an adherence to the Protestant faith as any of
our brethren of the religious press, and yet we honor
the brave, whether commanding an army or standing in
the ranks, who perils his life to put down this rebellion,
and save the national flag from disgrace, without inquiring
of what religious faith he may be.
As to the reports from Tennessee, about the distinction
which General Rosecrans made between the Churches, we
know nothing, one way or the other. But certain things
which were noticed in the secular prints, just after the
issuing of the order of which complaint was made,
occurred in the Department of Missouri, and which we
searched diligently for in the religious papers, but searched
in vain. It was stated that General Rosecrans had repri-
manded or suspended two Catholic priests in Missouri fur
their disloyalty, and that he had, for the same reason,
forbidden the circulation within his Department of the
well-known Roman Catholic journal, the Metropolitan
Record. This is quite enough to relieve him of all sus-
picion that lie was impelled by any sectarian considerar
tions in giving an order which has called forth the strictures
of relisxious iournals and Church courts.
Let all men be honored according to their merit, oi
DOOM OF TRAITORS. SELF-COI^DEMNATIOX. 273
whatever religion or nation, whether Jew or Gentile,
Greek, Barbai-iaii, or Scythian, bond or free, who will help
us to save the nation by putting down the most godless
rebellion the sun ever shone upon.*
DOOM OF TRAITORS. SELF-CONDEMNATION".
"We close this chapter by an extract from Dr. Thornwell's
Fast-Day Discourse, preached in Columbia, South Caro-
lina, Nov. 21, 1860, upon the National Crisis then impend-
ing. It will be another good lesson for disloyalists. We
commend it to their serious consideration. If it is
"pieaching politics;" if it presents before "traitors" an
awful doom, and -pronounces their " damnation ;" if it seals
I the destiny of him who penned it, and of multitudes of his
I co-laborers in the South ; if it embraces those in the loyal
I States, who, though they have not taken up arms against
j the Government, are doing every thing they dare do to
aid those who are in arms and in rebellion : all we have to
* After this chapter was written, and the stereotyping was nearly completed, the
i Biblical Repertory for July came to hand (received July 30), in which we are
j glad to find one for whom we entertain so profound a respect as Dr. Hodge uttering
1 himself so di^cidedly, and sustaining the propriety of General Rosecrans's order.
I On reviewing the proceedings of the General Assembly in the case of Dr. McPhee-
i ti-rs, and referring to the reasons for non-attendance in the St. Louis Presbytery,
I resulting from that order, he says: "To us it seems that these unfortunate scruples
• are founded in error. There was no junt ground of complaint against General
^ Soiecrans's order. There was nothing therein inconsistent with the inde-
I pendence of the Church or true allegiance to Christ. Suppose the small-pox
I h.id been prevalent in that region, and the authorities of the city had issued an
; order that no one should attend any public meeting, ecclesiastical or secular, who
! did not produce evidence that he had been vaccinated. Would this be an inter-
ference with the liberty of the Church? Not at all — because the object sought (viz.,
I the pnblic health> was a lawful object; and because the thing demanded (vaecina-
' tion) was something the authorities had a right to demand. So in General Rose-
i orans's order, the object sought, the public safety, was a legitimate object; and the
i thing demanded, allegiance to the Government, was admitted to be obligatory. In
i our view, therefore, the order in question presented no lawful or reasonable
i objection to a free attendance on the Presbytery." And more than this, too: "the
thing demanded, allegiance to the Government," was "obligatory," whether
" admitted to be" or not.
274 THE CHURCH OX DISLOYALTY.
say is, that it comes from Soutli Carolina, and from one of
the ablest divines in any branch of the Church. Though
the original application was diiferent with the preacher
from that now given it, the truth it contains applies none
the less pointedly to all who are disloyal to the General
Government.
In reference to our position as a nation before the rebel-
lion occurred, to our power and destiny among the nations
of the earth and upon the welfare of the human race, and
to the guilt of destroying the hopes of mankind in this
nation by rebellion, the eloquent divine thus says :
The day of small States is passed, and as the federative principle is
the onlj' one which can guarantee freedom to extensive territories, the
federal principle must constitute the hope of the human race. It waa
the glory of tliis country to have first applied it to the formation of an
effective Government, and, had we been faithful to our trust, a destiny
was before us which it has never been the lot of any people to inherit.
It was oiirs to redeem this continent, to spread freedom, civilization, and
religion, through the whole length of the land. Geographically placed
between Europe and Asia, we were, in some sense, the representatives of
the human race. The fortunes of the world were in our hand. We
were a city set upon a hill, whose light was intended to shine upon
every people and upon every land. To forego this destiny, to forfeit this
inheritance, and that through bad faith, is an enormity of treason equalled
only by the treachery of a Judas, who betrayed his Master with a kiss.
Favored as we have been, we can expect to perish by no common
death. The judgment lingers not, and the damnation slumbers not, of the
reprobates and traitors, who, for the wages of unrighteousness, have
sapped the pillars and undermined the foundations of the stateliest
temple of hberty the world ever beheld. Rebellion against God, and
treason to man, are combined in the perfidy. The innocent may be
spared, as Lot was delivered from the destruction of Sodom ; but the
guilty must perish with an aggravated doom.
We trust that for decency's sake nothing may be said,
henceforth, about what Northern men may think should
be done with " traitors," when Dr. Thornwell dooms those
DOOM OF TKAITORS. — SELF-CONDElTlSrATION. 275
whom he regards as such to something a little more disa-
greeable than such a shower of fire and brimstone as came
down upon the cities of the plain.
We of course understand what is couched under the
glowing phrase, that " it was ours to redeem this continent,
to spread freedom^ civilization^ and religion, through the
whole length of the land." We have shown this in a pre-
vious chapter, when speaking of the Slavery Propagandists
among whom Dr. Thornwell was a High Priest ; that to
"redeem" the continent was to convert it into slave terri-
tory; that "freedom" means the relation of master and
slave, the slave to come from Africa if he could be obtained;
the master to be a white man if "rich," or to be a slave
if " poor ;" that the " civilization" was to be univer-
sally of this type ; and that the " religion" was to be that
which should sanction all this as " divine," and any thing
preached in opposition was to be " infidelity" and proof of
" apostasy."
Patriotism and treason are also understood. To be a
"patriot" was to give heart and soul, tongue, pen, purse,
and ballot for such a " destiny" to one's country ; and to
be a " traitor" was to oppose such a destiny, or, if living
at the South, to hesitate and falter about aiding to bring it
about. And then so glorious to us and so philanthropic to
mankind was such a destiny, and so correspondingly deep
was the guilt of all who were " reprobates and traitors" to
it, that their " judgment lingers not" and their " damna-
tion slumbers not," but is rapidly approaching in the form
of a shower-bath like that w^hich came upon Sodom !
Well, gentlemen, all we have to say, is, that when the
actual trial and doom of " traitors" shall come, we hope
you will stand up to it like men, and let justice take its
COursA.
13
276 SOUTHEEN PBOVIDENCE IN THE KEBELLION.
CHAPTER VIII.
SOUTHERN PROVIDENCE IN THE REBELLION.
The doctrine of a Divine Providence in the affairs of
men is a tenet of both natural and revealed theology. It
has been the common belief of all nations and all times.
It has been taught by the priests of every sect in religion,
received by the sages of every school in philosophy, and
sung by the poets of ever}' age of the world. The bard of
Avon has but expressed the sober judgment of mankind
when uttering a sentiment which we may take in its
utmost latitude of application, —
There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.
god's providence extends to nations.
This providence has been conceded to extend to nations
as truly as to individual men. Without the light of Scrip-
ture, this has been an accepted' truth ; in that light, we
read it on every page. It is concerned in the birth of
nations, in their progress, and in their downfill. It
attends them in peace and in war, gives them their rulers,
awards their prosperity and glory, and brings them to
honor or ruin. In the rise of nations, in their career, in
their permanent endurance or in their passing away to give
place to others, — an unceasing round through all the cycles
of time, — God is but accompHshing His eternal purposes,
in the execution of which " He doeth according to His will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth."
ITS DESIGIsS TOWAKOS THE UNITED STATES. 277
ITS DESIGNS TOWARDS THE UNITED STATES.
It has been the common belief, through every period of
the comparatively short career of the American people,
that this doctrine of providence had a special significance
in its application to this nation, as bearing upon its own
well-being and that of other nations of the world. The
time of the discovery of the American Continent, the cir-
cumstances of its colonization, the character of its early
settlers, the planting here upon a broad basis of the doc-
trine of ci\il and religious liberty, the formation of a
system of popular government under a written constitu-
tion, the freedom of the right of suffrage, the universality
of the means of education, the unrestricted protection to
the various forms of religion, the wide domain and
unlimited resources of a country extending through twenty
degrees of latitude and fifty-five of longitude, and the
unsurpassed material prosperity which has been developed
iu the departments of agriculture, manufactures, commerce,
trade, inventive skill, and the mechanic arts; all this,
which had placed the United States, with her more than
thirty millions of people, in the front rank among the most
favored nations of the earth, in an age of unparalleled pro-
gress, had contributed to the fond anticipation, indulged
down to the period of the rebellion, that God had given
us a high destiny to fill, of honor to ourselves and of good
to mankind. When foul treason plotted the overthrow of
the Government, the hearts of many failed them. They
were led to think they had wholly misinterpreted the pur-
poses of God, however plainly they had supposed them
indicated in the remarkable fiicts of our history.
There may have been much of national vanity indulged
in these glowing prospects ; but many were led to hope
for their realization, prompted by the purest impulses.
278 SOUTHERN PBOVIDENCE IN THE KEBEIXION.
THE DEAD FLY IN THE OINTMENT.
In all the phases of our history, there was one subject
which gave pain and apprehension to many of the more
sagacious and reflecting. That in a Government conse-
crated by the blood of martyrs to liberty, and founded on
the principle announced in its earliest records, — the free-
dom and equality of rights of all men,— there should be
incorporated into its supreme organic law a concession in
several specifications to the bondage of millions of human
beings, was an anomaly so monstrous as to provoke the
jeers of foreign despots, and bring down upon the Model
Re[)ublic the daily growing scorn of the Christian world.
However men may view the case from our present his-
torical stand-point, we are not now disposed to bring any
reproach upon those great men who founded our National
Government, for admitting that element into its structure.
Surrounded by the perils which succeeded the Revolution-
ary War, and under the practical failure of the Articles
of Confederation, they found that " a more perfect union"
was essential to national existence, and at that time union
in one nationality could only be secured by the Govern-
ment they formed. But it is as -clearly written upon the
history of those times as is any other fact of the period,
that many of the leading statesmen, North and South, who
were concerned in forming the Constitution of the United
States, disapproved of slavery as an institution, and con-
fidently counted on and desired its termination. King
Cotton was then in his infancy, or scarcely born, and it
was not then dreamed that he would ever come to the
throne and usurp so wide a dominion.*
* For proof of ■n-hat is above asserted, that "leading statesmen," in the era of the
formation of the Constitution, "disapproved of Slavery," and "counted on and
desired its termination," — and that this was " the common sentiment" of that day, —
we refer to the speech of the rebel Vice-President, quote<l on page 49. Mr. Stephens's
THE IREEPEESSIBLE CONFLICT. 279
THE IKBEPKESSIBLE CONFLICT.
As in our history we advanced from step to step ; as
slavery became more profitable and more expanded ; as
under its profits, and under the change in sentiment regard-
ing its charaeter, it became more and more exorbitant in
its demands, the anxiety concerning its efiect upon the
destiny of the nation became daily more intense. Under
the later developments of the character and tendencies of
the institution, that sentiment which has sometimes been
attributed to the President, and again to the Secretary of
State, and for which much reproach has been heaped upon
them by the rebels and their " allies," — that it were impos-
sible for this nation to continue half slave and half free, —
was but the utterance of what a far-reaching sagacity saw
to be inevitable. It was no incendiary tenet, as shallow-
brained demagogues have termed it. It was the simple
announcement of a great fact whose certain coming already
cast its shadow before. It was but the prediction of an
" irrepressible conflict" which even some of the fathers of
the Revolutionary era feared^ and which was sure to
occur in God's own plan. Its undoubted existence in the
womb of time, the throes and convulsions wliich its issuing
forth would occasion, would have been all the same if they
had not foreseen and declared it. They did not create it.
They were not responsible for it. It was an inevitable
outgrowth of the system of Government our fathers
formed.*
testimony will be deemed valid, and save the trouble of quoting from the original
sources.
* Thomas Jefferson announced the " irrepressible confiict." We at present state
it on the authority of the Rebel Vice-President. In his speech at Savannah, Georgia,
March 21, ISGl, Mr. Stefjhens said: "African Slavery as it e.\ii>ts among us — the
proper status of the negro in our form of civilization — this was the immediate
cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson, in his forecast, had
anticipated this, as 'the rock upon which the old Union would split.' He was
280 SOUTHERN PBOVIDENCB IN THE REBELLION.
THE DIFFICULTY BEYOND HUSfAN WISDOM.
But with all these apprehensions, the wisdom of no man
in Church or State was equal to grapple with the subject.
Slavery had so interwoven its power with every element
of our politics, had so completely subsidized every depart-
ment of the Government, that the nation stood appalled at
the threatening danger, while no one could see our way
out of the labyrinth of difficulties by which we were envi-
roned. Slavery had become a universal theme for discus-
sion ; its character, bearings, dangers, extortions ; but no
one could solve the problems it presented. It had become
the pons asinorum in politics and religion, for statesmen,
philosophers, divines. We quite agree with Dr. Palmer, in
his Thanksgiving Discourse in New Orleans :
It is not too much to say, that if the South should, at this moment,
surrender every slave, the wisdom of the entire world, united in solemn
council, could not solve the question of tlieir disposal.
This is a sentiment to whicli probably, at the time it was
announced, the mass of his covintrymen would have sub-
scribed. But God can easily do what man cannot, and
that too through man's reluctant -agency ; bringing to mind
another truth in the same discourse :
Baffled as our wisdom may now be, in finding a solution of tliis intri-
cate social problem, it would, nevertheless, be the height of arrogance
right. What was conjecturo with him, is now a realized fact." Those declaimers
who deem Mr. Lincoln oi- Mr. Seward awfully guilty for uttering "that hideous
sentiment," should vent their wrath upon Mr. Jeffer.son, and other statesmen of our
early history. We can excuse some stump orators for their ignorance; but it is a
sign that the schoolmaster ought to be abroad, when the Legislature of Jefferson's own
State can commit the blunder of ascribing this saying to Mr. Lincoln as its author.
The Richmond Enquirer of July 4, 1S64, publishes an Address from the Legisla-
ture of Virginia to the people of that State, in which this sentence occurs: "Mr.
Lincoln was the author of that hideous sentiment, that the States of the Union could
not remain part Free and part Slave States— that they must be wholly Free or
wholly Slave."
HOPES DASHED AND KAISED AGAIN. 281
to proiicunce what changes may or may not occur in the distant future.
In the grand march of events. Providence may work out a solution undis-
coverable by -u^. * * * If this question should ever arise, the gen-
eration to whom it is remitted will doubtless have the wisdom to meet
it, and Providence will furnish the liglits in which it is to be resolved.
How little did the eloquent divine think, when he was
uttering this pregnant sentence, so profoundly true, and its
realization not reserved for " the distant future," but appa-
rently SO near at hand, that he was but as Balaam before
the hosts of Israel, with a blessing on his lips instead of a
curse, and that, as God's unwilling Prophet, he was to bear
so distinguished a part in unravelling the mysteries of His
inscrutable providence, and in " working out a solution"
which had so long " baffled the wisdom of the entire
world."
HOPES DASHED AND KAISED AGAIK.
When the rebellion occuned, as we have said, the hopes
of many regarding our national destiny died within them.
They verily believed we were now to be dashed in pieces
as a potter's vessel, and to be blotted out and known no
more as a great people. They looked upon the war as the
scourge of God for our great iniquities, and so far undoubt-
edly they were right; for war is always a judgment for
sin. But it began early to be believed that God's ultimate
design was our purification and preservation, and that to
this end He would in His own way terminate the institution
which had been seized upon as the occasion of our strife,
and that when this were accomplished the nation would
emerge from this furnace, and be prepared for a higher
career than were otherwise possible. How this was to be
done, by whom, when, and where a beginning was to be
made, were problems involved in darkness ; but as events
have been developed, as the necessities of the war have
282 SOUTHERN PROVIDENCE IN THE REBELLION.
arisen, as time has rolled on, as tlie reverses and successes
of our arms have alternated, — even though " the end is not
yet," — we think it is not rashly interpreting God's pur-
poses to say, that in His providence slavery will be removed
from the land entirely, as the result of that very treason
and rebellion, darkly concocted and persis^teutly pursued,
for the express purpose of its more firm and expanded
establishment. If our Saviour spoke the truth when He
said, " All they that take the sword shall perish with the
sword," then, as slavery unsheathed the sword to war upon
lawful authority, we believe it will perish by the war made
in the Government's defence.
And yet, we freely admit that the result may be quite
different from this. Secret things belong to God only.
Slavery may be yet longer preserved, to be a scourge to the
nation. What scheming politicians may plot, what timid
.statesmen may yield, what the people may be willing to
concede for the sake of ending the war,- -and what God's
real plans may be, to be reached through all these sche-
mings and plottings and concessions, — we presume not to
know ; and still, our faith is strong in the ultimate result
stated, that slavery will, as a consequence of the rebellion,
be removed, to curse the land no more.
PROVIDENCE FROM A SOUTHERN STAND-POINT.
But it is not our purpose to canvass this subject at pres-
ent. We shall consider it at some length in a succeeding
chapter, when we come to speak directly of God's provi-
dential designs in the rebellion. Our object now is to look
at providence from a Southern stand-point ; to note some
remarkable things in Southern literature iipon this theme,
which the rebellion and the war have developed.
The leaders of the rebellion have from the first claimed
for their cause a high character for righteousness, and they
PROVIDENCE FROM SOUTHERN' STAKD-POINT. 283
have exhibited in its behalf much religious zeal and devo-
tion. They have always claimed that God was on their
side, and that the initiatory and subsequent steps of the
movement were undertaken by His direction. When re-
counting their military successes (and they have claimed
a victory on nearly every battle-field), it is wonderful to
note how their journals, especially the religious, have ever
found in current events striking evidences of God's favor-
ing providence.*
We should suppose that at least religious men, before
making such a wholesale appropriation, would wait to see
the outcome ; for God often gives temporary or apparent
success, where the final upshot is an utter overthrow. But
so elated have they been at present results, that they have
often predicted certain triumph ; and they have frequently
so put the case as to be willing that their cause should be
judged by the determination of the contest. Here again
they are ethically at fault, for success is not necessarily a
criterion of merit, nor does virtue always conquer; and
yet, without^admitting the principle, we are almost willing
to rest the present case on that issue. We are doubtful,
however, whether, with all their boastings, they will so
readily abide the judgment which the result may furnish.
Already, as the contest progresses, we see signs of mis-
giving, and less confidence expressed in the favor of God
than formerly. What the bearing of this may be, even
* In the winter of 1S61-2, after the campaign of the first season of the -war was
over, an " Address to the People of Georgia" was issued, signed by Howell Cobb,
R. Toombs, M. J. Crawford, and Thomas R. R. Cobb, in order further "to fire the
Southern heart." This passage on providence will illustrate what we have said
above: "We have faith in God and faith in yon. He is blind to every indication
of providence who has not seen an Almighty hand controlling the events of the past
year. The wind, the wave, the cloud, the mist, the sunshine, and the storm, have
all ministered to our necessities, and frequently succored us in our distresses. We
deem it unnecessary to recount the numerous instances which have called forth our
gratitude. We would join you in thanksgiving and praise. 'If God be for us, who
can be against us ?' We have no fears of the result— the final issue."
18*
284 SOUTHERN PROVIDENCE IN THE REBELLION.
as modifying their ethics, no one can foretell. That they
need a modification, not merely upon current events of the
war, but upon matters which underlie the whole structure
of human life, is easily made apparent.*
The providence of God has been so much dwelt upon by
them in their public journals, debates, and discourses, and
especially by the clergy, that it becomes a fruitful theme
for meditation, as furnishing a marked feature in the moral
phases of the contest.
IT UPr.ETS THEIR THEOLOGY.
One of the most noted things about the views of the
clergy among the rebel leaders, is seen in this, — that while
their devotion to treason, in the interest of slavery, has
blinded them to the demands of duty to their country, the
same devotion has unsettled the foundations of some of the
prime articles of their religious faith. Their elaborate
* No one familiar with the early events of the war, can forget how the rebels
exulted that the fleet sent to Charleston, at the time the last effoi-t was made to pro-
vision Fort Sumter, was dispersed by a storm, so that it could not enter the harbor.
This gave the rebels an opportunity to complete their plans, and to capture that
fortress without opposition from the fleet. Its dispersion, they said, was "no acci-
dent," but the very "finger of God was in it," and a sign of His favor to them. We
accept the doctrine ; God " was in it," but possibfy for a different purpose than they
supposed. And so they have exulted almost ever since. Observe, however, one
among many signs which have occurred more recently, where serious disappoint-
ments are laid to the account of " accident," and where hope in "Providence" is
waning. Remarking upon the "invasion" of Maryland and the threatening of
Washington in July last, the Bichmo7id Enquirer says: "It is said that a lucl'y
aocident alone saved Washington. Canby's Corps, from New Orleans, arrived at
Fortress Monroe on Saturday night, t!ie very day on which the battle of Monocacy
was fought, and which revealed to the enemy the magnitude of the danger thai
threatened Washington. Ordered by telegraph to that city, it arrived there on
Monday in time to prevent the capture of the city, and to hold the defences until the
arrival of additional corps from Petersburg had rendered the storming of the works
useless. The accidental arrical of Canby saved the city. Had he passed up to
Grant, or been delayed in his arrival one day longer, Washington would have
been captured. However great the disappointment may be, yet much h.as already
been and much more will be accomplished." No storm delayed Canbj' "one day
longer." God " was in it." The Riclunond Examiner thus refers to the same invfl-
IT UPSETS THEIK TnEOLOGY. 285
disconrsings upon providence furnish a striking illus-
tration.
We of course admit, that while the whole world agree
in holding to a doctrine of providence, men often differ as
to* the doctrine itself; as to its extent, whether general
only or particular, or both ; whether it is concerned only
in the great affaiis of the world, the marked and unusual
occurrences, or extends to all events alike, great and small ;
whether it controls and works through the free volitions
of men, or only reaches outward things ; whether its ends
are accomplished through wicked agents as directly and
efficiently as through the good and holy, or only through
the latter ; and a thousand other questions, which theolo-
gians and metaphysicians have discussed more or less from
time immemorial. We do not name these differences to
enter into any examination of them. Our present business
is more simple. The divines who are foremost in the apo-
logetical literature of the rebellion, so fir as this has come
more immediately under our observation, and from Avhich
we cite examples, are of the same school in theology with
ourselves. They have received the same standards of
faith, and when adopting them received the doctrine of
providence therein set forth, which substantially is that
received by nearly the whole Christian world. We doubt
whether they ever would have so widely departed from
it under any other influence than that of this rebelUon,
sion : " It must be confessed that our ' invasion' just at this moment looks like one
of the most paltry affairs of the war. Washington was not taken. Baltimore was
not taken. The Yankeeized population of Martinsburgh has embraced their towns-
man Hunter again. Kot a bridge of the road between Washington and Baltimore
■was burned. The road itself was unbroken. What has been dune then ? What has
yet been obtained tjy these opportunities,— Lynchburg and Wasliington,— <Ae like of
which Providence has not rouchvafed xince the firt^i year of the war? One
house has been burned ; two thousand head of cattle brought off; ilajor-General
Tyler and Major-General Franklin were taken prisoners and both permitted to
escape. * * * Letua hope, and pray, and trust, that the story still is left half i
told."
286 6017THE.EN PEOVIDEKCE IN THE REBELLION.
which with them has overturned some of the fundamental
principles in morals as well as theology.
THE TRUE DOCTRINE OF PROVIDENCE.
That doctrine of providence is thus concisely expressed :
' God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and
powerful preserving and governing all His creatui'es ; order-
ing them, and all their actions, to His own glory." This
is simple, comprehensive, and unquestionably founded on
the teachings of Scripture. Its purport is plain. It sweeps
the vmiverse. It leaves nothing without the control of
God. Not a sparrow can fall to the ground without His
notice, nor is a hair of any head unnumbeied. It embraces
men, angels, demons, races of men, nations, families, and
the concerns and interests of each and of all ; and directs
all things for great purposes of good to those who love
God, and for glory to His great name. If the Ruler of the
Universe is indeed God, then Pie will do His pleasure in
heaven and upon earth, and no being or thing can thwart
His plans.
SOUTHERN EXPOSITION OF IT. DR. PALMER.
Now observe how some of the high priests of the rebel-
lion preach upon this doctrine. We will let Dr. Palmer
lead the way, in his Thanksgiving Discourse before referred
to. He sets out with the undoubted truth, that nations
have a special destiny to fulfil in the designs of God ; that
" a nation often has a character as well defined and intense
as that of an individual ;" that "this individuality of char-
acter alone makes any people truly historic, competent to
work out its specific mission, and to become a factor in
the world's progress." He says, also, concerning the
crisis then reached, that, " in determining our duty in this
emergency, it is necessary that we should first ascertain
PROVIDENCE FRUSTRATED. 287
the nature of the trust providentially committed to us."
Having ascertained, as he supposed, what the special trust
of the South was in the plans of God, he then declares it,
and gives assurance of providential security ia its execution,
as follows :
The particular trust assigned, to such a people becomes the pledge of
Divine protection, and their fidelity to it determines the fate by which
it is finally overtaken. What that trust is, must be ascertained from
the necessities of their position, the institutions which are the outgrowth
of their principles, and the conflicts through which they preserve their
identity and independence. If, then, the South is such a people, what,
at this juncture, is their providential trust ? I answer, that it is to
conserve and to perpetuate the institution of slavery as now existing.
PROVIDENCE FRUSTRATED.
The announcement in the last sentence, declaring what
the providential trust of the South was understood to be,
is the substratum of the whole discourse. We do not,
just here, propose to dispute so remarkable a proposition.
We have only given this passage as opening the way for
exhibiting some views of providence which are quite as
remarkable ; indicating that the preacher supposes it with-
in the power of man to frustrate God's plans, and betray-
ing an excited fear not merely that He might do so in
matters then undeveloped, but charging directly that it
had already and most grossly been done, as seen in the
election of the Chief Ruler of a great nation, and in the
special bearings of that election upon God's providence,
showing a positive interference by the electors with " the
particular trust assigned" to the South, in the execution
of which they had " the pledge of the Divine protection."
But let the preacher speak for himself:
All that we claim for them (the slaves) and for ourselves is liberty to
work out this problem, guided by nature and God, without obtrusive
interference from abroad. These great questions of providence and his-
288 SOUTHEEN PROVIDENCE IN THE REBELLION.
tory must have free scope for their solution ; and the race whose for-
tunes are distinctly implicated in the same, is alone authorized, as it i3
alone competent, to determine ti^em. It is just this impt-rtinence of hu-
man legislation, sttting hounds to vihat God only can regulate, that the South
is called this day to resent and resist. ***** The Most
High, knowing His own power, which is infinite, and His own wisdom,
which is unfathomable, can afford to be patient. But these self-con-
stituted reformers must quicken the activity of Jehovah, or compel His
abdication. * * * It is time to reproduce the obsolete idea that Provi-
dence must govern man, and not that man should control Providence. * * *
* * Tliese fierce zealots undertake to drive the chariot of the sun;
working out the single and false idea which rides them like a nightmare,
they dash athwart the spheres, utterly disregarding the delicate mechanism
of Providence; which moves on wheels within wheels, with pivots, and
balances, and springs, which the great Designer alone can control,
***** Such an issue is at length presented in the result of the
recent Presidential election. * * * The decree has gone forth, that
the institution of Southern slavery shall be constrained within assigned
limits. Though nature and Providence should send forth its branches
like the banyan-tree, to take root in congenial soil, here is a poiver supe-,
rior to both, that says it shall wither and die within its own charmed circle.
What say you to this, to whom this great providential trust of conserv-
ing slavery is assigned ?
SOUTHERN THEOLOGY REBUKED BT SCRIPTURE.
How is it possible to explain tfhat a sincere believer in
the doctrine of providence, — and Dr. Palmer is unquestion-
ably a believer, — can utter sentences of such impassioned
earnestness against what be just as sincerely believes, in
the events specified, to be direct infractions of God's provi-
dential prerogative ? Admit, if you please, every specific
thing over which he laments, — the act, the design, the
tendency, the motive, the residt, — and still, is it not all a
part of God's comprehensive plan ? But, more especially,
can any event occur among men which is more clearly
proviilential, and as such more stupendously grand, than
the election of a Chief Ruler by thirty millions of people
SOFTHEEN THEOLOGY EEBUKED BY SCRIPTURE. 289
to preside over one of the greatest nations of the earth ?
Does Scripture point out any event as more specifically
providential? " The lot is cast into the lap ; but the whole
disposing thereof is of the Lord." " God is the Judge ;
He putteth down one, and setteth up another." " He re-
moveth kings, and setteth up kings." Or does the Word
of God declare any thing to be more strictly within the
purview of His providence than human legislation ?
"By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me
princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth."
Or can the sentiment that God claims directly to govern
nations, by His providence, and does actually so govern
them through the lawfully constituted rulers of the world,
be more definitely and broadly declared than it is ; and
that upon this ground, therefore, as well as upon other
grounds, it is a heinous sin to resist their authority?
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers; for
there is no power but of God : the powers that be are or-
dained of God." Or, on the other hand, can any thing
be found in Scripture which militates against the position
that God works just as freely and efficiently, in accomphsh-
ing all the designs of His providence, through the folly of
men as through their wisdom ; through their imbecility
as through their energy ; their wickedness as their holi-
ness? Is it not, rather, directly declared everywhere in
His Word, that He works through and by all these charac-
ters and agencies ; indeed, that He makes every thing bow
to His will, in heaven, earth, and hell ? " When He giveth
quietness, who then can make trouble ? and when He
hideth His face, who then can behold him ? whether it be
done against a nation, or against a man only." "All the
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing : and He
doeth according to His will in the army of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth ; and none can stay His
290 SOUTHERN PROVIDENCE IN THE EEBJELLION,
hand, or say unto him, "What doest thou ?" " Our Lord is
in the heavens : He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased."
" I am the Lord, and there is none else ; there is no God
besides me : I girded thee, though thou hast not known
me ; that they may know from the rising of the sun, and
from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the
Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create
darkness : I make peace, and create evil : I the Lord do
all these things."
PEOVIDENTIAX RULE SUPREME.
What unspeakable folly is it, then, — imless His provi-
dential rule is reduced to that of a mortal, — to talk about
the "impertinence of human legislation," in great matters
of state or in small, interfering in any manner with " what
God would regulate." Such legislation, and all other,
lies directly in the line of His providence. And what
consummate folly is it to talk about man, or a political
party, or the rulers of a people, or the whole nation, or
all the creatures of God combined, " dashing athwart the
spheres, utterly disregarding the delicate mechanism of
Providence ; as though any power in the universe,
short of Omnipotence, could interpose the obstacle of a
hair to obstruct the perfect working of that " delicate
mechanism !"
When these great providential events had occurred, in
the mighty movings of the people of a powerful nation, it
would have exhibited a sounder theology and a more
reverential piety, and contributed to a brighter fame to
bpth, had Dr. Palmer bowed to these events, and detected
in their occurrence some unsoundness in his own provi-
dential theory, and the dogma of a " divine trust to
perpetuate slavery," on which it was founded; instead of
making God's plain workings the occasion of lashing him-
AN EXPLANATION NEEDED. 291
self into a tempest of indignation, and misleading his
flock not only on the Scriptural doctrine of providence,
but openly urging resistance, instead of teaching obedi-
ence, "to the higher powers;" and, as a result, giving
his great influence to plunge the people into troubles
which time can never cure. This is said not merely in
view of events as they now appear. The errors which
Dr. Palmer proclaims lie upon the very surface of his
discourse, and are in conflict with the tenor of the whole
Word of God.
AN EXPLANATION NEEDED.
How can such a phenomenon be explained? How
could a minister of the Gospel, sound in the faith, make
such an inexcusable perversion of the truth ? This is
just as easily answered as would be a similar question
upon any other part of his discourse ; touching his urging
an open disrujttion of the Union, at the declared risk of
war, and openly Lraving and defiantly courting, if need
be, all its horrors ; or touching the cause for which all
this should be done and braved, in order to discharge
"the trust providentially committed" to them, "of con-
serving and transmitting the system of slavery with the
freest scope for its natural development and extension ;"
or touching the time when these utterances were made, —
the 29th of November, 1860, — when as yet politicians had
not matured their plans, and his own city and people for
a long time afterwards, many of them, were strongly for
the Union. If any one can resolve these points satisfac-
torily, we can explain all the difiiculties about his utter-
ances upon providence.
There is probably some common ground on which
these theological vagaries, and much else that is appa-
rently puzzling in his sentiments and course, may be solved.
292 SOUTHEEN PROVIDENCE IN THE REBELLION.
A SOLUTION PROPOSED.
We think there is no difficulty in solving any of tlie
points of the case. The theory about slavery, which is at
the bottom of the whole, — the " corner-stone" of the
entire structure, — had stultified in the Southern leaders
every thing it touched. It rooted out their loyalty to the
Union as soon as they discovei'ed the Union could be no
longer serviceable to their demands. It blasted their
sense of obligation to " be subject to the higher powers,'*
just as soon as they saw they were no longer to be under
their own control. It confused their perception of moral
distinctions, perverted the doctrines of religion, and gave
false glosses to Scripture, whenever slavery was the topic
of consideration. The emanations from the system had
become so ground into their very natures, intellectual and
moral, and in some cases literally into their hlood, that
they could stake all upon the issue they forced upon the
country — loyalty, honor, glory, historic memories, righte-
ousness, truth, life !
A PROVIDENCE OF MAn's DEVISING.
This led them to form to themselves a theory of provi-
dence,— a path for God to walk in, — which exactly chimed
in with their plans. They had fondly persuaded them-
selves that this was GocPs providence instead of their
own. They had determined for themselves the special
"divine trust" which, under this providence, they were to
execute, and which was committed to them fur their
great mission as a people. They had brought all their
abilities and attainments, wl.iic]i indeed no one can well
despise, to fortify their convictions and religious fervor in
the full faith of these dogmas, in spite of the sentiments
of the whole Christian world. And then, when they
DE. SMYTH ON SOUTHERN PROVIDENCE. 293
imagined on false grounds that their cherished phans were
about to be invaded, through a course of events as grandly
providential as God ever controlled, — they failed to see
the pointing of the Divine finger, but rose in wrath to
invoke upon the land all the wild terrors of civil war.
The world nowhere presents, all things considered, a case
of infatuation which can equal this.
If our solution is not satisfactory, we can only vary it in
other words, which, however, are but an embodiment of
all we have said: God smote them with judicial blind-
ness; and, ''for this cause," — the cause which lies at the
bottom of the trouble in the land, — He sent upon them
"strong dL4usion that they should believe a lie," that
slavery might he destroyed.
SOUTHERN PROVIDENCE FURTHER ILLUSTRATED. DR.
SMYTH.
The peculiar views of providence which we have pre-
sented are by no means confined to Dr. Palmer. They
are those commonly entertained by the clergy of the
South who have been leaders or supporters of the rebel-
hon. We give an example or two more.
Dr. Smyth claims God's providence in their favor from
the beginning of the rebellion, and during every step of
its progress. Our quotations are from the same source
often here referred to, the Southern Presbyterian Jieview,
April, 1863. Dr. Smyth, referring to the great change he
su[)poses to have been wrought in the " character and
conduct of such men as Drs. R. J. Breckinridge, Spring,
Hodge, Jacobus," and others, says :
To this blind, fervid fanaticism, the South must oppose the only m-
vincible shield, and that is faith, faith iu God, faith in His word, faith
in His omnipotent providence, faith in the vigliteousness of a cause sus-
tained by His immutable and everlasting; truth. * * * God's maui-
294 SOUTHERN PEOVIDENCE IN THE REBELLION.
fest presence and providence, in the bloodless and yet triumphant vic-
tory of Sumter; in the electric sympathy with which eleven States
rushed into each other's arms ; in the peaceful, prayerful unity with
which a Constitution and a Confederation were ratified on earth, and
sealed in the chancery of Heaven : all this seemed to be the evidence of
God's presence with us. God seemedthus to command His people in these
Southern States, to whom, as the divider of nations, He had apportioned
their inheritance, and imposed upon them the solemn trust of an or-
ganized system of slave labor, for the benefit of the world and as a
blessing to themselves, while imparting civil, social, and religious bles-
sings to their slaves ; now that His word and providence vjere denied, and
covenanted rights and immunities were withheld, and the annihilation
of that system of labor was made the basis and cohesive bond of a
dominant mobocratic and sectional party, inaugurated as tlie Govern-
ment of the United States, and invested with absolute power, God
now spake as with a voice from, heaven, saying, "Come out of the
Union, my people. From such withdraw thyself, for aU the men of
thy Confederacy have brought thee even to the border ; the men that
were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against
thee ; they that ate thy bread have laid a wound under thee ; there is
none understanding in them." The heart of the South was bowed
before the Most High, the Lord God omnipotent that reigneth, and with
one voice they cried unto Him and said unto Him, " If thy presence go
not with us, carry us not up hence ; for wherein shall it be known that
we, thy people, have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou
goest with us ? So shall we be separated from all the people that are
upon the face of the earth." Then came up from millions of hearts
the shout, " Go forward I for God is with us of a truth." But
Abraham Lincoln neither heard nor heeded this voice that spake so audibly
from heaven, in the otherwise inexplicable events that were occurring around
him. He hardened his heart, and stiffened his neck, and would not let the
people go.
BLASPHEMY AND PANATICISM SUBLIMATED.
The reader will make his own reflections upon the
"blind, fervid fanaticism," which must have prompted
such remarkable passages from an able, scholarly, and
accomplished divine. The transparent blasphemy of this
writing is in a high state of sublimation ; deeming the
THE PROVIDENTIAL CLIMAX. DR. STILES. 205
whole Southern people " the chosen of God" as the Israel-
ites were, and on that ground applying to them those
words of Scripture which were applied to His ancient
people. Tlie likening of the President of the United
States to the king of Egypt, — and of course regarding
Jefferson Davis as a second Moses, — are essential to com-
plete the conception.
The most satisfact;)ry solution which we can give of the
mental and moral state of a man of Dr. Smyth's w ell- known
abilities, under such an exliibition of them, is that previ-
ously given in reference to Dr. Palmer, and applies to the
mass of Southern writers upon the rebellion. Their views
of the " peculiar institution," and of the " trust" concern-
ing it " providentially committed" to them, present every-
thing relating to the contest in which they have embarked
for its sake, to their minds and hearts, in an aspect so very
"peculiar," that they alone, of all mankind, are able to
I perceive things as they see them. There is at least one
1 peculiarity between their present condition and that of
God's ancient peojJe, which is true in fact : " their minds
are blinded ;" and " the veil is upon their heart."
j THE PROVIDENTIAL CLIMAX. DR. STILES.
I We give but one more sample of this remarkable reli-
! gious literature of the South. In some respects it exceeds
; all that has gone before it. It is from a discourse of the
; Rev. Joseph C. Stiles, D. D., a Georgian by birth, but w^ho
was formerly settled for a short time over a Church
in Cincinnati, and subsequently was Pastor of the Mercer-
Street Church in New York, and then Pastor of a Church
in New Haven. He also spent several years of ministerial
' life, previous to these several Northern settlements, in
Kentucky. He was a slaveholder by inheritancf, and re-
moved to Kentucky for the purpose of prei^aring his slaves
296 SOUTHERISr PROVIDENCE IN THE REBELLION.
f<.)r freedom, and at that time deemed freedom better than
slavery both for himself and them. We believe he eman-
cipated them all.
On the breaking out of the rebellion, he joined the rebel
leaders, and has since given the power of his unwonted
eloquence and fervent prayers to the attempt to erect that
treasonable " nation" whose " corner-stone" is slavery.
The discourse to which we refer, came to light in the sum-
mer of 1863, and is entitled, " National Rectitude the only
true Basis of National Prosperity ; an Appeal to the Con-
federate States," founded on the text, " Righteousness
exalteth a nation."
THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY TO USHER IN THE MILLEN-
NIUM.
Dr. Stiles holds to the doctrine of a " good time coming,"
believes in common with all branches of the Church that
a millennial day will yet dawn upon the world ; and as in
his view this is to be providentially accomplished through
national instrumentality, some one nation taking the lead,
he is firm in the faith that this high honor is to fall upon
that " nation" which glories in human bondage. But let
him speak for himselt :
"Why should it seem a thing incredible to you, that God should raise
this nation from the dead, and raise her now! A. freer nation, the sun
does not shine upon, and you know it, though she has never been bla-
tant about free thought, free speech, and free soil. A nation of simpler,
purer Christianity, thank God, earth does not hold, and you believe it,
though she has never been as boastful as some whose religion bears many
a sad mark of corruption. Why sliould not God distinguisli this nation,
which has so decidedly dislinguished herself in His behalf? Wliy should
not God draw nigli to a peoiilo who are wont to draw nigh to Him,
not in the worship of estabUslied ordinances only, but whose Constitu-
tion itself approaches God with a reverence, you believe, never similarly
expressed by any other people? Do you not know that the iuterpreta^
THE SOUTHERN CONFEDEKACT. 297
tions and calculations of the soundest Christian learning justify the
faith that ere long the approach of the Millennium must begin to show
itself in appropriate premonitory changes, both in the political and
Christian world ? And is it not reasonable to suppose that God will
inaugurate this glorious era of the Church, by wheeling some one nation
out of the ranks of the world, to take ground for God and man under the
banner of the Gospel ?
We have but little doubt that, in the course of God's
providence, at least one thing here predicted by Dr. Stiles
will prove true, though not in the sense he intends nor for
the object he states ; and that is, that this rebel " nation"
will ere long be literally " wheeled out of the ranks of the
world" and be known as a " nation" no more. That God
had selected that " nation," however, which boasts of
standing on an ebony " corner-stone" on which no other
nation " in the history of the world" ever stood, as His
grand instrumentality, and Jefferson Davis as his Vicar-
General, in ushering in " the Millennium," is something
we had not before supposed was recorded in ancient pro-
phecy.
Of course, this glowing prospect opened up to rebel
vision by this modern Daniel, who puts all the " astrol-
ogers, the magicians, and the soothsayers" of the Church
to flight, furnishes a basis on this "interpretation of the
dream," for a most earnest and pious exhortation to the
people to come up to the help of the Lord against the
" Mtrncious ;" and thereupon Dr. Stiles implores them as
follows :
And now, at a period when the atrocious opposition of a powerful
nation would seem to invite the interposition of God in our behalf tell me,
why should not every man who loves God or his country, to the utter-
most of his ability, preach, pray, and work, to arouse our population to
seize this one great niche of time in the history of the loorld, and occupy
that national positionf
298 SOUTHERN PKOVIDEISrCE TN THE EEBELLION.
REBEL VICTORIES BY MIRACLE.
Certainly ; why should they not " preach, pray, and
work," as never before ; and especially, when the prospect
is so good for counting on the direct " interposition of
God" in their behalf? As the circumstances of their
extremity " would seem to invite the interposition," can
God withhold it from those whom Dr. Smyth regards as
his " chosen people," and from that "nation" here specially
selected " to take ground for God and man under the
banner of the (Southern) Gospel," and to usher in the
" Millennium" of universal negro-slavery, a " nation" that
has " so decidedly distinguished herself in this behalf f''
God cannot withhold it ; He certainly will interpose by the
direct might of His omnipotence. See how it is to be
done, as pictured by Dr. Stiles :
Oh, how far you live from the light 1 Why, let the North march
out her million of men on the left, and array upon the right all the
veteran troops of England, France, Russia, and Austria ; and bring up
the very gates of hell in all their strength to compose the centre of her
grand invading army. "What then ? Why, every thing in God and from
God assures us that these Confederate States would hear a voice from
heaven : " The battle is not yours but mine. Stand ye still and see the
salvation of the Lord." If they dared 'to advance one step, a righteous
and an angry God would fire off upon the aliens terrible thunder that
angel ears never heard, and shoot out upon them vengeful fires and
lightnings that cherubic vision never saw, and fling down upon them
cataracts of angry power that hell herself never felt, and if necessary to
our deliverance, shake the very earth from under their feet !
A NEW SIEGE OF JERICHO.
It is somewhat difficult, but we finally recover our breath
again ! — and being able to speak once more, we have a
suggestion or two to make to those Southern Christians
and to their preacher, founded upon his own words : " Oh,
how far you live from the light!"
A XEAV SIEGE OF JEKICHO. 299
Our first suggestion is this : If " every tiling iu God and
from God assures'" you of such an easy and complete vic-
tory over your foes, and by such means, why don't you
lay aside such expensive and cumbrous things as shot and
shell and canister, and imitating your prototypes, God's
ancient chosen people, march out with " rams' horns" as
they did at the siege of Jericho ? You Avould be saved
an amazing amount of "transportation," and the whole
thing would be done in a single week, and then we should
have " peace," for which we all sigh.
You of course, as you read your Bibles, know how it
was done in the olden time. " Seven priests" were com-
manded by .Joshua to " bear before the ark seven trumpets
of rams' horns." Let General Lee, your modern Joshua,
select Dr. Stiles to head the list of "priests," with Drs.
Palmer, Smyth, Sehon, Fuller, Adger, and Moore ; we
should certainly name Bishop Polk and Dr. Thornwell,
had they not gone to their final account. The " ark" will
ofcour.se contain a copy of the Constitution of the " Con-
federate States of America" wliich founds your nation on
the " corner-stone" of human bondage. As the whole
thing would have failed at Jericho had not the priests
taken the " ark" into which God had previously com-
manded " the testimony" to be put, so it is essential that
your "ark" should contain "the testimony" which you
have given to the world in your Constitution. The
ancient " ark" was " overlaid with pure gold within and
without." As gold may be scarce with you, it may be
covered and lined with " Confederate Scrip" of the latest
issue.
Thus prepared, let the Confederate armies " compass"
the camp of their enemies, followed by the priests, " bear-
mg the ark and blowing the trumpets," once a day for six
days, and on the seventh day go round seven times ; and
14
300 SOUTHERN PROVIDENCE IN THE REBELLION.
having done this, you tmy be able to hear the voice from
heaven, which Dr. Stiles said you Avould, and be nbU' to
witness the destruction of all the Yankee armies by those
"cataracts of angry power" of which he spake. It may
be — have you ever thought of it ? — that the reason why
you have not already been completely successful over
th(^m, is, that yon have counted on God's "interposition"
without using God's means. Beware of such presumption,
hereafter. We recommend this amendment in your
" strategy." But one thing, especially, bear in mind.
Don't " shout" the victory too soon. This was a point
on which the people were particularly cautioned at the
taking of Jericho under the ancient Joshua.
THE CONFEDERATE ARMAGEDDON.
We have another suggestion, which will still further
illustrate the good policy of your adopting this ancient
mode of warfare. As "every thing in God and from God
assures" you that you can whip all mankind and Satan's
hosts into the bargain, — with the United States composing
the " left" wing, the great European Powers the " right"
wing, and "the gates of hell" the "centre" of the grand
army, — why not call the " priests," get the " rams' horns,"
and make a final end of all your enemies at once? You
will then have a fair field for your Slavery Propagandism.
You can then carry out universally, the " Christian Slavery"
which is so pleasing to the mind and heart of Drs. Arm-
strong, Thornwell, P;dmer, and the rest of " our Southern
brethren" who mourn and pray over " free society ;"
making masters of whites who are "rich," and slaves of
whites who are " poor."
And there is another element of enconragement. There
would unquestionaMy be a wholesale desertion to the
Confederate standard. The moment the rich music of the
THE CONFEDERATE ARMAGEDDON. 301
blcist from the trumpets of the jiriests carrying the new
"•corner-stone" faith ia the "Confederate ark," should
reverberate along the line, the entu'e " centre" wo j/W ^o
ocer to you in a body. They are one with you now, in
heart, and only want the opportunity, to be arrayed with
you bodily. You would then have a triumph which would
cast all the Jerichos of the world into oblivion. Would
it not be the battle of the Millennial Armageddon ?
One of your preachers, you know, the Rev. Mr. Baldwin,
wrote a volume, a few years ago, entitled "Armageddon."
He imported the plain of Esdraelon from Palestine, and
located the scene of the battle in the Mississippi Valley.
According to Scrijjture, God's " chosen people" are to
fight this battle, and against them are to be arrayed all
infidel nations and all the corrupt ecclesiastical hierarchies
of the world. Xow, as you are the "chosen people," as
you regard your nation the only righteous one among
men, — " whose Constitution itself approaches God with a
reverence never similarly expressed by any other people,"
especially the " corner-sto«e" article, as Mr. Stephens
claims, — as you regard all other nations " infidel" and all
other Churches " apostate," because they are wedded to
"free society," and as you are to bring in the Millennium,
you undoubtedly believe you are to fight the battle of
Armageddon. The "terrible thunder," and the "vengeful
fires and lightnings," and the "cataracts of angry power,"
of which Dr. Stiles sj^eaks, exactly corresponding with the
imagery of the Seer of Patmos, and the " direct inter-
position of God" which is claimed, all show that the gi-eat
Millennial battle is meant by the preacher. Only amend
your " strategy," then, in the manner here respectfully
suggested, and, — icith the desertion to your ranks of the
" centre!'' in a body, — you undoubtedly will triumph.
Then the whole earth will rejoice that the long-wished-
SG2 SOUTHEKN PKOVIDENCE IN THE REBELLION.
for Millennial Day has dawned ! — with universal slavery
for the " poor," mastership for the " rich," all Yankees
destroyed, the Confederates everywhere triumphant, and
JeiFerson Davis God's Vicar-General over the world !
But seriously, — Do we need any better evidence that
the leaders of the rebellion are demented, than that here
furnished, in such religious rhapsodies as these leading
divines indulge in? If these were emanations from ordi-
nary men, they might be passed by as idle breath ; but
they come from the greatest intellects and the ripest
scholarship among Southern Churchmen. That they are
uttered to " fire the Southern heart" is undoubtedly true ;
and yet, that these men are sincere we as little doubt.
That they have had more influence over the more serious
portion of society, in urging on and kee]iing up the spirit
of the war, than any other class, is confessed by Southern
politicians and patent to the world. Our solution of the
matter is, that they are judicially blinded; given over to
strong delusion to believe a lie, yea, even a legion of lies ;
and that, through their delusions, the God of universal
providence is working out great purposes of good to man-
kind and glory to His name.
PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION. 303
CHAPTER IX.
PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
We have given in the previous chapter the doctrine of
Divine Providence, and the remarkable perversions Avhich
are made of it by writers interested in the cause of per-
petuating human bondage by a wicked rebellion. We pro-
pose here to set forth what we regard as some among the
true purposes of God, now^ in process of being wrought
out, by the stupendous events which are occurring in this
nation.
If we speak with confidence, it is only because our
convictions are strong and our fliith abiding. At the
same time, we claim no infallibility, in judging of events,
either present or future. We say here, once for all, that
we only utter our opinions upon what we regard as God's
designs. To them we are entitled. We allow others the
enjoyment of theirs. We aim only to interpret rather
Xhmi predict^ and give merely our best judgment of some
things which we think the present contest is likely to
work out.
The true doctrine of providence, as entertained by the
common consent of Christendom, embraces, among others,
these elements : it includes all beings and all things ; and
through all, God is working out great purposes of ultimate
good to the world and glory to Himself.
If these positions embody the truth, they maybe applied
to the rebellion now in progress, and to the eiforts made
for its suppression. God is controlling all agencies and
events at work in the contest, and out of all He will bring
304 PEOVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
good to mankind and glory to Himself. No doubt great
errors may be committed in attempting to interpret God'a
providence, so as certainly to declare, beforehand, what
He specifically intends in a given event, or in a series or
long course of events. We think that here Southern wri-
ters have deceived themselves, and have gone counter to one
of the sound canons for interpreting God's will, whether
referring to certain portions of His word or to His provi-
dence. It is a principle of prophecy, that rarely, if ever,
is it so plain that it can fnlly be determined before its ful-
filment. It is so with providence ; we must wait for the
issue, in most cases, before being able to comprehend fully
the design. But as in certain prophecies there are way-
marks which may guide the sincere inquirer to an approxi-
mately true interpretation before their fulfilment, and liglits
which cast a glimmer of truth along the path he would
travel, and thus he is profited in their study and enabled
to enter the vestibule of the temple which is ultimately to
be opene<l to the full view of all men ; so in providence,
the honest and devout student, aided by God's word and
Spirit, may be able to indicate with some approach to
truthfulness, some, at least, of the grand results which the
providence of God, as illustrate by daily occurring and
consecutive events, is designed to reach.
While we would guard against the folly of committing
the same error into which Southern writers have fiiUen,
there is a marked difterence in the position they assume
upon the grand designs of providence as applied to the
present contest, and that which we propose to take, w'hich
may aid in their solution, even though w^e should occupy
precisely the same ground with them, or they with us, in
reference to the canon of interpretation to which we have
adverted. The sum and essence of the " trust" which
they regard as " jjrovidentially committed" to them, and
SLAVERY TO BE TERMINATED. 305
the design of God contemplated in their secession, — to
" conserve and perpetuate" human bondage, — we regard ns
monstrous and diabolical, and such an application as but
little if any thinj; short of blaspliemous. On the other
hand, as regards this particular element in the case, we
interpret God's providence as tending to just the contrary
regult^ — one of good, — of freedom and elevation to the
negro race, histead of designed to render their bondage
more secure, and their freedom and elevation utterly and
forever liopeless.
As we differ in our interpretation, and as those who
disagree with us claim as much ability to ascertain God's
will as ourselves, we know of no better umpire to decide
between us than this : for the present, the common judg-
ment of Christendom ; and at length, the final issue of the
contest. There we most willingly leave it, and are willing
to abide the issue.
SLAVERY TO BE TERMINATED.
This preliminary course of thought brings us to notice
this point iirst, as among the designs of God in His provi-
dence. It is qiute proper that it should have this place,
as for the sake of per])etuating shivery the rebellion was
undertaken, and as a means for its sui)pression the Gov-
ernment has decreed the destruction of slavery. The
point now is to inquire, on which side of the contest the
purposes of God are arrayed. This can only be deter-
mined, at the present historic point, fr(;m the principles
which are involved, and from the events which have oc-
curred and are now in process of Inking wrought out. In
taking the position that God designs the termination of
slavery in this land, as one result of the rebellion, we
mean that He designs its termination forever ; and in giv-
ing what we deem the evidences which support it, we
306 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
would construe them in proper subordination to the cnnon
we liave stated.
It is our opinion that the termination or the perpetua-
tion of slavery, is by no means necessarily connected
with the result of the war. In any event we believe the
doom of slavery sealed.
If the Union shall be preserved in the complete triumph
of the national arms, slavery will be ended. It needs no
seer to declare the foregone conclusion of the American
people upon this point. They will admit no compromise ;
it is beyond the reach of party jugglery ; the great party
of the people will say, and adhere to the saying, that on
the reinstatement of the national authority over the terri-
tory of the entire Union, that element of our national life
which has wrought such havoc, shall die the death. They
will never j^ermit the possibility of a repetition of so foul
a treason in its name. Once in a thousand years, — or,
once for all time, — is quite sufficient for such an ibsue
within the bounds of the satne nation. The memorials of
the rebellion which the current age will embalm, and the
materials out of which the future historian will elaborate
the truth, will present a record in such hues of the deeds
done for the sake of slavery, that the memory of them
will be wrought too deeply into the soul of each succes-
sive generation to admit of its being possible that negro
slavery can ever be reinstated within the domain of the
Union. At least, this is our opinion.
MANNER OF ITS TERMINATION.
The precise manner in which the institution will be
universally terminated, and its terrain;ition maintained, in
the event of the preservation of our nationality, it is not
material here to dwell upon, though we do not doubt the
ultimate point which will bo reached. It will be by an
MANXEll or ITS TEEMIXATION. 307
amendinent of the Coustitution of the United States.
Although that measure has been for the present defeated
in the House of Representatives, and may not be passed
till a new Congress shall be ejected, or possibly may be
even longer deferred, it cannot admit of doubt that when
the people shall have determined on prohibiting the institu-
tion furever, the form and substance of the prohibition
will be embodied in the supreme organic law, the most
sacred depository of the popular will.
In the mean time, and while waiting for this consumma-
tion, it may be accoinplished in all the Rebel States by an
Act of Congress; or it may occur simply under the
Proclamation of the President already issued; or it may
end through the measures which the civil power may take
for receiving the revolted States to their proper standing
in the Union. Whatever may be the course of the civil
authorities, however, looking to that end, no measure
which they may adopt, during the continuance of the war,
will be eiFectual, except as backed up by military force ;
and it may be that while the war continues, no effective
measures will be adopted, bat such as are embraced
within and may be carried out by the war power of the
Executive; and even after the war shall have ended, in
the complete success of the Union arms, and the civil
authority shall have erected its barriers, we do not antici-
pate a reidy acquiescence on the part of the entire Southern
people to a parting with slavery. Whatever status may
be given to the institution by the law, — even a prohibition
of it forever, and that by the Constitution, and a requisition
that similar prohibitions shall be inserted in each State
Constitution in the rebel dominions, — this may not of
itself, for many years, be sufficient. A military force may
be requisite, in many parts of the South, to maintain the
Constitution and the laws. But if so, it will be furnished;
J 4*
308 PKOVIDENTIAL DESIGICS IN THE REBELLION.
even if it require a perpetual standing army. If Southern
slaveholders so elect, such will be their condition ; they
will be kept in order by the troops of the United States,
formed out of the materials they have held in bondage,
just as the Government is now employing such troops to
reduce them to subjection to the Constitution and the
laws. It is among the clearest of all proi)Ositions, as
reasonable, that the people who sustain the Government
in })rosecuting the war, who have endured and are enduring
its untold sacrifices, will shrink back from no burden and
no measure, when the war shall lia\e ended in triumph,
which may be essential to make good their determination
to destroy the cause of the rebellion, that it may trouble
their children or their children's children no more forever.
ACTION IN CERTAIN BORDER STATES.
'We have spoken thus far of the termination of slavery
in the Rebel States only, and on the supposition of the
complete suppression of the rebellion and restoration of
the national authority. The remaining slave States, with,
we believe, but one or possibly two exceptions, have recently
taken measures within themselves to ternunate slavery by
State Constitutional authority. Siarylaml is now engaged
in altering her Constitution so as to abolish it within that
State, and the sentiments of her people are well known to
favor the measure by a large majority.* West Vii'ginia,
a new State formed from Virginia, has already abolished
* The Bdltimoi'e American of June 27th, brings an important announcement
from the proceedings of the Constitutinn.al Convention of Maryland. It gives the
twenty-third article of the Bill of Rights, as follows: " Hereafter, in this State,
there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except in punishment of
crime, whereof the party shall be duly convicted ; and all persons held to ser'vice
or Uil/or as slaves, are hereby declared fere." Upon this, the American says:
"This article, after a protracted debate in the Constitutional Convention, in the
course of which it was sustained in a masterly manner by the advocates of Anti-
Slavery, was passed by a vote of fifty-three yeas to twenty-seven nays." This lacks
ACTIOX IX CEETAIN BOXiDEK STATES. 309
slavery. Missouri has not yet accomplished that result,
but it is well known that the mass ot" her people are in
favor of it, the main or only difference among them being
whether it shall be immediate or gradual. There are so
few slaves in Delaware, and the territory they occupy is
so small, that practically the matter is of little consequence
in its bearings upon the national question. We do not
know whether any measures have been taken since the
war began, to remove slavery from that State; but in any
event it is f lir to conclude, that when slavery shall have
been removed from the other Border States, and shall
have been overthrown in the rebel States, it will not
long continue to infest the soil of Little Delaware. Ten-
nessee was not embraced in the President's Proclamation
declaring the freedom of the slaves in States that had
rebelled ; but it is well understood from the sentiments
of her leading loyal men of all former political parties,
that the masses of the people desire the institution to
cease among them, and public Conventions of the people
have so declared ; but in consequence of the presence of
war within her borders, and the disorganization of the
but on». vote of bein? Uco to one. The people will of course ratify It by a large
Diajority, for the Convention, so recently elected, but reflects in this act the
popular will. It was upon this question that the election turned. It makes Mary-
land a free State, by immediate emancipation^ and that without compensation.
"My Maryland,'" thus stands erect. She has the honor of being the first of the loyal
States which has voluntarily made "all men free'' within her borders. The Ameri-
can further says : "The regeneration of a Commonwealth like ours is not an every-
day occurrence. It is hard to estimate this work at its full value. But we shall see
and know it better hereafter. All we know now is that the vestiges of a great evil
are cleared away ; that the canker of a great iniquity is extirpated, root
and branch ; that to our posterity no compromise is bequeathed which may
be a fruitful source of discord hereafter. Eaces are forgotten, and humanity ia
honored. We have joined the train of rejuvenated States in the march of Freedom.
We have torn away the mask from the deformity of Slavery, and we have wrenched
the rod from the oppressor. We look to the future with hearts full of hope and
trust, confident that Providence in its own good time will work out for us a brighter
destiny. We offer our hand to our sister States and ask their congratulations. We
ask them to join us in the prayer, God preserve the Commonwealth of Mar ylaiul.
310 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE EEBELLION.
civil authorities by the rebellion, no deteraiinate action
has yet been taken. The District of Cohniibia lias been
instantly changed from slave to free territory by an Act
of Congress, since the outbreak of rebellion ; and by the
same authority freedom has been secured to all the Terri-
tories of the United States.
Kentucky is the only remaining slave State. She has
taken no action upon slavery since the rebellion began.
This may be owing to the fact that such are the provisions
of her Constitution, that no measures of a legislative
character, looking to its removal, even by a gradual pro-
cess, could reach their decisive point, short of some six or
seven years from their inauguration by the Legislature.
Many citizens of Kentucky believe, and so express them-
selves freely, that long before that period can arrive,
slavery will be terminated in that State and throughout
the whole country, by the course of events inevitably
resulting from the action of the Government in putting
down the rebellion.
SIGNS OF ITS TERMINATION. THE LOYAL STATES.
We present, then, as the first palpable indication which
we notice, in the course of providence, that God's design,
in this rebellion, is the removal (jf sla\ ery from the country
entirely, the events to which we have referred.
The simultaneous action of the States of so large a ter-
ritory as is embraced in the broad belt of the Border
States, for the freedom of thousands of slaves, taken in
connection with the pervading sentiment in favor of the
removal of slavery in the other loyal slave States, and the
actual removal of slavery from the District of Columbia,
and its prohibition in all the Territories of the Union, are
events of such importance, that, were they not overshad-
owed by the excitements immediately attending the war,
FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW REPEALED. 311
they would occupy a prominent place in the public thought
of the world.
These unexpected and extraordinary events are tlie
direct result of the rebellion ; among the "first-fruits"
which it has immediately brought forth. It is ditlicult to
believe they could have occurred so extensively, and oc-
curred within so short a period, and at the same time, had
not the rebellion taken place. No such change in public
sentiment could have been brought about, within such a
period, nor such action inaugurated, by any method of
mere discussion, even confined within the respective States.
And had Congress undertaken, at any time within twenty
years, to fiee the slaves in the District of Columbia, or to
engraft upon every Territorial bill a prohibition of slavery,
as it has done within the last three years, it would have
convulsed the nation ; it would have inaugurated rebellion,
which was in fact undertaken in the apprehended fear that
such measui-es might possibly occur.
We cannot understand how a believer in providence can
interpret events so unlikely to occur under ordinary cir-
cumstances, so palpably occasioned by the rebellion, in
any other manner than that God designs to remove slavery
from tlie vast i-egions mentioned, and that the rebellion, —
in which He makes the wrath of man to praise Him, — is the
agency through which He aims to accomplish it.
FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW REPEALED.
There is another important fax^t in the line of providence
and bearing directly u|)on the termination of slavery, a fact
which has a special influence upon the continuance of
slavery in the Border States, ani] which more or less afiects
it in the whole slave portion of the Union, The present
Congress has repealed the Fugitive Slave Law, both the
Act of 1793 and tli.il: of 18 50 : so i iiat now there is no law
312 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE KKBELLION.
of the United Stntes for the reclnmation of slaves escaping
from their masiers. The Canada line, in its previous
bearings upon slavery, is now the Ohio and the Potomac.
Even if the Border States had taken no action for aV)olish-
ing slavery, the effect of this repeal would soon be very
visible upon the institution within them, as well as upon
the whole slave region.
Here is another important measure, the fruit of the re-
bellion. Congress could not, at any period since 1850,
and before the rebellion, have repealed the Fugitive Slave
Act of that year, without producing a i-evolution. The
membei's from the South would very likely have carried out
their oft-repeated threat, and witlidrawn in a body from
both Houses. Those threats were once thought to be only
idle breath, Soiithern bluster ; but no special credulity is
now required to believe that they would have been put in
execution.
SLAVES FREED BY THE WAR.
Another event disastrous to slavery, and which has
been occasioned by the rebellion, is the influence which
has resulted from a state of war and the presence of the
army. We speak novv' particularly of the Border States.
With the Federal armies traversing those States, and with
the usages of war in former times,* and the orders of the
War Department and the decision of the Executive, and
the Acts of Congress, in I'evising the Articles of War, the
point wns early reached that all slaves coming within the
lines of the army should be deemed free, and not returned
to their masters.
Besides this, the action of the Government, under Ex-
* We shall show, on a future page in this chapter, that the United States authorities,
military and civil, have, in former wars, recognized the freedom of slaves coming
withia the linos of the United States army.
ALL TEACEABLE TO THE REBELLION. 313
ecutive authority, in enrolling negroes, free and slave, as
soldiers, and securing to the latter their freedom ; and
finally, tlie Act of Congress providing for their enrolment
ill all the States, guaranteeing to the slaves their freedom,
and to loyal masters compensation ; these are among the
measures which have had a great influence in rendering
the institution comparatively worthless, even in the loyal
Border States. In Maryland and Kentucky, where great
Ojiposition has been made to the Enrolment Act, in hun-
dreds of cases the slaves have not waited either for the enrol-
ment or draft, but have gone to the camps and enlisted,
and under the orders and decisions of the Government
have become thenceforth free ; so that, in every way, from
the presence of the army, and from a state of war, the
institution of slavery in the loyal States, where there was
no disposition on the part of the Government to interfere
with it in itself considered, has become thorongldy de-
moralized, almost wholly worthless, and is rapidly melting
away, leading to the feeling entertained by a large number
of those most interested in the institution, that the sooner
it is finally terminated the better it will be for all persons
and interests concerned.
ALL TRACEABLE TO THE EEBELLIOK.
Such are the facts passing before our eyes. Whatever
may be thought of this course of events, — whether they
afibrd matter f(n- rejoicing or lamentation, — one thing is
most clear : they are the fruits of the rebellion. If any
lament, they must hold the rebellion responsible; while
those who survey them justly, must behold in them "a
Divinity that shapes our ends," operating through the
"rongh-hewn" aims and deeds of a foul consjdracy.
We say again, that we cannot understand how it is that
any person who holds to the doctrine of providence, that
314 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
God works out His purposes through the agency of man, —
the wicked and the good alike, — can note carefully and
candidly passing events, and not come to the conclusion
that God. designs, as one result of the rebellion and the
war, the removal of slavery from the land. Besides the
facts mentioned, it is the desire, as founded injustice and
good policy, seen in the opinions of leading men in these
States, which we shall give hereafter, that slavery should
be removed ; and it is likewise their belief, that " the ful-
ness of time" for this grand consummation has at length
come.
TERMINATION OF SLAVERY IN THE REBEL STATES.
Many of the same causes which we have mentioned,
operating to the removal of slavery from the Border States,
have the same effect upon the States fai'ther South. The
repeal of the Fugitive Slave Acts, the removal of slavery
from the District of Columbia, its prohibition in all the
Territories, affect all the States alike, though not to the
same extent. So, also, the action of the Border States,
and the sentiments of many of their leading men, in favor
of abolishing slavery therein, are not without their moral
effect in the same direction upon the other States.
Another sign of great significance is the development
already of antislavery sentiment and action in the remotest
Gulf States and others, as they have been restored by the
Union arms. Louisiana is revising her State Constitu-
tion, purging it of slavery, and has already inaugurated a
State Government upon an antislavery Ibasis. Arkansas
has done the same. Tennessee has taken steps in the same
direction, and will soon stand erect, organized, and puiged
of slavery. All the<e States will soon be fully represented
in Congress ; possibly in the next session of the present
Congress.
TEEMIXATIOX OF SLAVERY. 315
Other States will follow in the same direction when re-
conquered to the Union, and when there can be an oppor-
tunity for the true sentiment of the 2'>^^P^^ to be heard.
Undoubtedly the mass of them have preferred slavery, and
perhaps would prefer it still as a system of labor, in itself
considered, for they have known no other ; but as the
arms of the Union advatice, and they see that there is no
hope of realizhig their dreams of a Slave Empire, and as
they reflect on the prosperity they once enjoyed and the
wues with whicli they are surrounded, — all brought upon
them by " secession" for the security of slavery which they
were assured would be "peaceful" — they v/ill, as they
love peace better than war, and as they prefer prosperity,
stability, certainty, and quiet, to an endless strife over
slavery, submit to the necessities of the case and abandon
their idol to its fnte. We look for a rai)id development
of this feeling, and for corresponding results, in North
Carolina, Georgia, and some other States, whenever they
shall have been completely possessed by the armies of the
Union, and the danger of a repossession by the rebel forces
is past.
In large districts of the South slavery will die hard.
Powder and shot, and shell, war, blood, and carnage,
have been invoked for its security and expansion ; these
are the weapons which will work its death, Avhile the
victims of its bondage will prove the sentinels which will
watch over its grave.
We may see what the march of armies is doing for
slavery in the daily events of the war. Into every slave
State where the Union forces move, the institution gives
Avay. Many nre di-iven off and huddled together in
regions fartlier South; thousands are enlisted into the
ranks ; and what remains of the institution l)ecomes use-
less to masters, of no avail to the country, and its victims
316 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
look to tlie hand of the Government for their daily bread.
Such ^vill be the condition of things, substantially, all
over the South as the country is reclaimed.
"When the conquest is complete, and the war ended,
slavery will be terminated in every Rebel State by the
course of measures already mentioned. The security for
this will be the military power of the Union, just as long
as it may be necessary. When the people get tired of
this, and think it best to submit to the authority of the
Government, give up their love of slavery, and employ
their former slaves.^ as free laborers, and treat them
properly, they can be released from their own bondage ;
but until they do this, the military rule will undoubtedly
continue.
SLAVERY DOOJIED THOUGH DISUNION TRIUMPH.
We have already said, in this chapter, that the terniina-
tion or the perpetuation of slavery is by no means neces-
sarily connected with the result of the war ; that, in any
event, we believed its doom was sealed. We will now
explain what is meant by this.
We have presented considerations thus far to show that
providential designs, read in the light of passing events,
point to the termination of slavery ; but we have con-
sidered these events only as connected with the complete
overthrow of the rebellion and the re- establishment of the
national authority. That the nation will eventually
triumph, we have never doubted; and that with its
triumph by its military power will come the eternal doom
of slavery, we have as little doubt. We regard it as
decreed of God. But whether our nationality shall perish
or survive, we view the doom of slavery as written in the
clearest light ; and for this we will present what we deem
satisfactory reasons.
IXTERXAL CAUSES OF ITS DESTEUCTIOX. 317
IXTEKNAL CAUSES OF ITS DESTBUCTIOX.
The main one, and which is the germ of all, is, that the
rebellion h;is completely demoralized the institution
throiig-hout t'le whole slave region. So thoroughly has
this been done, and will it be done by the further prose-
cution of the war, that it will be impossible to restore it
to its former condition, so as to be safe and profitable as
before, by nil the power which the " Coiifclerate States,"
if established and rc-ognized, can muster for that object.
That an exertio)i of power for that end, not requisite
hitherto, would be demanded in the case supposed, is too
plain for doubt. The slaves can never again be made
contented with their condition in bondage. It is idle to
tell us that they have been entiiely contented with that
condition hitherto. Having lived more than fifteen years
of our professional life in two of the Gulf States, and
travelled extensively over several others in the extreme
South ; having seen the system in city and country, at
work and in recreation, upon the plantation and in the
household, in the cabin and in the church, at home and
abroad — we know something of its character and work-
ings, and have very little that is new about it to learn.
The stringent police system universal in the South, and a
thousand facts and aspects of the case with which we
will not weary the reader, but wdiich are well understood
by all who have lived Avhere slavery prevails, especially
in the Rebel States, establish the certainty that far more
discontent has always existed — creating an anxiety often
ill-concealed — than slave-owners were generally willing to
admit.
But, passing the former discontent and its immediate
occasion by, the case is now materially changed. The
i-afluence of the rebellion has invaded every plantation of
318 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
the rebel dominions. All the slaves believe that the war
is waged for the continuance of their bondage on the one
hand, and for their freedom on the other. That they
desire the latter condition is unquestionable. However
little they may have desired it hitherto, that desire is now
universal. Witness the multitudes that have flocked to
the Union armies as far as they have penetrated slave
territory, men, women, and children. They no doubt
have vei'y crude and erroneous notions of freedom ; in
thousands of instances they will find tlieir lot a hard one,
on gaining their liberty, owing to the distracted state of
the country; in thousands of cases more, owing to the
same cau^^e, have they died of disease and neglect, and
many will die hereafter; and, undoubtedly, arising from
these hardships, will many sigh for their former homes,
and some perhaps, if possible, may return to them ; but,
after all, it is still true, that the desire for this new con-
dition is universal, and that it prompts them to action to
gain it, and try the experiment as soon as an opportunity
is given by the presence of a coat of blue.
ILLUSTRATIVE INCIDENT. COLONEL DAHLGREN.
A fact sustaining this view, c'bnfirmed by a thousand
instances, is well known. It is the universal testimony
from our armies, that the slaves give true information of
the country and of the enemy, and often at the greatest
risk of life, Avhile it is a rare thing for the whites to do
this. In all our reading about the rebellion, we can call
to mind but one instance to the contrary ; that in which
the slave of Mr. Seddon, the rebel Secretary of War, mis-
led a portion of the forces of the lamented Colonel Dahl-
gren, on liis ajiproach to Richmond. Some have douhted
the deception practised in this case ; but, if true, it is the
exception which confirms the rule.
FACTS, AND THEIE LESSON. 3l9
FACTS, AND THEIR LESSON.
Tavo facts are sometimes mentioned, one of a negative
and the other of a positive character, to confront the view
we have given. "We admit them both, but deny the con-
clusion drawn from them. It is said, if the slaves are so
desirous of freedom, why have they not shown it by
rising upon their masters universally? Many supposed
this would be the case on the issuing of the President's
Proclamation of Freedom, 1st of January, 1863. We
were not of the number. Our acquaintance with the
South leil to a different opinion, and the result has verified
its correctness.
That the Proclamation is known and understood by
them as extensively as any other specific and important
measure of the Government we do not doubt. But three
causes, to name no more, are sufficient to prevent, at the
present time, a wide insurrection for gaining their free-
dom. The first is, their powerlessness, while the whole
Southern country is armed, and they are guarded by a
more strict police than ever. With all their ignorance,
they know such attempt to be hopeless, and that it would
end in tlieir indiscriminate slaughter.* The second is,
that they would have first to conquer and destroy the
women and children upon the plantations, in addition to
the police, to prevent their giving information, and to dis-
possess them of ti»e arms which many of them have.
This would operate as a restraint upon many, even though
they saw freedom before them ; for, whatever else may
be said, a very strong attachment exists, very extensively,
between them and the personnel of the household. But
* The testimony that a universal slaughter would result from insurrection, is
given in the "Address to the Christian World," by ninety- six Southern clergymen
of all denominations, quoted on page 1S3, in Chapter v.
320 PKOyiDEIvTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
the third cause is sufficiently powerful to overcome the
temptation which might impel them to violence. They
helieve the day of their deliverance is near, and that they
have only to wait in order to realize it. They believe
that their freedom will be secured by the Union armies,
in the suppression of the rebellion, and that they must
wait for their coming. That their Day of Jubilee is at
hand, is with them a conviction as strong as death.
The other fact relied on to show that they are con-
tented with tlieir lot, and not desirous of freedom, is the
alacrity they display in serving their masters in the camp,
and in other positions connected with the rebel service.
This is easily explained. They are entirely under military
control, and infinitely more in the army than on the
plantations, although few of them have been placed in
the rebel ranks. Their lot is to obey, or forfeit life.
WAR EDUCATING SLAVES FOE FREEDOM.
Another important consideration, bearing on the de-
struction of slavery, even though the Confederacy should
at lensjth be established, is the education which the rebel-
lion, more or less extensively, is ditfusing among the
slaves. It is making them acquainted with war ; giving
many of them habits of military discipline, and an acquaint-
ance with many important details of the military art. We
have already stated, what is well supported by the facts,
that the reason AA'hy so few comparatively of the slaves
are put into the rebel armies, is owing to the fear of the
consequences which would result from making them
soldiers. But enough has been done to make the experi-
ment dangerous, should peace result and leave them in
bondage. This leaven would be diffused, and the knowl-
edge improved and extended.
EXTERNAL CAUSES OF ITS DESTRUCTION. 321
"We have no mnnner of doubt, that, if the rebellion
should triumph, and its leaders should determine to realize
their idea of building a great Empire on the " corner-
stone" of slavery, — securing its perpetuity, extension, and
stability against all dangers, — the slaves, seeing that their
longings and hopes were about being destroyed, would
become even more demoralized than now, so far as em-
ployment, is concerned, and would then rise and assert their
fi-eedom to the extent of their power, even though they
should deem the issue doubtful and destruction probable.
We might then look for a repetition of the scenes of St.
Domingo, a servile war with terrible atrocities, and for
the negroes, possibly, at the end — freedom; but certainly
not a continuance of negro slavery, in a great Empire of
the Gulf, of which that element should be the " corner-
stone."
EXTERNAL CAUSES OF ITS DESTRUCTION.
We have only considered the causes which would ope-
rate witljin the Confederacy for the destruction of slavery,
in case its independence were acknowledged. There are
powerful causes which would operate outside of it for the
same end.
In no treaty which could possibly be made with the United
States would any immunity be granted to slavery. No
Fugitive Slave Law will ever again oinament the Statutes
at Large of the L^nion ; nor would any other concession
to the system be made. Tlie party that should attempt it
would be huilud fiom power and doomed to inf imy. The
Ailministration that should propose or agree to it would
provoke a revolution. The people have had that chalice
pressed to their lips for the last time. They have drunk
it in blood, the blood of their sons and brothers. They
will drink of it no more forever.
322 PBOVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE EEBELLION.
Without such guarantees, how long could slavery exist
in a Southern Confederacy ? The line between freedom
and slavery would steadily march South, first placing the
Border States behind it, then the next tier, and so on steadily,
by the escape of slaves ; until the States, from the paucity
of labor, and in sheer self-defence, would adopt the free-
labor system in order to maintain the cultivation of the soil.
Besides this, every possible eflbrt would be made by
those in the old Union who are violently opposed to
slavery, to interfere wiih it; by publiL-ations, by under-
ground railroads, by John Brown raids, and by any and
every other means within their power. Nor would they
be at all restrained, bnt rather stimulated to this, by what
they have already sacrificed in a war for which slavery is
res]3onsible ; and should an insurrection occur in the South,
it -v^ould he aided freely. Nor could any legislation pre-
vent such course of action, should it be attempted. We
say nothing of the projDriety of any of these measures, but
only speak of what would inevitably occur, taking human
nature as it is. How long, under this state of things, could
slavL'ry endure? I
ENVIRONED BY ENEMIES. [
But this is not all. Such a nation would bi'ing down '
upon it the wrath of the world. It has been about as much
as the United States could bear with a good grace, to with- i
stand the odium of universal Christendom, with a portion '
of its territory burdened with slavery merely under tole-
ration ; but when a nation should have consummated the
consecration of that system as its " corner-stone," through
a ceremonial of treason, blood, and carnage, and should
attempt to carry out its new Gospel to the results designed i
by its founders, it would become insufferable among men; I
and should it open the African slave-trade to replenish its j
COTTON DREAMS VANISHED. 323
fields with laborers, as was a part of the original plan of its
leaders, it would be dealt with as a pirate among the nar
tions, just as individuals are now treated who engage in
that execrable traffic.
It is not easy to perceive how the " Confederate States
of America," thus beset by millions of enemies within,
each feeling that he is personally wronged in the dei3riva-
tion of his manhood, and beset by enemies of such power
and number in the nations of the world without, each feel-
ing that it had a duty to discharge toward the oppressed
and iu behalf of humanity, could long rest securely on its
favorite " corner-stone." The stone would crumble vmder
such blows, and the whole edifice would fall and perish.
COTTON DEEAMS VANISHED.
It is quite too late in the day to affirm that such a nation
would be countenanced by other nations from necessity ;
and to admit, with Dr. Palmer, that to " conserve and
perpetuate slavery" was a duty they owed "to the civilized
world^'' even though it be true that " the blooms upon
Southern fields, gathered by black hands, have fed the
spindles and looms of Manchester and Birmingham not less
than of Lawrence and Lowell." All such dreams are of
the past, so far as they relate to slavery ; for nothing is
more certain than that those " blooms" can equally well
be "gathered by black hands" that are/'ree. Nor is it at
all needful that those "hands" should be "black;" much less
that " the blooms" they gather should be from " Southern
fields" alone. The necessities growing out of this rebel-
lion have demonstrated that the throne of King Cotton is
not immovably built on Southern plantations, and that
his daily attendants may be found among other people
thau the dark-hiied sons of Africa. The mills of Manches-
ter and Birmingham have already learned this practical
15
324 PEOVIDENTJAl DESIGNS IN THE EEBELLION.
lesson, and those of Lowell and Lawrence are quite as
apt scholars.
The dream of Dr. Palmer, however, is none other than
that which filled the watches of the night and the
hours of the day of all the Southern leaders. " Strike
a blow," says he, " at this system of labor, and the world
itself loitQvs at the stroke." And with a patriotism which
is quite cosmopolitan, he exclaims : " Shall we permit that
blow to fall ? Do we not owe it to civilized man to stand
in the breach and stay the uplifted arm ? If the blind
Samson lays hold of the pillars which support the arch of the
world''s industry^ how many more will be buried beneath
its ruins than the lords of the Philistines ?" And with a
complacency which is quite edifying, he applies the words j
addressed to Queen Esther, to the people of the South, I
with only this difierence, that while she was merely desired {
to prefer a simple "request" to save the Jews from appre- I
hended evil, they are exhorted to treason and rebellion to j
save " the world itself" from absolute " ruin :" " Who \
knoweth whether we are not come to the kingdom for
such a time as this ?"
But we presume that if th© world were really driven
to the extremity, as it existed several thousand years j
before the discovery of the cotton-gin, it probably could !
continue awhile longer if the cotton-plant should be com- ]
pletely exterminated ; though we have no fear that such j
a catastrophe will occur, or any opinion that the world j
would be much the loser, if the " Confederate States" and I
all they contain should be blotted from its map forever.
SLAVERY DOOMED AND THE UNION MAINTAINED.
Bat the doom of slavery is not dependent, as we beUeve
and have said, on either result of the war. No result of
the bloody issue joined in its favor can save it. In a
SLAVERY BOOIIED AND THE UNION MAINTAINED. 325
separate nation it perishes under its own weight. With
our nationality maintained, it dies by the same blow which
brings the rebellion to the block.
As we have said, however, we do not doubt the alterna-
tive to which God's providence points, and which His
decree has made sure. It is, in our judgment, "fore-
ordained,"— and we say it with no other light than that
which is vouchsafed to others, but we think every availa-
ble consideration warrants the position, — that this nation
is to stand, that its enemies are to be overthrown, that
the rebelhon is to be crushed, and the " Confederate
States of America" blotted out; and just as surely as that
is done, the same decree of God, executed by the Ameri-
can people, will terminate negro slavery in this land.
This, at least, is our opinion.
If any persons hesitate to accept these conclusions, we
can only ask them to defer their opinion until the case is
decided. This is safe. They might tell us to do the same.
"We are quite willing to wait ; but we will, as briefly as
may be,, give " a reason for the hope that is in us," and
we trust not without " meekness and fear."
Under God, it is a question of means, and a question of
endurance. There is a sense in which the remark of the
great Xapoleon is true, that " the providence of God is
with the strongest battalions," and there is a sense in
which it is false. We accept the true sense, and apply it
to the present case, Another remark we accept, that
''the age of miracles is past," and we apply it now to war.
And yet, we hold rigidly to the true doctrine of provi-
dence, that God works in, through, by, and controls, all
that takes place, educing evil out of good, and exalting
His great name. While the Omnipotent and the Omni-
scient thus works out His purposes through means, theie
is generally an adapteduess of the means to the end, an
326 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
adapteduess -which a close observer cau often perceive,
and the course of which he can often trace with clearness
and declare the result.
Now, apply these general principles to the case in hand,
and we say that the issue of this war between lawful Gov
ernment and a foul rebellion is merely or mainly a question
as to which of the parties can hold out the longest. We
take it for granted, at the outset, that neither intends to
compromise tlie question which underlies the whole con-
test, the question of nationality. The Government will
not surrender its authority of rule over the whole Union,
but upon one condition, — that it is compelled to this by
the total defeat of its armies. No party or administration
would dare do this. Tlie people will not allow it. It is the
people's Government, and the people are carrying on the
war to sustain it. On the other hand, we have no idea
that the leaders of the rebellion will ever give up the con-
test, exce])t upon one of two conditions, — that their inde-
pendence as a nation is recognized; or, that the I'ebellion
itself is crushed, which means the destruction of its mili-
tary power. Such being the case, the war must go on
until one party or the other is completely overthrown. It
is then a question of endurance, a question of means and i
of power. This, upon the ground we have assumed, is the i
sole issue. I
REASONS FOR THIS POSITION.
What, then, is the relative strength of the parties? In j
answering this, we cannot go into a full examination, but '
will present some general considerations which are funda-
mental, and which substantially embrace the whole case.
With the rebels, the issue, leaving out other resources, j
is chiefly one of men, and that in comparison with men on |
the other side. That the rebels can "get along," and
STRENGTH OF THE PARTIES IN SOLDIERS. 327
figlit long and vigorously without money ^ — or rather, with
that only which is worthless, except to themselves, and
which may become well nigh or totally so, even to them,
— is unquestionable. Nations have frequently done this.
England has prosecuted her gigantic wars, during a long
period, with her currency at a very low ebb ; and France
has fought just as vigorously with her assignats down at
zero at the stock-boards of other nations, and worthless,
for the time, upon the Bourse of Paris. The Confederate
" nation" may also fight on, with a worthless currency, or
with none at all ; and for a circulating medium, or with-
out one, the people can come back to barter. As for their
bogus Government, it can get its necessities for the army,
by " taxation in kind," and by arbitrary " impressment,"
phrases which have a place in rebel "law," and which
with the people have a meaning. Those necessities which
they must have from abroad, they gain by their cotton
which runs the blockade ; and as they have obtained sup-
pUes hitherto, we admit, for the sake of the argument,
that they may gain in that way what they may need here-
after. We therefore leave all this out of the accoimt, and
come back to the simple element of men out of whom
to make soldiers ; and how stands the account on this
score ?
STRENGTH OF THE PARTIES IN SOLDIERS.
The census of 1860 answers the question. The eleven
Confederate States, including Tennessee and Arkansas,
and excluding Missouri, contained, by that census, one
million and a quarter of white males between fifteen and
fifty. The remainmg States contained something over Jive
millions of white males between fifteen and fifty. The total
white population of these respective portions of the country,
was, in the former, five millions and a half, and in the lat-
328 PEOTTDENTIAI. DESIGIfS IN THE REBELLION.
ter, twenty-one millions. Xo account is here taken of
the large districts in these eleven States which are within
the lines of our armies, and from which the rebel annies
cannot be recruited ; as, for example, the whole of Ten-
nessee, a large portion of Arkansas, large portions of Vir-
ginia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and indeed a part of each
one of the eleven. In the comparison, we give the totals
of each section, as shown by the census, thus allowing a
great advantage to the rebels. Admitting that three-
fourths of the number between fifteen and fifty years of
age, — whether it be too great or too small, probably the
former, is of no consequence in the comparison, — are
physically qualified for the army, there are about nine
hundred thousand men out of whom to make soldiers in
the eleven rebel States, and thirty-seven hundred thousand
iu the remaining States. This was about the proportion
of fighting men within the range of the parties at the
beginning of the rebellion.
How does the case as to men stand now, in the fourth
year of the war ? It is probable that the losses on each
side have not much changed the proportion, if any. K it
be said that the Union armieg have lost more in killed,
as the rebels have generally acted on the defensive, this is
fully or more than compensated by the fact that we have,
by many thousands, a large excess of prisoners ; and also
fi"om the consideration that our well-organized Sanitary
and Christian Commissions, and the abundtmt supply of
every thing requisite in the Medical Department of the
Union army, have contributed to the recovery of a larger
proportion of our wounded than theirs, as the records from
the battle-field and the hospital, and our knowledge of their
lack of medical supplies, fully confirm. Upon the estimate,
then, made largely from official data, that there have been
killed and disabled, in the Federal armies, half a million.
NEGEO SOLDIERS. THEIR NUMBER UNLIMITED. 329
and upon the supposition that the rebels have lost the
same number^ the latter have now left for military service
'bwt four hundred thousand white men, while the Govern-
ment of the Union has thirty-two hundred thousand white
men, from whom to recruit their armies.
NEGRO SOLDIERS THEIR NUMBER UNLIMITED.
The foregoing calculation relates only to the material
for icJiite soldiers. President Lincoln states in his letter
to Colonel Hodges, of Frankfort, Kentucky, under date of
April 4, 1864, that there were then in the Federal service
" quite a hundred and thirty thousand soldiers, seamen,
and laborers," of African descent. What proportion of
this nimiber carry a musket we do not know ; but from an
official report made by Adjutant-General Thomas, on his
return from Mississippi in the summer of ] 863, and from
the rapid recruiting of negroes since, it is safe to say that
there are now in the ranks of the Union armies as fighting
men, at least one hundred thousand of this description.
But be this estimate about negro soldiers as it may, the
facts upon this branch of the subject, present and prospec-
tive, are momentous as regards this question of the mili-
tary strength of the respective parties. The rebels dare
not,, to any large extent, make soldiers of their slaves ;
while, into every rebel State where our armies penetrate,
the recruiting office is opened, and thousands are soon en-
rolled and drilled to fight for the Union cause ; and that
negroes will fight bravely, and when they have had suffi-
cient disciphne will fight as well as white men, is too well
attested by official reports from the highest commanders
in our armies, for any persons who fully examine the case
to doubt.
It is true that a large number of white men are required
at the North to do the work of agriculture, which in the
330 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE EEBELLION.
South is done by slaves. But so far as this affects the rel-
ative strength of the material for soldiers of the two sec-
tions, it is far more than counterbalanced by the vastly
larger total number of white men at the North than at the
South, and by the fact just mentioned, that, while the
Union armies can be indefinitely recruited, and are daily
being enhanced by that very laboring population of the
South, — the slaves, — the rebels dare not, except to a very
limited extent, put their slaves into the ranks of their
armies. The proof of this is suiiiciently seen in the discus-
sions which, from time to time, have taken place in the Rebel
Congress on this very question.
WHITE SOLDIERS SUEFICIENT.
Taking, then, the facts of the past, based upon the ma-
terial of tohite men for the war, and from them drawing
the military horoscope of the future, and the case is x;nde-
niable, — leaving out of view negro soldiers altogether, —
that the loyal States can stand the brunt of battle much
longer than the States in rebellion; and as the rebels now
have, from the estimates given, hvit four hundred thox(sand
white men, all told, fit for military service, while the
United States now have, of the'same description, thirty-
two hundred thousand, the war, at the rate of loss of life
thus far, need not continue as long as it has been raging
in order to bury or disable every rebel capable of bearing
arms; while the loyal section would still be left with
twenty-eight hundred thousand men, or nearly three milr
lions, fit for military service, with imUlions more growing
up at home, and tens of thousands annually cotning in from
Europe of whom we have taken noacconnt, to attend to any
of the iittle details concerning such question sns the "Monroe
Doctrine" and Maximilian, or other minor matters which
the emergencies of the future may present.
NATIONAL RESOURCES AND CREDIT. 331
NATIONAL RESOURCES AND CREDIT.
There is one element which we have not adverted to on
the side of the United States, which is regarded as the
" sinews of war." Many are appalled at the debt we are
accumulating. A recent official statement from the Secre-
tary of the Treasury, makes the debt at the end of three
years of war, to be seventeen hundi-ed and nineteen mil-
lions. Admit that it will be doubled in three years more,
or in round numbers will amount to thirty-five hundred
millions, before which it will be seen the war must end,
from the loss of rebel life, and still it will by no means
equal the debt which Great Britain had contracted by her
wars fifty years ago ; and yet. Great Britain then had, as
a means of revenue for a taxable basis, less than half the
population that the United States now have, and her other
resources then as compared with ours now were far below
them. With all this burden, Great Britain has been
steadily advancing in greatness, power, and prosperity, as
a nation, and today stands in the front rank of Euroj^ean
Powers. The national credit of the United States, — based
upon our unbounded resources, to a large extent yet unde-
veloped, resources withm ourselves with which no nation
of Western Europe can compare, — may have a great pres-
sure upon it, but it will be found able to endure it. That
we have been able to endure three years of such expendi-
tures, and have kept up our credit to the point which has
been maintained, without going to Europe to borrow
money, has astonished the financiers of the Old World.
The people will have pecuniary burdens without doubt,
and so will our children ; but when it is a contest for
national life, — a contest for law, order, popular govern-
ment, freedom, and humanity, against treason, rebellion,
anarchy, slavery, and eternal war, — that man has a soul
15*
332 PEOVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE EEBELLIOISr.
that is craven, or is in sympathy with rebellion, or beset
with childish fears, or is ignorant of the issues at stake,
who is croaking about pecuniary burdens. While our
fathers, sons, and brothers, are pouring out their hearts'
bloody it is but a poor sacrifice we make to sustain the
Government in whose cause they are engaged — with our
money.
THE KESUIiT.
We repeat, then, that we have confidence that the Union
cause will triumph, and that the rebellion will be crushed ;
not merely because we have greater resources and joower,
but that God in His providence will operate through them
to maintain the right and overthrow the wrong. In that
overthrow, slavery, which is at the bottom of the strife,
will perish forever from this land. The guns opened upon
Fort Sumter, in April, 1861, sounded its death-knell ; and
not many more April suns will rise and set before patriot
soldiers will exultingly discharge their trusty rifles over
its grave. Such we believe to be the firm determination
of the Ameeicak people, led and sustained in the great
and good work by the providence of God.
goveenmental deteemination coneeonted.
But at this point we are confronted. Rebel leaders,
among politicians and divines, boldly declare that the
Government in its present purposes against slavery, and
the Northern people in sustaining it, are sinning with a
high hand ; not only sinning against their rights as a
people, but directly sinning against " the word, providence,
and government of God," and are in " rebellion against
the Lord God Omnipotent who ruleth !"
This is rather a serious view of affairs. We must look
at it. We are always disposed to give men the largest
GOVERNMENTAL DETEKMIICATIOX CONEEONTED. 333
liberty in the statement of their opinions ; and never more
so than when they profess to set forth the will of God.
As this is a grave indictment brought by one of the Lord's
servants, it deserves examination. We will let Dr. Smyth,
of Charleston, South Carolina, make the presentment in
full. In the article from the Southern Presbyterian
Iteview for April, 1863, before referred to, he says :
But the argument is lifted up to a far higher platform, when we con-
sider slavery in reference to the word, providence, and government of
God. That God's providence is holy, wise, and powerful ; tliat it
extendeth to all things and all events ; our enemies themselves profess
to beUeve, even in theh catechisms. Slavery, therefore, whether as a
form of temporal, political, organized society, it is good or evil, is like
other similar forms of evil, providential ; and as such, is under God's
holy, wise, and powerful government, and to be acted upon only in
accordance with the principles of His word and gospel, that by them
God may, as it pleasoth Him, continue, remove, ameUorate, or mochfy it,
as it seemeth to Him wise and good.
We wish we could say that Dr. Smyth, in other parts
of this article (given in the preceding chapter), had taken
views of God's "providence" no more in disagreement
with His word than are found in this extract. He is right
in saying that it " extendeth to all things." He admits
also that one of its bearings upon slavery, may be to
" remove" it, provided this shall seem to God " wise and
good." We are disposed then to inquire. What hinders
him from conceding that to " remove" it is " wise and
good ;" and that the " things" now occurring within this
nation tending to that end, " all" of which are embraced
in God's providence, ave p7'oj)er agencies for such a result ?
It is not difficidt to answer this question. He is a believer
in the modern doctrine, that negro slavery is an " ordinance
of God," that it is in itself " wise and good," and is a
"blessing" to all concerned; and therefore that it is " in
accordance with the principles of God's word and gospel,"
334 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION".
to perpetuate it, to vindicate its righteousness, and to labor
for its security and indefinite expansion. He thus does
not deem it right to interfere with it by any measures
whatever; for, as it is "to be acted upon only in accord-
ance with the principles of God's word and gospel,"
and as His word is declared to be totally silent about
emancipation, there are no such " principles" " in accord-
ance with" which it can be terminated. It must therefore
continue. It can never " please" God to " remove" it
through the agency of man iipon " the principles of His
word," if it be true, as is claimed, that there are no such
" principles" which meet the case. Nor is it even within
the power of simple omnipotence to " remove" it " by
them," if there are none. If, then, it shall ever be removed,
it must be by miracle ; or upon " principles" not revealed ;
or in utter defiance of the Almighty.
There is, indeed, an a})parent concession in this extract,
— perhaps a real one, — that there are some " principles of
God's word," "in accordance with" which slavery ;na?/
be removed. But nothing is more sure than that all
Southern writers, and Dr. Smyth among them, insist that
the " Gospel" is utterly silent upon emancipation ; that
there is nothing in the New Testament about the thing or
the process. All his talk then about its removal upon
such " principles" is idle. His real position, as his whole
article shows, is that which we have given : that slavery
is a divine institution, an " ordinance," to be vindicated,
expanded, perpetuated.
OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY FIGHTING AGAINST GOD.
Dr. Smyth is therefore utterly opposed to any action
whatever for the removal of slavery ; and especially does
he regard the measures of the United States Government
impious and abhorrent to the last degree. But let us hear
THE GOVERNMEOT' VINDICATED. 335
him upon tins point, and then examine his reasoning and
conclusions. The foregoing extract makes up his premises.
In the next words immediately following the above quo-
tation, and as a deduction from them, he continues as fol-
lows :
And to wage a war of exterminatiou against slavery, — a war in itself
wicked and unconstitutional [what a becoming and sincere regard these
rebels have that the Constitution shall not be violated !], and carried on
in a spirit of diabohcal perfidy and inhumanity. — is to fight against
God, and to run against the thick bosses of the Almighty. It is
rebellion against the Lord God Omnipotent who ruleth. To participate
in it, is to join in conspiracy against the throne and empire of Heaven.
And did not the South come up to the help of the Lord against the
mighty, she would involve herself in the divine malediction with which
the inhabitants of Meroz were cursed.
Upon the foregoing we offer a few considerations. The
position in which the Government of the United States
and tlie people who sustain it in prosecuting the war
against rebellion are here placed, would be regarded of
little consequence did such effusions emanate from the
secular press of Richmond or Charleston ; but coming as
they do from a clergyman of high position and influence
at the South, and addressed as they are to the more serious-
minded portion of those in rebellion, they call for an
examination.
THE GOVERNMENT VINDICATED IN DESTEOTING SLAVERY.
All argument upon " slavery in reference to the loorcV^
of God, we defer to a succeeding chapter. We say, how-
ever, here and now, that we admit that slavery is " to be
acted upon only in accordance with the principles of His
word and Gospel," — so far as there are any which bear
upon the case, or at least not upon any " principles" which
contravene any thing which God has revealed in His
336 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
" word," — and we are quite willing to hold the Government,
in its present attitude towards slavery, strictly to this test.
In regard, then, to the chief matters contained in these
extracts, our position is, that while we admit in the main,
and for the argument's sake. Dr. Smyth's premises in the
former about " providence," we deny his conclusions in
the latter concerning the course of the Government and
the people who sustain it.
There is no ground for dispute with Dr. Smyth about
the justice of war. A nation may engage in war in a just
cause as acceptably to God as it may serve Him in any
other way. The civil magistrate is armed with the sword
by God's express authority. Furthermore, in a just war,
it may be as clearly the duty of an individual to engage,
as to pray ; and God may accept the service. Dr. Smyth
of course admits all this, for he exhorts the South to war.
We do not now argue with Quakers or other non-com-
batants.
The only points in question are two : Is the United
States Government now engaged in a just war? Is its
present attitude towards slavery^ in this war, justifiable ?
These two points cover the whole case. We take them
separately. "
ITS RIGHT OF SELF-PRESERVATION.
I. Is this a just war on the part of the United States?
We aim, on both points, only to give a synopsis of the
arguments by which the affirmative may be sustained, and
not to exhaust the subject or to go into it at length.
1. If God's word teaches any thing that is plain, it is
this: that a nation may justly draw the sword to main-
tain its authority against all evil-doers, even in the execu-
tion of its ordinary legislation ; and especially may it do
this to put down an armed rebellion, seeking to overthrow
ITS RIGHT OF SELF-PKESERVATIO]Sr. 337
its supreme authority, and to subvert lawful Government,
which is an ordinance of God. If a man denies this, he
denies the very letter and spirit of Apostolic teachings,
and admits a principle under which it Avould be impossible
to maintain civil Government at all ; he lands in anarchy ;
and, therefore, we cannot now have any controversy with
him. Dr. Smyth admits this as a Scriptural principle.
The South act upon it ; punishing with severity, even with
death, those whom they adjudge guUty of treason in rebel-
ling against their rebellion.
2. Nothing is more certain in point of fact than this :
that the people of the South are now openly resisting the
supreme authority and lawful Government of the United
States ; even resisting " the Constitution, to which," as
Dr. Thorn well says, " these States swore allegiance^ It
is perfectly immaterial to the immediate issue in hand,
whether that resistance be called " rebellion," or " revolu-
tion," or by the ajDparently softer term, " secession." The
Southern orators and papers have called it each by turn, as
it suited their purpose It may be one, or the other, or
all, but it amounts to the same thing. It is, in fact, armed
resistance to laioful Government. It was that at the first
instant of the movement. It is that still.
If those concerned complain of being called " rebels" and
" traitors," and their work " rebellion," — as Dr. Smyth
and all the rest loudly do, — let the justice of such com-
plaints be tested by their own standard. Those who have
claimed the right of States to " secede" from the Southern
Confederacy, — as has been done in the Rebel Congress by
disaffected members, — and who have said that they would
put that riglit in practice in certain contingencies, have been
denounced in that Congress and in the Richmond journals as
" traitors ;" and even the utterance of such sentiments has
been stigmatized in that body as " treasonable ;" and any
338 PKOVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
" overt act" which should be taken in that direction has been
denounced as worthy of death. Such States, it was said,
should be "restrained by the bayonet." If, then, to
" secede from the Southern Confederacy," where the
principle of " secession" is acknowledged as fundamental,
and out of which that Confederacy originated, be justly
deemed " treason" and " rebellion," then a fortiori, with
much stronger reason is it " treason" and " rebellion" for
the Southern States to " secede" from the United States,
where no such principle is acknowledged. Laying aside
then the main and conclusive considerations on which the
charge of rebelling against the lawful authority and Gov-
ernment of the United States may be sustained against the
Southern States and people, the charge is amply sustained
when tried by their own standard.
As the Southern rebellion has taken the form of armed
resistance and is making war, the Government assailed
has the right to overcome this resistance by the same
means, and is making war for this purpose and to main-
tain its authority. As a right, therefore, a right by the
word of God, the Government of the United States is
carrying on a lawful war to maintain its lawful authority.
DESTRUCTION OF SLAVERY A LAWFUL MEANS TO THIS
END.
IT. Is the Government justified, in order to its success
in putting down rebellion, in aiming to destroy slavery ?
We of course now speak of slavery in the Rebel States
only, and of the action of the Government as confined to
its operations in Avar. As the result of the rebellion, or
occasioned by it, we have already stated that Congress
undoubtedly will, ultimately, amend the Constitution and
prohibit slavery in the whole land forever. By its war
measures and war power, the Government are striking at
DESTRUCTION OF SLAVERY. 339
slavery in the whole rebel dominions, and aim to destroy
it root and branch. Is this right ? — or, as charged. Is this
"to fight against God," a "rebellion agaiust the Lord
God Omnipotent who ruleth," and a " conspiracy against
the throne and empire of Heaven ?" We sustain the Gov-
ernment in this determination, and will give our reasons.
The grounds of our vindication are these : A nation in
a just war may adopt any measures for its success which
are deemed necessary, provided they are not inconsistent
with the principles of justice, and are sustained by the laws
and usages of war among civilized nations. Those laws
and usages permit a nation to attack slavery and free the
slaves of an enemy, and use them against the enemy, in
order to its success in war ; and of the necessity of these
measures the party adopting them is to be the judge.
This applies to war between " nations" proper — to foreign
war ; much more, on the same authority, may these means
be resorted to in putting down rebellion.
The justification or condemnation of such measures, as
properly belonging or not to the code of war, cannot be
settled by an appeal to Scripture, for the word of God
says nothing whatever on the subject. It is worse than
idle, therefore, to arraign the Government before the bar
of Revelation, on a matter where Revelation is utterly
sDent. The only standard by which the case can be
determined, is the one already mentioned : the laws of war
as illustrated in the usages of civilized nations; and to
give the case the fairest chance, we are quite willing to
take our examples from those nations of modern times
where Christianity has tlie greatest influence. Taking
these principles for our guide, and scanning the facts
which the course of the Government has developed, and it
will be seen that the Government has not only kept within
the limits of its authority, in reference to this simple issue,
340 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
as determined by the criterion mentioned, but has con-
ducted with a forbearance toward slavery in the Rebel
States which has excited the wonder of other nations,
and upon which history will record its judgment for
remarkable leniency.
Before citing the authorities to sustain the positions
taken, let us note the course which the Government has
pursued.
FORBEAEANCE OF THE GOVERNMENT WITH SLAVERY.
We have given the proof, and the South universally
admit the fact, that their resistance to the Government, —
their "secession," — was to establish more securely the
institution of slavery, which they imagined to be in peril
from the Government. Slavery is thus, in a sense well
understood, the cause of the rebellion and the war. The
President and the party that put him in power were pub-
licly pledged, previous to his election, and also in his Inau-
gural Address, not to interfere with slavery where it was
lawfully established. The whole South hneio of these
pledges. They were kept inviolate. The proof of all this
.we have given. When the rebellion had proceeded so far
as actually to fire upon the flag and vessels of the United
States in the harbor of Charleston, and when the Gov-
ernment called out forces to put it down, the President
and Congress still maintained the principle of non-inter-
ference referred to, and uniformly took the ground, and
declared by acts, resolutions, and proclamations, the doc-
trine, that the war was " not waged for any purpose of
overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established
institutions of the States [meaning thereby, especially,
slavery\ ; but to defend and maintain the supremacy of
the Constitution, and to preserve the Union, with all the
FOEBEAEANCE OF THE GOVERJfMENT. 341
dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unim-
paired."*
It was found at length, that, instead of being an element
of weakness, as at first supposed, slavery was an element
of great strength to the rebehion ; indeed, its vital sup-
port, as the rebels themselves declared. It was believed,
that, as slavery in the Rebel States was in open conflict
with the Government, one o'r the other must be destroyed
in the region over. which the rebellion held sway. It was
then resolved to strike the rebellion in its most efficient
support, and thus save the Government from its most
deadly enemy. As the Government was clothed with
God's authority to sustain itself and put down the rebel-
lion, it was clothed with God's authority to use all neces-
sary and lawful means to thai end. It was, from the
nature of the case, constituted, for the time being, the sole
judge of the essential means, being responsible to God and
the people.f
* These words are from the resolutions passed unanimously by the House of Eep-
resentatives, July, ISOl, oflfered by Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky.
t We do not of course entertain any question that may be raised here, as between
the simple power of the President, by Proclamation or otherwise, as Commander-in-
Chief of the Army and Navy, and Congress, touching the jurisdiction of the Execu-
tive and Legislative branches of the Government over matters of war. It is by no
means essential to the sole point in hand. When we speak of the Government m its
attitude toward slavery under the laws of war, we speak simply of the authority of
the United States to put down rebellion, whether the particular measures of the war
are determined by the Pre.sident, as Commander-in-Chief, or by the Executive and
Legislative branches of the Government together. As a fact, however. Congress has
substantially sustained, either tacitly or by direct legislation, all the acts of the
Executive in regard to slavery. In a speech made in Chicago, July 14, 1S64, by the
Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, a member of the present Congress, he says: "On the 13th of
January, 1864, 1 introduced the following bill, which has been embodied substantially
in another which passed Congress: '.Be it enacted, &e.. That in all the States and
parts of states designated in said Proclamation as in rebellion (the Proclamation
against slavery, January 1, 1863), the re-enslaving or holding, or attempting to hold
in slavery, any person who shall have been declared free by said Proclamation, or
any of their descendants, otherwise than in the punishment of crime, whereof the
accused shall have been duly convicted, is and shall be forever prohibited, any law
of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.'" The Executive and Legislative
branches of the Government are thus united in support of that measure.
342 PEOVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE EEBELLION.
EMANCIPATION PEOCLAMATION.
When the Government determined to strike at slavery,
by the Proclamation of September 22, 1862, the war had
been going on for a year and a half with varying success.
The measure was deemed a necessity, and was adopted,
not for the purpose of interfering with slavery, in itself
considered, but to put down the rebellion, and as a means
solely to that end ; the President stating, in this Procla-
mation, " that hereafter as heretofore, the war will be pros-
ecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitu-
tional relation between the United States and the people
thereof in those States in which that relation is, or may be,
suspended or disturbed." In this Proclamation, one hun-
dred days were allowed to the people of the States in re-
bellion to lay down their arms and save the institution
harmless ; and loyal persons in rebel districts were prom-
ised compensation "for all losses by acts of the United
States, including the loss of slaves ;" a promise which any
Congress would have felt bound to redeem. On the non-
acceptance of these terms, all slaves in rebel districts to be
designated on the 1st of January, 1^63, were to be declared
free. The terms proposed not having been accepted, the
President issued a Proclamation of this date, declaring all
slaves within such districts "henceforward free." He
here states as before, this, " as a fit and necessary ^car
measure for suppressing the rebellion." He enjoins "upon
the people so declared to be free, to abstain from all vio-
lence, unless in necessary self-defence," and exhorts them
to "labor faithfully for reasonable wages ;" declares that
" such persons of suitable condition will be received into
the armed service of the United States ;" and concludes
thus : " And upon this, sincerely believed to be an act of
justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military ne-
ITS FINAL DETEKillNATION JUSTIFIED. 343
cessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and
the gracious favor of Ahnighty God."
Upon the principles laid down in justification of the
Government for attempting the overthrow of slavery as a
means for suppressing rebellion, its wonderful forbearance
is illustrated in this, tl)at what it finally did on the 1st of
January, 1863, after eighteen and a half months of war, it
might have done on the 15 th of April, 1861, when the
President issued his first Proclamation for troops for the
same purpose.
ITS FIJVAL DETEEMI^S-ATION JUSTIFIED.
We have now to see whether competent authorities sus-
tain the position we have taken. The issue made is
reduced to this : to destroy slavery in the Rebel States, in
order to overthrow rebellion and restore and maintain
the national authority. Is the destruction of slavery a
lawful means to that lawful end? Dr. Smyth will not"
pretend that on this point we have any express revelation
m "the word of God." For him, therefore, to assert,
that " to wage a war of extermination against slavery," is
" in itself wicked," and is " rebellion against God," is to
assume the whole case.
The present object, — to maintain the complete authority
and jurisdiction of the Government, — is, by " the word
of God," a lawful object ; and war, as a means to that end,
is, by "the word of God," lawfol. But upon the special
measures of war for such a purpose, " the word of God"
is silent. There is, then, no other course to be taken, —
no other safe criterion of judgment, — but to fall back upon
the laws of war, as seen in the usages of civilized and
Christian nations ; those principles and usages which tliey
regard as founded in the soundest reason and justice.
Here the authorities to sustain the United States Govern-
344 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
ment in its present course toward slavery in the Rebel
States are overwhelming.
These authorities may be reduced to the following
points : General principles of the laws of war, as laid down
by writers on the laws of nations ; the usages of the most
enlightened nations under these laws ; decisions of national
authorities on cases submitted; the practice of military
commanders, sustained by their respective Governments ;
the course of the United States Government in former
wars ; the opinions of eminent statesmen, and among them
statesmen of our own country, uttered in former times,
concerning the possible occurrence of just such an emer-
gency as that in which the United States Government now
finds itself placed.
The amount of this testimony bears upon two points,
all that are essential to the present case : that a nation at
war may emancipate the slaves of another nation with
•which it is at war, as a means to its military success ; and
that it may use those thus emancipated in its military
service.
SUSTAINED BY THE LAWS OF WAK.
In regard to the Laws of War,'the general principles to
which we refer are sufficiently comprehended in the fol-
lowing points : Standard writers declare, that " war,
when duly declared or officially recognized, gives to one
beiUgerent the right to deprive the other of every thing
which might add to his strength, and enable him to carry
on hostilities.''^ This "general right" is limited by the
" law of nations ;" and the limitations, with many things
embraced within them, are specified by all standard wri-
ters; but among these, slaves are not mentioned. They
come under that general designation of " property" which
a belligerent may take and use against the enemy. The
SUSTAINED BY THE LAWS OF WAR. 345
laws and usages of nations, ancient and modern, deem
them liable to capture.*
So welt settled was this principle under the Roman law,
— and the same principle obtains among other nations
where slaves are recognized as mere " property," — that
the " captor holds by a title which will become complete
by the return of peace, without any treaty stipulation
prescribing the contrary ; but until that time the title is
liable to be lost by recapture^ and the application of what
is known in law as the jus postlirtiiniiP This latter
feature of the Roman law was to this effect : Under it
certain persons and certain things, captured in war, were
restored to their former condition, " on coming again
under the power of the nation to which they formerly belong-
ed ;" as, for example, the son came again under the power
* Upon the general principles of the Laws of War referred to, are the following
authorities, from which it will be seen, that this important principle in addition to
those mentioned is laid down, that all persons belonging to "hostile States," are
made " legal enemies" by war, — thus, in its application to the case in hand, giving
the Government authority over all the slaves in the Rebel States : " It has already
been stated, that war, when duly declared or officially recognized, makes legal ene-
mies of all individual members of hostile States; that it also extends to property,
and gives to one belligerent the right to deprive the other of every thing which
might add to his strength, and enable him to carry on hostilities. But this gene-
ral right is subject to numerous modifications and limitations, which have been
introduced by custom and the positive law of natlofis. Thus, although, by the
extreme right of war, all property of an enemy is deemed hostile and subject to
seizure, it by no means follows that all such property is subject to appropriation or
condemnation ; for the positive law of nations distinguishes, not only between the
property of the State and that of its individual subjects, but also between that of dif-
ferent classes of subjects, and between different kinds of property of the same
subject." "All implements of war, military and naval stores, and, in general, all
movable property belonging to the hostile State, is subject to be seized, and appro-
priated to the use of the captor." " There is one species of movable property, be-
longing to a belligerent State, which is exempt, not only from plunder and destruc-
tion, but also from capture and conversion, viz.. State papers, public archives,
historical records, judicial and legal documents, land titles," &c. "The reasons of
this rule are manifest : their destruction would not operate to promote, in any
respect, the UHiry '■ It would be an injury done in war, beyond the necessity of
war, and therefore illegal, barbarous, and cruel." — Halleeki'a Int. Law, and Law of
War, Ch. ilX. sees. 1, 7, 9.
346 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE KEBELLION.
of his parent, and the recaptured slave came into posses-
sion of his former master, instead of becoming the prop-
erty of the State.
The principle is thus well and universally established,
that slaves^ coming into possession of a belligerent or cap-
tured from an enemy in war, are subject to the captor's
disposal, unless recaptured. This is settled by the laws
of war, as understood alike among ancient and modern
nations. They differ on one point. In ancient times, the
captor might sell them, or make any other disposition of
them, as with other captured " property ;" or he might
free them. In either case, whether regarded as property
or as freedmen, he could employ them against the enemy
in any capacity, just as any other property or freemen
under his control might be thus employed. But the laws
of war as seen in the usages among nations of modern
times, with rar'e exceptions, restrict the disposition of
slaves captured in war to giving them their freedom ; that
is, do not allow their re-enslavement.
SUSTAINED BY EXAMPLES OF SEVEEAL NATIONS.
The right by the laws of nations, and the actual prac-
tice under the laws of war, to emancipate the slaves of an
enemy, is unquestioeable, and is illustrated by many ex-
amples ; and the cases very fully sustain the position that
no other proper disposition can be made of cajjtured slaves
than to give them their freedom.
This right, as a war measure, has been often exercised
in modern times : as, for example, by Great Britain, in the
war of the Revolution with her American Colonies, and in
that with the United States in 1812 ;* by France, in the
* The Proclaniaticins of Lord Dunraove, Lord Cornwallis, and Sir Henrj' Clinton,
are well known. In tl)e war of the Eevolution, they received thousands of slaves
Into the British army, giving them their freedom. By the Tioaty of Peace in 1788,
ILLUSTEATED BY CASES IN THE UNITED STATES. 347
Island of St, Domingo, in 1793-94 ; by Spnin in Colum-
bia, South America, through Generals Murillo and Bolivar ;
and by the United States, in some of its wars, through
Generals Jesup, Taylor, and Gaines, whose acts were
sustained and approved by Congress, and by several
Presidents.
ILLUSTRATED BY CASES IN THE UNITED STATES.
In regard to the United States, the practice of the Gov-
ernment in former wars has been to consider slaves cap-
tured in war as jirisoiiers of vmi\ and to declare and
insure their freedom.
In 1836, General Jesup employed certain "fugitive
slaves" as guides, and for their services gave them their
freedom and sent them to the West to enjoy it. His con-
duct was approved by tlie administrations of Presidents
Van Buren and John Tyler. The case of Louis, which
occurred in the same year, is in ]>oint. He was the
escaped slave of Pacheco, and had fought against the
United States. On his being captured, and while held as
a prisoner of war, his master demanded him as his prop-
erty : but the demand was refused, and Louis was declared
the British Government promised to take no slaves out of the country, bnt a great
many went with them. On the complaint of General Washington for such violation
of the Treaty, and a demand for their return, Sir Guy Carleton admitted that his
Government was hound to make compensation, but insisted on the absolute freedom
of those taken away, declaring that "His Majesty" did not allow his officers to take
from " these negroes th^ liherty of rohich he found them /)o.vsess«rf." Certain adju-
dicated cases by the British authorities go even beyond this. Certain slaves on board
the American brig Creole, destined from Hampton Roads to New Orleans mutinied,
killed a slave-owner, and compelled the crew to take the vessel into Nassau, a British
port The authorities examined the case, found nineteen concerned in the murder, but
gave the rest their liberty. The British Government, " on grounds of comity," made
compensation for the released slaves, hut refused to return them. A decision of
Chief-Justice Best, of England, upon the rights of negroes, in the ease of Admir.il
Cockbum, upon whose vessel escaped slaves had taken refuge, is important. He
declared: " He was not bound to receive them upon his ship in the first instance,
but having done so, he could no more have forced them hack into nlwrery than he
could have committed them to the deep."— C'i^ecf in Phillimore'^ International Law.
16
348 PEOVIDKKTIAL DKSIG-NS IN THE EEBELLION.
free. The course of General Jesup was sustained and
approved by the President and his Cabinet ; and at a sub-
sequent period, when Pacheco laid his claim for compen-
sation for the loss of Louis before Congress, that body
sustained the Adiuinislration by rejecting a bill for such
purpose.
In the year 1838, General Zachary Taylor captured cer-
tain pei'soMs, during the war in Flurtda, who were claimed
as fugitive slaves. Certain citizens of tliat State demanded
their release and restoration. Old " Kough and Ready"
told them that he had none but piisoners of war. They
wished to :=ee them, to ascertain if he had their slaves in his
possession. lie would not grant their request, and bid
them depart. On this being reported to the War Depart-
ment, his course was approved by the President ; and the
slaves were declared free and sent to the West.
Another case occurred in 1838, in the Southwestern
Department of the Army, which is very broad in its rela-
tions to the present war, and the status of the slave in
regard to the laws of war. A large number of fugitive
slaves and Indians, who had been captured in war in
Florida, had been ordered West of the Mississippi. Some
of the foimer were claimed at New Orleans by their
owners, and the case was brought into Court. General
Edmund P. Gaines was then in command of that Depart-
ment. He refused to give up the fugitives on the demand
of the sheriif, and made his defence in court in person.
His reasons for refusal were as follows:
That these men, women, and children, were captured in war; that, as
Commander of that Military Department, he held them subject only to the
order of the National Executive ; that he could recognize no other power
in time of war, as authorized to take prisoners from his possession.
He asserted that in time of war, all slaves were belligerents as well as
their jnasfers. The slave-men cultivate the earth and supply provisions.
The women cook the food and nurse the sick, and contribute to the
ANOTHER CASE. EMPEROR ALEXANDER. 349
maintenance of the war often more than the same number of males. The
slave children equally contribute whatever they are able to the support
of the war. The military oflBcer can enter into no judicial examination
of the claim of one man to the bone and muscle of another, as property ;
nor could he, as a military officer, know what the laws of Florida were
while engaged in maintaining tlie Federal Government by force of arms.
In such a case, he could only be guided by the laws of war ; and what-
ever may be the laws of any State, they must yield to the safety of the
Federal Government. — Home Doc. No. 225, 2Mh Congress.
The result iij the foregoing case was, that it was dis-
missed, the slaves were sent to the West, and became free.
ANOTHER CASE. — EilPEROR ALEXANDER.
A case of great importance was decided, growing out
of the war of 1812, in which the United States and Great
Britain were parties ; one point of which was referred for
adjudication to the Emperor Alexander of Russia. The
British, acting according to the laws of war, had captured
a large nunber of slaves. The Treaty of Ghent, which
fixed the terms of peace, required that compensation for
some of those then in their possession should be made ; but
it was for those only that were, at the time of the ratifica-
tion of the Treaty, within the districts to be delivered up to
the United States. The Government, under President
Madison, did not claim that tliose who had been set free,
and sent during the war beyond the limits of the United
States, should even be paid for ; much less that they
should be delivered w^ to their masters, to be again
remitted to slavery. Heie was a clear acknowledgment on
the part of the United States, that, by the laws of war,
slaves captured in war are free., thenceforward and for-
ever; and that they are not even to be paid for, except
upon special stipulation between the parties at war. The
point which was submitted to the Russian Emperor grew
out of the construction of the Treaty. The British Gov-
350 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
ernment coutended that the Treaty did not include, for
compensation, slaves who were still on British vessels
which were lying, at the time of the ratification, in Ameri-
can waters. The Emperor decided against the British
interpretation, and gives the grounds of his decision thus :
"It is upon the construction oi the text of the article as it
stands, that the arbitrator's decision should be founded."
The British Government objecting, the Emperor adds :
" The Emperor having, by mutual consent of the two
plenipotentiaries, given an opinion founded solely upon
the sense which results from the text of the article in dis-
pute, does not think himself called upon to decide any
question relative to what the laws of war permit or forbid
to belligerents." This setting of " the text of the article"
construed over against "the laws of war," in this manner,
leads to the conclusion that the Emperor, at that time " the
largest slave-holder in the world," deemed that these laws
allowed the emancipation of slaves captured in w^ar, and
that when so emancipated they could not be recovered.
These numerous cases show conclusively that the United
States Government has maintained the doctrine, in its
military and civil administratioH, that, by the Liws of Avar,
slaves captured in war are, ipso facto, thenceforward and
forever free.*
OPINIONS OF EJIINENT STATESMEN.
The geiieral doctrine maintained in these examples by
the United States, accords with the sentiments of her most
eminent statesmen. Thomas JeiFerson, when complaining
♦ To this there is an exception ; but, as an exception, it serves to confirm the rule
otherwise so fully estaMishcd and illustrated by actual cases. Our Government
maintained the opposite doctrine against Great Britain in 1820, when John Quincy
Adams was Secretary of State ; but i;hal great statesman has left it on record, that
while he faithfully represented his Government on that point, he totally dissented
from the doctrine itself. He says : " It was utterly against my judgment and wishes:
but I was obliged to submit, and prepared the requisite dispatches."
OPINIONS OF EMINENT STATESMEN. 351
of the acts of Lord Cornwallis, in the Eevolutionary war,
admits the 2iriuci}>le that slaves may be taken fiom an
enemy in war, and that when taken may be freed. In a
letter to Dr. Gordon, found in his works, he says :
From an estimate I made at that time (1779), on the best informa-
tion I could collect, I suppose the State of Virginia lost, under Lord
Cornwallis's hand, that year, about thirty thousand slaves. * * *
He used, as was to be expected, all my stock of cattle, sheep, and hogs,
for the sustenance of his army, and carried off all the horses capable of
service. * •* * He carried oif also about thirty slaves. Had this
been to give them freedom, he would have done riyht ; but it was to con-
sign them to inevitable death from the small-pox and putrid fever then
raging in his camp.
In a debate in the House of Representatives in 1836,
John Quincy Adams announced what it would be compe-
tent for the Government to do with slavery, under
precisely the circumstances that noAV exist. As a states-
man, his vieAvs, uttered in the following sentence, com-
mand respect :
From the instant that your slaveholding States become the theatre of
war, civil, servile, or foreign, from that instant the war powers of Con-
gress extend to interference with the institution of slavery in every
way in which it can be interfered witli, from a claim of indemnity for
slaves taken or destroyed, to the cession of the State burdened with
slavery to a foreign power.
Again, in the House of Representatives, in 1842, after
stating that slavery was abolished in Colombia, South
America, first by the Spanish Military Commander, Gen-
eral Murillo, and then by the American General Bohvar,
simply by a milUtiry order given at the head of the army^
and that its abolition continued to this day, Mr. Adams
says :
In a state of actual war, the laws of war take precedence over civil
laws and municipal institutions. I lay this down as the law of nations.
I cay that the military authority takes for the time the place of all
352 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
mvmicipal institutions, darery among the rest; and that, under that state
of things, so far from its being true, that the States where slavery
exists have the exclusive management of the subject, not only the Presi-
dent of the United Slates, but the commander of the army, has the power to
order the emancipation of the slavey. * * * When your country is
actually in war, whether it be a war of invasion or a war of insurrec-
tion. Congress has power to carry on the war, and must carry it on
according to the laws of war ; and, by the laws of war, an invaded
country has all its laws and municipal institutions swept by the board,
and martial law takes the place of them.
If we choose to go back to the times of our Revohi-
tionary war, we find legislation in abundance by the States,
both Soutli, North, and by Congress, for recruiting the
army of Washington from among slaves ; and this legis-
lation provided that those slaves should receive the boon
of freedom for their services ;* and this course was
sustained by the most eminent patriots of that era.
* Among other instances of letrislation, " In Congress, March 29, 1T79," it was
'■'■ Reaolved, Tliat it be recommended to the States of South Carolina and Georgia, if
they shall tliink the same expedient, to take measures immediately for raising three
thousand able-bodiei^negroes ; that the said negroes be formed into separate corps,
as battalions, according to the arrangements alopted for the main army;'' and "that
every negro wlio shall well and faithfully serve as a soldier to the end of the present
war, and shall then return his arms, he emancipated, and receive the sum of fifty
dollars." Many of the States acted without -ftny recommendation from Congress.
The Gener.al Assembly of Hhode Island adopted the following: " Wltereufi^ History
aflfords us frequent precedents of the wisest, the freest, and bravest nations having
liberated their slaves, and enlisted them as soldiers to flght in defence of their
country. * * * Resolved, Tliat every slave so enlisting, shall, upon his passing
muster, &o., be immediately discharged from the service of his master or mistress^
and be obsoliUely fr ee, as though he had never been encumbered with any kind of
servitude or slavery." In Virginia, certain slaveholders sent their slaves to the
army, with a " promise" of freedom, but after the war attempted to re-enslave them ;
showing some had faith in Old as in Modern Virginia. But perhaps this bad blood
did not then run in the veins of the "first families," as it has since done, for the
General Assembly of th.it State, by solemn enactment, rebuked such perfidy, in
17S3. in "An Ac" directing the Emancipation of certain slaves ic/io had served as
soldiers in this State, and for the Emancipation of the slave Aberdeen." The depth
of this perfidy is seen in two or three facts stated in this Act : that " many persons
in this State had caused their slaves to enlist," they "having tendered such slaves"
to the recruiting ofticers as '■^substitutes" for their own dear selves, "at the same
time representing to such recruiting officers, that the slaves, so enlisted, were
OPIIflONS OF ElIIXKNT STATESMEN. 353
Alexander Hamilton, in a letter to Juhn Jay, in 1779,
ppeaking of these measures, says : " An essential part of
the plan is to give them their freedora with their muskets."
This, he said, would "have a good influence on those viJio
remain, by opening a door to their emancipation^
James Madison, in a letter to Joseph Jones, in 1780,
advocating the policy of arming and freeing the slaves,
I am glad to find the Legislature (of Tirgima) persist in their resolu-
tion to recruit tlieir line of the army for the war ; though without deci-
ding on the expediencj' of the mode under their consideration, would it
not be as well to liberate and make soldiers at once of the blacks themselves,
as to make them instruments for enlisting white soldiers ? It would
certainly be more consonant with the principles of liberty, which ought
never to be lost sight of in a contest for liberty.
Thus, the most eminent statesmen of the early days of
the Republic took the ground that slaves might properly
be employed in the armies of the Union, and that all such
should, be voluntarily emancipated.
ffeemen,'^ and that "the former owners have attempted again to force them to return
to a state of servitude, contrary to the principles ofJusii<ie, and to their own
ivlemn promise,'" thus backing up this bad fiiith with very bad falsehoods. As '■ many
persons"' were here concerned, it would be strange if some of the " first families'' were
not involved. But the Legislature enacted that all such persons " shall, from and after
the passing of this act, he folly and completely emancipated, and shall be held and
deemed free, in as full and ample a manner as if each and every of them were specially
named in this act ; and the Attorney-General for the Commonwealth is hereby requir-
ed to commence an action, in forma pauperis, in behalf of any of the persons above
described, who shall, after the passing of this act, be detained in servitude by any
person whatsoever;" and the act directs that ''a jury shall be impannelled to assess
the damages for the detention" of persons so declared free. In Massachusetts, many
negroes were enrolled in the army, though slavery had been abolished in ITTG. The
Judiciary of that State held that the Declaration of Independence was an edict of
emancipation. In New York, the Legislature in ITSl provided for the enlistment of
slave;*, and enacted that any one "who shall serve for the term of three years, or
until regulaily discharged, shall, immediately after such service or discharge, be,
and is hereby declared to be, a free man of this State." Other States passed similar
ac:s.
85-t PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE EEEELLION.
VINDICATION COMPLETE AGAINST IDLE DECLAMATION.
In view of the testimony now given, from a'l the fore-
going sources, can any thing be more idle, absurd, and fana-
tical, than the outcry, that the determination of the Gov-
ernment to ovei throw slavery in the Rebel States, in order
to save itself from destruction, is " in itself wicked and
unconstitutional," and a " conspiracy against the throne
and empire of Heaven ?"
If it be said that the acts of the Executive, in giving
freedom to the slaves hy proclaniaiiovi., do not come within
the strict line of the authorities given, it is only necessary
to say, that we presume no one supposed tliat the Pre-
sident intended to eftect their liberty by that measure
alone. It was a simple notification to rebel masters of the
war policy of the Government ; an opportunity extended
to return to loyalty and save slavery, if they chose ; and u
warning of the consequences for continued rebellion. Sla-
very, if overthrown in the Rebel States by the Government,
will be subvei ted by actual war, under the laics of war.
On that simple point, it is most conclusively sustained.
SUSTAINED AGAINST THE EEBEL CONGRESS.
After consulting the authorities given, and among them
the numerous cases where our own Government has vindi-
cated the right of slaves to freedom, when taken in war,
it is somewliat edifying to read what the Rebel Congress
say on this point, in an " Address to the People of the
Confederate States," issued in February, 1864. Among
other things, they say : " Emancipation of slaves, as a wise
measure, has been severely condemned and denounced by
the most eminent publicists in Europe and the United
States." They here refer to the President's Proclamation.
Whether this may be a " wise measure," men may diifer.
SUSTAINED AGAINST THE EEBEL CONGRESS. 355
The rebels declaim against it, because of its inhumanity;
but this Address calls it " a mere hrutio/ifulmen,'" a harm-
less threat. If they mean to say that all these " publicists"
deem " emancipation of slaves" in war, an illegal " meas-
ure," the authorities we have cited show how much such
assertions are worth. In view of these authorities, the
following from this Address will be appreciated at its true
value: " Disregarding the teachings of the approved writers
on international law, and the loractice and claims of his
own Government, in its purer days, Presides^t Lincoln
has sought to convert the South into a Sairv, Domingo,
by appealing to the cupidity, lusts, ambition, r.nd ferocity
of the slave." And all this is to occur from " 3 mere bru-
tuni fuhnen P''
In this Address, the Rebel Congress endeavor to press
into the service the instance we have previously referred
to, as an exception, — where our Government say that "the
emancipation of enemy's slaves is not among the acts of
legitimate warfare," — and make this exception the rule in
the case, when, notoriously, it stands against the whole
course of the Government, as seen in its whole history.
Mr. Adams admits that he " prepared the dispatches"
which atmounced this doctrine, but that it was " against
his judgment and wishes." The real wonder is, that, with
the General Government, as Mr. A. H. Stephens says, for
sixty-four years out of seventy-two, under Southern control,
there should not have been found more such doctiino
taught and practised upon. But as " one swallow does
not make a summer," so one such case does not make a
rule of law, nor even a precedent. The whole current of
the testimony of the United States is the other way, in
actual cases determined ; and that of other nations is the
same ; and the whole combined is to this effect : that, by
the laws of war, as recognized by the practice of the most
356 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
renowned nations of the present day, it is perfectly legi-
timate for a nation at war to emancipate an enemy's slaves
and use them against him ; and that the proper status of
such slaves, so emancipated, \s> perpetual freedom.
SUSTAINED BY SOUTHERN MEN.
To save the Government, this doom of slavery, — not
only in the rebel but in the loyal States, — is called for by
Southern men, when the issue is fairly made between the
destruction of the Government and the destruction of
slavery; and tliat man has no claim to loyalty, who can
hesitate when such an issue is joined. Observe a few de-
clarations to this effect among a thousand, equally pointed
and satisfactory.
Governor Bramlette, of Kentucky, in Ids " Gait House
Letter," dated "Frankfort, Vth November, 1863," says :
Is it not better, should such issue be forced, that we preserve our
nationality, even with loss of slavery, than lose both our nationality
and slave property? It is certain that we, at least, in Kentucky, can
never hold slave property, when this Government is broken up.
Hon. Green Clay Smith, of Kentucky, in a speech in the
House of Representatives, at Washington, in January last,
said :
Having witnessed for the last two years or more the operations of
the armies of the country, and, to some extent, the effect of ordnance
and small arms upon the enemy, I feel it to be my duty upon this occa-
sion to say, that while there is power in these, and while the Govern-
nnent must, through these, execute its laws and vindicate its integrity,
there remains btltind this rebellion that rchich gives it strength and power
which must be overthrown and destroyed on the other side, while our
armies and our ordnance move in front. * * * Tlieir forces in arms
against the Government are maintained and fed by, and their very life-
blood is drawn from, African slavery in the South. * * * Whenever
you sap the foundation of this accursed rebellion, and tear from under
SUSTAINED BY SOUTHERN MEN. 357
the rebels that whicli has given them strength and power, jou destroy
the rebellion, and your artillery is effectual. * * * Wlien a man
has evinced a hatred to this Government, when he has voluntarily
taken up arms against this Government, and when he has brought his
artillery to play upou its Constitution and its principles and its liberties,
he can demand of me, as a legislator for the people of this country, no
privileges in horses, cattle, land, or negroes. We will take them, when
we come to them, by any means we can, and bj^ aU means. The
bulwark which prevented the American people, by its army, from
moving down to the South and exercising jurisdiction there, — that bul-
wark supported by four million slaves, — nrnst be removed; and the evi-
dence that we have a right to remove it is, that we have a right to crush
the rebdlivn. It is the duty of the Government to do it. The Government
would have failed in its duty to itself, and to all future generations, if
it did not, in its power and majesty, siveep away that bulwark of slavery.
I thought it my duty, under the circumstances in which I am placed,
coming from the country I come from, representing the loyal people who
feel as I do, and ivhose opinions have been expressed time and again to me,
as mine to them, to make this statement. '
Mr. Lowiy, a member of the Kentucky Legislature,
during the last se.ssion, said, in a speech before that body:
If the protest against them meant on account of slavery, all I have
to say is, that no man felt more sorry than I, when the tirst gun was
fired on Sumter. Thai was the death-knell of slavery on this continent,
and I am not going at this late day to bring about any antagonism with
the Government on account of it. I want to see the Union man who
will do so. I want to see the Union man who wants to hurl Kentucky
into the whirlpool of rebellion on account of the thing. I am not will-
ing to do a single thing to place Kentucky in the same situation as Ten-
nessee and other Southern States, for the sake of saving slavery, and I
do not believe that there is a, patriotic man iu Kentucky that would.
Hon. E. W. Gantt, of Arkansas, in a speech in Brook-
lyn, New York, said :
He defied any man to show him any cause for this war otlier than
negro slavery. Negro slavery had deluged the land in blood and draped
it in mourning, and now, when the Government in its might thrust the
358 PEOviDEi-rriAL designs in the rebellion.
institution from it, politicians would stick it back into the heart of the
Government, that new desolations might spring from it, but they could
not do it. The people of the South, the Union men there, were determined,
hy the help of God, to purge (he body politic of negro slavery, and let the
Government stand.
Governor Hamilton, in his Address to the people of
Texas, says :
If, then, 3'ou believe, as I do, that the institution of slavery has
merited and invited its own destruction, and that its doom, pronounced
by the sovereign power of the nation, is an act of justice, — more than
human justice, attesting the presence of that Omnipotent Hand, — then
speak and act as men who deserve freedom for themselves and their
posterity. The day is near at hand when the name of Abolitionist will
cease to be a reproach, even in the South, and when children, now daOy
the subjects of attempted insult on account of its application to their
fathers, will thank God that they were so reviled.
The position of Dr. Robert J. Breciknridge, of Ken-
tucky, on the issues before the country, is well known.
In an elaborate paper published in the Danville Quarterly
Review for December, 1862, in which he dissents from the
President's Emancipation policy, as foreshadowed in his
Proclamation of the previous St^tember, he thus speaks
incidentally upon the simple issue between slavery and the
Government :
We admit, — nay, we assert, — that it is inconsistent with the honor and
dignity of the nation, that slaves once accepted and used in its military
service, or given the protection of its flag, should afterwards be returned
to slavery. * * * TjVe believe that this civil war will probably, in
a legitimate prosecution of it, greatly weaken the political power of the
slave States, relatively considered ; that it will demoralize the institu-
tion of slavery to a fearful extent ; and that results from it may be
reached concerning slavery, in opposite directions, far beyond our ability
to foresee. And, finally, we do not believe that the existence of slavery
is so serious an obstacle to our triumph, as to justify any apprehension,
or any resort to unusual or illegal acts; while, on the other hand, its total
SUSTAINED BY SOUTHERN MEN. 359
destruction^ in the due, vigorous, and legal prosecution of the war, ought not
to hinder us from patting the doctrine and jjracticc of secession forever at
rest.
In the Kentucky State, Convention, at Louisville, May
25, 1864, Dr. Breckinridge is reported as saying:
I received, the other day, a letter from my old friend, Reverdy John-
son, of Baltimore, who has made a speech [in the United States Senate]
in favor of amending the Constitution. He asked me to write what I
thouglit about it, and I will give you the substance of my reply : " Taking
the posture of the negro question as it is, and the nation as it is, my
conclusion is, that the Government of the United States is absolutely
bound, by every consideration of statesmanship and of safety, to do one
of two things : It is bound to use its whole power, both of war and of
peace, to put back the negro, as far as possible, into the condition he
occupied before the war ; or it is bound to exterminate the whole institution,
by all the powers the Constitution gives it, or that can be obtained by an
amendment of that instrument. If I were a pro-slavery man, I would say :
Put back the negro to his former position. But, as lam an antislavery
man, I say, Use the whole power of the Government to extixguisu
THH INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY, ROOT AND BRANCH.
Dr. Breckinridge again expressed similar sentiments,
on taking his seat as President of the National Union
Convention, which assembled in Baltimore on the 7th
June, 1864. He is reported as then saying as folio \ts :
I do not know that I would be willing to go so far as probably the ex-
cellent chairman of the National Committee would. But I cordially agree
with him in this: I think, considering what has been done about sla-
very, taking the thing as it now stands, overlooking altogether, either in
the way of condemnation or in the way of approval, any act that has
brought us to the point where we are, but believing in my conscience
and with all my heart, that what has brought us where we are in the
matter of slavery, is the original sin and folly of treason and secession,
— because you remember that the Chicago Convention itself was under-
stood to say, and I beUeve it virtually did explicitly say, that they would
not touch slavery in the States;— leaving it therefore altogether out of
the question how we carao where we are, on that particular point, we
360 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
are prepared to go farther than the original Eepublicans were prepared
to go. We are prepared to demand not only that the whole territory
of the Uuited States shall not be made slave, but that the General Gov-
ernment of the American people shall do one of two things, — and it
appeara to me that there is nothing else that can be done, — either to
use the whole power of the Government, both the war power and the
peace power, to put slavery as nearly as possible back where it was, —
for, although that would be a fearful state of society, it is better than
anarohy; or else, to use the whole powei' of the Government, both of war
and peace, and all the practical power that the people of the United States
will give them, TO exterminate and extinguish slavery. I have no
hesitation in saying for myself, that if I were a proslavery man, if I
believed this institution was an ordinance of God, and was given to
man, I would unhesitatingly join those who demand that the Govern-
ment should be put back where it was. But I am not a proslavery
man — I never was ; I unite myself with those who believe that it is
contrary to the highest interests of all men and of all Government, con-
trary to the spirit of the Christian religion, and Incompatible with the
natural righta of man ; I join myself with those who say, Away with it
forever: and I fervently pray God that the day may come, when,
throughout tht,- whole land, every man may be as free as you are, and
as capable of eajoying regulated liberty.
Such are tlie sentiments of leading men in the Border
and more Southern Slave States. They believe the time
fully come when that institution which underlies the strife
now raging throughout this nation, should cease in the
land forever. This, we doubt not, will be found to be a
sentiment which will extend, as the war goes on, to
the entire people, so far as they are truli/ loyal to their
country.
THE SUM OF PROVIDENTIAL INDICATIONS.
We have now given a bare summary of the reasons
which lead us to the conclusion, that it is the design of
God, in His providence, to make use of the rebellion to
terminate forever the institution of slavery in the United
States, au'l thus cause the wrath of man to praise Him.
THE SUM OF PEOYIDENTIAL IXDICATIOXS. 361
"We have already said that considerable time ma}- elapse
before the end is reached ; that it may be, not till some
subsequent Congress shall take that necessary step for an
amendment of the Constitution, which, when ratified by
the people, will give the finishing stroke to the work;
and that then it may require, for a time, a military force
to make even that measure practically effective. But that
that end will be reached before we can have permanent
peace, we believe to be as certain as that God reigns.
It is said that revolutions never go backwards. The
truth of the aphorism depends on its application. The
South apply it to the treasonable work in which they are
engaged, and faith in the sentiment nerves their courage.
It IS, however, our own conviction, that that revolution will
be rolled back and entirely fail. But another revolution
is in progress among the loyal people. The change in
their sentiments regarding slavery, in some of the develop-
ments made since the rebellion began, is remarkable. The
advance which has been made by the Government respect-
ing the institution, Ijeginning with what it was at first
supposed the Government might and might not do with
it, oi right, in putting down the rebellion; proceeding to
what seemed to be a necessity, and carrying out its
intentions by Congressional and Executive acts, and by
military orders and power ; the sentiments of the people,
at first of such a character as probably would have pro-
duced a revolution at the North, if certain steps had been
taken earlier; their present approval or acquiescence; the
extensive belief that the destruction of slavery is now a
necessity of our national existence, on a basis of perma-
nent peace ; the remirkable change in the Border States,
not only among leading individuals, but among the people,
as evinced in the volimtary action of these States, looking
to the speedy removal of Slavery ; the legislation of Con-
362 PROVIDENTIAL DESIGNS IN THE REBELLION.
gress, bearing upon its termination, to the whole extent
to Avhich it has direct civil jurisdiction ; these, — every one
of which has grown out of the rebellion, — are among the
well-known indications of a revolution in the ideas of the
Government and people. Considering the mere lapse of
time, the extent of this change is remarkable ; though,
under the causes which have impelled it, the change is
natural. This is one of those revolutions which we believe
will not go backwards. It is one of those mighty movings
in the hearts of a great people, in the right direction,
which will have no rest until its glorious and ultimate
goal shall be reached.
How can any believer in God's providence, which extends
to all things, — in whose hand are the hearts of all people,
— fail to see in these events the inevitable designs of God?
How can he fail to read in them the doom of slavery ?
We had intended to consider other designs of God's
providence in the rebellion, but the extent of this chapter
compels us to desist. If slavery is purged from the land,
the only serious element of our national strife is removed.
We can then become a homogeneous and truly united
people. It may take time to remove the alienation and
bitterness which the war has engendered, but the great
cause being extinct, we may at length become one in a
sense otherwise impossil)le of attainment. Then, by the
favor of God, we may have before us a career of true
prosperity; then, our land may indeed be the asylum for
the oppressed of all lands ; then, as a people, we may be
prepared to fulfil our mission to the Avorld ! May God
speed the day — and to Him be the glory !
THEEE PERIODS OF OPINION IIISTOEICALLT. 363
CHAPTER X.
THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
The relation of the Church of God in the United State*
to American slavery as an institution, and the sentiments
of ecclesiastical bodies and lending divines upon its charac-
ter, as entertained, formerly and at the present time in
different sections of the country, and the hearing of the
whole upon the rebellion, are matters of vast moment.
Some of these things have a connection as cause and
effect, either directly and immediately or more or less
remotely, which it may be interesting and instructive to
trace.
The subject naturally presents itself under three aspects :
the sentiments which generally prevailed in the early
period and during the greater portion of our history, both
North and South ; their subsequent modification at the
North, and. total revolution in almost the whole of the
extreme South ; and the general state of the public mind
at present in both sections, consequent upon the rebellion.
We do not propose in this chapter to go over the ground
presented in eacti of these periods, but it is well to note
the fact in this place which a full examination would verify,
that a survey of the whole field properly presents the sub-
ject under this three-fold aspect.
THREE PERIODS OF OPINION HISTOEICALLT.
The first of these periods, though not separated from the
second so palpably that its termination can be fixed at a
precise ])oint of time, begins at a very early day or near
the dawMi of onv history ;is a people, and comes down to
384 THR CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
about the year 1835, during whicli the antislavery senti-
ment was i;-enerally i)revalent. That the common opinion
of the whoU^ country in the early days of the Republic,
both bt'fore and after the Revolution, and down to a com-
p n-a'ively recent day, was against the institution on grounds
of policy and principle, is undeniable. Statesmen, divines,
ecclesiastical bodies, the people at large, both North and
So ith, with rare exceptions, regarded slavery as founded in
Avrong, condemned it as an institution, and desired and
expected, and to some extent labored for, its removal.
These are propositions so clear and certain, and so well
known to all men, that it is superfluous to attempt to add
any thing to make the case itla.iner.
It is equally true and well known, illustrating a second
period of opinion, that a change occurred in the South,
beginning indeed before, but becoming more mai'ked at
about the time indicated, and finally developing into the
sentiment of sanctioning slavery in the highest and fullest
sense, and on every ground, social, economical, political,
moral and religious ; and that, during this same period,
while a small fraction of the iS^orthern people, the " aboli-
tionists proper," as they have been termed, took extreme,
an<l, to the South, oftcnsive ground and action, and while
another portion maintained the original antislavery senti-
ments which prevailed from the first, still another and a
very large portion of the Northern people, embracing
ra any who were still not frien lly to slavery, practically
abandoned the early prevalent sentiments, became intensely
" conservative," and took such a course of action, illus-
trated by the writings and speeches of men both in Church
and State, as gave the modern Southern views a direct
and intended, or a quasi-prsLcticul sanction and encourage-
ment. These phases of sentiment, and their consequences,
are susceptible of the clearest proof.
THREE PERIODS OF OPINION HISTORICALLY. 305
The tltird period dates from the beginning of the rebel-
liou. In the South we see no special change among the
rebels concerning slavery, except a reiteration of their
former arguments in its favor more vehemently, and their
determination, if possible, to make good by the sword
what they have failed to do by rhetoric. But among loyal
men at the South, as our arms advance, the most marked
changes in sentiment appear. Tliey denounce slavery as
the cause of all their woes, and some of them outstrip
Abolition itself in heaping upon it their anathemas as a
wicked and monstrous institution, now that they see what
use has be -n made of it by demagogues. This is a little
remarkable for serious men, as in principle it has always
been just what it now is. But men's view^s of moral
ques;tions are often aftected by matters which really have
nothing to do with their moral status and relations, or
which concern them only incidentally. And this ethical
feature of the case is illustrated quite as strikingly at the
North. The views of the institution which many now
entertain arise mainly or wholly from what the rebellion
has developed, while its character as a system is unchanged.
There have been substantially but two classes among the
Northern people since the rebellion began. Those who
in heart were antislavery, but in action conservative, are
now united with all those who have opposed the system
in any form, in two things: agreeing that slavery has
caused the rebellion and the war; and that its just doom
is to perish. They regard it an evil in a sense, and put
themselves in opposition to it in a form, to which they
have been brought, not by the character of the institution
itself, but by what it has attempted ; and looking at it
now from a new stand-point, some of this class are frank
to confess their former position wrong. The other phase
of sentiment in the lov.ii States is substantiallv one with
866 THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
tliiit of the rebels. It is seen in Church and State. There
is a class of men in the Church in tlie loyal S( ates who
take the same ground for slavery as do the rebels, defend-
ing it as divine, and desiring it to be perpetual. They of
course, like a certain class of jjoliticians, are arrayed
against the Government. They are opposed to putting-
down the rebellion by force of arms, or in any other way.
They are in sympathy with the rebels concerning the
institution which caused the war, and they are therefore
against the war and for the perpetuity of slavery. These
phases of present Northern sentiment, — or rather, senti-
ment in all the loyal States, — illustrate and confirm the
declaration of the ITon. Green Clay Smith, of Kentucky,
in the resolutions ofl^ered by him and passed by the
present House of Representatives, that "there are now
but two classes in the country — patriots and traitors."
We have already said that we cannot go over the
ground covered by these three periods, so as to exhibit in
full the evidence of these several phases of opinion upon
slavery. We shall, in this chapter, confine our examina-
tion to the first two periods, and of these Ave can take
but a cursory view, reserving |,o a subsequent chapter,
entirely, a notice of modern Southern opinion. Our
design will lead to a summary sketch of the state of
opinion from early times to the present day, simply to
show, in the result, how it illustrates the working out of
the rebellion. We shall look chiefly at the state of senti-
ment in the Church, though it will be found that this
corresponds with that enteitained by the peoj)le generally.
THE CHURCH LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR OPINION.
It is undoubtedly true that the more intelligent classes
in society — statesmen and others of the highest abilities,
who are not connected formally with the Church, as well
THE CHURCH RESPONSIBLE FOR OPINION. 367
as the mass of her members, — have their opinions formed
or modified, in a good degree, upon the moi-al and religious
aspects of this and many other questions, by the views
which the Church takes ; by the formal action of its eccle-
siastical assemblies ; by the writings of its distinguished
ministers, and by the discussions of the pulpit. This,
to a great extent, is no doubt true of the general opposi-
tion felt toward slavery in the early period of our history ;
to that opposition as moderated or intensified at a later
period; and to the total change in sentiment upon the
character of slavery which occurred among the people of
the extreme South. It will thus be seen, in so far as this
agency in forming men's opinions is justly attributable to
the Church, as illustrated in the views which the American
people have entertained concerning slavery, that the re-
sponsibility of the Church in this regard is overwhelmingly
great ; and if it shall appear that the Church led the way,
statesmen but following in her wake, in the change of
Southern opinion upon the character of slavery (proof
of which will be given in another chapter), and which
culminated in the rebellion, it will furnish an additional
item of the most momentous importance in fixing upon
those who thus took the initiative, the tremendous
burden of that tide of blood which is now rolling over
the land.
We record the facts which bear upon such a result
with no satisfaction ; rather with mortification and sor-
row. But if they are a part of the veritable history of
these "perilous times," if they illustrate a most important
phase in a great moral movement of the age, directed by
the providence of God, though it be in violence and car-
nage, through the agency of his own Church, it may prove
a valuable lesson to her and to all men, and stand as a
beacon to warn and to guide in days yet to come.
368 THE CHUKCII AXD SLAVERY.
PEESBYTERIAN CIIFRCH ILLUSTRATIVE OF OTHERS.
To avoid prolixity, we shall not collate the sentiments
upon slavery of the several branches of the Church. The
views published from time to time by the Presbyterian
Church will probably show tlie opinions substantially of
the Charclies of all denominations in the country, — at
least for the first period, and to a great extent for the
second, — as explicitly as any other testimony. It Avas
formerly among the largest in the United States, and
extended into all parts of the country. It was divided
into nearly equal portions in 1838, not upon any geo-
graphical line, nor upon the subject of slavery. Both
branches, commonly known, after the separation, as Old
and New School, were still spread over the whole country,
and had each its General Assembly, in which the entire
body of each respectively was represented.
In 1857, a schism occurred in the New School Church,
purely u))on slavery, by a large portion of the delegates
from the South voluntarily withdrawing, and the Churches
they represented subsequently forming a separate organi-
zation. The New School Church, however, continued to
embrace Churches in the Border slave States, audits juris-
diction still extends there.
The Old School Church maintained its jurisdiction
intact down to the time of the rebellion. Its highest
judicatory, assembling annually, might then have been
composed of commissioners from every State in the Union
except Vermont and Rhode Island. When the rebellion
occurred, the Churches, Presbyteries, and Synods, in the
seceded States, cut loose from the " General xVssembly of
the United States," and formed a " General Assembly of
the Confederate States." The former still extends its
jurisdiction to the Churches formerly in its connection
EARLY TESTIMONY OF THE CHtJKCH. 369
throughout the loyal States, while it has never, by any
i'orraal act, renounced its jurisdiction to the Churches of
the seceded States.
It is essential that these facts should be borne in mind,
ill order to understand tlie testimony which this large
body of Christians has maintained upon the subject under
consideration.
FIRST PERIOD. — EARLY TESTIMO>rY OF THE CHURCH.
Going back to the year 1774, we find that in the high-
est judicatory of the Presbyterian Church (then the
Synod of New York and Philadelphia) " the subject of
negro slavery came up to be considered," and that " much
reasoning on the matter" occurred, resulting in the
appointment of a coumiittee to make a repoit; but no
further action appears to have been taken at that meeting.
In 1787, the Synod took their first formal action. A
committee made a report, in which these words occur :
It is more especially the duty of those who maintain the rights of
humanity, and who acknowledge and teach the obligations of Christi-
anity, to use such means as are in their power to extend the blessings of
equal freedom to every part of the human race. From a full conviction
of these truths, and sensible that the rights of human nature are too
well understood to admit of debate, Orertiired, That the Synod of New
York and Philadelphia recommend in the warmest terms, to every
member of their body, and to all the Churches and families under their
care, to do every thing in their power, consistent with the rights of
civil society, to promote the abolition of slavery, and the instruction of
the negroes, whether bond or free.
After full consideration, the body " came to the follow-
ing judgment," Avhich we give in part:
The Synod of New York and Philadelphia do highly approve of the
general principles of universal liberty that prevail in America, and the
interest which niayiy of the States have taken in promoting the ubolilion
vf daotry. * * * xhey earnestly recoaimend it to all the members
/
370 THE CHURCH AND SLAVEEY.
belonging to their communion, to give those persons who are at present
held in servitude such good education as to prepare them for the better
enjoyment of freedom. * * * [They also "recommend that masters"
V ould give their slaves] a peculiuui, or grant them sufficient time
and sufficient means of procuring their own liberty at a moderate rate,
that thereby they may be brought into society vrith those habits
of industry that may render them useful citizens ; and, finally, they
recommend it to all their people to use tlie most prudent measures,
consistent with the interest and the state of civil society, in the
counties where they live, to ptrocure eventually the final abolition of slavery
in America.
Ill 1793, "this decision was republished" as the act
and judgment of the General Assembly — that body having
been formed in 1787.
POLITICS AND RELIGION. A PROPHET.
The Constitution of the United States was submitted
to the people of the several States for ratification in 1787.
Its relations to slavery were canvassed by the people of
all classes, as they had been in the National and were in
the respective State conventions. We give a single tes-
timony, among many, showing the views of prominent
divines.
Rev. Dr. Hopkins, of Newpm't, Rhode Island, wrote to
Rev. Dr. Hart, of Preston, Connecticut, on the subject,
under date of January 29, 1788, as follows :
The new Constitution, you observe, guarantees this trade (the slave-
trade) for twenty years. I fear, if it be adopted, this will prove an
Achan in our camp. How does it appear in the sight of Heaven and
of all good men, well informed, that these States, who have been fight-
ing for liberty, and consider themselves as the highest and most noble
example of zeal for it, cannot agree in any political Constitutiou, unless
it indulge and authorize them to enslave their fellow-men 1 I think if
this Constitution be not adopted as it is, without any alteration, we
shall have none, and shall be in a state of anarchy, and probably of
civil war. Therefore, I wish to have it adopted ; but still, as I said,
J fear. And perhaps civil war will not be avoided, if it be adopted.
ACTION TTPOX A CASE SUBMITTED. 371
Verily, among the " giants in the earth in those Jays,"
there were some prophets. Dr. Hopkins, like a true seer,
" smelleth the battle afar oif." But he prophesied further.
The historian cannot more truly depict the scenes which
these latter days have witnessed in Congress, than they
are graphically drawn by that sagacious divine of nearly
a hundred years ago :
Ah ! these unclean spirits, like frogs, — they, like the Furies of the
poets, are spreading discord, and exciting men to contention and war,
wherever they go ; and they can spoil the best Constitution that can
he formed. When Congress shall be formed on the new plan, these
frogs will be there ; for they go forth to the kings of the earth, in the
first place. They will turn the members of that august body into
devils, so far as they are permitted to influence them.
He seems to have foreseen also, or at least feared, what
would come upon the Church as well as upon the State ;
though here, the reality has far exceeded, in these " last
times," the apprehensions expressed : " I suppose that
even good Christians are not out of the reach of influence
from these frogs. ' Blessed is he that watcheth and keep-
eth his giirments.' "
This is the same Dr. Hopkins, who, in conjunction with
Rev. Dr. Stiles, made " a representation," in 1774, to the
Synod of .New York and Philadelphia, which led to the
" first notice of the subject, the slavery question," taken
by the Presbyterian Church in the United States in her
highest court. The Minutes say : " The representation
and request relative to sending negro missionaries to
Africa, was taken into consideration, in consequence of
which the subject of negro slavery came to be con-
sidered."
ACTION UPON A CASE SUBMITTED.
In 1 795, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church took ftirther action upon an overture from the
17
372 THE CHUECH A2fD SLAVEEY.
Presbytery of Transylvania, in Kentucky. The case was
that of " a serious and conscientious person," who viewed
" the slavery of the negroes as a moral evU, highly offensive
to God, and injurious to the interests of the Gospel," and
who lived among those " who concurred with him in sen-
timent upon general principles, yet for particular reasons
held slaves, and tolerated the practice in others ;" and he
wished to know whether he should " hold Christian com-
munion with the latter."
The Assembly exhorted the man, and others similarly
situated, to " live in charity and peace according to the
doctrine and practice of the Apostles," and adds : " At
the same time, the General Assembly assure all the
Churches under their care, that they view with the deepest
concern any vestiges of slavery which may exist in our
country, and refer the Churches to the records of the
General Assembly, published at different times," as given
above.
The Assembly also address " a letter to the Presbytery
on the subject of the above overture," in which they
exhort to peace, and say that "the commissioners from
the Presbytery of Transylvania'are furnished with attested
copies" of the Assembly's " decisions, to be read by the
Presbytery when it shall appear to them proper ;" and
also, that "the General Assembly have taken every step
which they deemed exj^edient or wise, to encourage eman-
cipation., and to render the state of those who are in
slavery as mild and tolerable as possible."
ANOTHEB CASE ACTED UPON.
In 1815, the Assembly adopted another paper, founded
upon " the petition of some elders Avho entertained conscien-
tious scruples on the subject of holding slaves," and upon
another petition from " the Synod of Ohio concerning the
THE MOST ELABORATE TESTIMONY. 373
buying and selling of slaves." The paper of the Assembly
contains these sentences :
The General Assembly have repeatedly declared their cordial appro-
bation of those principles of civil liberty which appear to be recognized
by the Federal and State Governments in these United States. They
have expressed their regret that the slavery of the Africans, and of
their descendants, stiU continues in so many places, and even among
those within the pale of the Church, and have urged the Presbyteries
under their care to adopt such measures as will secure at least to the
rising generation of slaves, within the bounds of the Church, a religious
education, that they may be prepared for the exercise and enjoyment of
liberty, when God in His providence may open a door for their eman-
cipation.
The Assembly then refer the petitioners to the previous
action in 1787, 1793, and 1795.
THE MOST ELABORATE TESTIMOITT. 1818.
The paper adopted by the General Assembly of 1818 is
more frequently referred to and perhaps more generally
known than any other, as containing a more full and
pointed condemnation of the system than had been pre-
viously enacted. It was introduced by the presentation
of the following resolution : " Hesolved, That a person
who shall sell as a slave, a member of the Church, who
shall be at the time in good standing in the Church and
unwilling to be sold, acts inconsistently with the spirit of
Christianity, and ought to be debarred from the commu-
nion of the Church." The record then proceeds: "After
considerable discussion, the subject was committed to Dr.
Green, Dr. Baxter, and Mr. Burgess, to prepare a report
to be adopted by the Assembly, embracing the object of
the above I'esolution, and also expressmg the opinion of
the Assembly in general as to slavery." This committee
made a report which the record says '■^wa.s imafii/nousli/
adopted." The report is a long document, and although
t
374 THE CHUECH AND SLAVERY.
well known, we here give several paragraphs, to show the
views of the Assembly upon the character of slavery as a
system. The report begins as follows :
We consider the voluntary enslaving of one portion of the human
race by another as a gross violation of the most precious and sacred righ'
of human nature ; and as utterly inconsistent with the law of God, which
requires us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and as totally irreconcilable
with the spirit and pirinciples of the Gospel of Christ, which enjoin that
" all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them." Slavery creates a paradox in the moral system; it
exhibits rational, accountable, and immortal beings in such circum-
stances as scarcely to leave them the power of moral action. It exhib-
its them as dependent on the will of others, whether they shall receive
religious instruction ; whether they shall know and worship the true
God ; whether they shall enjoy the ordinances of the Gospel ; whether
they shall perform the duties and cherish the endearments of husbands
and wives, parents and children, neighbors and friends ; whether they
shall preserve their chastity and purity, or regard the dictates of justice
and humanity. Such are some of the consequences of slavery — con-
sequences not imaginary, but which connect themselves with its very exist-
ence. The evils to which the slave is always exposed, often take place
in fact, and in their very worst degree and form. ; and where all of them
do not take place, as we rejoice to say in many instances, through the
influence of the principles of humanity and religion on the mind of
masters, they do not, — still the slaveys deprived of his natural right,
degraded as a human being, and exposed to the danger of passing into
the hands of a master who may inflict upon him all the hardships and
injuries which inhumanity and avarice may suggest.
From this view of the consequences resulting from the practice into
which Christianpeople have most inconsistently fallen, of enslaving a portion
of their brethren of mankind, — for " God hath made of one blood all
nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth," — it is manifestly the
duty of all Christians who enjoy the light of the present day, when the
inconsistency of slavery, both with the dictates of humanity and religion, has
heen demonstrated, and is generally seen and acknowledged, to use their
honest, earnest, and unwearied endeavors, to correct the errors of former
times, and as speedily as possible to efface this blot on our holy religion, and
to obtain the complete abolition of slavery througJtout Christendom, and if
possible throughout the world.
THE MOST ELABORATE TESTIMONY. 3*75
We rejoice that the Church to which we belong commenced as early as
any other in this country, the good work of endeavoring to put an end to
slavery, and that in the same work many of its members have ever since
been, and now are, among the most active, vigorous, and efficient laborers.
"We do, indeed, tenderly sympathize with those portions of our Church
and of our country where tlie evil of slavery has been entailed upon
them ; where a great and the inost virtuous part of the community abhor
slavery, and wish its extermination as sincerely as any others — but where
the number of slaves, their ignorance, and their vicious habits generally,
render an immediate and universal emancipation inconsistent aUke with
the safety and happiness of the master and the slave. With those who are
thus circumstanced, we repeat that we tenderly sympathize. At the same
time we earnestly exhort them to continue, and if possible to increase their
exertions to effect a total abolition of slavery. "We exhort them to suffer no
greater delay to take place in this most interesting concern, than a
regard to the public welfare truly and indispensably demands.
As our country has inflicted a most grievous injury upon the unhappy
Africans, by bringing them into slavery, we cannot indeed urge that we
should add a second injury to the first, by emancipating them in such
manner as that they will be likely to destroy themselves or others. But
we do think that our country ought to be governed in this matter by
no other consideration than an honest and impartial regard to the happi-
ness of the injured party, uninfluenced by the expense or ijiconvenience which
such a regard may involve. "We, therefore, warn all who belong to our
denomination of Christians, against unduly extending this plea of necessity ;
against making it a cover for the love and practice of slavery, or a pre-
tence for not using efforts that are lawful and practicable to extinguish
this evil. And we, at the same time, exhort others to forbear harsh cen-
sures, and uncharitable reflections on their brethren, who unhappily
live among slaves whom they cannot immediately set free ; but whx), at
the same time, are really using all their influence, and aU their endeavors,
to bring them into a state of freedom, as soon as a door for it can be safely
opened. Having thus expressed our views of slavery, and of the duty
indispensably incumbent on all Christians to labor for its complete extinc-
tion, we proceed to recommend, and we do it with all the earnestness
and solemnity which this momentous subject demands, a particular
attention to the follovring points.
The foregoing embraces the chief portion of the report.
Thus, the most eminent men of the Presbyterian Church,
370 THE CrnjECH AND SLA VERT.
in lier highest court, including many of the most renowned
of that day from the South, who lived in the midst of
slavery, and knew whereof they affirmed, speak of sla\ery
as a system^ of what it a\';is before then- eyes : regarding
it as opposed both to humanity and religion, to the " law"
and " gospel" of God ; the wrong of which, to their view,
was "demonstrated," and was "generally seen and ac-
knowledged;" the." inconsistency" of which, as a " prac-
tice," among Christians, was manifest ; and, therefore, as
involving the inevitably resulting duty, to seek its "extinc-
tion" and " extermination," just " as speedily as possible."
The recommendations above referred to are : Firsts that
the American Colonization Society (for colonizing free
blacks in Africa) be encouraged, and they " exceedingly
rejoice to have witnessed its origin and organization among
the holders of slaves, as giving an unequivocal pledge of
their desire to deliver themselves and their country from
the calamity of slavery." Secondly, they recommend
to all " to facilitate and encourage the instruction of their
slaves in the principles and duties of the Christian religion."
Thirdly, they " enjoin it on all Church Sessions and Pres-
byteries, under the care of this Assembly, to discounte-
nance, and as far as possible to prevent, all cruelty of
whatever kind in the treatment of slaves, especially the
cruelty of separating husband and wife, parents and chil-
dren," etc.*
* The authorship of this celebrated report on slavery, of 1818, has been controverted,
some attributing it to Dr. Baxter, and some to Dr. Green. The point is easily settled,
Jit'st^ from the testimony of Dr. Oreen, the Chairman of the Cimimittee ; second,
from the testimony of Mr. Burgess, the only member of the Committee still living;
third, by Dr. J. D. Paxton, u member of that Assemblj-; all of whom agree. Dr.
Green. \t^ his autobiography, makes the following statement on the point: "I was a
commissioner this year (1S18) to the General Asseniblj'." "Among other things,
I psiiTied the minute on the subject of slavery, which is yet referred to by those who
are hostile to African slavery." In a recent letter from Mr. Burgess to the
■writer, is found some interesting items in the history of this paper. Though the
CHAEACTERISTICS OF THE PAPER OF 1818. 377
CHARACTERISTICS OP THE PAPER OF 1818.
Some things regarding the foregoing document should
here be noted, which strikingly illustrate the sentiments of
the Church and of the country, at that period, upon th"-
institution of slavery as a system.
1. It will be difficult to find in the English language a
more direct and decided condemnation of the system than
is here given. Even the most ultra abolitionists have
never expressed themselves more emphatically. They
have used harsher language, and they have had no such
bowels of compassion as the Assembly felt, in view of the
practical difficulties which beset the whole subject in any
attempt to rid the country of the institution ; but upon the
simple matter of disapprobation of the system, and of the
duty of endeavoring " to obtain the complete abolition of
slavery throughout Christendom, and if possible through-
out the world," the General Assembly here go as far as
the farthest.
2. This paper was adopted unanimously. The Church
was well represented from the South, and there were pres-
letter is a private one, he takes the liberty of quoting from it. Mr. Bur^esa,
it will be seen, introduced the subject to the notice of the Assembly, and thus
"occasioned" its action. He says: '• I was a member of what was then the Presby-
tery of Miami, when I presented the paper against slavery. The Committee which
reported the paper, commonly called the paper of 1818, were Dr. Green, Dr. Baxter,
and myself. Drs. Green and Baxter made out the report before consulting me on
the subject; so that I am not responsible for the report i.t all, except that I occa-
sioned it." He further says : " I was sent to the General Assembly, where I pre-
sented my paper, having first consulted Dr. Joshua L. Wilson, of Cincinnati, also
Dr. Robert G. Wilson, of Chillicothe, Dr. Hoge, of C-oliimbus, and Dr. Mathew Brown,
then President of Washington College, Penn. When I laid in my paper before the
Committee of Bills and Overtures, it was not reported. Then I toolc an appeal,
agreeably to the advice of President Bt-owd, and Rev. John Thompson, and others.
My appeal was sustained, and thus the paper was brought before the Assembly. Dr.
Green moved that the subject be given to a Committee of three ministers." Dr.
Paston, who was a member of the Assembly of 1818, and also of the Assembly of
1864. bears the same testimony, in a letter we have seen, to the authorship of the
paper, ascribing it to Dr. Green.
378 THE CHUKCII AND SLAVERY.
ent in the Assembly the following distinguislied persons,
among the clergy : Drs. Coe, Romeyn, Green, Jauewuy,
Ely, Chester, and Jennings, from the North, and Drs.
Edgar, Witberspoon, and Leland, from the South, all of
whom have at some time been Moderators of the Assem-
bly; and also from the North, Drs. Fitch, Lansing,
McClelland, Geo. C. Potts, Cathcart, Matthew Brown,
Dnffield, and Messrs. Burges, and Dickey, and from the
South, Drs. Paxton, Baxter, Speece, Morrison, Mclver,
Nathan H. Hall, and Mr. James K. Burch, besides many
others from both sections, of no doubt equal ability.
3. While this paper expressed the solemn judgment of
the Chm-ch in all partes of the land, it also expressed the
opinions substantially vvhich were entertained by the most
disiinguished statesmen of every portion of the country,
and by the people generally. This is too well known to
be questioned.
4, It is no doubt true, also, that this is a fair i-epresenta-
tion of the views of all other denominations of Christians.
It would be quite remarkable that so large and influential
a body as the Presbyterian Church, extending at that time
into nearly every State and Territory of the Union, should
express, through its highest court, a unanimous judgment
in terms of such pointed condeumation of slavery, and at
the same time not exhibit in such action the general senti-
ment of other denominations.
SECOND PERIOD. MORE " CONSERVATIVE" VIEWS.
We come now to the second period in the history of
opinions on tlie subject of slavery. We find them first
officially brought to view, so far as the action of the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church is con-
cerned, in the year 1836. The reader will have noticed
a complete uniformity in sentiment from 1787 to 1818,
MORE "CONSERVATIVE" VIEWS. 379
embodying clisiipprobaLiou of the system ija each of the
several instances in which a judgment was expressed, the
main difference being in the more extended expression of
views m the paper ado})ted 1818. The Church appears to
have been satisfied with this judgment for many years, for
we find no further action of any kind upon the subject till
the year 1830 ; so that, in round numbers, we may say that
such had been its views for a period of fifty years; though,
undoubtedly, the transition had been in operation for some
time.
The modification of these opinions in the Church at the
North, which we have said presents a characteristic of the
second period, is in an opposite direction to that commonly
supposed.
No statement has been more frequently made since the
beginning of the rebellion than this : that the Northern
Church has plunged the country into this civil war ; that
" political preachers have abolitionized the Church and the
people ;" that, during the last thirty years, the Northern
mind had, under their tutelage chiefly, been educated up
to a point of unbearable hostility to slavery ; that this has
been the course of action in the judgments expressed by
leading ecclesiastical bodies ; so that the South were
actually pushed into their present attitude in pure self-
defence ; and that, to defend themselves against modern
opinions, led to the disruption of ecclesiastical bodies, and
finally to secession and war. Tliese charges have formed
the staple of a certain style of oratory upon the stump and
in Congress, both from the North and the South, and the
substance of many editorials in a certain class of public
journals.
Now it so happens that the facts are the precise reverse
of this, so far as the action of many of the large b >dies of
Christians and t!ie opinions of many of the leading men in
380 THE CHUECn AND SLAVERY.
every brancli of the Northera Church are concerned.
Whether it be a matter for rejoicing or moarning, the fact
is undeniable, — as shown by official documents of rehgioiis
bodies, and by the formal utterances of leading divines, —
that during this very period of the last thirty years previous
to the rebellion, instead of the Church and these influential
classes of the people becoming, as charged, " more and
more abolitionized," there was a very marked abatement
in their opinions and in their course of action in opposition
to slavery, — judged from the stand-point of 1818, — and a
disposition frequently manifested to concede to the South,
in both sentiment and action, that which placed the
Church, in the judgment of Southern divines, in decided
antagonism to the whole current of its former testimonies.
ACTION POSTPONED. 1836.
The proof is indisputable. The first example we take
from the action of the Presbyterian Church. Its testimony
of 1818 had become practically a dead letter. "The sub-
ject being pressed on its attention by various memorials,"
the General Assembly, in 1836, adopted this minute:
Inasmuch as the Constitution of the Bresbyterian Church, in its pre-
liminary and fundamental principles, declares that no Church judicatory
ought to pretend to make laws, to bind the conscience, in virtue of their
own authority; and as the urgency of the business of the Assembly,
and the shortness of the time during which they can continue in session,
render it impossible to deliberate and decide judiciously on the subject
of slavery in its relations to the Church ; therefore, Resolved, That this
whole subject be indefinitely postponed.
What a marked contrast appears between this action
and that of former years ; and wherefore? The "funda-
mental principles" of the Presbyterian Church were the
same as formerly. The Assembly had just as much
" authority to make laws" and " to bind the conscience"
ACTION POSTPONED. — 1836. 381
as thcv ever had, aud the institution on which they were
called to speak was the same in character ; at least it had
not impiovedj though it had extended its borders and was
becoming a mighty power in the land. It is no doubt true
that "the urgency of the business" was great. It was
just then that the disputes between the Old and New
School were culminating. But the length of " time during
which" they could " continue in session" was within their
own keeping.
There is something very significant in the statement that
It was " impossible to deliberate and decide judiciously
on the subject of slavery in its relations to the Church."
What was there which demanded special circumspection
just then, lest they should pronounce unadvisedly ? Were
not their previous testimonies most explicit? If they
deemed them right, how much " time" would it have taken
simply to refer the memorialists to them as still their sen-
timents, as representatives of the Church, as had been done
several times before ? This would have required fewer
words than were employed to justify indefinite postpone-
ment. If their previous action was wrong, it should have
been revoked, however much time might have been
required, for it touched and decided a most radical ques-
tion in morals and religion. Granting what was of course
true, that the Assembly had no authority " to make laws,"
they could certainly declare the law of God on the subject,
and this was all that was requisite.
The truth is, that the views of the whole subject enter-
tauied by many iu the Assembly representing the South-
ern section of the Church had undergone a change. Some
were in a transition state, and some had totally reversed
their opinions; so that, at this time, the doctrines of 1818
began to be odious to Southern men. They were not
ready to make open war upon those doctrines in the
382 THE CHUECH AND SLAVERY.
Assembly, as tliey were begiuning to do through ti.e
Southern press, but it would have been hazardous to
attempt at that time a reaffirmation of them.
FOEMAL " comseevative" actio:n' OF 1 845.
The next formal declaration of sentiment made by the
General Assembly was iu 1845.* Seven years before this
* The committee to whom were referred the memorials on the subject of slavery,
beg leave to submit the following report:
(n) The memorialists may be divided into three classes, viz. : 1. Those which
rer-)rescnt the system of slavery, as it exists in these United States, as a great evil,
and pray this General Assembly to adopt measures for the amelioration of the con-
dition of the slaves. 2. Those which ask the Assembly to receive memorials on the
subject of slavery, to allow a full discussion of it, and to enjoin upon the members
of our Church, residing in States whose laws forbid tlie slaves being taught to read,
to seek by all lawful means the repeal of those laws. 3. Those which represent
slavery as a moral evil, a heinous sin in the sight of God, calculated to bring upon
the Church the curse of God, and calling for the exercise of discipline in the case of
those who persist in maintaining or justifying the relation of master to slaves.
{h) The question which is now unhappily agitating and dividing other branches
of the Church, and which is pi'essed upon the attention of the Assembly by one of
the three classes of memorialists just named, is, whether the holding of slaves is,
under all circumstances, a heinous sin, calling for the discipline of the Church.
(c) The Church of Christ is a spiritual body, whose jurisdiction extends to the
religious faith and moral conduct of her members. She cannot legislate where
Christ has not legislated, nor make terms of membership which he has not made.
The question, therefore, which this Assembly is called to decide, is this: Do the
Scriptures teach that the holding of slaves, without regard to circumstances, is a sin,
the renunciation of which should be made a condition of membership in the Church
ofOlirist? '
(d) It is impossible to answer this question in the affirmative, without contra-
dicting some of the plainest declarations of the word of God. That slavery existed
in the days of Christ and His Apostles is an admitted fact. That they did not
denounce the relation itself as sinful, as inconsistent with Christianity; that slave-
holders wore admitted to membership in the Churches organized by the Apostles;
that whilst they were required to treat their slaves with kindness, and as rational,
accountable, immortal beings, and, if Christians, as brethren in the Lord, they were
not commanded to emancipate them; that slaves were required to be "obedient to
their masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, with singleness of
heart as unto Christ," are facts which meet the eye of every reader of the New Tes-
tament This Assembly cannot, therefore, denounce the holding of slaves as neces-
sarily a heinous and scandalous sin, calculated to bring upon the Church the curse
of God, without charging the Apostles of Christ with conniving at sin, introducing
into the Church such sinners, and thus bringing upon them the curse of the
Almighty.
(e) In so saying, however, the Assembly are not to be understood as denying that
FORMAL " C0N"SEEVATIVE" ACTION OF 1845. 383
the division into 'New and Old School had occurred, and
therefore the action of which we now speak was that of
the latter body only. Both still extended into the
Southern States, though the Old School had much the
there is evil connected with slavery. Much less do they approve those defective
and oppressive laws by which, in some of the Slates, it is regulated. Nor would
they by any means countenance the traffic in slaves for the salve of gain ; the separa-
tion of husbands and wives, parents and children, for the sake of " filthy lucre," or
t:>v the convenience of the master; or cruel treatment of slaves, in any respect.
Every Christian and philanthropist certainly should seek, by all peaceable and law-
rful means, the repeal of unjust and oppressive laws, and the amendment of such aa
are defective, so as to protect the slaves from cruel treatment by wicked men, and .
secure to them the right to receive religious instruction.
(/) Nor is the Assembly .to be understood as countenancing the idea that masters
may rogard their servants as mere property, and not as human beings, rational,
accountable, immortal. The Scriptures prescribe not only the duties of servants,
but of masters also, warning the latter to discharge those duties, "knowing that
their Master is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with Him."
(g) The Assembly intend simply to say, that since Christ and His inspired Apos-
tles did not make the holding of slaves a bar to communion, we, as a court of Christ,
have no authority to do so ; since they did not attempt to remove it from the
Church by legislation, we have no authority to legislate on the subject. We feel
constrained further to say, that however desirable it may be to ameliorate the con-
dition of the slaves in tlie Southern and Western States, or to remove slavery from
our country, these objects, we are fully persuaded, can never be secured by ecclesi-
astical legislation. Much less can they be attained by those indiscriminate denun-
ciations against slaveholders, without regard to their character or circumstances,
which have to so great an extent characterized the movements of modern abolition-
ists, which, so far from removing the evils complained of, tend only to perpetuate
and aggravate them. The Apostles of Christ sought to ameliorate the condition of
slaves, not by denouncing and excommunicating their masters, but by teaching both
masters and slaves the glorious doctrines of the Gospel, and enjoining upon each
the discharge of their relative duties. Thus only can the Church of Christ, as such,
now improve the condition of the slaves in our country.
(h) As to the extent of the evils involved in slavery, and the best methods of
removing them, various opinions prevail, and neither the Scriptures nor our Consti-
tution authorize this body to prescribe any particular course to be pursued by the
Churches under our care. The Assembly cannot but rejoice, however, to learn that
the Ministers and Churches in the slavehoiding States are awaking to a deeper
sense of their obligation to extend to the slave, population generally the means of
grace, and many slaveholders not professedly religious favor this object. We
earnestly exhort them to abound more and more in this good work. We would
exhort every believing master to remember that his Master is also in heaven, and,
in view of all the circumstances in which he is placed, to act in the spirit of tne
golden rule : " Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even the samo
to them."
384 THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
larger membei'sliip tliere, and its Churches were located
in every part of the South.
As our purpo.se here is chiefly historical, and as we aim
merely to show a change in sentiment in the Church, we
need not stop to discuss the merits of this or any other
paper which the Assembly has from time to time adopted, >,
This paper shows, however, marked concessions to the
extremists of the South, as compared with the Assembly's
earlier action, and has uniformly been so interpreted by
Southern members.*
In view of the above stated principles and facts.
Resolved, 1. That the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church In the
United States was originally organized, and has since continued the bond of union
in the Church, upon the conceded principle that the existence of domestic slavery,
under the circumstances in which it is found in the Southern portion of the country,
is no bar to Christian communion.
2. That the petitions that ask the Assembly to make the holding of slaves In itself
a matter of discipline, do virtually require this judicatory to dissolve itself, and
abandon the organization under which, by the Divine blessing, it has so long pros-
pered. The tendency is evidently to separate the Northern from the Southern por-
tion of the Church ; a result which every good citizen must deplore, as tending to
the dissolution of the Union of our beloved country, and which every enlightened
Christian will oppose, as bringing about a ruinous and unnecessary schism between
brethren wlio maintain a common faith.
The yeas and nays being ordered, were recorded. [Teas, 168 ; nays, 13 ; excused, 4]
* Eeferring directly to the Act of 1S15, the " General Assembly of the Confederate
States," in their "Address to all the Churches throughout the Earth," written by
Dr. Thornwell, and "adopted unanimously by the Assembly," say: "The Presby-
terian Church in the United States has been enabled, by divine grace, to pursue,
for the most part, an eminently conservative, because a thoroughly Scriptural,
policy in relation to this delicate question. It has planted itself upon the word of
God, and utterly refused to make slaveholding a sin, or non-slaveholding a term of
communion." This explicit reference to the Act of 1845 was made at Augusta,
Georgia, December, 1861. To show how the Act of 1818 is regarded at the South, —
an Act eiecepied from the above commendation by the words, "for the most part," —
we refer to the Southern Presbyterian Review, April, 1861, which says: "It was
during this period that the various religious bodies made their deliverances on the
subject of slavery, and among them the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church adopted, in ISIS, a series of resolutions looking very earnestly toward the
gradual emancipation of the slaves. These resolutions were drawn up by Southern
men, who were themselves slaveholders, and they were passed by the votes of
Southern ministers and elders. With reference to other denomiuntions, a rigid
adherence to the modes of thought and feeling of those d.iys has led to the disrup-
tion of the Churches; while the Old School Presbyterian Church, commonly
CONTRAST. — ACTI02T OF 1818 AND 1845. 380
This characteristic of the paper may be seen at a glance.
The strongest expressions wliich it contains against slavery
as a system are these :
In saying so, however, the Assembly are not to be understood as
denying that there is evil connected with slavery. Much less do they
approve those defective and oppressive laws by which, in some of the
States, it is regulated. Nor would they by any means countenance
the traffic in slaves for the sake of gain; the separation of husbands
and wives, parents and children, for the sake of '"lilthy lucre," or for
the convenience of the master; or cruel treatment of slaves, in any
respect. * * * Xor is the Assembly to be understood as counte-
nancing the idea that masters may regard their servants as mere prop-
erty, and not as human beings, rational, accountable, immortal. * * *
As to the extent of the evils involved in slavery, and the best methods
of removing them, various opinions prevail, and neither the Scriptures
nor our Constitution authorize this body to prescribe any particular
course to be pursued by the Churches under our care,
CONTRAST. ACTION OF 1818 AND 1845.
The reader need only compare these tender sentences
with the (jreat burden of condemnation in the paper of
1818, to see that here is a most noticeable modification
from that expressed twenty-seven years before. The two
papers are very nearly of the same length, and present the
following strikiug points of contrast :
1. In the pajier of 1818, the Assembly speak in positives.
They deal with the system^ and pronounce it "utterly
inconsistent with the law of God," and as " totally irrecon-
cilable with the spirit and principles of the Gospel of
Christ ;" and say, " Slavery creates a paradox in the
moral system," and that "the slave is deprived of his
natural right, degraded as a human being," etc. These
K-jarded as so tenacious of the past, and even reproached as a fossil Chnrch, and
her doctrines derided as fossil Christianity, has had the wisdom given her to under-
stand the progress of events, and to keep fully abreast of the age. The action of
1.S18 still stands upon her records, iwt as the law, bot tub histokt of the subject;
and Southern Presbyterians are well conteut that it should so stand "
Jth6 THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
positives condemn the thing 171 its essence, and assert a
radical deprivaiion in the concrete as attaching to " the
slave" in person, and that too in every case, as shown by
the exceptions referred to. In the paper of 1845, in
spenking of the system, the Assembly deal in negatives ^
and so far as they find any thing to disapprove, it is not
at all in the thing, but wholly in what they deem its mere
adjuncts. The farthest they can go is to wish " 7iut to be
understood as denying that there is evil connected vMh
slavery." They utter no direct condemnation of the " op-
pressive laws" of slavery, but are content with saying,
"much less do they approve" of them. They do not
■positively condemn even " the traffic in slaves for the sake
of gain," — which always has been the life, soul, and power
of the whole system, — nor even "the separation of hus-
bands and wives, parents and children, for the sake of
' filthy lucre,' or for the convenience of the master ; or
cruel treatment of slaves, in any respect;" but the utmost
they feel called upon to say about these crying evils is,
" nor toould they by any means countenance them !" The
whole style of dealing with the institution shows that
they were bent on giving " a soft answer" to the memo-
ri.dists, as it " turneth away the wrath" of Southern ex-
tremists.
2. The paper of 1818 styles "enslaving a portion of
their brethren of mankind" as a '•'• pyactice into which
Cliristian people have most inconsistently fallen^'' and
declares that " the inconsistency of slavery both with the
dictates of humanity and religion has been demonstrated,
and is generally seen and acknowledged." The paper of
1845 admits the consistency of this "practice" with
Christian character, asserting that the denial of this posi-
tion is against " some of the plainest declarations of the
Word of God."
CONTEAST. ACTIOX OF 1818 AN^D 1845. 387
3. The Assembly of 1818, starting from their position
last noticed, declare that " it is manifestly the duty of all
Christians who enjoy the light of tlie preseut day," " to
use their honest, earnest, and unwearied endeavors, * * *
to obtain the com2jlete abolition of slavery throughout
Cluistendom, and if possible throughout the world." The
Assembly of 1845, starting from their own position, arrive
as naturally at an opposite conclusion. They have not
even a single " soft'''' tcorcl for emancipation, but some
that are not so soft against " the movements of modern
abolitionists," charging them with "indiscriminate denun-
ciations."
4. The Assembly of 1818 believed that the Church
could do much towards ridding the country and the whole
world of slavery; hence they urge action to this end
upon their members. They moreover "rejoice that the
Church" they represented "commenced as early as any
other in this country the good work of endeavoring to
put :m end to slavery, and that in the same work many
of its members have ever since been, and now are, among
the most active, vigorous, and efficient laborers ;" and they
"earnestly exhort" their members in the South "to con-
tinue, and, if possible, to increase their exertions to«effect
a total abolition of slavery." The whole drift of the
paper of 1845 is to afford palliatives to the system, to make
those concerned in it contented with their lot, and not
the remotest wish is directly and positively expressed that
the Church or the country may ever be rid of it, but
rather the efforts of the Church to remove it are positively
discouraged. This will be seen from the only sentence
in which emancipation is in any manner alluded to : " We
feel constrained further to say, that however desirable it
may be to ameliorate the condition of the slaves in the
Southern and Western States, or to remove slavery from
388 THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
the country, these objects, we are folly persuaded, can
never be secured by ecclesiastical legislation."
We have already said that our object here does not
lead us to examine the merits of these papers, to deter-
mine which is more consonant with the word of God.
We aim in this comparison simply to show their contra-
riety, and to present it as one of the items of evidence to
prove that the Church had greatly abated in its opposi-
tion to slavery, during the very period with which she is
charged with having provoked the South by her abolition
sentiments. A great deal of discussion has taken place
upon these papers, and some have attempted to show that
they maintain the same bearing towards slavery. This
dispute may be continued tiU doomsday, and it will still
be true, as long as there is any force in language, that in
the latter there is evinced a great letting down in the feel-
^>^9 ^f opposition to the system, as compared with the
former.
This comparison of the language, — along with the fact
that the paper of 1818 passed unanimously, while that of
1845 had only thirteen nays, with four excused from
voting, against one hundred and sixty-eight yeas, and the
further notorious fact that the S6uth always claimed this
as a triumph, — shows that at this time the Presbyterian
Church had gone fir in yielding to the wishes of extre-
mists among Southern divines ; just as Northern statesmen
had gone in yielding to the statesmen of the South.
ACTION OF 1846. DECLARATION OF AGREEMENT.
We of course notice the action of subsequent Assem-
blies, to see what view was entertained by them of the
respective papers of 1818 and 1845. So manifest was it
to a large portion of the Presbyterian Church, both North
and South, that the interpretation we have given is cor-
ACTION OF 1840 — DECLARATION OF AGREEMENT. 389
rect, that the Assembly of 1846 was besieged to make a
deliverance, by "a collection of petitions and memorials
on the subject of slavery." The following report was
made :
Our Church has from time to time, during a period of nearly sixty
years, expressed its views on the subject of slavery. During all this
period it has held and uttered substantially the same sentiments. Be-
lieving that this uniform testimony is true, and capable of vindication
from the word of God, the Assembly is at the same time clearly of the
opinion that it has already deliberately and solemnly spoken on this
subject with sufficient fulness and clearness. Therefore, Etsolved, that
no further action upon this subject is at present needed. * * * *
The following amendment was offered and laid on the table, viz. : " Ex-
cept to say, that the action of the Assembly of 1845 is not understood
by this Assembly to deny or rescind the testimony that has been ut-
tered by the General Assembly previous to that date." The question
was then taken on the report, when the ayes and noes were called for,
and are as follows: ayes, 119; noes, 33.
Subsequently, it appears, the same gentleman who of-
fered the amendment which had been tabled, presented
the following resolution, Avhich " was adopted without
division :"
Eesolved, That in the judgment of this house, the action of the
General Assembly of 1845 was not intended to deny or rescind the
testimony often uttered by the General Assemblies previous to that
date.
Those who are at all acquainted with deliberative bodies,
know that they, as truly as individuals, are subject to
moods and humors, and that it is often difficult to divine the
motive for their votes, or the influences at work to produce
them. An illustration is before us. It is not easy to
understand why the Assembly should table so important
an amendment, and afterwards pass it in precisely the same
words, so far as its essence is concerned. It does not
appear from the Digest (from which our extracts are taken),
at vvhat stage of the proceedings the resolution passed. It
390 THE CHUECII AND SLAVERY,
may have been near the close, when, as often observed,
business is pressing, members are inattentive, or many
have retired from the body, or when some are bent on
carrying some special measure of their own, and are usino-
the lever employed among politicians in "log-rolling;"
circumstances under which, in all deliberative bodies, eccle-
siastical not excluded, important measures are sometimes
" put through."*
But put any construction which is allowable upon these
proceedings, including the original report (wldch, how-
ever, had a large minority ngainst it), and the most remark-
able thing of all is, that the Assembly should have deemed
the sentiments uttered " on the subject of slavery" " durino-
a period of nearly sixty years" as " substantially the same ;"
and, therefore, not disagreeing with those expressed in
1 845 — provided that is what indeed they meant. A decla-
ration, however, to that effect, does not make it evident,
even though made by the General Assembly. The terms,
palliatives, tone, spirit, negations, omissions, of the paper
of 1845, and the regard paid to it universally in the Souths
all serve to show, as does the judgment of a vast number
in tiie North, that it embodies principles in conflict with
those so plainly declared in 1818. The case is clear, if the
language m these respective papeis is not to be taken in a
sense wholly diplomatic. But there is a far more conclu-
sive proof, if the action of the Assembjy is to be taken as
* " We all know and admit that a vote of the Assembly does not always express
even the settled conviction cjf that body itself. Such votes are often given hastily,
without due consideration, or from motives not affecting the principle involved in
the case decided. At the end of the session, to avoid discussion, or to save time,
things are often passed, or passed over, which, under other circumstances, would
have met a different fate. It is also to be considered, that all who vote for a partic-
ular measure do not commo:;ly do SO for the same reasons. A vote to lay a resolu-
tion on the table is not decisive evidence that those who joined in it sanctioned the
arguments of the speakers by whom the measure was advocated." — Princeton Be-
View on the General Asseitibly 0/1859.
AlSrOTHER COXTKAST, 1818 A2^D 1849. 391
decisive, that these papers are materially discordant.
Beforo referring to it, however, (1863), we must examine
other deliverances in their order.
AXOTHER CONTRAST. 1818 AND 1849.
The next paper adopted by the General Assembly was
in 1849. It originated in three memorials, one pi'aying
the Assembly " not only to declare slavery to be a sin, but
to enjoin upon all inferior courts a course of discipline
which v.'ill remove it from our Church ;" a second, " asking
the Assembly to aj^point a committee to collect and report
to the next Assembly, statistics on this subject, and digest
a plan of abolition to be adopted by our Church ;" and the
third, "asking the Assembly to alter sundry terms and
passages in the act of 1845, relating to slavery." Upon
these memoiials, the Assembly adopted the following
paper :
(1.) That the principles of the Presbyterian Church on the subject of
slavery are already set forth in repeated declarations, so full and so
explicit as to need no further exposition. (2.) That in view of the civil
and domestic nature of tliis institution, and the competency of secular
Legislatures alone to remove it, and in view of the earnest inquiry and
deep agitation on the subject, which we now observe in one or more
commonwealths of our country where slavery exists, it be considered
peculiarly improper and inexpedient for this General Assembly to
attempt or propose measures in the work of emancipation. (3.) That
all necessary and proper provision is already made, for the just exercise
of discipline upon those who neglect or violate the mutual duties of
master and servant ; and the General Assembly is always ready to
enforce these provisions, where the unfaithfulness of any inferior court
is made manifest, by record, or appeal, or complaint. (4.) We rejoice to
believe that the action of former Assemblies, so far from aiding or
allowing the iniquitous oppression of man by his fellow-man, has been
steadily promoting amelioration in the condition of slaves, by winning
the conSdence of masters, in our freedom from fanaticism, and by stim-
ulating the slaveholder and his pastor alike, to labor in the religious
392 THE CHUKCH AND SLAVERY.
instruction of the blacks. (5.) That it be enjoined on Presbyteries
situated in slaveholdirig States to continue and increase their exertions
for the religious instruction of slaves, and to report distinctly, in their
annual narratives to the General Assembly, the state of religion among
the colored population.
A careful examination will show that this paper presents
points of decided contrast to that of 1818. It indeed says
that " the principles" of the Church on this subject as pre-
viously " set forth" are " so full and so explicit as to need
no further exposition ;" but this is very different from ex-
plicitly adopting them. If, however, it be maintained that
this is equivalent to an approval, it is very plain that otiier
" principles" are here introduced directly antagonistic to
t'liose of the earher paper; or, at the very least, discour-
agements are presented to the most important action which
that paper urged upon the Church. For example, in 1849,
"the civil and domestic nature" of slavery, " and the com-
petency of secular Legislatures alone to remove it," apjDear
to have been discovered, and are deemed obstacles tt>
emancipation. But its "nature" and its civil status were
always the same ; and while it was true that " secular
Legislatures" aloyie could remove^it as a whole from their
respective States^ it was also ti-ue that individuals might
at any time lemove it from themselves^ and from the Church,
had they chosen to make the sacrifice. If the laAVs required
emancipated slaves to be removed beyond the preciucts of
the State, it was only a question of dollars and cents where
there was a disposition to emancipate. On the well-known
ground of individual ability, even under sacrifices, — as
well as the influence of the Church, if rightly directed, to
bring about emancipation in the State at large, — emanci-
pation is urged in 181S, and members are exhorted to it,
" uninflaenced by ilie expense or inconvenience" which it
"may involve;" and tliey are warned "against unduly
A PEOTEST. — ACTION OF 1845 EQUIVOCAL. 393
extending this plea of necessity," and " against making it
a cover for the love and practice of slavery, or a pretence
for not using efforts that are lawful and practicable to
extinguish this evil."
A PROTEST. — ACTION OF 1845 EQUIVOCAL.
By what vote the paper of 1849 passed, we do not know ;
undoubtedly by a very large one, as we find a protest to
the action recorded, signed by only four members. If
this expresses the full strength of the minority, then it
presents palpable evidence that the abatement from at least
some of "the principles" announced in 1818 largely per-
vaded the Church, and completely overthrows the position
taken by extremists of the South and their Northern sym-
pathizers,— so far as this large and influential body of
Christians is concerned, spread over the entire country, —
that the Church is mainly responsible for " abolitionizing
the country;" for, during the very period in which it is
charged that abolition was growing, so as to extenuate the
crime if not to justify the South in ultimate rebellion, the
Church was decidedly more " conservative" in its leaning
towards Southern opinion, and far more lenient towards
its members for their neglect of what was deemed a solemn
duty, thirty years before, concerning the whole subject of
emancipation.
This protest has another value in reference to the ques-
tion immediately in hand. It states what no member of
the Assembly ventured to deny, what indeed was notorious,
what has been verified to the last, and what constituted
the ground of " asking the Assembly to alter sundry terms
and passages in the act of 1845," viz. : " The true position
of our Chiu-ch, in regard to this subject, which is evidently
one of overwhelming importance, is not known witli cer-
tainty either by all its ministers or members, or by the
394 THE CHUECII AND SLAVERY.
world at large ; some affirming that the Church sanctions
slavery as an institution having the iiioral approbation of
God ; and others, that it condemns it."
This fact is as clear and true as any other fact before the
public : that there has been a very prevalent opinion in the
Church, both North and South, — the South rejoicing in it,
a portion of the Northern members lamenting it, another
portion rejoicing in it for the South's sake, and others con-
ceding it for the sake of peace, — that the. paper of 1845
was a large concession to the South from the previous
stand taken by the Church. So much is undeniable, as a
siiuple fact. Now it would be quite remarkable if all thess
classes and persons were mistaken about the bearing of
that paper. It would be equivalent to mistaking their
own positive convictions. As the passage of the Kansas-
Nebraska bill was regarded as a political triumph to thi'
South by Southern statesmen, so the adoption of the paper
of 1845 was hailed as an ecclesiastical triumph by South-
ern divines. This ought of itself to be conclusive. An
examination of the document shows that this opinion was
well founded.
ACTIOX OF 1861. SYNOD Ot' SOUTH CAROLINA.
Passing by the action of 1850, the next in the order of
time, in which the Assembly simply declare that tht-ir
"previous and repeated declarations are such as to render
any action unnecessary," we come down to the Asseml)Iy
of 1861. This Assembly made no formal deliverance upon
slavery, but referred certain memorialists "to all the deli-
verances of the General Assembly on this subject from
1818 to the present time." We find, however, in the pro-
ceedings of this Assembly, proof of an official character
that the Synod of South Carolina regarded the act of 1818
as "virtually rescinded" by the act of 1845. Tiiis, as we
ACTION OF 1863. REPUDIATION OF 1845. 395
have said, was but the connion opinion of the South. The
Synod put this, in form, into their records, and this decla-
ration was made the basis of an exception to their approval
by the Assembly.
ACTION OF 1863. REPUDIATION OF 1845.
The next action upon slavery was by the Assembly of
1863. It furnishes the most incontrovertible testimony to
the position which we have maintained, — founded in the
direct and formal action of the Assembly itself, — that a
wide difference, in their judgment, was manifest between
the acts of 1818 and 1845; that, in flict, the latter was a
concession to Southern opinion, or an abatement from
former testimonies, which they could not approve. This
Assembly made a deliverance upon slavery in response to
" a request" from a single Presbytery in Illinois, contain-
ing but eight ministers. Under the remarkable circum-
stances of the times, when slavery had demonstrated its
character and aims, and had plunged thirty millions of
people into a civil war, which has no parallel in history, —
then raging for two years, — all for the purpose of " per-
petuating and extending" the institution, and founding a
Government of which it should be the " corner stone," —
and when all the members from the rebel States had with-
drawn from the Church, so that the members in the loyal
States had all the power in their own hands,- — the utmost
that the Assembly of 1863 found it in their hearts to do,
and all they actually did, and all that any Presbytery in
the whole Church requested them to do, and that too a
solitary and a small one, was to " reaffirm the testimony
of 1818 ;" simply to set forth anew those very principles in
terms on which their fathers had planted themselves forty-
five years before, and to say no worse things of the system
18
396 THE CHURCH AND SLAVEEY.
which hail wrought out such teirible results than those
venerated men hn.d authorizeil by their example.
Nor was the action of 1863 taken " unanimously," as was
thiit of 1 81 8. There was a minority of several votes against
it, and some of this minority were from the free States ;
thus showing, that even in the midst of civil war caused
by slavery, the Church in the loyal States was not as
"radical" as were the fathers of the Church in the whole
country in 1818, and showing therefore the utter baseless-
ness of the charge that the rebellion was provoked by
"abolitionizing the Church."
Now observe how the Assembly of 1863 regarded the
paper of 1845. They say:
The Assembly has, from the first, uttered its sentiments on the sub-
ject of slavery in substantially the same language. The action of 1818
was taken with more care, made more clear, full, and explicit, and waa
adopted unanimously. It has since remained that true and Scriptural
deliverance on this important subject, by which our Church is deter-
mined to abide. It lias never been repealed, amended, or modified, but
has frequently been referred to, and reiterated in subsequent Assem-
blies. And when some persons fancied that the action of 1845 in some
way interfered with it, the Assembly of 1846 declared, with much
vinanimit}', that the action of 1845 was not intended to deny or rescind
the testimony on the subject previously uttered by General Assemblies;
and by these deliverances we si ill abide.
This is rather plain language, and veiy much like that
of 1846, from which alone we might erroneously be led to
infer that they regarded the paper of 1845 " substantially
the same" in its principles as all the previous delivex'ances.
But a practical test as to whether they meant this was at
hand, and the result was decisive. In the last words,
which were a clincher to the whole utterance,-^— "and by
these deliverances we still abide," — some ambiguity might
be supposed to rest. It was therefore moved to insert the
word " all" before " these," for the express purpose of
EEVIEW OF TESTIMONIES. 1787 TO 1863. 397
embracing the paper of 1845. The minutes record this
motion " lost." It was then " moved to lay the whole sub-
ject on the table." This too was " lost." The minutes
say : " The report was then adopted, without amendment."
1^0 clearer testimony than this could well be given that
this General Assembly did not regard the paper of 1845
with favor ; did not regard it as agreeing toith jyrevious
action. No other explanation can be given for voting
down the proposed amendment. They did not wish, in
express terms, to indorse it, as they did, in express terms,
indorse the paper of 1818, and thus to include it among
those deliverances by which they declared they would
"still abide."
BE VIEW OF TESTIMONIES. 1787 TO 1863.
We have now brought down the testimony of the Pres-
byterian Church on slavery from the earliest period to the
action of the Assembly of 1863. The action of 1864, we
shall notice in its place.
This is among the largest ecclesiastical bodies in the
United States, and, until the outbreak of rebellion, extended
into all parts of the country. For learning, ability, and
influence, its ministers and its peo])le stand second to no
denomination of Christians in the country. The sentiments
they have from time to time uttered upon slavery, j(?ro and
(!07?, in the pulpit, in ecclesiastical judicatories, through
their religious newspapers, monthlies, quarterlies, and
volumes published, — and they have spoken frequently, from
the hebdomadal to the huge octavo, — have probably had
as great an influence in forming the public opinion of the
country, both North and South, upon this vexed question,
as has emanated from any other equal number of persons;
and we believe that a fair criterion of these sentiments, at
least as regards those persons who have always wielded
398 THE CHURCH AND SLAVKKT.
most influence in the denomination (with the exception of
the ultra opinions more recently adopted in the extreme
South), is to be found in the deliverances of its supreme
judicatory, the General Assembly.
What, then, in the main, is the teaching of the facts
which we have collated from all these ofiicial sources, upon
the question immediately in hand ? It is substantially and
plainly this :
1. That from 1787 to 1836, or about fifty years, public
testimony was borne by the Presbyterian Church against
slavery as a system, in the most decided terms, the most
explicit declaration being the act of 1818.
2. That from 1836 to the period of the rebellion and the
withdrawal of the Churches in the rebel States, in 1861, or
about twenty-five years, there was gradually developed
within the denomination that wliich grew into a more
decided proslavery sentiment, or, to use a favorite term, an
intense " conservatism ;" to that degree, at least, which
embraced many of the leading minds in the body, and other
influential classes who controlled its higher judicatories;
as evidenced particularly, though mildly expressed, in the
act of 1845 ; and which, during this period, prevented any
contrary action by the General Assembly, though certain
individuals and Presbyteiies frequently attempted to se-
cure it.
3. That during the former period of fifty years, the high-
est judicatory of the Pi-esbyterian Church made formal
declaration, six specific times, or in each deliverance
enacted during the period, in favor of the " abolition
OF SLAVERY," and urged the Churches under its care to
labor for that end, viz., in 1787, directly; in 1793, by re-
publishing the action of 1787 ; in 1795, by expressing "the
deepest concern" that " any vestiges of slavery" remained
in the country; in 1815, directly ; and in 1818, directly and
REVIEW OF TESTIMONIES. — 1787 TO 1863. 399
most urgently : while, on the other hand, during the second
period of twenty-five years, not once is emancipation
RECOMMENDED IN ANY FORM, nor is any positive disappro-
bation whatever expiessed of the system ; but in tlie two
more extended deliverances of this period, those of 1845
and 1849, the difficulties of emancipation are suggested,
and thus, so far forth, was the work discouraged. The
paper of 1845 urges Christians to seek " the repeal of unjust
and oppressive laws, and the amendment of such as are
defective," but soimds no note, in any form or manner, for
emancipation.
4. That after the rebellion had been in progress two
years, in 1863, when the Assembly was composed of per-
sons from the loyal States only, the Church simply took
its stand upon the platform of its earlier sentiment, as ex-
pressed in the act of 1818.
5. That it therefore appears, — so far as this large, extend-
ed, and influential body of Christians is concerned, — that
during the very period in which it has been alleged that
the Cliurch was becoming abolitionized, and the country
being educated up to a point of opposition to slavery which
justified or extenuated a disruption of the Church and of
the Union, the contrary sentiment prevailed and the con-
trary action was taken in all the deliverances of the highest
court of this body ; and so marked and decided was what
was termed the " healthy conservatism" of this period,
opei'ating as a " breakwater against abolitionism" in other
quarters, that the author of the paper of 1845 exultingly
referred to it "as constituting our Church emphatically the
bond of union to these United States ;" and many others
no doubt believed what a distinguished raillionnaire^ who
in writing publicly jtledged on a certain contingency a hun-
dred thousand dollars to the General Assembly in 1859,
was understood to express, that " the two strongest hoops
400 THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
which held the Union together were the Dcmoci'atic party
and the Old School Presbyterian Church."
CORROBORATIVE TESTIMONY TO THESE POSITIONS.
There are cei'tain special facts in great number which
might be produced, further illustrating the truth of the
second and fifth of the foregoing points. We will barely
note a few of them.
The act of 1818, originally passed, as has been stated,
unanimously^ not a single vote being cast against it from
the remotest South. When this act was reaffirmed in
1863, after the seceders had withdrawn, and there were
none in the Assembly but from the loyal States, there was
a minority against it ; how many, we do not know, as the
ayes and noes were not taken. Nor were all of this
minority fiom the Border slave States. Several were from
ditferent parts of thefi'ee States. This is significant. The
Church was not as decidedly antislavery even in 1863, in
the midst of the rebellion, as in 1818.
In the Assembly of 1859, a resolution was offered recom-
mending the American Colonization Society to the patron-
age of the Churches, a measure that had been passed some
dozen times before, at different periods ; but now it was
vehemently op])Osed by Dr. ThoruAvell and other leading
men of the South, on the ground that " the Church is
exclusively a spiritual organization, and possesses none but
spiritual poAver," and therefore this would be a perversion
of her functions. Thus the very mildest possible form of
expression adverse to slavery, — even if there was intended
any thing more than a simple approval of that philan-
thropic enterprise on its own merits, — could not be
tolerated by Soutliern men. Tl ; argument was, that this
was bringing the Church, " a spu-itual body," to commend
a " secular enterprise," though philanthropic, — a new
COEROBOEATIVE TESTIMONY. 401
doctrine in the ChurcJi, — and the purpose was believed to
be to erect a barricade, in this restriction of the Churcli's
functions, behind which slavery should ever be safe from
assault.*
* The position taken in the Assembly of 1859, by Dr. Thornwell and other Southern
men, referred to above, was pronounced by Dr. Hodge, in the Princeton Review fur
July of that year, a "new doctrine" in the Church; anrt this is admitted, also, in the
Southern Presbyterian Review, of Columbia, S. C, for October of that year. This
" Dew doctrine" is again referred to by Dr. Hodge, in the same periodical for July,
1864. On reviewing the case of Dr. McPheeters before the General Assembly, ho
says : '' We think Dr. McPheeters committed some very grave mistakes, which were the
source of all his difficulties. In the first place, he adopted the new exaggerated doc-
trine as tf» the spirituality of th: O/mrch, and the limited range of her prerogative as
a teacher. He says he had always resisted the introduction of what he calls ' politics'
into the house of God, and on this ground opposed all deliverances on the part of
Church courts touching the present rebellion, and the introduction into the services
of the sanctuary of any thing which implied a decided opinion as to the controversy
which now rends the countrj'. In the year 1659, Dr. Thornwell opposed the recom-
mendation of the Colonization Society, on the principle above stated. Jn private,
if not in public, he took the ground that the division of the country teas a certain
event. [This confirms what we have said in a Note, page 158, of Dr. Thornweirs
declaration at the Assembly at Eochester. in May, 1860.] He, however, wished to
prevent the division of the Church as consequent on the division of our national
Union. To secure that end, he said, it was necessary to adopt the principle that the
only duty of the Church as a teacher, was to preach the Gospel, to labor for the salva-
tion of men. He said in his public speech that if the Government choose to reopen
the slave-trade, the Church would have no right to open her lips against It. This
new doctrine excited great attention and feeling. When the Assembly met in 18G0,
the subject was again brought up, and caused for a time great anxiety. A resolution
was prepared and presented by the Committee on Bills and Overtures, affirming the
directly opposite doctrine [drafted by Dr. Hodge], and asserting that the Church, as
God's witness on earth, in authorized and bound to reprove all nin and to support
all truth and righteousness. This resolution was adopted by a unanimous vote of
the Assembly. * * * Politics, in the wide sense of the w-ord, includes the science
of Government, the policy of States, and the duties of citizens. The plain piinciple
which determines the legitimate sphere of the action of the Church, is, that it is limited
to teaching and euforcina moral and religio^ts truth; and to such truth- as are
revealed and determined by the sacred Scriptures. The Bible gives us no rule for
deciding the litigated questions about public improvements, a national bank, or a
protective tarilT, or State rights. But it does give us 7-ules for pronouncing about
SLAVE LAWS, THE 8I.AVE-TRADB, OBEDIENCE TO MAGISTRATES, TREASON, UEHEL-
LiON, AND REvoiATTioN. To shut her mouth on these questions, is to make her
UNFAITHFUL TO HER niGU VOCATION. The authors of this new theory soon repu-
diated it; and while those reho agreed with them at the Korth were protesting
against Churcn. courts saying a word against the rebellion, the pulpits. Conven-
tions, Synods, and Assemblies, at the South, were resounding with exciting appeals
to inflame the spirit of rebellion, ^'e think that a great part of Dr. McPheeters's
402 THE CHURCH AKD SLAVEEV.
At Other times, a portion of the people being aware that
the Presbyterian Church, so far as the manifestations in
her higlie.>^t court were concerned, had been for a long
time drifting away from her eailier ])ositioD, desired for
many years a reafftrinatioa in direct ternis of the act of
1818. This Avas, in some instances, proposed to the As-
sembly ; it was discussed, and several times acted ujton,
in Presbytei'ies and Synods, and canvassed in religious
journals ; but the prevailing influence always discounte-
nanced such reaffirmation, and it is believed that there was
but one religious journal in the Church that favored it.
At the same time, the South were violently opposed to its
reaflirniation, because they regarded it as totally erro-
iieoiis. Their religions journals plainly indicated that it
would be tlie signal for disruption. It could scarcely be
tolerated by them unrepealed ; never would it ha\e been,
if reaffirmed. Southern ministers expressed through
Northern journals what would be the consequences of a
re-enactment of the paper of 1818, and warned the
Korlhern portion of the Church against such a step.
Many at the South declared that it had been " virtually
repealed" by the act of 1845. The Synod of South Caro-
lina so declared by formal enactment. Others insisted
that the act of 1818 remained on the record, not as indi-
cating the Church's present judgment, but only as a matter
of history^ showing the opinions of a bygone and unen-
lightened age on ihe character of slavery. The men of
<lifBculties havo arison from his adopting a prineipie which prevented hiin from
uniting with his brethren in cosdemniko the KEBELuoJi.'" Elsewhere, Dr. Hixlge
says, of the duty of a pastor, when speaking of the case of Dr. MePlieeters : " He is
the organ of the people in presenting their prayers and 'hanksgiving to God. They
have the right to have their hearts' desires for their country brou^'ht before liis throne.
If the pastor's j>riDeiples or feelings prevent him from doing this; if he i-dnnot p'l iiy
for the success of our arms, and far the suppression of the rebellion; if he
cannot henrtilif thauk God for the vi-ctories I/e tnaij grunt our armies, he canout
satisfy the just demands of the people."
PROOF ASD ILLUSTRATIONS. 403
the Soutli took their position oj^cfibj and defiantly on the
ground of deeming that paper as teaching a totally false
doctrine of the toord of God.
PROOF AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Let us, at this point, give the proof of this. It is found
in the action of Southern Church judicatories, and in their
religious journals and periodicals. For the sake of greater
bre\ ity, we. take our illustrations chiefly from two or three
sources among many.
The Southern Presbyterian Review for April, 1861,
says : " The action of 1818 still stands upon her records (of
the General Assembly), not as the law, but the history
of the subject; and Southern Presbyterians are well con-
tent that it should so stand." This Revieic, conducted by
the Professors in the Theological Seminary which was sup-
ported more than any other Seminary by the Churcli in the
Cotton and Gulf States, — or by South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Plorida, Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi, — may
well be supposed to represent the general sentiment of the
Church in that vast region.
The Southern Presbyterian, a weekly religious journal,
which was also deemed to represent the Church in several
Synods in those States, thus speaks, in several successive
numbers, on the points of the case stated :
It will be manifestly impossible for the Presbyterians in the Confede-
rate States to maintain their connection with those in the United States,
while the position of the latter on the subject of slavery is dubious, or
if it is the fact that the declarations and recommendations of the Assembly
of 1818 are not "virtually repealed." (Feb. 23, 1861-) As to the act
of 1818, I agree with you, 1st. That much of its language could not be
now understood except in an abolition sense. 2d. That it could not
now be adopted, or authoritatively delivered, by our Church united.
(April 6, 1861.) We have said that we think our Northern brethren
owe it to us, candidly and explicitly, to let us know what are TUEia
18*
404 THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
views about slavery, and especially as to the meaning and effect of the act
o/" 1818, and whether or not it has been virtually repealed or reversed. We
DO THINK so. * * * The South wants no action at all on the part
of the next or any future Assembly. We are perfectly contented with
the position of the Old School Presbyterian Church on the subject of
slavery. The Synod of South Carolina said unanimously, that " from our
brethren of the whole Church, annually assembled, we have received
nothing but justice and courtesy." This sentiment is not peculiar to
the South Carolina Synod, hut is the sentiment, we suppose, of the ivhole
South. There is no danger, therefore, of the Svutli asking for the repeal
of the act of 1818. What the assembly said in 1845 satisfies us.
Southern men never did agitate the Assembly on this subject — they
never were the unruly spirits. And having been peufectly contented
FOR SIXTEEN YEARS ivith tlie position of the Church, why should they now
ask for any change? (April 13, 1861.) We have further said, in as in-
telligible terms as we could, tliat, if the act of 1818 is to be regarded as
NOW the " opinion," or the faith, or the law, of the Presbyterian Church
in the United States, it would be impossible for the Presbyterians in the
Confederate States to bear it; and that we thought it due to the South
that we should not be left in any uncertainty on this point. * * *
It has been the imjyression of the South that this act had been viriually
reversed by subsequent decisions of the Assembly. So the Synod of South
Carolina affirmed last December. Under this impression, Southern
Presbyterians have been content and quiet, believing that our Korthern
brethren held correct and Scriptural views on the subject. It has been our
joy and pride to think that the errors of, our fathers had been corrected^
and the minds of Northern Presbyterians kept pure from the follies
of modern abolitionists. The act of 1818 was regarded in the South as
only the opinion of the men composing the Assembly then in session,
and not as the authoritative permanent judgiuent of the Presbyterian
Church. * * * The act of 1845 was supposed by the South to
BE A decision IN OUR FAVOR. * * * If this is not so, then we hesi-
tate not to say that Southern Presbyterians have been misled and be-
trayed. * * * III our humble opinion, any Cliurch in these Con-
federate States that afQliates with those who maintain the act of 1818,
* * * will, in a very little while, lind themselves in a position where
they will have abundance of reason for repentance. * * * We are
aware that certain schemers and wire-workers in our ecclesiastical affairs
at the North, are making diligent use of their peculiar opporturritics and
special talents in that line, to engineer the Southern part of the Church
NORTHERN RESPONSIBILITY. 405
into quiescence ; but they will fail, and must meet the fate which in-
variably awaits those who resort to such methods to secure selfish ends
(April 27, 1861.)
Here, then, is the most incontestable proof, — in the
judgment of those who were most deeply interested in
the subject as a practical matter, — that the Churcli had
swerved from her ancient position, and substantially in-
dorsed, or at least tacitly acquiesced in, the Southern views ;
that she had repudiated the doctrines of 1818 by the act
of 1845; and therefore the whole South had "been ])er-
fectly contented for sixteen years with the position of the
Church."
THE INEVITABLE EFFECT. NORTHERN RESPONSIBILITY.
The men of the South were undoubtedly honest and
sincere in this judgment of where the Church stood. The
acts in question, which they compared, sustained them.
Their relations to the subject, as affecting their position
at home, would not lead them to over-eagerness in adopt-
ing such an opinion ; but would naturally lead them in an
opposite direction, unless they felt sure of their ground
and of their friends. We can somewhat, therefore, enter
into their surprise when assured, in the winter of 1861, from
the atmosphere of Chicago, that, after all, the acts of 1818
and 1845 were in sentiment the same ! " The act of 1818
xpas regarded in the South" (says The Southern Pres-
byterian., of April 27, 1861) "only as the opinion of the
men composing the Assembly then in session, and not as
the authoritative permanent judgment of the Presbyterian
Church." But, " we are noio told, however, that the later
deliverances of the Assembly on this subject are not to be
understood as differing from that and preceding decisions.
No less authority than Dr. N. L. Rice, who has been re-
garded in the South as our best friend at the North-
406 THE CnUECH AND SLAVERY.
and who, if we mistake not, drew up the act of 1845, which
was supposed by the South to be a decision in our favor^
tells us that we must not interpret that as reversing former
acts."
In all the seriousness and fervor of our condemnation of
the wicked deeds of the Southern clergy in bringing on
the rebellion, we confess to some sympathy for men under
the circmiistances in which this Northern blast found them,
when, counting on the support of their quondam friends,
they had possibly gone too far to retreat with safety. We
can imagine something of the bitterness of anguish with
which the pen traced the Avords, founded on the assurance
of the identity in sentiment of these acts by the author of
the latter : " If this is so, then we hesitate not to say, that
Southern Presbyterians have been misled and hetrayedP
But, so far as the resjyonsibility for the position of the
Church is concerned, as this position was vmderstood uni-
versally at the South, the Church herself must bear it ;
while, unquestionably, the lea<lers of the Church, in her
courts, and in other posts of influence where her public
sentiment is manufactured or reflected, have the chief bur-
den on their shoulders. There were those who remonstrated
against this position which the S6uth claimed the Church
to have taken, but they were always overruled ; Southern
influences under Northern compliance dominated; a re-
assertion of her early testimonies was impossible ; men
who were dissatisfied with her position, found effort use-
less, and were content to bide their time ; and thus the
Church stood for " sixteen years ;" and now, as the result
of this, and corresponding influences at work in the State,
we are daily " making history," in deeds which crimson a
himdi'ed battle-fields with patriot gore !
We have a very decided opinion on this whole subject,
and Ave have very little concern whether it be deemed Avise
NOKTHERN RESPONSIBILITY. 407
or otherwise by the responsible actors in the case. It is
well supported by the facts, and by the acknowledged prin-
ciples of human nature everywhere prevalent.
Looking at matters from the stand-point of the rebellion
and several years previous to it, so far from the position
of the Church during this second period mentioned, or from
about 1836 to 1861, — a position of departure from the tes-
timony of the fathers, and to which the Church has since
returned, — being a cause for exultation, as it has been with
some, it is with us the reverse. So far from this position
having contributed, as the distinguished author of the
paper of 1845 and his distinguished friend believed, to hold
the Union together, it is a solemn judgment to which a
large portion of the people have arrived, that such conces-
sions by the Church, and similar concessions by the civil
authorities, only hastened its disruption. To use a well-
understood illustration, the leaders of Southern opinion, in
both Church and State, had become like spoiled children.
The repeated concessions of Northern politicians, yielding
the principles held by the fathers of the Republic, made
Southern politicians more exorbitant in their demands,
until they came to believe that verily the whole country
was theirs. The repeated concessions of the Northern
Church, culminating in the Presbj'terian body in 1845 and
sticking there immovably under all remonstrances, pro-
duced a similar state of mind in Southern divines. If both
classes had stood firmly, during all our history, by the
teachings of the fathers, and to which the mass of both in
the North have since returned, the rebellion never would
have occurred.*
* If Presbyterians of the Old School Church desire to know the catse of the with-
drawal of the Southern Presbirteries and Synods, and of the formation of the " Gen-
eral Assembly of the Confederate States of America," in December, 1861. they may
find evidence which is conclusi%'e that the leaders of the Church in the South were
not led to this Htep by the (letion of the General Axsembly at Philadelphia in May,
408 THE CHUECH AJfD SLAVERY.
ACTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF 1864.
We come now to the last exhibition of sentiment on
the subject of slavery, made by the General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church in the United States. It is the
1861, upon the, utate of the country. They had taken their position months before
THAT ASSEMBLY MET, and had determined on a division of the Church in consequence
of the course of things in the State ; thus chaining the Church of Christ to Cifsar's
war chariot. While, therefore, it may be true, as Dr. Hodge says of Dr. Thorn well,
in a previous note (page 401), fhat in 1859, "he wished to prevent the division of the
Church as consequent upon the division of our national Union,'''' subsequent facts
show, as will be seen, that after the Presidential election of 1860, and during the
winter of 1861. the leaders of the Church in the South (and Dr. Thornwell, beyond a
doubt, among them) took other ground, and determined on a disruption of the
Church, "as consequent upon" what had then taken i>lace in the ".secession" of sev-
eral States. It may be further true, tliat the reason why the "resolution" presented
by Dr. Hodge in the General Assembly of 1860 (declaring contrary to the "new"
Thoin well theory of the power of the Church), " was adopted by a unanimous vote." —
even Dr. Thornwell not voting against it, — was, because the leaders had at that early
day determined to divide the Church if the Union should be divided ; and th.at they
expected the latter event to occur beyond doubt, is seen in what Dr. Thornwell and
others said at the Assembly in l'^60, as stated in a previous chapter (Note, page 158).
The facts which show the disruption on that ground are (1.) Several Presbyteries
that had ab'eady appointed commissioners to the Assembly at Philadelphia, called,
in April and May. special meetings and revoked these appointments. Notices of
those meetings and of their action are found in Southern religious papers that are
now before us. Some Presbyteries, and those from the extreme South, — as from
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and other points most remote from Philadelphia,
— were represented; proving conclusively that it was not the apprehension of war
which necessarily kept members away. Many inA^irginia. the Carolinas. Georgia,
and other less remote points, did not attend because their commissions had been
revoked, or they were persuaded by those who lead the Church not to go. (2.) The
unstinted abuse which the Southern religious press heaped upon Southern Commis-
sioners who did sit in that Assembly, is another item of proof of the foregone deter-
mination for division. The speeches and the votes of these men against the Spring
resolutions, did not shield them from abuse. They " should not have appeared there
at all,'" these papers declared. Did space permit, we might verify this by quotations-
(.3.) The fact that the Synod of South Camlina sent up its records for review, is no
proof of a willingness still to continue ecclesiastically connected with the North.
Tliey had not been sent /or several years ; and there is ample ground fur believing
that the motive for then sending them was to draw forth from the Assembly just the
action it took, viz. : a disapproval of the Synod's action, declaring the act of ISIS
on slavery " virtually repealed." This was an argument the Synod wished to use
'' to fire the Southern heart." (4.) In The Southern Preshyterian of April 27, 1S61, is
an editorial on "Division of the Presbyterian Church," published almost a full month
before tho Assembly met. The editor says: "We have plainly and unequivocally
ACTION OF 1864. 409
report drawn up by the Hon. Stanley Matthews, of Cin-
cinnati, and presented by him to the Assembly, from the
Committee to whom the subject was referred, and was
expressed our conviction (in previous numbers of this paper), that a separate eccle-
siastical organization of the Southern Presbyterian Church will be denirable and
vecexsarj/," " As to the future relations between Northern and Southern Presby-
terians, ecclesiastically^ we have no doubt of the issue, and are very well content to
let things take their course. We do not think it necessary or expedient to say or do
any thing to hasten the iiierAtable result." "In the Assembly which will meet in
Philadelphia on the 16th of next month, we suppose there will be scarcely one com-
missioner from the Southern States. If any such appear there, we are convinced it
will not be with the approbation of their constituents." Still eai-lier than this (April
C, ISGl), in an article on "The next General Assembly," the same paper shows that
the "SECESSION OF THE South" was "the reason" urged by the leaders for a division
of the Church, as follows: "Every thing we have seen and heard against a division
of the Church, in consequence of the secession of the South, proceeds on the assump-
tion that such division is desired and proposed on the ground of the abolition senti
inents of Northern Presbyterians. We would again most earnestly protest against
this. We do not know any one who desires a division of the Church on that ground.
The existence of a few out-and-out abolitionists in the Church at the North, and the
radically unsound views of the majority of our brethren there on the slavery question,
will be a reason to reconcile us to a separation from them ; but it is a narrow and
a shallow notion to suppose that is the reason (editor's italics) which will make such
separation desirable and necessakt." Still earlier (March 30, 1S61), the same paper
says: "We do not know any one who favors a separate organization of the Church
in the Confederate States, either on account of the act of the Assembly of ISIS, or of
any other action of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, or of the views of
our Northern brethren in general on the slavery question. So far as we are aware,
those who think such an organization will finally be best, and even necessary, form
their judgment on other reasons than these altogether." We have seen what
those " other reasons" are, — " the secession of the South," — from the extracts given
above from papers of a later date, where they speak, out what in March they did
not " think aloud" quite so plainly.
It is thus conclusively established that the leaders, — the men who had so much
power over both Church and State, — had determined on ecclesiastical separation
MONTHS before the Assembly met; and, also, weeks before the attack on Fort
Sumter; and "the reason" for this was, "the secession of the South." These
rulers in the Church thus made her a tail to the State, in her ecclesiastical organ-
isation; wh^\e, personally, they led both Church and State into "secession" at the
start. They did not, at Win^ period, deem the act of 1818, nor "the rauically unsound
views of the majority" of their brethren at the North " on the slavery question," as
"tub reason" for division; for, the States having "seceded," every thing "on the
slavei y question" would be safe, of course. They therefore openly put the division
of the Church on the ground of the political secession of the South. (5.) In view
of the facts above given, the " Confederate General Assembly," by the pen of Dr.
Thornwell, in their Address to the Christian world, justifying their separation from
the Northern branch of the Church, " unanimously" perpetrate a serious libel upon
410 THE CHUKCH AND SL AVERT.
adopted by the Assembly, at Newark, New Jersey, in
May last.
It gives an historical sketch of the earlier deliverances
of the Church on this subject, opening in these words :
In the opinion of the General Assembly, the solemn and momentous
circumstances of our times, the state of our country, and the condition
of our Church, demand a plain declaration of Its sentiments upon the
question of slavery, in view of Its present aspects In this country.
From the earliest period of our Church, the General Assembly de-
livered unequivocal testimonies upon this subject, which It will be
profitable now to reafiBrm.
As we have already given in this chapter a summary
of these earlier testimonies, we omit from the report its
historical sketch, and give in full the remaining portion,
in which the doctrines of the Assembly, asserted at the
present time are embodied. It is as follows :
Such were the early and rmequlvocal instructions of our Church. It
is not necessary too minutely to inquire how faithful and obedient to
these lessons and warnings th :)se to whom they were addressed have
been. It ought to be uckiiOwledgeu that we have all much to confess
and lament as to our short-comings in this respect. "Whether a strict
the truth, when, rcferriiiir f o the action upon tlio Spring resolutions in the Asseuibly
of May, 1861, they present that action as " the first thing" which led them seriously to
contemplate separation. They say: " The first thing which roused our Trcsbyteries
to look the question of separation seriously in the face, was the course of the Assem-
bly in venturinj; to determine, as a court of Christ, which it did by necessary
implication, the true interpretation of the Const!tiiti<in of the United States as to
the kind of Government it intended to form." Did not the '• Presbyteries" of
the South "look the question of separation seriously in the face," when they held
special meetings for the purpose of revoking the commissions given to attend
the Assembly, and when they did revoke them weeks before the Assembly met?
The " Confederate General Assembly" knew these things were so. and knew,
moreover, that the leaders had declared for "separation" even long before; and
yet they " unauimousl}'" try to deceive the world by declaring the contrary. This,
we suppose, forms an element in the "manly Christian logic" of this Address of the
"Confederate General Assembly," by reason of which its Louisville imiorsers so
warmly commend it to their rea<iers, when they say with equal truth that it was
"the fatal heresy of the late General Assembly (of 1*61), in the unscriptural assump-
tion of power in ecclesiastical courts over civic and political questions," which
" caused the rending of the Church."
ACTIOX OF 1864. 411
and careful application of this advice would have rescued the country
from the evil of its condition, and tlie dangers which have since threat-
ened it, is known to the Omniscient alone. Whilst we do not believe
that the present judgments of our Heavenly Father and Almighty and
Righteous Governor have been inflicted solely in punishment for our
continuance in this SIN ; yet it is our judgment that the recent events
of our history, and the present condition of our Church and country,
furnish manifest tokens that the time has at length come, in the providence
of God, when it is Mis will that every vestige of human slavery among us
should be effaced, and that every Christian man should address himself
with industry and earnestness to his appropriate part in the performance
of this great duty.
Whatever excuses for its postponement may heretofore have existed,
no longer avail. When the country was at peace witliin itself, and
the Church was unbroken, many consciences were perplexed, in the
presence of this great evil, for the want of an adequate remedy.
Slavery was so formidably intrenched behind the ramparts of personal
interests and prejudices, that to attack it with a view to its speedy
overtlirow, appeared to be attacking the very existence of the social
order itself, and was characterized as the inevitable introduction of an
anarchy worse in its consequences than the evil for which it seemed
to be the only cure. But the folly and weakness of men have been the
illustrations of God's wisdom and power. Under the influence of the
most incomprehensible infatuation of wickedness, those who were most
deeply interested in the perpetuation of slavery have taken away every
motive for its further toleration. The spirit of American slavery, not
content with its defences to be found in the laws of the States, the
provisions of the Federal Constitution, the prejudices in favor of exist-
ing institutions, and the fear of change, has taken arms against law,
organized a bloody rebellion against the National Authoritj-, made
formidable war upon the Federal Union, and. in order to found an
empire upon the corner-stone of slavery, threatens not only our exist-
ence as a people, but the annihilation of the principles of free Christian
Government ; and thus has rendered the continuance of negro slavery
incompatible with the preservation of our own liberty and inde-
pendence.
In th3 struggle of the nation for existence against this powerful and
wicked treason, tlie highest executive authorities have proclaimed the
abolition of slavery within most of the rebel States, and decreed its
extinction by uiiLtary force. They have enlisted those formerly held
412 THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
as slaves to be soldiers in the national armies. They have taken
measures to organize the labor of the froedmen, and instituted measures
for their support and government in their new condition. It is the
President's declared policy not to consent to the reorganization of civil
government within the seceded States upon any other basis than that
of emancipation. lu the loyal States where slavery has not been
abolished, measures of emancipation, in different stages of progress,
have been set on foot, and are near their consummation ; and proposi-
tions for an amendment to the Federal Constitution, prohibiting slavery
in all the States and Territories, are now pending in the national Con-
gress. So that, in our present situation, the interests of peace and of
social, orde?- are identified loith the success of the cause of emancipation.
The difficulties which formerly seemed insurmountable, in the provi-
dence of God, appear now to be almost removed. The most formidable
remaining obstacle, we think, will be found to be the unwillingness of
the human heart to see and accept the truth against the prejudices of
habit and of interest, and to act towards those who have heretofore
been degraded as slaves, with the charity of Christian principle in the
necessary eflbrts to improve and elevate them.
In view, therefore, of its former testimonies upon the subject, the
General Assembly does hereby devoutly express its gratitude to
Almighty God for having overruled the wickedness and calamities of
the rebellion, so as to work out the deliverance of our country from the
EVIL AND GUILT of slavcry ; its earnest desire for the extirpation of
slavery, as the root of bitterness from which has sprung rebellion, war,
and bloodshed, and the long list of horrors that follow in their train :
its earnest trust that the thorough removal of this prolific source of
evil and harm will be speedily followed by the blessings of our
Heavenly Father, the return of peace, union, and fraternity, and
abounding prosperity to the whole land; and recommend to all in our
communion to labor honestly, earnestly, and unweariedly, in their
respective spheres, for this glorious consummation, to whicli Imman
justice. Christian love, national peace and prosperity, every earthly
and every religious interest, combine to pledge them.*
* It imist be confessed that tliero is jioint and force in the biting s.Trc.ism which
flowed from the ]ien of Dr. 'J hornwell, and was '• unanimously'" uttered by the
"Confederate Geneial Assembly" in their Address to tNe Christian world, when,
after expressing satisfaction with the act of 1845, to which they rofer in the first part
of ihe following extract, they then speak in the latte.r [)art of the prevalent sentiment
jf the North and the actual condition of " the Northern section" of the Church:
FEATURES OF THIS REPORT. 413
FEATURES OF THIS REPORT.
We have already occupied so much space with the gen-
eral sul>ject of this chajiter, that ouv observations upon
this report ought to be brief. A few things, however,
call for special notice.
1. It elicited an animated and somewhat protracted dis-
cassion, which was opened by Judge Matthews, and par-
ticipated in by many members, among them some of the
more distinguished in the Assembly, both in the ministry
and eldership. After full coujideraticm, it was adopted
with great uuaninilly ; some reports of the religious press
said at tlie time, " unanimously," but others report " two or
three faint noes" heard. These were supposed to bi; from
some of the JJorder slave States.
2. The historical sketch given of previous deliverances,
sp*3cifies tho'-e running from the earliest, 1787, down to
that of 181>\ and from the latter extended extracts are
embodied ; hut not the remotest allusion is made to the far-
famed deliverance of \Q'i5 \ This is not at all remark-
"The Presbvterian Church io the Uaited States has b'ien enabled, by divine grace,
to pursue for the most part an eminently conservative, because a thoroughly Scrip-
tural, polivjy in relation to this delicate question. It has planted itself upon the word
of God, and dtterly refused to make slaveholding a term of comumnion. But though
both sections are agreed as to this general principle, it is not to be disguised that the
North cherishes a deep and settled antipathy to slavery itself, ichile the South is
equally zealous in its defence. Recent events can have no other effect than to con-
firm the antipathy on the one hand, and strengthen the attachment on the other.
The Northern section of the Church stands in the awkward predicament of main-
tiiining in one breath that slavery is an evil which ought to be abolished, and of
asserting in the next that It is not a sin to be visited by exclusion from the commu-
nion of the saints. The conisequenne is, that it plays partly into the hands of abo-
litionists, and partly into the hands of slaveholders, and iceakens its influence
with loth. It occui)ies the position of a prevaricating witness, whom neither party
will trust. It would be better, therefore, for the moral power of the Northern Section
of the Church, to get entirely quit of the-subject." While we admit the pointedness
of this arcasm, we abjure the strange logic of one who prided himself on his logical
power, that every " evir' which ought to be removed from among men, should
ueeessarilvbc made a term of communion in the Church.
414 THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
able, but it is very significant. Were there none so poor
in the Assembly as to do that famous paper reverence ?
Its distinguished author was there. He of course took
part in the discussion. He of course, as always hereto-
fore, eulogized the work of his hands. He suggested
some verbal modificaiions of the report, as did one or two
others, and they were promptly and cheerfully accepted
by the chairman of the committee ; but nobody moved to
insert a eulogy, or even an elegy, upon the deliverance of
1845, the paper with which the whole South had been
" PERFECTLY CO^S^TENTED FOR SIXTEEN YEARS !" This is
indeed significant; it conveys an unmistakable lesson, and
fully bears out the view we have already taken of tliis
paper in previous pages.
3. This report takes a position upon slavery, so far as
terms are concerned, — and we suppose these terms mean
what they say, — which no other deliverance has ever
taken. It speaks of " our continuance in this sin," refer-
ring to the people at large. It also speaks of working out
"the deliverance of our country from the evil and gvivi
of slavery." It is true that the ])aper of 1818 says the
severest things of the system that any one could de-
sire; things which, from the 'language used, would
seem to ij/ipli/ " evil," " guilt," and " sin." We do not
see hovv that language can mean any thing else, and it was
probably not intended to convey any other meaning by
those who used it. But the papei- of 1864 is the first in-
stance of action by the General Assembly which has come
squarely up to the mark and pronounced slavery, in terms,
to be a " sin." This is, unquestionably, an advanced posi-
tion. Words are things. And those who know the his
tory of discussion on this subject, especially in the Church,
know tiiat this is a point wliere contending parties have
erected their breastworks and " made a stand." The mass,
FEATURES OF THIS REPORT. 415
indeed, of those who have opposed slavery at the North,
within the Churches, — and universally those who have
claimed a monojjoly of " conservative" sentiment nnd
feeling,-^— have persistently maintained, that whatever else
was true of slavery as an " evil," it was improper to call
it a " sin." That is the term which has met with especial
reprobation. Some would tolerate almost any other hard
word of the English language but that. To mystify the un-
initiated, and to instruct the learned more clearly, the Latin
has been brought in to help our jejune tongue ; and so, as
we have all often heard, " Slavery is not a sin per se ;" and
"is not a malum in se." But the paper of 1864, using a
Saxon term which is often upon the lips of men, calls it
"this SIN."
As we are speaking of things simply from an historical
stand-point, we are not called upon here either to condemn
or to approve of this report, in its doctrines or terms, so far
as to give our personal views of slavery. We shall do
that in another chapter. We simply noic note this as an
advanced position, which no General Assembly has ever
before taken. We presume the Assembly understood
what they were about, and we presume they meant Just
what they said. It is in that light significant of the times
in which we live, when men can speak what they believe
to be the truth, without the main eifort being to seek to
conciliate somebody who might otherwise be mortally
oifended.
What the bearing of this feature of the report may be
in the minds of the members of the Assembly, we of
course do not know, any farther than may be gathered
from the discussions, and not much light is there emitted
upon the simple point in hand. Men differ about what
slavery is, disagree in their definition of the system and of
its nature, and probably members of the Assembly differ
416 THE ClllinCII AND SLAVERY.
about the jnclgment pronounced upon this point, calling
shivery a " sin." Some may understand merely the system
of slave laws existing at the South ; some may understand
the practice of slaveholding under those laws, without
which slavery is the merest abstraction ; some may include
both ; and, according as each may understand the case, he
may have voted in the Assembly, and may insist that his
view is that which the body meant. This difference in
men's reasons for a vote, and of the subject voted on, and
as to what is the result of the decision, is not confined to
slavery. It enters into all complex matters upon which
men deliberate and act.
Nor do we know, beyond the possibility of mistake,
what the committee or its distinguished chairman meant
by this language ; not because there is any obscurity in
the terms employed, but because, in order to understand
the exact meaning and intent of those who use them, we
must know more fully the views of the system which,
personally, they enteitain. If we may judge, however,
from the terms themselves, the meaning is clear and un-
mistakable. The language of the committee is certainly
clear. When they speak of " the present judgments" of
God as having been " inflicted'' ^though not " solely") " in
punishment for our continuance in this sin" we cannot
suppose for a moment they refer merely to the system of
slave-laws at the South. There can be no actual sin with-
out a sinner; nor can "punishment" be "inflicted" for
" this sin" or any other, except upon the sinner. Even
Christ was, legrdly, a sinner. Much less can a person or a
people be punished for a '■^continuance'''' in sin, unless they
are personally in ihe jvactice of sin. But what practice
can be meant in this case ? The upholding of slave-laws?
This would be perfectly ridiculous, unless there were some
person held in slavery under them, and some other person
PEATURKS OF THIS REPORT. 4 I 'J
holding him there. This is the practice which we supjiose
the committee meant, or their chairman who drew the re-
port ; and the " continuance" of this practice, we sujypose^
is the "sin" meant, for whose "punishment" God's
" present judgments" are being " inflicted."
There may be those at tiie South who are not person-
ally in the practice of slavery, who yet connive at or
approve of the slave-laws, and of the practice under them
iu which others are involved ; and, so far forth, they are
concerned in "this sin." There are also those at the
North in the same category; not practising slavery, but
conniving at the slave-laws and the practice of others
under them. And as the report regards " the present
judgments" as having come upon the whole people, as too
manifestly is the case, the whole people are suffering this
" punishment." The slavery of the South is in a sense a
national thing, and involves, through its political and
moral bearings, national responsibilities. For "our con-
tinuance in this sin," as a nation, we are as a nation pun-
ished. But what, as a nation, do we continue to approve,
connive at, tolerate, or uphold, and for which we are pun-
ished ? Can it be merely a system of laws, a bundle of
rigorous legalities; or, is it not these laws and the practice
of the people who hold slaves under them ?
We of course readily admit the wide difference between
slave-laws and slaveholding. We can imagine a set of
legislators concocting a system of laws, without there
being a slave or a slaveholder ; a system under which they
intend to introduce, at a future time, their chattels, when
they can kidnap them. But in the system itself, without
victims, however rigorous the laws, there would be no
sin, although the legislators, from the mere intention of
putting slavery iu practice, might be at the time great sin-
ners. We can understand, too, that in fact, there is, and
418 THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
always may have been, a great difference at the South
among slaveholders : some approving the whole system,
laws, practice, and all, and not wishing a change ; others
di-a])|)roving of certain features in slave-laws, and either
aciiuiescing or striving to have them altered, but continuing
ihe practice of slavery from choice; others condemning
the laws and tlie practice but, seeing their way more or
less hedged up toward emancipation, continuing still in the
practice ; though we think the number in this latter classi-
tication has for a long time been very small and growing
beautifully less. These distinctions are palpable and real ;
and in judging of individuals, they cannot be properly
left out of the account. So, also, we can imagine such a
change to occur in the system at the South, as a possible
thing, as would divest the laws of their odious features,
and leave little or nothing else but the relation of master
and slave, and ih.^ }}ractice of slavery; though, unhappily,
with all the ameliorating influences of Christianity (and
we have the word of Dr. Stiles for it, that they are a people
of purer and simpler Christianity than any other), the sys-
tem of slave-laws has continued from generation to gen-
eration much the same.
But when we would speak of' and characterize slavery
as an instittttion, as a thing standing out before all men,
we must take it as a ichole and take it just as it is. Nor
is it material, practically, how it may be verbally defined ;
a point on which logomachy has run Avild, and in which
n ) two men have ever agreed. What the system^ as such,
is, can admit of no doubt. To speak of it properly, as an
institution, all its elements must be embraced ; the laws
j is; as they are, and the practice just as it is, embracing
ill',' persons held and the persons holding them. And
wliL-n the committee reported, and the Assembly enacted,
lliat we were punished "for our continuance! in this siuy^
FEATURES OP THIS EEPOET. - 419
we understan-l them to cover by these terms all that makes
the institution what it is. If so, we regard it in this sense,
and by these terms, as declaring what no General Assem-
bly has ever before declared. In no sense has any pre-
vious Assembly ever declared slavery to be a " sin."*
4. It is the judgment of the Assembly that slavery is
* Some rather curious things were developed in the discussion upon this report
in the Assembly. Dr. Kice is reported as sivjing: " He now expected to vote for
the paper. The war had not taught him any tiling at all about slavery. lie had
been accustomed to investigate the subject for a long time." "He never had
believed that slavery M'a« of itself a sin. He regarded it as an evil, and considered
it a sin to undertake to perpetuate slavery." " He had, since the war, learned
nothing neic.'''' " It had been assumed that the act of 1S45 was inconsistent with
that of 1 SI 8. This he denied. Itwas not inconsistent with that act. He proceeded
to explain the act of tS4o, and showed that it was less proslavery than that of
1818. Why do not brethren read the whole document before they talk about it as a
proslavery paper?" — Philadelphia Presbyterian. (1.) Although Dr. Rice may
"never" have "believed that slaxery was of itself a sin,'^ ytt he voted for Judge
Matthews"s paper, which pronounces it " Tins sin." Although the war may not have
"taught him any thing at all about slavery," as his speech would indicate, yet his
vote shows that he took with others an advanced position in a deliverance upon
slavery. Some men advance without knowledge, and some without knowing it.
Dr. Eice may have done both. (2.) Dr. Rice declares that the paper of 1845 is " less
proslavery than that of ISIS." If this statement should ever run the blockade with
other contraband goods, we should be curious to know how it would be received in
Dixie. What will " our Southern brethren" say, when they hear that it has been
affirmed in the General Assembly, of the act of 1S45, with which they had been
^'■perfectly contented for sixteen years," — and by the author of that act, who, they
declare " has been distinguished as a defender of slavery and the South, and as an
antagonist of the antislavery party," — that the said act of 1845 is " less proslavery
than that of 1818 !" What will " our Southern brethren" say ? If any of them have
becoiiie. by the influence of the rebellion, addicted to what was currently reported
in the early stage of it, of the late Major-General Bishop Polk, they may possibly do
what "our army did in Flanders!" (3.) "He had, since the war, learned nothing
nc7c," says Dr. Eice. Most men in this nation have no doubt learned a great many
things " since the war" began. We hear this on every hand, from the President of
the United States down. It is our humble opinion that the whole nation has learned
much ; has been led along in paths that they knew not of, in God's wonderful provi-
dence ; and that the people will learn much more before " the war" is over. But
Dr. Eice is perhaps the one exception, essential to prove the rule. If he has
"learned nothing new" thus far, he probably will not hereafter. Some men are
never willing to admit that they h:ive any thing to learn, that they can be taught by
anybody, or by any coiuie of events. Is he one of them ? Perhaps he is self-
deceived on matters concerning "the war," as upon slavery, and takes a position
here, too, in advance of the one he formerly was understood to hold, without being
aware of it.
19
420 THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY.
" the root of bitterness from which has sprung rebellion,
war, and bloodshed, and the long list of horrors that fol-
low in their train ;" that hence, as it threatens our
national existence, its continuance is " incompatible with
the preservation of our liberty and independence ;" and
hence it urges all to efforts to remove it, regarding " the
interests of peace and of social order identified with the
success of emancipation."
5. It mrtually approves of and indorses the measures
of the Government, and the movements in certain Border
States, looking to the entire removal of slavery from the
land, in the exercise of both military and civil authority,
and of the restoration of our national Union on the basis
of universal freedom ; regarding these things as calling for
" gratitude to Almighty God."
TE DEUM LAUDAJMT7S.
We truly rejoice in this deliverance. We doubt not that
Dr. Hodge in the Repertory is substantially correct in say-
ing : " There cannot be a doubt that the sentiments of this
paper are the sentiments of the Presbyterian Church in
these United States." He of course means in the loyal
States ; and in this sense we say he is substantially cor-
rect : we wish we could say he is entirely so. But there
are some Presbyterians in some of the Border States whose
souls are filled with mourning and lamentation at this act
of the Assembly; and there is one "•religious" journal
claiming to be the organ of the only true Presbyterians left
in the whole land, whose wrath has taken new fire from
the fuel here furnished.
We can, without qualification, adopt another statement
of the Repertory, which says : " We think it may safely
be assumed, that the report unanimously adopted by the
Assembly, expresses the opinions and feelings of the vast
TE DEUM LAUDAMUS. 421
majority of the people in the Northern, Western, and
Middle States. In this view of the matter, we regard the
adoption of such a paper a matter of great public impor-
tance. It is the revelation of a spirit of loyalty, and of
devotion to the great cause for which the nation in now
contending as for its life. In this view, it is matter for
gratitude and encouragement."
It is of rather small consequence what that small frag-
ment of the Church may think who groan over this deliver-
ance. The mass of the loyal people, we verily believe, are
convinced, after what slavery has attempted in tliis rebel-
lion, that its death is just and its doom is near. We are,
therefore, especially rejoiced, that the General Assembly
of the Presbyterian Chm'ch, by an almost unanimous vote,
has so explicitly put itself upon the record ; has declared
for universal emancipation, as essential to " peace," " social
order," " liberty and independence ;" and has pledged itself
and the people to sustain the Government in its measures
for the restoration of our National Unity.
TO GOD BE THE PKAISE !
422 KENTUCKY OPINIONS.
CHAPTER XL
KEXTUCKT OPINIONS.— THE PAST AND THE PRESENT.
As no Border State has at any time exhibited, among
the religious portion of its commimity, more decided con-
victions upon Slavery, pro and con^ than Kentucky, we
propose in this chapter to present some of the views ex-
pressed against the system, at different periods, by some
of her eminent men and religious bodies.
That which claims the pre-eminence, on account of the
sentiments announced, the source whence they emanate,
and the time of their utterance, is an Address issued in
the year 1835. It is from a Committee of tlie Synod of
the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, to the members of
this Church throughout the State.
The authority under which it was issued is as follows,
as found in the minutes of the Synod : "For the purpose
of promoting harmony and concert of action on this im-
portant subject, the Synod do Resolve, That a Committee
of ten be appointed, to consist of an equal number of
ministers and elders, whose business it shall be to digest
and prepare a plan for the mc^ral and religious instruction
of our slaves, and for their future emancipation, and to
report such plan to the several Presbyteries within our
bounds for their consideration and approval."
It is entitled : " An Address to the Presbyterians of
Kentucky, proposing a Plan for the Instruction and
Emancipation of their Slaves, by a Committee of the
Synod of Kentucky."
The Committee were: "Messrs. John Brown, John
ADDRESS OF THE SYNOD. 423
Green, Thomas P. Smith, J. R. Alexander, and Charles
Cunningham, laymen ; and Revs. "VVm. L. Breckinridge,
James K. Bureh, Robert Stuart, Nathan H. Hall, and
John C. Young, ministers."
Some of these persons yet survive. Dr. Young, whose
name appears last on the list, was at that time President
of Centre College, the post which Dr. William L. Breck-
inridge, the first on the list of ministers, now fills. This
eloquent and pungent address was from the pen of Dr.
Young, than whom no man ever stood higher in the esteem
of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky. Tliough long,
we bespeak for it a careful perusal. If there is to be found
in the English language a more decided condemnation of
slavery as a system, we have not met with it. We have
only to suggest to the reader that he constantly bear in
mind that he is not reading a paper wliich emanated from
Boston, and was designed for the latitude of ISTew Eng-
land, but rather an address written in Kentucky, and, under
the authority of the Synod, made to the Presbyterians of
the State. The chief portions of this Address are as
follows :
Dear Brethren — The will of Synod has made it our duty to lay
before you "a plan for the moral and religious instruction," as well as
for "the future emancipation," of the slaves under your care. "We feel
the responsibility and difficulty of the duty to which the Church has
called U3, yet the cliaracter of those whom we address strongly
encourages us to hope that our labor will not be in vain. You profess
to be governed by the principles and precepts of a holy religion ; you
recognize the fact that you have yourselves " been made free" by the
blood of the Son of God, and you believe that you have been imbued
with a portion of the same spirit which was in " Him who, though He
was rich, yet for our sakes became poor." When we point out to such
persons their duty, and call upon them to fulfil it, our appeal cannot
be altogether fruitless. But we have a still stronger ground of en-
couragfjment in our firm conviction that the cause which we advocate
is the cause of God, and that His assistance will make it finally prevail.
424 KENTUCKY OPINIONS.
May He who " hears the cry of the poor and ueedy," and who haa
commanded to let the " oppressed go free," give to each one of us wis-
dom to know our duty and strength to fulfil it.
We earnestly entreat you, brethren, to receive our communication in
the same spirit of kindness in which it is made, and permit neither pre-
judice nor interest to close your minds against the reception of truth, or
steel your hearts against the convictions of conscience. Very soon it
will be a matter of no moment whether we have had large or small
possessions on the earth; but it will be of infinite importance
whether or not we have conscientiously sought out the will of
God and done it.
We all admit that the system of slavery which exists among us is
not right. Why then do we assist in perpetuating it ? Why do we
make no serious efforts to terminate it ? Is it not because our per-
ception of its sinfulness is very feeble and indistinct, while our percep-
tion of the difficulties of instructing and emancipating our slaves is
strong and clear ? As long as we beheve that slavery, as it exists
among us, is a light evil in the sight of God, so long wiU we feel inclined
to pronounce every plan that can be devised for its termination inexpedient
or impracticable. Before then we unfold our plan, we wish to examine
the systefQ and try it by the principles which religion teaches. If it shall
not be thus proved to be an abomination in the sight of a just and holy
God, we shall not solicit your concurrence in any plan for its abolition.
But if, when fairly examined, it shall be seen to be a thing which God
abhors, we may surely expect that no trifling amount of trouble or loss
will deter you from lending your efibrts to its extermination.
Slavery is not the same all the world over. And to ascertain its
character in any particular State or country, we must examine the consti-
tuents and effects of the kind of slavery ivhich there exists. The system, as
it exists among us and is constituted by our laws, consists of three dis-
tinct parts : a deprivation of the right of property, a deprivation of personal
liberty, and a deprivation of personal securitij. In all its parts it is mani-
festly a violation of the laws of God, as revealed by the light of nature
as well as by the light of revelation.
1. A part of our system of slavery consists in depriving humanbeings
of the right to acquire and hold property. Does it need any proof to show
that God has given to all human beings a right to the proceeds of their
own labor? The heathen acknowledge it ; every man feels it. The Bible
is full of denunciations against those who withhold from others the fruits
of their exertions. " Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrigh-
ABDKESS OF THE SYIfOD. 425
teousness, and his chambers by wrong; that iiseth his neighbor's seryice
without wages, and givethhim not for his work." Jer. xxii. 13. See also
James v. 4; Lev. xix. 13 ; Deut. xxiv. 14, 15. Does an act which is wrong
when done once and towards one individual, become right because it la
practised daily and hourly and towards thousands ? Does the Just and
holy One frown the less upon injustice because it is systematically prac-
tised, and is sanctioned by the laws of the land ? If the chicanery of law
should enable us to escape the payment of our debts, or if a human
legislature should discharge us from our obligations to our creditors,
could we, without deep guilt, withhold from our neighbors that whicb.
is their due ? No ; we all recognize the principle that the laws of the
God of nature can never be repealed by any legislature under heaven.
These laws ■will endure when the statutes of earth shall have
crumbled with the parchments on which they are enrolled; and by these
laws we know that we must be judged in the day in which the desti-
nies of our souls shall bo determined.
2. Tfie deprivation of personal liberty forms another part of our system
of slavery. Not only has the slave no right to his wife and children,
he has no right even to himself. His very body, his muscles, his bones,
his flesh, are all the property of another. The movements of his limbs
are regulated by the will of a master. He may be sold Uke a beast
of the field; he may be transported in chains like a felon. Was the
blood of our Revolution shed to establish a false principle, when it was
poured out in defence of the assertion that "aU men are created equal;"
that " they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi-
ness ?" If it be a violation of the riglits of nature to deprive men of
their political freedom, the injustice is surely much more flagrant when
we rob them of personal liberty. The condition of a subject is enviable
compared with the condition of a slave. "We are shocked, at the despotism
exercised over the Poles. But theirs is a poHtical yoke, and is light com-
pared with the heavy personal yoke that bows down the two millions
of our colored countrymen. Does European injustice lose its foul char-
acter when practised with aggravations in America?
Still further, the deprivation of personal liberty is so complete, that it
destroys the rights of conscience. Our system, as estabhshed by law,
arms the master with power to prevent his slave even from worshipping
God according to the dictates of his own conscience. The owner of hu-
man beings among us may legally restrain them from assembling to hear
the iustructions of divine truth, or even from ever uniting their hearts
426 KENTXTCKY OPINIONS.
and voices in social prayer and praise to Him who created them. God
alone is Lord over the conscience. Yet onr system, defraudinj^ alike
our Creator and our slaves, confers upon men this prerogative of Deity.
Argument is unnecesary to show the guilt and madness of such a sys-
tem. And do we not participate in its criminality if we uphold it ?
3. The deprivation of x>ersonal security is the remaining constituent of
our system of slavery. The time was, in our own as well as in other
countries, wlien even the life of the slave was absolutely in the hands of
the master. It is not so now among us. The life of a bondman cannot
be talien with impunity. But the law extends its protection no further.
Cruelty may be carried to any extent, provided life be spared. Man-
ghng, imprisonment, starvation, every species of torture may be inflicted
upon him, and he has no redress. But not content with thus laying the
body of the slave defenceless at the foot of the roaster, our system pro-
ceeds still further, and strips him in a great measure of all protection
against the inhumanity of any other white man who may choose to
maltreat him. The laws prohibit, the evidence of a slave against a
white man from being received in a court of justice. So that wan-
tonness and cruelty may be exercised by any man with impunity upon
these unfortunate people, provided none witness it but those of their
own color. In describing such a condition, we may well adopt the
language of sacred writ: "Judgment is turned away backward, and
justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity
cannot enter. And the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there
was no judgment."
Such is the essential character of qtjr slavery. "Without any
crime on the part of its unfortunate subjects, they are deprived "for life,
and their posterity after them, of the right to property, of the right to
liberty, and of the right to personal security. These odious features
are not the excrescences upon the system, they are the system itself;
they are its essential constituent parts. And can any man believe that
such a thing as this is not sinful ; that it is not hated by God, and
ought not to be abhorred and abolished bj^ man?
But there are certain effects, springing naturally and necessarily out
of such a system, which must also be considered in forming a proper
estimate of its character.
1. Its most striking effect is to deprave and degrade its iuhjects, by re-
moving from them the strongest natural checks to human corruption. As
there are certain laws impressed upon the elements, by which God
works to preserve the beauty and order of tlie material creation, so there
ADDRESS OF THE SYNOD. 427
are certain principles of human nature by which he works to save the
moral world from ruin. These principles operate on every man in his
natural condition of freedom — restraining his vicious propensities and
regulating his deportment. The fires of innate depravity, which, if
permitted to burst forth, would destroy the individual and desolate
society, are thus measurably repressed, and the decencies and enjoy-
ments of life are preserved. The wisdom and goodness of God are thus
seen in implanting in man a sense of character, a desire for property, a
loveTfor distinction, a tliirst for power, and a zeal for /amily advance-
ment. All these feelings working in the minds of individuals, though
not unmixed with evil, combine to promote their own happiness and
the welfare of communities; and they are inferior, in the good which
they produce, only to those high rehgious principles which constitute
the image of God in the soul of man. The presence of these principles
only can compensate for the absence of those natural feelings. When-
ever, then, these natural feelings are crushed or eradicated in any human
being, he is stripped of the nobler attributes of humanity, and is de-
graded into a creature of mere appetite and passion. His sensuality is
the only cord by which you can draw him. His hopes and fears all
concentrate upon the objects of his appetites. He sinks far down towards
a level with the beast of the field, and can be moved to action only by
such appeals as influence the lunatic and the brute. This is the con-
dition to which slavery reduces the great mass of those who wear its
brutalizing yoke. Its effects upon their souls are far worse than its
effects upon their bodies. Character, property, distinction, power, and
family respectability, are all withdrawn from the reach of the slave.
No object is presented to excite and cultivate those higher feelings
whose exercise would repress his passions and regulate his appetites.
Thus slavery deranges and ruins the moral machinery of man ; it cuts
the sinews of the soul ; it extracts from human nature the salt that
purifies and preserves it, and leaves it a corrupting mass of appetite and
passion.
2. It cboms thousands of human beings to hopeless ignorance. The acqui-
sition of knowledge requires exertion ; and the man who is to continue
through life in bondage has no strong motive of interest to induce such
exertion ; for knowledge is not valuable to him, as to one who eats the
fruits of his own labors. The acquisition of knowledge requires also
facihties of books, teachers, and time, which can be only adequately
furnished by masters : and those who desire to perpetuate slavery will
never furnish thes, facilities. If slaves are educated, it must involve
19*
428 KENTUCKY OPIN^IOXS.
some outlay on the part of the master. And what reliance for such a
sacrifice can be placed on the generosity and virtue of one who looks on
them as his property, and who has been trained to consider every
dollar expended on them as lost, unless it contributes to increase their
capacity for yielding him valuable service ? He will have them taught
to work, and will ordinarily feed and clotlie them, so as to enable them
to perform their work to advantage. But more than this it is inconsist-
ent with our knowledge of human nature to expect that he will do for
them. The present state of instruction among this race answers exactly
to what we might thus naturally anticipate. Throughout our whole
land, so far as we can learn, there is but one school in which, during
the week, slaves can be taught. The light of three or four Sabbath-
schools is seen glimmering through the darkness that covers the black
population of a whole State. Here and there a family is found where
humanity and religion impel the master, mistress, or children, to the
laborious task of private instruction. Great honor is due to those en-
gaged in this philanthropic and self-denying course, and their reward
shall be received in the day when even a cup of cold water, given from
Christian motives, shall secure a recompense. But, after all, what is the
utmost amount of instruction given to slaves ? Those who enjoy the
most of it, are fed with but the crumbs of knowledge which fall from
their master's table — they are clothed with the mere shreds and tatters
of learning.
Nor is it to be expected that this state of things will become better,
unless it is determined that slavery shall cease. The impression is almost
universal that intellectual elevation unfits men for servitude, and renders
it impossible to retain ihem in this condition. This impression is un-
questionably correct. The weakness and ignorance of their victims is
the only safe foundation on which injustice and oppression can rest.
And the effort to keep in bondage men to whom knowledge has im-
parted power, would be like the insane attempt of the Persian tj'rant to
chain the waves of the sea, and whip its boisterous waters into submis-
sion. "We may as soon expect to fetter the winds, seal up the clouds,
or extinguish the fires of the volcano, as to prevent enlightened minds
from recovering their natural condition of freedom. Hence, in some of
our States laws have been enacted prohibiting, Under severe penalties,
the instruction of the blacks ; and even where such laws do not exist,
there are formidable numbers who oppose with deep hostility every
effort to enligiiten the mind of the negro. These men are determined
that slavery shall be perpetuated, and they know that their universal
ADDRESS OF THE SYNOD. 429
education must be followed by their universal emancipation. They are
then acting wisely, according to the wisdom of this world, when they
deny education to slaves ; they are adopting a measure necessary to
secure their determined purpose. It is, however, policy akin to that
which once induced the rufiSan violators of female chastity to cut out
the tongue and cut off the hands of their victim, to disable her from
uttering or writing their names. She had to be maimed, or they would
be brought to justice. It is such policy as the robber exhibits, who
silences in death the voices that might accuse him, and buries in the
grave the witnesses of his crimes. He is determined to pursue his
occupation, and his safety in it requires that he should not indulge in
the weakness of keeping a conscience. How horrible must be that sys-
tem which, in the opinion of even its strongest advocates, demands, aa
the necessary condition of its existence, that knowledge should be shut
out from the minds of those who live under it ; that they should be
reduced as nearly as possible to the level of brutes or living machines ;
that the powers of their souls should be crushed. Let each one of us
ask, can such a system be aided or even tolerated without deep crimi-
nahty ?
3. It deprives it^ subjects in a great measure of the privileges of the Gospel.
You may be startled at this statement, and feel disposed to exclaim,
" Our slaves are always permitted and even encouraged to attend upon
the ordinances of worship." But a candid and close examination will
show the correctness of our charge. The privileges of the Gospel, as
enjoyed by the white population in this land, consist in free access to
the Scriptures, a regular gospel ministry, and domestic means of grace.
Neither of these is, to any extent worth naming, enjoyed by slaves, as
a moment's consideration will satisfactorily show. The law, as it is here,
does not prevent /ree access to the Scriptures ; but ignorance, the natural
result of their condition, does. The Bible is before them, but it ie to
them a scaled book. " Tlie light shineth in the darkness, but the dark-
ness comprehendeth it not." Like the paralytic who lay for years by
the pool of Bethesda, the waters of healing are near them, but no kind
hand enables them to try theirefficacy. Very few enjoy the advantages
of a regular gospel ministry. They are, it is true, permitted generally,
and often encouraged, to attend upon the ministrations specially de-
signed for their masters. But the instructions communicated on such
occasions are above the level of their capacities. They listen as to
prophesy ings in an unknown tongue. The preachers of their own color
are still farther from ministering to their spiritual wants, as these impart
43U KENTUCKY OPINIONS.
to them, not of their knowledge, but their ignorance ; they heat their
animal feeUngs, but do not kindle a flame of intelligent devotion. It
has been proposed by some zealous and devoted friends of the colored
race, to supply the deficiency of gospel ministrations among them by
the employment of suitable missionaries, who may labor exclusively
among them. We need not here speculate on the probable results of
such a scheme, if carried into effect in a community where there is no
intention to emancipate ; for before there is found among us benevolence
enough to adopt and execute it on a scale large enough to effect any
highly valuable purpose, the community will be already ripe for meas-
ures of emancipation. Such a spirit of kindness towards this unfortunate
race as this scheme presupposes, can never coexist with a determination
to keep them in hopeless bondage. Further, there are no houses of
worship exclusively devoted to the colored population. The galleries
of our own churches, which are set apart to their use, would not hold
the tenth part of their numbers ; and even these few seats are in general
thinly occupied So that, as a body, it is evident that our slaves do not
enjoy the public ordinances of religion. Domestic means of grace are
still more rare among them. Here and there a family is found whose
servants are taught to bow with their masters around the fireside altar.
But their peculiarly adverse circumstances, combined with the natural
alienation of their hearts from God, render abortive the sUght eiforts of
most masters to induce their attendance on the domestic services of
religion. And if we visit the cottages of those slaves who live apart
from their masters, where do we find them reading their Bibles and
kneeling together before a throne of mercy? Family ordinances of
religion are almost unknown among th6 blacks. We do not wish to
exaggerate the description of this deplorable religious condition of our
colored population. We know that instances of true piety are frequently
found among them ; but these instances we all know to be awfully dis-
proportionate to their numbers, and to the extent of those means of
grace which exist around them. When the missionaries of the cross
enter a heathen land, their hope of fully Christianizing it rests upon the
fact that they can array and bring to bear upon the minds of these
children of ignorance and sin all those varied means which God has
appointed for the reformation of man. But while the system of slavery
continues among us, these means can never be efiSciently and fully
employed for the conversion of the degraded sons of Africa. Yet
" God hath made them of one blood" with ourselves; hath provided
for them the same redemption- hath in His providence cast souls upon
ADDRESS OF THE SYNOD. 431
our care, and hath clearly intimated to us the doom of him who " seeth
his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from
him." If by our example, our silence, or our sloth, we perpetuate a
system which paralyzes our hands when we attempt to convey to them
the bread of life, and which inevitably consigns the great mass of them
to unending perdition, can we be guiltless in the sight of Him who hath
made us stewards of His grace ?
4. This' system licenses and produces great crudiy. The law places the
whip in the hands of the master, and its use, provided he avoid destroy-
ing life, is limited only by his own pleasure. Considering the absolute
power with which our people are armed, it must be acknowledged that
the treatment of their dependents is, in general, singularly humane.
Many circumstances operate here to mitigate the rigors of perpetual
servitude ; and it is probably the fact that no body of slaves have been
ever better fed, better clothed, and less abused, than the slaves of Ken-
tucky. Still, they have no security for their comfort but the humanity
and generosity of men who have been trained to regard them not aa
brethren, but as property. Humanity and generosity are at best poor
guarantees for the protection of those who cannot assert their rights,
and over whom law throws no protection. Our own condition we
would feel to be wretched indeed, if no law secured us from the insults
and maltreatment even of our equals. But superiority naturally begets
contempt, and contempt generates maltreatment, for checking which
we can rely not on virtue, but only on law. There are in our land hun-
dreds of thousands clothed, with arbitrary powers over those whom
they are educated to regard as their property, as the instruments of
their will, as creatures beneath their sympathy, devoid of aU the feel-
ings which dignify humanity, and but one remove above cattle. Is it
not certain that many of these hundreds of thousands wiU inflict out-
rages on their despised dependents ? There are now in our whole land
two millions of human beings exposed, defenceless, to every insult and
every injury, short of maiming or death, which tlieir feUow-men may
choose to inflict. They suffer all that can be inflicted by wanton caprice,
by grasping avarice, by brutal lust, by malignant spite, and by insane
anger. Their happiness is the sport of every whim and the prey of
every passion that may occasionally or habitually infest the master's
bosom. If we could calculate the amount of woe endured by ill-treated
slaves, it would overwhelm every oompassionate heart — it would move
even the obdurate to sympathy. There is also a vast sum of suffering
inflicted upon the slave by humane masters, as a punishment for that
432 KENTUCKY OPINIONS.
idleness and misconduct which slavery naturally produces. The ordi-
nary motives to exertion in men are withdrawn from the slave. Some
unnatural stimulus must then be substituted, and the whip presents
itself as the readiest and most efiScient. But the application of the
whip to produce industry, is like the application of the galvanic fluid to
produce muscular exertion. The effect is powerful indeed, out momen-
tary ; and, if often applied, it is exhaustive and destructive to the system.
It can never be used as a substitute for the healthful and agreeable
nervous stimulus with which nature has supplied us. Equally vain is
the attempt to supply by the whip the deficiency of natural motives to
exertion ; it produces misery and degradation. Yet, inadequate as is
this substitute, it is the best that can be had ; it must be used while
the system lasts : the condition of the slave is unnatural, and his treat-
ment must correspond to his condition. "We are shocked to hear of
epicures who cause the animals on which they feast to be whipped to
death, that their flesh may be more delicate and delicious to the taste.
We feel it to be disgusting and intolerable cruelty thus to inflict pain
even upon a beast, merely to satisfy the cravings of luxury ; and shall
we excuse ourselves if a desire for ease or wealth leads us to sanction,
sustain, and assist in perpetuating a system which, as long as it lasts,
must lacerate the bodies and grind down the feelings of millions of
rational and immortal beings ?
Brutal stripes, and aU the varied kinds of personal indignities, are
not the only species of cruelty which slavery licenses. The law does
not recognize the family relations of a slave, and extends to him no
protection in the enjoyment of domestic endearments. The members
of a slave family may be forcibly separated, so that they shall never
more meet until the final judgment. And cupidity often induces the
masters to practise what the law allows. Brothers and sisters, parents
and children, husbands and wives, are torn asunder, and permitted to
see each other no more. These acts are daily occurring in the midst of ud.
The shrieks and the agony often witnessed on S'icli occasions proclaim
with a trumpet-tongue the iniquity and cruelty of our system. The
cry of these sufferers goes up to the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth,
There is not a neighborhood where these hearl-rending sceiies are not dis-
played. There is not a village or road that does not behold the sad
procession of manacled outcasts, wiiose chains and mournful counte-
nances tell that they are exiled by force from all that their hearts held
dear. Our Church, years ago, raised its voice of solemn warning
figrunst this flagrant violation of every principle of mercy, justice, and
ADDEESS OF THE SYNOD. 4 33
humanity. Yet we blush to announce to you and to the world that
tliis warning has been often disregarded, even by those who hold to
our communion. Cases have occurred in our own denomination where
professors of the religion of mercy have torn the mother from her chil-
dren, and sent her into a merciless and returnless exile. Yet acts of
disciphne have rarely followed such conduct. Far lie it from us to
ascribe to our people generally a participation in these deeds, or a
sympathy with them; they abhor and loathe them. But while the
system, of which these cruelties are the legitimate offspring, is tolerated
among us, it is exceedingly difficult to inflict punishment upon their
perpetrators. If we commence disciphne for any acts which the laws
of slavery sanction, where shall we stop ? What principle is there
which will justify us in cutting ofi" a twig or branch of this poison- tree
that will not, if carried fairly out, force us to proceed and hew down its
trunk and dig up its roots ? These cruelties are only the loathsome
ulcers which show corruption in the blood and rottenness in the bones
of this system. They may be bound up and moUified with ointment ;
they may be hidden from the sight; but they cannot be entirely re-
moved until there is a thorough renovation within. Our Churches can-
not be entirely pure, even from the grosser pollutions of slavery, until
we are willing to pledge ourselves to the destruction of the whole
system.
The voice of the civihzed world has been lifted up in execration of
the despot who recently dragged numbers of the unhappy Poles from
their country, separating husbands and wives, parents and children.
But they are his property by the same tenure by which we hold our
slaves ; and has he not a right, he may exclaim, to do as he pleases
with his own? Nay, the security and peace of his dominions require
this cruelty. He is not willing to relinquish the property which he inher-
ited; and he may tell us, and tell us truly, that it cannot be retained in
safety without the adoption of these horrid measures. Can we con-
demn his conduct, and yet justify our system of slavery? or can we
condemn both, and yet be guiltless if we use no efScient exertions to
terminate these cruelties among us ?
5. It produces general licentiousness among the slaves. Marriage, as a
civil ordinance, they cannot enjoy. Our laws do not recognize this
relation as existing among them, and of course do not enforce by any
sanction the observance of its duties. Indeed, until slavery " waxeth
old and tendeth to decay," there cannot be any legal recognition of
the marriage rite, or the enforcement of the consequent duties. For
434 KENTUCKY OPIiaONS.
all regulations on tliis subject would limit the master's absolute right
of property in his slaves. In his disposal of them, he would no longer
be at liberty to consult merely his own interest. He could no longer
separate the wife and husband to suit the convenience or interest of
the purchaser, no matter how advantageous might be the terms oflered.
And as the wife and husband do not always belong to the same owner,
and are not often wanted by the same purchaser, their duties to each
other would thus, if enforced by law, frequently conflict with the inter.
ests of the master. Hence all the marriage that could ever be allowed
to them would be a mere contract, voidable at the master's pleasure.
Their present quasi marriages are just such contracts, and are contin-
ually thus voided. They are in this way brought to consider the mat-
rimonial engagement as a thing not binding, and they act accordingly.
Many of them are united without even the sham and forceless cere-
mony which is sometimes used. They, to use their qtsti phraseology,
''take up with" each other, and live together as long as it suits their
mutual convenience or inclination. This wretched system of concu-
binage inevitably produces revolting licentiousness. This feature in
the slave character is so striliing, as to induce in many minds the idea
that the negro is naturally repugnant to the restraints of matrimony.
From the aniple and repeated testimonies, however, of such travellers
as Park and Lander, who have visited this race in their native land,
we learn that their character in this respect is in Africa the reverse of
what it is here ; that they regard the marriage rite with remarlcable
sacredness, and scrupulously fulfil its duties. We are then assured by
the most unquestionable testimony that their licentiousness is the
necessary result of our system, which, destroying the force of the mar-
riage rite, and thus in a measure degrading all the connection between
the sexes into mere concubinage, solicits wandering desire, and leads
to extensive profligacy. Our familiarity with this consequence of
slavery prevents us from regarding it with that horror which it would
under other circumstances inspire. Tlie sacredness of the marriage rite
is the buhvark of morality, the corner-stone of domestic happiness. It
is the foundation on which alone the whole fabric of an organized and
virtuous community can be built. On it must rest all those family
relations which bind together and cement society. "VVitiiout it, we
might lierdjogether liive brutes, but we could no longer live together
as human beings. There would be no families, no strong ties of
kindred, no domestic endearments softening the manners and curbing
the passion's. Selfish, seusual, and unrestrained, man would exercise
ADDRESS OF THE SYNOD. 435
his reason only to minister to the more grovelling propensities of his
nature. Any set of men will approximate to this condition just in pro-
portion to their approximation to the practical abolition of matrimonial
restraints. And certainly never, in any civUized country, has respect
for these restraints been more nearly obliterated than it has been among
our blacks. Thus the working of our system of slavery diffuses a
moral pestilence among its subjects, tending to wither and Might every
thing that is naturally beautiful and good in the character of man. Can
this system be tolerated without sin ?
6. This system demoralizes the vjhites as well as the ilacks. Masters
are in a great degree irresponsible for the exercise of their power ; and
they generally feel that their object in possessing and exercising their
dominion is their own utility, and not the good of those over whom
they rule. Now, power can never be held or exercised without moral
injury to its possessor, unless its exercise be subject to responsibility, or
unless it be held mainly for the good of its subjects, not of its possessor.
The lives of absolute monarchs furnish us with our most disgusting
pictures of human depravity. Few, even of those who had been pre-
viously trained to self-control and virtue, have been able to ^^'ithstand
the corruptmg influence of unrestrained power. And the effect is in
some measure the same where despotic authority is possessed and ex-
ercised in a smaller sphere. No man, acquainted with the frailty of the
human heart, would desire uncontrolled dominion over his fellow-men.
We are sufiSciently prone by nature to tyranny and a disregard of the
rights and interests of others, without having these feelings developed,
cultivated, and matured by a sense of irresponsibility, and by the habit
of regarding ourselves as born to command, and others as born to obey.
"Where a consciousness of responsibility, equahty, and dependence,
does not check their growth, hard-heartedness, selfishness, and arro-
gance are in most men fearfully exhibited. And these odious traits of
character must be peculiarly marked in those who have from childhood
been trained in the school of despotism. The hand of one of our greatest
statesmen has strikingly portrayed the demoralizing effects of this
system on the minds and manners of the ruling class. "There must
doubtless," says Mr. Jefferson, "be an unhappy influence on the manners
of our people produced by the existence of slavery among us. The whole
commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most
boisterous passions, the most unrelenting despotism on the one pan,
and degrading submission on the other. Our children see this, and
learn to imitate it ; for man is an imitative animal. This quahty is the
436 KENTUCKY OPINIONS.
germ of all education in him. From Ms cradle to his grave he is learn-
ing to do what he sees others do. If a parent could find no motive
either in his philanthropy or his self-love for restraining the intem-
perance of passion towards his slave, it should always be a sufiScient
one that his child is present. But generally it is not sufficient. The
parent storms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments of wrath, puts
on the same airs in the circle of smaller slaves, gives a loose to the
worst of passions ; and, thus nursed, educated, and daUy exercised in
tyranny, cannot but be stamped by it with odious peculiarities. The
man must be a prodigy who can retain his manners and morals unde-
praved by such circumstances."* Such, according to the testimony of
one who had marked its operation with a philosopher's eye, is the
character which slavery forms, — a character perfectly the reverse of
that which the Gospel requires.
We forbear to picture before you the consequences of that indolence
and aversion to all manual occupations which are necessarily engen-
dered in youth surrounded by a servile class who are engaged in these
pursuits. These consequences you have all seen and felt and deplored.
Such are the evil effects to ourselves and our children of the system wliich
we support. Thus we are made to eat of the bitter food which we prepare
for others, and drink of the poisoned cup which our own hands mingled;
the sword with which we unthinkingly destroy others is thus made to
drink our own blood. These evils, if duly estimated, are alone sufficient
to arm us with implacable hostility towards the system from which
they spring. And, in view of these effects, we can almost adopt the
opinion expressed a few years since on the scaffold, by one who wa3
executed for the murder of a slave : " Slavery is a bad system ; it is
even worse for the master than it is for the slaves." It is a system
which reminds us of the dark magic of ancient days, an art as' fatal to
those who exercised it as to those who were their victims.
7. This system draws down upon ms the vengeance of Heaven. " God is
just," and " He will render to every one according to his works."
Oppression can never escape unpunished while He, who hath emphati-
cally declared that he is the " Judge of the widow" and " the Father
of the fatherless," is on tlie throne of the universe. " If thou forbear
to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to
be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not ; doth not He that pon-
dereth the heart consider it? and He that keepeth thy soul, doth not
♦Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, p. 319.
ADDRESS OF THE SYNOD, 43Y
He know it ? and shall He not render to every man according to hia
works?" Not a sparrow falls to the ground, we are told, -unthout the
notice of God ; how much more doth He mark the abuse and oppression
of a creature who bears His own pecuhar image ? " The very hairs of
our head are all numbered ;" much more are the groanings of the
oppressed and the sighings of the prisoner recorded by Him who says
that His name is "Gracious," and that His "ear is ever open to the cry
of the poor and needy." The blood of Abel did not soak into the
ground unheeded ; it called down judgment upon the guilty man who
had smitten his brother, and it drove him out a wanderer from the
land of his birth, a fugitive from the presence of the Lord. But the
sore cry of millions of the down-trodden has gone up to heaven from
the midst of us ; this cry is still swelling upward ; and if there be
righteousness on tlie throne of the universe, it must bring down vials
of wrath upon the heads of all who are engaged in this guilty work.
And when He cometh to execute vengeance, "who may abide the day
of His coming?" Who can stand before His indignation? Wlio can
stand up in the fierceness of His anger? "We see the truth of what
the prophet declares, that "the Lord is slow to anger;" but we are
assured that it is equally true that He is " great in power, and will not
at all acquit the wicked : the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and
in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet."
Brethren, we profess to be Christians ; we reverence the holy revela-
tion which God has given ; we look to its precepts for guidance, and to
its denunciations for warnings. "We know that the principles of the
divine dealings are the same in every age, and that what God said to those
of old, when we are in similar circumstances, He saith unto us. Listen,
then, to one of the many intimations he has given us of the way in
wliich He regards slavery, and the way in which He will punish it.
" The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery,
and have vexed the poor and needy; yea, they have oppressed the
stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should
stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it : but I
found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them ; I
have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I
recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God." Ezek. xxii. 29-31.
Can we despise the instructions of the Almighty? Shall we shut our
eyes and close our ears against the admonitions of the great Judge of
the earth? Shall we not arise and "stand in the gap before Him for
the land, that He may not destroy it?" Though our "nest maybe
438 KENTUCKY OPINIONS.
built on high," and "our defence be the munitions of rocks," we can-
not escape, if God rise up against i.s. He can blast our prosperity ; He
can drown us in blood ; He can blot out our existence and our name
from under heaven.
Let us remember too, that not only as a people, but as individuals,
God will deal with us. The day is soon coming when every man's
works which he hath wrought shall be tried as by fire, and we must
then " eat of the fruits of our own ways."
We have now exhibited fairly, but briefly, the nature and effects of
slavery. For the truth of our facts we refer to your own observations;
for the correctness of our reasoning we appeal to your judgments and
consciences.
***** ***
[After considering and answering various objections, the committee
submit the following plan, and their closing appeal :]
The plan which we propose is, for the master to retain, during a
limited period, and with a regard to the real welfare of the slave, that
authority which he before held in perpetuity, and solely for his own in-
terest. Let the full future hberty of the slave be secured against all
contingencies by a recorded deed of emancipation, to take effect at a
specified time. In the mean wliile, let the servant be treated with kind-
ness; let all those things which degrade him be removed; let him
enjoy means of instruction ; let his moral and religious improvement
be sought ; let his prospects be presented before him, to stimulate him
to acquire those habits of foresight, economy, industry, activity, skill,
and integrity, which will fit him for using well the liberty he is soon to
enjoy. That master is, in our opinion, doing most for the destruction
of this system who thus sets in operation a machinery whicli, in a
given and limited period, will not only unbind the body of the slave,
but will, link by link, and in the only way in which it can be effected,
twist off the fetters that now cramp his soul. If the master retains
his authority over his servants only for a tune, that he may enjoy
ampler opportunities of employing means for their amendment and ele-
vation ; if he regards them as a trust committed to him by his Master
and theirs, for their mutual benefit, and no longer as property, of which
he has the uncontrolled disposal for his own selfish ends ; if he acts
and feels thus, he is not only free from guilt, but he is " bringing forth
fruits meet for repentance," he is doing the work of righteousness and
humanity.
********
ADDRESS OF THE SYNOD. 439
Brethren, there are three courses before you, one of which you must
ciiooac : either to emancipate immediately and without preparation, or
to pursue some such plan of gradual emancipation as we propose, or to
continue to lend your example and influence to perpetuate slavery. It
is improbable that you will adopt the first course ; if then you refuse to
concur in the plan of gradual emancipation and act upon it, however
you may lull oonscience, you are lending your aid to perpetuate a de-
raorahzing and cruel system, which it would be an insult to God to
imagine that He does not abhor ; a system which exhibits power with-
out responsibility, toil without recompense, life without liberty, law
without justice, -ATongs without redress, infamy without crime, punish-
ment without guilt, and families without marriage— a system which
will not only make victims of the present unhappy generation, inflicting
upon them the degradation, the contempt, the lassitude, and the anguish
of hopeless oppression, but which even aims at transmitting this heri-
tage of injury and woe to their children and their children's children,
down to their latest posterity. Can any Christian contemplate without
trembling his own agency in the perpetuation of such a system ? And
what will be the end of these scenes of misery and vice ? Shall we
wait until worldly politicians and legislators may rise up and bid them
cease? "We ahaU wait in vain. Already have we heard the senti-
ment proclaimed from high places and by the voice of authority, that a
race of slaves is necessary to the existence of freedom. Is it from
those who utv3r such sentiments that we expect deUverance to come ?
No : reformation must commence where we are divinely taught that
"judgment mast begin — at the house of God." This work must be done;
and Christians must begin it, and begin it soon, or wrath will come
upon us. Tlio groans of milhons do not rise forever unheeded before
the throne of the Almighty. The hour of doom must soon arrive, the
storm must soon gather, the bolt of destruction must soon be hurled,
and the guilty must soon be dashed in pieces. The voice of past his-
tory and the voice^of inspiration both warn us that the catastrophe
must come, unless averted by repentance. And let us remember that
we are each of us individually responsible. We are individually assist-
ing to pile up this mountain of guHt. And even if temporal judgments
do not fall upon our day, we are not on that account the more safe from
punishment. If we "know our Lord's will and do it not, we shall be
beaten with many stripes. ' The sophistry and false reasoning by
which we may delude our own souls, wiU not blind the eyes which
"are as a flame of fire." A few years at most wUl place us where we
440 KENTUCKY OPINIONS.
would gladly give all the slaves of a universe to buy off the punish-
ment that oppression brings down upon the soul. It may be difQcult to
do our duty, but it will be far more difficult to stand in the judgment
without having done it.
Brethren, we have done. The hour is coming in which the slave and
his master must stand together before the tribunal of God, a God who
judges righteously. Are you prepared to place yourselves before Him
who will decide upon your eternal destiny, and say that you have done
justice to those whom you now hold in bondage ? Are you prepared
to say, "As I have done unto these, so let it be done unto me ; as I
have showed mercy, so let me receive mercy at the hands of my
Judge." Anticipate, we beseech you, the feelings and decision of that
great day which is fast hastening on ; try yourselves now, as God will
then try you. "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly,
to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" Are you "doing
justly" wliile you retain your fellow-men in hopeless boudage"? Are
you " loving mercy" wliile you are supporting a system that degrades
and brutalizes beings whom God created in His own image ? These
are solemn questions. Let reason answer them, and let conscience
decide your future course.
John Brown, Chairman.
John C. Young, Secretary.
The foregoing paper calls for no comment. It speaks
for itself; it is from men of the highest character; and
they describe the system of slavery as it existed under
their oxon observation.
MOVEMENT FOR EMANCIPATION IN 1849.
The next step of public importance which we note,
revealing the sentiments of the people of Kentucky, oc-
curred in 1849. The Legislature submitted to the people
the question of calling a Convention to revise the State
Constitution, and the people decided affirmatively. The
subject of slavery was 5 main topic of consideration in the
canvass for the Convention. Many citizens, embracing
many of the largest slaveholders, were in favor of pro-
viding in the new or revised Constitution for the removal
PRINCIPLES OF THE STATE CONVENTION. 441
of the system from the State. " Foi- months previous to
the election of members of the Convention to frame anew
Constitution, the press teemed with arguments and appeals,
public lecturers and orators travelled over the State to
address the people, and county and State Conventions
were held to embody and express the sentiments ol' the
contending parties."*
A meeting was held in Lexington, on the 14th of April,
1849, which is thus spoken of:
The object of the meeting having been explained, in a few eloquent
remarks by the Hon. Henry Clay and Rev. R. J. Breckinridge, on
motion of the latter gentleman, the following resolutions were unani-
mously adopted :
1st. That this meeting, composed of citizens of the county of Fayette,
met in pursuance of public notice, to consider the question of the per-
petuation of slavery in this Commonwealth, considering that hereditary
slavery, as it exists among us, (1) Is contrary to the natural rights of
mankind ; (2) Is opposed to the fundamental principles of free govern-
ment ; (3) Is inconsistent with a state of sound morality ; (4) Is hostile
to the prosperity of the Commonwealth ; we are therefore of the opinion
that it ought not to be made perpetual, &c.
The second resolution recommended the holding of a
State Convention at Frankfort, on the 25th of April, to
consider the subject of emancipation, and appointed thirty
delegates. At this Convention, held on the day above
named, "the Rev. Dr. R. J. Breckinridge submitted a
document, which, after being amended with his concur-
rence, was adopted."
PRINCIPLES OF THE STATE CONVENTION.
We merely give the preamble, and the first and main
point of the paper, as all that is essential to our purpose,
♦The facts stated concerning this movement for Emancipation in Kentucky in
1849, we take mainly from an article in the Biblical Repertory, for October of that
year, founded on an Address of Dr. R. J. Breckinridge, entitled " The Question of
Negro Slavery, and the New Constitution of Kentucky." This Address is before us.
442 KENTUCKT OPINIONS.
showing the judgment of the State Convention upon the
character of the system which they sought to remove.
This portion of the document is as follows :
This Conveation, composed of citizens of the Commonwealth of Ken-
tucky, and representing the opinions and wishes of a large number of
our fellow-citizens throughout the Commonwealth, met in the capitol on
the 25th of April, 1849, to consider wliat course it becomes those who
are opposed to the increase and to the perpetuity of slavery in tliis State
to pursue in the approaching canvass for members of the Convention,
called to amend the Constitution, adopts the propositions which follow,
as expressing its judgment in the premises :
1. Believing that involuntary hereditary slavery, as it exists by law
in this State, is injurious to the prosperity of the Commouwealth, incon-
sistent with the fundamental principles of free government, contrary to
the natural rights of mankind, and injurious to a pure state of morals,
we are of opinion that it ought not to be increased, and that it ought
not to be perpetuated in this Commonwealth.
The other propositions of the paper, three in number,
relate to matters of detail respecting tlie mode recom-
mended to the Constitutional Convention for the ultimate
and entire removal of slavery from the State. This j^aper
is signed officially by " Henry Clay, of Bourbon, Presi-
dent," and by several Vice-Presidents and Secretaries.
EMANCIPATIONISTS DEFEATED.- -CAUSES.
Dr. R. J. Breckinridge was an Emancipation candidate
for the State Constitutional Convention, but was defe.ited ;
and it is said, that " not more than one or two emancipa-
tionists, if any, according to the public papers," were
" elected." When, therefore, the Convention assembled,
instead of providing for emancipation, they placed barriers
in its way far greater than existed l)efore ; making a course
of measures of some six or seven years duration necessary
to reach the practical point in any system of emancipation,
immediate or gradual, through constitutional and legislative
PRESBYTERIANS FOR EMANCIPATION. 443
forms. We have often heard it said in Kentucky, that
while the hirgest slaveholders were in favor of emancipa-
tion at that time, the non-slaveholding vote of the State
gave the Convention the proslavery character it pos-
sessed.*
The Repertory thus speaks of the failure of the emanci-
pation cause, and of the agencies employed in its behalf:
It may be difficult for those out of the State to discern all the causes of
this lamentable defeat. There are, however, some things connected with
the subject patent to every observer. In the first place, the failure of
the cause of emancipation is not to be referred to any want of ability on
the part of its advocates. Those advocates comprise some of the most
distinguished men not only of Kentucky, but of the Union ; men who
have no superiors in the power to control public sentiment. If the cause
of freedom could have been carried, it must have been carried by such
men. If any appeals could produce conviction, it would have been
produced by the address mentioned at the head of this article. Self-
interest, ignorance, and prejudice, are proof against any thing; but the
human mind, when unbiassed, and sufficiently enlightened to compre-
hend their import, cannot resist such arguments, nor harden itself
against such sentiments as are here presented. It must be conceded,
then, that the cause of emancipation in Kentucky has failed for the
present, in spite of the exertions of men of the highest order of talents
of which the country can boast.
PRESBYTERIANS UNANIMOUSLY FOR EMANCIPATION.
Again, some seem disposed to refer this failure to the lukewarmness
of the Churches in Kentucky. We are not prepared to speak on this
subject for other Churches, but surely this reproach cannot fairly be
brought against our own Clnirch. The Preshyttriaus have taken the lead
in this struggle. There is not a prominent man in the Synod of Ken-
tucky, who has not been conspicuous for his zeal and efforts in behalf
of emancipation. No names in connection with this subject are more
* The Repertory says on this point : " The Impression seems very general that the
emancipationists have been defeated by the shiveholders. This is a great mistilve.
A large and most, influential class of the slaveholders are themselves emancipation-
ists." "The fact, therefore, that the non-slaveholders in Kentucky have voted
against emancipation, is not to be attributed to the influence of the slave-owners."
20
444 KENTUCKY OPINIONS.
prominent than those of Drs. R. J. Breckinridge, John C. Young, "Wil-
Uam L. Breckinridge, and of the Rev. Mr. Eobinson, of Frankfurt. As far
as we know, there is not a single Presl.yterian minister whose name is
found among the advocates of slavery.
We give these extracts because they state the case better
than we can do, and because we wish the facts to go forth
with greater weight than our individual autliority could
impart to them. They Avere written and published soon
after the events occurrerl, and we are not aware that they
have ever been called in question. The material facts
which bear upon our immediate purpose are : that in 1849,
" Presbyterians" took " the lead" in Kentucky for eman-
cipation ; that there was then "not a prominent man in the
Synod" who was " not conspiciiotis for his zeal in behalf
of emancipation ;" that among the distinguished "names"
than which none were "more prominent," is here given
"the Rev. Mr. liobinson, of Frankfort;" and that thei'e
was, at that time, " not a single Presbyterian minister" in
the Synod of Kentucky, " whose name was found among
the advocates of slaver ij?''
DK8. HUMPHEET AND W. L. BRECKINRIDGE UPON EMANCI-
PATION IN 1849.
In the year 1850, Drs. William L. Breckinridge .and E.
P. Humphrey published a vindication of Dr. E. D. Mac
Master from the aspersions cast upon him by Dr. N. L.
Rice, in which they bear the following testimony to the
position taken by Presbyterian ministers, elders, and
Church-members, in Kentucky, for emancipation :
It is well known that during the past year a movement was made for
emancipation, — that is, the ultimate extinction of slavery, — in the State
of Kentucky. The first public meeting on this subject, of which we
heard, was addressed by two Presbyterian ministers. The address to
the friends of the cause throughout the State, calling a convention at
the seat of Government, was drawn up by a Presbyterian minister.
POSITION OF DK. R. J. BRECKINRIDGE IN 1849. 413
"When the Convention met, in April, 1849, there appeared, among its
members, more than twenty Presbyterian ministers and ruling elders.
* * * The Presbyterian ministers in Kentucky, so far as we know,
almost without exception, and the great body of the ruling elders and pri-
vate members of the Churches^ concurred in these views expressed by the Con- ^
vention [referring to the paper adopted as given above]. Nor have we
heard of any expression of the public sentiment of the Church at large,
censuring them in this behalf.*
According to this testimony, from two gentlemen who
were at the time Pastors of Chm-ches in the city of Louis-
ville, the vast body of ministers, elders, and people of the
Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, were, in 1849, in favor
of the removal of slavery fi-om the State.
POSITION OF DR. R. J. BRECKINRIDGE IN 1849.
The stand taken by Dr. R. J. Breckinridge is already
shown by the resolutions he introduced, and which were
* The direct purpose of the article from -nhich we here quote, was not to exhibit
the sentiments of the writers or those of the people of Kentuclvy upon slavery.
This is (lone very fully and satisfactorily, but it was only incidental to their main
object. As saiil above, their direct aim was to vindicate a distinguished Theological
Professor from the charge of being a disturber of the Church in propagating ultra-
abolition doctrines, brought against him by Dr. Rice. They do this triumphantly,
by showing: (1.) That Dr. MacMaster simply held the views formally set forth by
the Church in which he was a minister; (2.) That these views were the same as
Professors in other seminaries held; (3.) That they were the same as had been
acknowledged by the ministers, elders, and people of Kentucky in 1S49; (4.)
That even Dr. Eice himself had professed to approve the action of Presbyterians in
Kentucky in 1S49 ; (.i.) And that, so ftir from having been a disturber of the Church,
the whole course of Dr. MacMaster showed, as illustrated by specific facts which
they cite, that he had been specially prudent, and had said and done very little upon
the subject of .-slavery; far less, indeed, in the line of writing and lecturing, than the
man who had ass.iiled him. Immediately following the quotation given above, Drs.
Breckinridge and Humphrey s.ay : "But wh.at does Dr. Eice think of them [people
of Kentucky] and their movement ? They have said full as much us Dr. MacMaster
has said against slavery, and they have done a vast deal more. If he must be dis-
franchised, proscribed, and hunted down, whiit is due to those whose little fingers
are thicker than his loins ? * * * This would seem to be sufficient to show that
Dr. Eice's clamor a'lainst Dr. MacMaster is without the shadow of foundation.
* * * We find in Dr. MacMaster's views on the subject, no objection to him as a
friend, as a minister, or as a Professor "
446 KENTUCKY OPINIONS.
adopted in the Fayette County meeting, and agnin by the
paper adopted by the State Emancipation Convention
which he presented. During the canvass for the State
Constitutional Convention, Dr. Breckinridge issued an
Address to the people, on " The Question of Negro Sla-
very and the New Constitution," from which we give a
few sentences showing the character of the institution of
slavery in his judgment, and the course he urged the people
to take.
In the following paragraph he gives a graphic view of
proslavery statements :
The bulk, however, of the proslaverj^ candidates for the convention
and the bulk of that party, so far from agreeing that slavery is an evil
— which it is the misfortune of the State to be obliged to tolerate — pro-
fess to consider it a great advantage and blesping, which it is our duty
to foster, to enlarge, and to perpetuate. They desire to surround it
with new constitutional guarantees, to make it more difficult to be
abolished, in all time to come ; and to secure the constitutional prohibi-
tion of manumissions within this State, and the constitutional guarantee
of slave importations into it. The burden of their disquisitions is the
divine origin of tlie riglit of property of man in man, the marked aj^pro-
val of slavery by Christ and His Apostles — the immense superiority of
the people in slaveholding communities to all other people — the vast
advantages of slavery, in a moral, social, and pecuniary point of view ;
the licentiousness, poverty, and degradation of the poor whites in all
countries where there are no slaves ; the tur^jitude, folly, and impracti-
cability of all schemes of emancipation ; the utter unfitness of negroes
for any other condition than slavery ; and, as the conclusion of the whole,
tlie necessity for a larger surrender of power by the people in the new
constitution in regard to slavery, in order that the institution may be
placed on a footing at once more lirm and more durable. I am aware
that unless some collector of the essays, circulars, handbills, speeches,
pamphlets, and newspaper articles to which our present discussions have
given birth, shall transmit to posterity a fair sample of the pohtical
literature of our day, our children will hardly beheve that such things
were possible. In point of fact, the statements I have made come short
of what I hear and read every day.
POSITIOJT OF DE. E. ,T. BRECKINRIDGE IX 1849. 447
In the following paragraphs, Dr. Breekini-idge shows
the character and influence of the system of slavery, and
appeals to the people in thrilling terms to take such a
course as shall prevent its further increase and work its
entire removal:
How clear is it, that Kentucky should place in a convention invested
with such transcendent powers, none but pure, wise, enlightened, and
trustful men; and that such men, when they are met, should act for
Kentucky; for all Kentucky, and for her highest and largest good; and
that Kentucky, therefore, is the great party in these affairs !
Now is it for the interest, the honor, the riches, the power, the glory,
the peace, the advancement, the happiness, of this great Commonwealth,
to exert her sovereign power in such a way, and to the intent, that
involuntary, hereditary, domestic negro slavery shall be indefinitely in-
creased and everlastingly established in her bosom? Men of Kentucky,
ask yourselves that question ; then lay your hands upon your hearts
and answer it I Is it her bounden duty to increase and to
perpetuate an institution which the whole civilized world except the
fifteen slave States on this continent, and the Empire of Brazil, unites
in condemning and denouncing ? Is it her sacred duty to set at defi-
ance the voice of the human race ? Is it laid upon her by an irresist-
ible obligation to d( this in the face of a world struggling for freedom,
and looking to thi country for examples of liberty, justice, and right?
* * * I shall j,ot speak of the private condition of slaves, or their
individual treatment. What now concerns us is the state of public law.
The law, as to all other subjects, is often better on the statute-book
than in practice ; for the conduct of men is not always as good as their
principles, or professions. On this subject, it is my opinion that the
law is worse than the practice under it ; and this is one of the anomalies
of slavery, that the evil element in it constantly gets the mastery. Slavery,
as it exists by law in this State, presents this aspect : 1st. The rights
of property are absolutely and universally abolished, as to the slaves.
2d. The rights of person and character are unknown, as to them, except
as the interest of the master and the public peace may demand the re-
cognition. 3d. The institution of marriage, as between slaves, has no
legal recognition, nor do marital rights exist as to them. 4th. The re-
lation of parent and child, as between slaves, is not recognized by the
law, except in determining questions of property. Now it is perfectly
44S KENTUCKY OPINIONS.
obvious that every one of these rights is inherent in human nature,
and that their existence and their protection he at tlie foundation of
human society, which could not exist for a day, under any form, if these
riglits were universaUy aboUshed. Moreover, they are all of divine
authority ; and as the State itself — that is, human society' — is ordained
of God, we have one of God's institutions abolishing, as to immense
numbers of His rational creatures, the very foundations on which He has
erected that institution, and rendered possible the social state He or-
dained for those creatures. This is a condition of things for whose in-
crease tliere can be no justification; and whose everlasting continuance
can be defended only upon grounds which subvert the order of nature,
the ordinations of heaven, and the foundations of the social state.
* * * Our divine rehgion has been invoked against us. God, the
creator of man, and his infinite benefactor, it is constantly alleged, is the
great Author of the instilution by which man has the most effectually
defaced God's image in man. Jesus of Nazareth, the friend of sinners,
meant, we are told, by His great law of love, that man should enslave
his fellow-man; by His sublime revelation of the universal bond of hu-
man brotherhood, to teach us that we might afflict and crush all around
US ; by His royal law of doing to others as we wish them to do to us, to
give us a rule by which to limit and restrict our bowels of compassion
within rational bounds ! These are great expositions ; and the more to
bo cordially received, as they are uttered by those having no sort of
interest or motive in perverting the word of God ; and as they accord
so precisely with the whole sentiments of God's people throughout aU
agesl Look around you, my countrymen. On which side of these
questions is the great body of the disciples of Jesus Christ? On
w^hich side are to be found the most of those who seem to you to
understand, to practise, and to love God's law? "Why .do you hear in
popular addresses, and read in resolutions of popular assemblies, such
denunciations of the Ministers of the Gospel, whose abuse is a staple
theme, in a large portion of the slavery party? Ask your hearts, is not
all this natural — is it not all just what might have been expected? Ask
the fiercest of those who denounce us, whether, in their calm moments,
they tliink Christian people and Christian ministers had better plead for
or against the suffering and tlie oppressed — for or against the liberties
of mankind? "What is happening around us, has happened every-
where. What men have blushed to advocate upon their own respon-
sibility, they have endeavored to justify in the name of the adorable
God, and then traduced His servants for bearing testimony against
HON. GARRETT DAVIS ON SLAVERY IN 1849. 449
them. But bas that arrested the arm of the Lord ? Follow His glorious
word across the track of ages, and make with it the circuit of the
world. Where was this institution of hereditary slavery ever abolished,
where a divine revelation had not come ? Where, on the other hand,
has hereditary slavery held its ground unshaken, in the midst of the
light of this Heaven-descended truth? Surely God's people know, if
anybody knows, what is God's mind. Surely God's word, by means of
His word, is a reliable exposition of what He designed that word to ac-
complish.
The record which is thus made by the Emancipation
party in Kentucky, in 1849, is one, in our judgment, of
which the persons concerned will never have cause to be
ashamed. They took their noble stand in a great popular
movement on tlie side of right ; and though defeated, they
w^ere not dishonored. It is no doubt quite as clear now,
— and perhaps far more palpable, as ?een in the perils that
are now upon the State and the Nation, growing out of
slavery, — to all the surviving actors who favored emanci-
pation in 1849, as well as to those who opposed them, that
it would have been infinitely better for the State, had the
people at large concurred in the system then sought to be
inaugurated.
HON. GARRETT DAVIS ON SLAVERY IN 1849.
Mr. Davis, now in the United States Senate from Ken-
tucky, was a member of the Constitutional Convention
held in 1849. In a discussion on slavery in that body, he
is reported as saying :
But it appears to me that any intelligent and carefully reflecting mind
must come to the conclusion that slavery is to have but a transitory
existence in Kentucky. The general sentiment of the world is against
it, before which, in fifty years, it has receded vastly ; and this senti-
ment is deeply and widely formed in our limits, and among our own
people. * * * The history of slavery, as we have it, proves m all
ages - » the past that it is progressing to its end. That consummation
450 KENTUCKY OPINIONS.
is in the course of events, and when men throw themselves in the
current of events to hasten, or to retard, they are but strawj. Let
all straws be kept out of that section of this resistless current which
flows through Kentucky, and let it roll on in its undisturbed power.
We have said that those who took bold and decided
ground for emancipation then, made up an enduring and
honorable record. This is especially true of the PresV)y-
terian clergy. Tiieir posterity will not be ashamed of
them.
A GLORIOUS KKCORO TARNISHED.
But where do we find some of them now? On which
side are tliey battling about slavery now, — not as the insti-
tution was then, reposing in p.-ace, but — when it has risen
up in its treasonable rage and is filling the land with car-
nage and w.iiling ; when it is carrying fire and sword to
the homes of Kentucky; and when all this is undertaken
and prosecuted for the sole jmi-pose of perpetuatinr/ for-
ever the system which in 1849 the Presbyterians of Ken-
tucky wished, unanimously, to remove from among them *?
Tlie " Rev. Mr, Robinson, of Frankfort," so " conspicuous
for his zeal in behalf of emancipation" in 1849, is Dr.
Stuart Robinson, of Toronto, Canada, now editor of The
Trice Presbyterian^ issued in Louisville, Kentucky. That
])aper, as we have proved in a previous chapter, is filled
with treason against the Government, and is aiding the
rebellion as far as it dare go in that direction. It of course
advocates the system of slavery out of which the rebellion
has arisen. Number after number of that paper lias been
mainly devoted to a vindication of slavery from the
extremeHt proslavcry position taken by the leaders of the
rebellion in the South. Li 1SJ9, his " zeal" was " con-
spic;;ous"' in maintauiing the princ'j)]('S of the P'mnncipa-
tion State Convention of Kentucky, which dechxredslavery
A GLORIOUS RECORD TARJflSHED. 451
to be " contrary to the natural rights of mankind, and
injurious to a pure state of morals." In 1862, '63, '64,
when the nation is struggling for its life, against the foul-
est rebellion the earth ever saw, — a i-ebellion begun in the
name of slavery, urged on for ihe sake of slavery, fighting
for slavery, living for slavery, worshipping slavery, doom-
ing a whole generation of its young men to a cruel death
fur slavery, and aiming to supplant universal liberty for
slavery, — Dr. Robinson's " zeal" is made " conspicuous"
in using all his power, through his paper, to convince the
" Presbyterians" of Kentucky, hitherto opposed to slavery,
that the system among them which they formerly denounced
is "divine," an "ordinance of God," justified by law and
by Gospel, the best condition for the negro race, in accord-
ance with the law of nature, and all the other fine things
which Southern rebels say of it ; while, to dissent from
this, to speak of slaveiy as did the Emancipation Conven-
tion of Kentucky in whose behalf his "zeal" was once
" conspicuous," is " infidelity" in any man, and for the
Church to do this is incurable " apostasy."
This is his former record ; and this is his present one.
We wish it could be said with truth that other Presby-
terian ministers and members stand where they were all
reported as standing fifteen years ago. But it is unques-
tionably true that many of them, judging from the edi-
torials, coirespondents, and support given to The True
Presbyterian, have repudiated their former record, and
now stand for the twin-powers, slavery and rebellion.
20*
452 MODERN SOUTHERN VIEWS OF SLAVEET.
CHAPTER XII.
MODERN SOUTHER N VIEWS OF SLAVERY.
We have shown at some length, in previous chapters,
the opinions entertained of slavery as an institution, both
at the North and in the South, by the Church, by states-
men, and by the people, from before the establishment of
the National Government down to a period within some
thirt}^ years ; and they exhibit, with rare exceptions, a
concurrent testimony against the system, on grounds both
of principle and policy. Divines and statesmen, during
the earher period, as well in those States where it was
established as elsewhere, regarded it as an evil to be toler-
ated rather than justified, and many of them lioped for its
ultimate removal from the country, and aided schemes of
emancipation with that end in view.
During the later period, a total revolution in opinion
has obtained in the States in rebellion, embracing the
Church and the world together, which has been for many
years practically universal. It now approves what it once
condemned, applauds what it once lamented, justifies wdiat
it once tolerated, blesses what it once denounced, and
places under the divine sanction what it formerly con-
signed to God's withering curse.
As this change in Southern opinion is the fruitful gerrn
which has brought forth this monstrous rebellion, Ave pro-
pose in this chapter to give some examples of the present
status of tliis opinion, confining ourselves as before chiefly
to the Church, as seen in the view^s of leading divines and
ecclesiastical bodies. There is nothing in this aspect of
DEFENDED BY NORTHERN ME>. 453
the subject which requires that we should present this
testimony in the chronological order of its utterance. It
rather seems appropriate that we should exhibit some of
the later expressions of opinion first, that we may see to
what they have grown, and the baldness and boldness
with which they are announced. We shall show, also, at
the conclusion of this chapter, the development and pro-
gress of this modern opinion in the South in the order of
time, and thus show how far the Church is responsible
for leading and misleading the men of the world. Our
chief object, however, is to set forth the sharp contrast
between present and former opinions in the same section
of country.
DEFENDED BY NORTHERX MEN.
We have entitled this chapter, "Modern Southern
Views of Shivery," because the opinions here presented
are mostly entertained in the South. But it will be seen,
that among their stanchest advocates are found divines
in the free and in the Border slave States. And what is
a most significant lact in this connection is, that at no
time since the existence of our Government have promi-
nent Northern men been so bold in advocating and defend-
ing slavery, — many of them going to the extreme length
of modern Southern opinion, and justifying it on every
ground, human and divine, — as since the beginning of the
rebellion caused by slavery, and during a short time pre-
vious, when the determination openly to resist the Govern-
ment for the sake of slavery was in process of maturing.
Volumes and pamphlets, of various ponderosity in size and
argument, have been written by Bishop Hopkins, Presi-
dent Lord, Dr. Seabury, Professor Morse, and other men
of equal and some of less distinction. Besides these,
sermons have been issued, and poitions of the periodical
454 MODERN SOUTHERN VIEWS OF SLAVERY.
press have come to the rescue ; while at least one pro-
fL'sseilly religioiis newspaper in Kentucky, conductt^cl and
supported by Pre'sliyterians, is battling lustily and con-
stantly as no religious journal w ithin the State has ever
been known to do before, going the full length of the most
ultra Southern extremists in vindication of the system, and
commending with special earnestness the works and
v/riters to which we refer. There is a certain significance
in tliese things which may be very puzzling to philoso-
phers or very easy of solution to plam men.
POSITIONS TAKEN.
We state the ])ositions which the modern defenders of
slavery take, and give from their writings quotations
Avhich illustrate them, classifying both u'ulei- two general
heads : the sanction given to slavery by the Law of
Nature y and the sanction claimed for it in the Word of
God.
It must be borne in mind, as vital in the issue, that
these positions, and the authorities and reasons for thom,
are presented by those who assert them not only to cover
slavery in former times antl in other nations, but are
designed to exhibit the grounds on' which the j^i^^sent sys-
tem of Negro Slavery in the South is vindicated and sanc-
tioned.
The views taken of the system by Southern extremists
and their Northern " allies," though ditfering somewhat
among their defenders, may be substantially reduced to
the following form :
I. That slavery is in no sense the creature of local law,
or indeed of any law of man, but is based upon the Law
of Nature; that it is normally universal, found among all
states of society and in every nation where it has not been
positively prohibited, and has existed from the origin of
AUTHORITIES FOR THESE POSITIONS. 455
the race to the present time ; and that, tlierefore, " slavery
is not municipal but natural," while '' it is abolition which
is municipal and local:" the grand conclussion from all
whicli is, that Kegro Slavery as it exists in the United
States is sustained by these sanctions.
II. That slavery exists by the positive statutes of Divine
Revelation ; that it is sanctioned in the Decalogue, is an
institution of the patriarchal age, has the approbation of
the Mosaic code, was approved by all the prophets, and is
interwoven with the wliole history and ordinances of the
Jewish Church ; that it was sanctioned and regulated by
Christ and the Apostles, and existed in the New Testa-
ment Church which they established; that it is placed by
the Scriptures on the same footing with the civil, connu-
bial, and parental relations, and is therefore " an ordinance
of God" of the same character with them, in its rights,
interests, duties, and permanency ; that the system in the
Southern States is the fulfilment of the prophetic curse
upon Canaan the son of Ham ; that it is essential to the
intellectual and moral elevation of the negro race in the
South ; that it is the proper system for the evangelization
of heathen ; and that, as to the type of Southern negro
slavery in particular, " it migljt have existed in Paradise
and may continue through the Millennium :" the grand con-
clusion from all which is, that JSfegro Slavery as it exists
in the United States is sustained by these sanctions.
AUTHORITIES FOR THESE POSITIONS.
We select a few passages out of enough to fill a volume,
which it will be seen fully cover all the points in the fore-
going paragraphs. We take them in such order, as far as
convenience of extracting will admit, as will show their
bearing upon each of the positions in the order in which
they are announced.
456 MODEBN SOUTHEKN VIEWS OF SLAVERY.
I, ^.5 related to Natural and Municipal Law.
Eev. James H. Thornwell, D. D., of Columbia, S. C. : " It has been
contended that the right of property in slaves is the creature of positive
statute, and, consequentlj^, of force only within the limits of the juris-
diction of the law. * * * Slavery has never, in any country, so far
as we know, arisen under the operation of statute law. It is not a muni-
cipal institution — it is not the arbitrary creature of the State, it has not
sprung from the mere force of legislation. Law defines, modifies, and
regulates it, as it does every other species of property, but law never
created it. The law found it in existence, and, being in existence, the
law subjects it to fixed rules. On the contrary, what is local and muni-
cipal, is the abolition of slavery. The States that are now non-slavehold-
ing have been made so by positive statute. Slavery exists, of course, in
every nation in which it is not prohibited. It arose in the progress of
human events, from the operation of moral causes ; it has been
grounded by philosophers in moral maxims ; it has always been held to
be moral by the vast majority of the race. No age has been without
it. From the first dawn of authentic history until the present period,
jt has come down to us through all the course of ages. "We find it
among nomadic tribes, barbarian hordes, and civilized States. Wherever
communities have been organized, and any rights of property have been
recognized at all, there slavery is seen. If, therefore, there be any
property which can be said to be founded in the common consent of the
human race, it is the property in slaves. If there be any property that
can be called natural, in the sense that it spontaneously springs up in
the history of the species, it is the property In slaves. If there be any
property which is founded in principles of universal operation, it is the
property in slaves. To say of an institution, whose history is thus
the history of man, which has always and everywhere existed, that
it is a local and municipal relation, is of ' all absurdities the motliest,
the merest word that ever fooled the ear from out the schoolman's jar-
gon.' Mankind may have been wrong — that is not the question. The
point is, whether the law made slavery — whether it is the police regu-
lation of limited localities, or whether it is a property founded in natural
causes, and causes of universal operation. We say nothing as to the
moral character of the causes. We insist only upon the fact that slavery
is rooted in a common law, wider and more pervading than the com-
mon law of England — the universal custom of mankind." [The
capitals are the author's.] — Southern Presbyterian Review, Jan., 1861.
AUTHORITIES FOE THESE POSITIONS. 457
Address of the " General Assembly of the Confederate States,"
penned by Dr. Thornwell : "Whatever is universal is natural. We
are willing that slavery should be tried by this standard. We are
willing to abide by the testimony of the race, and if man as man has
everywhere condemned it, if all human laws have prohibited it as crime,
if it stands in the same category with malice, murder, and theft, then
we are willing, in the name of humanity, to renounce it, and to renounce
it forever. But what if the overwhelming majority of mankind have
approved it; what if philosophers and statesmen have justified it, and the
laws of all nations acknowledged it," &c.? — Addnss, itc. '■'■to all the
Churches throughout the Earth,'''' Dec, 1861.
An Anonymous writer in the Southern Presbyterian Review, for April,
1861 : " We shall endeavor to give a succinct description, rather than a
formal definition, of the system as actually existing at the South.
Slavery, then, is a constitution of the Law of Nature and of nations, by
which, under certain providential conditions, one man has a right to
incorporate into his family institution, and to hold under his rule, as the
head of the liouse, a class of persons of a diflereut, and, in all the attri-
butes which fit men for self-government, an inferior race ; and to exact
from them, while in health and vigor, service and labor suited to their
strength and capacity."
Rev. Samuel Seabury', D. D., of New York : '* I call it American slavery.
* * * It is this limited form of slavery which I propose to defend;
not by an appeal to local or positive law, whether State or Federal, but
by an appeal to the Law of Nature, or the principles of universal jus-
tice. * * * Where is the nation that has pronounced a state of
servitude for life contrary to natural justice ? What age, before our
own, could point to moralists that proclaim it an oflence against nature
to hold slaves in the condition in which Providence has placed them ?"
American Slavery Jadifi^d by the Law of Nature. 1861.
The True Presbyterian, Louisville, Kentucky : " In every country
and in every ag5 slavery has existed, precisely as civil government and
the family have existed. * * * fhe most polished and enlightened
nations have recognized this relation. The Persians, the Greeks, the
Romans, the Gauls, the Saxons, and the Normans, all held slaves, and
they held them without any more doubt of their right to do so, than of
their right to establish civil government, or to marry, or to rule their
children. The greatest legislators and philosophers of antiquity, Solon
and Lycurgus, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, aU approved and regulated
458 MODEKX SOUTHERN VIEWS OF SLAVERY.
the institution. These master minds of the ancient world, reasoning
upon the principles of human nature, discern this as one of the lawful
relations of mankind." — Review of Prof. Morse.
Similar quotations relating to the first position might be
given at much greater length, and from many other recent
writers. We give a sample of the doctrine which covers
the second position.
II. As related to Divine Revelation.
Dr. Thornwell : " That the relation betwixt the slave and his mas-
ter is not inconsistent with the word of God, we have long since settled.
Our consciences are not troubled, and have no reason to be troubled, on
this score. We do not hold our slaves in bondage from remorseless
considerations of interest. If I know the character of our people, I
think I can safely say, that if they were persuaded of the essential im-
morality of slavery, they would not be backward in adopting m.easures
for the ultimate abatement of the evil. We cherish the institution, not
from avarice, but from principley — Fast-Bay Sermon, Colwnbia, S. C,
Nov. 21, 1860.
Again : " Is it to be asked of us to renounce the doctrines which we
believe have come down to us from the earliest ages, and have the
sanction of the oracles of God? Must we give up what we con-
scientiously believe to be the truth? The thing is absurd." — So.
Pres. Revieiu, Jan., 1861.
Address OF the "General Assembly of the Confederate States,"
penned by Dr. Thornwell : " Slavery is no new thing. It has not only
existed for ages in the world, but it has existed under every dispensation
of the covenant of grace in the Church of God. Indeed, the first organi-
zation of the Church as a visible society, separate and distinct from tlie
unbeheving world, was inaugurated in the family of a slaveholder. Among
the very persons to whom the seal of circumcision was affixed, were the
slaves of the father of the faithful — some born in his house, and others
bought with his money. Slavery again, then, reappears under the law.
God sanctions it in both tables of the Decalogue, and Moses treats it as
an institution to be regulated, not abolished; legitimated, and not con-
demned. We come down to the age of the New Testament, and we
find it again in the Churches foimded by the Apostles under the pie-
AUTHORITIES FOE THESE POSITIONS. 459
nary inspiration of the Holy Ghost. * * * Moses surely made it the
subject of express and positive legislation, and the Apostles are equally
explicit in inculcating the duties which sprung from both sides of the
relation. * * * Moses and the Apostles alike sanctioned the relation
of slavery. * * * We cannot prosecute the argument in detail, but
we have said enough, we tliink, to vindicate the position of the Southern
Church. "We have assumed no new attitude. We stand exactly where
the Church of God has always stood, from Abraham to Moses, from
Moses to Christ, from Christ to the Reformers, and from the Re-
formers to ourselves. * * * The general operation of the system
is kindly and benevolent ; it is a real and effective discipline, and with-
out it we are profoundly persuaded that the African race in the midst
of us can never be elevated in the scale of being. As long as that
race, in its comparative degradation, co-exists side by side with the
white, bondage is its normal condition." — Address, &c., Dec, 1861.
The Anonymous writer above quoted gives a specimen o? the posit ion
taken and the argument for slavery propagandism into the Free States :
" There is nothing in the nature of slavery to restrain its movements,
any more than the possession of flocks and herds. So, when the
patriarch Abraham emigrated to the new territory which God had
given, he took with him not only his cattle but his servants, born in
his house and bought with his money. If, therefore, there is nothing
in the nature of slavery to restrain him, the Southern man demands :
What sovereignty under heaven prevents him from emigrating, as
Abraham did, with all his household and all his wealth, to the land
which the Lord has given him, as tenant in common with his Xorthern
and Western neighbors?" — So. Pres. Eevieiv, April, 1861.
Prof. Samuel F. B. Morse, of New York: "Man, from his very
nature, dislikes restraints ; he would at all hazards have his own way,
and hence it is that no appeal takes a deeper hold of his passions and
instincts than an appeal to his love of freedom. It was the original
bait of the Tempter which lured man to his ruin. He did not compre-
hend that slavery to God was man's highest freedom. How shall such
a nature, set on fire by a word that kindles at once all its fierceness, be
curbed and repressed within the bounds of reason ?"
The Professor answers his question by giving us his view of "the
social system which God has ordained." It has in it these four relations :
the civil, or that between ruler and ruled; the connubial, or that
between husband and wife ; the parental, or that between parent and
child: and the servile, or that between master and slave. He declares
460 MODEEN SOUTHERN VIEWS OF SLAVERY,
that all these are " ordahied" and made equally authoritative by God, aud
the principles whicli govern them are alike found in the Scriptures.
Again, after spealiing of the antislavery views of some, as the "setting
forth of a religious belief," he inquires: "And what is the opposite
tenet, declaring slavery to he an ordinance of God, but the declaration of
a religious ielief f
In commenting upon the views of Prof. David Christy, of Cincin-
nati,— who has collected the statistics showing the large numbers
evangelized in Southern slavery, as compared with converts to Ciiris-
tianity on heathen ground, among many heathen nations, particularizing
the poor success of missions in Liberia among the free blacks, — Prof.
Morse says : "These are stubborn facts, confirmed by careful, laborious,
dispassionate research;" and then, from these facts, combating the
position that slavery is incompatible with the principles of Christianity,
says : " Experience shows that the converse of this dogma, as a general
rule, is the truth. Christianity has been most successfully propagated
among a barbarous race, where they have been enslaved to a Christian
race." — Argument on the Ethical position of Slaverxj in the Social System,
&c.
Rev. Stuart Robinson,- D. D., Editor of the True Presbyterian, in an
elaborate article, entitled, " Slavery recognized as a proper Social Order
in the Church of God during every Era of Inspiration," introductory to
liis own doctrines, speaks of the opposite sentiments as "an a2)osiasy
from the truth of Christ," and as the "Iscariot treason of the artful
demagogues who are manoeuvring to force gradually upon the Churches
and the conscientious people of the Border States, the antislavery
heresies ;". and of the persons who oppose them as those who "blas-
pheme God," and as "apostates, leading the Church to apostasy." The
foregoing italics are those of the article. The positions then taken and
the passages of Scripture quoted are those usually referred to con-
cerning servitude in the time of Abraham and Moses : as that the
Church was originally established by the covenant with Abraham, " a
slaveholder," "the man called of God to be the father of the visible
Church on earth ;" that "a slaveholder and his slaves were expressly
made the constituent members of the holy society ;" that "no one who
receives the Scriptures as of Divine authority, can deny that here is the
highest form of sanction of the principle of property in man, at least under
the patriarchal dispensation :" that the same system continued in the
" Church Mosaic," where " slavery is again recognized as existing in the
Church by command (the Decalogue), in reference to man-servants and
AUTHORITIES FOE THESE rOSnTONS. 461
maid-servants ;" and that " both in the Jioly ordinance of the Passover,
and in the holy law given to the Churcli, sla'^ery is recognized and not
included from the Church." Then, more especially of the system under
.he Mosaic code : " Such was the law of the Ohurcli, as a Church.
ArouDd this Church, as we have said, it was part of the mission of
Moses to erect, as a protecting shell, a constitutional civU government,
tUl, in fulness of time, the Church of one nation became the Church
of all nations. Now, in that civil code, Divinely inspired, and under
which Jehovah condescended to rule as political head of the nation,
there could, of course, be no statutes in principle contrary to righteous-
ness. Yet the civil code of Moses permitted and regulated slavery, in
the main recognizing the same principles of t/ie modern skive codes of the
Southern States." Having stated what '• modern antislaVery falsely
represents to be the Mosaic slave code," he continues: "But nothing
'can be more explicit than the provisions of this code, for a system of
hereditary and perpetual slavery, expressly distinguished again and
again, from this temporary service as hirelings, or until the year of
jubilee. Two statutes expressly allow slaves to be bought of surround-
ing heathen nations, and slaves to be made by capture in war from any
heathen nations, except the seven nations of Canaan, who were to be
utterly exterminated." It is then added, " that slavery entered into
every department of the Hebrew social system by Divine sanction and
example ;'' and, finally, the comforting conclusion is reached, that those
who take the position against which the writer is mainly arguing, " must
either trifle with the interpretation of Scripture or blaspliome the G-od
of Israel."
Concerning slavery under the New Testament cconoui}^. Dr. Robinson
thus discourseth: That "Jesus Christ, at His advent, found slavery
existing, not only by the Mosaic law, but as part of every social struc-
ture in the civilized world;" that "He did not either expressly or im-
phedly exclude slavery from the Church;" and that "the propriety of
slavery under the New Testament rests upon the sovereign will of
Christ in not only allowing it in the patriarchal and Mosaic Churches,
but in permitting it to continue in the New Testament Clmreli, not re-
pealing the law of usage existing, as we have seen, from the foundation
of the visible Church. That this is the true view of the matter, will be
more evident if we examine the practice and teaching of His Apostles,
under the reorganized Church, after the outpouring of the Spirit. In
every community out of which Christian Churches were gathered, sla-
very notoriously existed. Into the New Testament Churches, as into
462 MODERN SOUTHERN" VIEWS OP SLAVERY.
the Abrahamic and Mosaic, slaveholders and their slaves were admitted
as constituent elements thereof. While care was taken to instruct the
Churches that the ceremonial law of Moses had expired by limitation,
not a word is said of a repeal of the right of projierty in man. * * *
The duties of the relation of master and servant are discussed in com-
mon with the duties of parent and child, husband and wife." Com-
menting on Prof Morse's work, referred to above, the True Presbyterian
says: "Thus these four great relations of human life (the civil, matri-
monial, parental, and servile) stand side by side, equally approved of God,
and equally rightful among men. * * * The Saviour Himself, who
corrected whatever else was wrong in man ; apostles, saints, divines,
martyrs, synods, councils, philosophers, statesmen, moralists ; all accepted
slavery as being equally of God with, civil government, may-riage, or the
parental relation."
Rev. Frederick A. Ross, D. D., of ITuntsville, Alabama, says that
"Slavery is of God;" of the relation of "master and slave," that "it is
a relation belonging to the same category as those of husband and wife,
parent and child;" and the work in which these doctrines are set forth
at length and elaborated, is entitled, " Slavery Ordained of God.'''' Of
himself, he says: "I am not a slaveholder. Nay, I have shown some
self denial in this matter. I emancipated slaves whose money value
would now be $40,000." This was some years ago. He states the
reason of referring to this: "I merely wish to show, that I have no
selfish motive in giving the true Southern defence of slavery.'''' It is but
justice to Dr. Ross to say, whether it reveals any inconsistency in his
argument or not, that he is not a perpetualist. In addition to his own
example to show this, he addresses " the Southern man of every grade"
thus: "Let him know that slavery is to pass away in the fulness of
Providence. Let the South believe this, and prepare to obey the hand
that moves their destiny." Rather prophetic as well as didactic. Nor
was Dr. Ross opposed to "the agitation," as many Southern men were,
which he would perhaps say has brought on this " fulness" of time ;
but he rejoices in it, in this wise: "I believe He will bless the world
in the working out of this slavery. I rejoice then in the agitation which
has so resulted, and will so terminate, to reveal the Bible and bless
mankind." As Dr. Ross's book was published in 1857, "the agitation"
he "rejoiced" in is that which other Southern men lamented, and for
which they threatened.
General Thomas R. R. Cobb, of Georgia: "One of the inmates of
AUTHORITIES FOll THESE POSITIONS. 4u3
the ark became a 'servant of servants;' and in the opinion of many,
the curse of Ham is now being executed upon his descendants, in the
enslavement of the negro race." — Historical Sketch of Slavery, 1858.
Again, General Cobb says : " They (Christ and the Apostles) simply
treated slavery as they did all other civil government, as of God, so
long as in His providence He permitted it to exist ; and regulated, by
precepts, the relation, as they did that of ruler and subject." — Law of
Xcgro Slavery, 1858.
Again, General Cobb says : " The test, then, is, does the institution
of negro slavery tend to promote the physical, intellectual, and moral
growth of the negro race?" He answers this question in the affirma-
tive, and in another place, adds: "The inference would seem irresisti-
ble, that the most successful engine for the development of negro
intellect is slavery." — Law of Negro Slavery, 1858.
Rev. Thomas Smyth, D. D., of Charleston, S. C, says: '-The war
now carried on by the North is a war against slavery, and is, there-
fore, treasonable rebellion against the Constitution of the United States,
and against the word, providence, and government of God. * * *
Slavery, as a form of organized involuntary labor, has always and every
where existed among the negro race. * * * What if God made
slavery a part of man's and woman's original curse ; what if God
ordained, as a part of that penalty, that the earth should be brought
into universal cultivation by a universally diffused race, through slavery
in some form of involuntary servitude ; what if God, by a positive,
divine enactment, ordained that, through the history of the world,
slavery should exist as a form of organized labor among certain races
of men, and that lordship over such slaves should be a part of the
perpetual blessing of the races of Shem and Japheth; what if God has
actually embodied slavery in His moral law, and by there guarding,
and protecting, and regulating it, has made it appertain to the present
condition of humanity ; what if He ordained and regulated it under the
patriarchal. Mosaic, prophetical, and Christian dispensations ; what if
in the New Testament a curse is pronounced against fanatical opposi-
tion to slavery as antichristian, and a sentence of withdrawal from
such as heretical, both in Church and State ; what if, in these and
other waj^s, God claims slavery, like other forms of government adapted
to sinful human nature, as His own ordinance for good; what, then,
must be thought of this war of the North against slavery, and this war
of the South in its defence, as inwoven by Providence into the very
texture of its body politic?" — .So. Prcs. Review, A^ml, 18G3.
464 MODKEN SOUTIIERX VIEWS OF SLAVEET.
Dr. Seaburt, defending " American slavery as justified by tlie Law
of Nature" (1861), thinks it might have existed, so far as the character
of slavery is concerned, "in Paradise." He has a chapter on the
" Theory of Slavery," in which he says: " But what (methinks I hear
the reader exclaim), do you think there could have been bondage in
Faradise ? Pray, why not?" — •'! see no reason, then, why the relation
of master and servant should not have existed in a state of innocence,
as well as that of husband and wife, parent and child." — " All this, I
confess, proceeds on the assumption that slavery, or servitude for life,
does no violence to Nature, but is good and agreeable to Nature."
The True Prtshylerian warmly commends Dr. Seabury's book, in suc-
cessive numbers of the paper, and says : " He argues that in this view
of it, slavery being a condition so closely allied to that in which our
wives, our sons, and our daughters are placed, by the laws of God and
man, cannot be the degrading and hateful relation that modern aboli-
tionists declare it to be. There is no debasement in it. It might Jiave
existed in Paradise, and may continue through the Millennium." The
" Millennium" phase is probably an advance movement on the part
of the True Presbyterian, which Dr. Seabury may not yet have reached.
At least, we have not yet discovered it in his book. But if slavery
could have existed in " Paradise," we see no reason why it may not be
continued in the "Millennium;" and we expect soon to see its modern
defenders carrying it into Heaven, and perpetuating it forever. This
we are prepared for by the following from the True Presbyterian, which
shows how deeply and tenderly the system of Southern negro slavery
has entwined itself among its Christian aflections: "It is certainly
remarkable that the Scriptures employ this very relation to express our
subjection to Christ. Believers are constantly called the slaves of Christ :
all bondage then is not disgraceful ; here is an instance in which slavery
is sweet and honorable. And if it be not degrading to our wives to obey
t^eir husbands, and to our children to obey their parents, we cannot
see why it should degrade a slave to obey his master." — " The slaves of
Jesus Christ love and revere their Divine Master, and rejoice in their
bondage; and so may a slave love and revere his human master, and
delight in his service."
We always supposed that the Apostle Paul understood the case, when
he called a Christian, "the Lord's freeman" (1 Cor. vii. 22), but the
Apostle who presides over the Tru£ Presbyterian, to instruct Kentucky
Christians, is wiser than Paul ; the Christian is, after all, but " the
Lord's slave." Our Saviour said of His people : " Ye shall know the
AUTHORITIES FOR THESE POSITIONS. 465
truth, and the truth shall make you free. If the Son therefore
phall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." But this mod-
ern Apostle is wiser than Christ. All Christians are "the slaves
of Jesus Christ ;" and the negro slavery of the South is the type of
the " bondage" in which they are to "rejoice" forevermorel But
our object here is not to argue upon, but merely to state, the positions
of the modern defenders of negro slavery. Every one of course knows
that the original Greek word {doidos)\s applied to the servant of Christ;
but to argue from this, that every Christian is the slave of Christ, in the
sense that the Southern negro is the slave of his master under Southern
law, is about as good logic as some of these writers usually exhibit ; and
yet, this is the whole case, so far as the application of a common term
to things totally distinct is concerned.
We have another witness to the Millennial phase of the case. Eev.
Joseph R. Wilsox, D. D., of Augusta, Georgia, preached a dis-
course to his congregation in that city, Jan. 6, 1861, on the "Mutual
Relation of Masters and Servants as taught in the Bible," the closing
words of which are as follows : " And, oh, when that welcome day
shall dawn, whose light will reveal a world covered ivith righteousness,
not the least pleasing sight will be the institution of domestic slavery,
freed from its stupid servility on the one side anditsexcisses of neglect
or severity on the other, and appearing to all mankind as containing
that scheme of politics and morals, which, by saving a lower race from
the destruction of heathenism, has, under Divine management, con-
tributed to refine, exalt, and enrich its superior race !"
Rev. George D. Armstrong, D. D., Norfolk, Virginia: ""With civil
government, marriage, the family, and slavery, they (the Apostles) dealt
in the same way." "The Church must labor to make good masters and
good slaves, just as she labors to make good husbands, good wives,
good parents, good children, good rulers, good subjects." "The laws
of our slaveholding States, at the present time, ignore the marriage rela-
tion among slaves. * * * The law in our slaveholding States, at the
present day, gives to the master the right to separate finally husband and
wife among his slaves, and this at his pleasure and for his own p>rofit.'"* —
Christian Doctrine of Slavery, 1857.
* At this point. Dr. Armstrong introduces a long not»i from F/eicher's Studies on
Slarery, which he regards as "the most elaborate work on slavery which has been
published at the South." He quotes Fletcher as saying: " So far as our experience
poes [Mr. Fletcher possibly means " observation" instead of " experience," and po.i-
sibhj not], masters universally manifest a desire to have their negroes marry, and
to live with their wives and children accordinff to Ohrisfinn rules." Now, if this
466 MODERN SOUTHERN VIEWS OF SLAVERY.
Right Reverend John Henry Hopkins, D. D., Bishop of the Prot-
estant Episcopal Church in Vermont: "The slavery of the negro race,
as maintained in the Southern States, appears to me fully authorized,
both in tlie Old and New Testaments, which, as the written Word of
G-od, afford the only infallible standard of moral rights and obligations.''
Again, in another place: " The diflerence between the power of tho
Northern parent and the Soutliern slaveholder, is reduced to this,
namely, that the master has a property in the labor of his slave for hfe,
instead of having it only to the age of twenty-one."
The Bishop takes the positions and relies on the arguments so fully
given m our quotations from others. He further says : " We have
heard the boasted determination that the Union shall never be restored,
until its provision for the protection of slavery is utterly abolished.
And what is the result of all this philanthropy ? The fearful judgment
of God has descended to chastise these multiplied acts of rebellion
against His divine Government." " If ever the Union of the States is
re-established, it can only be, in my humble judgment, by a return to
the old and Scriptural doctrine, once held alilie by the whole Christian
community, that slavery, in itself, involves no sin." — Vkw of Slavery,
republished by the Author in 18G4.
Albert Taylor Bledsoe, LL. D., Professor of Mathematics in the
University of Virginia: "The institution of slavery, as it exists among
us at the South, is founded in political justice, is in accordance ■with the
•will of God and the designs of His providence, and is conducive to the
highest, purest, and best interests of mankind." — Liberty and Slavery,
1860.
Rev. Neuejiiah Adams, D. D., of Boston, among other apologetics
is so, one of two things rnust follow : either, Mr. Fletcher's knowledge of this
"desire" is very limited; or, it is a mistake to suppose this "desire"' is very prev-
alent, as his langunge would seem to Imply. But granting that he is correct, the
"desire" is wholly inoperative. This is shown in the simple fact that the laws
which " ignoi-e fhe marriage relation among slaves," remain the same on this point
from gener."-t>')n to generation. Can any thing demonstrate the purely re«n2 and
mercenary spirit of that s.ystem of "Christian slavery" which Dr. Armstrong
defends, more conclusively than this ? Mr. Fletcher gives a good many economical
and "one domestiAi reasons why "masters" should "manifest" such "desire." But
if it is " universal" auiong slaveholders, why don't these "masters" (for they rule
In Southern polities) "manifest" that "desire" in their Legislatures, and have their
laws changed? What but the mercenary s,\nv\\. of the whole system prevents this
"universal desire' from taking form in law, so that "final separation" could never
occur? That any such ' desire" exists " universally," will do to tell to the marines.
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CHURCH. 407
for the negro slavery of the South, says : " The Gospel is to slavery
what the growing of clover is to sorrel. Religion in the masters de-
stroys every thing in slavery which makes it obnoxious ; and not only
so, it converts the relation of the slave into an effectual means of hap-
piness." If this is so, one would think there is very little "growing
of clover" in the South. It is rather strange, when Dr. Adams was
penning his apologies for slavery, that he did not think of a principle
he elsewhere notices : "A Northerner at the South soon perceives, that,
if he feels and shows in a proper manner a natural repugnance to
slavery, they respect him for it, while they greatly suspect and di-'-trust
those from the North who seem in favor of the system."*
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CHURCH FOR THE REVOLUTION IN
SOUTHERN OPINION.
The reader may see, in what we have now given, that
the present position of the Southern Church and of its
Northern " allies," is a position of direct nntagonism to
that maintained by substantially the whole country. North
and South, until within a period of some thirty years.
The Southern section of the Union, for some years past,
has with great unanimity maintained these extreme views.
It is now a very interesting inquiry, What portion of
the community took the lead, and is therefore primarily
responsible, for this ethical revolution? Under whose
teachings, at first, was the general Southern mind brought
to abjure its former sentiments, and adopt the " corner-
stone" faith concerning slavery ? Our own opinion is, that
THE Church, through its leading clergymen, in the pulpit
md through the press, led the way, and that, for the most
)art, the politicians of the South were content to follow
hem. A mass of testimony exists on this point. We
.'lave space for a bare sample of it.
* When the Hon. Edward Everett made the first New England speech in Con-
gress in defence of slavery, John Randolph exclaimed : " I envy neither the head
nor the heart of any man from the North, who can defend slavery on principlo."
21
468 MODERN SOUTHEEX VIEWS OF SLAVEEY.
EARLY POSITION OF REV. JAMES SMYLIE.
In proof of the point that the Church led the State, in
the change of views on the merits of the system of sla-
very, may be cited an article from the New Orleans True
'Wit7iess, a religious paper, edited by Rev. R. Mclnnis, a
Presbyterian clergyman, a native Mississippian, who has
the means of knowing whereof he affirms. It is under
date of August 18, 1860. It may be added, also, that the
Synod of Mississii)pi officially declare the same thing
stated in this article, as to the leading respunssibility for
this change. The editor remarks as follows :
Smtlie on Slavery. — It is an interesting historical fact, that Rev.
James SmyUe, an Old School Presbyterian minister, was the first parson
in our country who took boldly the position that slavery was not inconsistent
with, the teachings of the Bible. He was one of the first Presbyterian
ministers who came to the Southwest, and assisted in forming the
Mississippi Presbytery, in 1816. The general view held at this time,
and for many years after. South as well as North, was that slavery was
an evil. The question had not been examined. All took it for granted
that slavery was an evil, and inconsistent with the spirit and teachings
of the word of God. Hence the sentiments expressed by our Church,
in 1818 — which, by the way, have been most shamefully garbled and
misrepresented — were at the lime the sentirrCenis of the whole country, and
were regarded as a pretty strong Southern document; hence all the South
voted for it. In fact, so strong was the feeling for emancipation, that
this act of 1818 discouraged it in our members, where the slaves were
not prepared for it, while it condemned the " harsh censures and un-
charitable reflection" of the more ultra men of the North. We have
referred to this merely to call attention to the fact that the opinum of the
whole country was that slavery was an evil. And we k oow of no man
who took a dififerent position, until Rev. James Sraylie, in answer to a
letter addressed to him as stated clerk of the above Presbytery, wrote
a reply, in which he attempted to show that neither the Old nor the
Now Testament Scriptures declared slavery to be a sin, but both recog-
nized it as an institution belonging to the great social system. This
letter, which has long since been published, in a pamplilct of some
PAPEK OF THE SYNOD OF MISSISSIPPI. 469
eighty pages, small type, was not only the first, but it is, in our view,
the ablest and most convincing Scriptural argument ever published on
the subject. It shows research, ability, honesty, and is unanswerable,
^hen the substance of this letter was delivered, in 1835 and '36, in the
Churches of Mississippi, in the form of a sermon, the people generally,
large slaveholders too, did not sympathize with him in his views. We
recollect hearing him, on one occasion, for some three hours, and every
person, without exception, thought him somewhat fanatical. The idea
that the Bible did sanction slavery was regarded as a new doctrine even in
Mississi2'>pi. Yet Rev. James Smylie — and a more honest man never
lived — was honestly sincere in his convictions and his views, and he went
ahead against the tide of pubUc opinion. His Scriptural argument has
never been answered, nor can it be. This letter was the first thing that
turned public attention in the South, and especially in the Southwest, to the
investigation of the subject ; and every Scriptural argument we have seen
is but a reproduction of this, while none is so clear, fuU, and unanswer-
able. It ought to be repubhshed.
Some two years after the publication of this letter, George Mc-
DufiBe, a senator of South Carolina, announced similar views in Con-
gress, and was regarded there as taking a strange and untenable
position — one which met with little sympathy in that body. The fact
is, the South had never examined the subject, and were finally driven
to it by the intolerant fanaticism of ultra men at the North.
We mention the above facts, not for the purpose of provoking dis-
cussion, but merely to show the state of pubHc opinion at the time on
the subject of slavery ; and to show that the South is indebted to a
mmister of our Church for the first clear and unanswerable argument
against the generally admitted view that slavery was a sin.
PAPER OF THE SYN^^OD OF MISSISSIPPI.
It will be seen from the official docament which follows,
that Mr. Smylie began to make public his views somewhat
earlier than the time mentioned by Mr. Melnnis ; at least,
before he received tlie letter from the Presbytery of Chil-
licotlie. The following is an extract from an obituary
notice of Rev. James Smylie, of Mississippi, which was
reported in the Synod of which he was a member, and by
that body unanimously adopted:
470 MODERN SOUTHERN VIEWS OF SLAVERY.
Extract from the Minutes of the Synod of Mississippi, at a Meeting held in
the City of Jackson, Miss., in December, 1853.
There is one production from his pen which produced a strong sensa-
tion in various parts of the United States. When tlie abolition excite-
ment arose in the North, he resolved, as many others ought to liave done,
to give the Sacred Scriptures a thorough searching, to ascertain the doc-
trines and duties there inculcated in relation to slavery. He determined
to investigate the subject in the most candid manner, and to receive
whatever was taught with the most fearless and implicit faith. The
result surprised himself He found that the teachings of Scripture were
greatly at variance with the popular belief. He wished to communicate his
discoveries to others. He wrote a sermon on the subject and preached
it at Port Gibson. It gave great offence not only to the Church, hut also to
his brethren in the ministry, who seriously advised him to preach that ser-
mon no more. In the mean time, the Presbytery of Chillicothe (in Ohio)
assumed the lofty position of instructors of their brethren of the South
on the subject of slavery, exhorting them to abandon it asalieincus sin.
They addressed a letter to the Presbytery of Mississippi on the subject.
This letter was received by Mr. Smylie as stated Clerk. He ^Tote a
reply, to be laid before the Presbytery for their adoption. He read this
reply to one of his brethren before the meeting. As he had entered into
the teachings of Scripture in relation to slavery, the reply was long ;
and many of his views differed from those of his brethren. On these
two accounts he was told that his reply would not, in all probability, be
adopted by the Presbytery. It was then agreed that the brother whom
he had consulted should write another riply, in a different style and
manner, and more concise, and that this should be offered if his was not
adopted. The concise reply was adopted by the Presbj-tery, and the
Chillicothe letter and the reply were published together in a religious
newspaper at Cincinnati, and there was no further annoyance from the
Presbytery of Chillicothe. Mr. Smylie then determined that lie luould pub-
lish his views in a pamphlet form. Such was the variation of his senti-
ments from those of his brethren, that all wJwm he considted, xoith but one or two
exception^, attempted to dissuade him fi'om this step. "With tliat honest
inflexibility of purpose and confidence in the correctness of his own con-
clusions which ever distinguished the man, he published his pamphlet.
For a while he was covered with odium, and honored with a large
amount of abuse from the abolitionists of the North, for teaching that
the Bible did not forbid the holding of slaves, and tiiat it was tolerated
CONFIKilATOliY TESTI?»IOXY. 471
in the primitive Church. These doctrines are now received as true both
North and South, and they constitute the basis of action of the most
respectaWe rehgious bodies even in the North itself; so that Mr. SmyUe
has the high honor of giving tlie true exposition of the doctrines of the
Bible in relat"ion to slavery, in the commencement of the Abolition ex-
citement, and of giving instruction to others far more learned and talented
than himself.
Jackson, Miss., I (Signed) J. H. Van Couet,
December nth, 1S53. ) C^Mirman.
COSTPIRMATOKT TESTIMONY.
In Dr. Baird's " Southern Rights and Northern Duties,"
before referred to, we find incidental evidence confirmatory
of the point that certain of the Southern clergy were ear-
lier than Southern statesmen in announcing the new doc-
trines on slavery. John C. Calhoun has been deemed,
along with Mr. McDuffie, named above, one of the earliest
among Southern Statesmen to take extreme pi'O'Uavery
ground. But Dr. Baird places him in the rear of Mr.
Smylie, in point of time. Speaking of the Anti-Slavery
Society, he says : "Tliis society was but three years old,
when, in 1835, it acquired an illustrious ally in the business
of slavery agitation in the person of Mr." Calhoun, who
then, as he afterward avowed, began to act upon the policy
which ruled his subsequent life."
Mr. Smylie began the work somewhat earlier. Nor is
it supposed that he was impelled by any agitation at that time
at the North. Even Dr. Baird says that " in 1835," " the
antislavery party was an insignificant faction." And from
that day forward it was but a small fraction of the people.
We have heard Mr. Smylie, from his own lips, state what
led him at first to examine the subject more fully, and
finally to repudiate the views then universal at the South;
We were a member of the Synod of Mississippi, and pres-
ent, when the obituary concerning him was adopted ; and
from our personal knowledge, we know it was the common
472 MODERN SOUTHERN VIEWS OF SLAVERY.
belief among all classes in the Church at the South, that
he and other clergymen, chiefly in the Presbyterian Church,
were the first to take open and broad ground on that plat-
form which maintains the extreme proslavery views, — that
Slavery is a divine system, an ordinance of God, on a par
with the parental and matrimonial relations, — views which,
at length, in the demands which were made in their name,
plunged the country into treason, rebellion, and war.
It is, therefore, no slander upon the Southern Church
and Southern Clergy to say that they led the way in the
revolution in Southern opinion upon slavery. They claim.
to have done this ; they deem it an honor ; they glory in
it ; they will not divide the honor with politicians ; but, as
in regard to the rebellion, as we have shown elsewhere,
thej' claim to have led both politicians and people. As a
suitable reward for tliis noble work, they embalm the
memory of those who took the lead in it, in solemn obitua-
ries adopted in ecclesiastical bodies; and that these deeds
may not perish from aiiioug men, they send these memo-
rials for sacred deposit in the Archives of the Presbyterian
Historical Society, that all men to the end of time may
know wherefore they were thus highly honored !
PBELIMINARY CONSIDEEATIONS. 473
CHAPTER Xm.
SLAVERY IN POLEMICS.— DIVINE REVELATION.
It seems almost to be a work of supererogation, at the
present time, to argue fi>r or against Slavery in the United
States ; to attempt to resolve questions with the pen wliich.
are in process of settlement by the sword, and which,
before the ink we use is dry, may be determined forever.
Our plan, however, would not be complete, unless we
should give some attention to the reasonings by which the
modern doctrines upon slavery are defended.
We shall not endeavor to emulate either the eloquence
or the argument of those men of Kentucky, some of them
of a former day, whose writings upon slavery we have
already given ; nor do we think the occasion calls for any
thing to be said, or indeed that any thing can be said,
against the special chai-acter and influence of the system,
beyond what they have uttered. Our argument will bear
chiefly upon points brought to view in the literature of the
rebellion, and will aim to combat the positions taken by its
instigators and abettors.
PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS.
We have given, at great length, in the chapter imme-
diately preceding, the doctrines announced by those who
defend negro slavery as it exists in the South. It will be
seen that the two propositions, numerically designated,
which we have there laid down, are covered in every par-
ticular, and even more than coveied, by the authorities we
have cited. It will be seen, moreover, that every position
474 SLAVERY lis* POLEMICS.
taken by these authorities, is made to illustrate, apply to
and justify the Southern system of negro slavery. This is
the specific and sole purpose for which their works are
written and tlieir reasonings elaborated.
We do not propose to exhaust the entire argument by
which these extravagant positions may be met. That
would require a volume instead of a chapter. So much
has been written on this whole subject already, by able
scholars, that it seems needless to waste many words upon
it ; and yet, it will scarcely do to say that at this time of
day these extraordinary emanations are not worth noticing.
From the sources indicated, and by the authority of great
names, they are still spread before the religions public,
with glowing commendation, while those who dissent from
these high priests of the Southern Oracle are freely called
by " religious" men " apostates," " infidels," " heretics,"
"French Jacobins," and the like. These authoritative
responses have an influence upon many minds who draw
their inspiration through the channels which convey them.
They should be brought to the test of truth. We pro-
pose to notice only a few of the main points made, and to
present our reasons for dissenting from them.
THE SCRIPTURES GROSSLY LIBELLED.
As incidental to the subsequent argument, we notice, in
passing, the monstrous assumption of Dr. Robinson, editor
of The True Presbyterian., that the servitude among the
Jews, in the time of Abraham and Moses, is the essentia
type of negro slavery in the Southei'ii States, as the systems
are judged by their respective "codes," and by the facts.
He asserts this in terms, several times over; and yet, no
greater libel upon the truth was ever put into liimian lan-
guage.
Let the reader first turn to the chapter where the paper
THE SCRIPTURES GROSSLY LIBELLED. 475
of the Committee of the Kentucky Synod sets forth the
character of slavery in Kentucky, and notice the points
made concerning the system, both as to the Imo and the
facts^ and remember that slavery in the Border States is
always seen in its milder form as compared with the States
farther South ; and then let him note that it is the system
as it prevails throughout the slave States, as seen under
their "slave codes," which Dr. Robinson says is the
counterpart of that which existed in the patriarchal and
Mosaic ages, and which was sanctioned by the positive
ordinances of God. Was ever a more palpable untruth
uttered to deceive plain men ? Whether this is so may
be seen by comparison. Our own ears have been greeted
with the satisfiction which certain people have expressed
with their condition in holding this relation under the
slave laws, from reading these very words in The True
Presbyterian, and they have been led to believe that the
venerated fathers of the Church who held a contrary opin-
ion were ignorant of God's vrord ; and we presume such
unscrupulous dogmatism has beguiled and consoled many
others in the same manner.
There is no call for mincing words in matters of such
vital moment, where the interests of the State, the honor
of the Church, the truth of the Scriptures, and the personal
duty of men are all concerned ; and hence we call such
utterances by the only word which can properly charac-
terize them. They are deliberate and positive libels upon
the word ami honor of God : and this we pledge ourselves
to prove. The language in which they are uttered by Dr.
Robinson is as follows :
"It will not do to attempt to parry the force of this reductio ad
adsurdum, by saying that slavery under Abraham was not the same
THING as by the slave code of the South, for we shall see a little far-
ther on, that the ancient slavery was, in principle, just such as that
21*
476 SLAVEKT IN POLEMICS.
ENACTED BY THE SLAVE CODE OF THE SOUTH NOW." Of Abrahamic
times, he says: " The language of that era was as thoroughly per
MiTTED BY THE INFLUENCE OF SLAVERY, as that of the Southern States
now." Again: "The civil code of Moses permitted and regulated
slavery, in the main recognizing the same principles as the modern
slave codes of the Southern States." Again: " The law OF slavery
in the Mosaic code, contemplates the slave as both a person and a
CHATTEL, JLST AS THE SOUTHERN SLAVE CODE DOES.
These declarations have one merit ; they are direct, clear,
and unmistakable. Their demerit is, their total want of
truth.
POINTS OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE JEWISH AND
SOUTHERN SYSTEMS.
If any persons are so poorly acquainted with their Bibles
and with tlie system of Southern slavery as to believe that
the laws of the Jewish servitude and the "slave codes" of
the Southern States are of "the same principles," we will
point out to them a few characteristics of difterence. We
are not, at this point, to deal with the argument by which
the writer attempts to prop up his assumption ; we are
only concerned with the assumption itself It is a
simple question of fact ; a matter of truth or falsehood as
to the agreement or disagreement of these systems. And
it will be borne in mind, that, in order to sustain the posi-
tion which Dr. Robinson takes, it is necessary to show, that
in regard to each and every one of the essential character-
istics of the Southern " slave codes," there is an exact and
full correspondency in the laws of the Jewish system. If
there is a failure to make out this complete correspondency
in any one particular his assumption falls to the ground.
Among the radical principles in which the two systems
differ are these.
1. By Southern law, slaves are "chattels personal."
This is the legal definition in terms. The code of South
JEWISH AND SOrXIIEEN SYSTEMS. 477
Carolina says : " Slaves shall be deemed chattels personal,
in the hands of their owners and possessors, and their exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, to all intents, construc-
tions, and purposes, wliat soever."*
The Jewish system does not in this manner completely
divest the bondman of his manhood. There is no statute
in the Mosaic code so utterly dehumanizing as this, or
which bears any correspondency with it. If so, let it be
shown. We challenge its production.f
2. By Southern law, a slave can own no property ; can-
not control any of the avails of his own labor. This is ex-
pressly denied him. The civil code of Louisiana says : " A
slave is one who is in the power of a master to whom he
belongs. The master may sell him, dispose of his person,
his industry, and his labor. He can do nothing, possess
nothing, nor acquire any thing, but what must belong to his
master."!
In the Jewish system, no statute thus prevented those
* The most elaborate and authoritative work on slavery, recognized as setting forth
the law, is that of General Thomas R. I!. Cobb, of Georgia, published in 1853, entitled
"The Law of Negro Slavery in the United States." In defining slavery, he says :
" Slavery, in Its more usual and limited signifieation, is applied to all involuntary
servitude, which is not infliited as a punishment for crime. * * * It has, at some
time, been incorporated into the social system of every nation whose history has been
deemed worthy of record. In the former condition the slave loses all personality:
in the latter, while treated under the general class of thinr/s, he possesses various
rights as a person, and is treated as such by the law." General Cobb was a lawyer of
eminence, a brother of Howell Cobb; was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, and
a member of its General Assembly at New Orleans, in 1858 ; and was killed in battle
at Fredericksburg, Va., in December, 1862.
t Dr. Miolziner, of Copenhagen, is spoken of as "the learned Jew," and as one of
"thelblest writers upon the Hebrew economy ;" Heinrich Ewald, of Gottingen, as
"a great authority in Hebrew Antiquities;" Prof. Saalschiitz, of Konigsberg, as one
"whose works on the Mosaic Poliiy are of the highest standing;" and Joseph Salva-
dor, "the Rabbinical scholar of Paris;" all "men versed in the Hebrew language and
in Jewish customs." These eminent Hebraists agree in this — that "the laws of
Moses nowhere recognize the right of property in oian, nor concede to the master an
absolute proprietorship over the person of his servant."
X General Cobb says: "Of the other great absolute right of a freeman, viz., the
right of private property, the slave is entirely deprived. His person and his time
478 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS.
in servitude from " acquiring" and " possessing" property,
This alone settles the heaven-wide dlfterence. But this is
not all. There are statutes which inevitably imply that
the Hebrew servant might and did acquire and hold prof)-
erty.
3. By Southern law, the slave is doomed to hopeless
ignorance. It is a penal offence to teach him to read or
write ; even to teach him to read the word of God ; much
less is any legal injunction found for his religious training.
The exceptional cases of actual instruction, unless it be oral,
are in direct contravention of law.
No such statutory proidUtion can be found regulating
Jewish servitude. On the contrary, numerous statutes
enjoin instruction in all religious duties, and open wide
the door to all religious ordinances. It was a statutory
offence against God and man for a Hebrew master to omit
these things. Dr. Robinson himself gives the proof and
illustration of this, in what he says of the i-egulations of
the Jewish Church.
4. In many of the slave codes of the South, — perhaps in
all, — colored persons, whether bond or free, are prohibited
from merely assembling for the worship of God, even to
receive oral religious instruction, or from meeting for any
other purpose, without the presence of a specified number
of white persons.*
There is no such statute as this regulating Jewish servi-
tude.
5. By Southern law, all slaves are vendible " property."
being entirely the property of his master, whatever he may accumulate by his own
labor, or is otherwise acquired by him, becomes immediately the property of his
master."— /.aw of Negro Slavery.
* Under this feature of the slave code, General Cobb gives a judicial decision
touching the authority of the " patrol" in times of danger from insubordination :
"In South Carolina, it was held, that under the authority to disperse unlawful
asseuibUigrs of negroes, the patrol bad no right to interfere with an open assemblage
for the purpose of religious worship, ivhere icMtf, pflrsonn were alio axsomUciir-^
Law of Negro Slavery.
JEWISH AISTD SOUTHERK SYSTEMS. 479
They are solely by law, the same as mules, tobacco, and
cotton. Without this feature of vendibility in tlie " slave
codes," — prevailing, so far as the law is concerned, univer-
sally, in the South, — the system woidd be comparatively
worthless. Many families, and certain Border States, have
found in this feature of the system one of the greatest
sources of their wealth ; and, for the sake of gain, masters
sometimes se^/ their own chikh-en,hegotten of slave mothers.
This is notorious. This is also accoeding to law ; for,
by the "codes," the child follows the condition of its
mother,— partus sequitur ventrem, — and every one having
any "black blood" belongs to the proscribed class.
General Cobb, in his "Law of Negro Slavery," says:
" The issue and descendants of slaves, in the maternal line,
are slaves. The rule has been adopted in all the States.''''
This domestic traffic in slaves has been the life., ijrofit, and
power of the system. Without it, slavery in the extreme
South, where it has been most profitable, and exerted its
greatest power, at home and throughout the country,
would shrivel and perish.
On the other hand, the Hebrew servitude was loholly
destitute, both in lav:i and fact., of this feature of vendibility.,
except in specified cases ; as for crime, debt, and one other
instance. The fact that these were specified cases, shows
that the Jewish system knew nothing of that feature which
is so prominently stamped upon the Southern system in
practice, and which un^ox j)Ositive statute law may be uni-
versal. This characteristic of the Southern " codes" is
nov)here found in the 3IosaiG law. While Hebrews
might " buy" of surrounding nations (in a sense which it is
not, at this point, our purpose to consider), there is no
evidence, either in law or fact, that any Jew ever sold, in
the way it is commonly done in the South, and legally
sanctioned as universal (except in the specified cases), a
480 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS.
single bondstnan to any other Jew or to a heathen. K
this is denied, let the law and the case be shown. But
yet, in order to make the Mosaic " code" />a?'a/^e^ with the
Southern, it must be shown that the vendibility of Jewish
bondmen wa^, bj the statute^ universal. This is the vital
point of correspondency to be shown ; and this does not
exist.
6. By Southern law, a slave cannot be a witness in any
case against a white person. His master, or any other
white person, may maltreat him in the extreme, — may
wilfully ynurder him, — in the presence of fifty slaves who
are as capable of testifying to the fact as any white person,
and yet their testimony is worthless, in laic*
Even Roman slavery, which many have regarded as the
worst system that ever existed, was better than the South-
ern on this point. The Emperor Constamine not only
allowed slaves to be witnesses, but gave those their free-
dom, by an edict, who testified against fraud, adultery,
and certain other oifences where freemen were involved.
* " Where a slave is killed, the presumption of law is the same as in other cases of
homicide, that it was done maliciously. On account of the frequent and necessarily
private relation of master and slave, remote most generally from the presence and
view of any white person competent to be a witnesi^f th\s presumption may <ind must
often operate to the prejudice of the slayer, there being no means of proving the
provocation given. Under this view, the Act of South Carolina provides, that where
the homicide is committed, and no competer^ witness is present at the time to testify
to the whole transaction, the affidavit of the accused if' admitted before Vie jury,
explanatory and exculpatory of his conduct on the occaKion" — "It would seem
that from the very nature of slavery, and the necessarily degraded social position of
the slave, many acts would extenuate the homicide'of a slave, and reduce the oft'ence
to a lower grade, which would not constitute a legal provocation if done by a white
person. Thus, in The State v. Tackett. it was held competent for one charged with
the murder of a slave to give in evidence that the deceased was turbulent, aiid
iiiDolent, and impudent to white persotu." — " On account of the perfectly uni)ro-
tected and helpless position of the slave, when his master is placed in opposition to
him: not beiug allowed to accuu.ulate property, with which to provide means for
the prosecution of his rights; his mouth being closed as a witnesn in a court of
justice ; his hands being tied, even for his own defence, except in the extreme eases
bef<n-e alluded to; his time not being at his service, even for the purpose of procur-
ing testimony,"" l'cc. — CoWs Law of Negro Slit eery.
JEWISH AND SOUTHERN SYSTEMS. 481
No statutory prohibition of "bonrlTnen being witnesses
can be found in the Mosaic code. Although there may he
no statute authorizing testimony, as explicit as that of Con-
stantine, yet the whole character of the Jewish system
would natundly lead us to presume that those in servitude,
otherwise competent, were allowed to testify against crime,
whoever might be the offender. But the absence of any
such positive, prohibitory statute, as is found in all the
Southern " codes," marks the essential difference in the
systems.
The foregoing, among many other differences in the two
systems here compared, relate chiefly to the mdividital.
There are strongly marked differences which relate to their
social character.
7. By Southei'n law, marriage among slaves is a nullity.
It has no legal recognition, existence, or protection. Tlie
master is authorized to separate, at pleasure and forever,
those who live together under the name of husband and
wife. This is often done in fact, for pecuniary gain and
from other motives.*
On the other hand, the statutes of the Mosaic code regu-
lating marriage are full and explicit, both positive and
prohibitory, and these statutes were binding upon all
classes. In the South, such unions as are formed among
the slaves are often within the degrees of consanguinity
and affinity forbidden by the Mosaic laws.
8. The whole family constitution as God made tY, is
utterly blotted out among slaves, by Southern law. Tlie
slave offspring of these teeming millions are the result of
a systematic, perpetual, universal violation of the seventh
*"The inability of the slave to contract extends to the marriage contract, and
hence there is no recugnized marriagre relation in law between slaves." "The
contract of marriage not being recognized among slaves, of course none of its conse-
quences follow from the contubernal state existing between them." — Cobb's Law of
Negro Slavery,
482 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS.
command of the Decalogue; and this hy the positive legis-
lation of Christian States. These offspring may be torn
from those who have borne them, and parents and children
are often thus separated forever.*
Jewish servitude knew nothing of this wholesale and
utter sweeping away of the most important institution God
has given for the social, civil, and religious well-being of
mankind. To charge this feature of the universal slave
system of the South upon the Jewish system, — -and, indeed,
the same of every other point noticed, — and to say that it
is of Godt is to utter both falsehood and blasphemy.
The foregoing points show what Southern slavery is as
a system / not the evils incidental to it, but what it is in
its vital essence, and how it works, by law • evils which
are inherent in it and inseparable from it, as both the
General Asseml>ly of 1818 and the Committee of the Synod
of Kentucky affirm. The system, as such, could not exist
a day without these radical legal features.
9. Our final point, therefore, in this comparison, is, that
this system, by Southern law, is made perpetual. All slaves,
legally considered, must,Jook upon their posterity as
doomed to it to the latest generation.
The Jewish system, to say the least of it, provided for
the freedom of a portion of those in servitude at the year
of Jubilee, and of another portion in the seventh year ;
while many able scholars (which we barely mention as a
fact) contend that provision was made for the freedom of
all who Avere held in servitude at the Jubilee.
On the other hand, many of the slave codes of the South
* -'The marriage relation not being recognized among slaves, none of the relative
rights and duties arising therefrom, belong strictly to the slave. * * * We may
make the same assertion in reference to the relation of parent and child. In some
of the States, both of these relations are so far recognized by the Legislature, as to
provide by statute against their disruption in publio sales."^6'oi6"« Law of Negro
PEOFESSOEIAL JUDGMEXT OF THE CASE. 483
make it next to impossible for individual masters, when so
disposed, to give freedom to their slaves ; while others pro-
hibit emancipation altogether, making it a statutory offence.
There is thus a wide legal difference between the sys-
tems concerning ernancipation.
PROFESSOEIAL JUDGMENT OF THE CASE.
But we need go no further in this enumeration, though
there are other points of marked contrast. This is the
SYSTEM of the South which Dr. Robinson not only has the
hardihood to approve^ but which he has the unblushing
effrontery to declare is of " the same principles" as that
which existed in the time of Abraham and Moses, and
which God incorporated into His Church! For a more
full delineation of it, — as a system in practice, inevitaV)ly
resulting from such "codes," — we again ask the reader to
recur to the paper of the Committee of the Synod of Ken-
tucky, and refresh his mind with what they set forth as the
inherent essence of the system, as seen in PvEal life
among themselves, and then he will make some small
approach towards understanding what that specific thing
is which Dr. Robinson applauds and commends, and which
he declares is taken into close fellowship by the Head of
the Church !
If we were called upon to resolve the moral phenome-
non presented in this case, we might, perhaps, adequately
do it by citing what a distinguished Professor of Theology
has written. The Princeton Jievie-ic, for January, 1861,
in an article on The State of the Country, says : " Most
men, when they condemn slavery, have certain slave laics
in their minds ; laws which forbid the slaves to be in-
structed, which declare they cannot contract marriage, or
which authorize tlie forcible separation of husbimds and
wives, parents and children. But Southern Christians
484 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS.
condemn these laws as heartily as we do. Indeed no
MAN CAN BE A ChKISTIAN WHO DOES NOT CONDEMN THEM."
Dr. Hodge here lays down the abstract principle. We
shall not make the concrete application ; but we abridge
no man's liberty.
PEOSLAVERY ARGUMENTS EXAMINED.
We come now to the arguments for slavery. We shall
notice only some of the more prominent, and can give
tliein but a comparatively brief examination. We shall
take up those founded on Scriptui^e first, and afterwards
those drawn from the Law of Nature. The latter, indeed,
will require no examination, provided negro slavery in tlie
South can be sustained by the former ; for if we havo a
" Thus s.iith the Lord" for it, in a written revelation, it is
of little consequence to interrogate the less clear light of
nature and reason.
What, then, do the Scriptures teach ? At the outset,
let the point which the advocates of the system must
establish be distinctly kept in mind. They must show
THE DIRECT AUTHORITY OP SCRIPTURE FOR SOUTHERN
NEGRO SLAVERY. They claim to be able to do tliis. They
are confident they have done it. They deem those to be
stupid who do not see it, and "infidel" who do not ac-
knowledge it. We must then hold their arguments to
this specific point.
So far as the present issue is concerned, it is wholly
immaterial what the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments may teach about the systems of their day,
unless those teachings sanction negro slavery in the
Southern States with the same kind and the same fulness
of authority by which they sanction the Jewish and
Roman systems of their own times, and concerning whic-h
it is conceded tliey directly speak. We may, — and of
THE AEGUMESTT FROM THE DECALOGUE. 485
course we freely do, — admit as true every thing of fact
and prviciple wbich is actually taught in the Scriptures
concerning those systems ; and yet, all which is thus true
concerning them will go for absolutely nothing in the
present argument, unless the nexus which it is claimed
infallibly unites the modern system to the ancient, under
tlie sanction of these divine teachings, is made as clear as
the light.
Premising these plain points as fundamental, we take
•up several specific arguments separately. The order of
examination, though not material, suggests, naturally, that
which is first in importance.
THE AEGUMEXT FROM THE DECALOGUE.
It is insisted by all Southern extremists that slavery is
ordained in the Decalogue. Any references we here make
to their language will be to the quotations given in a pre-
ceding chapter. Says Dr. Thornwell : " God sanctions it
in both tables of the Decalogue." Dr. Robinson : " In
two precepts of this law, — the fourth, concerning the
Sabbath, and the tenth, concerning covetonsness, — slavery
is again recognized as existing in the Church by command,
in reference to man-servants and maid-servants." Dr.
Smyth : " God has actually embodied slavery in his moral
law, and by there guarding, and protecting, and regulating
it, has made it appertain to the present condition of
humanity."
The Decalogue is permanent and universal in its au-
thority. It is the law for man as man. If it "embodies"
and " sanctions" the slavery for which Southern men con-
tend, the argument is ended. The claim that it does,
rests upon the meaning of two words. That meaning is
assumed, in the quotations we have made, rather than
established. It is, that the terms in the original, ren-
486 SLAVBIiY IN POLEMICS.
dered " man-servant" and "maid-seivant," in the fourth
and tenth commandments, mean, necessarily, slaves, in the
sense of Southern slave law. If the claim does not cover
this, it is of no consequence in the present discussion. If
it does cover and sustain it, we give up the point.
What then do these words mean ? This is more or less
a matter of opinion and exegesis, in which men difier.
Much siiolarship has been expended to ascertain the truth.
We shall give eminent Jewish authorities, rather than our
own opinion.
The Hebrew term rendered " man-servant," in the Deca-
logue, is Ehed. Remarking upon this word. Dr. Mielziner,
before mentioned, the eminent Jewish scholar of Copen-
hagen, says, that it is " a name common to all who stood
in a dependent or subordinate relation ;" that it " has not
the degrading meaning which we connect with the word
' slave' or ' bondman,' but often has the more mild signi-
fication, which we associate, in certain relations, with tlie
term ' servant.' " Prof. Saalschutz, of KonigsbtTg, says :
that "the language of the Hebrews has no tcord for stig-
matizing by a degrading appellation one class of those
who owe service, and distinguishing them from the rest
as ' slaves,' but only oiie term for all who are bound to
render service to others. For males, this word is Ehed,
servant, or man-servant ; properly, laborer ; for females,
ShifchaJi, Ama, maid-servant, rnaid.^^*
One of the most earnest advocates of a former day for
the Scriptural authority for slavery in the South, — so far
as deduced from the meaning of one of the words in
question, as found in the Decalogue and elsewhere, — in
noticing an objection to his view, says : " It is said, the
Hebrew word JEbed, translated sometimes servant, some-
* Mielziner, Die VerJialtnisse ; Saalschiitz, Dan MotsaUuhe Jieokt; as cited by
Dr. Thompson in his " Christ, and £man."'
THE AKGUMENT FEOM THE DECALOGUE. 487
times man-servant, and sometimes hond-servant, does not
mean a slave, but only a icorker, one who is emplo\ ed for
a time, and even a relation of service of a liighly honor-
able kind." He then makes this admission: ''The word
JEbed is translated as above, and in itself properly siynijies
a tcorker, a laborer^ a person who does work of any kind
at all, for another person."* This admission is all that is
desired, and perfectly agrees with the eminent Jewish
scholars referred to above.
If then the two words, found in the Decalogue, on which
Southern men rest the whole argument for negro slavery,
from that source, may have this wide latitude of meaning
which the ablest scholars in Jewish learning give them, all
the systems of slavery may perish throughout the earth,
and no system ever again arise to curse the world, and yet
this part of the Decalogue concerning " man-servants" and
"maid-servants" would be just as applicable to society as
ever. It would still be the law for mankind everywhere,
and be appropriate wherever there were " laborei's," or
" workers," or " servants," who were yet in every sense
freemen, and in no sense slaves.
An argument is pressed by some writers, drawn from
the tenth commandment, which is not confined to the
meaning of the words in question, but is deemed to be
confirmatory of the essential meaning which it is claimed
those words have. For example, it is said, that " man-
servant" and "maid-servant" must indicate those who
were held as " property," for covetoiisness,t\\Q sin here
forbidden, always has reference to "property." The
premises here are false. A person may "covet" that
which is another's, whether it be his property or not. In
point of fact this is often done. Many a person, in daily
life, violates the tenth commandment, by coveting the
* 'The Integrity of our National Union vs. Abolitionism," by Dr. Geo. Junkin.
488 SLAYEEY IN rOLE.MICS.
"man-servant" or "maid-servant" who is but a hired
laborer. More than this, — if the prohibition to "covet" a
servant, in the tenth commandment, necessarily implies
that the servant is " property," or a " slave" in the sense
of Southern law, then the prohibition to " covet" a " wife,"
in the same commandmeut, implies that she also is a
" slave" in the same sense. This is simply absm-d. We
readily grant that under the Jewish law, under the
Roman law, under English law, and perhaps under law in
every country in the AVorLl, the "wife" is, in a certain
sense, the " property" of her husband. But who will pre-
tend from this that there is a pai-allel in tlie condition of
the " wife" under the Decalogue, and the condition of the
" slave" under Southern laAV ? And yet if the tenth com-
mandment does not make the " wife" a " slave" in the
sense of Southern law, no more does it make a "man-
servant" or a "maid-servant" a "slave" in that sense.
But if it does not make the " servant" a " slave" in that
sense, then it makes him a " slave" in no sense applicable
to the present case.
THE ABEAHAMIC AND MOSAIC SYSTEM.
Besides the Decalogue, there are two sources of author-
ity for Southern slavery claimed from the Old Testament.
One is, the system of servitude as regulated under Al)ra-
ham ; the other, as authorized by the code of Moses. For
our purpose we may notice them together.
The specific point to be made out by our opponents is,
that these regulations afibrd precisely the same sancti<m
for Southern slavery that they do for the ancient system.
We here pass by, entirely, the usual facts and reasonings
urged to show that the Old Testament sersitude was an
essentially different system from that of Southern slavery,
in all its elemental principles, designs, and actual working.
THE ABRAIIAMIC AND MOSAIC SYSTEM. 489
We have already stated certain points of difference. We
pass by, also, the reasons for which many have supposed
that system was established, or allo^ved and regulated.
For the argument's sake, we here admit all that is claimed
for the ancient system, as drawn from the two sources
named.
What, then, was the fundamental authority for that
system, boih as to matter and form ? It was sanctioned
by the most direct and positive authority of God. The
form oi the sanction was through express revelation, em-
bodying commands, covenants, and both positive and
prohibitory statutes; by tlie several covenants made at
different times with Abraham, and by the numerous
statutes of the code of Moses. This, we presume, is the
utmost wiiich any one has ever claimed for the Jewish
system, and this, for the sake of the argument, we at
present concede.
Now, all we demand is this : Show us the same fulness
of authority for Southern slavery, in matter and form, and
we instantly yield the ground. Give us positive Divine
sanction, through express revelation ; give us the com-
mands, covenants, statutes, and ordinances, — or even o/ie
of any of all tliese, — which as specifically designate negro
slavery in the South as do those of the Old Testament
unquestionably designate the ancient system, — that is, let
these commands designate the race of Southern masters
with the same definiteness that Jewish masters were desig-
nated, and point out the particular people who may and
those who may not be enslaved, as is done in the Jewish
code — do all this, and we will say no more. But until this
is done, the indispensable nexus is wanting. Until this is
done, it is just as reasonable to send us to the statutes of
the Tycoon as to the statutes of Moses for autliority for
Southern slavery.
490 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS.
We have never been able to see, — and we sincerely
desire some one to explain, — how it is that the Southern
system is necesmrily hitched on to the Mosaic, so that the
ancient inevitably draws the modern along by its authority.
This is a thing which is assumed. We insist that it shall
he proved. The only semblance of a connection between
the two which Dr. Robinson in his long argument attempts
to make out, expressly iu order to show that the Southern
system is authorized by the ancient, is, that in their
" principles," tried by their resjiective " codes," the two
systems are "the same." That he deems this the vital
and turning point in the case, is seen in the fact that he
presses this declaration at four different stages of his
argument, in nearly the same words, all of which we have
given. But we have already shown that this assumed
sameness is utterly groundless.
AUTHORITY IN CONTRAST.
But suppose, for the sake of the argument, that we admit
this assumed identity in " principles," — admit that these
" codes" are, in every characteristic, precisely tte same ;
that the Southern is an exact copy,'Word for word, of the
Mosaic, — still, no shadow of sanction for the Southern sys-
tem can result from such identity. It is an identity in
AUTHORITY which must be established ; but that does not
result from an identity in " principles." If we look at the
real sanction for the tAvo systems, — admitting, for the
moment, that they are alike in " principles," — we shall see
the world-wide difference between them in this vital matter
of authority.
For the Jewish, there is this authority : God Almighty
did, by express revelation, Himself ordain a code for the
benefit of a specific people., Jewish masters, " chosen" by
AUTHORITY IN CONTRAST. - 491
Himself ; and He did also, by express revelation, designate
the people who should serve them under that code.
Yox the Southern, there is this authority : Sotjtherm"
Legislators do, without revelation, themselves ordain this
code, four thousand years afterwards, for the benefit of
another specijiG people^ Southern masters, " chosen" by
themselves ; and they do also, without revelation, desig-
nate the people who shall serve them under that code.
Now, can Sonthern masters, by virtue of this identity
in the '' j^rinciples" of the respective codes, claim divine
sanction for slavery? This assumed identity is nothing
to the purpose. It is, as before stated, an identity in
AUTHORITY wliicli must be established, — which shall em-
brace it in form and substance, as directly from God^ — or
Southern slavery can receive no support from the Jewish
system. Such identity of authority, no man can show ;
nor any other kind of authority by which the Southern
system can be sheltered under the Jewish. Direct Reve-
lation is what is demanded to meet the case.
If this total want of Divine sanction for Southern slavery,
— in the matter and form stated, — be not conclusive
against its being authorized by the ordinances regulating
Mosaic servitude, then this result follows of logical ne-
cessity : that any system of slavery which men may choose
to inaugurate, — at any time, in any place, among an^ peo-
ple as masters, over any people as slaves, by any means,
iu any manner, from any motive, — may immediately claim,
on precisely the same grounds, when once fully established
among a people, the same Divine authority, and must at
once be acknowledged as coming under this broad shield
of the Divine protection ; and he who does not admit all
this of any system " got up to order," is, in the language
of Southern extremists, an " infidel," an " apostate," and
'' blasphemes the God of Israel !" This is the inevitable
22
492 SLAVEET IN POLEMICS.
logical result of the position taken and the argument pre-
sented.
We deem the foregoing considerations conclusive against
the assumption that Southern negro slavery is of necessity
sheltered under the ordinances, covenants, statutes, and
commands, of the Old Testament system of servitude, and
may therefore challenge for itself Divine sanction on such
grounds. Make the " principles" of the ancient system to em-
brace just what you please, — covering every fact which the
Scriptures declare, — and yet, if these covenants and statutes
do not, ttpon the very face of them^ show the Divine and
direct designation of negro slavery in the South, as clearly
as they designate the Jewish system, they no more author-
ize Southern slavery than they authorize the system of the
Algerine corsairs.
THE NEW TESTAMENT ARGUMENT.
The argument for Southern slavery drawn from the New
Testament, rests upon a different basis from that drawn
from the Old. It is not claimed that ordinances and cove-
nants of precisely the same character as those regulating
Jewish servitude, are found for the system of Greek and
Roman slavery of the time of Chrisf and the Apostles. It
is insisted, however, that they recognized it as existing, in
the State and in the Church, in their day ; that they gave
no command for its removal from either, but gave direc-
tions for the duties of masters and servants ; and that it is
placed in the same category with the matrimonial and
parental relations, and is, therefore, like them, an " ordi-
nance of God," of permanent and equal authority : from
all which is drawn the broad conclusion that the negro
slavery of the South is a lawful system, and is on like
grounds an " ordinance of God." These points, it will be
seen, are covered by the quotations previously given.
SLAVERY HAXGIXG BY A WORD. 493
As in the argument on the other b.anches of the subject,
so here, Ave shall pass by many points which are often
effectively made in opposition to some of the positions
taken and the conclusions reached in favor of slavery.
SLAVERY HANGING BY A WORD.
All who have paid any attention to discussions of the
subject, know that much has boen written upon the mean-
ing of a single Greek word. Doiilos. in New Testament
discussions, has figurt-d as largely as Ebed^ in the Old.
Dr. Robinson inquires, in the article to which we have
before referred, " What can be more absurd, than the
dogma of white-cravatte 1 infidelity, that ' servant' (doidos),
in Scripture, means a hireling, or apprentice, not a slave ?"
This is his entire argument upon the point, in an elaborate
paper in which he says : " We have aimed to present at one
view an outline of the whole argument against the anti-
slavery dogmas, as gathered from the inspired teaching of
the Church in all these eras," embracing both the Old and
New Testament dispensations.
We would remind Dr. Robinson that his distinguished
friend. Dr. Thornwell, always wore a " white cravat." He
should therefore regard that part of his argument as dis-
posed of. So far as thei'e is any point in his inquiry about
the meaning of the woid in question, we propose to meet
it with something better than a sneer ; something, too, that
will probably have more weight with him than any thing
we could say.
PROF. LEWIS ON DOULOS.
Prof. Tayler Lewis, occupying the chair of Greek in
Union College, is an eminent scholar ; and from a com-
mendatory notice of an article of his which has appeared
in The True Presbyterian^ we presume its editor may be in
494 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS.
a state of mind to heed what he says about doulos. He
says of the Professor : " It may l)o a weakness of ours, but
we coafess to a particular sympathy with, and pleasure in,
the curious, semi-j^latouic and scholarly, but earnest and
soul-reaching method in whitth Prof. Tayler Lewis alicays
writes of the ScrijHui'es, and their interpretation?''
Upon this, we are certainly justified in commending
Prof. Lewis's "intei'pretation," wliich is "always" so valu-
able, to Dr. Robinson. We do not remember the color of
Prof. Lewis's cravat, but we heard an apdress from him in
New York some years since, and he then had on a blue
coat Avith gilt buttons. He thus discourseth :
Much learning has been exhibited in respect to the word douloi.
There is no doubt that it may denote the servile condition. It is equally
clear that it is a term of government, and may signify a subject from
the liigli est to the lowest rank. It may imply both ideas. But there
is a word in the Greek language that has the one, the lowest one, ex-
clusivdy and forever. It is always servile. It is ever used to denote
slaves as property, and in a property sense. As thus employed, it is
exceedingly common in the classical Greek — always used, we may say,
when the servile notion is to be expressed simple and unmixed. It must
have been very familiar throughout Asia Minor, and wherever Paul
found the reality or the semblance to tlie relation. It is the word audra
podon. It is of the neuter form, to espress'Vileness, to denote that that
to which it is applied is regarded as a thing or cliattel, without wiU, or
a true acknowledged personaUty. When slaves are statistically enume- "
rated as property, they are called andra jjoda, just as cattle or flocks are
called by similar neuters, to kteno, ktenea, ktemala, probata. It is an in-
teresting query : Why is this servile word, so common in Athenian
Greek, never found in the New Testament? It is because there is no idea
acknowledged there ivhich it a 'uld properly express.
We now give Dr. Robinson all the benefit he can derive
from doidos, with all the aid he can get from the entire
coterie of those who claim that the word necessarily means
a "slave;" and we leave it wholly to him to choose the
color of their cravats. We trust that Prof Lewis's
PEOF. LEWIS OX slave;-tradees. 495
"scholarly" performance may prove " soul-reaching" to the
whole of them.
PEOF. LEWIS ox SLAVE-TEADERS.
There is an exegesis from Prof. Lewis, following the
above extract, which is further serviceable here. It knocks
certain declainiers for Southern slavery, and those who
denounce man-stealing^ completely " off their pins," and
turns the argument against them with a force which
should make them wince. The Professor says :
There is one word used in the New Testament, a derivative of this
word (1 Tim. i. 10), but in such a way that it wUl do the man who is
hunting Scriptural pleas for slavery no good. It is andra podistts, ren-
dered man-stealcr, but clearly wrong. The form of the ending shows
that it does not denote an occasional act, an occasional tiieft, but a
business, an occupation Andra podistes is not a man-thief, but a iiAJf-
TRADEE, a SLAVE-TRADER, or a SLAVE-DEALER ; One whosc businsss is to
sell an andra podon : just as kermatntes (John iL 14) does not mean rnoney-
stealer, but nioney-sclkr, broker, " money-changer." So in the Memora-
bilia, Socrates metaphorically calls the Sophists who took pay for their
lectures, andra podibks, men who sold themselves for senile hire. Look
at the association in which this term is found (1 Tim. i. 10), and then
judge whether the idea of that thing in which the andra podibUs dealt,
or the idea of Tiunuin property, could ever have been applied by the
Apostle to a man, much less to a Christian brother. What an ungodly
crew! — "the -unholy and profane, murderers, fornicators, slave-tra-
ders, liars, perjurers, and all else that is opposed to pure doctrine."
Who does not remember to have heard this passage
often quoted from Timothy to show direct condemnation
by Paul of the practice charged upon certain men for en-
ticing away slaves from tlie South, calling them "men-
stea'.ers !" We are not defending theft ; nor do we refer
to this passage to justify the practice chargi'd. "Let
every tub stand on its own bottom." We refer to it to
show that it has nothing to do with condemning that
practice. But it has much to do with another thing. It
496 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS.
condemns men-traders. It is a bolt wieLled by t'le Apos-
tle Paul, under the guide of inspiration, which crushes at
one blow the ichole domestic slave-trade, and all concerned
in it, — to say nothing of the foreign slave-trade, — on the
ground claimed by all the advocates of Southei-n slavery,
that these teachings of the Apostle bear as directly on
that system as they did upon the Greek and Roman
slavery of his time; a domestic slave-trade which is the
very life and power of the ichole system, and out of which
certain of the Border States have coined millions of
wealth. This is another " scholarly" performance, which
we hope also may prove " solil-reachiug" to all who may
need the benefit of it.
We now leave Dr. Robinson in company with his doulos,
and we place alongside of him the andra podon, the andra
podistes, and the Apostle Paul ; the latter a '' noble oLl
Roman citizen." We do not know the color of Piiul's
cravat, nor the color of that of any of these Greek gentle-
men ; so we cannot tell whether their company will be
agreeable or otherwise.
We cannot close this part of the subject without giv-
ing another extract from Prof. Lewis. He is speaking of
the use proslavery men make of soufe of Paul's teachings ;
and the sarcasm will apply to all, but especially to Pi'O-
fessors Morse and Christy, 2Vie True Presbyterian, and
all others who with them (and we do not know of any
exceptions) deem slavery an essential antecedent to the
most successful evangelization of a " barbarous" race :
And now, to take these holy things, and make from them an argu-
ment in favor of slavery as it exists in the United States, of cotton
growing slavery, our trafficking, mercenary, jiroperly-clainiing slavery,
that will sell a man, liis children, and his children's children, for its
own worldly gain, and then content itself with the poor, conscience-
soothing plea, that perhaps he may, somehow, get Christianized in the
process! It is rank sacrilege.
SLAVERY A.MOXG THE EELAXIOXS. 497
SLAVBRT AMONG THE RELATIONS.
The position in which slavery is mentioned by the
Apostles, among certain recognized and permanent rela-
tions in society, is deemed by many the most formidable
argument in its favor. It is presented by all the advocates
of the Southern system, and is regarded as conclusive and
overwhelming. It is substantially this : that slavery, in
the New Testament, is placed on an equality, as to au-
thority and permanency, with the civil, matrimonial, and
parental relations, as, with them, " an ordinance of God."
This claim, taken in connection with the conceded fact
that injunctions are given to both masters and servants,
as well as to the persons filling the other relations, is
deemed as presenting a valid and unanswerable sanction
for Southern slavery. It is the argument from the greater
to the less ; from the acknowledged authority of three
relations, — the civil, matrimonial, and parental, — to the
authority of a. fourth, the servile. As they are classed
together, and the duties of each are specified, their authority
is equal, and the relation in each case permanent. That is
the argument.
Says Dr. Ross : " Slavery is of God," and " Slavery is
ordained of God ;" as between master and servant, " it is
a relation belonging to the same category as those of hus-
band and wife, parent and child." Says Dr. Thornwell :
'' The Apostles are explicit in inculcating the duties which
sprung from both sides of the relation." Speaking at
length of the four relations. Prof. Morse calls them, " the
social system which God has ordained." Dr. Robinson :
'' The duties of the relation of master and servant are dis-
cussed in common with the duties of parent and child,
husband and wife." The True Preshyterian : " The
Saviour Himself accepted slavery as being equally of God
498 SLAVEBT IN POLEMICS.
with civil government, marriage, and the parental relatiou."
And so say they all.
THE EEDTJCTIO AD ABSUEDUM.
The exalted position here given to slavery involves
these logical absurdities: (1.) It makes slavery an essen-
tial and universal element of society. (2.) It makes
emancipation a sin.
' These are inevitable deductions from the doctrine main-
tained. We no longer wonder, therefore, that men who
hold the doctrine can write books, like Mr. Fitzhugh, of
Virginia, on "The Failure of Free Society," nor that
among certain Southern men, as Drs. Palmer, Thornwell,
and Armstrong, there should have been such lamentations
of mourning and son-ow over the condition of things in
the Free States, concerning which, however, they know
so little. We are no longer sui-prised that they should
wish to make slavery imiversal. We no longer wonder
that this stupendous rebellion is prosecuted in the interest
of this doctrine; for the institution it defends is one of the
very pillars of the whole social fabric, of the family, of the
State, and of the Church. Let us glance at these two
points. '
SLAVEBT TJJSriVERSALLT ESSENTIAL.
1. The doctrine propounded upon these relations
makes slavery an essential and universal element of
society. How can it be otherwise, if it is in all respects
equal to the matrimonial, parental, and civil relations?
Writers generally have considered three of these relations
as "ordained of God," viz., the civil, or that of ruler and
rilled ; the connubial, or that of husband and wife ; tlie pa-
rental, or that of parent and child ; that these three belong
to society universally, as God designed it, and are essential
SLAVEET UNIVEKSAXLT ESSENTIAL. i09
to the existence, as well as to the well-being, of mankind iii
a social state ; and that these three are all which God has
directly "ordained" for that end. But our modern
philosophers make a fourth, the servile, which they pl.ice
in " the same cntegoi-y." We do not see, therefore, on
this basis, why slavery is not essential to the very exist-
ence of society, in the form in which God has authorized
and organized the social state.
Can society be maintained without civil government ? —
or without marriage ? — or without the parental relation ?
No Christian will pretend it. Nor, upon this theory, can
it be maintained without slavery. Strike down ani/ one
of the other relations, and society perishes. Blot out civil
government, and anarchy reigns and society is in ruins.
Destroy marriage, and t!ie race becomes extinct, or uni-
versal concubinage must perpetuate it ; and in either case,
destruction to the parental rehition is the result. So, also,
upon this theory, society can no more be perpetuated
without slavery than without these other relations, for
it is equally with them an " ordinance of God," and in
"the same category." This is the inevitable logical
result from the premises ; and it demonstrates the perfect
absurdity of giving slavery that position among the
authoritative and permanent relations of society.
But is it said, that all that is meant is, that slavery is
merely a umvers;illy admissible relation? Then we ask, in
reply : Is civil government merely an admissible institu-
tion, that may be continued or dispensed with at pleasure ?
Is marriage, as an institution or relation, mei'ely admissi-
ble ; and may it be set aside altogether for the institution
of " free love ?" May the parental relation be supplanted
by any substitute which would result from overthrowing
the matrimonial? Not one of these three institutions,
involving these relations, is merely ^idmis-nble in the
22*
500 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS.
Divine organization of society. It cannot he organized
and 2^€;rpetuate(l., as God designed it, toitfiout them. Tliey
are each and ixW enjoined as essential io its existence and
perpetuity. Then, of logical necessity, on the ground now
claimed, slavery is also enjoined, as a universal, permanent,
and essential element, in the Divine organization and con-
tinuance of society. This conclusion is unavoidable ; or,
the premise that slavery is an " ordinance of God," iu
" the same category" with these other relations, is alto-
gether untenable.
EMANCIPATION A SIN.
2. So, also, of logical necessity, this doctrine makes
emancipation a sin. One of the things which is always
insisted upon by proslavery writers is, that the New Tes-
tament is utterly silent about emancipation. Well, let it
be granted ; and then what follows ? If slavery is . an
" ordinance of God" in the sense that marriage is, what
right have we, by emancipation, to destroy the relation
essential to it, in any case, without express revealed
authority from God ? To do so is sin. Can we set aside
marriage, in any case, by sundering the relation of hus-
band and wife, except uj^on the ground for which the
Scriptures expressly provide, without heinous sin ? Can
we sever the parental relation without sin ? Can we
overturn lawful civil government without sin ? Are not
all these essential to society, and " ordained of God ?"
No more can we, upon the doctrine claimed, set aside
slavery without sin ; neither, on the one hand, by pi'ocla-
mation, or law, or military power, or by any other wliole-
srde measures ; nor, on the other, in any individual
case. To do this in any way or to any extent, without
an explicit " Thus saith the Lord," from His word,
either expressly permissive or directory, is to sin against
i:n^vasion of god's prerogative. 501
God with a high hand, if slavery is His "ordinance;"
and this is, also, to overthrow one of the pillars of
society.
EPrVASION OF god's PREROGATIVE.
The case of Dr. Ross is most remarkable for a Christian
minister. He writes a book, entitled, " Slavery Ordained
of God." In the book he tells us that "Slavery is of
God ;" and the relation essential to it he puts into " the
same category as those of husband and wife, parent and
child." What next? He tells us that he has been a
slaveholder, but is not one now. He has " emancipated
his slaves," and the act cost him " some self-denial." He
does not boast of the act, but evidently regards it as re-
dounding to his credit.
This case presents a singular mixture of morals and
logic, and we presume Dr. Ross does not stand alone. It
is a sound princij^le, on every ground, that the only
authority which can warrant a person in setting aside a
just law or ordinance, is the authority that established it ;
and not only so, but the manner in which it may be set
aside must be as clearly set forth as are the provisions of
the ordinance itself. This principle may be applied to the
matter in hand. Dr. Ross and his co-laborers claim
slavery to be a Divine " ordinance ;" that this is a doc-
trine of written revelation ; and they are out of patience
Avith those who dissent. They do not pretend that they
have any revelation for emancipation. On the contrary,
it is one of their cardinal doctrines in defence of the
system, that the word of God is utterly silent on the sub-
ject of emancipation. And yet Dr. Ross coolly tells us
that he has "emancipated his slaves," or, in other words,
that he has deliberately abolished an " ordinance of God ;"
one which is in " the same category" with marriage and
502 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS.
tbe parental relation, and which, therefore, is esseniiul to
human welfare ; that he did it with " some self-denial,"
but nevertheless he did it, and thinks it well, and wishes
others to think so. We should suppose that such an
unwarranted invasion of the Divine prerogative ought to
have cost him " some self denial," and not a little. Would
he thus repudiate his wife, and banish his children ?
Why not, with equal authority ?
THE RELATIONS IN DIALOGUE.
But we are not done v/ith the absurdities of this doc-
trine. We have noticed two, which are absui'ditie; in
logic. There is another, partly logical and wholly
practical.
It is a little remarkable that this equality of authority
for these several relations is urged to sanction the system
of negro slavery in the South, — and is deemed an argu-
ment of such force as to put to silence all opposition, — •
when, notoriously, the matrimonial and parental relations,
as an " ordinance of God," on which the servile relation
is made to rest for its sanction, are, among the slaves,
iitterly ignored in law, and have no existence in fact. It
is most amazing, — it puts all logic to the blush, and pre-
sumes upon ignorance of what is universally known, or
supposes a stultification of conscience, touching the sacred-
ness and authority of ordinances on which the whole
social fabric rests, that would be criminal, — to see men
seriously urge the lawfulness of a given relation, on the
ground of the lawfulness of two other given reLitions,
where the latter are confessedly binding upon all who
enter into the family state, when these two are utterly re-
pudiated, in law and in fact, among the entire peojjle on
the one side for whom the lawfulness of the first is
claimed.
THE RELATIONS IN DIALOGUE. 603
Good morning, Mr. Smith. Do you live in South
Carolina ?
Yes.
Do yon deem negro slavery a divine institution ?
Certainly.
On what ground ?
The relation between master and slave is upon the same
ground as the matrimonial and parental relations. They
are all alike " ordinances of God."
Do these otlier two relations exist among your own
slaves, Mr. Smith, as " an ordinance of God ?"
They live together, and have children.
Are they lawfully married?
Our " slave code" does not recognize marriage among
slaves, so that we can exactly call it " an ordinance of
God ;" for, it must be confessed, it allows us to sell and
separate any that live together, and their children ; and
in fact that is often done, and done against the consent of
the parties.
Does it not look a little queer, then, Mr. Smith, that you
should urge a divine sanction for slavery on such a ground
as that ?
Our ablest divines have presented that argument often;
it appears sound.
Their reasoning is bad enough, at best ; but it Avould
not be quite so strikingly objectionable, practically, if the
other two relations were hedged about by your laws as
slavery is. Your " slave code" is burdened with laws
about one of these relations, securing all the interests of
slavery ; but the other two are ignored in law, among the
slaves. Is not that a singular aigument foi- the one, which
is based upon the other two, where the two have no exis-
tence ?
Oh ! but our laws secure the rights of husbands anri
504 SLAVEET IN POLEMICS.
wives, parents and children, as truly as they do those
of masters and slaves.
How is that, Mr. Smith ? Did you not say that the laws
make no provision for marriage among slaves, and that
they gave you authority to break up and separate families
at pleasure, and that this was often done ?
Yes ; but it was of the laws about these two relations
among the whites that was meant.
Ah ! you mean, then, that two of these relations were
" ordained" for the white race only, and that the other was
" ordained" for the negro. Is that it, Mr. Smith ?
Well — it is about that — practically.
Then the argument of your divines to show God's sanc-
tion for slavery, drawn from the social relations, is this :
that because he has " ordained." marriage and the parental
relation for the whites, he has therefore "ordained"
slavery for the blacks. Is that it ?
Well, — they are more skilled in these things ; you must
consult them.
Good morning, Mr. Smith.
Such is about the point and pith of the argument for
negro slavery in the South, drawn from the matrimonial
and parental relations, for the sanction of the system as an
"ordinance of God." Two of the relations are made for
the master only ; the other for the slave.
A SOUTHERN" FAMILY ESTABLISHED.
Let US bring the argument for negro slavery based upon
these several relations, as each an " ordinance of God," to
a practical test in another way. Leaving abstractions, let
us take a real case. We shall assume that the civil
relation of ruler and ruled, with regard to the case now
to be considered, exists properly, and we shall notice only
the other three relations.
A SOUTHERN FAMILY ESTABLISHED. 505
Here is a family of four persons. It consists of John
Smith and Mary, his wife, John Smith, Jr., their son, all
white persons ; ami Peter, a negro slave, held as a " chattel"
under the " code" of South Carolina, in the nanie of the
elder Smith. It is claimed that these three relations, in
this concrete case, have equally the sanction of Scripture,
and that each is an " ordinance of God." How does this
appear ? Each of these relations had a beginning, as to
that particular family and these particular persons. How
could they, of right, be formed, so as to make each one,
when formed, an "ordinance of God ?"
There is no difficulty in regard to the first two. When
John Smith wanted a wife, whom had he a right to marry?
Any woman in the wide w^orld, not within the prohibited
degrees of consanguinity or affinity, who was willing to
marry him. The marriage of John and Mary was based
upon mutual consent. The relation of husband and wife
was thus properly formed between them, and the demands
of the law of God were fully met, and thus the first
" ordinance" is established in this family under the divine
sanction. John Smith, Jr., is the offspring of these parents,
begotten and born in lawful wedlock. The second or
parent;d relation is thus formed in this family, according to
the "ordinance of God," and is therefore brought fully
under the divme sanction.
We have now only to provide for Peter, and to see if we
can exalt his relation into an " ordinance." How shall it
be done ? There appear to be some practical difficulties in
the way of bringing him under God's " ordinance," as a
slave to John Smith, though he is John's slave under South
Carolina law.
Whatever is done for Peter's relief, must be done in
accordance with the Scriptures, for it is an " ordinance of
God" that is to be established.
506 SLAVERY IX POLEMICS.
DIVINE ORDHSTANCES PLAIIS".
* All God's ordinances are exi)licit. If they involve the
instituting of a relation, they show how it is to be formed,
and what is essential to it. Is it a union with the Church ?
The Scriptures show in what this consists, the terms of
commvmion, the requisite qualifications, and how member-
ship is to be formed. Is it severance from the Chui'ch ?
They point out the offences which justify it, the officers who
are to judge, and the several successive steps to be taken.
Is it of baptism, or of the Lord's supper ? They are full
upon every point touching persons and things. Is it of
marriage? They declare who may and who may not join
to constitute this relation, and poiist out the sin of violating
the hvw. Is it of divorce ? They define what may and
what may not sever the relation of husband and wife.
And so on through every ordinance ; every thing essen-
tial to the case is made clear. And, be it observed, it is
not merely the duties of these several relations which the
Scriptures make plain. It is the relations themselves upon
which they give light ; the persons who may enter into
them, and all the reitdsites for their formation.
THE SERVILE RELATION AS AN "ORDINANCE."
Now, how are we to form this relation between master
and slave, so that it may be an " ordinance of God," with
the same undoubted certainty as to tlie persons who may
be masters and the persons who may be slaves, and all
other things essential to it, as in the ease of every other con-
ceded " ordinance of God ?" Do the Scriptures give us
any light whatever on these points ? How can we, at the
start, put Peter into the family of John Smith, of South
Carolina, so that the relation which Peter will then sustain
to John as his slave, will be in the same sense an " ordi-
THE SERVILE RELATION AS AN "ORDINANCE." 507
nance of God" that the marriage tie by which John and
Mary are Imsband and wife, is an " ordinance of God ?"
What is there in Scriptiej^e, as regards this " ordinance,"
to shoio that Peter might not just as v:ell have been the
master, and John the slave f We j)ut aside mere abstrac-
tions at present, and we wish the doctrine applied to this
concrete case. If it cannot expUun the rehxtion existing
between John and Peter, and how it was originally formed
as an "ordinance of God," the doctrine cannot apply to
any case. It must first establish the relation between
John, the master, and Peter, the slave, and then vindicate
it as God's ordinance. What is the process for doing this,
pointed out in Scriptm'e ?
We have no difficulty in putting Peter into the femily
of John Smith as his slave, under the statute laiu by wluch
he is held. We can kidnap him from Africa, by Col.
Lamar and the slave ship W .inderer ; or we can ti-ansmit
him by inheritance from the honorable family of Smith, in
the line of John's ancestors ; or we can buy him of Wade
Hampton with John's money ; or we can give John a
" clean bill of sale" from a friend as a gift, with " one
dollar" as a consideration. We can exhaust all the possi-
ble modes by which he could have been made and held a
slave, and brought into this relation to John Smith, any
one of which would stand the test of South Carolina law;
and yet, we fail to find any one of them, or all of them
together, anywhere set forth as the modes by which this
relation may be constituted^ so as, without question, to
make it an "ordinance of God," as the matrimonial and
parental relations are acknowledged to be; while, hoto to
exalt Peter into "an ordinance" in a Scrijitural manner is
the vital question at issue.
Now, can it be possible, that a relation where such
momentous interests are iavolved, can be elevated to the
508 SLAVERY IN POLElvnCS.
dignity of a divine " ordinance," founded on revelation,
and put on a par with the matrimonial and parental lela-
tioiis, — a relation, as in negro slavery in the South, involv-
ing life, liberty, the grossest ignorance, ignoring marriage,
breaking up families, — and yet, the Scriptures be 'utterly
silent on the manner of its formation^ and the persons
who may enter it, on the one side and the other, while
they are so full on these points touching every other re-
lation where an " ordinance of God" is concerned ? Credat
Judoeus Apella.
THE ONLY LOOPHOLE, AND THAT CLOSED.
There is but one possible resort by which any advocate
of this doctrine can attempt to relieve the case of Peter ;
and that we have already met, and it will avail him noth-
ing. The Neio Testament can throw no light upon it.
The only thing left is to go back to the time of Abraham
and Moses, to the Jewish law, which would allow Peter
to be " bought with (John's) money," as " bondmen" were
then bought of the " heathen." But that resort presents
sundry difficulties which we have already noticed.
As we are now confined to a specific case, we say as
before, that until you show as unequivocal commands as
Abraham and Moses had, commands as directly addressed
to the present race of masters as those ancient commands
were addressed to the Jews as a distinct people, you can
gain nothing by that resort ; and if John Smith claims
that he has a right to Peter, under those ancient com-
mands, he must show, that he, John Smith, infalhbly be-
longs to the present class to whom like commands are
addressed, or that a similar command has been addressed
to him in person. All this must be as certain antecedently
as the claim which any Jew could make, and then John
THE ONLY LOOPHOLE, AND THAT CLOSED, 509
Smith can proceed, but not before, to possess himself of
Peter.
If these positions ai-e not tenable, then we say as before,
that any person or any number of persons, without any
authority ichatever from God, may at any time, and in any
country, get up a system of slavery " to order," and imme-
diately place it under the ancient Jewish law, with the
same good reason that the Southern system can be placed
there.
We here drop the discussion upon the Scriptural claim
of Southern slavery to a recognition by both the Old and
New Testament. There are other arguments Avhich are
often advanced for the claim -\vhich it is unnecessary to
notice. If those which we have considered cannot be
maintained, the claim must fall. On w^iich side lies the
truth, we leave the reader to judge.
ilO 6LAVEEY IN POLEMICS. — LAW OF NATURE.
CHAPTER XIV.
SLAVERY IN POLE!iIICS.— LAW OF NATURE.
It is of comparatively little consequence to Cliristian
men, what the " Law of Nature" may teach about slavery.
When we have a written Revelation from God, and are
told that slavery is "sanctioned," "ordained," "establish-
ed," " regulated," and " sanctified," by express " com-
mands," "covenants," "statutes," and "ordinances" of
His word, we are satisfied with simply examining this
Revelation. If the negro slavery of the South can be
justified by the Scriptures, and in all the modes claimed,
that is quite enough; the Law of Nature cannot add any
thing to this testimony. So, on the other hand, after
being so confidently referred to the Scriptures for full
proof for negro slavery, if we find the evidence fail, we
need not be sent to Nature to have the case mended.
That cannot supply our need, while we have Revelation
as " an infallible rule of faith and practice."
But we are not afraid of Natui-e, her Law, or her teach-
ings. In examining the subject, however, so as to derive
any practical benefit, and especially so as to settle the
ouestiou before us, we are met at the outset with
difiiculties.
DISAGREEMENT ON WHAT IS THE LAW OF NATURE.
Men are not agreed upon the meaning of the phrase,
" Law of Nature ;" upon what Nature hei^elf is, as a moral
teaclier; upon the extent, character, and authority of her
teachings ; whether she is an independent and authoritative
THE LAW OF NATUEE. 611
teacher, or to be limited by Revelation ; or how her teach-
ings are to be interpreted, and by whom. These and a
thousand other things come up for settlement before we
can make even a beginning in our investigations. We are
then completely at sea touching this whole matter ; and it
is the merest folly for those who have a perfect guide in
a written Revelation, in all questions of morals, to leave
that to follow an igms-fatuus.
Dr. Seabury, in defending slavery as resting on the
"Law of Nature," defines the phrase as follows: "By the
Law of Nature, according to the best usage among the
ancients, and universally among the moderns, is meant, as
we have said, that rule of fitness which the Dtuty has
established for the government of men, considered as
reasonable creatures, and intended for mutual society."
Upon this definition, three things may be observed. (1.)
Here is an admission that this law is not understood alike ;
for he speaks of the '■'■best usage among the ancients."
They then differed among themselves, as all men know.
(2.) Men also now dilFer as to . which was the " best
usage" among differing opinions in former times. Dr.
Seabury is a case in point. As we shall see hereafter, he
dissents from the opinion of one of the highest authorities
"among the ancients." (3.) Nor is this law understood
alike, " universally among the moderns;" for nothing is
more certain than that men now, as they have always
done, on ten thousand questions, — and this very question
of slavery, in all its bearings, is a striking example of the
f ict, — widely differ as to what " that rule of fitness" is,
of which he s})eaks. Modern apologists for negro slavery,
— and he among them, — deem the system of the South
pre-eminent in its 'fitness" for both master and slave;
the very best condition of things, "intended for mutual
society," as taught by both Nature and Revelation.
512 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS. — LAW OF NATURE.
Others totally dissent from these opinions. It is simply
the determination to push this doctrine and illustrate this
"fitness" by extending negro slavery tar and wide, which
is now deluging this nation in blood. The upshot of the
whole matter, therefore, is, that it is ludicrously absurd, —
not to say criminal, — to pretend that all men now agree
upon the " Law of Nature," as Dr. Seabury here defines it.
The Law of Nature, — so far as there is any such thing,
whether we understand it or not, — is the Law of God. He
speaks through both Nature and Revelation. His utter-
ances from them are harmonious. They are but diflerent
volumes to imfold His will. Where men have not Reve-
lation, Nature is their guide. But what is the guide in
such a case ? We refer only to human opinions as we find
them ; what answer do they give ? Is this guide the
knowledge of God's will which men may gather from His
works of creation and providence ? — or, within a narrower
view, from the condition of human society ? — or, in a still
narrower, from the voice of the individual soul, the reason,
the conscience ? — or, from the general judgment or consent
of mankind ? — or, is it from all these combined ? — or, is it
from something different from them all? Here, again, the
philosophers of the world are disagreed, and he who
attempts to foUow them will find himself befogged and in
despair.
DISAGREEMENT IN APPLYING THE LAW OF NATTTRE.
To show the bearing of all this upon the case in hand,
we need only observe that some writers declare, with an
assurance which awes timidity into submission, that the
Law of Nature justifies slavery ; that it is founded in it
and approved by it ; and that hence all nations have recog-
nized slavery as proper on such grounds. But other
writers as directly declare that the Law of Nature con-
MOT? AT. PHASES IlfVOLVED IN THE APPLICATION. 513
demns slavery ; that wherever slavery has existed, though
it may have prevailed ever so widely, it has always been in
violation of this law, and an infringement upon the inherent
rights of man. And thus the ablest men are in conflict on
that which is vital to the whole question. They disagree
upon matters of fact and of principle; upon what the law
itself is ; whether it approves or condemns ; and differ upon
its application.
When Christian men cannot agree about the meaning
of a written Revelation concerning slavery, it is worse
than idle to make an appeal to the Law of Nature, where
the matters presented for its justification are vastly more
indeterminate and inconclusive,
MORAL PHASES INVOLVED IN THE APPLICATION.
It will often appear, both in the investigation of this
branch of the subject and that concerning slavery being
authorized by the Scriptures, that men's views as to mat-
ters of fact, principle, interpretation, and application,
covering all that bears upon the justification of slavery,
are more or less shaped and modified by the circumstances
of their education, and also to a degree, no doubt imper-
ceptibly to themselves, by their interests. It is an un-
doubted fact, that with the rai-est exceptions, the men who
have justified and defended slavery as a divine institution,
as an " ordinance of God," have been those who were in
some way interested in the system, directly or indirectly ;
sometimes through a pecuniary interest, and sometimes
through their social or other relationships.
It is no impeachment of human nature, except as fallen
and blind, and no unjust invasion of any proper piincijjle
within the province of morals, to say that arguments in
favor of human bondage, — and especially that system of
chattelism which so dehumanizes both the master and the
514 SLAVERY IN" POLEMICS. LAW OF NATURE.
slr.ve as to make a man formed "in the image of God," tbe
marketable, vendible commodity of another man, as t,
lioi'se and an ox, — when universally presented by those
who are interested in the system, should be scrutinized
with some degree of suspicion. If any persons to whom
this may apply do not feel themselves complimented, the
fault is not ours ; it is the feult of the case. Whatevei.-
else may be said of the Law of Nature, this is a true prin-
ciple, as "gathered fro?n the universal observations of mr.n-
kind, — meaning now, under this view of the law, simjtly
thi3 universal state of the human race, as fallen beings, —
that all men are more or less swayed in their judgments,
reasonings, and feelings, by their interests, dind often and to
a degree without being aware of it. This is as trnly settled
in the convictions of mankhid as any other fact or prin-
ciple.
We see no reason why the principle should not be
applied to judgments, reasonings, feelings, in favor of
shivery ; but, on the other hand, every reason why it should
be so applied. If the justice and force of the ai)plication
in any miumer depend upon the degree of interest in tlie sub-
ject, then we have only to look at what men are now doing
in this terrible rebellion, undertaken and prosecuted for
the sake of slavery, to see how closely their opinions, urged
in favor of the system, should be scaimed.
ILLUSTRATIVE CONTRADICTIONS.
Let us, now, in order to come directly to the matter in
hand, first gi\e- an example or two to show the contradic-
tion of writers upon the point whether slavery is justified
or condemned by the Law of Nature.
Dr. Seabury writes a book, published since the rebellion
began, entitled, " American Shivery distinguished from the
Slavery of English Theorists, and Justified by the Law of
SLAVERY A(4AIN3T 1\'ATUKE. 515
Nature." He says, it is " necessary to bring the question
of slavery to the test of the Law of Nature." And further:
"Is not the institution agreeable to the Law of Nature, as
well as the law of the land, and to the Scriptures ? This is
the question which I propose to examine." He then pro-
ceeds :
Where is the nation that has pronounced a state of servitude for life
contrary to natural justice ? What age, before our own, could point to
moralists that proclaim it an offence against nature to hold slaves in the
condition in which Providence has placed them. * * * jf slavery
has, in fact, existed among most nations; if no nation has proclaimed
it a violation of natural justice ; and if the most eminent men of all
times, legislators, sages, and moralists, have confessed a state of servi-
tude for life, no matter what name they have given it, to be consistent
with justice, then we have, to this extent, the consent of mankind in it3
favor ; and from this consent we are entitled to infer, not indeed its
expediency in every country and every state of society, but its agree-
ment with, or non-repugnance to, the Law of Nature.
And he proceeds to defend " American Slavery" on the
ground that it is in " agreement with" this law.
SLAVERY AGAINST NATURE. CODE OF JUSTINIAN.
Over against this broad claim, we put the declarations
of the Justinian Code, which will be admitted to be con-
clusiv^e upon the point in hand. We need scarcely say,
that philosophers, statesmen, moralists, accord to it the
highest authority. From the Institutes of Justinian^ we
take the following :
Concerning the rights of persons, Title 3. — The first division of persons in
regard to their rights is this: that all men are either freemen or slaves.
Freedom (from which men are called free) is the natural power which
one has of doing what he pleases, unless prevented by force, or by law.
Slavery is when one person is subjected to the dominion of another by
authority of the law of nations, contrary to Natural Law. Slaves
23
616 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS. LAW OF NATUEE.
are so denominated, because our commanders were accustomed to sell,
and thus to preserve instead of slaying them.*
So, also, in the Pandects or Digests, Lib. 50, Tit. 17,
Sec. 32, the same doctrine is laid down, that slavery is
contrary to the Law of Nature :
In regard to the Civil Law, slaves are not reckoned as persons ; but
it is not so according to Natural Law, for according to that law, all men
ARE EQUAL, f
It seems that the doctrine upon human lights laid down
in the Declaration of Independence as among "self-evi-
dent" truths, — " that all men are created equal," taken in
the true sense there intended, — was older than the days
of Thomas Jefferson. It appears, too, that slavery is con-
trary to the Law of Nature, — " contra naturam," against
nature, — instead of being in " agreement with" it, as Dr.
Seabury asserts, provided we take as our guide authorities
which are regarded as among the highest in the world.
But the advocates of "American Slavery" cannot be
turned aside by such slight obstacles as the Institutes of
Justinian, even when their appeal is made to a principle
which such an authority, if any, is deemed competent to
settle. ^
THE JUSTINIAN CODE OVERTHROWN.
Dr. Seabury is of course aware that the -lustinian Code
contradicts his position, and he labors to avoid its force.
He concedes that it is " a great authority on a subject of
* '•^ De Jure perHonarum, Tit.B. — Suinma it.ique divisio de jure personarum hsec
est: quod omncs huniines, aut liberi sunt, aut servi. Et libortas quidein (ex qua
etiam liberi vocantur) tst naturalis facultas ejus, quod «iique facere libjt, nisi quid
vi aut jure prohibctur. Servitus autem est constitutio juris gentium, qua quis
dotninio alieno contra nataram subjicitur. Servi autem ex eo appellati sunt, quod
imperatores captivas vendere, ac per hoc servare, nee occidere solent."
t"Quod attinet ad jus civile, servi pro nuUis habentur; non tamen et jure
naturali, quia quod ad jus naturali attinet omnes homines aequales sunt '"
THE JUSTINIAN CODE OVERTHKOWX. 517
this sort ;" speaks of it as " a code which it took ceaturies
to mature," and in reference to the Law of Nature, says
that this code " is one of the ablest developments of its
principles ever made by unassisted reason ;" and admits
that it " declares slavery to be an abnormal state of society,
upheld by force, and in violation of justice." How, then,
does he reconcile the Justinian Code with his own posi-
tion ? Or, rather, how does he seek to invalidate its au-
thority ? — for that is really what he undertakes to do,
after giving it such high praise. The task is most easily
accomplished, and the resort is eminently worthy of a
philosopher. He thinks it "just possible" that we "im-
pute to the code a flagrant inconsistency."
He first brings against this code, hoary with that wis-
dom " which it took centuries to mature," the charge that
its definition of the Law of Nature is " different from that
in which the phrase is commonly taken ;" that is, " differ-
ent" from his own definition. This ought not to disturb
our equanimity. We should freely allow any man to
prefer his own wisdom if he likes, even though it should
clash with that which it took " centuries to mature." We
have seen, however, that his own definition has elements
palpably irreconcilable with notorious facts. But that is a
small matter. It is, so far, mere criticism, and that is
•wiihLn the capacity of any one, even upon the Justinian
Code. The great philosophical feat is yet to come.
He gives the observations of the Code upon the Law of
Nature, as embracing and illustrated by the law of pro-
creation, which appertains to " all animals, whether they
are produced on the earth, in the air, or in the waters ;"
and which says that " the rest of the animal creation" as
well as man, have a "knowledge of this law by which
they are actuated ;" and then the learned commentator
upon Justinian proceeds to say :
518 SLAVEEY IN POLEillCS. — LAW OF NATURE.
Now by the Law of Nature, in this large sense of the phrase, man
is as free as tlie beasts of tlie field; and to saj- that slavery is against
Nature, or the Law of Nature, in this sense, is merely to say that no
precedent or analogy could then be drawn in favor of slavery from the
brute creation. I say, could then be drawn in favor of slavery ; for the
ancients were undoubtedly ignorant of the astonishing facts which
modern naturalists have brought to light in respect to a certain species
of ants ; and which, if then known, would have restrained them from
saying that slavery was contrary to Nature, even in Ulpian's sense of
the word. But they were ignorant of these curious facts, and they
pronounced slavery contrary to Nature, on the supposition that no
precedent or analogy in its favor could be drawn from the brute
creation.
SLAVERY FROM AN ANT-HILL.
What, now, are these " curious facts" about " a certain
species of ants," which are to demonstrate, in spite of the
Justinian Code, that " American Slavery is justified by the
Law of Nature ?" The good Doctor does not leave us in
distress long. Like a skilful physician he comes to our
relief; and here is the unfailing specific :
Among facts, all of which are wonderful, not the least remarkable
and instructive is, the mutual good-wiU and affection which prevail
between the negro ante mid their masters ; and that, too, maugre the fact
that the relation had its origin in hostility and violence.
There it is ! — " American Slavery" resting on an ant-
hill ! Not so bad, either ; for " the logic of events" helps
that of Dr. Seabui-y, in revealing that its foundations, just
now, are a little porous.
Who shall dispute hereafter that this is an age of
progress ? The great Southern statesman, Mr, Stephens,
builds a new empire on a foundation whose " corner-stone"
is slavery ; and he boasts that no nation was ever so built
before. At this bold announcement the world stood
aghast. And now, this great New York Doctor tells us
ANT-SLAVERY. —STRIKING ANALOGIES. 519
what this " comer-stone" rests upon — an Ant-hill. And
tlie True Presbyterian commends to the good people of
Kentucky, in several successive issues of the paper, the
Doctor's book as being very able, and as putting the de-
fence of slavery " on grounds distinct from any yet pre-
sented" in their columns. We see wherein the distinction
lies. We have failed to discover, however, that the paper
has exhibited the Ant-hill doctrine. As this is one of the
most " distinct grounds" on which the Doctor "justifies
slavery," we recommend its insertion.
ANT-SLAVERT. STRIKING ANALOGIES.
This feature of the defence of the negro slavery of the
South is altogether so rich and instructive, that we must
give afurtiier extract from Dr. Seabury upon ^1;? ^-slavery.
He quotes joyously from a work on Natural History, thus,
where the author is speaking of the habits of certain
species of ants :
It is both warlike and powerful, and, unlike the rest of the tribe, its
habits are far from being industrious. Enough has been said to show
that the proceedings of some insects so nearly resemble human actions,
as to excite our greatest wonder : but the habits of the legionary ant
are still more surprising than the proceeding of the chiefs which we
have just described. It is actuaUy found to be a slare-deakr, attacking
the nests of other species, stealing their young, rearing them, and tlius,
by shifting aU the domestic duties of their republic on strangers, escaping
from labor themselves. This curious fact, first discovered by Huber
has been confirmed by LatreUle, and is admitted by aU naturalists
The slave is distinguished from its master by being of a dark ash-color^
so as to be entitled to the name of Negro — an epithet now appropriated
to the Formica fusca, or ash-colored ants. Their masters are light in color
The negro is an industrious, peaceable, stingless msect ; the legionarij, i
courageous, armed, and lazy one.
Here is a pretty striking analogy, it must be admitted
between the " habits" of one of the two classes of ants,
620 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS. LAW OF NATURE.
and certain Southern masters — "far from being indus-
trious ;" " slave-dealers ;" " escaping from labor them-
selves ;" " warlike, courageous, armed, and lazy." Pretty
good.
SLAVE-TRADE JUSTIFIED.
It will be seen, also, that not only is " American slavery^''
here "justified," but all its concomitants are sanctioned in
the same manner. Both the foreign and domestic slave-
trade is carried on by these ants. The master tribe are
represented as " attacking the nests of other species, steal-
ing their young, rearing them," and thus having " servants"
of their own. This is precisely the way slavery began in
our country — " stealing" men, women, and children, from
Africa. We presume, therefore, that Dr. Seabury and his
warm admirer and patron, the True Presbyterian., go in
for reopening the African sla\e-trade, — which, also, the
leading rebels of the South were in favor of, — ^justifying it
upon the " Law of Nature ;" that is, the proceedings about
an Ant-hill. We shall not lack for a definition of that
contruverted phrase hereafter.
But there is more in an Ant-hill than at first appears —
when stirred up a little ; and especially in this one. How
does Dr. Seabury know, that which he so confidently as-
sumes, that the Justinian Code can be so easily overthrown
by a tribe of ants ? How does he know that " the ancients
were undoubtedly ignorant" of ant-wars and ant-slavery ?
Does he presume they never saw an Ant-hill ? They
knew a great deal more than has come down to us
in books. His reasoning, even should we allow it any
value, is wholly built on his own ignorance rather than
upon theirs. He argues from a negative premise. If he
is so confident they did not know these things, let him
show the evidence of it. If he is so sure of their ignorance,
let him relieve his own. This is certainly incumbent on
ITS PTJATTICAL ADVANTAGES. 521
him, -vrhen he is aiguing for the perpetual bondage of
human millions from tlie quarrels of an Ant-hill. But it ia
of very small moment whether " the ancients" were " igno-
rant" in this matter or not. The Justinian Code is likely
to survive this assault.
CANNIBAXISM JUSTIFIED OX SIMILAR GROUND.
This hill is as pregnant of conclusions as of ants. If the
"habits" of the lower species of animals arc to be a guide
to man in liis moral relations, they may justify many other
things besides negro slavery. If the Law of Nature, on
this ground, sanctions slavery, it also sanctions cannibal-
ism. Did the good Doctor never hear of animals devour-
ing each other ? Fishes Hve upon fishes ; insects upon
insects ; and the various tribes of carnivorous animals live
upon each other. May mankind then eat one another?
If it be said that no animal ever devours one of precisely
the same species, we should demand proof, as upon the
proposition that " the ancients" never saw an Ant-hill. As
it is a negative proposition, it would require a larger
amount of evidence than the Doctor may be able to give.
But we waive that. Even though it were true, that the
carnivorous animals eat other species only than their own,
— of the contrary of which we have had ocular demon-
stration,— we could get along with that difficulty very
easily. The Anglo-Saxon need only eat the negro. Some
wise men make them of a different race entirely ; otliers
say that they are at least of a different species of the genus
homo. The case then is clear. Cannibalism is established
upon the Law of Nature.
ITS PRACTICAL ADVANTAGES.
Besides this solid foundation for cannibalism, it has its
practical illustrations and its advantages in certain cases.
522 SLAVEKY IN POLEMICS. — LAW OF NATURE.
The examples become less numerous as Christianity ad-
vances, but that is no matter; tlie Gosj^el of the Law of
Nature is older than the Christian era. We can follow
the New Zealanders and the Feejees, and can instruct
modern missionaries to re-establish their ancient and well-
observed customs.
And then, this might be a serviceable argument among
the rebels. It is said they are scarce of food. If the
Doctor's book is among them, as is most likely, we think
they will see that upon his premises they might serve up
their fat negroes as meat for their armies. If " neces^ity
is the mother of invention," ihey may do it without his
aid. And it may be well, too, as a measure of safety ; for
if they do not eat their negroes, the negroes will be very
apt to devour them ; and, in either case, we do not see but
the Law of Nature would be equally well and profitably
illustrated.
But seriously, — and in fact we have been seiious all
along, — is it not a sorry sight, to behold a grave di\ine of
the metropolitan city of New Yoik, at this time of day,
dealing out such stulf to a sensible people, for the " justifi-
cation of American Slaveiy by the Law of Nature;" help-
ing thus, by the silliest of all imaginings, to i)rop up a
tottering system of human bondage that has plunged his
country into a bloody war which is slaying by myriads
both bondmen and freemen ! And is the sight any less
humiliating, to see a Presbyterian newspaper, claiming to
be " religious," attempting, week after week, to enlighten
the benighted people of Kentucky, in the year of grace
1864, by commending such a work to them in the highest
terms of appioval ? If any thing can exceed the infatuation
of rebel politicians and their coadjutors in the South, in
attempting to overthrow their Government by armed
rebelli(m, it is the infatuation of rebel sympathizers, ex-
DE. THORNWELL's ARGUMENT FROM NATURE. 523
hibited in such feals of literary nccomplisliment as the one
here noticed, and many more like it.*
DR. THORNWELL's ARGUMENT FROM NATURE.
A similar view may be taken of the argument of Dr.
Thoi-nwell, about slaveiy being justified by nature, as foucd
in the " Confederate General Assembly's" Address to the
Christian woi-ld, and in the Southern Presbyterian Heview,
extracts from both of which we have given.
In the former, he says : " Whatever is universal, is
natural. We are willing that slavery should be tried by
this standard." Let us then apply the test. Sin is " imi-
versal" among men. Is it, therefore, "natural;" that is,
right, justifiable ?
But here is more logic of the sa-me sort. Dr: Thorn-
well proceeds : " We are willing to abide by the testimony
of the race, and if man, as man, has everywhere con-
demned it ; if all human laws have prohibited it as crime ;
if it stands in the same category with malice, nmrder,
and theft, then we are willing, in the name of humanity,
to renounce it, and to renounce it forever."
Here is a carefully framed sophism which spoils the
whole argument. It takes a good logician to be a good
sophist, and Dr. Thornwell was the former when he chose
* General Cobb declares, that "even learned judges in slaveholding States, adopt-
ing tbe languasre of Lord Mansfield, in Somerset's case, have announced, in judicial
decisions, that 'slavery is contrary to the law of nature.'' " lie refers to such deci-
sions as found in the reports of Southern courts. He remarks upon the point, as
follows: "The course of reasoning, by which this conclusion is attained, is very
much this: That in a state of nature all men are free. That one man is at birth
entitled by nature to no higher rights and privileges than another, nor does nature
specify any particular time or circumstances under which the one shall begin to
rule and the other to obey. Hence, by the law of nature, no man is the slave of
another, and hence all slavery is contrary to the law of nature. While " learned
judges in ularehol-ding ^ia,t<^&" tttm judicially announced, years ago, this doctrine,
"leiirned" divines in no»-slaveholding States, in a time of rebellion and war in be-
half of slavery, are trying to prop it up by every possible means; by nature, revela-
tion, and all other "aid and comfort' they can give to rebels in arms!
23*
524 SLAVERY IX POLEMICS. LAW OF NATURE.
to be. His reasoning here is based upon an assunipt'on,
and one which is notoriously contrary to fact. Have m_n
universally reprobated the crimes which he specifies?
Have " all human laws prohibited" each one in the cata-
logue ? Did the laws of Sparta, for example, prohibit
and punish " theft," or rather its detection ? "Were not
many things sanctioned there by law, even under the
teaching of their great lawgiver, Lycurgus, which are
now reprobated ? — when, " to teach the youth of Lacedae-
nion cunning, vigilance, and activity, they were encouraged
to practise theft in certain cases ; but if detected, they
were flogged, or obhged to go without food, or compelled
to dance round an altar, singing songs in ridicule of them-
selves."
Have '"all human laws prohibited" all other crimes
which are now upon the statute-books of enlightened
States ? Nobody will pretend this. What then does the
argument amount to, based upon universal condemnation
of specified crimes, when no such condemnation exists ?
Suppose then slavery has not been universally condemned
among nations; neither has "theft;" nor has "murder,"
in all the degrees and phases of that crime in which it is
now condemned by Christian States. This argument, then,
amounts to just nothing at all. It Is a skilfully framed
sophism, and nothing more ; and Dr. Thornwell was al-
ways skilful.*
* If there is any thing of special value in the legislation of ancient Pagan nations
as an example for a Christian people, take the following, as one among a thousand
cases, from one of the greatest lawgivers of antiquity. It was one of the "peculiar
Institutions"' of Sparta: "A singular custom was the flogging of boys (diamat-
tigonin), on the annual festival of Diana Orthia, for the purpose of inurins them to
bear pain with firmness. The priestiss stood by with a small, light, wooden image
of Diana, and if she observed that any boy was spared, she called out that the image
of the goddess was so heavy that she could not support it, and the blows were then
redoubled. The men who were present exhorted their sons to fortitude; while the
boys endeavored to surpass each other in lirmness. Whoever uttered the least cry
during the scourging, which was so severe as sometimes to prove fatal, was consid-
PAGAN AN EXAMILE FOR-CHRISTIAN STATES. 525
PAGAN AN EXAMPLK FUR CHRISTIAN STATES.
But wiaving all this, and admitting the assumption to
be true, — of, even admitting the implied affirmative as-
sumption, that slavery has been universally approved
.anong nations; admitting, as the True Presbyterian says,
that "the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Gauls,
the Saxonr^, the Normans, all held slaves," — ^ not this a
most humiliating exhibition for Christian men to make ? —
to appeal to the Pagan States of antiquity for an example
to guide Christian States and Christian men, at this time
of day, in their highest moral duties towards their fellow-
men ?
Has the Gospel produced so little effect in our day, and
in our coimtry, that its teachers must go back two thou-
sand years to Paganism for a guide in ethics where the
most important inteiests of humanity are involved ? — that
they must seek shelter from the scorn of men, for slavery^
in those Pagan States which have long since been purged
of slavery^ and this too by the influence of that very
Christianity which they preach and profess to exemplify
as a light and a guide for all mankind ? Oh, shame, where
is thy blush !
There is another aspect of the case presented by Dr.
Thornwell which deserves notice. Leaving the negative,
he turns to the positive view of the subject, and immedi-
ately following what we have given above, triumphantly
adds: "But what if the overwhelming majority of man-
kind have apjyroved it ; what if philosophers and states-
men have justified it, and the laws of all nations acknowl-
edged it," etc. ? We have already met this in part, but it
claims a word or two more.
ered as disgraced, while he who bore it without shrinking was crowned, and received
the praises of the whole citr."'
526 SLAVERY IN^ POLEMICS. LAW OF NATUKE.
SLAVERY SUBMITTED TO A POPULAR VOTE.
How easily he here sHdes from what just before was
assumed to be the " universal," to what he is now content
with calling a " majority !" Suppose we admit that " the
overwhelming majority of mnnkiud have approved" of
slavery, does that settle any thing about the rigJit of the
case? Are mankind always right in their judgments?
" What if philosophers and statesmen have justified it ;"
what then ? Are they infallible ? Is not the whole race
in sin, — as this distinguished theologian held, — with judg-
ment, heart, conscience, biased to evil? And do we not
all recognize the fact that men may and do change their
opinions; that the world may improve in its moral judg-
ments, and that it is doing so daily upon a thousand ques-
tions hoary with age ?
But is this representation true in point of fact ? Can
any one for a moment suppose that " the overwhelming
majority of mankind approved" of slavery, at the time the
Justinian Code was promulgated? — a code containing the
" matured wisdom of centuries ?" — a cod% which pro-
nounced slavery to be " against nature" — contra uaturani ?
This claimed approval of a former day is untrue in point
of fact; and if it were true, it would establish nothing to
the purpose upon the question oi ynoral right.
But if this question is to be settled by the voice of a
popular " majority," — rather a singular tribunal for Dr.
Thornwell to erect to decide a moral question, and still
more singular for the " Confedei-ate General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church" to propose for the determina-
tion of any question, while they have joined their fellow-
citizens in rebellion against the constitutionally expressed
will of the whole American people, — but if this is the
ti'ibunal, the voice of the "majority," suppose we take a
AMEKICAN SLAVERY FOUNDED ON HUMAN LAW. 527
vote to-day ; what would be the decision upon slavery?
Suppose we submit it, at the present moment, to a vote of
the whole civilized world ? Would the advocates of negro
slavery be willing to abide the result ? For our part, we
certanily would. If, then, it is to be determined by a
popular " majority,'' we propose it to all civilized and
Christian States and Christian people, Anno Domini
1864.
THE INEVITABLE CONCLUSION.
We can not pursue the subject further, of the relation
of slavery to the Law of Nature. One of the very highest
authorities on this point, the Code of Justinian, settles the
question satisfactorily. We do not think such philoso-
phers as Dr. Seabury, nor even such logicians as Dr.
Thornwell, writing an Address for the " General Assem-
bly of the Confederate States," will overthrow the position
of that code, that slavery is "contra naturara," without
more successful eiforts than they have yet made. The
Law of Nature does not sustain the system ; but its great-
est expounder positively condemns it.
Nor are the arguments any more conclusive which
attempt to sanction the negro slavery of the South by an
appeal to the word of God. That system is wholly desti-
tute of the positive " commands" and " ordinances" by
Avhich the Old Testament system of Jewish servitude was
regulated ; and when the attempt is made to justify it by
the "matrimonial and parental relations" in connection
with which it is mentioned in the New Testament, the
effort is in\olved in inextricable absurdities.
AMERICAN SLAVERY FOUNDED ON HUMAN LAW.
But passing both these, we maintain that the only foun-
dation on which American negro slavery rests, with any
528 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS. LAW OF NATURE.
sliow of legal right in the institution which is even plau-
sible, is that of htiman law. Dr. Thornwell elaboi-ately
ai-gues against this, in quotations before given. He says :
" It has been contended that the right of property in slaves
is the creature of positive statute, and, consequently, of
force only within the jurisdiction of the law." Against
this position he arrays himself His proofs, however, are
mere dicta, and his reasonings fallacious. That we may
be seen to do his argument justice, we refer the reader to
a previous page where it is given at length. We can here
only notice it briefly. He says in opposition to the doc-
trine which he recites above, the italics being his own :
Slavery has never, in any country, so far as wc know, arisen under
the operation of statute law. * * * Law defir^es, modifies, and
regulates it, as it does every other species of property, but laiv never
created it. * * * The point is, whether the law made slavery —
whether it is tlie police regulation of limited localities, or whether it is
a property founded in natural causes, and causes of universal operation.
CONFLICTING AUTHORITIES. ^LAW VERSUS DIVINITY,
Dr. Baird, in his "Southern Rights and Northern
Duties," takes both sides of this question. This will allow
him to defend whichever side may be, attacked. Speak-
ing of one of the planks in the Chicago platform of 1860,
he avers that slavery is the creature of positive law, as
follows :
Nay, further, this declaration pronounces unconstitutional (he laws by
which slavery acquired existence in eight of the Southern States — all
those which have passed through a territorial condition. — p. 9.
He then takes the other side, denying that slavery is the
creature of positive law, as follows :
So far is it from being true, as commonly assumed, that slavery was
nriaiiiated and now exists in the States by virtue of special local statute,
CONFLICTIXG ACTTHOEITIES. 529
such statute is probably nowhere to be found in the laws of any people
except Israel. Certainly there never was a law passed in any State of
the Union, whether prior to or since the Revolution, estabUshing
slavery.* — p. IS.
When Doctors of Divinity disagree upon ]a\r, as Drs.
Thornwell and Baird here do, and the latter with himself,
it is well to see what certain Doctors of Law say upon the
point. We will detain the reader with but two examples
out of many.
Daniel Webster is conceded to have been among the
ablest, if not decidedly the ablest, constitutional lawyer of
the country, well called the " Defender of the Constitution."
He dissents from both the points made by both these
Divinity Doctors, regarding the constitutional right to
slavery in the Territories, and the existence of slavery by
positive law. In his speech in the United States Senate,
in 1848, on the " exclusion of slavery from the Territories,"
alluding to the Southern States, he says :
They have a system of local legislation on which slavery rests; while
everybody agrees that it is against natural law, or at least against the
commou understanding which prevails among men as to what is natural
law. * * * I do not intend to deny the validity of that local law,
where it is established ; but I say it is, after all, local law.
Chief-Justice Shaw, of Massachusetts, gives his opinion
in a judicial decision, as follows :
Slavery being odious, and against natural right, cannot exist except
by the force of positive law. * * * Each State may, for its ovra
convenience, declare that slaves shall be deemed property, and the laws
of personal chattels shall be deemed to apply to them ; as, for instance,
that they may be bought and sold, delivered, attached, and levied upon ;
that trespass will lie for an injury done to them, or trover for converting
* Dr. Baird is "certainly" mistaken. In the State of Georgia, at least, slavery
originated in the very way he denies, — through "a law passed" "eMablixhing
fclavery." Gen. Cobb says: " With the exception of Georgia, where it was at first
prohibited, no law is found on our statute books authorizing its introduction." —
Zmw of Negro Slavery.
530 SLAVERY IX POLEMICS. LAW OF NATTIEE.
them. * * * If a note of hand made in New Orleans were sued on
here, and the defence should be made that it was a bad consideration,
or without consideration, because given for the price of a slave sold, it
may well be admitted that such a defence could not prevail ; because
the contract was a legal one by the law of the place where it ivas inade.
Thus Law versus Divinity, stands under the authority
of great names on both sides.
ORIGIN OP NEGRO SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
Whatever may have been true of other systems, — as, in
ancient times, originating in some countries prior to legal
recognition, — that of negro slavery in this country, both
as a system and as involving property in slaves, did arise
and has continued " under the operation of statute law."
The origin of slavery in some other countries is so remote
that it can be traced only to the mists of the fabulous
ages, and then it is very convenient to a'isert that it rests
on the Law of Nature, " Is a property founded in natural
causes," or general custom, or rests on some other vague
foundation; but its origin in this country is too recent and
too well known to admit of doubt ; and it will be borne
in mind that Dr. Thornwell's abstract reasonings are made
to bear upon and justify, and are by him directly applied
to, the system of the South. The legal status of that
system is coincident with its origin in this country.
ITS HISTORY TRACED. AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE.
Let US look at the historical facts of the case. Negro
slavery began in this country in 1620. Negroes were
brought from Africa into Virginia, and there sold as
slaves. That was the first positive connection of the
system with what is now the United States. Negroes
were afterwards brought, at difierent times, during many
years, and disposed of in the same way. E^'^ery portion
ITS HISTORY TRACED. AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE. 531
of the country that finally possessed tliein, obtained them
in this manner, or by purchasing in this country those
originally brought from Africa, or their descendants.
These were the germs of the system^ and of all rights
embraced in it, so far as it had a foothold in the United
States ; and every slave that has since been held here has
been held by a tenure which had such an origin.
Now, out of what did the system, thus begun, arise,
and on what does it still legally rest? The system arose,
in this country, "under the operation of" the African
slave-trade; and that trade, in every country whirh car-
ried it on and encouraged it, beginning centuries before
the introduction of slaves into Virginia, was legalized by
" statute law."
It arose from the highest civil authority known, being
legalized by Ferdinand of Spain, in 1501 ; by Charles V.,
in 1516 ; Queen Elizabeth sanctioned it 1567 ; James I. in
1618. The Dutch vessel which brought the first cargo
of twenty negroes into James River, in 1620, was engaged
in the trade under charter.
The system which thus hegan "under the operation of
etiitute law," continued to increase in the same manner.
Charles I. granted a charter to a company to carry on the
slave-trade in 1631 ; and Charles II. in 1662, at the head
of which was the Duke of York, the King's brother. The
Royal African Company was chartered in 1672, embracing
among its members the King, the Duke of York, and other
noblemen. In 1688, Parliament abolished all exclusive
charters; and in 1698 the slave-trade was tlirown open to
all persons, and negroes were exported duty free.
While the laws of England secui'ed a mono''«oly to
British subjects in bringing slaves to British Colonies,
FrenchandPortugueseCompanies, under authority -I'-uilcd
by Spain, brought them to the Spanish Colonics. Fii'lip V
532 SLAVEEY IN POT.EMICS. LAW OF NATTJEE.
of Spain, and Queen Anne of England, formed a treaty to
promote the trade in 1713. In tlie reign of George II.,
1750, it was declared by Parliament that "the slave-trade
is very advantageous to Great Britain ;" and as late as
1788, Parliament passed acts regulating the trade. The
French Government encouraged the trade in 1784, by
paying a bounty to vessels engaged therein.
Besides all these foreign charters, the Colonies of Great
Britain in this country passed acts regulating the trade,
and directly engaged in it under the legal authority of the
mother country.
FOUNDED IN HUMAN LAVS^, OR WITHOUT LEGALITY.
And thus it is as certain as any historical facts can
make any thing certain, that the system of negro slavery
in the United States did arise " under the operation of
statute law," and did continue to expand and j)ro(jress
under the highest and most " positive statutes" of all the
civilized nations of the world. And it is further true,
that no negro was ever held in this country, as a slave,
" as property " whose status as a slave, and as '•'•property^''
did not arise, either in his oiv?i person or through his
ancestors, in just that manner. Antl it is further true,
that all the statutes which have ever been passed in
this country concerning slavery, in any of the States,
have tacitly assumed as legal and authoritative all the
charters under which Africans were brought to this
country ; and all the legal basis for the system, as it has
ever smce existed in this country, and all the legal basis
of property right in the slave under the system, rests
ultimately, so far as law in this country is concerned, on
the presumed legality of that authority under which the
African slave-trade was carried on ; or, it originated in
the local and positive laws of the respective States.
POSITIVE LAW. INEVITABLK CRIME.
POSITIVE LAW. INEVITABLE CRIME.
If any persons choose to go beyond the slave-trade, and
push the subject on into darkness, to endeavor to find a
foundation in "natural causes," or something else, for the
system in this country, the case will not be benefited.
We say nothing now of the moral right of the slave-trade,
which has since been pronounced " piracy" by the laws
of enlightened nations, and which of course, if so now, was
always so, in a moral point of view, — but if it was once
legal, as in a teclmical sense it was, then it covered the
whole process of what was necessarily embraced in the
trade: the obtaining of the negroes in Africa, whether by
purchase, or by kidnapping them ; the bringing of them
to this country ; and the sale of them to the subjects of
Great Britain in the Colonies.
Now, if those who wish to escape the position, that the
system arose "under the operation of positive statute,"
choose to go into Africa, on what basis will they there
place it? "It is a property founded in natural causes,
and causes of universal operation," says Dr. ThornweU.
What are those causes, in this case ? Captures in war
were the most common. We have, then, visions of the
most revolting wars among barbarous tribes ; wars ex-
pressly undertaken to provide victims to sell to the slave-
trader ; villages sacked and burned, and large districts of
country laid waste; the basest treachei-y, fraud, and
brutality practiserl, and every spectacle at which humanity
shudders. All this, so well known to the world, is then
the alternative furnished, by the facts of the case, which
must inevitably be accepted as the only basis upon which
negro slavery in this country can rest, either as a system,
or as embodying a property right in the slave, the moment
the theory is abandoned that both had their origin in
534 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS. LAW OF NATURE.
"positive law." If the advocates of the system prefer the
alternative, they are quite welcome to the superior satisfac-
tion it must afford the in.
POSITIVE LAW THEORY SUSTAINED BY THE HIGHEST SOU-
THERN AUTHORITY.
General Thomas R. R. Cobb, of Georgia, whom we have
before seA^n-al times quoted, fully sustains the legal basis
which we have laid doA'n both for the system and the pro-
perty right, referring it to the " purchase" made in Africa,
which, as we have said, was covered by the legalized
traffic which always originated either in such "purchase,"
or in kidnapping ; and General Cobb distinctly repudiates
the latter process as furnishing any "legal claim" whatever,
leaving those who reject the theory of " positive law"
nothing to stand on. He says :
"We have seen in a preliminary sketch the history of the introduction
of negro slavery into the United States. The origin of the system is
found, tlierefore, in purchase, of persons already in a state of slavery in
their own land. The laiv does not go back of that fact, to inquire into
the foundation of that slavery there, but, recognizing the rights of the
master there to sell, sustains the title of the purchaser from him. It
was alleged, and, doubtless, was true, that the/ slave-traders sometimes
stimulated or were engaged in kidnapping free negroes on the coast of
Africa, who were afterwards sold as slaves. Such a foundation could
not sustain a legal claim to the hondage of the victim.
This work of General Cobb, — " Law of jSTegro Slavery,"
— is of the highest legal authority in the South, He cites,
in connection Avith the foregoing extract, several judicial
decisions of Southern courts sustaining the positions taken.
As " kidnapping" in Africa was held to invalidate the
"legal claim," one of these decisions lays down the prin-
ciple by which the courts are governed, that " the pre-
sumption is in favor of the slavery there."
THE IMPREGNABLE CONCLUSION. 535
THE IMPREGNABLE CONCLUSION.
The status of negro slavery in the Uuited States, rests,
therefore, by the highest legal autliorities of the South.,
upon a different basis from that to which Dr. Thornwell
and others assign it. It is unquestionably true, in point
of fact, that vast multitudes who have been lield in slavery
in the United States, evei- since the origin of the system,
have been held upon a "foundation" which, if traced back,
" could not su.'^tain a legal claim to the bondage of the
victim." Their slavery was founded in "kidnapping." It
was, therefore, by these high Southern authorities, from
first to last, illegal. The " presumption" by which the
courts are governed, and which in such case would, of
course, be in favor of the "legal claim," was no doubt a
principle absolutely necessary to save the claim in multi-
tudes of cases ; and as the interest of every master would
be in favor of the "presumption," the claim would always
be safe.
General Cobb well says : " The law does not go back of
that fact;" that is, of the "purchase of persons already in
a state of slavery in their own land." It is perhaps well,
morally considered, that it does not, for, as before stated,
there is nothing " back of that fact" but force, fraud, trea-
chery^, crime of every sort, in the perpetration of which the
victims have been brought into slavery and their bondage
perpetuated ; and the same crimes have entered into the
trafiic by which some other systems have been established.
And y^ et, Ugaliij considered, there was no necessary reason
for stopping even there. If any persons, therefore, choose
to " go back of that fact" where Southern courts are con-
tent to stop, and should " inquire into the foundation of
tliat slavery" in Africa, they would still be obliged to
'• fetch up" on a basis of "positive law."
536 SLAVERY IN POLEMICS.— LAW OF NATURE.
The African systems prevailing have tlie public consent
of the chiefs and of the tribes ; the usages by which slavery
is regulated among them are settled ; the modes of redu-
cing one another to slavery, as for example by captures in
war, are recognized ; " the right of the master there to
sell" is an acknowledged right ; and these, and all other
essential regulations of those systems, dating back as far
as any certain knowledge of those people extends, are,
among those tribes, of the nature of " positive law." The
Southern courts do not decline to "inquire into the foun-
dation of that slavery" because there was any difficulty in
finding a legal basis for it, but because they must have
some place to begin, and they might as well begin with
the " purchase" founded on " recognizing the rights of the
master there to sell" as anywhere else ; and yet, that
" right to sell" must, of course, rest on the right of posses-
sion, which, if inquired into, would inevitably involve the
legal status of "the foundation of that slavery." If that,
"foundation had not thus been tacitly assumed to be
legal, " the rights of the master there to sell" could not
have been legal, nor "the title of the purchaser from him ;"
and, in that case, as in "kidnapping," no "legal claim to
the bondage of the victim" could be 'sustained. But the
African slavery was assumed to he legale as the right to
" sell" and to " purchase" under it was deemed legal. The
basis, therefore, of even the African systems, is, so far as
we can trace it, a basis of " positive law."
The same princiiile of recognizing those only as legally
held in bondage in this country, who were legally held in
slavery in Africa, which General Cobb declares to be the
rule in Southern courts, was early acted upon in Massa-
chusetts. General Cobb says : " The Puritans insisted that
the traffic should be confined to those who were capti\ es
in war and slaves in Africa. Hence, when, in 16-14 or
THE COXSOLING ALTERNATIVE. 637
1645, a Boston ship returned with two negroes captured
by tlie crew, in a pretended quarrel witli the natives, the
General Court ordered them to be restored to their native
land." This shows that all parties, at that early day,
deemed negro slavery in this country as having no other
proper origin than a legal one.
THE CONSOLING ALTERNATIVE.
If any persons choose to go still further, and search for
" natural causes and causes of universal operation," under
W'hich they hnagitie those African systems may have come
into being prior to their having any legal status, — of which
they Jcnmc absolutely nothing Avith certainty, — they will,
in all probability, find, as before stated, only fraud and
force, and all the cruelties and crimes which the facts
which are positively known suggest.
If this affords any better foundation for satisfaction to
the Christian conscience, we do not know that it would
be wise to disturb it. It may be convenient to attempt to
push the system, to avoid a legal origin, on into African
darkness, but we do not thmk it is sensible.
Biit, be all this as it may be, there is nothing clearer
under the light of the heavens, than the contrary of Dr.
Thornwell's assertions. "Slavery," in this country, did
arise, and is continued, " under the operation of positive
law.'''' Such is the testimony of history, of Southern law,
and of Southern judicial decisions : connecting its legal
status here with its legal status in Africa.^
As we stated in the beginning of the discussion upon the
" Polemics" of Slavery, our space by no means allows us
to present an exhaustive consideration of the subject. Nor
is this necessary. We have noticed a few points which
are radical, and which are always relied upon as the main
538 SLAVEKT IN POLEMICS. — LA\Y OF NATURE.
positions from wliich the system is defended. If these are
untenable, all the rest is mere skirmishing.
We freely confess that we take very little interest, at
present, in any discussion with the pen upon the right or
wrong of slavery ; and perhaps the reader will take fir less.
We shall not blame him if he does. A discussion concern-
ing it is going on in the country, of infinitely deeper
moment to every American citizen. As its friends have
appealed to the sword in its defence, let its merits be
decided with that weapon ; and may God sustain the right !
THE EXTERNAL SITUATION. 539
CHAPTER XV.
REVIEW AND CONCLUSION.
We bring this work to a close in the present chapter.
Several subjects on which we had proposed to dwell, and
some chapters fully written, are entirely omitted, to avoid
swelling the volume to a larger size.
The general subject which has enlisted our pen is one
that must deeply interest every American citizen, as
indeed it has awakened the interest and stimulated the
inquiries of the whole civilized world.
THE EXTERNAL SITUATION.
It is safe to say that no contest of arms in modern or
ancient times has embraced elements of wider range, in
their bearing upon the general welfare of mankind, than
the great American struggle now progressing. At the
outset, it so seriously disturbed the industrial concerns of
the two largest nations of Western Europe, to name no
more, threatening thousands of operatives with starvation
and endangering the public tranquillity, that it was feared
they would, in self-defence, become parties to the quarrel,
and thus enlarge the theatre of war. And during every
stage of the strife thus far, an uneasy feeling about
" foreign intervention" has more or less constantly haunted
the minds of the people.
This was counted on by the leaders of the rebellion as
an absolute necessity, involving, as they supposed, the
daily bread of millions, and the regular flow of business
in all the channels of trade. Without this hope, it is
24
540 REVIEW AND CONCLUSION".
highly improbable that they would have ventured on a
bloody revolution. But they believed they were masters
of the situation ; that they had but to speak, and the
world would obey. Hence, they defiantly proclaimed :
"It is a remarkable fact, that during these thirty years
of unceasing warfiire against slavery, and while a lying
spirit has inflamed the world against us, that world has
grown more and more dependent upon it for sustenance
and wealth." "Strike now a blow at this system of
labor, and the world itself totters at the stroke." It is
not wonderful, under this hallucination, that in their
schemes of treason they should have attempted to justify
themselves on the ground that they were discharging a
" duty" in this regard which they owed " to the civilized
world."
That the industry of the nations has suffered, and that
their internal quiet and peace with us have been impeiilled,
is unquestionaljle ; but that the world's industry, its trade,
its tranquillity, were absolutely tied to the stake which
they held, the event has disproved. It is nevertheless true
that this belief, begetting the confidence that foreign
intervention were a nece!=sity, nerved them to strike the
first blow ; and it is also just as true^that the foreign aid
which they have actually received, by land and sea, during
every hour of the war, has enabled them to strike every
subsequent blow with more effect, and that without such
aid the rebellion would long since undoubtedly have be^**
crushed.
RESPONSIBILITY OF FOREIGN POWERS.
This feature of the case shows the magnitude and
bearings of the contest, not only by revealing what has
been put at hazard, touching the actual necessities of
toiling millions, but it draws into a deeper channel the
RESPONSIBILITY OF FOREIGN POWERS. 541
great question of international comity. That the United
States, in contest with a rebellion against its lawful au-
tliority, provoked by no governmental aggression, as the
greatest statesman of the South declared, — a rebellion
begun and prosecuted solely for independence in the
interests of negro slavery, — should have encountered,
under the name of " neutrality," the early, consistent,
determined opposition of the gieat powers of Western
Europe, in aiding the rebellion in ships, munitions of
war, and in every other way which was possible or safe,
presents a view which gives no satisfaction to those who
prefer peace to war, and international friendship to
enmity.
But the facts cannot be set aside by any sentimental
philosophizing. They are wiitten in deeds of blood.
They mark every battle-field where lie bleaching the
bones of the slain. They are imprinted on every rebel
breastwork mounted with English cannon. They are
seen in every rebel platoon armed with English rifles.
They are found on the deck of every piratical cruiser,
built in English ports, carrying English guns, supplied
Avith English powder, and manned by English seamen.
The tale which these outfits of a "neutral" power tell, is
read in the death-cries of our fathers, husbands, sons,
and brothers, and is heard in the midnight wail of the
homeless widow and the orphan. It is read in the perils
which still hang over our national destiny, and in the
alternate hope and fear which thrill the hearts of millions,
lest, after all the sacrifices made for our national honor
and safety, for human freedom at home and for down-
trodden man abroad, our national disintegration should
fall a prey to foreign jealousy of our rivalship and great-
ness, through a perfidy as venal as the hypocrisy of the
powers which exhibit it is transparent.
642 REVIEW AND CONCLUSION.
THE COMING RECKONING.
It is not in human nature to pass over these things
without a settlement. It may come soon, or it may be
deferred. That the day of reckoning will come, we have
no more doubt than that there is a God in the heavens.
The deeds which demand it are imprinted on the memory
of this generation indelibly. The impression will be
transmitted to the generations to come. In God's own
time and manner, whether soon or hereafter, the debt
will be paid with compound inteiest. We but speak, as
we verily believe, the common mind and common heart of
this nation.
For the depredations upon American commerce com-
mitted by English piratical cruisers, we doubt not a
demand will be made by our Government. That a record
of every case is scrupulously made, we do know. Whether
the demand for compensation will be complied with, we
do not know. Whether refusal will be made a casus
belli, is of no material concern. Full compensation for
actual losses at sea would be but as a grain of sand in the
scale of accumulated obligations. There are debts in-
curred which can never be paid in p6unds, shillings, and
pence. There are duties to be discharged which can be
met only by an exhibition of the national power of the
United States towards those who have forever blackened
their honor in endeavoring to work our ruin ; who have,
with a meanness and a littleness which no words can ade-
quately express, seized upon the hour of our domestic
calamity to cripple the rivalry of our power by division,
to humble our lionor in the dust, that they might lord it
over us, as they have always lorded it over the smaller
States of Europe. In no other way can this balance be
adjusted.
ESSENTIAL DISCRIMINATIONS. 543
EETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE.
But this is "vengeance," cry the timid and the meek.
It IS Justice, we reply; and a justice which will meet
the approval of Heaven. It will conserve the ultimate
interests of humanity, and preserve the peace of the
world. A nation, to make itself respected, must exact
that which is just, and inflexibly hold to the right and
the true. If it permit wrong after wrong to be heaped
up mountain high, with no efibrt at redress, it sinks inio
contempt, becomes the prey of every power, and can
never count securely on peace; while, on the other han<l,
such a course hazards the peace of the world.
The principle of justice is the highest recognized by
writers on international law as proper between nations.
This they mnst exemplify in practice. It is on this ground
alone that we insist that the United States owes a debt to
herself and to humanity, respecting the great powers of
Western Europe, which she must eventually discharge.
That it is a debt of the clearest Justice, we shall not waste
words to argue with any one who chooses to dispute it.
That it will be cancelled, we have no manner of doubt.
ESSENTIAL DISCRIMINATIONS.
That we have warm friends in both England and France
we all know. We honor Victor Hugo, and others of the
French Academy. Looking to England, we praise God
for her John Bright and her Richard Cobden in her Parlia-
ment ; for her Professor Newman and Goldwin Smith,
among scholars ; for her Star and her JVeics of the London
press ; and for hosts of others. But her Government, her
aristocracy, and hordes of her merchant princes, have
been our sworn enemies, to the full extent that their selfish
interests and their sordid fears would permit. With the
644 REVIEW AND CONCLUSION.
government and the aristocracy, the interest is concen-
trated in their power; with the trading classes, in the
pocket.
As for their opposition to slavery, so demonstrative in
days that are past, it was strong, and their weapons
were always burnished and ready, so long as slave pro-
ducts were filling their coffers with gold. But when a
rebellion arose to make slavery more secure than ever, to
expand its area and perpetuate its power, with honorable
exceptions they wheeled promptly about in support of the
war waged in its interest, and against the Government
seeking its overthrow, because their profits from the insti-
tution were diminished.
POCKET PHILANTHROPY.
We shall never be at a loss hereafter for an exact stand-
ard by which to measure British philanthropy, in a cause
where the interests of down-trodden millions are con-
cerned. Its criterion is the pocket. They are for their
freedom and elevation, so long as their actual bondage
helps the pocket. They are for their slavery and degra-
dation, if their fieedom or their efforts to obtain it endan-
ger the fulness of the pocket.
We would not revile our British brethren ; we have
friends among them, and relatives. But the great Napo-
leon once said, that they were but a nation of shop-
keepers.
While we thus speak, we shall ever honor those, in Par-
liament and out of it, who have raised their voices for
fieedom and humanity, and for our right to manage our
internal affairs in quelling a foul rebellion without their in-
terference ; resisting on the one hand class interests and
governmental power at work to reach their sinister ends,
and on the other that narrow spirit which measures every
FOREIGN ENMITY PERSISTENT. 545
thing by the vakie of a farthing. For them we have an
abiding afleciiou.
OUR CAUSE MISREPRESENTED.
The class for whoiu we have the deepest contempt,
among foreign nations, embraces those who are looked up
to as guides of public opinion. The impression they have
most studiously souglit to make is, that ours is a ine.e
contest for power, for territorial aggrandizement. This
they reiterate in Parliament, upon the hustings, through
the press. They say it so often, so boldly, and in such
places, that it is not wonderful that many among the
people who take their cue from them believe it.
But this is not only the basest of falsehoods, but, the
worst of all is, they knoic it to be so ; and this is true when
applied to Lords Palmerston and John Russell in Parliament,
and to the columns of the London Times. We presume
that neither of these higli dignitaries, nor the great Thun-
derer, will care for our individual opinion ; nor we for theirs.
The only importance the case lias in our eyes, is, that they
delight in stabbing our national life through their personal
and official villany. ,
FOREIGN ENMITY PERSISTENT.
Let it not be said that we are stirring up bad blood.
That element has already been infused into our international
relations by the course of the powers of which we speak.
We take the case simply as they present it. In a great
contest for existence, we treat those abroad as those at
home ; as friends or as foes.
If it be said, rhat these foreign powers are more
friendly now than formerly, we answer that we see no
proof of it. If it be said that thei-e is less danger of in-
tervention now than formerly, or no danger at all, we
546 REVIEW AND CONCLUSION.
admit it. But it is because they see it to be useless, or
that ill intermeddling there may be danger. Those who
have been our enemies abroad are so still. Give them an
opportunity, and they would show it. Let our national
capital be taken, or any extraordinary disaster to our arms
occur, and all the aristocracies of Europe would shout for
joy, and the echoes would be heaid over the earth. Let
Jefterson Davis and his Slave Confederacy be recognized
by us, and their exultations would rend the very heavens.
While the great antagonistic elements of American and
European civilization exist before the eyes of the world's
millions, it is perfectly idle to say that the ruling powers
of Europe have any other wish than our national dismem-
berment and total overthrow. If we are pointed to the
large numbers of the middle classes, we find this to be true :
the more influential among them, as a whole, would be for
or against us, as their own commercial profits would be
enhanced by the one course or the other; while those
honorable exceptions who sympathize with our Govern-
ment against rebellion, are but the exceptions, and are
well-nigh powerless against those who sway the destinies
of European politics.
THE POPULAE MASSES WITH US,
Turning away from the rulers to the teeming millions,
and though we do not find them arrayed in court dresses
and rolling by in aristocratic pomp, the \ iew is refreshing.
They have a true sympathy Avith popular liberty, a heart
detesting oppression and a hand raised to strike it down,
whether the sceptre of power be the mace of the noble-
man or the v^hip of the slave-driver. They watch our
contest with an intensity of interest surpassed only by our
loyal citizens.
They have confidence in our triumph. This is seen in
THE POPULAR MASSES WITH US. 547
tlieir actions. At no period in our history has immigra-
tion from Europe been so rapid as during the war. This
is not by reason of tlie large bounties paid to sohliers.
Tliis may influence some. But the mass come with their
families, and to better their condition. Our taxes do not
deter them. The fear of national ruin does not deter
them. They believe we shall triumph. They see in that
triumph the inauguration of popular liberty on a grander
scale than is promised in any other land of the broad
earth. They come to enjoy it, and to secure a heritage
for their children. As friends of liberty and of the op-
pressed everywhere, we welcome them from every nation
under the wide heavens.
Another token of sympathy from the heart oi the x^eople
of Europe, is seen in their Addresses to the People of the
United States, encouraging them in the contest with
slavery and rebellion. Many of these have been received
s'nce the war has been progressing ; several coming from
the people of the British Isles, and others from Conti-
nental countries.
One of the latest, just heralded to the world as we write,
is from the people of Geneva, one of the earliest and
firmest homes of popular liberty in Europe. It is thriUing
to the heart of every true American, and must nerve the
arm of the soldier in battle, to hear the echoes of these
eloquent voices from among the hills of Switzerland.
They close their Address, made to the "People of the
American Union," in the words : " Hail, Liberty ! Hail,
Republic of the United States !"
We rejoice in the response which has been made to this
Address by the Secretary of State. Mr. Seward says :
" Your Address adds strength to the already strong claim
which binds the first Federal Republic of America to the
oldest and foremost Federal Republic of Europe. The
24^
548 EETIEW AND CONCLUSION.
people of Switzerland may rest assured, whoever else
mny fail, that it will not be tlie people of the United States
which will betray the republican system to foreign ene-
mies, 07- surrender it to domestic faction.'"
God grant that this pledge of the Secretary of State,
made on behalf of the Governmeut and People of the
United States, mny be kept inviolate !
THE INTERNAL SITUATION".
We have looked at the aspect of things from without;
at the adverse influences operating against us in foreign
nations ; and at the favorable influence we are exerting
upon the masses of the people, and the interest the reed
people of Europe take in our struggle.
We turn our view within, and look at some things at
home. This has, indeed, been the theme of our entire
writing. We do not desire to repeat or to recapitulate
what we have said, but we will notice a few points of the
general subject, suggested by what has already gone before.
We take it for granted that no subject has ever so in-
terested the American people, since they have been a
people, as that which now rocks this nation on its deepest
foundations. We can conceive of iro subject, next to
one's jiersonal salvation, which can take so deep a hold
upon the mind and heart of an American citizen, as that
which involves the great issues bound up in our present
contest.
WHAT THE CONTEST EXHIBITS.
What is at stake ? — what is involved ?- -what has called
mighty armies into the field ? — for what are we pouring
out our best blood, and covering all the plains of the
South with the m.'intiled limbs of the slain ? — and for
what are we encumbering ourselves and our children with
a debt under which generations will groan ?
WHAT THK CO^'TKST EXHIBITS. 549
To hear some people talk, and^to read whnt some peo-
ple write, it would seem that we are merely engaged in a
partisan contest, a political scramble. They theielbre bid
the combatants desist, rush into each other's arms, and
fall upon each other's necks in loving embrace. We
should rejoice at the spectacle.
We envy not the head or the heart of that man who
cannot take a higher view of the " situation" than this ;
who cannot see in the elements of the strife that which
is infinitely above any partisan or sordid interest ; but
who, from his stand-p(>int, is ever prating of " peace," and
gloating over the horrors of the war. Peace is a lovely
and he iven-descended messenger, and war is a grim-
visaged visitant of woes. No one in this fair land will
welcome the coming of the one and the eternal departure
of the other with more hearty rejoicing than shall we.
But we are free to say, that we have no wish for this
happy result, until peace can be so determined as shall give
us a security for peace. We have no wish to fight these
battles over a few years hence, and continually.
This contest exhibits, on the one side, a rebellion in
arms against lawful Government, gotten up by disap-
pointed demagogues, to make their rule more secure over
the victims of their cruel bondage, four jnillions of negro
slaves, and to extend the system indefinitely, and to con-
tinue it perpetually ; originating in the false hue and cry,
that the Government was to be administered against their
vested rights.
On the other side, the Government, in the exercise of
its constitutional rights, and in the discharge of its God-
given duty, sustained by the people, is engaged in putting
down this reb.'llion by Heaven's ordained means, the
sword; and as the rebellion sprung out of the interest of
the leaders in negro slavery, and has its chief support in
650 REVIEW AND CONCLUSION.
that system, the Govenmient is determined, as a necessary-
means to its own salvation, to destroy slavery, and let
the oppressed go free.
This is the contest, and this is the whole of it. It is
then a contest for national life, by a lawful Government,
against a foul rebellion, SLcking its overthrow. This is
the simple and sole issue : a lawful Government contend-
ing against a wicked rebellion.
FKIENDS AND FOES.
In such an issue, it is impossible that there should be
but two parties ; just as the House of Representatives
imanunously resolved — "patriots and traitors."
The question is so simple, it cannot be otherwise. It is
incapable of division. It is maintaining our National
Unity, or allowing it to be destroyed; triumphing over
the rebels, or allowing tlieni to triumph over us. On this
issue, one or the other must conquer. The contrary is a
simple impossibility; even a compromise " cannot prevent
it. If we maintain the Union intact, we conquer them.
If it is dissolved, they conquer us, for it is for our nation-
ality we are contending. If we maintain the Union, even
with a compromise on slavery, or on any other question, still
we conquer ; for the maintenance of our nationality is
the vital question. So that, in any view, as they are con-
tending to dismember the Union, and we to preserve it,
one party or the other must triumph, and that involves
the conquering of the other party. No other result is
physically possible.
It is on this simple issue that we say, that every man is
either a friend or a foe of the Government; helping to
maintain our nationality, or aiding to overthrow it. In-
dilference, or neutrality, in this case, we deem not to exist
in any man's bosom, in point oi fact. We do not believe
SUBOKDINATE QUESTIONS. 501
any American citizen is or can be neutral. But if it be
possibly so in any case, his position is a criminal one,
before God and man ; and for such a man, if he has a
soul, we feel infinitely less respect than for many who are
in open arms against the Government.
We will not argue here the riglit of the case. We only
say, that those who are living under the protection of the
Government, — in the loyal States, where its flag still
waves, — and are aiding rebels in arms, or even tacitly
sympathizing with them, are in a position, and doing a
woi k, or entertaining a sentiment, which is offensive to
God, and will eventually cover them with odium.
SUBORDINATE QUESTIONS.
There are many questions on which loyal men may
honestly differ: as upon the necessity of destroying sla-
very, in order to save the Government ; or, if it is to be
removed, the proper manner of its termination ; or, whe-
ther it shall be destroyed in the rebel regions only ; and
upon arbitrary arrests, habeas corpus, and other important
questions.
We regard these, of necessity, each and all, independent
of and subordinate to the vital issue of our nationality ;
and we regard that as vital, simply on the ground that
right, truth, honor, justice, law, order, and every other
principle involving good government,, demand that it should
be maintained ; and because, unless it is maintained, we
shall have eternal war instead of any enduring peace.
This being our judgment, as we are now at war, we say,
let the war be prosecuted until rebellion is crushed, and
peace can be maintained on firm foundations. Other ques-
tions, even slavery, we deem subordinate ; for, as we have
tried to show in a previous chapter, we think it has the
poorest possible chance for life, in any issue of the war ;
0
REVIEW AND COXCLL'Sl
at syste], the Govenmicnt is detenn
;ans to ts own salvation, to destri
e oppre.ed go free.
Tliis is 16 contest, and this is the
dn a coiest for national life, by a li
aiiist abul reliellioii, s. eking its o-^
B siinpland sole issue : a lawful G*
i againta wicked rebellion.
FRIENDS AND
In such in issue, it is iinpi
t two arties; just a.s t'
animouy resolved — " ]
Till' qu<tion is so
•apable >f division^
iiity, onllowinj
e rt'belsor
ue, one)r tl
nple ir
If Wi
it is di
ty wj
4
yyerrr
j to c
56, we
jct. V
1.
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r
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GiW'raK
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552 REVIEW a:n^d coj^clusion.
and yet, we greatly prefer to see no vestige of it survive
the rebellion.
ADMIIflSTRATION ANB GOVERNMENT.
We take the same view, substantially, concerning the
present Administration, or any other that may be for the
time in power. Men and policies are subordinate, and as
far as possible should be so treated, or left out of the
account altogether. The Nation, the Government, the
Union ; these are the vital matters.
We think some persons make a serious mistake in fail-
ing utterly to sustain the Government^ because they are
not friendly to the Administratio7i ; having personal ob-
jections, or dissenting from some points of its policy.
Some truly loyal people are found in this category ; many
Mho are at heart disloyal, present such objections as a
cloak for their treason.
Any Administration actually in office, embodies for the
time the authority, t!ie power, and the dignity of the
Government, and as such justly demands all the obedience
and honor due to the highest civil authority. Nor can we,
practically^ distinguish between them. We can, indeed,
readily understand the difference between the Government
and any particular Administration in power; for the Govern-
ment is permanent, while Administrations and their policies
are evanescent and conflicting. But the difference is
wholly abstract or theoretical. Government, independent
of an Administration, is an inoperative lifeless body; while
an Admin'stration is essential to give it soul, activity, life,
power. No Government, whatever its form, acts, or can
act, but by and through an Administration. Laws are not
self-executing. Constitutions have no inherent vitality.
Constitutions and laws are made by the people, and for
the people ; but they must be executed by the people's
TRUE PRINCIPLE OF SUPPORT. — OBJECTIONS. 553
servants ; through a personal administration, and that of
fallible men.
As it is impossible to have an operative Government
but through an Administraiion, so it is impossible to sup-
port a Government, but by supporting its Administration.
If men dissent from certain measures of the policy of an
Administration, they must still support it, if they support
the Government.
TRUE PRINCIPLE OP SUPPORT. — OBJECTIONS.
In a great contest for national life, the truly loyal will
make as few objections, and give as generous support to
those in power, who are endeavoring to save the nation
and crush rebellion, as is compatible with their conscien-
tious convictions of duty. No other principle can be
adopted as a rule of action, consistent either with personal
honor or national saf.^ty.
But it is lamentably true, that many who claim to be
opposed to the rebellion, and in favor of putting it down,
erdirely witJihold their support fiom the Government in its
efforts to crush it, because they dissent from some measures
adopted for that end. And it is further lamentably true,
that when these objections are summed up, those who
hold the aggregate amount constitute a large body of
citizens. Some dissent, because the Government does not
go far enough and fast enough ; others, for precisely the
opposite reasons ; some, because the Government has med-
dled at all wii;h slavery ; others, because it did not make war
upon it from the first, or sweep it at once away by proclama-
tion ; some, because it has suspended the privilege of the
writ of habeas corpus ; others, because it has committed
errors in arresting di>loyal citizens; and on a hundred
other points which naturally arise out of such a contest
among such a people, many are found to dissent, and as
554 EEVIEW AND CONCLUSION.
far as possible loholly loithhoM theiv support; who, at the
same time and in the same breath, claim, that they are
loyal, and who would resent it as an insult should any
suspicion of disloyalty be cast upon them.
There is another phase of the case which is even worse.
Some are not content in withholding support, but take
pains to throw every obstacle in their power in the way
of the Government, being careful not to overstep the line
of personal safety. We need not specify the numerous
ways by which this is done, by public men and private.
The facts are simply notorious. Others are content with
speaking against the Government, where no other motive
is apparent than the pleasure afforded in abusing those in
power, or for personal relief.
The obvious objection to this whole course, and to any
and every part of it, in those who claim to be loyal, must
commend itself to every person of discernment. It tends
to hamper the Government, and give the most substantial
" aid and comfort" to the rebellion. It will be truly won-
derful, with such dead weights upon it, if the Government
shall succeed at all in putting down the rebellion. It is
wonderful that it can have any success, with such friends,
either in its civil or military policy. And yet, these very
"friends" are complaining that it does not succeed.
No person will understand us as in the least invading
the inherent right of every American citizen freely to can-
vass any measures of Government, and to approve or to
condemn, according to his best judgment, when it is done
in a proper manner. As we have said before, men are
nothing, administrations are nothing, policies and measures
are nothing, in a great contest with treason, except as they
bear upon the great issue, national salvation. The point
we urge is, that the Adyniyiistration, in power for the
time, must be supported, or the Government can?iot be ;
J
OPPOSING THE ADMINISTRATIOX, 555
and in a time of civil war, the trnly loyal will give that
generous support wliich patriotism demands, the toithhold-
ing of which is a sin against God, and a crime against
humanity".
OPPOSING THE ADMINISTRATION. CHANGE DEMANDED.
There is still another phase of -'loyalty," so called,
which deserves a passing notice. So intense is the feeling
of some who claim to be loyal, that they proclaim that
they will not give one iota of influence to sustain the Govern-
ment, to aid the war, or to crush the rebellion, — all which
they profess to wish to see accompUslied, — until we can
have a ch.mge of administration. They deem its measures
so impolitic or wicked, its aims so selfish, and its conduct
so corrupt, that until tliere is a change they cannot con-
scientiously aid the Government in any possible way ; in
recruiting its armies, or sustaining those now in the fiehl,
or in any other measure tending directly to crush the
rebellion.
To mere partisans, who wish to get into power or to be
carried upon the back of some one who does, we have
nothing to say. To reason with partisan prejudice and
passion is seldom profitable. For another class, who claim
to be loyal, and whose position is that above designated,
we have a word.
There are two ways of disposing of corrupt officials,
both of which are provided for by law. One is by im-
peachment; the other by dismissal at the end of their term
of oflice, that is, by electing some one else. In regard to
the Administration at Washington, as Congress will not
niet-t till after the Presidential election, the latter is relied
upon to work the change essential to bring to the suyjport
of the Government those who cannot support it until a
change occurs.
556 EEYIEW AND CONCLTJSIOK.
Leaving politicians to discuss probabilities, let us look
at what all must admit may possibly occur on the first
Tuesday in November next.
LOYALTY PRACTICALLY TESTED.
Mr. Lincoln has been nominated for re-election. General
Fremont is also a candidate for the Presidency. A candi-
date is to be nominated at Chicago by the Democratic
party. Perhaps others may be put in nomination.
It will be admitted that Mr. Linco'n may possibly be re-
elected. Suppose he should be, what will those do who
claim to be loyal, — some of whom believe that they person-
ally embody an unusual amount of that sentiment, — but
who declare that they cannot and will not support tlie
Government, or help to crush the rebellion, while Mr.
Lincoln is in power? Will they add four years more of
total inaction, or opposition and vituperation, to the time
alieady expended in that way, if the contest with treason
should continue so long, while other citizens are using all
their influence, even pouring out their blood, to su>tain
the Government against its enemies ? Will they do that,
and still claim to be loyal/ — still claim a larger amount
of patriotism than their fellow-citizens ?
But this is a many-sided question. There are other
possibilities. The election of Geneial P^remont, we may
assume, is secured. A certain class of those who suspend
support of the Government upon a change in the adminis-
tration will then of course become very zealous in its sup-
port. But suppose the friends of Mr. Lincoln should
then sny they would withhold all support while General
Fremont was in power ; would their loyalty suffer no
detriment ?
Or if the Chicap:o nominee should be elected, and on
coming into power should announce such a policy upon
I
LOYALTY ABOVE PARTISAXSHIP. — VIOLENCE. 557
the ynanner of dealing with the rebellion as would not
satisfy the friends of the present Administration, but yet
was determined on maintaining the Union intact, would
it be the part of good citizenship to withhold support from
the Government, or malign it, or throw obstacles in its
way, because eveiy measure of the new Administration
could not be approved ?
But if the policy of the present Administration, as to
the manner of dealing with the rebellion, — olgected to
from opposite grounds, and for conflicting reasons, by
different and disagreeing classes, — can justify a total with-
holding of support, the same dissent from some measure
of policy in any future Administration may justify like
inaction or opposition. We are then brought back to the
piinciple already announced, — and there is no other safe
ground to occupy, — the duty of etery citizen to sustai7i
the Government^ by sustaining the Administration for the
time being in power, by lohatever party elected, ifi crushing
rebellion a?id preserving our nationality, even though
some measures of its policy for these ends may not be
approved. Any other principle than this has in it the
germ of anarchy and ruin. If we may withhold support from
the Government until all men are agreed in every measure
of its policy, we must wait till doomsday — and still wait.
LOYALTY ABOVE PARTISANSHIP. — -VIOLENCE.
Let no one imagine that we view things from a partisan
stand-point. Far different from that is our feeling; far
different has been our action; far different will both
be in the future. We have given, as we have had
ability, our influence to sustain the Government in
overthrowing rebellion. As we have done it under
this Administration, so shall we, and so should we have
done, under any other. Whoever may be elected in
558 REVIEW AND COXCLUSIOJf.
November next to administer the Government shall have
our unfailing support. We know of no other stand in
Christi:)n honesty to take. So it would have been in the
past. Had Jefierson Davis, who was sought to be put in
nomination at Charleston, been elected President of tiie
United States in 1860, he would have been our President,
and we should have given his administration that support
always demanded as a Christian duty.
It is believed by some, — indeed, w^e have he;ird it said
by those whose opportunities are good for gaining infor-
mation, beyond what appears in the papers, about secret
organizations against the Government, — that in case Mr.
Lincoln should be re-elected, his administration would not
be tolerated, and that he would be assassinated.
That there are men base enough for this is of course
true. That there ai-e secret organizations for this purpose
may be also true. That there are men, m11 through the
loyal States, ready for any thing which will destroy the
Government and give triumph to the rebellion, is beyond
doubt true. But we have not lost faith in the loyalty of
the people at large. Desperadoes, in a time of t evolution,
are ready for any thing. But we do not believe that
partisanship has so corrupted the masses of the people
who are for sustaining the Government and putting down
the rebellion, that they would for a moment countenance
a revolution, against any Administration which the people,
should constitutionally put in power. If Mr. Lincoln is re-
elected, it will be hailed with joy by his friends, and be
quietly submitted to by his foes. If any other candidate
is elected, the same result, vice versd, will be seen. Poli-
ticians may gnash their teeth, on one side or the other, as
the issue shall be determined, and desperadoes, Avhether
within or Avithout the Golden Circle, mny organize, and
arm, and bluster; but the people have too much at
THE patriot's REWARD, 559
Stake to inaugurate or support a revolution^ whoever may
attempt to lead it, again^^t any Administration constitution-
ally elected. Their experience with the rebellion now on
their hands, convinces them that one thing of this very
sort is enough at a time.
GOD REIGNS OUR TRUST.
We have said we have not lost confidence m the peoph^
Much less have we lost faith in God. That He presides
over the destinies of this nation we know from His word,
for He presides over all. And tliough His word does not
reveal the path opened for us iu the future, His providence,
as we have attempted to show elsewhere, is shaping events,
as we believe, through our eventual purification, for a
more glorious career for this people. We may yet have
to pass through a fiercer furnace than that now glowing.
If so, it will be just. We eminently deserve it.
But whatever is in store for us, whether greater trials
or speedy deliverance, and by whatever means, we know
that all events are in His hand, and that He will do His
ple'asure. He works through all poUcies, all men, all
events, and reaches His ends infallibly and gloriously.
THE patriot's REWARD.
The national contest in which we are engaged, places a
stamp upon men and things which time can never efface.
Those who are sustaining the Government, the truly loyal,
Avill have their names and their deeds transmitted to pos-
terity with honor. They will go down to coming genera-
tions in a grander halo of glory than that which encircles
the memory of the patriots of the Revolutionary Era; for,
if successful, the good which will be vouchsafed to the
nation in its salvation fi'om anarchy, and in the triumph
of freedom, will fir eclipse that which was secured by its
562 EEVIEW AND CONCLUSION.
authority, that it was to extend and perpetuate human
bondage. We wish them to know the agency of the
Church in this work, the zeal of the ministers of religion,
and the organic indorsement of ecclesiastical bodies. We
wish them to know the truth, and the whole truth, that
they may understand the awful guilt of men, and watch
more narrowly the interests which God has consigned to
their faithful keeping.
Future Banciofts and Prescotts will write the elaborate
histories of the rebellion ; and we hope some Peter Parley
will tell its simple tale in the pages which will be read in
every school-house and rehearsed at every fireside.
Let its story thus go abroad over the wide earth and
among all people, until the sun shall no more rise upon a
master nor set upon a slave ; let it go down through all
the generations of men to the end of time ; and then, let
THE MEMORY OP THE WICKED BOT !
THE END.
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