Tihtrtq Ur lautr4; t   &rrgt (Pr tatinn          t
THREE PRIZE ESSAYS
AMERICAN
"TTHE TRUTH IN LOVE.)
B O S T O N:
CONGREGATIONAL BOARD OF PUBLICATION,
1 8 5 7.
.ON
SLAVERY. 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
SEWALL HARDING,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
I
CAMBRIDGE:
ALLEN AND FARNHAM, STEREOTYPERS AND PRINTERS. 
PREMIUM OFFERED.
A  BENEVOLENT individual, who has numerous friends
and acquaintances both North and South, and who has had
peculiar opportunities for learning the state and condition of
all sections of the nation, perceiving the danger of our
national Institutions, and deeply impressed with a sense of
the importance, in this time of peril, of harmonizing Chris
tian men through the country, by kind yet faithful exhibitions of truth on the subject now agitating the whole community, offered a premium of $100 for the best Essay on the
subject of Slavery, fitted to influence the great body of
Christians through the land.
The call was soon responded to by nearly fifty writers,
whose manuscripts were examined by the distinguished com
mittee appointed by the Donor, whose award has been made,
as their certificate, here annexed, will show.
PREMIUM AWARDED.
THE undersigned, appointed a Committee to award a premium of one hundred dollars, offered by a benevolent individual, for the best Essay on the subject of Slavery, " adapted,.
(iii)
;   fI <s             -—!'                              t4 -1 
PREMIUM AWARDED.
to receive the approbation of Evangelical Christians generally," have had under examination more than forty competing manuscripts, a large number of them written with much
ability. They have decided to award the prize to the author
of the Essay entitled, "The Error and the Duty in regard to
Slavery," whom they find, on opening the accompanying
envelope, to be the Rev. R. B. THURSTON, of Chicopee
Falls, Mass.
They would also commend to the attention of the public,
two of the remaining tracts, selected by the individual who
offered the prize, and for which he and others interested
have given a prize of one hundred dollars each. One of
these is entitled, "Friendly Letters to a Christian Slaveholder," by Rev. A. C. BALDWIN, of Durham, Conn.; the
other, "1Is American Slavery an Institution which Christianity sanctions and will perpetuate?" by Rev. TIMOTHY
WILLISTON, of Strongsville, Ohio.
ASA D. SMITH,
MARK HOPKINS,
THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN.
May, 1857.
iv 
CONTENTS.
PAGE
THE ERROR AND THE DUTY IN REGARD TO SLAVERY,  1
FRIENDLY LETTERS TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVE-HOLDER, 39
IS AMERICAN SLAVERY AN INSTITUTION WHICH
CHRISTIANITY  SANCTIONS  AND WILL PERPET  UATE................ 99
(v)
I.
II.
III. 
THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
REGARD TO SLAVERY.
BY
REV. R. B. THURSTON.
IN
.~N  
I )i'. 
THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
THE, great and agitating question of our
country is that concerning slavery. Beneath
the whole subject there lies of course some simple truth, for all fundamental truth is simple,
which will be readily accepted by patriotic and
Christian minds, when it is clearly perceived
and discreetly applied. It is the design of these
pages to exhibit this truth, and to show that it
is a foundation for a union of sentiment and
action on the part of good men, by which, under
the divine blessing, our threatening controversies, North and South, may be happily terminated.
To avoid misapprehension, let it be noticed
that we shall examine the central claim of slavery, first, as a legal institution; afterwards, the
1                 (1) 
THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
moral relations of individuals connected with it
will be considered. In that examination the
term property, as possessed in men, will be used
in the specific sense which is given to it by
the slave laws and the practical operation of the
system. No other sense is relevant to the discussion. The property of the father in the services of the son, of the master in the labor of
the apprentice, of the State in the forced toil of
the convict, is not in question. None of these
relations creates slavery as such; and they should
not be allowed, as has sometimes been done, to
obscure the argument.
The limits of a brief tract on a great subject
compel us to pass unnoticed many questions
which will occur to a thoughtful mind. It is
believed that they all find their solution in our
fundamental positions; and that all passages
of the Bible relating to the general subject, when
faithfully interpreted in their real harmony, sustain these positions. It is admitted that the
following argument is unsound if it does not
provide for every logical and practical exigency.
The primary truth which is now to be established may be thus stated: All men are invested
by the Creator with a common right to hold property in inferior things; but they have no such
right to hlold property in men.
2 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
Christians agree that God as the Creator is
the original proprietor of all things, and that he
has absolute right to dispose of all things according to his pleasure. This right he never
relinquishes, but asserts in his word and exercises in his providence. The Bible speaks thus:
"The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof,
the world and they that dwell therein, for he hath
founded it.  We  are his people and the sheep
of his pasture " - ourselves, therefore, subject to
his possession and disposal as the feeble flock to
us. Even irreligious men often testify to this
truth, confessing the hand of providence in natural events that despoil them of their wealth.
Now, under his own supreme control, God
has given to all men equally a dependent and
limited right of property. Given is the word
repeatedly chosen by inspiration in this connection. "The  heavens are the  Lord's, but the
earth hath he given to the children of men."
In Eden he blessed the first human pair, and
said to them, in behalf of the race," Replenish
the earth and subdue it; and have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over every living thing that moveth
upon the earth.  Behold, I have given you every
herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all
the earth, and every tree in the which is the
3 
THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
fruit of a tree yielding seed."  This, then, is
the original and permanent ground of man's
title to property; and the important fact to be
observed is the specific divine grant. The right
of all men equally to own property is the postfive institution of the Creator. We all alike
hold our possessions by his authentic warrant,
his deed of conveyance.
Let us be understood  here.   We  are not
educing from the Bible a doctrine which would
level society, by giving to all men equal shares
of property; but a doctrine which extends equal
divine protection over the right of every man
to hold that amount of property which he earns
by his own faculties, in consistency with  all
divine statutes.
This right is indeed argued from nature; and
justly; for God's revelations in nature and in
his word coincide. It is, however, a right of so
much consequence to the world, that, where
nature leaves it, he incorporates it, and gives
it the force of a law; so that in the sequel
we can with propriety speak of it as a law, as
well as an institution. To the believer in the
Bible, this law is the end of argument.
It will have weight with some minds to state
that this position is supported by the highest
legal authority. In his Commentaries on the
4 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.o
Laws of England, Blackstone quotes the primeval grant of God, and then remarks, "This is the
only true and solid foundation of man's dominion
over external things, whatever airy metaphysical
notions may have been started by fanciful writers
upon this subject. The earth, therefore, and all
things therein, are the general property of all
mankind, exclusive of other beings, from the
immediate gift of the Creator." *
It will enhance the force of this argument to
remember that this universal right of property is
one of what may be called a sacred trinity of
paradisaical institutions. These institutions are
the Sabbath, appointed in regard for our relations to God as moral beings; marriage, ordained
for our welfare as members of a successive race;
and the right of property, conferred to meet our
necessities as dwellers on this material globe.
These three are the world's inheritance from lost
Eden. They were received by the first father
in behalf of all his posterity. They were designed for all men as men. It is demonstrable
that they are indispensable, that the world may
become ParadtisE Regained. " Property, marriage,
and religion have been called the pillars of soci
* An extended passage containing the extract may be
found conveniently in Chambers' Cyclopaedia of English
Literature, vol. 2, p. 246.
5 
THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
ety;" and the first is of equal importance with the
other two; for all progress in domestic felicity
and in religious culture depends on property,
and also on the equitable distribution or posses sion of property, as one of its essential condi tions. Property lies in the foundation of every
happy home, however humble; and property
gilds the pinnacle of every consecrated temple.
The wise and impartial Disposer, therefore,
makes the endowments of his creatures equal
with their responsibilities: to all those on whom
he lays the obligations of religion and of the
family state, he gives the right of holding the
property on which the dwelling and the sanctuary must be founded. It is a sacred right, a
divine investiture, bearing the date of the creation and the seal of the Creator.
The blessing of this institution, like that of
the Sabbath and of the family, has indeed been
shattered by the fall of man; but when God
said to Noah and his sons, concerning the inferior
creatures, "Into your hand are they delivered;
even as the green herb have I given you all
things," it was reestablished and consecrated
anew. The Psalmist repeated the assurance
to the world when  he wrote, "Thou  madest
him to have dominion over the works of thy
hand; thou hast put all things under his feet."
6 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
We now advance to the second part of our
proposition.  Men have no such right to hold
property in men. Since the right is from God,
it follows immediately that they can hold in
ownership, by a divine title, only what he has
given. But he has not given to men, as men, a
right of ownership in men. No one will contend for a moment that the universal grant above
considered confers upon them mutual dominion,
or rightful property in their species. The idea
is not in the terms; it is nowhere in the Bible;
it is not in nature; it is repugnant to common
sense; it would resolve the race into the absurd
and terrific relation of antagonists, struggling,
each one for the mastery of his own estate in
another,-I, for the possession of my right in
you; and you, for yours in me.  Nay, the very
act of entitling all men to hold property proves
the exemption of all, by the divine will, from the
condition of property. The idea that a man
can be an article of property and an owner of
property by the same supreme warrant is contradictory and absurd.
We  now have sure ground for objecting to
the system of American slavery, as such. It is
directly opposed to the original, authoritative in stitution of Jehovah. He gives men the right to
hold property. Slavery strips them of the divine
7 
THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
investiture. He gives men dominion over in ferior creatures. Slavery makes them share the
subjection of the brute.  That slavery does this,
the laws of the States in which it exists abundantly declare.  Slaves are "chattels," "estate
personal." Slave-holders assembled in convention solemnly affirm in view of northern agitation of the subject, that " masters have the same
right to their slaves which they have to any
other property."
This asserted and exercised right is the vital
principle and substance of the institution. It is
the central delusion and transgression; and the
evils of the system to white and black are its
legitimate consequences. The legal and the leading idea concerning slaves is that they are property: of course, the idea that they are men, invested with the rights of men, practically sinks;
and, from the premise that they are property, the
conclusion is logical that they may be treated
as property. Why should property, contrary to
the interests of the proprietor, be exempt from
sale, receive instruction, give testimony in court,
hold estate, preserve family ties, be loved as the
owner loves himself, in fine, enjoy all or any of
the "inalienable rights" of man?  It is because
they are held as property, that slaves are sold;
because they are property, families are torn
8 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
asunder; because they are property, instruction
is denied them; because they are property, the
law, and the public sentiment that makes the
law, crush them as men.
We do not here call in question the mitigations with which Christian masters temper into
mildness the hard working of an evil system.
Those mitigations do not, however, logically or
morally defend slavery. Nay, they condemn it;
for they are practical tributes to the fact that
the laws of humanity, not of property, are binding in respect to the slaves. Hence they really
show the inherent inconsistency of the idea, and
the unrighteousness of the system which regards
men as property.
Notwithstanding those mitigations, the system'
itself, like every wrong system, produces char —
acteristic evils, which can be prevented only by
removing their cause, the false doctrine that men
can be rightfully held in ownership.  Fallen as
man is, no prophet was needed to foretell at the
first the dreadful facts that have been recorded
in the bitter history of man's claim of property
in man.  Such a hiszury must always be a scroll
written within and without with lamentations
and mourning and woe.  Man is not a safe de positary of such power. A human institution
which subverts a divine institution, and which
9 
10        THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
carries with it the assumption of a divine prerog ative in constituting a new species of property,
naturally saps the foundations of every other
divine institution and law which stands in its
way. Hence, for example, the fall of the domes tic institution before that of slavery.
The inherent wrongfulness of American sla very as a legal and social institution is therefore
clearly demonstrated. It formally abolishes by
law and usage a divine institution. Hence, in
its practical operation, it sets aside other divine
institutions and laws. Consequently it stands
in the same relations to the divine government
with the abolition of the Sabbath  by infidel
France, and with the perversion of the family
institution by the Mormon territory of Utah.
Here the fundamental argument from the
Bible rests. But slavery justifies itself by the
Bible. It becomes essential, therefore, to examine
the validness of this justification. 
There are but two possible ways of avoiding
the conclusion that has been reached. To vindicate slavery it must be proved, first, that God has
abolished the original institution, conferring on
men universally the right to hold property; or,
secondly, it must be proved, that, while he has
by special enactments taken away from a portion
of mankind the right to hold property, he has 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
given to other men the right to hold the former as
property. Further, to justify American slavery,
it must be shown that these special enactments
include the African race and the American States.
In regard to the first point we simply remark,
it is morally impossible that God should permanently and generally abolish the original institution concerning property; because, as in
the case of its coevals, the Sabbath and marriage, the reason for it is permanent and unchangeable, and "lex stat dum ratio manet," the
law stands while the reason remains.   Moreover, there is not a word of such repeal in the
Bible. That institution, therefore, is still a charter of rights for the children of men. Till it is
assailed, more need not be said.
As to the second point, we believe that careful investigation will prove conclusively, that no
special enactments are now in force which arrest
or modify the institutions of Eden, in regard to
any state or any persons. It will, then, remain
demonstrated, that the legal system of slavery
exists utterly without warrant of the IHoly Scriptures, and in defiance of the authority of the
Creator. The word of God is throughout consistent.
It is here freely admitted, that God can arrest
the operation of general laws by special statutes.
11 
THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
He can take away from men the right to hold
property which he has given, and, if he please,
constitute them the property of other men. It
is, in this respect, as it is with life. God can
take what he gives. If, then, he has given authority to individuals or to nations to hold others
as property, they may do so. Nay, more; if
their commission is imperative, they must do so.
But such an act of God creates an exception
to his own fundamental law, and, like all exceptions, conveys its own restrictions, and proves the
raule. It imposes no yoke, save upon those appointed to subjugation. It confers no authority, save upon those specifically invested with it.
They are bound to keep absolutely within the
prescribed terms, and no others can innocently
seize their delegated dominion. Outside of the
excepted parties the universal law has sway unimpaired. It is in this instance as it is in regard
to marriage. God permitted the patriarchs to
multiply their wives; but monogamy is now a
sacred institution for the world. So the supreme
Disposer can make a slave, or a nation of slaves
and the world shall be even the more solemnly
bound by the original institutes concerning
property. It follows, without a chasm in the
argument, or a doubtful step, that, when persons
or States reduce men to the condition of chat
12 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
tels, without divine authorization, they are guilty
of subverting a divine institution; and, since it
is the prerogative of God to determine what
shall be property, they are chargeable with a
presumptuous usurpation of divine prerogative,
in making property, so far as human force and
law can do it, of those whom Jehovah has
created in his own image, and invested with all
the original rights of men.
The soundness of the principle contained in
these remarks, both in law and in biblical interpretation, will not be questioned. In the light
of it, let us examine briefly the justifications of
slavery as derived from the Bible. Happily the
principle itself saves the labor of minute and
protracted criticism.
We first consider the curse pronounced upon
Canaan by Noah. Admitting all that is necessary to the support of slavery, namely, that that
curse constituted the descendants of Canaan the
property of some other tribe or people, upon
whom it conferred the right of holding them as
property, yet even so this passage does not
ustify but condemns American slavery; for
that curse does not touch the African race:
they are not descendants of  Canaan;* and it
* Genesis, 10th Chapter.  Vide, Kitto's Cyclopedia, for
views in this connection.
13 
14        THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
gives no rights to American States. In later
times the Canaanites were devoted to destruction for their sins. The Hebrews were the agents
appointed by Jehovah to this work of retribution.
It was not, however, accomplished in their entire
extermination. In the case of the Gibeonites
it was formally commuted to servitude, and other
nations occupying the promised land were made
tributary. Thus the curse upon Canaan was fulfilled by authorized executioners of divine justice.
What light does the whole history now throw
upon slavery?  It is plain the curse was a judicial act of God concerning Canaan. It follows
that conquest with extermination or servitude
was a judgment of God, which he appointed his
chosen people to execute.   It follows further,
that those, who, without his commission, reduce
to bondage men who are not descendants of Canaan, do inflict a curse on those whom he has
not cursed; and thus virtually assume his most
awful prerogative as the Judge of guilty nations.
We then inquire whether the States of the
South have received warrant for enslaving any
portion of mankind. Has God given them the
African race as property?  Where is the commission? The argument fails to justify modern
slavery for the same reason identically that it
fails to justify offensive war and conquest. God 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
has not given the right- has neither proclaimed
the curse, nor commissioned the agent of the
curse. Christian States in America seize it, and
lay it upon those whom he has not cursed The
passage of his word which has been considered
affords them no sanction.
We proceed to another passage. It is supposed by many to be an incontrovertible defence
of modern slavery, that the Hebrews were authorized to buy bondmen and bondmaids of the
heathen round about them. Let us candidly examine this defence.
Why were the Hebrews authorized by God in
express terms to buy servants, and possess them
as their "money?" Evidently because they did not
otherwise have this authority. Human beings, as
we have seen, were not "given" in the grant of
property. They do not, therefore, fall within the
scope of the general laws of property. If they
had so fallen, the special statutes, by which the
Hebrews purchased them, would have been as
gratuitous as special enactments for buying animals, trees, and minerals. Of all nations they
only have possessed this right; for they only received it by special bestowment. The rest of mankind have ever been prohibited from assuming it
by fundamental laws.  If ever there was a case
in which the exception proves the rule, that case
15 
16       THE ERROR AND THIE DUTY
is before us; and therefore a chasm yawns between the premise and the conclusion defensive
of slavery, which no exegesis and no logic can
bridge over.
To illustrate the strength of this argument, let
the fact be observed, that, if it could be set aside,
it would follow, by parity of reasoning, that the
clergy of our country, regardless of fundamental
laws, have right to take possession of a tenth
part of the estates and incomes of their fellowcitizens, because the Levites in this manner received their inheritance among their brethren.
It is plain, however, that, as in regard to other
interests no less important than liberty or slavery,
so also in regard to slavery itself, the special laws
of the Old Testament are no longer in force;
whence it follows that the vital doctrine of the
system, "masters have the same right to their
slaves which they have to any other property,"
is totally  erroneous.   The  institution  which
claims solid foundation here is built on nothing.
We cannot forbear to adduce an instance of
unexceptionable testimony to the validity of this
reasoning. In one or two famous articles on
slavery and abolitionism, the Princeton Repertory adopts it, with another application, and says,
"4 So far as polygamy and divorce were permitted
under the old dispensation they were lawful, and 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
became so by that permission; and they ceased
to be lawful when that permission was withdrawn, and a new law given. That Christ did
give a new law is abundantly evident." In the
same manner,' so far as' slavery' was permitted
under the old dispensation it was lawful, and
became so by that permission; and it ceased to
be lawful when that permission was withdrawn,
and a new law given.' It is true, however, only
in a qualified sense, that Christ gave "a new
law" concerning polygamy and divorce.   His
law restored the original institution of marriage,
as in Eden; and this was "new" to the Jews,
because there had been departure from it. In
like manner the New Testament, if not the very
words of Christ, now gives a new law concerning
slavery in the same sense; that is, as will appear, in the sequel, the Christian precepts restore
the original institution concerning property as
well as concerning marriage. The laws which
allowed polygamy and slavery, and therefore the
right, passed away together.
Here we leave the Old Testament. No other
passages need examination; for all consist with
these positions. So far as that sacred volume
gives light, the world are bound by the laws and
have equal right to the full blessings of three divine institutions, whose foundations were laid in
2
17 
i18       THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
Paradise, and whose complete and glorious proportions will encompass the universal, millennial
felicity.
The defence of slavery from the New Testament now demands brief notice. We desire to
allow it full force, while we ask the reader's candid judgment of the conclusion.
Of course, the New Testament sanctions now
what it sanctioned in the days of its authors.
That must have been Roman, not Hebrew, slavery; for they lived and wrote to men under
Roman law.  Besides, there is reason to believe,
as Kitto states, that the Jews at that time held
no slaves.  In point of historic truth, it appears
that the Alosaic law, finding slavery in existence,
practically operated as a system of gradual emancipation for its extinction.  "There  is no  evidence that Christ ever came in contact with slavery." This sufficientLly explains why he did not
give a "new law" concerning it in specific terms.
The occasion did not arise, as it did arise in regard to polygamy and divorce, with which he did
come in contact. Furthermore, there was no
need of new law, other than was actually given.
The argument from the New Testament for
the rightfulness of slavery is twofold, being built
on the instructions given to masters and servants.
It fails on both sides. 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
For, first, the precepts addressed to servants
convey no authority to national rulers or to
private individuals to set aside the institution
of Jehovah by reducing men to the condition
of slaves. These precepts simply enjoin the
conduct which Christianity required in their actual situation. They do not vindicate the law
and usage by which they were held as property.
This is abundantly evident in the texts themselves, and more emphatically, when they are
compared with the parallel cases.
Christ promulgated these rules.  "I say unto
you that ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall
smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the
other also. And if any man will sue thee at the
law and take away thy coat, let him have thy
cloak also." Does this empower States to legalize fraud and violence? Does it transmute all
the evil which Jesus' disciples have endured
into righteousness of those who have inflicted
the evil?  Does it wash the crimsoned hands of
persecutors in innocency? Does it justify the
wilful smiter? All men know better. No one
contends for such exposition.  Yet it is indispensable to the interpretation which finds a justification of slavery in precepts which enjoin
obedience on slaves. That obedience is required on other grounds.
19 
20        THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
Another example. The New Testament explicitly commands citizens to submit to the civil
power.  Does this sanctify the  tyranny of a
Nero or a Nicholas? In the enjoined submission of subjects, has the despot, or the state, full
license for edicts and acts of oppression and
iniquity? Yet they are logically compelled to
admit this, and thus, in theory at least, banish
freedom from the whole earth, who find in commands addressed to servants power conferred on
legislators and masters to make them slaves,
that is, to hold them as property. Instead of
this, the rights and obligations of rulers, and of
those who claim to be owners of their fellow
men, are defined in a very different class of instructions.
Secondly, the instructions addressed to masters
forbid the exercise of the right which is assumed
in slavery. To make this clear, we observe,
primarily, there is no passage in the New Testament which institutes the relation of men held
in ownership by men. There is no direct reference to the civil laws which constituted this
relation. They are passed by silently, as are the
laws that established idolatry, and kindled the
fires of persecution. Their existence is tacitly
acknowledged in the use of the terms which designate masters and servants; and that is alL 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
Hence those who find here an apology for slavery
are obliged to refer to secular history for the
facts and definitions on which their argument
rests. Accordingly, no passage in the New Testament would be void of meaning, though slavery should cease.  In this respect the Constitution of the United States resembles the sacred
books; for not one word of that instrument, interpreted on just principles as the palladium of
liberty, needs to be obliterated in the abolition
of slavery. Furthermore, and this covers our
position, the New Testament, disregarding the
Roman law, refers masters exclusively to the
law of God as their rule for the treatment of
servants. A single citation, with which all passages agree, is sufficient to show this. "Masters,
give unto your servants that which is just and
equal, knowing that ye also have a Master in
heaven." Now, as none can find in such precepts a right to destroy God's primary institution concerning the family, no more can they find
in them a right to destroy his primary and universal institution concerning property. Stronger
than this, the conclusion is inevitable, that the
very precepts which are relied upon to support
American slavery do condemn and destroy it;
for the law of God, by which they bind masters,
ordaining from Eden what is just and equal
21 
2?    iTHE ERROR AND THE DUTY
between men, abolishes the fundamental and
central law of the system.*
* Col. 4: 1; " Ye masters, give unto your servants that
which is just and equal." That is, act towards them on the
principles of justice and equity. Justice requires that all
their rights, as men, as husbands, and as parents, should be
regarded.  And these rights are not to be determined by the
civil law, but by the law of God.... But God concedes nothing to the mrnaster beyond what the law of love allows. Paul
requires for servants not only what is strictly just, but
7T  Gc67rT7a.  What is that?  Literally, it is equality.  This
is not only its signification, but its meaning. Servants are
to be treated by their masters on the principles of equality.  Not that they are to be equal with their masters in
authority or station or circumstances; but that they are to
be treated as having, as men, as husbands, and as parents,
equal rights with their masters.  It is just as great a sin to
deprive a servant of the just recompense for his labor, or to
keep him in ignorance, or to take from him his wife or child,
as it is to act thus towards a free man. This is the equality
which the law of God demands, and on this principle the final
judgment is to be administered. Christ will punish the master for defrauding the servant as severely as he will punish
the servant for robbing his master. The same penalty will
be inflicted for the violation of the conjugal or parental
rights of the one as of the other. For, as the apostle adds,
there is no respect of persons with him.  At his bar the question will be, " What was done?" not " Who did it?"  Paul
carries tlis so far as to apply the principle not only to the
acts, but to the temper of masters. They are not only to
act towards their servants on the principles of justice and
equity, but are to avoid threatening. This includes all mauni
i
I 
IN REGARDI) TO SLAVERY.
It is argued, indeed, that slavery is right, because masters, as well as fathers and rulers, may
require obedience. The argument fails utterly;
for there is at the foundation no analogy in the
cases.  The  family  and the  State  are divine
institutions, having sanction in the Bible; but
slavery subverts a divine institution.   Fathers
and rulers, as such, have duties and rights suitable to the relations they sustain by the will of
God. Masters, as such, have no rights; for their
relation, as holding property in men, is contrary
to his will.   Their duty, to which  they  are
bound by the solemn consideration that he is
their Master, is practically to restore to their servants the rights which he confers upon all; for
nothing less than this can be just and equal in
his sight.
This view discloses the harmony of the whole
Bible concerning slavery; and, in the light of the
two Testaments, the institution stands as a legalized violation of the positive will of Jehovah.
Gestation of contempt and ill temper, or undue severity.  All
this is enforced by the consideration that masters have a
Master in heaven, to whom they are responsible for their
treatment of their servants.... Believers will act in conformity with the Gospel in this. And the result of such
obedience, if it could become general, would be, that first
the evils of slavery, and then slavery itself, would pass away
naturally, and as healthfully as children cease to be minors.
Prof. Hodge's Commentary.
23 
24        THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
We  now condense the whole argument into
its briefest form, in the following syllogisms.
The entire right of men to hold property is
given by the Creator. He gives to American
States and citizens no right to hold property in
men. Therefore they have no such right.
Again. An institution is sinful, which, without divine warrant, holds property in men, thus
assuming a divine prerogative, and subverting a
divine institution. American slavery does this.
Therefore it is a sinful institution.
The purpose of this tract now introduces a
new series of topics.  The argument demands
its application; and the exigencies of the times
present momentous questions, which it must
answer.
Hitherto we have spoken of the system of
slavery. We come now to persons connected
with it. Because the system is sinful, the question immediately occurs, who  are chargeable
with the sin; for there is no sin without sinners.
The answer is obvious. They are chargeable
who founded it, and all who wilfully implicate
themselves with it. Practically, they are always
chargeable who adopt it as their own in theory
and practice, who support it in the State, consecrate it in the Church, and labor for its extension. They are chargeables for they bring heresy 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
into creeds, unrighteousness into legislation, and
crime into popular usage. If they are masters,
they stand in the same moral relations with persecutorm and tyrannical rulers, guilty for all personal injuries they inflict under color of unjust
laws; and, whether masters or not, they are
guilty for exerting their influence to sustain
laws which set aside the authority of God, and
withhold the rights he has given. Such men
are accountable to God and to society for deliberate,  organized,  aggressive iniquity.   The
"organic sin" of the State is their sin, the sin
of each in his own measure; for they are the
individuals who determine the acts and the
character of the slave-holding State as such.
But are there no exceptions among slaveholders? We trust there are many. There is a
plain distinction between wicked laws and the
personal acts of men who live under those laws.
Some may approve them, and use or abuse them
to the injury of their fellow men. Others may
disapprove them, and refuse, by means of them,
to do or justify a wrong. Christians may become in a legal sense owners of slaves, while
they heartily deprecate the system of oppression,
while they are ready to unite with good men in
feasible and wise measures for its removal, and
while they obey the Christian precepts towards
25 
26      1lTHE ERROR AND TIHE DUTY
their servants, rendering unto them what is just
and equal to men and brethren in Christ. Such
Christians and such men do not hold slaves in
the sense which God forbids; and they cannot
be charged with the wickedness of laws by which
they, as well as the slaves, are oppressed. On
their estates a higher law than that of slavery
has sway. To them their slaves, though legally
property, are morally and actually men. The
Bible sustains their position.  They are thie Philemons to whom Paul gives fellowship, and Onesimus returns, not as a slave, but a brother beloved. In the trials of their situation they should
receive the cordial sympathy of Christians everywhere. It is, indeed, to their sound convictions
and their political influence the world must look,
in part at least, for the ultimate, peaceful extinction of American slavery. Without them, what
would the South become? With the Scriptures
in our hand we earnestly say to them, "Throw
the weight of your influence against unrighteous laws, fulfil to servants the law of God, and
you shall have the sympathy and confidence of
good men everywhere. Nay, more; you, with
their help, and they with your help, will confine
the spreading curse, till, with God's blessing, it
shall cease; and Christian and civilized man
shall have no more communion with it." 
IN  EG-ARD TO SLAVERY.
These discriminations answer certain ecclesiastical questions, which have occasioned much
perplexity and discord. When properly applied,
they take away whatever support a wicked institution has found by leaning upon the Church; at
the same time they award to consistent Christians what is due to them by the religion of
Jesus. If it shall be said, there will be practical
difficulty in applying these discriminations, it is
sufficient to answer, it will be less than the difficulty of disregarding them.
The question now arises, what can be done
for the restriction and ultimate extinction of slavery as it is; for, since it is sinful, Christianity
and patriotism declare it should be restrained
and abolished.
First. The extension of slavery can and should
be prevented by the Federal Government. The
Scriptures have shown us, that the people in their
sovereignty have not the right to create a slave
State or a slave. Of course, the legislators and
presidents, who receive in trust the power which
emanates from the people, have no such right.
If the Constitution assumed to confer this power,
it would be the first national duty to amend that
instrument in this particular. There is no power
on earth competent to set aside either of the
Creator's original institutions for man. But, ac
27 
THE ERROR AND THILE DUTY
cording to the sound and established principle of
strict construction, the Constitution as it is does
not create slavery, or even acknowledge its existence, except by inference. Hence there is no
legal objection to the measure which religion herself ordains. The religious and the political obligations of all citizens and all legislators coincide
to protect, under the jurisdiction of Congress, the
right of every man to be exempt from the condition of property, and to enjoy the property which
he honestly earns. Thus the question concerning
slavery and the territories is morally settled by
divine authority; and to this no real objection can
be made, except by that great interest, whose existence is inherently unrighteous and irreligious.
Secondly.   In  the  slave States, legislation
should restore to the enslaved population the
primitive rights which God has given to all men,
establishing for them, on humane and Christian
principles, such relations as are suitable to their
condition of poverty, ignorance, and dependence, and are adapted to secure at once their
improvement and the general welfare.
This is the logical conclusion to be derived
from the premises. As the central wrong of slavery consists in maldng men articles of property
by law, the rectification is to lift from them by
law the curse of the false and irreligious doctrine,
28 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
that they can be rightfully held as property.
Thus the axe is laid to the root of the tree.
This is also the conclusion to which we are
forced by other moral principles bearing on the
case.   For men  to receive services of men  is
right. Accordingly, the New Testament allows
masters to receive services of those who are
slaves in the sense of human law; but at the
same time the sacred book requires masters, with
all who employ labor, to make the recompenses
which are just and equal towards men; for slavery is not right; and legislators, on their responsibility to the Ruler of nations, are bound to
adjust the laws in harmony with the first principles of individual and moral obligation.
Furthermore, this is the only practical conclusion. By inevitable necessity, the slaves, as a
body, must remain on the soil of their bondage.
Only exceptional cases of removal can occur.
They are the laborers of the South; and no State
will, or can, or is bound, to remove its laborers.
It is simply bound to protect and treat them with
Christian equity and kindness. Banishment of
them would be injustice and cruelty, violating
perhaps no less than restoring divine rights.
Moreover, no practicable means of removing them
have ever been seriously proposed; and, till they
shall be, the point needs no discussion.
29 
30        THE ERROR AND TiE DUTY
But the question may be raised, " Are the slaves
to endure their present wrongs until the laws
shall be thus renewed, or perhaps forever?" We
reply, in showing how slave-holders can cease
from guilty connection with slavery; we have
also shown how the situation of the slaves becomes one of practical righteousness, before the
laws can be readjusted; and for this great obligation of the body politic, sufficient time must
be allowed. Moral principles do not exact
natural impossibilities. The elevation of oppressed millions can be  accomplished only in
harmony with great natural and social, as well
as ethical laws, which the wisdom of God has
ordained.
It remains therefore, that, for a period of which
no man can see the end, the slaves must, in most
cases, dwell within the present boundaries; but
it is incumbent on the citizens and legislators
of the South to institute immnediate measures for
restoring to them the inviolable rights of men.
So long as they continue, by the necessities of the
case, in the relation of servants and laborers, masters should deal with them according to the rules
of humane and Christian equity, paying to them
in suitable ways their just earnings, holding sacred their family ties, and securing to them the
privileges of education and religion. Meanwhile, 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
the legislatures of the several States, by wise
enactments, should cooperate with masters in
training their servile population for the position
which the Creator designed for men.
When these things shall come to pass, a consideration, in which many good men have sought
relief in regard to slavery, will have multiplied
force. The providential wisdom of God, in
bringing millions of the children of Africa from a
land of pagan darkness and violence to a land of
freedom and Christianity, will shine with new
lustre, when they shall receive from American
hands, together with true religion, every divine
right, and shall thus be qualified and enabled to
convey to the dark habitations of their fathers
the infinite blessings of enlightened liberty and
of the gospel of eternal salvation.
These things are practicable.   So  long as
44 righteousness exalteth a nation," a great, free,
and Christian people can do what they should
do; and thus only can they secure, under the divine blessing, their own highest prosperity and
glory.  To prove this would be simply to repeat
the familiar facts which exhibit the legitimate effects of slavery on general intelligence, enterprise,
and virtue.
But what shall produce the true and wide
spread public sentiment, which is indispensable
to usher in so radical a change in the laws and
31 
32        THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
institutions of proud and powerful States? Truth
must accomplish this great work - TIE TRUTH
that our Creator does not place those who bear
his image in bondage to their fellow men as
property, but invests them with a common and
inviolable right of dominion over inferior things.
The vivid light which this truth sheds on the
social relations of men has been extinguished at
the South; and it has been dimmed at the
North. In every right way and in every place,
therefore, it should be made to shine again unobscured. Expounders should bring it forth from
the Holy Oracles; for Jehovah has hallowed it
there, and made it equal in authority with the
Sabbath. The press should publish it; for it is
the function of the press to convey unceasingly
to the public mind whatever will establish and
crown the public integrity and welfare. All men
should seal it in their hearts; for it is the divine
rule and bond of brotherhood in the universal
dominion.   It surrounds them with protected
families, and builds their safe firesides and their
altars of worship.
The question arises here, can general agree
ment be expected in regard to this primary truth,
and measures which legitimately proceed from
it. It is to be supposed there are men in whose
hearts there is no fear of God or love of their
fellow beings. With such men these views 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
may be powerless; but for men of Christian.
principle, we are confident they show a common
foundation for united sentiments and efforts.
There is now a general, practical, vital consent that government and society should respect
the divine institutions of the family and the
Sabbath. Beneath all superficial strifes and irrelevant issues, there is the same sure ground
for a living and earnest agreement, that government and society should respect the equal and
coeval institution of the right of property.
Christian and conservative men can unite in
the proposed measures and the truth which appoints them; for they desire to preserve only
what is right.   Christian and progressive men
can unite in them; for they desire to abolish
only what is wrong. Politics can approve them;
for they are constitutional and patriotic.   Philanthropy can be satisfied with them; for they
promise all that in the nature of the case can
be promised for the early relief of the slaves. Rex''
ligion sanctions them; for they restore her own
institutions. Good men of the South can unite
in them with those of the North; for they have
equal authority North and South. They proffer'
only that moral aid which great communities,
sharing common interests and responsibilities,
should render and receive with intimate and
3
33 
34        THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
cordial confidence. They honor the sovereignty
of proud and jealous States; for each of them,
exercising the power which springs from its own
people in its own way, will discharge its political obligations to all within its boundaries.
A few years or even months of combined
efforts will suffice to convey this truth with vital
energy to millions of minds and hearts. In due
time it will manifest its efficacy in the public
sentiment and public policy. We trust in its
power. It is invincible; it will be victorious;
f)r it is from God.   Its absence from the popular and legislative mind well explains many of
the evils that have been precipitated upon the
nation.   Its  future  prevalence, under  divine
mercy, will arrest the progress of events which
would be, as we judge, not remedy, but retributive destruction, on account of slavery.
This leads us to the final question. Are the
principles and measures advocated in this tract
or their equivalents, with the contemplated  result, essential to the welfare of our country?
We are compelled to believe so.
We present, for the consideration of citizens
and statesmen, this fact. In harmony with that
law of fitness which pervades the Creator's works,
all men are constituted with a nature correspondingwith the dominion they have received.  They 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
feel that they have a right to hold property, and
should not be held as property. Slaves feel this.
Masters often show that they feel it. They who
make laws for slavery, North and South, show
that they feel it.  The little property which
slaves are often allowed to possess, so far from
furnishing apology for slavery, is an unwitting
tribute to the living principle that destroys the
system. Here is a philosophical demonstration
that slavery cannot stand in perpetuity. This
vital element in human nature, to which a divine
institution itself is but an index, is sub:terranean
fire beneath the pyramid of oppression. Though
long crushed and silent, it will not always sleep.
Do men expect to control forever, by law and
force, that sense of rights which burns inextinguishable in every human breast, which God
himself kindled ill Eden? As well pile rocks
on volcanoes to suppress earthquakes.
"Vital in every part,
It can but by annihilating die."
In this light, it is no prediction to say, if slavery
survives to consummate its own results it will
destroy our country.
The great political and religious problem of
the slave-holding States, on which their welfare
really depends, is not, how shall we extend sla
35
.4 
36        THE ERROR AND THE DUTY
very? but, how shall we lay legal foundation for
the rights of our servile population as men? Unless it shall be anticipated and prevented, by restoring to them the dominion which the Creator
bestowed, a day is as sure to come on natural
principles as the sun to rise, when the masses of
human property will assert for themselves the indestructible rights of their being. Generations
may not see it; but woe betides the States implicated in this oppression, when that day shall
dawn; and the longer it tarries the greater the
woe.
To our mind, the statesmen ar infatuated who
do not in their policy regard this universal sense
of rights. It is this which is now making so bitter conflict on the prairies of Kansas. It will
always make conflict, till slavery expires.
In connection with the general welfare, there is
another consideration, which we solemnly urge
upon every man who respects the Bible. It is
the displeasure of God for slavery. He gave the
rights which it denies; and he will assuredly
vindicate his own institutions. It would contradict his word and history, which is but the story
of his providence, to suppose that he will perpetually allow myriads of men, in this land of light,
to hold as property other myriads and even millions of their fellow men and fellow Christians, 
IN REGARD TO SLAVERY.
Whom he has endowed, as bearing his own image, with equal rights. With Jefferson we have
reason to tremble for our country, when we behold her support of slavery and remember that
God is just. France abolished the Sabbath; and
thrones have gone down in blood. America
may abolish another divine institution; and for
this her proud States may be convulsed. The
previous topic shows, indeed, that God has so
constituted the social elements of this world, that
a great wrong, like slavery, ultimately provides
for its own retribution. The oppressor himself
treasures up the vials of wrath for Him who taketh vengeance.
In view of all the considerations which have
now passed before our minds, is it too much to
believe, that the diffusion of kindly and scriptural sentiments, with the blessing of heaven producing general agreement in principles and
measures, must be the means of our country's
salvation from the guilt and perils of slavery?
If it is not extended, misguided, infatuated men
may, indeed, threaten to dissolve the Union. Still
we fear that extension most; for religion teaches
us to fear God more than man. It allows us but
this alternative, to keep his commandments, and
trust that he will make the wrath of man to
praise him. We hold that national righteous
37 
38      THE ERROR AND THE DUTY, ETC.
ness in his sight, "first pure, then peaceable," is
better and safer than union and slavery with his
frown. Let justice be done, and the heavens
will not fall.
Whatever purposes God may conceal in the
cloudy future, present duties are ours. Hle seals
them in his word. Notwithstanding all the heats
and perversions of parties and interests, we trust
there will yet be a single voice of our nation's
good men.   Citizens will speak the truth, legislators will enact the truth, churches will hallow
the truth, vital to civilization and Christianity,
that, by Jehovah's will, man is not the property of
man. Then, under the benediction of our Father
in heaven, all his children in mutual protection
and benevolence will enjoy their property, their
homes, and their Sabbath; and he will more
richly bless the land of the free and the just. 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
TO
A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
BY
REV. A. C. BALDWIN.
(39)  
LETTER I.
INTRODUCTION. - SOUTHERN COURTESY AND HOSPITALITY. -
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOUTH AND NORTH. - NO ESSENTIAL
DIFFERENCE AT HEART. - THEY SHOULD UNDERSTAND EACH
OTHER BETTER. -A FREE INTERCHANGE OF SENTIMENT DE SIRABLE. - SINCERE PATRIOTISM  AND  PIETY COMMON TO
BOTH. - THESE AN EFFECTUAL SAFEGUARD TO OUR UNION
AND GOOD-FELLOWSHIP.
MY DEAR CHRISTIAN BROTHER, -I embrace
the first moment at my command since leaving
your pleasant home, to express the gratification
afforded me by my recent visit to the "Sunny
South." The kind hospitality and polite attentions shown me by yourself and other Christian
friends, during  my recent interesting sojourn
with you, will ever be gratefully remembered.
I had previously heard "by the hearing of the
ear" of the open, frank warmheartedness and
generous impulses of southern people, but now I
can fully appreciate them. The lessons taught
us by experience, whether they be pleasant or
painful, are the most profitable, and are most
(41) 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
deeply engraven upon the memory. If there are
any persons who think or speak lightly of the
reputed complaisance and Christian courtesy of
those who live south of "Mason and Dixon's
line," I have only to say to them,- go and make
the acquaintance of those families which give the
tone and character to society there, and enjoy
the hospitalities which they almost force upon
you with so much politeness and delicacy as to
make you feel that by sharing them you are
conferring rather than receiving a favor, and
your skepticism on this point will be happily
and effectually removed.
You will not understand me, my dear sir, as
implying that our southern brethren have really
more heart than we at the North, although there
seems to be "primd facie" evidence in your
favor; at least, so far as polite and generous
attention to strangers is concerned. In this last
particular, you are constantly teaching us important lessons. Still, I contend that the Northerner has as large and generous a soul, when
you get at it, as anybody.   We  have hearts
which beat warm and true, but our cautious
habits and constitutional temperament (phlegmatic sometimes) conceal them from view;
whereas you carry yours throbbing with generous emotions in your hands, exposed to the
42 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
gaze of everybody. The Southron is artless
and impulsive, as well as noble; the Northerner
is no less noble, but having been taught more
frequently the doctrine of " expediency " than his
southern brother, he stops and " calculates"
when, and in what circumstances, it is best to
exhibit his whole character. In both cases, the
pure gold is there; but in the former it lies upon
the surface or in the alluvial, while in the latter
it is often imbedded deep in the quartz-rock; -
it reqtuires some labor to get it out, but the ultimate yield is most rich and abundant.
It is very desirable that a greater degree of
social intercourse be kept up between the North
and South. We are brethren of one great
family, and there is no good reason why this
family should not be a united and happy one.
To a considerable extent it is so. It is true we
do not all think alike on every subject, and
some of these subjects are of vast importance,
and intimately connected with our prosperity
and happiness. We need to understand each
other better, and to this end there should be
more intimacy, and a frequent and free interchange of views; - not for strife and debate, but
for mutual edification and enlightenment. There
was probably never a family of brothers, however
strong their love for each other, whose views
43 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
of domestic policy were exactly alike; but there
need be no lack of fraternal confidence and harmony  for all that.   There  are certain  great
fundamental principles which underlie every
thing else, and form the basis of the family
compact. These principles are filial reverence,
fraternal affection, love for home, and a watchful
jealousy of aught that can in the least interfere
with the happiness or reputation of their beloved
family circle. Falling back upon these principles
to preserve good-will and harmony, they are not
in the least afraid to discuss those topics on
which there is an honest difference of opinion;
on the contrary, they take pleasure in doing so,
for the result is a strengthening of the ties which
bind them to each other, and a modification and
partial blending of opinions that seemed antagonistic.
Thus it should be in our great political
and  religious  brotherhood.   The  North  and
South have each their peculiar views of what
pertains to their own interests, and the interests
of the great family of the Republic. But do not
let us stand at a distance and look at each other
with an eye of jealousy because of these differences. Surely we can meet as fellow-citizens,
and discuss matters of common interest, and the
44 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
interests of common humanity, without losing
our temper or engendering any ill feeling or fam.
ily discord.
It is affirmed by some, that there are certain
subjects, at least one, of so peculiar and delicate
a nature as to forbid discussion, lest the result
should be heart-burnings, alienation, and perhaps
disunion in our happy fraternity. I cannot for a
moment admit the sentiment. It is an ungenerous reflection upon the courtesy, Christian candor, piety, and good-sense, both of the North and
South. I hold that good citizens and good
Christians can, if they will, discuss any subject
without giving the least occasion for offence, or
endangering that compact which so happily
binds us together. As it is in the family circle,
there are certain great principles most dear to us
all, on which we can fall back, and which, if we
are true to ourselves and to them, will prove efficient safeguards to our temper and good-fellowship. The first of these is Patriotism. We
have a common country, and we love it, and we
love each other for our country's sake. We are
children of a common mother, whose kind arms
have encircled us, and whose bosom has nourished us bounteously and with impartiality, and
God forbid, that, as wayward, ungrateful children,
45 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
we should wring her maternal heart with anguish by our unfraternal conduct toward each
other. We shall not do it, - either at the North
or at the South. We are true patriots, and in
our very differences, love of country come in as
an important element to shape and modify our
opinions; and while we may be adopting different theories, we are conscientiously seeking the
same end, namely, the greatest good of our beloved country.
The second is piety. We love our country
well, but we love our Saviour more, and for his
sake we will love and treat each other as brethren,
and not fall out by the way because we may not
see through the same optic-glasses. We will
cheerfully hear what each has to say on whatever pertains to Christian morals and practice.
There are thousands of sincere, warm-hearted
Christians, whose love to Christ raises them
immeasurably above sectionalism and prejudice,
and who daily inquire, "what is truth?" and
"what is duty?" and they entertain that "charity" which "suffereth long and is kind; is not
easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in
iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things;" and "never faileth."  When
this love is in exercise, Christian brethren may
46 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
open their hearts freely to each other on any
subject, whether it be "for doctrine, or reproof,
or for instruction in righteousness."
Whatever may be true of others, I hope that
you and I will be able to demonstrate to the
world, that, although one of us lives at the North
and the other at the South, yet we can communicate with each other unreservedly on an almost
interdicted topic, with mutual kind feelings, if
not to edification.
Respectfully and fraternally,
Yours, &C.
47 
LETTER II.
A DIFFICULT AND DELICATE SUBJECT PROPOSED. -AGITATION OF
IT UNAVOIDABLE. - CHRISTIANS  NORTH AND SOUTH SHOULD
GIVE THE DISCUSSION OF IT A RIGHT DIRECTION. - WE ARE ALL
INTERESTED IN THE ISSUE.- NORTHERN DISCLAIMERS.
MY DEAR CHRISTIAN BROTHER, -  In my last
I intimated that I hoped you and I, by our correspondence, would be able to furnish the world
a practical illustration of good-nature and kind
feeling in the discussion of a subject that has
been a fruitful source of trouble and unchristian
invective.   You  have already anticipated my
theme -it is DOMESTIC SLAVERY.  It must be
confessed that this is the most difficult and delicate of all topics to be agitated by a Northerner
and a Southerner, and yet I have the fullest confidence that neither of us will give or take offence. I need offer you no apology for calling
your attention to this subject at the present time.
Not only is it a theme of vast importance in
itself, involving; either directly or indirectly, in    (48) 
FRIENDLY LETTERS, ETC.
terests most dear to you and to me, and to every
one who has at heart the welfare of his country
and his race, but it is a subject that must be discussed,- there is no avoiding it, however much
you or I or other individuals may desire it. It
has come before the public mind in such a manner as peremptorily to demand the attention of
every Christian and every patriot. Whether we
approve or deprecate thie peculiar causes that
have made this topic so prominent in our country, both North and South, we have to take things
as they are, and turn them to the best possible
account. Politicians and demagogues are all
discussing American slavery, and will continue
to do so for the purpose of forwarding their own
favorite schemes; and any attempt to silence
them would be as futile as an effort to arrest the gulf-stream in its course. It remains
only for brethren, both at the South and
North, to take up the subject as we find it
brought to our hands in the inscrutable providence of God, and, under the guidance of his
Spirit, given in answer to our prayers, take a
truly Christian view of some of its leading features, and then inquire, What is duty? I think
you will not claim, with some of your southern
friends, that slavery is a subject with which we at
the North "have nothing to do."  As patriots, we
4
49 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
have something to do with every thing that affeets the interests of our common country; and
as Christians, we sustain responsibilities which
we cannot shake off toward all our brethren of
the human family, whether it be at the North or
South- whether they be bond or free.  " Have
we not all one Father? Hath not one God
created us?"  "We are many members, but one
body, and whether one member suffer all the
members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it."
Your candor will not impute to me any unkind or improper motive in entering upon this
discussion; and you will permit me, in the outset,
to enter a few disclaimers, in order that you may
be the better able to appreciate what I have to
say.
In the first place, it is not my design to throw
down the glove for the purpose of enlisting you,
or any of your friends, in a controversy; this
would be an unpleasant and profitless undertaking.
Nor is it to advocate the doctrine, that sustaining the legal relation of master to a slave for a
longer or shorter time is in all possible cases sin.
I will admit that there may be circumstances in
which the relation may subsist without any
moral delinquency whatever; as, for instance,
50 
TO A CIIRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
persons may become slaveholders in the eye of
the law without their own consent, as by heirship; they sometimes become so voluntarily to
befriend a fellow-creature in distress, to prevent
his being sold away from his wife and family;
persons sometimes purchase slaves for the sole
purpose of emancipating them. In these, and
other circumstances which might be mentioned,
no reasonable man either North or South would
ever think of pronouncing the relation a sinful
one.
Nor is it my design to question the conscientiousness or piety of all slaveholders at the South,
both among the laity and clergy. Whoever
makes  the sweeping assertion, that "no slaveholder can be a child of God," gives fearful
evidence that he himself is deficient in that
"charity" which "hopeth all things."  There is
an obvious distinction between those who hold
slaves for merely selfish purposes and regard
them as chattels, and those who repudiate this
system, and regard them as men having in common with themselves human rights, and would
gladly emancipate them were there not legal
obstacles, and could they do it consistently with
their welfare, temporal and eternal.
Nor is it my purpose to advocate immediate,
universal, unconditional emancipation without 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
regard to circumstances. This doctrine is not
held by the great mass of northern Christians.
There are, no doubt, some cases where immediate emancipation would inflict sad calamities,
both upon the slaves themselves  and the community. The opinions of northern men have
often been misunderstood and misrepresented
on this subject. The ground that calm, reflecting opponents of slavery take, is, that slaveholders should at once cease in their own minds
to regard their slaves as chattels to be bought
and sold and worked for mere profit, and that
they should take immediate measures for the
full emancipation of every one, as soon as may
be consistent with his greatest good, and that of
the community in which he lives.
This, it is true, is virtually immediate emancipation; for it is at once giving up the chattel
principle, and no longer regarding servants as
property to be bought and sold. It is to act on
the Christian principle of impartial love, doing
to them and with them, as, in a change of circumstances, we would have them do to and
with us. This does immediately abolish, as it
should do, the main thing in slavery, and brings
those who are now bondmen into the common
brotherhood of human beings, to be treated, not
as chattels and brutes, but on Christian princi
52 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
pies, according to the exigencies of their condition as ignorant, degraded, and dependent
human beings, "endowed, however, by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights, among
which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," which rights should be acknowle dged: and
with the least possible delay be granted.
Nor is it my design to reproach my southern
brethren as being to blame for the origin of
slavery in these United States. Slavery was
introduced into this country by our fathers, who
have long been sleeping in their graves, and the
North, if they did not as extensively, yet did as
truly, and in many cases did as heartily, participate in it, as the South; so that, in respect to
the origin of American slavery, we have not a
word to say, nor a stone to cast. And besides,
our mother country must come in and share
with our fathers to no small extent in the wrong
of introducing domestic slavery to these colonies.
Happily, as we think, slavery was virtually abolished at the North by our ancestors of a preceding generation; but for their act we are entitled to no credit. Your ancestors omitted to
do this; but for their omission you are deserving
of no blame. We would never forget, that
slavery was entailed upon our southern brethren,
and for this entailment they are no more respon
53 
FRIENDLY LETTERS, ETC.
sible than for the blood that circulates in their
veins.
If you will be so kind as to keep these disclaimers in mind, I think you will better understand and appreciate what I shall hereafter say
on the subject. With the kindest wishes for
you and yours, I remain, in the best of bonds,
YOUR CHRISTIAN BROTHER.
54 
LETTER III.
THE REAL SUBJECT. -NOT TO BE CONFOUNDED WITH ANCIEINT
SERVITUDE. - NOR TO BE JUDGED OF BY ISOLATED CASES.
- NORTHERN MEN COMIPETENT AS OTHERS TO DETERMINE ITS
TRUE CHARACTER. - SLAVERY IGNORES OUR DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE. - IS INCONSISTENT WITH OUR CONSTITUTION.
MY DEAR FRIEND AND BROTHER, -I propose
in this and subsequent letters to take a brief, candid view of some of thie prominent characteristics
of American slavery. I speak of servitude, not
as it existed in patriarchal times, for that is
essentially a distinct matter. While it had some
things in common with American slavery, there
was so much that was dissimilar in the relation
of master and servant, that analogy is in a great
measure destroyed.
Neither do I speak of slavery as I saw it developed on your plantation, and on those of your
immediate neighbors. When I went to the
South, I confess I went with strong prepossessions, (prejudices if you choose so to call them,)
(55) 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
against the "peculiar institution."  I regarded it
an evil, and only an evil. But while my general
views of the legitimate workings of the system
remain unchanged, candor compels me to admit,
that, if all slaves were as well cared for, as kindly
treated, as well instructed, and were they all as
contented and happy as yours; and, especially,
were there no evils incident to the system greater
than I saw with you, I would simply divest
slavery of its odious name, and it would virtually
be slavery no longer. The plantations at the
South would then, perhaps, with some propriety
be denominated communities of intelligent, happy, Christian peasants. And yet it is slavery, as it
really takes away inalienable rights.  Would to
God that slavery as it exists with you were a fair
illustration of the system. But alas! it is not.
Perhaps you may say that " it is impossible for
a northern man to speak of slavery so as to do the
subject justice." You may indeed know more
and better than we do about the state and condition of the slaves. But in some respects, where
great principles are involved, we at the North are
more competent than you, for our judgment is
less liable to be biased by self-interest; and in
my remarks I shall confine myself chiefly to
those points on which a northern man is at least
as well qualified to speak as a slaveholder.
56 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
What, then, are some of the prominent characteristics of American slavery as a system?
FIRST, Slavery ignores and repudiates the foundation-stone on which rests our renowned Declaration of Independence. That document, for
more than three fourths of a century, has been
the boast and glory of America. It is the platform on which our noble ancestors planted their
feet, with a consciousness that they stood on
the eternal principles of truth and justice. To
maintain these principles, relying on God for
aid, they pledged to each other "their lives, their
fortunes, and their sacred honor." Our fathers
knew that they were right, and, to carry out the
principles embodied in this Declaration, many of
them cheerfully poured out their heart's blood to
defend the "unalienable rights" of humanity.
Now let us turn our attention to the foundation paragraph of this memorable Declaration;I do not mean in that general way in which it is
often read, but minutely and particularly; - let
us calmly look at it in its full import, and not
shrink back and avert our eyes on account of a
foreboding that we shall be led to conclusions
which we would be glad to avoid.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident; - that
all men are created equal; that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable rights;
57 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness."
These significant words are inscribed upon the
scroll of our nation's history, and there they
will remain till time shall be no longer. They
need no glossary or explanation. He whd runs
may read them, and he who reads can understand
them. The sentiment they embody it is impossible to mistake; it stands out in bold relief, like
the sun in the heavens. It is, that every man
has received, from a higher than earthly power, a
charter, which secures to him the unalienable
right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is impossible for the most ultra advocate of "human  rights" to paraphrase  these
words, or give them a rendering so as to make
them support his dogmas more strongly than
they now do. On the contrary, he would only
weaken their force by the attempt.
Now, my dear brother, I would candidly, seriously ask you - I would ask all your southern
friends-  I would ask everybody, Can the sentiment of that Declaration be consistent with
American slavery? Are not slaves men? Do
color and degradation change a creature of God
from a human being to a soulless brute? No;
our southern brethren would as indignantly repudiate this infidel view as we at the North.
58 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
Now if a slave is a man, he has received from
his Creator an unalienable right to liberty if
he chooses to avail himself of it, or else the first
principle laid down in our revered Declaration
of Independence, so far from being "self evident,"
is in fact unfrue, and ought at once to be taken
from its honored position in the archives of these
United States, and consigned to the heaps of
rubbish of the dark ages.
But does the slave enjoy this liberty? or is
it within his reach? It will not be pretended.
The very name by which his class is designated
forbids it. The term free slave is a solecism.
His liberty consists in the freedom to do as he
is told to do, or suffer punishment for his dis obedience, and he can pursue happiness only in
accordance with the will of his master.
There is the same incongruity between slavery
and that clause in our constitution which stipulates that "no person shall be deprived of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law."
Now, my brother, does it not require considerable
ingenuity and special pleading to avoid conelusionis to which unbiased common sense
would arrive in an instant, in the application of
these declared rights to persons held as slaves?
I am not going to inflict upon you a dissertation, or a series of syllogisms on this hackneyed
,59 
FRIENDLY LETTERS, ETC.
subject, but I beg that you and your friiends will
calmly look again at what, I doubt not, you have
seen before, -the palpable incongruity between
the system of holding persons perpetually in
slavery without their consent, and those declared, self-evident, heaven bestowed, unalienable
rights professedly secured to all men in these
United States by our glorious constitution.
Said that great statesman and patriot, Henry
Clay: "We present to the world the sorry spectacle of a nation that worships Slavery as a
household goddess, after having constituted Liberty the presiding divinity over church and
state."
Surely something must'be out of joint here.
I have looked again and again at this matter, I
think with perfect candor, and I have tried to the
utmost of my ability to reconcile these apparent
inconsistencies, but I cannot do it. Can you?
Believe me, as ever, your sincere friend and
CIRISTIAN BROTHER.
60 
LETTER IV.
SLAVERY TRANSFORMS MEN TO CHATTELS. - SOUTHERN LAWS. -
SLAVE-AUCTIONS. - MEN PLACED ON A LEVEL WITH BRUTES. -
NO REDRESS FOR WRONGS. - IGNORANCE PERPETUATED BY
LAW.
MY  DEAR  CHRISTIAN  FRIEND, - A  second
characteristic of American slavery is, It regards
human beings, declared to be in the "image of
God," as " chattels,"- things or articles of merchandise.  "Slaves," say the  laws  of South
Carolina and Georgia, "shall be deemed, sold,
taken, reputed, and adjudged in law to be
chattels personal in the hands of their owners
and possessors, and their executors, administrators and assigns, to all intents, constructions,
and purposes whatsoever." *   "A slave," says
the code of Louisiana, "is one who is in the
power of his master, to whom he belongs. The
master may sell him, dispose of his person, his
* See 2 Brevard's Digest, 229; Prince's Digest, 446.
(61) 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
industry, and his labor; he can do nothing,
possess nothing, nor acquire any thing, but what
must belong to his master." *
Thus, rational, immortal beings, children of
our common Father in heaven, are taken from
the exalted scale in which God placed them, and
degraded to that of the brute creation. They
are, as you know, advertised, mortgaged, attached, inherited, leased, bought, and sold like
horses and cattle. Like them they are brought
to the auction block, and like them subjected to
a rigid examination as to their age, and soundness of wind, chest, and limb. Said a gentlemanlail to me: "When I was at, I visited the
slave mart; and as I saw one and another and
another of my fellow-beings brought forward to
the block, and rudely exposed and minutely
examined, in order to ascertain their marketable
value in dollars and cents, and then struck off to
the highest bidder, amid the gibes and jeers of
the vulgar, my heart was nigh unto bursting,
and I was obliged to turn away my eyes and
weep, exclaiming, O  God! can it be! thy children!  my brothers and sisters of humanity,
perhaps my fellow-heirs of heaven,- precious
souls for whom the Saviour died, whose names
* Civil Code, Art. 35.
62 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
may be written in the Book of Life, and over
whose repentance angels may have rejoiced!
Can it be?"
For myself, I never witnessed any such scenes,
and heaven grant I never may. It is enough,
and too much for me to know, that they exist.
I allude to them in this connection, not to
awaken and pain your sensibilities, but simply
to illustrate the fact, that American slavery
sanctions them, and by its operation brings down
the noblest work of God to a level of the beasts
that perish. As far as it can do so, it dehumanizes man, and treats him as a thing without a
soul.  It may be remarked, however, in passing,
"A man's a man, for a' that."
I might speak in this connection of the obstacles which are thrown in the way of the slave's
obtaining redress for his wrongs should he unfortunately get into the hands of a cruel and
unreasonable master, being forbidden to defend
himself, and not allowed the testimony of his
brethren to be given in his behalf; but there are
other features of this system which more  urgently demand our attention.
Neither will I dwell upon the ignorance and
mental degradation which are an essential part
of the system. You need not be informed, that,
in ten States, knowledge is kept from the slave
63 
]FRIENDLY LETTERS, ETC.
by legal enactments, - that teaching him to read
is regarded a crime, to be severely "punished by
the judges." I was happy to find that you and
a great many others totally disregard that law,
and, in spite of legislators and penal statutes,
you teach your slaves to read, and in some
cases to write. For this crime, I doubt not but
heaven, at least, will forgive you. I shall allude
to this latter topic again in a future letter.
Most truly and affectionately, yours: etc.
64 
LETTER V.
DOMESTIC LIFE. - THE MARRIAGE RELATION. - DOMESTIC HAP PINESS A RELIC OF PARADISE. - ITS ENDEARMENTS. - ITS
VALUE. -THE BARBARISM OF INVADING THE DOMESTIC SANC TUARY. - AN ILLUSTRATION.
MY DEAR BROTIER, - I come now, in the third
place, to speak of slavery as it is related to the
endearments and duties of domestic life. On
this subject my heart is full. I am almost
afraid to speak, lest I say what I ought not;
and yet I cannot keep silence. I can, in a good
measure, sympathize with Elihu when he said, -
"For I am full of words,
The spirit within me doth constrain me,
Behold I am as wine which hath no vent,
I am ready to burst like new bottles,
I will speak that I may breathe more freely,
I will open my lips and reply." *
We now approach a topic more intimately
* Job ch. 32, v. 17-20, Barnes's translation.
5
(65) 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
connected with the present and future happiness
of the human race than almost any other.  Man
was not completely blest, even in Eden, until
God instituted the marriage relation. His Creator gave him a companion to participate in his
joys, binding them together by ties which no
human power might sunder. Paradise was lost
by sin, but as our first parents were exiled thence,
God in infinite kindness permitted them to take
one of its purest, sweetest sources of joy with
them to this world of sorrows.
" Domestic happiness! thou only bliss
Of Paradise that has survived the fall!"
You, my dear brother, are a husband and a
father, and can appreciate my meaning, when I
speak of the richness, the tenderness, the depth,
of connubial and paternal love; how it lights up
this dark world with smiles,-  how it stimulates
us to manly exertion,- how it lightens the burdens of human life, and enables us cheerfully to
sustain its ills, while it almost restores to us
Eden itself.  To understand what is meant by
the term domestic happiness, it is necessary for
you and me only to look at the circles around
our own firesides, and listen to the musical accents of the loved ones who dwell there, as they
pronounce the words husband, lather, mother,
66 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
brother, sister, and exchange with them kind
looks and the  affectionate  embrace.   WVhat
earthly joys can be compared with those of
home? What would tempt us to part with
them? All the gold in California and Australia
would be spurned in contempt, if offered in exchange. What should we say, and what should
we do, were any power on earth to interfere with
our fireside delights, and attempt to wrest them
from us?
Suppose Providence had cast our lot under a
despotic government, which we will suppose to
be for the most part kind and paternal, but having this peculiarity, - every now and then, finding its finances embarrassed, it should be in the
habit of selling some of its subjects to a foreign
power to strengthen its exchequer, and should
arbitrarily select its victims from this family and
that; -how should you feel were the doomed
family your own? What would have been your
emotions this morning, had some one come to
your room and told you that that bright-eyed
boy, " Willie," who last night sat upon your
knee and amused you with his innocent prattle,
showed you his toys, examined your pockets,
played with your hair and features, and finally
clasped his little arms around your neck and impressed the "good-night" kiss upon your lips,
67 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
had been seized by an officer, and sold from your
sight forever to you know not whom, and to be
carried you know not whither? Nay, more; -
suppose that while he was yet speaking, there
came also another with the tidings that the same
fate had befallen your first-born, -your daughter,
just budding into womanhood, - the affectionate, joyous, light-hearted " Kate," whose voice to
your ear is sweeter than the music of flowing
waters, whose feet are swifter than those of the
light gazelle, as with. open arms she bounds to
meet you on your return from a temporary absence, to welcome you home with a tear of joy in
her eye and a kiss upon her lips, -  that she too
had been by the officials of the government clandestinely abducted from your dwelling, and sold,
literally sold, for a valuation put upon her person
in dollars and cents, to a hopeless captivity, to
spend her days in unrequited toil, or, not unlikely,
in ministering to the caprices and brutal passions
of a stranger?
And while he was yet speaking, and as your
wife, half frantic with grief and terror, was entwining her arms around you, and you were
striving to ease your bursting heart, to crown
the whole, suppose another official and his posse
had entered your apartment, and by force of
arms had torn her from your embrace, and with
'68 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
thongs upon her hands, and a bandage over her
mouth, hurried her away to greet your sight no
more?  What a scene!  There go in one direction the children of your body, "bone of your
bone, and flesh of your flesh," to an unknown
but fearful destiny!  In another is ruthlessly
borne the object dearer to you than all the world
beside, - one whom you had solemnly sworn to
love, cherish, and protect until death, - the light
of your dwelling, - the mother of your children,
-the mutual sharer of all your joys and sorrows, - the richest and most precious treasure
heaven ever gave you! -there she goes in an
agony of wo, to toil under a burning sun, compelled to call another man her husband, or, it
may be, to grace her master's seraglio! Merciful
God! what meaneth this?  What horde of barbarians from the dark corners of the earth have
found their way hither to lay waste all that is
beautiful and lovely! What fiend from the pit
has been let loose to enter this little Paradise to
destroy and bear away all the good' that was left
of the primitive Eden!
No ruthless band of barbarians from benighted
lands have found their way to this Christian domestic sanctuary, - no malignant spirit from below has been here to snatch the only type of
Heaven that escaped his grasp six thousand
69 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
years ago. "Think it not strange," brother, "concerning this fiery trial as though some strange
thing had happened to you." This is only the
legitimate working of the patriarchal system of
government under which we live.  Be calm,this is all done according to law, and with as
much kindness as the circumstances will permit.
No stripes are inflicted, and no more force is exerted than is absolutely necessary to secure the
object, and prevent a useless outcry; no ill-will
is entertained toward the victims of these outrages, - it is only because the finances of the government are low, and must be replenished, and
this is the most convenient, and perhaps at present the only practical, way of raising the money!
Now, my brother, what should you and I think
of living under a government where such things
were permitted by the laws? It would not reconcile us to the administration to be told, that
such proceedings as I have supposed are of rare
occurrence, and that the general character of the
government is kind, that it dislikes exceedingly to
sell its subjects, and especially that it has a great
repugnance to separating husbands and wives,
and breaking up of families, and does it only when
severely pressed by pecuniary necessity.   To
your and my mind this would be altogether unsatisfactory; it would not change our opinion of 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
the system. No matter if the heart-rending scene
I have supposed were witnessed only once a year,
or once in ten years, -I think we should loudly
protest against a system which allowed the occurrence of it at all.
You will please, my dear sir, apply the foregoing illustration to the liabilities and actual
workings of the slave system at the South, just
so far as it is applicable, and no further. If there
are any points in which the analogy fails, I will
thank you to point them out to me in your next.
With much love and esteem,
I remain yours, most truly.
71 
LETTER VI.
SACREDNESS OF THE MARRIAGE RELATION.- GOD ALONE CAN
DISSOLVE IT. - THE " HIGHER LAW." - SLAVERY SANCTIONS
POLYGAMY AND ADULTERY. - RELATION OF PARENTS TO THEIR
CHILDREN. — FEARFUL RESPONSIBILITY ASSUMED.
MY  DEAR  CHRISTIAN  BROTHER, -  My objections to any system of government that interferes at will with the family relation, and forcibly
separates husbands and wives, parents and children, do not arise chiefly from the personal
wrongs and bitter woes inflicted upon its victims. A contemplation of these is calculated to
affect our sensibilities, and excite the tender sympathies of our nature; but there is a more enlarged Christian view which forces itself upon
us. If we could by some magic process allay
the anguish of the stricken heart, and heal its
wounds when the strongest ties of nature are
rent asunder, - could we even obliterate the susceptibilities of the soul, destroy natural affection,
and render man more callous than the brutes, so
(72) 
FRIENDLY LETTERS, ETC.
that he could be torn from his home and kindred
with less pain than they, - in a moral point of
view the case would be altered but little. As I
have remarked in a previous letter, the marriage
relation was instituted by God, and he made it
indissoluble.  "What God hath joined together
let not man put asunder," is the language of
"holy writ; " and whoever, for any cause which
God himself has not specified, breaks up this relation, encroaches upon God's prerogative, and
goes directly in face of his positive commands.
Much has been said of late, seriously, sarcastically, and contemptuously,  about  a "higher
law;" but notwithstanding the improper use
often made of that term, there is an important
sense in which you, and I, and every Christian
recognize what that term implies. If, on any subject whatever, human enactments do obviously
conflict with the enactments of God, then God's
law is the "hi,her," and must be obeyed.  To
deny this is worse than infidelity.
Now, brother, does not the system of slavery
in the United States tolerate, and even authorize, the forcible rending asunder of the marriage
tie? Are not husbands, not seldom, but often,
sold from their wives, and wives from their
husbands, and new matrimonial alliances formed
by them, with consent and encouragement of
73 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
their masters? Thus is flagrant adultery sanctioned in nearly one half of the States of this
Christian Republic, and in some eases the crime
is almost, if not quite, forced upon the wretched
perpetrators of it. When God's law is disregarded, and an ordinance on which depends all
we hold dear in social and Christian life is
trampled in the dust by an institution existing in
the midst of us, what shall we say? If slavery
were a question merely of expediency, political
economy, or even personal wrong and suffering,
it would be easier to keep silence; but when
God is dishonored, and gross sin sanctioned by
law, is it inot the duty of his children, North and
South, to enter their solemn, earnest, decided
protestations? You will agree with me, that
no Christian can or ought to acquiesce in what,
either directly or indirectly, violates a positive
divine precept; and against what shall he remonstrate, if not against a system that encourages polygamy and legalizes adultery? *
* It is sometimes said that the crime of adultery is neither
perpetrated nor encouraged by the breaking up of slavefamilies, because, generally, the connections formed are not
truly marriage, not being solemnized according to forms of
law, and hence the marriage obligation cannot be violated.
It may be replied, if this be so, it presents slavery in a
worse light still, for it encourages and perpetuates a state of
universal concubinage. But it is not so. When a slave
74 
TO A CHIIRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
There is another view in which the operation
of the system of slavery, ill breaking up families,
has affected my mind powerfully and painfully.
Parents sustain most important relations to their
children, as well as to each other. Who can be
so much interested in the temporal and eternal
well-being of the child as those by whose instrumentality he had his existence? Who has so
much influence over him, or who could direct his
feet in the way he should go, so well?  God has
imposed upon all parents most important duties,
which they may not neglect. These duties are
as truly incumbent on the slave-parent as on the
master who sustains the same relation. It may
be, indeed, extensively true that he does not
understand them, and is in a great measure incompetent to discharge themn; and that often the
child suffers nothing morally or intellectually by
being removed from his influence. But this
results in a great measure from the hopeless
ignorance in which the parent is involved.
There are, however, as you can bear witness,
takes a companion, and they consent and engage to live
together as husband and wife until death, and they thus
declare their intentions before others, whether any legal
form is gone through or not, they are as truly "no more
twain but one flesh" as were Adam and Eve.  It has been
thus decided by our courts in regard to white persons.
75 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
multitudes of exceptions. In how many cases
are slave-parents truly pious and intelligent, and
feel as much solicitude for the eternal interests
of their children, as you do for yours, and pray
with them as frequently and as fervently. With
how much pleasure did you and I listen to your
"Jamie," one time when  we  were taling  an
evening stroll past his cabin, and overheard his
family prayer. With what simplicity and earnestness did he pour out his soul to God for the
salvation of his "dear children."  And do you
not remember, too, how with equal importunity
he prayed God to "bless dear kind Massa and
Missus, and dere precious children, and also
Massa's friend, and dat all may meet to praise
Jesus togedder in heaven," and how we found it
difficult to speak for a minute or two, and how
the big tear-drops stood in our eyes, and we
could n't help it?
You told me there were a great many
"Jamies" at the South, and I have no doubt of
it; they love their little ones as well, and who so
competent to train them up for Christ?  Who
will presume to step in between these parents
and their children and say, this family altar shall
be broken down, and those who have bowed
around it shall be separated, to meet no more till
they meet at the judgment? Who will peril his
t
76 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
own soul by taking those children away from
such an influence, and for a pecuniary consideration cast them upon the wide world with none to
instruct them, and none to care or pray for them,
except their heart-broken parents whom they
have left behind? I would not do it, neither
would you, for the wealth of the world; and yet,
is it not often done? In speaking of this subject, one of the most eminent southern divines *
uses the following language:  "Slavery, as it
exists among us, sets up between parents and
their children an authority higher than the impulse of nature and the laws of God; breaks up
the authority of the father over his own offspring,
and at pleasure separates the mother at a returnless distance from her child, thus outraging all
decency and justice." I shall refer to the sentiments of this brother again.
I remain as ever,
Affectionately yours, etc.
* Rev. R. I. Breckenridge, D. D.
77 
LETTER VII.
THE CROWNIING EVIL  OF SLAVERY. - PRECIOUSNESS OF THE
BIBLE. - OUR CHART  AND COMPASS ON LIFE'S VOYAGE IN DISPENSABLE. - ORAL INSTRUCTIONS INSUFFICIENT. - DANGERS.
- StIPWRECK ALMOST INEVITABLE. - WITHHELD FROM THE
SLAVE. - SHUTS MULTITUDES OUT OF HEAVEN. - AMERICAN
BIBLE SOCIETY. - TESTIMONY OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY. - OF
SYNOD OF KENTUCKY. - OF DR. BRECKENRIDGE.
MY DEAR BROTHER,- There is one feature of
slavery, fourthly, which gives me more pain
by far than any other, and I may say more than
all others put together, and that is, it imperils the
immortal souls of millions of our fellow-beings
by keeping from them the Word of God.
Next to the Saviour, and the Holy Spirit, the
most precious gift God has bestowed on man is
the Bible. This volume contains our only perfect rule of life, and is our only guide to heaven.
It teaches us our character and our destiny; it
alone raises the curtain between time and eternity, and dissipates the darkness that otherwise
would forever enshroud the grave; it reveals to
(78) 
FRIENDLY LETTERS, ETC.
us another state of being, in which we shall be
happy or miserable, ages without end. On this
Book alone do we depend for our knowledge of
the way of salvation by Christ. It is here we
read the story of the manger and the cross, and
the wonderful plan of redemption through atoning blood. What could we do without the
Bible? It is of infinitely greater value than
houses and lands, silver and gold, and every
earthly good beside. To take from us the Bible,
would be like blotting out the sun in the heavens,
and enveloping the universe in the gloom and
darkness of eternal night. Take from me riches,
honors, pleasures, comforts, and even liberty
itself; and  give  me  instead thereof poverty,
disgrace, pains, affliction, hunger, cold, nakedness, and a dungeon; tear me from my friends,
bind me with chains, scourge me with the lash,
brand my flesh with hot irons, deprive me of
every source of earthly good, and inflict upon me
every kind of bodily and mental anguish which
the utmost refinement of cruelty can invent;but give me my Bible -leave me this precious
treasure, which is the gift of my heavenly Father,
to teach me his will and guide me to himself.
Torture and destroy my body, if you will, but
O! give me facilities for saving my soul. Turn
me not adrift on life's troubled ocean to seek
79 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
alone a far distant shore, exposed continually to
storms, breakers, hidden reefs, whirlpools, and
shoals, with nothing but a few verbal instructions to direct my way. If I am to make this
fearful voyage, (and make it I must,) take not
from me my chart and compass. Your verbal
directions I shall be likely to forget when I most
need them. The polestar, which you tell me
may be my guide, is often for a long time
concealed by impenetrable clouds.   There are
fearful maelstroms, near the verge of whose
deceptive and destructive circles my course lies,
and ere I am aware of it I shall have passed
the fatal line, from which no voyager returns.
Between me and my desired haven there
is a "hell-gate," where are sunken rocks and
conflicting currents, and amid all these complicated dangers my frail bark will make shipwreck, without my chart and compass.  Deprived of these, I cannot keep my reckoning, I
cannot shape my course, I cannot find my
haven.
I need not tell you, my dear brother, that it is a
part of the slaveholding policy to take from thousands and millions of immortal beings in our
nominally Christian land, this precious chart and
compass,  the Bible, the only safe guide to
heaven. I have often heard you speak of it,
80 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
and deplore it. Those severe laws which forbid
teaching the slave to read, do virtually take from
him the Bible,- his directory to the New Jerusalem. You may, indeed, give him oral instruction, and in many instances, no doubt, they are
blessed to his conversion; but how utterly inadequate are they to his spiritual wants, how imperfect are they at best, and in how many thousands
of cases are even these entirely wanting. Every
enlightened and intelligent Christian knows, from
his own experience, how hard it is to enter the
"strait gate,"  and  to keep in  the  "narrow
way," and how needful to him are all the helps
within his reach, and then he is but "scarcely
saved." What hope is there, then, for the poor
slave, who is deprived, not only of most of the
ordinary and extraordinary means of grace which
we enjoy, but is forbidden the printed Word of
God? Is not a fearful responsibility incurred
by those who, for any reason, stand between
God and his children, and intercept those mes
sages of grace and mercy which are contained
in the Holy Scriptures?
That noble institution, the American Bible Society, is multiplying copies of the sacred Word by
thousands and hundreds of thousands, and scattering them over the land and the world; it hesitates not to thrust them into the hands of the fol
6
81 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
lowers of the false prophet,- the deluded followers of the man of sin, - the disciples of Confucius and Zoroaster, -the worshippers of Juggernaut and Vishnoo, and the degraded inhabitants
of the South Seas and Caffraria;-it benevolently resolves to put a copy of the Bible into the
dwelling of every white family in these United
States; but it is obliged by law to pass by the
cabin of the slave, and leave more than three
millions of immortal beings to find the road to
heaven the best way they can.
My brother, I cannot think of these things
without the deepest grief, and I know that you
fully sympathize with me; but it is some consolation to believe that the great mass of evangelical Christians take the same views of the wrongs
inflicted upon the slave that we do, for it is to
the Christian sentiment of this country that we
must look for the removal of them.
Our brethren of the Presbyterian church have
borne their testimony most fully and pointedly
against the evils of slavery which we have been
considering. You doubtless recollect the action
of the General Assembly on this subject in 1818.
A committee was appointed, to whom was referred certain resolutions on the subject of selling
a slave,- a member of the church, - and which
was directed to prepare a report to be adopted
82 
TO A CHRISTIAN  SLAVEHOLDER.
by the Assembly, expressing their opinion in
general on the subject of slavery. The report of
this committee was unanimously adopted, and
ordered to be published. It is, in part, as follows:   "The General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church, having taken into consideration the subject of slavery, think proper to make known
their sentiments upon it to the churches.
"We  consider the voluntary enslaving of the
one part of the human race by another, as a
gross violation of the most precious and sacred
rights of human nature; as utterly inconsistent
with the law of God, which requires us to love
our neighbors as ourselves; and as totally irreconcilable with the spirit and principles of the
gospel of Christ, which enjoins 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 circumstances as scarcely to leave them the power
of moral action. It exhibits 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 endear
83 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
ments 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,
-consequences, not imaginary, but which connect themselves with its very existence. 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 that in many instances,
through the influence of the principles of humanity and religion on the minds of masters, they
do not, still the slave is 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
which inhumanity and avarice may suggest."
An Address from the Synod of Kentucky, in
1835, to the Presbyterians of that State, is much
more specific in its delineations of the evils of
slavery, and in its denunciations of the system,
and adopts language far more severe than many
northern Christians would think it expedient to
use. It presents a picture of its actual workings
which could be drawn only by one who had seen
the original. If you have not read this address,
I beg that you will do so. It is altogether a
84 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
exists among us? We reply, it is that condition
enforced by the laws of one half of the States of
this confederacy, in which one portion of the community, called masters, are allowed such power
over another portion called slaves, as  " 1. To deprive them of the entire earnings of
their own labor, except so much as is necessary
to continue labor itself by continuing healthful
existence: thus committing clear robbery.
"2. To reduce them to the necessity of universal concubinage, by denying to them the civil
rights of marriage, thus breaking up the dearest
relations of life, and encouraging universal prostitution.
"3. To deprive them of the means and opportunities of moral and intellectual culture, in many
States making it a high penal offence to teach
them to read, thus perpetuating whatever of evil
there is that proceeds from ignorance.
" 4. To set up between parents and their children an authority higher than the impulse of
nature and the laws of God, which breaks up the
authority of the father over his own offspring,
and at pleasure separates the mother at a returnless distance from her child, thus abrogating the
clearest laws of nature, thus outraging all decency
and justice, and degrading and oppressing thou.
86 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
sands upon thousands of beings, created like
themselves in the image of the most high God!
This is slavery as it is daily exhibited in every
slave State."
Yes, such is the nature and character of an institution in this enlightened Christian republic,
claiming to be the freest nation on earth, calling
itself "an asylum for the oppressed," inviting the
downtrodden subjects of all the despots of the
old world to come to this happy land, and place
themselves under the protection of the American
eagle, and in this "eyrie of the free" taste and
enjoy the sweets of liberty!
The views presented in the above extracts may
be taken, it is to be presumed, as an exponent of
the southern Christian sentiment on domestic
slavery. There are, indeed, exceptions. It is
painful to notice that within a few years some
men of reputed piety and worth have been at tempting to maintain that American slavery is a
"divine and patriarchal institution," "sanctioned
by the Bible,' -is "necessary to the highest
state of society," and is "to be perpetuated;"
but I am happy to believe that the number of
those who hold such views, repudiating those of
the Presbyterian church, and at the same time
call themselves disciples of Him who said, "what
87 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
sands upon thousands of beings, created like
themselves in the image of the most high God!
This is slavery as it is daily exhibited in every
slave State."
Yes, such is the nature and character of an institution in this enlightened Christian republic,
claiming to be the freest nation on earth, calling
itself " an asylum for the oppressed," inviting the
downtrodden subjects of all the despots of the
old world to come to this happy land, and place
themselves under the protection of the American
eagle, and in this " eyrie of the free" taste and
enjoy the sweets of liberty!
The views presented in the above extracts may
be taken, it is to be presumed, as an exponent of
the southern Christian sentiment on domestic
slavery. There are, indeed, exceptions. It is
painful to notice that within a few years some
men of reputed piety and worth have been at tempting to maintain that American slavery is a
"divine and patriarchal institution," "sanctioned
by the Bible," - is "necessary to the highest
state of society," and is "to be perpetuated;"
but I am happy to believe that the number of
those who hold such views, repudiating those of
the Presbyterian church, and at the same time
call themselves disciples of Him who said, " what
87 
FRIENDLY LETTERS, ETC.
soever ye would that men should do to you, do
ye even so to them," is comparatively small.
I close this long letter by subscribing myself,
as ever,
Your affectionate
Friend and Brother.
88 
LETTER VIII.
THREE QUESTIONS SUGGESTED. -1. MUST SLAVERY BE  PERPET UAL?-2. DOES THE CHURCH OF CHRIST SUSTAIN ANY RESPON SIBILITY IN THIS MATTER?-3. WHAT SHALL WE DO?
MY DEAR CHRISTIAN FRIEND, - I fear I shall
make myself tedious to you by dwelling so long
upon this, to me, painful subject,-slavery. I will,
therefore, in the present letter, finish what I have
to say for the present, hoping that our future correspondence may be on more grateful themes.
There are a few questions which are suggested
to us by the brief view we have taken of this
most important subject. The first is, Must slavery,
with all its attendant evils, be perpetuated? Must
this blot rest upon our beloved country, and tarnish its escutcheon forever? I am persuaded
that the spontaneous answer from the Christian
heart of this nation is, No! It was never contemplated by Washington nor Jefferson nor
Adams, nor by the framers of our Constitution,
nor by the great mass of noble patriots who
(89) 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
perilled their all for the independence of their
country, that slavery was to be handed down to
posterity. If you will look at the writings of the
leading public men of the last century, you will
find, that, almost without exception, they looked
upon slavery in the United States as a temporary
evil, to be removed as soon as circumstances
would permit. They regarded it not only a
wrong inflicted upon the slave, but an incubus
upon the nation, soon to pass away.
The great body of Christians in our land have
been looking forward to the time, and praying for
its arrival, when all the oppressed within our
borders shall go free. That the time will come
when slavery shall cease in our land, I as fully
believe as I believe that there is a God who presides over and directs the destinies of men.
You and I may not live to see the day; but it
will come.
Another question suggested is, Does the church
of Christ in this country sustain any responsibility in regard to slavery, and has she any duty to
discharge in relation to it? By the church of
Christ, I mean the great mass of Christians of
every name who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity,
both North and South.
This question is easily answered. There are
no evils existing in the Christian's field of labor
90 
TO A CHPRISTIAN SLAVEIIOLDER.
the world- in regard to which he has not some
responsibility, and for the removal of which he
is not bound to do something. As a general
truth, the nearer the evils come to our own firesides and bosoms, the weightier those responsibilities become. The hundreds of millions of
heathens in foreign lands lying in sin and degradation appeal to our sympathy and efforts, and
that appeal we may not disregard. But the
heathen in our own land have on us much
stronger claims, and our obligations to put forth
efforts in their behalf are more imperious.
Slavery is a great evil and sin, which affects
not only individuals, but our country; and, both
as Christians and patriots, we ought to be sensibly alive to every thing that affects our common
weal. You who live at the South, it may be, have
more responsibility in this matter than we at the
North; but none of us can say, "because I am
not personally implicated in inflicting wrongs
upon the slave, therefore I have nothing to do for
their removal." Should this become the universal
sentiment of the church, Satan's kingdom ill our
world would never come to an end, and wicked
ness would prevail forever.  The siirit of Christianity, although preeminently mild, gentle, patient,
and long-suffering, is nevertheless, in an important
91 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
sense, aggressive. It has ever claimed the right
of interesting itself in the welfare of every human
creature - to exert its influence to check the
progress of sin in every form- to attack error in
principle and in practice -to "loose the bands
of wickedness," -  " undo  heavy  burdens," -
"break every yoke,"-  " deliver the poor and
needy," -  and to "remember them that are in
bonds as bound with them."  This, by some, may
be called officiousness, but we cannot help it; it
is a part of the Christian's legitimate business to
volunteer his influence and his services (in every.
proper way) in opposing wrong, and to stand up
and plead the cause of those who suffer it the
world over. He cannot refrain from doing so,
without proving himself false to his Master and
his Master's cause.
Admitting, then, that all Christians have
some kind of responsibility and duty devolving on them, a most important question
comes  up.   Thirdly,  what  shall  they  do?
There are certainly some things which it is
perfectly evident we should not do, - though
we should rebuke this and every sin, we
should not give vent to our hatred of the
system in ebullitions of wrath, invective, and
abuse  toward  slaveholders.    Thus  did  not
92 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEHOLDER.
Christ nor his apostles. This is not in accordance with the Christian spirit, and could be
productive only of evil.
Neither should we endeavor to exert an influence over the slaves to make them restive and
disobedient; none but an enemy to the true interests, both of the slave and his country, would
do that, unless under some hallucination.
Neither should we interfere politically with slavery beyond the boundaries of our own State, in
States where it now exists by the laws of the land.
I might go on indefinitely, and specify what we
should not do; but this does not meet the case;
-what shall we do?  It would be arrogance in
me to attempt a full answer to a question that
has engaged the attention of many abler heads
and better hearts than mine, but there are some
things which have already been said by others,
that cannot be too frequently repeated.
In the first place, we can commit this whole
matter to God in humble, earnest prayer. Here
is something which we can all do, North and
South, and in which we shall all be agreed.
However much we may differ in regard to the
safety and expediency of other measures to
moderate the condition of the slave and bring
about his ultimate emancipation, we are of one
mind in regard to the safety and efficacy of
93 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
prayer. One effect of this will be to unite our
own hearts more closely in sympathy and love.
There will be no danger of calling each other
hard names, bandying unchristian epithets, and
biting and devouring one another, if we are in the
habit of meeting daily at the throne of grace to
pray for a cause in which we take a mutual
interest.
By prayer we may hope to be enlightened
more fully in regard to our duty. " If any man
lack wisdom," and surely we all do on this
subject, "let him ask of God."
In answer to prayer, we have reason to hope
that God will open the eyes to teach the hearts
of all slaveholders, and lead them to "do justly
and love mercy," and also that he will, in his
holy and wise Providence, redress the wrongs of
his oppressed children, and prepare the way for
their ultimate emancipation.
Prayer is the Christian's first and last resort.
Let us, then, my dear brother, pray over this subject continuously, and with an earnestness commensurate with its importance, and then, I doubt
not, we shall ourselves be more enlightened than
we now are as to our future course.
A second duty, hardly less obvious than prayer,
is to use all the influence we possess to prevent
the extension of the domain of slavery. To this
94 
TO A C]IRISTIAN SLAVEIHOLDER.
end, we should utter our voices long and loud in
remonstrance against any such measure. If we
and our legislators may not politically interfere
with slavery in States where it now exists, we
may interfere to prevent it from exerting its baleful influence over territory now free. We should
do many things for the sake of peace and conciliation. We have heretofore made concessions
and compromises - perhaps too many - on
this subject; but here is where the people of
God, North and South, should make a stand,
and declare before heaven and earth, and with
an emphasis which cannot be misunderstood, that
not another inch of our public domain shall be
cursed with slavery for any consideration whatever, if our influence can prevent it. In our remonstrances, we will be respectful, but firm.
Let our politicians know that all persons who
are governed by Christian principle, through the
length and breadth of the land, have taken their
position, and that the mountains shall be removed out of their places, ere they will swerve
from it, and there will be but little danger of
slave extension.
In the third place, we should use every endeavor to disseminate the gospel of Christ, and
bring its principles to bear upon all classes of
persons, North and South. If we can do this
95 
FRIENDLY LETTERS
effectually, it is all sufficient.   The Gospel, if
faithfully applied, is a sure remedy for every
social and moral evil that ever existed. WVe at
the North should demonstrate to our slaveholding friends whom we wish to influence, that
we ourselves are governed by its spirit, and
actuated by its principle, in all that we do in
relation to this subject.  It is not ambition, a
lust for power, sectional jealousy, a spirit of
censoriousness or ill-will, that prompts us to
what they have been in the habit of regarding as
intermeddling with their affairs, in which we
have no concern, but a spirit of love,-love not
less to them than to their slaves. And then, in
the temper of Christ, we will bring the Gospel to
bear on the slaveholder's conscience and sense of
justice. We will hold up and keep before his
mind the great rule of life given by Him who
spake as never man spake, -"Whatsoever ye
would that men should do to you, do you even so
to them." Let this rule be once adopted and
carried out, and it is enough. Human beings
would no more be sold as beasts in the market,
and driven to unrequited toil; the minds of men
would no longer be kept in ignorance; the domestic circle would never again be invaded by the
hand of sordid avarice separating husbands and
wives, parents and children, doing savage violence
96 
TO A CHRISTIAN SLAVEIIOLDER.
to the noblest affections of our nature; the Bible
would be put into the hands of every slave, and
he would be taught to read it; common schools
and Sabbath schools would be everywhere established and maintained, as well for the slave
as for the white child; the master would regard
those whom he now holds as property as his
own brethren, going with him to the same judgment, and destined finally to dwell with him as
his equals, in the same heaven, and to wear as
bright crowns and sing as rapturous a song as
he. Hle would immediately set himself about
preparing his slaves for emancipation, and for
the enjoyment of those natural rights, of which
they have for so long a time been most unjustly
deprived. In short, slavery, as the term is now
understood, would cease instantly, and a kind,
parental guardianship would take its place, and
every southern plantation would be transformed
into a moral garden of beauty and happiness,
and universal and entire emancipation would follow with the least possible delay. And, finally,
we should if possible bring the Gospel to bear
upon the great body politic, upon our presidents,
our governors, our National and State legislators. It would seem that some of our lawmakers are much better acquainted with Blackstone and Vatte], than they are with the Lord
7
97 
FRIENDLY LETTERS, ETC.
Jesus Christ, or they would not disgrace our
statute-books with laws which ignore the "higher
laws" of God. We should often remind them
that this is a Christian, and not a heathen or
infidel republic; and that every enactment, not
consistent with the gospel of Christ and inalienable human rights, does violence to the Christian
sentiment and Christian conscience of the nation,
and must be repealed. If they will not hear us,
we have only to appoint more faithful servants,
who will do as they are told. We have no idea
of "uniting church and state," but to infuse as
much of the Gospel into the state as possible is
both a privilege and duty; and when all our
affairs and institutions, public, domestic, and
private, are administered on gospel principles,
we shall become a free, prosperous, and happy
people, and not till then.
And now, may God bless you, my dear brother,
and guide you, and guide us all, to pursue such
a course in regard to the three and a half millions of slaves in our professedly free republic as
will afford us the most satisfaction when we
meet them as our equals at the judgment-seat
of Christ.
With high esteem and much affection,
I remain your Christian brother,
A. C. BALIDWIr.
98 
AN ESSAY,
BY
REV. TIMOTHY WILLISTON.
IS AMERICAN SLAVERY AN INSTITUTION WIIICII CHRISTIANITY
SANCTIONS, AND WILL PERPETUATE? AND, IN VIEW
OF THIS SUBJECT, WHAT OUGHT AMERICAN
CHRPISTIANS TO DO, AND REFRAIN
FROM DOING?
Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto. - TERENCE.
Bear ye one another's burdens. - PAUL.
(99)
,,;                  t- -   -:s 
,-         -,, eId   * 
'! I.F.   
ESSAY.
A GREAT moral question is, in this nineteenth
century, being tried before the church of Christ,
and at the bar of public sentiment. It is, Whether
the system of servitude known as American slavery be a system whose perpetuity is compatible with pure Christianity? Whether, with the
Bible in her hand, the church may lawfully indorse, participate in, and help perpetuate, this system? Or whether, on the other hand, the system
be, in its origin, nature, and workings, intrinsically evil; a thing which, if, like concubinage
and polygamy, God has indeed tolerated in his
church, he never approved of; and which, in the
progress of a pure Christianity, must inevitably
become extinct? I feel assured that the latter
of these propositions will, without argument,
command the assent of the mass of living
(101) 
ESSAY.
Christians. But there are those in the church
who array themselves on the other side. While
they would not justify the least inhumanity in
the treatment of slaves, they profess to believe
that slavery itself has the approbation of Jehovah, and may with propriety be perpetuated in
the church and the world.  At  their hands  I
would respectfully solicit a patient hearing, while
I proceed to assign several reasons for differing
with them in opinion.
First. Slavery is a condition of society not
founded in nature. When God, in his Word,
demands that children shall be in subordination
to their parents, and citizens to the constituted
civil authorities, we need no why and wherefore
to enable us to see the reasonableness of these
requirements. We feel that they are no arbitrary enactments, but indispensable to the best
interests of families and of society, and therefore founded in nature.   We  are prepared, too,
from their obvious necessity and utility, to rank
them among the permanent statutes of the Divine
Legislator.  But can as muchbe said of slavery?
Is there such an obvious fitness and utility in
one man's being, against his will, owned and
controlled by another, as to prepare us to say that
such an ownership is founded in the very constitution of things?   None will pretend  that
102 
ESSAY.
there is. Not only is slavery not founded in
nature, but,
Second. It is condemned by the very instincts
of our moral constitution. These instincts seem
to whisper that "all men  are born free and
equal;" equal, not in intellect, or in the petty
distinctions of parentage, property, or power;
but having, as the creatures of one God, an
equal right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness." Job's moral instincts taught him,
that the fact of all men's having one and the
same Creator gave his servants a right to contend with him, when wronged; and that, if he
"despised their cause," he must answer it to his
God and theirs. That men of all races and
grades are essentially equal before God; that
every man has a right to himself, to the fruits of
his toil, and to the unmolested pursuit of happiness, in all lawful ways; and hence, that slavery,
as existing in these States, is a gigantic system
of evil and wrong, - are truths which the moral
sense of men is everywhere proclaiming with
much emphasis and distinctness. If it be not
so, what means this note of remonstrance, long
and loud, that comes to our ears over the Atlantic wave? Why else did a Mohammedan
prince,* (to say nothing of what nearly all Chris                 * Mehemet Ali.
103 
]ESSAY.
tian governments have done,) put an end to slavery in his dominions before he died? And how
else shall we account for that moral earthquake
which has for years been rocldking this great republic to its very centre? One cannot thoughtfully observe the signs of the times,- no, nor the
workings of his own heart, methinks, - without
perceiving that slavery is at war with the moral
sense of mankind. If there be any conscience
that approves, it must be a conscience perverted by wrong instruction, or by a vicious
practice. And can that be a good institution,
and worthy of perpetuity, which an unperverted
conscience instinctively condemns?
Third. The bad character of slavery becomes
yet more apparent, if we consider the manner in
which it has chiefly originated and been sustained. Did God institute the relation of master
and slave, as he did the conjugal and parental
relations?  It is not pretended.  In what, then,
did slavery have its beginning?  Doubtless the
first slaves were captives, taken in war. In primitive ages, the victors in war were considered as
having a right to do what they pleased with their
captives; and so it sometimes happened that they
were put to death, and sometimes that they were
made to serve their captors as bondmen. Thus
slavery was at first the incidental result of war.
104 
ESSAY.
But as time rolled on, the love of power and of
gain prompted men to make aggressions on their
weaker neighbors, for the very purpose of enslaving them; and, eventually, man-stealing and the
slave-trade became familiar facts in the world's
history. Upon these has slavery, for centuries
past, depended mainly for its continuance. And,
although these feeders of slavery are now by
Christian nations branded as piracy and strictly
vetoed, they are far from being exterminated.
Indeed, it seems to be well understood, that, if all
commerce in slaves, foreign and domestic, ceases,
slavery itself must soon become extinct.
Now if man-stealing be an act which the Word
of God and the moral instincts of men do most
pointedly condemn,- and I will attempt no demonstration of this here, - what shall we say of
that which is its legitimate offspring and dependant? Far be it from me to affirm, that, circumstanced as our southern brethren are, it is just as
criminal for them to hold slaves as it would be
to go now to Africa and forcibly seize them.
But, in the spirit of love, I would ask my slave holding brother, Can that be a justifiable institu tion, and deserving to be upheld, which has so
bad a parentage?  "Do men gather grapes of
thorns?"  "Who can bring a clean thing out of
an unclean?"
105 
ESSAY.
Fourth.  There are, in the Scriptures, many
clear indications that slavery has not the approbation of God, and hence has not the stamp of
perpetuity upon it. Under this head, let us notice
several distinct particulars.
1. Had  God regarded servitude as a good
thing, he would not, in authoritatively predicting its existence, have said, "Cursed be Canaan;
a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." What God visits men with as a curse
cannot be intrinsically good and beneficial.
2. The judgments with which God visited
Egypt and her proud monarch, for refusing to
emancipate the Israelites, and for essaying to recapture them, when let go, and the wages which
he caused his people, when released, to receive
for their hitherto unrequited toils, clearly evince
that he has no complacency in compulsory, unrewarded servitude.
3. The same thing is indicated by the fact
that God has, by statute, provided expressly for
the protection and freedom of an escaped slave;
but not for the recovery of such a fugitive by his
master. " Thou shalt not deliver unto his
master, the servant which is escaped from his
master unto thee: he shall dwell with thee,
even among you in that place which he shall
choose....    Thou  shalt not oppress him."
106 
ESSAY.
Now be it, if you will, that this statute had reference only to servants who should escape into the
land of Israel from Gentile masters; does it not
indicate a strong bias, in the mind of God, to the
side of freedom, rather than that of slavery? And
does it not establish the point, that, in God's estimation, one man cannot rightfully be deemed
the property of another man? Were it otherwise, would not the Jew have been required to
restore a runaway to his pursuing master, just as
he was to restore any other lost thing which its
owner should come in search of? Or, to say the
least, would not the Israelites have been allowed
to reduce to servitude among themselves the
escaped slave of a heathen master? But how
unlike all this are the actual requirements of the
statute. God's people must neither deliver up,
the fugitive nor enslave him  themselves; but
allow him to dwell among them as a FREEMAN,
just "where it liketh him best."  And, in this
connection, how significant a fact is it, that the
Bible nowhere empowers the master from whom
a slave had escaped to. pursue, seize, and drag
back to bondage that escaped slave.
4. That which constitutes the grand fountain
of slavery, - the forcible, stealthy seizure of a
man, for the purpose of holding or selling him as
a slave, -was, under the Mosaic dispensation,,
107 
ESSAY.
punishable with death; and is, in the New Testament, named in connection with the most heinous crimes. "Hie that stealeth a man, and
selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall
surely be put to death." What could more forcibly exhibit God's disapprobation of one of the
distinctive features of slavery, -  compulsion?
What more impressively show the value that he
puts upon a man's personal independence, -his
Tight to himself? Now if God doomed that man
to die a felon's death who should steal and sell
a fellow man, can it be that he would hold him
guiltless who should buy the stolen man, knowing him to have been stolen? God's people
were, indeed, allowed to " buy bondmen and bondmaids" of the strangers that dwelt among them,
and of the surrounding heathen. But were they
ever allowed to buy persons whom they knew to
have been unlawfully obtained, and offered for
sale in manifest opposition to their own wishes?
If they were not, - and, from the statute just
referred to, it seems certain that they were not, -
does American slavery derive countenance from
that which was tolerated in the Jewish church
and nation? True, the slaves now held as such
among us were not themselves feloniously seized
on a foreign soil, torn away from kindred, homes,
and country, and sold into hopeless bondage in a
108 
ESSAY.
strange land; but their sires and grandsires were.
Man-stealing is confessedlyithe stock out of which
has sprung, and grown to its present dimensions,
the vast and overshadowing Upas of American
slavery; and if the Bible brands that stock as
pestiferous, must not the entire tree partake of
the noxious influence? Again: if, as competent
critics assert, the popular sense of the word rendered "men-stealers," in 1 Tim. i. 10, be "those
who deal in men -literally, slave-traders," then
trafficking in slaves for mercenary ends is, by
Paul, ranked among vices the most abominable;
and American slavery is, if possible, more pointedly condemned by that passage than by the
statute found in Ex. xxi. 16. For who does not
know that trading in "the persons of men" has
ever been, and yet is, a main pillar in the fabric
of slavery? Indeed, man-stealing and slave-trading are to slave-holding precisely what the business of the distiller and of the vendor is to the
vice of intemperance. There is, in either case,
a trio of associated evils; and it is difficult to say
which member of either trio is the most repulsive
and harmful.
If, now, it be objected to this argument from
the Bible, that the Mosaic institutes expressly
recognize such a thing as involuntary servitude,
and prescribe rules for its regulation, I answer:
109 
ESSAY.
true, but the servitude thus recognized and regulated by statute was of a far milder type than
that which is legalized in these American States.
For, 1. It allowed the bondman a large amount
of leisure, or time which he need not devote to
his master's service; 2. It made it possible for
him to accumulate a considerable amount of
property; 3. It placed him on a perfect level with
his master, in regard to religious privileges;
4. It gave him his freedom whenever he should
be so chastised as to result in permanent injury
to his person: thus operating as a powerful preventive of inhumanity in chastising; 5. It respected the sanctity of the conjugal and parental
relations, when existing among bondmen, and did
not authorize a compulsory severing of family
ties; 6. It made no provision for the sale of a
servant by his Jewish master, nor for any such
domestic commerce in the persons of men as is
practised in the southern States of this Union;
7. It provided for the periodical emancipation of
all that were in bondage; thus aiming a fatal
blow at the very existence of servitude in the
Hebrew commonwealth. I may not, consistently
with the necessary brevity of a tract designed
for popular perusal, go into any demonstration
of the facts above asserted. For proof that
they are facts, let my readers studiously examine
110 
ESSAY.
the Mosaic books, and the Rev. A. Barnes's "Inquiry into the Scriptural Views of Slavery." I
see not how any candid and discriminating investigator can help being convinced that the servitude which was temporarily tolerated in the
Jewish church was, in numerous respects, very
unlike to that which exists among us, and far
less repulsive.
But suppose, for argument's sake, it had been
just as repulsive a system as ours, would the fact
of its having been tolerated under the Jewish
economy prove it to be intrinsically good, and
worthy of being perpetuated? Then, by parity
of reasoning, the good men of ancient times
might safely have concluded that certain other
practices were good and would endure, which
we know were not good, and were not to last.
Had the question been propounded in Abraham's
or in David's day, whether polygamy and concubinage were approved of God, and would be
perpetuated in the church, it is probable that even
the saints of those periods would have responded
affirmatively. The fact that God had so long
allowed his people to practise these things unrebuked, might, to them, have seemed sufficient
proof that these practices were intrinsically
proper, and were to rank among the permanent
fixtures of human society.  But were Abraham
ill 
ESSAY.
and David now on the earth, with wThat changed
feelings would they regard the cast-off system of
concubinage and a plurality of wives. Again:
suppose the conjecture had been hazarded, three
thousand years ago, that woman, from being a
menial drudge, or a mere medium of bestial indulgence, would one day occupy the dignified
position to which Christianity has actually lifted
her, would not incredulity have lurked in every
heart, and found expression on every tongue?
Now there are plain indications not only in the
Word, but the providences of God, that he never
regarded slavery with complacency, any more
than he did polygamy, concubinage, or the serfdom of woman; and that he never designed its
perpetuity. Scrutinizing that Word and those
providences, one needs no prophetic ken to enable
him to predict with certainty, that, when Christ's
millennial reign is ushered in, contraband will be
inscribed on slavery, as it already has been on
some other evils that were once tolerated, not
only in society, but in the church of God.
But I shall be reminded here, that, when the
apostles were disseminating Christianity in the
Roman empire, there prevailed thoughout that
empire a system of slavery more odious and oppressive than ours; and yet that both slaveholders and slaves were converted and admitted
112 
ESSAY.
to the church, without its affecting the relation
of master and slave; that the New Testament
instructs the parties how to demean themselves
in that relation, but nowhere enjoins emancipation on the master, or encourages absconding or
non-submission in the slave; in short, that it nowhere expressly condemns slavery, or intimates
that its extermination was to be expected or desired. In reply to this, I would say,  (1.) To infer, because the New Testament enjoins obedience on slaves, and makes no direct
attack on the institution of slavery, that it therefore sanctions the institution, and would have it
perpetuated, is as much a non sequitur as to infer, because God enjoins on men subjection to
existing civil authorities, whatever may be their
character, that he as much approves of a despotic
as of a constitutional government,- of the government of Ferdinand of Naples as of that of Victoria of England. Nor is it more difficult to
comprehend why God has, in the Scriptures,
made no direct assault on slavery, than it is to
see why He has not directly assailed governmental despotisms, or expressed any preference for
one form of government over another. An obvious and far-seeing wisdom is discernible in
this, which it behooves us to admire, and not
unfrequently to imitate.  Had the apostles or
8
113 
ESSAY.
the Scriptures openly denounced all absolutism,
whether civil or domestic, it would have aroused
unnecessary prejudice and opposition, and
diverted the attention of men from the grand
object aimed at in giving the world a written
and preached gospel. God deemed it wiser to
reach these evils through the slow but sure progress of certain great principles laid down in his
Word, than through the medium of specific prohibitions.
(2.) The fact that the apostles received into
the church converts who not only held slaves,
but held them under a slave-system that was
awfully despotic, was no indorsement on their
part of that odious system, nor even of the
slightest inhumanity on the part of a master
towards his slaves. It does, indeed, prove that a
man may be a Christian, without ceasing to be
a slaveholder in form; but not that a master
may indulge in all the legal barbarities of the
system, and  yet be  a Christian.   Merely  to
sustain the relation of a Christian master for the
good of the slave, or from the necessity of the
case, is one thing, while to advocate and defend
this chattel system, and hold in bondage fellow
human beings for personal and selfish ends, is
quite another thing. Nowhere do the Scriptures
countenance, or even wink at, the least degree
114 
ESSAY.
of inhumanity or injustice in the treatment of
servants. So far from this, they expressly enjoin
it on masters to "give unto their servants that
which is just and equal," all the law of disinterested love would require; accompanying the
injunction with the significant hint, that they
themselves have a Master, and that with him
there is "no respect of persons."
(3.) Though the Scriptures do not directly
assail the system of slavery, they indirectly and
obviously condemn it, and that very abundantly.
Slavery is indirectly and yet strongly rebuked in
such passages of Scripture as the following:
"Wo  unto him  that.......useth his neighbor's service without wages."  "Is not this the
fast that I have  chosen,....  to  undo  the
heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free,
and that ye break every yoke?" "  What doth the
Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love
mercy?....    " Have we not all one Father?
Hath not one God  created us?".... "And
hath made of one blood all nations of men, for
to dwell on all the face of the earth;....  that
they should seek the Lord.".... "God is no respecter of persons."  "The people of the land
have used oppression.....therefore have  I
poured out mine indignation upon them."....
"Thou  shalt love thy neighbor  as  thyself"
115 
ESSAY.
"Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that
men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
It needs no unusual acuteness to see, that, were
the spirit of these and kindred passages (for numerous others of the sort might have been cited)
everywhere acted out, slavery would as readily
vanish, as do the icebergs of the North, if perchance they float away into milder latitudes.
Fifth. To the four reasons already assigned for
thinking that slavery has not God's approbation,
and ought not to be perpetuated, I will add but
one more,-its baleful effects.  (1).  As it respects worldly thrift, or pecuniary prosperity. It
is a fact, that slavery exerts a depressing influence on the business welfare of any community where it prevails; and that, other things
being equal, slaveholding States can never compete with free ones in the item of financial
prosperity. A necessary brevity forbids my
pointing out the causes of this fact; but my
readers will, without my aid, readily ascertain
what they are.  Suffice it to say, it has become
a settled maxim of political economy, that there
exists an antagonism between slavery and the
highest business prosperity of any people that
tolerates it; and the southern States of this
Union furnish abundant confirmation of its truth.
(2.)  I will name  but one other thing,-its
116 
ESSAY.
baneful influence on character and morals.
That slavery tends to debase the character and
morals of the slaves will scarcely be questioned.
Apart from the ignorance naturally resulting
from their condition, that condition powerfully
tends to render them sensual, indolent, artful,
mendacious, stealthful, and revengeful. But is
the bad moral tendency of the institution limited to the bondmen? Exerts it no corrupting
influence on the hearts, the habits, and morals of
the masters? Is it not its legitimate tendency
to foster in them such vices as indolence, effeminacy, licentiousness, covetousness, inhumanity,
haughtiness, and a supreme regard for self? Of
course, I do not affirm that it uniformly produces these sad effects on the character of masters. So far from this, there may doubtless be
found slaveholders, who, in all that adorns and
ennobles human character, will compare favorably with the very best men at the North. I
think it will be conceded, however, that the
legitimate tendency is to evil, and that the
effects of slavery on the character of its sustainers
are, in the main, disastrous; and that the depreciated state of morals prevailing where slavery
exists is mainly attributable to this as its source.
I need not here enter into detail.   Facts are
too well known to make this necessary.
117 
ESSAY.
Thus have we contemplated several distinct
reasons for believing that slavery is no good
thing,- has not the sanction of Jehovah, - and
cannot with propriety be perpetuated. Its contrariety to nature, -its antagonism to the moral
sense of mankind, - its disgraceful parentage
and manner of support, -its condemnation by
the Bible, - and its disastrous influence on
financial prosperity, on character, and on public
morals, - all proclaim that slavery, so far from
being a good thing, is a tremendous curse; yea,
more, that it is a stupendous wrong; and
hence, that it should be tolerated in the church
of Christ no longer than the best interests of all
concerned may render necessary for a safe termination.
But it may be, after all, that I have failed to
secure the assent of some of my southern brethren to the justness of the foregoing positions and
inferences. It may be that they still regard the
system of bondage prevailing in their midst
as in the main beneficial, defensible from the
Bible, and, with some modifications perhaps,
worthy of perpetuity. Well, brethren, suppose
you do thus regard it; and for argument's sake
suppose, too, that you may possibly be right, -
that slave-holding may be in itself the harmless
thing which you deem it; ought you not cheer
118 
ESSAY.
fully to abandon it, in obedience to a great Bible
principle, - that of refraining from things which
are in themselves lawful, or which your conscience may not condemn, out of regard to the
conscience of aggrieved Christian brethren, or to
the prejudices of those whose salvation you would
not obstruct? You are aware, brethren, that
this magnanimous principle Paul both inculcated
and exemplified. You are also aware that a
large majority of the Christians now living
regard your cherished institution as unjustifiable,
and at variance with the spirit of Christianity;
and, so regarding it, they long for its extinction,
and are grieved with you for cleaving to it so
tenaciously, and refusing to concert measures
for its ultimate overthrow. Indeed, they are
more than grieved; they are profoundly agitated
by the fresh developments of the iniquitous
system which you are helping to uphold; and
there seems no prospect, while that system endures, of their becoming tranquillized. A tempest has sprung up and is raging in the church
of Christ, - to say nothing of the civilized
world, - which seems not likely to cease till its
cause be removed; and slavery is that cause.
Now I put it to you, brethren, if here be not an
opportunity of exemplifying, on a broad scale,
the self-denying and noble principle which Paul
119 
ESSAY.
indicates in the words, "All things are lawful
for me, but all things are not expedient;"  "Eat
not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience' sake:... conscience, I say, not thine
own, but of the other;" "Though I be free
from all men, yet have I made myself servant
unto all, that I might gain the more." Have it,
if you will, that the brethren for whose sake
you are asked to make this sacrifice are weak
brethren, and  their consciences weak.   Your
obligation to make it is none the less on that
account; for the principle just adverted to contemplates cases of this very sort.  Since the
practice which grieves these weak brethren is
one that you can probably abandon without
wounding your own conscience, are you at liberty to undervalue their conscience by persisting
in that which grieves them?
But how much weighter does this argument
become, when it is remembered that the opposers
of slavery, besides being exceedingly numerous,
have, many of them, been eminent, -not merely
for a conscientious piety, but for talent, for research, for scholarship, for broad and comprehensive views of things; -and that the list
embraces distinguished southern, as well as
northern men; and men of celebrity in both
church and  state.   There  have  been found
120 
ESSAY.
in the anti-slavery ranks, presidents and noble men, jurists and legislators, statesmen and
divines, scholars and authors, poets and orators.
And, still further to enhance the dignity of the
cause, it should be remembered that several
General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church of
the United States, together with numerous lesser
ecclesiastical bodies, have lifted up their voice
in opposition to slavery, and proclaimed substantially the same views which this humble Essay
has aimed to exhibit. Now if, as we have seen,
a deferential regard should be had to the conscience of aggrieved Christian brethren, even
when they are few and feeble-minded, how much
more, when the aggrieved ones are counted in
hundreds of thousands? when theirs is an intelligent piety and an enlightened conscience? and
when, too, their remonstrance is backed up by a
public sentiment that is wellnigh unanimous
through all christendom?
If now, in spite of all these considerations, I
still have readers that say in their hearts, slavery
must be perpetuated, they will pardon me for lingering no longer in the hope of changing their
views. I would be indulged, however, in one
parting interrogation.  Has it never occurred to
you, brethren, that yours is, on some accounts,
a very unfavorable stand-point from which to
121 
ESSAY.
form just and disinterested views of slavery; and
that your very position as slave-holders, and your
long familiarity with the system and its evils,
may have blinded you to the magnitude of those
evils, and to the great desirableness of their being
removed? May it not be that long use, and self interest, and the love of power and ease, have
conspired to warp your judgment, blunt your
sensibilities, and cause you to view slavery
through a deceptive medium?
Having, as I hope, the cordial assent of the
great mass of my readers, northern and southern,
to the foregoing argument against slavery and its
perpetuity, we are now prepared to advance to
the last great division of our subject, and to inquire: What are the duties, positive and negative, which this subject imposes on American
Christians? What does it demand that we, as
Christians, should do, and refrain from doing?
This question subdivides itself thus: What
ought we northern and professedly anti-slavery
Christians to do, and not do? And, next, What
-duties, positive and negative, does the question
devolve on professing Christians in the slaveholding States?
I. We are to consider what we, the northern
and avowedly anti-slavery section of the American church, ought, in view of this subject, both
122 
ESSAY.
to do, and refrain from doing. In reply to the
question, What ought we to do? I would say,' 1. It is not only our right, but duty, temperately and with Christian courtesy to continue
to discuss this great theme, both orally and with
the pen; and especially to endeavor to bring the
truth into contact with the mind and heart of our
southern brethren, - if, peradventure, we may,
thus persuade them soon to cease their connection with slavery. Freedom of discussion is one
important safeguard of the public weal; and
that must be regarded as a bad, untenable cause
which will not bear the test of a full and free discussion before the world. Free inquiry, too, has
not only preceded all great reformations, but has
been an important instrument in bringing them
about.  That great moral change known as the
temperance reformation is but one example
among many that might be adduced. If slavery
is ever to be numbered in history among the
things that are past, it will be by having Bible
light and truth made to converge upon it, through
the lens of free public discussion. Hlence, believing as we do that American slavery is an
enormous evil and a gigantic wrong, - a thing
with which the church should cease to have
connection as speedily as may be, - as Christians
we may, we must, employ our tongues and our
123 
ESSAY.
pens in behalf of the enslaved, till our world
shall cease to contain such a class of men.
2. We ought so to exercise the right of suf frage as to resist the extension of slavery beyond
its present limits. I say nothing here of the
political question of State rights, or of interfering
with slavery in States where it now exists. The
*question of authorizing by law the extension of
Islavery into new States and Territories, or of admitting new States with pro-slavery constitutions, is another and very different thing from
that of disturbing the compact in relation to
slavery entered into by the founders of this republic. The concessions in relation to the slave
interest which our fathers made by no means
oblige us to make further concessions, by consenting that slavery shall overstep her present geographical limits. I know not what others may
think; but, for one, I feel constrained, by a sense
of duty to God and my country, so to vote as to
have my votes tell against the spread of slavery.
I must carry my Christian principles of love and
humanity to the ballot-box, as well as elsewhere.
Though long identified with one of the political
parties, I have of late felt myself bound, as a
voter, to ignore the ancient party lines, and even
to ignore all other questions, compared with the
one great and absorbing one, Shall slavery be
124 
ESSAY.
allowed to have more territory, in which to breed
and expand itself?  In my deliberate judgment,
all Christian patriots should, so far as their votes
can speak, say to the system of bondage existing
in our midst, " Hitherto shalt thou come, but no
further, and here shall thy proud waves be
stayed." This becomes now a moral and a religious duty.
(3.) In our visits to the throne of grace, we
ought, with more frequency and fervor, "to remember them that are in bonds, as bound with
them." Assured that all hearts and events are
at God's disposal, that he abhors oppression, and
that prayer is the Christian's mode of taking hold
of God's strength, we must make full proof of
this as a weapon with which to effect the subversion of slavery. It may be that importunate,
persevering prayer will effect more in behalf of
the enslaved than all other instrumentalities.
It is, at least, quite certain that other means will
prove inefficacious, if this be not superadded.
But the question we  are considering has a
negative as well as positive side; and we will
next inquire, what we anti-slavery Christians
ought to refrain from doing.
1. We must not, in our efforts to subvert slavery, indulge in an unchristian spirit, or in language adapted needlessly to anger and alienate
125 
ESSAY.
those whom it should be our aim to win. A
cause that is intrinsically good may be advocated
in a bad spirit, or with improper weapons; and
such may have sometimes been the case with
ours. Would that all men had ever borne it in
mind, that truth and love are the only weapons
with which to wage a successful conflict with
this or any other deep-seated moral evil.
2. We must not, in our zeal for emancipation,
allow mere feeling or benevolent impulses partially to dethrone reason; and thus disqualify ourselves for taking impartial views of the subject,
or for accurately discriminating between truth
and error. There may have been men in the
anti-slavery ranks, with whom sympathy was
every thing, and reason - and even the Biblecomparatively nothing. In obeying the injunction to "remember them that are in bonds,"
they may have neglected to remember any thing
else. Slavery seemed to occupy their entire field
of vision. Hence, not fully informed in regard
to the actual condition of things at the South,
they -have erroneously supposed that the slave
codes prevailing there were the standard by
which to judge of the actual condition of the
slaves, and that all the Southern church was
actually practising the barbarities authorized by
those codes. As there was no just appreciation
126 
ESSAY.
of the actual conduct of masters towards their
servants, so there was no allowance made for the
circumstances which conspired to render them
masters, nor for the obstacles which stand in the
way of their ceasing to be masters. It must be
admitted, that generally, where unrighteous laws
are suffered to exist, the mass of the community
will not be better than the laws; but there are
exceptions, - men who intend to give heed to a
higher law. So much for allowing an amiable
but blind sympathy to usurp that throne which
reason and revelation were designed conjointly
to occupy.  It scarcely need be added, that these
ultraisms have done much to prejudice the antislavery cause, and bring it, in the eyes of some,
into unmerited contempt. We must wipe away
that reproach, by so conducting our warfare with
slavery as to evince that we are neither men
of one idea, nor men whose judgment is led captive by their sensibilities.
3. We must not, in opposing slavery, indorse
the sentiment, that one cannot in any conceivable circumstances give credible evidence of piety,
and yet continue in form to hold slaves; that
being a master is, in any and in all circumstances, a disciplinable offence in the church; or that
it should, without exception, constitute a barrier
127 
ESSAY.
to church-membership, or to the communion of
saints at Christ's sacramental board. While we
believe that all the great principles of God's
Word go to subvert slavery, and while we are
*    constrained to regard the holding of slaves as
diminishing the evidence of a man's piety, and
thus far alienating his claims to a good standing
in the Christian church, we may nevertheless
make exceptions, and not keep a man out of the
church, or discipline him when in it, merely be  cause he sustains temporarily the relation of mas  ter, not for selfish ends, but, as in rare cases, for
benevolent reasons. But if a man defends the
system, and takes away from a fellow man ina  lienable human rights, then we may and should
refuse him admission, or subject him to disci  pline, as the case may be. But, obvious and im  portant as is this distinction, it is one which some
anti-slavery men may have failed to make; and
that failure may have prejudiced or retarded the
cause of emancipation. A good cause suffers by
having a single uncandid statement or untenable
argument advanced in its support; and the
friends of the enslaved must afford their oppo nents no room for saying, that their reasonings
are illogical or anti-scriptural.
4. We must not, in seeking the extinction of
128 
'ESSAY.
American slavery, so insist on its immediate abolition as to repudiate the responsibility which a
master owes to this dependent and depressed
class of his fellow beings; but that that end
be kept steadily in view, to be accomplished as
speedily as is consistent with the best good of
the parties concerned. The immediate and total
extinction of southern slavery, if not obviously impossible, is of questionable expediency. The upas
of American slavery has struck its roots so deep,
and shot its branches so far, and so interlaced
itself with all surrounding, objects, that, to have
it instantaneously and unreservedly uprooted,,
might prove, in many eases, disastrous; and, at
all events, is not to be expected. To say nothing,
of other obstacles to the immediate abolition of
Southern slavery, the highest good of many of
the slaves makes it inexpedient. Some, probably many of them, need to pass through an educating process,- a kind of mental and moral apprenticeship, - in order to their profiting largely
by the boon of emancipation.*
* The publishers understand the writer to mean, that the,
working  of them without wages, -the withholding that
which is just and equal, - should be immediately and universally abandoned, and that emancipation should be granted
as speedily as the slaves can be prepared to use and,
9
* ***.'.
129, 
ESSAY.
II. We are now to inquire, lastly, what duties, positive and negative, this great question
devolves on those Christians among whom
American slavery has its seat, or who are personally identified with it. Hoping, brethren, that
the sentiments thus far advanced are your sentiments, I shall have your further assent when
I say,
1. That the extinction, at the earliest consistent date, of the system of servitude existing
among you, is a result at which you ought
steadily and strenuously to aim. And, as you
see, we base this obligation of yours, not on the
assumption of any sinfulness which you may
sustain to slavery, but on the acknowledged injustice and woes, past, present, and prospective,
of the system as a system,- its contrariety, as a
system, to the fundamental principles of Christianity. Did we regard you as necessarily sinners,
enjoy their freedom. The right should be acknowledged,
and the needful means for its security immediately used.
The writer does not say, that holding men in bondage is not
generally sinful, nor that all sin should not be immediately
repented of and forsaken, but only that there may be exceptions where for a time, and under very peculiar circumstances, it may not be sinful, and cannot consistently with the
greatest good be abandoned, without some previous means of
preparation.
130 
ESSAY.
if in any sense you hold slaves, then the least we
could ask of you would be, that with contrition of
heart you should instantaneously cease to indulge
in this sin, for all sin should be immediately
abandoned. As it is, we only ask, that, just as
fast as your slaves can be prepared for freedom,
and as the providence of God may put it in your
power to liberate them, you will do so. We are
not so unwise as to expect that the work of extinction can be accomplished in a day. We
know, too, that you are not, in your church capacity, the constituted arbiters of the question as a
question of State policy. And, so long as your
legislatures and their constituencies are resolved
on maintaining the system, perhaps you will be
unable to effect as much as you desire in the way
of promoting its overthrow. And yet, brethren,
there is a way in which we think you can, with
entire safety and manifest propriety, contribute
largely and directly to the extinction of American
slavery. Would the entire Southern church cease
all personal participation in slavery, and throw
her whole weight and influence into the scale of
slavery's complete subversion, that "consummation devoutly to be wished" would soon ensue.
Slave-holding, no longer practised or justified by
the church, but discountenanced, could not long
retain its foothold in the State. Now if this be
131 
ESSAY.
so, our slaveholding brethren will confess that
they are imperiously bound, by motives of Christian duty, to liberate their bondmen with all consistent speed. Meantime, and as one important
means of qualifying them for freedom, you
ought,
2. To see to it that not only your own, but
all the bondmen among you,- your entire
slave population, - are furnished with the Bible,
and qualified to read and comprehend it; and
also  with  stated  preaching.   They  need  a
written and preached gospel, were it only to fit,
them to exchange, with advantage, a state of
vassalage for the dignity of freemen; for all
experience proves that the Bible and the pulpit
are of all instruments the best to qualify men
safely to exercise the right of self-government.
But there is a servitude more dreadful by far
than any domestic bondage that men have ever
groaned under; and your slaves need the Bible,
and the Bible preached, to prove God's instruments of breaking the chains imposed by Satan,
and  making  them  Christ's freemen.   Before
God and in prospect of eternity, the distinctions
between the master and his slave dwindle into
insignificance.   Having  souls that  are  alike
impure and alike precious, alike remembered
by a dying Saviour and alike in need of the
132 
ESSAY.
regenerating change, they stand alike in need
of God's Word, written and preached, as the
Spirit's instrument in renewing and sanctifying
the soul.  Hence the Bible and preaching are
as much the rightful inheritance of the slave as
of the master. We rejoice that these truths
and the obligations resulting therefrom are, to
some extent, recognized by southern Christians;
and that, in spite of certain adverse statutes,
so much is being done there for the spiritual
well-being of the slaves. Go on, brethren, in
the good work of evangelizing your slave population; in teaching them the art of reading and
the rudiments of knowledge; in putting the
Bible  into their hands, and  affording  them
stated opportunities to read it, and to hear it
expounded by you and by Christ's ministers.
Go on, we say, till there be not one southern
slave, who, in point of religious privileges, is not
on a footing of equality with yourselves. Prosecuting this laudable work in the spirit of love,
you will probably encounter no serious opposition.  The adverse but dead statutes referred to
will not, we hope, be galvanized into life, in order
to oppose you.
It only remains that we name a few things,
which we trust our Southern brethren will unite
with us in saying that they should refrain from
133 
ESSAY.
doing. (1.) You ought not to, and we trust
you will not, betray impatience and irritation,
whenever we of the North attempt to press the
claims of the enslaved on your attention. Your
doing this, - as you sometimes have,- seems
to indicate, that, in your opinion, we Northern
Christians have no responsibility in regard to
slavery and its evils; and that when we discuss
this theme we make ourselves "busybodies in
other men's matters." To the justness of this
opinion we cannot subscribe. While we disclaim all right or intention to break our compact
with you as States, we  feel  that American
slavery is a question of too great moment to
ourselves and to unborn generations for us to
have no concern with or responsibility for; and
as patriots, as philanthropists, as Christians, we
are constrained to do all that we rightfully may
for the downfall of this hoary system of wrong
and woe.  If any of you differ with us in opinion
on this theme, we trust you will allow us to discuss it to our heart's content; and that you will
listen to our reasonings with Christian meekness
and candor. Not to do so will be construed as
an evidence of intrinsic weakness in your cause.
(2.) You will freely admit, we presume, that
certain practices are authorized by your slave
laws, in which you must not indulge even so
134 
ESSAY.
long as by any necessity you hold slaves.
Your slave codes, for example, do not recognize the sanctity of family ties and the domestic affections as existing among slaves; but,
as Christian masters, you must. You doubtless believe, as do we, that the marriage relation,
with all its rights and immunities, was as much
designed for the negro as for the white man;
that he, as truly as the other, is entitled to "cleave
unto his wife," unexposed to the danger of
man's putting asunder what God hath so closely
joined, that "they are no more twain, but one
flesh." You believe, too, that God united husband and wife thus indissolubly, not simply that
they might be a help and solace to each other in
the toilsome pilgrimage of life, but that the children with which God should bless them might
grow up under their supervision, and by them be
qualified for a career of usefulness and honor.
Thus you believe, and believing thus, you will
not, we trust, counteract God's benevolent designs, by countenancing, in your own practice,
the separation of husbands and wives, or of
parents and their offspring. We feel assured,
that, whatever your laws may allow, or non-professing masters around you may do, you will
never ignore the conjugal or parental rights of
your servants, or indulge in any thing adapted to 
ESSAY.
mar their domestic enjoyment. Were you to do
so, we confess we could not extend to you "the
right hand of fellowship" as brethren in Christ
Were a church-member of ours to practise thus,
we should regard him as amenable to discipline.
We should also regard it as disciplinable for a
master to overwork, or brutally chastise, or but
half feed and clothe his servants; or to hold
slaves for mere purposes of gain, or to traffic in
them. None of these inhumanities could we
reconcile with the obligations of a Christian
profession; and we confidently hope that in these
views you will heartily concur, and that with
them your practice will correspond.
Christian brethren of the North and the South!
The question we have been considering is one of
vast moment. Upon the right disposition of it
are suspended, under God, interests of immeasurable value, and which stretch far out into the
unseen future of our country and the world.
Coming ages and unborn generations are to be
affected, favorably or otherwise, by the decision
of this vexed question; and, brethren, unless I
misjudge, its right decision is, to a very great extent, lodged in our hands. As decides the American church, so, methinks, will decide the
American people. And now,- may I confess
it? -I have dared to hope that the sentiments
136 
ESSAY.
of this Essay are not only sound, but in unison
with the views of the great mass of American
Christians. Are we not agreed in this: that
American slavery is a system of deep injustice
and wrong, not sanctioned by the Word or the
providence of God; fraught with incalculable
mischief to the interests of both masters, and
slaves, and to the social and religious well-being
of our whole country; a blot on the escutcheon
both of the nation and of the church; a weapon
for scepticism to wield, and an obstacle to the
introduction of millennial glory; and hence, a
system which ought speedily to terminate, and
which all good men should unitedly oppose and
seek to subvert? If we are thus agreed, let us
join hands as well as hearts, and, swerving neither
to the extreme of passive indifference on the one
hand nor to that of erratic fanaticism on the
other, in the majesty of principle let us move
calmly onward, a phalanx of Christian philanthropists, attempting naught but what they are
assured God would have them attempt, and employing only such means as are warranted by an
enlightened conscience. Leaning prayerfully on
Him who hears the sighing of the oppressed, let
us push vigorously forward, and, though the year
of jubilee has not yet fully come, be assured it
will come, -that proud day, when not only
137 
ESSAY.
"throughout all the land," but throughout the
civilized world, liberty shall be proclaimed "unto
all the inhabitants thereof." Hasten its advent,
"0 Thou that hearest prayer," and that " de lightest in mercy!"  Amen and Amen.
UNIV. V:
APR  I 1912
1.38
I....'l1