Swearing, gambling and drunkenness, are the most common vices among Southern men; and slander, detraction, and a species of low detestable swindling in business transactions, are the vices most obvious in the North. The better part of Southern society are regulated and controlled, to a great extent, by certain laws of honor and rules of social etiquette. A Southerner is more likely to inquire, is it honorable or dishonorable, than is it morally right or wrong? They rigidly observe those rules and regulations which govern society, in their social intercourse. I will close this chapter with some remarks on slave labor; its effects on the agricultural interests of the South, &c.

It is a trite remark that slave labor is unproductive, when compared with labor performed by free white citizens; and that the agricultural interests of the country have suffered by the introduction of slave labor, &c.

The fact is admitted by all, but the reason is not very clear to every one. Many cannot comprehend, why it is, that the farmer who pays his laborers nothing, should be less prosperous than his neighbor, who pays his laborers from ten to fifteen dollars per month. The idea that those who work slaves, pay nothing for their labor; or in other words, that slave labor costs a man nothing, is incorrect. If a farmer breeds and raises slaves, it is at a cost of at least a thousand dollars per slave. If he purchases a slave with his money, the slave frequently costs him one thousand dollars. If we suppose his money worth ten per cent interest, per annum, the amount of the interest on the purchase money, is one hundred dollars per annum. Here is eight dollars and thirty-three and one-third cents per month, that the farmer is paying for labor. To this add fifty dollars per annum for clothing, viz., four dollars and sixteen and two-third cents per month; making an aggregate of twelve dollars and fifty cents per month, that the farmer expends for slave labor. During a residence of forty four years in the South, I never knew the time when white laborers could not be procured for that amount, and frequently for less. To this we may fairly add at least twenty-five per cent for loss of time by sickness, loss of slave property by death, physician's bills, &c., so that we may put down slave labor at fifteen dollars per month. Fifty per cent more, than white labor ordinarily costs in the slave states. This is a fair statement of the case. But the disadvantages of slave labor do not stop here. As a general rule, land cultivated by white laborers, will produce from twenty-five to fifty per cent more than land cultivated by slave labor. This is owing to the careless, slovenly manner in which slave labor is performed. To this we may add the destruction of farming utensils and implements of husbandry, over and above what occurs in the hands of white laborers; and also the injury inflicted on horses, mules and oxen; the loss of stock for the want of proper attention, regular feeding, &c.

None can comprehend the force of my remarks so well, as the practical farmer. Well does he understand the vast expense incurred, and the loss that is sustained, by the careless and reckless wear and tear, and destruction of farming utensils and machinery—the improper treatment of horses—inattention to hogs, cattle, &c. Slaves are remarkable for their listlessness and indolence, and the little interest they manifest in anything. Many of them perform their round of labor with as little apparent concern or interest, as the horses or mules which they drive before them. There are, I admit, exceptions, but as a general rule, my remarks hold good. I never owned a negro, but I frequently employed them as cooks, washerwoman, &c., and many years observation satisfied me, that as a general rule, that when left to themselves, they consumed, or rather wasted, one-third more precisions than would have sufficed for my family under the management and supervision of an economical white woman.

It is a notorious fact, well known to every one who has had opportunities of making observations, that in those parts of the United States where the operations of farming have been confided mostly to slaves, the lands are exhausted of their fertility and have become barren and unproductive. Some lands are now in this condition, which were originally the finest in the United States. Eastern Virginia is a good sample of the effects of slave labor on the fertility of lands. This all results from the ignorance, carelessness and inattention of those to whom the operations of farming are confided. All soils are capable of improvement by judicious culture, and the interests of farmers, individually and collectively, as well as the interest of every American citizen, requires at their hands to so cultivate their lands as to augment their fertility; and not solely with a view to their present productiveness. It is a duty incumbent on them as good citizens; a duty they owe to themselves; to their posterity; to the nation; to the world.



CHAPTER VI.

There is yet another evil growing out of slavery which I must notice before I bring my remarks to a close on this topic. I allude to the degraded condition of a portion of the white population in the slave States. There are, throughout the slave States, a class of the white population who are so debased by ignorance and vice, that the slaves are in many respects their superiors. They are about on a par with the free negroes. About the larger cities in the North, a similar class may be found, a majority of whom are free negroes and foreigners. The poverty, vice, ignorance and degradation of this class of persons, in the South, is a sore evil, and demands the attention of every Christian philanthropist in the Southern States. This, I conceive, has originated partly from the competition of slave and free labor, but mainly, I presume, from the association of this class with the African population. There are other agencies, no doubt, which have contributed to debase and brutalize this class of the white population, but I judge, that the causes above indicated, are the principal ones. Some will, no doubt, attribute this in part to the disparity between the lower classes in the South, and what they choose to term the slaveholding aristocracy. They will contend, that the vast difference between the higher and lower classes in the South, results in the deterioration of the latter. There is some plausibility in the argument, and it may be that there is some truth in it, but such individuals have forgotten that the same agency is in active operation in the free as well as the slave States. I am aware that men of wealth do not feel themselves under any obligation to associate with their less fortunate neighbors, the world over. It is one of the characteristics of human nature. But men of wealth in the Southern part of the United States, are not more haughty, distant and overbearing, than the same class in other parts of the Union. On the contrary, there is an urbanity about Southern slaveholders, that enables the lower classes to approach them with less embarrassment than they feel when they attempt to approach the frigid, stiff, and less polite Northerner. Gentlemen and ladies, in the Southern part of the United States, are accustomed to treat every one that approaches them, rich or poor, with a degree of civility and courteous ease, that is unknown among the same class in any other part of the civilized world. Their blandness and kindness cannot fail to make the poor man feel happier and better. If he is forced to approach them for the purpose of soliciting aid, he is seldom turned away empty. They are universally liberal and hospitable. Having practiced medicine among them twenty years, I have no recollection of a solitary instance in which any of them made a long face, when I made out a long bill for services. I will here relate some anecdotes which will serve to illustrate Southern character. Being pressed at a certain time for two hundred dollars, and not having time at my disposal to collect it, and having rendered important services for a wealthy citizen near the town in which I resided; I seated myself at my table, with an intention of making out a bill against him that would liquidate the claim against myself. With considerable difficulty, I at length screwed up the bill to two hundred dollars, and off I posted to his house. I found him at home and presented the bill; not without some misgivings, that perchance he might take exceptions to the amount charged for services. But I was disappointed, for after looking over the bill a few moments, he remarked, "why sir, you have not charged me half enough; you ought to have charged me five hundred dollars." He paid the bill, made me a present of fifty dollars, and told me that if I needed money at any time to "call and get it." At another time I was employed by a gentleman to attend his son, who had been, for several years previous to that time, subject to epileptic attacks. The fee, per visit, was stipulated at the outset, and I was paid for each visit before leaving the house, according to contract. I attended the young gentleman near two years, and during the time was pressed for money and borrowed one hundred dollars of the old gentleman, and executed my note for that amount. Some years after I had dismissed my patient, I called for my note, and presented the amount, principal and interest. The gentleman handed me the note, but refused to receive the money, and when I pressed him to take it, he replied, "No sir, I shall not receive the money, I always intended to give it to you, provided that you cured my son, and I presume he is well."

On a bright sunny morning, when a boy, I was seated on a rock watching a flock of lambs, that were frisking and skipping about in a meadow. An old lady by name S., and a gentleman by name M., met within a few yards from where I sat. After the usual salutations; "Well, Mrs. S.," said the gentleman, "I understand that you have sustained a heavy loss by fire." "Yes," replied Mrs. S. "Well I am very sorry to hear it, and I intend to send you a wagon load of provisions, &c., shortly." "I thank you Mr. M., but don't trouble yourself about the matter, for we have already received twice as much as we lost by the fire." I will relate yet another.

A wealthy gentleman being informed that a poor Irish widow in his neighborhood was likely to suffer for provisions; went immediately to her cabin in order to ascertain her condition. When about taking his leave, he remarked to the widow, "if she would send over, she could have some Irish potatoes, and any other articles of food that her family needed."

"Bless your dear soul," replied the widow, "when you undertake to do a good and charitable deed, and sarve the Lord Jasus, if you expect a blessing on your soul, don't half do the thing, and leave a poor widow to do the other half. Go home and send the potatoes, and send some meat to cook with the potatoes, and send meal to make bread, to eat with the meat; and then may ye expect a blessing on yer soul." The gentleman returned home and complied with her request.

Whatever the faults of Southern slaveholders may be, and they are many, these are redeeming traits in their characters; nor are they so devoid of sympathy for their slaves, as is generally supposed in the North. I know that they are represented by a certain class in the North, as a set of tyrants, ruling their slaves with a rod of iron. All such representations are untrue, for a majority of them seldom correct an adult slave with the rod, except as a punishment for some flagitious crime, for which a white man would be fined or imprisoned, or else, confined in the State penitentiary.

Go to the field, and there you will find the aged slave and his master, busily engaged in the same employment; listen to their kind and familiar converse. Direct your steps from thence to the parlor, and there behold the aged house-woman and her mistress, seated side by side. Listen to the soothing and affectionate tones of this amiable lady, and behold the happy, joyful countenance, of this aged African. Cast your eyes around the splendid mansion, and behold the indiscriminate groups of white and black children, chattering, skipping, jumping, wrestling or rolling over the fine Turkey carpet. If freedom was tendered to these aged slaves, what think you, would they accept it? No, they would spurn the offer with indignation. They are happier than their masters or mistresses, and they well know it. They are provided for; partake of the same food, while they are exempt from the cares which perplex and embarrass, and too often embitter the lives of those who have charge of families. A large majority of the slaves in the Southern States are contented and happy. This will appear to many, no doubt, improbable. Nevertheless, it is true. If African character was generally better understood, it would silence much of that clamor and agitation of the subject, which is so annoying to all patriotic, peaceable and good citizens. The African desires but little, and aspires to but little; consequently it requires but little to render, him happy. Happiness consists in the gratification of our appetites, passions and propensities. Those of the African, occupy but a small space; therefore but little is necessary to satisfy him. On the contrary; the appetites, passions and propensities of the Anglo-Saxon are boundless; therefore, much is requisite for their happiness, or otherwise to satisfy them. For this reason, an individual may be miserable, though he possess all the comforts and luxuries that the world can afford; and he may be happy with a bare sufficiency of coarse food and coarse clothing. He that is satisfied with what he has, is happy; be it little or much. Slaves, as a general rule, are happy in a state of servitude, because in a state of servitude they have all that they desire—all to which they aspire. Hence the evils of slavery, so far as the slave is concerned, are more in appearance than reality, because the African is happy under circumstances, in which an Anglo-Saxon would be miserable.

In the present condition of the African race they are happier as slaves, than they would be as free men, because they are incapable of providing for themselves, and are therefore incompetent to enjoy the rights and privileges of free men.

I could fill a volume with anecdotes, which ought to make those who vilify and traduce slaveholders blush for shame; but I have neither time nor space at present. I will, however, relate one and pass on. I visited professionally, many years ago, an aged infidel. A more benevolent man I have seldom seen. Humanity appeared to be a constituent element in his composition, and kindness an innate principle of his heart. In one corner of the yard, in a log cabin, lived a pious old slave with his family. It was the custom of the old slave to pray in his family every night before retiring to bed. Old massa was never forgotten in his prayers. He never failed to present him before a throne of grace. The old infidel never doubted the sincerity of his slave, nor yet the purity of his motives, though he sincerely believed that it was all delusion. He had listened for many years to the prayers of this slave, and could distinctly hear the slave pray for "old massa." Some years after my first visit to this worthy old gentleman, he was suddenly taken very ill. I was again summoned to his aid. All my efforts availed nothing; he must die. All hopes of his recovery were abandoned. Then did the prayers of the poor old slave become long and loud. "Massa must die, and must he die unprepared? O Lord, spare him—O Lord, convert him—O Lord, save him," was the prayer of the slave. While the slave was praying an arrow pierced the infidels heart, and he cried aloud for mercy. The slave was invited into the house, and he knelt at the bed-side of his dying master, and there petitioned a throne of grace in his behalf. The old infidel made a profession of religion, and shortly afterwards died happy.



CHAPTER VII.

There is another point of view, in which slavery must be viewed by every patriot, as a national curse. I allude to the agitation and sectional hatred, which it engenders. This is a grievous misfortune. It is folly to attempt to conceal the fact, that it has originated sectional jealousy and prejudice, which endangers the perpetuity of the Union. This is a serious view of the subject, and it demands the sober consideration of every friend of this glorious Union. The Union must be preserved; should be the motto of every one who has a spark of patriotism in his breast. All those questions of national policy, which have separated the great political parties in this country, when compared with this great question, sink into utter insignificance. Whatever endangers the perpetuity of this Union, demands the attention of every friend of his country; every man who is worthy the name of an American citizen. It calls loudly for prompt and effectual action, to avert the calamitous catastrophe. God save the Union, should be the prayer of every Christian. This petition, should begin and end their devotional exercises. God save the Union, should be the first lesson taught to the child in the cradle; and from infancy to old age, the reverential aspirations of our hearts should ascend to him who holds the destinies of nations in his hands; to save and bless our common country.

From morn till eve, our hearts should breathe, Father of mercies, God of love preserve— Oh! preserve, our blood bought liberties; Preserve them unalloyed, unimpaired While time shall last.

If we all could be animated by this spirit, then would peace, prosperity and good will, abound more and more, throughout the length and breadth of our land. Bound together by cords of love; as a band of brothers; we should know "no North, no South;" the prime object of all would then be, the prosperity and preservation of our common country. We are the conservators of liberty. We hold it as a trust, and the oppressed of all nations expect here to find a refuge from tyranny; and here they may find it, so long as we preserve our Federal Union unimpaired.

But unfortunately for us, ambitious demagogues have seized upon the subject of slavery, and are convulsing the country from one end to the other. Slavery is the demagogue's hobby, and he mounts it, raises his hat, kicks and spurs, as if the salvation of the universe was suspended on his elevation, to some petty, insignificant office. Slavery is to us, as a great subterraneous fire, which is ever ready to burst upon us with volcanic violence, deluging our country with boiling lava, red hot stones, smoke and flames; carrying devastation, death and destruction in its train. But the subject will be agitated, more or less, and unless the people of this country become better informed on this subject, and peaceably adopt some practicable means for its final extirpation; sooner or later the Union will be endangered thereby. The North should cease to vex the South, and the South should cease to vex the North, and patriotic men North and South, should devise some means, by which the end might be accomplished at some future day. The question now presents itself to every friend of humanity—to every philanthropist; is there no remedy for these evils, or must we groan under their pestilential influence forever?

I know that the subject of slavery is a perplexing question, and that its abolition will be attended with dangers and difficulties, take what course we may; but shall we for that reason, fold our arms, sit still and do nothing? Or else flee from its hydra-headed ghost in dismay? No, my friends and fellow citizens; to those who put their trust in God, and have the wisdom to plan, and the will to work, all things are possible. It is, however, folly for us to flatter ourselves, that slavery can be extirpated in the United States in a short time. It will require time and patience to attain an object, so desirable. Hasty and inconsiderate action will be likely to prove abortive, and result in no good to either master or slave; if not in irretrievable ruin to both. We should avoid everything in word or deed, which has a tendency to irritate the South and arouse them to resistance. Abolitionists by their low abuse and vile misrepresentations, have done everything in their power to excite and irritate them; hence, there is an impassable gulf between them and Southern men. We should beware lest we fall into the same error. The course of the North towards the South, should be kind and conciliatory. We should consult her interests, and appeal to her patriotism, and thus may the North and South as a band of brothers, heartily co-operate in the great and glorious work, of restoring liberty to the enslaved Africans, and of enlightening their minds and thereby qualifying them for the enjoyment of freedom. What patriot, what philanthropist, does not respond a hearty Amen? Not one. Show me the man who says no, and you show me a man in whose bosom a patriotic, or philanthropic sentiment never found a resting place—a man who is an entire stranger to every sentiment of humanity—to every tender and sympathetic emotion of the soul—to all the kindlier and better feelings of our nature.

I have in the preceding pages endeavored to show, that the visionary schemes of abolitionists can never accomplish anything for the slave; but that they are on the contrary, potent for evil, and powerless for good. It is therefore incumbent on me to reply to the interrogatory, what can be done? By what means can slavery be abolished in the United States? Is it practicable? Yes; it can be done; and the only means by which it can be accomplished, is by colonization. There is no other safe and practicable method, or way, by which slavery can be abolished in the United States. It is probable that an objector will point to the African colonization society, and ask, what has it accomplished towards the abolition of slavery? But little, I admit. The reason is obvious. It grows out of the immense distance of Africa from the United States and the vast difficulties, and expenditures, consequent upon the transportation of free blacks from the United States, to the colony in Africa, and also the unwillingness of a majority of the free blacks to leave this country, or at least, to be transported to Africa.

Those philanthropists, who originated the African colonization society, had another object in view. Their prime object was, the regeneration of Africa; and in this they will probably succeed. We must colonize the free blacks nearer home. We must have territory set apart for that purpose, somewhere on this continent; if we expect to accomplish anything toward the abolition of slavery by colonization. Slaveholders must get their eyes open. They must have light on the subject. They must become satisfied that it is not only their duty, but their interest, to prepare and qualify the rising generation of slaves for the enjoyment of freedom. Slaves must be educated and enlightened before they are liberated.

We of the North must approach our Southern brethren in a spirit of kindness, conciliation and concession; and talk to them as brothers, and not denounce and stigmatize them as murderers, rogues, rascals, slave-catchers and kidnappers. We have mistaken Southern men and Southern character.

We may lead Southern men, but we cannot drive them. We must treat them as gentlemen; we must approach them as friends, holding the olive branch of peace in our hands, and treat them with that civility, kindness and condescension, to which they are accustomed, and to which they think themselves entitled. Don't talk to Southern men about liberating slaves, until some provision is made for manumitted slaves—an asylum provided where they can quietly repose in peace, and enjoy the blessings of freedom. Don't urge them to liberate their slaves, when both the condition of the master and the slave is made worse thereby. 'Tis folly—'tis sheer nonsense; and well informed men ought to be ashamed thus to conduct themselves. If you know anything, you ought to know better; and if you know nothing, you ought to say nothing, until you are better informed. Congress should be memorialized in every town, city, and village in the United States, to set apart territory for the colonization of free blacks. It should be done speedily. It matters not what it might cost this government, it should be done. Talk not of dollars and cents. Mountains of gold are lighter than a feather, if thrown into the balance against a cause which disturbs the peace, and endangers the perpetuity of this Union. Territory should be secured and set apart, near the Southern border of the United States. I repeat that it should be done speedily. Humanity and justice demand it at our hands. What can the free blacks do? Where can they go? They will soon be legislated out of the free states, and their condition in the slave states, must necessarily be one of wretchedness and degradation. Reader, what say you to the above proposition? It is offered for your sober and prayerful consideration. Does it commend itself to your judgment? Is it safe? Is it practicable? Is it suitable, proper and right? Consult that inward monitor conscience. Ask him if all is right; if all is well within you? Ask him if something should not be done for the African.

Thousands of slaveholders at this time would cheerfully liberate their slaves, if they could be removed beyond the limits of the United States, and provision made for them, that would conduce to their peace, happiness, and well being. Knowing, as I do, the feelings and views of Southern men; I here confidently assert, that if our national legislature will colonize the free blacks somewhere on this continent, contiguous to the Southern border of the United States, and make suitable provision for them; in less than twenty years from this time, at least one fourth of the slaves, now in bondage in the United States, will be manumitted and colonized. Don't talk to us about colonizing the free blacks in Africa; it can't be done; it never will be done; the majority of them are unwilling to go to Africa. They prefer bondage in the United States, to transportation to Africa, During my residence in the States of Virginia and Tennessee, I had knowledge of several instances, in which masters proposed to liberate slaves, provided they were willing to be removed to the colony in Africa, and in most cases they refused, declaring that they preferred bondage in the United States to a removal to Africa. I interrogated at different times hundreds of slaves, old and young, male and female, as to whether they would consent to a removal to Africa; provided their masters would liberate them, and in at least, nine cases out of ten, they would promptly and emphatically answer, No; they would not go to Africa—they would rather continue slaves—they would rather die, &c.

Make provision then for liberated slaves, and cease, oh! cease, ye fanatics and fools, to agitate the country by your clamor; and then shall we behold the noble and generous sons and daughters of Kentucky and Tennessee, conferring the boon of freedom on the African race, within their borders. Missouri and Maryland will soon follow their example; nor will North Carolina and Virginia long lag behind; South Carolina will straggle long and hard, but she must ultimately yield; and the soft zephyr of freedom will then fan the fair fields of Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas; Louisiana will feel its refreshing influence; and the Lone Star, (Texas), cannot long stand alone, in her opposition, to the rights of man, and the impulsive calls of humanity. The shades of Washington and Clay will then hover over the states of Virginia and Kentucky, and around them will cluster, a convoy of angels, and the spirits of the fathers of American freedom; all watching with intense interest the great and godlike movement.



CHAPTER VIII.

I shall now proceed to show, that the holding of slaves is not necessarily sinful under all circumstances; or in other words, that the relation of master and slave is not, under all circumstances, inconsistent with, or in opposition to the revealed will of God. In the discussion of this question it will be necessary, first to glance at the origin and history of African slavery. I am apprised of the difficulties which I shall encounter in the investigation of this subject; and I am by no means blind, or insensible to my own incompetency; but I set out with the determination to look the subject of slavery full in the face, and fearlessly to express my opinions, regardless of consequences; at least so far as my own personal ease, interest, or reputation is involved; I shall, therefore, take the responsibility of openly expressing such opinions and views, as I conceive to be in accordance with the Holy Bible, and leave consequences to a just, wise and righteous God. To Him, and to Him alone, am I responsible for what I write.

God in his infinite benevolence and wisdom, and for the manifestation of his own glory, created man in his own image, and placed him in the garden of Eden, holy and happy. And he commanded him, "of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Adam disobeyed the high mandate of heaven; he ate of the forbidden fruit, and thus he fell by transgression from his high and holy estate. He was our federal head; and he fell not alone, for on all his posterity fell the withering curse of Almighty God. "Curst is the ground for thy sake." "Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee." "In the sweat of thy face, shalt thou eat thy bread, till thou return unto the ground:—for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." The posterity of Adam soon forgot God. Gross wickedness soon covered the earth. Vile and depraved, the descendants of Adam went forth, perpetrating every act of wickedness, every abomination that the heart of man could devise. The world was soon filled with brutality, lust, and violence. "And God looked down upon the earth and behold it was corrupt." "And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me." "And behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh." Righteous Noah and his wife, and his son's and his son's wives were preserved in the ark; "and the winds blew, and the rains descended and the floods came;" "and all flesh died that moved upon earth;" and God said unto Noah, "go forth of the ark, thou and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy son's wives with thee." And God said unto Noah, "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."

The sons of Noah were Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan. And Noah drank wine and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent; and Ham saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brethren, Shem and Japheth; and they took a garment and covered their father, without beholding his nakedness; "And Noah awoke from his wine," and after being correctly informed as to the conduct of his sons while he was intoxicated, "He said, cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren."

We learn from the Sacred Record, that the curse of slavery fell on the posterity of Ham in consequence of his dishonoring his aged father. Every Bible reader must have noted the severe punishment of children, under the Mosaic dispensation, for disobedience and disrespect to parents. It appears to have been classed amongst the worst of crimes, and death was the penalty. "Cursed be he," (said Moses on Mount Ebal,) "that setteth light by his father or his mother." "Every one that curseth father or mother, shall die the death." The children of Israel were commanded to "stone a stubborn or rebellious son to death." "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days maybe long in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee," is one of the commands which was delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai. Here is a command with a promise of long life annexed to it on condition of obedience, and it is but a fair inference, that those who disobey the command, will be cut off in the prime of life. It appears that the punishment for disobedience to parents, is the same under the gospel dispensation; for St. Paul says; "Honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long upon the earth." The language of Moses and St. Paul suggests some solemn reflections, and I entreat my juvenile readers to observe well the language; it is the voice of God that speaks. Beware, lest you are brought to an untimely end, and the curse of a sin-avenging God falls upon you. I cannot dwell on this subject, but I entreat you, my young friends, to pause for a moment, and reflect on the awful, the calamitous consequences of disobeying, or otherwise dishonoring your parents. I must pass on.

We have no reason to believe that Noah was moved by resentment to denounce the curse of slavery on the posterity of Canaan, in consequence of the disrespect shown toward him by Ham. We have no reason to suppose that there was any abatement of parental solicitude, for the future welfare of this ungodly son and his posterity. He was moved by the Holy Ghost, and uttered but a prophecy, which entailed slavery on the posterity of Ham, as a consequence of wilful disobedience of God's just and righteous laws. He uttered but a fact in futuro, which had been revealed to him by an omniscient God. How fully the above prediction has been verified, is familiar to every historian. The continent of Africa was principally peopled by the descendants of Ham; and for ages, the better part of that country was under the dominion of the Romans; then of the Saracens; and more recently of the Turks; and the fact, that the slave trade has been carried on for hundreds of years with all its horrors, iniquities, cruelties and abominations, is familiar to every one. A large portion of the children of Ham have existed in a state of slavery for more than three thousand years. It is said that more than nine-tenths of the whole sixty millions of Africa are slaves. Negro slavery existed in the colonies of Greece for ages before the Christian era. All other races of mankind have enslaved the African. The phraseology of Noah's prediction is a little remarkable. The children of Ham were not only to be servants, but "a servant of servants." It is true that unconnected with all other races, one portion of the negro race have been enslaved to another, ever since the earliest dawn of history, and that in a greater proportion too, than to any other race. It is recorded by historians, that there are perhaps twenty negro masters in Africa to every white one in the United States, and that they hold in bondage at least ten times as many slaves. It is moreover stated, that those portions of Africa where the slave trade with the white man is unknown, are the most inveterate slave regions. In the negro islands of the Indian Archipelago, the negro is enslaved to the negro.

Some are, no doubt, ready to ask, how is it that Africans became slaves to their own race? Many of them were taken captives in war and subjected to slavery. The different tribes in Africa have in all ages engaged in predatory warfare, and the captives taken in those wars became slaves. Necessity may have forced many of them to subject themselves to servitude. Negroes have not that aversion to slavery, that many suppose who are unacquainted with the peculiarities of negro character. They are ignorant, indolent and improvident, and in many instances are neither competent nor willing to provide for themselves; and, therefore, they probably frequently became slaves to the more highly gifted and fortunate of their own race from necessity, and it may be from choice.

How is it that one nation acquires dominion over another? that one nation falls a prey to another? that one nation makes slaves of another? By what means were the posterity of Shem and Japheth enabled to enslave the posterity of Ham? Some will say that God willed it thus, and so it is. I consider the phraseology of this answer faulty. It would, in my view, be more appropriate to say, God suffered it; or permitted it; and so it is. I do not believe that Ham's crimes were in accordance with the benevolent designs of Providence. The degradation and slavery entailed upon his posterity, was but a necessary consequence of his crimes, a just judgment, which a righteous God suffered to fall on his posterity. It was a violation of God's laws, which involved the African race in accursed slavery. God has attached certain punishments to the violation of certain laws, in other words, to the commission of certain crimes. The law is violated, otherwise, the crime is committed, and the penalty, or punishment falls on the head of the offender. Now all this is brought about in opposition to the will of God; for when God gave laws, he willed that man should obey those laws. If he says, "son honor thy father," and the son dishonors his father, he acts in opposition to God's will. And to secure obedience to his laws, and uphold moral order, he has attached to every crime its appropriate punishment.

But every effect has a cause, and if one nation acquires an ascendancy over another, there is a reason in the nature of things, why it is so. There are reasons why individuals differ, and why they are found under different circumstances and conditions in this world. Why one becomes poor and another rich; why one acquires wealth and influence, while another becomes poor, indigent and miserable—it may be a slave to his wealthy neighbor. There is an internal cause; a constitutional difference in individuals, physically, mentally, and morally. So it is with nations. Locality, climate and other external causes have also had much agency in shaping and moulding the characters, and determining the destinies of nations. Nothing is more true than the trite saying, "that knowledge is power." The Author of our existence, "the giver of every good and perfect gift," conferred on Shem and Japheth, or rather, on their posterity, superior mental endowments. The African and the Anglo-Saxon races differ widely in their physical organizations; their mental susceptibilities, and their moral natures; and the advantages are in favor of the Anglo-Saxon. The Anglo-Saxons are a superior race. They are the best specimens of humanity—the noblest work of God. They excel in all those qualities and endowments that raise man above his fellow man. The whole posterity of Shem and Japheth are intellectually superior to the posterity of Ham. Locality has had its influence. The human species degenerate mentally and morally in a tropical climate.

Vice saps the foundation, and gradually impairs and undermines the mental and moral constitutions of mankind. Ham being more vicious than his brothers, the mental and moral deterioration of his race, commenced in his own person, and was transmitted by him to his posterity. A man transmits his intellectual powers, his moral nature, or sentiments, as well as his physical organization to his progeny; and this he does with positive certainty, unless the mother possesses opposite qualities and properties. The children of the vicious are by nature more vicious than the children of the virtuous. Hence, we see that men by ordinary generation, transmit their own peculiar vices to their offspring. Every innate principle, passion and propensity of soul, body and mind, is transmitted from parent to child. This view of the subject need strike us with no surprise, if we would reflect, that men beget the souls, as well as the bodies of their children. I read in Genesis, that God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life, "and that he became a living soul;" but I am not aware, that the Divine Being has breathed a soul into any other living being since the day he created Adam. No! When he breathed a soul into Adam he invested him with the power to procreate the souls as well as the bodies of his progeny. Hence, every man begets a soul and a body like his own, except so far as his own qualities and properties come in contact with opposite ones in the female; then, of course, some modification of the foetus may be expected. If an acid and an alkali are brought in contact, the result will be a neutral salt. We will generally find, however, that in what are called neutral mixtures, there is either a predominance of the acid, or the alkali. So it is with the children of parents possessing opposite propensities and qualities, either those of the father or the mother, are likely to predominate in the offspring.

Slavery was entailed on Ham's posterity, in consequence of the indignity with which he treated his aged and pious father. Ham was a free agent; it was an act of his own. The Divine Being suffered him to transgress his laws; and foreseeing that it would involve his posterity in the curse of slavery, he foretold the result of the transgression, by the mouth of Noah, Ham's father.

I have remarked in the preceding pages, that Ham was more wicked than his brothers; and that he transmitted his own corrupt nature to his offspring; and that in consequence of sin, his descendants sank into ignorance, barbarism and brutality which subjected them to the dominion of their more enlightened and virtuous brethren. Thus, we see, that it was the wickedness of Ham, which involved his race in ignorance, degradation and slavery. I repeat, that Ham entailed slavery on his own race; it was an effect of the violation of Jehovah's righteous laws; a just and righteous judgment. It is clear, from the foregoing remarks, that Ham transmitted the germs of slavery to his posterity, by ordinary generation.

God permitted the transgression, and he also permitted the penalty to fall on the transgressors; and it then devolved on him, as Supreme Ruler of the universe, to regulate, govern, and control the transgressors, and the calamitous consequences of their transgression according to his own righteous will. "Justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne, and righteousness goeth before him." "The wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain." That the almighty and all-wise God governs both men and devils, and the consequences of their acts, in accordance with the strictest principles of righteousness, judgment and justice, we have no right to doubt. He, in his amazing condescension, illimitable goodness, and boundless mercy, has given us a revelation of his will, to regulate, govern, and control our actions; and all that comports with our best interests, or that is essential for us to know concerning himself and his government of our world, is revealed in this Holy Volume; and if there are some things in the moral government of God, which we cannot comprehend, we have no right to cavil. "The Judge of all the earth will do right."

If either masters or servants wish to know the will of God concerning slavery—if they would learn their respective relations and duties, as masters, and servants, I must refer them to the Bible. There they will find a revelation of the will of God in relation to slavery, clearly set forth. If we have any other authority, or guide, I am not aware of it. I know of none. It is true, that I have heard something about a higher law but from whence it came, "to whom related, or by whom begot," I know not. It is enough for us to know, that it did not come from God. Christians must take the Bible as their guide, and God as their master; and if others think that they can do better, let them try. Poor old Ham, I suppose, thought that he could do better; and he deserted the source of all mercy, goodness, truth, light and knowledge; and what was the consequence? Ignorance, barbarism, degradation and woe; ending in the accursed slavery of his race. Accursed of God! A curse entailed on sin—an individual curse—national curse! Too often, a curse to him that serves, and him that rules! God be merciful to the slave and his master. The master, as well as the slave, is entitled to our sympathies, and not to our maledictions.

Whether the mental powers of Shem and Japheth, were originally superior to those of Ham, we know not. We know that the posterity of Shem and Japheth, are mentally superior to the posterity of Ham, at the present day. To me, it seems probable, that Ham came from the hands of his Creator, in every respect equal to Shem and Japheth; and that his mental and moral powers were debased by sin, and they thus acquired a superiority over him. But, supposing that Ham was originally inferior to his more fortunate brothers, he had no right to complain. Suppose that the Divine Being gave Ham one talent, Japheth two, and Shem four; he, in so doing, inflicted no wrong on Ham. To whom much is given, of the same much is required. In order to secure the blessing of God, it was only necessary for Ham to improve what he had received. God required no more at his hands. But it is evident, from the manner in which he conducted himself toward his heaven favored and pious father, that he was an egregious sinner, and the curse of God fell upon him, and his progeny. "The curse causeless shall not come."

When the Almighty in his providence suffers a punishment to fall on a man, or a race of men, he has a good and sufficient reason for it. If He hides his face, or withhold his blessings, we may search for the cause in our own hearts. "It is your iniquities," (said the prophet), "that have separated you and your God." But to return to the sovereignty of God. He has the power.—He has the right. He, alone, is competent to decide what is best for us. "Hath not the potter power over the same lump of clay, to make one vessel to honor, and another to dishonor." He is under no obligation to any one; the best of us having forfeited all right, title, or claim to his mercy. Whatever mercies or blessings we may receive at the hands of Divine Benificence, are unmerited; undeserved on our part. The Divine Being is debtor to no one. There is no merit on our part, there can be none. God nevertheless has respect to character. Shem and Japheth, acted in accordance with Divine will, and He chose to confer on them certain favors and benefits. Ham incurred his displeasure, by violating his laws; and He left his posterity to those temporal misfortunes, which must necessarily grow out of moral infirmities, and mental disabilities.

I think I have clearly shown that African slavery originated in the inferiority of the African race; and that the inferiority of the African race, originated in the violation of God's laws. Slavery is perpetuated by the cause that brought it into existence. I have alluded in the preceding pages to the mental disabilities and the moral defects and infirmities of the posterity of Ham; as subjecting them to degradation and slavery. Physical conformation and color, viz., the curly hair, the black skin, the flat nose, the broad flat foot, &c., have had no small share in subjecting the negro race to degradation and slavery. All other races of men shun and despise them on account of their physical peculiarities. This is the key to that universal prejudice against the African race, the world over. The negro race are then, slaves from necessity, viz., they are slaves because they are incapable of attaining to the rights and privilege of free men. And those rights and privileges they never can enjoy in the midst of the Anglo-Saxon race.

We have seen in the preceding pages, that slavery and all the evils and calamities appertaining thereto, were entailed on Ham's posterity, as a penalty for the wilful violation of God's laws; and, I shall attempt to show before I bring this essay to a close, that in consequence of disobedience on the part of masters, as well as servants, that the evils and calamities of slavery fall not alone on him who serves, but also on him who rules. Therefore, the evils of slavery can only be mitigated, or removed by obedience to the requisitions of Divine revelations, on the part of masters and servants. This is the only remedy. There is no other. Here is a great principle of God's moral government of the world, which we should never lose sight of. It is a principle of universal application. All those evils that befal mankind in consequence of transgression, may be mitigated, or removed, or otherwise the penalty may be averted, by repentance and obedience to the requisitions of the Holy Bible.



CHAPTER IX.

I shall now take a glance at slavery under the Mosaic dispensation. Whatever our views may be on the subject of slavery, if we have read our Bibles, we know that it was tolerated and regulated by the Divine Being among the children of Israel; no doubt for wise and beneficent purposes. I know that it is vain for us to attempt to elevate our minds to a clear comprehension of the moral government of God. There is much, I admit, that to us is incomprehensible. Finite beings, cannot fathom the Infinite mind of Jehovah. We can, however, if we will read our Bibles, learn the will of God concerning ourselves and our fellow creatures; at least so far as our respective duties are concerned. This may be learned from the Old, as well as the New Testament. Forms and ceremonies may change; but the eternal principles of truth, righteousness and justice, change not.

Prior to the Mosaic dispensation, we read that Abraham held servants, and that when Sarai treated her maid-servant unkindly, and she fled from her face, the angel of the Lord said unto her, "Return to thy mistress, and subject thyself under her hands." It is a notable fact, that when the law was delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai, he received from the hands of God Almighty the following words: "In it," (the Sabbath,) "thou shalt not do any work; thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant nor thy maid-servant." It appears that the Hebrews under peculiar circumstances became servants; and they were released, or went free on the seventh year. If, however, they preferred to remain with their masters, they then became servants forever. The Hebrews were not suffered to enslave each other, except for a limited time; their servants were taken from the heathen nations around them. See Leviticus, 25th Chapter, from the 39th to the 55th verses inclusive. Mention is frequently made of servants throughout the Old Testament. Men women and children were held in bondage by patriarchs, prophets, kings, and others. Moses delivered various laws to the children of Israel, for the guidance and regulation of both masters and servants. The holding of slaves is nowhere denounced as sinful in the Old Testament; on the contrary, the Hebrews were permitted to buy slaves from the surrounding heathen nations. Masters were commanded in the Old as well as in the New Testament, to treat servants with kindness and humanity. Inhumanity, cruelty, and oppression being every where forbidden in the Bible.

Having briefly alluded to the revealed will of God tinder the old dispensation, we will now hastily glance at the position occupied by Christ and his apostles in relation to this institution, and at their instructions and admonitions to masters and servants.

It is clearly and indisputably true that their course with reference to masters and servants, and the doctrine which they taught, give no countenance to the wild and visionary views of the faction, known in the United States by the name of abolitionists. I cannot, however, stop here to draw fully the contrast, but it will be found in other parts of this work.

Christ came to preach the gospel, and not abolitionism. Christ came to preach peace, and not to foment strife. He and his apostles taught servants to love and obey their masters, to serve them freely and cheerfully, and not to run away from them. No! No! They never incited servants to murder their masters, nor to murmur at their service; nor yet to steal all they could get, and then leave then. But there are those among us who have been guilty of all these things; and yet, notwithstanding, they have the audacity to tell us, at least those who have not embraced the views of Tom Paine, that they are Christians. The more consistent ones, I believe, are open infidels.

Our Saviour said nothing that could be construed into a condemnation of the institution of slavery; nor yet did he invest his apostles with any authority to interfere with it. It was no part of their commission. Our Saviour preached the gospel of peace and glad tidings to the bond and the free, to masters and servants, to the poor, the maimed, the halt and the blind. He intermeddled not with the civil institutions of the day. On the contrary, he inculcated, both by precept and example, submission to the ruling authorities. His apostles followed in his footsteps, for they likewise enjoined on their followers, to be subject to the higher powers—to those in authority. They too, preached the gospel to the bond and the free, masters and servants; and gathered them together in the same fold, as brethren beloved—the sheep of one common shepherd, the servants of one common master—members of the same church—partakers of the same joys. But they did not in a solitary instance denounce the holding of slaves as sinful; nor yet enjoin it on masters to release their slaves. They carefully instructed both masters and servants in their relative duties, as masters and servants; and otherwise left the institution of slavery as they found it. How unlike the great apostles of modern reform! Many will no doubt be ready to ask, if slavery is an evil, why did not Christ and his apostles strike directly at its root, and eradicate it from the face of the earth? Others may impiously ask if it is an evil, why did the Almighty permit it, or why does he tolerate it? The latter interrogatory is fully considered in the preceding Chapter; but I will for obvious reasons make a few additional remarks in reply. I again beg such persons to recollect that we are but finite beings, and cannot, therefore, fully comprehend the Infinite Mind; and that God is moreover the Supreme Ruler of the universe, and that to Him belongs the right to govern and dispose of the work of his own hands, as he, in his infinite wisdom, sees fit and proper. We may observe His dealings with man, but we cannot in all cases say why he acts thus; nor have we any right to ask him, why hast them done thus? Slavery is a consequence of sin, and God, in his providence, suffered it to fall on the posterity of Ham as a just and righteous judgment—as a punishment suitable and proper—as a punishment proportioned to the magnitude of the crime. The Divine Being, no doubt, intended that the signal punishment inflicted on Ham's posterity, should be a warning to all future generations, in all future time, to warn them of the danger of violating his commands, and deter them from the commission of crime. God, no doubt, willed that it should continue until the crime was adequately punished, and future generations warned of the danger of violating his laws; and his own honor vindicated. We have reason to believe that God moreover willed, that in his own good time, this evil, as well as all other evils should be eradicated; and that the sons and daughters of Adam should enjoy universal freedom; and that "righteousness should cover the earth, as the waters cover the great deep." But God willed to bring about this result, not only in his own time, but in his own way. By his own appointed means as revealed in his Holy Word; and that we as co-workers with him, in the accomplishment of his designs, should be guided by his revealed will. So far as we deviate from the revealed will of God in the use of means, we sin against him, and are destined to disappointment. The Holy Scriptures justify the conclusion, that in the process of time, the Almighty disposer of events, will root out all evil from the face of the earth. "Every plant," (says Jesus Christ,) "that my heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted up." But there are many evils so interwoven with the institutions of society, that they can only be rooted out by the general spread of the benign and purifying influences of the Gospel.

Much has been said and written about slavery as an evil—a curse—a misfortune, &c. It is admitted on all hands that slavery is an evil; but it would be well for those who undertake to propose remedies for it, first to ascertain wherein the evil consists; or in other words, what are the circumstances which give rise to it. It is essential to the success in medical practice, that the physician correctly understands the disease which he proposes to treat. I have shown in the preceding Chapter that slavery originated in sin; or otherwise, that Ham entailed it on his posterity by violating the laws of God. The evils of slavery, to the present day, originate in the same cause, viz, a violation of God's commands; a failure on the part of masters and servants to comply with the requisitions of the Holy Bible. It is disobedience to God's commands, that makes slavery an evil and a curse. The curse of slavery originates in the disobedience of slaves, and the cruelty of masters. "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters—masters give unto your servants that which is just and equal." Here, in a sentence of twenty words, the Apostle Paul prescribes a remedy for the evils of slavery, a remedy too, that has never failed—a remedy that will remove the curse of slavery; and under some circumstances, make it a blessing to both masters and servants. A compliance on the part of masters and servants with the requisitions of God's word, will disarm slavery of all its evils and terrors. It will bring peace and consolation to masters and servants. Herein is manifest, the wisdom and goodness of God. When the gospel was first promulgated slavery existed in the world, in a form, no doubt, which made it a sore evil—a grievous curse. The cries of the oppressed had come up before the throne of God. He was moved with compassion for masters and servants. Go, said He, to his beloved son, to yonder world, and remove the curse of slavery. Instruct servants to love and obey their masters, to serve them freely and cheerfully—without murmuring or repining—and to be content with their lot. Instruct masters to give unto their servants that which is just and equal. To never loose sight, in the treatment of their slaves, of the great principles of love, justice and humanity.

Jesus Christ and his apostles went forth to preach the gospel of peace and glad tidings. Their object was to confer the largest possible amount of happiness on the bond and free, that they were capable of enjoying under the circumstances. The gospel contemplated the present happiness of the human race, as well as their future interests. It had no design of detracting anything from the happiness of masters or servants; on the contrary, it contemplated the augmentation of the happiness of all who should be brought under its influence. Slavery existed. Masters were cruel and oppressive, and slaves were disobedient. This condition of slavery made it a sore evil—a grievous calamity, to both masters and servants. The duty of the apostles was clear. It was to remove those evils as far as practicable. It was to instruct masters and servants in their relative duties; well knowing, that obedience on their part, would remove the evils of slavery, and make both masters and servants better and happier. Having done this, they could do no more. Any other course would have entailed misery on masters and servants; or otherwise would have deprived them of all access to both servants and masters. The apostles adopted and carried out the only practicable and effective means within their reach, of ameliorating the condition of servants. Go, ye ministers of Jesus Christ, and follow in their footsteps. And ye apostles of modern reform, from whence did ye derive your authority to speak evil of rulers? To oppose the execution of the laws of your country? to foment strife? to sow the seeds of discontent and rebellion among the slaves, and thereby incite masters to acts of cruelty and oppression? "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites."

We may speculate, wrangle, and contend about slavery in the United States for centuries to come, without bringing relief to the slave; for after all, there is but one course which can ensure relief to the servant, the master, and the nation—but one course by which we can bring about universal emancipation, and secure at the same time the peace, happiness and prosperity of the Union; and that is obedience on the part of ministers of the gospel, masters and servants, to the requisitions of God's word. Let ministers of the gospel imitate the example of Jesus Christ and his apostles; let masters and servants strictly observe what is enjoined on them in the New Testament; and let those not immediately interested, look around, and see if they cannot find objects of charity nearer home; and then will slavery soon cease to exist as an institution in this nation. This is the only safe and practicable means of accomplishing an object so desirable; and those who attempt to extirpate slavery in any other way, are openly, knowingly, wilfully and deliberately violating God's laws; and can expect nothing but the curse of Almighty God on their devoted heads. If they sow the whirlwind, they may expect to reap the storm. They will learn, when it is too late, that no good can result from fraud, falsehood and force.

Hence, we see, why it is that the interference of abolitionists with slavery in the United States, has resulted in injury to masters and servants. They have refused to act in accordance with God's revealed will; consequently, they have augmented the evils, hardships and calamities of slavery. Thus it has been; thus it is; and thus it ever will be. God is immutable; his laws are unchangeable; and he that expects to accomplish good, must do it by His appointed means. "Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein." Follow the example of Jesus Christ and his apostles, and then may ye expect to accomplish good for your fellow creatures, and enjoy the approving smiles of heaven.

I shall close the present chapter with some quotations from the Bible.

"THUS SAITH THE LORD."

"And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done unto him. And he said, cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." Genesis ix, 24, 25.

"But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence comest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands." Genesis xvi, 6-10.

"But in it (the Sabbath,) thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." Exodus xx, 10.

"Both thy bond-men, and thy bond-maids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them ye shall buy bond-men and bond-maids. Moreover, of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land; and they shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession, they shall be your bond-men forever." Leviticus xxv. 44-47.

"Art thou called being a servant? care not for it; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather." 1 Cor. vii, 21.

"Servants, be obedient to them who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ. Not with eye service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening; knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him." Ephesians vi, 5-10.

"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God; And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not unto men." Col. iii, 22, 23.

"Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also hare a Master in heaven." Col. iv, 1.

"Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, He is proud, knowing nothing but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings." 1 Timothy vi, 1-5.

"Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters and to please them well in all things; not answering again; Not purloining, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things." Titus ii, 9, 10.

"Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward." 1 Peter ii, 18.



CHAPTER X.

We have proof positive, that the relation of master and servant is not inconsistent with the word of God. "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh." "Masters, give unto your servants, that which is just and equal." This is the language of Holy Writ. Among the converts of the apostles were slaveholders. They were converted as slaveholders; admitted into the church as slaveholders; and as such, retained in the church in full fellowship, enjoying all the privileges and immunities of the church. They were not required so far as we know, in any instance, to manumit their slaves. It is highly probable, that the best thing that they could do for them, for the time being, was to retain them as servants, and treat them according to the injunctions of the apostle; "Give unto your servants that which is just and equal."

The case of Philemon and Onesimus, his servant, is fully to the point. Philemon, a convert of St. Paul, appears to have been a devoted Christian; and I infer, from the language of St. Paul, a teacher or preacher of the Gospel. He had a wicked servant, by name Onesimus. Onesimus, (if I may use modern parlance), ran away from his master, Philemon. St. Paul found him at Rome, and converted him. What then became of this fugitive slave? Did St. Paul conceal him, or did he advise him to flee still farther from his master, in order to elude pursuit and apprehension? Did he say to Onesimus, why brother Onesimus, you are now a Christian; Philemon, your master is a Christian; we are all Christians; and one Christian has no right, under any circumstances, to retain another in bondage? No! Thank God, St. Paul promulgated no such doctrine. What then did he say to Onesimus? Go home, and be subject to your master, Philemon. Love him and serve him, in the singleness of your heart. Do it freely and cheerfully; without murmuring or repining; and whatever service them shalt render unto thy master, Philemon, it shall be accounted unto thee, as service rendered unto the God of heaven. Dear brother Onesimus, thy condition is now changed; for, whereas Philemon was formerly thy master; he is now thy master and thy brother, and thou shalt obey him and love him as such. Go home brother; and here is a letter I have written to brother Philemon, your master. Onesimus returns home with this letter in his pocket. Anxious I have no doubt, to see his good old master. His feelings and views had undergone a change. He loved his master then; whereas, he formerly hated him, and fled from his service. No time is lost; he returns home in haste to his master. They meet. He approaches Philemon and extends his hand, while tears trickle down his cheeks. Master, (says he to Philemon), I have been a wicked and unfaithful servant; but thank God, I found St. Paul at Rome and he has converted me to Christianity; and here is a letter from brother Paul. And did you see brother Paul, exclaimed Philemon? Oh! yes, said Onesimus; his countenance lighting up and his eyes dancing in their sockets for joy. And is dear brother Paul well? How does he do? Oh! very well master, very well, indeed. Philemon then proceeds to open the letter, and what does he read therein?

"I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ—unto Philemon, our dearly beloved brother—Grace to you and peace from God—Hearing of thy love and faith—Which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus Christ; I beseech thee for my son, Onesimus, That thou shouldst receive him forever."

Receive him, said St. Paul, not only as a good and faithful servant, now profitable to thee; but receive him as a brother beloved—an heir of salvation. Here is clearly set forth the duty of ministers, masters, and servants; but, as I shall again and again refer to this subject, I will now proceed to show reasons why, the holding of slaves is not necessarily sinful under all circumstances.

A slaveholder is under no obligation to emancipate his slave, provided the condition of the slave is made worse thereby. And it is obvious, that there are many cases, in which both master and slave would sustain injury, by the emancipation of the slave. Under such circumstances, there are as good reasons, why a slave should be retained in bondage, as there are, that a minor should be subject to his parents until he is twenty-one years of age; or that an idiot should be placed under the supervision and control of some one, during his natural life. The reason is based on inability and incompetency of the slave, the minor and the idiot. They are not qualified to reason and to judge, and are therefore incompetent to act; hence, it devolves on some one to reason and to judge for them, and to supervise and control their actions. The welfare of the slave, the minor, and the idiot, is subserved by subjecting them to the control of competent persons; and the peace, prosperity, and general good of all are promoted thereby.

Before I proceed farther with the respective duties of masters and servants, I beg leave to present some solemn thoughts, for the consideration of Christian slaveholders. I have endeavored to show, that the holding of slaves is not sinful, per se; but if slaveholders fail to discharge the duties enjoined on them, the Divine Being will hold them accountable for their dereliction of duty. Such is the deceitfulness of our hearts, and such the proneness of our corrupt natures to wander from the path of duty, that it is necessary for us at all times to scrutinize well, the motives which prompt us to act, and to test all our actions by the only standard of truth, the Holy Scriptures. Our Saviour tells us, that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Not that the possession and enjoyment of riches is necessarily sinful; but if those who have wealth, fail as good stewards, to use it according to the requisitions of the Bible, then are they guilty in the sight of God. So it is with slavery. Slaveholding is not necessarily sinful, but if slaveholders fail to discharge the duties enjoined on them in the New Testament; then are they guilty in the sight of God. And here lies the difficulty; when we point out to a rich man his duty, his corrupt and avaricious heart interposes and says, no; you would rob me of my goods, you would damage my pecuniary interests; I cannot, I will not yield to your requisitions. We sometimes encounter the same difficulty with slaveholders. They sometimes imagine that duty and interest, are antagonistic principles. They imagine, that if they discharge their duty to the slaves, their pecuniary interests will suffer thereby; and for this reason, I have sometimes thought, that it might be as difficult for a slaveholder to enter the kingdom of heaven, as for a rich man. "The love of money, the root of all evil," stands in the way in both cases. If duty and our worldly interest could always run in the same channel, then should we find it no difficult task to be Christians; but as they are sometimes opposing forces, antagonistic principles, the contest is difficult, and the result sometimes doubtful.[3] Duty, commands the rich man to feed the hungry and clothe the naked; but the rich man says, nay, Lord, my goods are my own; I procured them by honest labor, and must I now appropriate them to feeding the hungry and clothing the naked? What right have they to enjoy the fruits of my labor? Your requisition Lord, is unreasonable. I cannot, I will not comply. Duty, says to the slaveholder, "Give unto your servants that which is just and equal, forbearing threatening;" but the slaveholder says, nay Lord, my slave is my own property, I purchased him with my own money, and what right have you to dictate to me, how I shall treat my slave? Is he not my own, have I not the right to feed, clothe, work, and otherwise treat him, as seemeth good in mine own eyes; and who has the right to interfere? A compliance with your unreasonable demands will materially affect my pecuniary interests. My object is to amass wealth, to hoard up silver and gold; and I shall therefore so manage my affairs as to accomplish this object.

[3] By worldly interest, I wish to be understood, the accumulation of wealth by any and every means, and the hoarding it up, regardless of the wants and sufferings of those around us.

He that sets up for himself, regardless of the peace, happiness, and comfort of his fellow creatures—he that hath a will of his own, and will not yield to the requisitions of God's word—he that will take his own way, regardless of the dictates of his better informed judgment—he that will go his own course, it matters not on whose rights he infringes—he that will consult his own interests, and at the same time trample under foot the dearest interests of others, has no right, or title, to the name of a Christian. If the Bible says do this, or abstain from that, the Christian has no right to demur; it matters not how repugnant it may be to the feelings and inclinations of his heart. He must cheerfully and heartily at all times, and under all circumstances, acquiesce in the will of a superior intelligence. He must be willing to sacrifice all; not only his earthly goods, but life itself, if God requires it at his hands. This is the doctrine of the Bible, and well did the Saviour say, "Strait is the gate and narrow is the way, that leadeth to life; and few there are that find it." "Many are called, but few are chosen." The Christian is not at liberty to consult his own personal interests and inclinations, when they are in opposition to the will of God. "Ye are not your own, (says the apostle), ye are bought with a price."

It was impressed on my mind in early life, that there was much error and misconception among Christian slaveholders in general, in reference to their obligations to their slaves, and a long residence among them has but strengthened and confirmed those convictions. I have no reference here to those who view slave property in the same light, that they do every other species of property; but to conscientious and humane men. I allude to you, who profess to be the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus—you, who take the Bible for the man of your council—you, who profess to be the servants of that God who is no respector of persons—you, who profess to be under the influence of that religion which recognizes every man as a brother beloved, for whom Christ shed his precious blood.

I beg leave to impress on your minds the solemn truth, that your slaves are human beings of like passions, feelings, and propensities as yourselves; that they have immortal souls; that their joys and their sorrows, their happiness, and their misery, are suspended on the treatment which they receive at your hands; and that not only their present happiness and misery, but in all probability, their eternal destiny may be influenced by your course of conduct toward them. These are weighty considerations—would to God I could impress their importance on your minds; and that you would give them that prayerful and serious attention winch they demand at your hands.

In assuming the right to direct and control fellow beings, from their cradles to their graves, you have taken on yourselves responsibilities, onerous indeed; and whatever may be your feelings,—whatever may be your views—whatever may be your course toward these unfortunate beings, of one thing you may be assured, that you are destined to meet them at the bar of judgment, and that if you have failed to discharge the duties obligatory on you, God Almighty will require their souls at your hands.

It is there that the rich and the poor, the bond and the free, the slave and his master, shall meet on a common level before a just and Almighty Judge; who, without respect of persons, colors, grades, or conditions in life, shall render unto every man according to his works, whether they be good or evil. In that dread day, it will avail you nothing, that in this world you were men of renown; that in this world the indigent and the ignorant, cowered in your presence, or were awed into submission by your superiority; or, that the summits of your superb and beautiful mansions vied with the clouds—that you added house to house, and field to field—that you amassed silver and gold as the dust of the earth—and that you were surrounded by all the elegancies and enjoyed all the comforts of life—rioted in excess and reveled in luxury. There you will stand before a just and scrutinizing God, divested of all those superfluities, and stripped of all that drapery, and those fascinating accomplishments, which attracted the attention and commanded the respect and admiration of your dependants and inferiors in this world.

Having in the preceding pages, but incidentally alluded to the duties of servants, I will close the present chapter with a few remarks on that subject. "Servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh," &c. Servants are taught in the New Testament, not only to obey their masters, but to do it in the fear of God, cheerfully, freely, and actively; not simply with a view to please their masters, but as a service or duty, which God requires of them and for which he will hold them accountable.

It is a little remarkable, that so much should have been said and written about the cruel and harsh treatment of servants, and the duties of masters, and that the duties of servants should have been overlooked. Servants are commanded to be subject to their masters, "not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward." The non-observance of this command on the part of servants, has frequently engendered that peevishness and perverseness in masters to which the apostles alludes, viz. forwardness among servants, has engendered frowardness in masters. It is the duty of servants, to oppose the evil tempers and dispositions, and the inhumanity of masters, by opposite tempers and dispositions, and by an opposite course of conduct. This is the command of God; and by yielding obedience to this command, they would to some extent, at least, reform their masters, and secure to themselves kind treatment. It is their only hope; it is all they can do, that will be likely to ameliorate their conditions as slaves. If servants would obey the injunctions of Holy Writ, they would seldom be treated cruelly or unkindly. It is their own disobedience and perverseness that subjects them, for the most part, to cruel treatment. I know, from personal observation, that the unkind, the harsh, the cruel treatment of slaves, in a large majority of cases, originates in their failure to observe the injunctions of the inspired writers.

I have shown that it is the duty of servants to "love" and "obey" their "masters," to "count them worthy of all honor," and "to please them well in all things;" and it now devolves on those who have taught a contrary doctrine, to either admit their error, or otherwise to throw away their Bibles. It is folly for persons to persist in a course so contrary to the word of God, and notwithstanding, to call themselves Christians. I know that there are many who will plead ignorance, when they are arraigned for their unscriptural views, and their unwarrantable interference with slavery. It is too true—poor souls, they are ignorant—deplorably ignorant; but in all seriousness I would ask, how is it in this land of Bibles, that a majority of those professing Christianity, should know but little more about the Sacred Scriptures, than the heathen who never saw a Bible? But they have no time to read the Bible, and what is worse, they have no taste for it. All their leisure moment are devoted to the reading abolition papers, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and other contemptible low, filthy novels!

But how is it, that there are ministers of the gospel of all denominations of Christians, who are guilty of inculcating doctrines on the subject of slavery, that are directly opposed to teachings of Divine inspiration? Are they ignorant of the fact, "that slavery pervaded the whole Eastern world, at the introduction of Christianity;" and yet not one word was uttered by our Saviour and his apostles, in condemnation of it as a civil institution? Are they ignorant of the fact, that both masters and servants were admitted into the church of Christ, and that masters were required in no instance, so far as we know, to manumit their slaves? Are they ignorant of the fact, that Christ and his apostles taught masters and servants their relative duties, and otherwise left the institution of slavery as they found it? Have they ever read Paul's letter to Timothy? "Let as many servants as are under the yoke, count their masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren? but rather do them service, &c. These things teach and exhort. If any man teach otherwise, he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth. From such withdraw thyself."

A more graphic description of the abolition clergymen of the present day could not be drawn. It is a picture of modern abolition drawn by the Omniscient God; and every word of it was originally applied to the subject of slavery and abolitionism. We have had strife, we have had railings, evil surmisings and perverse disputings; and we are indebted to corrupt fanatical clergymen for all these evils—for all this contention and slavery agitation—for all this envy, jealousy, hatred and sectional feeling—for all that endangers our peace and prosperity—our liberty, our happiness—and the perpetuity of this glorious Union. Yes, my fellow citizens, we are indebted to the emissaries of England, and native born American citizens, who from sinister motives have cloaked themselves with ministerial garb, for all the contention, all the evils, all the crime that has accrued or grown out of African slavery in the United States! St. Paul says, that they are "men of corrupt minds," and that they are "destitute of the truth;" and he moreover commands Timothy to "withdraw from such" characters. And in the name of God, I command every Christian, every patriot, every friend of republicanism, every gentleman of honor, to "withdraw" from such men. Excommunicate them, cast them off,—cast them out as evil spirits—have no fellowship with them, until they repent of their crimes and cease from the evil of their ways. They are enemies to "pure and undefiled religion," and traitors to their country; and as such, they should be viewed and treated by every good citizen.

Many persons suppose that abolitionism is of modern origin; but it is an error, for we learn from the Epistle of Paul to Timothy, that it was agitating the church of Christ in the apostolic ages. St. Paul denounces those agitators as "men of corrupt minds;" and he moreover says unto Timothy, "from such withdraw thyself;" viz., excommunicate them—exclude them from the church, and have no fellowship with them. It is a fact, worthy of note, that primitive Christians never meddled with the civil institutions of the countries in which they resided. They were under all circumstances good and loyal subjects. But the efforts of the apostle Paul, to crush the monster abolitionism, did not entirely succeed, for it has continued to agitate the church, from that day to the present hour. Yes, the foul fiend, with head erect, and brazen front, is stalking over our beloved country to the present day!

It appears that portions of the church, notwithstanding the solemn injunctions and admonitions of St. Paul, continued to interfere with the civil and domestic relations of master and servant. But the practice was condemned as unchristian, by nearly all the principal fathers. Particularly, Ignatius, Chrysostom and Jerome. Ignatius says, "let them (servants), serve their masters with greater diligence, and not be puffed up—and let them not desire their liberty to be purchased by the church." It was decreed by one of the ancient councils of the church,—"if any teach, that by virtue of religion or Christian instruction, that the slave may despise his master, or may withhold his service, let him be anathema," viz., let him be accursed of God, and separated or excommunicated from the church of Christ. Let the church have no fellowship, union, or communion with him, and let him be an off-cast from society.

Mark the above, reader! It is the language of the apostle Paul, and the voice of the primitive church of Christ with reference to abolitionism. I have said nothing worse—I have not said more—I shall not say less. It is God's truth; harsh and severe as it may appear to some of you. And to abolitionists, I have only to say in conclusion, poor deluded souls, I sincerely pity you. Bow your heads with shame and grief—it may be, the Lord will have mercy upon you.



CHAPTER XI.

I am not yet done with the obligations of masters to their slaves. I cannot hastily dismiss the subject. In it I feel an intense interest. Bear with me, my beloved friends and fellow citizens of the South. For I assure you, that if I know anything of my own heart, I am prompted to write by the best of motives and the kindest of feelings. To many of you I am personally known; and I flatter myself, that those who know me best, will not suspect me of improper motives or feelings. I have for you the highest respect, and for you I entertain the kindest feelings. I long resided in your midst, and was treated with kindness by you, in all the relations of life, whether private or public; and I feel myself bound to you by ties of gratitude, which neither time nor space can separate; by all those tender and endearing associations and relations in life, which must necessarily grow out of a long residence in the midst of a generous, humane and hospitable people. My regard and solicitude for my Southern friends is now a thousand fold greater than at any previous period of my life. And my anxiety for your peace, happiness, and permanent prosperity, becomes more and more ardent. But I must come directly to the point under investigation.

Masters, I conceive, are under obligations to act with reference to the comfort and happiness of their slaves; and not solely with a view to their own pecuniary interests. If they fail to provide for their slaves comfortable houses, clothing suited to their various wants, and adapted to the varying and changeable seasons of the year, together with a supply of wholesome and nutritious food, they violate the commands of God. Their own interests, as well as duty, demand it at their hands. I do not contend that the master is bound to furnish the slave with clothing of the same material with which he clothes himself; nor do I contend, that in all cases, he is bound to provide for him the precise articles of food, on which he himself subsists. The occupations of the master and the slave may be different; and supposing that they are engaged in the same occupation, their feelings, views, appetites and propensities differ. In other words, their wants differ. Hence, what would conduce to comfort in the case of the slave, would not, at all times, suffice for the master's happiness and comfort.

Here is a fact which is not understood in the free States. Slaves are happy and content under circumstances in which a white man would be miserable. They are satisfied and content with food, on which the better portion of the white race can hardly subsist. Nor would soft beds and fine houses conduce to their comfort. There are many of them, who, if they were provided with downy beds, would prefer to repose on the hearth or the floor. They are by nature a happier people than the Anglo-Saxon race, and of course, less will suffice for their happiness and comfort. All that I contend for is, that the health, comfort and convenience of the slave, should be amply provided for by the master; or at least as far as practicable. I wish here, as well as elsewhere, to avoid the error of asking too much, for I have generally observed through life, that those who ask too much are likely to get nothing. I shall, therefore, contend for nothing more than the clear, obvious, and indisputable duty of slaveholders.