nm 
 
 5f i \<C3 7 To se pU C. 
 
 resolutions d<rl ve>raJ »V> ~*V><r 
 (=l$w<M'*l Ass<r*y»V>lv wdicVi met 
 
 
 ^ 
 
J 
 
 Glass L Lh ¥ f _ 
 Book I, O & ^T" 4*. 
 
SPEECH 
 
 SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 WHICH MET IN DETROIT IN MAY LAST 
 
 JOSEPH C. STILES. 
 
 MARK H. NEWMAN & CO., 199 BROADWAY. 
 
 1850. 
 

 
 
 
 
 JOHN A. GRAY, PKINTEE, 
 
 79 Fulton, corner of Gold St. I 
 

 
 To the Rev. J. C. Stiles : 
 
 Dear Sir : — The undersigned, having listened with deep interest and gratifica- 
 tion to your argument upon the Slavery question, delivered before the General 
 Assembly at its late session in Detroit, respectfully request that you will, at your 
 earliest convenience, prepare a report of it for publication, with any such abbre- 
 viation or expansion of the several parts as may suit your own pleasure. 
 May 30, 1850. 
 
 Chas. H. Read, 
 William Sterling, 
 David H. Riddle, 
 Clifford S. Arms, 
 J. Henry Clark, 
 David Malin, 
 Geo. F. Wiswell, 
 Geo. Duffield, Jr., 
 Charles Starr, 
 
 Geo. Duffield, 
 Erskine Mason, 
 Joseph F. Tuttle, 
 S. M. Gould, 
 A. C. Lathrop, 
 J. G. Wilson, 
 David Dobie, 
 E. D. Willis, 
 J. Holmes Agnew. 
 
 Dear Brethren : — Absence from home, feeble health, and multiplied engage- 
 ments, have prevented my earlier compliance with your kind request. I have 
 made liberal use, you perceive, of its latitude, especially in writing out certain 
 arguments which were only numbered or named during the delivery of the residue. 
 With great respect, brethren, 
 
 I am yours, 
 
 JOS. C. STILES. 
 
 Messieurs Chas. H. Read, Wm. Sterling, and others. 
 
F>ig©^ 
 
 Mr. Moderator : — On this long-vexed question, at this 
 very moment menacing more than ever the rupture of Church 
 and State, permit me to express my strong conviction that he 
 argues most cogently who argues most kindly. May I be 
 assisted to remember this. I shall express myself with the 
 earnestness of fresh investigation, but I beseech my brethren 
 to interpret all my language as uttered under the conviction 
 of ultimate fallibility, whatever may be the seeming confi- 
 dence of the moment. Especially does it become me to 
 cherish this remembrance when I call to mind that the South 
 is the land of my birth, and the home of my kindred, and 
 may well therefore be exerting a present influence over my 
 judgment of which I am altogether unconscious. 
 
 The Memorialists complain of the Southern Church, and 
 charge her, not so much with slave-making, nor with slave- 
 trading, as with sla.ve-holdi?ig. They direct the attention of 
 the Assemby to the character of this institution, and inquire 
 concerning the method of its expulsion from the Presbyterian 
 Body. 
 
 Two solemn questions demand our investigation : 
 
 What is the moral character of slaveiioldixg ? 
 What the duties of the parties concerned 2 
 
 first.— the moral character of slaveholding. 
 
 It need hardly be stated that lie who exerts ;i compulsory 
 authority over a human being as a master, who holds a fellow- 
 man in the relation of involuntary servitude, is the party im- 
 plicated in the charge. 
 
 Let it be premised that in this investigation we are bound 
 1 
 
6 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 to regard slaveholding in its most favorable aspect. Who 
 are a before us ? The Southern Public at large? No, sir ! We 
 have nothing to do with it. It is the membership and the 
 ministry of the Presbyterian Church who stand accused. 
 They are our brethren and uncondemned. We are bound 
 therefore in Christian justice to consider them as carrying out 
 this relation with all the good feeling and principle of which 
 its nature will admit. 
 
 The Memorialists affirm that slaveholding is sin. 
 
 If it is simply intended that slaveholding, in the language 
 of the Majority Report, " leads to sin," I am prepared to 
 yield my hearty assent. In the master, slaveholding insen- 
 sibly tends to breed indolence, pride, impatience, irritability, 
 hard-heartedness, and arbitrary temper. It tends to make 
 the servant discontented, deceitful, and dishonest ; to break 
 down every high motive to general industry, as well as to all 
 intellectual and moral culture. It saps the energies of a 
 community, discourages personal enterprise, and perils uni- 
 versal peace. Yet while the moral bearings of slaveholding 
 do, in general, lie in this direction, it should be conceded that 
 this relation does frequently present the most amiable testi- 
 monies of mutual affection and fidelity, on the part of master 
 and servant. Nay ! strange as it may seem, I am persuaded 
 that there exists more love and confidence between the two 
 races at the South than at the North. 
 
 The sinful tendency of slaveholding, however, is not all that 
 our brethren would express by the language employed. They 
 charge that slaveholding is sin per se, sin in itself, nothing but 
 sin. They insist that he who holds this relation for a moment, 
 thereby sins ; that every act of a master's authority over his 
 servant is an act of oppression ; in fine, that there is no law 
 from heaven applicable to this relation but the law of imme- 
 diate abolition. This, in general, will be conceded to be a 
 fair statement of the views of the Memorialists. 
 
 Mr. Moderator, this method of expression I am not 
 prepared to adopt, and must beg leave respectfully to say, 
 that in my judgment, the proposition which affirms that slave- 
 holding is essentially sinful is overthrown, first, by a simple 
 
DELIVERED IK THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 7 
 
 statement of the facts in the case, and again by a just view of 
 every argument adduced to support it. 
 
 First. Statement of the case. 
 
 Slaveholding is an existing relation between man and man. 
 We hold it true of human relations, that there are three grand 
 moral grades : one purely virtuous, another purely vicious, 
 and a third of a compound nature. 
 
 A relation perfectly virtuous is marked by the five following 
 criteria: — 1. It is directly planned by God for the good of 
 man. 2. Its moral bearings are decidedly salutary. 3. Chris- 
 tianity can, and does, coalesce with it, i. e., it acts in and 
 through it. 4. Christianity can, and does, regulate it. 5. 
 Christianity will but improve it to the close of time. The 
 relations of parent and child, of husband and wife, illustrate 
 this class. 
 
 The characteristics of a relation perfectly sinful are the fol- 
 lowing : — 1. It is expressly forbidden by God. 2. Its moral 
 bearings are decidedly injurious. 3. Christianity cannot co- 
 alesce with it. 4. Christianity cannot regulate it. 5. Chris- 
 tianity in its progress will surely do it away. Professional 
 thieves — associated pirates illustrate this class. 
 
 There exists also such a state of things in human society as 
 a mixed relation. In the sense above described, it is neither 
 purely virtuous on the one hand, nor purely vicious on the 
 other, but partakes of the properties of both. Now under 
 which of these categories shall we place the relation of slave- 
 holding ? Certainly not under the first head. As clearly not 
 under the second. Palpably under the third. Observe two 
 facts. Slaveholding does not bear the first and capital mark 
 either of relations perfectly virtuous, or of those perfectly 
 vicious. It was not planned by God on the one hand, nei- 
 ther is it expressly forbidden by God on the other. Again, 
 slaveholding equally divides the four remaining character- 
 istics of each class. It lacks two of the essential marks of 
 relations perfectly pure, viz. : virtuous bearing, and perma- 
 nency under the gospel ; but possesses the remaining two, 
 viz. : co-existence with the gospel, (i. e., the master's exercise 
 of compulsory authority may be a duty discharged,) and reg- 
 
8 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 ulati6n by it, (i. e., the gospel does lay down rules to guide 
 the conduct both of the master and the slave.) In like man- 
 ner slaveholding possesses two essential marks of relations 
 perfectly sinful, viz. : vicious bearing, and disappearance un- 
 der the progress of the gospel ; while it clearly lacks the two 
 remaining essential properties of such relations — impossible 
 coincidence with the gospel, and impossible regulation by it. 
 I apprehend that this statement of truth few men will dis- 
 pute. In general, mankind will promptly admit, first, that in 
 moral character, human relations are threefold, good, bad, 
 and mixed ; second, that slaveholding belongs to the third 
 category, and not to the first, or second — in a word, that 
 in morality, slaveholding stands between such relations as 
 parent and child, and husband and wife, on the one hand, 
 and such relations as banded thieves and murderers on the 
 other. 
 
 If these be facts, then without argument, upon a mere state- 
 ment of the case, it appears that slaveholding, as a relation, 
 is not sinful in itself. Consequently Southern brethren are 
 not obnoxious to church discipline simply because they do not 
 instantly adopt Abolition principles. 
 
 In weighing this statement of the case, permit me to say, 
 1st. Our Abolition brethren should not aggrieve us who hold 
 more moderate principles, by the misstatement of our moral 
 estimate of this relation. It does seem to us that by the law 
 of unrighteous position, of inordinate feeling, in their ordinary 
 statement of our sentiments our brethren are unconsciouslv 
 impelled to wrong our principles in order to justify their own. 
 We do not hold (as we are often said to do) that slaveholdino- 
 is either a Bible institution or that it receives God's high sanc- 
 tion. On the contrary, unlike every such institution, it was 
 not planned by God, does not naturally tend to the good of 
 society, and will assuredly fall before the gospel. It will 
 break half their opposition, if our brethren will think and 
 speak of our sentiments as we think and speak of the subject. 
 2d. Our Abolition brethren should sustain us by the prompt 
 admission that slaveholding is a relation which God in the 
 Scriptures does certainly recognize and regulate. We hold 
 that slaveholding, unlike relations purely sinful, is not ex- 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. V 
 
 pressly prohibited by God, but does consist with the spirit, 
 principle, and practice of Christianity, so far at least that 
 God does certainly prescribe the duties which become the 
 parties in this relation. It will throw our brethren largely 
 into sympathy with us if they will bind themselves on every 
 hand to concede this undeniable truth, viz. : If slavery is not a 
 regular institution of the Bible, it is a scriplurally regulated 
 relation amongst men. 
 
 3d. If such are the moral characteristics of this relation that 
 God neither sanctions it as an institution of his own, nor yet 
 prohibits it as a relation sinful per se, then it is perfectly rea- 
 sonable that a state of human society, so peculiar, should re- 
 ceive a peculiar treatment at his hand. This it certainly does. 
 On the one hand, he does not enjoin it upon men to form this 
 relation ; on the other, he does not tear society to atoms by 
 demanding its immediate abolition. On the contrary, wherever 
 it exists, he imposes rules upon the parties which, if observed, 
 will gradually work it off amongst the things that were, and 
 meanwhile contribute to accomplish a grand providential end, 
 by giving exercise to some of the most singular and beautiful 
 shapes of the Christian principle. 
 
 4th. In view of this statement, you may infer the response 
 which should be given to an inquiry so frequently, solemnly, 
 and confidently propounded in this Assembly : " Is slavery 
 right, or is it wrong ?" If this inquiry respects the relation 
 of slavery, we answer: It is neither wholly right, nor wholly 
 wrong. There is right about it, and there is wrong about it. It 
 has no such right as would sanction its enrollment on the cat- 
 alogue of Bible institutions. It involves no such wrong as 
 should constrain God to inflict upon it the anathemas directed 
 against theft and murder. If the question respects this or 
 that act of slaveholding, we are ready to reply : If the act is 
 performed in obedience to any one of the rules which God 
 has prescribed for the conduct of the master, like an\ other 
 act of obedience to God, it is right. If the act is performed 
 in violation of any such rule, like any other act of disobedi- 
 ence to God, it is wrong. If the question respects the char- 
 acter of this or that slaveholder, we answer : If the master 
 in question holds his servant in any such spirit, or with any 
 
10 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 such aims, as permit and prompt him to obey the spirit of 
 the rules enjoined upon the master in the Word of God, he is 
 an innocent, a worthy master. If he holds him in an opposite 
 spirit and for opposite ends, he is neither a worthy nor an 
 innocent master. 
 
 We repeat, therefore, upon an intelligent statement of the 
 case at large, it is hard to conceive how any candid person 
 could adjudge that the simple fact of holding slaves consti- 
 tutes our Southern brethren such " prima facie sinners" as 
 makes it the duty of this Assembly, as far as its authority 
 extends, to enjoin forthwith the commencement of criminal 
 process against them, throughout the length and breadth of 
 the Church. 
 
 If the statement of the case does not carry our brethren 
 with us, then, Mr. Moderator, I respond : 
 
 Second. In my judgment, the arguments advanced to 
 establish the entire sinfulness of the relation of master and 
 servant, fairly examined, disprove the proposition which 
 
 THEY WOULD SET UP. 
 
 The reasons advanced by opposing brethren on this floor, 
 may be grouped under the five following heads : — 
 
 I. The Liberty Argument 
 
 May be stated thus : God has made every man so far free, that 
 no one man has a. natural right to exercise compulsory authority 
 over another. The master does exercise such authority ; therefore 
 he sins. The defect of the argument lies in the erroneous 
 statement of the major proposition. The fact is, the negation 
 of a natural right of control over others is not absolute but 
 qualified. The argument, you observe, requires the absolute 
 form of statement, viz. : that every exercise of compulsory 
 authority is a violation of natural right. Inordinate feeling, I 
 apprehend, is the parent of this error. By this phrase — inordi- 
 nate feeling — I mean such a state of mind as cannot justify 
 itself by the facts of the case, and therefore unconsciously 
 forces the intellect to sustain its extravagance, by one of two 
 processes — either by incorporating with the subject elevating 
 properties which do not belong to it, or by separating from it 
 
DELIVERED IX THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 11 
 
 depreciating circumstances which do attach to it. Now 
 inordinate sympathy with the supposed wrongs of the slave — how 
 readily it rises, and when roused how impetuously it heave s 
 to inflict some palpable and flagrant condemnation upon the 
 offender ! How shall this be clone ? The fact is, the face of 
 society presents a diversified catalogue of cases wherein one 
 man exercises compulsory control over another, and thus 
 countenances the right of the master. To sustain itself, inor- 
 dinate anti-slavery excitement boldly strikes off the whole 
 series of qualifying circumstances, and states the case abso- 
 lutely. But clearly in this shape it is a misstatement. Who 
 questions the rightful authority of the parent over the child, 
 the guardian over the ward, the principal over the apprentice, 
 the keeper over the lunatic, the jailor over the convict, and 
 the governor over the subject ? The Liberty argument, 3'ou 
 perceive, is a failure. God has not made man so free that no 
 one man has a right to exercise a compulsory authority over 
 another. The statement must be qualified, and when you 
 qualify it properly, you will find that it gives a stronger coun- 
 tenance to this disputed relation than would at first be im- 
 agined. 
 
 I am prepared now to affirm, that the doctrine of Human 
 Rights, properly understood, rather establishes the master's 
 authority over the servant. I am free to concede, I know no 
 direct right of the master. Where shall we find the basis of 
 such a right ? Not in any such inferior physical and intellec- 
 tual structure of the African as indicates God's purpose to 
 subject him to the permanent dominion of his superior neigh- 
 bor ; not in that original curse of God which consigned the 
 descendants of Canaan to eternal servitude to the posterity of 
 his brethren ; not in the fact that the forfeiture of the captive's 
 life on the battle-field works a forfeiture of his own liberty 
 and that of his posterity for ever ; not in the payment of a 
 valuable consideration for the services of the slave ; not in 
 the authority of the law to convert him into a chattel ; nol in 
 the custom of good men to treat him thus, and call it right ; 
 not in your inability to discover what advantage could accrue 
 to the slave from immediate abolition. No ! Mr. Moderator ! 
 every such basis of the master's claim I utterly discard. 
 
12 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 Where then shall we find in nature a competent foundation 
 for the power which the master exercises ? We shall find it,, 
 I apprehend, largely in the shape of an obligation upon the 
 master, resulting from a natural right in the person of the 
 slave. 
 
 Human rights I take to be summarily three. 1st. The right 
 of existence. Life is the gift of God, and operates a right of 
 existence against all save Him who bestows it. This right in- 
 volves a reasonable use of all the faculties and powers of the 
 subject. 2d. A right of happiness. The Creator has surrounded 
 man with every object suited to refresh the desires of his na- 
 ture, and thus invests him with a right of indulgence, a right of 
 happiness. 3d. A right of supervision. God, in creation and 
 providence, frequently places man in a state of dependence 
 wherein the enjoyment of his natural rights can never be 
 reached without progressive development, under competent 
 supervision. This indicates a right of supervision. Such a 
 right is universally felt to result from the coincidence of three 
 things. Let there exist an incapacity of self-government, which 
 renders its exercise mischievous to the parties and to society, 
 and lor which God in creation or providence has appointed a 
 guardianship, and all men will feel that every such human 
 being has a right to wise and kind supervision. A child by 
 nature has no power of self-government. Left to self-direc- 
 tion, a child will surely injure itself and all about it. God in 
 the constitution of things has made provision for its necessity 
 in the parental relation. Were there no other basis than this, 
 all men would feel that the child was entitled to supervision 
 at the hand of his parent. There results, of course, to the 
 parent, a right of authority over the child. So upon the death 
 of the parent, and the legal appointment of a guardian, all 
 men feel the right of supervision on the one side, and of con- 
 trol on the other. So also in the case of the apprentice, of 
 the lunatic, of the convict, and of the subject. In each of 
 these cases there is for the time bein^ a natural or moral in- 
 competency of self-government ; in each case, self-govern- 
 ment exercised would seriously damage the subject and the 
 community ; and in each case God has indicated a governing 
 superior. Now it would seem impossible for the human 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 13 
 
 mind to withhold its assent from this truth, viz. : that in each 
 of these cases, these three things constitute a clear right in 
 the inferior to kind and wise management, and consequently 
 confer an indisputable authority on the suoerior to exercise 
 such control. 
 
 I hold now, Mr. Moderator, that these three things are 
 equally applicable to the case in hand. 1st. The slave is in- 
 capable of self-government. As a general remark who doubts 
 this ? 2d. The sudden release of the slave from the accus- 
 tomed direction of the master, would produce irreparable 
 mischiefs to himself and to society. Who questions this ? 
 3d. God has pointed to the party who is to exercise control 
 over him. This too is undeniable. Now as in each of the 
 other cases, so in this, these three circumstances lay the basis 
 of a right of supervision on the part of the servant, and of 
 course, of control on the part of the master. Dispute this posi- 
 tion ; carry out your principle. The children of this generation 
 rise up in mass, assert that God made them as free as their 
 parents, demand immediate absolution from all authority, and 
 set out at once to exercise unrestricted self-government. Does 
 not every eye see, that the child's ignorance of himself, of 
 those who lie in wait to destroy, of the consequences of rio-ht 
 and wrong conduct, &c, &c, — his utter incapacity to 
 support, instruct, direct, or defend himself, — in a word, 
 his incessant, invisible, unavoidable temptations to an indolent 
 and profligate life, would make enlargement from parental 
 control the severest curse which could be inflicted upon him- 
 self and society, and for this reason, the most unrighteous act 
 the parent could perform ? Mark the analogy in the case of 
 the slave and that of the child. 1st. There is in the frame- 
 work of society an existing practical guardianship. 2d. The 
 slave is just as incompetent to guide, support, and protect 
 himself; just as much exposed to indolence, sensuality and 
 imposition ; and just as certain, freed from the master's super- 
 vision, to inflict upon himself and society the most disquieting 
 and outrageous mischiefs. Now would it be right to cast the 
 reins upon his neck and turn him loose, — right to himself, — 
 right to community ? Above all things, I ask, what does the 
 child, what does the slave need ? Surely, wise and kind su- 
 
14 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 pervision, until he can be educated to take care of himself, to 
 enjoy his liberty. This is a boon of which he stands in per- 
 ishing need. By the law of love, therefore, it is duty not to 
 withhold this supervision and leave him to perish, but in ef- 
 ficient wisdom and philanthropy to exercise it. 
 
 I hold, Mr. Moderator, that this is by far the most exalted, 
 nay, the only perfect law of Human Rights. In the language 
 of the Majority Report, " The laws of guardianship" and " the 
 demands of humanity'''' clothe it with an impregnable endorse- 
 ment. Deny this view of the subject, and the end of natural 
 liberty is denied to one half of the human family. Carry out 
 this doctrine faithfully, and all our brethren who are now in- 
 competent to enjoy their natural rights are put under a benign 
 supervision, which provides the best present substitute for 
 the privation, and secures the ultimate beneficial possession 
 of their liberties at the earliest period. 
 
 In weighing this view of the Liberty argument, should my 
 brother object, 1st, That the parental relation is not slavery, 
 the relation of guardian and ward is not slavery, of the luna- 
 tic and his keeper is not slavery, &c. &c, — I answer, the 
 argument asserts no such thing. There are differences, of 
 course, in different objects. The argument simply inquires, 
 first, whether there is not an agreement in three certain things ; 
 and second, whether those three things do not lay the basis 
 of a right of supervision, on the one hand, and of control on 
 the other. 
 
 2d. That masters at the South do not hold their slaves by 
 any such benignant lien as my doctrine supports ; — I admit 
 the fact that very many do not. And here let me say, that in 
 the sequel I hope to secure as frank an admission on his part, 
 that the number of masters who do hold some such views on 
 this subject, is vastly greater than he had hitherto supposed. 
 
 3d. Should he object again, that my doctrine of natural 
 rights does not sustain the doctrine of eternal servitude, I 
 readily grant it, and am free for one to say, that I hold no 
 such doctrine. And now I trust that my objecting brother 
 will be as prompt to concede, that the view presented cer- 
 tainly does overthrow his doctrine of sin per-se, since his prin- 
 ciple imperatively demands immediate abolition, whereas 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 15 
 
 mine demonstrates in the master an indisputable authority for 
 the time being. 
 
 The Liberty argument ! I put it to you, Mr. Moderator, 
 whether it does not fight against its author ? 
 
 II. Scripture Argument. 
 
 Mr. Moderator : How does Scripture teach that slaveholding 
 is sin ? Where is the text? It is my deep conviction, sir, that 
 almost as invariably as a religious assembly has entered upon 
 a formal discussion of the question before this house, many a 
 sober inquirer after truth has been impressed with profound 
 surprise by two things : The readiness of our Abolition bre- 
 thren to deal out their abhorrence of the man who would 
 prostitute the Scriptures to the abetting of any doctrine 
 on this subject save that of abolition, and yet the extreme 
 reluctance with which they themselves come square up 
 to the Scriptures. Mr. Moderator, I am sensible of no in- 
 consideration when I bear this testimony — that in all the 
 discussions I ever remember to have heard on this subject, 
 private or public, this has appeared to me in general a char- 
 acteristic feature : Few who hold extreme doctrines attempt 
 a Scripture argument, and those who do rarely reach the 
 Word of God. Nor can I deny, sir, that our present debate 
 would seem to have moved along thus far in very good keep- 
 ing with this description. One of our excellent brethren in 
 his Scriptural discussion avers that slavery in its moral 
 bearings is a violation of the governmental system of the 
 Bible. This system develops the intelligence, the morality, 
 the dignity, the liberty, and the felicity of man ; but slavery 
 is unfriendly to such results. Another, in his Scriptural 
 argument, affirms that, in legal interpretation, we are to have 
 decisive reference to the grand spirit and principle of the 
 law ; and all seeming exceptions should be disposed of, if 
 possible, so as not to violate this radical characteristic. Now 
 since the spirit and principle of Scripture law is love, slavery 
 must of course be a violation of it. I have stated the sub- 
 stance of the views of the speakers to the best of my recollec- 
 tion ; and if these brethren came nearer to the Scriptures, or 
 any others approached as closely, I do not remember it. Why 
 
16 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 is it that complainants seeking to establish a charge of sin 
 seem so strangely compelled to keep at arm's length from 
 God's Word, the only standard of sin? Let not my brethren 
 be displeased when I express my judgment that it had been 
 strange indeed if these good men had made freer use of Holy 
 Writ. I believe it to be true, Mr. Moderator, that the Scrip- 
 tural argument generally advanced to support the doctrine of 
 immediate abolition, sifted to its foundations, will be found 
 to be strictly aw^-scriptural. In its capital features, I hold it 
 to be precisely that method of reasoning which sets aside the 
 Bible and lets in all heresy. It is, in one word, neither more 
 nor less than a surrender of the Divine declaration to human 
 deduction. Scripture says, " The Lord our God is one 
 Lord." Therefore, says human reason, God is not Three! But 
 God himself advances, and declares, I am " Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost." What does that man who objects still? 
 He surrenders the second Divine declaration to his own de- 
 duction from the first, and becomes a Unitarian. Scripture 
 says, " God is Love" Then, says human reason, God will 
 never destroy His own creature in hell for ever. But God re- 
 sponds, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." 
 What now ? Why, he who objects still, discards the Divine 
 declaration and stands upon his own deduction, and becomes 
 a Universalist. Scripture says, " God works in man to will." 
 Then, says human reason, " Man is not free." But God adds, 
 "Work out your salvation." And yet the reasoner objects 
 still. Clearly then he gives more credit to the inference of his 
 own judgment than to the direct declaration of the God of truth, 
 and thus becomes a Fatalist. So exactly in the case in hand. 
 Scripture says God's law is love and justice, and by a 
 thousand texts commands evey man to be equitable and be- 
 nign in the treatment of his neighbor. "Therefore," say our 
 brethren, "in view of this great law of justice and mercy, no 
 man can hold a slave and please God." But stay; God him- 
 self advances, and responds, "Ye masters, while ye stand 
 over your servants, do this and that unto them, and you will 
 please me." I ask my brethren, first, whether this is not the 
 clear voice of the New Testament ? I ask again, if they still 
 insist that he who holds a slave, do what he may, sins against 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 17 
 
 God, whether they do not place more reliance upon their 
 own judgment than upon God's knowledge ? Whether they 
 do not sacrifice God's teaching to their own reasoning ? If 
 they do, then the Scripture argument of Abolitionism is anti- 
 scriptural. 
 
 I know of but two classes of texts emplo} T ed by opposing 
 brethren. The first is 'positive, and may be summed up in 
 the second table of the law : " Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
 as thyself." There is perhaps no one word of Scripture 
 quoted with more confidence on this subject than this form 
 of the general commandment: " Do unto others as ye would 
 have others do unto you." One of our brethren, doubtless in 
 allusion to this passage, thus expresses himself: " My objec- 
 tion to slavery is this, I do not want to be a slave." Had 
 the Saviour said, " Do unto others in their circumstances as 
 you would have them do unto you in yours,'''' the passage 
 would prove the doctrine it is brought to establish, but the world 
 would lose far more than the slave would gain. Such an in- 
 terpretation destroys all the wisdom and philanthropy of this 
 noble text.' This word of Jesus Christ rather requires us to 
 do unto others in their circumstances as we would have fliem 
 do unto us were we in the same. As I am, like my brother, I 
 do not desire to be a slave. But were I in the place of the 
 slave, — on the one hand destitute of all competent capacity to 
 support, protect, or guide myself j on the other, subjected to 
 the authority of a superior, who managed me largely that he 
 might ultimately develop my power to serve God, man, and 
 myself to higher advantage, — then lam prepared to say I would 
 desire to be a slave. This whole class of passages therefore, 
 properly interpreted, sustains the relation as I have attempted 
 to explain it. 
 
 The second class is negative, and is summed up in this 
 sentiment: "Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor." The 
 power of this class of passages is destroyed by the applica- 
 tion of a well-known rule of interpretation, viz.: General laws 
 are always to give way to Particular laws. The .reason is 
 obvious. You reach the will of the legislator more surely 
 through his own language, expressed in the Particular law, 
 than you do through your inference concerning his will, drawn 
 2 
 
18 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 from his words in the General law. In the formation of a 
 General law, the eye of the legislator passes over a large field 
 of particulars, and without resting on any one of them for a 
 moment, employs itself in comparing this general truth with 
 other general truths, that he may mark their distinguishing 
 features. Now it is only through an interpreter's inference 
 that you cover any particular case by the General law. 
 Whenever therefore the legislator himself takes up any partic- 
 ular case and expresses himself thereupon, most surely you 
 are not now to go back to your inferences from the General 
 law. You have express evidence of his will. General laws 
 of course always find their interpretation in the special laws 
 enacted upon the same subject. Now, Mr. Moderator, I call 
 upon my brethren to say whether God in the New Testament 
 does not treat of this precise relation of master and servant ; 
 whether he does not in his own language bring up a great 
 variety of supposed acts on the part of the master to the slave 
 and of the slave to the master ; whether he does not ex- 
 plicitly express himself touching his own estimate of the moral 
 character of these acts? Mr. Moderator, through you I do 
 beseech my brethren to give me an explicit response to this 
 question : So far from announcing to men that any act of a 
 master, as such, to a servant, as such, is an act of oppression, 
 does not God on the contrary most perspicuously and repeat- 
 edly affirm that such and such acts of the master are what he 
 would have him. do — are his duty — are what God himself 
 deems not oppressive, but absolutely right to his fellow-men ? 
 What then, sir, have we, under law, to do with our inferences of 
 oppression, when the Rider himself instructs us that these very 
 miscalled acts of oppression are but duty commanded, the 
 very wisest, kindest, and best acts in the circumstances the 
 party can perform ; the very acts which He, the Maker, calls 
 for? I put it to you, Mr. Moderator, whether the Scripture 
 testimony relied upon to prove the doctrine of sin per se is 
 not an eminent failure ? 
 
 You are prepared now to have me advance and say, that 
 in my judgment the Scriptures, properly interpreted, destroy 
 the doctrine of sin per se in the very manner in which it is 
 held to establish it. 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 19 
 
 Positively. It is an undeniable truth that God in the Old 
 Testament authorizes the Jew to sustain the relation of a 
 master to his heathen slave. 
 
 In the 25th chapter of Leviticus, God contrasts at length 
 two classes of servants — Jewish and heathen. He ordains 
 that they occupy different grades. The Jewish servant is 
 to receive the treatment of an hired servant. "As an hired 
 servant he shall be with thee." The heathen servant is to 
 receive the treatment of a slave. "Thy bondmen and thy 
 bondmaids shall be of the heathen." Two points of contrast 
 are clearly laid down. First, the Jewish servant was redeem- 
 able by himself or his kinsmen at any time. " One of his 
 brethren may redeem him, or if he be able he may redeem 
 himself." The heathen servant was not redeemable. "They 
 shall be your possession." Second, the Jewish servant must 
 be released at the jubilee. " He shall go out in the year of 
 jubilee, both he and his children with him." The heathen 
 servant was not to be released at the jubilee. " Ye shall 
 take them as an inheritance for your children after you." 
 
 I readily admit that God in the laws of Moses furnishes 
 various indications of his compassion toward the slave, and 
 some signs of his unwillingness to look with permanent favor 
 upon this institution ; and yet, as a general regulation for the 
 time being, it is an indisputable fact that God does here rec- 
 ognize and authorize the relation of master and bondman. 
 " They shall be your bondmen for ever." 
 
 Now the question arises : Can the holding of a divinely- 
 authorized relation be a sin per se? Can obedience and sin 
 co-exist ? My brother responds, " There are Christian si/i nert 
 as well as other sinners." Mr. Moderator, my brother's mind 
 in this language does not come within sight of the argument. 
 That Christianity, that obedience to God, can co-exist with sin 
 in the man everybody knows; but this is heaven-wide of the 
 case. Can Christianity co-exist with sin in the act ? That is 
 the point. Can obedience make up a part of sin ? Yon >.i\ 
 that slaveholding is an act of sin. The Word of God here 
 shows you that slaves were held of old in obedience to a divine 
 regulation. In what part of an act of idolatry or an aet ,.t 
 murder can you put obedience to God ? If I mistake not, the 
 
20 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 teaching is — " These are contrary the one to the other." 
 If then obedience is not disobedience, and men held slaves of 
 old in obedience to Old Testament teaching, the holding of a 
 slave is not an act of sin. 
 
 Again : It is a Scripture fact that the New Testament rec- 
 ognizes the relation of master and servant, and imposes recip- 
 rocal duties upon the parties. Who questions this fact '? It 
 will not be disputed that the Scriptures on the one hand com- 
 mand the servant, in view of the master's claims, to " obey," 
 to "honor," and to "be subject" to him; "not despising 
 him," " not answering him back," not " purloining from him," 
 &c. ; on the other, that they enjoin it upon masters, in view 
 of the claims of the servant, to "do the same things unto 
 them," especially to " give unto them that which is just and 
 equal," to " forbear threatening," and to remember in all 
 their treatment of their slaves that they too " have a Master 
 in heaven." 
 
 The argument upheld by this unquestionable Scripture 
 fact may be thus stated : What God commands man to do is 
 not sin. God commands man to do the duties of a master; 
 therefore the man who discharges the prescribed duties of a 
 master does not sin. Against what point will you drive your 
 objection to this argument ? Against the major proposition ? 
 Surely not. Who dares to say what God commands it is 
 sin to do? Against the minor proposition? Surely not. 
 Who will venture to affirm that God does not lay commands 
 upon the master touching his obligation to his servant? 
 Against the conclusion ? Surely not. For if he who follows 
 God's commands is not a sinner, then the master who follows 
 God's commands does not sin. What will my brethren do 
 with this argument ? How can the doctrine of sin per se and 
 the doctrine of the New Testament stand together ? To hold 
 a slave is a sin in itself. Yet God tells the master how to 
 hold his slave, and what to do with him. Can God tell a 
 creature how to commit sin ? Can a sin-hating God make 
 rules to direct the idolater, the murderer, the thief, in the 
 work they do? Can a sovereign God give rules to a subject 
 tobreak his own law? How preposterous the position of our 
 brethren ! The whole controversy comes to this : If God has 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 21 
 
 a right to give laws to his creatures, the holding of slaves 
 is not sin per se. 
 
 Negatively. Let it be premised that it lies at the basis of 
 every word of God to his creatures, that whatever is sin God 
 requires every soul to abandon instantly. The doctrine of 
 our brethren therefore, the doctrine of si?i-in-itsclf, carries to 
 every slaveholder God's command of immediate abolition^ 
 Now, the Bible, so far from requiring the instantaneous dis- 
 ruption of the tie between master and servant, contemplates it* 
 continuance. You may see this truth in the absence of all 
 evidence of its divine discontinuance. Had Christianity de- 
 manded the immediate abolition of this venerable, deep-si sated, 
 all-pervading feature of the frame-work of ancient society, 
 there must have sprung up a sudden, prodigious, and perilous 
 domestic and political agitation, which would have blazed 
 out upon every record which descended to us from primitive 
 times. But we have not one reliable word of any such revolu- 
 tion, either in Scripture precept or narration, or in ecclesias- 
 tical or profane history. You may see it in tin- presence of 
 everything which would naturally indicate the fact that 
 Christianity did not abrogate this relation. Here are God's 
 commands to the parties respectively. Tell me, how can a 
 master or a servant do his duty except through the existence 
 of the relation itself? Here is the palpable tenor of Scrip- 
 ture teaching. More than once on the holy page, God 
 states, seriatim, the duties of parent and child, the duties of 
 husband and wife, and the duties of master and servant. 
 When God states the duties of parents and children, be means 
 surely that the parties are to go forward dischi rging the 
 same. So when God prescribes the duties of husband and 
 wife, he requires the parties to go on and perform them. This 
 you admit. Now when God addresses the same species of 
 commands to master and servant, surely he intends thai thej 
 too shall proceed to do as he has commanded, i. c, be pal- 
 pably contemplates the continuance, nol the disruption of the 
 relation. Here, too, is the obvious force of Bible terms and 
 phrases. Servants are more than once commanded to obey 
 their masters "in all things." The multitude and diversity 
 of acts of obedience which make up the sum total of a ser- 
 
22 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 vant's duty cannot be crowded into one moment. To meet 
 this necessity, therefore, the relation must continue. The 
 master too is commanded to do the " same things " to his 
 servant ; and these same things are not one or two acts of 
 duty, but a multitude, and of course demand the preserva- 
 tion of the relation for the time being. " Let every man," 
 says the apostle, " abide in the same calling wherein he is 
 called." Conversion does not require a change in a man's 
 natural, social, or civil obligations. Abide contented in your 
 condition, whether married or single, whether bond or free. 
 "Art thou called being a servant ? Care not for it." Continue 
 contented in your relation to your earthly master, for you are 
 the Lord's freeman. This language clearly teaches the valid 
 existence of the relation after the conversion of the servant ; 
 while Paul's last word utterly demolishes the allegation that 
 primitive Christianity wrought the immediate abolition of this 
 institution : "But if thou mayest he madefree, use it rather." Cer- 
 tainly, the apostle says, " You are a slave. Well ! remain 
 contented in your calling, and do your duty. Should it hap- 
 pen however that Providence opens a way whereby you may 
 acquire your freedom, this on the whole is a better state ; 
 avail yourself of it." Finally, here is the historical fact of 
 the recognized existence and validity of this relation naturally 
 running along the sacred record through a continuous period. 
 In the year of our Lord 59, Paul addresses his bond brethren 
 in the church of Corinth. In 60, Peter sends his instructions 
 to the servants scattered through the churches of Asia Minor. 
 In 64, Paul calls up the attention of those who belong to the 
 churches of Ephesus, Colosse, and Philippi. And in 65, Paul 
 educates Timothy and Titus in the proper method of teach- 
 ing and exhorting the respective parties to this relation. 
 
 In view of this evidence, what intelligent mind can believe 
 for a moment that Christianity as administered by the apostles 
 did actually put to death the relation of master and servant, 
 as an institution too sinful to breathe under its eye? Such 
 a stroke had jarred the world, and its tremors had been felt 
 to this day, at least in the records which reach us from earlier 
 times. But where is the testimony to any such occurrence? 
 On the contrary, there on the face of the sacred record stands 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 23 
 
 acknowledged, regulated slavery. God's commands to the 
 parties presuppose the existence of the relation, else the com- 
 mands themselves would not have been delivered ; and its 
 valid continuance, else the created duties could not be dis- 
 charged. God's Word requires the parties to abide in the re- 
 lation in which Christianity finds them, describes a continu- 
 ous obligation on both sides, and speaks of the dissolution of 
 the relation only as a possible occurrence ; while God's 
 ministers from church to church, and from year to year, are 
 found most solemnly dealing with master and servant as 
 variously bound to each other and deeply responsible to God. 
 
 Thus, if I have rightly understood the Word of God, there 
 is no testimony upon its pages, either positive or negative, that 
 slaveholding is sin per se ; but ample evidence, both negative 
 and positive, that the holding of a slave is not of necessity a 
 sin. 
 
 I put it to you, Mr. Moderator, whether the Scripture ar- 
 gument of our brethren, fairly investigated, like the argument 
 from Natural Liberty, does not recoil upon its author and over- 
 throw the doctrine it was enlisted to establish ? 
 
 III. The Historical Argument. 
 
 Our brethren contend that the divine imposition of recipro- 
 cal duties upon master and servant, in the New Testament, 
 does not protect slaveholding from the charge of sin per se, 
 because, 
 
 I. It is an historical fact that there were no slaves in the prim- 
 itive Church; that the Greek terms translated in our version 
 " servant," do not mean " slave," but freed-scrvant. 
 
 I apprehend, Mr. Moderator, it will be no easy task to set 
 aside the adverse testimony already elicited from the Scrip- 
 tures in the discussion of previous topics. But let us examine 
 this argument on its own merits. 
 
 I affirm that the cardinal rules of interpretation indisputa- 
 bly fix the current import of the disputed terms, i. e., the New- 
 Testament " servant " was a slave. 
 
 1st. Words are to be understood in their most known and 
 usual signification. Consult every cotemporaneous Greek 
 
24 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 writer, every lexicographer, commentator and Biblical critic, 
 and there would be assembled a harmonious mass of testi- 
 mony in favor of the popular import of these terms, which 
 would probably silence the most prejudiced opponent. 
 
 2d. Words are to be defined by reference to their connection. 
 Again, words are of course to be explained in view of their 
 use in different passages. Still again, words are to be under- 
 stood in reference to the nature of the subject about which they 
 are employed. These three rules are identical in their appli- 
 cation to the case in point. Group together all the predicates 
 of the term " servant" in the New Testament, collect all the 
 commands, prohibitions, and admonitions addressed to this 
 person, and we shall find that the Scriptures seem to describe 
 the state and character of the slave with great clearness, and 
 to preseribe for it with great address. 
 
 Every condition in life has its peculiar besetments. Those 
 of the slave are strongly marked. 
 
 The first peculiar temptation of the slave is, to serve from 
 necessity only, and therefore without conscience toward God. 
 His condition strongly tempts him to feel that in truth there is 
 no moral obligation in the case ; no, not even to his Maker. 
 Now the Scriptures see this, and multiply such injunctions as 
 the following : " Servants, be obedient to them that are your 
 masters according to the flesh, in singleness of heart as unto 
 Christ." " As the servant of Christ, doing the will of God 
 from the heart." " Doing service as to the Lord and not to 
 men." Knowing that God will amply reward your fidelity. 
 
 The second peculiar temptation of the slave is to serve from 
 necessity only, and therefore without love to his master. His 
 seeming to receive so small a benefit from his labors, natu- 
 rally unites with other influences to indispose him to work 
 with a kind and cheerful heart. The Scriptures see this, and 
 meet the necessity of the case by imposing upon servants 
 such commands as these : " Count your masters worthy of all 
 honor ; despise them not, because they are brethren ; rather 
 do them service, because they are faithful and beloved par- 
 takers of the benefits " ; " Serve them in singleness of heart" ; 
 " Please them in all things" ; " With good will doing service." 
 
 The third peculiar temptation is this : He never serves 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 25 
 
 when he can help it, and will only pretend to serve when this 
 is necessary to secure him from the displeasure of his supe- 
 rior. The Scriptures see this, and thus admonish the servant : 
 " Obev not with eye-service." Mark here, first, lack of princi- 
 ple. There is no conscience toward God, no love of his 
 master, nothing to rouse him to labor until the eye of his mas- 
 ter falls upon him. Again, fearfulness and pretense. The 
 eye of the master starts him to serve, and always with an air 
 as though he had not been idle. How strikingly does the 
 slave fill out this description. Who that has lived in a slave- 
 land does not instantly recall times and occasions without 
 number or description, in which he has first seen the lounging 
 slave, and then the instant motive power of the master's eye, 
 at least upon his frame ? No wonder the Scriptures repeat 
 the injunction, "not with eye-service.'''' Again, the Scriptures 
 admonish servants to obey their masters, " not as mcn-plcas- 
 ers." They seem to say, 'Do not feel that you have accom- 
 plished every end if you have simply kept the man, the mas- 
 ter, from being displeased with you.' He who is familiar 
 with the practical operation of slavery, will not be surprised 
 that the Scriptures repeat the injunction, "not as men-plcas- 
 ers." 
 
 The fourth peculiar temptation is this : The slave serves 
 with his body when he must, and lets out the rebellion ofhis 
 heart when he may. The Scriptures see this, and command 
 servants, " Count your masters worthy of all honor." " Be 
 subject to them with all fear." There is a profound respect 
 indicated in this language which hardly befits any existing 
 relation between freemen, but well becomes the more humble 
 and dependent condition of the slave. The Scriptures add, 
 "not ;i us wering again." Sound judgment, I apprehend, dis- 
 covers some lack of propriety in the application of such a 
 precept to the dignity and rights of a freeman, though a ser- 
 vant; while it must appreciate its consummate importance to 
 him who is the most dependent of all men. The Scriptures 
 impose a deeper humiliation upon the servant, and command 
 him to obey his master "with liar and trembling." That 
 such an injunction should be addressed to a freeman is incon- 
 ceivable ; even to him who occupies the most abject admissi- 
 
26 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 ble state among men it would seem to be a very strong pre- 
 scription. But Scripture advances still one step further, and 
 enjoins it upon the servant when " buffeted," and not " for 
 your faults, to take it patiently" ; yes ! and go on to serve even 
 " the froward." None other counsel than this can be ad- 
 dressed to the slave in view of the necessities of his condition ; 
 but to require a freeman when buffeted unrighteously to sub- 
 mit to it with patience, and continue in the service of the 
 froward, is what I judge no man interprets the Bible to 
 teach. 
 
 The last temptation of the slave is to feel that since his 
 master will not pay him for his labor when he ought, he may 
 pay himself when he can. I suspect it is naturally an under- 
 ground public sentiment in every community of slaves, that 
 there is no theft in taking from the master. Little pilfering, 
 apart from the power of the gospel, will be very apt to prevail 
 where slavery exists. The Scriptures see this and say, Obey 
 your masters "7iot purloining."* 
 
 By the rule of interpretation now under discussion, the dispu- 
 ted word " servant " must find its definition in the nature of the 
 subject which it is employed to express. We have the descrip- 
 tion of the subject full before us in the Scripture. I affirm 
 that herein the Bible describes the qualities and circumstan- 
 ces of the slave, because, as we have seen, every appeal of the 
 Scriptures speaks with singular application to the peculiari- 
 ties of his character and condition. I affirm that the Bible 
 does not describe the free servant, because there is no peculiar 
 basis in his character or state for any one of all the Scriptural 
 commands addressed to the servant. A freeman serves whom 
 he chooses, as long as he chooses, and for what he chooses ; 
 he is paid for his labor, and loses employment if he is not 
 diligent, skilful, and respectful. There is nothing therefore in 
 his condition which naturally impels him to serve either with- 
 out conscience toward God or kindness toward man, or 
 
 * I am not to be understood as giving a portraiture of slavery at large. For 
 whatever be the evils of this institution, in our own country slaves are generally 
 a happy people, and not greatly distinguished for immorality. I design here only 
 to present those peculiar temptations to vice in the slave, which would most nat- 
 urally attract the legislation of a moral governor, and thus furnish a key to the 
 character addressed. 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 27 
 
 which gives such power to the master's eye; nothing which 
 peculiarly exposes him either to deception or discontent or 
 dishonesty ; nothing that demands either a trembling service 
 or abject submission to injurious treatment. 
 
 3d. Another rule of interpretation requires us, when one leg 
 of an antithesis is ascertained, to go to its opposite for the 
 other. Of the Scriptural servant the apostle says : "If thou 
 mayest be made free." What is the present state of that ser- 
 vant who is to be made free ? It would seem rather hard to 
 escape the blunt force of this passage, unless we could devise 
 a process whereby a man already occupying a certain state 
 might still be put into the same. Clearly, if at the time, the 
 party was out of a state of freedom he was in a state of 
 slavery. 
 
 4th. Words are always to be understood with reference to 
 the state of society in which they were spoken, its usages, 
 prejudices, &c. Now two things, I apprehend, all parties 
 admit : First, That the term servant, when literally employed 
 by the tongue or pen of an apostle, always fell among a peo- 
 ple where slavery prevailed. Again, the Greek terms trans- 
 lated servant in the New Testament, in common parlance 
 out of the Church, did always carry the idea of slavery. These 
 facts suggest two instructive inquiries. Did there actually 
 exist any considerable class of free domestics in that state of 
 society ? If there did, would the apostles address them by 
 terms universally applied to another and far more degraded 
 caste ? Dares any white man at the South look a man of his 
 own color in the face and call him " slave" and speak of his 
 "master?" The usages and prejudices of all slaveholding 
 society are dead against any such signification of the word. 
 
 Finally, The opinions of the learned should always have 
 weight with us. The uniform current of testimony from his- 
 torians, general scholars, and Biblical critics, settles the fact 
 beyond controversy, that there were slaves in the primitive 
 Church. My brother from Virginia, adverting to tin- favora- 
 ble bearing of American testimony on this subject, li.is re- 
 minded us of the sentiments of two of our most distinguished 
 scholars occupying very different positions in the ecclesiasti- 
 cal world, Drs. Charming and Waijland. Of the mass of fa- 
 
28 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 vorable testimony beyond the waters, I will simply glance at 
 the opinions of two still more eminent Biblical students. 
 Lardner argues against the authenticity of the so-called 
 "Apostolical Constitutions," because they provided such an 
 unreasonable multitude of holidays for the slaves. To imagine 
 that so serious an encroachment upon the rights of the master 
 would have been tolerated for a moment in that state of so- 
 ciety, he holds to be perfectly absurd. You see his opinion. 
 Horne, in commenting upon 1 Tim. vi. 1, states the fact that 
 one class of the Pharisees taught that the proselyte in becom- 
 ing a Jew abandoned all his heathen relations, social, civil and 
 natural. He supposes it probable that this party would ap- 
 ply their doctrine to Christianity, and contends that the con- 
 vert on entering the Christian Church left slavery behind him. 
 He understands Paul in this passage to strike at this class of 
 primitive Abolitionists when he taught this lesson : in order 
 that blasphemy against the name of God and his doctrine 
 might be averted, it is the duty of servants under the 3^oke 
 to count their masters worthy of all honor, love and service. 
 Nor did he hesitate to pronounce those early Abolitionists who 
 " teach otherwise" ungodly, proud, ignorant, contentious, and 
 mischievous to the last degree ; persons to be avoided on ac- 
 count of their sentiments, spirit, and conduct. 
 
 It does not appear to me, Mr. Moderator, that I have passed 
 by any of the great ordinary rules for interpreting language, 
 nor travelled far to find them, nor forced their application to 
 the subject. It would be strange indeed if all this body of 
 principles verily work the other way, and teach that a servant 
 under the yoke is a freeman above it. 
 
 II. But this historical argument finds a refuge in a second 
 position. Admit the existence of slavery under the eye of the 
 apostles, yet the peculiar abominations of our American system 
 demand that the Church should instantly and indignantly rise 
 up and pronounce it accursed of God. But what comparison 
 is there between the modern and the ancient institution V By 
 Roman law, slaves were held " pro nullis, pro mortuis, pro 
 quadrupedibus." The master might force his slave to be- 
 come a harlot, or a gladiator ; might chastise him without 
 limit as to method, severity, or continuance ; might torture 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 29 
 
 him at will for crime, caprice, or pleasure ; nay, might put 
 him to death at any time, in any manner, for any purpose or 
 for none. The distinctive Roman principle was this : That 
 a slave could not be injured by his master. I venture to af- 
 firm that there is not an inch of ground in these United States 
 where any one of this catalogue of cruelties could be inflicted 
 without awakening the instant vengeance both of law and 
 public sentiment. When men in our day cut up and feed out 
 their slaves to give their fish a richer flavor ; or sit at ease and 
 enjoy themselves in the excruciating tortures by which the 
 slave gives up life before their eyes ; or when the blood of 
 hundreds in one sacrifice is shed upon the grave of a departed 
 kinsman in some sort of sympathy with his ghost, — it will not 
 then be in season to speak of the peculiar excesses of slavery 
 in our day. 
 
 I put it to j^ou, Mr. Moderator, whether this Historical 
 argument does not share the fate of its predecessors ? If the 
 apostles did verily regard slavery in the days of ancient Rome 
 as a domestic relation which Christianity might regulate and 
 Christians might fill, what right has any uninspired disciple 
 of Jesus to pronounce this institution under the moderated fea- 
 tures of our own day, such an insufferable sin against God as 
 demands its instantaneous abolition, be the consequences 
 what they may ? 
 
 IV. The Progress Argument. 
 
 I should have been gratified to hear some more distinct 
 statement of the mode of reasoning relied upon under this 
 head. From the discussions rather of the lobbies of this house 
 than of the floor, as far as I have been able to understand 
 the mind of my brethren, the sentiment seems to be this : An- 
 cient language concerning slavery is inapplicable in our day, 
 in view of the greater light of modern times. The argument, 
 I apprehend, they would state thus: The divine withhold- 
 ment of specific truth in ancient times left the sin of slavery 
 uncondemned. The providential impartation of greater light 
 in our day calls upon us to come out and condemn it. 
 
 Permit me to inquire whether the introduction of this topic 
 does not reduce the reasoner to an unwelcome alternative. It' 
 
30 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 his Scripture argument has foundations, and the Bible verily 
 teaches that slaveholding is sin per se, then this argument 
 fails. If the Progress argument has foundations, and Scripture 
 has not furnished any definite light upon the subject, then the 
 Scripture argument fails. Be this as it may, I invite your 
 attention to two answers to the reasoning under this head. 
 
 I. The argument has no foundations. The conclusion lacks 
 a premise. It is not true that decisive light touching the char- 
 acter of this institution was withheld from the primitive 
 Church. 
 
 1st. The end of my brother's argument would seem to for- 
 bid this position. 
 
 I admit that God does withhold truth on various topics, and 
 for various reasons. For instance, when the mind is unpre- 
 pared to receive it through lack of intellectual development. 
 Paul would now lay down advanced principles of religion, 
 but his slow-learning brethren are not able to bear the teach- 
 ing, and he must needs still feed them with milk when they 
 should be living upon stronger diet. So when there is a lack 
 of moral preparation through prejudice. Jesus did not at first 
 disclose to his disciples the exact dignity of his person, the 
 manner of his death, his purposes touching the future relations 
 of the Jews and Gentiles to his Church, &c. &c. Offenses, 
 too of inferior criminality God does sometimes comparatively 
 wink at for a season, which at a future time he fully exposes 
 and condemns. I apprehend, however, that these offenses 
 will always be found to be mala prohibita, and that there is 
 not, in all God's revelation to man, any approximation to the 
 fact which this argument assumes. Here is a case of sin per 
 se, a case of the most flagrant enormity. God brings it up 
 again and again in the Old Testament and in the New, but 
 never, never to the close of the sacred canon reveals its true 
 character, and actually ceases to speak to man leaving him 
 to find out as best he can, that this whole thing is a stench in 
 his nostrils, and that he expels the perpetrator from the fel- 
 lowship of his people. I lay no great stress upon this point 
 of evidence, yet I would respectfully ask my brother whether 
 there is not something like a quarrel between the first neces- 
 sary fact of his Progress argument, viz., that God of old with- 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 31 
 
 held from man his judgment of the moral character of slavery, 
 and the conclusion which he builds his argument to sustain, 
 viz., that slaveholding in itself is an outrageous offense against 
 God. 
 
 2d. The Scriptures emphatically forbid it. 
 
 What additional instructions upon this subject could have 
 been reasonably expected in God's Word ? It cannot be 
 denied that the institution of slavery is made the subject of 
 deliberate and systematic regulation, both in the Old Testa- 
 ment and in the New ; that in both, the relative duty of the 
 respective parties, the motives by which they are to be actu- 
 ated, the spirit they are to cultivate, the ends they are to 
 seek, the temptations they are to avoid, the final account to 
 which they are held, and the solemn retribution they must 
 expect, are all stated and discussed with ordinary perspi- 
 cuity. Now if the Progress argument is true, and God has 
 withheld reasonable instructions concerning the character of 
 this relation, on what topics, I ask, has God given us what 
 might be termed a reasonable degree of information ? I ven- 
 ture to affirm that the whole catalogue of social relations, hus- 
 band and wife, parent and child, brother and sister, ruler and 
 subject, pastor and people, &c, scarce furnishes a solitary in- 
 stance of more perspicuous, definite, frequent, or extended 
 Scripture teaching. One fact ever)' - eye accustomed to overlook 
 the holy page will promptly recognize, namely, that this doctrine 
 of master and servant is frequently brought up by holy wri- 
 ters in immediate connection with the most clearly defined 
 and important human relations, and not only treated as to 
 general method precisely as they are, but not unfrequently 
 with decidedly greater particularity and elaboration. 1 pul 
 it to you, Mr. Moderator, whether this argument does not fail 
 at its foundations? It sets out with the allegation thai God 
 in the Scriptures has actually failed to give man due lighl as 
 to his duty in the relation of master and servant ; an unrea- 
 sonable allegation, by the way, since it charges God either 
 with incapacity, for he has certainly made many efforts to 
 convey such instruction, or with malignity, for he wilfully 
 hides needed truth, and leaves man to wander unwarned in 
 desperate sin. But if the world lias no righl to rise up and 
 
32 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 charge God with having wickedly left us in the dark touch- 
 ing duty in the great relations of husband and wife, parent 
 and child, ruler and subject, &c, then this Progress argument 
 fails, and we need not that man should mend the perfect 
 work of his Maker in this matter. 
 
 II. It destroys the foundations of the Bible. You say, my 
 brother, that God of old gave not to man by revelation ade- 
 quate knowledge of the moral features of slavery. Very 
 well. You say that the world in her progress has reached 
 advanced providential light on this topic ; and you are pre- 
 pared now to speak out touching the enormity of this institu- 
 tion. Very well. Now, brother, where is my Bible ? I 
 will trust you with this responsible office. Go through the 
 Word of God and gather together all the topics on which 
 man needs Divine teaching, and has received no more than 
 God has given us on the subject we discuss. You yourself 
 will admit that here are the residue of the great social rela- 
 tions which make up more than half of human life ; these 
 must all be thrown by as so many great moral topics 
 on which we have as yet no adequate inspired instruc- 
 tion. Here, too, are a thousand acts which I daily perform, 
 and ten thousand views and feelings embracing God and 
 man, of whose moral character I have no more discriminating 
 Bible instruction than I have of the duties of master and ser- 
 vant. All these too must be laid aside as matters about 
 which I have yet to learn where and how the line of duty is 
 to be drawn. I call upon you to tell me where is my Bible. 
 See, my brother ! These providential lights bring us no ar- 
 biter. How shall we reach the decisive truth on any one of 
 these multiplied points about which God has so inconsider- 
 ately neglected to inform us ? You say that light upon sla- 
 very has reached you, and that by the law of Human Rights 
 every holder of a slave is bound to release him instantly. I 
 insist that providential light has reached my mind also, and 
 that the law of Human Rights requires the master to keep his 
 hold upon the servant for the present. Now I beg } r ou to 
 bear in mind that you, a poor, fallible creature interpreting 
 the lights of Providence, are not my Bible. My Bible is 
 God acting arbiter between fallible men, and stating the truth. 
 
DELIVERED IX THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 33 
 
 And now I insist upon it, if your Progress argument is right, 
 and there is no adequate Scripture light on the subject of 
 slavery, and of course no adequate Scripture instruction on 
 the nine hundred and ninety-nine points of Christian duty of 
 which God has said only as much, then you have taken away 
 my Bible, and I am undone. But this is not all. 
 
 III. It sets up a Bible of humanisms in the place of the Word 
 of God. I know not what child of man's crazy fancy you 
 may not make Bible to me upon the principle of your Pro- 
 gress argument. Here is the doctrine of Womanism, so sol- 
 emnly baptized of late in the West by a string of Female 
 Conventional Resolutions. Your Progress argument puts as 
 large a basis under this vagary as under your Abolitionism. 
 The Scriptures we think sufficiently explicit in defining 
 woman's position in society. It tells us that the head of the 
 woman is the man, for woman was made second, and is the 
 weaker vessel. As such she is commanded to submit herself 
 to her own husband, as to the Lord, and to be subject to him 
 in everything. If she would be chaste, discreet, or obedient, 
 she must be a stayer at home, that she might bear children, 
 guide the house, and build the same. But the moment she 
 leaves her modest sphere, and would assume a more con- 
 spicuous and commanding position, that moment Scripture 
 meets her with the outcry, "It is a shame for a woman ! !" 
 &c. ; that moment Scripture sends her back with the man- 
 date, "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection," 
 "For it is not permitted unto them to speak nor to usurp au- 
 thority, but to be in silence." All this would seem to indicate 
 clearly enough that it does not belong to woman t<> take the 
 lead in human society. 
 
 But your doctrine, in the hand of the champion of this new 
 light, assumes that all these Scriptures were penned in a dark 
 and barbarous age ; that doubtless God had many tilings to 
 say, important to the perfect development of.wonian's capaci- 
 ties, relations, and rights, but these preparatory lights had no1 
 then come, and consequently society was not able t<> bear the 
 revelation. Now, however, in her onward progress, society 
 has reached the abundant and elevated teachings ol history, 
 3 
 
34 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 science, and universal improvement. Now the shades of 
 Scripture times are passing away, and hosts of new truths 
 are coming to light. More conspicuous than all, nature's 
 grand doctrine of Liberty and Equality springs to view, and, 
 favored by the novel and glorious illustrations of popular 
 government, what a hearty cheering it radiates through all 
 the ranks of the oppressed. No wonder woman, downtrod- 
 den into the very earth from its foundations, should begin to 
 feel the stirrings o£ sympathy with her long-lost rights ! No 
 wonder she now begins to realize in all her soul that her 
 Maker's hand has formed her just as free, just as gifted, just 
 as worthy as her companion, and that there, existed not the 
 shadow of a reason why she should not have been permitted 
 to enjoy her equal rights in filling the higher stations of life, 
 and to employ her equal capacities in the distinguished toil 
 of lifting man to his destined perfection. Poor thing ! What 
 a barbarous usurpation has stripped her all life long of the 
 high prerogative of her nature, and doomed her to stand 
 back and resign all share in making laws, governing States, 
 commanding armies ! What a glorious day for woman ! 
 Providence with his new lights has come to her rescue. Let 
 arrogant, rebuked man now give place, and welcome woman 
 to her legitimate dignities. * 
 
 Mr. Moderator, why are not Womanism, and Communism, 
 and Socialism, and Shakerism, and every other foolery of 
 the earth, as well founded upon this doctrine of Progress, as 
 Abolitionism ? We say that the duty of master and servant, 
 the social position of woman, the law of property, &c. &c, 
 are all clearly revealed in the Scriptures, and that man has ■ 
 no commission to perfect the Word of God, and thus the 
 matter is at rest. But our opposing brethren contend that 
 God oi old made revelation to man only as far as he was 
 able to bear it, and that new developments were to be provi- 
 dentially expected in the progress of society ; that revela- 
 tion upon the subject of slavery, as upon many other topics, 
 was only partial, and that new light has now come, and that 
 the world must follow it. I ask now, why have not these 
 fanatics respectively as much right to affirm, first, that for the 
 hardness of man's heart revelation of old was only partial 
 

 
 DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 35 
 
 touching the Rights of Woman, the Distribution of the gifts of 
 the Creator, &c. &c. ; second, that new light has come to 
 man on these points respectively ; and, third, that the world 
 must follow it ? 
 
 In weighing this argument let me say — 
 
 1st. That the Bible is a revelation to man. 
 
 Therefore that progress which either ascertains the original 
 import of the text by sound rules of construction, or dis- 
 covers that this or that old or new method of living is or is 
 not covered by this or that rule of Scripture, — such progress, I 
 say, is legitimate, and onward to the Millennium. 
 
 2d. The Bible is not a revelation to a generation. 
 
 Therefore that progress which proposes to enlighten the 
 proper original import of God's Word ; which, confessedly or 
 covertly, leaves the Scriptures to find the rule of life in im- 
 proving developments, — I say such progress exactly cuts the 
 cable after the ship has gone to anchor because she could not 
 live in the tempest. A law above the Constitution ma} r pos- 
 sibly be seen in one direction, but progress beyond the Bible 
 is out of sight altogether. 
 
 I put it to 3'ou, Mr. Moderator, whether I may not lay by 
 this Progress argument with its predecessors? For if it so 
 far fails of its end as to put down God's Word, and set up 
 human extravagance, like the residue of the catalogue, it 
 turns upon its author with a vengeance. 
 
 IV. The Practical Argument. 
 
 Brethren contend that experience establishes the essential 
 sinfulness of slaveholding. The gospel reforms society. The 
 Church has effectually tried the doctrine thai slaveholding 
 is not essentially sinful, and nothing is done. And n< till- 
 ing will be done until we change the ground, come back to 
 the truth, and make slavery — sin. 
 
 To this argument it might be responded, If the tardiness of 
 the operation disproves the genuineness of the principle, why 
 not throw up the plan of missionary operations? Surely om 
 missionary progress has been slow. Why qo1 Look up an- 
 other religion? Christianity, after G,000 years, has yet most 
 
36 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 of her work to do. But I answer more particularly : All 
 things considered, if more has been done by the gospel in many 
 branches of Christian benevolence in this land, during the last 
 thirty years, I know it not. 
 
 Let us study the work of the Southern Church with an im- 
 partial mind, and inquire whether opposing brethren, instead 
 of venting a prejudiced conscience fretted by the imagination 
 of a stationary criminality in the whole business, should not 
 thank God and take courage, in view of the wholesome pro- 
 gress of the cause ; and instead of calling for discipline upon 
 Southern brethren, whether they should not heartily lend a 
 helping hand in the work they do ? I invite my brethren to 
 glance over the field with me, and candidly weigh the fol- 
 lowing considerations. 
 
 I. The st7-ongest and purest expression of anti-slavery senti- 
 ment, probably ever made by man, has been uttered by the South. 
 
 I doubt not that pure and strong Anti-slavery convictions are 
 entertained at the North, and that our brethren furnish every 
 reasonable evidence of their sincerity and earnestness. But 
 we have no evidence yet of the supreme strength of this con- 
 viction. How will you try the purity and the power of a sen- 
 timent in the human heart ? Surely not by words only ; not 
 by any process of stubborn and imperious public agitation ; 
 not by any determined political stand against Southern meas- 
 ures ; not by any transient aid and comfort rendered to flying 
 slaves. All these and many similar developments may cost 
 but little. On the contrary, the power of a principle exhibits 
 itself in the labors it can put forth, the oppositions it can re- 
 sist, the self-denials it can bear, — in a word, by the sacrifices it 
 can make. Where shall we find the most commanding ex- 
 pression of that calm, enlightened, benign, high-souled Anti- 
 slavery sentiment which is uttered by sacrifice ? You point us 
 to England. For freedom in the West Indies— 20,000,000 
 pounds sterling ! ! This was a noble testimony of her will 
 to give freedom to the slave, the like of which our Northern 
 friends have never approached. Three things, however, 
 should work some abatement of our first impressions of Brit- 
 ish devotion to this cause. This sum was furnished by the 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 37 
 
 very richest treasury in the world. Only the interest of this 
 sum has been paid ; the principal never will be until the great 
 English debt is cancelled. Nor do I deem it scandal to say, 
 that probably no small portion of this sum was paid to self- 
 interest, and not by benevolent principle. A friend travelling 
 in England at the time of the preparatory public agitation of 
 the subject, informs me that one argument which told power- 
 fully in persuading the English people to adopt this measure 
 was the widely published doctrine that, since free labor was 
 so far superior to slave labor, by this operation West India 
 sugars would be purchased in England at a penny a pound 
 below its present cost, so that England would receive 
 100,000,000 pounds in return for her 20,000,000. 
 
 It gives me pleasure to remind you, Mr. Moderator, that 
 near 250,000 slaves are computed to have been freed in this 
 countiy, mainly at the South. Assuming the average value 
 of the slave to be 100 pounds sterling, you have, sir, upon 
 this principle more than five and twenty millions of 
 pounds sterling contributed to this cause ofputtirig away sla- 
 very from these United States by the slaveholders of the 
 South. Mark the contrast. This immense sum has been 
 actually paid out, not interest only, but principal also ; not 
 by a rich public treasury, but by private families who lived 
 by the slaves they surrendered ; not before the public eye, 
 but in the retirement of private life ; not under the cheering 
 voice of universal praise, but possibly under the chilling 
 looks of many a neighbor who charges the emancipator with 
 the discontent which now springs up in the bosom of his 
 Colored family ; not under circumstances which provided the 
 slightest hope of pecuniary emolument, but from no other 
 possible motive than conscientious, quiet, kind, ami-slavery 
 sentiment. Let Northern brethren weigh this, and hereafter 
 give to the South the respect due to the very first position of 
 friendship to African freedom by pecuniary sacrifice, 
 
 II. The men who dwell south of Mason and Dixon's line have 
 done more to convert the heathen than the whole world beside. 
 
 What is the whole number of 'converted heathen which 
 
38 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 the American Church presents this day to the eye of God 
 and the world *? — 
 
 American Board, 2 6,000 
 
 Baptist Missions, 1 5,000 
 
 Methodist Missions, 1 3,000 
 
 Presbyterian Missions, 250 
 
 Episcopal Missions, »71 
 
 54,321 
 
 Observe, Mr. Moderator, one branch of one Christian de- 
 nomination at the South, viz., the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 numbers 134,722 Colored members. More than three times as 
 many heathen converted through Southern instrumentality as 
 the combined American Church can produce. 
 
 What, sir, allow me now to inquire, is the sum total of the 
 membership of all the heathen churches in the world ? By 
 those best informed on this subject the number is estimated 
 at something like 200,000. Turn your eye once more to the 
 South. Say nothing of the Colored members of all the 
 churches in the State of Maryland, (and they are numerous,) 
 nor of the Presbyterian Church, nor of the Episcopal Church, 
 nor of the Lutheran Church, nor of certain branches of the 
 Methodist and of the Baptist denominations, in all the South. 
 Simply fix your eye upon one branch respectively of two 
 Christian Churches. You will find enrolled upon their list of 
 Colored members — 
 
 In the Methodist Church, 134,000 
 
 " Baptist Church, , 130,000 
 
 264,000 
 
 Thus, sir, apart of the Southern Church holds up this day 
 to the gaze of heaven and earth scores of thousands more of 
 heathen fellow-men hoping in Christ through their labors than all 
 the churches of the Free Soil of the world combined have yet gath- 
 ered to the Master. Let philanthropists employ all proper 
 methods to free the soil of the world. It is a noble cause, 
 and I will unite with them. But let our Northern brethren 
 weigh one singular fact : These very brethren of the South, 
 upon whom they themselves have been la}ang on so hard and 
 so long for their cruel oppression of the bondman, and whom 
 forsooth from year to year they have been so anxious to 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL 'ASSEMBLY. 39 
 
 persuade Providence to thrust out of the Church, as not wor- 
 thy of a standing in it, — these are the very men whom thai 
 very Providence has made the honored instruments, in one 
 sense at least, of doing more for the salvation of the heathen 
 world than all the Church militant beside. Yes, let them pon- 
 der this. 
 
 III. The Southern Church has effected a vast amelioration of 
 the social and religious condition of the slave. 
 
 When landed in this country, the African captive belonged 
 to the most degraded heathen upon the face of the earth. His 
 descendant still needs great improvement, but is far removed 
 from the universal debasement of his progenitor. Changes 
 for the better have marked the history of slavery, from its 
 introduction to the present hour. 
 
 1st. The Southern Church has clone her part in working val- 
 uable modifications of the laics of the land. An examination of 
 the slave laws of successive generations will exhibit a steady 
 advance in the considerate benignity of the legislator. Nor, 
 should we overlook the beneficial changes wrought in the spirit 
 and power of ancient statutes, through a constantly-improving 
 public sentiment. There are benefits conferred upon the slave 
 by statute, which of old never fully reached him in the admin- 
 istration. From the earliest times there existed a law, forbid- 
 ding labor on the Sabbath. I well remember, when a boy, 
 the universal custom of taking the servants on the Sabbath 
 day to the corn-house to shell, or to the potato-field to dig, 
 that the weekly plantation-allowance of vegetable diet might 
 be distributed. This practice, I apprehend, is now univer- 
 sally abolished. That the spirit and principle of the Church 
 did its part in effecting the change, you may Learn from this 
 incident. I knew a church member, who, grieved by the 
 prevalence of this custom, personally persuaded his Christian 
 brethren and friends to abolish it in their respective families, 
 and finding one stout opposerofthe innovation, beyond the 
 limits of the Church, he at last calmly apprised him of the 
 law of the land, and of his purpose of becoming Public Prose- 
 cutor if he did not. yield to the public sentimenl of his neigh- 
 bors. There always existed a law forbidding the inhuman 
 
40 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIOXS, 
 
 correction of a slave. I am persuaded that there never existed 
 in Southern society such excessive violations of this law s as 
 some uninformed persons at a distance imagine. Yet I well 
 remember a state of things which must have operated to break 
 the power of this benign statute. Years ago, any allusions 
 to a Southern master's treatment of his slave would have 
 colored his face as promptly and indignantly as though you 
 had intermeddled with his conduct towards his wife, or his 
 child, or his disposition of any chattel on his farm. But public 
 sentiment on this subject has undergone such a change, that 
 every community feels itself a trustee to some extent of the 
 natural and legal rights of the slaves that dwell in its bosom, 
 and the beneficiary now gets the fair protection of this law. It 
 may throw light upon the manner in which this reformation 
 was wrought, if I inform you that many years since, a Chris- 
 tian hearing that a servant had been cruelly chastised on a 
 neighboring plantation, availed himself of the Patrol system 
 of the South, and having ascertained the fact by personal ob- 
 servation, informed the overseer that he should prosecute him 
 for breach of law. He did so, and had him convicted and 
 punished. I stood by the side of that Christian man when 
 he received intelligence that the enraged owner, in a neigh- 
 boring city, had avowed his purpose to shoot him down as a 
 dog wherever he met him. One year afterwards, I was again 
 walking from a religious meeting by his side, when the son of 
 the threatener delivered to that faithful Christian the father's 
 permit to enter the only plantation in the county which had here- 
 tofore been closed against the good man's private visits for 
 the religious instruction of the servants. In most of the South- 
 ern States there exists an old law, which forbids that a slave 
 should be taught to read. When a boy, I well remember my 
 conviction of the terrible authority of this edict. To the 
 Southern mind in that day, to violate this law seemed a little 
 like taking one step toward the application of the match to the 
 magazine. Now, how changed is the feeling ? The good 
 influence of the Bible upon the slave, and every man's right 
 of direct access to the Word of God is extensively understood. 
 It has long been a common spectacle to see the children of a 
 Southern family at night, or on the Sabbath, employed in teach- 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 41 
 
 ing the servants to read. It is many years since night-schools, 
 in which Colored adults taught Colored children to read, were 
 common in all our Southern cities, and I believe well known 
 to city authorities, and generally unmolested by them. It is 
 worthy of observation, that a few years since, when a Southern 
 Legislature, alarmed by Abolition interference, revived this ob- 
 solete law, Christian public sentiment at the South felt ifCsesai 
 moved to put away the Bible from the servant, God's people 
 must move, as best they can, to bring it back. A consequent 
 impulse was given to Oral Instruction far and wide, whose 
 results have been singularly happy. One is this : that hun- 
 dreds of servants learn to read now, where none were taught 
 before. And hundreds of copies of the Scriptures are dis- 
 tributed among the slaves at this day, which would never 
 have been received if the old law had been permitted to sleep. 
 Thus 3 r ou perceive that the steady improvement of public sen- 
 timent at the South, in part through the fidelity of the church, 
 has been progressively working a beneficial change in the face 
 of the government toward the slave, not only by procuring 
 the enactment of humane laws, but by breaking down the 
 governing power of unfriendly statutes, and giving force to 
 such benign legislation as was a dead letter before. 
 
 2d. The same causes have wrought a corresponding social 
 improvement in all things pertinent to the present comfort and 
 future prospects of the slave. I apprehend there is but little 
 to be objected to at this day, in the physical tic; it incut of South- 
 ern servants. Their condition is at least fair in respect to food, 
 raiment, shelter, work, and general discipline. A remarkable 
 revolution has occurred in the habits of Southern society re- 
 specting the discussion of the nature and Claims of this relation. 
 Half a century ago, this institution appeared to the mass of 
 Southern population as an impregnable fixture ; and yel it is a 
 singular fact, that, as a topic of deliberate meditation or dis- 
 course, it was clothed with a forbidding awe, which made it 
 almost as intangible as a plot of treason. Now, be who jour- 
 neys through the Southern States, in public houses and con- 
 veyances may hear as frequent discourse on this subjeel as 
 on almost any other. And could he compare the sentiments 
 of the present generation with those of the past, he would be 
 delighted to mark the liberal tendency of the times. 
 
42 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 The steady advance of the spirit of emancipation is another 
 and most interesting feature of the general progress. The 
 records of the American Colonization Society furnish gratify- 
 ing testimony on this point. You will not forget, Mr. Modera- 
 tor, the testimony of one of our brethern on this floor, that in 
 his immediate vicinity one of his neighbors had recently given 
 to this cause $500 ; another, $1,000 ; a third, $2,000 ; a fourth, 
 $3,000 — all men in moderate circumstances. Yes, sir, and 
 in the wealthier sections of the South there are those who are 
 this day giving their $50,000 to the freedom of the slave. 
 
 3d. In no respect, however, has the condition of the slave 
 been more decidedly improved, than in his religious privileges. 
 It is not surprising that his claims to spiritual care should have 
 been early neglected. There was nothing encouraging in the 
 state of the pupil, for he was exceedingly dark and unintelli- 
 gent at best, and there existed no common language between 
 himself and his teacher ; and nothing energetic in the spirit of 
 the teacher, for the Church in that day had not been aroused 
 to the high duty of transmitting God's truth to all within her 
 reach. Since that period, however, light from heaven has 
 been gradually shed upon the Southern Church, and she has 
 responded to the appeal. To the observant eye, the Southern 
 country is full of testimonies to this truth. The dark, dreamy, 
 superstitious views of religion, into which the Colored population 
 naturally fell in the beginning, are rapidly giving place to better 
 teaching. In the early order of things in Southern society, 
 the Church rarely made its way to the humble domiciles of the 
 plantation to carry the gospel to their inmates, while the ser- 
 vants who found their way to the church of their masters were 
 called on to participate in ordinances designed primarily for 
 others, and of very little comfort or profit to the unlettered. 
 Left to themselves, the Colored population very naturally con- 
 structed a system of worship very greatly deficient in truth, 
 full of error, embracing in its active services large measures 
 of bodily exercise, under repetitions and noisy songs and ex- 
 hortations, and producing a Christian experience which con- 
 sisted of little more than a tissue of dreams, visions, " travels," 
 &c. It is now, however, many years since Southern conscience 
 was taught to feel that it had a duty to discharge to the be- 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 43 
 
 nigbted servant — a duty too long neglected. To this duty 
 the Church betook itself, with commendable energy and sys- 
 tem, and the face of the kingdom in this section of the country 
 now presents a very different aspect. 
 
 There are a diversity of established methods in which the 
 master brings the gospel to the servant. In the cities there 
 are large Colored churches, sometimes of two or three thou- 
 sand members. Church edifices they are assisted to erect 
 when necessary. The pulpit is generally supplied by pious, 
 talented, Colored preachers ; sometimes by white brethren of 
 the very first talent and highest stations in the Church.* Sal >- 
 bath-schools, under the tuition of intelligent white teachers, 
 male and female, are in common use in cities, towns, and 
 villages. On plantations masters frequently conduct family 
 prayer, so as to secure sound instruction to the servant. The 
 travelling minister is almost always put in requisition for this 
 service. Instead of the old-fashioned Negro "praise-home" 
 it is common in many parts of the country to build a neat 
 " Plantation Chapel," and to invite all accessible ministerial 
 aid. I am happy to know that on this subject of giving judi- 
 cious religious instruction to the Colored population, then is a 
 very commendable fidelity on the part of the stated ministry 
 in all sections of the Southern country. Should you happen 
 to enter a sanctuary in Virginia, when a Presbytery was in 
 session, you might possibly hear the roll called, and each 
 minister in his place summoned to give an account to his 
 brethren, according to a stated order, of what he was doing 
 within his bounds for the people of color ; nor would yon be 
 more fortunate than I have been, if some holy elder (who, 
 peradventure, paid a missionary to teach his servants) should 
 rise a little out of order because he could not contain himself, 
 and most tenderly and solemnly express the feelings of his 
 conscience and heart, descriptive of that burden ofresponsi- 
 
 * One such church finds a regular pastor in the President of a College, who n 
 a salary from the Blacks of $1)01,1 or *soo. A valued I'rofessor in a theological semi- 
 nary vacated his chair to devote himself exclusively to the instruction of servants. 
 The President of Washington College, Va., recently resigned lii- office to Conduct B 
 periodical designed to convince his countrymen of the evils of the relation of mas- 
 ter and servant. 
 
44 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 bility to God and to the servant, which he felt rested in com- 
 mon upon himself and all his brethren. Had your Presbytery- 
 been assembled in South Carolina, the ministers would not 
 have escaped with so general an inquiry. Each, in his place, 
 would have been called to answer whether he had preached, 
 during the interval of Presbyterial sessions, one half of every 
 Sabbath to the servants of his neighborhood. 
 
 But the most important features of this reformation are yet 
 to be noticed. Catechisms to aid the master in the private 
 instruction of his servant have been drawn up, if I mistake 
 not, by every prevalent denomination of the South, and dis- 
 tributed amongst the people. The country, too, has been 
 largely districted, (where this operation was most needed,) and 
 a Missionary employed to devote' himself exclusively to the 
 Colored population within the prescribed limit, in preaching, 
 teaching, visitation, and Sabbath-school supervision. It is 
 ascertained that the churches built for the worship of the mas- 
 ters, are in many cases injudiciously located for the accom- 
 modation of the slaves ; and I am credibly informed that it is 
 quite common to erect a new church in some position selected 
 exclusively for the convenience of the Colored population, and 
 devoted entirely to their service. I can think of no religious 
 meetings on this earth more delightful, none that my heart 
 more ardently pants to enjoy, than the worship of the masters 
 and servants of adjacent plantations, under the ministry of 
 their beloved Missionary. My own past experience forbad 
 me to wonder at the tears of sympathy and joy, which lately 
 fell from the eyes of a good master, while casually sketching 
 to me in private his habitual enjoyment of such a privilege. 
 In testimony of the sound, conscientious, intelligent interest 
 which is felt by the Southern Church on this subject, I will 
 only further say, that Essays, Reports, Pastoral Letters, Pe- 
 riodicals, &c, have long been in course of publication ; that 
 ecclesiastical bodies of all denominations have long been accus- 
 tomed to give their highest authority, their best services to 
 this cause ; that Conventions, formed by delegates from differ- 
 ent States, and composed of the very first men of the land, have 
 sometimes devoted days to the most liberal discussion of this 
 whole subject ; and I am just now assured by one well informed 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 45 
 
 upon all this subject, that the whole system of imparting reli- 
 gious instruction to servants in all parts of the South is in a 
 healthful and improving condition. 
 
 It occurs to me here, that my Abolition brother has been 
 comforting himself at heart under the imagined recital of the 
 indirect, but sure results of his own bold and fearless stand 
 for Christianity and the oppressed. I apprehend that truth be- 
 fore God requires some considerable abatement of this self-com- 
 placent, most confident conviction. You remind me that the 
 improvement in the condition of the Southern slave has been 
 cotemporaneous with the Abolition movement of the North. 
 The same period dates a similar improvement in almost every 
 branch of Christian benevolence, in the cause of Missions, the 
 Bible, Tracts, Temperance, &c. Were these, too, the fruit 
 of Abolition effort ? Does not a general effect call for a general 
 cause ? And is not all this advance of the kingdom to be 
 accredited to a general diffusion of God's Spirit upon his 
 Church ? You respond, that agitation is the means which the 
 Spirit ordinarily employs to effect general reformation. You 
 will find it difficult of proof, however, that the agitation of the 
 subject of slavery occasioned by the Abolition movement has 
 secured that progress at the South, which I have endeav- 
 ored to sketch. There are three grand objections to the 
 wholesome power of the Abolition effort, arising out of one 
 fact — the position of the agitator, beyond the limits of the body 
 to be reformed. 1st. Such an agitator will always lack influ- 
 ence. His veiy first blow, and every successive one, strikes 
 upon ancient prejudice, and wakes up opposition, and it will 
 be felt and said constantly, You are a stranger, an intermeddler, 
 and an enemy ; and he will be sure to lack power over those 
 he would move. 2d. Such an agitator will lack knowledge. He 
 is not on the ground. He does not see and know that of 
 which he speaks, and his zeal will tempt him to devour 
 greedily the extravagances cast upon his ears; and yon may 
 rest assured these, his errors and extravagances, will bi 
 promptly detected and largely overrated by the assailed, to 
 the limitation of his influence. 3d. Such an agitator will be 
 very apt to lack sympathy and discretion. He is nol part and 
 parcel with the body he would reform, and will be almost 
 
46 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 sure to be deficient in that spirit of tender interest, forbear- 
 ance and allowance, that constant, cautious fear of the disas- 
 trous consequences of speaking too strong, or going too fast; 
 all of which are so indispensable to the success of every 
 reformation movement. Mr. Moderator, the sun does not 
 shine, if the influence of our friends at the North, who would 
 reform the South by their violent speeches and measures, is 
 not, to some extent, like the agency of him who locks the 
 door of the house he would enter. Yet I have never felt with 
 Southern men in general that this was the only influence of 
 Abolition on the South. Whether the natural, necessary 
 effect of the movement to rouse attention to the subject, and 
 to cast light upon some branches of it, has or has not been 
 counterbalanced by the mischiefs proceeding from the ex- 
 travagance of its radical principle, the uncharitable spirit of 
 the agitator, and his frequent errors in statement, positively 
 and stubbornly advanced, I cannot say. But my conviction 
 is very decided, that our Abolition friends are accustomed to 
 overrate their connection with Southern improvement, and to 
 ' underrate home influence in the same. Mr. Moderator, without 
 recurring to history for its proof, I venture to express the 
 opinion, that as it was in the great Reformation, so in general it 
 is in the multitude of moral reforms effected by the progress 
 of society, in every part and age of the world, — the successful 
 agitators are integral elements of the body reformed. The influ- 
 ence, the sympathy, the minute knowledge, the admirable 
 discretion, and the undying interest, almost necessary to every 
 such achievement, would seem to demand it. Whether the 
 substantial progress of the interesting Cause of the Bondman 
 of the South has not been effected in the same manner, I leave 
 you to judge, upon the statement of a few facts. 
 
 There has been unceasing agitation of this subject, in the 
 wisest and happiest manner, by Southern men, from the date 
 of the landing of the first slave on American soil. You know, 
 sir, that before the Constitution of the United States was 
 framed, while yet we were colonies of England, the Southern 
 States protested against the introduction of this population. 
 Now, sir, from that day to this, I affirm that Southern 
 records, political, religious, literary, and historical, present a 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 47 
 
 constant succession of publications on the subject of slavery, 
 by Southern men of the highest rank and talent, in Church 
 and State, embodying as great a degree of accuracy, kind- 
 ness, discretion, and fidelity of sentiment as characterizes 
 any similar number of publications uttered at the North with- 
 in the last twenty years. If there is any approach to truth in 
 this statement, Mr. Moderator, with all the powerful and vari- 
 ous advantages of home influence, have all these efforts been 
 powerless, while similar efforts from abroad have been reform- 
 ing the land ? Again, sir, from the earliest period of oar his- 
 tory, ecclesiastical bodies at the South, and especially of the 
 Presbyterian order, have held up this subject to their churches, 
 and pressed religious duty upon the conscience just as far as, 
 in their Christian judgment, they were permitted to do. 
 What has been the influence of this steady movement through 
 past generations ? I intend no disrespect, but for reasons 
 too obvious to need a statement, I must be permitted to say, 
 if any member of this body imagines that a strong Abolition 
 announcement by this General Assembly will approach to 
 the power over the Southern Church which will always fel- 
 low the calm, solemn, faithful appeal of her own Presby- 
 teries or Synods, he makes a great mistake. 
 
 Mr. Moderator, why may not reformation commence I 
 home ? Are the masses so involved in the common interest 
 and prejudice against the truth that they are not likely to see 
 and appreciate it? But bear in mind, all reformation com- 
 mences with individuals, and all history shows that there 
 ever have been at the South individuals friends of the truth, 
 awake and active upon this subject. These publications and 
 decisions of old, brought to bear upon the Colored race, what 
 reformation element do they lack? There is mind there, and 
 truth there, and the gospel there, and the Spirit there ; — cer- 
 tainly, too, a closer view of the necessities of reformation, 
 deeper interest in the work to be done, and higher influence over 
 the body to be moved. Mr. Moderator, to some small extent 
 I hold myself a witness in this case. I know by personal 
 observation, that these Southern efforts have carried reforma- 
 tion power. Prior to the day when the South tell fretted by 
 Abolition interference, now more than twenty yens a I 
 
48 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 well remember that a Christian man, born and bred at the 
 South, rode many miles, called on me at my domicile in the 
 State of Georgia, and solicited me to become a member of a 
 Society which he purposed to form for the "Religious Instruc- 
 tion of the Colored Population." This devoted and talented 
 minister of Jesus was himself made the General As-ent of the 
 Society originated at that time. Through him we put forth the 
 first year an able tract on the "Degradation of the Southern 
 Slave" and scattered it through the countj^. This, sir, did 
 its work. We had our anniversary, and reported progress. 
 The second year we drew up, and published, and distributed 
 an able essay on the "Obligation of the Master." I noticed 
 the effect of this document in all my itinerations. During the 
 third year we published a "Catechism " to aid this responsible 
 master in the discharge of his duty to this necessitous mem- 
 ber of his family, — a document, let me say, of such singular 
 value, that it found its way across the waters to the table of a 
 missionary of the American Board, who thought he saw in it 
 the precise desideratum for his own field, and had it printed, 
 and set to the work of reformation amonu; the heathen abroad. 
 Suffer me to say that this Society has been in steady opera- 
 tion from that day to this, not only sending its Agent around 
 the district to instruct the slaves at convenient station-houses 
 erected for the purpose, but annually reporting, and occasion- 
 ally publishing as necessity demanded. To the favorable 
 influence of this movement, first upon the population under 
 its immediate supervision, then upon the counties adjacent, 
 and finally, through its publications, upon the friends of the 
 cause at a distance, and even in other States, multitudes 
 can bear witness. What had Abolition to do with the origin 
 or power of this operation ? 
 
 It was my privilege, about the period of the formation of 
 this Society, to visit an eminent Christian who dwelt in a 
 neighboring State, and where, you will remark, there now 
 prevails through all the surrounding country as high a degree 
 of religious fidelity to the Colored population as distinguishes 
 any section of the South. • I learned that he had been in the 
 habit of employing a minister to preach to his large family of 
 servants for many years. He informed me that, though his neigh- 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 49 
 
 bors far and near were at that time favorable to this species 
 of operation, yet when he first commenced it, he was told that 
 his movement endangered the peace and lives of the whites, 
 and he must desist. He answered their arguments, and 
 moved forward in his duty. They became more serious in 
 their objections : he still persisted. At length their opposition 
 waxed so firm and united that he was driven to tell them : 
 " Gentlemen, I am engaged in my duty, and before I give it 
 up, I will plant a cannon in every window of my house, and 
 you shall go over my dead body to take away the Word of 
 God from my family." I had the pleasure of preaching the 
 gospel in his neighborhood, when the conversion of some of 
 his early opposers led him to give me this history. Here is 
 an operation that dates back its origin perhaps forty years 
 from this time. What had Abolition to do with the waking 
 up of this man's mind to duty ? We accord to it, with all its 
 ill- workings, some collateral stimulation of a good cause ; and 
 its friends, in turn, should concede that wherever similar im- 
 provements are witnessed in Southern society at this day, 
 they may have had a similarly independent origin. 
 
 Here let me arrest this elaborate narration with one re- 
 mark. This subject is presented at great disadvantage, for 
 it comes before you, not through the pen of the historian who 
 had explored the ground and collected the facts, but simply 
 through the casual recollections of one who, years ago, was an 
 eye-witness of some portions of the operation. 
 
 Mr. Moderator, what shall we say of this argument ? Has 
 nothing been done under that Anti-slavery doctrine which 
 Abolitionism opposes? Sir, weigh the enormous disadvanr 
 tages against which the Reform principle had to contend : 
 the interest, the powerful interest, that both blinded and op- 
 posed the agent; the prejudice, the public sentiment, the 
 laws that stood so directly, so strongly, so menacingly in the 
 way; and in what branch of Christian benevolence has more 
 been effected in the same time ? You have seen, sir, that by 
 the outlay of a sum of money ibur times as large as the whole 
 American Church has contributed to all Christian enu.-es 
 from the beginning,* Southern men have earned the honor of 
 
 * See Appendix, No. IV. "* 
 
50 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 exhibiting the very noblest Anti-slavery sentiment uttered by 
 any class of men in our day ; that the Southern Church have 
 been the happy instruments, under God, of baptizing a larger 
 number of heathen brethren than all the missionary operations 
 of the world beside ; that, by a self-denying, laborious, and 
 intrepid zeal, they have wrought a change in the social and 
 religious condition of servants, and the public sentiment of 
 masters, which cannot fail to impart the deepest gratification 
 to every bosom that ever felt one beat of philanthropy for the 
 bondman. 
 
 I put it to you, Mr. Moderator, whether this argument of 
 my brethren does not belong to the same catalogue of impreg- 
 nable proofs of the principle it was enlisted to overthrow ? If 
 moderate Anti-slavery sentiment has really done so much, 
 God and the truth must be with it. 
 
 I repeat, sir, the fair statement of the acknowledged facts 
 of the case shows that slaveholding is not sin per se. So 
 signally true is this, that every argument advanced to estab- 
 lish the doctrine overthrows its own foundations, and builds 
 up the doctrine opposed. 
 
 SECOND.--THE DUTY OP THE PARTIES CONCERNED. 
 
 The duty of all parties may be comprised in one brief 
 sentence : Come to the Word of God. 
 
 Let the Master come to the. Word of God, and do what 
 that Word so plainly enjoins. Let him remember that, in 
 general, he owes his servant the love that belongs to every 
 brother man ; and, in particular, that kind and faithful 
 guardianship which will give him that which is just and 
 equal in his relation. So doing, he will be sure to labor to 
 lift him ultimately above the disadvantages of his present 
 position, by the wisest and surest method which his judg- 
 ment and circumstances may suggest. 
 
 Let the Servant come to the Word of God, and do all which 
 that Word enjoins. Let him, in general, love his master as 
 he should love every fellow-man, and be particularly careful 
 to discharge, with cheerfulness and fidelity, all the duties 
 which Scripture devolves upon him as a servant. Let him 
 strive to be content with his providential condition, and do 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 51 
 
 nothing to alienate, but everything to secure the good-will of 
 his master. 
 
 Let the Non-slavcholding brother in the Church come to the 
 Word of God, and see to it that, in general, he speaks to that 
 master as God speaks to him in the Bible, and to that ser- 
 vant as God speaks to him in the Scriptures. And let him 
 especially beware, lest he set himself above the Apostles 
 and their Lord, by teaching such doctrines, touching these 
 parties respectively, as the New Testament has not revealed, 
 and by addressing such counsel to the parties as the New 
 Testament never gives. 
 
 God has made Duty the appointed channel of divine bless- 
 ing. All good will follow fidelity here. 
 
 1. Nothing like Bible duty will build up the character of the 
 parties. I am persuaded that there is nothing which will 
 more beautifully develop the Christian character of the 
 master, than a conscientious, just, and sympathizing dis- 
 charge of all his Scripture duty to his servant : nothing 
 which will more certainly or happily perfect the Christian 
 character of the servant, than a studious, steady effort to 
 serve his master in strict accordance with the spirit and terms 
 of Scripture requirement. 
 
 2. Nothing like Bible duty will brighten the prospects of the 
 parties. As for the servant, his present comfort and future 
 hopes depend far more upon his fidelity than upon any other 
 conceivable influence. Only let him be faithful toward God 
 and man, and he will feel, in the depths of his own heart, 
 the abiding consolation of high-soulcd virtue ; a sustaining 
 sense of integrity, cheered by the joy and peace of ever- 
 flowing benevolent affection. Only let him be faithful, and 
 his fidelity, as nothing else can, will be sure to act upon the 
 master's intellect and conscience, so as to open his mind to 
 clearer and still clearer views of his elevated relative duty, 
 and win upon his heart to do for this humble, faithful friend 
 all that wisdom and love suggest. Nothing like mutual 
 fidelity will so certainly or so soundly convince the master 
 that slavery, on the whole, is not a wholesome condition of 
 human society for either party. It intrusts too much un- 
 guarded power to imperfect man. This he will daily feel. 
 
52 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 It subjects the degraded yet elevated capacities of an im- 
 mortal nature to too unpropitious a school for desirable de- 
 velopment. This he will daily see. Such, I judge, will be 
 the class of reflections and influences which mutual fidelity 
 will be sure to bring to bear upon the master's mind. The 
 result is obvious : an augmenting perception of what, on the 
 whole, is best for both parties, and a growing, generous in- 
 clination to do for the inferior that which will ultimately 
 plant him and his posterity upon the grand platform of equal 
 rights. 
 
 3. Nothing like Bible duty will secure the friendship of 
 the parties. Mutual daily action upon such principles must 
 make the intercourse increasingly pleasant and kind. And 
 when the slave is ultimately raised to freedom by the master's 
 generosity, while the master feels it is more blessed to give 
 than to receive, the nature of that gift will never, never 
 permit the master's kindness to be effaced from the freed- 
 man's heart. Go and converse with the officers of the 
 American Colonization Society — they will tell you freedom, 
 thus obtained, is entailing eternal and tenderest friendship 
 between these long embittered races. Who does not see 
 that this is God's way of doing this work ? 
 
 4. Nothing like Bible duty will display the very brightest 
 glory of Christianity. Behold the operation of Christianity 
 in working off slavery from the face of the earth ! There is 
 no relation under heaven so tryingly, desperately abject on 
 the one hand, nor independent on the other. Consequently 
 there is no such field amongst men for the exercise of gener- 
 ous, self-controlling, self-denying sympathy with the helpless 
 on the one hand, nor of noble, cheerful humility ; unrewarded, 
 self-sacrificing consecration on the other. Thus, more singu- 
 lar and beautiful specimens of celestial virtue, than the 
 gospel will work out in gradually dismissing slavery from 
 the earth, I do not expect to behold in the day of the revela- 
 tion of all things. 
 
 5. Nothing like Bible duty will heal the breach of the Church. 
 The strife of Christian brethren should be allayed. Let all 
 parties come to the Word of God. Now we see eye to eye. 
 Now, brother harbors dishonoring sentiment — utters provok- 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 53 
 
 ing language — presses excommunicating measures against 
 his brother no more. No ! he now takes a different view 
 both of the character and condition of his brother. He sym- 
 pathizes, he encourages, he advises, he cooperates. The 
 darkened, struggling, tempted, burdened mind of the other ! 
 who can tell what seasonable counsel, encouragement and 
 strength in its momentous, self-denying work it imbibes from 
 all this fraternal sympathy ? Thus, kind patience on the one 
 hand generates teachable respect on the other, and the 
 brethren are brought together, and God's good work is ac- 
 complished. 
 
 6. Nothing like Bible duty will ease off the friction of the 
 nation. Pronounce slaveholding sin per se, and act upon 
 your dogma. There can be no cordial respect — no courteous 
 language — no kind cooperation. There can be no compro- 
 mise — no patience — no safe association. The one faces the 
 other as a desperate wrong-doer. The second bristles up 
 against the first as an impertinent, fanatical, provoking ac- 
 cuser. Mark ! it is this very doctrine which is cutting, at 
 this very hour, upon the tie of the Union with more sever- 
 ing energy than all other agencies combined. Let the State 
 as well as the Church come to the Word of God — respect, 
 cordiality, compromise spring up, and perilous friction in- 
 stantly subsides into harmony and peace. 
 
 Now, let the parties violate this injunction, and fail to come 
 to the Word of God, and continue to legislate for themselves on- 
 this subject, and act on the doctrine that slavery is sin per se, 
 and what will be the issue ? 
 
 Nothing can more seriously mutilate the character of mas- 
 ter and servant : for it spreads an influence over the spirit 
 of both, and makes the one hostile and insurgent — the other 
 suspicious and severe ; — nothing so effectually dissipate the 
 prospect of present comfort or future deliverance : for with- 
 out respect^ the serving of the one must be pure hardship ; 
 without love, the spirit of the other will never cherish an 
 inclination to emancipate ; — nothing so certainly destroy all 
 the foundations of friendship : for Abolitionism will disturb 
 both parties for the present, and, if it ever frees the slave, 
 it will entail an eternal hostility upon the races it tears apart ; — 
 
54 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 nothing more grievously wrong Christianity : for it will spoil 
 those lovely shapes of Christian virtue to which the provi- 
 dence and Word of God entitle her in the glorious progress 
 of the Gospel ; — nothing more surely aggravate the present 
 mischievous agitation of the Church, or compel Jacob's chil- 
 dren ultimately to fall out by the way ; — nothing has hitherto 
 so fearfully shaken the State to its foundations — and nothing 
 so sure to split it to atoms in the end. 
 
 Mr. Moderator, if there is an error in this land which 
 light and love summon us instantly to abandon, it is, in my 
 judgment, the doctrine that to hold a slave, no matter on 
 what principle, for what end, is sin against God. 
 
 Mr. Moderator: For a series of years our Abolition brethren 
 have been violently knocking at your door, and demanding 
 the discipline of the Southern Church for the sin of slavery. 
 If they can bear one word more, I shall be pleased to in- 
 quire whether they ever imagined what would follow an imi- 
 tation of their spirit and practice by the Southern Church ? 
 Should it surprise them if, in her turn, she should respectfully 
 solicit at your hand a solemn inquiry into the moral charac- 
 ter of Abolitionism, and a recommendation to your inferior 
 courts to purge the Church forthwith of this offensive element? 
 
 Confine your investigation to a single development of the 
 principle. 
 
 It will not be denied, I presume, that a line of Abolition 
 posts has been long since established on the extreme southern 
 border of the Free States, from the Mississippi river, perhaps 
 to the Atlantic, organized to apprise the oppressed population 
 beyond the line that the moment a slave makes his way across 
 to Free Soil he will there find every arrangement made, every 
 power at hand, to transport him rapidly from his house of 
 bondage to a safe refuge in the bosom of Canada. Reports 
 of annual progress are frequently published by these organi- 
 zations. , 
 
 What, sir, is the moral influence of this movement, 
 
 1st. Upon human respect for the authority of the Word of God ? 
 God's Word delivers various commands to the servant, — 
 commands, every line of which, be it remembered, carries 
 just as much Divine authority as any text of Holy Writ. What 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 55 
 
 is the influence of the obvious spirit, ordinary language, and 
 prominent act of this frontier movement, upon the authority of 
 God's Word, especially on the mind of the slave? Is it pos- 
 sible for human ingenuity to invent a method which shall 
 enlist a more palpable or powerful moral force to break down 
 in the soul of the slave all regard for God's commands to him 
 in the Bible ? Does not this whole movement as it were put 
 a violent hand upon him, and force him into a direct and out- 
 rageous disobedience of every Divine injunction addressed to 
 him in the Scriptures ? Reflect ! His master God in the 
 Bible commands him " to honor,'''' " to obey," " to serve," " to 
 submit to," " to please," " not to despise," " not to answer again," 
 not to purloin from." Now, these Abolition brethren who meet 
 the flying slave on the shore — does the spirit they breathe 
 toward his master, the words they address to him about his 
 master, the act they perform in its relation to his master, 
 produce any other effect than to stir up the whole heart of the 
 servant into the most positive and flagrant violation of the 
 spirit and letter of every word of God to his soul concerning 
 his duty to that master ? 
 
 Oh, my brethren ! I would that every bondman on the 
 face of the earth were possessed of the freedom you so highly 
 prize. But, the Bible! the Bible ! ! framed to do this and 
 every other good work for man — what deep and shameful dis- 
 honor you cast upon this Blessed Bible ! ! The violent ten- 
 dency of this conduct is to break down the power of the Bible 
 upon the face of the whole earth. Mr. Moderator, with great 
 kindness I must be allowed to say, whatever benevolent 
 promptings toward man do beat in the heart of my brethren, 
 this, their act, in its moral bearing upon the Scriptures, I hold 
 to be great dishonor to God, great hurt to the earth, and, 
 therefore, great sin against God and man. 
 
 2d. Upon the character of the master, the servant, and the agent ? 
 Collect every command of God to the master as well as to 
 the servant, in the Holy Scriptures, and I think you will find 
 that this your frontier movement violently tempts the one 
 party, and provokes the other to direct and universal diso- 
 bedience. And if this is so, what must be its influence upon 
 the agent? Mr. Moderator, when God at great expense and 
 
56 SPEECH ON THE SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 in great love has stooped from heaven expressly to mark out 
 the only path in which perishing man must walk to find 
 spiritual deliverance, is it not a great sin that Christian men 
 should throw themselves violently between God and the soul 
 he is rescuing, and press that soul away from the path of life? 
 Is it not the greater sin in that it is done in direct violation 
 of apostolic example in similar circumstances? Can such 
 work as this be of sanctification to the soul engaged in it ? 
 
 3. There is one far more delicate, more shocking bearing 
 of this frontier movement, which, Mr. Moderator, my brethren 
 will pardon me if I advert to for an instant. I mean its cor- 
 rupting, I am pained to say, its degrading influence upon a cer- 
 tain class of young ministers of the gospel. A young man has a 
 generous and intrepid spirit : this is felt and valued by his 
 every friend. Peradventure nature has not so largely endowed 
 him with discretion and a sense of the propriety of things. 
 He is called to Christ, and commissioned to preach the gospel. 
 Kinsmen and acquaintances alike anticipate a life of heaven- 
 blest devotion to the good cause. He becomes an Abolitionist. 
 He sees his seniors all around him building shelters for the 
 refugees, collecting funds, providing means, appointing agents, 
 and forming plans to secure their rescue. Yes, sir, he sees 
 them upon the bank opening wide their arms, and lifting high 
 their inviting voice to the bondman across the river. What 
 wonder, Mr. Moderator, that his fired soul should boldly, I 
 will say generously, if misguidedly, over-step the line, and 
 risk his own freedom in a clandestine enterprise to deliver the 
 fellow-creature he had been taught to believe was so wickedly 
 oppressed? A Judge on the bench, in the State of Missouri, 
 once informed me that such a young minister had just been 
 brought before him. The evidence was irresistible. No 
 sympathy, no learning, no eloquence, no possible interposition, 
 could protect him from the issue. He further assured me 
 that he had received reliable information, that since his de- 
 parture from home two others had been arrested under simi- 
 lar circumstances, whom he feared he should be compelled 
 to dismiss to the same inglorious destination. Nor is Missouri 
 the only State where such unhappy transactions have taken 
 place. 
 
DELIVERED IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 57 
 
 Now, Mr. Moderator, I feel aggrieved for the honor of the 
 denomination to which I belong, I feel aggrieved for the stained 
 character, the wounded feelings, the blighted influence of these 
 young servants of the Lord. Yes, sir, I feel for them ; for I 
 have heard of the generous and noble nature of one of them, 
 of his favorable influence upon his keepers and his miserable 
 companions in confinement ; and, sir, I charge it to Abolition- 
 ism that such young men have been betrayed into such 
 grievous impropriety. I hold it the legitimate fruit of its 
 own wretched extravagance. 
 
 My brethren, unaffronted, will allow me to speak out, and 
 say, not that it should tinge the cheek, but that it should rouse 
 the judgment and awaken the conscience of every disciple of 
 this creed, to be assured that his own Abolitionism has put 
 forth a power, and wrought a deed in various sections of the 
 country which, after regular judicial investigation, stands pro- 
 nounced upon the records of this nation to be literally that 
 very act which they themselves are wont to impute to other 
 men as the consummation of all shame. 
 
 Mr. Moderator, I forbear. I simply designed by this (per- 
 adventure) rude suggestion to throw, if possible, some new 
 light upon some of the many bearings of this solemn subject, 
 that my brethren may reflect upon what seems not a little like 
 hastening to form exaggerated conceptions of the guilt of 
 others without a due consideration of the infelicities that lie 
 at our own door ; not a little like the indiscretion of driving 
 Providence from his own field, and taking his work into our 
 hands. 
 
AIPIPHKOOT,, 
 
 i. 
 
 A series of Resolutions drawn up by a Committee composed of opposite 
 parties is always a singularly mixed production. You can generally dis- 
 cern the opposite parentage of its different parts. The member called to 
 cast one vote upon the whole is often placed in a dilemma, and must choose 
 between evils. In substance the Resolutions passed by the Assembly ex- 
 press a sentiment and propose a measure. I gave an affirmative vote approv- 
 ing decidedly the measure — the sentiment, only so far as it might be fairly 
 interpreted to consist with the views I had expressed. 
 
 The second Resolution wears a very singular face. You see the contest 
 and the compromise of opposite principles. Is slaveholding sin 1 The par- 
 ties divide upon this proposition. It looks very much as though one gets 
 the sound while the other satisfies itself with the sense. " The holding of 
 our fellow-men in the condition of slavery ... is an offense." The sound of 
 this language clearly indicates that as a general rule to hold a slave is an 
 offense. But this proposition is so largely qualified that the sense of the 
 Resolution, as deduced from all the language employed to express it, would 
 seem to call for an opposite interpretation. 
 
 Suppose the words were these : Slaveholding is an offense except in 
 ninety-nine cases out of an hundred — the proposition is positive in its 
 form, but the general rule clearly negative. Suppose one should say : 
 Government is an offense except where it is constructed with some regard 
 to the good of the subject, and administered with some reference to the 
 principles of justice. All men know that governments in general are so 
 formed and administered. The general rule here also, though awkwardly 
 expressed, is clearly negative. So in the case before us — before slavehold- 
 ing is pronounced an offense, the broad qualifications of the subject, probably, 
 cast the rule on the negative side. The Resolution excepts, first — Those 
 cases where slaveholding is " unavoidable by the laws of the State." Now 
 Southern laws very generally, if I mistake not, uniformly forbid emancipa- 
 
62 APPENDIX. 
 
 tion. The sense of the Resolution therefore, in view of this exception, runs 
 thus : The holding of a slave is not an offense unless you go beyond the 
 limits of the country to find a case. The second exception respects those 
 cases where slaveholding is unavoidable by " the obligations of guardianship" 
 Some would affix a restricted — a legal signification to this term " guardian- 
 ship." I hold every master the moral guardian of his slave. By reason of 
 his personal unfitness for a state of freedom, the obligations of guardianship, 
 as I have interpreted them, require the present exercise of the master's au- 
 thority. Upon this construction of the language, (it may not be the general 
 one,) here is another exception covering all the ground of a general rule. 
 The third exception has reference to all those cases where slaveholding is 
 unavoidable by " the demands of humanity." Clearly, if slaves in general are 
 unprepared for freedom, humanity demands that they should be retained in 
 a state of servitude for the present. Here you perceive is a third case, in 
 the language of the exceptions, which covers the whole field of a general 
 rule. Thus, in one view of the case at least, these exceptions are in reality 
 the rule, embracing much the larger number of particulars. The language 
 of the Resolution however would better express my sentiments (and I think 
 its own) ordered thus : Slaveholding is not an offense, except when it 
 violates those obligations of guardianship, those demands of humanity which 
 pertain to the relation. This I judge to be the spirit and sentiment of the As- 
 sembly. Having remained at Detroit one week after the adjournment, I 
 know that an impression was made upon the community by the discussion 
 decidedly favorable to moderate principles. No time was left, after argu- 
 ment upon the merits of the case at large, to discuss the precise import of 
 the terms and phrases of the Resolutions ; yet I have no reason at all to sup- 
 pose that the discussion produced so different an effect upon the Assembly 
 itself, that this body intended, by this language, to advance and take ground, 
 which, the Assembly paused in the midst of the discussion to call to mind 
 and expressly admit, no previous Assembly had ever taken. 
 
 The measure I heartily voted for. " The whole subject of slavery as it 
 exists in the Church" you will please to observe, the fourth Resolution ex- 
 pressly refers "to the Sessions and Presbyteries to take such action thereon 
 as, in their judgment, the laws of Christianity require."- Our Church suffers 
 for the lack of rest on this subject, and of time to attend to other business. 
 This action of the Assembly, I take it, will secure both. Should a church 
 or Presbytery hereafter contemplate a memorial on this subject, what could 
 it desire the Assembly to do ? To express its sentiments ? This action of 
 the Assembly expressly affirms that this body has herein made such expres- 
 sion of its sentiments on this subject as authorizes it hereafter to dismiss it 
 to the Inferior Courts. To advise respecting the course to be pursued 1 
 The Assembly reminds them that the Inferior Courts, as advised by the Con- 
 stitution, are the proper tribunal to decide such questions, and therefore the 
 Resolution refers all inquirers concerning proper action in the premises to 
 their own judgment. 
 
APPENDIX. 63 
 
 XI. 
 
 The term " relation " I do not employ in a strict but general sense ; not 
 simply to express those classifications of human conduct embraced by 
 what are ordinarily termed " domestic relations," " public relations," &c, but 
 any relative class of human actions. I retain all that is important to my 
 purpose, the radical idea, viz. : man regularly acting toward man in a certain 
 way. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 The statement touching the number and value of slaves manumitted, I 
 derive principally from the publication of a friend remarkable for the accu- 
 racy of his statistics. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The following table of the sum total of the contributions of the American 
 Church, from the birth-day of her Christian liberality, was prepared at my 
 request by one well advised on all this subject. It exhibits the date of the 
 formation of each of the prominent Benevolent Societies of this country, 
 together with the sum total of its contributions from the beginning : — 
 
 1810. Am, Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,. .. $5,547,090 
 
 1813. Baptist Foreign Missionary Association, 1,183,834 
 
 1816. American Bible Society, 3,500,000 
 
 1816. " Education Society, 1,142,650 
 
 1816. Presbyterian Board of Domestic Missions, 987,687 
 
 1819. " " Education, 787,679 
 
 1820. Methodist Missionary Society, 1,848,577 
 
 1822. Episcopal Missionary Society, 942,458 
 
 1824. American Sunday-school Union, 1,878,410 
 
 1825. " Tract Society, 2,462,771 
 
 1826. " Home Missionary Society, 1,897,259 
 
 1828. " Seamen's Friend Society, 315,344 
 
 1832. Baptist Home Missionary Association, 649,442 
 
 1 833. Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, 960,934 
 
 Publication, 397,473 
 
 1 837. American and Foreign Bible Society, (Baptist,) 378,566 
 
 1839. Foreign Evangelical Society, 196,675 
 
 1848. American Protestant Society, 92,812 
 
 American Colonization Society, 1 ,000,000 
 
 Sum total $25,668,557 
 
 Sum total of moneys surrendered to advance the cause of 
 
 Emancipation, nearly $125,000,000 
 

Ftf 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 in mil ii it hi fi i i ii 
 
 011 839 188 3 
 
 
 
 
 '-it.' 
 
 M x