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AN 
 
 APPEAL TO CHRISTIANS, 
 
 SUBJECT OP SLAVERY. 
 
 BY JOHN HERSEY. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 BALTIMORE: 
 
 ARMSTRONG & PLASKITT, 
 
 J. W.Woods, print, 
 
 1833. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 Desultory Remarks, . ' . : .5 
 
 Extracts from the speech of J. A. Chandler, mem- 
 ber of the house of delegates of Virginia, . 11 
 " from E. Rushton's letter, ... 18 
 " . " T. J. Randolph's speech, . ib. 
 
 " " Henry Berry's do. . . 22 
 
 « " Thos. Marshall's do. . . 25 
 
 " " James M'Dowell's do. . . 26 
 
 " " Philip A. Boiling's do. . . 35 
 
 " « Chas. J. Faulkner's do. . 37 
 
 " " Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, . 43 
 
 " " Thos. Jefferson's letter to E. Cole 
 
 " and J. Sparks, . . . . 45 
 
 Remarks and reflections, . . .50 
 
 Moral objections to slavery, founded on the word 
 
 of God, . . . . . 52 
 
 Arguments in favour of slavery considered and 
 answered: 
 
 First — "Slavery has existed in all ages and coun- 
 tries. Abraham the friend of God owned 
 servants." . . . . 67 
 
 Second — "Slavery existed among the Jews by the 
 
 express permission of Almighty God." . 68 
 
 Third — "By the curse of God pronounced by his 
 servant Noah, these people were doomed to 
 be servants." . . . 7^ 
 
IV 
 
 Page. 
 
 Fourth — "Our slaves are in a more eligible and 
 enviable condition than the peasantry of Eu- 
 rope." . . . . . 78 
 
 Fifth — '"The New Testament is silent on the sub- 
 ject. Masters and servants are mentioned, 
 yet the practice is not forbidden," . 81 
 
 Sixth — "The testimony of Christian 7nasterSi who 
 
 have died triumphant deaths," . .82 
 
 Remarks and reflections, . . .85 
 
 The inquiry, what can be done with our slaves? 
 
 answered, . . . .87 
 
 Remarks on the colony at Liberia. . . 83 
 
 . An estimate of the time and expense, required to 
 remove all our coloured population to Afri-, 
 ca, . . . . . 90 
 
 An exhibition of our pecuniary account with those 
 
 people for the last ten years, . .95 
 
 A plan recommended by which a sufficient fund 
 can be raised to remove them all to Africa 
 in less than 33 years, . . . ib. 
 
 Obiections to colonizing them in Africa consider- 
 ed, ... . . _ . 99 
 
 An appeal to those who are involved in the evils of 
 
 slavery, . .... 104 
 
 An appeal to those who reside in free states, who 
 
 are exempt from this great incumbrance 112 
 
 An appeal to Christians in the United States of 
 
 every name, . . • .114 
 
 The Christian missionary's dilemma, . • 116 
 
 inconsistencies and absurdities connected with 
 
 slavery as it exists in our country, . 118 
 
 Remarks and reflections, . . . 121 
 
 Reference to the word of God, . • ^b. 
 
 Concluding reflections, « • • 1^3 
 
APPEAL 
 
 The inhabitants of the earth are emerging 
 from their obscurity — the folds of night are 
 falling off, and mankind are starting from their 
 midnight slumber. The political and intellec- 
 tual; the moral and the religious worlds are 
 in motion. 
 
 The womb of time swells with events of in- 
 finite magnitude. The signs of the times are 
 truly ominous — they speak the impressive lan- 
 guage of prophecy, unfolding and maturing 
 scenes of the deepest interest. Jehovah's 
 heralds are going forth; they loudly and un- 
 equivocally proclaim the approach of the Lord. 
 The God of the whole earth is drawing nigh. 
 
 "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every 
 eye shall see him, and they also which pierced 
 him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail 
 because of him. Even so. Amen.''* 
 
 "But who may abide the day of his coming? 
 and who shall stand when he appeareth? for 
 
 *Rev. i. 7. 
 
6 
 
 he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap- 
 and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of sil- 
 ver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and 
 purge them as gold and silver, that they may 
 offer unto the Lord an offering in righteous- 
 ness."* 
 
 ' The gospel of Jesus Christ — the glad ti- 
 dings of salvation is sounding from every emi- 
 nence; and through the lonely vale, the echo of 
 ''glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
 peace; good will towards men," is heard to re- 
 verberate. 
 
 But alas for fallen, erring, inconsistent mor- 
 tals; they are ever prone to depart from the 
 path of righteousness. They are ever dis- 
 posed to provoke the Holy One of Israel to 
 anger, and thereby draw down destruction and 
 misery on their own heads. 
 
 Notwithstanding the great light which is 
 now shining in the earth, and the unparalleled 
 blessings and privileges which we enjoy as a 
 Christian nation — in the midst of Columbia's 
 higly favoured land, a dark cloud of ig^iorance, 
 degredation, and misery, still lowers over the 
 destiny of a large portion of our fellow mor- 
 tals. The unfortunate offspring of injured Af- 
 rica is still doomed to degradation and bond- 
 age; not in the wilds where their fathers 
 
 *Mal. ill. 2, 3. 
 
dwelt, and their brethren still breathe out a 
 wretched existence in vice and ignorance; but 
 under circumstances more mortifying and cruel: 
 they are sentenced like Tantalus, amidst an 
 ocean of civil and religious liberty to perpet- 
 ual exclusion; they must not taste its limpid 
 stream, though they are immersed in its bosom! 
 
 It is not our intention to anathematise the slave- 
 holder; nor to sport with the feelings of the 
 master or the slave; we sincerely sympathise 
 with each party: neither do we intend to in- 
 flame the unhallowed passions of any rational 
 human being in the discussion of this difficult 
 and delicate subject. Our appeal will be made 
 rationally, respectfully, and exclusively to those 
 who profess to be children of the Most High 
 God. It is our design, simply and honestly, to 
 point out some of the difficulties and dangers to 
 which slavery as it now exists in our countr}^, 
 subjects Christians respecting their final salva- 
 tion. And then, recommend, aflectionately, a 
 salutary remedy for this evil, which may be 
 effiected in an easy, noiseless, tranquil man- 
 ner, without exciting jealousy, or unkind feel- 
 ings in the breast of any human being. 
 
 There can be very little diversity of opinion 
 respecting the subject of slavery. More than 
 nine-tentlis of all the respectable and reflecting 
 part of society who make no profession of reli- 
 
gion, but who are not implicated in the traffic, 
 immediately or remotely, consider it as a prac- 
 tice derogatory to the character of any en- 
 lightened nation. Men of refined feeUngs — of 
 intelligence and honourable principles, regard it 
 as a reproach to any people; and not a few of 
 those who are deeply involved in the practice 
 of slavery, view it as an evil of no ordinary 
 magnitude; they believe that its existence 
 among us, blots the brightest page of our coun- 
 try's history with inconsistency, cruelty, and 
 disgrace. 
 
 The existence of slavery in this land of civil 
 and religious liberty is felt, and deeply deplor- 
 ed by almost every honourable, intelligent, and 
 reflecting citizen. It is, generally, viewed as a 
 moral and political hydra, alike destructive to 
 the peace, harmony, and happiness of society, 
 and the prosperity of our country. Patriots, 
 philanthropists, and Christians, mingle their 
 tears together and weep in silence over this 
 black ulcer which deforms the fairest features 
 of Christianity, and corrupts the pure stream 
 of liberty which otherwise would flow unsoil- 
 ed through Columbia's happy land. 
 
 It is certainly true that slavery has been en- 
 tailed upon us by our ancestors; hence, many 
 are under an impression that we are not cul- 
 pable, or in any way reprehensible or accounta- 
 
blefor the existence, or the continuance of the 
 evil. They believe (and. no doubt very honest- 
 ly) that no man can he, in justice, held respon- 
 sible for the crimes or the errors of others. 
 This sentiment is perfectly correct in most 
 cases, and would apply in the present instance 
 had we made every effort in our power to ex- 
 tricate ourselves from the evils and difficulties 
 imposed on us by our fathers; this has not been 
 done; the crime has, therefore, been legally and 
 righteously transferred to our father's children. 
 
 Children frequently inherit poverty and ig- 
 norance from their parents; and unless they 
 make a successful effort to relieve themselves 
 from those embarrassments, they will be com- 
 pelled to remain in a state of ignorance and 
 poverty through life. Again, E is banished 
 from his native country for the perpetration of 
 a desperate crime; in his exile he begets chil- 
 dren; they are perfectly innocent; they have 
 not participated in their parent's evil deeds; 
 yet they are necessarily involved in the fatal 
 consequences growing out of their father's acts 
 of infamy; and unless they make a rational 
 effort to relieve themselves, they will for ever 
 remain aliens and exiles. 
 
 The evil of slavery was not only commenc- 
 ed by our ancestors in error and avarice, but 
 it has been continued by their descendants to 
 2* 
 
10 
 
 the present day in the same spirit. As the 
 light of reason and religion has dawned on our 
 own minds, we have uniformly endeavoured to 
 shroud their's in deeper obscurity. 
 
 Instead of ameliorating their condition by 
 legal authority, their chains of bondage and 
 ignorance have been more securely rivetted on 
 them, by laws of our own making. 
 
 Hence, we have uniformly endeavoured to 
 shroud the evil deeds of our ancestors in dark- 
 ness. We have hitherto strove to cast a veil 
 of obscurity over the whole scene, intending 
 thereby, if possible, to bury this mass of po- 
 litical and moral deformity in the tomb of pro- 
 found silence. The time, however, has arrived 
 when the grave of oblivion can no longer con- 
 ceal the wretched — the deathlike condition of 
 that unfortunate and outcast race of human 
 beings. After an interment of nearly two hun- 
 dred years thelethean spell has been dissolved. 
 The important subject of slavery has been 
 openly discussed during the past year in the 
 legislature of Virginia; a large and respectable 
 state, as deeply interested as any of her sister 
 states in this dark tragedy. 
 
 Without offering any apology to our readers 
 for doing so, we shall present them with a few 
 extracts taken from several speeches dehv- 
 ered in the house of delegates of the state of 
 
11 
 
 Virginia during the session of 1831-2. From 
 the declarations made by those statesmen, we 
 may learn definitely the sentiments held by a 
 large and respectable number of distinguished 
 political characters, respecting the subject of 
 slavery, and from the number of petitions pre- 
 sented to that enlightened political body dur- 
 ing the pendency of the debate on the slave 
 question, we are highly gratified to learn that 
 those honourable sentiments are in accordance 
 with those held by a large portion of the res- 
 pectable and intelligent citizens of that state. 
 
 Extract from the speech of John A. Chan- 
 dler of Norfolk county, in the house of de- 
 legates of Virginia, on the policy of the state 
 with respect to her slave population, delivered 
 January 17th, 1832. 
 
 "It is admitted by all who have addressed 
 this house; that slavery is a curse, and an in- 
 creasing one. That it has been destructive to 
 the lives of our citizens, history, with unerring 
 truth, will record. That its future increase 
 will create commotion, cannot be doubted. 
 
 "The time, then, sir, has arrived, when the 
 salus populi applies, and every consideration 
 of patriotism requires us to act upon it. This 
 principle, this fundamental principle, the safety 
 of the people, embraces not only the present 
 race, but posterity also. The gentleman from 
 
12 
 
 Brunswick, with great force and eloquence, 
 has insisted that the master has property not 
 only in the female slave, but in the issue ad 
 INFINITUM. And, sir, we have an interest not 
 only in our own welfare, but in that of our 
 posterity. We are bound to legislate for them 
 as well as for ourselves. 
 
 "This principle, that posterity are interested 
 in the acts of their ancestors, is recognized in 
 the Bill of Rights, in the very first section of 
 it. That instrument is hallowed by its antiqui- 
 ty — by the double confirmation of the people 
 of this dominion. I may say, it is superior to 
 the constitution itself, as that professes to be 
 based upon the Bill of Rights. 
 
 "What says that instrument? "That man has 
 certain unalienable rights," of which, when he 
 enters into society, he cannot by any compact 
 deprive his posterity; namely, the enjoyment of 
 life and liberty, with the means of acquiring 
 and possessing property, and of pursuing and 
 obtaining happiness and safety. Has slavery, 
 interfered with our means of enjoying life, 
 
 LIBERTY, PROPERTY, HAPPINESS AND SAFETY? 
 
 Look at Southampton. The answer is written 
 IN LETTERS OF BLOOD, upon the floors of that 
 unhappy county. Under these circumstances, 
 may we not inquire into the right of our an- 
 cestors to inflict this curse upon us, seeing that 
 
13 
 
 it has interfered so essentially with the first 
 article of the Bill of Rights? 
 
 "But, sir, will this evil — this curse, not in- 
 crease? VV ill not the life, liberty, prosperity, 
 happiness, and safety, of those who may come 
 after us, be endangered in a still greater de- 
 gree by it? How then can we reconcile it to 
 ourselves, to fasten this upon them? Do we 
 not endanger our very national existence by 
 entailing slavery upon them? 
 
 ''Sir, the gentleman from Brunswick very 
 emphatically asked, "are not our slaves our 
 property?" and the gentleman from Dinwiddle, 
 sustaining his position, said in that integrity and 
 firmness which characterises all his actions, 
 that he would own no property, respecting 
 which he was afraid to shew his title papers. 
 He even invited discussion upon this question 
 of title to slaves as property. As a Virginian, 
 I do not question the master's title to his slave; 
 but I put it to the gentleman, as a man^ as a 
 moral many as a Christian man, whether he has 
 NOT SOME DOUBT, of his claim being as abso- 
 lute and unqualified as that of other property? 
 I do this not for the purpose of raising an argu- 
 ment to sustain the power of the legislature to 
 remove them, which I think I have satisfac- 
 torily shewn; but mainly to call his attention 
 to the title, that if a doubt as to that should be 
 
14 
 
 created, it may operate, in some measure, in 
 withdrawing opposition to the removal of the 
 slaves. Let us, sir, in the investigation of this 
 title, go back to its origin. Whence came 
 slaves into this country? From Africa. Were 
 they free men there? At one time they were. 
 How come they to he converted into slaves? By 
 the stratagem of war, and the strong arm of the 
 conqueror: they were vanquished in battle, 
 sold by the victorious party, to the slave tra- 
 der, who brought them to our shores, and dis- 
 posed of them to the planter of Virginia. Had 
 the conqueror an absolute and unqualified right 
 to them? 
 
 "The gentleman from Campbell, (Mr. Da- 
 niel,) in arguing this part of the subject, stat- 
 ed, that ancient authors insisted upon two modes 
 by which a free man might become a slave, to 
 wit: by voluntary compact, and by conquest; 
 but he was in the end compelled, by the course 
 of his reasoning, to admit that those doctrines 
 have been exploded by modern writers. If, 
 then, LIBERTY, RiGrHTFULLY, cannot be con- 
 verted into slavery, may I not question whether 
 the title of the master to the slavefis absolute 
 and unqualified, and beyond the disposition of 
 the government? In general cases the derivative 
 title cannot be better than the primitive. If 
 the warrior had no absolute right to the person 
 
15 
 
 of his captive, may there not be some doubt 
 whether the Virginia planter has an unquali- 
 fied one? 
 
 "What, sir, would be thought at the present 
 day, if an elephant were taken by force or fraud 
 from its true owner, on the coast of Africa, and 
 brought to our country, and an individual 
 knowing of the circumstance were to purchase 
 it? Would it not be said that he participated 
 in the crime? Would not the old adage — 
 "that the receiver of stolen goods is as bad as 
 the thief," apply? And, sir, is the reasoning 
 different, when the subject is a human 
 BEING? When a man nas oeen taken by force 
 or fraud from his native shore, and sold in your 
 market? It may be said, that our ancestors 
 did not know the circumstances under which 
 the slave lost his liberty. I hope they did not. 
 It will, in some measure, extenuate the crime, 
 
 but cannot ENHANCE THE TITLE. The trUth 
 
 is, that our ancestors had no title to this proper- 
 ty, and we have acquired it only by legislative 
 enactments, sanctioned by the necessity of the 
 case. 
 
 "It may be argued that length of time has cre- 
 ated a title. Some thirty years ago a frigate 
 which had been captured from the French by 
 the valour and skill of our gallant tars, after 
 having been brought into port was refitted, and 
 
16 
 
 sailed on a cruise; she has never been heard of 
 since. Imagine for a moment that it was now 
 announced to this nation, that the ship had foun- 
 dered on the coast of Africa, and her crew, or 
 part of them, were alive, slaves to some pet- 
 ty monarch in that country? Think you, sir, 
 that we would listen to the plea of length of 
 time? No; the voice of a mighty people, with 
 resistless force, would proclaim that freemen 
 can never be made slaves, and the hum of pre- 
 paration to demand our long lost brethren, would 
 soon resound throughout the land. And, sir, 
 but for the degradation and absence of nation- 
 ality in Africa, one of the most interesting 
 principles of international law might be pre- 
 sented to the American people, which has ever 
 engaged the attention of the statesman. A 
 principle that would be advocated by the good 
 and wise throughout the union. Were Africa 
 erected into a sovereign and independent state, 
 and recognized as a nation by the potentates 
 of the world, to make a demand upon our gov- 
 ernment, for her long lost and enslaved chil- 
 dren, accompanied with a recital of all the cir- 
 cumstances of fraud by which they were taken 
 from their native country, it would present a 
 claim too strong to be discussed — a demand 
 too just to be denied by the free born sons of 
 Virginia. These reflections I have thrown 
 
17 
 
 out, Mr. Speaker, in the hope, that, if masters 
 of slaves should perceive some defect in their 
 title, they may be inclined "to let them go." 
 
 "I have, Mr. Speaker, entered into but few 
 statistical details; the course of my argument, 
 I trust, made it unnecessary. One estimate, 
 however, I will mention — it is this: that if the 
 slave population increase as it has done for 
 some years past, in the year 1880, less than 
 60 years hence, there will be in the seven 
 states, of Virginia, North and South Carolina, 
 Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, 
 something more than 5,000,000 of slaves, of 
 which Virginia, alone, will possess largely up- 
 wards of 1 ,000,000 — an amount too great, too 
 appalling for a statesman not to apprehend 
 some danger from. I acknowledge, I tremble 
 for the fate of my country at some future day, 
 unless we "do something!" " 
 
 The sentiments expressed in the preceding 
 extracts from J. A. Chandler's speech, are ra- 
 tional and conclusive. Agreeably to his views 
 something must be done speedily in this mo- 
 mentous business, or ruin will be inevitable. 
 He has proved incontestably that no man in a 
 Christian country can possess a legal right or 
 title to his fellow man as his property. Then 
 in the sight of heaven, are not all slaveholders 
 unjust people? This argument and decision 
 3 
 
18 
 
 imperiously calls for the solemn consideration 
 of every Christian slaveholder; as a moment's 
 reflection will convince any unprejudiced mind 
 that no unjust person can enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven. 
 
 There is something in the very idea of buy- 
 ing and selling human beings, that is altogether 
 repugnant to the feelings of every Christian. 
 
 In a letter written by Edward Rushton, and 
 addressed to George Washington, president of 
 the United States, dated Liverpool, (Eng.) 
 February 20th, 1797 — he indignantly ex- 
 claims — '^shame! shame! that man should be 
 deemed the property of man, or that the 
 name of Washington should be found among 
 the list of such proprietors," 
 
 Our friends will pardon us for introducing 
 the above sentiment from the pen of an En- 
 glishman. It is not our intention to appeal to 
 foreigners, or those who are happily ignorant 
 of the difficulties connected with slavery, for 
 their aid in the discussion of this important sub- 
 ject. We cannot, however, refrain from advert- 
 ing further to the opinion and views of dis- 
 tinguished characters who have been born and 
 educated in the midst of slavery — of those who 
 are still encompassed about with this growing 
 evil. 
 
 Extracts from the speech of Thomas J. Ran- 
 dolph, (of Albemarle,) in the house of delegates 
 
19 
 
 of Virginia on the abolition of slavery, delivered 
 Saturday, January 21st, 1832. 
 
 "I will quote, in part, the statistics of the 
 gentleman from Dinwiddie, whose accuracy 
 cannot be questioned. Judging the future by 
 the past, in 40 years the coloured population 
 in Eastern Virginia will exceed the white 
 200,000. In the last 40 years, the whites in the 
 same district have increased 51 per cent: the 
 blacks 186 per cent. Forty years ago, the 
 whites exceeded the coloured 25,000: the co- 
 loured now exceeds the whites 81,000: a net 
 gain of the blacks over the whites in 40 years 
 of 106,000: and these results too, during an 
 exportation of near 260,000 slaves since the 
 year 17 90, now, perhaps, the fruitful progenitors 
 of half a million in other states. By reference 
 to document No. 16, on your table, you will 
 perceive that in the year 1830, of that part of 
 the population of 10 years old and under, the 
 blacks exceed the whites 26 per cent. — over 
 that a^e, only 3 per cent. What a change 
 will not 18 years make for the worse when 
 those children shall be grown. W^hat a change 
 will not 40 years, with its geometrical progres- 
 sion, evolve, when they shall become fathers 
 and mothers, and some of them grandmothers? 
 If exportation ceases, some of those now with- 
 in the hearing of my voice, may live to see the 
 
20 
 
 coloured population of Virginia 2,000,000, or 
 2,500,000: children now born may live to see 
 them 3,000,000, determining their increase by 
 their average increase in the United States in 
 the last 40 years. 
 
 "Sir, is not this the case of the salus populi 
 demonstrated to exist in the certain future? 
 Who will be so hardy as to assert, that when 
 the time arrives, a remedy can be applied: who 
 will say that 2,000,000, cair be attempted to 
 be removed: they will say to you long before 
 that "we will not go."" Here, sir, applies that 
 wise maxim of the law ^^venienti occurrite mor- 
 bo,''^ (meet the coming ill.) 
 
 "The gentleman has spoken of the increase 
 of the female slaves being a part of the profit: 
 it is admitted; but no great evil can be averted, 
 no good attained, without some inconvenience. 
 It may be questioned, how far it is desirable to 
 foster and encourage this branch of profit. It 
 is a practice, and an increasing practice in parts 
 of Virginia, to rear slaves for market. How 
 can an honourable mind, a patriot, and a lover 
 of his country, bear to see this ancient domin- 
 ion, rendered illustrious by the noble devotion 
 and patriotism of her sons in the cause of liber- 
 ty, converted into one grand menagerie where 
 men are to be reared for market like oxen for 
 the shambles. Is it better, is it not worse 
 
SI 
 
 than tlie slave trade, that trade which enlisted 
 the labour of the good and the wise of every 
 creed and every clime to abolish it? The trad- 
 er receives the slave, a stranger in language, 
 aspect, and manner, from the merchant who 
 has brought him from tlie interior. The ties 
 of father, mother, husband, and child have all 
 been rent in twain; before he receives him, his 
 soul has become callous. 
 
 "But here, sir, individuals, whom the master 
 has known from infancy, whom he has seen 
 sporting in the innocent gambols of childhood, 
 who have been accustomed to look to him for 
 protection, he tears from the mother's arms, 
 and sells into a strange country among strange 
 people, subject to cruel task-masters. In my 
 opinion, sir, it is much worse. 
 
 "He has compared slave property to a capi- 
 tal in money. I wish it were money, sir, or 
 any thing else than what it is. It is not money, 
 it is labour, it is the labour which produces 
 that for which money is the representative. 
 The interest on money is 4 to 6 per cent. 
 The hire of male slaves is about 1 5 per cent, 
 upon their value: in ten years or less, you have 
 returned your principal with interest. Thus 
 it is with much of the 100,000,000 of proper- 
 ty, the loss of which the gentleman has so 
 eloquently depicted in ruining the country. 
 3* 
 
22 
 
 He has attempted to justify slavery here, be- 
 cause it exists in Africa, and has stated that it 
 exists all over the world. Upon the same 
 principle he could justify Mahometism, with 
 its plurality of wives, petty wars for plunder, 
 robbery and murder, or any other of the abom- 
 inations and enormities of savage tribes. Does 
 slavery exist in any part of civilized Europe? 
 JVo, sir, in no 'part of it. America is the 
 
 ONLY CIVILIZED CHRISTIAN NATION THAT 
 
 BEARS THE OPPROBRIUM, lu cvcry Other coun- 
 try where civilization and Christianity have 
 existed together, they have erased it from their 
 codes, they have blotted it from the page of 
 their history." 
 
 "The gentleman has appealed to the Chris- 
 tian religion in justification of slavery. I 
 would ask him upon what part of those pure 
 doctrines does he rely; to which of those 
 sublime precepts does he advert to sustain his 
 position.'' Is it that which teaches charity, 
 justice, and good will to all, or is it that which 
 teaches, "that ye do unto others as ye 
 
 WOULD they should DO UNTO YOU?" " 
 
 Extracts from the speech of Henry Berry, 
 (of Jefferson,) in the house of delegates of Vir- 
 ginia, delivered Friday, Jan. 20th, 1832. 
 
 "Sir, I believe that no cancer on the phy- 
 sical body was ever more certain, steady, and 
 
23 
 
 fatal in its progress, than is this cancer on the 
 political body of the state of Virginia. It is 
 eating into her very vitals. And shall we 
 admit that the evil is past remedy? Shall we 
 act the part of a puny patient, suffering under 
 the ravages of a fatal disease, who would say 
 the remedy is too painful, the dose too nauseous, 
 I cannot bear it; who would close his eyes in 
 despair, and give himself up to death? No sir, 
 I would bear the knife and the cautery, for 
 the sake of health." 
 
 "I believe it is high time that this subject 
 should be discussed and considered, by the 
 people of Virginia. I believe that the people 
 are awakened on the subject, but not alarmed; 
 I believe they will consider it calmly, and de- 
 cide upon it correctly. Sir, I have no fears 
 now for any general results, from any efforts 
 at insurrection, by this unfortunate class of our 
 population. I know that we have the power to 
 crush any such effort at a blow. I know that 
 any such effort on their part, at this day, will 
 end in the annihilation of all concerned in it. 
 And I believe our greatest security now, is 
 in their knowledge of these things, in their 
 knowledge of their own weakness. 
 
 "Pass as severe laws as you will, to keep 
 these unfortunate creatures in ignorance, it 
 is vain, unless you can extinguish that spark of 
 
24 
 
 intellect which God has given them. Let any 
 man who advocates slavery, examine the sys- 
 tem of laws that we have adopted, (from stern 
 necessity it may be said,) towards these crea- 
 tures, and he may shed a tear upon that, and 
 would to God, sir, the memory of it might be 
 blotted out forever. Sir, we have, as far as 
 possible, closed every avenue by which light 
 might enter their minds; we have only to go 
 one step further — to extinguish the capacity 
 to see the light, and our work would be com- 
 pleted; they would then be reduced to the level 
 of the beasts of the field, and we should be 
 safe; and I am not certain that we would not 
 do it, if we could find out the necessary pro- 
 cess — and that under the plea of necessity. 
 But, sir, this is impossible; and can man be in 
 the midst of freemen, and not know what free- 
 dom is.^ Can he feel that he has the power 
 to assert his liberty, and will he not do it? 
 Yes, sir, with the certainty of the current of 
 time, will he do it whenever he has the power. 
 Sir, to prove that the time will come, I need 
 offer no other argument than that of arithmetic, 
 the conclusions from which are clear demon- 
 strations on this subject. The data are before 
 us all, and every man can work out the pro- 
 cess for himself. Sir, a death struggle must 
 come between the two classes, in which one 
 
25 
 
 or the other will be extinguished forever. 
 Who can contemplate such a catastrophe as 
 even possible, and be indifterenl?" 
 
 Extracts from the speech of Thomas Mar- 
 shall, (of Fauquier,) in the house of delegates, 
 delivered January 14th, 1832. 
 
 "Wherefore, then, object to slavery? Be- 
 cause it is ruinous to the whites — retards im- 
 provement — roots out an industrious popula- 
 tion — banishes the yeomanry of the country — 
 deprives the spinner, the weaver, the smith, 
 the shoemaker, the carpenter of employment 
 and support. The evil admits of no remedy. 
 It is increasing, and will continue to increase, 
 until the whole country will be inundated with 
 one black wave, covering its whole extent, 
 with a few white faces here and there floating 
 on the surface. The master has no capital but 
 what is vested in human flesh; the father, in- 
 stead of being richer for his sons, is at a loss to 
 provide for them. There is no diversity of 
 occupations, no incentive to enterprize. La- 
 bour of every species is disreputable, because 
 performed mostly by slaves. Our towns are 
 stationary, our villages almost every where 
 declining; and the general aspect of the coun- 
 try, marks the curse of a wasteful, idle, reck- 
 less population, who have no interest in the 
 soil, and care not how much it is impoverished. 
 
26 
 
 Public improvements are neglected; and the 
 entire continent does not present a region for 
 which nature has done so much, and art so 
 little." 
 
 Extracts from the speech of Jas. M'Dowell, 
 Jr. of Rockbridge— January 20th, 1832. 
 
 "Who, sir, that looks at this property as a 
 legislator, and marks its effect on our national 
 advance but weeps over it as the worst of 
 patrimonies? Who that looks to this unhappy 
 bondage of our unhappy people in the midst 
 of our society, and thinks of its incidents and 
 its issues, but weeps over it as a curse upon him 
 who inflicts, as upon him who suffers it.^ 
 
 "If I am to judge from the tone of our de- 
 bate, from the concessions on all hands ex- 
 pressed, there is not a man in this body, not 
 one, perhaps, that is even represented here, 
 who would not have thanked the generations 
 that have gone before us, if, acting as public 
 men, they had brought this bondage to a close — 
 who would not have thanked them, if, acting 
 as private men on private notions, they had re- 
 linquished the property which their mistaken 
 kindness has devolved upon us.^ Proud as are 
 the names for intellect and patriotism which 
 enrich the volumes of our history, and reveren- 
 tially as we turn to them at this period of 
 waning reputation, that name — that man — 
 
27 
 
 above all parallel would have been the chief, 
 who could have blotted out this curse from 
 his country— those, above all others, would 
 have received the homage of an eternal grati- 
 tude, who, casting away every suggestion of 
 petty interest, had broken the yoke which, in 
 evil hour, had been imposed and had translat- 
 ed, as a free man^ to another continent, the 
 outcast and the wretched being who burdens 
 ours with his presence, and defiles it with his 
 crimes. 
 
 "But, sir, it has been otherwise appointed. 
 Slavery has come down to us from our fathers, 
 and the question now is, shall we, in turn, 
 hand it over to our children? Hand it over 
 to them aggravated in every attribute of evil? 
 Shall we peroetuate the calamity we deplore, 
 and become to posterity, the objects, not of 
 kindness, but of cursing? 
 
 "Sir, you may place the slave where you 
 please — you may dry up, to your utmost, the 
 fountains of his feelings, the springs of his 
 thought — you may close upon his mind every 
 avenue to knowledge and cloud it over with 
 artificial night — you may yoke him to your 
 labour as the ox which liveth only to work, 
 and worketh only to live— you may put him 
 under any process which, without destroying 
 his value as a slave, will debase and crush 
 
28 
 
 him as a rational being — you may do this and 
 the idea that he was born to be free will sur- 
 vive it all. It is allied to his hope of immor- 
 tality — it is the ethereal part of his nature 
 which oppression cannot reach; it is a torch 
 lit up in his soul by the hand of the Deity and 
 never meant to be extinguished by the hand of 
 man." 
 
 This member spoke with prophetic voice 
 respecting the dismemberment of our union. 
 And if history has not yet recorded this dark 
 deed, recent occurrences renders the destruc- 
 tive event quite probable, if not certain; he 
 says — "If gentlemen do not see nor feel the 
 evil of slavery whilst this federal union lasts, 
 they will see and feel it when it is gone; they 
 will see and suffer it then in a magnitude of 
 desolating power to which the "pestilence 
 that walketh at noon-day" would be a bless- 
 ing — to which the malaria that is now threat- 
 ening extinction to the "eternal city," as the 
 proud one of the Pontiff's and the Caesar's is 
 called, would be as refreshing and as balmy 
 as the first breath of spring to the chamber of 
 disease." 
 
 "It has been frankly and unequivocally de- 
 clared from the very commencement of this 
 debate by the most decided enemies of aboli- 
 tion themselves as Well as others — that this 
 
29 
 
 property is an "emZ" — that it is a dangerous 
 property. Yes, sir, so dangerous has it been 
 represented to be even by those who desire 
 to retain it, that we have been reproached for 
 speaking of it otherwise than in fireside whis- 
 pers — reproached for entertaining debate upon 
 it in this hall; and the discussion of it with 
 open doors, and to the general ear, has been 
 charged upon us as a climax of rashness and 
 folly which threatens issues of calamity to our 
 country. It is then a dangerous property. No 
 one disguises the danger of this property — 
 that it is inevitable or that it is increasing. 
 How then is the government to avert it? By 
 a precautionary and preventive legislation, or 
 by permitting it to "grow with our growth" 
 until it becomes intolerable and then correct- 
 ing it by the sword? In the one way or the 
 other, by the peaceful process of legislation, or 
 the bloody one of the bayonet, our personal 
 and public security must be maintained against 
 the dangers of this property." 
 
 After meeting in an impressive and dignified 
 manner the facetious remarks of another mem- 
 ber of the house, who considered the insurrec- 
 tion as a ^^petty affair,''^ and wished by his wit 
 to turn the whole scene into ridicule; J. 
 McDowell read a number of extracts from letters 
 written by, and to, the most distinguished 
 4 
 
30 
 
 characters in the state, respecting the dismay 
 and terror which almost universally pervaded 
 the minds of the citizens in every part of the 
 state — He then proceeded: "Now, sir, I ask 
 you, I ask gentlemen in conscience to say, was 
 this a "petty affair?" I ask you whether that 
 was a petty affair w^hich starded the feelings 
 of your whole population — which threw a por- 
 tion of it into alarm — a portion of it into 
 panic; which wrung out from an affrighted 
 people the thrilling cry, day after day conveyed 
 to your executive, "we are in peril of our 
 lives, send us arms for defence." Was that a 
 "petty affair" which drove families from their 
 homes, which assembled women and children 
 in crowds and without shelter at places of 
 common refuge, in every condition of weak- 
 ness and infirmity, under every suffering which 
 want, and pain, and terror could inflict, yet 
 willing to endure all — willing to meet death 
 from famine, death from climate, death from 
 hardships, preferring any thing rather to the 
 horrors of meeting it from a domestic assassin? 
 Was that a "petty afiair" which erected a 
 peaceful and confiding portion of the state into 
 a military camp, which outlawed from pity 
 the unfortunate beings whose brothers had of- 
 fended, which barred every door, penetrated 
 every bosom with fear or suspicion, which so 
 
31 
 
 banished every sense of security from every 
 man's dwelling, that let but a hoof or a horn 
 break upon the silence of the night, and an 
 aching throb would be driven to the heart; 
 the husband would look to his weapon and 
 the mother would shudder and weep upon her 
 cradle! 
 
 "Was it the fear of Nat Turner and his de- 
 luded drunken handful of fellows which pro- 
 duced or could produce such effects? Was it 
 this that induced distant counties where the 
 very name of Southampton was strange, to 
 arm and equip for a struggle? No, sir, it was 
 the suspicion eternally attached to the slave 
 himself, the suspicion that a Nat Turner might 
 be in every family, that the same bloody deed 
 could be acted over at any time and in any 
 place, that the materials for it were spread 
 through the land and always ready for a like 
 explosion. Nothing but the force of this with- 
 ering apprehension, nothing but the paralyzing 
 and deadening weight with which it falls upon 
 and prostrates the heart of every man who 
 has helpless dependants to protect, nothing but 
 this could have thrown a brave people into 
 consternation, or could have made any portion 
 of this powerful commonwealth, for a single 
 instant, to have quailed and trembled. 
 
 "This commonwealth in the late war stood 
 
32 
 
 the shock of England's power and the skill of 
 England's veterans with scarce a moment of 
 public disquiet. Admiral Cockburn with his 
 incendiary spirit and backed by his incendiary 
 myrmidons alarmed not the state; struck no 
 fear into its private families; and had his spirit 
 been tenfold more savage than it was, and his 
 army an hundredfold stronger, and had he 
 plied every energy and pledged every faculty 
 of his soul to the destruction of the state, he 
 could not have produced one moment of that 
 terror for private security which seizes upon 
 all at the cry of insurrection. He would have 
 been our enemy in the field, would have 
 warred an open combat with the disciplined 
 and the gallant of the land. But an insurgent 
 enemy wars at the fireside — makes his battle 
 ground in the chamber, and seeks, at the hour 
 of repose, for the life of the slumbering and 
 the helpless. No wonder, sir, that the gentle- 
 man from Brunswick, (M. Gholson,) with his 
 sensibilities aroused by the acts and the full 
 energies of such an enemy as this should have 
 said that "they filled the mind with the most 
 appalling apprehensions." " 
 
 Respecting the profound silence which has 
 generally obtained on this subject — a course 
 which many — yes, very many, professing 
 Christians still believe to be the only true po- 
 
33 
 
 licy — to be indispensably necessary^ our autbor 
 remarks — "Why from the earliest period of 
 our history until the massacre of Southampton, 
 was a silence, deep and awful as that of death, 
 observed upon this subject? Why was it for- 
 bidden in legislative debate, or to the public 
 press, and spoken only in mysterious whispers 
 around the domestic hearth? Because a sense 
 of security required, or was thought to require, 
 this course. Why, sir, is this mystery now 
 dispelled? Why has the grave opened its 
 "ponderous and marble jaws?" Why is the 
 subject openly and freely discussed in every 
 place, and under every form? — because a gen- 
 eral sense of insecurity pervades the land, and 
 our citizens are deeply impressed with the be- 
 lief that something must be done. The nu- 
 merous petitions and memorials which crowd 
 your table, furnish abundant evidence of this 
 truth. They may mistake the remedy, but 
 they indicate most clearly that some action is 
 imperiously required at our hands — that the 
 evil has attained a magnitude which demands 
 all the skill and energy of prompt and able 
 legislation. It is contended on the other hand 
 that nothing efficient can be accomplished, and 
 that any proceedings by this legislature will 
 reduce the value of property, and endanger 
 the security of the people. With respect to 
 4* 
 
34 
 
 the first consideration, he would say — that the 
 price of property can never be injuriously ef- 
 fected, by a system which would operate on 
 that portion only of the slaves, who belong to 
 masters desirous to liberate them, or to sell 
 them for their own benefit, at a reduced price. 
 The effect, if any, upon the residue, must be 
 to enhance their value. As to the other, and 
 more serious objection, he would remark, that 
 it constitutes, and must forever constitute, an 
 obstacle to abolition; requiring all the wisdom 
 and discretion of legislature and people; — but 
 the removal of free blacks, or the purchase 
 and deportation of slaves, can involve no dan- 
 ger. If, indeed, the whole fabric shall totter 
 to its fall when touched by the gentlest hand, 
 it must rest on a precarious foundation. If 
 danger lurks under just, benignant legislation; 
 aiming to relieve both master and slave — to 
 combine justice with humanity — will the period 
 ever come when it will be safe to act? 
 
 "But, admitting the subject cannot be ap- 
 proached without danger now, the great ques- 
 tion for us to determine is, whether, by delay, 
 it may not become fearfully worse, and in pro- 
 cess of time attain a magnitude far transcend- 
 ing our feeble powers. We owe it to our 
 children to determine whether we or they shall 
 incur the hazard of attempting something. 
 
35 
 
 Gentlemen say, let things alone; the evil will 
 correct itself. Sir, we may let things alone, 
 but they will not let us alone. We cannot 
 correct the march of time, nor stop the cur- 
 rent of events. We cannot change the course 
 of nature, nor prevent the silent, but sure, 
 operation of causes now at work." 
 
 If this momentous subject presents difficulties 
 and dangers which will increase every day, 
 and must ultimately involve our country in 
 ruin, and we who compose the Church of 
 Christ, have it in our power, (which we cer- 
 tainly have,) to relieve all concerned; and we 
 fold up our arms, and close our lips in silence, 
 and say, ^^dont speak, there is a lion in the 
 uay,'''' what will be the consequence.'* If we, 
 as watchmen placed on the walls of Zion, see 
 the sword coming, and warn not the people, 
 and they are cut off in their sins and in their 
 blood; how shall we meet the righteous Judge 
 of all the earth in the final day of retribution? 
 Has he not declared already that their blood 
 will be required at our hands? 
 
 We must, however, beg leave to furnish a 
 ^ew more extracts from the speeches, and, 
 letters of slave-holding politicians and states- 
 men, and then proceed with our original de- 
 sign. 
 
 Extracts from the speech of Philip A. Boll- 
 
36 
 
 ing, (of Buckingham,) in the house of dele- 
 gates of Virginia, delivered on the 11th and 
 25th January, 1832. 
 
 "The time will come, and it may be sooner 
 than many are willing to believe, when this 
 oppressed and degraded race cannot be held as 
 they now are: when a change will be effected 
 by means abhorrent, Mr. Speaker, to you, and 
 to the feelings of every good man. 
 
 "The wounded adder will recoil, and sting 
 the foot that tramples upon it. The day is fast 
 approaching, when those who oppose all ac- 
 tion upon this subject, and, instead of aiding 
 in devising some feasible plan for freeing their 
 country from an acknowledged curse, cry 
 ^Hmpossible^^'^ to every plan suggested, will 
 curse their perverseness, and lament their folly. 
 
 "Those gentlemen who hug slavery to their 
 bosoms, and "roll it as a sweet morsel under 
 their tongue," have been very lavish in their 
 denunciations of all who are for stirring one 
 inch on this subject. 
 
 "There is, sir, a "still small voice," which 
 speaks to the heart of man in a tone too clear 
 and distinct to be disregarded. It tells him 
 that every system of slavery is based upon in- 
 justice and oppression. If gentlemen disre- 
 gard it now, and lull their consciences to sleep, 
 they may be aroused to a sense of their danger, 
 when it is too late to repair their errors. 
 
37 
 
 "However the emplo^^ment of slave labour 
 might be defended, gentlemen would not, could 
 not, justify the traffic in human beings. High- 
 minded men should disdain to hold their fel- 
 low creatures as articles of traffic — disre- 
 garding all the ties of blood and affection — 
 tearing asunder air those sympathies dear to 
 men — dividing husbands and wives, parents 
 and children, as they would cut asunder a piece 
 of cotton cloth. They have hearts and feel- 
 ings like other men. How many a broken 
 heart — how many a Rachel mourns because 
 her house is left unto her desolate. The time 
 has come when these feelings could not be 
 suppressed — the day would come when they 
 could not be resisted. Slavery was, and had 
 long been offensive to the moral feelings of a 
 large proportion of the community. Their 
 lips had been sealed; but their minds had been 
 unfettered — many had thought and thought 
 deeply on the subject. This, sir, is a Chris- 
 tian community. They read in their bibles, 
 "do unto all men as you icould have them do 
 unto you'''' — and this golden rule and slavery 
 are hard to reconcile. Gentlemen may, per- 
 haps, curl the lip of scorn at such considera- 
 tions: but such a feelina: existed in Virsfinia." 
 
 Extracts taken from the speech of Charles 
 J. Faulkner, (of Berkley,) in the house of 
 
38 
 
 delegates of Virginia, delivered January 20th? 
 1832. 
 
 "Mystery in state alTairs, I have always con- 
 sidered impolitic and unwise. It is unsuited to 
 the genius of this government, which is based 
 upon the rights of the people, to a free and 
 full examination of whatever concerns their 
 interest and happiness. Sir, they pay you for 
 your council — they have a right to it. If 
 there be danger let us know it, and prepare for 
 the worst. If slavery can be eradicated * * 
 ***** let us get rid of it. If it cannot, 
 let that melancholy fact be distinctly ascertain- 
 ed; and let those who are, we have been told, 
 now awaiting with painful solichude the result 
 of your determination, pack up their household 
 goods, and find among the forests and prairies 
 of the west, that security and repose w^hich 
 their native land does not afford. 
 
 "Wherever the voice of your people has 
 been heard since the agitation of this question, 
 it has sustained your determination, and called 
 for the present inquiry. I have heard of 
 courts, meetings, county petitions, and county 
 memorials. I have heard from the north, the 
 east, and the south. They are all, with one 
 voice, against the continuance of slavery. 
 None for it. The press, too — that mirror of 
 public sentiment— that concentrated will of a 
 
39 
 
 whole community, has been heard from one 
 extremity of the state to the other. Its power 
 is with us — its moral force is united— efficient 
 and encouraging. 
 
 "Again, sir, 1 ask, what new fact has oc- 
 curred — what new light has dawned upon the 
 gentleman from Mechlinburg, tliat we should 
 be called upon to retrace our course, and to 
 disappoint the hopes which our first manly de- 
 cision gave? Does not the same evil exist? Is 
 it not increasing? Does not every day give it 
 permanency and force? Is it not rising like a 
 heavy and portentous cloud above the horizon; 
 extending its deep and sable volumes athwart 
 the sky, and gathering in its impenetrable 
 folds, the active materials of elemental war? 
 And yet, shall we be requested to close our 
 eyes to the danger, and without an effort, with- 
 out even an inquiry, to yield to the impulses 
 of a dark and withering despair? Sir, is this 
 manly legislation? Is it correct? Is it honest 
 legislation? Is it acting with that fidelity to 
 our constituents, w^hich their sacred interest 
 requires? 
 
 "Sir, if this evil, great as it is, was even sta- 
 tionary — if the worthy gentleman from Mech- 
 linburg and Brunswick, (M. Gholson,) could 
 give us any assurance that it would not in- 
 crease until it reaches a point which is too 
 
40 
 
 horrible to contemplate, I might be induced to 
 acquiesce in the course which their pathetic 
 appeals suggest. But when they know it is 
 otherwise — when they know that each succes- 
 sive blow is detracting from the small space of 
 ground left between us and the angry ocean 
 chafing at our feet, how can they advise us — 
 how can they advise their own constituents to 
 remain still, when the next advancing wave 
 may overwhelm them and us, in hopeless ruin 
 and destruction?" m 
 
 "But, sir, vain and idle is every effort to 
 strangle this inquiry! As well might you at- 
 tempt to chain the ocean, or to stay the aveng- 
 ing thunderbolts of heaven, as to drive the 
 the people from any inquiry, which may result 
 in their better condition. This is too deep — 
 too engrossing a subject of consideration. It 
 addresses itself too strongly to our interests — 
 to our passions, and to our feelings. There is 
 not a county — not a town — not a newspaper — 
 not a fireside in the state, where the subject is 
 not fully and fearlessly canvassed; and shall 
 we, the constitutional inquest of the common- 
 wealth, sworn to make a true inquiry into all 
 the grievances of the people, and to the best of 
 our ability apply the remedy — shall we alone, 
 be found to shrink from this inquiry?" 
 
 If slavery is such an evil, full of danger and 
 
41 
 
 of deadly poison; if the politician and statesman 
 can no longer remain silent spectators of this 
 dark rolling current of iniquity through the 
 midst of our land, diffusing a pestilential vapour 
 through every recess of our country, which 
 vitiates the taste, perverts the understanding, 
 corrodes the morals, and sours the temper and 
 disposition of all classes and conditions in soci- 
 ety, and must end in death, degrading and eter- 
 nal; if those guardians of our political liberty, 
 can no longer suffer this venomous serpent to 
 repose undisturbed in our bosom, secretly and 
 silently infusing its deadly poison through the 
 whole system; if a sense of honour and patriot- 
 ism, constrains them to cry aloud and spare 
 not — to raise their voice, and to put forth all 
 their energy to drive the hydra from our land; 
 how can we as children of the living God re- 
 main silent unconcerned spectators of the des- 
 tructive scene, and even become participators 
 in the evil, and hope to hear the righteous 
 Judge say — "Well done good and faithful ser- 
 vant," particularly when he has commanded Zi- 
 on's watchman to lift tip their voice like a tnim- 
 pet — to cry aloud and spare not — to shew my 
 people their sins? 
 
 The member from whose speech we give the 
 last extract, after contrasting the prosperity 
 and comfort of the free states over those involv- 
 
42 
 
 ed in slavery, pertinently asks, "To what, sir, 
 is all this ascribable?" — and emphatically replies 
 — "To that vice in the organization of socie- 
 ty, by which one-half of its inhabitants are en- 
 gaged in interest and feeling against the other 
 half — to that unfortunate state of society in 
 which free men regard labour as disgrace- 
 ful — and slaves shrink from it as a burden ty- 
 rannically imposed upon them — " To that con- 
 dition of things in which half a million of your 
 populatioji cayi feel no sympathy with the so- 
 ciety in the prosperity of which they are forbid- 
 den to participate^ and no attachment to a gov- 
 ernment at whose hands they receive nothing hut 
 
 INJUSTICE." 
 
 As some have, and others may, charge the 
 members of the legislature from whose speech- 
 es these extracts have been made with impru- 
 dence, precipitancy, religious mania, &c. &c. 
 we will now present our respected readers 
 with the opinion and sentiments of an indivi- 
 dual who stands second only to one as a 
 patriot, a politician and a statesman. Nor will 
 any individual, friend or foe, charge him with 
 the crime of religious fariaticism. He was 
 himself the proprietor of a large number of 
 slaves. He was the author of the Declaration 
 of Independence. He occupied the presidential 
 chair for eight years with as much honour as 
 any other man who preceded him, or that has 
 
43 
 
 succeeded him, Washington excepted. His 
 views and sentiments must be interesting to, 
 and respected by all, who are implicated in the 
 evil of slavery. 
 
 Extract from Jefferson's Notes— Query, xviii. 
 
 " There must doubtless be an unhappy in- 
 fluence on the manners of our people produced 
 by the existence of slavery among us. The 
 whole commerce between master and slave is 
 a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous 
 passions, the most unremitting despotism on 
 the one part, and degrading submissions on the 
 other. Our children see this and learn to imi- 
 tate it; for man is an imitative animal. This 
 quality is the germ of all education in him. 
 From his cradle to his grave he is learning 
 to do what he sees others do. If a parent 
 could find no motive either in his philanthropy 
 or his self-love, for restraining the intemper- 
 ance of passion towards his slave, it should 
 always be a sufficient one that his child is pre- 
 sent. But generally it is not sufficient. The 
 parent storms, the child looks on, catches the 
 lineaments of wrath, puts on the same airs in 
 the circle of smaller slaves, gives a loose to 
 the worst of passions, and thus nursed, educa- 
 ted, and daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but 
 be stamped by it with odious peculiarities. 
 
 ^'The man must be a prodigy who can retain 
 
44 
 
 his manners and morals undepraved by such 
 circumstances. And with what execration 
 should the statesman be loaded, who permit- 
 ting one half the citizens thus to trample on 
 the rights of the otiier, transforms those into 
 despots, and them into enemies, destroys the 
 morals of the one part, and the amor patriae of 
 the other. For if a slave can have a coun- 
 try in this world, it must be any other in pre- 
 ference to that in which he is born to live and 
 labour for another; in which he must lock up 
 the faculties of liis nature, contribute as far as 
 depends on his individual endeavours to the 
 evanishment of the human race, or entail his 
 own miserable condition on the endless gener- 
 ations proceeding from him. With the morals 
 of the people, their industry also is destroyed. 
 For in a warm climate, no man will labour for 
 himself who can make another labour for him. 
 This is so true, that of the proprietors of 
 slaves a very small proportion indeed are ever 
 seen to labour. And can the liberties of a 
 nation be thought secure when we have re- 
 moved tlieir only firm basis, a conviction in 
 the minds of the people that their liberties are 
 of the gift of God? That they are not to be 
 violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble 
 for my country when 1 reflect tliat God is just: 
 that his justice cannot sleep forever: that 
 considering numbers, nature, and natural means 
 
only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an 
 exchange of situation is among possible events: 
 that it may become probable by supernatural 
 interference! The Almighty has no attribute 
 which can take side with us in such a contest." 
 
 Extracts taken from letters written by Tho- 
 mas Jefferson, addressed to Edward Coles, 
 and Jared Sparks, dated Monticello, August 
 25th, 1814, and February 4th, 1824. 
 
 "I had always hoped that the younger ge- 
 neration receiving their early impressions after 
 the flame of liberty had been kindled in every 
 breast, and had become as it were the vital 
 spark of every American, that the generous 
 temperament of youth, analagous to the mo- 
 tion of their blood, and above the suggestions 
 of avarice, would have sympathized with op- 
 pression wherever found, and proved their love 
 of liberty beyond their own share of it. 
 
 "But my intercourse with them, since my 
 return has not been sufficient to ascertain that 
 they had made towards this point the progress 
 I had hoped. Your solitary but welcome 
 voice is the first wliich has brought this sound 
 to my ear; and I have considered the general 
 silence which prevails on this subject as indi- 
 cating an apathy unfavourable to every hope. 
 Yet the hour of emancipation is advancing, in 
 the march of time. It ivill come; and whether 
 5* 
 
46 
 
 brought on by the generous energies of our 
 own minds, or by the bloody process of St. 
 Domingo, excited and conducted by the power 
 of our present enemy, if once stationed per- 
 manently within our country, and offering asy- 
 lum and arms to the oppressed^ is a leaf of our 
 history not yet turned over. 
 
 "As to the method by which this difficult 
 work is to be effected, if permitted to be done 
 by ourselves, I have seen no proposition so ex- 
 pedient on the whole, as that of emancipation 
 of those born after a given day, and of their 
 education and expatriation at a proper age. 
 
 "I am sensible of the partialities with which 
 you have looked towards me as the person 
 who should undertake this salutary but ardu- 
 ous work: but this, my dear sir, is like bidding 
 old Priam to buckle the armour of Hector 
 'Hrementihus aevo humeris et inutile ferrum cin- 
 giturP'' — No, I have overlived the generation 
 with which mutual labours and perils beget 
 mutual confidence and influence. This enter- 
 prize is for the young; for those who can 
 follow it up, and bear it through to its con- 
 summation. 
 
 "It shall have all my prayers, and these are 
 the only weapons of an old man. But in the 
 mean time are you right in abandoning this 
 property, and your country with it? I think 
 not. 
 
47 
 
 "My opinion has ever been that, until more 
 can be done for them, we should endeavour, 
 with those whom fortune has thrown on our 
 hands, to feed and clothe them well, protect 
 them from ill usage, require such reasonable 
 labour only as is performed by free men, and 
 be led by no repugnances to abdicate them, 
 and our duties to them. The laws do not per- 
 mit us to turn them loose, if that were for their 
 good; and to commute them for other property 
 is to commit them to those whose usage to 
 them we cannot control. I hope then, my dear 
 sir, you will reconcile yourself to your coun- 
 try and its unfortunate condition; and that you 
 will not lessen its stock of sound disposition 
 by withdrawing your proportion from the 
 mass. That on the contrary you will come 
 forward in the public coimcils, become the mis- 
 sionary of the doctrine truly Christian; insinu- 
 ate and inculcate it softly but steadily; through 
 the medium of writing and conversation; as- 
 sociate others in your labours, and when the 
 phalanx is formed, bring on and press the pro- 
 position perseveringly until its accomplish- 
 ment. It is an encouraging observation that 
 no good measure was ever proposed, which if 
 duly pursued, failed to prevail in the end. We 
 have proof of this in the history of the endea- 
 vours of the British parliament to suppress that 
 
48 
 
 very trade which brought this evil on us. And 
 you will be supported by the religious precept, 
 "be not weary in well doing." That your 
 success may be speedy and complete, as it 
 will be of honourable and immortal consola- 
 tion, I shall fervently and sincerely pray, as I 
 assure you of my great friendship and respect, 
 Th: Jefferson." 
 "■'Edward Colesj Esq:"" 
 
 In his letter to Jared Sparks, after stating 
 the immense amount of money that would be 
 required to purchase and deport the slaves, 
 and the impossibility of procuring such an 
 amount, he observes: "I am aware that at the 
 end of about sixteen years, a gradual detrac- 
 tion from this sum will commence, from the 
 gradual diminution of breeders, and so on 
 during the remaining nine years. Calculate 
 this deduction, and it is still impossible to look 
 at the enterprise a second time. I do not say 
 this to induce an inference that the getting rid 
 of them is forever impossible, for that is neither 
 my opinion nor my hope. But only it cannot 
 be done in this way. There is, I think, a way 
 in which it can be done; that is, by emanci- 
 pating the after-born, leaving them on due 
 compensation, with their mothers, until their 
 services are worth their maintenance, and then 
 
49 
 
 putting them to industrious occupations, until 
 a proper age for deportation." 
 
 It will be perceived that this distinguished 
 statesman, considered the want of money, as 
 the only obstacle in the way of removing our 
 slave population to another country. If Chris- 
 tians are what they should be, and what they 
 MUST be if they are received into heaven, they 
 can remove that barrier with the greatest fa- 
 cility. 
 
 In the same letter, after making various 
 calculations respecting the plan and the ex- 
 pense of carrying the object into complete 
 effect, he observes: 
 
 "I do not go into all the details of the bur- 
 dens and benefits of this operation. And who 
 could estimate its blessed effects? I leave this 
 to those who will live to see their accomplish- 
 ment, and to enjoy a beatitude forbidden to 
 my age. But I leave it with this admonition, 
 to rise and be doing. A million and a half are 
 within their control; but six millions, (which a 
 majority of those now living will see them at- 
 tain,) and one million of them fighting men, 
 will say, "we will not go." 
 
 "I am aware that this subject involves some 
 constitutional scruples. But a liberal construc- 
 tion, justified by the object, may go far, and 
 an amendment of the constitution, the whole 
 length necessary. 
 
50 
 
 "The separation of infants from their mo- 
 thers, too, would produce some scruples of 
 humanity. But this would be straining at a 
 gnat and swallowing a camel. 
 
 "I salute you with assurance of high respect 
 and esteem, 
 
 Th: Jefferson." 
 
 If men of distinction, men of wisdom and 
 discernment in all things pertaining to this life, 
 and many of them strangers to the power of 
 religion on the heart, consider slavery a great 
 evil — a political and moral blot — unjust and 
 CRUEL in its very nature, and destructive to 
 peace, harmony, and prosperity in its tendency; 
 should not children of the Most High God 
 make every effort in their power to remove 
 this dangerous destructive evil from our bor- 
 ders, and thereby heal the wound which has 
 already been inflicted upon a large portion of 
 our own family by the sting of this poisonous 
 serpent? 
 
 "Come now and let us reason together, saith 
 the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they 
 shall be white as snow; though they be red 
 like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be 
 willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of 
 the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall 
 
51 
 
 be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of 
 the Lord hath spoken it."* 
 
 It has been frequently asked — "can a slave- 
 holder be received into that rest which has 
 been provided for the people of God?" This 
 is an interesting inquiry — one of infinite im- 
 portance. 
 
 Some have peremptorily decided this ques- 
 tion in the negative; others positively affirm 
 that they can, and that thousands of them have, 
 and will be received into Abraham's bosom; 
 while others again consider their case doubtful. 
 
 Without offering an opinion respecting this 
 momentous and delicate inquiry, we shall pro- 
 ceed to state in a plain simple manner some of 
 the difficulties which must necessarily lay in 
 the way of every slaveholder, leaving each in- 
 dividual free to decide for himself; and then 
 respectfully submit a plan, which if faithfully 
 adhered to, will deliver us and our country 
 from this growing destructive evil, without 
 noise, or danger, or commotion. 
 
 Christians, like their divine Master, should 
 promote peace and love among men under all 
 circumstances. They should not lift up their 
 voice nor suffer it to be heard in the streets. 
 As Christ Jesus is essentially the light of the 
 world, so are his followers, who, like the silver 
 
 * Is. i. 13, 19, 20. 
 
52 
 
 queen of night, receiving the burning rays 
 from the Son of Righteousness, should reflect 
 them upon a benighted disordered world with 
 a mild, but untarnished lustre. Light is the 
 only medium through which we can enjoy any 
 blessing on earth. Light can be seen^ but can- 
 not be heard. At its approach, fear, and dan- 
 ger, and darkness flee away. It is only neces- 
 sary that Christians should trim their lamps, 
 and let their light shine, to fill the whole world 
 with peace and virtue — with tranquillity and 
 happiness. 
 
 By the divine standard, rationally applied, 
 we must all stand or fall. To the law and the 
 testimony. 
 
 First. The grand requisition of the Gos- 
 pel, upon which hang all the law and the pro- 
 phets, is, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy heart, and loith all thy soul, and 
 with all thy mitid; and thou shalt love thy 
 
 NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF."* 
 
 No Christian — no individual of common un- 
 derstanding will presume to say, that any one, 
 blessed with the light of the Gospel, can be 
 received into heaven who does not meet this 
 command — this divine requisition. To admit 
 such a principle, would be to open heaven for 
 the reception of all the desperate characters 
 
 *Mat. xxii. 37, 38, 39. 
 
53 
 
 \Yho have ever lived on earth. If one who 
 was only one /lair's breadth below ih.\s standard 
 were to be admitted, another only one sliade 
 lower must also be received, or the first delin- 
 quent, and not the Gospel, will be made the 
 standard for God's holy word! Establish this 
 principle, and you may dispense with the judg- 
 ment day, as well as the law and the Gospel. 
 
 Let us, therefore, be careful in the examina- 
 tion of our own hearts, testing them by the di- 
 vine standard. If I slight, or i7ijurej or iyisult 
 your child, I touch one of the most tender 
 cords which vibrates through your heart; 
 neither can you in that case respect, esteem, 
 and tenderly love me. ,It is then only neces- 
 sary to prove that our slaves are the children 
 of the Most High God, to show the great dif- 
 ficulty, if not the impracticability of loving their 
 Father supremely, while we hold his children in 
 perpetual bondage. That Almighty God is the 
 author of their existence, consequently their 
 Father, we presume none will for one mo- 
 ment deny. ^'■Have we not all one Fathei^? 
 Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal 
 treacherously every one against his brother, by 
 profaning tlie covenant of our fatliers?'''^* The 
 language of the Gospel is — '^And liave put on 
 the 7iew man, lohich is reneiced in knowledge 
 
 *MaI. ii. 10. 
 
54 
 
 after the image of him that created him: where, 
 there is 7ieither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor 
 uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor 
 free, but Christ is all and in all.^^* 
 
 Christian brethren are you prepared to meet 
 your slaves, and that God who is the Father 
 of your slaves, together in judgment? Do not 
 decide this momentous thought precipitately — 
 weigh the inquiry in the golden scales of right- 
 eousness. Again, remember, if you are a child 
 of God, your slave is your brother. Would it 
 be esteemed honourable, or merciful, or affec- 
 tionate in any human being to hold his own 
 BROTHER in bondage for life, and make a slave 
 of him? Judge ye. The word of truth ex- 
 pressly says — "For ye are all the children of 
 God, by faith in Christ Jesus." Again, our 
 divine Redeemer makes the following impres- 
 sive declaration: "J^or whosoever shall do the 
 will of my Father which is hi heaven, the same 
 is my BROTHER, and sister, and mother." 
 In this declaration, he excludes neither colour, 
 nor circumstances in life — the slave and the 
 beggar, are alike included. 
 
 Is there a human being on earth who does 
 not love and honour the name of mother? 
 Could any man see his mother degraded, or 
 insulted, or oppressed, or even slighted, and 
 not feel more injured and insulted than his fa- 
 
 *Col. iii. 10. II. 
 
55 
 
 vourite parent? If such a character can be 
 found among men, no individual of respecta- 
 bility would enter that man's name on the list 
 of his friends. And do we vainly suppose that 
 our divine Redeemer, who affectionately re- 
 commended his mother to the care of a beloved 
 disciple, and prayed for his own murderers 
 \vhen he was nailed to the cross, can possess 
 less sensibility than fallen man? 
 
 Remember Christian brother, Christ will 
 acknowledge your slave if she fears God and 
 honours his great name by acts of righteous- 
 ness, as HIS MOTHER — will you be pleased to 
 meet her in that character in a coming day? 
 We speak as unto wise men — ^judge ye what 
 we say. Under such circumstances, can we, 
 as masters^ have strong confidence? Can we 
 exercise unwavering faith? Can we hope to 
 hear the righteous Judge of all the earth say of 
 us — "there are they who loved me while they 
 dwelt on earth, with all their heart, strength, 
 soul, and mind; and as an evidence of this 
 great truth, they loved my mother also, al- 
 though she was their slave and they kept her 
 in profound ignorance?" 
 
 This important subject cannot be- too care- 
 fully investigated noic; the time is at hand 
 when it will be too late to correct errors. The 
 pious psalmist prays — ^'Search me, O God, 
 
56 
 
 and know my heart; try me^ and know my 
 thoughts^ and sec if there be any wicked way in 
 me; lead me in the ivay everlasting.^'' 
 
 It is not only necessary, agreeably to the 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ, that we should love 
 God supremely^ but we must love our neigh- 
 bour as ourselves^ if we expect to enter into 
 heaven at the gospel door. Do you inquire, 
 with the Jewish lawyer, "who is my neigh- 
 bour?" Our divine Master will freely impart 
 that important information to every candid in- 
 quirer. Jesus Christ informed the inquisitive 
 Rabbi that "a certain man wxnt down from 
 Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, 
 which stripped hini of his raiment, and wound- 
 ied him, and departed leaving him half dead. 
 And by chance there came down a certain 
 priest that way; and when he saw him, he 
 passed by on the other side. And likewise a 
 Levite, when he was at the place, came and 
 looked on him, and passed by on the other 
 side. But a Samaritah, as he journeyed, came 
 where he was; and when he saw him, he had 
 compassion on him, and bound up his wounds, 
 pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his 
 own beast, and brought him to an inn, and 
 took care of him. And on the morrow, when 
 he departed, he took out two-pence, and gave 
 them to the host, and said unto him, take care 
 
57 
 
 of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, 
 when I come again I will. repay thee. Which 
 now of these three, tliinkest thou, w^as 'tieigh- 
 boiir unto him that fell amon<;* thieves? And 
 he said, he that shewed mercy on him. Then 
 said Jesus. unto him, go and do thou likewise."* 
 
 The priests and the Levites, it will be recol- 
 lected, were, among the most honoured and dis- 
 tinguished characters of that day. The Samari- 
 tans were universally despised by the Jews; 
 they considered them a degraded class of hu- 
 man beings, unworthy the notice of God's peo- 
 ple; they looked down on them with contempt; 
 the woman of Samaria informed our Saviour 
 that the Jews have no dealing with the Samar- 
 itans. The supposed disparity between these 
 two characters, was no doubt as great as that 
 which now exists between the wdiite and the 
 black population in our own country; yet our 
 Saviour compelled the dignified Israelite to ac- 
 knowledge that the good Samaritan w^as a bet- 
 ter character than the unfeeling (though highly 
 exalted) Jew — the Jew himself being judge. 
 
 Therefore ice should take heed to our ways, 
 lest those people whom we now look down 
 upon wnth so much indifference, because of 
 their complexion, should rise in judgment and 
 condemn us, and that out of our own mouth. 
 
 *Luke X. 30 to 36. 
 
^ 58 
 
 The Africans, the slaves^ the beggars, are all our 
 neighbours, and we are bound by the Gospel 
 of Jesus- Christ to love them as ourselves. Do 
 we now J or can we ever hope to love our slaves 
 as ourselves, while we hold them in perpetual 
 bondage? If we cannot, we necessarily exclude 
 ourselves from heaven. 
 
 Secondly. That sacred, honoured precept, 
 
 DO UNTO OTHERS AS YE WOULD THEY SHOULD 
 
 DO. UNTO YOU, will havc a tendency to trouble 
 earthly mastery, when the holy standard of 
 righteousness is applied to their action in the 
 day of judgment. Would you be willing to 
 be any man's slave on earth, under any circum- 
 stances? If you would not, how can you hold 
 your fellow being — your brother — your hea- 
 venly Father's child as your slave, and do as 
 you would be done by? 
 
 If this principle is correct— if we cannot 
 hold our brother in bondage for life, and do as 
 we w^ould be done by, what' well grounded 
 hope can we who are masters, entertain of en- 
 tering into heaven, seeing that agreeably to 
 the plain rules laid down by the highteous 
 Judge himself, we must be excluded from that 
 • holy place. That exalted precept — that plain 
 simple command "Jo «s you would be done. by ^'''' 
 duly considered, must at least present a tre- 
 mendous difficulty to the mind of every consci- 
 
59 
 
 intious Christian, '»vlio holds his brother in 
 bondage for life. 
 
 TniRm-Y. There is another sacred injunc- 
 tion contained in tlic holy Scriptures, which is 
 calculated to militate against the mastery's claim 
 to an inheritance in the heavenly world, and 
 to weaken the slaveholder's faith, i. e. "My 
 brethren have not the faith of oiir Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of per- 
 sons. For if their come into your assembly 
 a man with a gold ring in goodly apparel, 
 and their come also a poor man in vile rai- 
 ment, and ye have respect to him that weareth 
 the gay clothing, and say unto him sit here in 
 a good place; and ye say to the poor, stand 
 thou there, or sit under my foot-stool: are ye 
 not then partial in yourselves, and are become 
 judges of evil thoughts? But if ye have respect 
 to persons, ye commit sin, and are convicted 
 of the laws as transgressors."* 
 
 It is possible that some of our friends will 
 inquire "Do you intend to equalize mankind, 
 and thereby destroy all distinction and subor- 
 dination among men?" Perfect subordination 
 and perfect equality ^sxc not incompatible terms. 
 For instance, children are not inferior in any 
 way to their parents; the father considers his 
 child as honorable, and his character as dear 
 
 * James ii. 1,2,3,4, ami 9. 
 
60 
 
 to him as his own life and reputation; there 
 does not exist a shade of distinction between 
 them, yet good children are always obedient 
 to their parents; it is their indispensable dut}^, 
 kindly and promptly, and faithfully to obey their 
 parent's commands, and to be governed by 
 their will under all circumstances; unless their 
 parents should w^ickedly command them to vi- 
 olate the plain law of God. This kind of sub- 
 ordination is righteous altogether — it is hon- 
 ourable, salutary, essential to the well being of 
 society. Almighty God has wisely and mer- 
 cifully instituted and established grades and 
 distinctions among men. The divine law en- 
 joins uniform obedience and reverence from 
 subjects to magistrates and rulers, as well as 
 from children to their parents. The word 
 of God is very explicit on this subject. "Lei 
 every soul be subject unto the higher poicers. For 
 there is no -power but of God; the powers that 
 5e, are ordained oj God. Whosoever^ therefore 
 resisteth the poivers^ resisteth the ordinance of 
 God: and they that resist shall receive to them- 
 selves danmation.^''* Consequentl}", every real 
 Christian must be an obedient, submissive sub- 
 ject, or citizen; yet the poorest peasant in our 
 country, if he is an honest man, is virtually as 
 good as the president of the United States. 
 
 *Rom. xiii. 1,2. 
 
61 
 
 Servants are also commanded to ''o?^ci/ m 
 all thinf^s their masters according to the flesh: 
 not with eye service as man pleasers^ but in 
 singleness of hearty serving GocV The servant, 
 therefore, is not only bound to obey his mas- 
 ter's commands, but he must do so diligently^ 
 promptly^ affectionately, and as faithfully if his 
 master were one hundred miles from home, as 
 if he were standing in his presence. No ser- 
 vant living and acting in any other way, can 
 have any well grounded hope of entering into 
 heaven; neither can he love his maater or his 
 Maker, if he does not faithfully and affection- 
 ately discharge every rational duty imposed 
 on him by his master. If any man teach ser- 
 vants any other doctriite than this, he is eith- 
 er a stranger to the precepts and principles of 
 the Gospel, or he is a deceiver, or he is de- 
 ceiving his own soul. 
 
 It may be said, "that by prescribing the duty 
 of servants so strictly, we thereby establish 
 the principles of slavery; for if it be just and 
 right to obey strictly and faithfully, it must ne- 
 cessarily be correct to hold slaves; if there is 
 a slave, there must necessarily be a master." 
 A moment's rational reflection; will dissipate 
 this apparent difficulty. The Gospel is a 
 lamp of light which fills the whole soul 
 with wisdom and knowledge, producing peace 
 
62 
 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost: it exerts a noiseless, 
 peaceful, powerful infiueuce wherever it is seen 
 or felt, operating alike in the palace and in the 
 cottage, in the mansion house, and in the cabin. 
 The religion of Jesus Christ, sways its sceptre, 
 and constrains men to bow to its superior pow- 
 er, not by the sword but by the voice of rea- 
 son and righteousness, searching and making 
 manifest the most secret recesses of the hnman 
 heart. As a pure fountain cannot give rise to 
 an impure stream, a soul sanctified by divine 
 grace, and filled with the spirit of God, can 
 only produce a current of meekness and love, 
 imparting bountifully the same heavenly in- 
 fluence to every soil through which it meanders. 
 If the love of God exists in the breast of a 
 slave, it constrains him to be humble, and faith- 
 ful, and cheerful, in discharging every duty; 
 just as much resigned to be a skve as a mas- 
 ter — equally as ivilling to obey as to rule. 
 
 But while the religion of Jesus Christ, shines 
 into the servant's heart with such transcendar.t 
 lustre, it also illumines the master's path, and 
 clearly exhibits to view his character and his 
 duty. ^^ Masters give unto your servants that 
 which is JUST and EauAL knowing that ye have 
 also a master in heaven. JInd ye masters, do 
 the same things unto them, forbearing threat- 
 ening; knowing that your master also is hi 
 
63 
 
 heaven] >^either is there respect of per- 
 sons WITH HIM."* 
 
 The master's duty here plainly specified, is 
 first — JUSTICE. To render JUSTICE unto every 
 one of them — i. e. give them the full value of 
 their labour^ making a just allowance for their 
 trouble and expense. No man can violate the 
 principles of justice and be innocent before 
 God. Masters, have you no doubts nor fears 
 on this subject? Weigh this principle carefully, 
 and ascertain definitely how the account will 
 be adjusted between you and your slave in the 
 day ol judgment. 
 
 Secondly. ''Equality.- ' Almighty God de- 
 'clares that he is no respecter of persons; and 
 surely one icorm should not assume a superior- 
 ity over another worm on account of his colour, 
 or condition in- life. As the servant is God's 
 child, and as dear to his Maker as his master, 
 there should certainly be an equality observed 
 towards the servant, at least in meting- out to 
 him his due — i. e. let every transaction with 
 the slave, be conducted on the same fair and 
 honourable principles by which you are regu- 
 lated in your intercourse with other people. 
 
 Christian master, do you righteously observe 
 this rule of conduct towards your servants at 
 all times.^ Remember that by the holy word of 
 
 *Ephes. vi. 9. Col. iv. 1,2, 
 
64 
 
 God, both you and your slave will ultimately 
 stand or fall 
 
 Thirdly. The third principle or rule laid 
 down in the word of God for the observance 
 and government of masters, is, ^^forbearing 
 threatening^'^, respecting this injunction, Dr. A. 
 Clark observes in his notes on Eph. vi. 9. "If 
 they shall transgress at any time, lean more to 
 the side of mercy^ than justice; and when you 
 are obliged to punish, let it be as light and as 
 moderate as possible; and let revenge have no 
 part in the chastisement, for that is of the devil 
 and not of God." 
 
 Masters, do ye in your intercourse with 
 your slaves, at all times feel that siveet and hea- 
 venly frame of mind which the Gospel enjoins 
 on all the followers of the Lord Jesus? When 
 you are constrained to correct them for their 
 faults do you feel conscious that you have their 
 good in view equally as much as your own 
 interest? On such occasions are you entirely 
 free from anger or resentment? If not, you vio- 
 late the holy law of love. 
 
 If we reflect, or slight, or look down upon 
 an individual when he is in adversity — in 
 poverty; .but when the capricious wheel of 
 fortune elevates him high in the estimation of 
 men, we then advance and offer him our hand 
 and our friendship, we act a mean and con- 
 
65 
 
 temptible part; such conduct would sink us far 
 below the level of a common ^respecter of per- 
 soiiSj"^ and the word of the Lord expressly 
 declares that such characters cannot enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Fourthly. Another, and perhaps a greater 
 difficulty than any of the preceding considera- 
 tions, grows out of the relation which our slaves 
 sustain to their great Creator. 
 
 God is a universal sovereign, and justly de- 
 mands the homage and the reasonable service 
 of every rational human being. All we pos- 
 sess or enjoy in this world has been derived 
 from him. Our bodies and our souls — our time 
 and our talents, all are his. An infinitely wise 
 God gives nothing in vain. Almighty God has 
 given to every individual on earth, (idiots ex- 
 cepted,) one or more talents, not that they 
 may be concealed, or lie dormant, or be wasted; 
 but that each recipient may diligently, and 
 faithfully improve that which has been freely 
 and bountifully committed to his trust: a day 
 has also been appointed when every man's 
 conduct will be investigated, and a righteous 
 sentence will be passed upon him agreeably to 
 his works. 
 
 In the XXV. chap, of Matthew we have an 
 account of a slothful servant who received 
 one talent, but instead of improving it, he kept 
 7 
 
66 
 
 the sacred treasure carefully laid up in a napkin; 
 his conduct was condemned, and he was cast 
 into outer darkness to weep and gnash his teeth 
 in endless night and misery. It necessarily 
 follows that every individual who neglects to 
 improve his talent, or talents, must meet a 
 similar fate, or the Judge will be partial and 
 unrighteous. 
 
 Our slaves have received a, talent to read 
 and write, and calculate by the power of 
 figures. When the righteous Judge of all the 
 earth demands of them the reason why this 
 talent was not improved; what can they say? 
 On whom will the condemnation fall? Are we 
 prepared as masters to meet this difficulty? 
 Our earthly subterfuges of custom, and inex- 
 pediency, it is greatly to be feared, will not be 
 received on that momentous occasion. 
 
 If it had been the design of Almighty God 
 in creating these people whh a dark skin, that 
 they should serve white men and masters, like 
 horses or oxen, then would he not have given 
 them that surperfluous talent; it would have 
 been as unwise, as it would have been unneces- 
 sary. Our great Creator has done all things 
 well, and will most assuredly demand the im- 
 provement of every talent he has given, either 
 to the servant or to his master; in the case 
 under consideration, which of the two do you 
 
67 
 
 suppose will be accountable? Let us not be 
 deceived in this business. The period is at 
 hand when it will be too late to revise our con- 
 duct, or correct mistakes. This rational and 
 alarming difficulty should cause every master 
 who does not educate his slaves, to pause, and 
 reflect, and proceed no further until it is ob- 
 viated. 
 
 There are individuals who, when they are 
 pressed by the difficulties connected with 
 slavery, will appeal to days gone by — to the 
 custom of dark ages; and even to the present 
 practice of heathen nations, to justfy the prin- 
 ciples of slavery. See T. J. Randolph's appro- 
 priate and excellent refutation of this flimsy 
 excuse, page 22. Others will apply to father 
 Abraham for one drop of water to allay their 
 burning fears. "Has not slavery existed," say 
 they, "from the earliest ages; and was not 
 Abraham the friend of God, a master — a slave- 
 holder.^" We answer that slavery has existed 
 from a very remote period; but will that cir- 
 cumstance extenuate the crime.^ Has not sin, 
 and a thousand nameless evils existed ever 
 since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit? 
 But does that fact render sin innocent or inof- 
 fensive? "The times of this ignorance God 
 winked at, but now he commandeth all men 
 every where to repent." 
 
68 
 
 It is true that Abraham was a master, and 
 owned servants; but can his example justify 
 Christians in holding their brethren in bond- 
 age during their natural life? Would any of 
 us in the present age be willing to send our most 
 favoured servants to procure a wile for our 
 son? "Certainly not; that was a custom pecu- 
 liar to the early and dark ages of the world, 
 which has been exploded by the progress of 
 civilization and Christianity." And shall we 
 retain the vicious part of ancient custom, and 
 cast away the innocent simplicity of the patri- 
 archal age? 
 
 The Christian master, however, contends that 
 God himself through the agency of his servant 
 Moses, did authorise his favoured people, the 
 Jews, to hold servants during the term of their 
 natural life; therefore if God is immutable, 
 that which was once pleasing in his sight must 
 always be so. It is very certain that the Jews 
 were permitted by divine authority to hold 
 certain characters in bondage during the term 
 of their natural life; but what can Christians 
 gain by an appeal to that circumstance? Sup- 
 pose you are permitted to receive the law, and 
 ceremonies of Moses, and take them for your 
 guide in this matter; in applying them to the 
 Gospel dispensation, what will be the result? 
 The Jews were permitted to take the heathen, 
 
69 
 
 or the GENTILES who were round about their 
 borders, and to hold them as bond servants for- 
 ever, but their brethren, those who bore the 
 seal of God's covenant-people were more 
 highly favoured. A Jew by his own law, could 
 not hold his Jewish brother as his servant 
 for iiiore than six years. Apply this law, or 
 rule to the merciful dispensation of the Gos- 
 pel, and it will forever explode slavery from 
 the earth. Who is the Christian's brother? 
 Has not Christ broken down the middle wall of 
 partition between the Jew and gentile, and ex- 
 tended mercy's boundary line as far as to include 
 the whole human family, whether they tread the 
 burning sand beneath the equator, or shiver 
 around the frozen poles; whether men are found 
 in Asia, or Europe, or America; or even in de- 
 graded Africa,THEY are now, all brethren. 
 The word of God in establishing this fact, is 
 very explicit. "Wherefore remember that ye 
 being in times past gentiles in the flesh, who 
 are called uncircumcision, by that which is 
 called the circumcision in the flesh made by 
 hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, 
 being aliens from the commonwealth of 
 Israel, and strangers from the covenants of 
 promise, having no hope,and without God in the 
 world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who some- 
 time were far off, are made nigh by the blood 
 7* 
 
70 
 
 of Christ. For he is our peace who hath,made 
 both one, and broken down the middle wall 
 of partition between us."* "For as many of 
 you as have been baptised into Christ, have 
 put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, 
 there is neither bond nor free, there is nei- 
 ther male nor female: for ye are all one in 
 Christ Jesus."t 
 
 If, therefore, we appeal to Moses, and seek 
 an apology for slavery, under the legal dispen- 
 sation, by claiming the privileges of the laws 
 and customs of the ancient Israelites, our 
 hopes are forever blasted. All are now breth- 
 ren; and agreeably to the law of Moses, no 
 man can retain his brother as a servant for 
 more than six years. It necessarily follows 
 that perpetual bondage in any country where 
 the sound of the Gospel has been heard, must 
 be illegal; consequently unjust. 
 
 J. A.Chandler has proved incontestably, that 
 we can have no legal title to any human being 
 as our property, (see page 13, 14, 15,) conse- 
 quently the very principles on which intermi- 
 nable slavery is founded is unjust. Accord- 
 ing to the sentiment of one of the highest au- 
 thorities in our country as expressed in the De- 
 claration of Independence, we cannot have a ti- 
 tle to any human being as our property. In that 
 
 ♦Ephes. ii. 11, 12, 13, 14. \Ga.\. iii. 27, 28. 
 
71 
 
 instrument he declares that *we hold these truths 
 to be self-evident; that all men are ceeated 
 EauAL, that they are endowed by their Cre- 
 ator with certain unalienable rights; that among 
 these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
 ness:' therefore according to this venerated in- 
 strument, the principles of which served as a 
 basis of the constitution of the United States, 
 the existence of slavery in this country — is not 
 only UNJUST, but illegal If we appeal to the 
 principles of reason, we shall be conducted to 
 the same conclusion. Were we for argument 
 sake, to admit, that for a crime, or by voluntary 
 contract, a free man might be converted into a 
 slave; yet it is unreasonable, and contrary to 
 any code of laws on earth to say that one man 
 shall be punished for another man's crimes. — 
 It is true that children are frequently involved 
 in the consequences flowing from their father's 
 evil deeds, and are thereby made to suffer ex- 
 clusively on account of the wicked conduct of 
 their parents; but this necessary effect produc- 
 ed by a definite and uncontrolable cause, can- 
 not possibly give a disinterested person a right 
 to inflict the penalty on them; or to punish 
 them for that which is neither their error nor 
 their crime, but exclusively their misfortune; 
 such a principle would not only be unjust but 
 
 CRUEL. 
 
72 
 
 In confirmation of this sentiment, we beg 
 leave to refer our readers to a tract on the 
 subject of slavery published in the year 1774 
 and republished in a late edition of Wesley's 
 Works, vol. vi. p. 286. 
 
 "But waiving, for the present, all other con- 
 siderations, I strike at the root of this com- 
 plicated villany, I absolutely deny all slave 
 holding to be consistent with any degree of 
 natural justice. 
 
 "I cannot place this in a clearer light than 
 that great ornament of his profession, Judge 
 Blackstone, has already done. Part of his 
 words are as follows: — 
 
 "The three origins of the right of slavery 
 assigned by Justinian, are all built upon false 
 foundations: (1.) Slavery is said to arise from 
 captivity in war. The conqueror having a 
 right to the life of his captive, if he spares 
 that, has then a right to deal with him as he 
 pleases. But this is untrue, if taken generally, 
 — that, by the laws of nations, a man has a 
 right to kill his enemy. He has only a right 
 to kill him in particular cases, in cases of 
 absolute necessity for self-defence. And it is 
 plain, this absolute necessity did not subsist, 
 since he did not kill him, but made him prisoner. 
 War itself is justifiable only on principles of 
 self-preservation: therefore it gives us no right 
 
73 
 
 over prisoners, but to hinder their hurting us 
 by confining them. Much less can it give a 
 right to torture, or kill, or even to enslave an 
 enemy when the war is over. Since therefore 
 the right of making our prisoners slaves, de- 
 pends on a supposed right of slaughter, that 
 foundation failing, the consequence which is 
 drawn from it must fail likewise. 
 
 "It is said, secondly, slavery may begin by 
 one man's selling himself to another. And it 
 is true, a man may sell himself to work for 
 another; but he cannot sell himself to be a 
 slave, as above defined. Every sale implies an 
 equivalent given to the seller, in lieu of what 
 he transfers to the buyer. But what equivalent 
 can be given for life or liberty.^' His property 
 likewise, with the very price which he seems 
 to receive, devolves ipso facto to his master, 
 the instant he becomes his slave: in this case, 
 therefore, the buyer gives nothing, and the 
 seller receives nothing. Of what validity then 
 can a sale be, which destroys the very principle 
 upon which all sales are founded? 
 
 "We are told, thirdly, that men may be 
 born slaves, by being the children of slaves. 
 But this, being built upon the two former rights, 
 must fall together with them. If neither cap- 
 tivity nor contract can, by the plain law of 
 nature and reason, reduce the parent to a state 
 
74 
 
 of slavery, much less can they reduce the 
 offspring." It clearly follows, that all slavery 
 is as irreconcilable to justice as to mercy." 
 
 J. Wesley was as celebrated for his mode- 
 ration and prudence, as he was for his zeal and 
 piety; he adds, page 292. 
 
 "And this equally concerns every gentleman 
 that has an estate in our American plantations; 
 yea, all slaveholders, of whatever rank and 
 degree; seeing men buyers are exactly on a 
 level with men stealers. Indeed you say, "I 
 pay honestly for my goods; and I am not con- 
 cerned to know how they are come by." Nay, 
 but you are; you are deeply concerned to know 
 they are honestly come by. Otherwise you 
 are a partaker with a thief, and are not a jot 
 honester than him. But you know they are 
 not honestly come by; you know they are 
 procured by means nothing near so innocent 
 as picking of pockets, house breaking, or 
 robbery upon the highway. You know they 
 are procured by a deliberate series of more 
 complicated villany (of fraud, robbery, and 
 murder) than was ever practised either by 
 Mohammedans or Pagans; in particular, by 
 murders, of all kinds; by the blood of the 
 innocent poured upon the ground like water. 
 Now, it is your money that pays the merchant, 
 and through him the captain and the African 
 
75 
 
 butchers. You therefore are guilty, yea, 
 principally guilty, of all these frauds, robberies, 
 and murders. You are the spring that puts all 
 the rest in motion; they would not stir a step 
 without you; therefore, the blood of all these 
 wretches who die before their time, whether 
 in tlieir country or elsewhere, lies upon your 
 head. "The blood of thy brother" (for, 
 whether thou wilt believe it or no, such he is 
 in the sight of Him that made him) ''crieth 
 against thee from the earth," from the ship, 
 and from the waters. O, whatever it costs, 
 put a stop to its cry before it be too late: 
 instantly, at any price, were it the half of your 
 goods, deliver thyself from blood guiltiness! 
 Thy hands, thy bed, thy furniture, thy house, 
 thy lands, are at present stained with blood. 
 Surely it is enough; accumulate no more guilt; 
 spill no more the blood of the innocent! Do 
 not hire another to shed blood; do not pay hmi 
 for doing it! Whether you are a Christian or 
 no, show yourself a man! Be not more savage 
 than a lion or a bear!" 
 
 Others about to sink beneath the waves of 
 conscious guilt rolling over their heads from 
 the dark ocean of slavery, have caught at an- 
 other part of the sacred page to justify them in 
 holding their fellow beings in bondage "Did 
 not," say they, "Almighty God through his ser- 
 
76 
 
 vant Noah, pronounce a curse upon those peo- 
 ple, and peremptorily declare that they should 
 be servants? It is true — Noah by divine author- 
 ity no doubt, did pronounce a solemn curse 
 upon his grandson Canaan for the folly and 
 crime of his father Ham, in the following words: 
 ^'Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall 
 he be unto his brethren!" The descendants of 
 this unfortunate character inhibited the land of 
 Canaan, and this curse no doubt began to fall 
 on them, when the Israelites took possession 
 of that land. This prophetic declaration, (for 
 it cannot rationally be viewed in any other light,) 
 may have had direct reference to those events 
 recorded in the history of the Jews for some 
 centuries after they entered into the promised 
 land; be that as it may, it cannot be satisfactor- 
 ily proved that the Africans are the legal de- 
 scendants of Ham. But for argument sake we 
 will admit that fact; and also allow the fearful, 
 awful, incomprehensible sentence pronounced 
 upon them to have all its force. Suppose Al- 
 mighty God has entailed the penalty of slavery 
 on these unfortunate characters to the latest 
 generation; we would, notwithstanding, find 
 infinite difficulty in proving that we are legal- 
 ly authorized to sway that fearful sceptre over 
 those who are now recognized, and declared 
 by the Gospel to be our brethren. 
 
77 
 
 Where laws are legally enacted, and the 
 punishment due to the offenders is clearly spe- 
 cified, the medium through which that punish- 
 ment is to be inflicted, must also be identified: 
 to illustrate this principle — suppose any court 
 or jury in our own country were to find an in- 
 dividual guilty of murder in the first degree, 
 and the judge was legally to pronounce the sen- 
 tence of death upon the culprit; would you then 
 be justified to step forward and kill the poor 
 wretch? No; although the man was legally and 
 righteously condemned to die, yet would you 
 be considered in the eye of the law an offici- 
 ous murderer for taking his life. 
 
 If ,therefore, you can prove that the Supreme 
 Being has doomed the descendants of Ham to 
 perpetual slavery^ Rud they are certainly the un- 
 fortunate children of Africa; has the same di- 
 vine authority, authorized you, directly or indi- 
 rectly, to be their masters? If so, where is 
 your commission recorded? Produce your au- 
 thority, or under the most favourable circum- 
 stances, you only occupy the place of a man 
 who icould arbitrarily kill a condemned criminal. 
 
 Saul was vested with legal authority to de- 
 stroy the Amelakites — they had filled up the 
 measure of their iniquity. Now are you en- 
 tirely certain that God is angry with the poor, 
 ignorant, unoffending Africans? And if so, are 
 8 
 
78 
 
 you quite sure that he has authorized you to 
 inflict such severe punishment on them? If hoth 
 those points cannot be clearly established, all 
 your ^arguments to prove that a God of infinite 
 mercy and goodness, has destined the African 
 race to interminable bondage, and that you are, 
 therefore, justified in binding this galling yoke 
 upon their necks is but sophistry, and will, in 
 the end, prove abortive, and draw down ruin 
 and disgrace on the heads of all concerned in 
 the cruel traffic. 
 
 Again: some of our Christian masters find 
 an opiate to lull the painful sensations which 
 frequently accompany the practice of slavery, 
 by supposing and asserting that our slaves are 
 in a more eligible and enviable condition than 
 the peasantry of Europe. It is not surprising 
 to see a drowning man eagerly catching at 
 straws, to save him from a watery premature 
 grave; but to hear those who profess our holy 
 religion, resort to such an argument, to support 
 a corrupt cause is truly mortifying, and degrad- 
 ing to the Christian character. This flimsy sub- 
 terfuge, (for it is no argument,) is equally as 
 just, honourable, and cogent, as the reasoning 
 of a man who enters the widow's apartment, 
 and robs her of all her money; and when she 
 dares to complain, the aggressor haughtily re- 
 torts: — "You should be very thankful— you 
 
79 
 
 should rejoice that I have not taken, every 
 article in your house; you know that I have the 
 power to do so. My brave companion Benin- 
 casa, would have spared you neither property, 
 money, nor life, reckless of all the laws 
 and constituted authorities on earth; and my 
 friend Shylock, would have exacted and taken, 
 not only the last cent, but the last pound of flesh 
 also, if he could have done so under a legal 
 cloak; he is rather afraid of the halter, and 
 would not openly violate the law of the land. 
 You know that he is rich, and highly esteem- 
 ed among* men generally. Under existing cir- 
 cumstances, you have no right to complain; I 
 can mention more than fifty families, who have 
 been deprived of all they possessed on earth 
 — even their beds have been taken from them, 
 either by force or fraud. As I have been so lib- 
 eral and have only taken your money, you should 
 esteem me as your friend and benefactor! P'^ 
 
 Because the ambitious, extravagant, tyranni- 
 cal kings and potentates of Europe, have press- 
 ed their poor subjects literally into the earth, 
 by cruel and exorbitant taxes to support their 
 assumed dignity, you have, therefore, a right to 
 lord it over God's heritage, by erecting every 
 farm into a monarchical dominion, where each 
 master becomes an independent sovereign — a 
 king — a potentate, and from his self-created 
 
80 
 
 elevation, looks down and insults his broken 
 hearted brother, whom he holds in abject bond- 
 age, by saying "you should be thankful and 
 rejoice that your situation is no worse; George^ 
 and Lewis, and Charles, and Frederick, and 
 JYicholas, all grind the face of their poor sub- 
 jects with far more severity than I have yet 
 ground yours; therefore you should consider 
 me your best friend and benefactor." Christian 
 brethren blush, and never again resort to such 
 an argument to support the cause of oppression. 
 
 To say nothing of Great Britain, with whose 
 peasantry the condition of our slaves is gener- 
 ally contrasted; is there a king or tyrant on 
 earth who can legally, and with impunity, sell 
 as he would a domestic animal, the poorest 
 man's child in his realm? Is there a petty 
 monarch in the world who can take the wife 
 and expose her to public sale, while the husband 
 dare not speak one word, or utter 4Dne com- 
 plaint? No; we may safely say that there is no 
 such glaring cruelty and oppression legally 
 practised in any part of the whole world, but 
 among the equal, honourable, free, enlightened 
 Christians of Americsi, and a few islands in the 
 Atantic ocean. 
 
 In Europe, the poorest peasant receives the 
 full value for his services; if it is only twopence 
 per day, he can legally demand and receive that 
 
81 
 
 amount; consequently bis employer may be gov- 
 erned by tbe pure principles of justice. 
 
 Can we wbo are masters living in a land of 
 boasted freedom and Christian liberty, con- 
 scientiously say that we have paid, or will pay 
 the poor man wlio has toiled in our field through 
 the day, the full value of his labour? If not, 
 where is our justice j or our religion? Where 
 is our superiority over our European neigh- 
 bours? Will not our character suffer materi- 
 ally, and be found wanting, when weighed in 
 the balance with the heathens, whose motto 
 was — "/(3? JUSTICE prewai/ if the pillars of heaven 
 should fall. "^"^ 
 
 Those who attempt to justify slavery, find 
 an argument in its favour, in the silence of the 
 New Testament respecting the subject. They 
 say, that "Masters and servants are men- 
 tioned, and their respective duties prescribed, 
 but nothing is said to forbid the practice." 
 Neither is there any express command or pre- 
 cept which forbids polygamy, yet Christians 
 tmiversally esteem it a crime of no ordinary 
 magnitude. A man would be expelled from 
 the pale of any living branch of Christ's church 
 for marrying two wives, and why? Because 
 the practice embraces principles, which, in 
 their very nature, are neither salutary to the 
 well being of society, nor compatible with the 
 8* 
 
82 
 
 sublime precepts of the Gospel. We respect- 
 fully ask, is the complexion of slavery any better? 
 Nay, is it not much worse? 
 
 It is urged, however, by the objector, that 
 "If slavery is really incompatible with the plain 
 principles of the Gospel, it should, and no doubt 
 would, have been forbidden in the New Testa- 
 ment, in plain intelligible language." 
 
 We answer, if the Gospel contains plain un- 
 equivocal precepts, and enjoins requisitions 
 which no man can comply with, and holds his 
 fellow man in bondage, then is slavery as effect- 
 ually forbidden, as it would have been by any 
 language or expression, which could have been 
 used. 
 
 God commands all men every where to ho- 
 nour and obey the powers that be; therefore, 
 Christ'slaws interfere not with the laws of earth- 
 ly kings or rulers. Hence, the infinitely ime, 
 silent^ effectual, prohibition placed on slavery 
 by the holy precepts of the Gospel. 
 
 There is another city of refuge into which 
 the pious slaveholder flies as his dernier resort, 
 when he is closely pursued by the principles of 
 justice or mercy, or his own conscience. 
 
 "Have not," says he, "many masters died 
 triumphantly and left a testimony sufficient to 
 satisfy any rational being, expressed almost with 
 their dying lips, that they have gone to rest in 
 Abraham's bosom?" 
 
83 
 
 This ground of justification is as flimsy to 
 stand on, as it is delicate and dangerous to 
 assail. 
 
 It is not inipossible for honest good men to 
 be really deceived in life, particularly when 
 their interest is concerned; and if we may be 
 really deceived when we are in possession of 
 all our faculties, unimpaired by bodily ability; 
 may we not be mistaken when disease has par- 
 alysed the whole system? 
 
 There is no new light to be seen, nor addi- 
 tional knowledge to be gained by the approach 
 of death. It will generally, if not always, un- 
 mask the hyprocrite; but it cannot correct er- 
 rors previously contracted. Our divine Mas- 
 ter says, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, 
 Lord, have we not prophecied in thy name? 
 and in thy name have cast out devils? and in 
 thy name have done many w^onderful works? 
 And then will I profess unto them I never knew 
 you: depart from me ye that work iniquity."* 
 
 Again, St. Paul says, "And for this cause 
 God shall send them strong delusion, that they 
 should believe a lie: that they all might be 
 damned who believed not the truth, but had 
 pleasure in unrighteousness."t 
 
 Therefore the sentiments or expression of 
 dying characters afford but doubtful testimo- 
 
 *Math. xii. 22, 23. tThes. ii. 11, 12. 
 
84 
 
 ny in favour of the innocence of slavery; 
 at least it is very little better than a straw to 
 save a drowning man from a watery grave. 
 
 Many of our friends will startle and almost 
 indignantly inquire — "what — do you suppose 
 that our pious ancestors are lost who held 
 slaves, and died apparently happy in the love 
 of God?" 
 
 Recollect, your good fathers and mothers 
 enjoyed less light than you are blessed with. — 
 In their day, there was no colony settled in Af- 
 rica. There was no politician, statesman, or 
 Christian minister to speak openly on this 
 dark subject when they lived on earth. Hence 
 it is written — 'Hhe times of this ignorance God 
 winked at; but now he commandeth all men 
 everywhere to repent." 
 
 Can you plead the same apology for continu- 
 ing to hold slaves, that your fathers could hon- 
 estly plead.^ If not, do not advert to their exam- 
 ple, nor mourn over their destiny. Allow their 
 ashes to slumber in quiet repose, and their souls 
 to rest in the hand of a merciful Creator. 
 
 Remember, to you is the word of this ex- 
 hortation addressed. Do justly, love mercy, 
 and walk humbly with thy God. Undo the 
 heavy burdens and let the captive go free. 
 
 The Gospel is a system of pure, honourable, 
 and distinguished privileges; its character is not 
 
85 
 
 to exercise unbinding coercion — its iheme^ its 
 substance^ its glory is love — love unsullied 
 and universal Can there be found among 
 the bitter ingredients of which slavery is com- 
 posed, one particle of pure, undefiled love? 
 If not, then all the ingenuity and sophistry of 
 man cannot commingle one drop of its bitter 
 gall, with the sweet pellucid streams of salva- 
 tion. 
 
 A moment's reflection on the practice of 
 slavery, as it exists in our Christian country, 
 must cause every sympathetic, affectionate 
 heart to bleed, and every delicate, innocent 
 cheek to blush. Shall we see our brethren, 
 FOR WHOM Christ died, bought and sold 
 LIKE BEASTS OF THE FIELD? Frequently they 
 are set up at auction and sold to the highest bid- 
 der; the wife and husband sundered never again 
 to meet on earth. Can a rational being blessed 
 with one particle of piety, believe that those 
 who engage in such scenes are doing as they 
 would be done by? Can such characters love 
 
 MERCY? 
 
 Mothers, suppose that precious babe of 
 yours was exposed at public auction, and there 
 were a parcel of merciless speculators in hu- 
 man flesh, with hearts harder than the nether 
 millstone, and blacker than the pit of Tophet, 
 standing by ready to grasp your child and bear 
 
86 
 
 it off forever from your sight, to be barter- 
 ed for gain, among strangers in a distant clime, 
 what would be your feelings? Language is too 
 feeble to describe your sensations, or to paint 
 the turpitude of the crime in its true colours. 
 
 It may be said that none but the cruel, the 
 hard hearted part of community would separate 
 husband and wife — parents and children. Oth- 
 ers would not sell, or suffer their slaves to be 
 sold out of their own family for any earthly 
 consideration. Come and let us reason together 
 for one moment. We greatly admire the ho- 
 nourable principles by which you are influenced; 
 but remember life is very uncertain; human 
 events are ever fluctuating. You may by 
 some earthly contingency lose your property, 
 and be compelled to sell your slaves. But should 
 you be successful in business, and not forced 
 into such a painful alternative; yet you must 
 die. 
 
 Should all your children be as virtuous and 
 honourable as yourself, yet they may and icill 
 marry; they are not infallible, and may marry 
 imprudent characters, who may wasteyourpro- 
 perty in dissipation and extravagance. The 
 sheriff may come and sell their possessions, nor 
 will the iron arm, or deaf ear of the law, incline 
 in mercy to the suppliant cries of your servants 
 about to be separated and sold to strangers; 
 
87 
 
 your former tenderness will only cause them 
 to feel the pangs more acutely. Can you will- 
 ingly continue to pursue a system which may 
 terminate in such painful results? Can your 
 dying pillow be free from thorns with such re- 
 flections staring you in the face? 
 
 As Christians^ we have hitherto slumbered 
 on our post, while the voice of danger, and the 
 plaintive sound of suffering humanity daily aris- 
 ing to heaven from every slaveholding state in 
 our Christian country, has fallen unheard, and 
 unheeded on our deluded senses. Let us now, 
 even at this advanced period, awake and arise 
 from our beds of repose and indifference. 
 
 It will be unnecessary at this time to inquire 
 what can be done with our slaves? The divine 
 hand has drawn a line of distinction between 
 the slave and his master which can only 
 be erased by the hand of death. We pre- 
 sume not to say, that a just and holy Creator 
 designed the black skin as a badge of dis- 
 grace or inferiority, but custom and prejudice, 
 strengthened by station and pride, has written 
 that opinion indelibly on the heart of almost 
 every white man in our country, whether he 
 lives in Boston or in Charleston. Therefore, 
 if our slaves could be delivered from a state 
 of bondage at once, and compelled still to 
 dwell among us, it would not better their con- 
 
88 
 
 dition, or cause them to be more respected, 
 happy, or independent. In this country the 
 black man must ever remain a degraded, in- 
 sulted, and oppressed character. All unani- 
 mously agree that they must be removed from 
 our borders. A great and effectual door has 
 already been opened for their reception. The 
 country from whence they originally came, is 
 sufficiently large and fertile to support them 
 and their descendants for ages to come. Their 
 forefathers are yet involved in heathen dark- 
 ness — in profound ignorance. Those of their 
 own colour, their own descendants will be bet- 
 ter qualified than any other people can be, to 
 penetrate that extensive, gloomy continent, and 
 to diifuse the light and blessings of civilization 
 and of Christianity among the natives of long 
 neglected Africa. 
 
 An experiment has already been made which 
 has more than realized the expectations of its 
 most sanguine friends. The colony which has 
 been settled at Liberia, on the shores of Africa, 
 is now in a more flourishing condition than any 
 new settlement of the same nature and age ever 
 before made in any part of the world. 
 
 Our own country — the United States of 
 America, in their progress — in the increase of 
 their population — their improvement in the arts 
 and sciences, and in the diffusion of Christian 
 
89 
 
 knowledge, stand without a parallel on the page 
 of history? yet, in their origin — in the dawn of 
 their existence, this povrerf ul and noio indepen- 
 dent nation, was far less successful than has 
 been the little vine planted at Liberia. The 
 first settlers reached the shores of Africa in 
 June, 1822; they are now in a prosperous con- 
 dition; three churches have already been erect- 
 ed; several schools are in successful operation. 
 They have a newspaper regularly conducted 
 by a coloured man; many of the new settlers 
 are becoming wealthy. The population already 
 amounts to about three thousand souls. They 
 are gradually extending their territory along 
 the shores of the Atlantic, and also into the in- 
 terior among the natives, with w^hom tbey are 
 on friendly terms and highly respected and 
 honoured by those poor savages. 
 
 The whole amount of money received by 
 the Colonization Society up to the 20th of June, 
 1832, is $155,912 52. With this small sum of 
 money, a new w^orld has been purchased — a 
 new nation has been settled, and the prejudice 
 of thousands respecting the deportation and 
 colonization of our slaves in Africa has been 
 wiped away. Surely never before was the 
 the same amount of money so judiciously ex- 
 pended. 
 
 It is only necessary to sustain the Coloniza- 
 9 
 
90 
 
 tion Society, and furnish them with a sufficient 
 amount of money, and under the smiles of hea- 
 ven, and the direction of the divine hand, our 
 country will, in due time, be delivered from im- 
 pending ruin; our coloured brethren will be 
 rescued from heavy bondage? while this dou- 
 ble blessing will confer one of greater magni- 
 tude on unfortunate, degraded, benighted 
 Africa. 
 
 It is not practicable, neither would it be 
 desirable, or prudent to remove our slave popu- 
 lation from this country in one, or two, or 
 even in ten years, but let the subject be warm- 
 ly espoused by Christians generally, and this 
 great object can be effected in thirty or forty 
 years, nor would the loss be felt even by their 
 masters. 
 
 The annual increase of the coloured popula- 
 tion in the U. States, amounts to about 60,000. 
 By making provision to remove 100,000 annu- 
 ally to Africa, the first ten years would reduce 
 the old stock 412,000 leavingabout 1,588,000. 
 The net increase from that number would be 
 a fraction less than 48,000; continue to re- 
 move 100,000 annually, and in the next ten 
 years, the original stock would be reduced to 
 1,035,000. The increase from that number 
 would be about 30,105. Still continue to re- 
 move 100,000 annually, and in ten years more 
 
91 
 
 the old stock would be reduced to about 
 275,000; which number could be removed in 
 less than three years. Thus in less than 33 
 years, the name, and stain of slavery might be 
 wiped away forever. Sliould w^e even proceed 
 on a more limited scale, and effect this great 
 w^ork in one hundred years, it w^ould be an 
 achievement worthy of a free and Christian na- 
 tion; and by far the greatest and the best lega- 
 cy which we could bequeath to our posterity. 
 The amount of money required to remove 
 100,000 persons from our country to Africa, 
 would be less than three millions of dollars an- 
 nually. Large as this sum may appear, it can 
 be furnished with ease by the church alone. 
 If every member of Christ's church in the U. 
 States, would contribute three cents every 
 week, it would amount to the sum required! 
 Can this statement be correct! And are we 
 what W6 profess to be, i. e. children of the 
 Most High God — members of his earthly fa- 
 mily and all one in Christ Jesus? And are our 
 Father's children in abject bondage, many of 
 those whom our Saviour will condescend to 
 call another — sister — brother, doomed to ignor- 
 ance, disgrace, and perpetual slavery; and the 
 small pittance of three cents per week from 
 all Christ's professed followers would pay their 
 expenses to Africa, where they might be free 
 
92 
 
 and happy. With these facts staring us in the 
 face — with this picture before our eyes; under 
 such circumstances, can we any longer remain 
 idle spectators of the scene, and be innocent? 
 
 No; we can now frame no apologies; a door 
 has been opened by the hand of a wise and 
 merciful God, and if we do not enter into the 
 work promptly and zealously, in all human pro- 
 bability, the door of mercy will be closed on 
 us forever. 
 
 To prove that it will be neither cruel nor 
 chimerical to colonize our slaves in Africa, we 
 again refer our readers to Wesley's Works 
 vol. vi. p. 279. 
 
 "And, first, what kind of country is that from 
 whence they are brought.'* Is it so remarkably 
 horrid, dreary, and barren, that it is a kindness 
 to deliver them out of it? I believe many 
 have apprehended so; but it is an entire mistake, 
 if we may give credit to those who have lived 
 many years therein, and could have no motive 
 to misrepresent it. 
 
 "That part of Africa whence the negroes are 
 brought commonly known by the name of 
 Guinea, extends along the coast, in the whole, 
 between three and four thousand miles. From 
 the river Senegal, seventeen degrees north of 
 the line, to Cape Sierra Leone, it contains 
 seven hundred miles. Thence it runs eastward 
 
93 
 
 about fifteen hundred miles, including the 
 Grain Coast, the Ivory Coast, the Gold Coast, 
 and the Slave Coast, with the large kingdom 
 of Benin. From thence it runs southward 
 about twelve hundred miles, and contains the 
 kingdoms of Congo and Angola. 
 
 "Concerning the first, the Senegal Coast, 
 Monsieur Brue, who lived there sixteen years, 
 after describing its fruitfulness near the sea, 
 says, "The farther you go from the sea, the 
 more fruitful and well-improved is the country, 
 abounding in pulse, Indian corn, and various 
 fruits. Here are vast meadows, which feed 
 large herds of great and small cattle; and the 
 villages, which lie thick, show the country is 
 well peopled." And again: "I was surprised 
 to see the land so well cultivated: scarce a 
 spot lay unimproved; the lowlands, divided by 
 small canals, were all sowed with rice; the 
 higher s^rounds were planted with Indian corn, 
 and peas of different sorts. Their beef is 
 excellent; poultry plenty, and very cheap, as 
 are all the necessariei of life." 
 
 "As to the Grain and Ivory Coast, we learn 
 from eye witnesses, that the soil is in general 
 fertile, producing abundance of rice and roots. 
 Indigo and cotton thrive without cultivation; 
 fish is in great plenty; the flocks and herds are 
 numerous, and the trees loaden with fruit 
 9* 
 
94 
 
 "The Gold Coast and Slave Coast, all who 
 have seen them agree, are exceeding fruitful and 
 pleasant, producing vast quantities of rice and 
 other grain, plenty of fruit and roots, palm 
 wine and oil, and fish in great abundance, with 
 much tame and wild cattle. The very same 
 account is given us of the soil and produce of 
 the kingdoms of Benin, Congo, and Angola. 
 From all which it appears, that Guinea, in 
 general, is far from a horrid, dreary, barren 
 country, — is one of the most fruitful, as well 
 as the most pleasant, countries in the know^n 
 world. It is said indeed to be unhealthy; and 
 so it is to strangers, but perfectly healthy to 
 the native inhabitcints." 
 
 Let us now examine partially the means we 
 have in our power, and contrast them with the 
 efforts we have heretofore made in behalf of 
 suffering, degraded humanity. 
 
 We have no correct data by which we can 
 ascertain the exact number of church members 
 in the U. States. There is said to be in all, 
 about 1 1 ,000 houses of worship or churches, 
 in our country: of that number the Methodist 
 Episcopal and the Baptist churches alone, own 
 and occupy about 4,500, leaving the balance 
 of 6,500 for all other denominations. There 
 are more than one million of members connect- 
 ed with the Methodist Episcopal and Baptist 
 
95 
 
 churches. It is at least a moderate calculation 
 to allow all the other sects (who occupy 2,000 
 houses more than those two denominations,) 
 as many members as they have; which would 
 make the whole number of professing Chris- 
 tians in the U. States more than two millions. 
 The state of our accounts will be as follows, 
 viz. 
 
 The church if Christ in the U. States of 
 America, in account current with their Fa- 
 ther's coloured children, now in bondage. 
 
 DR. 
 For amount required to remove the whole 
 number to Africa in 33 years estimated an- 
 nually at $3,000,000 00 
 CR. 
 By — part of amount paid to 
 the Colonization Society in 
 ten years, i. e. from June, 
 1822 to June, 1832 — 
 $155,912 52. 
 
 Averaging per annum. 15,591 25 
 
 Balance due each year!!! $2,984,408 75 
 
 Our Christian brethren should not forget, 
 that to furnish the above account of three mil- 
 lions of dollars, each individual member of 
 Christ's church will be called on to contribute 
 
 only ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENTs! PER 
 ANNUM. 
 
96 
 
 Will not our ample means, compared with 
 otir feeble efforts in days gone by, cause us to 
 blush, and implore pardon for the past; and re- 
 solve to act more wisely, liberally, and efficient- 
 ly in future? 
 
 From this view of the subject, we respect- 
 fully submit the following plan for the consid- 
 eration of every minister of the Gospel having 
 the oversight or charge of any part of our Sa- 
 viour's little flock on earth; i. e. immediately 
 form, or make a zealous attempt to form your 
 church into a society for the relief of our col- 
 oured brethren now in bondage. Let the 
 terms of membership be, the payment of not 
 less than three cents per week, or 1 ,50 per an- 
 num. Members in favoured circumstances 
 should be permitted to give as much as they 
 please. A special clause of the following im- 
 port should be inserted in the constitution — 
 i. e. we solemnly pledge ourselves to the Great 
 Head of the church, and our brethren that we 
 will either save out of our ordijiary expenses; 
 or we will make an extraordinary effort to earn, 
 or make, three cents every week; which 
 amount shall be regularly paid over to the 
 treasurer of the society for the relief of our 
 brethren now in bondage in our own country. 
 
 If the design be carefully explained, and the 
 means pointed out to all our coloured brethren 
 
97 
 
 in the church, they too, can, and will meet the 
 demand without difficulty. 
 
 By this simple, rational, easy course of pro- 
 ceedings, the whole mass of our slave popula- 
 tion could be redeemed, and restored to lib- 
 erty and their native country, without drawing 
 one cent from the private desk, or the ordina- 
 ry resources of one individual in our country. 
 That there is one member in Christ's church 
 who deserves a name or place among Chris- 
 tians, who would be unwilling to contribute the 
 small pittance of three cents per week for this 
 noble purpose, we are utterly unwilling to be- 
 lieve. 
 
 And should there be one member found in 
 any branch of the church who is really una- 
 ble to SAVE, or to MAKE, Or to GIVE, THREE 
 
 CENTS per week for the accomplishment of 
 such an important object; surely there would 
 be ten others both able and willing to pay the 
 amount for their unfortunate brother. 
 
 There are, no doubt, hundreds, nay thou- 
 sands in the church who spend for unnecessary 
 articles every week, more than one hundred 
 times the amount required to effect this great 
 purpose, and yet they hojiestly believe that 
 nothing can be done for our unfortunate slaves. 
 It should be the minister's duty to correct the 
 errors of all such members; in attending to this 
 
98 
 
 part of our duty, however, we must be very- 
 careful to have the mote removed from our own 
 eye, or all our labour will be lost. 
 
 The ministers of the sanctuary especially, 
 should stand firm in this great cause. They 
 should adopt the sentiments of the evangelical 
 prophet, and resolutely declare — "jPor Zioyi's 
 sake will I not hold my peace; and for Jei^sa- 
 hni's sake I will 7iot rest^ until the righteous- 
 ness thereof goelh forth as brightness, and the 
 salvation thereof as a lamp that hurnethP 
 
 It may be said that the deportation of 
 100,000 souls annually, ignorant and degraded 
 as our slaves generally are, would form a stream 
 oi cor/uption better calculated to deluge, not 
 only the present little colony at Liberia, but 
 the whole continent of Africa with indolence, 
 vice, misery, and darkness, than to form a 
 beacon of light to guide the steps of the be- 
 liighted Africans to a state of civilization and 
 Christianity. To this objection we answer, it 
 would be unnecessary as it would be imprudent 
 to overstock, or inundate the nursery already 
 planted at Liberia, with a greater portion of 
 crude materials than they could prudently re- 
 ceive. Other locations may be procured: 
 settlements should be made on every spot of 
 eligible ground, until the whole continent of 
 Africa shall be environed around with colonies. 
 
99 
 
 Many intelligent, sincere friends to the pros- 
 perity of our slaves, could not believe that it 
 was practicable to found a living, growing 
 colony of coloui-ed people in any part of Africa; 
 they have been completely and most agreeably 
 disappointed. 
 
 A learned and respectable writer in the 
 American Quarterly Review, has endeavour- 
 ed to prove that it is impracticable to colonize 
 our coloured population in Africa. As far as 
 an experiment has been made, (experience 
 must test the truth of every theory,) his senti- 
 ments are incorrect. The colony at Liberia 
 has been establislied under circumstances more 
 unfavourable than would exist in settling colo- 
 nies, either in the same section of the country, 
 or on any other part of the continent. 
 
 All our coloured population may be thrown 
 into Africa to-morrow, and leave it a wildcF- 
 ness still in point of population. Therefore, 
 whatever dilhculties may lie in the way, no- 
 thing can justify Christians in shrinking from 
 their duty. Let us unite and raise the money 
 — let us place three or even one million of 
 dollars annually in the hands of the Coloniza- 
 tion Society, or any other association of men 
 for the same purpose, and they will very soon 
 prove, to all concerned, that all other obstacles 
 are visionary — are like the morning cloud, or 
 
100 
 
 the early dew. At least the effort will cost 
 each individual but a trifle; and should the final 
 success not be as complete as we anticipate, 
 we should thereby secure the blessing of an 
 approving conscience, and the smiles of heaven. 
 
 Our author believes that the negroes are an 
 inferior race of beings, incapable of rising to 
 an honourable standard of civilization and 
 science. It is also his opinion, that their 
 ancestors in Africa are not susceptible of a 
 high state of improvement in consequence of 
 their indolent debased nature. Poverty and ig^ 
 norance, it is true, are materials out of which, 
 exclusively, no edifice, possessing either beauty 
 or strength, can be erected — slaves liberated, 
 and still doomed to live among us, even in any 
 of the free states, must ever remain a degraded 
 people in the estimation of white men. Place 
 them, however, where they can be operated on 
 by encouraging incentives — where the hope of 
 an adequate reward will sweeten their labour — 
 where they can be honoured and respected in 
 exact proportion to their merit and virtue, and 
 they will soon rise to a level with other civil- 
 ized and Christian nations. 
 
 To doom an entire race of human beings to 
 poverty, ignorance, and degradation, may be 
 policy in designing men; but it was never the 
 design, neither can it meet the approbation of 
 
101 
 
 a just and holy God. That our coloured popu- 
 lation, in their present condition presentdiscor- 
 dant materials for colonizing purposes is readily 
 granted; yet, perhaps they are better prepared 
 to form a prosperous and happy community, 
 than would the learned and wealthy if they 
 were selected out of any country and colonized 
 exclusively by themselves. This respected 
 author has himself complimented our slaves 
 very highly by attributing to them an amiable 
 and affectionate disposition. He says, that 
 many of them sincerely love their masters. 
 Now we greatly fear that our learned friend 
 with all his natural and acquired advantages, 
 would be utterly unable to love that character, 
 and kiss affectionately that hand, which had 
 bound an iron yoke of bondage around his 
 neck. 
 
 By the assistance of humane and religious 
 characters, now ready to afford their aid, those 
 people could very soon be educated and taught 
 the principles of our holy religion; and under 
 the smiles of heaven, they would soon rise to 
 a happy state of civilization and Christianity 
 in any part of the earth where men can live. 
 
 Under the w^eight of prejudice which ope- 
 rates against them, and surrounded by almost 
 every discouragement in our own country, 
 some of them have risen to independence and 
 10 
 
102 
 
 intelligence; and many of them to an exalted 
 state of piety. 
 
 All savage and barbarous nations, as well as 
 the Africans, are poor — ignorant — indolent^ 
 and degraded; nor can any thing but civiliza- 
 tion and religion correct those evils. Let us 
 extend these blessings to degraded, injured 
 Africa, and her wilderness and solitary places 
 toOj will soon blossom as the fragrant rose on 
 our own favoured hills. 
 
 The same writer supposes that a removal of 
 our slaves from among us would be attended 
 with ruinous consequences. Were they all 
 removed in one, or even in ten years, it would 
 no doubt produce considerable inconvenience; 
 but let it be known and believed that our slaves 
 will certainly be removed to Africa in the 
 course of thirty or fifty years, and from that 
 moment our population and our prospects will 
 begin to improve. There is now a strong 
 current in motion which is bearing a large 
 amount of our best citizens to the west because 
 they dread the consequences of slavery. Arrest 
 the growth of this evil, and say it shall be ex- 
 tirpated from our land, and you will at once 
 weaken^ if you do not dry up that current. 
 The Atlantic states possess advantages which 
 the western states can never enjoy. 
 
 But let the present state of things continue 
 
103 
 
 without any hope of a favourable change, and 
 in a few years your soil, or rather your hills, 
 robbed of their soil and substance by the 
 withering hand of slavery — a population com- 
 posed of wealthy nabobs, and a few white 
 skeletons, more indolent ^ignorant and degraded 
 than your slaves — together with a dark dense 
 cloud of human forms like the locusts of Egypt 
 in the days of Pharaoh, darkening the sun, and 
 desolating the earth, will mark your certain 
 condition, and constitute your faded glory. 
 Pass through the eastern, and free western 
 states, and how many dilapidated churches — 
 deserted villages — houses empty and in a state 
 of ruin; how many old fields grown over with 
 briars and sedge capable of bearing nothing 
 but the black signature of poverty^ will you 
 find? Perhaps not one for one hundred that 
 you will see in the state of Virginia, which 
 should, and would be the garden spot of the 
 United States were it not for the existence of 
 slavery. 
 
 When this truly benevolent scheme goes 
 into extensive operation, every Christian 
 master will educate his slaves, and prepare 
 them for the reception and enjoyment of liberty 
 before he sends them away. It may be said 
 that the laws of nearly all the slaveholding 
 states will not admit of their education. Those 
 
104 
 
 laws were enacted from supposed necessity; 
 such a restriction was deemed essential to the 
 safety and well being of the white population, 
 and under an impression that slaves and masters 
 were to remain together forever. A change 
 in the circumstances and prospects of our 
 slaves, would induce the state authorities 
 promptly to rescind those legal restrictions, 
 repugnant to the feelings of every patriot's 
 heart; offensive to every free man; and at open 
 war with the whole system of civil and re- 
 ligious liberty. 
 
 Were all the professors of religion in these 
 United States to take up the cross of Jesus 
 Christ resolutely, and firmly sustain that sacred 
 banner, the important work of removing the 
 coloured population from our country, could 
 be etfected without injuring the master one 
 cent, or asking him for one favour. Were all 
 Christians unanimously and promptly to com- 
 mence the work of retrenchment, by cutting 
 off every unnecessary expense from our houses 
 and furniture^ our wearing apparel^ our food, 
 8fc. not expending one cent exclusively to grati- 
 fy our passions or our appetites^ and cast one- 
 half of the redeemed amount into the Lord's 
 treasury, it would make a sum sufficient to 
 purchase at the ordinary price 100.000 slaves 
 annually, and send them to Africa and furnish 
 
105 
 
 them with one year's provision in advance. 
 Can we examine this subject with care, and 
 then contemplate the day when we must meet 
 our slaves and the heathen nations at the judg- 
 ment seat of Christ, without feeling alarmed? 
 
 Having briefly considered the disgrace, the 
 criielty, the injustice 3ind the danger of slavery; 
 and also pointed out a remedy for this growing, 
 alarming evil, we now appeal: 
 
 First. To our brethren iu the church who 
 are implicated in the evils of slavery, to those 
 who have inherited from their ancestors the 
 name of master, and also the incumbrance of 
 human souls, as a legacy. 
 
 Our heart's desire, and prayer to God, is, 
 that you may be speedily delivered from the 
 degrading, dangerous evil of slavery. You 
 should immediately emancipate your slaves on 
 condition that they remove to Africa. 
 
 Every effort in your power should be made 
 to effect this important object as soon as prac- 
 ticable. Do not, therefore, sleep until the rights 
 of your Father's children are secured to them 
 in a legal form. Remember that you have enjoy- 
 ed your good things in this life, and your Father's 
 coloured children, who are your slaves, have 
 received their evil things. You should, therefore, 
 not stop at a few cents per week; you should 
 make a fair and honest calculation, and ascertain 
 10* 
 
106 
 
 how much you can possibly give,for the laudable 
 and important purpose of redeeming your un- 
 fortunate brethren from reproach and bondage. 
 If you have derived any pecuniary benefit from 
 their labour, you should be the more liberal on 
 that account. Do not we beseech you, begin 
 to say — "my people are worth so much money 
 — they cost me so many dollars?"^ 
 
 Reflect for one moment — the silver and the 
 gold belongs to God. Your slave bears the 
 same relation to the great Sovereign of the uni- 
 verse, that yo do. Israel's God can bless your 
 temporal concerns, and cause them to prosper 
 abundantly, were that for your good; or he 
 can curse your efforts, and send poverty and 
 misery into your habitation. You should, 
 therefore, freely impart liberty to the captive, 
 and not take your fellow servant by the throat, 
 saying "pay me that thou owest,'''^ lest the Al- 
 mighty God should be wroth with you, (to 
 whom he has forgiven a debt of more than 
 ten thousand talents,) and deliver you to the 
 tormenters, until you pay all that you are in- 
 debted unto him. The testimony of an ap- 
 proving conscience and the smiles of heaven 
 are more to be desired than all the gold and 
 silver, which "sinews bought or sold have 
 earned." 
 
 Remember that your slaves are all your hea- 
 
107 
 
 venfy Father's children, and cost his Son's 
 blood to redeem their souls from death; and 
 if they fear God, and work righteousness, they 
 will be recognized by our Lord Jesus Christ 
 in the day of final retribution, as his mother, 
 sister, and brother. 
 
 We respectfully and affectionately appeal 
 to your sense of honour, and the refined feel- 
 ings of your own heart and ask if your own 
 honoured and beloved mother, together with 
 your sister and brother, were literally doomed 
 to servile bondage, and money could redeem 
 them from that degraded condition, would you 
 not give the last cent within your reach for that 
 honourable purpose. Under such circum- 
 stances, would you spend even one cent un- 
 necessarily — exclusively to gratify your passions 
 or your appetites? No, you would not; as an 
 honourable man we confidently anticipate your 
 conduct in such a case; you would discard every 
 delicacy from your table; you would even dis- 
 pense with the use of tea and coffee, and substi- 
 tute milk, or rye, or barley, or sage, or sassafras 
 in their place: you would not then chew, or 
 smoke, or snuff that bitter weed, and say — '■Ht 
 is a harmless luxury.'''' You would not expend 
 unnecessarily one cent in building and orna- 
 menting that house in which you are to lodge 
 for a iiew nights only before you appear in the 
 
108 
 
 presence of the righteous Judge of all the earth, 
 to here him pass sentence on your character 
 and conduct. 
 
 L'nder such circumstances, you would ex- 
 elude all costly furniture^ and pictures of eve- 
 ry kind, from your habitation. Were the pain- 
 ter or the pedlar, to approach your door with 
 their splendid trash, you would drive them from 
 your presence, and indignantly exclaim — '-''will 
 you insult a man ofsorroiv, whose dearest friends 
 and nearest relatives^ are involved in abject bond- 
 age^ but may be redeemed with moneyV 
 
 Neither would you under such 'painful^ mor- 
 tifying circumstances, repair to the store and 
 purchase a fine hat, when you could procure 
 one of a coarse texture which would be as du- 
 rable for one half the money. That fine broad 
 cloth of which your coat is made, would have 
 remained unmolested on the merchant's shelf. 
 Nor would your affectionate daughters consent 
 to waste your money for silk, or lace, or veils, 
 or ribands, or jewellery of any kind; they would 
 cast such flimsy trash from their presence with 
 contempt. If they were tantalized, or derided 
 by the gay, the thoughtless, the vain and 
 frivolous part of their sex, because of their 
 rustic appearance, they would honourably 
 reply, "Our /ctf/ier's mother^ sister ^ and brother, 
 are in poverty, degradation, and bondage, and 
 
109 
 
 may be redeemed with money; therefore we 
 will not waste one cent of our father's money 
 unnecessarily until they are relieved from their 
 deplorable condition, and can enjoy the bless- 
 ings of liberty, and the sweets of religion, with 
 our father and his family. 
 
 Would not such a course of conduct in your 
 daughters be truly honourable, and cause your 
 heart to swell with emotions of gratitude? 
 
 Were the daughters of Columbia universally 
 influenced by such just and exalted sentiments, 
 there would not be found so many unhappy 
 families in our country. The sheriff and the 
 lawyers would then be left almost without em- 
 ployment; they would be compelled to return 
 to agricultural or scientific pursuits for their 
 support. Peace, plenty, and harmony, would 
 everywhere abound^ giving rise to a stream of 
 righteousness flowing through the land in every 
 direction, fertilizing the soil, and invigorating 
 the roots of virtue until the whole earth would 
 be crowned and clothed with the flowers of 
 Eden, and the fruits of paradise. 
 
 We do not presume to say that strangers 
 should receive the same degree of protection 
 at our hands which we extend to our near re- 
 latives. In this probationary state, the mem- 
 bers of our own family are made more dear to 
 us than others for wise and merciful purposes; 
 
110 
 
 were it not so, fallen sinful men would regard 
 their children or their parents no more than 
 they now respect the sufferings of their de- 
 graded slaves. 
 
 The great truth which must be defended, is, 
 that God is no respecter of persons; therefore 
 our slaves are as dear to him as we are, and 
 we shall all stand on the same level in the day 
 of judgment. 
 
 Brethren we beseech you no longer slumber 
 and fold your hands together, and say, '■Hoe can 
 do nothing^ Neither should you wait one 
 moment for others to precede or accompany 
 you in effecting this important object. Every 
 one will have to give an account to God for 
 himself You should at least give all that you 
 can possibly save from the ordinary expenses 
 of your family or can make by extra labour. 
 
 If all your brethren in the church will not 
 unite with you — nay if not one of them will 
 join you in this work of righteousness and la- 
 bour of love, you should proceed alone. 
 
 It would be a desperate argument to say — 
 "/ will be virtuous and honourable^ if all my 
 neighbours will unite with me and be virtuous 
 and honourable also?'' 
 
 Respecting emancipation, some of our friends 
 say, their slaves are utterly unwilling to leave 
 them — they will not go to Liberia, and they 
 
Ill 
 
 cannot possibly force them. In all such cases 
 we can only recommend you to act in the fear of 
 God. Honestly represent, or get some person in 
 whom your slave can confide, to make to them 
 a fair statement of facts as they exist. Let 
 them know that in Africa they can be, not only 
 free, but honoured and respected just in pro- 
 portion to their virtue and merit. In our 
 country they can never hope to be ever re- 
 spected by white people generally. They 
 must here forever remain a degraded people, 
 nor is it possible for a master to treat them as 
 justice and mercy would dictate. When a fair 
 representation of the case is made to them and 
 they still refuse to be free, you must then do 
 the best you can with, and for them, honestly 
 commilting yourself and your slaves to the 
 guidance of Almighty God, who will soon in- 
 cline their hearts to go to Africa, or he will 
 open some other door for their reception. 
 
 These circumstances, however, need not 
 prevent you from contributing liberally to the 
 fund for their relief, which will, in a few years, 
 if zealously engaged in, render Africa an ho- 
 nourable, desirable home for every coloured 
 man in our country. Then will they go and 
 thank you for your kindness. At present they 
 lack confidence. 
 
 Make an honest effort; faithfully perform 
 
112 
 
 your part; and then leave the result to that 
 God who sitteth on the throne and ruleth all 
 things well. Inactivity w ill form an important 
 part of your crime. Your condemnation will 
 proceed from your own remissness. 
 
 Secondly. An appeal may next be made 
 with great propriety to our brethren whose 
 location is more fortunate than our own; to 
 those who are happily placed beyond the 
 boundary line of slavery; to those who dwell 
 in our free and happy states, where the de- 
 grading epithets of master and slave are never 
 heard. 
 
 Because you are far removed from the re- 
 gion where the destructive epidemic of slavery 
 exerts its fatal influence; because you are lo- 
 cated on a soil which produces no slavery, 
 will you, therefore, feel no interest in the safety 
 and prosperity of your brethren placed under 
 different circumstances? Are you the servants 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ — the children of the 
 Most High God? And can you expatriate 
 yourselves from the family of our common 
 Father? Are we not all emphatically one in 
 Christ? St. Paul says, ^^so we being many^ are 
 one body in Christ, and every one members one 
 of another.'''' 
 
 Can this endearing, this intimate and honour- 
 able connexion, we respectfully ask, be dis- 
 
113 
 
 solved by cliraes, or by circumstances? It 
 cannot; consequently, you are bound by tbe 
 ties of the Gospel — by the bonds of Christian 
 charity, to identify your fortune and your fate, 
 in a good degree, with your brethren who are 
 implicated in this evil. 
 
 In this fraternal — this rational appeal, we 
 would not advert to former times and circum- 
 stances. Our eastern brethren have not for- 
 gotten that they greatly contributed to bind 
 the polluted badge of slavery around our necks. 
 This fatal error^this reprehensible course of 
 conduct growing out of an unhallowed thirst 
 for gold, we freely forgive; but do not forsake 
 us when your aid is necessary. Do not begin 
 to say: — ^'' We are safe, and contented, and hap- 
 py, therefore our unfortunate friends at a dis- 
 tance tvho are differently situated must manage 
 their own concerns in their own way." Were 
 you at sea in a violent storm, when every suc- 
 ceeding wave threatened the vessel, and all on 
 board with destruction; would you feel entire- 
 ly unconcerned, and make no effort to save the 
 ship because you were only a passenger.'' The 
 existence of slavery in our country is a na- 
 tional crimej as well as a national disgrace; 
 and we must all stand or fall together. If we 
 are all the children of God; if we are all one 
 in Christ Jesus, you can no more feel uncon- 
 cerned about our situation, or stand off and 
 II 
 
114 
 
 refuse to administer to our necessities, than 
 a sober man could see a dreadful ulcer on his 
 arm, and disregard it, because it was not on his 
 head, or on some other part of his body. 
 
 Thirdly. We impressively and affection- 
 ately appeal to every • individual member in 
 every branch of Christ's church in these Uni- 
 ted States. 
 
 How long shall we disgrace our heavenly 
 Father's name, and tarnish the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ, by our unnatural, and our unholy di- 
 visions and contentions? Do we not, like the 
 Israelites of old, draw nigh to God with our 
 lips, while our hearts are far from him? Do 
 we not daily pray — ^Hhy will he done on earth 
 as it is done in heavenV* 
 
 There is no division or discord in heaven; 
 neither should there be in the church on earth. 
 If, however, we have so little religion — so 
 little of our divine Master's spirit, that we can- 
 not agree in sentiment respecting our doctrine 
 — our views of church government — our forms 
 and ceremonies — our meats and our drinks; 
 surely we can all harmonize, and unite our 
 efforts to promote the cause of justice and 
 HUMANITY. Our brethren — our heavenly Fa- 
 ther's children, are now in bondage; — igno- 
 rance and degradation, encompass them about 
 as a thick cloud. They cry, and their cries 
 have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth; 
 
115 
 
 nor will he forget the cry of the needy for- 
 ever. If we neglect our duty, and turn away 
 from our brother in distress — Almighty God 
 may turn away from us in the day of our ca- 
 lamity. 
 
 In view of this momentous subject, and at 
 the sacred shrine of mercy, surely we can all 
 meet, and meet as children of the same Fa- 
 ther. In this just and righteous cause, there 
 is nothing to excite our jealousies, or to provoke 
 any of us to displeasure; here the Calvinist 
 and the Armenian, can walk side by side in 
 perfect harmony— the Catholic, and the Pro- 
 testant — the Episcopalian and the Dissenter — 
 the advocates for sprinkling and for immer- 
 sion, may all stand together on the same holy 
 ground of sympathy, and commingle their 
 tears and their pence together, those little 
 rivulets, rising into a broad stream of mercy, 
 would bear the unhallowed name and stain of 
 slavery from our shore, and bury it deep be- 
 neath the Atlantic wave; while upon the sur- 
 face of this swelling tide, the sacred treasure 
 of liberty and the Gospel should be deposited 
 securely on the benighted coast of Africa, 
 there to rise and shine with transcendant 
 lustre, never again to be extinguished. 
 
 "Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands 
 unto God. Princes shall come out of Egypt." 
 The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, and 
 who will disannul his words? 
 
116 
 
 Great and noble efforts are now making to 
 send the Gospel into all the world — into 
 every clime and country on earth.** Let us for 
 one moment reflect on the inconsistency of 
 sending missionaries to distant countries and 
 the isles of the sea, to preach liberty to the 
 captive — life and salvation to the poor degrad- 
 ed, heathen nations; while such a large por- 
 tion of our own family at home are entirely 
 neglected. Suppose an intelligent heathen 
 were to submit the following interrogatives to 
 one of our missionaries, i. e. "in your happy 
 country where the Gospel has so long obtain- 
 ed, do Christians all love each other tenderly? 
 Is there no oppression, or violence practised 
 in all your Christian land? Does every Chris- 
 tian there love his neighbour as himself? This 
 is the substance of what you preach to us; how 
 is it in your own country?" 
 
 Would not the plain, honest Christian mis- 
 sionary have to confess his sins before a heathen 
 tribunal? He would be. compelled to say: — -"In 
 the very heart of our Christian land, where the 
 Gospel is preached daily, nearly one-half of 
 the inhabitants are involved in impervious dark- 
 ness; they are not taught, nor permitted to read 
 the word of God; they are nearly all profound- 
 ly ignorant. They are set up at auction and 
 sold to the highest bidder, like oxen and horses, 
 by the authority of our Christian laws. Pa- 
 
117 
 
 rents and children, icives and husbands, are torn 
 asunder for the sake of a few cents, no more to 
 meet on earth; nor are they suffered to utter 
 one word of complaint. If they are caught to- 
 gether worshipping their Creator, any common 
 wicked man if he wears a white skin, may 
 disperse them, and have them chastised for 
 their presumption." 
 
 Would not the heathen man say: — "Return 
 home and learn to be just and merciful, be- 
 fore you attempt to be generous. Teach your 
 Christian brethren to let their captive brother 
 go free— to unloose the heavy burden from the 
 shoulders of the oppressed. Go home and learn 
 your own people to do justice and to love 
 MERCY, before you come so far to teach us 
 these important lessons." 
 
 Can we rationally hope to be permanently 
 respected and useful abroad, while we are so 
 deeply disgraced at home? Such a supposition 
 is not reasonable; therefore, our first great ef- 
 fort should be to remove the evil of slaver} 
 from our own land, if we expect to be success- 
 ful in preaching liberty and the Gospel to the 
 heathen nations. 
 
 The existence of slavery among us as a free 
 and religious people, presents innumerable in- 
 consistencies and absurdities. It may not be 
 unprofitable to advert to a few of them. 
 
 Through the assistance of Almighty God, 
 we broke the yoke of bondage imposed on us 
 11* 
 
118 
 
 by George the Third, from our own necks; we 
 established our independence as a nation; we 
 then proclaimed our sentiments to all the world 
 by declaring that, "All men are created 
 EauAL, that they are endoivecl by their Creator 
 with certain tmalienahle rights; that among 
 these are life, liberty, and the pursuit oe 
 happiness;" and then, fearlessly, and without a 
 blush of shame, we placed our feet on the necks 
 of a large portion of our own family, and pe- 
 remptorily say; you shall not taste the citp of lib- 
 erty, YOU shall not inhale one free breath. We 
 sing around our festive board, and publicly 
 cry in the streets, in open day — "liberty and 
 EauALiTY. There are no kings nor tyrants 
 in our free, happy, Christian country — hail 
 Columbia, happy land." With this triumphant 
 song of liberty and equality on our lips, and 
 while we are feasting on the richest bounties 
 of heaven, we hold in our hand a chain with 
 which we bind two millions of our own bre- 
 thren in servile abject bondage, because they 
 are guilty of the crime of bearing a dark com- 
 plexion! They are made an object of sale and 
 barter, like our domestic animals, nor are they 
 permitted to speak one word in their own de- 
 fence. 
 
 We boast of our freedom, and say we make 
 OUR OWN laws; but when our attention is di- 
 rected to the condition of our slaves, we piously 
 sigh and say: " We art truly sorry for these poor 
 
119 
 
 creatures; but the laws of our country will 
 not suffer us to educate or emancipate them; 
 therefore, ice can do nothing to alleviate their 
 sufferings — the providence of God has placed 
 them among us, and we must patiently wait the 
 Lordh time to deliver themV 
 
 God commands us to do as we would be 
 done by — to love our neighbour as ourselves; 
 and positively says, we must not love the world 
 — yet, we as free and pious Christians, can 
 buy and sell for a ^qw pieces of silver, our own 
 brother—God's child, and that soul for whom 
 Christ died, and then repair to the Lord's earth- 
 ly sanctuary, and occupy the chief seats in the 
 synagogue; there assume a dignified position 
 and a sanctified appearance, and with great 
 reverence and delight listen to the exalted 
 principles of justice and mercy, illustrated 
 and enforced from the pulpit!! 
 
 By our conduct and words we virtually 
 charge a merciful and just God with placing 
 among us two millions of his own children, 
 to be held in degradation, ignorance, and per- 
 petual bondage, and openly say, "we can do 
 nothing — the subject is too great and fearful 
 for us even to look upon;" — when three 
 CENTS PER WEEK from cvcry member of the 
 church, would pay their passage to Africa and 
 in less than thirty -three years send them back 
 to the land of their forefathers, to bless and 
 comfort their heathen ancestors; yet, we will 
 
120 
 
 expend ten or twenty, or even fifty times that 
 amount in extravagance; we will contract 
 debts which we are unable to pay, that we 
 may gratify our. own passions and appetites, 
 and indulge our children in vanity and dissipa- 
 tion!! 
 
 The contemplation of these scenes, of these 
 inconsistencies and absurdities, which the prac- 
 tice of slavery present to our view, should 
 cause every honourable individual in our coun- 
 try to blush and say, "slavery shall be banish- 
 ed from our land, if that object can be accom- 
 plished by human effort." 
 
 Were we strictly and faithfully to follow 
 our divine Master's command and example, 
 this disordered world would soon be delivered 
 from the tyrannical grasp of the prince of dark- 
 ness; vice and ignorance; cruelty and oppres- 
 sion — violence and slavery would soon be 
 banished from the world. 
 
 Let us, therefore, as Christians, "anse and be 
 doing?'' Leave those who do not belong to 
 the Redeemer's fold, to act for themselves; if 
 they aid in this good cause, be it so — let them 
 do all they can; we hope they will — but 
 soldiers of the cross should march forward un- 
 der the command of the Great Head of the 
 church — the Captain of our salvation. They 
 should proceed to this holy war in solid pha- 
 lanx, clothed with light and love^ "looking 
 forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as 
 ^he sun, and terrible as an army with banners." 
 
121 
 
 Christians "are the salt of the earth: but if 
 the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall 
 it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, 
 but to be cast out and to be trodden under 
 foot of man." 
 
 If we who profess to be Christ's followers, 
 exert not a saving influence — if the cor- 
 ruption OF SLAVERY is not lieaUcl — if the 
 church and state is not cleansed from this moral 
 pollution, we must be cast out of the Lord's 
 sight, and not only be trodden under foot of 
 man, but fall into eternal ruin. 
 
 The Lord commanded the Israelites, saying, 
 ^Hhou shalt neither vex a stranger nor op- 
 press HIM, for ye were strangers in the land 
 of Egypt. Tliou shalt not oppress a hired ser- 
 vant that is poor and ntedy^ whether he he of 
 thy brethren^^or of thy stranger's that are in thy 
 land within thy gates; at his day thou shalt give 
 him his hire., oieither shall the sun go down upon 
 it; for he is poor and setteth his heart upon it; 
 lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it 
 shall be sin unto thee. The Lord will also be a 
 refuge for the oppressed, a refuge IN 
 TIME OF trouble. lie shall judge the poor 
 of the people; he shall save the children of the 
 needy: and shall break in pieces the op- 
 pressor. Rob not the poor because he is poor; 
 neither oppress the afflicted in the gate; for the 
 Lord will plead their cause, and spoil 
 the soul of those that spoiled them. Is 
 
122 
 
 not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the 
 bands of icickedness^ to undo the heavy burdens, 
 to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break 
 every yoke?^^ 
 
 These solemn and impressive injunctions and 
 declarations, should cause us who are slave- 
 holders under the burning rajs of Gospel light, 
 to fear and tremble and search our own hearts, 
 and in the Gospel scales of justice and right- 
 eousness, weigh well our conduct. 
 
 The Gospel of Jesus Christ which pro- 
 claims peace and mercy to all mankind; Jew 
 and gentile; rich and poor; bond and free, 
 speaks a language which should make every 
 rich man pause and reflect seriously, and every 
 slaveholder's ears tingle. 
 
 "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for 
 your miseries that shall come upon you. Your 
 riches are corrupted, and your geirments are moth 
 eaten. ' Your gold and silver is cankered, and 
 the rust of them shall be a witness against you, 
 and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have 
 heaped treasure together for the last days. Be- 
 hold, the hire of the labourers which have reaped 
 down your fields, which is of you kept back by 
 fraud, crieth; and the cries of them that have 
 reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of 
 Sabaoth. Yehave lived in pleasure on the earth 
 
 *Exo. xxii. 21. Deut. xxiv. 14, 15. Ps. ix. 9, and Ixxii. 4. Prov. 
 xiii. 22, 23. Isaiah Iviii. 6. 
 
123 
 
 and been wanton; ye have nourished your 
 hearts as in a day of slaugther?^*" 
 
 It is unnecessary to make any comment on 
 these impressive declarations from the mouth 
 of the Lord. They will apply to us with pe- 
 culiar force. We should, therefore, no long- 
 er slumber on the verge of such an awful pre- 
 cipice, when the next step may precipitate us 
 into the gulph of ruin. If we are honest, and 
 discharge our duty diligently and faithfully, 
 the merciful aid and blessings of heaven will 
 not be withheld. If we are careless or re- 
 fractory, and refuse to act our part until all 
 concerned will unite with us, we must in all 
 probability be destroyed; reason's voice will at 
 least justify such a conclusion; and the lower- 
 ing signs now perceptible in our political hori- 
 zon, strengthen this apprehension, and pro- 
 claim the momentous period to be not far dis- 
 tant. 
 
 Ministers of the most high God, discharge 
 your duty, and the ransomed of the Lord will 
 soon return home, with songs of everlasting 
 joy upon their heads. Joy and gladness will 
 soon spring up in the heart of every poor 
 African, and sorrow and sighing will flee 
 away forever. 
 
 The approach of those returning exiles to 
 the gloomy shores of degraded Africa, with 
 
 ♦James v. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 
 
124 
 
 the Gospel torch of redeeming love burning on 
 the altar of their hearts, would cause those 
 beasts of prey which have so long prowled in 
 shades of night, revelling on blood and carnage, 
 to fly from their favourite haunts, to be seen no 
 more on earth. The voice of Israel's God 
 would then be heard to sound from children's 
 lips, long lost — long dead, returning home, 
 alive, renovated, and restored to the image of 
 their Maker. No stranger's voice would then 
 be heard to speak the soft but cruel language 
 of avarice' No longer then would Jacob's 
 voice be heard, and Esau's hand be felt by the 
 degraded sons of Ham. 
 
 The sound of mercy v/ould then,like the an- 
 gel's message to Judah's shepherds in days gone 
 by, fall like Hermon's dew, on the ears of savage 
 men, saying, hail long benighted land — world 
 of darkness, tears, and blood. Awake! — 
 awake! — Ethiopia stretch out thy sable arms 
 — shake off the gloomy folds of night. "Arise 
 and shine, for thy light is come, and the glory 
 of the Lord is risen upon thee." 
 
 Nor would the picture at home be less 
 pleasing to contemplate than the changed 
 scenery in Africa. We should then all be 
 really free; all of one conplexion; all of one 
 family: and thus be better prepared to glorify 
 God on earth as angels do in heaven. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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