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 THE PRESENT CRISIS: 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 Preached on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 29, 1860; 
 
 HENRY A.^'BOARDMAN, D.D. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 J. B. L I P P I N C O T T & CO. 
 
 1860. 
 
• 5" 
 ■B65 
 
 C. SHERMAN & SON, Priuters, 
 S. W. Corner Seventh and Cherry Streets, Vhilaadphia. 
 
Philadelphia, November 29, 1S60. 
 
 Rev. H. a. Boardmax, D.D. 
 
 Dear Sir: The undersigned, believing that the Thanksgiving Sermon 
 delivered bv a-ou this morning, will so commend itself to the patriotism 
 and common sense of the country as to exercise a decided influence in 
 allaying the unhappy feeling now prevalent North and South, respectfully 
 request a copy for publication. 
 
 Respectfully, your friends and fellow-citizens, 
 R. Patterson, R. C. Grier, 
 
 James Thompson, Henry Carleton, of La., 
 
 James Ross Snowden, Robert E. Patterson, 
 
 Martin Thomas, Jr., E. Cameron, 
 
 R. H. TowNSEND, M.D., John H. Brown, 
 
 William Yeitch, W. C. Patterson, 
 
 William Shippen, Hugh Elliott, 
 
 William A. Ingham, D. Hayes Agnew, M.D., 
 
 Andrew C. Craig, Hugh Craig. 
 
 Philadelphia, December 1, 1S60. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 In consenting to the publication of my sermon, I am doing what I had 
 fully determined not to do. It was with great reluctance that I undertook 
 to discuss the question of the day at all, especially as the limits of an ordi- 
 nary discourse would forbid me to do more than touch upon it in some of 
 its most obvious aspects. Those who may read the sermon, will be apt to 
 feel that there is too little said on the " Northern side" of this unhappy 
 controversy. My object, as tjou very well understand, was to lend my humble 
 influence to the adjustment of this unnatural strife. Should it please a 
 benign Providence to carry the Union through this conflict, it may be safely 
 left to the reason, the patriotism, and the religion of the country, to compose 
 all the differences which now distract us. Meanwhile, we must all agree, 
 that in the present posture of affairs, Disunion would be at once the most 
 unwarrantable and the most futile of all expedients for healing our troubles. 
 
As regards the fugitive slave law, every riglit-raiucled Southern man will 
 assent to these pi-opositions. 1st. That such a law should be so framed as 
 to afford adequate protection to free colored people ; and 2dly. That it 
 should embrace no provision. adapted simply to provoke resentful feeling, 
 without adding in the slightest degree to its efficiency. Let the law be so 
 shaped as to meet these conditions, and let the North repeal its nullifying 
 statutes, and this cause of irritation Avill be cancelled. 
 
 It may not be my province to speak of slavery in the Territories ; but I 
 cannot refrain from saying, that the whole agitation upon that subject looks 
 to me, in the main, like the work of desperate politicians. All the other 
 cardinal issues upon which the country has been divided, are put to rest. 
 The contingencies of ^/iw question must inevitably be controlled by agencies 
 which are paramount to all human legislation. But it offers a convenient 
 lever for stirring up the sediment of party feeling, and fomenting our sec- 
 tional jealousies; and therefore it must be plied, no matter what the con- 
 sequences to the country. We who are not politicians (I speak for some 
 millions of people) have too deep a stake in the Republic to regard this 
 course of things with satisfaction. 
 
 It fell to my lot, just ten years ago, to preach a Sermon on " The Uxion," 
 which some of the gentlemen, whose signatures are attached to the note 
 before me, took an active part in circulating. That sermon has long been 
 out of print. The incompleteness of the argument presented in my recent 
 discourse, makes me unwilling that the one pamphlet should go forth without 
 the other. I have, therefore, requested the publishers to issue a limited 
 edition of the sermon of 1850. 
 
 With a grateful appreciation of the kindness with which you regard my 
 humble efforts in behalf of our country, 
 
 I remain. Gentlemen, 
 
 Very faithfully yours, 
 
 Hexry a. Boardmax. 
 
 To the Hox. Robert C. Grier, Major-Gexeral Pattersox, Hox. Hexry 
 Carletox, of La., Hox. James Thompsox, and others. 
 
SERMON. 
 
 " I WILL SIXG OF MERCY AKD JUDGMEXT. 
 
 PSALM 101 : 1. 
 
 This will strike you as an unusual text for a Thanks- 
 giving Discourse. But it requires neither apology nor 
 explanation; for it is not more "unusual" than the 
 circumstances in which we meet. 
 
 We are summoned to our sanctuaries to render 
 thanks to God for his manifold blessings. It is a 
 fitting service. We may well " sing of mercy." For 
 what tongue can recount our mercies^ For another 
 year, God has blessed us with peace. He has ex- 
 empted our cities from the pestilence. With the 
 exception of a portion of our territory, which has 
 been scourged with a protracted drought, the harvests 
 were never more abundant. For another twelvemonth 
 the country has enjoyed the ordinances of the Gospel. 
 The Churches have prospered. The institutions of 
 Christian benevolence have grown stronger, and the 
 work of Missions has been carried forward, at home 
 and abroad, with increased energy. If we turn to our 
 own private and domestic affairs, there is the same 
 
6 
 
 record of mercies, — the same uninteiTupted flow of 
 the Divine goodness. We must be obdurate, indeed, 
 not to feel that we have cause to keep a Day of 
 Thanksgiving unto God; to "come before his pre- 
 sence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise 
 unto him with Psalms." 
 
 And yet it is not all mercy. There is a. shadow 
 upon our joy. This sacred festival comes to us cur- 
 tained with clouds. We have to " sing of judgment" 
 as well as mercy. For we cannot look over the land 
 without an undefined sense of danger and sorrow, 
 which vnll blend itself with our anthems of praise. 
 
 This feeling must be very general to-day. Some 
 may try to stifle it, with the consciousness, real or 
 imaginary, that they have had no agency in producing 
 the present state of things. Others may try to drown 
 it in reproaches heaped upon those Avhom they regard 
 as the authors of our misfortunes. But still the feel- 
 ing exists. The love of the Union is too strong to be 
 suppressed when danger threatens. It is too strong 
 for philosophy ; too strong for party zeal ; too strong 
 for sectional prejudice ; too strong even for the con- 
 scious desire to do justice to all men and to all cpies- 
 tions. The Union has come to be associated in our 
 minds with our most sacred civil rights and privileges ; 
 and, reason about it as we may, when it is imperilled, 
 our fears and anxieties can no more be repressed, than 
 could those of the Hebrews when the ark of the 
 covenant was in jeopardy. 
 
 That it should be imperilled now, — that in the 
 
midst of peace, plenty, and prosperity, every branch 
 of business flourishing, and the masses of the people 
 supplied with the means of a comfortable subsistence 
 and of social progress, beyond any other nation the 
 sun shines upon, we should find ourselves face to face 
 with this most appalling calamity, a dhruptmi of the 
 Union, is an anomaly to which the annals of mankind 
 afford no parallel, and which, should the blow fall, 
 future historians will ponder with astonishment. 
 
 Of the causes which have conspired to bring about 
 this crisis, this is not the place to speak in detail. It 
 might not comport with the office I bear, to utter all 
 that I think and feel on the subject. But the agencies 
 at work in engendering these troubles, are not purely 
 political. So far from it, the political element has 
 recruited itself from the realm of morals, and even 
 invoked the sacred name of Religion to second its 
 efforts: and it has by this alliance accomplished what 
 it never could have effected by its own resources. 
 That the Christianity of the country is a mighty 
 power for good or evil, must be apparent from the 
 fact, that the various denominations reputed " Evan- 
 gelical," comprised, ten years ago, an aggregate of 
 nearly thirty thousand ministers and churches: it 
 may, under the new census, amount to forty thousand. 
 "When we consider that the Church is a Divine insti- 
 tution; that its ministry and ordinances are of God; 
 and that it has during the past eighteen centuries 
 wrought greater changes in the condition of the world 
 than all other agencies combined: we cannot err in 
 
8 
 
 supposing that it is capable of wielding a potential in- 
 fluence for good or for evil in our own country. We 
 may go further and say, that if it had wisely and faith- 
 fully fulfilled its mission, the evils which now beset us 
 might have been prevented, or greatly ameliorated. 
 This observation is not made of any one sect, nor of 
 any one section of the country. I am dealing with 
 general views of the subject, and affirm, that it is a 
 legitimate inference from the existing state of things, 
 that our Christianity has come short of its mission. 
 It ougld to have accomplished far more towards miti- 
 gating our social evils, imbuing the people with senti- 
 ments of moderation and justice, and making the 
 citizens of different States kind and tolerant towards 
 each other. 
 
 To speak plainly, — for we have but one trouble, and 
 all these bitter streams may be traced to that fountain, 
 this whole subject of Slavery has been managed in a 
 way which reflects discredit upon our Christianity. 
 There ouglit to have been religion enough in the coun- 
 try to repress or preclude the disorders which have 
 grown out of tlie agitation of the subject. It ought 
 to be competent to the people, of whatever States or 
 territories, to meet together and discuss the subject 
 without asperity of feeling. We are one people. 
 Our government is one. We are one in our achieve- 
 ments and traditions ; one in our rights and interests. 
 It is worse than idle, it is offensive and disreputable, 
 for one portion of the Union to vaunt itself over 
 another. It is not only the law of reason and con- 
 
9 
 
 sanguiiiity, but the necessity of our political condition, 
 that if one member suffer, all must suffer with it. 
 However we might wish it otherwise, our experi- 
 ence at the present moment must satisfy the most 
 skeptical, that this point is irrevocably settled. Self- 
 interest, then, no less than equity, forbids us to do 
 anything which looks to the advantage of one part of 
 the confederacy at the expense of another. And cer- 
 tainly Christianity will not tolerate this. 
 
 But to give some order and consistency to the dis- 
 cussion, let us inquire briefly, What Christianity 
 
 DOES REQUIRE OR FORBID AT OUR HANDS, IN RESPECT TO 
 THIS VEXED QUESTION OF SLAVERY. 
 
 We shall all agree that Christianity permits us to 
 form our own views respecting the abstract morality of 
 slavery, — subject, of course, to the responsibility we 
 owe to God. 
 
 You have made up your mind that slavery is neces- 
 sarily sinful. Not only is it wrong in its accessories 
 and abuses, but the relation itself is wrong. It is sin- 
 ful per se. So that every one who holds a slave is 
 living in wilful sin. — You have a right to your opinion. 
 You have a right to express it. You have a right to 
 try to win others to the same view, provided only you 
 make use of fair arguments, and present them in a 
 Christian spirit. 
 
 But Christianity secures the same right of opinion 
 to your neighbor — living, it may be, in the same 
 square with you, or living a thousand miles away. 
 He believes that slavery is right. He regards it as 
 
10 
 
 the best form which the universal and necessary de- 
 pendence of labor upon capital, can assume. He 
 believes that as to the African race, it is the true con- 
 dition for their security and happiness. — He has the 
 same right to his opinions that you have ; and the 
 same right to disseminate them, — provided he do it 
 by fair means and in a becoming temper. 
 
 Here is a third individual who differs from you 
 both. Slavery, as it exists in our Southern States, is 
 not, in his view, " essentially" sinful ; but it is a great 
 evil, and there are many sins growing out of it. It 
 is desirable (he thinks) that it should be abolished, — 
 desirable for both races, for the whites equally with 
 the blacks. — He, too, is entitled to his opinion ; and 
 has the liberty of propagating it, — always, however, 
 with the limitations which have been prescribed. 
 
 Leaving these parties for a moment, let us glance 
 at the posture of things in our country. 
 
 Slavery existed in these Colonies at the time of the 
 Revolutionary war. It was one of the chief hin- 
 derances to the formation of a Federal compact. The 
 Southern States would consent to a Union only upon 
 the condition, that the Constitution should insure the 
 rendition of " persons held to service" in one State, on 
 their escaping to another.''"'- The Convention and the 
 
 ■■* " No porson held to service or labor in one State, under the laws 
 thereof, escaping into anotlier, shall, in conse([uence of any law or regula- 
 tion therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall l)e de- 
 livered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be 
 due." — Constitution of the United Stales, Art. iv, Sect. 2. 
 
11 
 
 country had to choose between this alternative, and 
 No Union.''" They did choose. The provision was duly 
 incorporated with the Constitution. The compact 
 thus formally made, was as formally ratified. It has 
 been accepted by every State which has come into the 
 Union since. And God has set his seal to the wisdom 
 and patriotism of the founders of the Republic, by 
 crowning the government they established with un- 
 exampled prosperity. 
 
 The Union established, several of the States abol- 
 ished slavery within their limits ; others retained it. 
 Under the Constitution, each State has the paramount 
 and undivided jurisdiction of this question within its 
 own territory. One State may no more interfere with 
 the legislation of another on this subject, than Eng- 
 land may interfere with the legislation of France on 
 the question of a Poor-law or a University. 
 
 To recall, now, two of our representatives. Suppose 
 the second of them, in his zealous advocacy of slavery, 
 should bestir himself to have the system reinstated in 
 the Free States : that he should denounce these States 
 as refusing to conform their social economy to the 
 most approved model ; that he should brand their 
 churches as unfaithful to the truth, because (I am 
 
 * This has been disputed. But Judge McLean, of the Supreme Court, 
 in giving his opinion in a fugitive case which came before him in 1853, 
 made the following statement; "Without a provision on the subject, no 
 constitution could have been adopted. 'I speak from information received 
 from the late Chief Justice Marshall, who was one of the chief actors in 
 that day, than whom no man then living was of higher authority." 
 
12 
 
 stating the case as he would be likely to put it) they 
 woulcl not encourage the restoration of a primitive 
 Scriptural institution which God Himself ordained by 
 express statute among the Hebrews (See Lev. 25 : 39- 
 46 ; Exod. 21 : 2-6) ; which the Saviour forbore, in 
 any direct terms, to condemn ; which the Apostles im- 
 pliedly sanctioned by prescribing the reciprocal duties 
 of masters and servants ; and which the entire Chris- 
 tian Church cherished without compunction until the 
 latter part of the eighteenth century, as an institution 
 not prohibited by the word of God. Suppose, I say, 
 this pro-slavery enthusiast should assail the North in 
 this spirit and on these grounds ; and that he should 
 use the pulpit, the rostrum, and the press, to inflame 
 the minds of his fellow-citizens against the Northern 
 people, their legislatures, their courts, and their 
 churches, because they refused to come into his views 
 of slavery. Would this be Christianity ? Would this 
 be exercising a right ? or carrying out a principle of 
 morals ] or fulfilling the stipulations of the Constitu- 
 tion I If I must answer these questions for you, I 
 would say, that a career like this could derive as little 
 countenance from religion as from patriotism ; and 
 that whatever might be the personal convictions of 
 the party concerned, to attempt to force them by such 
 means upon the people of the Free States, would be 
 as unwarrantable as it would to apply the same sort 
 of moral intimidation to the people of Holland or 
 of Prussia for the same end, I say, further, that a pro- 
 cedure of this kind, if persevered in, would enkindle 
 
13 
 
 a feeling of indignation througliont the entire North, 
 which nothing conld abate but an absolute renuncia- 
 tion of this policy. 
 
 If I hesitate about reversing this picture, and 
 tracing the imaginary career of the first of the three 
 representative characters introduced to you, it is be- 
 cause I do not wish to foment feeling on this sub- 
 ject ; I would if possible allay it. But it would seem 
 as if the most obvious moral distinctions and the 
 plainest rules even of Christian duty, were sometimes 
 completely obscured by the clouds and dust of a 
 political canvass. If the country is to be extricated 
 from its present lamentable condition, all parties wiU 
 have sins to confess and forsake. We must retrace 
 our steps to the solid ground where we stood iorjether 
 for so many years, a united, happy, and thriving 
 people. And the only way to do this, is to see just 
 what the devious path is by which we have been led 
 astray. 
 
 I have sketched the career of an earnest pro-slavery 
 man essaying to coerce the Free States into the re- 
 adoption of that system. Nine-tenths of the congre- 
 gation present will be ready to say, that the " counter- 
 part" to this picture would fail to do justice to the 
 prevalent sentiment of the North towards the South ; 
 and that it is a calumny to allege, that there is any 
 general disposition to invade the constitutional rights 
 of the South. Conceding the truth of this to a certain 
 extent, it could not be deemed inapposite to refer 
 here to the legislation which has, in so many States, 
 
14 
 
 practically nullified one of the vital compromises of 
 the Constitution already referred to. That Christi- 
 anity must reprobate the violation of a compact, of 
 such profound significance that it is justly regarded 
 as one of the main pillars of our Union, is too clear 
 to require argument. But it is more to my purpose 
 to speak of what may have been done in the name of 
 religion. 
 
 It is the moral aspect of the institution with which 
 our representative-man has to do. In his view, slavery 
 is essentially a sin. He feels bound, therefore, to set 
 himself against it. Not content with defending his 
 own views by argument, he enters upon a crusade 
 against his brethren whose lot it is to have inherited 
 this system of servitude. In terms, he concedes their 
 entire political control over the subject. He would 
 " let them manage it as they see fit." But their good 
 name and cliarader are a fair target for his shafts. 
 They are the sponsors of an institution w^hich is sur- 
 charged with iniquity. He employs the pulpit and 
 the press, the lyceum and the legislative hall, to ex- 
 patiate on its enormities. He would on no account " in- 
 terfere with it :" that he has no legal right to do ! But 
 no law forbids him to fill the public car with tales of 
 horror about it, and to spread far and wide the im- 
 pression that all slaveholders are monsters of lust and 
 cruelty. It were something if he enlisted in this 
 crusade, only the secular press and popular assemblies. 
 But it is a religious question. He takes it into the 
 house of God. He brings it into grave ecclesiastical 
 
15 
 
 convocations. And with such skill does he ply his 
 mighty enginery, that step by step he triumphs over 
 their reason, and persuades them, even with the Bible 
 in their hands, to proclaim that a slaveholder can 
 have no place in the Church of Christ ! 
 
 It is of no avail to allege that these extreme views 
 are confined to a small number of persons. For it 
 cannot be denied, that they have proved strong 
 enough to divide most of the leading denominations 
 of the country. And the whole current of influence, 
 with the Northern portions of these churches, as well 
 as with a large part of the churches of New England, 
 has gone to affix the base stigma upon the tens of 
 thousands of noble-minded and devout Christians at 
 the South, that they were persons utterly unfit to come 
 to the Lord's table. 
 
 Is this Christianity'? Is this fulfilling the compro- 
 mises of the Constitution^ Is this cherishing the 
 Union? Is it helping either the white man or the 
 black man ^ 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding these facts, neither religion 
 nor patriotism has forsaken the country. The people, 
 as a body, have no sympathy with measures which 
 tend to disturb the harmony of the States. They 
 may be misled for a while. Even the educated 
 and influential classes may become so familiarized to 
 a style of discussion like that just referred to, on the 
 part of orators and journalists, as not to heed the deep 
 and flagrant wrong it is doing to a large portion of 
 the country. It may require some great shock to 
 
16 
 
 break up this slumber, and dissipate the fogs, and 
 reveal the rocks towards which the ship is driving. 
 But once aroused, no effort will be wanting which 
 may help to avert the threatened catastrophe. 
 
 To this point, apparently, we have now come. For 
 the fourth time within forty years, — for the question 
 has recurred with a strange uniformity every decade, — 
 we are called to confer about the dismemberment of 
 the Union ; not, this time, as a mere possibility, but 
 as an event by no means improbable. The gravity of 
 the crisis is beginning to impress all minds: if there 
 be any who stilh treat it with levity, they are not of a 
 character to make their opinions worth noticing. 
 
 Of the calamities which a destruction of the Union 
 would involve, whether as regards our own welfare as 
 a nation, the prospects of the African race, or the 
 cause of civil and religious liberty throughout the 
 globe, I shall not trust myself to speak. But the 
 stake which Christianity has in the perpetuity of this 
 government, is beyond the power of language to ex- 
 press. The blow which strikes down our Constitution, 
 must tell with most disastrous effect upon the interests 
 of true religion at home and abroad. The instinct of 
 self-preservation, then, no less than a generous patriot- 
 ism, demands that Christianity should exert her be- 
 nign power to avert, if possible, this impending 
 disaster. And this obligation becomes all the more 
 imperative, when it is remembered that she has suf- 
 fered her high prerogrative to be abused, to the 
 accelerating of the evils which now encompass us. If 
 
17 
 
 the Christians of the country, or large numbers of 
 them, have, however unwittingly, contributed to bring 
 about the present state of things, they cannot, in 
 common integrity, refuse their aid in retrieving our 
 affairs. 
 
 The first recourse of the Church must be to the 
 throne of grace. There is no power wielded among 
 men greater than that of Prayer. It is an unspeak- 
 able comfort to know that " the Lord God Omnipotent 
 reigneth;" that nations are under his control; that he 
 can set up and destroy them at his ]oleasure ; and that 
 he has often interposed to deliver them from danger 
 in answer to prayer. The feeling which becomes us 
 is, — " Some trust in chariots, and some in horses : but 
 we will remember the name of the Lord our God." 
 Dark as may be the clouds above us, he has but to 
 blow upon them, and they are gone. Of the miUions 
 who make up the population of our land, there is not 
 an individual whose heart is not in His hand as the 
 clay is in the hands of the potter. The various as- 
 semblies of the people and of their rulers, in which 
 these grave issues are to be discussed, can be swayed 
 by his mysterious influence as easily as he guides the 
 breeze upon the waves. Nor ought we to doubt that 
 his ear will be open to the prayers of his people on 
 this behalf. For our institutions were founded in the 
 fear of God. He has blessed us with a profusion of 
 spiritual mercies. He has made this nation one of the 
 main buhvarks of the Protestant religion. And the 
 overthrow of our government would weaken the power 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 of Christianity all over the globe. We must believe, 
 then, that prayer for the deliverance and preservation 
 of the country will be acceptable to God. When 
 Moses interceded for the chosen people, against the 
 Egyptians; and Asa, against the Ethiopians; and 
 Jehoshaphat, against the Ammonites; and Hezekiah, 
 against the Assyrians, the coveted deliverance came. 
 Nay, to come nearer home, in the War of the Revolu- 
 tion, and at each of the great crises in our history, 
 already alluded to, the Church gave herself to impor- 
 tunate prayer; and the pillar of fire re-appeared to 
 guide us through the darkness. Why may it not be 
 so again'? 
 
 True it is, we have sinned against God. The pre- 
 vailing spirit of the nation has been a spirit of pride 
 and vain-glorious boasting. In our prosperity we 
 have forgotten our dependence. Denying the Author 
 of our mercies, we have virtually said, " My power 
 and the might of my hand hath gotten me this great- 
 ness." And He is rebuking our ingratitude and pre- 
 sumption. But He is not a vindictive Sovereign. 
 Judgment is His " strange work." The temper which 
 prompts a nation to prayer, will lead them to peni- 
 tence also; and if we return to God, Ciod will return 
 to us. 
 
 But this is not enough. If Christianity is to be the 
 arbiter of these strifes, she will enjoin a very different 
 treatment of the subject which has occasioned them, 
 from that which has prevailed of late years. 
 
 And here, before proceeding, let me meet a senti- 
 
\ 
 
 19 
 
 ment which may possibly be upon the lips of some who 
 are present. You will say to me, " Why do you speak 
 only of the misdeeds of the North'? Has the South 
 been guiltless in this matter "? Have we no aggres- 
 sions to complain of? And slauery itself, — why do 
 you not denounce the system, while you are telling us 
 what Christianity demands of ?(.s in respect to it 1" 
 
 These are frank questions, and they shall be as 
 frankly answered. 
 
 My general position, in this argument, is the follow- 
 ing, viz. : that it is, to a large extent, through the inert- 
 ness or by the perversion of our Christianity, that the 
 country has been brought into its present straits ; that 
 if, in dealing with the subject of slavery, we (the people 
 of all parties and sections) had been guided by the 
 principles and precepts of the Gospel, we should have 
 escaped these difficulties ; and that they can even now, 
 by God's blessing, be removed, if the spirit of true 
 religion be allowed to control the adjustment of them. 
 Let all parties agree to do wdiat the plainest dictates 
 of Christianity require them to do, and our troubles 
 are at an end. 
 
 This being the aim of the present discussion, I 
 dwell upon the delinquencies and duties of the North, 
 because I have to do with the North. There are, no 
 doubt, ministers of the Gospel at the South, who are 
 to-day expatiating on the errors and duties of the 
 South. I have said nothing, — I shall say nothing, — 
 which imports that all the right of this unhappy con- 
 troversy is upon one side, and all the wrong upon the 
 other; for I do not so believe. 
 
20 
 
 But when you ask me, in the name of Christianity, 
 to " denounce the system of slavery as it exists at the 
 South," I tell you frankly, that if I should stand up 
 in this pulpit and do this thing, I should expect Chris- 
 tianity to denounce me. Wherefore? Because I lihc 
 the system of African slavery, and desire to see it 
 perpetuated'? No: God forbid. But for these two 
 reasons. First. That is not ray concern. As a citizen 
 of a free State, I have all the obligations, political and 
 moral, that I care to have, without arrogating responsi- 
 bilities which do not belong to me. I am no more 
 answerable for Southern slavery, than T am for the 
 serfdom of Russia, or the military system of Austria. 
 The British government imposed it upon the Colo- 
 nies ; and the wliole burden of it now rests upon those 
 who have inherited it from that source. I do not 
 envy them the burden. If I could, I would gladly 
 lighten it for them. They have my sympathy. They 
 shall not have my maledictions. 
 
 In the second place, the office you would lay upon 
 me, is one which I could not discharge without vio- 
 lating sacred obligations, both ci^"il and religious. 
 
 The point has been already adverted to. I recur to 
 it for the piirpose of stating more distinctly ichat 
 Christianity demands of ws in the present crisis. 
 
 The feeling seems to have become widely diffused 
 through the Northern States, that the South could 
 liaA'e no just cause of complaint, except in the event 
 of some o^ert attempt to interfere with her internal 
 legislation. The fallacy of this idea has perhaps been 
 
21 
 
 made sufficiently apparent, by the supposed case of a 
 pro-slavery man, or a pro-slavery political party, 
 attempting to coerce the North into the adoption of 
 their views. But let me remind you, that while we 
 may have abstained, except in one particular, from 
 actual intervention in the affairs of those States, their 
 system of servitude has been a standing theme of dis- 
 cussion in very many Northern papers. Northern pul- 
 pits, and Northern legislatures, for the last ten years ; 
 that the whole artillery of denunciation and abuse has 
 been brought to bear upon them ; and that these im- 
 putations have been virtually endorsed by the action 
 of several large religious denominations in withdraw- 
 ing from them all Christian fellowship. 
 
 Now, place yourselves in their circumstances, and 
 say whether you would be likely to bear this treat- 
 ment with composure. There are injuries not defin- 
 able by statute, and too tenuous to be laid hold of by 
 the tribunals ; which, nevertheless, are more intoler- 
 able than downright violence. To be upbraided with 
 living in shameless sin ; to be persistently reproached 
 with oppression and cruelty ; to be denied a place in the 
 Church of Christ as being destitute of all truth and 
 rishteousness, — this is more than flesh and blood can 
 bear, and a great deal more than the people of any 
 Northern State would quietly submit to from any 
 quarter or under any circumstances. 
 
 I do not charge this conduct upon the Free States 
 as a body. It is one of the inexcusable faults of the 
 South, that they refuse to do us justice on this point. 
 
 2* 
 
22 
 
 Tlieve are tens of thousands, yes, hundreds of thou- 
 sands, at the North, who utterly reprobate this be- 
 havior. And I am proud to express it as my firm 
 conviction, that the great State in which we hve, 
 abhors it. Still, it is part of a system which has found 
 large favor at the North ; which has enlisted powerful 
 interests in its support ; and which has been perse- 
 vered in, after years of remonstrance from those who 
 were aggrieved by it. 
 
 Here, then, is something to be done, if we really 
 desire to see this strife composed. It is one of the first 
 dictates of Christianity, to do justice ; and, where we 
 have erred, to " cease to do evil," and, if possible, 
 redress the wrong we have committed. Whatever 
 mists of passion and prejudice may have obscured the 
 merits of this question hitherto, the real state of the case 
 is now emerging into the light ; and we cannot deny 
 that the spirit of the compact with our brethren has 
 been violated. We must make up our minds to leave 
 the institution of slavery where Providence has placed 
 it, — in their hands. Its moralities no less than its 
 social and commercial relations, are theirs. We are not 
 called upon to approve of it. But Christian charity 
 forbids that we should malign them for supporting 
 it. Interwoven as it is with the whole texture of 
 Southern society, with their domestic habits, their 
 education, their business, their politics, their daily 
 intercourse ; and spreading over the entire fabric of 
 Southern life a sensitiveness which responds to the 
 slightest touch ; it is our manifest duty to abstain 
 
23 
 
 from all intermeddling with it. If they are wrong in 
 the views they have taken of it, we are not responsible 
 for their errors, nor are we just now in a position to 
 put them right. They claim, as we do, the right to 
 select their own teachers ; and no dictate either of 
 reason or revelation bids us attempt to force our in- 
 structions upon them. 
 
 There are in the Southern States (the fact is too 
 weighty to be overlooked) the same Churches which 
 exist at the North, — with this difference, however: 
 that a much greater proportion, probably, of their 
 Churches than of ours, are embraced in the denomina- 
 tions styled " Evangelical." These Churches comprise 
 a very numerous and intelligent membership, and a 
 ministry not inferior to that in the Free States. It 
 will be generally admitted that, aside from the pre- 
 sence of slavery, the Christians of the South exhibit 
 as large a measure of the fruits of righteousness, as 
 much devotion, as much brotherly love, as much kind- 
 ness to the poor, as much zeal for the spread of the 
 Gospel, as much liberality in the work of Missions, as 
 their brethren of the North. Why, then, can they 
 not be entrusted with the management of this question 
 also ? Where is the modesty, or the charity, of assum- 
 ing that we are better qualified than they can be, to 
 form a just estimate of the institution, and to prescribe 
 how it should be dealt with ? The presumption is all 
 the other way : and the result thus far shows, that our 
 officious attempts to " help" them, have only wounded 
 and embarrassed them. 
 
24 
 
 Again, we arc interdicted from meddling with this 
 question by the obligations of the Federal Constitu- 
 tion. If you ask for chapter and section, I point you 
 to the whole instrument as expounded by its contem- 
 poraneous history. Everything about it recognizes 
 the exact equality of the several States, and their 
 absolute independence of each other and of the central 
 government, as to all their reserved rights. These 
 principles belong to the very foundations of the Re- 
 public. They were found indispensable to the forma- 
 tion of a Federal Union : tliey are no less vital to its 
 preservation. No State nor group of States will re- 
 main in the Union, if denied their proper equality 
 and independence. And as these (so I have endea- 
 vored to show) may be impugned no less really by 
 systematic detraction and calumny, than by force of 
 arms or legislative enactments, it becomes a religious 
 duty with all parties, to respect not merely the letter 
 but the spirit of our national covenant. Ghristlanity 
 forbids us to do anything, even in the way of taunt, 
 or vituperation, or menace, in derogation of that com- 
 pact. And a fortiori^ if the compact, according to its 
 obvious purport and design, has been violated by actual 
 legislation, common honesty requires that such statutes 
 be repealed. No matter what abstract opinions may 
 be entertained respecting the provision of the Consti- 
 tution here referred to : we are estopped from all pro- 
 test on that point. The Constitution has been 
 adopted. The obligation is upon us. And the mo- 
 rality which insists upon the fulfilment of contracts, 
 
25 
 
 will no more justify attempts to evade the requisitions 
 of the clause in question, by vexatious enactments 
 and forms of process, than it will sanction direct nulli- 
 fication. Remember, I entreat you, in listening to 
 this language from the pulpit, that the fearful alterna- 
 tive to the rejection of this constitutional demand, is 
 the sacrifice of our glorious Union. And with such 
 an issue before us, can we hesitate, — will religion itself 
 let us hesitate, — for one moment, ^vhether to fulfil 
 every engagement the Constitution has laid upon US'? 
 
 Every thoughtful man is looking abroad over the 
 country, and asking in sadness, whether anything can 
 be done to allay this ferment and restore our ancient 
 concord. Most humiliating it is to reflect, that our 
 troubles are all self-imposed. They might have been 
 avoided. They ought to have been avoided. There 
 are clifiiculties and dangers enough inseparable from 
 the working of a great political system, without aug- 
 menting them by factitious evils. We have the true 
 key to them in a saying eighteen centuries old : " From 
 whence come wars and fightings among you ? Come 
 they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your 
 members'?" Honest difi'erences of opinion there are 
 on the subject of slavery, and on its moral and politi- 
 cal relations. Occasions may arise when these topics 
 may and should be discussed But everything de- 
 pends upon the motives which prompt to such discus- 
 sions, and the temper in which they are conducted. 
 If one could beheve that the agitation of this subject 
 
26 
 
 was to be referred to patriotism, to a philanthropic 
 regard for the blacks, or to a genuine religious zeal, it 
 were easier to tolerate even somewhat of excess in 
 the ardor with which it is debated. That these ele- 
 ments have had a share in it ; that with many persons 
 they have been the sole springs of action ; it would 
 be uncharitable to deny. But for the most part, we 
 must recur to that apostolic formula for a true expla- 
 nation of this phenomenon. Could we eliminate from 
 this fatal controversy all that is to be set down. North 
 and South, to the account of personal ambition and 
 revenge, to the account of sectional jealousies, to the 
 account of partisan zeal, and to the account of mis- 
 guided philanthropy, the residuum would scarcely be 
 enough to create a ripple on the surface of our politics. 
 This conviction it is wdiich makes the whole thing so 
 offensive and so trying to men who really lo"\'e their 
 country — their Avhole country, — and who feel that 
 God has endowed us with the means and appliances of 
 national prosperity beyond any people known to his- 
 tory except the ancient Hebrews. And now, if the 
 people might but receive a baptism from on high, in 
 the strength of Avhich they should rise up and say, the 
 North to the South, and the South to the North: 
 "We have listened too long to unhallowed counsels; 
 let there be no strife between us, for we be brethren;" 
 — the country would be at rest. 
 
 Whether we have any sufficient ground to hope for 
 so auspicious a result, is a question which Omniscience 
 alone can answer. Of this we may be certain: — Un- 
 
27 
 
 less He interpose for us, the greatest of all earthly 
 calamities is upon us: and if He should interpose, 
 the reasonable presumption is, that it will be by bring- 
 ing back all parties and sections to listen once more to 
 the dictates of Christian morality. Ambitious leaders 
 have abused their confidence, and inflamed their mu- 
 tual resentments, until the unholy strife has brought 
 the country to the brink of ruin. North and South, 
 Christianity has so long been denied her rights, that a 
 casual observer might suppose there were only left 
 here and there a few faithful souls to do her homage. 
 But the might and majesty of Jehovah are hers. 
 And shoidd it ]3lease Him to send her forth on this 
 beneficent mission, harmony will be restored. Even 
 now there are some cheering tokens, that the North 
 is preparing to rescind her obnoxious laws, and tender 
 the Olive-branch to the South. Should this be done, 
 it ought to be met in the same spirit of conciliation — 
 and vnll be, unless the South means to repeat the 
 crimes she has so long charged upon the North. This 
 Union is too sacred a trust to be sacrificed except 
 upon the most imperative grounds. It has cost too 
 much blood and treasure: it is freighted with too 
 much happiness for this great nation : it is too closely 
 linked with the cause of human liberty, and with the 
 salvation of the world. To destroy it at the bidding 
 of passion ; to destroy it until every practicable means 
 for preserving it has been tried and exhausted, would 
 be a crime of appalling turpitude against patriotism, 
 against religion, and against humanity. Let us not 
 
28 
 
 cease to plead with God, that He may avert this great 
 calamity, Peradventure He may be leading us thrqugh 
 these scenes of turmoil and conflict, that all classes and 
 parties may come to a better understanding of their 
 mutual rights and duties, and so re-establish the 
 harmony of the country upon a sure and permanent 
 basis. Should this be the result, we may look forward 
 to another Day of Thanksgiving, not "curtained 
 with clouds," but radiant with the beams of a brighter 
 sun than tliat which this day bathes all nature with 
 its splendors. 
 
 54 W 
 

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