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THE HIGHER LAW," 
 
 IN ITS APPLICATION TO 
 
 THE FUGITIVE SLAVE BILL. 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 ON THE 
 
 DUTIES MEN OWE TO GOD 
 AND TO GOVEMMEiXTS. 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE CENTEAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 BUFFALO, ON THANKSGIVING-DAY. 
 
 JOHN c. lokd; D. B., 
 
 (Pastor of said Church,) 
 AUTHOR OF "LECTURES ON GOVERNMENT AND CIVILIZATION." 
 
 NEW-YORK : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE 
 
 "UNION SAFETY COMMITTEE." 
 1851. 
 

 JOHN F. TUOW, PRINTER. 
 
 49, 51, & 53 Ann-Stbekt, Nkw-York. 
 
SERMON. 
 
 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Ca3sar, or not 1 But 
 Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said. Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show 
 me the tribute money. And they brought unto Him a penny. And Hesaiih unto them, 
 Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto Him,Ca;sar'8. Then saith He 
 unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Ciesar's; and unto God, the 
 things that are God's. — Matt. xxii. 17-21. 
 
 We are summoned to-day by the proclamation of the Chief Maffislrate 
 of this State, to consider and acknowledge the mercies of God during the 
 year that is past. As individuals, for ourselves, and our households, it be-* 
 comes us to acknowledge our personal deliverances, and the varied proofs of 
 the Divine goodness which we have experienced since we last assembled to 
 render our annual tribute of praise, prayer, and thanksgiving to Him — " who 
 causeth the outgoings of the morning and the evening to rejoice ; who giveth 
 the early and the latter rain ; who appoinleth fruitful seasons and abundant 
 harvests; who openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living 
 thing." As citizens, it concerns us to consider tlie general prosperity of the 
 State and the Nation, to notice the various tokens of the Divine mercy in 
 regard to the preservation of the free government under which we live, 
 founded by the sacrifices of our pious ancestry, and perpetuated, as we may 
 Well believe, for this reason, among others, that their " prayers are yet had 
 in remembrance before God, and their tears preserved in his bottle." As 
 individuals, our presence in this house to-day is a proof of the personal mer- 
 cies which siiould lead us to offer the acceptable sacrifice of praise. Some 
 who once sat with us in this sanctuary have gone to the congregation of the 
 dead ; deaf to the requiem which the winds of winter are now mournfully 
 murmuring over their graves; insensible to all sounds, until the palsied ear 
 shall hear the " voice of the archangel and the trump of God ;" others are 
 upon beds of sickness, pain, and sorrow, and know not whether they shall 
 enter again the house of prayer, to mingle their praises with yours, or pass 
 from the couch of suffering to the life to come, to behold the mysteries of the 
 unseen world, and worship with that august throng, that '• innumerable com- 
 pany of angels and spirits of just men made perfect," who fill the arches of 
 Heaven witli the voices of praise and thanksgiving, ascribing "blessing and 
 honor and dominion and power to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the 
 Lamb for ever and ever." Some are full of affliction, oppressed with poverty 
 or overwhelmed with reverses, which prevent tiiem from mingling with us in 
 the worship of the sanctuary on this day of thanksgiving : and alas ! that it 
 should be so — there are others who are full of prosperity, " whose eyes .stick 
 out with fatness, who are not in trouble as other men," who are so unmindful 
 
of .heir dependence upon Him in " whom they live and ™« ^^"f .j;^™ ^^^l 
 
 i! • " -n rpa^inlless of all tlie froodness and mercy oi Lrod, that lliey never 
 f:"&n Z domoLe house o 'prayer, and never unite in ,he worship and 
 darken '"« ™" = , mercies. But by our presence in this place to-day, 
 
 P^^et to e' 1 e";' 1^™: if the DiLe gLness, we acknowledge our. 
 ILles tire relients of unnumbered favor,, we propose to olTer the sacr.fice 
 rf a il-n^,, and call upon our souls and all wi.hn, us to magntfy the 
 
 r .... ^'>.lhP^ Preserver, Benefactor, and Redeemer. 
 ""^Bufno a,o e o'pri-te a/Kl personal 'mercies should we -"^er thanks 
 to day As citizens of this State, and of the great Republic ot which U is 
 Se chief member, we are called to consider the preservaiion of pubhc tran- 
 nuillity the adjus ment of sectional difficulties, and the continuance of the 
 bonds of our u >ion, amid excitements which threatened its integnty ; amid a 
 storm the original violence of which is manifest in the clouds which yet ob- 
 scure'our polftical horizon ; in the deep-toned thunders that are yet mut tenng 
 in the distance. It is not necessary to adopt the opinions of the extreme alarm- 
 ist in el .er section of the country, to conclude .hat great dangers have 
 threatened if they do not still threaten, the union ot these States. It does 
 not r qu very great discernment to see that the continued agitation of he 
 vexed%uestion^ of Slavery, producing alienation and distrust between he 
 No,lh and ihe South, nmsf, in the end, either sever the bonds between the 
 free and the slave States, or render them not worth preserving. A unity 
 maintained i.y force, if this were possible, would not pay the cost of its keeping. 
 If in the brat of the existing controversies, these two great sections of the 
 Union come at last to forget their common ances^try, and the mutual perils 
 shared bv them in the revolutionary struggle; if South Carolina and Massa- 
 chusetts,"who stood shoulder to shoulder in the doubtful contest for American 
 freedon. con.e to disregard the voices of their illustrious dead, who lie side 
 by side in every battle'lfield of the Revolution; if Virginia and New York 
 refuse, in the heats engendered by this unhappy strife, to listen longer to the 
 voice ^f Washington, warning them in his farewell addres^ of this very rock 
 of sectional j. aiousy and alienation ; if the words of the Father of his coun- 
 try are no lon-rr regarded with reverence in the ancient commonwealth ot 
 his birth or in the creat State whose deliverance from a foreign enemy was 
 the crowning achievement of his military career ; and if the compronriises 
 upon which the Union was consummated, continue to be denied or disregarded ; 
 there is an end of the confederacy. If the stronger should crush the weaker, 
 and hold on to an apparent union with the grasp of military power, it would 
 no longer be a confederacy, but a conquest. When there is no longer mutual 
 respect- no more fraternal forbearance; no more regard for each others 
 local interests; no more obedience in one section to the laws which protect 
 the guaranteed rights of the other; the basis of union is wanting, and nothing 
 but a military despotism, with a grasp of iron, and a wall of fire, can hold 
 the discordant elements together. . . 
 
 In tlie discussions which the recent agitations of the country have origi- 
 nated grave questions have arisen in regard to the obligation of the citizen 
 to obey laws which he may disapprove ; appeals have been made to a higher 
 LAW, as a justification, not merely of a neglect to aid in enforcing a particular 
 statute, but of an open and fbrcible resistance by arms. Those subject to the 
 operations of the recent enactment of Congress in regard to fugitive slaves 
 have been counselled from the pulpit, and by men who profess a higher Chris- 
 tianity than others, to carry deadly weapons and shoot down any who should 
 attempt to execute its provisions. The whole community at the North have 
 been excited by passionate appeals to a violent and revolutionary resistance 
 
to laws, passed by their own representatives to sustain an expross provision 
 of the Constitution of the United States, which, if defeclivo in their details, 
 are yet clearly within the delegated powers and jurisdiction of our national 
 Lenrislature. The acknowledged princi[)le that the law of God is supreme, 
 and when in direct conflict with any mere human enactment rend(M-s it nuga- 
 tory, has been used to juslify an abandonment of the compromisf s of the 
 Constitution ; an armed resistance to the civil authorities, and a dissolution of 
 that Union with which are inseparahlj' connected our national peace and pros- 
 perity. The consideration of the duties which men owe to God, as subjects 
 of his moral government, and which, as citizens, they owe the commonwealth, 
 is at all times of importance, but now of especial interest in view of the agi- 
 tations of the day. It is high time to determine whether one of the highest 
 duties enforced by the Gospel, obedience to the law of God as supreme, can 
 be made to justify a violent resistance to the late enactment of Congress; 
 whether our Christianity enjoins the dissolution of our Union ; whether the 
 advocates of a higher law stand really upon this lofty vantage ground of 
 conscience, or are scatterit)g " firebrands, arrows, and death," either under 
 a mistaken view of duty, or the impulses of passion and fanaticism, or in- 
 flamed by that demagogueism, which, if it cannot rule, would ruin ; which, 
 like Milton's fallen angel, would rather " reign in Mell than serve in Heaven." 
 That this subject is not out of place in the pulpit, is manifest from the 
 fact that it is strictly a question of morals. Our duties to God constitute the 
 subject matter of revealed religion, and their enforcement is the great business 
 of the Gospel minister; our duties to government flow out of our relation 
 TO THE Supreme (governor, as well as our relations to each other, and are 
 clearly pointed out and forcibly enjoined in the Gospel. " Put them in mind," 
 says an Apostle, " to be subject to principalities and powers ; to obey magis- 
 trates ; to be ready to every good work :" '' Let every soul be subject unto 
 the higher powers; the powers that be are ordained of God." In the text, we 
 are informed of an attempt made by the Jewish casuists to ensnare our Lord 
 in his words, by proposing the question whether it was lawful to pay tribute 
 to Caesar; it being supposed by them, that any reply he could make would 
 lead him into difficulty ; for the Jews were perpetually galled by the Roman 
 yoke, and any respon.se favoring their oppressors would have aroused their 
 indignation ; while, if the lawfulness of tribute were denied by the reply 
 of our Lord, it would have given his enemies ground to accuse him before the 
 authorities, of .sowing sedition. If our Saviour, in response to the (juestion of 
 the lawfulness of tribute, should answer in the af!irn)ative, the Jews would 
 stone him ; if in the negative, the Romans would arraign him as a violator 
 of law. He who knows all hearts perceived their wickedness, and said, 
 " Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the tribute money. And they 
 brought unto him a penny. And he said unto them, Whose is this imaire and 
 superscription ? They say unto him, Co5sar's. Then said he unto them. Render 
 therefore unto Csesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God, the things 
 that are God's." Well might " they marvel and go their way," baffled by 
 the answer of divine wisdom. Our Lord escaped their malice, by stating 
 the true principle on which the obedience of the citizen is demanded by 
 government, in the legiiimate exercise of its powers. The coining of money 
 is an act of sovereignty ; the impress of Caesar upon the penny was proof 
 that the Romans possessed the government of Judea, de facto, and were, 
 therefore, to be obeyed as the supreme authority in all civil enactments; 
 while any attempt to interfere with the religious principles or practices of the 
 Jews might be conscientiously resisted. 
 
 We take the ground, that the action of civil governments within their 
 
avpropriate jurisdiction is final and conclusive upon the citizen ; and that to 
 XJa hither law to justify disobedience to a human law, the subject matter 
 of whfch fs within the congnizauce of the State, is to reject the authonty of 
 Go ims f; who has committed to governments the power and authority 
 whc they exercise in civil affairs. This is expressly declared by he 
 Anostle in the Epistle to the Romans: " Let every soul be subject to the 
 hi'^e powe " fof there is no power but of God ; the powers that be are 
 dained of God ; whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, res steth he 
 ordinance of God For he (that is, the civil magistrate) beareth not the 
 sutdn vain for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrah 
 :;on him that' doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only 
 for wrath, but also for conscience' sake; render therefore to all their dues, 
 tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, 
 
 '°"Th^:ng"ag:rr;cannot be misunderstood. Obedience to governments, 
 in the exercise of their le^ntimate powers, is a religious duty FS't^vel> en- 
 joined bv God himself. The same authority which commands us to k nder 
 io God the things which are God's, enjoins us, by the same high sanctions, to 
 render to Caesar the things which are Cffisar's. „ . 
 
 The following general principles may be deduced from the sacied bci.p- 
 tures, and from ^the example, aL well as the teachings, of our Lord and 
 
 ^'" mrst-Government is a divide constitution, established ottheheginmng 
 hy the Creator, which exists of necessity, and^ is ^f Verfelual oh,^^^^^^^^ 
 are born under law, both as it respects the Law of God and he enactments 
 o States. By the ordination of the supreme law, they owe allegiance to the 
 country of their birth, and are naturally and unavoidably the subjects of its 
 Government ; their consent to this is neither asked or g.v;en ; their choice can 
 ?nly " spect'the mode, never the fact of Government. The mutual compact, 
 :?Tvhicli politicians and lawyers speak, is a mere figment o^ tl^e imagmation 
 without warrant from the word of God, and ^^^^radicted by a 1 the facts m 
 the case We might as well affirm that men agree to be bo n and to be 
 ubiec to their par^ents, by a mutual compact, in which the child surrenders 
 cer a'n r'ghts fo^r the ske of parental protection, and the parent covenants to 
 provide and govern on the promise of obedience. The statemen m the last 
 case is no mL absurd thai in the first. In the family is found the rud.men 
 tal .ove" nment, and the fifth commandment has always been understood by 
 Christians as ordaining subjection to magistrates as well as P|i^e"J|; 
 
 Second—Governments have urisdtcUon over men m al ^P'^'' 'l'^]^ 
 
 belons peculiarly to the present life; in all the temporal relatmis rvluch bmd 
 
 S !oL: J.//,/.., a!d fa.ulies together, in respect to ^Ir^t^^ P^ 
 
 and property, and their enforcement by penalties General rules ^ «' '"^^^^ 
 
 laid dovvn in the Scriptures fbr the regulation of human conduct, but Go has 
 
 ordained tiie " powers that be" to appoint their own municipal laws, to legu- 
 
 ?ate and enforce exisiing relations, and to execute judgment upon offenders 
 
 unde' such form of administration as shall be suitable to the c.rcmnstances of 
 
 "he people, and chosen by themselves. Governments, as to their ..or ., do 
 
 not form but follow the Character and moral condition of a people, and a.e 
 
 an indication of their real condition, intellectually and morally The i ea 
 
 tha the niere change of the form of a despotic government will "ecossaiily 
 
 elevate a nation, is'a mistaken one. A people must be elevated before they 
 
 can receive free institutions. The mode of government is the mdex and not 
 
 TecZe of the condition of the different nations of ^'-.-''^Vjvan efforts 
 
 demonstrated by the history of empires and states, and by the vain efforts, 
 
recently made in Europe, to adopt our institutions, without the moral trainin^r 
 and preparation which can alone makt- them either possihle or valuable! 
 1^ ranee, to-day, is a despotism under the forms of a free government, and 
 maintains her internal tranquillity by a hundred thousand bayonots. 
 
 Third.— In regard to Ids own. worship, and the manner in 'which we are to 
 approach Him, the Svpreme Governor has given full and minute directions. 
 Ho has revealed himself, his attributes, and the jfreat principles of his <rov- 
 ernment, which constitute the doctrines of Christianity ; and has conferred 
 upon no human authority the ri^rht to inl.Tfere, by add'in- to or takin.' from 
 them. IN THE THINGS THAT BI:L0NG TO HIMSELF, God ex- 
 ercises sole and absolute jurisdiction, and has, in rc-gard to tln-m, api.ointed 
 no inferior or delerrated authority. 
 
 Fourth.— The decisions of governments upon mailers within their juris- 
 diction, though they may be erroneous, are yet, from the necessity of the case, 
 absolute. Every man has a right to test the constitutionality of any law by 
 an appeal to the judiciary, but he cannot inlerposi- his priva'tc judgment as a 
 justification of his resistance to an act of the government. Freedom of 
 opinion by no means involves the right to refuse obedience to law ; for, if this 
 were so, the power to declare war and make peace ; to regulate commerce 
 and levy taxes; in short, to perform the most essential acts of government, 
 would be a mere nullity. No statute could be executed on this principle, 
 which would leave every man to do what seemed right in his own eyes, 
 under the plea of a higher law and a delicate conscience. Even courts of 
 justice which are the constituted tribunals for ascertaining and determining 
 the validity of all legislative enactments, by bringing th.'m to the test of con- 
 stitutional law and first principles, as well as for the decision of causes arising 
 under ttie laws in relation to persons and property, may form an erroneous 
 conclusion ; for no mere human wisdom is infallible ; yet their final decisions 
 are binding, from the same necessity. Tlie fact that an innocent man may 
 be condemned and suffer the penalty of a law which he has never broken, 
 "l!'°r iruT^'^ ^^ """^^^ ^" impeach the authority of a judicial decision, as that 
 the fallibility which is manifest in hasty and unwise legislation, should be al- 
 leged as an excuse for resistance to a particular statute. 
 
 The private judgments of individuals, for instance, that all wars are un- 
 lawful, even those which are defensive ; or that the existence of slavery is, 
 fer se, sinful, is no just ground of resistance to the government which de- 
 Clares war, or the legislation which recognizes domestic servitude, and regu- 
 lates It. Both these subjects are properly within the jurisdiction of cfvil 
 government. The State may engage in an unjust war, but does this dis- 
 charge the subject from his allegiance? No sane man will afTirm it. The 
 government may recognize an oppressive form of domestic servitude, or enact 
 laws in relation to it which are deemed by many oppressive. Is this a just 
 ground of forcible resistance on ChrisUan principles? No intelligent man 
 who regards the authority of the Bible can consistently maintain such a posi- 
 tion. Many at the North who assert such opinions have long since rejected 
 the authority of the Word of God, and have in their conventions publicly 
 scoffed at divine as well as human authority. 
 
 But the position we have taken, that the decisions of governments are 
 final in cases where they have jurisdiction, even when mistaken or oppressive, 
 is not only sustained by the passages which have been cited from the Scrip, 
 tures, but also by the example and practice of the primitive Christians. The 
 words of our Saviour in the text, and of the Apostle, in his Epistle to the 
 Komans, while they have a general application to all times anri all govern- 
 ments, had a particular reference to the existing authorities of Rome, which 
 
were not only despotic in their p:eneral administration but peculiarly oppres- 
 sive in their treatment of the infant church. The government under which 
 our Saviour and the Apostles lived, and of which they spake, was habitually 
 encased in afrgressive wars, aiming at the conquest of the world. Slavery 
 wa^s universal throughout the Roman Empire, and the laws gave the master 
 the power of life and death over his servant. Did the Saviour and his Apos- 
 tles, on this account, reject their authority, or incite their disciples lo disobe- 
 dience and resistance ? Did they interfere with existing civil institutions, 
 urcring the slave to escape from his master, the citizen to rebel against the 
 mafTislrate? Their conduct was the exact reverse of this ; they preached to 
 the master forbearance and kindness — to the servant submission and obedience 
 — to both, the Gospel. Paul sent Onesimus back to his master, on the very 
 principles which he enjoined upon the Romans — subjection to existing civil 
 authority. The inspired teachers of Christianity instructed both masters and 
 slaves in regard to the duties which grow out of the institution of Slavery, 
 without either approving or condemning the relation itself They exhorted 
 Soldiers, on the same principle, to be contnnt with their wages, and to forbear 
 from mutiny and cruelty ; without offering any opinion concerning the justice 
 or injustice of the Roman wars. They spake indeed of a promised and pre- 
 dicted day, when wars, tumults and oppressions should cease, when at the 
 name of Jesus every knee should bow, and there should be none, any more, 
 to hurt or molest in the Mountain of the Lord. The early Christians were, 
 beyond controversy, obedient to the injunction of the Apostle. They obeyed 
 law even when it was onerous or unjust. They had civil and military ap- 
 pointments under the Roman government in which they refused not to serve ; 
 they were obedient to the existing civil powers, in all matters within the juris- 
 diction of the State ; they were no abettors of sedition and strife. Whole 
 legions in the armies that were sent out for conquest by Rome, were composed 
 of Christians, who were, doubtless, drawn in the general conscription for this 
 service, and who felt it to be their duty to " render to Cassar the things that 
 are CiEsar's ;" however much they might dislike the business of war. Not 
 until CsEsar intermeddled with the things of God ; not until, passing the legi- 
 timate jurisdiction of civil government, the Roman magistrate commanded 
 them to adore the image of tlie Emperor, and to oiler incense to false gods ; 
 did the Christian refuse obedience. But here he was immovable ; no flattery 
 could subdue, no terrors appal him. Every engine of torture, which the bar- 
 barious ingenuity of Rome could invent, failed of its purpose. They were 
 tortured by fire ; they were cast out to wild beasts ; they were exposed in 
 the amphitheatre to the gaze of thousands, who mocked their dying agonies. 
 Like the ancient prophets, " they were stoned ; they were sawn asunder ; 
 they were tempted ; they were slain with the sword ; they wandered in de- 
 serts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth." It was enough, that 
 the Master had said, " render to God the things which are God's." Nor was 
 their resistance that of armed and violent men ; they assassinated no officers, 
 and excited no seditions, but, after the example of their Lord, suffered with 
 that passive firmness, which is the highest form of courage. But it may be 
 replied to this. Your argument proves too much. You reaffirm the old doc- 
 trine of tyrants, of passive obedience and non-resistance ; your position would 
 render afl revolutions unlawful ; all changes of government impossible. To 
 this it may be said, that it does not belong to the Church in her organized 
 capacity, nor to Christians, considered solely as such, and with reference to 
 their religious duties, to revolutionize governments ; for this reason, the Gos- 
 pel is silent on this subject, while enforcing the general duties of the citizens 
 under all governments de facto, whether revolutionary or otherwise ; whether 
 
despotic or democratic. That, under certain circumstances, the peopU;, by 
 wliich is meant the large majority, have a right to revolutionize a government, 
 is conccderi. Preshyterians have ever resisted the High Cliurch ami tory 
 doctrine of the divine right of Kings, in the State ; and Pn-latcs, in the Church. 
 They stood, to a man, with thf Patriots who achicveil, under God, the inde- 
 pendence of our beloved country; they have maintained the principles of 
 civil and religious liberty, at the hazard of life and fortune, in both hemis- 
 pheres. The Presbyterians of Scotland, and the Puritans of Eni,dand, were 
 the founders of English liberty, by the admission of Hume himself, who hated 
 them with infidel and tory extravagance. The right of a people to select their 
 own form of government, a question entirely distinct from the fact of govern- 
 ment, which is of necessity by a Divine Constitution, has ever been maintain- 
 ed by us as existing, not only in the nature of the case, but as warranted by 
 the Word of God ; of which, the choice by the Hebrews of a King, and the 
 rejection of their ancient democratic motle of government, which they receiv- 
 ed from tlie Supreme Lawgiver himself, is an exam|jle. This change was 
 expressly allowed them at their desire, though with a plain intimation that 
 their choice was a bad one. So the revolt of the ten tribes upon the declara- 
 tion of Rehoboam, that he would govern them in a despotic and arbitrary 
 sway, that " his little finger should be thicker than his father's loins," ap- 
 pears afterwards to have been sanclioneci by the Most High ; who gave them 
 Jeroboam for a King, and rent Israel for ever from the house of David and 
 Solomon. 
 
 The right of revolution is a civil right, which can be properly exercised 
 only, by a decided majority, under circumstances of aggravated oppression and 
 upon a reasonable assurance of success. It is not for the Churcli, as such, to 
 determine when a just ground for revolution exists, it belongs to the body of 
 the people in their ( ivil capacity. If, in tlie judgment, for example, of a great 
 majority of the citizens of the United States, it would be better to abandon our 
 Union ; if the South, in her exasperation against the North, for inlerlerence 
 with her domestic relations, and in the vain hope to secure an increase of 
 wealth and population corresponding with that of the free States, desire dis- 
 union ; if we of the North are unwilling to observe the guarantees of the 
 Constitution, and think it worth while to abandon the advantages of the con- 
 federacy for the sake of making our territory a place of refuge for runaway 
 slaves; the Union will be dissolved by a revolution, the most disastrous the 
 world ever saw. But while the Constitution remains, while the Government 
 continues, let us observe the laws; let us not justify murder and sedition; 
 and, least of all, let us not talk of a higher law, which absolves men from 
 obedience to a Constitution wliich they have sworn to maintain. If \.hm- be 
 any higherlaw, it is the law of resistance and revolution ; and the sooner this 
 is understood and openly avowed, by the ultraists and fanatics, I.i '!i North 
 and South, the better for the country. The people of these United States are 
 not likely, with tiieir eyes open, to plunge into the gulf which disunionists are 
 opening up beneath their feet ; and when the real designs of these men are 
 seen, when they o[)enly avow that a revolution is the end of their movement, 
 we believe that they will be crushed under the weight of public indignation. 
 
 But, in regard to the question of a higher law, which we tliink we have 
 demonstrated cannot be urged to annul the legislation of a state, in relation 
 to any matter properly within its jurisdiction, it may be further replied, that 
 it is not yet proved that the enactment or recognition of Slavery is within 
 the powers divinely delegated to Governments ; that it is against the Su- 
 preme Law, and therefore all human legislation on the subject is inoperative 
 and void. To this we reply, in the first place, that there are many evila in- 
 
10 
 
 cident to the fallen condition of our race, such as War and Slavery, the exist- 
 ence of which is to be regretted, but which are necessarily, in the actual con- 
 dition of mankind, the appropriate subjects of municipal regulation. A state 
 must possess the right of self-defence in order to maintain its existence ; this 
 involves not only the authority of the Magistrate to punish criminals, but of 
 the Government to declare war. This is clearly implied by the Apostle in 
 the expression " he beareth not the sword in vain." But the state having this 
 right may and do often abuse it by aggressive wars, the injustice of which, we 
 have already seen, is no ground of forcible resistance to the civil authority. 
 So the right of legislation in regard to servitude as a punishment for crime, 
 or as a method for disposing of prisoners taken in war, has been exercised 
 from the earliest ages and among all nations, and will hardly be denied by 
 any intelligent and fair-minded man. The state having jurisdiction of the 
 subject may, as in the waging of an aggressive war, abuse their power, by 
 enacting unjust and oppressive laws of servitude ; but is such legislation 
 therefore inoperative and void ? To affirm this, is to contradict the decision 
 of the Apostle in his Epistle to the Romans, and to subvert every established 
 principle, whether human or divine, on which rests the authority of civil 
 government. In certain conditions of society Slavery is universal ; it was 
 recognized and regulated by law in all the free states of antiquity ; it is the 
 first movement towards civilization by savage and barbarous nations, to re- 
 duce their captives, taken in war, to Slavery, instead of subjecting them to 
 torture and death. A recent traveller in the vast Empire of China, Mr. Lay,^ 
 affirms that in that country the institution of Slavery is a positive blessing, 
 as it prevents infanticide by the poorer classes, and provides for multitudes- 
 who must otherwise perish of want. That it exists in a mild form in China 
 is admitted ; but the question does not depend upon a comparison of the l^iws 
 of different countries on this subject, but whether it is a condition of society 
 which can in any case be allowed ; whether civil governments have any au- 
 thority or jurisdiction to enact laws upon the subject, or in any way to recog- 
 nize or regulate it. 
 
 But there is higher authority for the determination of this question, than 
 any thing we have yet suggested. The existence of domestic Slavery wa» 
 expressly allowed, sanctioned, and regulated by the Supreme Lawgiver, in 
 that divine economy which He gave the Hebrew state. The fact is open 
 and undisputed ; the record and proof of it are in the hands of every man 
 who has in his possession a copy of the Bible. All the ingenuity and art of 
 all the Abolitionists in the United States can never destroy the necessary 
 conclusion of this admitted divine sanction of Slavery, that it is an institu- 
 tion which may lawfully exist, and concerning which Governments may 
 pass laws, and execute penalties for their evasion or resistance. 
 
 To allege that there is a higher law, which makes slavery, per se, sinful, 
 and that all legislation that protects the rights of masters, and enjoins the re- 
 delivery of the slave, is necessarily void and without authority, and may be 
 conscientiously resisted by arms and violence, is an infidel position, which is 
 contradicted by both Testam.ents ; — which may be taught in the gospel of 
 Jean Jacques Rousseau, and in the revelation of the Skeptics and Jacobins, 
 who promised France, half a century ago, universal equality and fraternity ; 
 a gospel whose baptism was blood, a revelation whose sacrament was crime ; 
 but it cannot be found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or in the revelation of 
 God's will to men. We do not mean to affirm that sincere and conscientious 
 persons may not be found who have persuaded themselves that forcible i-esist- 
 ance to slavery is obedience to God ; and that in the increased light of the 
 nineteenth century, the example of the Jewish economy, and the teachings 
 
11 
 
 and practice of our Lord and the Apostles, are antiquated and of no bind- 
 ing force upon the consciences of men. Such honest but mistaken persona 
 should rcmeniljer, that if the institution of shivery is necessarily and from its 
 nature sinful nnw, it must always have been so ; as universal principles ad- 
 mit of no change, and their argument is, therefore, an impeuchm( nt of the 
 benevolence of God, and a denial of the supreme authority ctf the Gospel, as 
 a system of ethics. They must, to sustain their position, assume tlial we aro 
 wiser and better men than tiie Saviour and the Apostles, and that ilic go- 
 vernment of God and the Gospel need revision and emeniiation. Such a 
 conclusion is inevitable from the premises, and I would alh'Ctionately warn 
 all who have named the name of Christ, and who have been betrayed bjr 
 passion or sym[)athy into such a position, to see to it before tliey take the ine- 
 vitable plunge, with the Garrison school, into the gulf of infidelity. I would 
 respecltully entreat them to remember that this is not the first proclamation, 
 *' Lo, here is Christ, or there," which had proved a device of the adversary ; 
 that Jacobins, Fourierites, Communists, and Levellers of all s<irts, reject tli© 
 Gospel on the ground that it does not come vip to their standard of liberty, 
 equality and fraternity, and has no sufTiciently comprehensive views of the 
 rights of man. Those who preach the Gos[)el ought specially to remember 
 that our race are apostate, and live under a remedial government; and tiiat 
 it is our mission lo deal with the world as it is, and men as we find them, 
 just as did the Saviour and the Apostles — remembering that here we have 
 "no continuing city," and that the Gospel does not propose to us an equali- 
 zation of human conditions in time ; that " there remaineth a rest for the 
 people of God," and to this, the Master of life and his Apostles pointed the 
 rich and the poor, the high and the low, the bond and the free. They made 
 it no part of their work to array the prejuilices of one class against another ; 
 to discontent tlie slave with his position ; or the citizen with the government; 
 but treated all these things as of inferior consideration, compared with the 
 hope of another and a better life, through the blood of atonement. 
 
 The comparative mildness of Hebrew slavery which is alleged, if it were 
 true, is of no moment in the decision of the question before us ; for it is not, 
 whether American legislation on this subject be unwise and unjust, but 
 whrther the institution of slavery is necessarily sinful, and all legislation on 
 the subject void for want of jurisdiction, and because of a higher law thai 
 prohibits its e.xistence. 
 
 Domestic slavery, in this country, is older than tiie Constitution ; it had 
 existed for several generations before the Revolution. The people of tht 
 North, in their union with the slave States under a General Government, 
 upon the adoption of a common Constitution, bound themselves to respect the 
 institution of slavery as it then existed, so far as to deliver up fugitives to 
 their masters. What has been said proves, we think, that such an arrange- 
 ment was not void as being against a higher law, and consequently any legis- 
 lation, by Congress, which fairly carries out this provision, and enforces this 
 guarantee, is constitutional and lawful, and cannot be resisted upon any 
 moral grounds. Whether the law is the best or the worst that could have 
 been devised, is not the question here, nor is it really the question with the 
 country ; for it is the recognition of Slavery by the Constitution, and the right 
 of recapture which it confers, which lies at the bottom ot' this agitation ; all 
 the rest is merely for effect, vox el pretcrca nihil, and those who recommend 
 the violation of this law, would undoubtedly advise resistance to any enact- 
 ment of Congress which would carry out the provision of the Constitution for 
 the restoration of fugitive slaves. 
 
 It is somewhat sinfjular that those whose consciences have been so much 
 
12 
 
 aroused in regard to a higher law than the Constitution, should have forgotten, 
 in their contemplation of moral and religions questions, that the observance of 
 the compact between the North and the South falls within the moral rule 
 which enjoins good faitb, honesty, and integrity among men. Until this com- 
 pact is rescinded by the power that made it, and by the parties who assented 
 to it, its fulfilment is required by every principle of common honesty. With 
 what pretence of right can the North say to the South, we will hold you to 
 jour part of the bargain ; you must remain in the Union, but we have con- 
 scientious scruples in regard to performing our part of the agreement. Is 
 this tlie language of good faith and integrity ? Would it be thought honest 
 in any private transaction or compact ? Is it for those who threaten the South 
 with force in case of their resistance of Constitutional enactments — who are 
 themselves advocating the violation of the laws which protect the riglits se- 
 .cured to the slave States by the Constitution — to talk about higher laws and 
 sensitive consciences ? Does the assertion, so often made, that there is no 
 danger of disunion if the law of recapture is violated ; that the South are not 
 strong enough to set up for themselves ; that they need the protection of the 
 North to prevent a servile insurrection, add any thing to the moral beauty of 
 this position ? What is this hut the divine right of lawless force, the higher 
 law of the strongest? What is this but a disavowal of all regard for the 
 claims of the weak ? In the words of a Flighland song of the olden time, 
 
 " For why ? because ihe good old rule 
 Sufficeth them ; the simple plan, 
 Thai they must get who have the power. 
 And they must keep who can." 
 
 May Vermont be permitted to pass laws to evade and prevent the e.xecution 
 of the legislation of Congress, and South Carolina threatened with investment 
 by sea and land, by the army and navy of the United States, for doing the 
 «ame thing ? Is this good faith between sovereign States ? Nay, is it com- 
 mon honesty among men ? "I .speak to wi.se men, judge ye !" 
 
 If we are comparatively so much stronger than the South, as is alleged, 
 is it magnanimous, is it just, for us to take advantage of their weakness, to 
 violate their constitutional rights? If they look upon the greater prosperity 
 of the North with a degree of jealousy, and are the more sensitive on that 
 account upon any appearance of a disregard, on our part, of the guarantees 
 of the Constitution, there is the more reason for our forbearance ; especially 
 when it is considered that in the very formation of the Union, there was an 
 implied understanding that good will and forbearance should characterize the 
 intercourse of the parties ; '• that " Ephraim should not ve.\ Jiidah ; or Judah, 
 Ephraim." Why should the Saxon obstinacy of the North and the Norman 
 pride of the South be forever e.xcited by these unhappy disputes in regard to 
 slavery ; a question which time, and patience, and God's providence can 
 alone resolve ? The South are not so dependent upon us as we imagine ; in 
 the case of a servile insurrection they would hardly look for aid, in the pre- 
 sent state of things, from the North, and our constant allegations of their 
 weakness constitute one ground of their dissatisfaction ; and one temptation to 
 a separation, that they may prove to the North and the World that they can 
 take care of themselves. They have the old Norman tamper; the blood o 
 the Cavalier predominates over tliat of the Puritan in the southern States, and 
 they would rather see their territory desolated with fire and sword than yield 
 a single point of honor — than to feel, much less to acknowledge, that they are 
 dependent upon the North for protection against their own slaves. It is evi- 
 
13 
 
 dent that the great body of the people at the South are attached to the Unioij, 
 and will not reaflily yield it ; but it is equally manifest that thi-y have dema- 
 gogues and traitors there, who desire to exercise dominion and lordship in a 
 Southern Confederacy that shall extend from Virginia to Cuba ; who, like 
 some at the North, would ratiier be Presidents and .Secretaries by a division 
 of the country, than to be out of ofTice by its continued union. 
 
 If such n)en would boldly announce their design, if they would form an 
 anti-union party, and present this question nf a revolution in our government 
 and an abandonment of our Constitution before the people, it would go far to 
 dissipate tlie danger which threatens the Ki public, and to (|uiet the perpi-tual 
 agitations that ari- wearing out the strong bands that hold us together. Vor 
 whatever allegations may be made that there is no danger of disunion ; whaU 
 ever cries of " peace, peace," may be reiterated by men who are doing what 
 they can to nullify their own preilictions ; we may be assured there is trea- 
 chery and danger all around us. The separation of large communions of 
 Christians into Noithern and Soutlicrn Churches was one uf the first signs of 
 evil omen to the country. But two of the leading Protestant deiiumiiiation* 
 remain united.* 1 thank God that one of tin in is the Presbyleriaii Churcli, 
 who are still one in form and fact, in heart and spirit, from New-York to 
 New-Orleans, from the Atlantic to the I'acific, having long since met this 
 question and settled it, finally and peacefully, upon Gospel principles. The 
 constant agitation of the slavery question at the North, the untenable position* 
 assumed, the fierce denunciations, the bitter revilings, the contumelious epi- 
 thets which have been heaped ii[)on our Southern brethren and all who would 
 not consent to unite in a crusade against them, are producing their legitimate 
 fruits of alienation, distrust, and hatred. If no positive proof exists ol' a con- 
 spiracy among certain hot-headed and ambitious demagogues at the South, to 
 dismember the Union ; that a Southern Ct)nfederacy may be formed which 
 will make them all great men ; yet, it is manifest that such a design has been 
 formed, either with or without concert, among a class of abstractionists there, 
 who are co-operating with the abolitionists, at the North, to agitate and in- 
 flame the public mind, until a revolution is inevitable. The recent settlement 
 of the vexed sectional questions, which was hailed by the country with con- 
 fidence and hope, is sought to be disturbed not only by denunciation, but by 
 a violent resistance of the laws enacted, and this, too, before suflicient time 
 has elapsed to test them. Every kind of phantom is conjured up ; visions of 
 free men forcibly hurried into slavery ; appalling pictures of cruelty and in- 
 justice are continually exciting the public mind ; though but six captures are 
 said to have been made under the fugitive slave law since its passage, and 
 with two exceptions it is believed the alleged fugitives have been discharged 
 or redeemed. If those who harrow up the sensibilities of innocent and igno- 
 rant persons by these dreadful imaginations, ;ire sincere in the fears which 
 they express, that free persons of color are likely to be enslaved by the ex- 
 isting law, it shows how utterly fanaticism disregards facts; if they are op- 
 posed to the redelivery of fugitive slaves under the provision of the Constitu- 
 tion, the only honest position they can take is to declare at once and openlj 
 for a dissolution of the Union, or the subjugation of the South, by force of 
 arms, to the North. 
 
 Before we leave this subject, we ought to notice the probable results of a 
 dissolution of the Union. What its advantages have been, are matters of 
 history and experience. Under God, the Union has made us a great and 
 
 • The Proteetant Episcopal and the Presbyterian. 
 
14 
 
 rrosoerous people. We have maintained peace at home, and commanded 
 Set abroad ; our country has been the asylun. of the oppressed of every 
 knd the pern.anencv of our institutions has been hailed as the last hope of 
 freedom for the world. Every State has preserved its local sovereignty 
 while obedient to the general law. Every citizen has enjoyed the largest 
 Kberty consistent with the preservation of order, and dwelt under h,s " own 
 Tine and fi-tree, with none to molest him or make h.m afraid. We may 
 say witii the Psalmist, " the lines have fallen unto us in pleasant places, and 
 God has given us a goodly heritage." 
 
 On tire other hand, all the disastrous consequences which must flow fiom 
 disunion are known only to Him who sees the end from the beginning. One 
 thin- is certain, no benefit can flow from a separation of the States, to that unhappy 
 race'about whom this whole controversy exists. No possible or conceivable 
 advantage can arise to them, if the Un-on were sundered to-niorrow Their 
 condition at the North would not be improved, their state at the South would 
 be rendered so far worse, as an increased severity of legislation might be 
 required to prevent their escape to an enemy's frontier if a small increase 
 of the number of those who escape to the North should be secured, which is 
 doubtful, the question arises, and it is a grave and unsettled one, whether 
 their residence with us is a substantial improvement of their condition. 1 he 
 forms of freedom are of little consequence to him who is made by color and 
 caste a " hewer of wood and a drawer of water." That the colored race are 
 capable of elevation I have always maintained-just as capab e as the white 
 if thev can be made to possess the same advantages; but I am fully persuaded 
 that colonization can alone secure those advantages, and give to the African 
 that which alone makes personal freedom and free institutions valuable. In 
 any view of the subject, the agitations and divisions of the country on the 
 Cue.=tion of slavery, and the revolution which may result from them, are of no 
 lonceivah/e consequence to those about whose interest the controversy exists. 
 A more unprofitable and inconsequential abstraction was never before made 
 to disturb the peace, and hazard the existence of a great Empire. 
 
 With reference to the positive evils of a revolution, it is the opinion of the 
 most profound statesmen in the country, that a division of the Union must 
 result in a perpetual war between the two sections. This agrees with all the 
 facts of History, and the conclusions of the most profound observation upon 
 human nature. Peace would be impossible under the circumstances. A line 
 of fire would mark the boundary between the free and slave States from the 
 Atlantic to the Mississippi ; from the Mississippi to the Pacific. Phe blackened 
 roof-trees of all human habitations, for miles on either side of this accursed 
 line, would demonstrate the bitterness of a conflict between men of the same 
 blood, and verify tlie declaration of Scripture that " the contentions of brethren 
 are like the bars of a castle." Across the entire continent, the boundaries of 
 the two governments would be marked by conflagration, rapine and violence. 
 Armed plunderers, with whom war would be the excuse for murder and 
 robbery, would make a desert of the country adjacent on f^^he/^.de which 
 would soon be known over the whole world by two names, ACELDAMA and 
 GOLGOTHA, a field of blood— a place of skulls. There are no visionaries 
 so wild as those who dream that this vast Empire can be disunited peace- 
 fully, or that peace can ever be maintained between the North and the boutfi, 
 nnder separate governments, with all the old memories, the bitter prejudices, 
 the unavoidable rivalries, the unceasing disputes of jurisdiction, with the 
 mouth of the Mississippi in one territory and its sources in the otfier, and 
 with the ominous slave question embittered a thousand-fold by the dismem- 
 berment of the country. If, in this unnatural contest, the North should 
 
15 
 
 prevail over the South, it would be by making a desert of the territory from 
 the Potomac to the Gulf of Mexico, and by the destruction of both the races 
 who now occu[)y it; a victory barren of glory — the jest of tyrants, and the 
 scorn of the world. 
 
 But ihf. spirit of disunion, once evoked, may extend its malign influences 
 until, by the su[)posili()n, having accom|)lished the ruin of the South, the 
 states at the North should divide, and each set up for itself, and, like the 
 petty governments, or rather anarchies, of South America, command neither 
 respect abroad nor obedience at home. 
 
 The beginnings of strife are like the letting out of waters, and to this 
 miserable C()nclusion at last, these unhappy divisions may bring us. It is an 
 old adage, that those whom God would destroy he first makrs mad ; and it 
 would seem that nothing sliort of judicial blindness can lead to the furtiier 
 agitation of a question fraught with ruin to our beloved couiUry, and to the 
 hopes of political freedom over the entire globe. The dismemberment of 
 this country will be the death-blow of its prosperity. Our rights will be no 
 more regarded abroad or our laws at home, for our strength will be exhausted 
 in our domestic wars ; property, both at the Nortii and South, will imme- 
 diately and decidedly depreciate in value ; all confidence in the stability of 
 our institutions will be destroyed ; and Despots will hold a jubilee over the 
 grave of the American Constitution. Worst of all, tiiis disastrous event will 
 have been brought about by no foreign war, by no struggle with the civil or 
 religious despotisms of the world ; by no honorable resistance to foreign in- 
 terference ; but by the madness of men ready to sacrifice to one idea, and 
 that an impracticable one, to one principle, and that a false one, the legacy 
 of Freedom and Union which we hold from our fathers, and which we are 
 bound to transmit to our children by every consideration of patriotism, by 
 every obligation of religion ; and failing to do which, both Earth and Heaven 
 will cry out against us, as false to the trust committed to us by our noble an- 
 cestry ; false to our allegiance and our oaths ; false to our children and pos- 
 terity ; false to our religion and to God, who has committed to our keeping 
 the ark of civil and religious liberty, for the benefit of our race, to be held as 
 a sacred deposit fijr the world. The plea of sympathy with the colored race, 
 in view of their degraded condition, however suitable such sympathy may be, 
 and demanded by Him who hath made of one blood all nations and races, to 
 dwell together on the face of the earth, will never avail to justify an agitation 
 which is useless to them and ruinous to us. A man who should ex|)ose a 
 whole community to destruction, under the plea of delivering one of its n)em- 
 bers from servitude, or who should fire his neighbor's dwelling for the same 
 purpose, at the risk of a conflagration which must con.-ume both master and 
 slave, and even expose his owa house and his own children to a miserable 
 death, could hardly be counted a philanthropist, or find a justification of his 
 conduct in any abstract question of human rights. I would that 1 had a 
 voice to penetrate every habitation in this great Empire, to reach every ear 
 from ocean to ocean, from Maine to Florida — to entreat my countrymen to 
 pause from a controversy from which there will soon be no retreat, and of 
 which, if protracted, there can be but one issue — the dissolution of the 
 Union and the ruin of the Republic. By their duty to God and to the Gov- 
 ernment, I would implore them to be obedient to the laws ; by their regard 
 for their children, by their respect for the interests of our common humanity, 
 I would beseech them to take care of the Commonwealth, than which there 
 is no higher law for the Christian citizen. I would appeal to the North and 
 the South, by their common ancestry, by the august memories of the revolu- 
 tionary struggle, by the bones of their fathers which lie mingled together at 
 
16 
 
 Yorktown and SaYatoga, at Trenton and Charlestown, by the farewell coun- 
 sels of the immortal Washington, to lay aside their animosities and to remem- 
 ber that they are brethren. I would remind them that the Union has given 
 us the blessings which we enjoy — that under its Flag our victories have been 
 won ; our borders extended ; our wealth and population increased ; our ships 
 respected in every port of every sea, until our national progress has excited 
 the admiration, or aroused the envy, of all the Nations and Potentates of the 
 earth. I would warn them of that abyss of ruin which fanaticism and trea- 
 son are opening beneath them ; into which they would plunge our present 
 fortunes and our future hopes. 1 would beseech them to stand by the Union, 
 to obey the laws, to frown upon agitation, in this crisis of our beloved country. 
 I would admonish them that failing to do this, failing to sustain the free insti- 
 tutions, and to regard the mutual compacts which we received from our 
 fathers, we may expect as a consequence the curses of posterity, the contempt 
 of the world, and the judgments of God. May the Ruler of nations avert 
 from us these impending calamities. May the Holy Trinity, in whom our 
 fathers trusted, give us, as a people, the spirit of wisdom and understanding 
 and of a sound mind. May we hereafter on occasions like the present have 
 a new motive of thanksgiving and praise in the proofs of the peaceful settle- 
 ment of all sectional controversies — in the fact that the Ship of State, long 
 tossed by tempests and threatened with destruction by conflicting and angry 
 elements, is at last sailing in a calm sea, with a law-abiding crew, AND 
 THE FLAG OF THE UNION NAILED TO HER MASTS. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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