p6Rmalif6« 
 
 pH8J 
 
THE 
 
 i'UCilTIVE SLAVE BILL; 
 
 OR, 
 
 GOD'S LAWS PARAMOUNT TO THE LAWS OF MEN. 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 |Jrcacl)cb on Sun^aw, (Dctober 20, ISSf, 
 
 BY REV. NATHANIEL COLVER, 
 
 Pastor of the Trcmont St. Church. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 J. M. HEWES & CO., 81 CORN HILL 
 
 (Successors to John Putnam.) 
 
 1850. 
 
s 
 
THE 
 
 * VR BILL ; 
 
 iWS OF MEN. 
 
 4 
 
THE 
 
 FUaiTIVE SLAVE BILL 
 
 OR, 
 
 GOD'S LA¥S PARAMOUNT TO THE LAWS OF MEN. 
 
 SEEMON, 
 
 |]rcacl)cb on Snubati, October 20, 1850, 
 
 BY REV. NATHANIEL COLVER, 
 
 Pastor of the Tremont St. Church. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 J. M. HEWES & CO., 81 CORN HILL, 
 
 (Successors to John Putnam.) 
 
 1850. 
 
E^ 
 
 
 
 
 -X 
 
 RESOLUTIONS, 
 
 PASSED BY THE TREMONT STREET BAPTIST CHURCH, BOSTON, OCT. 11, 1850. 
 
 Whereas, God is supreme in legislation, and his laws imperative and 
 binding upon all the subjects of his moral government ; and 
 
 Whereas, No corporate body or earthly government, can by counter leg- 
 islation, release him from, or justify him in disobeying the laws of God ; and 
 
 Whereas, The entire system of American slave law, by which the slaves 
 are reduced from men to chattels, and deprived of their liberty, is a flagrant 
 and unmistakeable outrage upon the laws of God and upon the heaven be- 
 stowed rights of our common nature in the persons of the slaves ; and 
 
 Whereas, The recently passed " Fugitive Slave Bill," is a part and par- 
 cel of the same atheistical code, and in direct and manifest opposition to the 
 revealed will and law of God, who requires of us " To deliver him that is 
 spoiled, out of the hand of the oppressor," " To hide tlie outcasts, and to 
 bewray not him that wandereth," " To let his outcasts dwell with us," &c. 
 And who also expressly forbids a compliance with this law, saying, " Thou 
 shalt not deliver unto his master, the servant which is escaped from his mas- 
 ter unto thee, he shall dwell with thee even among you, in that place which 
 he shall choose, in one of thy gates where it liketh him best ; thou shalt not 
 oppress him." Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That as disciples of Christ and members of his church, we ought 
 not, we cannot, and as we fear God, we will not render obedience to the 
 said law. We should regard it as practical atheism, for a moment to give 
 it the supremacy over the law of God, with which it is at direct and mani- 
 fest war. 
 
 We do indeed, recognize our duty with all meekness, to abide whatever 
 penalties a wicked and oppressive government may see fit to inflict upon us 
 for our fidelity to the laws of God. But be the consequences what they 
 may, we feel solemnly bound by every means in our power, to feed, com- 
 fort, shelter and aid the fugitive from southern bondage, the same as if no 
 such law existed, and the same as if they were our own children, fleeing 
 from the savages of the wilderness, or from any enemy who was seeking 
 feloniously to deprive them of their liberties or lives. 
 
 Resolved, That the alarm, consternation and distress, into which numerous 
 families of our fellow citizens have been thrown by the aforesaid law, suspend- 
 ing as it does, the writ of habeas corpus, and trial by jury, and thereby expo- 
 sing even those who were never in bondage, to the perpetual doom of slavery, 
 and connected as they are by ties of consanguinity with those who have es- 
 caped from slavery, or in part, or in whole, composed of such persons, de- 
 mand the entire sympathy of all who fear God and love their fellow men. 
 
 Resolved, That we deeply deplore the recklessness of tiiose legislators, 
 who, by the passing of the aforementioned Bill, have precipitated this terri- 
 ble crisis. They have placed the citizens in a position where they are com- 
 pelled to defile their consciences, do violence to every humane and generous 
 feeling of their hearts, and to knowingly sin against God, or refuse obedi- 
 ence to this law. They have done a fearful work ; deeply do we deplore 
 it, and earnestly will we pray God to save the country from the fearful re- 
 sults with which it is now threatened. 
 
 Resolved, After careful and prayerful deliberation, that the above preamble 
 and resolutions be signed by the pastor and clerk, and published as the sol- 
 emn convictions and purposes of this church. 
 
 Nathaniel Colver, Pastor. 
 Joseph J. Howe, Clerfc. 
 
 ^k 
 
SERMON. 
 
 Acts 5 : 29. 
 
 THEN PETER AND THE OTHER APOSTLES ANSWERED AND SAID, WE OUGHT 
 TO OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MEN. 
 
 Subjection to the civil magistrate is a scriptural doctrine. 
 " The powers that be, are ordained of God. Render nnto 
 Caesar the things that are Cajsar's." Ca3sar has liis rights, 
 and those rights God commands us to respect. His powers 
 are given to him of God, and sanctioned of God. But the 
 prerogatives of civil government are given for a certain end, 
 and have their limitation. If its delegated powers be perverted 
 to another end, or if it transcend its limits, its claims to re- 
 spect cease to be sanctioned of God. If civil government in 
 any form, forget the limitation of its prerogatives, and invade 
 the prerogatives of God, it is at its peril. God is supreme in 
 his legislation, and he whose mandate secures the rights of 
 Caesar, has also said, " and to God the things that are God's.^' 
 God will claim his own, and no civil government can release 
 its subjects from rendering unto God the things that are his. 
 Our allegiance to civil government must be subordinate to our 
 allegiance to the higher government of God, and hence, if at 
 any time the claims of the one conflict with those of the other, 
 the weaker must give place to the stronger, and the civil must 
 yield to the divine. 
 
 God required the apostles to preach the gospel, saying, " Go, 
 stand in the temple, and preach all the words of this hfe." 
 The civil authorities forbade them, — commanding them to 
 
speak no more in that name. "Then Peter and the other 
 apostles answered and said, we onght to obey God rather than 
 men." The civil government had transcended the limits of its 
 powers — nay, it arrayed its powers against the higher gov- 
 ernment from which it derived all its authority. Of course, 
 in such a work, it could not continue to claim the sanction 
 and support of that government while it was seeking its over- 
 throw, nor could it be obeyed in such a work without offence 
 to God. If any humau government will venture upon so fear- 
 ful an experiment, it must take the consequences. Under such 
 circumstances, the duty of the subject cannot be doubtful. If 
 he take counsel of his fears, he may hesitate; but if he take 
 counsel of his duty, he will prefer the authority of God to the 
 authority of men. Such a decision may be costly, but it will 
 be just, and safe in the end. 
 
 The recent legislation of the Congress of the United States, 
 in the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Bill, providing for the 
 recapture of fugitives from Southern bondage, has placed the 
 citizens of the free States in such a position. They are com- 
 manded to assist in its execution. With its strange and in- 
 iquitous provisions, humanity has been shocked. The feeling 
 IS almost universal, that its execution would be the commis- 
 sion of a monstrous crime. It has carried consternation and 
 anguish into thousands of families in our midst, and its execu- 
 tion would doom thousands who are guilty of no crime, many 
 of whom are the disciples of Christ, to a fate between which 
 and death there would be but little if any choice. Under such 
 circumstances, the inquiry has been bitter and earnest, what 
 shall be done? what is our duty ? To no class in community 
 does this inquiry more appropriately appeal, than to the spir- 
 itual advisers in the church of God. With that appeal, as an 
 ambassador of Christ, I dare not trifle. With a painful and 
 trembling reluctance, I yield. I shrink with indescribable dis- 
 tress from the thought of seeming, for a moment, to counsel dis- 
 obedience to the laws of tlie land. But when, on the other 
 hand, it is obvious tliat a crime of appalling magnitude is about 
 to be committed in the name of law — a crime involving the 
 hopeless ruin of thousands — the conscience of the nation de- 
 
filed and humanity outraged — I dare not be silent. In such 
 a crisis, the witnesses of God are not at liberty to be silent. 
 " If these should hold their peace, the stones would imme- 
 diately cry out." 
 
 Brethren, pray for me, that I may be enabled to investigate 
 the subject to which our attention is thus imperatively drawn, 
 in such a manner as to subserve the best interests of truth, and 
 to please the great Head of the church. 
 
 From the text I have selected, two propositions will be sub- 
 mitted for your consideration. 
 
 1st. Whenever the law of any civil government demands 
 of its subjects either active orjmssive disobedience to the known 
 will^ or law of God, disobedience to the former^ in favor of the 
 latter, becomes an imperative duty. 
 
 Let the proposition be distinctly understood. I do not say 
 that resistance to every unrighteous law is a duty. Laws 
 may make very unrighteous and oppressive exactions upon 
 us, and it may be our duty to submit. " If he sue thee at the 
 law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also." 
 The exaction may be unjust and cruel, but it is to be borne. 
 It is only when the law commands the subject to do that 
 which the law of God forbids, or to fail to do that which the 
 law of God commands, that he is bound to resist it. We 
 shall greatly err if we do not keep this distinction constantly 
 in view. This proposition, thus carefully defined, is sustain- 
 ed, I remark, in the first place, by men acting under the in- 
 spiration and approbation of God. The three worthies, men- 
 tioned in the third chapter of Daniel, afford a case in point. 
 The law of God forbade idolatry; but idolatry had identified 
 itself with the political aftairs of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar, 
 the king, had constructed an image of great dimensions, cost 
 and beauty. He had, by solemn edict, comm.anded the sub- 
 jects of his empire to worship his idol. At that command, 
 and with unsurpassed enthusiasm, his subordinates in office 
 had rushed from the numerous provinces of his empire to tes- 
 tify their loyalty to their monarch, by doing homage to his 
 god. How grateful to the pride of his heart mnst have been 
 this profound submission to his will, this zealous obedience to 
 
his authority 7 On the other hand, how astonished and offend- 
 ed, to learn that that obedience was not nniversah It was 
 told him tliat three individuals of the captives of Jndah had 
 disregarded his authority. Men, too, who were the recipi- 
 ents of his imperial favor, and bound by the pledge of oflice, 
 received from his hand, to sustain his government. That 
 these men, in opposition to the congregated wisdom and virtue 
 of the nation, had disregarded their own official obligations by 
 setting at naught the solemn mandate of the king, and refus- 
 ing to bow down and worship his god. As a godless poli- 
 tician, what could he see in all this but dangerous fanaticism, 
 or stubbornness and revolt? It was quite natural, with the 
 views which he entertained of the nature and extent of his 
 own authority, that he should feel and act as he did. In his 
 "rage" and his " fury," he commanded them to be brought 
 before him. He charged them with their disloyalty, and 
 warned them of the fatal results of their fanaticism. But he 
 would not be unreasonable, he would even condescend that 
 they should have an opportunity to redeem their reputation 
 and save their lives. If at the second musical indication of 
 his will, they would fall down and worship the image which 
 he had set up, well, — the past should be forgiven and tliey 
 should live ; but if not, in that same hour they should be cast 
 into the burning fiery furnace, which, in his wrath, he would 
 cause to be seven times heated; and "who," he impiously 
 added, " who is that God that shall deliver you out of my 
 hand?" But there stood those three men, unmoved as the 
 hills planted by the hand of Jehovah. They heard the threat, 
 they saw the dangers with which they were surrounded. 
 But moral courage dares to be afraid. They feared God and 
 were unmoved. They heard the power of their God chal- 
 lenged, and they would not fail, through cowardice or treach- 
 ery, to honor it with their confidence, — the observed of hea- 
 ven, and a worthy spectacle to be looked back upon by all 
 coming generations. There they stood, a noble specimen of 
 manhood, — of manhood unsuborned from its high allegiance 
 to its God, and unbowed by the glittering seductions of earth 
 from its proper dignity. How amazing and how inspiring 
 
the contrast between them and the multitude of cringing syco- 
 phants with whom they were surrounded ! Memorable in- 
 deed is the answer which they returned to this imperial en- 
 croachment upon their rights and duties as men. It is an an- 
 swer worthy to be engraved upon the memory of the race, 
 and to be had in readiness for every tyrant who should thus 
 forget the limits of his authority, and thrust himself between 
 men and their God. " Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 
 answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are 
 not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our 
 God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning 
 fiery furnace. But, if not, be it known unto thee, O king, 
 that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden 
 image which thou hast set up." What commendable fidelity 
 to righteousness is here displayed ! What moral dignity ! 
 What sublime faith in God ! But to all this, this self-deified 
 politician is blind. Their unseduced and unawed virtue serve 
 only to augment his wrath. 
 
 "Then was the king full of fury, and the form of his vis- 
 age was changed." The furnace was heated till it burned 
 with seven fold fury ! They were cast in. Pressed by the 
 vehemence of his connnand, the executioners of his will were 
 smitten down by the gushing flames from that overheated 
 engine of his rage. Those feeble victims have been made to 
 drink the full cup of his vengeance. His eye follows them 
 that he may feast upon the dying agonies of their crisping 
 bodies, as they should yield to the devouring element ! But 
 mark that king ! Another change has come over his visage. 
 Wonder, amazement and fear sit enthroned upon his pallid 
 brow! What sight appals him? Those devouring flames 
 have given them a kindly reception. That fiery furnace is 
 changed into the audience chamber of the Great King, whose 
 authority he has despised and whose power he has chal- 
 lenged. "The form of the fourth" is with them; he sees 
 him as " the Son of God." Virtue has triumphed. Fi- 
 delity to God is vindicated. The Son of God himself has 
 come down to honor those men who have dared to dis- 
 obey the law of the king in favor of the higher law of 
 
8 
 
 their God. For once that prond monarch is humbled, and 
 made to cast his crown at the feet of the sovereign God. The 
 supremacy of divine legislation is established, and a con- 
 fession of it is wrung from the lips of a tyrant. A confession 
 which proclaims at once the guilt of his own usurpation, the 
 vileness of his obsequious parasites, and the righteousness of 
 those humble but faithful witnesses for God. In all this, the 
 truth of our proposition is taught us, so clearly taught us as 
 not to be mistaken. So authenticated by the divine interpo- 
 sition and so confirmed by this confession of the civil govern- 
 ment, as to leave no room to doubt nor safety in hesitation. 
 
 There is a like confirmation of our proposition in the con- 
 duct of Daniel under the iniquitous law of Darius, with this 
 difference. The law of Nebuchadnezzar required active, that 
 of Darius passive disobedience to the law of God. The case 
 is so much in point as to demand our careful attention, as it 
 shows conclusively, that the man who truly fears God will 
 not and cannot yield to the interposition of the civil law, be- 
 tween him and his God in the least particular, be the conse- 
 quences what they may. 
 
 The law of Darius wanted nothing in form or sanction. 
 The signature of the king was affixed to the decree. It was 
 after the law of the Medes and Persians. It could neither be 
 changed nor repealed. It required the commission of no crime 
 against his fellow-men on the part of Daniel. It simply for- 
 bade his calling upon the name of his God. Daniel would 
 neither obey, nor seem to obey it. He might have continued 
 to call upon his God, and thus have foiled his enemies and 
 avoided any liability to the terrible penalty of the law, by 
 praying in secret. But in so doing he would seem either to 
 yield to the right of the king to interfere between him and his 
 God, or to distrust that God, whose servant he professed to 
 be. He would do neither the one nor the other; but " When 
 he knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house, 
 and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jeru- 
 salem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and 
 prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did afore- 
 time." He was willing they should know that he dis- 
 
obeyed the mandate of the king. By the steady, unaltered 
 manner in which he did it, he wished his enemies to know 
 that he acted from no motive of resentment, but from his un- 
 shaken fidehty to his God and his wilHngness to sutler for 
 him if need be. For this disobedience to civil law in favor of 
 the divine, God abundantly honored him. The angels of hea- 
 ven were observant of the singular trial to which that servant 
 of God was subjected. His entrance to that terrible recep- 
 tacle of death was preceded by one, sent from the celestial 
 world, to render it a place of safety and repose to the man 
 " greatly beloved !" The piety of Daniel in this matter has 
 deeply impressed the king. The very God of Daniel was ap- 
 parent in his piety. The impressions of this heathen mon- 
 arch were undoubtedly vague; but somehow he felt tliat Dan- 
 iel's God was not a fiction, nor unmindful of his servant. Of 
 this his night of fasting and his early visit to the den were in- 
 dicative. "And when he came to the den, he cried with a 
 lamentable voice unto Daniel : O Daniel, servant of the living 
 God, is thy God whom thou servest continually, able to de- 
 liver thee from the lions]" Would he have cried thus had 
 no confidence in Daniel's God impressed his mind ? " Then 
 said Daniel unto the king, king, live forever. My God 
 hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they 
 have not hurt me; forasmuch as before him innoeency was 
 found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done 
 no hurt." He had studiously disobeyed the law, but he had 
 done no hurt. His own conscience approved; God, by mir- 
 acle, had approved. The king feels it, and adds his own tes- 
 timony. His confession on that memorable occasion of the 
 supremacy of the kingdom of God, is an everlasting commen- 
 dation of the truth of our proposition. 
 
 In disobeying the law of the king in favor of the will of 
 God, Daniel is fully sustained. On the truth of our proposi- 
 tion, patriarchs, prophets and apostles, have all acted. To 
 deny it, is to stamp all the holy martyrs of every age with 
 suicidal folly. All of them have died for disobedience to some 
 civil law — to some law which required them actively or pas- 
 sively to disobey the will of God. If our proposition be un- 
 2 
 
10 
 
 true, they have died as the fool dieth. We ought to obey 
 God, rather than men, has been their dying apology. 
 
 Bnt again, the very existence of God, pledges the trnth of 
 our proposition. The " i am " of the Bible claims to be " God 
 above all gods." He claims to be " King (not among, but) 
 above all gods." " His kingdom ruleth over all." He claims 
 no equality of being or of rule. Supremacy of authority is 
 essential to his existence as God. To deny the supremacy of 
 his laws, is to deny his existence as God. The recent con- 
 temners of the higher law, whether in the Congress of the 
 United States or among the apologists and advocates of this 
 Bill, are practical atheists. I mean those who admit the in- 
 justice of its provisions, and yet say it should be obeyed be- 
 cause it is the law of the land. If the subjects of the moral 
 government of God can be released from their obligation to 
 obey the law, or known will of God in one case by the author- 
 ity of civil law, then they can be released in another, and in 
 all cases, and the government of God is at an end. To per- 
 petuate crimes of any enormity with impunity, yea, with jus- 
 tice, you have only to find some human government vile 
 enough to command the commission of such crimes, and they 
 are changed at once into virtues. And yet, from this mon- 
 strous conclusion there is no escape but in the truth of the 
 proposition we have been laboring to establish, and wliich, it 
 seems to me, we have succeeded in establishing beyond the 
 possibility of a doubt. The man that truly fears God, will 
 hold his will, his law supreme, and his obligations to regard 
 it as sacred and inviolable. As these obligations are personal, 
 and as no being in the universe can step between him and his 
 God, or bear his responsibilities for him, he will examine every 
 law of men which lays claim to his regard, and if it demand 
 active or passive disobedience to the will or law of his God, 
 he ought to disobey it, and he will disobey it. 
 
 We proceed to submit the second proposition for your con- 
 sideration, viz : — Such is the inherent and manifest iniquity of 
 this Bill^ such its hostility to the law of God, as to render dis- 
 obedience to its demands a solemn duty. 
 
 Of course we shall attempt no minute or detailed examination 
 
11 
 
 of this strange and afllictive Bill. We can only notice some 
 of its more prominent features, by which it is entitled to be 
 disobeyed and repudiated by every freeman in the land. 
 
 And first — Obedience to this Bill will render us the efficient 
 and direct responsible supporters of slavery itself 
 
 I need not, I am quite sure, in this assembly stop to prove 
 the inherent vileness of slave law, based as the entire code is, 
 upon an atheistical invasion of the divine prerogatives. 
 " Slaves shall be deemed, held, taken and reputed to be goods 
 and chattels personal, in the hands of an owner, to all intents, 
 purposes and constructions whatsoever. Slaves shall not be 
 reckoned among sentient beings, but among things. A slave 
 can neither plead nor be pleaded for; he cannot be known in 
 law, save in the person of his master or owner." — (South Car- 
 olina Slave Law). "And this," says Judge Stroud, "is the 
 basis of all slave law, wherever slavery exists in this country." 
 By these quotations any one can perceive that slavery begins 
 its cruel work upon its victim by legally nullifying his man- 
 hood, with all its 'peculiar rights and prerogatives; by meta- 
 morphosing tlie man into a mere animal, " a thing." Well 
 might Wesley denominate such a system " the sum of all vil- 
 lany." He who denies its vileness, perpetrates a libel upon his 
 own powers of perception. Let the attempt be made to apply 
 it to himself, or to his own children, and will he longer profess 
 his blindness to its appalling enormity? If there be any sin 
 of surpassing oifensiveness to a holy God, it is the shameless 
 attempt to prostitute his precious word to its defence. Now, 
 terrible as is the iniquity of this system in all its practical 
 cruelties and legitimate results, obedience to this Bill will 
 make us the direct and efficient supporters of it. You cannot 
 separate the slave catcher from the slave holder. The com- 
 mencement and continuance of the outrage upon the victim, 
 results from the conspiracy between the two ; so that, both 
 the catcher and the holder, are alike involved in the guilt. 
 Fully to perceive this, you have only to suppose your own 
 child the victim. 
 
 Some person at the South has possession of your child, and 
 subjects him to the degradations and cruelties of slavery. 
 
12 
 
 Panting for liberty, your child succeeds in making his escape. 
 Just as he reaches your dwelling, and while yet clasped in 
 ^'■onr affectionate embrace, (under the provisions of this Bill, 
 and in obedience to its mandate.) your neighbor, with the 
 eager stealthiness of the tiger, seizes upon your child, and 
 bears him back to his Southern oppressor, to toil, suffer and 
 groan, till death comes to his release. How would you regard 
 that neighbor 7 Would you not regard him as equally cruel 
 to your child, as equally involved in the guilt of his enslave- 
 ment, as equally responsible in the sight of God for his condi- 
 tion and suffering? The authors of this Bill have sought to 
 make the free citizens of the North the guilty participants in 
 the sin of slavery ; the efficient abettors and supporters of that 
 system of unsurpassed iniquity — of that quintessence of all 
 cruelties — that " sum of all villanies !" And there is no way 
 for us to avoid it, but by disobedience to the Bill. If we 
 would be clear, we must repudiate it, as " part and parcel" 
 of the God-defying code of American slavery. 
 
 But again. This Bill demands a palpable and flagrant 
 violation of that universal and indispensable law of life, 
 pressed upon us by the express command of our Lord ; 
 " Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should 
 do to you, do ye even so to them ; for this is the law and tlie 
 prophets." 
 
 The trembling fugitive in this city, whose head this terrible 
 Bill has uncovered, and to whom it points as its victim, is 
 your neighbor. He has escaped from the dark prison-house 
 of slavery, where he was held against all right, all justice. 
 For a time, he has breathed the free air of New England, and 
 shared its civil, its domestic and its religious privileges. Be- 
 yond the reach of the spoiler, whose avarice sucked up the 
 marrow of his youth, he has felt himself secure until this Bill 
 commanded his neighbors to seize him, and take him back to 
 the horrors from which he had escaped. Will you be the one 
 to do it, or assist in doing it ? Put yourself in his place, and 
 would you wish him to do it to you 7 In deference to any 
 principle of justice, ought you to wish him to do it 7 In the 
 
13 
 
 most self-saci'ijiciiig exercise of Christian love, covld you de- 
 sire him to do it to you ? 
 
 If you would, if you ought, if you could, then ohey this 
 Bill. Set about it in earnest. Heed not the tears, the an- 
 guish, the shrieks, the despair of bruised and crushed human- 
 ity. Let not the sundered ties, the grief-tossed limbs, the 
 breaking hearts which will strew your way, deter you ; press 
 on, and do your duty ! Bnt if not, then with that firmness 
 which becomes the upright and God-fearing, say to the au- 
 thors of this Bill, we will not obey it. In honor of our Sa- 
 viour, and of that beautiful law of universal application which 
 dropped from his lips, we will not obey this unrighteous de- 
 cree. Despite the enormous penalties of this Bill, we will 
 obey our Saviour. Our brother shall dwell quietly by our 
 side, and we will do him good. 
 
 But again. Obedience to this Bill, involves an outrage 
 upon every law of hospitality to the stranger, and of charity 
 to the needy, which the gospel enjoins; as well as upon every 
 generous, manly, or religious prompting of the heart. 
 
 The fugitive comes to us, not in the exuberances of wealth, 
 wherewith to bless and protect himself He comes from the 
 hand of the spoiler. Espionage upon his soul has enfeebled 
 his mind. The keen discipline of the lash has scarified his 
 flesh. His solitary griefs have wounded his spirit. Unceas- 
 ing toil has bowed his frame, and " his feet they hurt in fet- 
 ters." The earnings of his hands have been taken to increase 
 the wealth of his oppressors, while he has been left in his 
 poverty. He comes, not to bless, but to be blest ; but he 
 comes as the representative of Jesus Christ. These marks of 
 his woe are his legible credentials. Sealed with the King's 
 signet, he comes to us a clearly written draft upon the charity 
 of our hearts, and the benevolence of our hands. We cannot 
 dishonor this draft without grieving our Lord. He will feel 
 it as if done to himself. Their necessities are ids claims, ap- 
 pealing to the tenderest and holiest sensibilities of our natures. 
 But what does this Bill? Like a polar frost, it nips the first 
 buddings of humanity. In the icy fingers of its grasp, it locks 
 all our energies. It lays its injunction upon all the moral 
 
14 
 
 wealth of the soul. It counsels treason to all the tender com- 
 mands — to all the earnest injunctions of the Son of God. 
 
 Not having the fear of this law before their eyes, humanity 
 and charity have begun, at least, to do their work. Many of 
 these fugitive remnants of humanity, wrecked upon the dark 
 and rock-bound coast of slavery, have been allowed to find a 
 home among us. Under the genial sky of freedom, the 
 cramped energies of their souls have begun to expand. Their 
 drooping hearts have sent out their tendrils, and taken hold of 
 the props of social life. The weary anguish of their spirits 
 has found rest in the humble but sacred retreats of domestic 
 affection, and a chosen home. But what says this Bill ? 
 Why, this is all a mistake. This work must be undone. 
 These new-born ties that bind them to life must all be sun- 
 dered. These expanding energies must again be crushed. 
 These homes must be desolated, and this newly risen sun of 
 their hopes must be made to set forever in the mornless night 
 of renewed slavery ! Surely, this is not a work for men, but 
 demons ! And yet, this is the very work which this monster, 
 begotten upon ambition, by the warring winds of political 
 strife, prescribes for the free citizens of ihe North — for the free- 
 men of Massachusetts ! 
 
 But further. Obedience to this Bill involves a direct viola- 
 tion of many, very many of the moral precepts of the Bible. 
 God says, " Hide the outcasts." This Bill says, hide them at 
 your peril. God says, "Betray not him that wandereth ;" 
 but this Bill commands you to betray him into the hands of 
 his worst enemy. God says, " Sufler mine outcasts to dwell 
 with you;" this Bill says, enter their humble dwellings, seize 
 them, call out the jjosse comiiaius, carry them out of the 
 State, and deliver them to the scourge, to the shambles or to 
 death, as the unbridled caprice of their oppressors shall deter- 
 mine. 
 
 God says :— " Thou shalt not deliver to his master the ser- 
 vant which is escaped from his master unto thee; he shall 
 dwell with thee, even among you in that place which he shall 
 choose, in one of thy gates where it liketh him best; thou 
 shalt not oppress him." This Bill takes direct issue with 
 
15 
 
 God and says, YOU SHALL DELIVER HIM TO HIS 
 MASTER ! 
 
 It commands every citizen of the North to disregard the ex- 
 pressed will of his God. This alternative has been thrust 
 upon us with a recklessness that is amazing. The authors of 
 this Bill have taken issue with God. To jneld obedience to 
 the claims of both is impossible. Neutrality is impossible. 
 There remains therefore to the upright but one decision, and 
 that is the decision of the apostle in our text, — " We ongkt 
 to obey God rnlher than 7nen.'^ 
 
 As we would avoid doing violence to all the generous promp- 
 tings of humanity, or of Christianity, in our hearts we must 
 disobey and repudiate this Bill. As we would avoid doing 
 violence to all the moral precepts of the Bible, we must dis- 
 obey and repudiate this Bill. In short, as we would avoid 
 renouncing the moral government of God or incurring the 
 wrath of heaven, we must disobey and repudiate this Bill. 
 
 But again: — This Bill should be abhorred and tram- 
 pled under foot by every man, because it enjoins the commis- 
 sion of one of the blackest crimes specified in the divine cat- 
 alogue. A crime which is thus classified by an inspired 
 apostle, — " Murderers of fathers, murderers of mothers, man- 
 sTEALERs." " He that stealeth a man and selleth him, or if 
 he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death." 
 But let us examine somewhat carefully, and see if this ter- 
 rible crime is involved in obedience to this Bill. 
 
 What, then, constitutes the crime of man-stealing? Is it to 
 take one man from another who claims to be his owner? By 
 no means. To take him from such a claimant is but to re- 
 lease him from a felonious seizure. How came that professed 
 owner by that immortal being, who bears the image of his 
 Maker, to whom he is bound by ties as indissoluble as his na- 
 ture, — ties based upon the right of his Maker to his unfetter- 
 ed service? Before that professed owner can vindicate him- 
 self from a felony upon the rights and possession of God, he 
 must show his bill of sale or his title deed from his owner, 
 and his owner is God. To deliver or to release every slave 
 in all the South from the felonious ownership of their oppress- 
 
16 
 
 ors, would no more be man-stealing than when Abraham de- 
 livered Lot and his fellow-captives out of the hands of the 
 five kings who claimed them as the spoil taken in war. To 
 give freedom to all the slaves of the South would be no more 
 man-stealiig, than for the noble Decatur to give liberty to 
 American captives who had been taken by the Algerine pow- 
 ers and reduced to slavery. Upon those who could effect 
 such a deliverance, Melchizedek would pronounce the bless- 
 ing of the most high God. Whatever else may be man-steal- 
 ing, to release the slaves of the South is not man-stealing. 
 Even the slaveholder himself is barred by slave law against 
 such a complaint. The very basis of all slave laws declares 
 that he (the slave) is not to be regarded as a man ; "He shall 
 not be reckoned among sentient beings, but among things." 
 He does not profess to own him as a man but as a thing. 
 Tiie rights of the slave, as a man, would perpetually war 
 upon every prerogative of ownership in his master. It surely 
 is not for him who has annihilated his manhood, that he may 
 own him. to revive that manhood as a plea against him who 
 has released his spoiled victim and restored him to his man- 
 hood again. Such a release is no man-stealing; it is an act 
 of mercy, in obedience to God, who says, " Thou shalt deliver 
 him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor." 
 
 The question returns, what is it to steal a man? We an- 
 swer, in order to steal property, it must be taken from a right- 
 ful owner. So in order to steal a man, he must be feloniously 
 taken away from his rightful owner ; or, in either case, it 
 will be the same thing, if the article or the man be taken 
 from the official agent, in whom the owner had vested the 
 right of control. Now we have no fear of contradiction when 
 we affirm that God is the rightful owner of man, and that he 
 has constituted every man his agent, vested with the exclu- 
 sive power over all his own faculties and responsible to God 
 for their use. So sacred is this agency of the Divine owner, 
 that no man can relinquish it or cast from him its obligations. 
 He received it at his birth, and he can only relinquish it with 
 his being. His responsibilities to his God constitute the in- 
 alienable character of his rights. It was the sacredness of 
 
17 
 
 this trust that led the apostles to say, " We ought to obey 
 God rather than men." It has been the sacredness of this 
 trust which has led every martyr to die rather than relinquish 
 it. Now he who takes a man out of this moral relationship 
 to his God, and reduces him to the relations of a mere chattel 
 and steps between God and him and claims to be his owner, 
 he it is ^hat steals a man. There can be no more truthful 
 definition of the crime of man-stealing than the reducing of a 
 man to the legally defined condition of a slave. 
 
 To seize a man in the juugles of Africa, and bind him as 
 your slave, is man-stealing. It is to reduce a man to a chat- 
 tel which constitutes the crime ; and when the Virginia or 
 South Carolina planter buys that stolen man, he buys a felo- 
 nious title, and while he holds him or owns him, he does it 
 under a felonious title and iu violation of the rights of God 
 and the slave, and thus he perpetuates the crime of man-steal- 
 ing. In the case of the descendants of the slave, who are by 
 him held in slavery, he does but multiply and perpetuate the 
 crime of man-stealing. The title of man-stealer is writ- 
 ten by the finger of Almighty God upon the brow of every 
 man who claims to be the owner of a man, or who sub- 
 jects him to his uses as a mere chattel. 
 
 Well, from the felonious grasp of a human owner the fugitive 
 among us has escaped. He has come to breathe the free air 
 of New England, where, unfettered by the oppressive owner- 
 ship of another, he can yield obedience to his rightful proprie- 
 tor, the blessed God. He has come where he can " Honor his 
 father and his mother;" where he can cherish and protect the 
 wife of his bosom; where he can train up his " Children in 
 the nurture and admonition of the Lord." He has come 
 where he can give himself to "Search the Scriptures," and to 
 ''feed on the bread of life," or to the service of God, as duty 
 may demand. He has come where, in short, under the genial 
 influence of the moral government of God, he may cherish his 
 higher faculties and relations, where he may develope the at- 
 tributes of a man, and render himself worthy of the dignity 
 of that nature with which, in common with his fellows, his 
 Creator has endowed him. To this has he come, and to this 
 3 
 
18 
 
 is he entitled by Him who " Made him a little lower than the 
 angels, and crowned him with glory and honor; and made 
 him to have dominion over the work of his hands, and put all 
 things nnder his feet. All sheep and oxen, yea, and the 
 beasts of the field, the fowls of (,he air and the fish of the sea, 
 and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea." 
 
 Now from this position, so befitting his nature and to 
 which his title is not written upon parchment, but in every 
 thought that burns within him, in every word he utters, and 
 in every lineament of a man with which his Maker has im- 
 pressed him, — from this position and these prerogatives, who 
 will dare to tear him away? Who will dare to be his spoiler? 
 Who will dare to thrust him down to chattelship and brute- 
 ism, slavery's doom? Who will dare to thrust him into that 
 condition where an usurper upon the ownership of God may 
 pollute his body and his soul with impunity, — may sunder 
 every social tie of life, rob him of his Bible, seal up every 
 source of knowledge, and interdict every command of his God ; 
 may, with the legally defined powers of his ownership, subject 
 his quivering flesh to the lash and his spirit to despair. This, 
 this is man-stealing ! Hear it heaven and earth, this is man- 
 stealing- ! 
 
 If done without law, it is man-stealing; if done under color 
 of law, still it is man-stealing. In the sight of God the crime 
 is the same, with the addition of conspiracy. Before heaven 
 and earth the authors of that Bill are indictable for a conspir- 
 acy to commit one of the highest crimes for the punishment of 
 which the law was made.' 1. Tim. 1 : 9, 10. To those con- 
 spirators against God and against his helpless poor, shall be 
 charged the mercenary crimes which will be committed under 
 this terrible enactment, in that day when the scorners of God, 
 the contemners of his law, and the crushed victims of their 
 power shall be weighed together in an even scale. " Truly I 
 am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment 
 and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgressions and to 
 Israel his sin. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house 
 of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel that abhor 
 judgment and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with 
 
19 
 
 blood, and Jernsalem with iniquity. The heads thereof 
 judge for reward and the priests thereof teach for hire and 
 the prophets thereof divine for money ; yet will they lean 
 upon the Lord and say, is not the Lord among us? No evil 
 can come upon us." O, it is lamentable, when rulers are " a 
 terror" to good works, and a praise to them that " do evil." 
 In the enactment of this Bill, they have "framed mischief by 
 a law." Well, the inflictions of their penalties may be borne ; 
 but surely no man who loves justice, fears God and believes 
 in the retributions of eternity, will involve himself in this 
 crime. Let them pour upon us, if they will, the vials of their 
 wrath, but by the solemnities of the last day, let them not 
 make us man-stealers. No, no; as we fear God this Bill 
 must be disobeyed. Its inherent atrocity, its manifest hostil- 
 ity to the law of God makes disobedience to it an imperative 
 duty. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 We have urged disobedience to this law for the recapture 
 of fugitive slaves; and we have urged such disobedience, not 
 as a capricious resistance of some heavy burden imposed upon 
 us, but as a moral duty, — a duty solemnly required of God, 
 because this law requires us to violate his law, and to stain 
 ourselves with no ordinary guilt. And we urge it still. But 
 let no one suppose for a moment that we urge rebellion. I 
 know, indeed, that there are some who seem blind to the dis- 
 tinction between rebellion and disobedience to a law requiring 
 us to do a wicked act. But that diiference exists, neverthe- 
 less, and the distinction is clear. Daniel would not obey the 
 law of Darius, but he would say, O king, live forever ! And 
 so we will not obey this wicked law, but to our Republican 
 Government we will say, O king, live forever ! Every law of 
 the land gives to all the privilege, the right, not to disobey it 
 and be tried for treason, but to disobey it and receive its pre- 
 scribed penalty. If any one studiously refuse the former, but 
 patiently submit to the latter, he is no rebel. 
 
 The authors of this Bill, traitors as they were to the high 
 
20 
 
 trust to which they were elevated, were, nevertheless, clothed 
 with official power. By disobedience to their unrighteous 
 mandate, as far as in us lies, we will arrest the fearful results 
 of their madness. From respect to the government, which 
 they for the time represent, we will patiently submit to such 
 penalties as they may intiict, trusting that God will support 
 us under it, until, in his good providence, more worthy occu- 
 pants of so high a trust shall undo the mischiefs which they 
 have done. As to the extent and manner of disobedience to 
 this law, I feel myself quite incompetent to advise. In- 
 deed, no definite rule can be prescribed. The different cir- 
 cumstances under which individuals are placed in relation to 
 it. must dictate the path of duty. And yet some general sug- 
 gestions may be proper. As to the extent of disobedience I 
 may say, in safety, that whenever and wherever and in just so 
 far as it requires a violation of the gospel of Christ or the 
 moral precepts of God, it should be disobeyed, and disobeyed 
 with a firmness that knows no hesitation or change. As to 
 the manner of disobeying it, some things are clear and ob- 
 vious, others can only be suggested by the exigency of the case 
 as it may arise. 
 
 Are you a magistrate, and should a kidnapper pursue, ar- 
 rest and bring a fugitive from slavery before you, dare to lift 
 yourself above the suborned truckling of a slavery-smitten 
 judiciary, and be governed by your oath of office and by the 
 Constitution, that great palladium of human rights, the pro- 
 visions of which you are the especial and sworn protectors 
 and guardians. 
 
 Are you an officer and commanded to execute it, refuse. 
 Resign if you will ; but if not, refuse, and say to the higher 
 authorities, it was not in the contract of your office to turn a 
 man-stealer, or to commit any other known and infamous crime. 
 
 If any officer, forgetting his higher allegiance to God, should 
 undertake its execution and command your assistance, refuse. 
 Perseveringly refuse to assist. In the simple majesty of right- 
 eousness and humanity, remonstrate and seek to dissuade such 
 officer from thus aiding the guilty oppressor in his cruel work. 
 Do all in your power without violence to protect the fugitive 
 
21 
 
 from seizure, or to hide him from pursuit. Hide him, feed 
 him, comfort him in his peril and distress with all the fidelity, 
 self-sacrifice and sympathy that you would if that poor, trem- 
 bhng fugitive from oppression were your Saviour, Jesus Christ ; 
 for it is for his ckosen representative you do it. 
 
 But to all this it may be objected that the dangers of diso- 
 bedience are such as not to be trifled with; — and so they are. 
 They may not be trifled with, but they may, nevertheless, he 
 looked soberly in the face, and be overcome. The authors of 
 this law no doubt anticipated that its execution would be ob- 
 structed by all the humanity, all the conscience, all the reli- 
 gion of the country, and they have armed it accordingly. 
 They have armed tlie executioners of this law with extraor- 
 dinary powers to do an extraordinary work. The ordinary 
 safeguards of the law are denied to the victim, for their es- 
 pecial accommodation. He may connnand what assistance 
 he may need, under disproportionate and enormous penalties. 
 
 With those who take counsel of their fears, this objection 
 will have weight. There is no want of liability or terror for 
 him who dares to disobey its provisions. Cowards and trai- 
 tors will find no want of apology ; but with him who fears 
 God. and whose integrity is not in the market, these consid- 
 erations will weigh nothing. Such as are governed by sinis- 
 ter motives, will, of course, obey the law. Disobedience will 
 be quite too costly to suit the standard of their ethics. But, 
 let the warning of the Son of God be remembered, — "Fear 
 not them that kill the body, and after that have no more that 
 they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear; 
 fear Him, who, after He hath killed, hath power to cast both 
 soul and body into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear Him." 
 With the wise, such a warning will be more than sufficient to 
 counterbalance this objection. It shall console us to know 
 that we are not the first who have found themselves hedged 
 in between duty and danger; a position into which, first or 
 last, God usually brings his children, that he may test their 
 fidelity to himself and bring them forth as gold purified in the 
 furnace. 
 
 But I submit whether there is not a relation which wc sus- 
 
22 
 
 tain to this Bill, which, whether we obey it or not, involves 
 us in its guilt. In this country the people are the govern- 
 ment. Legislators are but the agents of the people. It is 
 considered a sound maxim, that the principal is responsible 
 for the agent. The immediate authors of this Bill are the 
 legislators who passed it ; the mediate authors are the people, 
 whose agents they were. 
 
 " No Caesar bears this sin alone, 
 A nation fills the guilty throne." 
 
 Nor let the fault be all laid upon the citizens of the South. 
 If the free citizens of the North had hitherto done their duty 
 on the subject of American Slavery, those unprincipled poli- 
 ticians from the North, who aided in passing this Bill, would 
 never have done it. But they have been so long accustomed 
 to sacrificing the rights of freedom at the shrine of the slave 
 power, with your acquiescence, that they were emboldened to 
 this last, rather startling, experiment upon your credulity and 
 forbearance. 
 
 At the bidding of the slave power they have added State 
 after State to the black stripes of our Union, — and you have 
 acquiesced. At the bidding of the slave power, and in vio- 
 lation of solemn treaty, they have rent Texas from a sister 
 republic, that they might give that vast area of freedom to its 
 dark dominion, — and you have acquiesced. At the bidding 
 of the slave power, they have waged a murderous and success- 
 ful war of conquest upon Mexico, — and you have acquiesced. 
 
 At the perpetration of each of these successive acts of out- 
 rage and wrong, j^ou have been startled and roused for a mo- 
 ment to a sense of their atrocity, but dazzled by the splen- 
 dors of success, or bound by the trammels of party, you have 
 offered no manly or persevering resistance. The fires of party 
 strife have consumed every sober inquiry after righteousness 
 and duty, — and you have acquiesced. From these successful 
 experiments upoi] the easy virtue of the people, is it surprising 
 that they should have ventured upon this last act? In view 
 of all the past, why should they not now expect you to hold 
 up your perhaps reluctant, but consenting hands, to be man- 
 
23 
 
 acledj that you may be the conscienceless slaves of political 
 owners^ to catch and bind their human victims, and lay them 
 upon the altar of the Southern Moloch where they worship? 
 But if, after all, T am mistaken — if for past deUnquences 
 yoxx are not responsible for the existence of this Bill — yet I 
 beg to assure you that you will be responsible for its long con- 
 tinuance. The mischief has been done by our permission, 
 now let it be undone by our exertion. Repeal is a duty, — 
 unconditional repeal. A duty pressing upon every free citizen 
 of the North. We owe it to ourselves; its exactions are in- 
 tolerable. We owe it to the suffering fugitives on whom this 
 commission of "living death " has fallen. We owe it to our 
 country, whose name this enactment has covered with re- 
 proach in the eyes of the civilized world. But above all, we 
 owe it to God, against whose government and laws this Bill 
 has arrayed us. Let other questions, which involve only pe- 
 cuniary or mercenary considerations, be lost sight of in view 
 of this great question of justice. Religiously are you bound 
 to give your vote for no man, of whatever party or politics he 
 may be, unless he is pledged to undo this great wrong which 
 has been perpetrated in your name. Let repeal be our watch- 
 word. Let freemen rally as with one heart, and let this foul 
 blot be wiped from the statute book of our nation. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 We have been long slumbering over the cruelties of slavery 
 upon the millions of God's helpless poor. Perhaps God in his 
 wisdom is now permitting us to feel its aggressions upon our- 
 selves, that thereby we may be roused to duty. This overt 
 and frenzied act of the slave power, may yet, through tlie 
 overruling of Divine Providence, recoil with resistless power 
 upon slavery itself Let not those who fear God be dismayed. 
 Let them buckle on the armor of God, and " stand in God's 
 great might." He will "cause the wrath of man to praise 
 him, and the remainder of wrath he will restrain." In all 
 that afflicts us to-day, God will be glorified. The moral ele- 
 ments around us are in commotion ; the horizon is lowering 
 
21 
 
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 012 026 186 1 
 
 and dark. But let no man's faith falter. " God rides upon 
 the storm," and "he stretcheth out his bow upon the cloud." 
 " Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain 
 thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers 
 take counsel together against the Lord, and against his anoint- 
 ed, saying, let us break their bands asunder, and cast away 
 their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall 
 laugh ; the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he 
 speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore dis- 
 pleasure. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of 
 Zion." Upon that throne he will sit, and from that throne 
 he will extend his sceptre, until the last fetter shall be broken, 
 the last sigh shall be heaved, the last tear shall fall, and this 
 aceldama of earth shall be changed into the paradise of God, 
 and be filled with the glory of his reign. 
 
 I cannot better close this discourse than in the language of 
 this beautiful Psalm. 
 
 Be wise, now, therefore, O ye kings ; 
 
 Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 
 
 Serve the Lord with fear, 
 
 And rejoice with trembling. 
 
 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, 
 
 And ye perish from the way 
 
 When his wrath is kindled but a little. 
 
 Blessed are all they 
 
 That put their trust in him. 
 
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