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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

OUR DUTY

FUGITIVE SLAVE:

SI Jfetrarse

DELIVERED ON SUNDAY, OCT. 6, IN WEST BOYISTON, MS.,

IN WORCESTER, DEC. 15.

BY REV. K. ARVINE.

BOSTON:
JOHN P. JEWETT &. CO.,
17 & 19 CoaiHitL.
1850.

DISCOURSE

Deut. 23 : 15.
THOU SHALT NOT DELIVER. UNTO HIS MASTER THE SERVANT VVHICU 13
ESCAPED FEOM HIS MASTER UNTO THEE.
The recent passage of the Fugitive Slave Bill, will, doubt
less, excite in this country opinions the most various and
feelings the most conflicting as to our duty to fugitive slaves.
At this early period,* however, the minds of many are
probably in an unsettled state, swayed by contrary reasonings,
convictions and doubts. Thus, to some extent, it may be
with my hearers. But if you wish to have your minds settled
correctly, let the " law and the testimony " on this subject be
applied. Before your eyes shall be blinded by the dust of po
litical sophistry, and your consciences corrupted by the influ
ence of great names, or the force of public sentiment, be en
treated to look into the volume of divine inspiration, to listen
to the teachings of your moral nature, and so learn what the
will of the Lord is.
The text we have chosen was primarily addressed to God's
ancient people. When a servant became restive under bond
age and escaped from it, they were commanded not to de
liver the fugitive up. No, not for bribes or threats might
they do it. Whence he came, or how he came, or when he
came, or why he came, — crime excepted, — it mattered not.
Were he Jew or Gentile, proselyte or pagan, the command
* The sermon was first delirered only two weeks after the Bill was passed.

applied in each case alike. Tlie master might prove that the
fugitive was indeed his servant, might insist that he was
" held to service or labor;" but it availed him nothing. He
might argue that he had treated the servant justly and kindly,
and so claim his delivery. If, however, the servant's flight
was not sufiicient in all cases to destroy his argument, the
law of God was sufiicient in all cases to destroy his claim: it
was a law unqualified and positive; — He who gave the law
had made no exception, and he who broke it could make no
excuse. ,
But was the servant's neighbor merely to be passive in the
controversy 1 Would the command be fulfilled, if he just let
the fugitive and the master alone 1 If he stood on the ground
of sheer neutrality, neither assisting the latter nor assisting
the former, would this command hold him guiltless 1 In so
keeping the mere letter of it, would he not violate the whole
spirit of it? Most surely. From what is expressed and from
what is implied in the passage, then, we have this two-fold
proposition, That when one who has escaped from bondage comes to
us, we are not to take the part of the master, but that
of the slave.
Let me attempt to prove the proposition, and then answer
some objections. The proof will rather bear on the duty im
plied than the crime forbidden.
I. Let me prove the proposition,
1. From the text. If this text be acknowledged as appli
cable in relation to fugitives from Southern slavery, it almost
ends discussion on the subject. But since its applicability is
questioned or denied, let us consider it carefully.
(1.) Taking it for granted that the precept of the text was
based on moral grounds, on the danger of the servant's being
oppressed, and like reasons, it follows if such a system as existed
in ancient Judea, now exists in the South, and one equally op
pressive, that fugitives among us have as good claims to sympa
thy and protection as fugitives among the Jews. All will allow
that the modern system is equally liable to oppress its sub-

jects as was the old. If this be so, then why may not South
ern servants flee from their masters as well as Jewish 1 And
why should not the precept of the text be as applicable ire
such circumstances now, as it was three thousand years ago'.1
(2.) But if it be shown that the servitude of Judea was far
less rigorous and oppressive than that of the United States,
•then it follows that the obligations to fugitives which the text
involves, were even less binding upon the Jews than upon us.
A mere glance at their system will give abundant proof of its
being a far more mild and equitable system, than ours.
In the first place, Jewish servants were to have as regular
instruction in morak and religion as the children of their
masters.* Again, they were released from regular labor during all the
weekly, monthly and yearly solemnities or festivals; and thus
they were almost free full one half of the time.
Again, the protection of the law was enjoyed by Jewish
servants equally with other members of society. Before civil
tribunals they were to be treated as fairly as their masters.
" They shall judge the people with just judgment Thou.
shalt not wrest judgment, thou shalt not respect persons."!
The servant's time, strength and skill, under certain re
strictions, were, indeed, to be at another's disposal ; hut aside
from this,„ there was a broad platform of civil, as well as re
ligious privileges, where the bond and the free stood side
by side. Despite his low condition, the highest law recog
nized the servant as a man, with all the rights and preroga
tives of manhood ; and in him the estate of a servant and the
estate of a citizen were combined.
Again, Jewish servants could not be held as property, for
they were not subject to its uses nor under its liabilities.
The Jews never received them as tribute, never gave them
away as presents, nor put them into the hands of others, to be
kept in trust, as was the case with other possessions. They
were never parted with as hostages or pledges, nor taken in
payment for their masters' debts. Money, flocks and herds,
and all lost property, was to be restored to their owners ; but
* Deut. 31 : 10—13. t Deut. 16 : 18, 19.

6
if servants escaped, no restoration was to be made. Nor did
their masters ever offer them for sale : they might expel them
for misconduct, but in no case dispose of them as marketable
commodities. If sold at all, for the second time, at least, they
must sell themselves.
Again, servants were not to work without remuneration.
" Wo unto him that useth his neighbor's service without
wages," &c. The word neighbor includes not only servants,
but enemies even, as shown in the parable of the good Sa
maritan, — it means any one with whom we come in contact.
Again, and lastly, servants were not subjected to their ser
vitude involuntarily. To take a man and reduce him to bond
age contrary to his will, was accounted a crime of fearful
magnitude by the law of Moses. The awful sentence God
utters against the offender is, " He that stealeth a man, or
selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be
put to death." " This crime is depriving somebody of the
ownership of a man. Is that somedody a master? And is'
the crime that of depriving somebody of a servant ? Then it
would have read, He that stealeth a servant, not ' He that
stealeth a man.' This somebody, therefore, deprived of the
ownership of a mau, is the man himself. The crime is stated
in a three-fold form, man-stealing, selling and holding; and
all are whelmed under one penalty, — death." With this very
crime were Joseph's brethren chargeable. " I verily was stolen
out of the land ofthe Hebrews," says Joseph. How " stolen ?"
Stolen by his brethren when they took him by force and sold
him into involuntary bondage. Thus if the Jews obeyed the
divine requirements, all who became their servants did so of
their own free consent, except perhaps in case of captives
taken in war.
Such are some of the facts of Hebrew servitude. Who will
deny that it was a far more mild and equitable system than
that which exists at the South? And if so, are there not far
stronger reasons for oar obeying the precept of the text than
for their obeying it, to whom it was primarily given ? The
worse the bondage he escapes, the stronger the fugitive's
claims.

(3.) But it may be urged that Christianity has taken the
place of Judaism, and that the precept of the text, not having
been repeated in the New Testament, is devoid of all author
ity now.
I reply, in the first place, by saying that according to gene
ral belief the Christian system is one breathing far more
mercy and compassion than Judaism ; that it represents Je
hovah more clearly as our universal Father, and labors more
directly to link mankind together in one great brotherhood of
concord and love. If this be granted, who shall presume to
say that the old dispensation, in the precept, made benevolent
provisions for the security and comfort of fugitives from sla
very, but that the new dispensation makes none? That there
is one class of men who have rightly a harder lot under
Christ than they had under Moses ? That they had a shield
thrown over them by the law, but that the gospel came and
wrenched that shield away ? That the Jew was bound to
take the part of the fugitive instead of the master, but that.
the Christian is excused, — nay, allowed or bound to do just
the reverse ? Believe this who can.
Again, there is a class of Old Testament Scriptures which
still, as I hold, possess authority, though not placed in the
New Testament ; and the text belongs to this very class.
True, the splendid ritual of the ancient dispensation, with
temple and priest and sacrifice, has passed away. "One
greater than the temple " has appeared ; he is a " high-priest
forever," and " a sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood"
than Judaism could ever boast. So type gives place to ante-
type, and shadow yields to substance. Nothing in the Jew
ish ceremonial is binding now. Nor are the local and civil
regulations which God gave to the Jewish people, simply as
their national governor, of any force at present, except as they
involve principles which have a moral character, and which,
from their very nature, are permanent and abiding. And it
is from a firm conviction that the text involves just such prin
ciples, that I present it as being still obligatory. It prohib
its virtually certain forms of malevolence or covetousness, and
by implication teaches the duty of exercising generosity and

good will to a class of men peculiarly endangered and afflicted.
This text, therefore, and its kindred texts, " Hide the outcast;
bewray not him that wandereth ;" " Let mine outcasts dwell
with thee," &c, may be properly ranked with those Old Tes
tament precepts which forbid men to steal, bear false witness
or covet ; and with those precepts which enjoin kindness to
the poor, benevolence to neighbors, love to enemies, and simi
lar duties. Such precepts you find in the Pentateuch, in the
Psalms, the Proverbs and the prophets.
So far as the " law and the prophets " treat on such moral
obligations, Christ "came not to destroy, but to fulfil" them.
" Heaven and earth shall pass " before one jot or tittle of them
becomes null and void. All are to be "fulfilled;" to be uni
versally kept and obeyed. In that glorious kingdom which
Christ came to set up, the subjects of his spiritual reign are
still to be subject to all these moral precepts of the Old Testa
ment. Referring evidently to them, the Saviour says, "Who
soever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments,
and shall teach men so, the same shall be called least in the
kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them,
the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Moreover Christ and his apostles constantly quote this class
of the Jewish Scriptures as being of abiding authority. They
never intimate that they give these precepts authority by
quoting them; but they quote them as though these precepts
had an independent and fixed authority of their own. If this
be not so, the language they use and the occasions they take
to introduce such quotations, will make it hard to acquit our
Redeemer and his followers of tire charge of pandering to Jew
ish prejudices and bartering in sham, spurious pretensions.
Thus much to rescue our text from the frittering of cavil
lers, and to prove its authority as applying to our own case
and to our own times.
Behold it, then, standing beside the moral precepts of the
decalogue, towering over that symbolical ritual and civil
polity long since laid in ruins ! Behold it, — God's olden mon
ument of sympathy with the oppressed ! Behold it in its glo
rious exaltation,— its summit looking down on the clouds of

popular prejudice, its base beyond the reach of the dashing
surges of legislation : —
" Above the storm-mark of the sky,
Above the flood-mark ofthe deep !"
Never in the days of Israelitish history, never in all the ages
since this monument was erected, did it loom up more bright
and conspicuous in the dark, moral firmament, or challenge
more deserved attention and homage than at the present time !
2. We argue the duty of aiding fugitive slaves from the
fact that in slavery they suffer great injustice and oppression.
And who denies that those who are greatly oppressed and
injured have a right to escape their injurers and oppressors if
they can ? And who does not approve of assisting and pro
tecting such fugitives if they need it?
How did we treat the poor, broken-spirited fugitives of Po
land, when, after their ineffectual struggles with tyranny,
Hope wept her farewells over them, and outraged Freedom,
" Dropped from her nerveless grasp the shattered spear,
Closed her bright eye and curbed her high career?"
As they quitted that wretched country, spoiled and wasted
by their barbarous oppressors, did we not bid them welcome
to America, and offer them sympathy and protection? When
the numberless and fierce hussars of the Austrian despot
swept like a fiery deluge over the beautiful vallies and the
mountain fastnesses of ill-fated Hungary, did we not justify
those European powers at whose hands the flying Kossuth
and his brave Magyars found succor and protection? When
we saw the Sublime Porte constrained to deny the clamorous
demands of Austria, and refusing to deliver the fugitives up,
did Ave not rejoice and exult in the fact ? And when Hunga
rian patriots, who had bravely bu t vainly fought for freedom,
escaped from the merciless exactions of their victors aud the
bloody butcheries of Haynau, did we not hail them with the
warmest sympathy as they landed on our shores, supply
their wants, and assure these self-exiled fugitives, of an asy
lum permanent and safe from their oppressors?
2

10
Now, in doing thus, we only acted on a principle generally
admitted, that when men suffer sheer injustice and oppression,
they have a right to escape, if possible, and that it is at once
a duty and a privilege to assist and protect them.
Apply this principle in case of fugitives from Southern sla
very. Is not the system that enthrals them one of the rank
est injustice and oppression? Does it not cleave down all
their " inalienable rights !" To steal a man's purse is rob
bery, acknowledged and punished every where ; is it less a
robbery to steal the man, — to make plunder, not so much of
the perishable goods which he owns, as of his personal
ownership itself? The command, " Thou shalt not steal,"
presupposes not only a man's right to property lawfully ob
tained, but it presupposes a man's right to himself. That
great right is the living root and trunk of that tree of which
other rights are but the fruits and branches. If it be injus
tice, then, to pluck one sample of fruit, or cut off one branch
of the tree, what injustice is that which tears up the very
root and shivers the trunk itself in pieces ? If to seize feloni
ously what is mine, be wicked, what a climax of wickedness
is that which feloniously seizes me? Now it is in this respect
that Southern slavery, in its best estate,' can only be regarded!
as a system of the most detestable oppression. Its first and
guiltiest act is to cut off man from his personal ownership,
his right to himself. : Then all its other enormities naturally
follow. Having shorn the slave of his manhood, and reduced
him to a level with brutes, the system proceeds consistently
to make all his dearest interests the playthings of irresponsible
power. The master, if he chooses, may keep the slave from
infancy to old age in the most utter mental darkness. All his
social enjoyments, even those most dear and sacred, the mas
ter allows or destroys at pleasure. Does the slave say
"my parents?" How much are they his, when the next
hour the tyrant may sever him from them for life ? Does he
say " my home 1" How much his is it, when the master at
any moment may burst its door, or level the building with
the ground? Does he say "my wife, my children?" How
much his are they, when they may at any time be made the

11
footballs of the master's vengeance, avarice or lust ? He may
violate their persons, and death impends over them if a hand
be lifted in self-defence. When he pleases he may sell them
in the market, and separate them one from another. For real
or supposed offences, he may imprison, starve or scourge them
at will. He may torture them to any extreme within an inch
of their lives ; and laws, framed by tyrants, will take that
tyrant's part.
Now we should conclude, a priori, that such a system
would lead to all sorts of outrage and crime against the en
slaved. There is no system under heaven which presents
such temptations and offers such cheap indulgences to the
many-sided depravity of man's corrupt heart. And if man is
often so violent towards those who are his equals, who have
the sympathy ofthe influential, the protection of law, and the
means of self-defence, how must he treat those whom he
counts as the basest inferiors, who share no sympathy save
that which is powerless, whom the law protects not, and one
of whose highest crimes is, — to defend themselves ? The pre
sumptions against slavery are of the strongest kind ; and
these presumptions are abundantly confirmed by facts. The
infamous practical workings of slavery at the South, have
been detailed to us by our friends who have been there, and
thus become familiar with the system. Fugitives have told
us of slavery, — the men who have suffered from its cruelties.
We have authentic documents, too, in abundance against sla
very, full of details one can hardly read without shuddering.
Let a man try only to read " American Slavery as It Is," and if
he simply peruse the quotations from Southern papers which
that volume contains, and the testimonies from present or
former residents at the South, be will soon " have supped full
of horrors." So shocked and disgusted at the undeniable cor
ruptions and cruelties of the system does the reader speedily
become, that he cannot proceed : he closes the book and lays
it by. Few persons, probably, ever could endure to read that
volume through. And yet what are all the details of slavery
we get from friends, or fugitives, or works like the above ?
What are they but feeble inklings, but fragmentary sketches

12
of a great, protracted, diabolical conspiracy against the wel
fare of suffering millions ? They are like the popular pictures
of Napoleon's great battles, where the encountering squadrons
were reckoned by hundreds of thousands, and the dead cover
ed acres with their corses ; but in the pictorial representations
yon see but a score or two of men in arms, and some half
dozen, perhaps, killed or wounded. The artist wrought these
few figures just to help us imagine the great aggregate of
fighting and carnage and suffering attendant on the fray. So
with sketches and incidents we meet with respecting slavery.
What we see, what we hear, are but samples of a thousand
times more that is unseen and unheard : they aid us a little
iu conceiving what the myriad masses of the oppressed are
every year enduring at the South.
I know that there may here and there be found in New
England, a man somewhat intelligent, who insists, after all
that has been said or written on the subject, that the temporal
condition of Southern slaves is generally a comfortable and
pleasant one, — that arbitrary power is a matter of little con
sequence, if a man's physical wants are well supplied. But I
doubt such' a man's sincerity. Let him be put to the test.
Bring such an apologist up before the dark Bastile of South
ern despotism, open the door and tell him he must enter
there ! Clank the fetters and chains in his ears, and tell him
they are for him ! Tell him to get ready his neck for the
yoke and his wrists for the coffle chains ! Tell him he has
but an hour to prepare his wife and children for a life of bond
age ! If he asks particularly how he and they shall fare in
slavery, tell him, as well as slaves in general ; and that, since
he knows something of their condition, he can calculate his
own chances! What says the apologist? Ah, look to his
blanched cheeks and his trembling knees ! You have him on
your side now ! You have wrung out even his testimony
against slavery as a bitter thing, as an oppressive, inhuman
system !
Now it is fronvsuch a system that the poor slave who
comes among us has escaped. Shall I congratulate or com-)
miserate men who have fled from foreign tyrants, and turn|

13
away from him ? Shall I open my heart, my door and my
purse, when the outcast Pole and the oppressed Hungarian fly
to me for succor, and shut them all up when one of my own
countrymen, speaking my own language, and flying from
greater despotism, comes and craves assistance ? Such incon
sistency may God forbid.
3. Another argument may be founded on the religious in
tolerance and privations to which slaves are liable. This fact
justifies them in coming to us, and justifies us in taking their
part. Let us prove this by analogy. Suppose a principality
in Europe, under a tyrannical ruler, where all except the
officers of government are forbidden to Tead the Bible, or any
volume or tract of a religious kind. None of the citizens are
allowed to attend public worship when these officers forbid ;
and this they often do. No one can give any part of his earn
ings to benevolent causes, and no one can engage in preach
ing the gospel, except as the officers say. The officers may
forbid parents to give religious instruction to their children,
may forbid Christians to have any religious conversation with
each other. If, in any of these religious matters the citizens
disobey, the officers may punish them in almost any method
and to almost any extent they please.
Now if some of the Christians in such a government should
fly their country, though forbidden to do so, and come to us,
would we not justify them, aid them and protect them, if ne
cessary, from the tyrant's emissaries? Put the State Legis
latures of the South, in the place of that tyrant, put slave
holders in place of those government officers, and behold the
supposition aud the reality made one ! Slaves, for the most
part, are not allowed to read the Bible, or other religious
books ; to teach one of them to spell out even the name of Je
sus from the word of God, would expose the teacher to fine or
imprisonment, and the poor pupil might suffer for his temerity
from the scourge or the branding-iron ! Slaveholders, too,
may forbid their slaves to perform any of the religious duties
or enjoy any of the religious privileges specified above ; and
if they disobey, their masters may punish them just as pas
sion, prejudice or infidelity may prompt.

14
Why, then, may not men fly from such religious intol
erance, or such exposures to it, in America as well as Europe?
And after crossing Mason and Dixon's line, how much less
are the claims of fugitives upon us, than if they were foreign
ers who had crossed the Atlantic ?
If there be one of you who insists that the slave should
meekly and patiently submit to his present religious priva
tions and to his liability to future ones, you will please to be
consistent and carry your principles out. If you condemn
him, condemn others.
Go stand on the wharf in Trinidad, as the refugees from
Madeira are quitting their vessel ; and as they rejoice that
they are at last delivered from the extortions and cruelties of
the papal hierarchy, and as they wave on high their Bibles in
holy triumph, tell the poor Portuguese it was wrong in them
to leave their native island ! Denounce, too, those who bring
or send them succor !
Take your place on the rock at Plymouth ; and as the May
flower comes up and drops her anchor in the bay, and the pil
grims disembark, hailing with joy the wild shore that guran-
ties them " Freedom to worship God ;"
tell them they have greatly erred ! Tell them they should
have meekly endured religious tyranny, and never left their
country !
Follow next the poor French Huguenots, as on the revo
cation of the edict of Nantes, they flee from intolerance and
persecution, and quit their country, though forbidden to do
so. Confront these myriad fugitives as they pour into Hol
land, and level your censures against them ! Go to Stadthold-
er and Burgomasters, too, and denounce them for allowing
such fugitives to enter and reside in the United Provinces.
Tell them by no means to feed or shelter them. Tell them if
Louis XIV send his officers, demanding the return of these
refractory subjects, that they must assist in delivering them up !
Nay, go back to the days of the Apostles ; and as you meet
with Paul flying from Jerusalem, or elsewhere behold other
Apostles escaping from Jewish or Gentile persecutors, even

such wise and holy men will be found much in need of your
rebukes and instructions !
Nay, the Great Teacher himself must stand corrected by
you, and retract that injudicious advice of his, " When they
shall persecute you in one city, flee ye to another !"
The truth is, that the whole Christian world, from the time
of Christ till now, have held it to be just and right for men
suffering from religious" intolerance and privation, to make
their escape from their oppressors and persecutors if they
choose ; and if the principle be a correct one, it applies in the
case of Southern slaves. They have a right to escape, and
we a consequent right to aid and protect them.
4. We may argue the proposition before us from the
" Golden Rule," " Do ye unto others as ye would that others
should do unto you." To obey this, men must exercise re
ciprocal justice and benevolence. They must regard the
rights of others as sacredly as they would have others regard
theirs ; and they must exercise to others that sympathy and
benevolence which, in like circumstances, they might reason
ably claim for themselves.
Apply this rule to the case before us. Imagine yourself on
your way to California, crossing the western portion of our
continent. Passing through a tribe of hostile, slaveholding
Indians,* you are taken captive and reduced, like their ne
groes, to the most servile condition. You subsequently con
tract a matrimonial alliance with one of your enslaved coun
trywomen whom you find there ; and children in after years
are given you, who are held as slaves the same as their
parents. At length you learn that your master is about to tear some
of your children from you ; and just before the day of sale,
you take your family at midnight and set out for the Missis
sippi. Worn with travels and fastings, you arrive at a vil
lage in Missouri, and seek the door of a Home missionary, to
ask food and shelter for yourself and your pale, haggard wife
and children. He comes to the door, hears your tale, and re-
* Such are the Seminole*, Cherokees, Choctaws, &c.

l(j
plies : " I love to be hospitable, but it seems you are fugi
tives from slavery. In my belief you wronged your master
in running away, for you were his property as much as his
dogs and horses ; and should I be an auxiliary to your es
cape, I, too, should be guilty of defrauding him. Was he
about to sell your children ! that is bad, but you ought to
have patiently submitted. Such afflictions are sent for our
good. Then, again, you should know that it is contrary to
the "Fugitive Slave Bill" to give you any succor or protec
tion in escaping. You must go ; I can't aid you ; it would
be duty rather to aid your master in retaking you !" So he
shuts the door in your face, and leaves you and your family
faint, hungry and cold, to bide the winter storm and drag on
your weary way further.- What think you ? Would not your
head and heart at once and utterly condemn him as one who
so poorly understood the law of love, that instead of being a
teacher of the heathen, he had "Need that one teach him
which be the first principles of the gospel of Christ?- You
feel, you know that such conduct, in such a case, would be
most palpably unjust, most infamously cruel.
Now what better rights would you have to protection and
hospitality from that missionary, than fugitive slaves coming
to the North can urge upon us? Do you say the cases are
not parallel? Why? May not an Indian as justly enslave
the white man, as the white enslave the negro? Would your
children and descendants, born in such a condition, have any
better right to liberty than the children and descendants of a
once free native of Africa?
"God hath made of one blood all nations to dwell on the
face of the whole earth." The slaver that brought the negro
here from Africa, had but a robber's right to him. The
slaveholder, who bought him, enslaved him and made slaves
of his children afterwards, had no right to either but one
founded on the slaver's right, — a right which earth and hea
ven should alike hold in contempt.
Such being the case, the slave who comes to your door,
seeking food, shelter or funds for further journeying, is to be
regarded as having as good and valid claims for these fa-

I?
vors as you would have in the case before stated. To know
how you should treat him, you have indeed only to con
sider what treatment, in like circumstances, you would claim
at the hands of justice and humanity yourself. " Do ye unto
others as ye would that others should do unto you."
5. A further proof of our proposition may be drawn from
the impulses and tendencies of the moral nature, as manifest
ed in communities educated under moral and religious in
fluences. I appeal not, however, to sentiments immediately
derived from fixed theories or habits of virtue, but to the
spontaneous promptings of conscience and benevolence, — the
law written on the heart. In every virtuous and intelligent
community, whose moral feelings have not been sadly per
verted by the direct influence of slavery, we almost always
fiud these feelings, when put to the test, opposed to the slave
holder and siding with the fugitive slave. Even where edu
cation, literature and legislation have done much to corrupt
the minds of men with pro-slavery prejudice, if a fugitive is
in danger of being captured, the more benevolent and consci
entious in the community will readily become excited in the
slave's behalf. Nay, many will be led to sympathize with
him in opposition to their former views and sentiments; their-
moral feelings making them his friends in spite of themselves.
How was it, when Somerset, a West India slave, escaped his
master in England, that the larger and better portion of the
people of Great Britain, from the highlands of Scotland to the
mines of Cornwall, became alive with such intensity of sym
pathy in his behalf? In spite of all the influence of West
India slaveholders, their friends and dependants in the mas
ter's favor, the cause of the poor man kept gaining ground,
till the nation rose in its might, decreed to Somerset "his lib
erty, and pledged the same to every fugitive who should after
wards reach their shores ! And now where is the Englishman
that does not feel a proud delight in saying,
" Slaves cannot breathe in England ; they are free ;
They touch our country and their shackles fall " ?
3

IS
And when Latimer, a slave from Virginia, was arrested a
few years ago and confined in jail in Boston, and it was fear
ed that he would be legally delivered to his master and taken
back to slavery ; how was it that the Puritan city was moved
with such a deep interest, such an agonizing anxiety in the
slave's behalf? How was it that men who had been for
years communing with slaveholders, and voting and apolo
gizing for them, turned away with such a common aversion
from the master and espoused the fugitive's cause ? You re
member how prayers on the Sabbath were publicly offered
for him in the pulpits, how the press poured out its pleas for
him, how the excitement kept spreading till it seemed as if
from the sandy shores of Barnstable to the farthest heights of
Berkshire, all Massachusetts was moved, and the cry of " God
save Latimer," went up on high like the voice of many
waters !
Now the moral feelings of the people, as manifested in the
case of these two fugitives and of others less noted, contain
one of the profoundest arguments to justify slaves in escaping
from bondage, and to justify others in aiding them. What
are such exhibitions of public sentiment, but the free, full
beatings of the great heart of excited humanity, — but vehe
ment expressions of the popular sense of justice, quickened
into lively action, — the voice of nature echoing the voice of
God ?
When men form and express their feelings on cases of con
science or charity, where they are influenced by self-interest
and prejudice, and but poorly enlightened, little deference, of
course, can be given to their sentiments. But where a com
munity, possessing the largest intelligence, the most thorough
biblical education, and the most high-toned morality, become
roused in such a controversy on human rights, and in spite
of self-interest and prejudice, range themselves so spontane
ously, so generally on the side of the fugitive,, it is not difficult
to see which party is with God and which is against him.
The decisions of conscience and benevolence, in such cases,
are indices of the truth ; and they possess but little less au
thority than revelation itself.

19
6., My sixth and last proof is founded on the fact, that
many fugitives who come among us are our Christian breth
ren and the brethren and representatives of Jesus Christ. In
our own sect there are no less than 50,000 slaves; and some
other sects may have as many or more in their membership
than ours.
Now suppose that one of these, — a Christian brother, bear
ing his Master's image, comes to your door and solicits assist
ance. If you are able to render it, and you refuse him, or if
you assist in his restoration to slavery, how much his brother
are you ? In treating him thus, do you not put the stamp of
a canting hypocrisy on all your pretensions to brotherly affec
tion for him ? How dare you to treat a brother thus, and still
claim to belong to the brotherhood yourself? God's word
commands us to " Do good unto all men, especially to such
as be of the household of faith :" that we should " be kindly
affectioned one toward another," nay, more, that " we should
lay down our lives for the brethren." These precepts apply
whether these brethren are in freedom or bondage, or flying
from the one condition to the other.
But Christian fugitives are not only our brethren, but the
brethren and representatives of Christ. In his vivid, dramatic
description of the process of the last judgment, he describes
himself as welcoming the righteous to his presence with this
affecting commendation i " I was an hungered and ye gave
me meat ; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink ; I was a
stranger and ye took me in ; naked and ye clothed me ; I was
sick and ye visited me ; I was in prison and ye came unto
me." The righteous are surprised at this strange version of
their conduct. Few of them had ever seen their Saviour be
fore ; and they ask an explanation. He says to them, " In
asmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my breth
ren, ye did it unto me." And he charges it upon the wicked,
as he condemns them to punishment, that they had refused to
relieve his physical wants, -and left him in sickness and im
prisonment, to suffer unvisited and uncared for. They, too,
are surprised, and ask him, "When?" He replies, "Inas
much as ye did it not unto the least of these my brethren, ye

20
did it not unto me." O, what thrilling words are these ! How
pointedly applicable to the case of the poor fugitive Christian
slave ! It is Jesus Christ, in the person of that poor disciple,
that appeals to you for aid. Though he be the "least" of
all Christ's "brethren," though ignorance degrades and want
afflicts him, and though frightful scars may seam his coarse,
dark visage, yet is he loved by the Son of God. For that
poor wanderer and outcast, he stooped from his glory in hea
ven to the stable of Bethlehem, and became a poor wanderer
and. outcast himself. For him he endured the agony of the
garden and the execution of the cross. With his own pre
cious blood he has washed away his sins, stamped his own
divine name on his heart, and written the slave's name in the
book of eternal life! He is Christ's heir apparent, and joint
heir with him to his immense inheritance and eternal throne.
So profoundly is Christ, with his infinite love, concerned for
him, and so fully identified with him, that he represents that
poor disciple in heaven, and makes him his representative on
earth. Hence the treatment he receives, Jesus reckons as re
ceived by himself. Have you never wished, in your pious
sentimentalism, that the Saviour were now on earth, that you
might see him and show your love to him by soothing his
sorrows and ministering to his wants ? The opportunity has
come ! At your own door behold your divine Master, in the
person of his hutited, homeless servant, as he begs your pity
and assistance ! Oh ! give him food, clothing, shelter, what
ever he needs, and do it out of love to Christ. Such deeds of
compassion and gratitude to the Saviour will be remembered
by him and rewarded in the great, burning day ! You will
have the same claims upon him with those who did him kind
offices when he sojourned among men !
But if you close your door on that poor outcast, outlawed
saint, you shut out your Saviour himself. In refusing the
craved and needed charity to that forlorn man, you have
refused Him who once came to redeem, . and who shall soon
come again to judge you! Will you, dare you assist in de
livering such a fugitive to his master? Remember that in
selling and betraying him, you have sold and betrayed the

21
Son of God ! After such an act of treason, you may be pre
pared, perhaps, like Judas Iscariot, your exemplar, to go out
and hang yourself! Beware, too, lest justice eventually con
sign you,, like him, to your "own place," and mercy say of
you, " It were good for that man if be had never been born I'
ll. We proceed, now, to the second part ofthe discourse, —
To answer some objections against aiding and protecting fu
gitives from slavery.
1. Some quote, as an objection, 1 Cor. 7 : 20, 21. "Let
every man abide in the same calling whereiu he was called.
Art thou called being a servant ? Care not for it ; but if thou
mayest be made free, use it rather." This proves, it is
thought, that a converted slave should remain contented in
slavery till legally freed. But mark the proposition of Paul
in the first 'sentence; " Let every man abide in the same call
ing wherein he was called." This must be understood as a
literal and absolute rule, or as having some qualifications or
conditions. If in the former way, (to suit our objector's
views,) it is a sweeping rule surely. It applies, then, alike to
all classes; — it binds the slaveholder to remain a slaveholder
as much as the slave to remain a slave ! It binds the soldier
to remain a soldier, the priest of idolatry to remain a priest;
and whatever be men's callings or relations, when converted,
they must abide in them though their happiness or usefulness
demands a change ! The absurdity of such a literal interpre
tation is at once obvious. The rule must then be understood
in a qualified sense. To comport with other Scriptures and
with common sense, the passage must simply mean, that when
converted, we are to continue in our respective callings or
relations, unless we can change without doing injustice, and
unless our duty and interest demand the change. Having
laid down the general rule, Paul addresses the servant and
applies the rule to him. " Art thou called being a servant ?
Care not for it." Though converted in servitude, you may
maintain your piety ; so do not murmur and repine at your
lot. " But if thou mayest be made free," he adds, "use it
rather." A better, stricter translation of the original is, " If

22
thou art able to become free, rather avail yourself of it," i. e.
freedom. That is to say, while Paul counsels the slave to be
patient, and preserve his equanimity so long as he remains a
slave, he advises him to obtain his freedom if he is able :
whether he shall do it by flight or otherwise, he neither
affirms or denies, but leaves the question to be settled by the
slave himself. There is certainly nothing in the passage for
bidding his escape : it rather favors it than otherwise-
2. Another objection against aiding and protecting fugi
tives, is based on the conduct of Paul in the case of Philemon
and his servant, Onesimus. But let us examine Paul's letter,
sent by Onesimus to his master. Paul, when he wrote, was
at Rome, Philemon in Colosse. While Paul was at the lat
ter city, Philemon was converted through his ministry ; and
Onesimus having left his master and come to Rome, was
converted through Paul's ministry there. Under what cir
cumstances he left Philemon, we do not know, nor do we
know the precise character of the relation between them. It
appears that they dealt with each other in the way of debt
and credit; and that Onesimus had left Philemon with his
accounts unsettled, and so perhaps he was his debtor. More
over Onesimus had been unprofitable to his master, perhaps,
by his idleness and unfaithfulness.
Onesimus, when converted, evidently felt unhappy in view
of his misconduct towards Philemon, anxious to be in his
employ again and to labor for him with more fidelity. That
he will do so, Paul intimates in his letter. Furthermore, to
soothe Philemon's mind and to prevent all difficulty, Paul
tells Philemon if Onesimus owed him. any thing, to place the
sum to the Apostle's account.
Having thus prepared Philemon's mind for it, Paul urges a
request or demand on Philemon, viz., that he should receive
Onesimus. But in what way? " Not now as a servant, but
above a servant." How much above?- He was to receive
him as the " son " cf the Apostle, — as " a brother beloved,"
says Paul, — '" as myself." He must manifest the utmost cor
diality to Onesimus, the warmest affection and esteem.

23
But may he not own him and enslave him, as to his bodily
powers, while he regards him as a brother and equal spirit
ually ? Chattelize him as a matt and befriend him as a Chris
tian ? No ; Paul, as if to prevent any such misconstruction
of his requests, states explicitly that Onesimus is to be re
ceived as " above a servant, both in the flesh and in the Lord."
What is this, in fact, but requiring Philemon to receive
Onesimus into his employ as a freeman, and to treat him as
such in all respects and circumstances ? In this letter Paul
does not blame Onesimus for running away, but for what he
did before that. There is no proof in the letter against the
supposition that he went back of his own choice, and that
Paul wrote the letter at the suggestion of Onesimus himself.
What argument, then, does this letter furnish either against
Southern slaves' escaping from their oppressors, or our as
sisting and protecting them? None at all.
3. But it is objected again, that thus to take the part of
the fugitive slave, is contrary to the laws framed by our
rulers, which we are enjoined by God's word to obey.
It is, I grant, contrary to law ; and I acknowledge that we
are commanded to " Submit ourselves to the powers that be,"
" to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magis
trates." But the highest reason and the clearest revelation ¦
alike teach us a most important limitation to these precepts.
They do not apply where the authority of God and the au
thority of men conflict. Governments may even make fool
ish laws and oppressive laws; but we are bound to fulfil
them to the very letter in all cases where we can do so with
out violating conscience, or disobeying the Most High. But
if God command one thing and civil rulers command the op
posite, what/Aen? Must his word give place to theirs? If
so, then Parliaments and Congresses may easily nullify all the
statutes of the Bible, till God is legislated out of his suprema
cy, his sceptre wrested, his throne overturned, and he himself
becomes the outlaw of the universe !
Unless God's authority be every where and forever para
mount to that of earthly rulers, what does his word, what
does his very existence signify ? I say it with reverence, if

24
God be indeed such a God, we might as well have no God
at all ! If our rulers be indeed such rulers, vested with su
preme authority, why longer give homage and adoration to
their inferior? Let us abjure the God who made us and
worship these greater gods of our own making !
It is indeed a tossing chaos of moral distinctions, a black
abyss of atheism into which these modern teachers of " pas
sive obedience " would plunge us.
In what delightful contrast with such a theory, are those
descriptions of the Deity, those examples of holy men, found
in Scripture, which this subject calls to remembrance ! God
is described by the sacred writers, as "The only poten
tate," as the "King of kings," as " God over all blessed for
ever." And thus was he recognized by those ancient saints
revelation holds up to us as models for our imitation.
When the king of Babylon set up a golden image and com
manded the assembled multitude of his subjects to fall down
and worship, on pain of being cast into the fiery fur
nace if they refused, there were three brave Hebrews who.
scorned and trampled on his mandate. The king commanded
idolatrous worship ; God had positively forbidden it. One or
the other must be disobeyed ; and they decide to disobey the
king. God approves their conduct, and works a miracle in
its vindication. The form of the Fourth is with them in the
furnace, and they come out without the scent of fire on their
garments !
Called on as we now are to fall down and worship this idol
of slavery, this Jugghernaut of the American nation, let us,
like them, be firm and unflinching. And the unchanging
God, who approved their fidelity, will approve ours.
The example of Daniel is equally in point. When the ene
mies of the prime minister, for the secret purpose of securing
his destruction, had induced Darius to sign a decree that no
one should offer a petition during thirty days to any god or
man save the king, what does Daniel do?
The law emanates from the highest authority in the em
pire : it cannot be repealed ; and it is guarded by one of the
most terrible sanctions a sovereign can inflict or a subject fear.

2.->
Will not these facts justify him, for so brief a period, in sus
pending his daily worship? Surely in such a case, if ever, a
man might be justified in obeying a civil law at the expense
of disobeying God's. But Daniel will not, cannot. But will
he not strike a compromise between duty and interest, and so
perform his devotions secretly? Not he; — he will not honor
a wicked law either by real or apparent obedience. So he
enters his chamber, and before his opened window, where all
may see and hear him, he kneels down and worships God
three times a day, " as he did aforetime." You know the
sequel. He was cast into the lion's den ; but that God whom
he had honored by breaking an ungodly law, sent an angel
to protect him. By the miracle wrought in his behalf, Da
rius plainly saw that God himself had attested the righteous
ness of the prophet's conduct. He sets Daniel at large, dooms
his enemies to destruction, and proclaims to all his dominions
the majesty and supreme authority of Daniel's God. How
worthy is his example, therefore, to be copied by us !
A similar instance is seen in the case of the Apostles, Peter
and John. When commanded by the Sanhedrim not to speak
in the name of Jesus, they reply, " Whether it is right to
hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." Peter
and John go from their presence to that of the other Apostles
and their fellow Christians, and make their report. The sub
ject is discussed, united prayer is offered ; and they resolve
to disobey the rulers and keep on promulgating the gospel.
Then was the Spirit poured out, miracles wrought, and con
verts reckoned by thousands. Judaism trembles in her an
cient seat for her safety; again the Apostles are arrested, con
demned and imprisoned. But an angel opens their dungeon:
and they, entering the temple, commence preaching as before.
Being seized the third time and brought before the council,
the exasperated high priest exclaims against them, " Did we
not straitly command you that ye should not preach in this
name, and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doc
trines, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us."_ Hear
their brief, but ever memorable reply : — ."-We ought to obey
4

20
God rather than man !" Such has every where been the lan
guage of confessors and martyrs, — worthies of whom this world
was never worthy. O how easy it is, in the light of such ex
amples, to see what course we ought to take when men enjoin
what God prohibits or prohibit what God enjoins !
4. It is objected that if we aid fugitive slaves, and prevent
their delivery, that we violate our national Constitution, by
which the people of the several States have solemnly agreed
to abide.
Now admitting, for argument's sake, that there is one ar
ticle in that document which may be so interpreted, such
article or such interpretation ought to be treated as null aud
void. If our forefathers, who framed the Constitution, made
any agreement to deliver such fugitives to the slave-catchers,
they engaged to do wrong; a.nd—e&gaging to JLosuangr can
not makejhJ^doIngloMfright. To pledge injustice without
committing it, is wicked ; tcTdo both is more wicked still. If
our forefathers have made any covenant with slaveholders
against the welfare of the oppressed, we may say of it, as of
other bad promises, that "it is better broken than kept."
Such a covenant should be to us " As one of the steps of Ja
cob's ladder, and treading it under our feet, it should help us
in mounting up to heaven."
5. It is objected that if we pursue such a course, it will
lead to a dissolution of the Union, to great sufferings on the
part of the slaves, and probably to civil war. I am not cer
tain of all this; but I am certain that each of us is bound to
" do justly and love mercy," though it breaks the union of
soul and body itself. If the South will secede from the Union,
unless we of the North will sacrifice both humanity and Chris-
.tianity, why let them secede and have the guilt and the gain
of it. Then if they are led to oppress their slaves more griev
ously, or go to war with us because we aid and protect such
as escape them, we shall not be chargeable with their sins,
though we deplore and endure the results. The course pur
sued by Christ and his Apostles, and by the great reformers
of gone-by ages, led to bloody persecutions, to political dis-

27
cords and convulsions ; but God approved their course, and if
we walk in their footsteps he will approve ours. The calam
ities that ensue, will only call down his displeasure on those
who in their disappointed and "maddened selfishness are
the voluntary agents and authors of them.
But it is vain to attempt to settle the question of duty to
the fugitive slave, by reckoning on future events.
The knowledge of our duty God has given us; the know
ledge of the future he has not. And since he who commands
us, foreknows and controls all things, it is our business to
obey, and it is God's to calculate. For the consequences of
our obedience we are not responsible ; God is responsible
himself.

CONCLUSION.
In concluding and applying this discourse, permit some
pointed and practical reflections.
1. I hold in my hand a bill which has just passed both
houses of Congress and is now the law of the land. It is evi
dently designed as a peace-offering to the excited, slavehold-
ing South. The victims laid on the altar are to be the slaves
that have escaped to the free North. The bill provides for
the appointment of United States' officers to assist slave-hunt
ers in capturing the fugitives and taking them back to bond
age. Warrants for their arrest must be served by the United
States' marshals, under penalty of one thousand dollars if
these marshals refuse ! They are empowered, when they
please, to call on bystanders to aid them in their business of
slave-catching, and "all good citizens" are enjoined by
Congress to lend assistance when it is wanted ! Though the
slave be brought before United States' Commissioners or
Courts, he is to have his destiny determined in a "summary
manner," — cut off from the right of trial by jury, the benefit
of the writ of habeas corpus, or the privilege of testifying in his
own behalf! And, then, if any one harbor or secrete a fugi-

2S
tive, or aid him to escape his master, he is to be fined a sum
not over a thousand dollars and be imprisoned six months!
In case the assistance rendered to the slave enables him to
get beyond his master's reach, the one who so assists him
must pay his owner, as damages, one thousand dollars
more !
Merciful God ! has it come to this ? Can it be possible in
the middle of the nineteenth century, in a land boasting of
liberty, in a national assembly which conceives itself unrival
led for intelligence and moral principle, that such iniquity
should have been framed into law, — a law trampling on the
weak and helpless, and blackening Christian virtues into civil
crimes !
And now do you ask, "What shall we do?" Whether
you will obey Congress, or obey Jehovah, whether you shall
truckle to the avarice and lust of Southern tyrants, or act the
part of justice and mercy to the oppressed, you must decide
for yourselves, and stand or fall with your decision. For my
own part, I am already decided what course to take : and I
stand prepared to meet the consequences in the judgment. I
abjure this bill altogether, — now and forever ! Unprincipled
men may go to Congress, to fatten on the spoils of office, to
play their games for the Presidency, to sell their principles in
the shambles for party or plunder, — if they will ! They may
write over a document like this, full of libels on the Bible and
outrages on humanity and treason against heaven ; they may
call it law, and send it to me signed with all authority, but
God forbid that I should plunge myself into the deep damna
tion of obeying it ! No ; I shall not abide by this bill ; but I
shall violate it on every occasion, and in every way that a
Christian can.
Let a fugitive corne to this place, and though he be shut
out of other doors, he will find free entrance into mine. I
will feed him, clothe him, shelter him, secrete him, or, if need
be, help him on his way to that land, close by us, where he
can have the whole power of the mightiest and best of em
pires to protect him.

29
^ Had I but one meal, one loaf in my house, the hungry fu
gitive should share it with me; had I but one dollar in my
purse, he should have a part of it./ Do you say that in so
doing I bid defiance to high authority, and that fines and
imprisonments impend over me? Very well! I understand
it; let them come ! God helping, I can bide the issue. Let
magistrates impose the fine; I will pay it if I am able. Let
them send me to prison ; I will endure the confinement. But
as soon as I come out, I will succor and protect the first poor
fugitive I meet with, and then be fined and imprisoned again.
Then, as the dungeon is opened and I am set free, they will
find me in the same business as soon as I find it to do ; and
so on to the chapter's end ! Martyrdom in such a cause
would be an honor a man might almost aspire toA
But to help capture the fugitive, and deliver him to his
master! Why, I would as readily commit burglary, or high
way robbery. Let me die, let me go to the stake sooner than
be party to the slave-hunters guilt. Giving such a man aid,
would be the same to me as selling my soul to Satan.
And I counsel you, my hearers, as you revere God's author
ity, as you hate oppression, as you pity the oppressed, as you
love Christ and those who love him, as you desire God's fa
vor, as you hope to be saved, to make a similar decision, to
go and do likewise! If a poor outcast comes to your door
seeking sustenance, secretion, or money for further journeying,
turn him not away !. Do your duty, and trust God with the
result. I cannot doubt that you will. I know not your opinions on
this subject, for since I saw this bill I have had no time to
consult them. But in your earnest, impassioned, tearful looks
this morning, I read your sentiments, I argue your holy re
solves. But am I deceived? Can it be possible that one
of the members of my church should aid in the delivery of a
poor victim of oppression ? May you be safe in heaven first !
How much I should prefer to follow one of you, my Chris
tian friends, to the grave with your memory unstained and
your soul untarnished, than' to have you live to commit such
an outrage on a fellow-man, such treason against God !

30
2. But you have something more to do than to disobey
this bill. Providence may give you no occasion for that,
But speak against it, write against it, pray against it, vote
against it. Use all your social, religious and political power
for its overthrow. Whatever influence you can wield in hea
ven or on earth for this object, wield it, I pray you, till this
odious and insulting law is repealed-
3. I have not spoken in this discourse as a political par
tisan. So little have I followed, of late, the doubling track
of pro-slavery politicians, so little do I know at this early date
of the means or the men by whom this bill was passed, that
I cannot say which' party, or what particular statesmen are
most in fault. Like that figure of Justice, which surmounts
some of our court-houses, with her eyes bandaged, the scales
in one hand and the sword in the other, so have I come be
fore you this morning. I shall only know what party the
scales have weighed and found. wanting ; I shall only know
what necks the sword has severed, when the balance is turn
ed, the sword sheathed, and the bandage taken from my
eyes. Whoever they be who have helped to pass this
bill, may God in mercy forgive them, and cast their counsels
headlong. 4. Though we may well be amazed, indignant and horror-
stricken at the wickedness of this bill ; yet we ought not, as
the friends of the oppressed, to be discouraged. If I mistake
not, we have reason to rejoice. The selfishness of the slave
power has overshot the mark. It has dug the grave for its
own interment, and, Haman-like, reared the gallows for its
own execution. The bill, as it goes abroad, will swell the
flames of anti-slavery excitement. Slaveholders have tried to
put out that fire before, by pouring on oil and alcohol ; now
they would smother it with gunpowder ! Let them see the
result. Men that never cared for slavery before, will feel that
they have now
" Enough to stir a fever in the blood of age,
And make the infant's sinews, strong as steel."

31
In every legislature, in every court and college and de
bating room and public house, on every rail-car and steam
boat, in thousands of reviews and news-prints, aye, and in
many a pulpit too, this bill of infamy will be discussed, and
the hatred of slavery and pity for the slave be deepened.
Thus, I trust, will the numbers and energy of the hosts of
liberty be augmented, carry their triumphs into Congress, and
march on from conquest to conquest,
" Till o'er our land, from sea to sea,
One voice shall thunder, we are free !"

YALE UNIVERSITY

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