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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

STUDIES ON SLAVERY,

En IBasg ILt^^on^.

COMPILED INTO EIGHT STUDIES, AND SUBDIVIDED INTO
SHORT LESSONS FOR THE CONVENIENCE
OF READERS.

By JOHN FLETCHER,

OF LOUISIANA.

lOUETH THOUSAND.

NATCHEZ!;
PUBLISHED BY JACK^^WARNER.
CHARLESTON : McCARTER & ALLEN. — ^NEW ORLEANS : JOHN BALL,
PHILADELPHIA: THOMAS, COWERTHWAIT & CO.
1852.' "

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by
JACKSON WARNEK,
in the Clerk's Office ofthe District Court ofthe Southern District of Mississippi.

Cb^\'4^6 L

PEINTEP BX SMITH & PETEKS,
franklin Baimiags, Si-xth Street telow Arch, Philadelphia.

PUBLISHER'S PREFACE.

Tpis is a legitimate topic of general interest, and it as
sumes a preponderating importance to the people of the
Southern American States, when the fact is taken into
consideration that a general league against the institution
of African slavery has been entered into and consummated
between most of the civilized nations of the earth, and
public opinion in many of the sister States of our own
National Union has taken the same direction. The result
is, to have arraigned the slaveholding States before the
mighty bar of public opinion, on the charge of holding, as
property, more than ten hundred millions of dollars' worth
of what does not belong to them, which is and never can be
the property of man ; and this charge embraces, within its
scope, the crimes of theft, robbery, rapine, and cruelty.
The time has come when the South must enter her plea
of defence, not because the accusers are foreign nations,
of which it may justly be said, before their charges are
entertained, "Physician, heal thyself," but because our
accusers are among our own brethren, bound to us by free
dom's holiest associations and religion's most sacred ties.
The author of the " Studies on Slavery" has the double
advantage of a full coiiiprehension of the subject both in
its Northern and Southern aspect. Born and educated in
the former, and qualified by "a long residence in the latter
section of our Union, he is amply qualified to weigh the
prejudices, the teachings, and the arguments of the one^

PUBLISHER'S PREFACE.

against the facts, the justifications, the religious and po
litical sanctions of thp other.
Mr. Fletcher has not only marshalled into his line of
impregnable .defence the mandates and sanctions of the
Sacred Writings concerning the slave institutions, but he
has drawn powerful auxiliaries from the sources of ancient
history. His exegesis of biblical passages, in the original
languages in which they w6re communicated by inspiration
to the world, shows his sound scholarship, as well as his
reverence of the literal sense and specific meaning of God's
holy and unimpeachable standard and rule of life and
action. The author has also analyzed the fountain of Moral
Philosophy, and detected the bitter waters of error so in
dustriously infused by the eloquent and magical pens of
such writers as Dr. Samuel Johnson, Dr. Paley, Dr. Chan-
ning. Dr. Wayland, Mr. Barnes, and others. He has con
fined himself to the moral and ethical bearings of the
question, scarcely touching upon its political aspects, — a
course calculated to render the book far more useful to the
dispassionate seekers after truth, who may belong to dif
ferent political sects.
Neither time nor labour has been spared in the author
ship of the work ; and it is beUeved that, while it is written
with candour and calmness, ^t will be received by the
people of the North as well as of the South as a sincere
and enlightened endeavour to seek for truth, and thus allay
the tumultuous and disorganizing fanaticism of those who
have not had opportunity to study the subject, and are
incapable of acting upon it with understanding and true
decision.

PEOEMIAL.

Philosophy knows no obUgatioa that binds one man to
another without an equivalent. If one man could be sub
jected to another, who is not bound to render any thing in
return, it would be subversive to good morals and political
justice. Such a relation cannot exist, only so far as to reach
the immediate death of the subjected. But it has been the
error of some good men to suppose that slavery presented
such a case. It has been their misfortune also to receive
the following succedaneums as axioms in the search for
truth : —
" AH men are born equal."
" The rights of men are inahenable."
" No man has power to alienate a natural right."
" No man can become property."
" No man can own property in another."
" The conscience is a distinct mental faculty."
" The conscience infaUibly distinguishes between right
and wrong."
" No man is under any obligation to obey any law when
his conscience dictates it to be wrong."
" The conscience empowers any man to nulHfy any law ;
because the conscience is a part and parcel of the Divine
mind."

PROEMIAL.

" Slavery is wholly founded on force."
" Slavery originates in the power of the strong 'over the
weak." " Slavery disquahfies a man to fulfil the great object of
his being."
" The doctrines of the Bible forbid slavery."
" There is no word, either in the Old or the New Testa
ment, which expresses the idea of slave or slavery."
" Slavery places its subjects beyond moral and legal ob
ligation : therefore, it can never be a legal or moral rela
tion." " Slavery is inconsistent with the moral nature of man."
" To hold in slavery is inconsistent with the present state
of morals and rehgion."
" Slavery is contrary to the will of God."
" No man can hold a slave, and be a Christian."
Averments of this order are quite numerous. Fanatics
receive them ; and some others do not distinguish them from
truths. At any age, and in any country, where such errors are
generally adopted, and become the rules of pohtical action,
morals and religion are always in commotion, and in danger
of shipwreck : for, although, where man has only ap
proached so far towards civilization that even the enUght-
ened can merely perceive them as rudimental, yet the great
principles that influence human life, morality and religion,
are, everywhere, and always have been the same.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

STUDY I.
Lesson I. — Wayland's definition of moral law, .page 7 to 8; sin the antecedent of slavery,
9 J the abuse of slavery a sin, 10.
Lesson IL — Wayland on .the elements of consciousness, 10 to 11 ; the degeneracy of races,
and slavery as the scriptural means of reclamation, 12; object of punishment, 13.
Lesson IIL — Wayland on censcienoe as a distinct faculty, 14, 15 ; Channing, Barnes, and
abolitionists generally on the same, 16, 17, 18.
Lesson IV. — Wayland on conscience as an independent faculty derived from Shaftesbury,
Hutchinson, and Reid, 18; combated by Archbishop Seeker, 19; argument that con
science is neither a distinct faculty nor infallible, 20 to 23.
Lesson V. — Wayland's doctrine, that slavery sacrifices the slave's eternal happiness to
the master's temporal, refuted, 23 to 25; the master's interest and the slave's moral
improvement identical, 26, 27.
Lesson VI. — Wayland's argument, that slavery is at variande with the laws of God, ex
amined, 27; its connection with productive labour and national wealth considered, 28
to 32 ; Sismondi^s theory of labour and capital, 32 ; Wayland on slavery as impoverish
ing soil refuted, 33, 34.
Lesson VII. — Wayland's doctrine, that the moral principles of the Bible are opposed to
slavery, refuted, 34, 35 ; Seeker's authority, 36; Wayland on slavery as a prohibition
of gospel privileges and matrimony controverted, 37 to 40; Luth'^ and Melancthon
quoted, 39; African practice in regard to matrimony, 40; interest of masters to pro
mote permanent marriages among their slaves, 40 to 42.
Lesson VIII. — Way land, Paley, Channing, and Barnes on the opinion that the sacred
writers abstained from condemning slavery bn motives of policy, 43 to 47.
Lesson IX. — ^Wayland's doubts, caused by Prof. Taylor, 47 to 50 ; Wayland's assertion,
that the inculcation of the duties of slaves is no sanction of slavery, combated, 51, 62.
Lesson X. — Wayland's assertion, that Scripture is opposed to slavery, contrasted with the
declarations of the Bible, 53 ; slavery a desirable and ardently sougKt condition un
der certain circumstances — historical proofs, 54 to 57.
Lesson ST. — Dr. Paley on slavery and the laws of nature, 5-7 to 61.
Lesson XII. — Paley on cruelty as an argument against slavery, 62; Lander's testimony-
respecting native cruelty in Africa, 63 ; Paley's slander on Jesus Christ and Paid and
Peter repelled, 65 to 67.
Lesson XIII. — Slavery in ancient Britain, 67; Dr. Samuel Johnson's argument against
negro slavery analyzed, and overthrown by arguments drawn from the laws of nations
and the laws of Q-od, 68 to 82. vU

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

STUDY II.
Lesson I. — Relation of guardian and ward a Divine institution, 83 to 85.
Lesson II. — Slavery a Divine institution, and the reason why, 85 to 88.
Lesson III. — Slavery the school of adversity to reclaim wicked iiations and individuals —
Scripture proofs, 89 to 91.
Lesson IV. — Albert Barnes on the slavery of the Israelites iu Egypt refuted, 92 to 96 ;
his attempt by human reason to determine the will of God, 97 to 99.
Lesson V. — Barnes's examination of the Scripture argument on slavery, and the scriptural
account of slavery in the days of Abraham, contrasted, 99 to 109.
Lesson VI. — The smiles of God on the institution of slavery proved from the argument
of Barnes against it, HO; ratio of slaves to whites, and tbe relative increase in the
United States, 111, 112.
Lesson VII. — The interest of the master and the direct laws of God against the abuses
of slavery coincident, 113, 114; Barnes's cure for slavery, 115.
Lesson VIII. — Baijies's denial that Christ ever came in contact with slavery compared
with scriptural assertions, 116 to 119.
Lesson IX. — The admission of Barnes in regard to slaves escaping to the Hebrew coun
try, 119 ; his assertion, that the Hebrews were not a nation of slaveholders, overthrown
by Scripture testimony, 120, 121.
Lesson X. — Distribution by the Hebrews of captives taken in battle, 122, 123 ; Greek cus
tom in regard to captives made in war, 124 ; proof-texts from the Bible, 125.
Lesson XI. — The "claim of Barnes to identity with the African race, 126; his views on
Paul's injunction to sympathize with those in bonds controverted, 127, 128.
Lesson XII. — Legend of Antioch, Margarita, and the Roman Prsefect Olybius, 128 to 133 ;
song of the slaves, 131, 132 ; letter of Olybius to the Emperor Probus, manufactured
from the language of Mr, Barnes, 133 to 135.
Lesson XIII. — Barnes's admissions of the existence of Hebrew and Roman slavery, 136,
137.
Lesson XIV. — The denial of Barnes that slavery cannot be defended by Bible arguments,
138 ; its influence on agriculture, commerce, arts, and the African slave himself con
sidered, iiiem,- Sedgjo, the African Slave in Louisiana, 139, 140; the Periplus of
Hanno, 140, 141 ; the testimony of the Landers on the depravity of native Africans,
142 to 144; the Landers made slaves, 145; various historical authorities on African
and Moorish slavery, 145 to 155.
Lesson XV. — Authorities to prove African degradation continued, 155 to 158; slavery
subservient to the religious conversion of African slaves, 159^ 160.
Lesson XVI. — Paul's exhortations to slaves considered, 161, 162; God's sentence of four
hundred years of slavery upon the Hebrews, 163.
Lesson XVII. — The assertion of Barnes, that a slave bought with money had compensa
tion commanded to be paid him by Scripture, controverted, 163, 164; Barnes's declara
tion of the cunning of the Apostles in not condemning slavery, 165, 168.
Lesson XVIII. — Argument that the injunctions of the Bible upon God's ancient people
are in force and equally binding upon Christians now, (Christians are the heirs of
Abraham,) 166 to 169.

TABLE OF CONTENTS. Ix

Lesson XIX.— Authorities quoted by Barnes, 169 ; numerous quotations from Barnes on
8liv\ ery, 1,70 to 174.
Lesson XX. — Wayland's assertion, that, if the New Testament authorized slavery, it would
be the greatest of oui'ses, adopted by Barnes, 174 to 176.

STUDY III.
Lesson I. — Works of Rev. Dr. Channing — his opinion that the worst errors may arise from
religious tendencies, 177, 178.
Lesson II. — Channing's seven arguments, that a man cannot be held as property, exa
mined, 178, 179 ; his doctrine of conscience and indestructible rights, 180 to 182.
Lesson III. — Examination of Channing's seven arguments continued, 183 to 188.
Lesson IV. — That slavery, disease, and death are necessary effects of sin proved by the
chapter of cm'scs, (Deut. sxviii.,} 188 to 193 ; Channing's standard of feeling or sense
of duty controverted, 194, 195.
Lesson V. — Channing's theory of man's rights and his consciousness examined, 195, 196 ;
argument that slavery is the best condition for the African race, 197 to 200 ; criticism
on Channing's use of the words nature, conscience, law of nature, &c., 200 to 204.
Lesson VI. — Channing's position, that the debasement of African slavery arises from the
enslavement of the race in America, controverted, 204 to 206; its influence on the
master race, 206, 207.
Lesson'VII. — Channing's views of slavery, as conducive to licentiousness and unrestrained
cohabitation between masters and female slaves, examined, 207 to 211 ; his views of
the quality and brotherhood of the races, 212 to 214.
Lesson VIII. — Channing on the relative productiveness of free and slave labour, 215 ;
his opinion that the admission of slave territory was just cause for the dissolution of
the Union, 217, 218 ; his deference to the opinion of Europe, 218 ; labour and capital,
the political influence of slavery, 2i9 to 221.
Lesson IX. — Channing's views of the scriptural argument in favour»''Gf slavery over
thrown, by a parallel between slavery and polygamy, 222 to 230.
Lesson X. — Channing adopting and endorsing Paley's slander on the integrity of Paul,
230 to 232.
Lesson XI. — Channing's plan of emancipation and inflammatory counsels to the free
States, 232 to 235.
Lesson XII. — The zeal of abolitionism not according to knowledge, 235, 236 ; Channing's
opinion that the negro is one of the best races of the human family, 237; Channing
on West India emancipation and Southern character, 237 to 239.
Lesson XIII. — Sympathy for those sufiering punishment from God, for sin, considered,
239 to 241 ; the deterioration of sin the inevitable cause of slavery, 241 to 243.
Lesson XIV. — ^God's government of the universej and his declaration of the right ol
man's property in man, 243 to 246 ; God's blessing on the slave-owners, 247, 248.
Lesson XV. — Ham's intermarriage with the race of Cain the cause of his doom and that
of his seed tff perpetual servitude, 248 to 250 ; God never entails a curse without suf
ficient cause, 250, 251 ; the mark on Cain, 252 to 255.
1

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

STUDY IV.
Lesson L— Extracts from Bower, 256 ; the Treuga Dei, 257, 258 ; Bishop England quoted
on the action and records of the Church, 259, 260.
Lesson II. — Establishment of Christianity by law, by Constantino, and the rise of Moham
medanism, 261, 262; the schism of the Greek Church, 263, 264.
Lesson III. — Nature swarming with life, and life merging in distress and death, 264, 265 ;
sin the cause of slavery, and the latter as a protection, 266, 267 ; slavery in China, 269.
Lesson IV.— Liberty of less value than life, 270 ; the Divine grant to hold slaves, 271.
Lesson V. — Early church acts and documents approving and providing for slavery, 272 ;
the canons and the constitutions of the apostles, 272 to 274 ; constitution of Antoninus
Pius respecting cruelty to slaves, 275 ; canons of the Council of. Nice and the first
appearance of abolitionism in the world, 276, 277; St. Basil's canoni<!al writings, 278.
Lesson VI. — The invasion of Attila and -the Pontiff Leo's successful intercession, 279,
280; Nero's African slaves, aud the white slaves of the Roman Empire, 281.
Lesson VII. — Church rescripts for the freedom of slaves, and St. Augustin's mode of
manumission in Africa, 282, 283 ; Pope Leo's letters, forbidding slaves to enter the
priesthood, and protecting the rights of masters, 284, 285 ; barbarian cruelty to slaves
ameliorated by Christianity, 286, 287 ; canons of the'Council of Agdle on slavery, 288 ;
modes of becoming slaves, 289, 290.
Lesson VIII. — Muratori on the manumission of slaves in Rome, 291; colonial and con
ditional slaves, 292 ; arming of slaves in defence of Rome and the glutting of the
slave-markets of the world, 293 ; canons of the Fourth Council of Orleans, 294, 295 ;
ditto Fifth Council of Orleans, 296 to 299.
Lesson IX. — Bishop England's account of slavery in England and Ireland in remote
ages, 299, 300; Pope Pelagius and the canons of the Third Councils of Paris and
Braga, 301, 302; articles of the Third Council of Toledo, 302, 303.
Lesson X. — The ^enerable Bede's account of the slave-trade of BnglSind, A. d. 577, 304
to"306 ; Pope Gregory's purchase of British youth, 306, 307 ; Gregory's pastoral ad
monitions and epistles, 308 to 311.
Lesson XL — Constantino's edict that none but Christians could hold slaves, 212, 213 ;
Gregory's letter to the Prtefeot of Sicily, 313 to 315; canons of the Fourth Councils
of Orleans and Macon, 315, 316; Gregory to the Bishop of Luna, aud the laws of the
empire on slavery, 317, 318. '
Lesson XII. — Gregory to the Bishop of Naples, 319, 320; the same to the Bishop of Ca
tania, 321.
Lesson XIII. — Justinian's law to protect debtors against slavery, 323 ; Gregory's letters
about a Syrian deeply in debt, 322 ; his letter of emancipation to Montana and
Thomas, 324, 325; Justinian's law of marriage between slaves aud persons on differ
ent estates, 327, 328; Gregory's letter on the same subject, 329: his letter to the
Bishop of Syracuse on the same, 330, 331.
liBSSON XIV. — Gregory's deed of gift conveying the slave boy Aoorimus to Theodore the
counsellor, 331, 332 ; his letter about a slave to the Proctor Bonitus, 333 : his docu
ment to reclaim runaway slaves, 333, 334; his various letters concerning slaves and
the purchase of Bai-bary slaves, 334 to 336.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Lesson XV. — Canons of the Councils of Toledo and Saragossa, 336 to 339 ; laws of Ina,
king of the West Saxons, and the judgments of Withrod, 340 to 343.
Lesson XVI. — The canons of Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, King Pepin, Council
of Bavaria, Pope Adrian and Charlemagne, 343 to 349 ; canon of the Council of Frank
fort, 349, 360,
Lesson XVII. — Laws of Charlemagne on slavery, 350 to 353; canons ofthe Council of
Aix-la-Chapelle, 353 ; capitulary of the Emperor Lotharius, 353 to 355.
Lesson XVIIL— Unconnected facts bearing on ancient slavery ; prostitutes made slaves ;
Sclavonian bondage; persecution ofthe Knights Templars, 365 to 360.
Lesson XIX. — Derivation of the word war ; Divine authority for wars, 361 to 365; the
church claiming the right to declare offensive war under two circumstances, 366 ;,bull
of Pope Gregory XL against the Florentines, 366, 367; Papal bulls against the Ve-
nitians and Henry VIII. of England, 367 to 369 ; the American colonies at New
Haven decreeing the Indian tribes to slavery, 369, 370.
Lesson XX. — Ancient piracy and pirates, 370, 371 ; rise of the Vandals, Goths, Huns,
and Tartars, 372 ; the Northmen, 373 to 379.
Lesson XXI. — Condition of slavery in Europe, 379 to 381.
Lesson XXII. — Origin of the Sclavonians, 381 ; the descent of the Arabs and Moors,
383, 384.
Lesson XXIII.. — Africans generally slaves in their nativ* country, 384; African slavery
to the Shemitic races foretold by prophecy, 385, 386; sketch ofthe life, docti'ines, and
conquests of Mohammed and his successors, 386 to 390.
Lesson XXIV. — Slavery introduced into the world as a mercy in favour of life, 390 ; duty
and interest combine to incite the master to promote religion and good mora,ls in the
slave, 391 ; slavery commanded by reason and the laws of nature, 392.

STUDY v.
Lesson I. — Faith and observance of facts in tie moral world the true modes of learning
God's will, 393.
Lesson II. — The works of creation proofs of the Creator, 394 to 398.
Lesson IIL — The question of the admission of evil into the economy of God's govern
ment on earth, and a denial that all men are bom equals, 398, 399 ; the five races of
the human family, and the moral necessity of command in some and subordination
in others, 399 to 402.
Lesson IV. — Intellect correspondent to organization, 403 ; inquiry into the nature of in
stinct by various philosophers, 403 to 405; inexorable inequality of human condition
in this world and the next, 406 to 408.
Lesson V. — The moral duty of loving our species defined, 409.
Lesson VI. — Men not equal physically, religiously, mentally, morally, or politically, 410.
Lesson VII. — Justice and the rules of Christianity identical and inseparable, 411, 412.
Lesson VIII. — The golden rule considered in relation to slavery, 413 to 416.
Lesson IX. — The unohangeableness of God, and human misery caused by a general rebel
lion against his laws, 417 to 420.
Lesson X. — Christianity incompatible with savage life, 420, 421.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Lesson XI. — Gradation iu intellect and condition no impediment to Christianity, 421.
Lesson XII. — Christianity and slavery not antagonistic, 422.
Lesson XIII. — Christian humility inculcated, 423.
Lesson XIV. — The radiance of Christian hope equalizes all variety of condition, 423, 424;
sketch of the slave's prospect of immortal happiness, 426 to 42S.
Lesson XV.— The feebleness of finite conceptions of infinity, 428, 429 ; hope for the sub
missive, 430, 431 ; the requirement of God that the strong should protect the weak, 432.

STUDY VI.
Lesson I. — Nature of sin; the primal transgression, 433, 434.
Lesson IL — The occupation and doom of Cain, 435, 436.
Lesson III. — The mark upon Cain, Mohammedan traditions, 437, 438; proof-texts from
Scripture, 439, 440.
Lesson IV.— The punishment of Cain did not lead him to reformation, 440; Asiatic hy
perbole in description, 441, 442.
Lesson V. — The cause of Cain's degradation renewed upon Canaan, and his masters
named, 442, 443.
Lesson VI. — Proofs that the descendants of Ham inherited the curse of Cain, and were
black, as also were the Canaanites whom God's chosen people either exterminated
or enslaved, 443 to 447.
Lesson VII. — The negro lineage of Ham established, 447 to 451.
Lesson VIII. — Signification of the name ''Naamah" in Hebrew and Arabic, 451 to 455.
Lesson IX. — Variations in different languages of the names of Cain and Naamah, also
of other remarkable words, 456 to 458.
Lesson X. — The names and derivatives of the words Cain and Naamah found only among
the descendants of Ham, 459 to 464. "
*t •
Lesson XL — Proofs scriptural and historical that the descendants of Ham were black,
464 to 470.
Lesson XII. — Biblical proofs that the Canaanites were black, 471 to 473.
Lesson XIII. — Scriptural testimony respecting the colour of the races of the human
family, 473 to 477.
Lesson XIV. — Jewish wars against the Ethiopian race; the Philistines black, 478, 479 :
the origin of these wars the animosity between the Shemitic and Hamitic races, 480;
dilference in the structure of the bones and the hair between the antagonist races,
481; intermarriage with the Hamitic by the Shemitic race a cause of God's anger,
482 ; the dispersion of the Canaanites by the Jewish conquest of Palestine, 482.
Lesson XV. — Derivation and train of thought connected with the word Ham in the
Shemitic languages, 483 to 487; the Hebrew personal pronoun, 488 to 491; origin of
the word Ethiopian, 493 to 495.
Lesson XVI.— Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, and Coptic derivations of the word Ham, 495 to 502.
Lesson XVIL— Exegesis of the thirty-third chapter of Ecclesiastious, 502 to 503 ; the pro
vidence of God manifested in placing deteriorated races under the control of races
less debased, 604, 505.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

STUDY vn.
Lesson I. — Critical examination into the meaning of the Greek word dav\os, doulos, slave,
as used both by the sacred and classical writers, 606.
Lesson II. — Abolition denunciation of the Bible, 507, 508; tendency to mystery in the
human mind; the God of Abraham and Moses, who gave command how to treat
slaves, to be trustingly worshipped, 508, 509.
Lesson III. — The meaning of (!o»Xo; as used by the Greek poets, 510 ; Valekenaerus on
the phonetic relation of Greek words to their derivative, 511 to 614; the argument
that dov\os could not have meant an unconditional slave, refuted, 515, 516.
Lesson IV. — Extracts from Grecian historians, philosophers, and poets, showing the classi
cal sense in which they used the word ^ovXog and its derivatives, 516 to 636.
Lesson V. — The use of the word Sov'Xoi by Thueydides, Herodotus, and Xenophon, 536 to
546.
Lesson VI. — Extracts from Xenophon continued, 546 to 549.
Lesson VII. — Extracts from Xenophon's Cyropasdia, 549 to 554.
Lesson VIII. — Extracts from Herodotus of Halicarnassus, 564 to 568.
Lesson IX. — The Scriptural use of the word SovXog, 669 to 561.
Lesson X. — Scriptural extracts continued, 662 to 564.
Lesson XL — The Greek word signifying slave-stealers in 1 Tim. i. 5 to 11, 564 to 566;
quotation from Xenophon in proof, 666; the appeal of Mr. Barnes to the Dutch, 56.7;
Greek words from freeman and slave, 568.
Lesson XII. — Paul on slave stealing, 569 to 572.
Lesson XIII. — Reasons for Paul's instructions to Timothy and to Christian slaves re
specting slave-stealing and the duties of the servile condition, 672 too75.
Lesson XIV. — The use ofthe word AjuXoj by Jesus Christ, 576, 577.
Lesson XV. — Use of the word cSsuXot by Paul, Peter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 678
to 58L
Lesson XVI. — Origin ofthe English word servant ani its derivatives, 581; its use by the
sacred writers and Grecian scholars, 582 to 586.

STUDY vm.
Lesson I. — Hebrew orthography of the word by which we mean slave, 586 to 588 ; the
corresponding word in the Arabic, Chaldaic, and Syriac languages, 588 to 590.
Lesson II. — Tendency of the Shemitic languages to the rhetorical figure prosopopceia,
590 to 594.
Lesson III. — Examples of the Hebrew word meaning slave, both as a noun and a verb,
696 to 601.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Lesson IV. — Refutation of the assertion that the root of the Hebrew word meaning slave
is also used in a sense signifying worship, 602 to 607.
Lesson V. — Further quotations from the sacred writers, showing the meaning attached to
the Hebrew word signifying slave in the Old Testament, 607 to 609.
Lesson VI. — Quotations from the sacred authors ofthe use o^tbe Hebrew verb signifying
to slave, or to be slaves to, 610, 611 ; identity of welfare and interest between the
slave and his master, 612, 613.
Lesson VII. — The two distinct eras in the Hebrew language ; its approximation to the
Chaldaic and Persian in the second era, 613 to 615.
Lesson VIII. — Meaning attached to the Hebrew wbrd signifying slave by Ezra, Nehemiah,
Jeremiah, and other prophets, 616 to 618.
Lesson IX. — The use of the Hebrew word meaning slave in the book of Genesis, -and ex
tract from the Rev. J. B. Stratton's letter to the author on the same, 618 to 620;, the
word Eden in the Arabic, 620, 621 ; the Hebrew word meaning 'tilleth, 622.
Lesson X. — The laws of Moses in Deuteronomy respecting slavery, 623.
Lesson XL — The Hebrew use of the word meaning slaves in Samuel, and many other
books of the Bible, 624 to 627.
Lesson XII. — Declension of the Hebrew noun meaning slave, and the conjugation and
paradigms of the Hebrew verb signifying to slave, 628 to 637.

STUDIES O'S SLAYERT.

LESSON I.
"The Elements of Moral Science: By Francis Wayland, D.D., President of
Brown University, and Professor of Moral Philosophy. Fortieth Thousand.
Boston, 1849." Pp. 396.
This author informs us that he has been many years preparing
the work, with a view to furnish hia pupils with a text-book free
from the errors of Paley. Like Paley, whom he evidently wishes
to supersede, he has devoted a portion of his strength to the abo
lition of slavery. We propose to look into the book with an eye
to that subject alone. President Wayland says:
P. 24. " Moral Law is a form of expression denoting an order of
¦sequence established between the moral quality of actions and
their results."
Pp. 25, 26. " An order of sequence established, supposes, of ne
cessity, an Establisher. Hence Moral Philosophy, as well as fevery
other science, proceeds upon the supposition of the existence of a
Universal Cause, the Creator of all things, who has made every
thing as it is, and who has subjected all things to the relations
which they sustain. And hence, as all relations, whether moral
or physical, are the result of his enactment, an order of sequence
once discovered in morals, is just as inviolable as an order of se
quence in physics.
" Such being the fact, it is evident that the moral laws of God
can never be varied by the institutions of man, any more than the
physical laws. The results which God has connected with actions
will inevitably occur, all the created power in the universe to the
contrary notwithstanding.
"Yet men have always flattered themselves with the hope that
they could violate the moral law and escape the consequences which

8 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

God has established. The reason is obvious. In physics, the con
sequent follows the antecedent, often immediately, and most com
monly after a stated and well-known interval. In morals, the
result is frequently long delayed ; the time of its occurrence is
always uncertain : — Hence, ' because the sentence against an evil
work is not speedily executed, therefore the hearts of the sons of
men are fully set in them to do evil.' But time, whether long or
short, has neither power nor tendency to change the order of an
established sequence. The time required for vegetation,, in different
orders of plants, may vary ; but, yet, wheat will always produce
wheat, and an acorn will always produce an oak. That such is the
case in morals, a heathen poet has taught us. ' Raro, anteceden-
tum scelestum deseruit pede poena claudo.' HoR. lib. iii. car. 2.
"A higher authority has admonished us, 'Be not deceived; God
is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.' It
is also to be remembered, that, in morals as well as in physics, the
harvest is always more abundant than the seed from which it
springs." To this doctrine we yield the highest approval.
The first obvious deduction from the lesson here advanced is,
that the laws of God, as once revealed to man, never lose their
high moral qualities nor their divine character, at any subsequent
age of the world. The law, which God delivered to Moses from
Mount Sinai, authorizing his chosen people to buy slaves, and hold
them as an inheritance for their children after them, is, thei-efore,
the law of God now. The action of the law may be suspended at
a particular time or place, from a change of contingencies, — yet
the law stands unaffected.
We hope no one doubts the accuracy of the doctrine thus fairly
stated in these "Elements." But we shall see how fatal it is to
some portions of the author's positions concerning slavery. And
we propose to show how this doctrine, as connected with slavery,
has been, and is elucidated in scripture. The twenty-eighth chap
ter of Deuteronomy shows that the fruits of wickedness are all
manner of curses, finally terminating in slavery or death.
Here, slavery, as a threatened punishment, distinctly looks back
to a course of wickedness for its antecedent. The same idea is
spread through the whole Scriptures : " Whosoever committeth sin,
is the servant of sin." John viii. 84. " I am carnal, sold under
sin." -Bom. vii. 14. "Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold
yourselves." Isa. 1. 1. See, also, Jer. xiii. 22.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 9

The biblical scholar will recollect a multitude of instances where
this doctrine is clearly advanced, recognising sin as the antecedent
of slavery.
Abraham was obedient to the voice of God. His conduct was
the antecedent ; and the consequent was, God heaped upon him
many blessings ; and among them, riches in various things,-^" male.
and female slaves," some of whom were "born in Ms house," and
some " bought uith his money;" and God made a covenant with
him, granting him, and his seed after him, the land of Canaan for
an everlasting possession.
But this gift, as is the continuance of all other blessings, was
accompanied with a condition, which is well explained in Genesis,
xviii. 19 : " For I know him, that he will command his children
and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the
Lord to do justice and judgment ; that the Lord may bring upon
Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."
Scholars will concede the fact that " his household" is a term by
which his slaves are particularly included, over whom his govern
ment was extended; and, without its proper maintenance, the cove
nant so far on his part would be broken.
From the wording of the covenant it is evident that Abraham
had slaves before the covenant was made, since it embraced regu-
, lations concerning slaves, but, in no instance, hints that the exist
ence of slavery was adverse to the law of God, or that the holding
of slaves, as slaves, was contrary to his will. The deduction is,
that slavery exists in the world by Divine appointment ; and that
the act of owning slaves is in conformity with the moral law.
The doctrine, that sin is the antecedent of slavery, is further
elucidated and made still more manifest by the recognition of the
institution by the biblical writers, where they place sin and slavery
in opposition to holiness and freedom : — thus, figuratively, making
righteousness the antecedent of freedom. " Stand fast, therefore,
in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not en
tangled again with the yoke of bondage." Cfal. v. h "And ye
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John
iii. 32.
The abuse of slavery, like the abuse of any thing else, is doubt
less a great sin. Of tho blessings God bestows on man, there is
perhaps no one he does not abuse ; and while we examine the laws
of God, as presenting to the mind the vast field of cause and effect,
— of antecedent and consequent, — we may be led to a reflection

10 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
on the necessity of a conformity thereto, lest a long continuance
of such abuses shall become the antecedent to future calamities
and woes, either to ourselves or posterity ; woes and calamities pre
figured by those nations and tribes already under the infliction of
slavery, as a just punishment of sin.
Thus far, we thank the Kev. Dr. Wayland for this fair exposS of
his views of the moral law of God ; and if he will apply them now
to the institution of slavery, — if he will unfetter his intellect from
the manacles imposed on it by a defective education ou that sub
ject, and cut himself loose from the prejudices that his associations
have gathered around him, we may yet have occasion to rejoice
over him as one once an estray from the fold of truth, but now re
turned, "sitting in his right mind and clothed." And will not
Mr. Fuller and Professor Taylor rejoice with us !

LESSON IL
' In those "Elements of Moral Science," we find the follow
ing, p. 29 :
" From what has been said, it may be seen that there exists, in
the actions of men, an element which does not exist in the actions
of brutes. ****** 'We can operate upon brutes only
by fear of punishment, and hope of reward. We can operate upon
man, not only in this manner, but also by an appeal to his con
sciousness of right and wrong ; and by such means as may improve
his moral nature. Hence, all modes of punishment, which treat
men as we treat brutes, are as unphilosophical as they are thought
less, cruel, and vindictive. Such are those systems of criminal
jurisprudence which have in view nothing more than the infliction
of pain upon the offender."
It was unnecessary to inform us that man possesses higher
mental endowments than the brute. But the main object of the
author in the foregoing paragraph is his deduction ; that, because
we can operate on man by an appeal to his consciousness of right
and wrong, therefore any other mode of governing him is wrong.
This consequent we fail to perceive. We also fail in the perception
that his postulate is universally true :, which we think should have
been proved before he can claim assent to the deduction. If this

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. H

our view be correct, we beg the reverend author to reflect how far
he may have made himself obnoxious to the charge of sophistry !
If President Wayland intends, by the clause, — " and by such
means as may improve his moral nature,"— to include corporeal
punishment, then his mind was unprepared to grapple with the
subject; for, in that case, the whole paragraph is obscure, without
object, and senseless. We most readily agree that to govern man
by appeals to his consciousness of right and wrong is highly proper
where the mind is so well cultivated that no other government is
required. But, however unhappy may be the reflection, too large a pro
portion of the human family will not fall within that class. How
often do we see among men, otherwise having some claim to be
classed with the intelligent, those of acknowledged bad habits ;
habits which directly force the sufferer downward to poverty, dis
grace, disease, imbecility, and death, — on whom argument addressed
to their " consciousness of right and wrong," "is water spilled on
the ground."
Children, whose ancestors have, for ages, ranked among the
highly cultivated of the earth, — each generation surpassing its
predecessor in knowledge, in science, and religion, — have been
found to degenerate, oftener than otherwise, when trained solely
by arguments addressed to their reason, and unaccompanied by
physical compulsion.
What then are we to expect from man in a savage state, whose
ancestors have been degenerating from generation to generation,
through untold ages, — him, who ha's scarcely a feeling in com
mon with civilized man, except such as is common to the mere
animal, — him, whom deteriorating causes have reduced to tho
lowest grade above the brute ?
Domberger spent twelve years in passing through the central
parts of Africa, from north to south. He found the negroes, in a
large district of country, in a state of total brutality. Their habits
were those only of the wild brutes. They had no fixed residences.
They lay down wherever they might he when disposed to sleep.
They were 'not more gregarious than the wild goats. So far as
he could discover, they had not a language even, by which to hold
intercourse with each other. They possessed no power by which
they were enabled to exhibit moral degradation, any more than
the wild beasts.
Hanno, the Carthaginif : ziavigator, in his Periplus, eight hundre :1

12 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

years before the birth of Christ, gives a similar account of a race
he calls Gsetuli.
It is possible that man, in these extreme cases, where there is
very little to unlearn, might sooner be regenerated, elevated to
civilization, physical and mental power, than in other cases where
there may be far more proof of metital capacity, but where the
worst of intellectual and physical habits have stained soul and
body with, perhaps, a more indelible degradation.
It would be a curious experiment, and add much to our know
ledge of the races of man, to ascertain how many generations,
under the most favourable treatment, it would require to produce
an equal to Moses, or a David, a Newton, or the learned Dr.
Wayland himself, (if such he- possible,) from these specimens of
man presented before us ! And we now inquire, what course of
treatment will you propose, as the most practical, to elevate such
a race to civilization ?
It appears to us God has decided that slavery is the most
effectual. "Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have
no knowledge." Isa. v. 13. "And they forsook the Lord, and
served Baal and Ashteroth. And the anger, of the Lord was
hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of the
spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their
enemies round about." Judg. ii. 13, 14. See also, iii. 6-8.
"If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments:
if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments :
then will I visit their transgressions with the rod and their iniquity
with stripes." Fs. Ixxxviii. 30-32. "He that troubleth his
own house shall inherit the wind : and the fool shall be the
servant ("!2J^ ehed, slave) to the wise of heart." Prov. ii. 29.
"And her daughters shall go into captivity. Thus will I execute
judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I am the Lord."
Ilzeh. XXX. 18. See also the preceding part of the chapter.
It is highly probable that among savage tribes, punishment and
the infliction of pain are often applied with no higher view than
to torture the object of displeasure. But to us it seems remark
ably unfortunate, in a student of moral and civil jurisprudence, to
suggest that legal punishment, among civilized men, is ever awarded
or ordered with any such feeling. If our education has given us
a correct view of the subject, the man who inflicts pain even on
the brute, solely on the account of such a feeling, instantly, so far

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 13

as it is known, sinks to the grade of a savage ; and much more
explicitly when the object of revenge is his fellow man. On the
contrary, when "the offender" has given unquestionable evidence
of a depravity too deeply seated for any hope of regeneration,
and the law orders his death, it selects that mode of execution
which inflicts the least suffering, and which shall have also the
greatest probable influence to deter others who may be downward
bound in the road of moral deterioration. There never has been
a code of laws among civilized nations, where the object of pu
nishment was to inflict pain on the implicated ; only so far as was
thought necessary to influence a change of action for the .better.
The object of punishment invariably has been the improvement of
society. If the Rev. Dr. Wayland had been teaching legislation to
savages, or, perhaps, their immediate descendants, his remarks,
to which we allude, might have been in place. But may we in
quire to what cause are we indebted for them ?
Permit us to inquire of the Doctor, where now are to be found
the "systems of criminal jurisprudence" to which he alludes?
Does he imagine that such system has some likeness to the govern
ment of the civilized man over his slave ? Or, in their govern
ment, does he propose to abolish corporeal punishment, because he
may think that will destroy. the institution itself? For "a ser
vant ("iDi^ abed, a slave) will not be corrected by words ; for,
though he understand, he will not answer." Prov,. xxix. 19.
We cannot pass over the paragraph we have quoted, without
expressing the most bitter regret to learn from Dr. Wayland's
own words, that he recognises the fact, without giving it reproval,
that "we" punish "brutes" with no other view than to inflict pain.
To us, such an idea is most repugnant and awful ! And we hope —
we pray Him who alone hath power to drag up from the deep
darkness of degradation, that the minds of such men may he placed
under the controlling influence of a rule that will compel to a higher
sense of what is proper, and to a more clear perception of what is
truth !

14 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON IIL
The learned Doctor says :
P. 49. "By conscience, or moral sense, is meant that faculty by
which we discern the moral quality of actions, and by which we
are capable of certain affections in respect to this quality.
"'B J faculty is meant any particular part of our constitution, by
which we become affected by the various qualities and relations of
beings around us ?" * * * " Now, that we do actually observe
a moral quality in the actions of men, must, I think, be admitted.
Every human being is conscious, that, from childhood, he has
observed it." * * * * *
P. 50. " The question would then seem reduced to this : Do we
perceive this quality of actions by a single faculty, or by a combi
nation of faculties ? I think it must be evident from what has
been already stated, that this is, in its nature, simple and ultimate,
and distinct from every other notion.
"Now, if this be the case, it seems self-evident that we must
have a distinct and separate faculty, to make us acquainted with
the existence of this distinct and separate quality."
And for proof, he adds : " This is the case in respect to all
other distinct qualities : it is, surely, reasonable to suppose, that
it would be the case in this."
What ! have we a distinct faculty by which we determine one
thing to be red, and another distinct faculty by which we discover
a thing to be black ; another distinct faculty by which we judge a
thing to be a cube, and another distinct faculty by which we
determine it to be a triangle ? Have we one distinct faculty by
which we find a melon, and another by which we find a gourd ?
What ! one distinct faculty by which we determine a professor of
moral philosophy to be a correct teacher, and another by which
we discover him to be a visionary ?
This faculty of moral sense puts us in mind of Dr. Testy's
description of the peculiar and distinct particles upon the tongue,
which render a man a liar, a lunatic, or a linguist ; a treacher, a *
tattler, or a teacher, and so on. His theory is that every mental
and moral quality of a man has its distinct particle, or little pimple,
upon the tongue, whereby the quality is developed; or, by the aid

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 15

of which the man is enabled to make the quality manifest. Long
practice in examining the tongues of sick people enabled him, he
says, to make the discovery. We should like to know what acumi
nated elevation of the cuticle of the tongue represented " conscience
or moral sense," as a separate and distinct faculty !
Why does he not at once borrow support from the extravagancies
of phrenology, and assert, according to the notions of its teachers,
that, since the brain is divided into distinct organs for the exercise
of each distinct faculty, therefore there must be a distinct faculty
for the conception of each idea ? There is surely an evident rela
tion between this theory of the author and the doctrines of Gall ;
nor will the world fail to associate it with the phantasies of Mesmer.
But we ask the author and his pupils to apply to this theory the
truism of Professor Dodd: "It is, at all times, a suiEcient refuta
tion of what purports to be a statement of facts, to show that the
onlyikind of evidence by which the facts could possibly be sustained,
does "not exist."
The theory by which the Doctor arrives at the conclusion that
we possess a separate and distinct faculty for the perception of
each separate and distinct quality, assimilates to that of a certain
quack, who asserted that the human stomach was mapped off, like
Gall's cranium, into distinct organs of digestion ; one solely for
beef-steak, one for mutton-chops, and another for plum-pudding !
It is a great point with certain of the higher class of abolition
writers to establish the doctrine that man possesses a distinct
mental power, which they call conscience, or moral sense, by which
he is enabled to discover, of himself, and without the aid of study,
teaching, or even inspiration, what is right and what is wrong.
The practice is, the child is taught by them that slavery is very
wicked; that no slaveholder can be a good man; and much of
such matter. Books are put into the hands of the schoolboy and
the youth, inculcating similar lessons, fraught with lamentation
and sympathy for the imaginary woes of the slave, and hatred and
disgust towards the master ; and when maturer years are his, he
is asked if he does not feel that slavery is very wicked ; and the
professors of moral philosophy then inform him that he feels so
because he possesses " a distinct mental faculty" — distinct from
the judgment — which teaches those who cultivate it, infallibly, all
that is right, and wrong ; that this conscience, or moral sense, is
more to be relied on than the Bible — than the ancient inspirations
of God !

16 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Hence, Channing says :
" That same inward principle, which teaches a man what he is
bound to do to 'others, teaches equally, and at the same instant,
what others are bound to do to him." * * * >¦' Ris conscience,
in revealing the moral law, does not reveal a law for himself only,
but speaks as a universal legisator." * * * "There is no
deeper principle in human nature than the consciousness of right."
Vol. ii. p. 33.
And Barnes, on Slavery, says :
P. 381. " If the Bible could be shown to defend and counte
nance slavery as a good institution, it would make thousands of
infidels ; for there are multitudes of minds that will see more
clearly that slavery is against all the laws which God has written
on the human soul, than they would see, that a book, sanction
ing such a system, had evidence of Divine origin."
And this same author makes Dr. Wayland say :
P. 310. " Well may we ask, in the words of Dr. Wayland,
(pp. 83, 84,) whether there was ever such a moral superstructure
raised on such a foundation ? The doctrine of purgatory from a
verse of Maccabees ; the doctrine of papacy from the saying of
Christ to Peter ; the establishment of the Inquisition from the
obligation to extend the knowledge of religious truth, all seem
nothing to it. If the religion of Christ allows such a license from
such precepts as these, the New Testament would be the greatest
curse that ever was inflicted on our race."
This book, as quoted by Barnes, we have not seen.
Such is the doctrine of these theologians, growing' out of the
possession, as they imagine, of this distinct moral faculty, infal
libly teaching them the truth touching the moral quality of the
actions of men. And what is its effect upon their scarcely more
wicked pupils ? One of them, in a late speech in Congress, says :
" Sir, I must express the most energetic dissent from those who
would justify modern slavery from the Levitical law. My reason
'and conscience revolt from those interpretations which
Torture the hallowed pages of the Bible,
To sanction crime, and robbery, and blood.
And, in oppression's hateful service, libel
' Both man and God !"'
The ignorant fanaticism, so proudly buoyant even in repose
upon its ill-digested reason, — here so flippantly uttered, — to us be-
speaks a dangerous man, (as far as he may have capacity,) in what-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 17

ever station he may be found. The most hateful idolatry has
never presented to the world a stronger proof of a distorted
imagination giving vent to the rankest falsehood. It is to bo
deeply regretted that such intellects are ever permitted to have
any influence upon the minds of the young. We deem it would
be a fearful inquiry, to examine how far the strange assassinations,
lately so common at the North, have been the direct result of that
mental training of which we here see an example. We fear too
little is thought of the quick transition from this erroneous theo
logy to the darkened paths of man when enlightened alone by his
own depraved heart.
The saying is true, however awful : He who rejects or dispels
the plain meaning of the Bible, rejects our God, and is an idola
ter ; and God alone can give bound to his wicked conceptions.
The foregoing extracts show us a specimen of the arguments
and conclusions emanating from the doctrine that the conscience
is a distinct mental power, and that it infallibly teaches what is
right before God. We deem it quite objectionable — quite er
roneous !
We present the proposition : The judgment is as singly em
ployed in the decision of what is right and wrong, as it is in the
conclusion that all the parts of a thing constitute the whole of it.
True, the judgment, when in the exercise of determining what is
right and wrong in regard to our own acts, has been named con
science. But it remains for that class of philosophers, who argue
that man possesses a faculty of clairvoyance, to establish that man
has also a sister faculty, which they call conscience, or moral sense ;
and that it exists as an independent mental power, distinct from
judgment. Most men live without reflection. They think of nothing but
the objects of sense, of pressing want, and the means of relief.
The wonderful works of nature create no wonder. A ^mine of
sea-shells on the Andes excites no surprise. Of the analogies or
dissimilarities between things, or their essential relations, the
mind takes no notice. Even their intellectual powers exist almost
without their cognisance. Their mental faculties are little im
proved or cultivated ; and, as they are forced to the Gazetteer for
the description of some distant locality, so they would be to their
logic, before they could speak of their own mental functions.
The teaching of this doctrine, untrue as it is, may, therefore,

18 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

be very harmful ; as ill-informed individuals often form a very
erroneous judgment about right and wrong, and, under the influ
ence of its teachings, may come to think and believe that their
conclusion concerning right and wrong is the product of their
infallible guide, the conscience, or moral sense, and therefore past
all doubt and beyond question ; that their minds are under the
influence and control of a new and spiritually higher law than the
law of the land, or even the moral law as laid down in the Bible,
when not in unison with their feelings. And we venture to
prophesy, in case this doctrine shall gain general credence, that
such will be the rocks on which multitudes will founder ; for simple
and ill-informed people may thus be led, and doubtless are, to do
very wicked and mischievous acts, under the influence of this
belief— a belief of their possessing this power, which no one ever
did possess, unless inspired.
" There is a way that seemeth right unto, a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death." Prov. xvi. 25.
Thus we see there is a class of theologians, who, in hot pursuit
of abolitionism, seem ready to sacrifice their Bible and its re
ligion to the establishment of such principles as they deem wholly
contradictory to, and incompatible with, the existence of slavery ;
and it is hence that they attempt to teach that man possesses an
intuitive sense of its wrong. But shall we not be forced, with
regret, to acknowledge, that there are quacks in divinity as well
as in physic ?

LESSON IV.

We do not charge Dr. Wayland with being the author of this
new doctrine that man possesses an independent and distinct
power, faculty, or sense, by the exercise of which he perceives
right and wrong, or, in other words, the moral quality of the ac
tions of men, and upon which perception he may rest with safety,
as to its accuracy and truthfulness ; for the same doctrine has been
suggested by greater men than Dr. Wayland, long ago. Lord
Shaftesbury, Dr. Hutchinson, and Dr. Reid have laid the founda
tion ; the latter of whom says, (p. 242,) " The testimony of our

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 19

moral faculty, like that of the external senses, is the testimony
of nature, and we have the same reason to rely upon it." Again:
" As we rely upon the clear and distinct testimony of our eyes, con
cerning the figures and colours of bodies about us, we have the same
reason, with security, to rely upon the clear and unbiassed testi
mony of our conscience with regard to what we ought or ought '
not to do."
Such sentiments may seem to some to be deducible from an in
distinct and indefinite reference to our judgment after the under
standing has been improved by moral culture, when such judgment,
by a mere looseness of language, is sometimes described as if the
writers confounded it with the state of mind and moral perfecti
bility produced by the reception of the Holy Ghost. Thus, Arch
bishop Seeker, in his Fourth Lecture on the Catechism, says :
" How shall all persons know what they are taught to believe is
really true ?
"Answer. The greater part of it, when it is once duly pro
posed to them, they may perceive to be so by the light of their
own reason and conscience."
Now it is evident that the bishop's answer is predicated upon
the supposition that the understanding has been cultivated in con
formity to the principles of moral truth.
But, from such hasty, perhaps thoughtless, snatches of specula
tion, occasionally found in some few of the older metaphysical
writers, our author and his co-associates in this belief have drawn
their materials, remodelled the parts, and reared, even as to heaven,
a lofty structure upon a doubtful, tottering base, bringing untold
social and political evils upon society, and spiritual death, in its
fall, to all who shelter under it. But for the good of the world, in
opposition to such a doctrine,, truth has erected her column of solid
masonry, against which the . fanaticism and sophistry of these
builders can only, like successive drops of water, carry down the
walls some useless portions of the cement.
We repeat, how tottering must be the argument founded upon
analogy where there is no relation ! We all agree that the senses
make truthful representations : all see, smell, and taste alike ;
vinegar will be sour to the savage, as well as the savant. But is
their judgment the Same about the moral qualities of actions ?
What says this moral sense, this conscience, in the savage, who is
taught to steal from his friend and torture his enemy ? Does the

20 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
reverend doctor think his moral sense will dictate the same conclu
sion ? What right has he, then, to say, it is the voice of nature —
of God ? Does he fail to perceive that the moral quality of actions
is distinguished by man in conformity to his experience, his train
ing, his education ?
We see that men often differ about the moral quality of an action.
It might be that no two men would have the same idea about the
moral quality of a particular action. Would the conscience, this
moral sense, or faculty, in such case, be right in each one ? If
not, who is to determine which is right and which is wrong ? And
further, of what use to man can be this distinct, independent, and
unchangeably truthful power, which, nevertheless, brings him no
certainty ? But has the mind of man ever found out that God has
overdone, or unnecessarily done, any thing ? Will these theorists
refiect, that, in case God had seen fit to bestow such a sense on
man, inspiration would have been useless, and, the Bible not wanted ?
And the condition of man upon the earth would be wholly station
ary instead of progressive. And permit us to inquire, whether
this notion of theirs is the reason why some of these theorists
speak so rashly, we might say blasphemously, of that sacred volume,
upon the condition which they dictate ?
The truth is, we have no such infallible guide. The idea of
right and wrong, either theologically or physically considered, is
always fixed through an exertion of the powers of the understand
ing. We have no instinctive power reaching the case. Our judg
ment, our feelings are often unstable, irregular, and sometimes
antagonistic. In abstruse cases, very often we cannot even satisfy
ourselves what is right ; and will it be said that we do not often
fail to see the object, design, and law of God touching a case ?
On every decision on a question of right or wrong, a train of
mental action is called into operation, comparing the ideas already
in the mind with the facts of the case under review, and noting the
similarity of these facts to our idea of right, or whether the facts
conform to our idea of wrong. This decision we call judgment :
but when the decision reaches to the question of right or wrong,
touching our own conduct only, logicians have agreed to call it
conscience ; not a distinct action from judgment — much less a dis
tinct faculty ; and by no means carrying with it more proof of
accuracy and correctness than is our judgment about any other
matter, where the ideas and facts are equally manifest and accu
rately presented.

STUDIES bN SLAVERY. 21

There is another consideration which to us gives proof that the
conscience or moral sense is not an independent faculty of the
mind, nor to be relied on at all as infallible. Many of us have
noticed the changes th^t imperceptibly come over our moral feel
ings, and judgment of right and wrong, conscience or moral sense,
through the influences of association and habit. Our affluent
neighbour, who manifests to others many virtues and some follies,
our mind, by association and habit, regards as a perfect model of
human greatness and perfection. Thus a corrupt government soon
surveys a corrupt people ; and a somewhat licentious, but talented
and accomplished clergyman, soon finds his hearers in fashion.
Nor is it unfrequent, that which should stigmatize a father is beheld
with admiration by the son. Thus wealth, to most, is desirable,
but its desirability has been created by association ; we recollect
the objects it enables us to command, often the objects of our prin
cipal pursuit. The quality the mind associates with these gratifi
cations, it eventually associates with that which procures them.
Thus, we perceive, the mind is able to form a moral estimate upon •
considerations wholly artificial, which could never happen in case
the moral sense was independent, and a distinct faculty teaching
us infallible truth.
But how are we to account for the fact that some of the finest
intellects, as well as the most learned men, have fallen into this
most dangerous error ? It should be a subject of deep thought !
We discover, in some men of the highest order of intellects, the
power of arriving, as it were instantaneously, at a conclusion,
giving it the appearance of being intuitive, rather than the result
of what would be, when analyzed, a long chain of reasoning. Thus,
the instant and happy thought often springing to the mind when
in some sudden or unforeseen difliculty. The nice and instant per
ception, often displayed by medical men, of the condition of the
patient, is an example ; and hence the astonishing accuracy of
judgment, sometimes noticed in the military commander, from a
mere glance of the eye.
In such cases the mind is often not conscious of any mental
action ; and others, who observe these facts, are led, sometimes, to
confound what, in such cases, is a deductive judgment, with in-
tuitiveness. The judgment, thus formed without any perceptible
succession of thought, is merely the result of acquirement from
long experience and habits of active ratiocination. Some few in
stances of this unconscious and rapid thought have been exem-

90 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

plified by mathematicians, when the calculator could give no account
how he arrived at the conclusion. Will any one claim that they
abstract their answers from the most abstruse propositions intui
tively, or by instinct, or by any new and. distinct faculty of the
mind ? This habit of mind is as applicable to morals as to any
thing else. But in mathematics the data are everywhere the same ;
whereas in morals the data are as different among men as are their
conditions of life ; because our ideas of right and wrong, existing
in the mind before the judgment is formed on the case to be con
sidered, were introduced by the aid of the senses, through the
medium of experience and education ; and it is, therefore, quite
obvious that the idea of right in one man may be quite like the
idea of wrong in another.
But it remains to show the fallacy of the argument by which
Dr. Wayland arrives at his conclusion. Let us examine the
paragraph quoted, and sift from verbiage the naked points of the
argument :
"We do actually observe a moral quality in the actions of
men." " Do we perceive this quality of actions by a single faculty, or a
combination of faculties ? This notion" (the perception of the
moral quality of an action) "is, in its nature, simple and ultimate,
and distinct from every other notion."
"We have a distinct faculty to make us acquainted with the
existence of all other distinct qualities." " Therefore, it is self-evi
dent that this is a separate and distinct faculty."
The syllogism is "defective because the idea of right or wrong is
not simple nor ultimate, but complex, and ever subject to change
from the influence of any new light presented to the mind. Nor
is it true that we possess a distinct faculty to make us acquainted
with each distinct quality ; for, if so, the mind would be merely a
very large bundle of faculties ; and we should neither possess nor
stand in need of any reasoning powers whatever, because the naked
truth about every thing would always stand revealed before us by
these faculties ; which, we think, is not the fact.
In syllogistic argument, the first principles must be something
that cannot be otherwise — unalterable — an eternal truth ; " because
these qualities cannot belong to the conclusion unless they belong
to the premises, which are its causes."
The syllogism will then stand thus :
It is not true our notion, or idea, of the moral quality of an

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 23

action "is simple and ultimate, and distinct from any other idea
or notion :"
It is not true that we have a distinct faculty to make us
acquainted with the existence of all other distinct qualities :
Therefore, it is not true, nor self-evident, that we perceive the
moral qualities of an action, or that we have the idea or notion of
it, by the aid of a single distinct and separate faculty.
The "notion" advanced by Dr. Wayland, on this subject,
appears to us so strange, that it would be difficult to conceive it to
have been issued or promulgated by a schoolmai), did we not
know how often men, led by passion, some by prejudice, argue
from false premises to which they take no heed, or, from a want
of information, honestly mistake for truths.

LESSON V.
P. 206. "It" (slavery) "supposes that the Creator intended
one human being to govern the physical, intellectual, and moral
actions of as many other human beings as, by purchase, he can
bring within his physical power, and that one human being may
thus acquire a right to sacrifice the happiness of any number of
other human beings, for the purpose of promoting his own."
This proposition is almost a total error. Slavery supposes the
Creator intended that- the interest of the master in the slave who,
by becoming his slave, becomes his property, should secure to the
slave that protection and government which the slave is too
degenerate to supply to himself; and that such protection and
government are necessary to the happiness and well-being of the
slave, without which he either remains stationary or degenerates in
his moral, mental, and physical condition.
P. 207. "It" (slavery) "renders the eternal happiness of the
one party subservient to the temporal happiness ofthe other."
This is equally untrue. Slavery subjects one party to the com
mand of an'other who is expected to feel it a duty to so "command
his household" that "they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do
justice and judgment."
This is the voice of God on the, subject, as heretofore quoted.
The learned Dr. Wayland is evidently wholly unacquainted with

24 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

the spirit and intention, and, we may add, origin of the institution
of slavery ; yet he has, doubtless, been studying some of its abuses.
But suppose a man to study nothing of Christianity but its abuses,
and from these alone undertake to describe what he conceives to
be its results, its character, and suppositions ; he doubtless would
make what Dr. Wayland would very justly call a distorted repre
sentation ; and perhaps, he might safely use a harsher phrase.
But would such a representation be productive of any good in the
world ? It might do much mischief by spreading, broadcast, its
errors and misrepresentations; a most delicious food for the
morbid appetite of the ignorant and fanatic infidel ! Yes, infi
delity has its fanatics as well as abolitionism !
" Obey them that have rule over you, and submit yourselves :
for they watch for your souls as they that must give account, that
they may do it with joy and not with grief: for that is unpro
fitable for you." Seb. xiii. 17.
P. 207. " If argument were necessary to show that such a sys
tem as this must be at variance with the ordinance of God, it
might easily be drawn from the effects which it produces, both
upon morals and national wealth."
The author, in this instance, as he has in many others, designs
to produce an effect on the mind of his reader from what he does
not say, as well as from what he does say. We acknowledge this
mode to be quite noncommittal, while, on the minds of some, it
may be very skilfully used to produce an impression. But we
confess ourselves ignorant of any logical rule by which it is enti
tled to produce any on us. The mode of speech used is intended
to produce the impression that the proposition is someway self-
evident, and therefore stands in no need of proof or argument. But
how the proposition, that slavery is "at variance with the ordi
nances of God" is self-evident, and needs no proof nor argument,
we have not the "moral sense" or "faculty" to discover. But as
Dr. Wayland proposes, nevertheless, to prove its truth by its effects
on morals and wealth, let us listen to the evidence.
Idem. " Its effects must be disastrous upon the morals of both
parties. By presenting objects on whom passion may be satiated
without resistance and without redress, it tends to cultivate in the
master, pride, anger, cruelty, selfishness, and licentiousness. By
accustoming the slave to subject his moral principles to the will of
another, it tends to abolish in him all moral distinctions ; and thus

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 25

fosters in him lying, deceit, hypocrisy, dishonesty, and a willingness
to yield himself up to the appetites of his master."
This is his proof that slavery is " at variance with the ordinances
of God," as he has drawn it from its effect on morals ; — in which
we think him singularly unfortunate. He asks us to receive, as
proof of the truth of the proposition, a combination of propositions
all requiring proof of their truth, but of the truth of which he
offers no proof.
This view of the state of the argument, we imagine, would be
sufiicient to condemn it in all well-schooled minds ; but, neverthe
less, we propose to show that which he offers as proof is not true ;
and even if true, is no proof of the truth of the proposition he
endeavours to sustain.
In regard to the master, the effect complained of may or may
not exist, as may be the fact whether, the master is or is not
capable of administering the charge and governm«nt of slaves
wisely for himself and them. But these abuses, when found to
exist, are no proof of the moral impropriety of the institution ;
for, if so, the abuses of a thing are proof that the thing itself is
evil. There are many abuses of government ; is government,
therefore, at variance with the ordinances of God ? The same of
matrimony ; and is it, therefore, to be set aside ? Some men make
an abusive use of their education, and, in consequence, would have
been more valuable members of society in a state of comparative
ignorance : are our universities, therefore, to be abolished ? Money
has been said to be "the root of all evil;" it, to some extent, is
the representative of wealth and power ; the possession of either
of which may, in some individuals, sometimes apparently enable
the possessor "to cultivate pride, anger, cruelty, selfishness, and
licentiousness." The same may be said of power of any kind.
But has not Dr. Wayland learned that there are cases where the
effect would be and is entirely the reverse? — where power,
wealth, or even the possession of slaves, produces in the possessor
a greater degree of humility, placidity or mildness, sympathy or
charity for others, and orderly conduct in himself? Does the
reverend moral philosopher make so low an estimate of the value
©f civilization — of the influence of Christianity — as not to admit the
capability of enjoying a blessing without abusing it ?
If Dr. Wayland's argument be founded on truth, it will be easy
to show that any system of things must be at variance with the
ordinances of God which permit the possession of either power or

26 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

wealth : consequently, in such case, we must and should all go back
to the savage state. We ask this learned standard author to read
the history of Abraham and Isaac, and inform us whether slavery
produced the effect on them which he supposes to be an entailment
of the institution; for the effect must be proved to be an un
changeable, a universal and unavoidable consequence, before it
' ;m receive the character of evidence in the case to which he ap
plies it.
But Dr. Wayland thinks that slavery " tends to abolish all moral
distinctions in the slave" — " fosters in him lying, deceit, hypocrisy,
dishonesty, and a willingness to yield himself up to minister to the
appetites of his master;" and, therefore, "is at variance with the
ordinances of God."
If the doctor had seen the native African and slave in the wild,
frantic joy of his savage worship, tendered to his chief idol-god,
the imbodiment of concupiscence ; if he had seen all the power of
the Christian master centered to effect the eradication of this
heathen belief, and the habits it engendered ; had he witnessed the
anxiety of the master for the substitution of the precepts of
Christianity ; if he had seen the untiring efforts of the masters,
sometimes for several generations, before this great object could
be accomplished, and the absolute necessity of its accomplishment
before the labour of the slave could ordinarily become to him an
article of full and desirable profit, — he would probably never have
written the paragraph we have quoted !
But since, in the honest, we may perhaps say the amiable, sim
plicity of his mind, he has composed this lesson for his pupil,
which, like the early dew in imperceptible showers on the tender
blade, becomes the daily nutriment of his juvenile mind and the
habitual aliment of its maturity, we deem it necessary to make one
further brief remark in proof of its entire inadequacy to the task
assigned it in his argument, as a particiilar and special, and of its
total untruthfulness as a general and comprehensive, maxim in
morals. Our experience is, that the crimes here named, when detected in
the slave, are punished, and, if necessary, with severity, if for no
other reason, because they render the slave less valuable to his
master. The master wishes to find in his slave one on whom he
can rely with certainty ; in whom there is no dissonance of interest
from his own, and whose honesty and obedience are past doubt.
The qualities which are the exact opposite of the crimes imputed

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 27

are, therefore, sedulously cultivated in the slave, — and truly, very
often, with small success. But we are surprised at the doctrine
which proclaims a system of government that ever punishes and
looks with displeasure on " lying, deceit, hypocrisy, and dishonesty,"
to be the very thing to foster and nourish those vices ! When such
is proved to be the fact, we shall regard it as a ne-vf discovery in
morals. As to the last clause of what he has adduced as proof of his
proposition, we say that any one who is in the employ, or even the
company, of another, either as a friend, wife, child, or hireling, as
well as slave, may manifest a growing willingness to minister to the
appetites of such person ; and such inclination, or willingness, will
operate to the benefit or injury of those so influenced, in propor
tion as such appetite is good or bad, or tends to good or evil : but
this influence, whether tending to benefit or injury, is not an ex
clusive incident of slavery, and, therefore, cannot with any pro
priety, be quoted either for or against it : for, everywhere, " evil
communications corrupt good manners."

LESSON VL

Dr. Wayland informs us that slavery is at variance with the
ordinances of God, because it diminishes the amount of national
wealth. If the diminishing of national wealth be proof of the
variance from the ordinances of God, then it will follow that what
ever will increase such wealth must be in conformity to such ordi
nances, — ^^a position which we think no one will attempt to main
tain. But let us notice the evidence he adduces to prove that
slavery diminishes national wealth. His first proof is, that slavery
does not "impose on all the necessity of laliour;" but that it "re
stricts the number of labourers — that is, of producers — by render
ing labour disgraceful."
Now this is surely a proposition which requires to be proved
itself before it can be received as a proof of an antecedent propo
sition ; and President Wayland seems to have perceived that, under
the general term, "labourers," it wouy be incapable of proof; and,
therefore, he informs us that by labourers he means producers.
The logicians will agree that there is a disjointedness in this pro
position (very common in this author) to which exception might be

28 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
taken ; but we suppose Dr. Wayland'means that slavery decreases
the number of those whose labour is employed in the production of
the articles or products of agriculture ; for we do not presume he
means that the labours of the law, physic, divinity, the mechanic
arts, commerce, politics or war, are rendered disgraceful by slavery,
but agriculture alone ; and that, therefore, it is at variance with
the ordinances of God, because it thus diminishes the amount of
national wealth. If this is not his meaning, we confess ourselves
unable to find any meaning in it.
We know of no surer method to test its truth or falsehood than
for the Slave States to compare their number of agricultural pro
ducers with those of the Free States, having relation to the entire
population. The result will be found wholly adverse to the reve
rend moralist's position. In fact, so great is the disproportion
between the numbers of agricultural labourers in the Slave States,
compared to those in the Free, that the articles of their produce
often fall down to prices ruinous to the -agriculturist, which very
seldom, or never, happens in the Free States. Let Dr. Wayland
study the statistics touching this point, and he will find himself in
error. But the proposition of President Wayland includes this minor
proposition: That the increase of agricultural products, to the
greatest possible extent, increases national wealth. We are very
far from discovering the truth of this ; because the increase of a
production, beyond utility and demand, can add nothing to the
value of the production, since value depends upon utility and de
mand. If this position be true, which we think very few at this
day will dispute, it is quite obvious that President Wayland, and
even Adam Smith, (from whom we suppose the former has re
ceived this notion,) are quite mistaken when, they predicate the
amount of labour to be the sole measure, or, in fact, the amount
of wealth ; since that position must render the amount of labour
and the amount of wealth terms of convertible significance, which,
in fact, is seldom the case. Such, then, being the state of the
argument. Dr. Wayland's proposition is, in effect : That the pro
duction of the articles of agriculture, to an extent beyond any
demand or value, is in conformity to the ordinances of God ; and,
therefore, their production, to any less extent, is at variance with
those ordinances, because the first increases and the latter decreases
national wealth. We shall leave these contradictions for the
consideration of the professor of moral philosophy and his pupils.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 29

Tho second witness Dr. Wayland introduces to prove the
truth of his proposition, that slavery lessens the amount of na
tional wealth, is that slavery takes from the labourer the natural
stimulus to labour, — the desire of individual benefit, — and substi
tutes the fear of punishment : And for the third and last, that
slavery removes from both parties the disposition and motive to
frugality ; by which means national wealth is diminished.
If national wealth be the desideratum, in order not to be at
variance with the ordinances of God, it matters not whether the
contributors to it did so contribute through the selfish view of
personal aggrandizement and a desire of elevation above their
fellows, or whether they did so to relieve themselves from some
stigma or personal infliction that a refusal might be expected to
fasten upon them. The motive in both cases is the same — a desire
to benefit themselves. Thus Dr. Wayland, therefore, makes a
distinction where, in reality, there is no difference.
But again, if the amount of labour be the criterion of the
amount of national wealth, as he seems to suppose, it can make
no difference, in a national point of view, whether A and B
squander the result of their labours into the possession of C and
D, or retain it themselves ; because the change of possession in
no way destroys the thing possessed. It might be gathered, from
this part of Dr. Wayland's argument, that the greatest misers
would be the most efficient builders of national wealth, and, there
fore, most in accordance with the ordinances of God.
We are somewhat at loss to perceive the precise idea the author
affixes to the term " national wealth." Whether this be his or our
fault, we leave for others to decide.
Has it ever occurred to the reverend author to estimate the
wealth of a nation by the moral, physical, and individual welfare
of the population ?
But we cannot attempt, or undertake, to expose, nor explain,
all the false reasoning, distorted views, and prejudiced conclusions
found heaped up, in heterogeneous confusion, by the abolition
writers. The dissection of mental putridity is as unwelcome a
task as that of the animal carcass in a state of decomposition.
If we cast our eyes over the surface of human life, we notice
that wealth and power usually-travel hand in hand ; but that wealth
is distributed unequally, varied from the lofty possessions of royal
power down to the most scanty pittance of poverty and want ; —
yet leaving a vast majority in possession of nothing save life, and

80 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

their right to the use of the elements of nature. It is with these
lower classes we have the most to do. The wants of these, most
generally, are physical : indeed, we sometimes find them only on a
level with the brute. Thus, the African mountaineer is prone and
content to feed on the decaying remains of what he may find,
and wanders, like the hyena, upon the trail of what he hopes to
find his prey ; while the savage islanders of the distant Seas are
satisfied with what the ocean heaves on shore. We notice that
these wants are increased by climate ; hence, the native of the
extreme north, content with his flitch of blubber, yet robs the
bear of his hide for a blanket. These wants we also find en
larged by the least contact with civilization. Hence we see the
African, on the western coast of his continent, garnished out with
the gewgaws of Europe, and the Indian of our own clime with the
trinkets of trade. And thus we may notice that, as civilization
and capital increase in any country, new objects of desire, new
individual wants increase in proportion. Hence, the farm-house
now exhibits its carpet, whereas Queen Elizabeth was content
with straw !
All these wants require some action, on the part of those who
desire their gratification, to continue their supply, or it must cease ;
because, as a general rule, the product of individual labour must
bound the supply of individual wants, in all cases where the indi
vidual possesses no capital which yields an additional revenue.
But a large portion of those in savage life produce nothing ; so,
also, a portion from civilized society seem ever disposed to break
through the rules of civilization, to retrograde as to morals, and
subsist by trick or some dishonesty. They produce nothing, and
are, therefore, a total drawback on the welfare of others. We
find, also, another portion, the product of whose labour is inade
quate to the supply of their individual wants, and who are without
capital to supply the deficiency. Such must die, or resort to
charity ; or retrograde, and live by their wits. Good men, in all
ages, have striven to obviate these evils. The Levitical law did
so by permitting the unfortunate man to sell himself, as a slave,
for six years, or for life, as he might choose, under the state of
the case ; or, in case he did not so choose to sell himself, but be
came indebted beyond his means, the law forced his sale, and also
that of his whole family. Although, to some, this law may look
harsh, yet its spirit, intention, and effect were in favour of the
general good, of morals, and of life. Yet it was slp-very ; and we

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 81

take liberty here to say, although some may not be prepared to
receivfe it, that such ever was, is now, and ever will be the spirit,
intention, and effect of slavery, when, not disfigured by its abuse.
We have in vain looked through these "Elements" for some
proposal of the author to meet such cases as those of savages, and
of those degenerating and deteriorating poor, in all countries,
known to be so from the fact that they ever strive to live by their
wits. And here we may remark that it is evident the system of
alms-giving must terminate when the capitalists shall find the
amount of alms beyond their surplus revenue ; and no one will
deny that the whole system has a direct tendency towards a
general bankruptcy. We therefore ask Dr. Wayland to make a
proposal that shall be a permanent and effectual remedy in the
cases under consideration.
Now, very few will say, but that if society can find out some
humane plan by which beggars and thieves can be forced, if force
be necessary, to yield a product of labour equal to the supply of
their necessary wants, the ordinances of God will not sanction the
act. From imperfection, perhaps, in the organization of society, we
not only see individuals branching off, and taking a downward road,
but also, in all old countries, from the very stimulus of nature,
a constant tendency to such an increase of population as lessens
the value of labour by overstocking the demand, whereby its
product becomes less than is required for the supply of individual
wants. The consequences resulting from these facts, so ruinous
^ to individual morals and happiness, often become national evils
and the causes of national deterioration. But, under the Levitical
law, and in all countries with similar provisions, the effect has
been, and ever will be, a division of such population into a separate
caste, — not national deterioration.
With a view to remedy the evils to which we have invited the
attention of the Rev. Dr. Wayland, Sismondi, book vii. chap. 9,
has proposed, that inasmuch, as he says, the low wages of the la
bouring poor redound wholly to the pecuniary benefit of the capi
talists who employ them, those capitalists shall be charged by law
with their support, when wages become too low to supply the ne
cessary wants of the labourer ; at the same time bestowing power
on the capitalists to prevent all marriages when the labourer can
give no evidence of a prospect of increased means of subsistence,
satisfactory to the capitalist, that he will not be burdened with the

32 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
support of the offspring. We are, by no means, the advocates of
Sismondi's proposed arrangement. But if the labourers, since in
some sense they may be considered freemen, give their consent to
it, we do not perceive that it would be "at variance with the
ordinances of God."
The author of these "Elements" and Sismondi, we believe,
differed little, if any, on the subject of the abolition of slavery
touching the negro race. Will he say, the proposal of that
philosopher to benefit the condition of the labouring poor, if car
ried into effect as suggested, would be " at variance with the ordi
nances of God ?" Yet, all the world perceive that it is a mere
modification of slavery, containing conditions more obnoxious to
human nature than appertains to any condition of slavery now
known beyond the African shores.
Man has ever been found to advance in moral improvement
civilization, and a stable and healthy increase of population, only
in proportion as they have been taught to supply their necessary
wants by the products of individual labour. This is what first
distinguishes civilized from savage life. The savage relies wholly
upon the elements, the casualties that bring him advantage, and
the spontaneous productions of nature. The idea of supplying
his wants through the products of labour never enters the mind.
And will it be denied that, even in, civilized countries, they who
solely rely upon begging, trick, and dishonesty, for their support,
are always found to be deteriorating, both in morals and in their
physical ability, rapidly receding from all the characteristics of
civilization, in the direction towards savage life. Indeed, a tend
ency to move in the same direction is often perceptible among
those who only partially supply the wants of civilized support by
the product of individual labour, and rely upon their wits for the
remainder, thus, to some extent, becoming the plunderers of so
ciety. We would have been happy to have found the causes why
these things are so, as well as to have found the remedy, in "Tho
Elements of Moral Science."
But let us contemplate, for a moment, a certain class of free
men, the lazaroni of Italy, who exist, merely, upon one small dish
of macaroni, daily issued to them from the Hospital of St. Lazarus.
We are all familiar with the condition of these people. Let us
compare theirs with what would be the condition of the beggars
and thieves of some other countries, were they placed under the
control of some salutary power, whereby their necessary wants

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 33

would be supplied by the product of their individual labour. Wc
need not ask which condition is most " at variance with the ordi
nances of God !"
Dr. Wayland has retained, for his last witness, the old trite
charge that slavery impoverishes the soil ; that, therefore, it con
stantly " migrates from the old to new regions," "where alone tho
accumulated maniire of centuries" can "sustain a system at vari
ance with the laws of nature." "Hence," he says, "slavery in
this country is acknowledged to have impoverished many of our
most valuable districts."
We are not aware how far Dr. Wayland has founded this state
ment upon facts drawn from his own observation. Has he done so
at all ; or has he, carelessly and without reflection, adopted it from
the assertions of others notoriously destitute of ability to form an
opinion with accuracy, or else too deeply prejudiced to give their
opinion any value ? Does he wish us to infer that the plough and
•the hoe, in the hands of a slave, communicate some peculiar
poison to the soil ; and by reason of which " the ground shall not
henceforth yield her strength ?" Will he please explain how the
effect of which he complains is produced ? If he finds it merely
in the mode of cultivation, we then inquire whether the same mode
would not produce the same effect, even if the plough and hoe were
held by freemen ? If so, then it is evident that " the impoverish
ment of many of our most valuable districts" is not the result of
slavery, but of a bad mode of cultivation. , Or, will the doctor con
tend that if those valuable districts had been cultivated by free
hired men, the evils from negligence in the labourer would be
remedied ? " He that is a hireling fleeth, because he is a hire
ling, and careth not for the sheep." John x. 13.
Dr. Wayland will not deny that the "heathen round about," of
whom the Jews were permitted to buy slaves, were a slave-holding
people ; but we have no account that their country was impoverished
thereby. The Canaanites, whom the Israelites drove out from Pales
tine, were slaveholders ; yet the country was represented as very
fertile, even to "overflowing with milk and honey." The Danites
found "Laish very good," Judg. XYiii. 9. And the children of
Judah "found fat pasture and good" about Gedar. 1 Ohron.iv. 40.
"Por they of Ham had dwelt there of old!"
For many centuries, slavery extended over every part of Europe,
yet history gives us no account of the ruin of the soil. In Greece
and Rome, the numbers of slaves were extended to millions beyond

34 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

any number these States possess ; but their historians failed to
discover their destructive influence on the fertility of those
countries. Before the impoverishment of the soil can, with any force, be
adduced as proof against slavery, it must be proved to be a neces
sary consequence ; which, we apprehend, will be a difficult labour,
since the sluggishness and the idleness of the Canaanites, and of
the nations round about, left their country overflowing with milk
and honey, abounding in fat pastures and good, notwithstanding
their population were, to a large extent, slaves ; — since, also, the
servile cultivation of the soil in Greece and Rome did not impove
rish it ; and since slavery, which everywhere abounded in Europe,
never produced that effect.
If Dr. Wayland will discover the legitimate cause of this impove
rishment of the soil in the Slave States, and teach the planters a
better mode of cultivation, we doubt not he will receive their
thanks, and deserve well of his country, as a public benefa'^r. *

LESSON VIL

Dr. Wayland says :
P. 209. "The moral precepts of the Bible are diametrically
opposed to slavery." #
P. 210. " The moral principles of the gospel are directly sub
versive of the principles of slavery." * * * ujf ^jjg
gospel be diametrically opposed to the principles of slavery, it
must be opposed to the practice of slavery ; and, therefore, were
the principles of the gospel fully adopted, slavery could not exist."
Dr. Wayland having conceived himself to possess a distinct
faculty, which reveals to him, with unerring truthfulness, whatever
is right and all that is wrong, may be expected to consider himself
fully able to decide, in his own way, what instruction God intended
to convey to us, on the subject of slavery, through the books of
Divine revelation; yet, we cannot but imagine that St. Paul would
be somewhat astonished, if presented with the doctor's decision
for his approval, and that he would cry out :
"Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. '35

own master, he standeth, or falleth : yea, he will be holden up ;
for God is able to make him stand."
But although we cannot boast of possessing this unerring moral
guide, which, of late years, seems to be so common a possession
among that class who ardently desire us to believe that they have
monopolized all the knowledge of God's will on the subject of
slavery, yet we may venture a remark on the logical accuracy of
Dr. Wayland's argument.
It seems to be a postulate in his mind that the gospel is diame
trically opposed to, and subversive of, the principles of slavery.
We do not complain of this syllogistic mode ; but we do complain,
as we have done before, that his postulate is not an axiom, a self-
evident truth, or made equal thereto by the open and clear decla
rations of Christ or his apostles. This defect cannot be remedied
by ever so many suppositions, nor by deductions therefrom. Nor
will those of a different faith from Dr. Wayland, on the subject of
-" conscience," or " moral sense," be satisfied to receive the declara
tions of this his " distinct faculty" as the fixed decrees of eternal
truth. His assertions and arguments may be very convincing to
those who think they possess this distinct faculty, especially if
their education and prejudices tend to the same conclusion.
But if what President Wayland says about slavery be true, then
to hold slaves is a most heinous sin ; and he who does so, and never
repents, can never visit Paul in heaven. He necessarily is placed
on a parallel with the thief and robber ; and Dr. Channing has been
^ bold enough to say so.
^ But has Paul ever hinted to us any such thing as that the hold
ing of slaves is a sin ? Yet he gives us instruction on the subject
and relations of slavery. What excuse had St. Paul for not telling
us what the Rev. Dr. Wayland now tells us, if what he has
told us be true ? And if it be true, what are we to think- of Paul's
verity, when he asserts that he has " not shunned to declare all the
counsel of God ?"
Did Jesus Christ ever hint such an idea as Dr. Wayland's ?
What are we to understand, when he addresses God, the Father,
.and says, " I have given unto them the words thou gavest me, and
they have received them ?" What are we to deduce from his re
mark on a slaveholder, and who notified him of that fact, when he
savs to his disciples, " Verily I say unto you, I have not found so
great faith, no, not in Israel ?" What impression was this remark
calculated to produce on the minds of the disciples ? Does Dr.

36» STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Wayland found his assertion on Luke xvii. 7-10 ? or does he agree
with Paley that Christ privately condemned slavery to the apostles,
and that they kept such condemnation secret to themselves, to pre
vent opposition to the introduction of Christianity, and left the
most wicked sin of slave-holding to be found out by a mere innu
endo ? Or does Dr. Wayland claim, through the aid of his distinct
moral faculty infallibly teaching him the truth, to have received
some new light on the subject of slavery, which the FATHER
deemed not prudent to be intrusted to the SON, and, therefore,
now more lucid and authoritative than what was revealed to the
apostles ?
The Archbishop Seeker has made a remark which appears to
us conclusive, and also exactly to fit the case. In his Fifth Lec
ture on the Catechism, he says : —
" Supposing the Scripture a true revelation, so far as it goes ;
how shall we know, if it be a full and complete one too, in all
things necessary ? I answer : Since our Saviour had the Spirit
without measure, and the writers of Scripture had as large a mea
sure of it as their commission to -instruct the world required, it is
impossible that, in so many discourses concerning the terms of
salvation as the New Testament contains, they should all have
omitted any one thing necessary to the great end which they had
in view. And what was not necessary when the Scripture was
completed, cannot have become so since. For the faith was, once
for all, ' delivered to the saints,' Jude 3 ; and ' other foundation
can no man lay,' 1 Cor. iii. 11, than what was laid then. The
sacred penmen themselves could teach no other doctrine than Christiif.
appointed them ; and he hath appointed no one since to make ad
dition to it."
But it may be proper to take some further notice how the author
of these "Elements" attempts to prove the truth of the proposi
tion that " the moral precepts of the Bible are diametrically op
posed to slavery." He says, "God can make known tons his
will, either directly or indirectly."
He may, in express terms, command or forbid a thing ; this will
be directly ; — or he may command certain duties, or impose certain
obligations, with which some certain course of conduct is incon
sistent ; in which case the inconsistent course of conduct will be
indirectly forbidden.
We have not followed Dr. Wayland's exact words, because we
found them somewhat confused, and rather ambiguous. We prefer

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 37

to have the case clearly stated, and we then accept the terms, and
repeat the question, " Has God imposed obligations on man which
are inconsistent with the existence of domestic slavery?"
In proof that he has, Dr. Wayland presents the Christian duty
" to preach the gospel to all nations and men, without respect to
circumstances or condition." We agree that such is our duty, so
far as we may have the power ; and it appears to us strange
how that duty can interfere with the existence of slavery, because
the practical fact is, slavery brings hundreds of thousands of ne
groes into a condition whereby the duty may be performed, and
many thereby do come to some knowledge of the gospel, who would,
otherwise, have none.
Every Christian slaveholder feels it to be his duty. Is it denied
that this duty is ever performed \
But if it is incompatible with the institution of slavery for the
slave to be taught Christianity, then Christianity and slavery can
never co-exist in the same person. Therefore, Dr. Wayland must
prove that no slave can be a Christian, before this argument can
have weight.
The man who owns a slave has a trust ; he who has a child has
one also. In both cases the trustee may do as he did who " dug
in the earth and hid his lord's money." We cheerfully deliver
them up to the lash of Dr. Wayland.
The author of the "Elements of Moral Science" next presents
the marriage contract, and seems desirous to have us suppose that
its obligations are incompatible with slavery. His words are —
" He has taught us that the conjugal relation is established by
himself ; that husband and wife are joined together by God ; and
that man may. not put them asunder. The marriage contract is a
contract for life, and is dissoluble only for one cause, that of con
jugal infidelity. Any system that interferes with this contract,
and claims to make it any thing else than what God has made it,
is in violation of his law."
This proposition is bad ; it is too verbose to be either definite or
correct. There are many things that will interfere with the pro
visions of this proposition, and yet not be in violation of the laws
of God. Suppose one of President Wayland's pupils has married
a wife, and yet commits a crime. He is arrested, and the president
is his judge. When about to pronounce sentence of imprisonment
for life, the pupil reads to his judge the foregoing paragraph, and
argues that he cannot receive such sentence, because it will inter-

38 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
fere with the marriage contract, and, therefore, be iu violation of
the laws of God,
We trust some will deem this a sufficient refutation of the pro
position. But if we take the proposition as its author has left it, we have
yet to learn that any slaveholder will object to it; although it
may be he will differ with them on the subject of what consti
tutes Christian marriage, among pagan negroes or their pagan
descendants. Will the reverend moralist determine that a promiscuous inter
course is the conjugal relation established by God himself; that
such is the marriage contract which no man may put asunder?
Will he decide that an attempt to regulate the conduct of men,
bond or free, who manifest such a state of morals, is in violation
of the laws of God ? Who are his pupils, when he shall say that
an attempt to enforce the laws of God, in practice among men, is
a violation of them ?
So far as our experience goes, masters universally manifest a
desire to have their negroes marry, and to live with their wives and
children, in conformity to Christian rules. And one reason, if no
other, is very obvious. The master wishes to secure the peace and
tranquillity of his household. And we take this occasion to inform
Dr. Wayland and his coadjutors, that a very large proportion of
the punishments that are awarded slaves are for violations of what,
perhaps, he may call the marriage contract, so anxious is the mas
ter to inculcate the obligations of marriage among them. ,
It is true, some slaves of a higher order of physical and moral
improvement, infiuenced by the habits and customs of their masters,
habituate themselves to a cohabitation wi^h one companion for life ;
and, in all such cases, the master invariably gives countenance to
their wishes ; indeed, in some instances, masters have deemed them
worthy of having their wishes sanctioned and solemnized by the
ceremonies of the church ritual. And in all such cases, superior
consideration and advantages are always bestowed, not only in
reward of their merit, but as an encouragement for others.
The African negro has no idea of marriage as a sacred ordinance
of God. Many of the tribes worship a Fetish, which is a per
sonification of their gross notions of procreation ; but it inculcates
no idea like that of marriage ; and we have known the posterity
of that people, four or five generations removed from the African
native, as firmly attached to those strange habits as if they had

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

been constitutional. Negroes, who have only arrived to such a
state of mental and moral development, would find it somewhat
difficult to comprehend what the Christian church implied by the
marriage covenant ! Therefore, where there was no reason to be
lieve that its duties were understood, or that their habits and con
duct would be influenced by it any longer than until they should
take some new notion, a ceremony of any high order has been
thought to do injury. A rule, often broken, ceases to be venerated.
And we feel quite sure that some Christians would deem it quite
improper to permit those to join in any sacred ceremony which
neither their physical nor mental development would permit them
to comprehend or obey, whether freemen or slaves.
In the articles drawn up at Ratisbon by Melancthon, we find.
Article 16, Be Sacram. Matrimo. :
" The sacrament of matrimony belongs only to Christians. It
is a holy and constant union of one single man with one single
woman, confirmed by the blessing and consecration of Jesus
Christ." And St. Paul says, Eph. v. 32, of matrimony : " This is a great
mystery : but I speak concerning Christ and the Church."
We know not whether the author of the "Elements" believes,
with Melancthon, that matrimony is a Christian sacrament or not.
We believe the majority of modern Protestants do not so consider
it, although Luther says. Be Matrimonio :
" Matrimony is called a sacrament, because it is the type of a
very noble and very holy thing. Hence the married ought to con
sider and respect the dignity of this sacrament."
Question : — Would Melancthon, or Luther, or the author of these
"Elements," consent to perform ihh marriage ceremony, joining,
in the holy bonds of matrimony, two negroes, who neither under
stood the Christian duties it imposed, and of whom it was well
known that they would not regard the contract as binding any
longer than their fancy or passions might dictate. A Christian
sacrament is not only a sign of Christian grace, but the seal of its
insurance to us, and the instrument of the Holy Ghost, whereby
faith is conferred, as a Divine gift, upon the soul. We feel it a
Christian duty to "not give that which is holy to dogs," nor "cast
pearls before swine." Is Dr. Wayland of the same opinion ?
It may be well to advise our author of some facts in proof of
what state of connubial feelings exist among African negroes.
We quote from Lander, vol. i. p. 312 :

40 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

" The manners of the Africans are hostile to the interests and
advancement of women."
P. 328. " A man is at liberty to return his wife to her parents,
at any time, without adducing any reason for his ^islike." * * *
" The children, if any, the mother is by no means permitted to
take along with her ; but they are left behind with the father, who
delivers them over to the care of other women."
P. 158. " A man thinks as little of taking a wife as of cutting
an ear of corn ; affection is altogether out of the question."
Vol. ii. p. 208. "Africans, generally speaking, betray the most
perfect indifference on losing their liberty, or in being deprived of
their relations ; while love of country is, seemingly, as great a
stranger to their breasts as social tenderness and domestic affec
tion." We quote from the Christian Observer, vol. xix. p. 890: "Mr.
Johnson was appointed to the care of Regent's Town, June, 1816.
* * * Natives of twenty-two different nations were there
collected together ; * * * none of them had learned to live
in a state of marriage."
Proofs of this trait in the African character may be accumulated ;
and a very determined disposition to live in a state of promiscuous
intercourse is often noticeable, in their descendants, for many
generations, notwithstanding the master endeavours to restrain it
by corporeal punishment. But yet, under this state of facts, our
laws forbid the separation of children from mothers, under ages
stipulated by law.
It is the interest of the master to have his slaves orderly — to
possess them of some interest which will have a tendency to that
result. Their quiet settlement in famines has been thought to be
among the most probable and influential inducements to insure the
desired effect, and to produce a* moral influence on them. Besides
this interest of the master, his education on the subject of marriage
must be allowed to have a strong influence on his mind to favour
and foster in his slaves a connection which his own judgment
teaches him must be important to their happiness and his own
tranquillity, to say nothing of his duty as a Christian. Indeed,
we never heard of a master who did not feel a strong desire, a
pride, to see his slaves in good condition, contented and happy;
and we venture to assert, that no man, who entertained a proper
regard for his own character, would consent to sell a family of
slaves, separately, to different individuals, when the slaves them-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 41

selves manifested good conduct, and a habit, or desire, to live
together in conformity to the rules of civilized life. Even a casual
cohabitation is often caught at by the master, and sanctioned, as
permanent, if he^n do so in accordance with the conduct and
feelings of the ne^^^es themselves.
That the owners of slaves have sometimes abused the power
they possessed, and outraged the feelings of humanity in this
behalf, is doubtless a fact. Nor do we wish to excuse such con
duct, by saying that proud and wealthy parents sometimes outrage
the feelings of common .sense and of their own children in a
somewhat similar way. These are abuses that can be, and should
be corrected ; and we are happy to inform Dr. Wayland that we
have lived to see many abuses corrected, and hope that many more
corrections may follow in their train. But we assure him that the
wholesale denunciations of men who, in fact, know but little about
the subjects of their distress, may produce great injury to the
objects of their sympathies, but no possible benefit. And let us
now, with the best feeling, inform Dr. Wayland, and his co-agita
tors, of one result of his and their actions in this matter. We
assert what we know.
Thirty years ago, we occasionally had schools for negro children;
nor was it uncommon for masters to send their favourite young
slaves to these schools ; nor did such acts excite attention or
alarm ; and, at the same time, any missionary had free access to
that class of our population. But when we found, with astonish
ment, that our country was flooded with abolition prints, deeply
laden with the most abusive falsehoods, with the obvious design to
excite rebellion among the slaves, and to spread assassination and
bloodshed through the land ; — when we found these transient mis
sionaries, mentally too insignificant to foresee the result of their
conduct, or wholly careless of the consequences, preaching the
same doctrines ; — these little schools and the mouths of these
missionaries were closed. And great was the cry. Dr. Wayland
knows whereabout lies the wickedness of these our acts ! Let
him and his coadjutors well understand that these results,
whether for the benefit or injury of the slave, have been brought
about by the work of their hands.
If these transient missionaries were the only persons who had
power to teach the gospel to the slave, who has deprived the slaves
of the gospel ?
Jf these suggestions are true, will not Dr. Wayland look back

42 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

upon his labours with dissatisfaction? Does he behold their effects
with joy ? Has he thrown one ray of light into the mental dark
ness of benighted Africa ? Has he removed one pain from the
moral disease of her benighted children? If so perfectly adverse
have been his toils, will he expect us to countinance his school,
sanction his morality, or venerate his theology ? A very small
portion of poison makes the feast fatal !
Does he complain because some freemen lower themselves down
to this promiscuous intercourse with the negro ? We are dumb ;
we deliver them up to his lash ! Or does he complain because we
do not marry them ourselves ? We surely have yet to learn,
because we decline such marriages, and a deteriorated posterity,
that, therefore, we interfere with the institution of marriage, or
make it something which God did not. We had thought that the
laws of God all looked towards a state of physical, intellectual, and
moral improvement ; and that such an amalgamation as would
necessarily leave a more deteriorated race in our stead, would be
sin, and would be punished, if in no other way, yet still by the
very fact of such degradation. Or does Dr. Wayland deny that
the negro is an inferior race of man to the white ? If the slave"
and master were of the same race, as they once were in all parts
of Europe, intermarriage between them would blot out the institu
tion, as it has done there. In such case, his argument might have
some force.
Under the Spanish law, a master might marry his female slave,
or he might suffer any freeman to marry her ; but the marriage,
in either case, was emancipation to her. The wife was no longer
a slave ; and so by the Levitical law. See Beut. xxi. 14.
The laws of the Slave States of our Union forbid amalgamation
with the negro race ; consequently such a marriage would be a
nullity, and the offspring take the condition of the mother.
The object of this law is to prevent the deterioration of the
white race.
Thus we have seen that all the practical facts relating to the
infiuence of the slavery of the Africans among us, touching the
subject of marriage, as to them, are in opposition to what Dr. Way-
land seems to suppose. In short, the slavery of the negroes in
these States has a constantly continued tendency to change — to
enforce an improvement of the morals of the African — to an ap
proximation of the habits of Christian life.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 43

» LESSON VIII.
It is conceded by Dr. Wayland, that the Scriptures do not di
rectly forbid or condemn slavery. In search of a path over this
morass of difficulty, he says that the Scripture goes upon the " fair
ground of teaching moral principles" " directly subversive of the
principles of slavery;" and quotes the golden rule in proof; and
thus comes to the conclusion that, " if the gospel be diametrically
opposed to the principle of slavery, it must be opposed to the
practice of slavery." In excuse for this mode being pursued by
the Author of our religion, he says —
P. 212. "In this manner alone could its object, a universal
moral revolution, have been accomplished. For, if it had forbidden
the evil, instead of subverting the principle, — if it had proclaimed
the unlawfulness of slavery and taught slaves to resist the oppres
sion of their masters, — it would instantly have arrayed the two
parties in deadly hostility, through the civilized world; its an
nouncement would have been the signal of servile war ; and the
very name of the Christian religion would have been forgotten
amidst the agitations of universal bloodshed."
We have heretofore attempted to show that this doctrine is ex
tremely gross error ; — its very assertion goes to the extinction,
the denial of the divinity of Jesus Christ and his religion. And
we deeply lament that this was not one of the errors of Paley
which Dr. Wayland has seen fit to expunge from his book. {See
his Preface.)
Paley says, third book, part ii. chap. 3 — " Slavery was a part
of the civil constitution of most countries, when Christianity first
appeared ; yet no passage is to be found in the Christian Scrip
tures by which it is condemned or prohibited. This is true, for
Christianity, soliciting admission into all nations of the world,
abstained, as behooved it, from intermeddling with the civil insti
tutions of any. But .does it follow, from the silence of Scripture
concerning them, that all the civil institutions which then prevailed
were right ? Or that the bad should not be exchanged for
better?" " Besides this, the discharging the slaves from all obligation to
obey their masters, which is the consequence of pronouncing

44 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

slavery to be unlawful, would have had no better effect than to let
loose one half of mankind upon the other. Slaves would have
been tempted to embrace a religion which asserted their right to
freedom ; masters would hardly have been persuaded to consent to
claims founded on such authority ; the' most calamitous of all con
tests, a helium servile, might probably have ensued, to the reproach,
if not the extinction, of the Christian name."
In these thoughtless remarks of Paley, abolition writers seem to
have found a mine of argument, from which they have dug until
they deemed themselves wealthy.
Channing, vol. ii. p. 101, says —
" Slavery, in the age of the apostle, had so penetrated society,
was so intimately interwoven with it, and the materials of servile
war were so abundant, that a religion preaching freedom to the
slave would have shaken the social fabric to its foundation, and
would have armed against itself the whole power of the state.
Paul did not then assail the institution. He satisfied himself with
spreading principles, which, however slowly, could not but work
its dissolution."
This author, thus having satisfied himself with a display which
the greater portion of his readers deem original, commences,
p. 103, and quotes from "The Elements of Moral Science," p. 212:
"This very course, which the gospel takes on this subject, seems
to have been the only one that could have been taken in order to
effect the universal abolition of slavery. The gospel was designed,
not for one race or for one time, but for all races and for all times.
It looked, not at the abolition of this form of evil for that age
alone, but for its universal abolition. Hence, the important object
of its author was to gain it a lodgment in every part of the known
world:" and concludes with our quotation from the author.
Dr. Barnes "fights more shy;" he sees "the trap." The Bibli
cal Repertory has unveiled to his view the awful abyss to which
this doctrine necessarily leaps. Yet the abyss must be passed ;
the facts, the doctrine of Paley, and the gulf, must be got over,
in some way, or abolition doctrines must be given up. For thirty
pages, like a candle-fly, he coquets around the light of this doc
trine, until he gathers courage, and finally falls into it under the
plea of "expediency." He quotes Wayland's Letters to Fuller,
p. 73, which says —
" This form of expediency— the inculcating of a fundfimental
truth, rather than of the duty which springs immediately out of

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 45

it, seems to me innocent. I go further : in some cases, it may be
really demanded," &c.
" And a certain ruler asked him, saying. Good Master, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life." Luke xviii. 18.
This man was rich — probably had slaves. Was it inexpedient
for the Son of God to have plainly told him of its wickedness ?
Was not the occasion quite appropriate, if such had been the
Saviour's view?
When the keeper of the prison said to Paul and Silas, " Sirs,
what shall I do to be saved?" was it inexpedient in them to have
mentioned this sin ?
When the subject of slavery was mentioned in Corinthians,
Ephesians, Colossians, in Timothy, Titus, and Peter, was it still in
expedient? And in the case of Philemon, "the dearly beloved and
fellow-labourer," when Paul was pleading for the runaway slave, in
what did the inexpediency consist ? When the centurion applied
to the Son of God, and boasted that he owned slaves, can we bring
forward this paltry excuse ?
This doctrine of Paley has been so commonly quoted, let us be
excused for presenting a remark from the " Essays," reprinted
from the Princeton Review, second series, p. 283 :
" It is not by argument that the abolitionists have produced the
present unhappy excitement. Argument has not been the cha
racter of their publications.' Denunciations of slave-holding as
man-stealing, robbery, piracy, and worse than murder ; conse
quently vituperation of slaveholders as knowingly guilty of the
worst of crimes ; passionate appeals to the feelings of the inhabit
ants of the Northern States ; gross exaggerations of the moral and
physical condition of the slaves, have formed the staple of their
addresses to the public."
P. 286. " Unmixed good or evil, however, in such a world as
ours, is a rare thing. Though the course pursued by the aboli
tionists has produced a great preponderance of mischief, it may
incidentally occasion no little good. It has rendered it incumbent
on every man to endeavour to obtain, and, as far as he can, to
communicate, definite opinions and correct principles on the whole
subject. * * * Xhe subject of slavery is no longer one on
which men are allowed to be of no mind at all. * * * TJie
public mind is effectually aroused from a state of indifference ; and
it is the duty of all to seek the truth, and to speak in kindness,
hut with decision. * * * We recognise no authoritative rule

46 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

of truth and duty but the word of God. * * * Men are too
nearly upon a par as to their powers of reasoning, and ability to
discover truth, to make the conclusions of one mind an authorita
tive rule for others." * * *
The subject for consideration is : If the abolitionists are right
in insisting that slave-holding is one of the greatest of all sins, —
that it should be immediately and universally abandoned, as a con
dition of church communion, or of admission into heaven, — how
comes it that Christ and his apostles did not pursue this sin in
plain and determined opposition ? How comes it that the teach
ings of the abolitionists, on the subject of slavery, are so ex
tremely different from those of Jesus Christ and his apostles?
The mind is .forced to the conclusion that, if the abolitionists are
right, Jesus Christ and his apostles are wrong ! We agree that, if
slave-holding is a sin, it should at once be abandoned. The whole
subject is resolved to one single question : Is slave-holding, in it
self, a crime before God ?
The abolitionists say that it is ; we assert that it is not ; and
we look to the conduct of Christ and his apostles to justify our
position. Did they shut their eyes to the enormities of a great
offence against God and man ? Did they temporize with a heinous
evil, because it was common and popular ? Did they abstain from
even exhorting masters to emancipate their slaves, though an im
perative duty, from fear of consequences ? Was slavery more
deeply rooted than idolatry ? or more deeply interwoven with
the civil institutions? more thoroughly penetrated through every
thing human — their prejudices, literature, hopes, and happiness ?
Was its denunciation, if a sin, attended with consequences more
to be dreaded than death by torture, wild beasts, the crucifix, the
fagot, and the flame ? Did the apostles admit drunkards, liars,
fornicators, adulterers, thieves, robbers, murderers, and idolaters
to the Christian communion, and call them " dearly beloved and
fellow-labourers ?" Did the Son of God ever intimate of any such
unrepentant man, that he had " not found so great faith, no, not
in Israel?"
What are we then to think of the intellect of that man who
shall affirm that Jesus Christ and his apostles classed the slave
holder with the worst of these characters ? Yea, what cau such a
man think of himself? Did the apostles counsel thieves and rob
bers how they should advisedly conduct themselves in the practice
of these crimes? Were those who had been robbed carefully

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 47

gathered up and sent back to some known robber, to be robbed
again ? And, on such occasion, did any of the apostles address
such robber in the language of affection, saying, "I thank my God,
making mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy
love and faith, which thou hast towards the Lord Jesus and toward
all saints?"
No one in his senses will deny that the Scriptures condemn in
justice, cruelty, oppression, and violence, whether exhibited in the
conduct of the master towards his slave or a.ny other person : —
crime being the same, whether committed in the relation of master
and slave, husband and wife, or the monarch and his subjects. It
may so happen that great crimes are committed by persons in these
relations. But what is the argument worth which asserts it is very
wicked to he a schoolmaster, because some schoolmaster whipped
his pupil too much, or another not enough, or a third, in an angry,
wicked state of mind, has put one to death ?
Who has ever asserted that marriage was not a Divine institu
tion, because some in that state live very unhappily together, and
others have conspired against the happiness or life of those whom
the institution made it their duty to protect ?
Dr. Wayland's proposition, when analyzed and freed from verbi
age, is this : the teaching of moral principles, subversive of the
abuse of a thing, is proof .that the teacher is opposed to the thing
itself! and, if true, we say, is as applicable to every other insti-
t'ztion among men, as to slavery.

LESSON IX.

Dr. Wayland says, p. 213 —
" It is important to remember that two grounds of moral obliga
tion are distinctly recognised in the gospel. The first is our duty
to man as man, that is, on the ground of the relation which men
sustain to each other; the second is our duty to man as a creature
of God, that is, on the ground of the relation which we all sustain
to God. On this latter ground, many things become our duty
which would not be so on the former. It is on this ground that
we are commanded to return good for evil, to pray for them that
despitefully us<^ us, and, when we are smitten on one cheek, to turn
also the other To act thus is our duty, not because our fellow-

48 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
man has a right to claim this course of conduct from us, but
oecause such conduct in us will be well-pleasing to God. And
when God prescribes the course of conduct which will be well-
pleasing to him, he by no means acknowledges the right of abuse
in the injurious person, but expressly declares, 'Vengeance is
mine and I will repay it, saith the Lord !' Now, it is to be
observed, that it is precisely upon this latter ground that the
slave is commanded to obey his master. It is never urged, like
the duty of obedience to parents, because it is right; but because
the cultivation of meekness and forbearance under injury will be
well-pleasing unto God. Thus servants are commanded to be
obedient to their own masters, 'in singleness of heart, as unto
Christ ; doing the will of God from the heart, with good-will doing
service, as to the Lord, and not to man.' Fph. v. 5-7.
" Servants are commanded to count their masters worthy of all
honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.
1 Tim. vi. 1. That they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour
in all things. Titus iii. 9.
"The manner in which the duty of servants or slaves is incul
cated, therefore, affords no ground for the assertion that the
gospel authorizes one man to hold another in bondage, any more
than the command to honour the king, when that king was Nero,
authorized the tyranny of the emperor ; or the command to turn
the other cheek when one was smitten, justifies the infliction of
violence by an injurious man."
Added to the foregoing, we find the following note :
" I have retained the above paragraph, though I confess that
the remarks of Professor Taylor, of the Union Theological Semi
nary of Virginia, have led me seriously to doubt whether the dis
tinction, to which it alludes, is sustained by the New Testament."
Why then did he retain it ?
In his prefftce to the fourth edition, which is inserted in the
present, after expressing his acknowledgments for the criticisms
with which gentlemen have favoured him, he says —
" Where I have been convinced of error, I have altered the
text. Where I have only doubted; I have suffered it to remain ;
as it seemed profitless merely to exchange one doubtful opinion
for another."
We beg to know what doubtful opinion would have been intro
duced hy the deletion of this, which he acknowledges to be
doubtful? Why did he not go to the Bible,* and inquire of Jesus

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 49

Christ and the apostles for advice in such a case? "And imme
diately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said
unto him, 0 thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
Matt. xiv. 31.
In Matt. xxi. 21, we find that the doubting mind is destitute of
Christian power ; and the same in Mark xi. 23. Jesus, speaking
to his disciples, says to them, Luke xii. 29, "Neither be ye of a
doubtful mind." Does any one imagine that Luke would have
left any thing in his book that he thought doubtful ? But we
find in Mom. xiv. 1, "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but
not to doubtful disputations." This surely needs -^no comment.
The poison of doubt is rejected in 1 Tim. ii. 8 ; and the apostle in
Pom. xiv. 23, says, "And he that doubteth is damned if he eat,
because he eatethnot of faith, for whatsoever is not of faith is sin."
How awful is the condition of him who shall attempt to preach a
doctrine, and that an important one too, as the doctrine of the
Bible, of which he doubts ! A doctrine in which he can have no
faith ! Who shall say it would not be a palpable attempt to
change the meaning and alter the sense of the Scripture from its
true interpretation ?
"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither
shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the command
ments of the Lord your God, which I command you." Beut. iv. 2.
'iBut there be some that trouble you, and pervert the gospel of
Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any
other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you,
let him be accursed. As we said before, so say we now again, if
any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have
received, let him be accursed." Gal.1.7-9.
" I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things
in the churches. * * * Por I testify unto every man that
heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall
add unto those things, God shall add unto him the plagues that
are written in this book ; and if any man shall take away from the
words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part
out of the book of life." Pev. xxii. 16-19.
"Every word of God is pure. * * * Add not unto his words,
lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Prov. xxx. 5-6.
We have not seen the remarks of Professor Taylor ; but we can
easily imagine that a professor of theology, free from the delirium
of abolitionism, would not have found it a difficult labour to prove

50 STUDIES ON SLAViERY.

that the main point of the author's argument was contradicted by
Scripture, and that even he himself attempted to sustain it only
by assumption. We regret that President Wayland has not given
us Professor Taylor's remarks that made him "doubt." We, how
ever, will venture our "remark" that the author's assertion, "the
inculcation of the duty of slaves affords no evidence that the
Scriptures countenance slavery, more than the command to honour
the king authorized the tyranny of Nero," is a comparison where
there is no parallel. Dr. Wayland must first make it appear that
all kings, or chief magistrates, are, necessarily, wicked tyrants,
like Nero ; and that the wicked tyranny is a part and parcel of
the thing to be honoured, before his parallel between slavery and
monarchy can be drawn ; and since, then, the deduction will be
useless, we suppose he will not make the attempt.
The parallel that might have been sustained is this : The incul
cation of the duty of slaves to obey their masters does not authorize
masters to abuse their power over their slaves, any more than the
command to honour the king authorized the tyrahny of Nero ; —
from which the deductions are, that masters have a right to com
mand their slaves as things in their peculiar relation, and not as
things having a different relation. The master has no right to
command a slave, as if the slave stood in the relation of a horse ;
nor even a horse, as if the horse stood in the relation of a piece
of timber : so the king has no right to govern his subjects as if
they were idiots or brutes, but as enlightened free-men, if such
be their condition.
The object of the government is the happiness no more of the
governor than of the governed. This principle, so profusely illus-
tf ated in Scripture, it would seem the abolitionists run to shipwreck,
in every approach they make towards it.
There are a class of abolition writers who never fail to compare
St. Paul's instruction, to live in obedience to the civil authority,
(making no exception even when the worst of monarchs are in
power,) with his instruction to slaves to obey their masters ; and
then say that no argument is to be drawn from the latter in favour
of slavery, any more than there is from the former in favour of
the wickedness of the Emperor Nero. To some, this position may
look quite imposing ; while others will associate it vpith the false
position of a wicked, unprincipled lawyer, who is ambitious only
to gain his case, and cares not by what falsehood, or by what means.
But it is truly mortifying to see such an argument presented, and

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 51

attempted to be sustained, by any one who pretends to be an honest
man, and a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we cannot but
reflect that such an one must be in one of three predicaments ;
either in that of the lawyer, or his understanding must be so
obtuse he cannot reason, or so crazed by fanaticism as to be equally
stultified in intellect. Yet these men present this argument, or
position, with an air which displays the utmost confidence of their
having obtained a victory, and of their having established for them
selves a lofty intellectual character.
Jesus Christ and his apostles everywhere reprimanded and con
demned crime, outrage, and oppression, whether to superiors, equals,
or inferiors. Yet these qualities of action must take their charac
ter from the facts of the case. The parent will feel it his duty to
compel, by force, his fro ward child to do right ; yet the same action
directed to his neighbour, or equal, may be manifestly wrong, or
even sinful. The crimes of monarchs and the crimes of masters
are everywhere condemned, as well as the crimes of all other raen.
Yet to be a monarch or a master is nowhere condemned, per se, as
a sinful condition of itself.
All history agrees that Nero was a wicked, bad prince ; he was
wicked and bad because his acts were wicked and bad; not because
he was a prince or an emperor. Slaves are ordered to be obedient
to their masters. Is there any one so crazy as therefore to sup
pose that the master has a right to overwork, starve, murder, or
otherwise misuse his slave ? We are all commanded to be obedient
to the civil power. Does this give the chief ruler the right to
practise the wickedness of Nero?
Is there any proof that Philemon murdered, or was recklessly
cruel to his slaves ? What justice is there in comparing his charac
ter as only on an equality with that of Nero ? Was Nero, with
all his sins, admitted into the church of Christ? Where is the
parallel between him and the "beloved" of the apostle?
We feel authorized to affirm that St. Paul would have rejected
from the church a slaveholder, who murdered, starved, or otherwise
maltreated his slaves, because these crimes would have been proof
of his want of the Christian character. The same evidence of
wicked conduct would have excluded any other man, even the em
peror, from the church ; yet, since slaveholders, who had not been
guilty of such enormities, were admitted to the church, and distin--
guished as "beloved," this fact becomes proof that slaveholding is
no evidence of a sinful character. So monarchs and emperors,

62 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

who gave proof of the possession of the Christian character, were
always admissible, to the Christian church. This fact also becomes
demonstration, that being a monarch or an emperor gave no proofs
of a sinful character.
Will Dr. Wayland undertake to prove that the admission of Con
stantino to the Christian church gave any license to the wicked
murders and hateful hypocrisy of the Emperor Phocas ? Or will
he venture to extend his argument, and say that the command of
marital and filial obedience proves nothing in their favour ; since v^e
are commanded to yield a like obedience to the king, although that
king be the wicked Phocas ? The fact is, the mere character of chief-
magistrate, of husband, of parent or slaveholder, is quite distinct
from the character which their acts may severally heap upon them.
It is, therefore, quite possible for us to reverence and obey the
king, yet hold in contempt the person who fills the throne.
Civil government, the relations of parent and child, husband
and wife, and slavery itself, are all ordinances of Divine wisdom,
instituted for the benefit of man, under the condition of his fallen
state. But because these relations are in accordance with the or
dinances of God, it by no means follows that the abuses of them
are so.
Suppose those who wish to abolish the institution of marriage
should present the same argument in their behalf which Dr. Way-
land has in this case, it will surely be just as legitimate in the one
as the other. But will not Dr. Wayland readily say that there is
no parallel between the particular relations compared? We doubt
not, he would consider it too stupid to even require refutation.

LESSON X.
Our author says^ as before quoted —
P. 209. " That the precepts of the Bible are diametrically op
posed to slavery."
In proof, he offers one precept :
" Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, and All things what
soever ye would that men should do unto you, do ve even so unto
them." Upon which he says, for argument —

STUDIRS ON SLAVERY. 53

"1. The application of these precepts is universal. Our neigh
bour is every one whom we may benefit. The obligation respects
all things whatsoever. The precept, then, manifestly extends to
men as men, or men in every condition ; and if to all things what
soever, certainly to a thing so important as the right of personal
liberty. " 2. Again, by this precept it is made our duty to cherish a tender
and delicate respect for the right the meanest individual possesses
over the means of happiness bestowed on him by God, as we
cherish for our own right over our own means of happiness, or as
we desire any other individual to cherish for it. Now, were this
precept obeyed, it is manifest that slavery could not in fact exist
for a single instant. The principle of the precept is absolutely
subversive of the principle of slavery. That of the one is the
entire equality of right ; that of the other, the entire absorption
of the rights of one in the rights of the other."
We propose to make no comment upon these arguments. We
cannot do battle against phantoms. But we shall take this golden
rule, which we most devoutly reverence, and show that it incul
cates slavery, upon a statement of facts.
The 28th chapter of Deuteronomy contains the revelations of
blessings and curses promised the Jews, and, we may add, all
mankind, for obedience to the laws of God, and for disobedience
to the same. At the 68th verse, they were told that they should
again be sent to Egypt; or that they should be exposed for sale ;
or that they should expose themselves for sale, as the passage may
be read, and that no man should buy them ; or that there should
not be buyers enough to give them the benefit even of being slaves,
whereby they could be assured of protection and sustenance.
This was most signally verified at the time Jerusalem was sacked
by Titus ; and not only in Egypt, but in many other places, thou
sands of the Hebrew captives were exposed for sale as slaves.
But thousands of them, thus exposed, died of starvation, because
purchasers could not be found for them. The Romans, considered
them too stubborn, too degraded, to be worthy of being slaves to
them, refused to buy them. Their numbers, compared to the
numbers of their purchasers, were so great that the price became
merely nominal ; and thousands were suffered to die, because pur
chasers could not be had at any price. Their death was the con-
• sequence. Now let us ap^ly the truly golden rule or precept, relied upon

54 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
by Dr. Wayland in support of abolitionism. Would it teach to
buy these slaves, or not ?
The same incident happened once again to all. the Jews, who
were freemen in Spain, during the reign of Ferdinand and Isa
bella, when 800,000 Jews were driven from that kingdom in one
day ; vast multitudes of whom famished to death because, although
anxious to do so, they could not find for themselves even a master !
Let us ask, what would the precept teach in this case ? I
Nor has such a peculiar relation of facts been confined to the '
Jews alone. In 1376, the Florentines, then a travelling, trading,
or commercial people, but in many instances quite forgetful of the
rules of Christian honesty, became exceedingly obnoxious to their
neighbours, especially to the subjects of the church of Rome. To
many of them, murder and robbery became a mere pastime. From
individuals the moral poison was communicated to their govern
ment. The church was despoiled of her patrimony, her subjects
of their homes. The church remonstrated until patience was ex
hausted, when Gregory XI. issued his papal bull, delivering
each individual of that nation, in all parts of the earth, who did
not instantly make reparation, up to pillage, slavery, or death.
Let us notice how Walsingham witnessed this matter in Eng
land, where a large portion of the traders were of that people,
all liable, if freemen, to be put to death by any one who might
choose to inflict the punishment; and their effects were legally
escheated to whomsoever might seize them. Slavery was their
only remedy. The Anglo-Saxon Normans, the natives of the
realm, had not yet, as a people, sufficiently emerged from the
poverty and darkness of the times to give them protection. This,
to us so strange a relation between, the church and civil govern
ment, in regard to the Florentines, produced an action on the part
of the king by which he became their personal master. Thus
they became slaves, not of the crown, but of the individual who
sat upon the throne. Did he act in conformity to this precept or
not? John and Richard Lander were sent by the " London African
Association" to explore some parts of Africa. On the 24th of
March, 1830, they were only one half day's travel from the sea-
coast, at which point they say, vol. i. p. 58 :
"Meantime the rainy season is fast approaching, as is suffi
ciently announced by repeated showers and occasional tornadoes ;
and, what makes us still more desirous to leave this abominable

studieb v. in slavery. 55

place, is the fact, as we have been told, that a sacrifice of no less
than three hundred human beings, of both sexes and all ages, is
about to take place. We often hear the cries of these poor crea
tures ; and the heart sickens with horror at the bare contemplation
of such a scene as awaits us, should we remain here much longer."
It is to be regretted that since the abolition of the slave-trade
in Africa, slaves have become of little value in that country.
That the Africans in many places have returned to sacrifice and
cannibalism, is also true, and a cause of deep sorrow to the philan
thropist ; but, considering the state and condition of these savages,
there is no alternative ; — the slave there, if he cannot be sold, is
at all times liable to be put to death.
Suppose you buy, and then turn them loose there ; they will
again and instantly be the subjects of slavery ; and even there,
slavery is some protection, for, so long as the savage, master
chooses or is able to keep his slave alive, he is more sure of the
usual means of living. But, let us present this state of facts to
the Christian, and ask him to apply the golden rule ; and, in case
the slave-trade with Africa had not now been abolished, what would
he deem it his duty to do for the practical and lasting benefit of
these poor victims, whom the sympathy of the world has thus con
signed to sacrifice and death ?
The people of the Slave States have determined not to counte
nance amalgamation with the slave race ; they have determined
not to set the slaves free, because they have previously resolved
that they will not, cannot live under the government of the negro.
In full view of these evils, they have resolved that they will not
suffer the presence of that race in their community, on terms of
political or social equality. They have, therefore, further resolved,
in furtherance of its prevention, to oppose it while life shall last.
Now, Dr. Wayland says —
p. 215. " The slaves were brought here without their own con
sent ; they have been continued in their present state of degrada
tion without their own consent, and they are not responsible for
the consequences. If a man have done injustice to his neighbour,
and have also placed impediments in the way of remedying that
injustice", he is as much under obligations to remove the impedi
ments in the way of justice as he is to do justice."
The ancestors of our slaves were brought from beyond sea by
the people of Old England, and by the people of New England,
and particularly by the people of Rhode Island, among the de-

56 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

scendants of whom the reverend doctor resides. The ancestors
of these slaves were sold to our ancestors for money, and guaran
teed, by them, to be slaves for life, and their descendants after
them, as they said, both by the laws of God and man. Whether
this was false, whether they were stolen and cruelly torn from
their homes, the reverend doctor has better means of determining
than we. We may sell, we will not free them.
Under this statement of facts, let the reverend doctor apply the
golden rule and his own argument to himself. Let him then buy,
and set them free in Rhode Island ; or send them to Africa, if
their ancestors "were unlawfully torn from thence."
"Wo unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! because ye
build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the
righteous, and say. If we had been in the days of our fathers, we
should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the
prophets. Wherefore, ye be witness unto yourselves, that ye are
the children of them that killed the prophets." Matt, xxiii. 29,
30, 31.
"For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and
lay them on men's shoulders ; but they themselves will not move
them with one of their fingers." Idem. 4.
Within the last year, our sympathies have been excited by an
account now published to the world, of an African chieftain and
slaveholder, who, during the year previous, finding himself cut off
from a market on the Western coast, in consequence of the abo
lition of the slave-trade with Europe and America, — the trade with
Arabia, Egypt, and the Barbary States not being sufficient to drain
off the surplus number, — put to death three thousand !
The blood of these massacred negroes now cries from the ground
unto Dr. Wayland and his disciples —
" Apply, oh, apply to bleeding Africa the doctrine of the golden
rule, and relieve us, poor African slaves, from starvation, mas
sacre, and death. Come, oh, come ; buy us, that we may be your
slaves, and have some chance to learn that religion under which
you prosper. Then ' we shall build up the old wastes' — ' raise up
the former desolations,' and ' repair the waste cities, the desolations
of many generations.' ' And strangers shall stand and feed your
flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen, and your
vine-dressers.' ' Then ye shall be named the priests of the Lord ;
men shall call you the ministers of our God.' " Isa. Ixi. 4, 5, 6.
We shall here close our remarks on the Rev. Dr. Wayland's

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 57

book ; and however feeble they may be, yet we can conscientiously
say, we have no " doubt" about the truth of our doctrine.
" Forever, 0 Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faith
fulness is unto all generations ; thou hast established the earth,
and it abideth. They continue, this day, according to thine ordi-
jiances; for all are thy servants," (!rin3J^. ehedeka, slaves.) Ps.
cxix. 89, 90, 91.

LESSON XL
Among those who have advocated views adverse to those of our
present study, we are compelled to notice Dr. Paley, as one of the
most influential, the most dignified, and the most learned. He
defines slavery to be " an obligation to labour for the benefit of
the master, without the contract or consent of the servant." He
says " that this obligation may arise, consistently with the laws of
nature, from three causes : 1st, from crimes ; 2d, from captivity ;
and 3d, from debt." He says that, "in the first case, the continuance
of the slavery, as of any other punishment, ought to be propor
tionate to the crime. In the second and third cases, it ought to
cease as soon as the demand of the injured nation or private
creditor is satisfied." He was among the first to oppose the Afri
can slave-trade. He says, " Because, when the slaves were brought
to the African slave-market, no questions were asked as to the
origin of the vendors' titles : Because the natives were incited to
war for the sake of supplying the market with slaves : Because the
slaves were torn away from their parents, wives, children, and friends,
homes, companions, country, fields, and flocks, and their accom
modation on shipboard not better than that provided for brutes :
Because the system of laws by which they are governed is merci
less and cruel, and is exercised, especially by their English mas
ters, with rigour and brutality."
But he thinks the American Revolution, which had just then
happened, will have a tendency to accelerate the fall of this most
abominable tyranny, and indulges in the reflection whether, in the
providence of God, the British legislature, which had so long as
sisted and supported it, was fit to have rule over so extensive an
empire as the North American colonies.

58 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
# 
Dr. Paley says that slavery was a part of the civil constitution
of most countries when Christianity appeared ; and that no passage
is found in the Christian Scriptures by which it is condemned or
prohibited. But he thinks the reason to be, because " Christianity,
soliciting admission into all nations of the world, abstained, as
behooved it, from intermeddling with the civil institutions of any^
but," says he, " does it follow from the silence of Scripture concern
ing them, that all the civil institutions that then prevailed were
right ? or, that the bad should not be exchanged for better ?
Besides," he says, " the discharging the slaves from all obligations to
their masters would have had no better effect than to let loose one
half of mankind upon the other. Besides," he thinks " it would have
produced a servile war, which would have ended in the reproach
and extinction of the Christian name."
Dr. Paley thinks that the emancipation of slaves should be
carried on very gradually, by provision of law, under the pro
tection of government ; and that Christianity should operate as an
alterative, in which way, he thinks, it has extinguished the Greek
and Roman slavery, and also the feudal tyranny ; and he trusts,
"as Christianity advances in the world, it will banish what remains
of this odious institution."
In some of his other writings, Dr.'Bafley suggests that Great
Britain, by way of atoning for the wrongs she has done Africa,
ought to transport from America free negroes, the descendants of
slaves, and give them location in various parts of Africa, to serve
as models for the civilization of that country.
Dr. Paley's Treatise on Moral and Political Philosophy, from
which the foregoing synopsis is taken, was published to the world
in 1785 ; but it had been delivered in lectures, almost verbatim,
before the University of Cambridge, several years previous ; and
it is now a class-book in almost every high literary institution
where the English language is spoken. It is, therefore, a work
of high authority and great influence.
But we think his definition of the term slavery is not correct.
Let us repeat it : " An obligation to labour for the benefit of the
master, without the contract or consent ofthe servant."
Many, who purchase slaves to be retained in their own fan^ilies,
first examine and consult with the slave, and tell him — " My busi
ness is thus ; I feed and clothe thus ; are you willing that I should
buy you ? For I will buy no slave who is not willing."
To this, it is usual for the slave to say, "Yes, master! and I

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

hope you will buy me. I will be a good slave. You shall have no
fault to find with me, or my work."
By all the claims of morahty, here is a contract and consent, and
the statute might make it legal. But who will say that the con
dition of slavery is altered thereby ? But, says one, this suppo
sition does not reach the case, because all the obligations and con
ditions of slavery previously existed; and, therefore, the "con
tract" and "consent" here only amounted to a contract an(f
consent to change masters.
Suppose then, from poverty or misfortune, or some peculiar
affection of the mind,' a freeman should solicit to place himself in
the condition of slavery to one in whom he had sufficient confi
dence, (and we have known such a case,) — a freeman anxiously
applying to his more fortunate friend to enter into such an engage
ment for life ; suppose the law had sanctioned such voluntary
slavery, and, when entered into, made it obligatory, binding, and
final for ever. There would be nothing in such law contrary to the
general powers of legislation, however impolitic it might be ; and
such a law did once exist among the Jews.
" And if a sojourner or a stranger wax rich by thee, and thy
brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the
stranger or sojourner' by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's
family ; after that he is sold, he may be redeemed again ; and one
of his brethren may redeem him. Either his uncle or his uncle's
son may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto his family
may redeem him ; or, if he be able, he may redeem himself: * * *
and if he be not redeemed in one of these years, — then he shall go
out in the year of Jubilee, both he and his children with him."
Lev. XXV. 47-54. "Now thes,e are the judgments which ye shall set
before them. If ye buy an Hebrew servant, six years shall he
serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he
came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he were married,
then his wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him
a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her
children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself; and
if the servant shall plainly say, 'I love my master, my wife, and
my children; I will not go out free,' — then his master shall bring
him unto the judges ; he shall bring him unto the door, or unto
the door-post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an
awl, and he shall serve him forever." Ex. xxi. 1-6.
It is clear, then, that "to contract and consent," or the reverse,

60 STUDIES ON SLAVERY,

is no part of the qualities of slavery. Erase, then, that portion of
Dr. Paley's definition as surplusage ; it will then read, " an obli
gation to labour for the benefit of the master."
Now, there can be no obligation to do a thing where there is no
possible power to do it; and more especially, if there is no con
tract. But it does not unfrequently occur, that a slave, from its
infancy, old age, idiocy, delirium, disease, or other infirmity, has
no power to labour for the benefit of the master ; and the want of
such ability may be obviously as permanent as life, so as to exclude
the idea of any prospective benefit. Yet the law compels the
master to supply food, clothes, medicine, pay taxes on, and every
way suitably protect such slave, greatly to the disadvantage of the
master. Or, a case might be, for it is presumable, that the master,
from some obliqueness of understanding, might not wish some
slave, even in good health, to labour at all, but would prefer,
at great expense, to maintain such slave in luxury and idleness,
clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every
day : surely, such slave, would be under no obligation to labour
for the benefit of the master, when, to do so, would be acting con
trary to his will and command. Yet none of these circumstances
make the slave a freeman, or alter at all the essentials of slavery.
The slave, then, may or may not be under obligation to labour
¦for the benefit of the master. Therefore, the "obligation to la
bour for the benefit of the master" is surplusage also, snd may be
erased. So the entire definition is erased — not a word left !
The fact is. Dr. Paley took some of the most common incidents
accompanying the thing for the thing itself; and he would have
been just as logically correct had he said, that " slavery was to be
a hearty feeder on fat pork," because slaves feed heartily on that
article. In his definition Dr. Paley has embraced none of the
essentials of slavery.
We propose to notice the passage — " This obligation may arise,
consistently with the laws of nature, from three causes : 1st, from
crime ; 2d, from captivity ; 3d, frpm debt."
The first consideration is, what he means by "obligation." In
its usual acceptation, the term means something that has grown out
of a previous condition, as the obligations of marriage did not,
nor could they exist until the marriage was had. If he only
means that the " obligations" of slavery arise, &c., then he has
told us nothing of the arising of slavery itself. But as he has
used the word in the singular number, and given it three progeni-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 61

tors, we may suppose, that, by some figure of rhetoric, not usual
in works of this kind, he has used the consequent for the cause.
In that case, the sentence should read, " Slavery may arise, con
sistently with the laws of nature, from three causes," &c. ; which
is what we suppose the doctor really meant.
The next inquiry is, what did Dr. Paley mean by " the laws of
nature ?" Permit us to suffer him, to answer this inquiry himself.
In the twenty-fourth chapter of his "Natural Theology," a
work of great merit, he says —
" The wisdom of the Deity, as testified in the works of creation,
surpasses all idea we have of wisdom drawn from the highest in
tellectual operations of the highest class of intelligent beings with
whom we are acquainted. * * * The degree of knowledge
and power requisite for the formation of created nature cannot,
with respect to us, be distinguished from infinite. The Divine om
nipresence stands in natural theology upon this foundation. In
every part and place of the universe, with which we are acquainted,
we perceive the exertion of a power which we believe mediately
or immediately to proceed from the Deity. For instance, in what
part or point of space, that has ever been explored, do we not
discover attraction ? In what regions do we not discover light ?
In what accessible portion of our globe do we not meet with gravi
tation, magnetism, electricity ? together with the properties, also,
and powers of organized substances, of vegetable or animated, na
ture ? Nay, further we may ask, what kingdom is there of nature,
what corner of space, in which there is any thing that can be ex
amined by us, where we do not fall upon contrivance and design ?
The only reflection, perhaps, which arises in our minds from this
view of the world around us, is that the laws of nature every
where prevail ; that they are uniform and universal. But what
do we mean by the laws of nature ? or by any law ? Effects are
produced by power, not by law; a law cannot execute itself; a law
refers to an agent."
By the "laws of nature," then. Dr. Paley clearly means the
laws of God.
Now be pleased to look at the close of Dr. Paley's remarks on
slavery, where he trusts that, " as Christianity advances in the
world, it will banish what remains of that odious institution."
How happens it that an institution which arises consistently with
the laws of God should be odious to him, unless the laws of God
and Dr. Paley are at variance on this subject ?

62 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON XIL
It will be recollected, that Dr. Paley has presented a number.
of facts, displaying acts of oppression and cruelty, as arguments
against the African slave-trade. These facts are arranged and
used in place as arguments against the institution of slavery it
self; and the verbose opponents of this institution have always so
understood it, and so used this class of facts. It is this circum
stance that calls for our present view of these facts, rather than
any necessity the facts themselves impose of proving their exag
geration or imaginary existence ; and doubtless, in many cases,
most heartless enormities were committed. But what do they all
prove ? Truly, that some men engaged in' the traffic were exceed
ingly wicked men.
Such men would fashion the traffic to suit themselves, and
would, doubtless, make their business an exceedingly wjcked one.
But none of the enormities named, or that could be named, con
stituted a necessary part of the institution of slavery, or necessa
rily emanated from it. What enormities have wicked men some
times committed in the transportation of emigrants from Germany
and Ireland ? Wicked men, intrusted with power, have, at least
sometimes, been found to abuse it. Is it any argument against the
institution of marriage, because some women have made their
husbands support and educate children not their own ? Or, be
cause some men murder, treat with cruelty, or make their wives
totally miserable and wretched ? None of these things were any
part of the institution of marriage, but the reverse of it. Apply
this view also to the institution of Christianity, for nothing has
been more abused. Already, under its very banners, as it were,
have been committed more enormities than would probably attend
that of slavery through all time. Yet the institution of Chris
tianity has not been even soiled thereby ; but its character and
usefulness have become brighter and more visible. In proportion
to the importance of a thing is its liability to abuse. A worthless
thing is not worth a counterfeit.
We have before us the testimony of travellers in regard to the
indifference felt by the Africans on being sold as slaves ; of their
palpable want of love and affection for their country, their rela-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 63

tives, and even for their wives and children. Nor should we forget
that a large portion of this race are born slaves to the chieftains,
whose wars with each other are mere excursions of robbery and
theft. Lander, vol. i. p. 107, speaking of Jenna, says —
" It must not be imagined that because the people of this country
are almost peirpetually engaged in conflicts with their neighbours,
the slaughter of human beings is therefore very great. They pur
sue war, as it is called, partly as an amusement, or to keep their
hands in it; and partly to benefit themselves by the capture of
slaves." One decrepit old woman was the victim of a hundred engage
ments, at Cape La Hoo, during a three years' war. Lander de
scribes those who claim to be free, as the war men of the path, who
are robbers. H» says, p. 145, " they subsist solely by pillage and
rapine." Such is the condition of the poor free negro in Africa. The
chieftain often, it is true, has goats, sheep, fields of corn and rice ;
but we mistake when we suppose that the slaves, the surplus of
whom were formerly sent to market, were the proprietors of such
property. At Katunqua, p. 179, Lander describes the food to be
" such as lizards, rats, locusts, and caterpillars, which the natives
roast, grill, bake, and boil." No people feed on such vermin who
possess fields and flocks.
We can form some notion of their companionship, from p. 110 :
" It is the custom here, when the governor dies, for two of his
favourite wives to quit the world on the same day;" but in this
case they ran and hid themselves. Also, p. 182 : " This morning
a young man visited us, with a countenance so rueful, and spoke in
a tone so low and melancholy, that we were desirous to learn what
evil had befallen him. The cause of it was soon explained by his
informing us that he would be doomed to die, with two companions,
as soon as the governor's dissolution should take place."
There is little or no discrepancy among travellers in their de
scriptions of the Africans. Their state of society must have been
well known to Paley ; yet Paley gives us a picture of their state
of society from imagination, founded upon that state of society
with which his pupils were conversant : " Because the slaves were
torn away from their parents, wives, children, and friends, homes,
companions, country, fields, and flocks."
If the picture drawn by Paley were the lone consideration ad-

64 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

dressed to our commiseration in the argument against slavery as a
Divine institution of mercy, we should, perhaps, be at some loss
to determine what amount was due from us to the African slave,
who had thus been torn from the danger of being put to death !
— thus torn from his fields of lizards and locusts, and flocks of
caterpillars !
But what shall we think of an argument, founded on relations in
England, but applied to Africa, where no such relations exist ?
It is a rule to hesitate as to the truthfulness of all that is stated,
when the witness is discovered to be under the influence of a pre
judice so deeply seated as to mislead the mind, and especially
when we discover a portion of the stated facts to be either not true
or misapplied.
The reasons assigned by Dr. Paley why the Christian Scriptures
did not prohibit and condemn slavery, we deem also quite erro
neous: — "For Christianity, soliciting admission into all nations of
the world, abstained, as behooved it, from intermeddling with the
civil institutions of any ;" and then asks, with an air of triumph,
" But does it follow from the silence of Scripture concerning them,
that all the civil institutions that prevailed were right ? or that
the bad should not be exchanged for better?"
We wish to call particular attention to this passage, for, even
after having examined the books of the Greek philosophers, we are
constrained to say we have never seen a more beautiful sophism.
Is it a fact, then, that Jesus Christ and his apostles did compro
mise and compound with sin, as Dr. Paley thinks it behooved them,
and with the design to avoid opposition to the introduction of
Christianity ?
Say, thou, humble follower of the lowly Jesus, art thou ready
to lay down thy life for Him who could truckle to sin — to a gross,
an abominable sin, which alone would destroy the purity of his
character and the divinity of his doctrine ? In all love, we pray
Him who holds your very breath in his hand, to cause you to trem
ble, before you shall say that Jesus Christ was a liar, and his
apostles perjured !
" I am the true vine ; and my Father is the husbandman * * *
as the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you ; continue ye in
my love. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay
down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends if ye do what
soever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, for
the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth ; but I have called

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. (35

you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father, I
have made known unto you." John xv. 1, 9, 13, 15.
" And when they were come to him, he said unto them ; ye know,
from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have
been with you, at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility
of mind, and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by
the lying in wait of the Jews. And how I kept back nothing that
was profitable unto you ; but have showed you, and have taught
you publicly and from house to house. Wherefore, I take you to
record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I
have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God."
Acts XX.
Had St. Paul foreseen the attack upon his character, made by
Dr. Paley, seventeen hundred and eighty-five years after, and that
upon his Master and their religion, he need not have altered his
language to have repelled the slander.
"Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to them
that have obtained like precious faith with us, through the right
eousness of God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ : grace and peace
be multiplied unto you, through the knowledge of God and of Jesus
Christ our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us
all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through
the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue."
2Peti. 1, 2,3.
And what says this holy man, — what says this same Peter, touch
ing the subject of Dr. Paley's remarks ?
" Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear ; not only to
the good and gentle, but also to the froward, * * * fpr here
unto were ye called." 1 Pet. ii. 18-21.
Permit us to inquire whether the language .of Jesus Christ him
self, of St. Paul and St. Peter, does not, in a strong degree, con
tradict the supposition of Dr. Paley ? And let us inquire whether
it is prpbable that a class of men, devoted to the promulgation of
a doctrine which ran so counter to many of the civil institutions,
customs, habits, and religions thenin the world, as to have subjected
them to death, would have secretly kept back a part of their cregd,
when,, to have made it known, could not have increased their
danger ; and, especially, as by the creed itself, such keeping back
would have insured to them the eternal punishment hereafter ?
" Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the
spirit which is of God : that we might know the things that are
5

(jg STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
freely given to us of God ; which things we also speak, not in the
words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Gh-ost
teacheth." 1 Cor. ii. 12, 13. "And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying ; all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you ;
and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
Matt, xxviii. 18-20. " And now, 0 Father, glorify thou me, with
thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the
world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou
gavest me out of the world. Now they have known all things
whatsoever thou hast given me of thee : for I have given unto
them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received
them, and ,have known surely that I came out from thee."
John xvii. 5-8.
It is not possible that we could have had greater evidence ^at
the whole counsel of God, illustrating the Christian duty, was
delivered to the apostles, and through them, to the world. Besides,
the very presumption of the incompleteness of the instruction un
dermines the divinity of the doctrine.
There is, perhaps, no one who does not feel pain, sometimes
almost unspeakable, when we see a great man leaning upon the
staff of error, especially when such error is palpable, gross, and
calamitous in its tendency and effects.
But, cheering as the early ray of hope, and welcome as the
rest-giving witness of a covenant, will be the proof that human
weakness still had power to wade from out the miry labyrinth of
error — to stand upon the rock from whence even human eyes
might behold some few glimpses of the rising effulgence of truth.
We have some evidence that Dr. Paley did, at a later period of
his life, adopt a more consistent view of the Christian Scriptures,
touching the subject of this inquiry. In his " Horse Paulinse,"
amork of exceeding great merit, on the subject of Paul's letter to
the Corinthian church, ho enumerates and classifies the subjects
of,. Paul's instruction, among which slavery is conspicuously men
tioned, and then says—" That though they" (the subjects) " be
exactly agreeable to the circumstances of the persons to whom the
letter was written, nothing, I believe, but the existence and reality
of the circumstances" (subjects) " could have suggested them to
the writer's thought,"

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 67

In all Christian love and charity, we are constrained to believe
that he had discovered his error ; and that, had his life been
spared longer, he, with diligence and anxiety, would have expunged
from his works charges so reflecting on himself, and contrary to the
character of the God of our hope.

LESSON XIIL
Slavery existed in Britain when history commenced the records
of that island. It was there found in a state and condition pre
dicated upon the same causes by which its existence is now con
tinued and perpetuated in Africa. But as early as the year
692-3 A. D., the Witna-Gemot, convoked by Ina, began to mani
fest a more elevated condition of the Britons. Without abolishing
slavery, they regulated its government, ameliorated the old practice
of death or slavery being the universal award of conquest ; by sub
mission and baptism the captive was acknowledged to merit some
consideration ; life, and, in some cases, property were protected
against the rapacity of the conqueror ; the child was secured
against the mere avarice of the savage parent, and heavy punish
ment was announced against him who should sell his countryman,
whether malefactor, slave, or not, to any foreign master.
He who has the curiosity to notice the steps by which the Britons
emerged from savage life, in connection with their condition of
slavery, may do well to examine the works of William of Malms-
bury, Simeon of Durham, Bede, Alcuin, Wilkins, Huntingdon,
Hoveden, Lingard, and Wilton. But he will not find the statutes
of the monarchies succeeding Ina free from these enactments until
he shall come down nelr the fourteenth century. Thus, genera
tions passed away before these statutes came to be regarded with
general respect. National regeneration has ever been thus slow.
Thus, savage life has ever put j;o death the captive ; while we finili
that slavery, among such tribes, has ever been introduced as a
merciful provision in its stead, and is surely a proof of one ste^
towards a more elevated state of moral improvement. But in the
case of Britain and the whole of Europe, the slave was of the same
original stock with the master ; he, therefore, presented no physi
cal impediment to amalgamation, by which has been brought about
whatever of equality now exists among their descendants.

68 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

But in the close of this study, we propose to take some notice
of the arguments of another most distinguished writer in favour
of the abolition of slavery, as it now affects the African race.
In 1777, the celebrated Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote his argument
in favour of the freedom of the negro slave who accompanied his
master from Jamaica to Scotland, and who there brought suit in
the Court of Sessions for his freedom. This argument has been
deemed by so many to be unanswerable, and ever since that time
so generally used as a seed argument in the propagation of aboli
tion doctrines, that we feel it worthy of notice and examination.
Johnson was a bitter opponent of negro slavery ; yet, strange,
he ever advocated the justice of reducing the American colonies
and the West India Islands to the most abject condition of political
slavery to the British crown; This system is fully advocated, and
garnished by his sarcasm and ridicule, in his famous work, entitled
"Taxation no Tyranny." " How is it," says he, "that we hear
the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes."
Not long after he wrote this argument, on the occasion of a
dinner-party at Dilly's, he said, " I am willing to love all man
kind, except an American ;" whereupon, adds his biographer, "he
breathed out threatenings and slaughter, calling them rascals, rob
bers, pirates, and exclaiming, he'd burn and destroy them."
Some knowledge of a man's peculiar notions relevant to a sub
ject will often aid the mind in a proper estimate of the value of
his opinion and judgment concerning correlative matters. His
biographer says —
" I record Dr. Johnson's argument fairly upon this particular
case;" * * * " but I beg leave to enter my most solemn pro
test against his general doctrine with respect to the slave-trade ;
for I will most resolutely say that his unfavourable notion of it
was owing to prejudice, and imperfect or False information. The
wild and dangerous attempt, which has for some time been per
sisted in, to obtain an act of the legislature to abolish so very im
portant and necessary a branch of commercial interest, must have
been crushed at once, had not the insignificance of the zealots who
vainly took the lead in it, made the vast body of the planters,
merchants, and others, whose immense properties are involved in
the trade, reasonably enough suppose that there would be no dan
ger. The encouragement which the attempt has received excites
my wonder and indignation ; and though some men of superior
abilities have supported it, whether from a love of temporary popu-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 69

larity when prosperous, or a love of general mischief when des
perate, my opinion is unshaken. To abolish a status, which in all
ages God has sanctioned and man has continued, would not only
be robbery to an innumerable class of fellow-subjects, but it would
be extreme cruelty to African savages, a portion of whom it saves
from massacre or intolerable bondage in their own country, and
introduces into a much happier state of life." BoswelVs Life of
Johnson, vol. ii.'pp. 132, 133.
On the same page, the biographer adds —
" His violent prejudices against our West-Indian and American
settlers, appeared whenever there was an opportunity." * * *
" Upon an occasion, when in company with several very grave men
at Oxford, his toast was : ' Here's to the next insurrection of the
negroes in the West Indies !' I, with all due deference, thought
that he discovered a zeal without knowledge."
This was surely bold in Boswell !
Since the culminartion of the great British lexicographer, it has
been unusual to, hear a whisper in question of his high moral accu
racy, of his singularly nice mental training, or the perspicuous and
lofty display of these qualities in all his works. Even at this day,
such a whisper may be proof, of temerity. But truth is of higher
import than the fear of individual rebuke, or of our literary faith
that any one hero in the walks of erudition heretofore went down
tp the tomb without one mental or classical imperfection.
Argument in favour of a negro claiming his liberty, referred to
in BoswelVs Life of Johnson, p. 132.
" It must be agreed that in most ages many countries have had
part of their inhabitants in a state of slavery ; yet it may be
doubted whether slavery can ever be supposed the natural condition
of man. It is impossible not to conceive that men in their original
state were equal ; and very difficult to imagine how one would be
subjected to another but by violent compulsion. An individual
may, indeed, forfeit his liberty by a crime ; but he cannot by that
crime forfeit the liberty of his children. What is true of a criminal
seems true likewise of a captive. A man may accept life from a
conquering enemy on condition of perpetual servitude ; but it is
very doubtful whether he can entail that servitude on his descend
ants ; for no man can stipulate without commission for another.
The condition which he himself accepts, his son or grandson would
have rejected. If we should admit, what perhaps may with more

70 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.,
reason be denied, that there are certain relations between man and
man which may make slavery necessary and just, yet it can never
be proved that he who is now suing for his freedom ever stood in
any of those relations. He is certainly subject by no law, but that
of violence, to his present master, who pretends no claim to his
obedience but that he bought him from a merchant of slaves, whose
right to sell him never was examined. It is said that according
to, the constitutions of Jamaica he was legally enslaved ; these con
stitutions are merely positive, and apparently injurious to the rights
of mankind, because whoever is exposed to sale is condemned to
slavery without appeal, by whatever fraud or violence he might
have originally been brought into the merchant's power. In our
own time, princes have been sold, by wretches to whose care they
were intrusted, that they might have an European education ; but
when once they were brought to a market in the plantations, little
would avail either their . dignity or their wrongs. The laws of
Jamaica afford- a negro no redress. His colour is considered as a
sufficient testimony against him. It is to be lamented that moral
right should ever give way to political convenience. But if tempta
tions of interest are sometimes too strong for human virtue, let us
at least retain a virtue where there is no temptation to quit it. In
the present case there is apparent right on one side, and no con
venience on the other. Inhabitants of this island can neither gain
riches nor power by taking away the liberty of any part of the
human species. The sum of the argument is this : No man is by
nature the property of another. The defendant is, therefore, by
nature, free. The rights of nature must be some way forfeited
before they can be justly taken away. That the defendant has,
by any act, forfeited the rights of nature, we require to be proved ;
and if no proof of such forfeiture can be given, we doubt not but
the justice of the court will declare him free."
The author of this production has artfully surrounded his sub
ject with such a plausibility of concessive proposals, doubtful sug
gestions, indefinite words and propositions, as will require a sifting
of his ideas into a more distinct view. And we fear some will find
his argument thus vague and indeterminate ; the mind will pass it
by, as one of those learned masterpieces of logic, so distant from
the eye of our common judgment, that they will sooner yield their
assent than endure the labour of examination.
The first suggestion we would offer on the subject of this pro
duction is its total inappHcability to the case. The negro was

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 71

held a slave in Jamaica. The inquiry was not, whether he was so
held in obedience to the British law regulating the institution of
slavery in Jamaica. The only question was, whether a slave in
Jamaica, or elsewhere, who had by any means found his way into
Scotland, was or was not free by operation of law. Not a word
is directed to that point. And the court of session must have
regarded its introduction before them as an argument in the case,
as idle and as useless as would have been a page from his Rasselas.
The British government established negro slavery by law in all her
colonies, but made no provision by which the slave, when once
found on the shores of England, could be taken thence again into
slavery. The object, no doubt, was wholly to prevent their introduction
there, in favour to her own labouring poor. The British mo
narchy retained the whole subject of slavery under its own control.
The colonies had no voice in the matter. They had no political
right to say that the slave, thus imposed on them, should, after he
had found his way into any part of the British Isles, be reclaimed,
and their right of property in him restored. Their political con
dition differed widely from the condition of these United States
at the formation of this republic.
They, as colonial dependants, had no power to dictate protection
to their own rights, or to insist on a compromise of conflicting
interests to be established by law.
Dr. Johnson's argument is exclusively directed against the po
litical and moral propriety of the institution of slavery as a state
or condition of man anywhere, instead of the true question at
issue. The argument, taken as a whok, is, therefore, a sophism,
of the order which dialecticians call "ignoratio elenchi ;" a
dodging of the question ; a substitution of something for the ques
tion which is not ; a practice common among the pert pleaders of
the day — sometimes, doubtless, without their own perception of the
fact. In regard to him who uses this sophism to effect the issue,
the conclusion is inevitable, — he is either dishonest or he is ignorant
of his subject. And when we come to examine this celebrated
production as an argument against the moral propriety of the ex
istence of the institution of slavery in the world, we shall find
every pillar presented for its foundation a mere sophism, now
quite distinctly, and again more feebly enunciated, as if with a
more timid tongue, and left to inquiry, adorned by festoons of
doubt and supposition.

72 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

We shall requote some portions, with a view to their more par
ticular consideration. And, first, "Yet it may be doubted whether
slavery can ever be supposed the natural condition of man." This
clause, when put in the crucible, reads, " Yet slavery can never
exist in conformity to the law of God." Whoever doubts this- to
be the sense, we ask him to suppose what the sense is ! The
author did not choose these few words to express the propositiorij
because the law of God could readily be produced in contradiction :
" Whosoever committeth sin is the servant (Sovt^o;, doulos, slave) of
sin." Besides, then, he loses the benefit of the sophism, — the
substitution of the condition of man in his fallen state, through
the ambiguity of the word " natural," for the condition of the first
man, fresh from the hand of the Creator. This sophisin is one
of great art and covertness ; so much so, that it takes its character
rather from its effect on the mind than from its language ; and we
therefore desire him who reads, to-notice the whole chain of thought
passing in the author's mind, — lest he forget how our present state
is the subject of contemplation offered as data, when, on the word
" natural," as if it were a potter's wheel, our original condition is
turned to the front, a postulate, from which we are left to compare
and conclude.
The doctrine of the Bible is, that slavery is the consequence of
sin. If "natural" be taken to mean the quality of a state of
perfect holiness and purity, then slavery cannot be the natural
condition of man ; no doubts are required in the case. But if
"natural" is used to express the quality of our condition under
sin, sinking us under the curse of the law, then the propriety of
its use will not be "doubtful," when applied to slavery, because it
is a consequent of the quality of the condition. '' Cursed is every
one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them." The proposition, as thus explained, we
think of no value in the argument ; but, as left by the author,
obscure, its real meaning and intent not obviously perceived nor
easily detected, and he may have thought it logical and sound.
" It is impossible not to conceive that men, in their original
state, were equal."
Here is another sophism, which the learned callpetitio principii,
introduced without the least disguise, — the assumption of a pro
position without proof, which, upon examination, is not true. If
the author mean, by "original state," the state of man in para
dise, we have no method of examining facts, except by a comparison

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 73

of Adam with Eve, who was placed in subjection. And if we may
be permitted to examine the state of holy beings more elevated
than was man, — " For thou hast made him a little lower than the
angels," — then, by analogy, we shall find it possible to conceive that
men, in the original state, were not equal, since even the angels,
who do the commands of God, are described as those " that excel
i^trength." But if Dr. Johnson mean the state of man after the fall, then
Cain was told by God himself, that, if he did well, he should have
rule over Abel.
" And very difficult to imagine how one would be subjected to
another, but by violent compulsion." The object of this singular
remark is to enforce the proposition. That slavery is incompatible
with the law of God, which is not true.
" And if the servant shall plainly say, ' I love my master
* * * I will not go out free:' then his master shall bring
him * * * and he shall serve (be a slave to) him for ever."
Bui if it shall be said the value of the passage quoted resides
in the term "violent compulsion;" that "violent compulsion,"
sufficient to make a man a slave, is incompatible with the law of
God, then it will have no weight in the argument, because the
"violent compulsion" used maybe in conformity to the law of
God. " And I will cause thee to serve (be a slave) to thine ene
mies in the land which thou knowest not."
" An individual may indeed forfeit his liberty by crime ; but he
cannot forfeit the liberty of his children."
This, as a proposition, presents a sophism of the order non
causa pro causa, in reverse. We all agree a man may forfeit his
liberty by crime ; but how are we to deduce from this fag^ that
the liberty of the child cannot be affected by the same crime ?
The truth is, the crime that deprives a parent of liberty, may, or
may not„ deprive the child. The framework of this sophism is
quite subtle ; it implies the sophism, " a dicto secundum quid, ad
dictum simpliciter," to have full effect on the mind. Because, in
truth, the crime that deprives the parent of liberty does not in
variably involve the liberty of the child, we are, therefore, asked
to assent to the proposition- that it never does. But, perhaps, an
analysis of the proposition before us may be more plain to some,
when we remark, what is true in all such compound sophisms, that
the proposition containing it is divisible into two distinct pro
positions. •

74 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

In this case, the first one is true, — the second not. If, by
crime, a man forfeits his life, he forfeits his liberty. If he is put
to death previous to a condition of paternity, its prospect is cut off
with him. Those beings who, otherwise, might have been his de
scendants, will never exist. Hence rude nations, from such analogy,
in case of very high crimes, destroyed, with the parent, all his ex
isting descendants. Ancient history is full of such examples.
The principle is the same as the more modern attaint, and is
founded, if in no higher law, in the common sense of mankind ;
for, when the statute establishing attaints is repealed, the public
mind and the descendant both feel that the attaint essentially
exists, even without law to enforce it. Who does not perceive
that the descendants of certain traitors are effectually attainted at
the present day, even among the most enlightened nations. He
who denies that the crime of the parent can affect the liberty of
the child, must also deny that the character of the parent can
affect him ; a fact that almost universally exists, and which every
one knows.
"Let his children be continually vagabonds and beg; * * *
let his posterity be cut off; * * * let the iniquities of his
fathers be remembered with the Lord."
This doctrine was recognised and practised by the church, even
in England, in the more early ages. Let one instance suffice.
About the year 560, Mauricus, a Christian king of Wales, com
mitted perjury and murdered Cynetus, — whereupon, Odouceus,
Bishop of Llandaff, in full synod, pronounced excommunication,
and cursed, for ever, him and all his offspring. See Milton's
EIKONOKAASTHS, cap. 28.
Tlj^principle actively exists in the physical world. The pa-
rentsjgontracts some loathsome disease — the offspring are physically
deteriorated thereby. He whose moral and physical degradation
are such that slavery to him is a blessing, with few- exceptions, will
find his descendants fit only for that condition. The children of
parents whose conduct in life fostered some mental peculiarity,
are quite likely, with greater or less intensity, to exhibit traces of
the same. " The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the chil
dren's teeth are set on edge." The law is not repealed by the
mantle of love, which, in mercy, the Saviour has spread over the
world, any more than forgiveness blots out the fact of a crime.
The hope of happiness hereafter alleviates present suffering, but,
in no sense, annihilates a cause which has previously existed.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 75

" A man may accept life from a conquering enemy on condition
of perpetual servitude ; but it is very doubtful whether he can en
tail that servitude on his descendants ; for no man can stipulate,
without commission, for another."
All that is presented as argument here, is founded upon the
proposition, that no man can stipulate for his descendants, whether
unborn or not.
If what we have before said be true, little need be said on the
subject of this paragraph. For we have already seen that the
conduct of the ancestor, to an indefinite extent, both physically
influences and morally binds the condition of the offspring. It is
comparatively but a few ages since, over the entire world, the
parent had full power, by law, to put his children to death for
crime, or to sell them into slavery for causes of which he was the
judge. And it may be remarked, that such is the present law
among, perhaps, all the tribes who furnish from their own race
slaves for the rest of the world. It is not necessary here to show
why a people, who find such laws necessary to their welfare, also
find slavery a blessing to them.
Civilization has ameliorated these, to us, harsh features of
parental authority ; yet, to-day, the world can scarcely produce a
case where the condition of the child has not been greatly affected
by the stipulations, the conduct, the influences of the parent, wholly
beyond its control. The relation of parent has ever been found
a sufficient commission to bind these results to the condition of the
offspring. " But our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and
hearkened not to thy commandments, and refused to obey ; * * *
and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their
bondage." " The condition which he (the captive) accepts, his son or
grandson would have rejected."
This, at most, is supposititious, and, as an argument, we think,
extremely weak ; because it implies, either that the acceptance of
the parent was not the result of necessity, and the wisest choice
between evils, or that the rejection, by, the son, was the fruit of
extravagant pretension.
"He that is extravagant will quickly become poor, and poverty
will enforce dependence and invite corruption." * * * "I
have avoided that empyrical morality that cures one vice by the
means of another." Johnson's Rambler.

76 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

"If we should admit, what perhaps with more reason may be denied,
that there are certain relations between man and man, which may
make slavery necessary and just, yet it can never be proved, that he,
who is suing for his freedom, ever stood in any of these relations."
We cannot pretend to know what were the particular facts in
relation to the slavery of the individual then in Scotland. It is
not, however, pretended that the facts in relation to this slave were
not the facts in relation to all others. No suggestion of any ille
gality as to his slavery in Jamaica is made, other than the broad
ground of the illegality of slavery itself. This is quite evident
from what follows :
" He is certainly subject, by no law but that of violence, to his
present master, who pretends no claim to his obedience, but that
he bought him from a merchant of slaves, whose right to sell him
was never examined."
In the passage under consideration, we are confined wholly to
negro slavery ; and had Dr. Johnson been serious in admitting that
slavery, under "certain relations," was "necessary and just," he
would have yielded his case ; because, then, the slave in hand would
have been placed in the category of proving that he did not exist
under these relations. Johnson well knew that slavery existed in
Jamaica by the sanction of the British Parliament, and he mani
fests his contempt for it, by the assertion tliat the slave was held
only by the law of force. He was, therefore, not reaching for the
freedom of that particular slave, but for the subversion of slavery
as a condition of man.
The author has heretofore signified a willingness to admit the
lawfulness of slavery, when induced by "crime or captivity;" but
now denies the validity of such admission, because the relations of
" crime and captivity" can never be proved. The apparent object
of his admission was merely to rally us, by his liberality, to the
admission that these relations could never be proved; and we
admit they never can be in the way he provides ; and he there
fore announces the demonstration of the proposition, that slavery
can never be just, because "these relations," which alone make it
so, can never be established. But what are the reasons ? They
are the very causes which render the Africans obnoxious to the
condition of slavery — the degraded, deteriorated, and savage state
of that people. The negro slave, in his transit from the interior
of Africa, is often sold many times, by one master and chieftain to
another, before he reaches the western coast, whence he was trans-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 77

ferroil by the slave factors to the English colonies. No memory
of these facts, or of the slave's origin, is preserved or attempted.
Under these circumstances, though each individual of these slaves
induced the condition by " crime or captivity," such fact could
never be established in the English colony. To attempt proof
there of any fact touching the case, would be as idle and futile as
to attempt such proof in regard to the biography of a baboon.
Besides, the truth is, a very large portion of these slaves were
born slaves in Africa, inheriting their condition from a slave
ancestry of unknown ages, and recognised to be slaves by the laws
and customs of the various tribes there, and sent to market as a
surplus commodity, in accordance to the laws and usages among
them, enforced from time immemorial.
So far as we have knowledge of the various families of man, we
believe it to have ever been the practice for one nation to receive
the national acts of another as facts fixed, and not subject to
further investigation or alteration by a foreign people, especially
when none but the people making the decision were affected by it.
Johnson surely must have agreed to such a practice, because an
opposite course, so far as carried into action, would have involved
every nation in universal war and endless bloodshed. Besides,
the right to usurp such control would involve the right to enslave,
and can only exist when the degeneracy of a nation has become
too great a nuisance to be longer tolerated with safety by the
people annoyed : self-protection will then warrant the right.
If England makes it lawful for her subjects to buy slaves in
Africa and hold them in Jamaica, then her subjects may lawfully
hold there such as are decided by the laws of Africa to be slaves.
But the author of the argument, with all this before him, having
dictated what alone shall make a man a slave, would propose to
set up a new tribunal contrary to all international law — contrary
to the peace of the world — and, finally, as to the object to which
it is to be applied, forever abortive : wherefore his argument in
effect is, because "these relations," which he admits would justly
make a man a slave, cannot be proved, therefore what he admits
to be true is not true ; and puts us in mind of the sophism : "If, when
a man speaks truth, he says he lies, he lies ; but he lies when he
speaks the truth; therefore, by speaking the truth, he lies!"
which we think about as relevant to the question.
In his conclusion, Dr. Johnson frankly acknowledges the position
we have assigned him : —

78 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
" The sum of the argument is this : No man is, by nature, the
property of another. The defendant, therefore, is, free by nature.
The rights of nature must be someway forfeited before they can be
justly taken away."
There are, in our language, but few words of which we make
such loose and indefinite use as we do of the word " nature," and
its variously modified forms. It would elucidate what we wish to
bring to mind concerning the use of this word, to select some ver
bose author, of a fanatical habit of thought, or enough so to favour
a negligence as to the clearness of the ideas expressed by the terms
at his command, and compare the varied meanings which his appli
cation of the word will most clearly indicate. We do not accuse
Dr. Johnson of any want of astute learning, but we wish to pre
sent an excuse for explaining that, by his use of the phrases, "men
by nature" — " by nature free" — " the rights of nature," he means,
the rights established by the laws of God. He uses those phrases
as synonyms of the Creator, of his providence influencing the con
dition of man, or the adaptations bestowed on him. The laws of
nature are the laws of God. And we are bold to say, no discreet
writer uses the words differently. As a sample of its legitimate
use, we quote "Milton to Hortlib on Education:" —
" Not to mention the learned correspondence which you hold in
foreign parts, and the extraordinary pains and diligence which you
have used in this matter, both here and beyond the seas ; either by
the definite will of God so ruling, or the peculiar sway of nature,
which also is God's working," &c.
We all agree that God has mad^ the world, and all things therein,
and that he established laws for its government, and also for the
government of every thing in it. Now we must all agree that it
was an act of great condescension, love, and mercy, if God did
come down from his throne in heaven, and, from his own mouth
instruct a few of the lost men then in the world, his chosen people,
what were some of his laws, such as were necessary for them to
know and to be governed by, that they might, to the greatest pos
sible extent, live happily in this world, and enjoy eternal life here
after. Do you believe he did so ? You either believe he did, or
you believe the Bible is a fable. If you believe he did, then we
refer you to Ex. xx. and xxi., and to Lev. xxv., for what he did
then reveal, as his law, on the subject of slavery; not that other
important revelations were not made concerning this subject, which
we shall have occasion to notice in the course of these studies.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 79
If we believe the Bible to be a true book, then we must believe
that God did make these revelations to Moses. Among them, one
law permitted the Israelites to buy, and inherit, and to hold slaves.
And Dr. Wayland, the author of " The Elements of Moral Science,"
agrees that what was the law of God must ever remain to be so.
It will follow then, if the laws of God authorize slavery, that a
man hy nature may be the property of another, because, whatever
you may think the laws of nature to be, yet they can have no
validity in opposition to the laws of God. If it shall be said that
Jesus Christ repealed the law as delivered to Moses, then we an
swer : He says he came not to destroy, but to fulfil the law ; and
that he fully completed his mission. He had no commission to
repeal the law : therefore he had no power to do so.
This portion of Dr. Johnson's argument is consonant with the
notions of the advocates of the " higher law" doctrine, who persist
that slavery is a sin, because they think it is.
But if the law permitted slavery, then to hold, cannot be a sin,
because God "frameth not mischief by a law." See Ps. xciv. 20.
"Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees." Isa. x. 1. If
the law authorizing the Jews to hold slaves was unrighteous,
then God pronounces the wo upon himself, which is gross contra
diction. But the law is "pure, holy, and just;" therefore a law permit
ting sin must be against itself — which cannot be ; for, in such case,
the law recoils against itself, and destroys its own end and character.
But again : " The end of the commandment is charity out of a
pure heart, and of a good conscience, and faith unfeigned." 1 Tim.
i. 5. Now it is not charity to permit that which cannot be done
with a pure heart, because then conscience and faith are both
deceived. Again: The law "beareth not the sword in vain, but to be a
terror to evil works, for he (the instrument executing the law) is
the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that
doeth evil."
If slavery, or to hold slaves, be sin, then also the law granting
the license to do so destroys the very object which it was enacted
to sustain. But again : If the law allows sin, then it is in covenant
with sin ; and the law itself, therefore, must be sin.
In short, the doctrine is pure infidelity. It is destructive to the
object of law, and blasphemous to God. What are we to think of
him who holds that God descended in the majesty of his power

80 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

upon Sinai, and there, from the bottomless treasures of his wisdom
and purity, commanding man to wash his garment of every pollu
tion, opened to him — what ? Why, an unclean system of morals,
stained by a most unholy impurity ; but which he is nevertheless
to practise to the damning of his soul ! Atheism, thou art indeed
a maniac I
In the course of these studies, we shall attempt to show that man
is not free in the unlimited sense with which the word is here used.
Absolute freedom is incompatible with a state of accountability.
Say, if you choose, Adam was free in paradise to eat the apple, to
commit sin, yet we find his freedom was bounded by an account
ability beyond his power to give satisfactory answer : hence the
consequent, a change of state, a circumscribing of what you may
call his freedom. This, in common parlance, we call punishment ;
yet our idea of punishment is inadequate to express the full idea ;
because God cannot be supposed to delight in punishment, or to
be satisfied with punishment, in accordance with our narrow views.
Such would be inconsistent with the combination of his attributes
— a Being so constituted of all power, that each power is pre-.
dominant, even love and mercy. Thus the law of God clottes the
effect in mercy and positive good, inversely to the virulence of the
cause, or in direct proportion to its propriety. Thus, righteous
ness, as a cause, exalteth a nation ; but sin is a reproach to any
people. Thus the law of God places the sinner under the govern
ment of shame, infamy, contempt, as schoolmasters to lead him
back to virtue ; and it may be observed that the schoolmaster is
more forcing in his government in proportion to the virflence of
vice, down to the various grades of subjection and slavery, and
until the poison becomes so great that even death is a blessing.
But if the mind cannot perceive that the chastenings of the
Lord are blessings, let it regard them as lessons. The parent,
from the waywardness of the child, pet'fceives that it will fall from
a precipice, and binds it with a cord to circumscribe its walk.
True, such are poor figures to outline a higher Providence !
The Being who created, surely had power to appoint the govern
ment. Can the thing created remain in the condition in which
it is placed, except by obedience to the law established for its go
vernment ? Disobedience must change the condition of the thing
and bring it under new restraints — a lessening of the boundaries
of freedom. The whole providence of God to man is upon this
plan, and is abundantly illustrated, in the holy books, by precept

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. gl
and example. These restraints follow quick on the footsteps of
disobedience, until the law — the Spirit shall no longer strive for re
formation, but say, " Cut it down ; why cumbereth it the ground?"
Is this a too melancholy view ? Let us, then, look at obedience
and its consequents, and turn the eye from this downward path of
mental and physical degradation, pain, misery, want, slavery, and
death, to the bright prospect of a more elevated state of progres
sive improvement, secured to us as a consequent, a reward of obe
dience; the physical powers improving, the mental elevating,
and all our faculties becoming instruments of greater truthfulness,
until our condition shall be so elevated that the Creator shall say,
"Come ye and sit at my right hand !"
The assertion, that "no man is by nature the property of an
other," flatters our vanity and tumefies our prifle, but is, neverthe
less, untrue. We are all absolutely* the property of Him who
made, and who sustains his right to dispose of us ; and does so in
conformity to his law. Thus, qualifiedly, we are the property of
the great family of man, and are under obligations of duty to all ;
more pressingly to the national community of which we compose a
part, and so on down to the distinct family of which we are a
member. It is upon this principle that Fleta says, (book i, chap.
17,) " He that has a companion has a master." See also the same
in Bracton, book i. chap. 16.
If, by the laws of God, other men could have no property in us,
the laws of civil government could have no right to control us.
But if the civil government, by the laws of God, has the right to
governjpid control us, so far as is for the benefit 'of ourselves and
the coimiunity, then it will follow, that when our benefit will be
enhanced, and that of the community, by our subjection to slavery,
either temporary or perpetual, the laws of God, in mercy, will
authorize such subjection. Or, if the state of our degradation be
such that our continuance upon the earth be an evil past all re
medy, then the laws of God will authorize the civil law to decree
our exit.
The providence of God to man is practical. He never deals
in the silly abstractions of foolish philosophers. He spends no
time in experimenting by eristic syllogisms. He deals alone in his
own power, which nowhere ever ceases to act, although wholly
beyond our comprehension. Man may long for a full view of the
Almighty, yet we are destined here to perceive but the " hinder
parts" of his presence — the effect of his power, not Him ! Let
6

82 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

US worship ; and, for our guidance, be content with the pillar of
cloud by day and of fire by night !
In conclusion : Should the author of " The Elements of Moral
Science" examine this argument of the great dialectician of the
past century, with his acknowledged logical acumen, free from the
prejudices of his locality, now so abundantly displayed in that
portion of his work to which we object, we would suggest the pro
priety of his applying the discoveries he may make to emendations
in his succeeding thousands.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 83

^tutrg m.

LESSON I.
As far as men are able to comprehend Jehoviih, the wisest, in
all ages, have deduced the fact, that God acts ; yet, as an essential
Being, he is beyond being acted upon.
That which is manifested by the character of his acts is called
his attributes ; that is, the thing or quality which we attribute to
him as a portion or quality of his essence.
Thus among his attributes, are said to be power, wisdom, truth,
justice, love, and mercy. His action is always found to be in con
formity and accordance to these attributes. This state of con
formity, this certainty of unison of action, is called truth. " Thy
word is truth." John xvii. 7.
A system of laws, permanently established for the production of
some object, we call an institution.
La^ps the history of how things are influenced by one another ;
yet Jhe mind should never disconnect such influence from the
attributes of Jehovah ; and hence Burke very properly says,
" Law is beneficence acting by rule." " The law of the Lord is
perfect." Ps. xix. 7. The deduction follows that the laws of God
are well adapted, and intended to benefit all those, who are suitably
related under them.
By relation we mean the connection between things, — what one
thing is in i'egard to the influence of another. And hence it also
follows that, in case the relation is in utter want of a conformity
to the attributes of Jehovah, the actor in the relation becomes an
opponent, and, so far, joins issue with God himself. The laws
fitting the case operate, and his position is consumed, as it were,
by the breath of the Almighty.
But yet an institution may be m righteous one, may exist in

84 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

conformity to the laws of God, and particular cases of a relation,
seeming to us to emanate from it, be quite the reverse. For ex
ample, the institution of marriage may be righteous, may exist
in conformity to the laws of God ; yet cases of the relation of
husband and wife may be a very wicked relation.
Individuals in a relation to each other under an institution are
supposed to bear such comparison to each other as will permit the
laws of God, influencing the relation, to be beneficial to them ;
and when such comparative qualities are not the most suitable, or
are more or less unsuitable for the relation, the benefits intended
by the relation must be proportionably diminished. If wholly un
suitable, then it is found that the conservative influences of the
same laws operate in the direction to cause the relation to cease
between them.
If a supposed male and female are each distinctly clothed with
qualities wholly unsuited to each other in the relation emanating
from the institution of marria,ge, then, in that case, the relation
will be sinful between them ; and the repulsion, the necessary con
sequence of a total unsuitableness, will be in constant action in the
direction of sweeping it away.
Will it be new in morals to say that it is consistent with the
ordinances of Jehovah to briag things into that relation to each
other by which they will be mutually benefited ?
As an exemplification of the doctrine, we cite the institution of
guardianship — guardian and ward ; both words derived from the
same Saxon_ root, weardian, which implies one who protects and
one who is protected. 'T*
The institution itself presupposes power in the one and weak
ness in the other, a want of equality between the parties. And it
may be here remarked, that, the greater the inequality, the greater
the prospect of benefit growing out of the relation, especially to
the weaker party. But when the weak, ignorant, or wayward
youth is the guardian, and the powerful and wise man is the ward,
then the relation will be sinful, and the repulsion necessarily
emanating from the relation must quickly terminate it. No pos
sible benefit could accrue from such a case — nothing but evil.
The conservative infiuence of God's providence must, therefore,
suddenly bring it to a close.
Will the assertion be odious to the ear of truth, that the laws
of God present the same class of conservative influences in the
moral world that is every d^ discovered in the physical ?— that

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 85

the thing manifestly useless, from which no benefit can acbrue, but
from which a constant injury emanates, shall be cut away, nor
longer "cumber the ground?" Or, where a less degree of enor
mity and sin have centered, it may be placed under influences of
guidance, and controlled into the path of regeneration and com
parative usefulness ? Surely, if we detach from Jehovah these
high attributes, we lessen his character.
When we enter into the inquiry, whether an institution, or the
relation emanating from it in a particular case, be sinful or not,
it seems obvious that the inquiry must reach the object of the in
stitution and its tendencies, and take into consideration how far
they, and the relations created by it, coincide with the laws of God.
The relation of master and slave, and the institution of slavery
itself, in the inquiry whether such relation or institution is right
or wrong, just or unjust, righteous or sinful, must be subjected to
a like examination, — applying the same rules applicable to any
other relation or institution, — before we can determine whether or
not it exists in conformity to the laws of God.
But human reason is truly but of small compass ; and the mercy
of God has vouchsafed to man the aids of faith and inspiration.
"All scripture is given by inspiration of (^od." 2 Tim^ iii. 16.
These are important aids in the examination of all moral sub
jects, without which we may be " ever learning and never able to
come to the knowledge of the truth." 2 Tim. iii. T.

LESSON IL

If it be true that slavery is of divine origin, that its design is
to prevent so great an accumulation of sin as would, of necessity,
force its subjects down to destruction and death, and to restore
those who are ignorantly, heedlessly, and habitually rushing on
their own moral and physical ruin, by the renovating influence of
divine power, to such a state of moral rectitude as may be re
quired of the recipients of divine grace ; — then we should expect
to find, in the history of this institution, of its effects, both moral
and physical, upon its subjects, some manifestations of such ten
dencies ; some general evidences that, through this ordinance, God
has ever blessed its subjects and their posterity with an amelio-

86 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

rated condition, progressive in the direction of his great ahd final
purpose. Let us examine that fact.
In the government of the world, God has as unchangeably fixed
his laws producing moral influences, as he has those which relate
to material objects. When we discover some cause, which, under
similar circumstances, always produces a similar result, we need
not hesitate to consider such discovery as the revelation of his
will, his law touching its action and the effects produced ; and by
comparing the general tendency of the effect produced with the
previously revealed laws and will of God in relation to a particular
matter, we are permitted to form some conclusion whether the
cause producing the effect exists and acts in conformity with his
general providence towards the matter or subject in question. If
so, we may readily conclude that such cause is of his appointment,
and that it exists and acts agreeably to his will.
But one of the previously revealed laws of God is, that he ever
wills the happiness, not the misery, of his creatures. " Say unto them.
As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of
the wicked ; but that the wicked should turn from his way and live :
turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will you die, 0 house
of Israel !" Ezek. xxxiii. 11. And we may form some conclusion
of a man, a class of people, or a nation, from their condition pro
duced by the general result of their conduct, whether their conduct
has been in general conformity with the laws of God. If the
general result of the conduct of the thief, gambler, tippler, and
drunkard, — of him who lives by trickery and deception, is an accu
mulation of weight of character among men, a display of useful
industry, independence, and wealth among his associates ; if him
self and family are thereby made visibly more healthy, happy ,"and
wise, — if by these practices he and his fatally become patterns of
piety and of all noble virtues, he may hope ; but if the contrary
of all these is the final result, we may safely condemn.
Another of the laws of God is, "Thine own wickedness shall
correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee." Jer. ii. 19.
When the characters just named become so great a nuisance that
the strong arm of the law of the land takes away their liberty,
places a master over them, in fact reducing them to slavery ; forces
and compels them to habits of useful industry, and, in a length of
time, makes of them useful and good men, — then this law is exem
plified ; and also the fact is proved, that slavery, thus induced, is
attended with and does produce an ameliorated condition as to the

STUDIES OJ? SLAVERY. ^7
morals, and probably as to the intellectual and physical power, of
its subjects. This law was also exemplified in the family of Jacob.
God, in the order of his providence, had determined and made a
covenant with Abraham, to wit : " In the same day the Lord
made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given
this land, from the land of Egypt unto the great river, the river
Euphrates." Gen. xv. 18. This was to be brought about through
the family of Jacob. " And God Almighty bless thee, and make
thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of
people, and give the blessing of Abraham to thee, and to thy seed
with thee, that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a
stranger, which God gave unto Abraham." Gen. xxviii. 3, 4.
There are left us enough traces of the conduct of the family of
Jacob, whereby we may know the fact that they, although living
in the midst of the promised land, had become incorrigibly wicked
and licentious. Judah, who seems to have ranked as the head of
the family, notwithstanding the impressive lesson in the case of
Esau, took to himself a Canaanitish wife, and his eldest sons be
came so desperately wicked that, in the language of Scripture,
God slew them. Even the salt of slavery could not save them.
Of Shelah, we have no further account than that he went into
slavery in Egypt. Instead of nurturing up his family with pro
priety and prudence, Judah seems to have idled away his time with
his friend the Adullamite, hunting up the harlots of the country.
Reuben committed incest ; he went up to his father's bed. Simeon
and Levi, instigated by feelings of revenge in the case of the
Hivites, ; pursued such a course of deception, moral fraud, and
murder, leading on the rest of their brethren to such acts of theft
and robbery, that Jacob was constrained to say, "Ye have troubled
me, to make me stink among the inhabitants of the land." Gen.
xxxiv. 30. Jacob found his children so lost to good morals, so
sunken in heathenism and idolatry, that, hoping that a change of
abode might also produce a change of conduct, he was impelled to
command them, saying, "Put away the strange gods that are
among you, and be clean, and change your garments, and let us
arise and go to Bethel, and I will make there an altar unto God."
Gen. XXXV. 2, 3.
And let us take occasion, here to notice the long-suffering and
loving-kindness of the Lord ; for, no sooner had they taken this
resolution, than Jehovah, to encourage and make them steadfast in
this new attempt in the paths of virtue, again appeared to Jacoh :

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

"And God said unto him, I aln God Altilight'y ; a nation, and a
company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of
thy loins. And the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac,
to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the
land." Gen. xxxv. 11, 12.
" But the sow that was washed has returned to her wallowing
in the mire." 2 Pet. ii. 22.
And what is the next prominent state of moral standing in which
we find this family ? The young and unsuspecting Joseph brought
unto his father their evil report, and hence their revenge. " And
when they saw him afar off, even before he catae near unto them,
they conspired against him to slay him. * * * _^jj,i they sold
Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver." Gen. xxxvii.
2, and xviii. 28. And against the deed of fratricide there was but
one dissenting voice ; and he, whose voice it was, dared not boldly
to oppose them. He had not the moral courage to contend.
Sometimes, in the conduct of men, there may be a single act that
gives stronger proof of deep, condemning depravity, than a whole
life otherwise spent in wanton, wilful wickedness and sensual sin.
Their betrayal of the confidence of an innocent and confiding
brother, who neither had the will nor the power to injure them,
whose only wish was their welfare, bespeaks a degradation of guilt,
a deep and abiding hypocrisy of soul before God and man, and a
general readiness to the commission of crimes of so dark a dye,
that, it would seem to moral view, no oblations of the good, nor
even the prayers of the just, could wash and wipe away the stain.
During the history of all time, has God ever chosen such wretches
to become the founders of an empire — his own peculiar, chosen
people ? On the contrary, has not his will, as expressed by reve
lation, and by the acts of his providence, for ever been the reverse
of such a supposition ? The laws of God are unchangeable : at
all times and among all people, the premises being the same, their
operation has been and will ever be the> same.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 89

LESSON IIL
"Let favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn
righteousness ; in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly,
and will not behold the majesty of the Lord." Isa. xxvi. 10.
" His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall
be holden by the cords of his sins." Prov. v. 22.
"But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the
voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments,
and his statutes, which I command thee this day ; that all these
curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee :
" Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in
the field ; cursed shalt thou be in thy basket and thy store ;
cursed shall be the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy land ;
the increase, of thy loins, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt
thou be when thou comest in ; and cursed shalt thou be when thou
goest out. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation and
rebuke in all thou settest thy hand unto for to do, until thou be
destroyed, and until thou perish quickly ; because of the wicked
ness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. And the
Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, the way
whereof I spake unto thee. Thou shalt see it no more again ; and
there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen (D'"l!3i^7
la ebedim,for slaves) and bondwomen {^\^T^^p7^ ve lisheppahoth,
and for female slaves), and no man shall buy you." (That is, they
should be worthless.) Beut. xxviii. 15-68.
Such, then, are the unchangeable laws of God touching man's
disobedience and non-conformity ; and, in this instance of their
application, have been seen "fulfilled, with wonder and astonish
ment, by the whole world.
Consistent with the laws of God ahd the providence of Jehovah,
there was no other way to make any thing out of the wicked
family of Jacob ; no other means to fulfil his promise to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, except to prepare them in the school of adversity ;
to reduce them under the severe hand of a master ; to place them
in slavery, until, by its compulsive operation tending to their
mental, moral, and physical improvement, they would become

90 « STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
fitted to enjoy the blessing promised their fathers. " Compel them
to come in, that my house may be filled." Luke xiv.
" And when the sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon
Abraham, and a horror of great darkness fell upon him ; and He
(the Lord) said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall
be a stranger in a strange land that is not theirs, and shall serve
(DnDi^l va ehadum, shall be slaves to) them; and they shall afflict
them four hundred years." Gen. xv. 12, 13.
God foresaw what condition the wicked family of Jacob would
force themselves into ; nor is it a matter of surprise that it filled
the mind of Abram with horror.
God never acts' contrary to his own laws. The Israelites, in
slavery four hundred years under hard and cruel masters, kept
closely bound to severe labour, and all the attendants of slavery,
had no time to run into deeper sins. The humility of their con
dition and distinction of race would be some preventive to amalga
mation, and a preservative l;o their purity of blood ; and would
lead them also to contemplate and worship the God of Abraham.
And let it ever be remembered that the worship of God is the very
highway to intellectual, moral, and physical improvement, however
slow, under the circumstances, was their progress.
Let us take the family of Jacob, at the time of the selling of Joseph,
and, from what their conduct had been and iihen was, form some
conjecture of what would have been the providence of God, touch
ing their race, at the close of the then coming four hundred years,
had not the Divine Mind seen fit to send them into slavery. Does
it require much intellectual labour to set forth their ultimate con
dition ? Would not the result have been their total annihilation
by the action of the surrounding tribes ; or their equally certain
national extinction by their amalgamation with them ? If, by the
providence of God, as manifested among men through all time,
one of these conditions must have attached to them, then will it
follow that, to them, slavery was their salvation, — under the cir
cumstances of the case, the only thing that could preserve them
from death and extinction on earth.
Under such view of the facts, and the salvatory influence of the
institution, slavery will be hailed by the good, pious, and godly-
minded, as an emanation from the Divine Mind, portraying a
fatherly care, and a watchful mercy to a fallen world, on a parallel
with the general benevolence of that Deity who comprehended his
own work, and the welfare of his creatures.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 91
The slavery of the Israelites in Egypt for the term of four hun
dred years was a sentence pronounced against them by Jehovah
himself, who had previously promised them great worldly blessings,
preceded by the promise of his own spiritual forbearance, of his
own holy mercy, as the ultimate design of his providence towards
them. And we now ask him, who denies that the design of this
term of slavery was to ameliorate and suitably prepare that wicked
race for the reception and enjoyment of the promises made, to extri
cate himself from the difficulties in which such denial will involve
the subject. We are aware that there are a class of men so holy
in their own sight, that, from what they say, one might judge they
felt capable of dictating to Jehovah rules for his conduct, and that
they spurn in him all that which their view does not comprehend.
Do such forget, when they stretch forth their hand, imagining God
to be that which suits them, but which he is not, that they make
an idol, and are as much idolaters as they would be had they sub
stituted wood and stone ? Such, God will judge. We have no
hope our feeble voice will be heard where the mind is thus esta
blished upon the presumption of moral purity — we might sa.y divine
foresight. But, by a more humble class, we claim to be heard,
that, as mortal men, reasoning by the light it hath pleased God to
give, we may take counsel together in the review of his provi
dences, as vouchsafed to man, and, by his blessing be enabled to
see enough to justify the ways of the Almighty against the slanders
of his and our enemy.
The theological student will notice the fact of the holy books
abounding with the doctrine that the chastenings of the Lord ope
rate the moral, mental, and physical improvement of the chastised ;
and that such chastenings are ever administered for that purpose,
and upon those whose sins call it down upon them. "My son, despise
not the chastenings of the Lord ; neither be weary of correction :
for those whom the Lord loveth he correcteth ; even as a father
the son in whom he delighteth." Prov. iii. 11, 12. " Thus saith
the Lord, where is the bill of thy mother's divorcement, whom I
have put away ? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have
sold you ? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and
for your transgressions is your mother put away." Isa. 1. 1.
The garden of the sluggard produces weeds and want. We
know a man of whom it may be said, he is inoffensive ; but he is
thriftless, indolent, and therefore miserable. .,;, He has never learned
those virtues that would make him respectable or happy.

ijUj " . STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON IV.
"Barnes on Slavery. An'Inquiry into the Scriptural Views of Slavery." By
Albeet Barnes. . Philadelphia, 1846.
In his fourth chapter, on the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt,
Rev. Mr. Barnes says —
" The will of God may often be learned from the events of his
providence. From his dealings with an individual, a class of men
or a nation, we may ascertain whether the course which has been
pursued was agreeable to his will. It is not, indeed, always safe
to argue that, because calamities come upon an individual, they
are sent as a punishment on account of any peculiarly aggravated
sin, or that these calamities prove that he is a greater sinner than
others ; — but when a certain course of conduct always tends to cer
tain results — when there are laws in operation in the moral world
as fixed as in the natural world — and when there are, uniformly,
either direct or indirect interpositions of Providence in regard to
any existing institutions, it is not unsafe to infer from these what
is the Divine will. It is not unsafe, for illustration, to argue, from
the uniform effects of intemperance, in regard to the will of God.
These effects occur in every age of the world, in reference to every
class of men. There are no exceptions in favour of kings or ,
philosophers ; of the inhabitants of any particular climate or re
gion of country ; of either sex, or of any age. The poverty and
babbling, and redness of eyes, and disease, engendered by intem
perance, may be regarded without danger of error, as expressive
of the will of God in reference to that habit. They show that
there has been a violation of a great law of our nature, ordained
for our good, and that such a violation must always incur the
frown of the great Governor of the world. The revelation of the
mind of God, in such a case, is not less clear than were the annun
ciations of his will on Sinai.
" The same is true in regard to cities and nations. We need be
in as little danger, in general, in arguing from what occurS to
them, as in the case of an individual. There is now' no doubt
among men why the old-world was destroyed by a fiood ; why So
dom and Gomorrah were consumed ; why Tyre, Nineveh, Babylon,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

93

and Jerusalem were overthrown. If a certain course of conduct,
long pursued and in a great variety of circumstances, leads uni
formly to health, happiness, and property, we are in little danger
of inferring that it is in accordance with the will of God. If it
lead to poverty and tears, we are in as little danger of error in
inferring that it is a violation of some great law which God has
ordained for the good of man. If an institution among men is
always followed by certain results; if we find them in all climes,
and under all forms of government, and in every stage of society,
it is not unsafe to draw an inference from these facts on the ques
tion whether God regards the institution as a good one, and one
which he designs shall be perpetuated for the good of society.
" It would be easy to make an application of these undeniable
principles to the subject of slavery. The inquiry would be, whether,
in certain results, always found to accompany slavery, and now de
veloping themselves in our own country, there are no clear indica
tions of what is the wiU of God."
We subscribe to the doctrine that God often reveals his will con
cerning a thing by the acts of his providence affecting it. But we
contend that God has extended the field of Christian vision by a
more direct revelation, and by the gift of faith ; and that the mind
which can neither hear the revelation, nor feel the faith, is merely
the mind of a philosopher, not of a Christian : he may be a be
liever in a God, but not in the Saviour of the world.
The direction contained in the foregoing quotation, by which
we are to discriminate what are the will and law of God, may be
considered, when presented by the mere teacher of abolition,
among the most artful, because among the most insidious, speci
mens of abolition logic. It is artful, because, to the unschooled,
it presents all that may seem necessary in the foundation of a
sound system of theology ; and, further, because every bias of the
human heart is predisposed to receive it as an entire platform of
doctrine. It is insidious and dangerous, because, although the mind
acquiesces in its truth, yet it is false when proposed as the lone
and full foundation of religious belief. On such secret and hidden
rocks, infidelity has ever established her lights, her beacons to the
benighted voyager; and, in their surrounding seas, the shallops
of hell have for ever been the most successful wreckers, in gather
ing up multitudes of the lost, to be established as faithful subjects
of the kingdom of darkness. ¦•j / -
The religious fanatical theorists of this order of abolition writers

94 ,' STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

have further only to establish their doctrine about the "con
science," "inward light," or "moral sense," — that it is a distinct
mental power, infallibly teaching what is right, intuitively spread
ing all truth before them, — and they will then succeed to qualify
man, a being fit to govern the universe, and successfully carry on
a war against God !
The man thus prepared, if an abolitionist, reasons: "My con
science or moral sense teaches me infallible truth ; therefore, my
conscience is above all law, or is a ' higher law' than the law of
the land. My conscience, feelings, and sympathies all teach me
that slavery is wrong. Thus I have been educated. My conscience
or moral sense teaches me what are the laws of God, without pos
sible mistake; and according to their teaching, slavery is for
bidden." In short, he thinks so ; and, therefore, it is soi He " is wiser
in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason."
But we proceed to notice how the doctrine of the author most
distinctly agrees with the precepts of infidelity.
" The deist derives his religion by inference from what he sup
poses discoverable of the will and attributes of God, from nature,
and the course of the Divine government." Watson's Theo. Inst.
vol. ii. p. 542. This learned theologian differs widely frbm Mr.
Barnes. When treating of slavery, Watson frankly admits that
we are indebted to direct revelation for our knowledge on the
subject. In page 556, he says —
" Government in masters, as well as in fathers, is an appoint
ment of God, though differing in circumstances ; and it is there
fore to be honoured. 'Let as many servants as are under the
yoke, count their own masters worthy of all honour;' a direction
which enjoins both respectful thoughts and humility and propriety
of external demeanour towards them. Obedience to their com
mands in all things lawful is next enforced ; which obedience is to
be grounded on principle, on ' singleness of heart as unto Christ ;'
thus serving a master with the same sincerity, the same desire to
do the appointed work well, as is required of us by Christ. This
service is also to be cheerful, and not wi'ung out merely by a sense
of duty; 'not with eye-service as men-pleasers ;' not having re
spect simply to the approbation of the master, but 'as the servant
of Christ,' making profession of his religion, ' doing the will of
God,' in this branchof duty, 'from the heart,' with alacrity and

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

good feeling. The duties of servants, stated in these brief pre
cepts, might easily be shown to comprehend every particular which
can be justly required of persons in this station ; and the whole is
enforced by a sanction which could have no place but in a revela
tion from God, — ' Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man
doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond
or free.' Eph. vi. 5. In other woi'ds, even the common duties of
servants, when faithfully, cheerfully, and piously performed, are
by Christianity made rewardable actions : ' Of the Lord ye shall
receive a reward.'
"The duties of servants and masters are, however, strictly re
ciprocal. Hence, the apostle continues his injunctions as to the
right discharge of these relations, by saying, immediately after he
had prescribed the conduct of servants, 'And ye masters, do the
same things unto them ; that is, act towards them upon the same
eejuitable, conscientious, and benevolent principles) as you exact
from them. He then grounds his rules, as to masters, upon the
great and influential principle, 'knowing that your Master is in
heaven;' that you are under authority, and are accountable to him
for your conduct to your servants. Thus masters are put under
the eye of God, who not only maintains their authority, when pro
perly exercised, by making their servants accountable for any
contempt of it, and for every other failure of duty, but holds the
master also himself responsible for its just and mild exercise. A
solemn and religious aspect is thus at once given to a relation
which by many is considered as one merely of interest." ,
" All the (iistinctions of good and evil ' refer to some principle
above ourselves ; for, were there no Supreme Governor and Judge
to reward and punish, the very notions of good and evil would
vanish away." Ellis on Bivine Things.
The qualities good and evil can only exist in the mind as they
are measured by a supreme law. " If we deny the existence of a
Divine law obligatory on men, we must deny that the world is
und^r Divine government, for a government without rule or law is
a solecism." Watson's Theo. Inst. vol. i. p; 8.
Divine laws must be the subject of revelation. The law of a
visible power cannot be known without some indications, much less
the will of an invisible power, and that, too, of an order of exist
ence so far above our own that even its' mode is beyond our com
prehension. Very true, the providence of^^-od towards any par
ticular course of conduct may be taken as the revelation of his

96 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
.1 
will thus far, but, by no means, preclude the necessity of a more
direct revelation, until man shall be able to boast that he compre
hends the entire works of Jehovah.
The difference between the Christian and the mere theist is,
while the latter admits that a revelation of the will of God is or
has been made by significant actions, he contends that is a suffi
cient revelation of the laws of God for the guidance of man.
" They who never heard of any external revelation, yet if they
knew from the nature of things what is fit for them to do, they
know all that God can or will require of them." Christianity as
Old as Creation, p. 233.
" By employing our reason to collect the will of God from the
fund of our nature, physical and moral, we may acquire not only
a particular knowledge of those laws, which are deducible from
them, but a general knowledge of the manner in which God is
pleased to exercise his supreme powers in this system." Boling-
broke's Works, vol. v. p. 100.
" But they who believe the holy Scriptures contain a revelation
of God's will, do not deny that indications of his will have been
made by actions; but they contend that they are in themselves
imperfect and insufficient, and that they were not designed to su
persede a direct revelation. They also hold, that a direct commu
nication of the Divine will was made to the progenitors of the
human race, which received additions at subsequent periods, and
that the whole was at length embraced in the book called, by way
of eminence, the Bible." Watson's Theo. Inst. vol. i. p. 10.
Faith "is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen." Heb. xi. 1.
As an instance of revelation, we present Lev. xxv. 1, and 44, 45, 46.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying:
Both thy bondmen and bondmaids, which thou ehalt have, shall be
of the heathen that are round about you ; of them shall ye buy
bondmen and bondmaids."
" Moreover, of the children of the strangers that do sojourn
among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are
with you, which they begat in your land : and they shall be your
possession." " And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children
after you, to inherit them for a possession, they shall be your
bondmen for ever ; but over your brethren, the children of Israel, '
ye shall not rule over one another with rigour."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

1)7

Here is direct revelation, and faith gives us evidence of the
truth of its being of Divine origin.
Mr. Barnes proposes, by human reason, without the aid of reve
lation aud faith, to determine what is the will of God on the sub
ject of slavery ; and it suggests the inquiry. How extensive must
be the intellectual power of him who can reason with God ? " For
he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should
come together in judgment ; neither is any daysman betwixt us,
that might lay his hand upon us both." Job ix. 32, 33.
We frankly acknowledge, that, in the investigation of this sub
ject, we shall consider the Divine authority of those writings,
which are received by Christians as a revelation of infallible truth,
as so established ; and, with all simplicity of mind, examine their
contents, and collect from them the information they profess to
contain, and concerning which information it had become necessary
that the world should be experimentally instructed.
But the passage quoted from Mr. Barnes gives us a stronger
suspicion of his want of orthodoxy and Christian principle from
its connection with what he says, page 310 :
"If the religion of Christ allows such a license" (to hold slaves)
" from such precepts as these, the New Testament would be the
greatest curse ever inflicted on our race."
The fact is, little can be known of God or his law except by
faith and revelation. Beings whose mental powers are not in
finite can never arrive at a knowledge of all things, nor can we
know any thing fully, only in proportion as we comprehend the
laws influencing it. In conformity to the present limited state of
our knowledge, we can only say, that we arrive at some little, by
three distinct means : the senses open the door to a superficial per
ception of things ; the mental powers to their further examination ;
while faith gives us a view of the superintending control of One
Almighty God.
In the proportion our senses are defective, our mental powers
deficient, and our faith inactive or awry, — our knowledge will be
scanty. The result of all knowledge is the perception of truth.
Under the head of the mental powers, philosophers tell us our
knowledge is acquired by three methods : intuition, demonstration,
and analogy. By intuitioi^ they mean when the mind perceives
a certainty in a proposition where the relation is obvious, as it is
obvious that'the whole is greater than a part; and such proposi'-
tions they call axioms. *

98 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

When the relation of things is not thus obvious, that is, when
the proposition involves the determination of the relation between
two or more things whose relations are not intuitively perceived.
the mind may sometimes come to a certainty, concerning the rela-
cion, by the interposition of a chain of axioms; that is, of propo
sitions where the relations are intuitively perceived. This is called
demonstration. In all such cases, the mind would perceive the relation, and
come to a certainty intuitively, if adequately cultivated and en
larged ; or, in other words, all propositions that now, to us, require
demonstration, would, to such a cultivation, become mere axioms :
consequently, now, where one man sees a mere axiom, another re
quires demonstration.
But the great mass of our ideas are too imperfect or top com
plicated to admit of intuitive conclusions ; consequently, as to them,
we can never arrive at demonstration. Here v?e substitute facts;
and reason, that, as heretofore one certain fact has accompanied
another certain fact, so it will be hereafter. This is what the phi
losophers call analogy. Analogy is thus founded on experience,
and is, therefore, far less perfect than intuition or demonstration.
That gravitation will always continue is analogical ; we do not
know it intuitively ; nor can we demonstrate it. Analogical pro
positions are, therefore, to us mere probabilities.
But our knowledge has cognizance of ideas only. These ideas
we substitute for the things they represent, in which there is a
liability to err. Thus a compound idea is an assemblage of the
properties of a thing, and may be incomplete and inadequate;
wholly different from any quality in the thing itself. What is our
idea of spirit, colour, joy? Yet we may conceive an intelligence
so extended as to admit that even analogical problems should be
come intuitive : with God every thing is intuitively known. But
even intuitive propositions sometimes reach beyond our compre
hension. Example — a line of infinite length can have no end;
therefore, the half of an infinite line would be a line also of infinite
length. But all lines of infinite length are of equal length ; there
fore, the half of an infinite line is equal to the whole. Such fal
lacies prove that human reason is quite limited and liable to err ;
and hence the importance of faith in God, in the steadfastness of
his laws, and the certainty of their operations "And Jesus
answering said unto them, have faith in God." Mark xi. 22. " And
>rhen they were come,"and had gathered the church together, they

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 99
¦ rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened
the door of faith unto the Gentiles." Acts xiv. 27. " So, then, faith
Cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans
X. 17. That is, by revelation. " Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Heh. xi. 1.
"But without faith it is impossible to please God; for he that
Cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder
of them that diligently seek him." JHeh. xi. 6. "Even so faith,
if it hath not works, is dead." James ii. 17. "And he said, I will
hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be ; for
they are a very froward generation, children in whom there is no
faith." Beut. xxxii. 20. To which add Romans xii. 3.
These passages seem to imply an unchangeable reliance on faith
and revelation for all knowledge of God, his laws, and our peace
hereafter; and we do feel the most heartfelt regret to see those
who claim to be religious teachers, laying the foundation for the
most gross infidelity.

LESSON V.

On page 6, Mr. Barnes says —
" The work" (his own) " which is now submitted to the public,
is limited to an examination of the Scripture argument on the
subject of slavery."
Now, if it shall appear that his exertion has universally been to
gloss over the Scripture, or strain it into some meaning favour
able to abolition, and adverse to its rational and obvious interpre
tation, the mind will be forced to the conclusion, that his real
object has been to hide the " Scripture argument," and to limit his
researches by what he may deem to be sound reason and philosophy,
and let it be remembered that such has been the constant practice
of every infidel writer, who has ever attempted to reconcile his own
peculiar theories to the teachings of the holy books.
"And Abram took Sarai ' his wife, and Lot his brother's son,
and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that
they had gotten in Haran ; and they went forth to go into the
land of Canaan ; and into the land of Canaan they came. ' ' Gen. xii. 5.
"And he entreated Abram well for her sake : and he had sheep,
and he-asses, and men-servants (D'12^jl va abadim, male slaves),
and taaid-servants (nnGtJ"l vu shephahoth, female slaves), and she

100 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

asses, and camels." xii. 16. "But Abram said unto Sarai, Be
hold thy maid (TinnSEJ' shiphhathek, female slave) is in thy hand ;-
do unto her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly by
her, she fled from her face. And the angel of the Lord found her
by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the
way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid {HH^^^ shiph-
hath, female slave), whence earnest thou and whither wilt thou go ?
And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai ; and the
angel of the Lord said unto her. Return to thy mistress and submit
thyself unto her hands." Gen. xvi. 6-9.
"And God SElid unto Abraham, ThoU shalt keep my covenant."
* * * "This is my covenant." * * * " And he that is eight days
old shall be circumcised among you, every man-child in your gene
rations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any
stranger which is not of thy se^d. He that is born in thy house,
and he that is bought with thy money must needs be circumcised ;
and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting cove
nant." Gen. xvii. 9, 10, 12, 13. "And all the men of his house,
born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were cir
cumcised with him." Ver. 27.
" And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and men-servants
(D'"1DJ^1«« abadim, male slaves), and women-servants (nil^Q Si") vu
shephhahoth, female slaves), and gave them unto Abraham." Gen.
XX. 14.
"Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out the bond-woman,
and her son. For the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir
with my son, even with Isaac. And God said unto Abraham, let
it not be grievous in thy sight, because of the lad, and because of
thy bond-woman." * * * "And also of the son ofthe bond
woman I will make a nation, because he is of thy seed." Gen.
xxi. 10, 12, 13.
" For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a
bond-maid, the other by a free-woman. But he who was of the
bond-woman was after the flesh, but he of the free-woman was by
promise ; nevertheless, what saith the scripture ? Cast out the
bond-woman and her son, for the son of the bond-woman shall not
be heir with the son of the free-woman." Gal. iv. 22, 23, 30.
" And he said, I am Abraham's servant (l^^; ehed, male slave),
and the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, 'and he is become
great ; and he hath given him flocks and herds, and silver and
gold, and man-servants (Dn2I^1 va abadim, and male slaves), and

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

101

maid-servants (rinfiJJ'l vu shephahoth, and female slaves), and
camels and asses." Gen. xxiv. 34, 35.
" And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until
he became very great. For he had possession of flocks, and pos
session of herds, and great store of servants (PTl^J/l va abudda,
of slaves), and the Philistines envied him." Gen. xxvi. 13, 14.
"And the man (Jacob) increased exceedingly, "and he had much
cattle, and maid-servants (nln5B''.1 vu shephahoth, and female
slaves,) and men-servants (DHSl'l va abadim, and male slaves),
and camels and asses." Gen. xxx. 43.
"And I have oxen and asses, flocks, and men-servants ("iDi^l
ve ehed, and male slaves), and women-servants (nHtDp'") ve shiphha,
and female slaves). And I have sent to tell my lord that I may
find grace in thy sight." Gen. xxxii. 5.
Let us now notice how Mr. Barnes treats the records here
quoted. He says, page 70 —
" Some of the servants held by the patriarchs were 'bought with
money.' Much reliance is laid on this by the advocates of slavery,
in justifying the purchase, and consequently, as they seem to
reason, the sale of slaves now ; and it is, therefore, of importance,
to inquire, how far the fact stated is a justification of slavery as
it exists at present. But one instan# occurs, in the case of the
patriarchs, where it is said that servants were 'bought with money.'
This is the case of Abraham, Gen. xvii. 12, 13. ' And he that is
eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man-child in
your generations ; he that is born in the house, or bought with.
money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed ; he that is born
in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be
circumcised.' Compare verses 23, 27. This is the only instance
in which there is mention of the fact that any one of the patri
archs had persons in their employment who were bought with
money. The only other case )vhich occurs at that period of the
world is that of the sale of Joseph, first to the Ishmaelites, and
then to the Egyptians — a case which, it is believed, has too close
a resemblance to slavery as it exists in our own country, ever to
be referred to with much satisfaction by the advocates of the sys
tem. In the case, moreover, of Abraham, it should be remem
bered that it is the record of a mere fact. There is no command
to buy servants or to sell them, or to hold them as property — any
more than there was a command to the brethren of Jose'ph to enter
into a negotiation for the sale of their brother. Nor is there any

102 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

approbation expressed of the fact that they were bought ; unless
the command given to Abraham to affix to them the seal of the
covenant, and to recognise them as brethren in the faith which he
held, should be construed as such evidence of approval.
" The inquiry then presents itself, whether the fact that they
were bought determines any thing with certainty in regard to the
nature of the servitude, or to the propriety of slavery as practised
now. The Hebrew, in the passages referred to in Genesis, is ' the
born in thy house, and the purchase of silver,' flMTlJpb — mi
knath keseph—^not incorrectly rendered, 'those bought with
money.' The verb iliT) kdnd, from which the noun here is de
rived, and which is commonly used in the Scriptures when the
purchase of slaves is referred to, means to set upright or erect, to
found or create. Gen. xiv. 19, 22. Beut. xxxii. 6 ; to get for oneself,
to gain or acquire. Prov. iv. 7, xv. 32 ; to obtain. Gen. iv. 1 ; and to
buy, or purchase. Gen. xxv. 10 ; xlvii. 22. In this latter sense it
is often used, and with the same latitude of signification as the
word buy or purchase is with us. It is most commonly rendered
by the words buy and purchase in the Scriptures. See Gen. xxv. 10 ;
xlvii. 22; xlix. 30; 1.13; Josh. xxiv. 32; 2 Sam. xii. 3; Ps.
Ixxviii. 54 ; Beut. xxxii. 6 ; Lev. xxvii. 24, and very often else
where. It is applied to the nurchase of fields, of cattle, of men,
and of every thing which was or could be regarded as pro
perty. As there is express mention of silver or money in the
passage before us respecting the servants of Abraham, there is
no doubt that the expression means that he paid a price for a part
of his servants. A part of them 'were born in his house;' a part
had been 'bought with money' from ' strangers,' or were foreigners.
"But still, this use of the word in itself determines nothing in
regard to the tenure by which they were held, or the nature of the
servitude to which they were subjected. It does not prove that
they were regarded as property in the sense in which a slave is
now regarded as a chattel ; nor does it demonstrate that the one
who was bought ceased to be regarded altogether as a man; or that
it was regarded as right to sell him again. The fact that he was
to be circumcised as one of the family of Abraham, certainly does
not look as if he ceased to be regarded as a man.
" The word rendered buy or purchase in the Scriptures, is applied
to so many kinds of purchases, that no safe argument can be
founded on its use in regard to the kind of servitude which existed
in the timo nf Abraham. A reference to a few cases where this

S^TUDIES ON SLAVERY. iQg

word is used, will show that nothing is determined by it respecting
the tenure by which the thing purchased was held. (1.) It is used
in the common sense of the word purchase as applied to inanimate
things, where the property would be absolute. Gen. xiii. 2, 7 ;
xliii. 20 ; xlvii. 19 ; xxx. 19. (2.) It is applied to the purchase of
cattle, where the property may be supposed to be as absolute. See
Gen. xlvi. 22, 24 ; iv. 20 ; Job xxxvi. 33 ; Beut. iii. 19 ; and often,
(3.) God is represented as having bought his people ; that is, a.'i
having ransomed them with a price, or purchased them to himself.
Beut. xxxii. 6 : ' Is he not thy Father that hath bought thee ?'
"^yr^—kdnekhd, thy purchaser. Exod. xv. 16 : 'By the greatness of
thine arm they shall be still as a stone, till thy people pass over ;
till the people pass over which thou ]i&?,t purchased,' ri'JD, kdnithd.
See Ps. Ixxiv. 2. Compare Isa. xliii. 3 : ' I gave Egypt for thy ran
som, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.' But though the word purchase
is used in relation to the redemption of the people of God, the very
word which is used respecting the servants of Abraham, no one
will maintain that they were held as slaves, or regarded as property.
Who can tell but what Abraham purchased his servants in some
such way, by redeeming them from galling captivity ? May they
not have been prisoners in war, to whom he did an inestimable
service in rescuing them from a condition of grievous and hopeless
bondage ? May they not have been Maves in the strict and proper
sense, and may not his act of purchasing them have been, in fact,
a species of emancipation in a way similar to that in which God
emancipates his people from the galling servitude of sin ? The
mere act of paying a price for them no more implies that he con
tinued to hold them as slaves, than it does now when a man pur
chases his wife or child who have been held as slaves, or than the
fact that God has redeemed his people by a price, implies that he
regards them as slaves. (4.) Among the Hebrews a man might
sell himself, and this transaction on the part of him to whom he
sold himself would be represented by the word bought. Thus, in
ie«. xxv. 47, 48 : 'And if a sojourner or a stranger wax rich by
thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell him
self unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the
stranger's family, after that he is sold, he may be. redeemed
again.' This transaction is represented as a purchase. Ver. 50 :
'And he shall reckon with him that bought him, (Heb. his pur
chaser, injp konaihu), from the year that he was sold unto the
year of jubilee,' &c. This was a mere purchase of time or service.

104 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

It gave no right to sell the man again, or to retain him in any
event beyond a certain period, or to retain him at all, if his friends
chose to interpose and redeem him. It gav'e no right of property
in the man, any more than the purchase of the unexpired time of
an apprentice, or the 'purchase' of the poor in the State of Con
necticut does. In no proper sense of the word could this be called
slavery. (5.) The word buy or purchase was sometimes applied to
the manner in which a wife was procured. Thus Boaz is repre
sented as saying that he had bought Ruth. ' Moreover, Ruth the
Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased ('D^Jp kdnithi)
to be my wife.' Here the word applied to the manner in which
Abraham became possessed of his servants, is applied to the man
ner in which a wife was procured. So Hosea says, (ch. iii. 2,) ' So
I bought her to me (another word, however, being used in the He
brew, m3 kdrd) for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of
barley, and an half homer of barley.' Jacob purchased his wives,
Leah and Rachel, not indeed by the payment of money, but by
labour. Gen. xxix. 15-23. That the practice oi purchasing a wife,
or paying a doivry for her, was _ common, is apparent from Exod.
xxii. 17; 1 >S'am. xviii. 25. Compare Judg.\.Vl,\Z. Yet it will
not be maintained that the wife among the Hebrews, was in any
proper sense a slave, or that she was regarded as subject to the
laws which regulate property, or that the husband had a right to
sell her again. In a large sense, indeed, she was regarded, as the
conductors of the Princeton Repertory (1836, p. 293) allege, as
the wife is now, as the property of her husband ; that is, she was
his to the exclusion of the claim of any other man ; hut she was his
as his wife, not as his slave. (6.) The word ' bought'- occurs in a
transaction between Joseph and the people of Egypt in such a way
as farther to explain its meaning. When, during the famine, the
money of the Egyptians had failed, and Joseph had purchased all
the land, the people proposed to become his servants. When the
contract was closed, Joseph said to them, ' Behold, I have bought
you — 'Jl'Jp kanithi — this day, and your land for Pharaoh.'
Gen. xlvii. 23. The nature of this contract is immediately speci
fied. They were to be regarded as labouring for Pharaoh. The
land belonged to him, and Joseph furnished the people seed, or
' stocked the land,' and they were to cultivate it on shares for
Pharaoh. The fifth part was to be his, and the other four parts
were to be theirs. There was a claim on them for labour, but it
does not appeor that the claim extended farther. No farmers who

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. IO5
now work land on shares would be willing to have their condition
described as one of slavery.
"The conclusion which we reach from this examination of tho
words buy and bought as applied to the case of Abraham is, that
the use of the word determines nothing in regard to the tenure by
which his servants were held. They may have been purchased
from those who had taken them as captives in war, and the pur
chase may have been regarded by themselves as a species of re
demption, or a most desirable rescue from the fate which usually
attends such captives — perchance from death. The property which
it was understood that he had in them may have been merely pro
perty in their time, and not in their persons ; or the purchase
may have amounted in fact to every thing that is desirable in
emancipation ; and, from any thing implied in the word, their sub
sequent service in the family of Abraham may have been entirely
voluntary. It is a very material circumstance, also, that there is
not the slightest evidence that either Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob ever
sold a slave, or offered one for sale, or regarded them as liable to he
sold. There is no evidence that their servants even descended as
a part of an inheritance from -father to son. So far, indeed, as the
accounts in the Scriptures go, it would be impossible to prove that
they would not have been at liberty at any time to leave their
masters, if they had chosen to do so. The passage, therefore,
which says that Abraham had ' servants bought with money,' can
not be adduced to justify slavery as it exists now — even if this
were all that we know about it. But (4.) servitude in the days of
Abraham must have existed in a very mild form, and have had
features which slavery by no means has now. Almost the only
transaction which is mentioned in regard to the servants of Abra
ham, is one which could never occur in the slave-holding parts of
our country. A marauding expedition of petty kings cp-me from
the north and east, and laid waste the country around the vale
of Siddim, near to which Abraham lived, and, among other spoils
of battle, they carried away Lot and his possessions. Abraham,
it is said, then ' armed his trained servants, born in his own house,
three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan,' and
rescued the family of Lot and his goods. Gen. xiv. This narra
tive is one that must for ever show that servitude, as it existed in
the family of Abraham, was a very different thing from what it is
in the United States. The number was large, and it does not ap
pear that any persons but his servants accompanied Abraham.

106 • STUDIES ON SLAVERY;

s. They all were armed. They were led off on a distant expedition,
where there could have been no power in Abraham to preserve his
life, if they had chosen to rise up against him, and no power to
recover them, if they had chosen to set themselves free. Yet he
felt himself entirely safe when accompanied with this band of
armed men, and when far away from his family and his home.
What must have been the nature of servitude, where the master
was willing to arm such a company, to put himself entirely at
their disposal, and lead them off to a distant land ?
" Compare this with the condition of things in the United States.
Here, it is regarded as essential to the security of the life of the
master that slaves shall never be intrusted with arms. ' A slave is
not allowed to keep or carry a weapon.'* 'He cannot go from
the tenement of his master, or other person with whom he lives,
without a pass, or something to show that he is proceeding by
authority from his master, employer, or overseer.'f 'For keeping
or carrying a gun, or powder, or shot, or club, or other weapon
whatsoever, offensive or defensive, a slave incurs, for each offence,
thirty-nine lashes, by order of a justice of the peace ;'{ and in
North Carolina and Tennessee, twenty lashes, by the nearest con
stable, without a conviction by the justice. § Here, there is every
precaution from laws, and from the dread of the most fearful kind
of punishment, against the escape of slaves. Here, there is a con
stant apprehension that they may rise against their masters, and
every security is taken against their organization and combination.
Here, there is probably not a single master who would, if he
owned three hundred slaves, dare to put arms in their hands, and
lead them off on an expedition against a foe. If the uniform pre
cautions and care at the South against arming the slaves, or al
lowing them to become acquainted with their own strength, be any
expression of the nature of the system, slavery in the United
States is a very different thing from servitude in the time of
Abraham ; and it does not prove that in the species of servitude
existing here it is right to refer to the case of Abraham, and to
say that it is 'a good patriarchal system.' Let the cases be made
parallel before the names of the patriarchs are called in to justify
the system. But —
¦* Rev. Cod. Virg. vol. i. p. 453, sections 83, 84.
f Ibid. vol. i. p. 422, section 6. See Paulding on Slavery, p. 146.
+ 2 Litt. and Smi. 1150; 2 Missouri La-ws, 741, section 4.
g Haywood's Manual, 521 ; Stroud on the La-ws relating to Slavery, p. 102.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. IO7
"(5.) What real support would it furnish to the system, even if it
were true that the cases were wholly parallel ? How far would it
go to demonstrate that God regards it as a good system, and one
that is to be perpetuated, in order that society may reach its
highest possible elevation ? Who would undertake to vindicate all
the conduct of the patriarchs, or to maintain that all which they
practised was in accordance with the will of God ? They practised
concubinage and polygamy. Is it therefore certain that this was
the highest and purest state of society, and that it was a state
which God designed should be perpetuated ? Abraham and Isaac
were guilty of falsehood and deception, {Gen. xx. 2, seq.; xxvi. 7;)
Jacob secured the birthright by a collusive fraud between him and
his mother, {Gen. xxvii.) and obtained no small part of his pro
perty by cunning, {Gen. xxx. 36-43,) and Noah was drunk with
wine, {G-en. ix. 21 ;) and these things are recorded merely as facts,
without any decided expression of disapprobation ; but is it there
fore to be inferred that they had the approbation of God, and that
they are to be practised still, in order to secure the highest condi
tion of society ?
"Take the single case of polygamy. Admitting that the patri
archs held slaves, the argument in favour of polygatay, from their
conduct, would be, in all its main features, the same as that which
I suggested, in the commencement of this chapter, as employed in
favour of slavery. The argument would be this : — That they were
good men, the 'friends of God,' and that what such men practised
freely cannot be wrong ; that God permitted this ; that he nowhere
forbade it ; that he did not record his disapprobation of the prac
tice ; and that whatever God permitted in such circumstances,
without expressing his disapprobation, must be regarded as in it
self a good thing, and as desirable to be perpetuated, in order
that society may reach the highest point of elevation. It is per
fectly clear that, so far as the conduct of the patriarchs goes, it
would be just as easy to construct an argument in favour of po
lygamy as in favour of slavery — even on the supposition that
slavery existed then essentially as it does now. But it is not pro
bable that polygamy would be defended now as a good institution,
and as one that has the approbation of God, even by those who
defend the ' domestic institutions of the South.', The truth is, that
the patriarchs were good men in their generation, and, considering
their circumstances, were men eminent for piety. But they were
imperfect men ; they lived in the infancy of the world ; they had

108 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

comparatively little light on the subjects of morals and religion ;
and it is a very feeble argument which maintains that a thing is
right, because any one or all of the patriarchs practised it.
" But after all, what real sanction did God ever give either to
polygamy or to servitude, as it was practised in the time of the
patriarchs ? Did he command either ? Did he ever express ap
probation of either ? Is there an instance in which either is men
tioned with a sentiment of approval ? The mere record of actual
occurrences, even if there is no declared disapprobation of them,
proves nothing as to the Divine estimate of what is recorded.
There is a record of the ' sale' of Joseph into servitude, first to
the Ishmaelites, and then to Potiphar. There is no expression of
disapprobation. There is no exclamation of surprise or astonish
ment, as if a deed of enormous wickedness were done, when
brothers sold their own brother into hopeless captivity. This was
done also by those who were subsequently reckoned among the
'patriarchs,' and some of whom at the time were probably pious
men. Will it be inferred that God approved this transaction ; that
he meant to smile on the act, when brothers sell their own brothers
into hopeless bondage ? Will this record be adduced to justify
kidnapping, or the acts of parents in barbarous lands, who, for
getful of all the laws of their nature, sell their own children ?
Will the record that the Ishmaelites took the youthful Joseph into
a distant land, and sold him there as a slave, be referred to as
furnishing evidence that God approves the conduct of those who
kidnap the unoffending inhabitants of Africa, or buy them there,
and carry them across the deep, to be sold into hopeless bondage !
Why then should the fact that there is a record that the patriarchs
held servants, or bought them, without any expressed disapproba
tion of the deed, be adduced as evidence that God regards slavery
as a good institution, and intends that it shall be perpetuated iinder
the influence of his religion, as conducing to the highest good of
society ? The truth is, that the mere record of a fact, even with
out any sentiment of approbation or disapprobation, is no evidence
of the views of him who makes it. Are we to infer that Hero
dotus approved of all that he saw or heard of in his travels, and
of which he made a record? Are we to suppose that Tacitus and
Livy approved of all the deeds the memory of which they have
transmitted for the instruction of future ages ? Are we to main
tain that Gibbon and Hume believed that all which they have re
corded was adapted to promote the good ol mankind ? Shall the

, STUDIES ON SLAVERY. IO9
i 
biographer of Nero, and Caligula, and Richard IIL, and Alex
ander VL, and Csesar Borgia be held responsible for approving
of all that these men did, or of commending their example to the
imitation of mankind ? Sad would be the office of an historian
were he to be thus judged. ' Why then shall we infer that God
approved of all that the patriarchs did, even when there is no
formal approbation expressed ; or infer, because such transactions
have been recorded, that therefore they are right in his sight?"
Does the mind hesitate as to the design of this laboured and
lengthy argument ? That its object is to do away, to destroy the
scriptural force of the facts stated in these records ? Does not
this argument substantially deny that Abraham had slaves bought
with money ? And even if he did have them, then that it was
just as wicked at that time as he thinks it to be now ? Or, if he
shall thus far fail, then to bring down the characters of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob to a level with Nero, Caligula, Richard IIL, and
Cffisar Borgia ? And the holy books themselves to the standard
of Herodotus, Tacitus, and Livy ; and inure our mind to compare
them with the writings of Hume and Gibbon ?
The writer who lessens our veneration for the characters of the
ancient worshippers of Jehovah ; who, as by a system of special
pleading, attempts to overspread the simple announcements of the
holy books with doubt and uncertainty, however conscientious he
may be in these labours of his hand, while he assumes a most
awful responsibility to God, must ever call down upon himself the
universal and determined opposition of the intelligent and good
among men.
The more secret, the more adroit the application of the poison,
the more intensely wicked is the hand that presents it.

LESSON VL

Mr. Barnes has devoted twenty-four pages of his book to the
slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt, wherein we find no instance that
his test is applied with either fairness of deduction or logical accu
racy. Indeed, so far as our limited capacity can trace his applica
tion to the test, he has made but two points :
I. After repeated judgments upon the Egyptians, for hesitating
to set the Hebrews free, God, in his providence, effected their

110 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
deliverance from slavery. Therefore, we are to infer the indigna
tion of God against the institution of slavery. What W€re the facts
of the case ? On account of their sins rendering them unfit for
the blessings promised their fathers, God imposed on them slavery
four hundred years, — at the expiration of which time he delivered
them from it. When a free negro becomes a public nuisance, the
court will give judgment that he shall be sold to be a slave five
years. The term having expired, if the purchaser holds on, and
refuses to let him go, the same court will interfere, set him free,
and impose heavy penalties on the master. Does the case show
that the court feels indignation against the institution of slavery?
We think it proves exactly the opposite !
If the four hundred years of slavery operated to fit the Hebrews
for the reception of the blessing ; if the five years of slavery re-fitted
the negro for the rational enjoyment of liberty, we think the pro
vidence of God places the institution of slavery in a valuable point
of light.
II. In this review of the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt, Mr.
Barnes has noticed the fact of their rapid increase, to the extent
of their becoming dangerous to the Egyptian government ; and he
has compared it with the more rapid increase of the slaves over
the whites in the Slave States; and suggests a similar danger to
the government of the United States, — adding, that such increase
" can be arrested by nothing but emancipation." Now all this
may be true; but in what light does it show forth the institution of
slavery ? Does Mr. Barnes really mean to say, what is the fact,
that the condition of slavery is so well adapted to the negro race,
that, by it, their comforts, peace of mind, and general happiness
are made so certain and well-secured to them, that they increase
rapidly ? And that, as they are a race of people whom we do not
desire to bear rule over us, or become more numerous than they
now are, it would he good policy, and he desires, to set them free,
in order that they may be deprived of their present comforts,
peace of mind, and happiness, with the view to lessen their increase,
and waste them away ? If such really be his view, we may regard
it as an extraordinary instance of his Christian counsel, and form
some idea of what he would be as a slave-holder. But the same
increase of the slaves happened in Egypt in a different age, and in
reference to a different class of men ; nor could any exertion cor
rect it. We may apply the test, and safely infer, that God
smiles on the INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. m

There is, in this chapter on the slavery of the Hebrews, an allu
sion made to the States of Ohio and Kentucky, (see page 102 ;) the
one represented as "adorned with smiling villages, and cottages,
and churches, and the aspect of neatness, thrift, and order;" and
that the other wears " the aspect of ignorance, irreligion, neglect,
and desolation;" and that the reason of the difference is, because
" God smUes upon the free State, and frowns upon the one where
slavery exists."
We do not deem it necessary to question or even examine the
correctness of the view of Kentucky, as presented to us by Mr.
Barnes : so far as the argument is concerned, we will take it- as
established. If the institution of slavery is of Divine origin, or if
we are to form a notion of the will of God respecting it from his
providences affecting the institution, we must keep our eye upon
the subject of slavery, not upon those otherwise conditioned. We
must look to the slave in Kentucky, and compare his conditions
there with his conditions in a state of freedom ; and Mr. Barnes
has furnished us with data, proving that in Kentucky the slaves
are in a rapid state of propagation and increase.
Page 95, he says — "The whites were to the slaves —
In 1790. In 1840.
• North Carolina, 2.80 to 1 1.97 to 1
South Carolina, 1.31 " 1 79 " 1
Georgia, 1.76 " 1 1.44 " 1
Tennessee, 13.35 " 1 3.49 " 1
Kentucky, 5.16 " 1 3.23 " 1
" From this it is apparent that, in spite of all the oppressions and
cruelties of slavery, of all the sales that are effected, of all the
removals to Liberia, and of all the removals by the escape of
the slaves, there is a regular gain of the slave population over the
free in the slave-holding States. No oppression prevents it here
more than it did in Egypt, and there can be no doubt whatever
that, unless slavery shall be arrested in some way, the increase is
so certain that the period is not far distant when, in all the Slave
States, the free whites will be far in the minority. At the first
census, taken in 1790, in every Slave State there was a very large
majority of whites. At the last census, in 1840, the slaves out
numbered the whites in South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
The tendency of this, from causes which it would be easy to state,
can be arrested by nothing but emancipation."
But Mr. Barnes does not state what those causes are ; and will

112 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

he acknowledge that they really are what we have before stated ?
¦ So far as these facts teach any thing, it is that God smiles on the
institution of slavery. Let it be true, as Mr. Barnes says it is,
that Ohio exhibits a state of prosperity, and Kentucky a state of
" desolation," — the legitimate deduction is, that those, having the
direction and government of affairs in Ohio are wiser and more
intelligent than those of the same class in Kentucky. We shall
leave all further view of the matter to Mr. Barnes and the people
of Kentucky.
The four hundred years of slavery in Egypt were not a sentence
on the Hebrews for the especial benefit of the Egyptians, but for.
that of the Hebrews themselves. The court did not sentence the
free negro, who had become a nuisance, to five years of slavery,
for the especial benefit of the purchaser, but for the prospect of
amelioration in the negro himself. The races of Ham were not
made subject to slavery for the especial benefit of Shem and
Japheth ; but because, in such slavery, their condition would be
more elevated, and better, than in a state of freedom. The slave
owner may be very wicked, and God may destroy him for his
wickedness, and yet his merciful designs, by the institution of
slavery, not be affected thereby. An eastern monarch, determined
to destroy his minister, sent him a present of a thousafld slaves
and a hundred elephants. The minister dared not refuse the pre
sent ; but not being able profitably to employ them, was ruined.
But the condition of the slave and the elephant was not injured.
The poor-house was not made for the especial benefit of its keeper,
but for its subjects.

LESSON VIL

The benefit of the slave-owner depends on a different principle,
upon the wisdom, propriety, and prudence with which he governs
and manages his slaves. If he neglect their morals, suffering
them to become idle, runaways, dissolute, thieves, robbers, and
committers of crime, he is made, to some extent, responsible ; or
if he neglect to supply suitable clothing, food, and medicine, at
tention in sickness, and all other necessary protection, he is liable
to great loss ; his profit may' be greatly diminished ; or, if he abuse
his slave with untoward cruelty, he may render him less fit for
labour, — may destroy him altogether ; or the law may set in, and

ST.UDIES ON SLAVERY. H'j

compel the slave to be sold to a less cruel master. The interest
of the master has become protection to the slave; and this principle
holds good in all countries, in all ages, and among all men. But
it is yet said, that there are men who mpst outrageously abuse,
and sometimes kill their slaves. Very true and because some men
do the same to their wives, is it any argument against marriage ?
It proves that there are men who are not fit to be Slave-owners.
And what is the providence of God, as generally manifested, in
these cases ? That such husband does not enjoy the full blessing
designed by the institution of marriage ; or such marriage is, in
some way, shortly set aside. That such slave-owner does not enjoy
the full benefit a different course would insure to him,; or, in some
way, he is made to cease being a slave-owner. Such instances are
most direct and powerful manifestations against the abuses, — not
of the institution itself.
But God has not left his displeasure of the abuses of slavery to
be found out by our poor, dim, mortal eyes ; by our weak view of
his manifestations. He raade direct laws on the subject.
" But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God ; in
it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
thy man-servant (n'12J^ abeddeka, male slave,) nor thy maid-ser
vant (^nONT va amatheka, nor thy female slave), nor thy cattle,
nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." Exod. xx. 10.
" But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God ; in
it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
nor thy man-servant (H'lDJ^I ^^ abeddeka, male slave), nor thy
maid-servant (^HO.NiT va amatheka, female slave), nor thine ox, nor
thine ass, nor any. of thy cattld, nor thy stranger that is within
thy gates; that thy man-servant (ri'lil? abeddeka, male slave)
and thy maid-servant (^riDN\ va amatheka, female slave) may
rest as well as thou." Beut. v. 14.
But we find laws correcting abuses of quite a different nature ;
abuses that grow out of the perverse nature of man towards his
fellow-man of equal grade, touching their mutual rights in pro
perty :
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not
covet' thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant (IliJ^I ve abeddo,
male slave), nor his maid-servant (IriDXI va amatho, female slave),
nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."
Exod. XX. 17.

114 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

"Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt
then covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his man-servant
(II^PI ve abeddo, male slave), or his maid-servant ("iHONl va
amatho, female slave), his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy
neighbour's." Beut. v. 21 — the 18th of the Hebrew text.
It does appear to us that these statutes speak volumes — por
traying the providences of God, and his design in regard to the
institutions of slavery. The word covet, as here used, as well as
its original, implies that action of the mind which reaches to the
jiossession of the thing ourselves, and to the depriving of our
neighbour, without a glimpse at the idea of payment, reciprocity,
or compromise ; consequently, it is the exact action of mind,
which, when cultivated into physical display, makes a man a thief.
The command forbids that the mind shall be thus exercised, for
the command only reaches to the exercise of the mind ; an exer
cise, which, from the vety nature of it, must for ever draw us
deeper into crime. It is a command that well comes to us from
Jehovah direct, because it is a command that man could never en
force : the individual, and Jehovah alone, can only and surely tell
when it is broken. But it may be broken in various ways ; it may
be broken by writing books persuading others that it is no crime,
that it is even praiseworthy, by any other course of conduct, to
weaken the tenure of the proprietor in the property named.
"But fools do sometimes fearless tread.
Where angels dare not even look!"
We hold the doctrine good that, whenever we find that the
providence of God frowns upon the abuse of a thing, such abuse
is contrary to his law. So, also, the doctrine is indisputably true
that all laws, all providences against the abuse of a -thing, neces
sarily become laws and providences for the protection of the thing
itself; consequently, it always follows that they contemplate pro
tection. Mr. Barnes compares the slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt to
the condition of slavery in the United States, and complains of
the harsh treatment of the slaves in the latter country. See p. 92 :
" Preventing the slaves from being taught to read and write;
prohibiting, as far as possible, 'all knowledge among themselves of
their own numbers and strength ; forbidding all assemblages, even
for worship, where there might be danger of their becoming ac
quainted with their own strength, and of forming plans for free
dom ; enacting laws of excessive severity against those who run

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

115

away from their masters; appointing severe and disgraceful pu
nishments, either with or without the process of law, for those who
are suspected of a design to inforpi the slaves that they are men
and that they have the rights of human beings ; and solemnly
prohibiting the use of arms among the slaves, designed to prevent
their rising upon their masters, or 'joining themselves to an enemy
to fight against their masters,' and 'getting up out of the land.' "
We did suppose from this passage that Mr. Barnes might desire
us to lie down, and let the slaves Mil or make slaves of us. But
he has presented us with his cure for all these wrongs on pages
383, 384. He says—
"Now here, I am persuaded, is a wise model for all other de
nominations of Christian men, and the true idea of all successful
efforts for the removal of this great evil from the land. Let all
the evangelical denominations but follow the simple example of the
Quakers in this country, and slavery would soon come to an end.
There is not power of numbers and infiuence out of the church to
sustain it. Let every denomination in the land detach itself from
all connection with slavery, without saying a word against others ;
let the time come when, in all the mighty denominations of Chris
tians, it can be assured that the evil has ceased with them for
EVER ; and let the voice, from each denomination, be lifted up in
kind, but firm and solemn, testimony against the system ; with no
"mealy' words ; with no attempt at apology ; with no wish to blink
it ; with no effort to throw the sacred shield of religion over so
great an evil ; and the work is done. There is no public sentiment
in this land, there could be none created, that would resist the
power of such testimony. There is no power out of the church
that could sustain slavery an hour, if it were not sustained in it.
Not a blow need bfi struck. Not an unkind word need be uttered.
No man's motive need be impugned. No man's proper rights in
vaded. All that is needful is for each Christian man, and every
Christian church, to stand up in the sacred majesty of such a
solemn testimony ; to free themselves from all connection, with the
evil, and utter a calm and deliberate voice to the world ; and the
work WILL BE DONE !"
This looks very much like converting the church into an instru
ment of political power. We might indulge in severe remarks.
We might quote some very cogent and rebuking passages of Scrip
ture ; but. since we believe that where the spirit, of Christ is, he
will be there also, we do not deem it necessary.

116 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

From the very considerable labour evidently bestowed in the
preparation of the test, apparently to be applied in his reasoning
on this subject, a feeling of disappointment rests upon the mind
when we discover how little use Mr. Barnes has made of it.
We have given a view of Mr. Barnes's peroration ; his complaints ;
the wrongs that excite his sympathy ; and his final conclusion of
the whole matter. We have attempted to reason by the same rule
he has adopted, and, so far as he has chosen to apply it, leave it
to others to judge whether it is not most fatal to the cause he
advocates. t

LESSON VIIL

We are told that book-making, among some, has become a trade.
That some men write books to order, to suit the market ; that there
is no knowing what may be an author's principles, or whether he
has any at all, by what may be in his book.
The principal object of such a writer must be his money — his
pay : if in great haste to get it in possession, he may be expected
sometimes to be careless ; and unless very talented and experienced
in the subject on which he writes, to record contradictions.
Page 83, Mr. Barnes says — " The Hebrews were not essentially
distinguished from the Egyptians, as the Africans are from their
masters in this land, by colour." But he continues, pages 86 and
87 — "They (the Hebrews) were a, foreign race, as the African
race is with us. They were not Egyptians, any more than the
nations of Congo are Americans. They were not of the children
of Ham. They were of another family ; they differed from the
Egyptians, by whom they were held in bondage, as certainly as the
African does from the Caucasian or the Malay divisions of the
great family of man."
In page 228, on another subject, he says — " If, therefore, it be
true that slavery did not prevail in Judea ; that there is no evidence
that the Hebrews engaged in the traffic, and that the prophets felt
themselves at liberty to denounce the system as contrary to the
spirit of the Mosaic institutions, these facts will furnish an imr
portant explanation of some things in regard to the subject in the
New Testament, and will prepare us to enter on the inquiry how
it was regarded by the Saviour ; for if slavery did not exist in

STUDirS ON SLAVERY.

117

Palestine in his time : if he never came in contact with it, it will
not be fair to infer that he was not opposed to it, because he did
not often refer to it, and expressly denounce it."
This is in strict conformity with the following :
Page 242. " There is no conclusive evidence that he ever came in
contact with slavery at all. * * * There is no proof which I
have seen referred to from any contemporary writer, that it existed
in Judea in his time at all ; and there is no evidence from the New
Testament that he ever came in contact with it."
Also, page 244. " There is not th« slightest proof that the Sa
viour ever came in contact with slavery at all, either in public or
in private life."
Also, page 249. " We have seen above, that there is no evidence
that when the Saviour appeared, slavery in any form existed in
Judea, and consequently there is no proof that he ever encoun
tered it."
Permit us to compare these statements with Matt. viii. 5-14 :
" And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto
him a centurion, beseeching him, (verse 6,) and saying. Lord, my
servant, &c. (Verse 9,) For I am a man of authority, having sol
diers under me ; and I say to this man go, and he goeth ; and to
another,- Come, and he cometh, and to my servant {hovXa, slave).
Do this, and he doeth it," &c.
Also, iwAe vii. 2-10. "And a certain centurion's servant (Soii/log,
slave) was sick," &c. * * * " beseeching him that he would
come and heal his servant {8ov?bOV, slave.) (Verse 10,) "And they
that were, sent, returning to the house, found the servant {Sov?iov,
slave) whole that had been sick."
So also, Luke xix. 12-16. (Verse 13,) " And he called his ten
servants {Sov^ovg, slaves), &c. Also John viii. 33-36 : " And they
answered him, we be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage
{oeSov^jevxafisv, in slavery) to any man ; how sayest thou. Ye
shall be made free ? (Verse 34,) " Jesus answered them. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, whoever committeth sin is the servant (i5oii/Log,
slave) of sin." (Verse 35,) "And the servant {Sov2ag, slave)
abideth not in the house for ever, but the Son abideth ever. If the
Son therefore make you free, you shall be free indeed."
Permit us also to compare them with the following, Mr. Barnes's
own statements. See page 250 : " All that the argument does
require, whatever conclusion we may reach as to the manner in
which the apostles treated the subject, is, the admission of the fact.

118 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

that slavery everywhere abounded ; that it existed in forms of great
severity and cruelty ; that it involved all the essential claims that
are now made by masters to the services or persons of slaves ; that
it was protected by civil laws; that the master had the right of
transferring his slaves by sale, donation, or testament ; that in
general he had every right which was supposed to be necessary to
perpetuate the system ; and that it was impossible that the early
preachers of Christianity should not encounter this system, and be
constrained to adopt principles in regard to the proper treatment
of it."
And, again, page 251 : " It is fair that the advocates of the
system should have all the advantage which can be derived from
the fact, that the apostles found it in its most odious forms,
and in such circumstances as to make it proper that they should
regard, and treat it as an evil, if Christianity regards it as such at
all." And, again, pages 259, 260 : " I am persuade,d that nothing can
be gained to the cause of anti-slavery by attempting to deny that
the apostles found slavery in existence in the regions where they
founded churches, and that those sustaining the relation of master
and slave were admitted to the churches, if they gave real evidence
of regeneration, and were regarded by the apostles as entitled to
the common participation of the privileges of Christianity."
But there are other errors in this " Scriptural View of Slavery,"
page 245 :
" He (the Saviour) never uttered a word in favour of slavery,
* * * not even a hint can be found, in all he said, on which a
man * * * -^i^q meant to keep one already in his possession,
could rely to sustain his course."
We ask that this assertion of Mr. Barnes shall be compared with
Lvjke xvii. 7-11:
" But which of you having a servant i^ovhav, slave) ploughing,
or feeding cattle, will say unto him, by and by, when he has come
from the field. Go, sit down to meat ? And will not rather say unto
him. Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself and serve
me, till I have eaten and drunken, and afterward thou shalt eat
and drink ? Doth he thank that servant {Sov?La, slave) because
he did the things that were commanded him ? I trow not." " So
likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are com
manded you, say. We are unprofitable servants ; we have done that
which was our duty to do."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. Hg
And, again, Mr. Barnes says: " The nations of Palestine were
devoted to destruction, not to servitude." See page 118.
Compare this with the following, from page 156 : " There were
particular reasons operating for subjecting the nations around
Palestine to servitude, which do not exist now. They were
doomed to servitude for sins."

LESSON IX.
i)eMt xxiii. 9. "When the host goeth forth against thine ene
mies, then keep thee from every wicked thing" — directions what
to do, or what not to do, in time of war, being continued, the 15th
and 16th verses read thus :
"Thou shalt not deliver up to his master the servant {slave)
which is escaped unto thee." * * * " He shall dwell with thee, enew
among you in that place which he shall choose in on) of thy gates
where itliketh him best; thou shalt not oppress him,"
This passage is quoted by Mr. Barnes, upon -which he says,
page 140 —
"I am willing to admit that the command^^roSaJZy relates only
to the slaves which escaped to the country of the Hebrews from
surrounding nations ; and that in form it ^id not contemplate the
runaway slaves ofthe Hebrews in their own land."
Pray, then, for what purpose does he speak as follows?
" A seventh essential said fundamental feature of the Hebrew
slavery was, that the runaway slave was not to be restored to his
master ; on this point the law was absolute."
And to sustain this assertion, he quotes this same passage from
Deuteronomy, and, commenting thereon, says, pages 140, 141 —
" This solemn and fundamental enactment would invo,lve the fol
lowing results or effects. (1.) No laws could ever be enacted in the
Hebrew cpmmomwealth by which a runaway slave could be restored
to his master. No revolution of the government, and no change of
policy, could ever modify this principle of the constitution. (2.) No
magistrate could on any pretence deliver up a runaway slave."
Then, again, page 190 :
"Slaves of the United States are to be restored to their masters,
if they endeavour to escape. We find among the fundamental
principles of the Mosaic laws a provision that the slave was never

120 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

to he restored, if he attempted to do thus. He was to find in the
land of Judea an asylum. The power and authority of the com
monwealth were pledged for his protection."
And yet, again, page 226 :
" As one of the results of this inquiry, it is apparent that the
Hebrews were not a nation of slaveholders."
We present these passages to shows Mr. Barnes's mode of argu
ment. But let us examine, for a moment, the indications of the
holy books on the subject of runaway slaves. When David had
protected the flocks of Nabal, upon the mountains of Carmel, on
a holiday, he sent his young men, to ask a present, as some com
pensation for the same.
"And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is
David ? and who is the son of Jesse ? There be many servants
(D'"7DI^ abadim, slaves) nowadays that break away every man from
his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my
flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men,
whom I know not whence they be ?" 1 Sam. xxv. 10, 11.
We think the indications are that for slaves to run away was
a common occurrence, and that it, was immoral to give them coun
tenance or protection ; and Nabal, pretending that David might
be one of that class, excused himself from bestowing the present
on that account.
"And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the
servants (D'^Di^ abadim, slaves) of Shemei ran away unto Achish,
son of Maachah king of Gath; and they told Shemei, saying.
Behold thy servants (^H^J^ abadeka,' slaves) be in Gath. And
Shemei arose and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to
seek his servants (V°1DJ^ ahadav, slaves) ; and Shemei went and
brought his servants (V13i^ ahadav, slaves) from Gath." 1 Kings,
ii. 39, 40. ^ ' •
If it can be said that Jehovah has views and wishes, then it may
be said, that the views and wishes of Jehovah on the subject of
runaway slaves must, at all times, be the same. "In him there is
no variableness, nor shadow of turning."
" And she had a hand-maid (nHtDti* shiphehah, female slave), an
Egyptian (ri'"lVP mitserith, Egyptian, a descendant of Misraim,
the second son of Ham), whose name was Hagar." Gen. xvi. 1.
Upon a feud between her and her mistress, her mistress dealt
hardly by her, and she ran away : " And the angel of the Lord

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 121
found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain
in the way to Shur." (8th verse,) "And he said, Hagar, Sarai's
maid, whence comest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she
said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai." (The angel did
not say to her, "Here is a shilling; get into Canada as soon as
possible !") " And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to
thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands." Gen. xvi. 7-9.
On page 117, Mr. Barnes says —
" In the laws of Moses, there is but one way mentioned by which
a foreigner could be made a slave ; that is, by purchase. Lev.
xxv. 44. And it is remarkable that the Hebrews were not per
mitted to make slaves of the captives taken in war."
Let us compare this assertion, made by Mr. Barnes, with the 31st
of Numbers :
" And the Lord spake unto Moses saying. Avenge the children
of Israel of the Midianites. * * * (Verse 9,) And the children
of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little
ones. * * * (Verse 11,) And they took all the spoils and all the
prey, both of men and of beasts. (Verse 12,) And they brought
the captives and the prey unto Moses and Eleazar the priest.' * * *
(Verse 25,) And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the
¦sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and beast. * * *
(Verse 27,) And divide the prey into two parts, between them that
took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all
the congregation. * * * (Verse 28,) And levy a tribute unto the
Lord of the men of war which went out to battle, one soul of five
hundred, both of the persons and of the beeves. * * * (Verse 30,)
And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of
fifty of the persons, ,&c. * * * ' (Verse 32,) And the booty, being
the rest of the prey, which the men of war had, was * * * sheep.
(Verse 35,) And thirty-two thousand persons in all, * * * (Verse
36,) And the half which was the portion of them that went out to
war, was, &c. * * * sheep, &c. (Verse 40,) "And the persons
were sixteen thousand, of which the Lord's tribute was thirty and
two persons^ (Verse 42) And the, children of Israel's half which
Moses divided from the men that warred * * * was, &c. * * *
sheep, ,&c. * * * (Verse 46,) and sixteen thousand persons. (Verse
47,) Even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion
of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites
which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord
commanded Moses."

122 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON X.
In ancient times, all persons conquered in battle were liable to
be put to death by the national laws then existing. If the con
queror suffered the captive to escape death, imposing on him only
the cutting off his thumbs, hands, or ears ; or, without these per
sonal deformations, subjecting him to slavery, as was often the
case, especially when the captive was of low grade, — ^it was ever
regarded as an act of mercy in the conqueror.
In the 17th verse of the thirty-first chapter of Numbers, Moses
commanded that " every male among the little ones, and every
woman who had known a man," should be killed, even after they
had been taken to the Israelitish camp ; and that none should be
reserved for slaves, except female children, of whom, it appears,
there were thirty-two thousand. The booty taken in this war, was
distributed by Moses, in comformity to the especial direction of
God himself, as follows: — (Verse '25,) "And the Lord spake unto
" Moses, saying, (verse 26,) Take the sum of the prey that was taken,
both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the
chief fathers of the congregation, (verse 28,) and levy a tribute
unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle : one
soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and
of the asses, and of the sheep : (verse 29,) Take it of their half,
and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for a heave-offering of the .
Lord. (Verse' 30,) And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt
take one portion of fifty of the persons, of the beeves, of the
asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them to
the Levites which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.
(Verse 31,) And Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord commanded
Moses." Houbigant, in his commentary upon this chapter, has given us
the following

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

123

Table of the distribution of the booty of this war ;

Sheep  675,000. 1
Beeves.... 72,000 |
Asses  61,000 |
Persons.. 32,000 |

To the Soldiers.. ..837,500  To the Lord  675

People....

..837,500 

Levites..,

. 6,750

Soldiers..

.. 86,000 

Lord 

72

People....

.. 36,000 

Levites...

720

Soldiers. .

.. 80,500 

Lord 
61
People....
.. 80,500 
Levites...
, 610
Soldiers. .
.. 16,000 
Lord 
32
People....
.. 16,000 
Levites...
820
This table has been adopted by Dr. Adam Clark in his Com
mentary, to which he adds —
" In this table the booty is equally divided between the people
and the soldiers ; a five-hundredth part being given to the Lord,
and a fiftieth part to the Levites." And this learned divine, in
his commentary on the 28th verse, says — " And levy a tribute unto
the Lord, one soul of five hundred, &c. * * * The perso?is
to be employed in the Lord's service, under the Levites: the cattle
either for sacrifice or for the use of the Levites. (Verse 30.) Some
monsters have supposed that one out of every five hundred of the
captives was offered in sacrifice to the Lord ! But this is abomi
nable. When God chose to have the life of a man, he took it in
the way of Justice, as in the case of the Midianites above ; but
never in the way of sacrifice." ,
In the 29th verse, we learn that the Lord's portioij was to be
given to Eleazar the priest, "for a heave-offering of the Lordt"'
The word heave-offering is rendered from the word nQllfl teru-
math, from the root D1"1 rUm, which means a lifting up, exalting,
elevation of rank, while the form here used means a gift, a con
tribution, associated with the idea of being lifted up, exalted, ele
vated to a higher condition. Hence, when the priest presented a
heave-offering, he moved his censer upwards, in a perpendicular
line, with the view to intimate the elevating tendency resulting from
the relation of the person offering, the thing offered, and the one
to whom it is offered ; whereas, in a wave-offering,' he moved his
censer in a horizontal line, intimating a relation of steadfastness
and unchangeability. Because the cross is represented by perpen
dicular and horizontal lines, some early commentators have ima
gined that the heave and wave-offerings were typical of the cross
of Christ, The word "heave," as here used, is purely Saxon;
heafan, to lift, to raise, to move upward. We may well say to
heave up; but it is. bad Saxon to say heave down. From this same
124 STUDIES ON SLAVERY

Saxon word comes our word heaven, on account of the notion of
its lofty location, and the elevating influence of the acts of him
who shall reach it ; each act which makes us nearer heaven may
not inappropriately be considered a heave-offering to the Lord.
The corollary is, that if God had regarded the making these
children slaves a sin, — since sin always deteriorates and degrades,
the reverse of elevation or lifting up, — he never could have ordered
any of them to be given to him as a heave-offering.
¦ We trust to establish the point that the enslavement of such
people as we find the African hordes now to be, to those who have
a more correct knowledge of God and his laws, — of those most
wicked Midianites, to those to whom God had most especially re
vealed himself,— must, so long as the laws of God operate, have an
elevating influence upon those so enslaved. Thus we shall perceive
that the Hebrew word translated into our old Saxon heave-offer
ing was the most appropriate, and signiflcant of the facts of the
case, that could be expressed by language.
Our received version of this chapter, which is a good translation
of the original, contains no word by which we directly express the
idea of slavery : so is it in the original. But we trust the readers
of either will not be found so awry as not to perceive that the idea
and facts are as fully and substantially developed as though those
terms were used in each.
In the most of languages, an idea, and facts in relation to it, may
be and are often expressed without the use of the name of the idea,
and sometimes of the facts. The Greek is well deemed a most par
ticular and definite language. In Thueydides, liber vii. caput 87,
this sentence occurs : ineita TtTinv A^ivaiav, ocal sittveq 2c-
.zE?t,LG)fav Yi 'ltay>iLcytav ^vveatpatEVtyav, tovg d^/long tXTisSovto.
Here, there is no word expressing the idea of slavery. Literally,
it is : " Then^xcept the Athenians, and some of the Sicilians or
Italians, who nad engaged in the war, all others were sold." Yet
Dr. Smith, the rector of Holy Trinity Church, in Chester, Eng
land, who lived at an age beyond the reach of prejudice or argu
ment on the subject of slavery, (he was born in 1711,) has correctly
translated the passage thus : " But, after this term, all but the
Athenians, and such of the Sicilians and Italians as had joined
with them in the invasion, were sold out for slaves." Smith's
Thucyd. p. 285.
And permit us further to inquire how the assertion of Mr.
Barnes, page 117, that, "in the laws of Moses there is but one

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 125
way mentioned by which a foreigner could be made a slave ; that
is, by purchase, Lev. xxv. 44 ; and it is remarkable that the He
brews were not permitted to make slaves of the captives taken in
the war" — will compare with Beut. xx. 10-16 :
"And when thou comest nigh unto a city to fight' against it,
then proclaim peace unto it." * * * "And it shall be, if it
make answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that
all the people that is found therein, shall be tributaries unto thee,
and shall serve thee" (nil^Jfl va abaduka, shall be slaves to thee).
"And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war
against thee, then thou shalt besiege it." And when the hand of
thy God hath delivered it into thy hands, thou shalt smite every
male thereof with the edge of the sword." "But the women, and
the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is within the city, even
all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt
eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given
thee." " Thus shalt thou do unto all the citieawJtich are very far
off from thee, which are not of the cities of those nations."
It is evident that the captives here allowed to be made were
to be slaves, from what follows on the same subject, in the same
book, xxi. 10-15: When thou goest forth to war against thine ene
mies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thy hands,
and thou hast taken them captive, and seest among the captives
a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldst
have her to thy wife : then thou shalt bring her home to thy house,
and she shall shave her head and pare her nails : and she shall
put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in
thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month :
and after that, thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and
she shall be thy wife. And it shall be, if thou have no delight in
her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will ; but thou shalt
not sell her at all for money : thou shalt not mak* merchandise
of her, because thou hast humbled her."
Thus the fact is proved, that if he had not thus made her his
wife, she would have been his slave and an article of merchandise.

126 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON XL
>¦
In the introductory part of Mr. Barnes's book, he makes some
remarks in the nature of an apology for his undertaking to examine
the subject of slavery. Page 20, he says —
" Belonging to the same race with those who are held in bond
age. We have a right, nay, we are bound to express the sympa
thies of brotherhood, and ' to remember those who are in bonds
as bound with them.' "
We were not aware of any fact relating to Mr. Barnes's descent ;
nor did we before know from what race he was descended.
We were truly much surprised at this avowal, and endeavoured
to imagine that he had used the word in some general and indefinite
sense, as some do when they say animal race, and human race.
But on examining his use of the word, page 20: "How is a
foreign race, with so different a complexion, and in reference to
which, so deep-seated prejudices and aversions exist, in every part
of the land, to be disposed of if they become free ?" — and page 27 :
" And the struggles which gave liberty to millions of the Anglo-
saxon race did not loosen one rivet from the fetter «of an African;"
page 83 : " The Hebrews were not essentially distinguished from
the Egyptians, as the Africans are from their masters in this
land, by colour;" and page 86: "They were a foreign race, as
the African race is with us ;" and page 96 : " There are in the
United States now, according to the census of 1840, 2,486,465 of
a foreign race held in bondage;" and page 97 : "It would have
been as just for the Egyptians to retain the Hebrews in bondage
as it is for white Americans to retain the African race ;" — we
were forced t6 conclude that the author understood his laflguage
and its meaning.
Such, then, being the fact, we cannot find it in our heart to blame
him for " expressing the sympathies of brotherhood." But we feel
disposed with kindness to relieve his min^ from the burthen of
such portion of sympathy for those of his race who are in slavery,
as he may conceive to be a duty imposed by the injunction, " Re
member those who are in bond, as bound with them." We will
quote the passage, Heb. xiii. 3 : " Remember them that are in
bonds, as bound with them." It is translated from the Greek —

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 127
MifivnaxeffdE tav Secsiiiuv ag GvvSsSeiisvol, MimneskSsthe ton des-
mion Ms sundedemenoi. The words translated "bonds," "bound
with," &c. are derived from the root Ua, deo, and signifies to bind, to
bring together, to chain, to fetter, to hinder, to restrain, &c., which
meaning falls into all its derivations. When Sne was accused of
some offence, and was, on that account, restrained, so that he
might be surely had at a trial for the same, such restraint would
be expressed, as the case required, by some of its derivations.
Hence we have hiaic,, desis, the act of binding ; Ssafia, desma, a
bond, a chain ; oeOfiiog, desmios, chained, fettered, imprisoned, &c. ;
OEGfiog, desmos, a bond, chain, knots, cords, cables; SsGfioco,
desmoo, to enchain, to imprison ; ^EG^o^v7..ai,, desmophulax, a
jailer, &c.
The word is used, differently varied, in Matt. xvi. 19; xviii. 18 ;
Acts viii. 23 ; xx. 23 ; xxiii. 21 ; xxvi. 29 ; Rom. vii. 2 ; 1 Cor. vii.
39 ; Eph. iv. 3 ; Philip, i. 16 ; Col. iv. 18 ; 2 Tim. ii. 9 ; Philem.
10 ; Heb. x. 34 ; xi. 36 ; and never used, in any sense whatever,
to express any condition of slavery. St. Paul was under the re
straint of the law upon a charge of heresy. All the Christians
of his day were very liable to like danger. His only meaning
was that all such should be remembered, as though they themselves
were suffering a like misfortune. Suppose he had expressed the
idea more diffusely and said, " Remember all Christians who, for
teaching Christ crucified, are persecuted on the charge of teaching
a false religion, as though you yourselves were persecuted with
them." Such was the fact. Surely no one, by any course of rational
deduction, could construe it into an injunction to remember or do
any thing else, in regard to slavery or its subjects, unless upon
the condition that the slave was, by 'some means, under restraint
upon a similar charge. St. Paul was never married ; cannot be
said to have looked with very ardent eyes upon the institution of
marriage ; by many is thought to have been unfavourably disposed
towards it. We have among us, to this day, some who pretend that
they think it a great evil, are its bitter enemies, and give evidence
that, if in their power, they would totally abolish it. Suppose
such a man should say that, because he belonged to the same race
with those who were bound in the bonds of wedlock, it was his
privilege to express the sympathies of brotherhood, and expostu
late against that evil institution ; nay, that he was enjoined by St.
Paul to do so in this passage, " Remember those who are in bonds.

128 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

as bound with them," — what would be the value of this appeal to
St. Paul ? But the very word he uses, in the passage quoted, 'is
also used, almost invariably, in the gospels, to express the re
straint imposed by matrimony ; yet it is never used to express any
condition, or quality, or station, in regard to slavery.
The naked, unadorned proposition presented by Dr. Barnes is,
that, because St. Paul enjoined the Hebrew Christians to sympa
thize with, to remember all those who were labouring under .perse
cution on the account of their faith in Christ, they were also
bound to remember, to sympathize, with the slaves, on the account
of their being in slavery, as though they were slaves themselves.
We feel that such argument must ever be abortive.
From the delicacy of Dr. Barnes's situation, as " belonging to
the same race with those held in bondage," we feel it a duty to
treat the position with great forbearance. Had it come from one
of the more favoured race of Shem, or the still more lofty race of
Japheth, we should have felt it an equal duty to have animadverted ¦
with some severity.
It would have appeared like a design to impose on those igno
rant of the original ; and might have put us in mind of the cun
ning huckster, with his basket of addled eggs, — although unex
pectedly broken in the act of their delivery to the hungry travel
ler ; yet the incident was remembered by the recorder of pro
priety.

LESSON XII.

Antioch is said to have been the birthplace of St. Margaret, —
of which there are many legends, to one of which we allude. It
brings to mind some early views of Christianity ; besides, at her
time, a large portion of the population of Antioch were slaves, and
are alluded to in the legend.
She was the daughter of the priest of Apollo, and was herself a
priestess to the same god. She is said to have lived in the time and
under the authority of the Prsefect Olybius, who became devoted to
her mental and personal accomplishments and very great beauty.
He is said to have sought her in marriage, and, after great labour
and exertion, to have brought about such a state of affairs as to

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 129

insur'eher approval and consent. But, although thus the affianced
bride of Olybius, by some means she had held intercommunion
with the private teachers of Christianity, and was converted to its
faith ; a fact known onlj to her and them.
Upon such a state of things, arrives from Probus, Rome's im
perial lord, Vopiscus, charged to admonish the prsefect how fame
bore tidings of the frequent apostasy from the true religion oi
the gods, and the increase of the unholy faith of the Galileans at
Antioch ; and that the laws were made to be executed upon the
godless, whose wicked and incestuous rites offend the thousand
deities of Rome.
Olybius well knows that the least faltering on his part would
probably be followed by his being shown the mandate for Vopiscus
to supersede him in the government ; for which he determines to not
give him the least pretence : hence he orders the immediate arrest
of all suspected ; convenes his council in the halls of justice, and
announces thus his views :
" Hear me, ye priests on earth, ye gods in heaven!
By Vesta, and her virgin-gu.arded fires ;
By Mars, the sire and guardian god of Rome ;
By Antioch's bright Apollo ; by the throne
Of him -whose thunder shakes the vaulted ekies ;
And that dread oath I add, that binds the immortals,
The unblessed -waters of Tartarean Styx ;
Last, by the avenger of despised vo-ws.
The inevitable, serpent-haired Eumenides,
Olybius B-wears, thus mounting on the throne
Of justice, to exhaust heaven's wrath on all
That have cast off their fathers' gods for rites
Ne-w and unholy. From my heart, I blot
Partial affection and the love of kindred ;
Even if my father's blood flo-wed in their veins,
I would obey the emperor and the gods!" MlLlMAN.

* * * The prisoners are ushered in, heard, and ordered to
death ; among whom a female veiled, as if Phoebus-chosen !

' What ! dare they rend our dedicated maids.
Even from our altars ? Haste ! ' withdraw the veil,
In which her guilty face is shrouded close.
Ha ! their magic mocks my sight ! I seem to sfte
What cannot be  Margarita !
Answer, if thou art she!" 9

130 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

His mind was agonized at the thoughts of her position : silently,
to himself, he says —

-This pale and false Vopiscus

Hath from great Probus wrung his easy mandate ;
Him Asia owns her prsefect, if Olybius
Obey not this fell edict." * * *
Much art and great argument were privately used to produce
her recantation ; to which she calmly answers —
 "Who disown their Lord

On earth, will He disown in heaven!"
* * * Sent to the arena; the torture and execution of the
prisoners proceed, according to the order of their arraignment. The
populace become enraged, and loudly demand the blood of the
apostate priestess ; while the prsefect, in his palace, digests a
plan to surely save her life. The high-priest of Apollo, her
father, in his robes of office and with his official attendants, must
boldly enter the arena, and offer pardon, in the name of his god,
fo any one who utters the cabalistic word signifying "I recant;"
must hastily apply to each in person ; at Margarita, one instructed
must imitate her voice ; instantly the priest is to throw the mantle
of the god upon her ; and the attendants, by force, to carry her
to the palace of Olybius, where, instead of her execution, her
marriage with Olybius is to take place.
The procession of priests (of whom none but her father, and her
sister in disguise as a proxy for the act of recantation, knew the
secret) are urged instantly to action : " For, says Olybius, "my very
soul is famished in every moment of delay !" •
The procession moves in all pomp and splendour, with a view to
produce an alterative effect on the mind of the maddened populace.
Its approach to the arena is proclaimed by a sentinel there ; on
hearing which, Margarita falls at the feet of the headsman, and
successfully implores instant death, that her father may be spared
the misery of witnessing it. She breathes a prayer in forgiveness
of Olybius, and receives the stroke of death as the procession
enters. The father rages, demands torture to make the Christians
say how they enthralled her : a Christian teacher explains, as with
" a still, small voice ;" the priests of Apollo listen !
Rage and excitement had reached the utmost bound. There
was a pause, as the recess between two raging storms. The still
ness reached even the palace, and reason did feel as if

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 131

" There was darkness over all the land. Olybius, then : —
What means this deathlike stillness ? Not a sound
Or murmur, from yon countless multitudes ;
A pale, contagious horror seems to creep
Even to our palace. Men gaze mutely round,
As in their neighbour's face to read a secret '*
They dare not speak themselves :
Even thus, along his vast domains of silence,
Dark Pluto gazes, when the sullen spirits
Speak only with fixed look and voiceless motion.
'Tis misery ! Speak ; Olybius orders ; speak to me.
Nor let mine own voice, like an evil omen.
Load this hot air unanswered."
A messenger announces the death of Margarita ; Olybius rushes
to kill him ; but, recovering self-command —
 "Oh, Pm sick

Of this accursed pomp : I will not use
Its privilege of revenge. Fatal trappings
Of proud authority ! That « * * « *
* -* ¦* shine and burn into the very entrails !
Supremacy ! ! the great prerogative
Of being blasted by superior misery !"
A second messenger announces that
" The enchantress Margarita, by her death,
Hath -wrought upon the changeful populace,
That they cry loudly on the Christian's God :
Emboldened multiutudes, from every quarter,
Throng forth, and iu the face of day proclaim
Their lawless faith. They have taken up the body,
And hither, as in proud ovation, bear it,
With clamour and with song. All Antioch crowds
Applauding round them.''
We are favoured only with the song of the slaves, who, upon
that holiday, intermingled in the throng about the palace of
Olybius, to which the body of Margarita has been borne ; by which
we may perceive how Christianity has elevated them above
thoughts of their condition :
SONG OF THE SLAVES.
Sing to the Lord ! Oh, let us shout his praise !
More lofty paaans let our masters raise.
Midst clouds of golden light, a pathway clear.
With soaring soul, these martyred saints have trod
To Him, the only true Almighty God !
Earth's tumults wild and pagan darkness drear,
To bonds of peace and songs of joy give way :
Behold ! we bring you light — one everlasting day !

132 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
Sing to the Lord ! No more shall frantic Sibyl's yell,
Watchful Augurs, or those of magic spell.
No, not Isis, nor yet Apollo's throne,
No, nor even Death, with Lethean bauds.
Shall longer bind the soul ; before us stands
Him of the Cross of Calvary : — His groan
Of death burst forth from its eternal womb,
While angel spirits shout, and open wide the tomb !
Sing to the Lord ! The Ternple'a veil is rent !
From Moab's plains, the Slave, an outcast, sent
From this cold world shall, soaring, fly to heaven,
From depths of Darkness, Night, and Orcus dread.
Each spirit woke at the Eternal's tread
On the head of Death ! a promise given
To all Earth's houseless, homeless, and forlorn.
Before the Ages were — or His Eldest Son was born !
Sing to the Lord ! .Lo ! while God's rebels rave,
He plunges down, and renovates the slave —
Vengeance aud love at once bestowed on man.
See ! crushed is Baal's, proud Moloch's temple falls ;
Shout to the Lord ! No more shall blood-stained walls.
Nor mountain grove, nor all the gods of Ham,
Dispel a Saviour's love ! Correction's rod
Hath won the world, — for Heaven and Thee, 0 God !
It is one of the providences of Jehovah, that the very wretched
forget their wrath, and the broken in spirit their violence. And
it may be well for those who examine moral conduct by the evi
dences of the providences of God, to notice how wrath conduces
to wretchedness, and violence to a breaking down of the spirit.
Olybius was by no means prepared to adopt the humiliating
doctrines of the new faith ; but he perceived it to be well adapted
to the condition of those in the extremely low walks of life. By
it the slave was taught to become " the freeman of the Lord," and
the wretched, destitute, and miserable, to become "heirs of God,
and joint-heirs with Christ." These doctrines, and the whole sys
tem, being founded upon the pillars of Humility, Faith, Hope,
and Charity, were an arrangement to make the most humble as
happy as the most exalted; as to happiness and hopes of heaven,
it made all men equal; nor is it surprising that the low classes
more readily become its converts.
Olybius may have seen some beautiful features in this system ;
but his philosophy forbid his faith. He calmly decided that it was
a superstition too low to combat — worthy only of contempt. But
he perceived that the blood of a hundred made a thousand Chris-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 133

tians, and was convinced the only remedy was to improve and
elevate the mind, — to imbue it with deep religious feeling and prin
ciple, a reverence and veneration for the gods.
He deeply felt the wound inflicted by the presence of Vopiscus,
and would gladly have proved to the emperor that change of
government, either as to ruler or its general system, could not affect
the condition of this new doctrine. But he had no knowledge of
the Christian's God, nor of his attributes as a distinct Being ; and
hence, although he may be regarded as a most deadly enemy, yet,
since the providences of Jehovah, through the mild light of the
gospel, begin to develop themselves to the human understanding,
we may deem his report to the emperor, on the Christian super
stition, to be ONE OF its most UNDYIN& PANEGYRICS ; as an ex
tract from which, we may well imagine, he wrote thus : —
Olybius to the Emperor Probus.
* * * " Great reforms on moral subjects do not occur, ex
cept under the influence of religious principle. Political revolu
tions and changes of policy and administration do indeed occur
from other causes, and secure the ends which are desired. But,
on subjects pertaining to right and wrong ; on those questions
where the rights of an inferior and down-trodden class are con
cerned, we can look for little advance, except from the operation
of religious principle.
" Unless the inferior classes have power to assert their rights by
arms, those rights will be conceded only by the operations of con
science and the principles of religion. There is no great wrong
in any community which we can hope to rectify by new considera
tions of policy, or by a mere revolution.. The relations of Chris
tianity are not reached by political revolutions, or by changes of
policy or administration.
" Political revolutions occur in a higher region, and the condi
tion of the Christian is no more affected by a mere change of
government, than that of the vapours of a low, marshy vale is
affected by the tempest and storm in the higher regions of the air.
The storm sweeps along the Apennines, the lightnings play, and
the thunders utter their voice, but the malaria of the Campagna
is unaffected, and the pestilence breathes desolation there still.
So it is with Christianity. Political revolutions occur in higher
places, but the malaria of Christianity remains settled down on
the low plains of life, and not even the surface of the pestilential

134 studies on slavery.

vapour is agitated by all the storms and tempests of political
changes; it remains the same deadly, pervading pestilence still.
Under all the forms of despotism ; in the government of aristo
cracy, or an oligarchy ; under the administration of a pure demo
cracy, or the forms of a republican government ; and in all the
changes from one to the other, Christianity remains still the same.
Whether the prince is hurled from the throne, or rides into power
on the tempest of revolution, the down-trodden Christian is the
same still: — and it makes no difference to him whether the prince
wears a crown, or appears in a plain, republican garb, — ' whether
Caesar is on the throne, or slain in the senate-house.' "
In these imputed sentiments of Olybius, the indications of the
will of Jehovah, in establishing and protecting the institutions of
Christianity, by his providences towards it, is vividly portrayed to
the Christian eye. Jehovah would not suffer " the gates of hell
to prevail against it." Of the very materials intended by its ene
mies for its destruction, he made them build its throne.
The scene, by which we have introduced this imaginary report
of Olybius to the emperor, has been merely to remove from the
mind any bias tending to a partial conception of the indications
of the will of God, as evinced by his providences therein described,
that we may more readily discover the fact, that, instead of show
ing Christianity to be worthy only of contempt, Olybius did pro
nounce its eulogium.
Change the words Christian and Christianity into slave and
slavery ; prince into master, and it then is what Mr. Barnes did
say, and has said, (pages 25, 26, 27,) word for word, about the in
stitution of slavery ; and, as if desirous to portray the providences
of God towards it down to the present time, continuously says.
See pages 27 and 28 —
" Slavery among the Romans remained substantially the same
under the Tarquins, the consuls, and the Caesars ; when the tri
bunes gained the ascendency, and when the patricians crushed
them to the earth. It lived in Europe when the northern hordes
poured down on the Roman Empire ; and when the caliphs set up
the standard of Islam in the Peninsula. It lived in all the revo
lutions of the Middle Ages, — alike, when spiritual despotism
swayed its sceptre over the nations, and when they began to emerge
into freedom. In the British realms, it has lived in the time of the
Stuarts, under the Protectorate, and for a long time under the
administration of the house of Hanover. With some temporary

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. I35

interruptions, it lived in the provinces of France through the revo
lution. It lived through our own glorious Revolution ; and the
struggles which gave liberty to millions of the Anglo-Saxon race
did not loosen one rivet from the fetters of an African, nor was
there a slave who was any nearer to the enjoyment of freedom
after the surrender of Yorktown, than when Patrick Henry taught
the notes of liberty to echo along the hills and vales of Virginia.
So in all changes of political administration in our own land, the
condition of the slave remains unaffected. Alike whether the
Federalists or Republicans have the rule ; whether the star of the
Whig or the Democrat is in the ascendant ; the condition of the
slave is still the same. The pasans of victory, when the hero of
New Orleans was raised to the presidential chair, or when the
hero of Tippecanoe was inaugurated, conveyed no * * * in
timation of a change to the slave ; nor had he any more hope, nor
was his condition any more affected, when the one gave place to
his successor, or the other was borne to the. grave. And so it is
now. In all the fierce contests for rule in the land ; in the ques
tions about changes in the administration, there are nearly three
millions of our fellow-beings, who have no interest in these con
tests and questions, and whose condition will be affected no more,
whatever the result may be, than the vapour that lies in the valley
is by the changes from sunshine to storm on the summits of the
Alps or the Andes."
This may be all true, but what is the indication of God's will,
as taught by these, his providences towards it ? " And now I say
unto you refrain from these men, and let them alone ; for if this
counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought ; but if it
be of God, ye cannot overthrow it ; lest haply ye be found even to
fight against God." Acts v. 38, 39.

136 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON XIIL
Thus, it has pleased God, at an early age of the world, to reveal
to the mind of man this mode of learning his will by the indica
tions of Providence.
But Mr. Barnes has given us further data, whereby we may be
enabled to examine more deeply into the indications of God's will
touching the institution of slavery, by reference to his providences
concerning it, growing out of the universality and ancientness of
the institution. Thus, page 112, he says — " That slavery had an
existence when Moses undertook the task of legislating for the
Hebrews, there can be no doubt. We have seen that servitude
of some kind prevailed among the patriarchs ; that the traffic in
slaves was carried on between the Midianites and the Egyptians,
* * * and that it existed among the Egyptians. It was un
doubtedly practised by all the surrounding nations, for history
does not point us to a time when slavery did not exist. * * *
There is even evidence that slavery was practised by the Hebrews
themselves, when in a state of bondage ; and that though they
were as a nation 'bondmen to Pharaoh,' yet they had servants in
their families who had been 'bought with money.' * * * At
the very time that the law was given respecting the observance of
the passover, and before the exode from Egypt, this statute ap
pears among others : ' This is the ordinance of the passover :
there shall no stranger eat thereof: but every man-servant, that is
bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he
eat thereof.' It is clear, from this, that the institution was always
in existence, and that Moses did not originate it." Again, page
117 : " A Hebrew might be sold to his brethren if he had been
detected in the act of theft, and had no means of making restitu
tion according to the provisions of the law. Exod. xxii. 3. ' He
shall make full restitution ; if he have nothing, then he shall be
sold for his theft.' " " This is in accordance with the common
legal maxim, Luat in corpore, qui non habet in acre. The same
law prevailed among the Egyptians, and among the Greeks also
till the time of Solon. * * * By the laws of the twelve
tables, the same thing was enacted at Rome. A native-born He-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

137

brew might be a servant in a single case in virtue of his birth.
If the master had given to a Hebrew, whom he had purchased, a
wife, and she had borne him children ; the children were to re
main in servitude." See .£'a;od xxi. 4. Again, page 250: "It is
unnecessary to enter into proof that slavery abounded in the
Roman Empire, or that the conditions of servitude were very
severe and oppressive. This is conceded on all hands." And
page 251 : " Slavery existed generally throughout the Roman
Empire was very great." * * * Page 252 :" Of course, ac
cording to this, the number of slaves could not have been less than
sixty millions in the Roman Empire, at about the time when the
apostles went forth to preach the gospel." And a,gain, page 253:
" The slave-trade in Africa is as old as history reaches back.
Among the ruling nations of the north coast, the Egyptians,
Cyrenians, and Carthaginians, slavery was not only established,
but they imported whole armies of slaves, partly for home use, and
partly, at least by the Carthaginians, to be shipped for foreign
ma,rkets." " They were chiefly drawn from the interior, where kidnapping
was just as much carried on then as now. Black male and female
slaves were even an article of luxury, not only among the above-
named nations, but in Greece and Italy."
Mr. Barnes has quoted and adopted the foregoing, and many
other passages, from the Biblical Repository. (See Bib. Rep. pp.
413,414.) And again, page 259 of Barnes: * * * " And it
is a rare thing, perhaps a thing that never has occurred, that
slavery did not prevail in a country which furnished slaves for
another country."
Many of the foregoing statements are facts as well established
as any part of history. But these truths, honestly admitted by
Mr. Barnes, are pregnant with important considerations touching
the institution of slavery and the providence of God towards it.

138 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON XIV.
Mr. Barnes says, page 381 —
" If slavery is to be defended, it is not to be by arguments drawn
from the Bible, but by arguments drawn from its happy influences
on agriculture, commerce, and the arts ; * * * on its elevating
the black man, and making him more intelligent and happy than
he would be in his own land ; on its whole benevolent bearing on
the welfare of the slave, in this world and the world to come."
It must give every good man the deepest grief to discover this
growing disposition among religious teachers to thrust aside the
teachings of the Bible, and to place in its stead the worldly advan
tages and personal considerations of individual benefit. What
shall we think of the religious feeling and orthodoxy of him who
places " agriculture, commerce, and the arts" in higher authority
than the books of Divine revelation. Thus, this teacher says,
"If the Bible teaches slavery, then the Bible is the greatest curse
that could happen to our race;" yet allows, that if slavery shall
have a beneficial and happy infiuence on " agriculture, commerce,
and the arts," it may be sustained and defended. Such is the
obvious deduction from the proposition ! Mistaken man ! But,
since we say that slavery is most triumphantly sustained and de
fended by the Bible, let us take a view of it agreeably to Mr.
Barnes's direction. So far as we have means, it may be well to
examine the negro in his native ranges.
About thirty years ago, we had a knowledge of an African slave,
the property of Mr. Bookter, of St. Helena Parish, La. Sedgjo
was apparently about sixty years of age — was esteemed to be
unusually intelligent for an African. We propose to give the sub
stance of his narrative, without regard to his language or manner.
For a length of time we made it an object to draw out his know
ledge and notions ; and on the subject of the Deity, his idea was
that the power which made him was procreation ; and that, as far
as regarded his existence, he needed not to care for any other god.
This deity was to be worshipped by whatever act would represent
him as procreator. It need not be remarked that this worship
was the extreme of indecency ; but the more the act of worship

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 139

was wounding to the feelings or sense of delicacy, the more ac
ceptable it was to the god. The displays of this worship could
not well be described.
Sedgjo's account put us in mind of Maachah, the mother of Asa.
In this worship, it was not uncommon to kill, roast, and eat young
children, with the view to propitiate the god, and make its p'arents
prolific. So also the first-born of a mother was sometimes killed
and eaten, in thankfulness to the god for making them the instru
ments of its procreation. The king was the owner and master of
the whole tribe. He might kill and do what else he pleased with
them. The whole tribe was essentially his slaves. But he usually
made use of them as a sort of soldiers. Those who were put to
death at feasts, and sacrifices were generally persons captured from
other tribes. Persons captured were also slaves, might be killed
and eaten on days of sacrifice, or sold and carried away to un
known countries. If one was killed in battle, and fell into the
hands of those who slew him, they feasted on him at night. If
they captured one alive who had done the tribe great injury, a day
was set apart for all the tribe to revenge themselves and feast on
him. The feet and palms of the hands were the most delicious
parts. When the king or master died, some of his favourite wives
and other slaves were put to death, so that he yet should have their
company and services. The king and the men of the tribe seldom
cultivated the land ; but the women and captured slaves are the
cultivators. They never whip a slave, but strike him with a club ;
sometimes break his bones or kill him : if they kill him, they eat
him. Sedgjo belonged to the king's family ; sometimes commanded as
head man ; consequently, had he not been sold, would have been
killed and eaten. The idea of being killed and eaten was not very
dreadful to him ; he had rather be eaten by men than to have the
flies eat him.
He once thought white men bought slaves to eat, as they did
goats. When he first saw the white man, he was afraid of his red
lips ; he thought they were raw flesh and sore. It was more fright
ful to be eaten by red than by black lips.
On shipboard, many try to starve, or jump into the sea, to keep
themselves from being eaten by the red-lips. Did they but know
what was wanted of them, the most would be glad to come. He
cannot tell how long he was on the way to the ships, nor did ho
know where he was going; thinks he was sold many times before

140 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

he got there ; never saw the white man till he was near the sea ;
all the latter part of his journey to the coast the people did not
kill or eat their slaves, but sold them. Their clothing is a small
cloth about the loins. The king and some others have a large cloth
about the shoulders. Many are entirely naked all their lives.
Sedgjo has no wish to go back ; has better clothing here than the
kings have there ; if he does more -work, he has more meat. If he
is whipped here, he is struck with a club there. There, always
afraid of being killed ; jumped like a deer, if, out of the village, he
saw or met a stranger ; is very glad he came here ; here he is afraid
of nobody.
Such is the substance of what came from the negro's own lips.
It was impossible to learn from him his distinct nation or tribe.
Mr. Bookter thought him an Eboe, which was probably a mistake.
The Periplus, or voyage of Hanno, was made 570 years before
the Christian era. Its account was written in Punic, and deposited
in the temple of Moloch, at Carthage. It was afterwards translated
into Greek ; and thence into English, by Dr. Faulkner, a sketch
of which may be found in the " Phoenix of Rare Fragments," from
which we quote, pp. 208-210 :
"Beyond the Lixitiae dwell the inhospitable Ethiopians, who
pasture a wild country, intersected by large mountains, from
which they say the river Lixus flows. In the neighbourhood of
the mountains lived the ' Troglodytae,' (people who burrowed in the
earth,) men of various appearance, whom the Lixitiae described as
swifter in running than horses. * * * Thence we proceeded
towards the east the course of a day, * * * from which pro
ceeding a day's sail, we came to the extremity of the lake, that
was overhung by large mountains, inhabited by savage men clothed
in skins of wild beasts, who drove us away by throwing stones, and
hindered us from landing. * * * Thence we sailed towards
the south twelve days, * * * the whole of which is inhabited
by Ethiopians, who would not wait our approach, but fled from us.
Their language was not intelligible, even to the Lixitiae who were
with us. * * * When we had landed, we could discover nothing
in the daytime except trees ; in the night we saw many fires burn
ing, and heard the sound of pipes, cymbals, drums, and confused
shouts. We were then afraid, and our diviners ordered us to aban
don the island ; * * * at the bottom of which lay an island
like the other, having a lake, and in this lake another island, full

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 141
of Ravage people, the greater part of whom were women, whose
bodies were hairy, and whom our interpreters called Gorillce.
Though we pursued the men, we could not seize any of them ; all
fled from us, escaping over the precipices, and defending them
selves with stones. Three women were however taken j but they
attacked their conductors with their teeth and hands, and could
not be prevailed on to accompany us. Having killed them, we
flayed them, and brought their skins with us to Carthage."
See also King Humpsal's History of African Settlements, trans
lated from the Punic books, by Sallust and into English by H.
Stewart, page 221 :
" The Gaetuli and the Libyans, as it appears, were the first nations
that peopled Affica ; a rude and savage race, subsisting partly on
the flesh of wild teasts, and partly, like cattle, on the herbs of the
field. Among these tribes social intercourse was unknown ; and
they were utter strangers to laws, or to civil government ; wander
ing during the day from place to place, as inclination prompted ;
at night, wherever chance conducted them they took up their
^transient habitation." See page 224, same book : "At the back of
Numidia, the Gaetuli are reported to inhabit, a savage tribe, of
which a part only made use of huts ; while the rest, less civilized,
lead a roving life, without restraint or fixed habitation. Beyond
the Gaetuli is the country of the Ethiopians."
In Judg. iii. 7, 8, we have as follows : " And the children of
Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their
God. * * * Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against
Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chusan Rishathaim,
(D*ny.£J'"1 fui-'IS) which means the "wicked Ethiopians." Let
us notice its similarity of sentiment with a record in hieroglyphics,
in the temple of Karnac, where Cush is used as the general term
to mean the negro tribes: thus, "Hush, barbarian, perverse race;"
and there inscribed over the figures of negro captives, two thou
sand years before our Christian era. See Gliddon's Lectures,
page 42.
We quote from Home's " Introduction to the Study of the
Scriptures," thus: "It is a notorious fact that these latter" (the
Canaanites) " were an abominably wicked people."
" It is needless to enter into any proof of the depraved state of
their morals ; they were a wicked people in the time of Abraham ;
and even then were devoted to destruction by God. But their
iniquity was not yet full. In the time of Moses, they were idola-

142 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

ters; sacrificers of their own crying and smiling infants; devourers
of human fiesh ; addicted to unnatural lusts ; immersed in the
filthiness of all manner of vice." See Christian Observer of 1819,
p. 732.
But let us look at the negro tribes in more modern days. We
quote from Lander, p. 68 : " What makes us more desirous to
leave this abominable place, is the fact (as we have been told) that a
sacrifice of no less than three hundred human beings, of both
sexes and all ages, is shortly to take place. We often hear the
cries of many of these poor wretches ; and the heart sickens with
horror at the bare contemplation of such a scene as awaits us
should we remain here much longer."
And page 74: "We have longed to discover "a solitary virtue
lingering among the natives of this place, (Badftgry;) .but as yet
our search has been ineffectual."
And page 77 : " We have met with nothing but selfishness and
rapacity, from the chief to the meanest of his people. The religion
of Badagry is Mohammedanism, and the worst species of paganism ;
that which sanctions and enjoins the sacrifice of human beings, and
other abominable practices, and the worship of imaginary demons
and fiends."
Page 110: "It is the custom here, when a governor dies, for
two of his favourite wives to quit the world on the same day, in
order that he may have a little pleasant, social company in a future
state." Page 111 : " The reason of our not meeting with a better recep
tion at Loatoo, when we slept there, was the want of a chief to
that town, the last having followed the old governor to the eternal
shades, for he was his slave. Widows are burned in India, just as
they are poisoned or clubbed here ; but in the former country, I
believe no male victims are destroyed on such occasions."
" At Paoya, (page 124,) several chiefs in the road have asked
us the reason why the Portuguese do not purchase as many slaves
as formerly ; and make very sad complaints of the stagnation in
this branch of traffic."
Page 158 : "At Leograda, a man thinks as little of taking a
wife as cutting an ear of corn. Affection is altogether out of the
question." Page 160 : " At Eitcho, it will scarcely be believed, that not less
than one hundred and sixty governors of towns and villages between
this place and the seacoast, all belonging to Yariba, have died from

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 143

natural causes, or have been slain in war, since I was last here ;
and that of the inhabited places through which we have passed, not
more than a half-dozen chiefs are alive at this moment, who re
ceived and entertained me on my return to Badagry, three years
ago." Page 176 : " They seem to have no social tenderness ; very few
of those amiable private virtues which would win our affection, and
none of those public quahties that claim respect or command admi
ration. Their love of country is not strong enough in their bosoms
to incite them to defend it against the ^irregular incursions of a
despicable foe. * * * Regardless of the past as reckless of
the future ; the present alone influences their actions. In this
respect they approach nearer to the brute creation than perhaps
any other people on the face of the globe."
Page 181 : "In so large a place as this, where two-thirds of the
population are slaves." * * *
Page 192 : " The cause of it was soon explained by his inform
ing us that he would be doomed to- die with two companions,
(slaves,) as soon as their governor's dissolution should take place."
Page 227 : " In the forenoon we passed near a spot where our
guides informed us a party of Falatahs, a short time ago, murdered
twenty of their slaves, because they had not food sufficient," &c.
Page 232: "At Coobly, he would rather have given us a boy
(slave) instead of the horse."
Page 233 : " Monday, June 14th. — The governor's old wife re
turned from Boossa this morning, whither she had gone in quest
of three female slaves who had fled from her about a fortnight
since. She has brought her fugitives back with her, and they
are now confined in irons."
Page 272 : " Both these days the men have been entering the
city; and they have brought with them only between forty and
fifty slaves."
Page 278 : " The chief benefits resulting to Bello from the suc
cess of the rebels, were a half-yearly tribute, which the magia
agreed to pay him in slaves."
Page 282: "At Yaooris. — And many thousands of his men,
fearing no law, and having no ostensible employment, are scattered
over the face of the whole country. They commit all sorts of
crimes ; they plunder, they burn, they destroy, and even murder,
and are not accountable to any earthly tribunal for their actions."
Page 312 : "At Boossa. — The manners of the Africans too, are

144 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

hostile to the interest and advancement of woman, and she is very
rarely placed on an equality with her husband."
Page 228 : "A man is at liberty to return his wife to her parents
at any time, and without adducing any reason."
Page 345 : " The Sheikh of Bornou has recently issued a procla
mation, that no slaves from the interior countries are to be sent for
sale farther west than Wowow, — so that none will be sent in future
from thence to the seaside. The greatest and most profitable
market for slaves is said to be at Timbuctoo, whither their owners
at present transport them to sell to the Arabs, who take them
over the deserts of Tahara and Libya to sell in the Barbary States.
An Arab has informed us that many of his countrymen trade as
far as Turkey, in Europe, with their slaves, where they dispose of
them for two hundred and fifty dollars each. * * * Perhaps
it would be speaking within compass to say that four-fifths of the
whole population of this country, (the Eboe,) likewise every other
hereabouts, are slaves."
Vol. ii. page 208 : "It may appear strange that I should dwell
so long on this subject, for it seems quite natural that every one,
even the most thoughtless barbarian, would feel at least some slight
emotion on being exiled from his native land and enslaved ; but so
far is this from being the case, that Africans, generally speaking,
betray the most perfect indifference on losing their^ liberty and
being deprived of their relatives ; while love of country is seem
ingly as great a stranger to their breasts as social tenderness and
domestic affection. We have seen many thousands of slaves;
some of them more intelligent than others ; but the poor little fat
woman whom I have mentioned, — the associate of beasts and wal
lowing in filth, — whose countenance would seem to indicate only
listnessness, stupidity, and perhaps idiotism, without the smallest
symptom of intelligence — she alone has shown any thing like re
gret on gazing on her native land for the last time."
Page 218 : "It has been told us by many that the Eboe people
are confirmned Anthropophagi ; and this opinion is more prevalent
among the tribes bordering on that kingdom than with the nations
of more remote districts."
We shall close our extracts from Lander's work, by the follow
ing, showing that the Africans made slaves of the two Landers
themselves. Page 225 : " The king then said, with a serious countenance,
that there was no necessity for further discussion respecting the

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. I45
white men, (the two brothers Lander,) his mind 'was already made
up on the subject ; and for the first time, he briefly explained him
self, to this effect : That circumstances having tlirown us in the
way of his subjects, by the laws and usages of the country he was
not only entitled to our own persons, but had equal rights to tliose
of our attendants. That he should take no further advantage oT
his good fortune than by exchanging us for as much English goods
as would amount in value to twenty slaves."
The following we transcribe from Stedman's Narrative, vol. ii.
page 267 : "I should not forget to mention that the Gingo negroes
are supposed to be Anthropophagi, or cannibals, like the Caribbee
Indians, instigated by habitual and implacable revenge. Among
the rebels of this tribe, after the taking of Boucore, some pots were
found on the fire, with human flesh, which one of the officers had
the curiosity to taste ; and declared that it was not inferior to
some kinds of beef or pork. I have since been informed, by a
Mr. Vaugils, an American, who, having travelled a great number
of miles inland in Africa, at last came to a place where human
arms, legs, and thighs hung upon wooden shambles, and -were ex
posed to sale like butcher's meat. And Captain John Keen, formerly
of the Dolphin, but late of the Vianbana schooner, in the Sierra
Leone Company's service, positively assured me that, a few years
since, when he was on the coast of Africa, in the brig Fame, from
Bristol, Mr. Samuel Briggs, owner, trading for wool, ivory, and
gold-dust, a Captain Dunningen, with the whole crew belonging
to the Nassau schooner, were cut in pieces, salted, and eaten by
the negroes of Great Drewin."
But this is nothing to what is related, on good authority, respect
ing the Giagas, a race of cannibals who are said to have overrun a
great part of Africa. These monsters, it is said, are descended
¦from the Agows and Galia, who dwell in the southern extremity
of Abyssinia, near the sources of the Nile. Impelled by necessity
or the love of plunder, they left their original settlements, and
extended their ravages through the heart of Africa, till they were
stopped by the -Western Ocean. They seized on the kingdom of
Benguela, laying to the south of Angola ; and in this situation
they were found by the Romish missionaries, and by our country
man, Andrew Battel, whose adventures may be found in Purchas's
Pilgrim. Both he, and the Capuchin Cavozzi, who resided long
among them and converted several of them' to Christianity, gave
such an account of their manners as is enough to chill the blood
10

146 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

with horror. We shall spare our readers the horrid detail, only
observing that human flesh is one of their delicacies, and that they
devour it, not from a spirit of revenge, or from any want of other
food, but as the most agreeable dainty. Some of their command
ers, when they went on an expedition, carried numbers of young
women along with them, some of whom were slain almost every
day, to gratify this unnatural appetite." See Modern Universal
History, vol. xvi. p. 321 ; also Anzito ; also Edin. Encyc. vol. ii.
p. 185.
In continuation of this subject, permit us to take a view of these
tribes, at a time just before the slave-trade commenced among
them with Christian nations. The Portuguese were first to attempt
to colonize portions of Africa, with the double view of extending
commerce and of spreading the Christian faith. They commenced
a settlement of that kind in the regions of Congo, as early as
1578 ; shortly after which, the Angolas, an adjoining nation, being
at war with each other, one party applied to Congo and the Portu
guese for aid, which was lent them. Soon a battle took place, in
which 120,000 of the Angolas and Giagas were slain. See Lopez's
Hist, of Congo.
About the same time, we find in Bappus de VAfrique, the fol
lowing data :
"The natives of Angola are tall and strong; but, like the rest
of the Ethiopians, they are so very lazy and indolent, that although
their soil is admirably adapted to the raising of cattle and the
production of grain, they allow both to be destroyed by the wild
beasts with which the country abounds. The advantages which
they enjoy from climate and soil are thus neglected. * * *
We are told that the people in some of the idolatrous provinces
still feed on human flesh, and prefer it to all other ; so that a dead
slave gives a higher price in market than a living one. The can
nibals are in all probability descended from the barbarous race of
the Giagas, by whom the greater part of the eastern and south
eastern provinces were peopled. One most inhuman custom still
prevails in this part of the kingdom, and that is, the sacrificing of
a number of human victims at the burial of their dead, in testi
mony of the respect in which their memory is held. The number
of these unhappy victims is therefore always in proportion to the
rank and wealth of the deceased ; and their bodies are afterwards
piled up in a heap upon their tombs. * * * This prince
(Angola Chilvagni) became a great warrior, enUrged the Angoliq

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 147

dominions, and died much regretted ; and was succeeded by his
soji, Dambi Angola. Unlike his father, he is described as a mon
ster of cruelty, and, happily for his subjects, his reign was of short
duration. Nevertheless, he was buried with, great magnificence ;
and, according to the barbarous custom of the country, a mound
was erected over his grave, filkd with the bones of human victims,
who had been sacrificed to his manes."
"He was succeeded by Ngola Chilvagni, a warlike and cruel
prince, who carried his victorious arms within a few leagues of
Loando. * * * Intoxicated with success, he fancied himself a
God, and claimed divine honours. * * * Ngingha was elected
his successor, a prince of so cruel a disposition that all his subjects
wished his death ; which, happily for thera, soon arrived. Never
theless, he was buried with the usual pomp, with the usual number
of sacrifices. His son and successor, Bandi Angola, discovered a
disposition still more cruel than his father's. * * * To coun
teract these and other idolatrous rites, and to soften that barbarity
of manners which so generally prevailed, the Portuguese, when
they established themselves in the country, (1578,) were at great
pains to introduce the invaluable blessings of Christianity. * * *
so that from the year 1580 to 1590, we are informed, no less a
number than 20,000 were converted and publicly professed Chris
tianity." * *
"Her remains were no sooner deposited beside her sisters, in the
church which she had built, than Mona Zingha declared his abhor
rence to Christianity, and revived the horrid Giagan rites, Five
women, of the first rank, were by his orders buried in the queen's
grave, and upwards of forty persons of distinction were next sacri
ficed. * * * He wrote the viceroy at Loando, that he had
abjured the Christian religion, which he said he had formerly .em
braced merely out of respect * * * to his queen, and that he
now returned to the ancient sect of the Giagas. That there might
remain no doubt of his sincerity in that declaration, he followed it
with the sacrifice of a great number of victims, in honour of their
bloody and idolatrous rites, with the destruction of all Christian
churches and chapels, and with the persecution of the Christians
in all parts of his kingdom."
And we may here remark that even the nations of the coast
could never be persuaded to abolish human sacrifice, nor to the in
troduction of Christianity, to any extent, until after the introduc
tion of the slave-trade with christian nations. See also Osbcrn's

148 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Collection of Travels, vol. ii. p. 537 ; Mod. Universal Hist. vol. 43;
and Edin. Encyc. vol. ii. pp. 107, 109, 110, 113.
Over two hundred years ago, and during the reign of Charles I.
of England, Sir Thomas Herbert, (not Lord Edward Herbert, who
wrote a deistical book, entitled, " Truth,") a gentleman of most
elevated connection, and a scholar devoted to science and general
literature, with a mind adorned by poetry and infiuenced by the
strongest impulses of human sympathy ; and one, of whom Lord
Fairfax said, " He travelled, not -with lucre sotted.
But went for knowledge — and he got it !"
This author, in his Tour in Africa, writes thus : " The inhabit
ants here along the Golden coast of Guinea, and Benin, bounded
with Tombotu, (Timbuctoo,) Gualata, and Mollis, and watered by the
great river Niger, but, especially in the Medit^ranean (inland) parts,
know no God, nor are at all willing to be instructed by nature —
"Scire nihil jucundissimum." Howbeit the Divel, who will not
want his ceremonie, has infused prodigious idolatry into their
hearts, enough to relish his pallet, and aggrandize their tortures,
where he gets power to fry their souls, as the raging sun has
scorched their cole-black carcasses. * * * Those countries
are full of black-skinned wretches, rich in eatth, as abounding
with the best minerals and with elephants, but miserable in De-
monomy. * * *. Lg^ Q^g character serve for all. For colour
they resemble chimney-sweepers ; unlike them in this, they are of
no profession, except rapine and villany igaake one ; for here, Be-
monis omnia plena. * * * But in Loango and the Anziqui
the people are little other than divels incarnate ; not satisfied
with nature's treasures, as gold, precious stones, fiesh in variety,
and the like ; the destruction of men and women neighbouring
them, whose dead carcasses they devour with a vulture relish and
appetite ; whom if they miss, they serve their friends such scurvy
sauce, butchering them, and thinking they excuse- all in a compli
ment that they know no better way to express love than in making
two bodies in one, by an inseparable union ; yea, some, as some
report, proffering themselves to the shambles, accordingly are dis
jointed and set to sale upon the stalls. * * * The natives
of Africa being propagated from Cham, both in their visages and
natures, seem to inherit his malediction. * * * They are
very irutes. A dog was of that value here that twenty salvages
(slaves) have been exchanged for one of them ; but of late years

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. I49
the exchange here made for negroes, to transport into the Cariba
isles and continent of America, is become a considerable trade."
It will be remembered how great have been the exertions of the
British Government to abolish totally the slave-trade in Africa. A
great number of slave ships were captured, and the negroes found
on board sent to Sierra Leone. Strong hopes were entertained that
"poor, suffering Africa" was about to be civilized.
We quote from the Hibernian Auxiliary Missionary Report,
Christian Observer, 1820, pages 888 and 889 :
" The slave-trade, which like the (fabled) upas, blasts all that
is wholesome In its vicinity, has, in one important instance, been
here overruled for good. It has been made the means of assem
bling on one spot, and that on a Christian soil, individuals from
almost every nation of the western coast of Africa. It has been
made the means of introducing to civilization and religion many
hundreds from the interior of that vast continent, who had never
seen the face of a white man, nor heard the name of Jesus. And
it will be made the means under God of sending to the nations
beyond the Niger and the Zaire, native missionaries who will preach
the Redeemer in the utmost parts of the country, and enable their
countrymen to hear in their own tongue the wonderful works of
God. European avarice and native profligacy leave no part of
Africa unexplored for victims ; and these slaves, rescued by our
cruisers, and landed on the shores of our colony, are received by
our missionaries and placed in their schools."
The sympathies of the world were excited on this subject, and
every civilized heart cried amen, in union with the impulsive feel
ings of this Hibernian Report.
But let us remember to inquire a little into the facts, and
examine whether these hopes were well or ill founded. We quote
from vol. xix. of the Christian Observer, page 890 :
" Mr. Johnson was appointed to the care of Regent's Town, in
the month of June, 1816. On looking narrowly into the actual
condition of the people intrusted to his care, he felt great dis
couragement. Natives of twenty-two different nations were there
collected together. A considerable number of them had been but
recently liberated from the holds of slave-vessels. They were
greatly prejudiced against one another, and in a state of continual
hostility, with no common medium of intercourse but a little broken
English. When clothing was given to them, they would sell it, or
throw it away : it was difficult to induce them to put it on ; and it

150 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

was not found practicable to introduce it among theta, until led to
't by the example of Mr. Johnson's servant-girl. None of them,
on their first arrival, seemed to live in a state of marriage ; some
of them were soon afterwards married by the late Mr. Butscher ;
but all the blessings of the marriage state and of female purity
appeared to be quite unknown. * * * Superstition, in various
forms, tyrannized over their minds ; many devil's houses sprang
up, and all placed their security in wearing gregrees. Scarcely
any desire of improvement was discernable. * * * Some, who
wished to cultivate the soil, were deterred from doing so by the fear
of being plundered of the produce. Some would liv^in the woods,
apart from society ; and others subsisted by thieving and plunder :
they would steal poultry and pigs from any who possessed them,
and would eat them raw ; and not a few of them, particularly of
the Eboe nation, the most savage of them all, would prefer any
kind of refuse meat to the rations which they received from
Government." Doubtless Mr. Johnson and his successors have done all that good
men could do, even under the protection of the British Govern
ment; but have they, in the least, affected the slave-trade of
Africa, otherwise than to divert its direction, or have they dimi
nished it to any observable extent ? True, its course has been
changed, and its enormities thereby increased tenfold. Instead
of its subjects being brought under the regenerating influences of
Christianity, they are sacrificed at the shrine of friends at home,
or sent among pagans or Mohammedans ! Let the Christian phi
losopher think of these things.
While we recollect the proclamation of the Emperor of Bourno,
let us look at the slave-trade as now carried on with the Barbary
States, the Arab tribes, and Egypt and Asia, as well as Turkey
in Europe. We quote from " Burckhart's Travels in Nubia," as
reported in the Christian Observer, vol. xix. p. 459 :
" The author had a most favourable opportunity of collecting
intelligence and making observations on this subject, (slavery,) as
connected with the northeastern parts of Africa by travelling
with companies of slaves and slave-merchants through the deserts
of Nubia. * * * The chief mart in the Nubian mountains, for
the Egyptian and the Arabian slave-trade, is Shendy. * * *
To this emporium, slaves are brought from various parts of the
interior, and particularly from the idolatrous * * * tribes in
the vicinity of Darfour, Bozgho, and Dar Saley."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. ifi

Our traveller calculated the number sold annually in the market
of Shendy at five thousand. " Far the larger part of these slaves
are under the age of fifteen."
See page 460 : " Few slaves are imported into Egypt without
changing masters several times. * * * ^ slave, for example,
purchased at Fertit, is transferred at least six times before he
arrives at Cairo. These rapid changes, as might be expected, are
productive of great hardship to the unfortunate individuals, espe
cially in the toilsome journey across the deserts. Burckhart saw
on sale at Shendy, many children of four of five years old, with
out their parents. * * * Burckhart has entered into the
details of cruelties of another kind, practised on the slaves to raise
their pecuniary value. The particulars are not suitable for a work
of miscellaneous perusal. * * * The great mart, however, for
the supply of European and Asiatic Turkey with the kind of
slaves required as guardians for the harem, Mr. Burckhart informs
us, is not at Shendy, but at a village near Siout, in Upper Egypt,
inhabited chiefly hy Christians." (Abyssinians, we suppose.)
The mode of marching slaves is described as follows : " On the
journey, they are tied to a long pole, one end of which is tied to a
camel's saddle, and the other, which is forked, is passed on each
side of the slave's neck, and tied behind with a strong cord, so as
to prevent him drawing out his head : in addition to this, his right
hand is also fastened to the pole, at a short distance from the
head, thus leaving only his legs and left arm at liberty. In this
manner he' marches the whole day behind the camel : at night ho
is taken from the pole and put in irons. W"hile on the route to
Souakim, I saw several slaves carried along in this way. Their
owners were afraid of their escaping, or of becoming themselves
the objects of their vengeance ; and in this manner they would
continue to be confined until sold to a master, who, intending to
keep them, would endeavour to attach them to his person. In
general, the traders seem greatly to dread the effects of sudden
resentment in their slaves ; and if a grown-up boy is to be whipped,
his master first puts him in irons."
Page 333 : " Females with children on their backs follow tho
caravans on foot ; and if a camel breaks down, the owner generally
loads his slaves with the packages ; and if a boy in the evening can
only obtain a little butter with his dhourra bread, and some grease
every two or three days to smear his body and hair, he is con
tented, and never complains of fatigue. Another cause which

152 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
induces the merchants to treat the slaves well (?) is their anxiety
to dissipate the horror which the negroes all entertain of Egypt
and the white people. It is a common opinion in the black slave
countries that the Ouleder Rif, or children of Rif, as the Egyptians
are there called, devour the slaves, who are transported thither for
that purpose : of course, the traders do every thing in their power
to destroy this belief; but, notwithstanding all their endeavours,
it is never eradicated from the mind of the slaves."
Page 462: "The manners of the people of Souakim are the
same as those I have already described in the interior, and I have
reason to believe that they are common to the whole of eastern
Africa, including Abyssinia, where the character of the inhabitants,
as drawn by Bruce, seems little different from that of these Nubians.
I regret that I am compelled to represent all the nations, of Africa
which I have yet seen, in so bad a light."
We next quote from the Family Magazine, 1836, page 439, as
follows: "Many of the Dayaks have, a rough, scaly scurf on their
skin, like the Jacong of the Malay Peninsula. * * * The
female slaves of this race, which are found among the Malays,
have no appearance of it. * * * With regard to their funeral
ceremonies, the corpse * * * remains in the house till the
son, the father, or the next of blood, can procure or purchase a
slave, who is beheaded at the time the corpse is burned, m order
that he may become the slave of the deceased in the next world.
* * * Nobody can be permitted to marry till he can pre
sent a human head of some other tribe to his proposed bride.
* * * The head-hunter proceeds in the most cautious man
ner to the vicinity of the villages of another tribe, and lies in am
bush till he can surprise some heedless, unsuspecting wretch, who
is instantly decapitated. * * * When the hunter returns, the
whole village is filled with joy, and old and young, men and
women, hurry out to meet him, and conduct him, with the sound
of brazen cymbals, dancing, in long lines, to the house of the
female he admires, whose family likewise come out to greet him
with dances, and provide him with a seat, and give him meat and
drink. He holds the bloody head still in his hand, and puts part of
the food into his mouth, after which the females of the family receive
the head from him, which they hang up to the ceihng over the door.
If a man's wife die, he is not permitted to make 'proposals of mar
riage to another till he has procured another head of a different
tribe. The heads they procure in this manner, they preserve with

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 153

great care, and sometimes consult in divination. The religious
opinions connected with this practice are by no means correctly
understood : some assert they believe that every person whom a
man kills in this world becomes his slave in the next. * * *
The practice of stealing heads causes frequent wars among the
tribes of the Idean. Many persons never can obtain a head ; in
which case they are generally despised by the warriors and the
women. To such a height is it carried, however, that a person
who has obtained eleven heads has been seen, and at the same time
he pointed out his son who, a young lad, had procured three."
James Edward Alexander, H. L. S., during the years 1836 and
1837, made an excursion from the Cape of Good Hope into the
interior of South Africa and the countries of the Namaquas,
Boschmans, and Hill Damaras, under the auspices of Her Ma
jesty's Government and the Royal Geographical Society, which
has been published in two volumes ; from which we extract, vol. i.
page 126 : "I was anxious to ascertain the extent of knowledge
among the tribe (Damaras) with which I now dwelt ; to learn what
they knew of themselves, and of men and things in general; but
I must say that they positively know nothing beyond tracing game
and breaking in jack-oxen. They did not know one year from
another ; they only knew that at certain times the trees and flowers
bloom, and then rain was expected. As to their own age, they
knew no more what it was than idiots. Some even had no names.
Of numbers, of course, they were nearly or quite ignorant ; few
could count above five ; and he was a clever fellow who could count
his ten fingers. Above all they had not the least idea of God or
of a future state. They were, literally like the beasts which
perish." Page 163, 164, and 165 : " At Chubeeches the people were very
poor. * * * Standing in need of a shepherd, I observed here
two or three fine little Damara boys, as black as ebony. * * *
I said to the old woman to whom Saul belonged, ' You have two
boys, and they are starving ; you have nothing to give them.' ' This
is true,' she replied. 'Will you part with Saul?' said I; 'I want
a shepherd, and the boy wants to go with me.' 'Yoiiwill find
him too cunning,' returned the old dame. 'I want a clever fel
low,' said I, 'Very well,' she replied ; 'give me four cotton hand
kerchiefs and he is yours.' 'Suppose,' said I, 'you take two
handkerchiefs and two strings of glass beads?' 'Yes! that will
do ;' and so the bargain was closed; and thus a good specimen of

154 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
Damara flesh and blood was bought for the value of about four
shillings. * * * I told him to go and bring his skins ; on which
he informed me that he had none, saving what he stood in — and
that was his own sable hide, with the addition of the usual strap
of leather around his waist, from which hung a piece of jackal's
skin in front. Constant exposure to the vicissitudes of the weather,
without clothes, hardens the skin of the body like that of the face ;
and still it is difficult to sleep at nights without proper covering.
In cold weather, the poor creatures of Namaqua Land, who may
have no karosses, sit cowering over a fire all night, and merely
doze with their heads on their knees."
Vol. ii. page 23 : " Can any state of society be considered more
low and brutal than that in .which promiscuous intercourse is viewed
with the most perfect indifference ; where it is not only practised,
but spoken of without any shame or compunction ? Some rave
about the glorious liberty of the savage state, and about the innocence
of the children of nature, and say that it is chiefly hy the white
men that they become corrupt. The Boschmans of Ababres had
never seen white men before ; they were far removed from the in
fluence of the Europeans."
Vol. i. page 102 : "Notwithstanding that some people maintain
that there is no nation on earth without religion in some form,
however faintly it may be traced in their minds, yet, after much
diligent inquiry, I could not discover the slightest feeling of devo
tion towards a higher and invisible power among the Hill Da
maras." In Mohammedan countries, the most unfavourable portions of the
slave's existence, as such, is while in the hands of the geeleb, or
slave-merchant, and until he is sold to one who designs to keep
him permanently. In the first instance, if negroes, they suffer
much in the journey from the place of purchase to that of sale.
For instance, it has been known, in the journey from Sennaar and
Darfour to the slave-mart at Cairo, or even the intermediate one
at Siout, the loss in a slave caravan, of men, women, camels, and
horses, amounted to not less than 4000. The circumstances of the
mart itself scarcely appear in a more favourable aspect than those
of the journey, — whether we regard the miserable beings, as in
the market at Cairo, crowded together in enclosures like the sheep-
pens in Smithfield market, amid the abominable stench and un-
cleanness which result from their confinement ; whether, as at an
other great mart at Muscat, we perceive the dealer walking to and

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. I55
fro, with a stick in his hand, between two lots of ill-clothed boys
and girls, whom he is offering for sale, proclaiming aloud, as he
passes, the price fixed on each ; or else leading his string of slaves
through the narrow and dirty streets, and calling out their prices
as he exhibits them in this ambulatory auction. * * * The
slaves, variously exhibited, usually appear quite indifferent to the
process, or only show an anxiety to be sold, from knowing that as
slaves, finally purchased, their condition will be much ameliorated.
* * * How little slavery is dreaded is also shown by the
fact that even Mohammedan parents or relatives are, in cases of
emergency, ready enough to offer their children for sale. During
the famine which a few years since drove the people of Mosul to
Bengal, one could not pass the streets without being annoyed by
the solicitations of parents to purchase their boys and girls for the
merest trifle ; and even in Koordistan, where no constraining mo
tive appeared to exist, we have been sounded as to our willingness
to purchase young members of the family. Europeans in the East
are scarcely considered amenable to any general rules, but Chris
tians generally are not allowed to possess any other than negro
slaves." London Penny Mag. 1834, pp. 243, 244; also. Sketches
of Persia, and Johnson's Journey from India.

LESSON XV.

Quotations frota books of authority, portraying the universal
state of degradation of the African hordes, may be made to an
unlimited extent. Our object has been to present some idea of
what the negro is in his own country, when beyond the influence
of American slavery. We will now advance some views of him and
his race, as they present themselves in this American slavery.
And here let us premise that the population of the African tribes
is estimated at 60,000,000, 40,000,000 of whom are deemed to
be slaves ; that the wars among them are not so much wars to make
freemen slaves, as they are to appropriate the slaves of one owner
to the rightful ownership of another, according to their notions of
law and their customs of right. Among them, conquest always
subjects to slavery. When slaves take a captive, he is the property
of their master. Slavery exists there according to their laws and
customs ; and there is no evidence, nor in fact is it probable, that

156 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

even the slave-trade with America has ever increased the extent or
degree of slavery in Africa.
We quote from a truly able and sympathetic writer, J. Morier's
"Second Journey through Persia," as reported in the Christian
Observer, vol. xvi. page p08 :
" During the time we were at the Brazils, the slave-trade was in
full vigour, and a visit to the slave-market impressed us more with
the iniquity of this traffic than any other thing that could be said
or written on the subject. On each side of the street where the
market was held, were large rooms in which the negroes were kept ;
and during the day, they were seen in melancholy groups, waiting to
be delivered from the hands of the trader, whose dreadful economy
might be traced in their persons, which at that time were little
better than skeletons. If such were their state on shore, with the
advantage of air and space, what must have been their condition
on board the ship that brought them hither ? It is not unfrequent
that slaves escape to the woods, where they are almost as frequently
retaken. When this is the case, they have an iron collar put about
their necks, with a long hooked arm extending from it, to impede
their progress through the woods, in case they should abscond a
second time. Yet amid all this misery, it was pleasing to observe
the many negroes who frequented the churches, and to see them,
in form and profession, at least making a part of a Christian
congregation." Mr. Morier's statement may bear testimony to abuses of slavery ;
but it certainly bears testimony to another thing more important
to the slave. " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
Prov. ix. 10.
And we here beg leave to remark that we shall, in all instances,
draw our proofs from the enemies of the institution. We quote
from Berbick's Notes on America, page 20, and reported in vol.
xvi. of the Christian Observer, published in London, May 10th,
page 109 :
" I saw two female slaves and their children sold by auction in
the street ; an incident of common occurrence here, though horri
fying to myself and many other strangers. I could hardly bear
to see them handled and examined like cattle ; and when I heard
their sobs and saw the big tears rolling down their cheeks at the
thought of being separated, I could not refrain from weeping
with them."
This may have been very cruel in the white man ; but who has

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 1515-
ever heard of a negro in Africa displaying such a strength of ten
derness and feeling 0/ sympathy as here manifested ? And how
are we to account for it in this instance, if not by the regenerating
influence of a few generations in American and Christian slavery '(
However slow the action, the condition of the mental faculties was
improved and the moral condition ameliorated. But in the same
page, he says —
" A traveller told me that he saw, a few weeks ago, one hundred
and twenty sold by auction in the streets of Richmond, and that
they filled the air with their lamentations."
The case of the women was not solitary, and doubtless we shall
find such proof of an improved state of the affections quite com
mon. But this good man continuously pursues the subject :
"It has also been confidently alleged, that the condition of
slaves in Virginia, under the mild treatment they are said to ex
perience, is preferable to that of our English labourers. I know
and lament the degrading state of dependent poverty to which the
latter have been gradually reduced by the operation of laws
originally designed for their comfort and protection. I know also
that many slaves pass their lives in comparative ease, and seern to
be unconscious of their bonds, and that the most wretched of our
paupers might even envy the allotment of the happy negro."
We will now quote from Lieutenant Francis Hall, of the British
Light Dragoons. In his Travels in Canada and the United States,
published in London, 1818, pages 357 to 360, he says —
" I took the boat this morning, and crossed the ferry over to
Portsmouth, the small town which I told you was opposite to this
place, (Norfolk.) It was court-day, and a large crowd of people
was gathered about the door of the court-house. I had hardly got
upon the steps to look, in, when my ears were assailed by the voice
of singing, and turning round to observe from what quarter it came,
I saw a group of about thirty negroes, of different sizes and ages,
following a rough-looking white man, who sat carelessly lolling in
his sulkey. They had just turned round the corner, and were
coming up the main street, to pass by the spot where I stood, on
their way out of town. As they came nearer, I saw some of them
loaded with chains to prevent their' escape, while others had hold
of each other's hands, strongly grasped, as if to support them
selves in their affliction. I particularly noticed a poor mother,
with an infant, as she walked along, while two small children had
hold of her apron on either side, almost running, to keep up with

158 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

the rest. They came along singing a little wild hymn, of sweet
and mournful melody, flying, by Divine instinct of the heart, to the
consolations of religion, the last refuge of the unhappy, to support
them in their distress."
We have no knowledge of Lieutenant Hall's powers of deduction,
nor of what he thought this story proved. But it will surely give
us new views of Africa, if he will travel there, and find such a
scene there, among the many slaves he may now see naked, tied to
poles, and leaving their country for ever. The world has been
flooded with stories of this description, some of which prove the
abuses of slavery, but all of them prove some amelioration, both
mentally and physically, in the condition of the slave here, when
compare'd with the condition of the African at home, whether bond
or free.
Mr. Barnes has admitted one into his book, pages 136, 137, and
138, which adds strength to our position : its length excludes a
copy. We quote again from the Christian Observer, vol. xv. p.
541: "Missions of the United Brethren at Surinam." — Mr. Camp
bell writes : " On the plantations and at Sommelsdyk there was a
great desire among the negroes to hear the gospel, which finds
entrance into many of their hearts. * =*= * At Paramaribo,
the negro congregation consisted, at the close of 1813, of 550."
" On the 30th of August, 1814, the same missionary writes that
the word of God among the negroes in Paramaribo continues to
increase, and we have great reason to rejoice and take courage
when we see marked proofs of the Divine blessing upon our feeble
ministry." See page 542. "Antigua." — "A letter from this
island, dated, Grace Hill, Jan. 14th, 1814. * * * The con
gregation of Christian negroes at this place consisted, at the close
of 1813, of 2087 persons." Again, page 543: "Some poor ne
groes, who, although they sigh under the pressure of slavery and
various hardships, or ailments of body, seek consolation and re
freshment from the meritorious passion of Jesus, are enabled, with
tears of joy, to lay hold on these words of Scripture : ' I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to" be com
pared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.' " Again, p.
554 : " Jamaica. " — Mr. Lang, the missionary, writes thus, on the 5th
February, 1814 : " It pleases the Lord still to bless our labours with
success, so as to encourage us to believe that he has thoughts of
peace regarding the negroes in Jamaica also, and will visit them
yet more generally with his salvation," &c. Page 546 : " Danish

STUDIES' ON'SLAVERY.

159

Islands. — The number of Christian negroes belonging to the
different missions in the Danish Islands, was, at the end of 1813,
as follows :
At Friedensthal, St. Croix  5,100
" Friedensberg "  2,396
" NewHernhutt, St. Thomas  949
" Nisky "  1,304
" Bethany, St. Jan  474
" Emmaus "  952

Total  11,175
" St. Kitts. — On the 10th August, 1814, the missionaries write
that .they have lately had several very pleasing instances of ne
groes departing this life in reliance on the merits of the Saviour,
with great joy and the sure and steadfast hope of everlasting life."
Among us it seems to be but little known what have been the
providences of God towards the slaves of the West Indies. The
following sketch is taken from the Report of the Moraviaa Mis
sionaries, as found in the Christian Observer, vol. xvi. page 64 :
Missions to the Slaves in the

Danish Isiands.
St. Thomas
St. Croix
St. Jan.
Bbitish Islands.
JamaicaAntigua St. Kitts
Barbadoes.
SoniH America
generally.

1754
17561817 1775 1738
a765

No. of Settlements. 2 3 2

I]

13
20

No. of Missionaries.
I 32
1016 4
11
_4 77

The Dutch took possession of the Cape of Good Hope in 1650.
Slaves from various parts of Africa, Mozambique, and the Malay
Islands were introduced; we have no means of knowing to what
extent. Somerville found the city of Cape Town to contain 1146
houses, 5500 white and free people of colour, and 10,000 slaves.
In all of the years 1736-1792, and 1818, the Moravians es
tablished 27 missionaries to the blacks. But they, nor no other
people, have ever been able to produce any considerable effect
there, or elsewhere, upon the natives, except upon such as were in

160 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

slavery among a Christian people. The sound of the gospel had
no charms for the wild, roving savage.
But, as reported in the Christian Observer, vol. xiv. page 830,
Campbell says — "In the colony ofthe Cape of Good Hope, consider
able efforts have been made of late, particularly by Sir John Cradock,
aided by the zeal of the colonial chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Jones, to
diffuse the blessings of Christian instruction, not only among the
slaves, hut among all classes. *' * * Several of the negroes
read the New Testament tolerably well, and repeat questions from
Walls's Catechism : on the Lord's day they were well-dressed,
and attended church." .But, page 829, same voL : "At Cape
Town, Mohammedanism is much on the increase. The free Mo
hammedans are strenuous in their efforts to make proselytes among
the slaves," &c.
We have endeavoured to show that the providences of God
towards the African races in slavery to Christian nations, tend to
their deliverance from idolatry, and to their restoration to an ac
ceptable worship of the true God. And may we not inquire
whether the introduction to this worship was not foretold by the
prophets ? " Thus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt, and
merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shaU
come over unto thee, and they shall he thine : they shall come
after thee ; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall
down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying.
Surely, God is in thee ; and there is none else, there is no God"
beside. Isa. xiv. 14.
"From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my suppliants, even the
daughters of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering."
" I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor
people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord." Zeph. iii.
10, 12.
The progress of the Christian religion among the slaves of
the United States is known to the world, and needs no mention
here. No such accounts have ever come from the African tribes
at any period of time. These indications of the providence of
God seem to show that he smiles upon the institution of African
slavery in all Christian lands, and "that its tendencies are to
elevate the black man, and make him more intelligent and happy
than he would be in his own land, and that it has a benevolent
bearing on the welfare of the slave in this world and the world to
come."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. igi

LESSON XVL
Our limits will not permit an extended accumulation of the
testimony showing the degenerate condition of the African hordes,
nor of those facts showing the ameliorating effect of American
slavery upon that race of mankind. A large volume would not
contain more than an abstract. This effect is obvious to any one
acquainted with the race ; while the deep degradation of the races
from which they have descended has caused some philosophers to
adopt the opinion that they are not of a common origin with the
white races of the earth. But we present the doctrine that sin —
that any want of conformity to the laws of God touching our
health and happiness, our physical and mental improvement and
condition, has a direct tendency to deteriorate the animal man,
and that a general abandonment and disregard of such laws,
through a long series of generations, will be sufficient to account
for the lowest degradation found to exist. We believe there is
truth in the saying, " The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and
the children's teeth are set on edge ;" that, when the progenitors
for a series of ages manifest some particular quality or tendency
of action, the same may be found, even in an increased degree, in
their descendants; and that this principle holds true to some
extent through the whole animal world. Further, that such pro
gressive tendency to some particular mental or physical condition
may be obviated, and its action reversed, by a sufficient controlling
influence or force.
And if it shall be found that there may be truth in this position,
we might submit the inquiry : If God in his wisdom foresaw that
the family of Jacob would become so degraded, in one generation,
that it would require the counteracting influence of four hundred
years of slavery to place them in a condition fit to receive and
enjoy the blessings promised their fathers ; how long will it require
a similar state of control to produce a like renovation among the
descendants of Ham, the degraded Africans ? But we think, so
far as the inquiry can interest us, it has been answered by St.
Paul: "Let as many servants {hovXoi, douloi, slaves) as are
under the yoke, count their own masters worthy of all honour,

162 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And
they that have believing masters, let them not despise them
because they are brethren ; but rather do them service {hov'XEVi-
tQCfctv, be slaves to them,) because they are faithful and beloved par
takers ^f the benefit. These things teach and exhort. If any
man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even to
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is
according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting
about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife,
railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt
minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness:
from such withdraw thyself. But godliness, with contentment, is
great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain
that we can carry nothing out ; and having food and raiment, let
us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into
temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts,
which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of
money is the root of all evil ; which while some covet after, they
have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with
many sorrows. But thou, 0 man of God ! flee these things ; and
follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meek
ness. Fight the good fight of faith ; lay hold on eternal life,
whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profes
sion before many witnesses. I give thee charge, in the sight of
God who quickeneth all things, and'before Jesus Christ, who before
Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, that thou keep this
commandment (EVi:o7jr(v, an order, a command, a precept, a charge,
injunction) without spot {dcSTtiT^ov, free from stain, spotless, fault
less), unrebukable {avsTii'kyiTCtov, of ivhom no hold can he taken,
not to he attacked, irreprehensihle), until the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ." 1 Tim. vi. 1-14.
Thus St. Paul has told us how long this doctrine shaU t|e taught;
that it shall be taught free from any alteration, change ; free from
any stain, pure and spotless ; and that his manner of teaching it
shall be plain, simple, open, and bold ; so that there could be no
hold taken of him ; and the doctrines, instructions, counsels and
commands here given were to be so taught, until the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
But Mr. Barnes says, page 194 —
" If we may draw an inference also from this case, (the Hebrews
in Egypt,) in regard to the manner in which God would have such

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 1^3

a people (slaves in America) restored to freedom, it would be
in favour of immediate emancipation."
God himself sentenced the Hebrews to slavery for four hundred
years. " And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell
upon Abram ; and lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him.
./Vnd he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be
a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve {D)~]^^\
va sebadum, shall be slaves to, or shall slave themselves to) them,
and they shall afflict them four hundred years." Gen. xv. 12, 13.
At the expiration of which time he delivered them from it. An
instance drawn from their case can be legitimately applied only to
one where the term of servitude has been determined.
God made no attempt to liberate the Hebrews until the expira
tion of the term allotted them for servitude. Mr. Barnes evidently
applies his inference to the abolition of the institution generally,
and thus places himself in opposition to St. Paul. But our mind
has come to the decision that the apostle is the higher authority.
And the inquiry is also left upon the mind, whether, in the matter
of his whole book, Mr. Barnes has not " run before he was sent ;"
whereby he may have subjected himself to the mortification of
again seeing, in his own case, the counsels of Achitophel turned
into foolishness.

LESSON XVII.

Mr. Barnes has quoted some few passages of Scripture to which
he applies a meaning we deem erroneous ; but we attach no blame to
him on this account ; because our English version itself, of the pas
sages referred to,'haS a tendency to lead to an inadequate concep
tion of the idea conveyed by the original. The doctor says, page
128 — " That even the servant that was bought was to have com
pensation for his labour ; and there are some general principles laid
down, which, if applied, would lead to that : thus, Jer. xxii. 13,
' Wo unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his
chambers by wrong; that uses his neighbour's service without
wages, and giveth him not for his work.' " He quotes this same
passage for the same purpose, pp. 353 and 360, and seems to regard
it as a secure pillar, and on which he founds his doctrines. The

164 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

words, "that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and
giveth him not for his work," are translated from
I I -.- ¦ I ^ -: I T • J :- r- -¦ -¦ : rtT ; ¦
The passage admits of two additional readings, thus : Who shall
judge for a neighbour as to his slave undeservedly no wages, no
gifts ; or, Who shall have adjudged as to his neighbour that he
shall slave himself, undeservedly or gratuitously, without wages or
reward. The meaning is : Who shall corruptly judge that his
neighbour shall not receive wages or eomjjensatiort for the services
of his slave ; or, that the neighbour himself shall so slave himself
to another without wages or compensation. The word "iDi^ (^ ^^'^'"^
is often used as a verb, to express such action as would be that of
a slave. On page 67, Mr. Barnes says— " The word, (ivSpaTioSiarrig,
andrapodistes, occurs once, 1 Tim. i. 10, with the most marked
disapprobation of the thing denoted by it. ' The law is made for
murderers of fathers, murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for
whoremongers, for man-stealers, for liars,' &c. "
The truth is, that the word Sov2,og, doulos, is the peculiar word
to denote slavery, and is so used in the New Testament and every
where else ; but this word also means slave, &c., and is novel* used
disconnected from the idea of slavery, but carries with it the idea
of some change, as to place, condition, possession, or ownership.
We shall notice how some men are striving to change the Greek,
as to the meaning of the word 8ov?Mg, doulos, because, unless they
do so, the New Testament is strongly against them. However, of
the word used in 1 Tim. i. 10, <xvSpa7to§LC!talg, andrapodistais, it
is true, that it' is used "with the most marked disapprobation of
the thing denoted by it;" and it is just as true that the thing de
noted by it is the stealing and enticing away other men's slaves !
Slave-stealers is its only and legitimate meaning in the place used.
Had St. Paul intended to express the idea, men-stealers, he would
have used the word avdpt>i7tox7i.E7italg, anthrppokleptais ; which
would have expressed the very thing wanted by Mr. Barnes. We
shall examine these words in another portion of our study. But
Mr. Barnes does not appear to be aware why it was that St. Paul
instructed Timothy that the law was made for slave-stealers : for
whose benefit we will explain ; and by which explanation he will
learn that the abolitionists commenced their labours during the days
of the apostles. From some of the relations of Christianity, not

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

165

well understood by the Gentile churches, the idea was entertained
by some that the operation of Christianity abolished the bonds of
matrimony between a believing and an unbelieving party ; that it
abolished the authority of an unbeheving parent over a believing
child ; that it abolished slavery in case the slave was converted to
the faith, and especially if the master belonged to the household
of God. On these subjects and others, the Corinthian church ad
dressed St. Paul for instruction and advice. It is to be regretted
that their letter has not come down to us ; but, we can gather what
it contained, from the answer of St. Paul : " Now concerning the
things whereof ye wrote unto me." 1 Cor. vii. 1.
Touching the subject before us, see his answer in the 20th to
the 25th verse ; and the same subject continued in Ep>h'. vi. 5-10 ;
also Ool. iii. 22-25 ; he found it necessary to instruct Titus on this
subject: see Tit. ii. 9-15; and, finally, as in the passage before
us, and also vi. 1-15. St. Peter also found it necessary to correct
the errors of these abolitionists, and to give them instruction on
this subject. 1 Pet. ii. 18-26.
Had St. Paul regarded slavery as an evil, he certainly had no
excuse for not denouncing it. Nor do we know of any of the early
fathers of the church that did so. St. Ignatius, in his second
epistle to Polycarp, says — " Overlook not the men and maid ser
vants. Let them be the more subject to the glory of God, that
they may obtain from him a better liberty. Let them not desire
to be set/ree at public cost, that they be not slaves to their own
lusts." See also. General Epistle of Barnabas, xiv. 16 : " Thou shalt
not be bitter in thy commands towards any of thy servants that
trust in God, lest thou chance not to fear him who is over both ;
because he came not to call any with respect to persons, but whom
soever the Spirit prepared."
i Such is the construction of the human mind, and of human lan
guage, that whenever a thing is made a subject of remark, or
merely brought to mind, it, of necessity, must be so, in one of
three positions : either a thing to be commended ; to be repre
hended ; or as a thing of total indifference. A glaring sin and gross
evil could not have been a thing of indifference to Jesus Christ and
his apostles. They, therefore, cannot be supposed to have acted
honestly in not condemning a sin, when by them mentioned, or
brought to mind. It is a supposition too gross for refutation !
But it is conceded by Mr. Barnes, page 260, that " the apostles
did not openly denounce slavery as an evil, or require that those

166 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
who were held in bondage should be at once emancipated. * * *
These things seem to me to lie on the face of the New Testament ;
and whatever argument they may furnish to the advocates of
slavery in disposing of these facts, it seems plain that the facts
themselves cannot be denied."
The facts, then, must stand in commendation and approval.
They cannot be got rid of by arguing ever so ingeniously, that
Jesus Christ and his apostles were cunning ; that they acted with
prudence ; that they dexterously taught it to be an evil by implica
tion ; or that they acted with deep-seated and far-reaching expe
diency ; nor by any other subterfuge by which the enemies of God
are striving to mould his essence and character into an idol to suit
themselves.

LESSON XVIIL

" If, however, it should be conceded that this passage {Lev. xxv.
46, 46) means that the heathen might be subjected to perpetual
bondage, and that the intention was not that they should be re
leased in the year of jubilee, still it will not follow that this is a
justification of perpetual slavery as it exists in the United States.
For, even on that supposition, the concession was one made to
them, not to any other people." Barnes, p. 156.
This is not the first time the abolitionists have presented this
proposition, and seem to deem it insurmountable. Therefore,
it may merit a few words of inquiry.
Is it contended that God ever grants or denies, or, in other
words, acts, except in conformity with some universal rule or law
of his providence and government ? For, to suppose otherwise,
must involve the consideration of an inferior and capricious being. -
If God, on any occasion, permitted slavery, then it is deducible
from the unohangeableness of God and his laws, that he always
permits it, when all the circumstances and conditions shall be found
to exist as they were when he did so permit it. The Jews, as a
nation, were God's people ; his worshippers, his church. " And ye
shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation." Exod.
xix. 6. " For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God :
Tho Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto
himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth."
Beut. vii. 6.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. • 157
> But, in the order of God's providence, other people were to be
the recipients of the grace of God also : "And it shall come to pass
in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above
the hills : all nations shall flow unto it." Isa. ii. 2.
" Sing and rejoice, 0 daughter of ZioA ; for lo, I come, and I
will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many na
tions shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my
people." Zech. ii. 10, 11.
This is in strict cohformity with the promise of Jehovah to
Isaac: "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed." Gen. xxvi. 4.
The -time of this great enlargement of the church of God was
the advent of the Saviour. The Christian church succeeded as
heirs of all the promises, benefits, and free grace of the ancient
church and people of God; — in fact, became heirs of Abraham ; —
" And the father of circumcision to them, who are not of the cir
cumcision only, but who walk in the steps of that faith of our
father Abraham, wliich he had being yet uncircumcised. For the
promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to
Abraham, or to his seed through the law, but through the right
eousness of faith." * * * "Therefore it is of faith, that
it might be by grace ; to the end the promise might be sure to all
the seed ; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also
which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (as
it is written, I have made thee the father of many nations,) before
him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and
calleth those things which be not, as though they were." Romans
iv. 11, 12, 16, 17.
" Therefore remember, that ye being in times past Gentiles in
the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called
the circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
"That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of
promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.
" But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were afar off, are
made nigh by the blood of Christ ; for he is our peace, who hath
made both one ; and hath broken down the middle wall of parti
tion between us." Eph. ii. 11, 12, 13, 14.
" Know ye, therefore, that they which are of faith, the same
are children of Abraham. And the scripture' foreseeing that God

168 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

would justify the heathen by faith, preached before the gospel to
Abraham, saying. In thee shall all nations be blessed." Gal.
iii. 7, 8.
And wherefore Peter very properly describes the Gentile church
af Christ by similar language applied to the Jews, the chosen people
of God to whom the promises of the law were made : " But ye are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar
people ; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath
called you out of darkness into his marvellous light ; which in time
past were not a people, but are now a people of God ; which had
not obtained mercy, but have now obtained mercy." 1 Peter
ii. 9, 10.
The theological student will recollect many more very pertinent
proofs of the heirship of the Christian church to the chosen people
of God. " Think not I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets ; I come not to destroy the law, but to fulfil." Matt. v. 17.
So far then as the Gentile nations have become Christianized,
have become the followers of Christ, so far they have, through
faith, become the peculiar people of God, and heirs and children
of Abraham ; and, as heirs, succeeded to all things resulting from
the providence and grace of God to his peculiar people.
The broad and universal principle concerning slavery is, that a
want of knowledge of the true God, a want of conformity to his
law, have a constantly deteriorating effect, whereas, on the con
trary, a knowledge of Jehovah and a conduct in conformity to his
law, (since the fallen state of man renders him unable to comply
with the law) the application of God's grace, and free forgiveness
through faith and repentance, shall have the redeeming effect of
a full compliance with the law. As the one position is deteriorating,
forcing as it were downward to destruction and death, — the other is
as constantly elevating towards all perfection and life eternal.
Thus the mercy of God is manifested to the degraded and heathen
nations, by substantially placing them under a protection and
guidance, which, however slow may he the progress, must of ne
cessity have an elevating influence on thousands, in proportion as
they, with heart-felt willingness, yield themselves to it. " Oh,
that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his won
derful works to the children of men ! , For he satisfieth the long
ing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit
in darkness and the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and
iron ; because they rebelled against the words of God, and con-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 169
temned the counsels of the Most High : therefore, he brought
down their heart with labour ; they fell down, there was none to
help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he
raised them out of their distresses. He brought them out of dark
ness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his
wonderful works to the children of men." Psa. cvii. 8-16.
In conclusion, we may remark, that under this view of the law,
the announcements of holy writ, so far as they regard the subject
under consideration, are as applicable to the Christian people of the
present day as they at any time were to the Hebrews themselves. •
"Thus. saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise
of Ethiopia, and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over
unto thee, and they shall be thine : they shall come after thee ; in
chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee,
they shall make supplication unto thee, saying. Surely God is in
thee ; and there is none else, there is no God" beside. Isa. xiv. 14.

LESSON XIX.

Mr. Barnes has referred to Vatalbus, Rabbi Solomon, Abenezra
Joh. Casp. Mi^gius, Constitutiones Servi Hebraei, Ugolin, Maimo-
nides, Michaelis, John's Archaeology, Selden de Uxore Hebraica,
and some other books which are not at hand, in support of his
doctrine, and the points on which he predicates it. We did not
doubt the accuracy of these references and quotations ; but, page
149, we find the following in his book : " It would appear from
Josephus, that on the year of jubilee all slaves were set at liberty ;"
and he refers to " Antiquities," vol. ii. chap. xii. sec. 3, which, so
far as it refers to slavery, reads thus : "Accordingly I enjoin thee
to make no more delays, but to make haste to Egypt, and to travel
night and day, and not to draw out the time, and to make the
slavery of the Hebrews and their sufferings to last the longer."
We do not see how the passage warrants the assertion of Mr.
Barnes, and apprehended some mistake, such as a young lawyer,
willing to appear very learned, might make, by affixing to his
brief a long list of authorities, merely from an examination of his
index.

170 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

But the sentence here quoted from Mr. Barnes, containing the
proposition that Josephus said, in his Antiquities, vol. ii. chap, xii
sec. 3, that all slaves were set at liberty in the year of jubilee, is
consecutively followed in his book, thus : " The fiftieth year is
called by the Hebrews the jubilee, wherein debtors are freed from
their debts, and slaves are set at liberty." And this sentence is
marked as quoted from Josephus, and as though it was the exact
passage to be found in the place just before referred to. The fact
is, this sentence is nearly a part of what may be found in book iii.
chap. xii. sec. 3 of Antiquities, thus: "And that fiftieth year is
called by the Hebrews the jubilee wherein debtors are freed from
their debts, and slaves are set at liberty ; which slaves became such,
though they were of the same stock, by transgressing some of
those laws whose punishment was not capital, but they were pu
nished by this method of slavery."
Suppose the mistake to be in the number of the book, still, does
the passage, as fully quoted, give any authority for the assertion
of Mr. Barnes ? Thus the mind is led to inquire what credit is to
be given to these references ?
But we hasten to give a few extracts illustrative of Mr. Barnes's
thought and argument. He says, p. 126 —
" Considering the universal prevalence of slavery when the
gospel was preached, it is not probable that any considerable
number would be found, who were masters and servants in the
sense of a voluntary servitude on the part ofthe latter." He says —
Page 273 : " The permanency of the institution (slavery) can
derive no support from what they (the apostles) said on the sub
ject, and in no manner depends on it."
Page 300: " It is only the antagonistic fanaticism of a fragment
of the South, which maintains the doctrine that slavery is, in
itself, a good thing, and ought to be perpetuated. It cannot by
possibility be perpetuated."
Page 301 : " The South, thetefore, has to choose between emanci
pation, hy the silent and.holy influence of the gospel, securing the
elevation of the slaves to the stature and character of freemen, or to
abide the issue of a long continued conflict against the laws o^
God." Page 306: "And if a Christian master at the present time
^ * * should be troubled in his conscience in regard to his
right to hold slaves, there is no part of the apostolic writings to
which he could turn to allay his feelings or calm his scruples."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 171

Page 311: "Now this undeniable fact, that the right of the
master over the person and seuvices of the slave, is never recognised
at all in the New Testament."
Page 312 : " Whatever distinction of complexion there may be,
it is the doctrine of the Bible that all belong to one and the same
great family, and that, in the most important matters pertaining to
their existence, they are on a level."
Page 315 : " Up to the time when its- truths (the gospel's) were
made known, the great mass of mankind had no scruples about its
propriety ; they regarded one portion of the race as inferior to the
other, and as born to be slaves. Christianity disclosed the great
truth that all men were on a level; that all were equal."
Page 317 : "If a man should in fact render to his slaves ' that
which is just and equal;' would he not restore them to freedom?
Would any thing short of this be all that is just and equal ?"
Page 322 : " No man has a right to assume that when the word
hovkog, doulos, occurs in the New Testament, it means a slave."
Page 331 : "No argument in favour of slavery can be derived from
the injunctions addressed by the apostles to the slaves themselves."
Page 340 : "From the arguments thus far presented in regard
to the relations of Christianity to slavery, it seems fair to draw
the conclusion, that the Christian religion lends no sanction to
slavery." Page 341 : " The Saviour and his apostles inculcated such views
of man as amount to a prohibition of slavery." Page 345 : " He
(Jesus Christ) was not a Jew, except by the accident of his birth, '
but he was a man ; in his human form there was as distinct a re
lation to the African * * * as there was to the Caucasian."
We have understood that one popular clergyman at the North
(an abolitionist) has gone so far as to say that Jesus Christ was a
negro ! To what folly and extravagance will not wickedness sub
ject its slaves !
Mr. Barnes says, page 375 — " These considerations seem to me
to be conclusive proof that Christianity was not designed to extend and
perpetuate slavery ; but that the spirit of the Christian religion would
remove it from the world, because it is an evil, and displeasing to God."
To all of which, worthy of, answer, it may he well to apply the
sentiment which he attribuj;es to Dr. Fuller, that the New Testa
ment is not silent on the subject of slavery ; that it recognises the
relation; that it commands slaves to obey their masters, and gives
reasoT.s why they should do so. And it -may be steadily affirmed,

172 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

if slavery be a sin, that such commands and counsels are not only
a suppressio veri, but a suggestio falsi ; not only a suppression of
the truth, but a suggestion of what is false !
If it shall be said that God merely sanctioned or permitted
slavery in the time of the patriarchs, who will say that he did not
enjoin it in the time of Moses ? A repeal of this injunction de
manded a countervailing revelation of no equivocal character, clear
and decided, without the admission of a doubt.
" And God spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying, * * *
But thy bond-men and bond-maids which thou shalt have, shall be
of the heathen that are round about you ; of them shall ye buy
bond-men and bond-maids. Moreover, of the children of the
strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy and
of their families, which they beget in your land ; and they shall
be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance,
for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession : they
shall be your bond-men for ever." Lev. xxv. 1, 44, 45, 46.
Mr. Barnes has adduced no proof that this law was ever re
pealed ; nor do the holy books contain any evidence of such re
peal ; yet he has denied the existence of slavery in Judea, at the
time of the advent of the Saviour. See pp. 228, 242, 244, and
249, before quoted, and, we trust, sufficiently refuted. But we
now add, that at the time Jesus Christ and his apostles were on
the earth, Judea was a province of Rome. Now, since it was
clear that slavery was inculcated by the Hebrew laws, unless it
was forbidden by the Roman, we could not come to the conclusion
that slavery did not exist in Judea at their time, even if Jesus
Christ and his apostles had never alluded to it.
But, — see Matt. xxvi. 51 : " Behold, one of them which were with
Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the
servant {hov'A.ov, doulon, slave) of the high-priest," then some
suitable but different word would have been used, as in the follow
ing: "And the servants {8ov2.ol, douloi, slaves) and officers
{iTtT^petai, huperetai, attendants, persons who aid, assistants)
stood there," John xviii. 18 ; proving the fact that both slaves
and other attendants were present, and that the slave was named
distinctly from such other attendants. There can be no doubt
about these facts ; and in proof that slavery was not forbidden by
the Roman laws, we quote from Mr. Barnes, page 251 : " In Italy,
it was computed that there were three slaves to one freeman; and

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 173

in this part of the empire alone, their numbers amounted to more
than twenty millions."
Page 252: * * * " The number of slaves could not have
been less than sixty millions in the Roman Empire, at about the
time the apostles went forth to preach the gospel."
Page 264: * * * "The following places are mentioned,
either as emporia for slaves or countries from which they were
procured: Deles, Phrygia, and Cappadocia, Panticapaeum, Dias-
curias, and Phanagoria on the Euxine or Black Sea ; Alexandria
and Cadiz ; Corsica, Sardinia, and Britain ; Africa and Thrace."
And does it astonish us that in these dark ages of human degra
dation, Britain helped to supply Rome with slaves ? It should be
remembered that conquest gave the right in ancient days to en
slave all barbarous and deeply degraded nations ; and it might be
inquired whether such principle was not alluded to by the prophet :
" Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive
delivered." Isa. xlix. 24. History will inform us that all these
nations were of the lowest order. 'St. Jerome, in his writings
against Jovinian, informs us what were the morals of Britain. He
says — " Why should I refer to other nations, when I myself, when
a youth in Gaul, have seen the Atticotti, a British tribe, eating
human flesh ? Should they find shepherds tending their herds of
swine or cattle, and fiocks of sheep in the woods, they are wont
to cut off the fleshy parts of the men, and the breasts of the
women, .which are esteemed the most delicious food."
Who then is to say that Britain is not now indebted for her
high state of intellectual improvement to the pike, bludgeon, and
sword of the Roman, Dane, Saxon, and Norman? And can we
say that the hand of God was not in this ? The same providences
and principles that have ever applied to degraded Africa apply to
all degraded nations, and even to individual men. " Whosoever
committeth sin is the servant {hovXog, doulos, slave) of sin."
And it may be said that nations and individuals thus enslave
themselves. "Behold, for your iniquities ye have sold yourselves."
Isct. 1. 1. These principles may be seen every day operating
among the most degraded of even the most enlightened nations.
The history of the present day informs us of the deep degradation
of the African tribes ; and that even in their own country the
great mass are slaves. Ponsistently with the laws of God, they
could not be otherwise ; and even slavery among themselves, sub
ject to sacrifice and death as we have seen it, is yet better for

174 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

them than a state of freedom. We have seen how the free hordes
roam like the brutes, making that place home where night over
took them. Suppose such to be cannibals, of which we have
proof, it might So happen, that, in one day, one half of -their
number would be destroyed by themselves. Therefore, as dis
tressing as slavery must be among them, yet it is far preferable to
their dejectetl condition of freedom.
We know of no one who pretends to believe that the masses of
the African tribes have increased in number since the commence
ment of our era ; whereas, a few scattering individuals, brought
into slavery, within the last few generations, in these States, have
increased to near four millions ; nearly one-twelfth of the number
of the entire population of Africa. However wicked may be the
Christian master, how much more is slavery to be desired by the
negro than any condition among these pagan hordes ! We, there
fore, do not deem it presumptuous to say, that so degraded is the
condition of the African in his own land, that it has been elevated
in proportion as it has been affected by the slave-trade, and more
especially with Christian nations. The first tendencies towards
civilization, and whatever dawning of mental development there
may be now noticed among the African tribes, are traceable alone
to that source. And the Christian philosopher might well inquire
whether, in the providence of God, its existence, from the time of
Noah to the present, has not been the saving principle which has
alone preserved the tribes of Ham from the condition of Sodom
and Gomorrah, and other nations long since wasted away.

LESSON XX.

Mr. Barnes has quoted and adopted the following passage from
President Wayland, page 310 : "If the religion of Christ allows
such a license (to hold slaves) from such precepts as these, the New
Testament would be the greatest curse that ever -was inflicted on
our race." On the account of the avow'al of Dr. Barnes as to his
race, heretofore noticed, we feel a degree of gladness that the
above passage is not original with him : we should expect to find
in him a sympathy on this subject, unpleasant to encounter, be
cause legitimately acting on his mind. A man may be a philosopher

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

175

or a Christian, yet the ties of nature, the sympathies of kindred
are not abated.
We are informed that heretofore, written arguments in favour of
abolitionism by Dr. Wayland and against it by Dr. Fuller, have
been published. We have not seen the work ; but are told that
the abolitionists claim victory for Dr. Wayland, and that the oppo
nents also claim it for Dr. Fuller ; and from the foregoing passage
as quoted, we conclude that Dr. Wayland found himself, at least,
in straits on the subject. If such be the fact, it may account why
the abolitionists thought Dr. Barnes's present work necessary.
But, however these things may be, the passage from Dr. Wayland
is a volume of deep instruction, announcing the feelings and theolo
gical consistency, we might say fanaticism, of, we hope, but a few
extraordinary men, now appearing in our land ; men, we doubt not,
conscientious in their opinion that God designs the government of
the world to be in strict conformity with human reason, and who
cannot, therefore, pray in the spirit of the Son : " Father, if thou
be willing, remove this cup from me : nevertheless, not my will, but
thine, be done." Luke xxii. 42. " If any man have not the spirit
of Christ, he is none of his." Rom. viii. 9.
In the book before us, the author falls into one error, common to
every writer on his side of the question : That slavery is the cause
of the degradation of the Africans and the slaves generally. We
maintain that the converse is the true state of the case. Another
error is the substitution of what may be abuses of slavery for
the institution itself. This author, like most of the abolition
writers of whom we have any knowledge, evinces an inability to
enter into an impartial consideration of the subject, from his deep
and overshadowing prejudices against it. Indeed, the whole work,
from page to page, carries proof of a previous determination to
condemn, not less obvious than in the instance of the judge who,
in summing up a case, said — " It is true, in this case, the accused
has proved himself innocent ; but, since a guilty man might prove
himself so, sftid since I myself have always been of the opinion
that he was guilty, it will be the safest to condemn."
The style of the work before us is always diffuse and declama
tory, sometimes elevated, but often cumbrous ; still his language
bears the impress of classical learning and a cultivated mind ; but
there is in the work a want of conciseness ; it abounds in contra
dictory positions . and a frequent, inconclusiveness of deduction,
which make it obnoxious to a charge of carelessness. But may

176 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

we not account for these defects by the urgent solicitude of his
readers ?
The morbid appetite of the Northern abolitionists was probably
hungry for the work. Having no wish to oppose his pecuniary
views, we refrain from further extracts, lest we should infringe his
copyright. Nor did we at all contemplate a classical review of
the work. The book contains about 400 pages. If it could be
condensed, like a pot of new-brewed and foaming, into potable
beer, to a fourth of that size, it might well claim such attention ;
and from the specimens of ability displayed, if it were proved that
the doctor has suffered his zeal to run ahead of the truth in regard
to his race, we should judge him fully competent to the task of
such improvement.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 177

^ttitrj) m.

LESSON L
" The ¦ Works of William Ellery Channing, D. D,, in six volumes. Tenth
Edition. Boston, 1849.
These volumes include essays, sermons, and lectures on various
subjects. The style is easy, flowing, and persuasive ; the language
is generally clear, (jften elevated, sometimes sublime. Few can
read the book and not feel the evidence, whatever may be the error
of his doctrine, that the author added to his literary eminence a
purity of intention. Such a work must always make a deep impres
sion on the reader. It is this fact that prompts the present essay.
It may be said of Channing what Channing said of Fenelon :
" He needs to be read with caution, as do all who write from
their own deeply excited minds. He needs to be received with
deductions and explanations. * * * "We fear that the very
excellencies of Fenelon may shield his errors. Admiration pre
pares the mind for belief ; and the moral and religious sensibility
of the reader may lay him open to impressions which, while they
leave his purity unstained, may engender causeless solicitude."
Vol. i. p. 186.
Dr. Channing's sympathies for every appearance of human suffer
ing, for every grade of human imperfection, gave a peculiar phasis,
perhaps most amiable to his intellect, religion, and writings. He
sought perfection for himself — he was ardent to behold it universal.
Heaven must for ever be the home of such a spirit. But the
scenes of earth gave agitation and grief. Limited, in his earthly
associations, to the habits of the North, the very purity of his
heart led him to attack what he deemed the most wicked sin of the
South. His politics were formed upon the model of his mind.
12

178 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Religion spread before him her golden wing, and science aided in
the elevation of his view.
But, 0 thou Being, God Eternal ! why not this earth made
heaven ? Why thy most perfect work imperfection ? Why thy
child, clothed with holiness or shod with the gospel, run truant to
tliy law, thy providence and government ? .
. But, lo, we are not of thy council. We were not called when -
the foundations of eternity were laid. We are, truly, all very
small beings. Our virtues, even purity, may lead in error. May
not our best intentions lead down to wo ?
" It is a fact worthy of serious thought, and full of solemn
instruction, that many of the worst errors have grown out of the
religious tendencies of the mind. So necessary is it to keep watch
over our whole nature, to .subject the highest sentiments to the
calm, conscientious reason. Men, starting from the idea of God,
have been so dazzled by it, as to forget or misinterpret the uni
verse." Channing, vol. i. p. 14.

LESSON IL
Volume ii. page 14, Dr. Channing says —
" 1. I shall show. that man cannot be justly held and used as
property. " 2. I shall show that man has sacred rights, the gifts of God,
and inseparable from human nature, of which slavery is the
infraction. " 3. I shall offer some explanations to prevent misapplication of
these principles.
"4. I shall unfold the evils of slavery.
" 5. I shall consider the argument which the Scriptures are
thought to furnish in favour of slavery.
" 6. I shall offer some remarks on the means of removing it.
" 7. I shall offer some remarks on abolitionism.
" 8. I shall conclude with a few reflections on the duties belong
ing to the times."
In support of the first proposition, to wit, " I will show that
man cannot be justly held and used as property," the doctor has
advanced seven arguments. He says, page 18 — " It is plain, that,
if one man may be held as property, then every other man may be

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. I79
so held." * * * " ]«fow let every reader ask himself this plain
question : Could I, can I, be rightfully seized, and made an article of
property," &c. Page 19 : " And if this impression be delusion, on
what single moral conviction can we rely ? * * * The con
sciousness of indestructible rights is a part of our moral being. The
consciousness of our humanity involves the persuasion that we
cannot be owned as a tree or brute. As men, we cannot justly
be made slaves. Then no man can be rightfully enslaved."
The first idea we find, touching property, is in Gen. i. 26 :
" And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
Verse 28th : "And God blessed them, and God said unto them.
Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it ;
and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
In Lev. xxv. 44 : " Both thy bond-men and bond-maids which
thou shalt have shall he of the heathen, that are round about you :
of them shall ye buy bond-men and bond-maids." Verse 46 :
" Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among
you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you
which they beget in your land, and they shall be your possession."
Verse 46 : " And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your
children after you, to inherit them for a posse.ssion, they shall be
your bondmen for ever."
And if we look at the first verse of this chapter, that the fore
going was announced by God himself to Moses from Sinai ; and
from which it would seem that God and Dr. Channing were of
quite a different opinion on this subject.
We know not what notion Dr. Channing may have entertained
of " man's indestructible rights." But let us ask, what rights has
he that may not be destroyed ? * The right to breath ? Suppose,
by his own wantonness, carelessness, or wickedness, he is sub
merged in water, what becomes of his right to breathe, since he can
no longer exercise it ? Can you name any right that, under the
providence of God, may not be destroyed ? Freemen have rights,
but subject to alteration, and even extinction ; slaves have rights,
but subject to the same changes. There is no such thing as an
"indestructible right" appertaining to any existence, save to the
Great Jehovah ! He must be an immortal God who can possess an
indestructible right. We use the word "right" in Dr. Channing's

180 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

sense — just claim, legal title, ownership, the legal power of exclu
sive possession. You ask, has not man an indestructible right
to worship God ? Wfe answer, no ! Man has no such right to wor
ship God ; such right would make him a partner. The worship
of God is a duty which man owes ; the forbearance of which is
forbidden by the moral law, by justice and propriety. Nothing
can be forbidden or ordered touching an indestructible right ; for
such command, if to be obeyed, changes the quality of the right ;
or rather shows that it was not indestructible.
Such arguments may seem to give great aid and beauty to a
mere rhetorical climax, but, before the lens of analyzation, evapo
rates into enthusiastic declamation, — which, in the present case,
seems to he addressed to the sympathies, prejudices, and impulses
of the human heart.
In his writings on slavery, in fact through all his works, we find
a fundamental error, most fatal to truth. He makes the conscience
the great cynosura of all that is right in morals, and of all tha.t
is true in religion.
Hence, in the passage before us, — '¦" The consciousness of inde
structible rights is a part of our moral being," — the consciousness
of such rights is his proof that we possess them ; therefore, "the
consciousness of our humanity involves the persuasion (proof) that
we cannot be owned;" and, therefore, "as men (being men) we
cannot justly be made slaves." So, page 26: "Another argument
against the right of property in man, may be drawn from a very
obvious principle of moral science, the conscience." Page 33.
" His conscience, in revealing the moral law, does not reveal a law
for himself only, but speaks as a universal legislator. He has an
intuitive conviction that the obligations of this divine code press
on others as truly as on himself. * * * There is no deeper
principle in human nature than the consciousness of rights."
Vol. iii. page 18 : " By this I jnean that a Christian minister
should beware of offering interpretations of Scripture which are
repugnant to any clear discoveries of reason, or dictates of con
science. ' '
Page 93 : " We believe that all virttie has its foundation in the
moral nature of man ; that is, conscience, or his sense of
duty." Page 164 : " One of the great excellencies of Christianity is
that it does not deal in minute regulations ; but, that, having given
broad views of duty," &c., * * * "it leaves us to apply

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 181
these rules, and express their spirit, according to the promptings
of the divine monitor within us" — the conscience.
Vol. vi. page 308 : " We have no higher -^iw than our convic
tion of duty."
" Conscience is the supreme power within us. Its essence, its
grand characteristic, is sovereignty. It speaks with divine au
thority. Its office is to command, to rebuke, to reward ; and hap
piness and honour depend on the reverence with which we listen
to it." Vol. iii. pp. 335, 336.
Such passages plainly expose the view of what Dr. Channing
calls conscience : in answer to which we say, the conscience may
be a poor guide to truth. The African savage feels a clear con
science when he kills and eats his captive. The Hindoo mother
is governed by her conscience when she plunges her new-born in
fant beneath the fiood, a sacrifice to her gods. The idolaters of
Palestine were subdued hj conscience when they thrust their suck
ling infants into the fiames to appease Moloch ; yet God did not
think it was right, and forbade them to do so.
The truth is, the conscience is merely that part of the judg
ment which takes notice of what it deems right or wrong : con
sequently, is as prone to be in error as our judgment about any
other matter.
For the accuracy of this definition, we refer to all the standard
writers on logic, and those on the human understanding, treating
on the subject. And in fact, Dr. Channing is forced to recede
from his position when he finds that Abraham, Philemon, and some
good men even of the present day, were slave-owners ; and in
vol. vi. page 55, he says — " It is a solemn truth, not yet und^-
stood as it should be, that the worst institutions may be sustained,
the worst deeds performed, the most merciless cruelties inflicted
by the conscientious and the good."
And again, page 67 : " The great truth is now insisted on, that
evil is evil, no matter at whose door it lies ; and that men acting
from conscience and religion may do nefarious deeds, needs to be
better understood."
Would it not have been more frank for Dr. Channing to have
said, that the conscience. would be an unerring guide so lor^g as
it agreed with his, but when it did not, why, then he would inquire
into the matter ?
It is to be lamented that, among the unlearned at the present

182 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

day, a cinfused idea of something ' tantamount to the conscience
being a divine monitor within us has taken a deep root among the
minds of men; havijjg grown out of the fact that such was the
doctrine of some of the fanatical teachers of former days.
If we shall be permitted to speak of property, in reference to
our and its relation to the Divine Being, then we cannot strictly
say that man can own property. Jehovah stands in no need.
Behold the cattle upon a thousand hills are his ; all is the work of
his hand ; all, all is his property alone ! At most, God has only
intrusted the possession, the administration of the subjects of his
creation, to man for the time being, — to multiply, to replenish and
subdue. It is only in reference to our relation to one another that
we can advance the idea of property. Man was commanded to
have dominion over the whole earth, to replenish and subdue, in
proportion to the talent bestowed on him for that purpose. This
command presupposes such a state of things as we find, of ad
vancement, progression, and improvement. But in the course of
the Divine administration, God has seen fit to bestow on one man
ten talents, and on another but one ; and who shall stand upon the
throne of the Almighty, and decide that he of the ten talents shall
have no relation with the progression of him of but one talent ?
" Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him of
ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he
shall have abundance : but from him that hath not shall be taken
away even that which he hath." 3Iatt. xxv. 28, 29 ; see also Luke
xvii. 24-26.
And what, in the course of Divine providence, is to become of
him who buried his talent in the earth, and from whom it was taken
away ? " Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh
shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make
him ruler over all that he hath." Luke xii. 43, 44. "Jesus an
swered them. Verily I say unto you, whoever committeth sin is the
servant {hovT^g, doulos, slave) of sin." John viii. 34. " Behold for
your iniquities have ye sold yourselves." Isa. 1. 1. " Cursed be
Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren."
Gen. ix. 25. D'"|i)/. ^5i^. ^^^d, ehedim, a most abject slave
shall he be !

STUDIES ON SLAVERY 188

LESSON III.
The second argument in support of his first proposition is, " A
man cannot be seized and held as property, because he has rights ;"
to enforce which, he says — " Now, I say, a being having rights
cannot justly be made property ; for this claim over him virtually
annuls all his rights." We see no force of argument in this posi
tion. It is also true that all domestic animals, held as property,
have rights. " The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's
crib." They all have "the right of petition;" and ask, in their
way, for food : are they the less property ?
But his third argument in support of his first proposition is,
that man cannot justly be held as property, on the account of the
"essential equality of man." If to be born, to eat, to drink, and
die alike, constitutes an essential equality among men, then be it
so ! What! the African savage," born even a slave amid his native
wilds, who entertains no vestige of an idea of God, of a future
state of existence, of moral accountability ; who has no wish be
yond the gratification of his own animal desire ; whose parentage,
for ages past, has been of the same order ; and whose descendants
are found to require generations of constant training before they
display any permanent moral and intellectual advancement ; what,
such a one essentially equal to such a man as Dr. Channing ?
The truth is, such a man is more essentially equal with the brute
creation. We shall consider the subject of the equality in another
part of our study, to which we refer. We, therefore, only remark,
that the doctrine is a chimera.
His fourth argument in support of the proposition is, " That
man cannot justly be held as property, because property is an ex
clusive right. "Now," he says, "if there be property in any
tiling, it is that of a man in his own person, mind, and strength."
"Property," he repeats, "is an exclusive right."
If a man has an exclusive right to property, he can alienate it ;
he may sell, give, and bequeath it to others. If a man is the pro
perty of himself, suppose he shall choose to sell himself to another,
and deliver himself in full possession to the purchaser, as he had
before been in the full possession of himself — whose property will

184 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

he be then ? See a case in point in Beut. xv. 12-17 ; see also
Exod. xxi. 1-7.
His fifth argument is that, " if a human being cannot without
infinite injustice be seized as property, then he cannot, without
equal wrong, be held and used as such." If a human being shall
be found a nuisance to himself and others in a state of freedom,
then there will be no injustice in his being subjugated, by law, to
such control as his qualities prove him to require in reference to
the general good ; even if the subject shall not choose such control
as a personal benefit to himself.
The sixth argument is, that a human being cannot be held as
property, because, if so held, " the latter is under obligation to
give himself up as a chattel to the former. " Now," he says, " do we
not instantly feel, can we help feeling, that this is false ?" And
that " the absence of obligation proves the want of the right."
We suppose all acknowledge God as the author of the moral
law. The moral law forcibly inculcates submission to the civil or
political law, even independent of any promise to do so. Now, no
one can have a right to act in contradiction to law. The absence
of this right, then, proves the existence of the obligation.
For his seventh argument, he says — " I come now to W'hat is, to
my mind, the great argument against seizing and using a man as
property. He cannot be property in the sight of God and jus
tice, because he is a rational, moral, immortal being; because
created in God's image, and therefore in the highest sense his
child ; because created to unfold godlike faculties, and to govern
himself by a Divine law, written on his heart, and republished in
God's word."
Dr. Channing adds a page or two in the same impulsive strain,
of the same enthusiastic character. We may admire his style, his
language, the amiable formation of his mind, but we see nothing
like precision or logical deduction in support of his proposition.
We see nothing in it but the declamation of a learned, yet an over-
ardent, enthusiastic mind. His whole book is but a display of his
mental formation. He could love his friends ; yea, his enemies.
He could have rewarded virtue, but he never could have punished
sin. He could have forgiven the greatest outrage, but he never
could have yielded a delinquent to the rigid demands of justice. He
was a good man, but he never could have been an unbending judge.
The laws of God have been made for the government and bene
fit of his creatures. God, nor his law, is, like man, changeable.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

His law, as expressed or manifested towards one class of objects,
is also 'expressed and manifested towards all objects similarly situ
ated. The law, brought into action by an act of Cain, would
also have been brought into action by a similar act of Abel. The
law condemnatory of the shedding of blood is still in fearful
existence against all who shall have brought themselves within the
category of Cain's acts, the most of which have probably not been
recorded. We anticipate from another portion of our studies, that " sin is
any want of conformity unto the law of God." Sin is as neces
sarily followed by ill consequences to the sinner as cause is by
effect. A man commits a private murder ; think ye, he feels no
horrors of mind — no regrets ? Is the watchfulness he finds neces
sary to keep over himself for fear of exposure, through the whole
of life, not the effect of the act ? Is not his whole conduct, his
friendships and associations with men, his very mental peculiari
ties, his estimate of others, often all infiuenced and directed in
the path of his personal safety, the avoidance of suspicion ? And
is all this no punishment ? Probably, to have been put to death
would have been a much less suffering ; and who can tell how far
this long, fearful, and systematic working of his mind is to affect
the mental peculiarities of his offspring ? Shall he, who, by wanton
thoughtlessness, regardless of propriety, the moral law, and the
consequences of its breach, contracts some foul, loathsome, con
suming disease, that burns into the bones, and becomes a part of
his physical constitution, leave no trace of his sin on his descend
ants? Deteriorated, feeble, and diseased, they shall not live out
half their days !
A long-continued course of sin, confined to an individual, or
extended to a family or race of people, deteriorates, degenerates,
and destroys. Such deterioration, continued perhaps from untold
time, has brought some of the races of men to what we now find
them ; and the same causes, in similar operation, would leave the
same effect on any other race ; and Dr. Channing's " child of God"
ceases to be so. "Ye are of your father, the devil." John viii.
44. " And Dr. Channing's man, created to unfold godHke facul
ties, and to govern himself by a Divine law written on his heart,"
ceases to act as he supposes: "And the lusts of your father ye
will do : he. was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in
the truth; because there is no truth in him." John viii. 44. And
what saith the Spirit of prophecy to these degenerate sons of

186 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

earth ? " When thou criest, let thy companions deliver thee ; but
the wind shall carry them away ; vanity shall take them ; but he
that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall in
herit my holy mountain." Isa. Ivii. 13.
" And if thou shalt say in thy heart, wherefore came these
things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy
skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare. Can the Ethiopian
change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? Then may ye also do
good that are accustomed to do evil. Therefore will I scatter them
as stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. This
is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord :
because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood. There
fore, will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may
appear." Jer. xiii. 22-26.
" And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of
the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to
,a people far off: for the Lord hath spoken it." Joel iii. 8.
And what saith the same Spirit to those of opposite character ?
" The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto
thee ; and they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at
the soles of thy feet." Isa. Ix. 14.
" And strangers shall stand and feed your fiocks, and the sons
of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your vine-dressers."
Ibid. Ixi. 6.
" They (my people) shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth
trouble ; they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their
offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, before they shall
call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."
Ibid. Ixv. 234.
What are the threatenings announced in prospect of their dete
rioration and wickedness ?
"And thou (Judah) even thyself, shalt discontinue from thy
heritage that I gave thee ; and I will cause thee to serve {7Vtyi'2y,
be a slave to) thine enemies in a land which thou knowest not."
Jer. xvii. 4.
"Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, 0 chil
dren of Israel ? saith the Lord. * * * Behold the eyes of the
Lord God are upon this sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from
off the face of the earth ; saving that I will not utterly destroy the
house of Jacob, saith the Lord." Amos ix. 7, 8.
The consequences of sin are degradation, slavery, and death :

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 187

" A righteous man liateth lying ; but a wicked man is loathsome
and cometh to shame."
" He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind ; and the
fool shall be servant (131^ ehed, slave) to the wise of heart."
" As righteousness tendeth to life, so he that pursueth evil, pur-
sueth it to his own death." Prov.
Dr. Channing has suffered his idea of property to bring him
great mental suffering : he evidently associates, under the term
property, those qualities and relations only, which are properly
associated in an inanimate object of possession, or at most in a
brute beast. ^ He has, no doubt, suffered great misery from the
reflection that a human being has ever been reduced to such a con
dition. But his misery has all been produced by his adherence to
his own peculiar definition of the word property. His definition
is not its exact meaning, when applied to a slave. Had the doctor
attempted an argument to show that the word property could not
consistently be applied to a slave, he might, perhaps, have im
proved our language, by setting up a more definite boundary to the
meaning of this term, and saved himself much useless labour.
Mankind apply the term property to slaves : they have always
done so ; and since Dr. Channing has not given us an essay upon
the impropriety of this use of the word, perhaps the accustomed
usage will be continued. But we imagine that no one but the doctor
and his disciples will contend that it expresses the same complex
idea when applied to slaves, which is expressed by it when applied
to inanimate objects, or to brute beasts. It will be a new idea to the
slaveholder to be told that the word property, as applied to his
slaves, converts them at once into brute beasts, no longer human
beings ; that it deprives them of all legal protection ; and that he,
the master, in consequence of the use of this word, stands in the
same relation to his slave that he does to his horse ; and we ap
prehend he will find it quite as difficult to comprehend how this
metamorphosis is brought about, as it is for the doctor and his
disciples,- how the slave is property.
We may say a man has property in his wife, his children, his
hireling, his slave, his horse, and a piece of timber, — by which we
mean that he has the right to use them, in conformity to the rela
tions existing between himself and these several objects. Because
his horse is his property, who ever dreamed that he had therefore
the right to use him as a piece of timber ?

188 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

No man has a right to use any item of property in a different
manner than his relations with it indicate ; or, in other words, as
shall be in conformity with the laws of God. Our property is little
else than the right of possession and control, under the guidance
of the laws by which we are in possession for the time being.
The organization of society is the result of the conception of the
general good. By it one man, under a certain chain of circum
stances, inherits a throne ; another, a farm ; one, the protection of
a bondman, or whatever may accrue to these conditions from other
operating causes; and another, nothing. If Dr. Channing and his
disciples can find out some new principles by which to organize
society, producing different and better results, they will then do
what has not been done.

LESSON IV.

The doctrine that slavery, disease, and death are the necessary
effects of sin, we humbly claim to perceive spread on every page
of the holy books. This doctrine is forcibly illustrated in the
warning voice of Jehovah to the Israelites. They were empha
tically called his children — peculiar people — his chosen ones. He
made covenants with them to bless them ; yet all these were
founded upon their adherence to the Divine law. These promises
repealed no ordinance of Divine necessity in their behalf. He ex
pressed, revealed the law, so far as it was important for them at
the time, and then says, Beut. xxviii. 14-68 : —
" 15. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto
the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his command
ments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all
these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee :
" 16. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be
in the field.
" 17. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.
" 18. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of
thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
" 19. Cursed shalt thou he when thou comest in, and cursed shalt
thou he when thou goest out.
" 20. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, aud re
buke, in all that thou settest thy hand unto for to do^ until thou be

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 189

destroyed, and until thou perish quickly : because of the wicked
ness of thy doings whereby thou hast forsaken me.
" 21. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until
he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to
possess it.
" 22. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a
fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and
with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew : and they shall
pursue thee until thou perish.
" 23. And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and
the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
" 24. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and
dust : from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be
destroyed. "25. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine ene
mies : thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways
before them ; and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the
earth. " 26. And thy carcass shall be meat unto all fowls of the air,
and unto beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
" 27. The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and
with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof
thou canst not be healed.
" 28. The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness,
and astonishment of heart :
" 29. And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in
darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways ; and thou shalt
be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save
thee. " 30. Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with
her : thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein :
thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes
thereof. " 31. Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt
not eat thereof : thy ass shall be yiolently taken away from before
thy face, and shall not be restored to thee : thy sheep shall be
given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue
them. " 32. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another
people, and thy eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all
the day long : and there shall he no might in thy hand.

190 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

" 33. The fruit of thy land and all thy labours shall a nation
which thou knowest not eat up : and thou shalt be only oppressed
and crushed always :
" 34. So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thy eyes which
thou shalt see.
" 36. The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs,
with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot
unto the top of thy head.
" 36. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt
set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers
have known, and there shalt thou serve (m^i^l ve abadta, and
shall slave yourselves to) other gods, wood and stone :
" 37. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and
a by-word, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.
" 38. Thou shalt carry much seed out unto the field, and shalt
gather but little in : for the locust shall consume it.
" 39. Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but shalt
neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes : for the worms
shall eat them.
" 40. Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout, but thou shalt not
anoint thyself viiih the oil : for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
" 41. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not
enjoy them, for they shall go into captivity."
{Into captivity is translated from 'D^2 bashshebi; the prefix pre
position in, into, &c. here makes hash. The root is shehi. The
translation is correct, but the idea extends to such a possession of
the captive as- includes the idea of a right of property. The same
word is used when dumb beasts are taken as spoil in war ; thus, Amos
iv. 10, D5''P1D '''2^f shebi susekem, I have taken your horses, i. e.
I have captured your horses, — the right of property in the horses
is changed. The idea in the text is, they shall go into slavery.)
"42. All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust con
sume. " 43. The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee
very high ; and thou shalt come down very low.
"44. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him : he
shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
"46. Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall
pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed : because
thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep
his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 191

"46. And they shall be upon thee for a sign, and for a! wonder,
and upon thy seed for ever."
{For a sign JTiN oth, a mark, sign, ^c. It may be noted that
this word is used in Gen. iv. 15 : " And the Lord set a mark upon
Cain," jTiN oth, mark, sign, S;c.)
"47. Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness
and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things.
"48. Therefore shalt thou serve (Hl^i' ^^ * s^fl^^fi to) thine ene
mies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in
thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all tJiings : and he shall
put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.
"49. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from
the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth, a nation whose
tongue thou shalt not understand ;
" 50. A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the
person of the old, nor show favour to the young :
"51. And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of
thy land, until thou be destroyed : which also shall not leave thee
either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks
of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.
"52. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high
and fenced walls come down, 'wherein thou trustedst, throughout all
thy land : and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all
chy land which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
" 53. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh
of thy sons and of thy daughters which the Lord thy God hath
given thee, in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine ene
mies shall distress thee :
"64. So that the man that is tender among you, and very deli
cate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the
wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which
he shall leave.
" 56. So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his
children whom he shall eat : because he hath nothing left him in
the siege, and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall dis
tress thee in all thy gates.
"56. The tender and delicate woman among you, which would
not .adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for deli-
cateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the hus
band of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,
"57. And toward her young one that cometh out from between

192 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear : for she
shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and
straitness wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
"58. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that
are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and
fearful name THE LORD THY GOD.
"59. Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the
plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance,
and sore sicknesses and of long continuance.
" 60. Moreover, he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt,
which thou wast afraid of, and they shall cleave unto thee.
" 61. Also every sickness, and every plague which is not written
in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until
thou be destroyed.
" 62. And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the
stars of heaven for multitude ; because thou wouldest not obey the
voice of the Lord thy God.
"63. And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over
you to do you good, and to multiply you ; so the Lord will rejoice
over you to destroy you and to bring you to nought; and ye shall
be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.
"64. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people from the
one end of the earth even to the other, and thou shalt serve (iTJ^^,
he slave to) other gods which neither thou nor thy fathers have
known, even wood and stone.
" 65. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither
shall the sole of thy foot have rest : but the Lord shall give thee
there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind.
" 66. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee ; and thou
shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy
life: "67. In the morning thou shalt say. Would God it were even !
and at even shalt thou say. Would God it were morning ! for the
fear of thy heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of
thine eyes which thou shalt see.
" 68. And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with
ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee. Thou shalt see it
no more again : and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for
bond-men and bond-women, and no man shall buy you."
Ye shall be sold, i. e. be exposed to sale, or expose yourselves
to sale, as the word DfllDOnn hith maccartem may he rendered;

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 19c

they were vagrants, and wished to become slaves that they might
be provided with the necessaries of life." Clarke's Commentary.
The markets were overstocked with them, says Josephus :
* * * " They were sold with their wives and children at the
lowest price, there being many to be sold, and few purchasers."
Hegesippus also says — " There were many captives offered for
sale, but few buyers, because the Romans disdained to take the
Jews for slaves, and there were not Jews remaining to redeem
their countrymen."
" When Jerusalem was taken by Titus, of the captives who were
sent into Egypt, those under seventeen were sold; but so little
care was taken of them, that 11,000 of them perished for want."
Bishop Neivton.
St. Jerome says — " After their last overthrow by Adrian, many
thousands of them were sold, and those who could not be sold were
transported into Egypt, and perished by shipwreck and famine, or
were massacred by the inhabitants."
A similar condition happened to the Jews in Spain, when, under
the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, they were driven out of tkat
kingdom, concerning which, Abarbinel, a Jewish writer says —
" Three hundred thousand, young and old, women and children,
(of whom he was one,) not knowing where to go, left on foot in one
day : some became a prey, some perished by famine, some by
pestilence, — some committed themselves to the sea, but were sold
for slaves when they came to any coast ; many were drowned and
burned in the ships which were set on fire. In short, all suffered
the punishment of God the Avenger."
Benson, in his Commentary, says — " How these instances may
affect others, I know not, but for myself I must acknowledge, they
not only convince, but astonish me beyond expression. They are
truly, as Moses foretold they would be, a sign and a wonder for
ever." Scott says — " Numbers of captives were sent by sea into Egypt,
(as well as into other countries,) and sold for slaves at a vile price,
and for the meanest offices; and many thousands were left to
perish from want ; for the multitude was so great that purchasers
could not be found for them all at any price. * * * To such
wretchedness is every one exposed, who lives in disobedience to
God's commands. * * * None will suffer any misery above
his deserts : but, indeed, we are all exposed to this woful curse,
for breaking the law of God."
* 13

194 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Henry says — " I have heard of a wicked man, who, on reading
these threatenings, was so enraged that he tore the leaf out of his
Bible." Upon a review of all this evidence, to what conclusion is the
mind inclined ? Are there no circumstances under which man may
become a slave — " property, in the sight of God and justice?"
Dr. Channing says, vol. ii. page 28 — " Such a being (man) was
plainly made to obey a law within himself. This is the essence of
a moral being. He possesses, as part of his nature, and the most
essential part, a cause of duty, which he is to reverence and
follow." This is in accordance with his idea of conscience — " the Divine
monitor within us." But we are forced to differ from Dr. Chan
ning. To obey the law of God, not some creature of man's, or our
own judgment, is the creed we inculcate ; and we further teach
that "such a being was plainly made" "to reverence and follow"
the law of God, not his own opinion or the feelings of his own
heart. If this doctrine is not true in theology, can it be so in regard to
slavery, or any thing else ?
Page 29, he says — "Every thing else may be owned in the uni
verse ; but a moral, rational being cannot be property. Suns and
stars may be owned, but not the lowest spirit. Touch any thing
but this. Lay not your hand upon God's rational offspring. The
whole spiritual world cries out,, Forbear !"
We do not quote this as an argument. If his postulate be true
concerning the " law within himself," he needs no argument ; his
opinion is enough : his feeling, his "sense of duty" governs the
matter. But, while his disciples "reverence and follow" their
" sense of duty," by obeying a law within themselves, and, accord
ing to their conscience, " own the sun and stars," may not those
who believe the Bible to be the word of God, who " reverence and
follow" it, as their " sense of duty," and obey it as a law within
themselves, according to their conscience, own slaves ?
But Dr. Channing continues — " The highest intelligences recog
nise their own nature, their own rights, in the humblest human
being. By that priceless, immortal spirit which dwells in him, by
that likeness of God which he wears, tread him not in the dust, .
confound him not with the brute." And he then gravely adds—
" We have thus seen that a human being cannot rightfully be held
and used as property. No legislation, not that of all countries or

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 195

worlds, could make him so. Let this be laid down as a first, funda
mental truth."
Such were his opinions. We view them, if not the ravings, at
least the impressions, of fanaticism. When counsellor Quibble
saw his client Stultus going to the stocks, he cried out, "It is con
trary to my sense of justice ; to the laws of God and man ; no
power can make it right !" Yet Stultus is in the stocks!
But what shall we say of him who makes the sanction of his
own feelings the foundation of his creed, of his standard of right ?
What of him, who, in his search for truth, scarcely or never alludes
to the Bible as the voice of God, as the Divine basis of his reasons,
as the pillar on which argument may find rest? Has some new
revelation inspired him ? H^s he heard a voice louder and more
clear than the thunder, the trumpet from the mount of God ? Has
he beheld truth by a light more lucid than the flaming garments of
Jehovah ? Or has he only seen a cloud, not from the top of Sinai,
but from the dismal pit of human frailty ?

LESSON V.
' Dr. Channing's second proposition is : " Man has sacred rights,
the gifts of God, and inseparable from human nature, of which
slavery is the infraction ;" in proof of which he says, vol. ii. p.
23 — " Man's rights belong to him as a moral being, as capable
of perceiving moral distinctions, a subject of moral obligation.
As soon as he becomes conscious of a duty, a kindred consciousness
springs up, that he has a right to do what the sense of duty en
joins, and that no foreign will or power can obstruct his moral
action without crime."
Suppose man has rights as described ; suppose he feels conscious,
as he says ; does that give him a right to do wrong, because his
sense of duty enjoins him to do so ? And may he not be pre
vented from so doing ? Was it indeed a crime in God to turn the
counsels of .ihithophel into foolishness ?
4 Page 33. " That some inward principle which teaches a man
what he is bound to do to others, teaches equally, and at the same
instant, what others are bound .to do to. him!" Suppose a few
Africans, on an excursion to capture slaves, find that this " inward

196 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

principle" teaches them that they are bound to make a slave of
Dr. Channing, if they can ; does he mean that, therefore, he is
bound to make slaves of them ?
Idem, p. 33. " The sense of duty is the fountain of human
rights. In other words, the same inward principle which teaches
the former, bears witness to the latter."
If the African's sense of duty gives the right to make Dr.
Channing a slave, we do not see why he should complain ; since,
by his own rule, the African's sense of duty proves him to possess
the right which his sense of duty covets.
Page 34. " Having shown the foundation of human rights in
human nature, it may be asked, what they are. * * * They
may all be comprised in the right, which belongs to every rational
being, to exercise his powers for the promotion of his own and
others' happiness and virtue. * * * Jjig ability for this work
is a sacred trust from God, the greatest of all trusts. He must
answer for the waste or abuse of it. He consequently suffers an
unspeakable wrong when stripped of it by others, or forbidden to
employ it for the ends for which it is given."
We regret to say that we feel an objection to Channing's argu
ment and mode of reasoning, for its want of definiteness and pre
cision. If what he says On the subject of slavery were merely
intended as eloquent declamations, addressed to the sympathies
and impulses of his party, we should not have been disposed tcS
have named such an objection. But his works are urged on the
world as sound logic, and of sufficient force to open the eyes of
every slaveholder to the wickedness of the act, and to force him,
through the medium of his "moral sense," to set the slaves in
stantly free.
A moral action must not only be the voluntary offspring of the
actor, but must also be performed, to be judged by laws which
shall determine it to be good or bad. These laws, man being the
moral agent, we say, are the laws of God ; by them man is to
measure his conduct.
Locke says, " Moral good and evil are the conformity or disa
greement of our voluntary actions to some law, whereby good or
evil is drawn upon us from the will or power of the lawmaker."
But the doctrine of Dr. Channing seems to be that this law i*
each man's conscience, moral sense, sense of duty, or the inivard
principle. If the proposition of Mr. Locke be sound logic, what
becomes of these harangues of Dr. Channing ?

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. I97

We say, that the law, rule, or power that decides good or evil,
must be from a source far above ourselves ; for, if otherwise, the
coatradictory and confused notions of men must necessarily banish
all idea of good and evil from the earth. In fact, the denial of
the elevated, the Divine source of such law, is also a denial that
God governs ; for government without law is a contradiction.
If the conscience, as Dr. Channing thinks, is the guide between
right and wrong according to the law of God ; then the law of
God must be quite changeable, because the minds of men differ.
Each makes his own deduction ; therefore, in that case, the law
of God must be what each one may severally think it to be; which
is only other language to say there is no law at all. " Every way
of a man is right in his own eyes." Prov. xxi. 2. But, " The
statutes of the Lord are right." Ps. xix. 8. The laws of God
touching the subject of slavery are spread through every part of
the Scriptures. Human reason may do battle, but the only result
will be the manifestation -of its weakness. The institution of
slavery must, of necessity, continue in some form, so long as sin
shall have a tendency to lead to death ; so long as Jehovah shall
rule, and exercise the attributes of mercy to fallen, degraded man.
But let us for a moment view the facts accompanying the slavery
of the African race, and compare them with the assertion, p. 35,
that every slave "suffers a grievous wrong;" and, p. 49, that
every slave-owner. is a "robber," however unconscious he may be
of the fact.
So far as history gives us any knowledge of the African tribes,
for the last 4000 years, their condition has been stationary ; at
least they have given no evidence of advancement in morals or
civilization beyond what has been the immediate effect of the ex
change of their slaves for the commodities of other parts of the
world. So far as this trade had infiuence, it effected almost a
total abolition of cannibalism among them. That the cessation of
cannibalism was the result of an exchange of their slaves as pro
perty for the merchandise of the Christian nations, is proved by
the fact that they have returned to their former habits in that
respect upon those nations discontinuing the slave-trade with
them. Which is the greatest wrong to a slave, to be continued in
servitude, or to be butchered for food, because his labour is not
Vvanted by his owner ?
No very accurate statistics can he given of African affairs ; but
their population has been estimated at 50,000,000, and to have

198 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

been about the same for many centuries ; of which population, even
including the wildest tribes, .far over four-fifths have ever been
slaves among themselves. The earliesj; and the most recent tr^el-
lers among them agree as to the facts, that they are cannibals ; that
they are idolaters, or that they have no trace of religion whatever ;
that marriage with them is but promiscuous intercourse ; that there
is but little or no affection between husband and wife, parent and
children, old or young ; that in mental or moral capacity, they are
but a grade above the brute creation ; that the slaves and women
alone do any labour, and they often not enough to keep them from
want ; that their highest views are to take slaves, or to kill a
neighbouring tribe ; that they evince no desire for improvement,
or to ameliorate their condition. In short, that they are, and ever
have been, from the earliest knowledge of them, savages of the
most debased character. We have, in a previous study, quoted
authority in proof of these facts, to which we refer.
Will any one hesitate to acknowledge, that, to them, slavery,
regulated by law, among civilized nations is a state of moral,
mental, and physical elevation ? A proof of this is found in the
fact that the descendants of such slaves are found to be, in all
things, their superiors. If their descendants were found to dete
riorate from the condition of the parents, we should hesitate to say
that slavery was to them a blessing. Which would man consider
the most like an act of i-mercy in Jehovah, to continue them in
their state of slavery to their African master, brother, and owner,
or to order them into that condition of slavery in which we find
them in these States ? Which state of slavery would a man prefer,
to a savage, or to a civilized master ?
The Hebrews, Modes, Persians, Chaldeans, Syrians, Greeks, and
Romans have, on the borders of Africa, to some extent, ataailga-
mated with them, from time immemorial. But such amalgamation
has never been known to attain to the position, either physically,
mentally, or morally, of their foreign progenitors ; perhaps superior
to the interior tribes, yet often they scarcely exhibit a mental or
moral trace of their foreign extraction. The thoughtless, those
of slovenly morals, or those of none at all, from among the de
scendants of Japheth, have commingled with them in the new'
world ; but the amalgamation never exhibits a corresponding ele
vation in. the direction of the white progenitor. The connection
may degrade the parent, but never elevate the offspring. The
great mass look upon the connection with abhorrence and loathing ;

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 199

and pity or contempt always attends the footsteps of the aggressor.
These feelings are not confined to any particular country or age
of the world. Are not these things proof that the descendants of
Ham are a deteriorated race ? Will the declarations of a few dis
tempered minds, as to their religion, feeling, and taste, weigh in
contradiction ? What was the judgment of Isaac and Rebecca on
this subject ? See Gen. xxvi. 35 ; xxvii. 46 ; also xxviii. 1.
Since the days of Noah, where are their monuments of art, re
ligion, science, and civilization ? Is it not a fact that the highest
moral and intellectual attainment which the descendants of Ham
ever displayed is now, at this time, manifested among those in
servile pupilage ? The very fact of their being property gives
them protection. What, he their "robber," who watches over
their welfare with more effect and integrity than all their ancestry
together since the days of Noah ! By the contrivance of making
them property, has God alone given them the protection which
4000 years of sinking degradation demand, in an upward move
ment towards their physical, mental, and moral improvement, their
rational happiness on earth, and their hopes of heaven. What,
God's agent in this matter a robber of them !
Let us assure the disciples of Dr. Channing that there are thou
sands of slaves too acute observers of truth to come to such a
conclusion; who, although from human frailty they may some
times seem to suffer an occasional or grievous wrong, can yet give
good reason in proof that slavery is their only safety. Let us
cast the mind back to a period of five hundred years ago. A
Christian ship, intent on new discoveries, lands on the African
coast. The petty chieftain there, is and about to sacrifice a num
ber of his slaves, either to appease the manes of his ancestor, to
propitiate his gods, or to gratify his appetite by feasting. Presents
have been made to the natives ; it is thought their friendship is
secured; the Christians are invited to the fSte, the participants are
collected, the victims brought forward, and the club uplifted for
the blow. The Christians, struck with surprise, or excited by
horror, remonstrate with the chief ; to which he sullenly replies :
"Yonder my goats, my village, all around my domain; these are
'my slaves!" meaning that, by the morals and la,ws that have from
time immemorial prevailed there, his rights are absolute; that he
\feels it as harmless to kill a slave as a goat, or dwell in his village.
But the clothing of the Christian is presented, the viands of arc
are offered, the food of civilization is tasted, the cupidity of the

200 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

savage is tempted, and the fite celebrated through a novel and
more valuable offering. What, these Christians, who, have bought
these slaves, roVbers!
Let us look back to the days of the house of Saul, when, per
haps, David, hiding himself from his face amid the villages of
Ammon, chanced upon the ancestors of Naamah, the mother of
Rehoboam, a later king of Israel. Finding them about to sacri
fice a child upon the altar of Moloch, " Stay thy hand!" says the
son of Jesse ; " I have a message to thee from the God of Israel ;
deliver me the child for these thirty pieces of silver !" And, accord
ing to the law of the God of his fathers, it becomes his " bond-man
for ever." What, was David a robber in all this ? Suppose the
child to have been sold, resold, and sold again, is the character "of
the owner changed thereby?
But it is concerning the rights of the descendants of these
slaves that we have now to inquire. See Luke xvii. 7-10 :
" 7. But which of you having a servant {oovTMg, slave) ploughing
or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he has come
from the field. Go, and sit down to meat ?
" 8. And will not rather say unto him. Make ready wherewith
I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and
drunken ; and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink ?
" 9. Doth he thank that servant {hovT^v, slave) because he did
the things that were commanded him ? I trow not.
" 10. So likewise ye, when ye have done all those things which
are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants : we have
done that which was our duty to do."
Suppose a proprietor, in any country or at any age, receives into
his employment an individual, who thereafter resides and has a
family ttpon his estate : upon the death of the individual, will his
heirs accrue to any of the rights of the proprietor, other than those
granted, or those consequent to their own or their ancestor's con
dition, or those that may accrue by operation of law ? Where is
the political enactment, the moral precept, the Divine command,
teaching an adverse doctrine ?
Before we close our view of Dr. Channing's second proposition,
we design to notice his use of the word "nature." He says, that
man has rights, gifts of God, inseparable from fluman " nature."
We confess that we are somewhat at a loss to determine the pre-*
cise idea the doctor affixes to this term. The phrase " human
nature" is in most frequent use through these volumes. But in vol.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 201

i. page 74, he says — "Great powers, even in their perversion,
attest a glorious nature." Page 77: "The infinite materials of
illustration which nature and life afford." Page 82 : " To regard
despotism as a law of nature." Page 84: "His superiority to
nature, as well as to human opposition." Page 95 : " We will
inquire into the nature and fitness of the measures." Page 98 :
" The first object in education naturally was to fit him for the
field." Page 110: "From the principles of our nature."
Page 111: "Nature and the human will were to bend to his
power." Idem: " He wanted the sentiment of a common nature
with his fellow-beings." Page 112 : " With powers which might
have made him a glorious representative and minister of the bene
ficent Divinity, and with natural sensibilities." Page 119 :
" Traces out the general and all-comprehending laws of nature."
Page 143: "A power which robs men of the free use of their
nature," &c. Page 146 : " Its efficiency resembles that of dark
ness and cold in the natural viorld." Page 184 : " Whose writings
seem to be natural breathings of the soul." Page 189 : " Lan
guage like this has led men to very injurious modes of regarding
themselves, and their own nature." Idem: " A man when told
perpetually to crucify himself, is apt to include under this word
his whole nature." Idem: "Men err in nothing more than in
disparaging and wronging their own nature." Idem: "If we
first regard man's highest Maiwre." Page 190 : " We believe that
the human mind is akin to that intellectual energy, which gave
birth to nature." Idem : " Taking human nature as consisting of
a body as well as mind, as including animal desire," &c. Idem:
" We believe that he in whom the physical nature is unfolded."
Page 191 : " But excess is not essential to self-regard, and this
principle of our nature is the last which could be spared."
Page 192 : " Is is the great appointed trial of our moral nature."
Page 193 : " Our nature has other elements or constituents, and
vastly higher ones." Idem : " For truth, which is its object, is
of a universal, impartial nature." Page 196 : " Is the most sig
nal proof of a higher nature which can be given." Idem : " It is
a sovereignty worth more than that over outward nature." Idem:
"Its great end is to give liberty and energy to our nature."
Page 198 : " Our moral, intellectual, immortal nature we cannot
remember too much." Page 200 : " The moral nature of religion."
Page 202: "We even think that our love of natere." Idem: "For
the harmonies of nature are only his' wisdom made visible."

202 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Page 203: "That progress in truth is the path of nature."
Page 211 : " It has the liberality and munificence of nature, which
not only produces the necessary root and grain, but pours forth
fruits and flowers. It has the variety and bold contrasts -of
nature." Idem: "The beautiful and the superficial seem to be
naturally conjoined." Page 212: "And by a law of his nature."
Page 213 : " These gloomy and appalling features of our nature."
Page 215 : " These confiicts between the passions and the moral
nature." We regret that so eminent and accurate a scholar, and so influ
ential a man, should have fallen into such an indefinite and con
fused use of any portion of our language. If we mistake not, it
will require more than usual refiection for the mind to determine
what idea is presented by its use in the most of these instances.
We know that some use this word so vaguely, that if required to
explain the idea they wished to convey by it, they would be unable
to do so. But there are those from whom we expect a better use
of language. Many English readers pass over such sentences
without stopping to think what are the distinct ideas of the writer.
There are, in our language, a few words used in our conversational
dialect, as if especially intended for the speaker's aid when he only
had a confused idea, or perhaps none at all, of what he designed
to say ; and we extremely regret that words, to us of so important
meaning, as nature and conscience, should be found among that
class. The teacher of theology and morals should surely be care
ful not to lead his pupils into error. Might not the unskilled in
quirer infer that nature was a substantive existence, taking rank
somewhere between man and the Deity ? And what would be his
notion, derived from such use of the term, of its offices, of its in
fluence on, and man's relation with it ? What is our notion as to
the definite idea these passages convey ?
" Man has rights, gifts of God, inseparable from human nature,
of which slavery is the infraction." By "human nature," as here
used, we understand the condition or state of being a man in a
general sense. Our inference is, then, that God has given man
rights, that is, all men the same rights, which are inseparable
from his state of being a man ; consequently, if by any means
these rights are taken from him, then his state of being a man is
changed, or ceases to exist ; and since slavery breaks these rights,
therefore a slave is not a man.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 203

But the fact we find to be that the slave is, nevertheless, a man;
and hence it follows that these rights were not inseparable from
his state of being a man, or that he had not the rights.
•If slavery is sinful because it infringes the rights of man, then
any other thing is also sinful which infringes them. Will the dis
ciples of Dr. Channing deny that these rights are infringed by the
constitution of the civil government ? The law gives parents the
right to govern, command, and restrain minor children ; to infiict
punishment for their disobedience. Is parental authority a sin ?
Government, in every form, is found to deprive females of a large
proportion of the rights which men possess. When married, their
rights are wholly absorbed in the rights of the husband. This
must be very sinful !
Idiots have no rights. In reality, the very idea of rights vanishes
away with the power to exercise them. But in a state of civil go
vernment, it is a mere question of expediency how personal rights
shall be adjusted ; which is very manifest, if we look at the different
constitutions of government now in the world. In one, men who fol
low certain occupations have certain rights as a consequence. Men
who are found guilty of certain breaches of the law lose a portion
or all their rights. The president of our senate loses the right to
vote, except under condition ; and we agree that a mere majority
shall rule. Thus forty-nine of the hundred cease to find their
rights available. They must submit. Man, as a member of civil
society, is only a small fraction of an unit, and has no right to ex
ercise a right unconformably to the expression of the sense of the
general good. Man has no right to live independent of his fellow-
man, like a plant or a tree ; consequently, his rights must be de
termined and bounded by the general welfare. Dr. Channing
ceases to be enlightened by moral science when he announces
that, because a man is " conscious of duty," therefore, what he
may think his right cannot be affected by others "without crime."
So reverse may be the fact, that it may be a crime in him to claim
the right his conscious duty may suggest.
Man cannot be said to be in possession of all things that he, or
such theorists, may deem his rights only in a monocratic state.
But how will he retain them ? For then, so far as he shall have
intercourse with others, every thing will come to be decided by the
law of might ; so that, instead of gaining, he will lose all rights.
But suppose him to live without intercourse ; what is a naked, abstract
right, that yields him nothing above the brute ? God never made

b

204 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

a man for such a state of life ; because it at once includes rebellion
to his government ; and, therefore, its every movement will be to
retrograde. Will the disciples of Dr. Channing be surprised to find that the
only medicine God has prepared for such a loathsome moral disease
as will then be developed, is slavery to a higher order of men ?

LESSON VL

Dr. Channing's third position is to offer explanations to prevent
misapplication of the principles presented in his first two proposi
tions. Vol. ii. page 51, he says — " Sympathy with the slave has often
degenerated into injustice towards the master." We fully agree
with him; and we also admit "that the consciences of men are
often darkened by education." This short chapter is evidently
written in a spirit of conciliation, and contains many truths elo
quently told; yet, he finally grasps his doctrines, and repeats his
elucidations. His fourth position is, " To unfold the evils of slavery." He
says the first great evil is the debasement of the slave. Page 60 :
" This word, (slave,) borrowed from his condition, expresses the
ruin wrought by slavery within him. * * * To be an instrument
of the physical, material good of another, whose will is his highest
law, he is taught to regard as the great purpose of his being.
Here lies the evil of slavery. Its whips, imprisonment, and even
the horrors of the middle passage from Africa to America, these
are not to be named in comparison with this extinction of the pro
per consciousness of a human being, with the degradation of a man
into a brute."
If it be a fact that the debasement of the negro race has been
brought about by their having been made slaves in America; then
it will be a very strong argument, we are willing to acknowledge,
an insurmountable one, against the institution. That Dr. Channing
thinks such to be the fact, we have no doubt ; for we cannot a mo
ment admit that he would assort what he did not believe was true.
But "the consciences of men are often darkened by education."
We hold that the assertion is capable of proof, that the debasement

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

of the race was the moral, the necessary effect of a long course of
sin ; and that, instead of slavery producing the debasement, the
fact is, the debasement produced the slavery ; or, in other words,
slavery is the moral, the necessary effect of the debasement.
The leading object, through all our studies, is the elucidation of
the fact, that sin has a poisonous effect upon the moral, mental,
and physical man, that is in constant action in the direction of
deterioration, debasement, ruin, death. Such we teach to be the
doctrine of the holy books, spread through the whole volume,
elucidated upon every page ; that slavery, like a saviour, steps in
upon this descending road, arresting the downward progress, the
rapid fall to final, to unalterable ruin and death.
" If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments ;
if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments, — then
will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity
with stripes." Ps. Ixxxix. 30-32. " A righteous man hateth lying :
but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame." Prov.
xiii. 5. " Thou turnest man to destruction ; and sayest, return,
ye children of men." -Ps. xc. 3. " I have therefore delivered unto
the mighty one of the heathen ; he shall surely deal with him : I
have driven him out for his wickedness." Ezelt. xxxx. 11. "And I
will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children
of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people
far off; for the Lord hath spoken it." Joel iii. 8. "Nevertheless
they shall be his servants (D'TDJ/ 7 slaves), that they may know my
s«ryice('nil3^, slavery), and the service (iTllij^l, slavery) of the
kingdoms of the countries." 2 CJiron. xii. 8. " The show of their
countenance doth witness against them ; and they declare their sin
as Sodom, they hide it not. Wo unto their soul ! for they have
rewarded evil unto themselves." Isa. iii. 9. "Therefore my peo
ple are gone into captivity, because they have" no knowledge; and
their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up
with thirst.'' " And the mean man shall be brought down, and the
mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be
humbled : but the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and
God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness." Isa. v. 13,
15, 16.
Dr. Channing's book before us goes on to specify this debase
ment as to the intellect ; its infiuence on the domestic relations ;
how it " produces and gives license to cruelty." The fact that

206 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

debasement reaches all these points, we agree to ; nay, further,
that it reaches to every act and thought. But we refer all these
displays of debasement to the result of the degradation, of which
slavery is only the moral, the natural consequence. If we find a
man debased as to one thing, it is in conformity with the common
sense of mankind to expect to find him debased as to another.
Channing, pp. 78, 79. " I proceed to another view of the evils
of slavery. I refer to its influence on the master. * * * I pass
over many views. * * * I ^in confine myself to two consider
ations. The first is, that slavery, above all other influences, nou
rishes the passion for power and its kindred vices. There is no
passion which needs a stronger curb. Men's worst crimes have
sprung from the desire of being masters, of bending others to their
yoke." It is to he lamented that man is so prone to sin ; that he is not
more undeviating in the paths of virtue, of goodness, of perfection.
The charge made by Dr. Channing in the passage quoted, we are
sorry to acknowledge, is too true. But so far as we have any
knowledge of the history of man, even in the absence of slavery,
the time has never been when the passion for power and its
kindred vices did not find sufficient food for their nourishment.
The evil passions alluded to are not so particular as to their food
but that, if they do not find a choice thing to 'nourish themselves
on, they will feed and nourish themselves on another.
It, perhaps, would not be difficult to show that the love of power
and its kindred vices first operated to bring on us " all our wo ;"
stimulated Cain to kill Abel ; in fact, has been in most powerful
action among those causes that have introduced slavery to the
world. Slavery gave no birth to these passions. They drove
Nebuchadnezzar from his throne down to the degradation of the
brute. "Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house
of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of
my majesty ?" Ban. iv. 12.
He had great power, great wealth, and, it is true, he had great
possessions in slaves. The prophet understood his case, and spoke
plainly. If his owning thousands of slaves merely had nursed in
him a forgetfulness of God, the seer would not have hesitated so to
inform him. Great prosperity in the affairs of the world in his case,
as in some others of a somewhat later day, so puffed him up that
he forgot who he was. The owning of slaves may puff up a silly
intellect — doubtless, often does ; but the same intellect would be

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 207

more likely to be puffed up by a command of a more elevated
grade, as officers of government, or, even in private life, by the con
trol of superior amounts of wealth ; or even by the conceit of pos
sessing a great superiority of intellect.
Doubtless, the disciples of Dr. Channing will agree that abun
dant instances of such tumidity might be found in any country,
even among those who never owned a slave.
It may be a fact, that, to some, the having control over and
owning a slave have a greater tendency to produce the effect of
puffing up the owner than would his value in money or other pro
perty ; because it may be & fact that a given amount in one kind
of property may possess such tendency to a greater extent than.
another. But the truth probably is, that one man would be the
most puffed up by one thing, and another man by another. We
agree that being thus puffed up is a sin ; that it leads to conse
quences extremely ruinous, and often fatal. Very small men are
also liable to the disease, and they sometimes take it from very
slight causes. It is true, " there is no passion that needs a stronger
curb." What we contend is, that it is not a necessary consequence
of owning slaves, any more than it is of owning any other property,
or of possessing any other command of men ; and that so far as it
is an argument against owning slaves, it is also an argument
against owning any other property, or of having any other*ontrol,
or of possessing any other command among men.

LESSON VII.

Dr. Channing continues his view of the evils of slavery, and
says, p. 80, 81 —
"I approach a more delicate subject, and one on which I shall
not enlarge. To own the persons of others, to hold females in
slavery, is necessarily fatal to the purity of a people : that unpro
tected females, stripped by their degraded condition of woman's
self-respect, should be used to minister to other passions in man
than the love of gain, is next to inevitable. Accordingly, in such
a community, the reins are given to youthful licentiousness.-
Youth, everywhere in peril, is, in these circumstances, urged to
vice with a terrible power. And- the evil cannot stop at youth.
Early licentiousness is fruitful of crime in mature life. How far

208 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

the obligation to conjugal fidelity, the sacredness of domestic ties,
will be revered amid such habits, such temptations, such facilities
to vice as are involved in slavery, needs no exposition. So sure
and terrible is retribution even in this life I Domestic happiness
is not blighted in the slave's hut alone. The master's infidelity
sheds a blight over his own domestic affections and joys. Home,
without purity and constancy, is spoiled of its holiest charm and
most blessed influences. I need not 'say, after the preceding expla
nations, that this corruption is far from being universal. Still, a
slave-country reeks with licentiousness. It is tainted with a
deadlier pestilence than the plague.
" But the worst is not told. As a consequence of criminal con
nections, many a master has children born into slavery. Of these,
most, I presume, receive protection, perhaps indulgence, during the
life of the fathers ; but at their death, not a few are left to the
chances of a cruel bondage. These cases must have increased
since the difficulties of emancipation have been multiplied. Still
more, it is to be feared that there are cases in which the master
puts his own children under the whip of the overseer, or sells them
to undergo the miseries of a bondage among strangers.
" I should rejoice to learn that my impressions on this point are
false. If they be true, then our own country, calling itself en-
lighten|^ and Christian, is defiled with one of the greatest enormi
ties on earth. We send missionaries to heathen lands. Among the
pollutions of heathenism, I know nothing worse than this. The
heathen who feasts on his country's foe, may hold up his head by
the side of the Christian who sells his child for gain, sells him to
be a slave. God forbid that I should charge this crime to a people !
But, however rarely it may occur, it is a fruit of slavery, an exercise
of power belonging to slavery, and no laws restrain or punish it.
Such are the evils which spring naturally from the licentiousness
generated by slavery."
The owner of slaves who acts in conformity to the foregoing
picture, to our mind displays proofs of very great debasement, and
his offspring, stained with the blood of Ham, we should deem most
likely to be quite fit subjects of slavery : we cannot therefore re
gret that the laws do not punish nor restrain him from selling them
as slaves ; we should rather regret that the laws did not compel
him to go with them.
That there are instances in tbe Slave States where the owner of
female slaves cohabits with them, and has offspring by them, is

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 209

true. There may be instances where such parent has sold them
into slavery, — they, in law, being his slaves ; yet we aver wo havr
never known an, instance in which it has been done. That such
offspring have been sold as slaves, by the operation of law, must
certainly be acknowledged ; and that such instances have been
more frequent since the action of the abolitionists has aroused tho
Slave States to a sense of their danger, and thereby caused the laws
to be more stringent on the subject of emancipation, is also true.
And are you, ye agitators of the slave question, willing to ac
knowledge this fact? And that your conduct — even you your
selves — are even now the cau|e, under God, of the present condi
tion of slavery, which many such persons now endure ? Is not he
who places the obstruction on the highway, whereby the traveller
is plunged in death, the guilty one ? In what light, think ye, must
this class of slaves view you and your conduct ? But we wish not
to upbraid you. If you are ignorant, words are useless. If you
are honest men and know the truth, we prefer to leave you in the
hands of God and your own conscience.
We hold that cohabitation with the blacks, on the part of the
whites, is a great sin, and is proof of a great moral debasement ;
nor will we say but that the conservative influences of God's provi
dence may have moved the abolitionists to the action of for ever
placing a bar to the emancipation of this class of slaves, such
coloured offspring, in order that the enormity of the sin 'of such'
cohabitation may be brought home, in a more lively sense, to the
minds of their debased parents.
" I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and the host of heaven
standing on his right hand and on his left.
" And the Lord said. Who will entice Ahab, king of Israel, that
he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead ? And one spake after
this manner, and another saying after that manner.
" Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and
said, I will entice him ; and the Lord ^aid unto him. Wherewith ?
" And he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth
of all his prophets. And the Lord said. Thou shalt entice him."
2 Chron. xviii. 18-21 ; 1 Kings, xxii. 19.
We wish to state a fact which may not be generally known to
the disciples of Dr. Channing : we speak of Louisiana, where we
live. • Here is a floating population, emigrants from all parts of
the world especially from free countries and states, nearly or quite
equal in number to the native-born citizens who have been raised
14

210 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

up and grown to maturity amid slaves or as the owners of slaves.
If the cohabitation complained of is at all indicated by.the mixed-
blooded offspring, then the proof of this cohabitation will be far
overbalancing on the side of this floating population.
But again, there are instances where an individual from this
class, who thus cohabits with some,master's slave, and has offspring,
and, succeeding in some business, buys her, probably with the in
tention of emancipation ; but, as he becomes a proprietor and fixed
citizen, procrastination steals upon him, and he finds himself en
thralled by a coloured family for life.
Let the number of these instances be compared with those where
the delinquents have been habituated, from the earliest youth, to
the incidents of slavery, and the former class is found to be entitled
to the same pre-eminence. From this class also there are instances
where the white man, so cohabiting with the slave whom he has
purchased for the purpose of emancipation, sends her and his
offspring to some free State, often to Cincinnati, the Moab of the
South! "Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab." Isa. xvi. 4.
Let such instances as this last named be contrasted with like
instances emanating from among the native-born, or those raised
among slaves, and the former class are still far in the majority.
In short, the fact is found to be, that those who have been born,
raised, and educated among them, and as the owners of slaves, are
found more seldom to fall into this cohabitation than those who
are by chance among slaves, but had not been educated from youth
among them.
Far be it from us to recriminate. Our object alone, in present
ing these facts, is to show, to give proof, that slavery is not the
cause of the debasement which urges the white man on to cohabi
tation with the negro.
We will ask no questions as to the frequency of such intercourse
in some of the large Northern cities, in which blacks are numerous
as well as free, between them and the debased of the whites.
What if we should be told, in answer, if the charge were established,
that such whites acted from conscience, under a sense of the essen
tial equality of the negro with the white man, and under the reli
gious teaching of the. advocates of amalgama.tion !
He Avho writes on and describes moral influences, must be ex
pected to view them as he has been in the habit of seeing 'them
. manifested. We therefore regret exceedingly to see that Dr.
Channing has made the assertion that, "to own the persons of

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 211

5thers, to hold females in slavery, is necessarily fatal to the purity
of a people ; that unprotected females, stripped by their degraded
condition of woman's self-respect, should be used to minister to
other passions in men than the love of gain, is next to inevitable."
If this assertion is warranted by the moral condition of society
as displayed before him, may we not find in it a solution of the
fact, that those who have been reared up under all the influences
of slavery on the master, are far less frequently found to fall into
the odious cohabitation with the negro than are those who have
not. However, we have among us some very wicked and debased men,
who own slaves, and who have been born and educated in the midst
of the influences of the institution of slavery, and who yet cohabit
with their female negroes. But the moral sense of the community,
from day to day and from year to year, more and more distinctly
gives reproof, more and more emphatically points to such the finger
of contempt and scorn, and continues to increase in energy, ex
pressing its loathing and abhorrence ; and all this is taking place
under the influences of slavery on the master. Do all these things
give proof that slavery is the progenitor of this debasement, or
the reverse?
Dr. Channing was mistaken ; his mind was in error : he substi
tuted the consequent for the cause.
We deem it useless to spend time or argument with those who
will pertinaciously deny and refuse to listen to facts, unless they
shall be in support of their previously conceived views or preju
dices. We are aware that the numerical proportion which we
have ascribed to what we call "a floating population" may seem
incredible to those in other countries, where the facts are quite
different. Yet we are sure that such estimate is within the truth.
Here, as everywhere else, the government, the legislative power
of the country, is in the hands of the permanent and more ele
vated and wealthy classes ; in the hands of slave-owners. Would
such a class consent to laws throwing difficulties in the way of
emancipation, if the effect of such laws were to be expended on
their own offspring ? To the more elevated and cultivated class
of community in any country (and here such are all slave-owners)
is to be ascribed the tone of moral feeling. Does any man covet,,
for himself the loathing and scorn of community?
The familv of the slave-owner is taught to regard the negro as
a race of man radically, inferior, in moral capacity, in mental

212 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

power, and even in physical ability, to the white man ; that,' al
though he is susceptible of improvement in all these things, and
even does improve in the state of slavery to the white man, yet
that it would require untold generations to elevate him and his
race to the present standing of the white races.
The child, the mere youth, and those of more experience, see
proofs of these facts in every comparison. The master feels them
to be true, and is taught, that, while he governs with compassion,
forbearance, and mercy, and as having regard to their improve
ment, any familiarity on terms of equality, beyond that of com
mand on his side, and obedience on theirs, is, and must be, disgrace
to him. He is taught to consider the negro race, from some
cause, to have deteriorated to such extent that his safety and hap
piness demand the control of a superior; he regards him as a
man, entitled to receive the protection of such control ; and that
he, like every other man, will be called to account unto God, ac
cording to the talents God has given him. He is taught, by every
hour's experience, to know that slavery to the negro is a blessing.
He is taught to feel it a duty to teach, as he would an inferior,
the negro his moral duty, his obligations to God, the religion of
the Bible, the gospel of Christ.
But the man born and educated in the Free States is taught
that " he who cannot see a br-other, a child of God, a man pos
sessing all the rights of humanity, under a skin darker than his
own, wants the vision of a Christian." Channing, vol. ii. p. -14.
" To recognise as brethren those who want all outward distinctions,
is the chief way in which we are to manifest the spirit of him who
came to raise the fallen and save the lost." Ibidem.
Vol. ii. pp. 20, 21, 22, he says — " Another argument against
property (in slaves) is to be found in the essential equality of men."
* * * " Nature indeed pays no heed to birth or condition
in bestowing her favours. The noblest spirits sometimes grow up
in the obscurest spheres. Thus equal are men ; — and among these
equals, who can substantiate his claim to make others his property,
his tools, the mere instruments of his private interest and gratifi
cation?" * * * "Is it gure that the slave, or the slave's
child, may not surpass his master in intellectual energy, or in moral
.worth ? Has nature conferred distinctions, which tell us plainly
who shall be owners and who shall be owned ? Who of us can
unblushingly hft up his head and say that God has written
'master' there? Or who can show the word 'slave' engraven

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 213

on his brother's brow ? The equality of nature makes slavery a
wrong." May we aid the disciples of Dr. Channing by referring them to
Prov. xvii. 2, " A wise servant ("IDJ^ ehed, slhve) shall have rule
over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inherit
ance among the brethren?" And will the doctor and his disciples
believe the proverb any the more true, when we inform them that
it is a matter of frequent occurrence in slave-holding communities.
Vol. V. p. 89, 90, he says — " But we have not yet touched the
great cause of the confiagration of the Hall of Freedom. Some
thing worse than fanaticism or separation of the Union was the
impulse to this violence. We are told that white people and black
sat together on the benches of the hall, and were even seen walk
ing together in the streets ! This was the unheard-of atrocity
which the virtues of the people of Philadelphia could not endure.
They might have borne the dissolution of the national tie; but
this junction of black and white was too much for human patience
to sustain. And has it indeed come to this? For such a cause
are mobs and fires to be let loose on our persons and most costly
buildings ? What ! Has not an American citizen a right to sit
and walk with whom he will ? Is this common privilege denied
us? Is society authorized to choose our associates? Must our
neighbour's tastes as to friendship and companionship control our
own ? Have the feudal times come back to us, when to break the
law of caste was a greater crime than to violate the laws of God ?
What must Europe have thought, when the news crossed the ocean
of the burning of the Hall of Freedom, because white and coloured
people walked together in the streets ?
" Europe might well open its eyes in wonder. On that conti
nent, with all its aristocracy, the coloured man mixes freely with
his fellow-creatures. He sometimes receives the countenance of
the rich, and has even found his way into the palaces of the great.
In Europe, the doctrine would be thought to be too absurd for refu
tation, that a coloured man of pure morals and piety, of cultivated
intellect and refined manners, was not a fit companion for the best
in the land. What must Europe have said, when brought to un
derstand that, in a republic, founded on the principles of human
rights and equality, people are placed' beyond the laws for treating
the African as a man. This Philadelphia doctrine deserves no
mercy. What an insult is thrown on human nature, in making it
a heinous crime to sit or walk with a human being, whoever it may

214 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

be? It just occurs to me, that I have forgotten the circumstance
which filled to overfiowing the cup of abolitionist wickedness in
Philadelphia. The great offence was this, that certain young
women of anti-slavery faith were seen to walk the streets with
coloured young men !"
Such are the lessons taught the youth as welPas the aged of the
Free States, even by Dr. Channing himself. We now ask, under
the teachings of which school will the pupils be the best prepared
for this cohabitation with the negro ?
The burning of the Hall of Freedom was, no doubt, a very
great outrage, well meriting severe condemnation. Yet we cannot
but notice, that Dr. Channing has nowhere, in all his works, said
one word about the burning of the Convent on Mount Benedict,
by his own townsmen, the good people of Boston.
We care not with what severity he punishes such outrages. But
it is the infiuence of his lesson in palliating the familiarity, and
mitigating the evil consequences of a coalition of the white man
with the negro, that we present to view. It is with grief that we
find him infusing into his disciples this nauseating, disgusting,
moral poison ; preparing their minds to feel little or no shame in a
cohabitation with the negro, so degrading to the white man, and so
disgraceful in all Slave' States. Yea further, what are we to think
of the judgment, of the taste, — may we not add, habits, of a
man who could unblushingly publish to the world his partiality to
the negro of Jamaica, after his visit there, as follows :
"I saw too, on the plantation where I resided, a gracefulness
and dignity of form and motion, rare in my own native New Eng
land." Vol. vi. p. 61.
Again, page 52. " The African countenance seldom shows that
coarse, brutal sensuality which is so common in the face of the
white man."
May we be pardoned for feeling a strong desire, — rather, a cu
riosity, — to be made acquainted with the faces of the white men
with whom he was the most familiar !

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON VIIL
In vol. ii. page 82, Dr. Channing says —
" I cannot leave the subject of the evils of slavery, without say
ing a word of its political influence."
He considers that " slave labour is less productive than free."
This is doubtless true ; and if so, it proves that the master of the
slave does not require of him so much labour as is required of a
hired labourer. Are the friends of abolition angry, because, in
their sympathy for the slave, they have found something to be
pleased with ?
He considers that " by degrading the labouring population to a
state which takes from them motives to toil, and renders them ob
jects of suspicion or dread," impairs " the ability of a community
to unfold its resources in peace, and to defend itself in war."
This proposition includes the idea that the Slave States have de
graded a portion of their citizens to a state of slavery. This is
not true. Our ancestors, contrary to their will, were forced to re
ceive a degraded race among them, not as citizens, but slaves ; —
and does it follow now, that we must again be forced to make this
degraded race our political equals ? Even the British Government,
with all its claim to sovereign rule, never dreamed of imposing on
us a demand so destructive to our political rights; so blighting to
social happiness ; so annihilating to our freedom as men ; so extin
guishing to our very race. Do the friends of abolition deem us so
stupid as not to see, if, even when the negro is in slavery, cases of
amalgamation happen, that, when he shall be elevated to political
freedom, the country would, by their aid, be overspread by it? Do
they think that we do not see that such a state of things is de
generacy, degradation, ruin, worse than death to the white men ?
And will they chide, if, in its prevention, we drench our flelds iu
our own blood in preference ? The British Government urged the
race here as an article of property, of commerce and profit, as
they did their tea. They stipulated, they guaranteed them to be
slaves, they and their posterity for ever — not citizens ! On such
terms alone could they have been received. The South then, as
now, to a man would have met death on the battle-field, sooner
than have suffered their presence on other conditions.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

The British governmental councils, our colonial assemblies, our
pijimitive inquiring conventions never viewed them in any other
light. It was not on their account we sought for freedom. It was
not in their behalf we fought for liberty. It wus not for them our
blood ran like water. It was not to establish for them political
rights we broke the British yoke, or founded here this great go
vernment. Our national synods recognised them only as property ;
our constitutional charter, only as slaves ; our congressional sta
tutes, only as the subjects of their masters.
There is falsity in the very language that frames the proposition
which inculcates that these slaves are a portion of population that
ever can be justly entitled to equal political rights, or that they
are, or ever were, degraded by the community among whom they
are now found.
So degraded, both mentally and physically, is the African in
his own native wilds, that, however humiliating to a freeman
slavery may seem, to him it is an elevated school ; and however
dull and stupid may be his scholarship, yet a few generations dis
tinctly mark some little improvement. We cannot doubt, some few
individuals of this race have been so far elevated in their consti
tutional propensities that they might be well expected to make
provident citizens ; and the fact is, such generally become free,
without the aid of fanaticism. But what is the value of a general
assertion predicated alone upon a few exceptions ? Some few of
our own race give ample proof that they are not fit to take care
of themselves : shall we, therefore, subject our whole race to
pupilage ?
That such a population, such a race of men, is as conducive
to national grandeur, either as to resources or defence, as the same
number of intellectual, high-minded yeomanry of our own race
might be well expected to be, perhaps few contend ; and we pray
you not to force us to try the experiment. But if such weakness
attend the position in which we feel God has placed us, why dis
tress us by its distortion ? Why torment our wound with your
inexperienced, and therefore unskilful hand ? Why strive ye to
enrage our passions, by constantly twitting us with what is not our
fault ? Do you indeed wish to destroy, because you have no power
to amend ? Why, then, your inexperience as to facts, aided by mis
representation and sophistry in the digestion of language and sen
timent, — and we exceedingly regret that we can correctly say,
open falsehood, — as found on pages 86, 87 ? —

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 217

" Slavery is a strange element to mix up with free institutions.'
It cannot but endanger them. It is a pattern for every kind of
wrong. . The slave brings insecurity on the free. Whoever holds
one human being in bondage, invites others to plant the foot on
his own neck. Thanks to God, not one human being can be
wronged with impunity. The liberties of a people ought to trem
ble, until every man is -free. Tremble they will. Their true founda
tion is sapped by the legalized degradation of a single innocent
man to slavery. That foundation is impartial justice, is respect
for human nature, is respect for the rights of every human being.
I have endeavoured in these remarks to show the hostility between
slavery and 'free institutions.' If, however, I err; if these in
stitutions cannot stand without slavery for their foundation, then I
say, let them fall. Then they ought to be buried in perpertial
ruins. Then the name of republicanism ought to become a by-word
and reproach among the nations. Then monarchy, limited as it is
in England, is incomparably better and happier than our more
popular forms. Then, despotism, as it exists in Prussia, where
equal laws are in the main administered with impartiality, ought
to be preferred. A republican government, bought by the sacrifice
of half, or more than half of a people, stripping them of their
most sacred rights, by degrading them to a brutal condition, would
cost too much. A freedom so tainted with wrong ought to be our
abhorrence." Let not the looseness of the doctor's regard for the Union sur
prise. With him a dissolution of the Union had become a fixed
idea. On pages 237 and 238, he says —
" To me it seems not only the right, but the duty of the Free
States, in case of the annexation of Texas, to say to the Slave-
holding States, 'We regard this act as the dissolution of the Union.'
* * * A pacific division in the first instance seems to me to
threaten less contention than a lingering, feverish dissolution of
the Union, such as must be expected under this fatal innovation.
For one, then, I say, that, earnestly as I deprecate the separation
of these States, and though this event would disappoint most
cherished hopes for my country, still I could submit to it more
readily than to the reception of Texas into the confederacy." "I
do not desire to share the responsibility or to live under the laws
of a government adopting such a policy." * * * "If the
South is bent on incorporating Texas with itself, as a new prop to
slavery, it would do well to insist on a division of the States. It

218 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

would, in so doing, consult best its own safety. It should studi
ously keep itself from communion with the free part of the country.
It should suffer no railroad from that section to cross its borders. It
should block up intercourse with us by sea and land." Vol. ii. p. 239.
We do not quote these passages for the sake of refuting them.
"In Europe, the doctrine would be thought too absurd for refuta
tion." " What must Europe have thought when" these sentiments
" crossed tlie ocean." * * * " What must Europe have said,
when brought to understand that, in a republic founded on the
principles of human rights and equality," — and this writer acknow
ledges the doctrine that " the constitution was a compromise
among indepen,dent States, and it is well known that geographical
relations and the local interest were among the essential conditions
on which the compromise was made ;" and concerning which, he
adds, " Was not the constitution founded on conditions or con
siderations which are even more authoritative than its particular
provisions?" (see vol. ii. p. 237,)—" What must Europe have said,"
when informed that these sentiments were expressed against the
right of the South to hold slaves ? Slaves, whom she, herself, in
our childhood, had sold us ? Why, she must have thought that we
were on the eve of a civil war, and that Dr. Channing was about
to take command of aa army of abolitionists to compel the South
to submit to his terms! "Europe might well open its eyes in
wonder" at such extravagance.
"Such," says our author, are "the chief evils of slavery;" and
we are willing to leave it to "Europe" to decide whether he has
not furnished us with declamation instead of argument.
Under the head, "Evils of Slavery," he examines those con
siderations that have been urged in its favour, or in mitigation,
which we deem unnecessary to notice further than to note a few
passages in which there is between us some unity of sentiment.
Page 89. "Freedom undoubtedly has its perils. It offers no
thing to the slothful and dissolute. Among a people left to seek
their own good in their own way, some of all classes fail from
vice, some from incapacity, some from misfortune."
Page 92. " Were we to visit a slave-country, undoubtedly the
most miserable human beings would be found among the free ; for
among them the passions have a wider sweep, and the power they
possess may be used to their own ruin. Liberty is not a necessity
of happiness. It is only a means of good. It is a trust that may
be abused."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 219

Page 93. " Of all races of men, the African is the mildest
and most susceptible of attachment. He loves where the Euro
pean would hate. He watches the life of a master, whom the
North American Indian, in like circumstances, would stab to the
heart." The African may exhibit mildness and attachment in slavery
when others would exhibit a reverse feeling ; but it is not true
that he exhibits these qualities as a fixed moral principle, resulting
from intellectual conclusion.
Page 95. "No institution, be it what it may, can make the life
of a human being wholly evil, or cut off every means of improve
ment." Idem. "The African is so affectionate, imitative, and do
cile, that, in favourable circumstances, he catches much that is good ;
and accordingly the influence of a wise and kind master will be
seen in the very countenance and bearing of his slaves." Or,
rather, we find traces of these qualities developed among their de
scendants. But the truth is far below this description.
We had expected to have received light and pleasure from the
examination of Dr. Channing's view of slavery in a political atti
tude. We confess we are disappointed. His political view of it
is, at least, jejune. To us, it suggests the superior adaptation of
his genius and education to the rhapsody of a prayer-meeting than
to the labours of a legislative hall. We doubt much whether he
had ever arrived to any very clear and general view of the organ
ization of society. Finding, under this head, very little in his
volumes that a politician can descend to encounter, we shall close
our present Lesson with a very few remarks.
Capital and labour can exist in but two relations ; congenerous
or antagonistic. They are never congenerous only when it is true
that labour constitutes capital, which can only happen through
slavery. The deduction is then clear, that capital for ever governs
labour ; and the deduction is also as clear, that, out of slavery,
capital and labour must be for ever antagonistic. But, again,
capital governs labour, because, while capital now exists, \&hoM.v can
possess it only by its own consumption. But when the two are
congenerous, labour, as a tool, is not urged to its injury, because
the tool itself is capital ; but when antagonistic, the tool'is urged
to its utmost power, because its injury, its ruin touches not the
capital. Hence, we often hear slave-labour is the less productive.
The propos'^-ion is not affected by facts attending him who is said

220 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

to be free, but who only labours for his individual support ; because
while he adds nothing to the general stock of capital, he yet falls
within the catalogue of being a slave to himself: "The Lord sent
him forth to till the ground," (1DJ77 la evod, to slave the ground;)
to do slave-labour for his own support ; to slave himself for his own
subsistence. Such is the first degree of slavery to which sin has subjected all
mankind. Therefore, in such case, labour is capital. But the
very moment a lower degradation forces him to sell his labour,
capital is the only purchaser, and they at once become antagonistic.
On the one hand, labour is seeking for all ; on the other, capital is
seeking for all. But the capital governs, and always obtains the
mastery, and reduces labour down to the smallest pittance. Thus
antagonistic are capital and labour, that the former is for ever
trying to lessen the value of the other by art, by machinery ; thus
converting the tool of labour into capital itself. The political dif
ference between the infiuence of these two relations, capital and
labour, is very great. We feel surprised that the sympathies of
the abolitionists are not changed, from the miseries where capital
and labour are decidedly congenerous, to a consideration of that
morass of misery into which the worn-out, broken tools of labour
are thrown, with cruel heartlessness, where capital and labour are
antagonistic. Under the one system, beggars and distress from want are un
known, because such things cannot exist under such an organiza
tion of society. But, under the other, pauperism becomes a lead
ing element. The history of that class of community, in all free
countries, is a monument and record of free labour.
We ask the politician to consider these facts, while he searches
the history of man for light in the inquiry of what is the most
tranquil, and, in all its parts, the most happy organization of society.
Under the head of "The Political Influence of Slavery," Dr.
Channing has taken occasion to inform us of his feelings as to the
stability of this Union ; that he prefers its dissolution to the per
petuation of slavery; and that he proposes a "pacific division."
And what is his " pacific division ?" Why, he says, (if we must
repeat it,) " the South must studiously Iceep itself from commu-^ion
¦ivith the Free States ; to suffer no railroad from the Free States
to cross its border ; and to block up all intercourse by sea and
land !" Why, it is " death in the pot !"
0 most unhappy man ! the most unfortunate of all, to have

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 221

left sucli a record of intellectual weakness and folly behind ! But
we will forbear.
We think Dr. Channing's declarations and proposals wholly un
called for. AVe regret tho existence of such feelings at the North.
"W e say jecliugs, because we are bold to say, such sentiments are
alone the offspring of the most ignorant, wicked, and black
hearted feelings of the human soul. Their very existence shows a
preparedness to commit treason, perjury, and the murders of civil
war ! The disciples of Dr. Channing, on the subject of abolitionism,
may be too stupid to perceive it ; for " Evil men understand not
judgment." Prov. xxviii. 5.
We regret this feeling at the North the more deeply on the
account of the extraordinary generant quality of ^n. For it pro
pagates, not only its peculiar kind, but every monster, in every
shape, by the mere echo of its voice ! Will they remember, " He
that diggeth a pit shall fall into it ; and whoso breaketh a hedge,
a serpent shall bite him." Or, that, "It is an honour to cease
from strife ; but every fool will be meddling." Prov. But since
such feelings do exist, we feel thankful to God that the sin of the
initiative in the dissolution of this Union is not with the Slave
States. We know there are many good men in the North. Much
depends on what they may do. We believe the union of these
States need not — will not be disrupted.
But if the laws of Congress can neither be executed nor con
tinued, nor oaths to be true to the constitution longer bind these
maniacs, the issue will finally be left in the hand of the God of
battles! It becomes the South to act wisely, to be calm, and to
hope as long as there can be hope. And to the North, let them
say now, before it be too late, "We pray you to forbear. We en
treat you to be true to your oaths, and not force us, in hostile
array, to bathe our hands in blood."
But, if the term of our great national destiny is to be closed,
and war, the most cruel of all wars, is to spread far beyond the
reach of human foresight, — the South, like Abraham in olden time,
will "arm their trained servants," and go out to the war, shout
ing UNDER the BANNER OE THE ALMIGHTY !

222 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON IX.
As a fifth proposition. Dr. Channing says — " I shall consider
the argument which the Scriptures are thought to furnish in favour
of slave7'y."
In the course of these studies, we have often had occasion to
refer to the Scripture in our support. We have shown that even the
Decalogue gave rules in regulation of the treatment of slaves ; that
commands from^he mouth of God himself were delivered to Abra
ham concerning his slaves ; that the Almighty from Sinai delivered
to Moses laws, directing him whom they might have as slaves, —
slaves forever, and to be inherited by their children after them ;
rules directing the government and treatment of slaves, who had
become such under different circumstances. We have adverted to
the spirit of prophecy on the subject of the providence of God
touching the matter, to the illustrations of our Saviour, and the
lessons of the apostles. Others have done the same before us.
But Dr. Channing says, page 99 — " In this age of the world, and
amid the light which has been thrown on the true interpretation
of the Scriptures, such reasoning hardly deserves notice."
Had Tom Paine been an abolitionist, he could scarcely have said
more ! He continues — "A few words only will be offered in reply.
This reasoning proves too much. If usages sanctioned in the Old
Testament, and not forbidden in the New, are right, then our moral
code will undergo a sad deterioration. Polygamy was allowed to
the Israelites, was the practice of the holiest men, and was com
mon and licensed in the age of the apostles. * * * Why may
not Scripture be used to stock our houses with wives as well as
slaves." We know not what new light has come to this age of the world,
enabling it to interpret the Scriptures more accurately than is af
forded by the language of the Scriptures themselves. Whatever
it may be, we shall not deprive Dr. Channing nor his disciples of
its entire benefit, by the appropriation of its use to ourselves ; and
therefore we shall proceed to examine his position, by interpreting
the Scriptures in the old-fashioned waj^ — understanding them to
mean what they say.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 223

The first instance the idea is brought to view which we express
by the term wife, is found in Gen. ii. 20 : " There was not found
A help meet iox him." The original is I'lJJB "IfV NlfO'N? not
^ ^ o I : -.¦ : •:'{•' rr t i
found, discovered, help, aid, or assistance, flowing, proceeding, at, to,
or for him. Let it be noticed that the idea is in the singular. The
word ishsha, used to mean one ivoman, or wife, is so distinctly
singular, that it sometimes demands to be translated by the word
one, as we shall hereafter find.
Same chapter, verse 22: "Made he a woman," ntJ'X, ishsha,
woman, wije.
Ver. 23 : " Shall be called ivoman," ilWii ishsha, woman, wife.
Ver. 24 : " Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother,
and cleave unto. his wife," Ih^K ishto, his wife, his woman, "and
they shall be one flesh."
Ver. 26: " The man and his wife," 1i1B''l!>? isJito, wife, woman.
These terms are all in the singular number. We propose for con
sideration, how far these passages are to be understood as a law
and rule of action among men.
Gen. vii. 7 : " And Noah went in, and 'his sons, and his wife,
and his sons' wives with him, into the ark."
Ver. 9 : " There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark,
the male and female, as God had commanded Noah."
We propose also for consideration, how far these passages are an
indication of the law of God, and his providence, as bearing on
polygamy. Exod. XX. 17 (18th ver. of the Hebrew text) : "Thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's wife," n^?< esheth, in the construct state,
showing that she was appropriated to the neighbour in the singular
number. If the passage had read, Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's wives, or any of them, the interpretation must have
been quite different.
So also Beut. v. 21: " Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's
wife," npii esheth.
The twenty-second chapter of Deuteronomy relates the law
concerning a portion of the relations incident to a married state ;
but we find the idea always advanced in the singular number.
There was no direction 'concerning his wives. Had the decalogue
announced, " Thou shalt have but one wife," the language of these
explanations and directions, to be in unison, therewith, need not
have been changed.

224 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

The subject is continued through the first five verses of the
twenty- fourth chapter, but we find the idea wife still expressed in
the same careful language, conveying the idea, as appropriated to
one man, in the person of one female only. The term " new wife,"
here used, does not imply that she is an addition to others in like
condition, but that her condition of being a wife is new, as is
most clearly shown by the word ilJi'in hadasha, from which it is
translated. The sentiment or condition explained in this passage
is illustrated by our Saviour in Luke xiv. 20 : "I have married a
wife, and therefore I cannot come," — that is, until the expiration
of the year, — having reference to this very passage in Deutero
nomy for authority. But this passage is made very plain by a
direct command of God : see Beut. xx. 7 : "And what man is there
that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her ? Let him go
and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another
man take her."
But the institution of marriage was established, before the fall
of man, by the appropriation of one woman to one man. Now,
that this fact, this example, stands as a command, is clear from
the words of Jesus Christ, in Matt. xix. 4, 5 : " And he answered
and said. Have ye not read, that he which made them at the begin
ning, made them male and female, and said. For this cause shall
a man leave father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife ;
and they twain shall be one flesh ? Wherefore, they are no more
twain, but one flesh."
We trust, "at this age of the world," there is a sufficiency of
light, among even the most unlearned of us, whereby we shall be
enabled to interpret these scriptures, not to license polygamy, but
to discountenance and forbid it, by showing that they teach a con
trary doctrine. But, perhaps, the explanation is more decided in
Mark x. 8—11 : "And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they
are no more twain, but one flesh." "And he saith unto them,
whoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth
adultery against- her."
Surely, if a man commit adultery by marrying the second when
he has turned off the previous, it may be a stronger case of
adultery to marry a second wife without turning off the first one !
We think St. Paul interprets the Scriptures in the old-fashioned
way, Eph. v. 31 : " For this cause shall a man leave his father and
mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be
one flesh."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

See 1 Cor. vi. 16-18 : " What ! know ye not that he which ia
joined to a harlot is one body ? For two, saith he, shall be on'-
flesh. Flee fornication." And further, the deductions that St.
Paul made from these teachings are plainly drawn out in his lea-
sons to Timothy : " If a man desire the office of bishop, he de-
sireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband
of one wife." "Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife."
1 Tim. iii. 1, 2, 12;
" These things command and teach. Let no man despise thj'
youth ; but be thou an example of the believers in word, in con
versation, in charity, in faith, in purity." 1 Tim. iv. 11, 12.
And we now beg to inquire whether this lesson to Timothy is
not founded upon the law as delivered to Moses ? "And the Lord
said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say
unto them :" * * * " They shall be holy unto their God, and
not profane the name of their God." * * * " They shall not
take a wife that is a whore, or profane ; neither shall they take a
woman put away from her husband." * * * "And he that is the
high priest among his brethren * _ * * shall take a wife in
her virginity." "A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or
a harlot, these he shall not take ; but he shall take a virgin of his
own people to wife." "Neither shall he profane his seed among
his people : for I the Lord do sanctify him." Lev. xxi. 1, 6, 7, 10,
13, 14, 15.
We doubt not it will be conceded that the teachings of the
Bible are, that polygamy includes the crime of adultery and forni
cation, both of which have a tendency towards a general promis
cuous intercourse. In addition to the express commands as to the
views thus involved, to our mind there are specifications on the
subject equally decisive. " If any man take a wife * * *
and give occasion of speech against her, * * * then shall the
father of the damsel and her mother take and bring forth the
tokens ; * * * and the damsel's father shall say, * * *
and, lo, he hath given occasion of speech against her. * * *
And the elders of the city shall take that man and chastise him ;
and they shall amerce him in a hundred shekels of silver, * * *
and she shall be his wife ; he may not put her away all his days."
"But if this thing is true, and the tokens of her virginity be
not found for the damsel ; then they shall bring out the damsel to
the door of her father's house, and the men of the city shall stone
her with stones that she die." * ¦ * * " If a man be found lying
15

226 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them
die." * * * "If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto
a husband, and a man find her in the city and lie with her ; then ye
shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall
stone them with stones that they die." * * * "But if a man
find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her and lie
with her; then the man only that lay with her shall die." * * *
" If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed,
and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found, then the
man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty
shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife : * * * he may not
put her away all his days." Beut. xxii. 13-25, 28, 29.
" A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord ;
even unto his tenth generation." Idem, xxiii. 2.
" These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses be
tween a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter,
being yet in her youth in her father's house." Num. xxx. 16.
" When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee, * * * and shalt say, I will set a king over me," &C.
* * * "But he shall not," &c. * * * " Neither shall he
multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away." Beut.
xvii. 14-17.
The inferences to be drawn from a review of these statutes, in
opposition to polygamy, we deem of easy deduction. We leave
them for the consideration of those who shall examine the subject.
We deem it extraordinary that, "at this age of the world," we
should find men who seem to think that because Moses had a
statute which, under certain circumstances, authorized husbands to
divorce their wives, that thereby he permitted polygamy.
" When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come
to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found
some uncleanness in her," (it is the same word elsewhere trans
lated nakedness,) " then let him write her a bill of divorcement,
and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when
she is departed out of his house, she may go ahd be another man's
wife. And if the latter husband hate her-, and write her a billof
divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his
house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;
her former husband which sent her away may not take her again
to be his wife, after that she is defiled ; for this is abomination be
fore the Lord." Beut. xxiv. 1-4.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 227

Is there any thing here that favours polygamy ? Such was tho
law. But in the original, there is a term used which became the
subject of discussion among the Jews, perhaps shortly after its pro
mulgation. This term, in our translation "uncleanness," some
understand to mean such moral or physical defects as rendered her
marriage highly improper or a nullity ; others understand it to
mean, or rather to extend to and embrace, all dislike on the part
of the husband whereby he became desirous to be separated from
her. This interpretation seemed most conducive to the power of the
husband, and, therefore, probably had the most advocates ; and it is
said that the Jewish rulers so suffered it to be understood, and that
even Moses, as a man, suffered it ; noticing that where the wife
became greatly hated by the husband, she was extremely liable to
abuse, unless this law was so explained as to permit a divorce.
The Jews kept up the dispute about this matter down to the days
of our Saviour ; when the Pharisees, with the view to place before
him a difficult question, and one that might entangle him, if an
swered fidverse to the popular idea, presented it to him, as related
in Matt. xix. He promptly decides the question, whereupon they
say— " Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorce
ment, and to put her away ? He saith unto them, Moses, because-
of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your
wives : but -from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you.
Whoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and
shall marry another, committeth adultery ; and whoever marrieth
her that is put away, doth commit adultery." Matt. xix. 7, 8, 9.
Mark describes this interview thus: "And the Pharisees came
to him, and asked him, saying. Is it lawful for a man to put away
his -wife, tempting him ? And he answered and said unto them,
What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered
to write a bill of. divorcement, and to put her away. Jesus an
swered and said unto them. For the hardness of your heart he
wrote you this precept : but from the beginning of the creation,
God made them male -and female," Mark x. 2-6.,
. But do these answers, either way, favour polygamy ? Is it not
clear that the law was in opposition to it ?
It is true, the Jews, corrupted by the neighbouring nations who
fell into it, practised the- habit to a great extent; and so they did

228 STUDIES ON SLAVERi'.

idolatry and many other sins. But was idolatry allowed to tlie
Israelites ?
What truth can there be in the assertion that they were allowed
a thing, in the practice of which they had to trample their laws
under foot ? And, under the statement of the facts, w^hat truth
is there in the assertion that " polygamy was licensed in the age
of the apostles ?"
If such was " the practice of the holiest men," it proves nothing
except that the holiest men were in the practice of breaking the law.
It is true that a looseness of adjudication on the subject of
divorce grew up, perhaps even from the time of Moses, among the
Jews, on account of the dispute about the interpretation of the
law. But i]pon the supposition that the law was correctly in
terpreted by those who advocated the greatest laxity, which Jesus
Christ sufficiently condemned, yet there is found nothing favouring
polygamy in it ; -for even the loosest interpretation supposed a
divorce necessary. The dispute was not about polygamy ; but
about what predicates rendered a divorce legal.
In the books of the Old Testament we find the accounts of many
crimes that were committed in those olden days ; but can any one
be so stupid as to suppose the law permitted those crimes, because
the history of them has reached us through these books ?
If the polygamy of Jacob, rehearsed in these books, teaches the
doctrine that these books permitted polygamy, — then, because these
books relate the history of the murder of Abel, it must be said
that these books permit murder ? And because, in these books,
we have the account of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, that
therefore disobedience to the command of God is legalized also ! -
Before we can say that polygamy is countenanced by the Old
Testament as well as slavery, we must find some special law to that
effect. And some of the- advocates of abolition, striving to make a
parallel between slavery and polygamy^ pretend they have done so
in Lev. xviii. 18 : "Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister to
vex her, to uncover her nakedness, besides the other in her life
time." These advocates interpret this law to permit a man to marry two
wives or more, so that no two of them are sisters ; and because few
take the trouble to contradict them, they seem to think their inter
pretation to be true, and urge it as such.
It was clear the law permitted no additional wife, so as to allow
two or more wives, unless, by the example of Jacob, the law was

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 229
ameliorated. His example was the taking of sisters ; and if the
original be correctly translated, his example is condemned by the
law cited. We surely fail to see how forbidding polygamy as to
sisters, permits it as to others. Louisiana by law forbids any free
white person being joined in marriage to a person of colour. If
that State, in addition, forbids free white persons being married to
slaves, does it repeal the law as to persons of colour ?
But to the Hebrew scholar we propose a small error in the
translation of this passage. The preceding twelve verses treat on
the subject of whom it is forbidden to marry on the account of
consanguinity, the last of which names the grand-daughter of a
previous wife, declaring such act to be wicked, and closes the list
of objections on account of consanguinity, unless such list be ex
tended by the passage under review ; for the succeeding sentence
is a prohibition of all females who may be unclean ; consanguinity
is no more mentioned ; yet these prohibitions continue to the 23d
verse ; and it is to be noticed that each prohibition succeeding the
wife's grand-daughter commences with a 1 {vav with sheva), whereas
not one on the ground of consanguinity is thus introduced ; illus
trating the fact that each prohibition, succeeding the wife's grand
daughter, is founded upon new and distinct causes.
The widow of a deceased husband who had left no issue was per
mitted to marry his brother ; it was even made a duty. There
fore, by parity of reason, there could be no objection, on the
account of consanguinity, for the husband of a deceased wife to
marry her sister.
It is clear then that the person whom this clause of the law for
bids to marry, is some person other than a deceased wife's sister.
We propose for consideration, as nearly literal as may be, to ex
press the idea conveyed — Thou shalt not take one ivife to another,
to be enemies, or to be exiles, the shame of thy bed-chamber through
life. The doctrine it inculcates is, if a man has two wives, he must
either live in the midst of their rivalry and enmity, or exile one or
both ; either of which is disgrace. The reading may be varied ;
but let the Hebrew scholar compare the first three words of the
original with Exod. xxvi. 3, where they twice .occur, and also with
the 6th and 17th verses of the same chapter, in each of which they
are also found. Let him notice that, in the passage before us, in
the word translated sister, the vav, under holem, is omitted;
whereas such is not the case in the preceding instances, where the

230 STUDIES ON SLAVERY

word is correctly translated to express a term of consanguinity ;
and we think he will abandon the idea that HnhN ahotha, in the
passage before us, means sister ; and if not, the sentence stands a
clear, indisputable, and general condemnation of polygamy.
Can Dr. Channing's disciples point out to us a law allowing -polj-
gamy in as direct terms as the following would have done, substi
tuting the word wives for slaves ?
" Thy wives which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that
are round about you : of them shall ye buy wives." " Moi-eover,
of the children of the strangers that sojourn among you, of them
shall ye buy wives" — " and of their families that are with you, which
they beget in your land, and they shall be your wives." "And
ye shall take them as wives for your children after you, and they
shall have them for wives" — "they shall be your wives for ever."
Compare Lev. xxv. 44, 46.
Until they can do so, until they shall do so, we shall urge their
not doing it as one reason why the Scripture "cannot be used to
stock our houses with wives as well as with slaves."

LESSON X.
Dr. Channing says, page 101, vol. ii. —
" Slavery, at the age of the apostle, had so penetrated society,
was so intimately interwoven with it, and the materials of servile war
were so abundant, that a religion, preaching freedom to the slave,
would have shaken the social fabric to its foundation, and would
have armed against itself the whole power of the state. Paul did
not then assail the institution. He satisfied himself with spreading
principles which, however slowly, could not but work its destruc
tion. * * * And how, in his circumstances, he could have
done more for the subversion of slavery, I do not see."
May we request the disciples of Dr. Channing to read the chap
ter on " Slavery," in Paley's Moral and Political Philosophy, and
decide whether the above is borrowed in substance therefrom. And'
we beg further to inquire, whether it does not place Paul, consi
dering "his circumstances," in an odious position ? What, Paul
satisfying himself to not do his duty ! What, Paul shrink from
assailing an institution because deeply rooted in power and sin !

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. t^pg
What, Paul, the apostle of God, fearing, hesitating, failing tCc
nounce a great sin, because it was penetrating through and inti
mately interwoven with society !
Why did he not manifest the same consideration in behalf of
other great sins ? Would it not be an easier and more rational
way to account for his not assailing slavery, by supposing him to
have known that it was the providence of God, in mercy, present
ing some protection to those too degraded and low to-protect them
selves ? If such supposition describes the true character of the
institution of slavery, then the conduct of Paul in regard to it
would have been just what it was. Paul lived all his life in the
midst of slavery ; as a man among men, he had a much better
opportunity to know what was truth in the case than Dr. Channing.
But as an apostle, Paul was taught of God. Will the disciples of
Dr. Channing transfer these considerations from St. Paul to the
Almighty, and say that he was afraid to announce his truth, his
law, then to the world, lest it should stir up a little war in the Ro
man Empire? In what position does Dr. Channing place Ilim,
who came to reveal truth, holding death and judgment in his hand !
" Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast
given me are of thee : For I have given unto them the words which
thou gavest me ; and they have received them." John xvii. 7, 8.
" I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood
of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the
counsel of God." Acts^xx. 26, 27.
"God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar."
Rom. dii. 4.
But we propose to the disciples of Dr. Channing an inquiry :
If he could not see how St. Paul in his circumstances could have
done more for the subversion of slavery, why did he not take St.
Paul for his example, and suffer the matter to rest where St. Paul
left it ? For he'says, vol. iii. page 162 — " It becomes the preacher
to remember that there is a silent, indirect influence, more sure
and powerful than direct assaults on false opinions." Or was he
less careless than St. Paul about stirring up a servile war, and of
shaking our social fabric to its foundation ? Or did the doctor's
circumstances place him on higher ground than St. Paul ? Had
" this a^e of the world" presented him with new light on the true
interpretation of the Scriptures ? Had the afflatus of the Holy
Spirit commissioned him to supersede Paul as an apostle ? Are
we to expect, through him, a new and improved edition of tho

232 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
gospel ? And is this the reason why an argument drawn from the
Old Edition now " hardly deserves notice ?"
Dr. Channing says, vol. ii. p. 104 — "The very name of the
Christian religion would have been forgotten amidst the agitations
of universal bloodshed." Is then the Christian religion a fabri
cation of men ? Was Christ himself an impostor ? And could
Dr. Channing loan himself to such a consideration ?
" Upon this rock I will build my church : and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it." 3Iatt. xvi. 18.

LESSON XL
The sixth position in the treatise under consideration is, " I
shall offer some remarks on the means of removing it." His plan
is, page 108 — " In the first place, the great principle that man
cannot rightfully be held as property, should be admitted by the
slaveholder." Dr. Channing seems to suppose that his previous arguments are
sufficient to produce the proposed admission.
Page 109. " It would be cruelty to strike the fetters from ,a
man, whose first steps would infallibly lead him to a precipice.
The slave should not have an owner, but he should have a guar
dian." We take this as an admission that the slave is not a fit subject
for freedom. But he says —
Page 110. " But there is but one weighty argument against im
mediate emancipation ; namely, that the slave would not support
himself and his children by honest industry."
Dr. Channing's plan in short is, that the names, master and
slave, shall be exchanged for guardian and ward ; but he awards
no compensation to the guardian ; — that the negro shall be told he
is free ; yet he should be compelled to work for his own and his
family's support ; — that none should be whipped who will toil "from
rational and honourable motives."
Page 112. " In case of being injured by his master in this or in
any respect, he should be either set free, or, if unprepared for
liberty, should be transmitted to another guardian."
Dr. Channing proposes "bounties," "rewards," "new privi
leges," "increased indulgences," " prizes for good conduct," &c..

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 233

as substitutes for the lash. He supposes that the slave may be
"elevated and his energies called forth by placing his domestic
relations on new ground." "This is essential; we wish him to
labour for his family. Then he must have a family to labour for.
Then his wife and children must be truly his own. Then his home
must be inviolate. Then the responsibilities of a husband and
father must be laid on him. It is argued that he will be fit for
freedom as soon as the support of his family shall become his habit
and his happiness."
Page 114. " To carry this and other means of improvement into
effect, it is essential that the slave should no longer be bought and
sold." Page 116. " Legislatures should meet to free the slave. The
church should rest not, day nor night, till this stain be wiped
away." We do not choose ,to make any remark on his plan of emanci
pation ; we shall merely quc*e one passage from page 106 :
" How slavery shall be removed is a question for the slaveholder,
and one which he alone can answer fully. He alone has an inti
mate knowledge of the character and habits of the slaves."
In this we fully, concur ; and we now ask our readers, what does
Dr. Channing's confession of this fact suggest to their minds ?
Dr. .Channing's seventh proposition is, " To offer some remarks
on abolitionism." The considerations of this chapter are evidently
addressed to the aboljtionists, with which we have no wish to in
terfere. There are, however, in it, some fine sentiments expressed
in his usual eloquent style.
The eighth and concluding subject is, "A few reflections on the
duties of the times." These reflections, we are exceedingly sorry
to find highly inflammatory ; they are addressed alone to the Free
States. We shall present a few specimens. They need no com
ment : there are those to whom pity is more applicable than
reproof. Page 138. " A few words remain to be spoken in relation to the
duties of the Free States. These need to feel the responsibilities
and dangers of their present position. The country is approach
ing a crisis on the greatest question which can be proposed to it ;
a question, not of profit or loss, of tariffs or banks, or any tempo
rary interests ; but a question involving the first principles of free
dom, morals, and religion."
Page 139. •' There are, however, other duties of the Free States,

234 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

to which they may prove false, and which they a.re too willing to
forget. They are bound, not in their public, but in their individual
capacities, to use every virtuous influence for the abolition of
slavery." Page 140. " At this moment an immense pressure is driving the
North from its true ground. God save it from imbecility, from
treachery to freedom and virtue ! I have certainly no feelings but
those of good- will towards the South; but I speak the universal
sentiments of this parit of the country, when I say that the tone
which the South has often assumed towards the North has been
that of a superior, a tone unconsciously borrowed from the habit
of command to which it is unhappily accustomed by the form of
its society. I must add, that this high bearing of the South has
not always been met by a just consciousness of equality, a just
self-respect at the.North. * * * Here lies the danger. The
North will undoubtedly be just to the South. It must also be just
to itself. This is not the time for iycophancy, for servility, for
compromise of principle, for forgetfulness of our rights. It is the
time to manifest the spirit of men, a spirit which prizes, more than
life, the principles of liberty, of justice, of humanity, of pure
morals, of pure religion."
Page 142. " Let us show that we have principles, compared with
which the wealth of the world is as light as air. * * * The
Free States, it is to be feared, must pass through a struggle. May
they sustain it as becomes their freedom ! The present excitement
at the South can hardly be expected to pass away without attempts
to wrest from them unworthy concessions. The tone in regard to
slavery in that part of the country is changed. It is not only
more vehement, but more false than formerly : once slavery was
acknowledged as an evil; now, it is proclaimed to be a good."
Page 143. " Certainly, no assertion of the wildest abolitionist
could give such a shock to the slaveholder, as this new doctrine is
fitted to give to the people of the North. * * * There is a
great dread in this part of the country that the Union of the States
may be dissolved by conflict about slavery. * * * '^q q^^
prizes the Union, more than myself."
Page 144. " Still, if the Union can be purchased only by the
imposition of chains on the tongue and the press, by prohibition of
discussion on the subject involving the most sacred rights and
dearest interests of humanity, then union would be bought at too
dear a price."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 235

In his concluding note, he says, page 153 — " I feel too much
about the great subject on which I have written, to be very soli
citous about what is said of myself. I feel that I am nothing, that
my reputation is nothing, in comparison with the fearful wrong and
evil which I have laboured to expose ; and I should count myself
unworthy the name of a man or a Christian, if the calumnies of
the bad, or even the disapprobation of the good, could fasten my
thoughts on myself, and turn me aside from a cause which, as I
believe, truth, humanity, and God call me to sustain."

LESSON XIL
The abolition writers and speakers are properly divided into two
classes : those who agitate and advocate the subject as a successful
means of advancing their own personal and ambitious hopes ; some
times with " One eye turned to God, condemning moral evil ;
The other downward, winking at the devil !"
Thus, one seeks office, another distinction or fame. Small con
siderations often stimulate the conduct of such men.
But we have evidence that another class zealously labour to abo
lish slavery from the world, because they think its existence a stain
on the human character, and that the laws of God make it the duty
of every man to " cry aloud and spare not," until it shall cease.
Our author had no secondary views alluring him on to toil ; no
new purpose ; no new summit to gain. What he thought darkness
he hated, because he loved the light ; what he thought wicked, to
his soul was awful and abhorred, because, even in life, he was ever
peering into the confines of heaven.. Ardour was cultivated into
zeal, and zeal into enthusiasm.
In its eagerness to accomplish its object in behalf of liberty, the
mind is often prepared to subvert without reflection — to destroy
without care. Hence, even the religious may sometimes " record
that they have a zeal of God^ but not according to knowledge.''
" For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about
to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God." Rom. x.

236 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

They are convinced that they alone are right. But, " Can a
man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable
unto himself ? Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art
righteous? or is it gain, that thou makest thy ways perfect."
Job xxii. 2, 3.
" Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven ? Canst thou set the
dominion thereof in the earth ?" Answer thou, Why " leaveth the
ostrich her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust?
Why forgetteth she that the foot -may crush them, or that the wild
beast may break them ?"
" Why is she hardened against her young ones, as though they
were not hers ?" " Why is her labour in vain without fear?"
" Why feedeth the fish upon its fellow, which forgetteth and de
vour eth its young ?"
" Who looketh on the proud and bringeth him low ? and treadeth
down the wicked in their place ? hiding them in the dust, and
binding their faces in secret ?"
Who hardeneth the heart of Pharaoh ? and multiplies signs
and wonders before the children of men? Who is he who "hath
mercy on whom he will?" Why was Esau hated or Jacob loved
before they were born ?
Wilt thou say, " Why doth he find fault ? for who hath resisted
his will." See Rom. ix. 19.
Or wilt thou rather say, "Behold I am vile; what shall I
answer thee ? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I
spoken ; but I will not answer thee : yea, twice ; but I will pro
ceed no further." Job xl. 4.
There are in these volumes several other essays, under different
titles, on the same subject ; but in most instances, although the
language is varied, the same arguments exert their power on
the mind of the writer. Aided by the common sympathy of the
people among whom he lived, and the conscientious operations of
his own mind, his judgment on the decision of the question of
right and wrong became unchangeably fixed ; while the evidence
forced upon him by the only class of facts in relation to the subject
which his education and associations in society enabled him to com
prehend, became daily more imposing, more exciting in their re
view, more lucid in their exposing an image of deformity, the most
wicked of the offspring of evil. Filled with horror, yet as if
allured by an evil charm, his mind seems to have had no power to

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 237

banish from, its sight its horrid vision. Nor is it singular that it
sho'.ild, to some extent, become the one idea — his leading chain of
thought. To him, the proofs of his doctrine became a blaze of
light, so piercingly brilliant that nothing of a contrary bearing was
worthy of belief or consideration.
The following extracts will perhaps sufficiently develop the
state to wliich his mind had arrived on this subject of his study.
Vol. vi. p. 38, he says — " My maxim is. Any thing but slavery !"
Page 50. " The history of West India emancipation teaches
us that we are holding in bondagei one of the best races of the
human family. The negro is among the mildest and gentlest of
men. He is singularly susceptible of improvement from abroad.
His children, it is said, receive more rapidly than ours the elements
of knowledge."
Page 51. "A short residence among the negroes in the West
Indies impressed me with their capacity for improvement ; on all
sides, I heard of their religious tendencies, the noblest of human
nature. I saw, too, on the plantation where I resided, a graceful
ness and dignity of form and motion rare in my own native New
England. And that is the race which has been selected to be
trodden down and confounded with the brute."
If slavery in the West Indies has thus elevated the African
tribes above the majority of the people of New England, we will
not ask the question, whether the doctor's disciples propose the ex
periment on their countrymen. But there is, nevertheless, abun
dant proqf that slavery to the white races does necessarily, and
from philosophical causes, have the most direct tendency to elevate
the moral, mental, and physical ability of the African ; in fact, of
any other race of men sunk equally low in degradation and ruin.
If the negro slaves of the West Indies exhibit moral, mental,
and physical merit in advance of most of Dr. Channing's country
men, who were never in slavery, we beg to know how it is accounted
for ; what are the causes that have operated to produce it ? For
we believe no sane man, who knows any thing of the African sa
vage in his native state, whether bond or free, will so much as give
a hint that they are as elevated in any respect as are his country
men, the people of New England. Will the fact then be acknow
ledged, that slavery, however bad, does yet constitutionally amend
and elevate the African savage !
At the moment the foregoing paragraphs were placed on paper,

238 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

there happened to be present a Northern gentleman, who very
justly entertained the most elevated regard for the personal cha
racter of Dr. Channing, to whom they were read. His vieWs
seemed to be that the extracts from Channing were garbled, and
the deductions consequent thereon unjustly severe.
We war not with Dr. Channing, nor his character. He no longer
liveth. But his works live, and new editions crowd upon the public
attention, as if his disciples were anxious to saturate the whole
world with his errors, as well as to make known his many virtues.
We do not design to garble ; and therefore requote the extract
more fully, from vol. vi. pp. 50, 51 : '
" The history of the West India emancipation teaches us that
we are holding in bondage one of the best races of the human
family. The negro is among the mildest, gentlest of men. He is
singularly susceptible of improvement from abroad. His children,
it is said, receive more rapidly than ours the elements of know
ledge. How far he can originate improvements, time only can
teach. His nature is affectionate, easily touched ; and hence he
is more open to religious impression than the white man. The
European race have manifested more courage, enterprise, inven
tion ; but in the dispositions which Christianity particularly
honours, how inferior are they to the African ! When I cast my
eyes over our Southern region, the land of bowie-knives, Lynch-
law, and duels, of 'chivalry, honour,' and revenge; and when I
consider that Christianity is declared to be a spirit of charity,
' which seeketh not its own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no
evil, and endureth all things,' and is declared to be ' the wisdom
from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be
entreated, full of mercy and good fruits,' — can I hesitate in de
ciding to which of the races in that land Christianity is most
adapted, in which its noblest disciples are most likely to be reared."
Pp. 62, 53. " Could the withering infiuence of slavery be with
drawn, the Southern character, though less consistent, less based
on principle, might be more attractive and lofty than that of the
North. The South is proud of calling itself Anglo-Saxon. Judg
ing from character, I should say that this name belongs much more
to the North, the country of steady, persevering, unconquerable
energy. Our Southern brethren remind me more of the Normans.
They seem to have in their veins the burning blood of that purate
race." " Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge ,? Thereiore

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 239

have I uttered that I understood not ; things too wonderful for
me, which I knew not." Job xiii. 3.
Will the disciples of Dr. Channing account for the curious facts
developed by the census of 1850, as follows ? —
" A writer in the New York Observer calls attention to some
curious facts derived from the census of the United States. These
facts show that there is a remarkable prevalence of idiocy and in
sanity among the free blacks over the whites, and especially over
the slaves. In the State of Maine, every fourteenth coloured per
son is an idiot or a lunatic. And though there is a gradual im
provement in the condition of the coloured race as we proceed
West and South, yet it is evident that the Free States are the prin
cipal abodes of idiocy and lunacy among them.
" In Ohio, there are just ten coloured persons, who are idiots or
lunatics, where there is one in Kentucky. And in Louisiana, where
a large majority .of the population is coloured, and four-fifths of
them are slaves, there is but one of these unfortunates to 4309 who
are sane. The proportions in other States, according to the census
of 1850, are as follow : — In Massachusetts, 1 in 43 ; Connecticut,
1 in 185 ; New York, 1 in 267 ; Pennsylvania, 1 in 256 ; Mary
land, 1 in 1074 ; Virginia, 1 in 1309 ; North Carohna, 1 in 1216 ;
South Carolina, 1 in 2440 ; Ohio, 1 in 105 ; Kentucky, 1 in 1053.
This is certainly a curious calculation, and indicates that diseases
of the brain are far more rare among the slaves than among the
free of the coloured race."

LESSON XIIL

Sympathy probably operates more or less in the mind of each
individual of the human family. Traces of it are discovered even
in some of the brute creation ; but yet we are far from saying
that it is merely an animal feeling. But we do say that sympathy
often gives a direction to our chains of thought ; and that, in some
minds, such direction is scarcely to be changed by any subsequent
reflection, or even evidence. Some minds seem incapable of ap
preciating any evidence which does not make more open whatever
way sympathy may lead ; consequently a full history of its exer-

240 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

cise would prove that it has been frequently expended on mistaken
facts, imaginary conditions, or fictitious suffering. In such cases,
it may produce much evil, and real suffering. It therefore taay be
of some importance to the sympathizer and to community, that
this feeling be under the government of a correct judgment founded
on truth.
Among the rude tribes of men, and in the early ages of the
world, its action seems to have taken the place of what, in a higher
civilization and cultivation of the mind, should be the result of
moral principle founded on truth.
But even now, if we look abroad upon the families of men, even
to the most intellectual, shall we not find the greater number rather
under the government of the former than the latter ? One infer
ence surely is, that man, as yet, has not, by far, arrived at the
fullest extent of intellectual improvement.
But suppose we say that God punishes sin ; or, by the laws of
God, sin brings upon itself punishment ; — we propose the question,
how far, under our relation to our Creator, is it consistent in us to
sympathize with such punishment ? It may be answered, we are
instructed to "remember" to sympathize with those who are under
persecution for their faith in Christ ; so also, impliedly, with our
brethren, neighbours, or those who have done us or our ancestors
favours, or those who have given or can give some proof of good
ness, when such have fallen, or shall fall into bondage ; and, perhaps,
with any one giving proof of such amendment as may merit a
higher condition. But in all these cases, does not the injunction,
"remember," look to an action resulting from principle, emanating
from truth, or the conformity of the person or thing to be "re
membered" with the law of God ?
In the holy books, the word nearest to a synonyme of our word
sympathy, will be found in Beut. vii. 16 : " Thou shalt consume
all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee ; thine
eye shall have no pity (DinH thehhos) upon them," {no sympathy
for.) So, xix. 13 : "Thine eye shall not pity (Dlfiri thahhos) hitn."
So xiii. 8 (the 9th of the Hebrew text) : " Neither shall thine eye
pity him," (Dllin thahhos.)
This word, when used in rela.tion to punishment, is usually asso
ciated with the word implying the "eye," as if the feeling ex
pressed thereby partook more of an animal than a moral sensa-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 241

tion. In Gen. xiv. 20, our translators finding our idea of sympathy
inapplicable to inanimate objects, expressed it by the word
"regard," meaning care, or concern. Now, since the command
forbids this gush of feeling (whether merely animal or not) in the
cases cited, is it not evident that the feeling inculcated as proper
must be the produce of moral principle, cultivated and sustained
by a truthful perception of the laws of God ?
The feeling of sympathy, commiseration, or mercy, is inculcated
in the latter clause of Lev. xlvi. 26. The circumstances were these :
— The descendants of Ham occupied the whole of Palestine, and the
most of the adjoining districts. Those of Palestine had become
so sunken in idolatry, and the most grievous practices, counteract
ing any improvement of their race, that God, in his providence,
gave them up to be extirpated from the earth, and forbid the
Israelites to have any "pity," any sympathy for them; but to
slay them without hesitation. While those of the adjacent tribes,
who had, since the days of Noah, been denounced as fit subjects
of slavery, on the account of their degradation, brought upon them
by similar causes, were again specified to Moses as those whom
they were at liberty in peace to purchase, or in war to reduce to
perpetual bondage.
But such IS the deteriorating effect of sin, even individuals of
the Israelites themselves were often falling into that condition.
But God made a distinction between the condition of these heathen,
and the Israelites that might thus fall into slavery. The slavery
of the heathen was perpetufil, while that of these improvident
Jews was limited to six years, unless such slave preferred to con
tinue in his state of slavery ; his kin at all times having the right
to redeem him, which right of redemption was also extended to
the Jewish slave himself. But no such right was eVer extended to
the heathen slave, or him of heathen extraction. Under this state
of facts, the Jewish master is forbidden to use "rigour" towards
his Jewish slave : "But over your brethren the children of Israel,
ye shall not rule over one another with rigour." This evidently
inculcates a feeling of commiseration for such of their countrymen
as may have fallen into slavery ; and in conformity with such pre
cepts, all nations, at all times, who were advanced in civilization,
seem to have ever felt disposed to extend relief when practical.
Hence Abraham extended relief to the family of Lot: hence tho
prophet Obed succeeded to deliver from slavery two hundred tboiisand
of the children of Judah from the hand of the king of Israel, dui-
16

242 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

ing the days of Ahaz. But in no instance have such acts of mercy
been manifested by a people sunk as low in degradation as the
African races.
For several centuries, Britain supplied slaves for other parts of
the world; but, during the time she did so, she took no steps
for the redemption of any ; and such has invariably been the case
al all times of the world. All races of men, sunk in the lowest
depths of degradation, have never failed to be in slavery to one
another, and to supply other nations with their own countrymen
for slaves ; and, perhaps, this may be adduced as an evidence of
their having descended to that degree of degradation that makes
slavery a mercy to them. Sympathy for them could do them no
good ; because a relief from slavery could not elevate them, — could
do them no good, but an injury. Hence such sympathy is for
bidden. The degradation of the children of Jacob became almost extreme ;
yet they went not into slavery until it was accompanied by a fact
of like nature. Who shall say that slavery and the slave-trade in
Britain was not one of the steps, under Divine providence, whereby
God brought about the elevated condition of the race of man there ?
Who will say that the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt was not to
them a mercy, and did not bring to them an ameliorated, an ele
vated condition, necessary to them before the Divine law could ful
fil its promise to Abraham ? But this was a mere temporary
slavery; whereas the slavery pronounced on the races of Ham
was through all time, perpetual. During the dark ages of the
world, the races of men generally becamedeteriorated to an extra
ordinary extent. If our doctrine be true, slavery was a necessary
consequence, and continued, until by its amendatory influence on
the enslaved, in accordance with the law of God, they became ele
vated above the level of its useful operation.
But, during these periods, the slave in Africa, little sought after
by other races, became of small value to the African master, and
was the prey, frequently an article of food, even to the slaves them
selves, as well as to his own master ; and this state of facts existed
until the other races of man had mostly emerged from slavery ;
when the African slave became an article of commerce, and canni
balism, in consequence, became almost forgotten. Was this no
blessing ? Was this not a mercy — an improved condition ?
But, as if God really intended, contrary to the apparent wishes
,of some men, to fulfil his word, and establish their condition of

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 243

never-ending bondage, he has suffered the slave-trade with Africa
to be abolished among the Christian nations. The great surplus
of slaves in Africa has rendered them of little value there ; and
these anthropophagi have again returned to their ancient habits,
giving proof that their condition of slavery, so far as mortal eye
can see, is now for ever past hope. The theological philosopher
did once hope that the only commerce which could bring them
generally in contact with Christian nations would have a perma
nent infiuence on the character of these people. But God, in his
providence, has seen proper to order it otherwise. The slave-
trade that has been carried on between them and Western Asia,
for more than four thousand years, now the only external infiuence
on them as a people, may doubtless extend the standard of Islam,
and spread some few corruptions of its religious systems. But
neither the religion nor the trade carries 'to the home of these
savages a sufficiency of interest to excite new passions .or stimu
late into existence new habits or chains of thought.
" The rod and reproof give wisdom."
" A servant {I^P abed, a slave) will not be corrected by words ;
for though he uifderstand, he will not answer." Prov. xxix. 15, 19.
In close, may we inquire what benefit has resulted to the slave in
the South, — what benefit to poor, bleeding Africa, from the sympathy
of the world on the subject of their slavery? What, none ! If
none — has it done them no evil ? And will ye continue to do
evil ? In your weakness, will ye think to contend against God ?

LESSON XIV.

The abolitionist will probably consent to the truth of the pro
position that God governs the universe. It may be that they
will also agree that he is abundantly able to do so. But, what
ever may be their decision, it is one of the revealed laws of God,
that —
" Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven, image, or any like
ness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth : thou shalt not
bow thyself to them, nor serve them ; for I, the Lord thy God, am

244 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me."
It is not to be supposed that man can comprehend God as it
may be said he comprehends things within the compass of his own
understanding. If so, there would have been no need of revelation.
Revelation has given us all the knowledge of God necessary to our
welfare and happiness. We have not yet learned that man has
become able to go beyond revelation in his knowledge of God.
But suppose some one should take it into his fancy to say and
believe that the Sabbath was not a Divine institution, or that
" Thou shalt not kill," " Thou shalt not commit adultery," " Thou
shalt not steal," were mere human contrivances, and contrary to
the will and laws of their God ; now, if the God who has revealed
these laws to us is the genuine God, would not the god who should
teach these forbidden acts to be lawful be a different god ? And
although he would exist only in the imagination of those who be
lieved in such a being, yet would it be any the less idolatry to
worship him than it would be if a block were set up to represent
him ? Is it any sufficient excuse, because such worshipper acts
from ignorance, or under the infiuence of a sincerfe conscience ? Is
it to be presumed that those who sacrificed their children, and even
themselves, to a false god, were not sincere ? Did not Paul act
with a sincere conscience when he persecuted the Christians ?
But can we suppose that the real Jehovah would, in a revelation
to man of his will, his law, recognise a thing as property among
men, when, at the same time, it was contrary to his will and. his
law that such thing should be property among men ?
" Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife ; neither shalt
thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his man-servant
(112^^1 his male slave), or his maid-servant (inQNI his female
slave), his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's."
Beut. V. 21, the 18th of the Hebrew text.
Would it not have been just as easy for God to have said,*if
such was his will, " Thou shalt not have slaves," as to have said this,
as follows? "And also of the heathen shall ye buy slaves, and
your children shall inherit them after you, and they shall be your
slaves for ever !" ,
But Dr. Channing, speaking of the various exertions now making
in behalf of the abolition of slavery, gives us to understand that
the Christian philanthropy and the . enlightened goodness, (and, he

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 245

means, sympathy alone,) now pouring forth in prayers and persua
sions from the press, the pulpit, from the lips and hearts of devoted
men, cannot fail. "This," he says, "must triumph." "It is
leagued with God's omnipotence." "It is God himself acting in
the hearts of his children." Vol. ii. p. 12. Does Dr. phanning
mean the God who revealed the law to Moses ? If so, has he
changed his mind since that time ?
We know that some say that slavery is contrary to their moral
sense, contrary to their conscience, that under no circumstances
can it be right. But if God has ordained the iiistitution of slavery,
not only as a punishment of sin, but as a restraint of some effect
against a lower degradation, had not such men better cultivate and
improve their "moral sense" and "conscience" into a conformity
with the law of God on this subject ? They cannot think that, on
the account of their much talking, God will change his government
to suit their own peculiar views. In our judgment, their views
must bring great darkness to the mind, and, we think, distress ; for
is it not a great distress itself, to be under the government of one
we think unjust ? We know not but that we owe them, as fellow-
travellers through this momentary existence, the duty of trying to
remove from their minds the cause of such darkness and distress.
Shall we counsel together ? Will you, indeed, stop for a moment
in company with a brother ? Will you hear the Bible ? Will you,
through a child, listen to the voice of God ?
All agree that slavery has existed in the world from a very re
mote age. Wicked men and wicked nations have passed away,
but slavery still exists among their descendants. Good men and
enlightened nations have gone the way of all that is and has been,
but slavery still abides on the earth. Upon the introduction of
Christianity, men, who little understood its spirit, suddenly rose up
to abolish slavery in cases where the slave became converted to its
faith ; also to cut loose the believing child from all obligations of
oBedience to the unbelieving parent, and also the husband or wife
from his or her unbelieving spouse. Yet this new doctrine only
met the condemnation of Peter and Paul. And even at the present
day, we find men ready to give up the religion of Christ, and the
gospel itself, rather than their own notions concerning slavery.
" If the religion of Christ allows such a licence" (to hold slaves)
" from such precepts as these, the New Testament would be the
greatest curse that was ever inflicted on our race." Barnes on

246 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Slavery, p. 310. (He quotes the passage from Dr. Wayland's
Letters, pp. 83, 84, which work we have not seen.)
Such writers may be conscientious, but their writings have only
bound the slave in stronger chains. God makes his very enemies
build up his throne. Thus the exertions of man are ever feeble
when in contradiction to the providence of God. The great ad
versary has ever been at work to dethrone the Almighty from the
minds of men. Abolition doctrines are no new thing in the world.
We concede them the age of slavery itself, which we shall doubt
less find as old as sin.
Stay thy haste, then, thou who feelest able to teach wisdom to
thy Creator : come, listen to the voice of a child ; the lessons of a
worm ; for God is surely able to vindicate his ways before thee !
When Adam was driven out of paradise, he was told —
" Cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat
of it all the days of thy life." " Thorns and thistles shall it bring
forth to thee ; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground." The expression, " Thou shalt eat the herb of the field," we think
has a very peculiar significance ; for God made " every herb of the
field before it grew;" and one of the reasons assigned why the
" herb was made before it grew," we, find to be, that " there was
not a man to till the ground." Now, the word to till is translated
from the word "IDJ/ 7 la ebod, and means to slave ; but in English
we use the term not so directly. We use more words to express
the same idea ; we say to do slave-labour on the ground, instead of
to slave the ground, as the expression stands in Hebrew.
The doctrine is, that the herb, on whi.ch the fallen sinner is de
stined to subsist, was not of spontaneous growth ; it could only be
produced by sweat and toil, even unto sorrow. Sin had made man
a slave to his own necessities ; he had to slave the ground for lys
subsistence ; and such was the view of David, who, after describing
how the brute creation is spontaneously provided for, says —
" He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the
service (n"lDJ7.7 la ehodath, tlie slavery) of man : that he may
bring forth food out of the earth." Ps. civ. 14.
This state of being compelled to labour with sweat and toil for
subsistence, is the degree of slavery to which sin reduced the whole

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 247

human family. If we mistake not, the holy books include the idea
that sin affects the character of man as a moral poison, producing
aberrations of mind in the constant direction of greater sins and an
increased departure from a desire to be in obedience to the laws of
God. If we mistake not, the doctrine also is prominent that idle
ness is not only a sin itself, but exceedingly prolific of still greater
sinsJ This mild state of slavery, thus imposed on Adam, was a
constant restraint against a loVer descent into sin, and can be re
garded in no other light than a merciful provision of God in pro
tection of his child, the creation of his hand. If it then ,be a fact
that a given intensity of sin draws upon itself a corresponding con
dition of slavery, as an operating protection against the final effect
of transgression, it will follow that an increased intensity of sin
will demand an increased severity of the condition of slavery.
Thus, when Cain murdered Abel, God said to him —
" Now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her
mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou
tillest ("iDJ^n tha ebod, thou slavest) the ground, it shall not hence
forth yield unto thee her strength : a fugitive and a vagabond shalt
thou be in the earth." * * * "And the Lord set a mark upon
Cain, lest any finding him should kill him."
"Shall not yield unto thee her strength;" either the earth
should be less, fruitful, or from his own waywardness, it should be
less skilfully cultivated by him, or that a profit from his labour
should be enjoyed by another ; or, perhaps, from the joint opera
tion of them all. Thus an aggravated degree of sin is always
attended by an aggravated degree of slavery.
The next final step we discover in the history of slavery appears
in Ham, the son of Noah ; and he said, " Cursed be Canaan ; a
servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." "Servant of
servants," DHDJ^ "^"^V. ^^^^ ebadim, slave of slaves. This mode
of expression in Hebrew is one of the modes by which they ex
pressed the superlative degree. The meaning is, the most abject
slave shall he be to his brethren.
Her"tnfore slavery has been of less intensity ; here we find the
ordination of the master, and it is not a little remarkable that he
is distinctly blessed !
"And he said, I am Abraham's servant. And the Lord hath
blessed my master greatly, and he is become great : and he hath
given him flocks, and herds, and silver and gold, and 'men-ser-

248 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

vants{Q^^11^) va ebadim, and male slaves), and maid-servants
(nnflti'l va shephahoth, and female slaves), and camels and asses."
" And Sarah, my master's wife, bare a son to my master when she
was old : and unto him hath he given all that he hath."
And of Isaac it is said —
" Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year
a hundred fold : and the Lord blessed him, and the man waxed
great, and went forward and grew until he became very great :
for he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and
great store of servants (niDJ;'1_ va ehuddah, and a large family
of slaves): and the Philistines envied him." We pray that no one
in these days will imitate those wicked Philistines !
And of Jacob it is said —
" And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and
maid-servants (nihSti'l ^" shephahoth), and female slaves and
men-servants (D'"1,DJ71 va ebadim, and male slaves), and camels,.
and asses." "And the Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the
land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred ; and I will be with thee."
" He that is despised, and hath a servant ("?!li? ehed, a slave),
is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread."
Prov. xii. 9.
" I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever ; nothing
can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it : and God doeth it
that men should fear before him. That which hath been is now ;
and that which is to be, hath already been ; and God requireth
that which is past." Eecl. iii. 14.

LESSON XV.
We shall, in the course of these studies, with some particularity
examine what evidence there may be that Ham took a wife from
the race of Cain ; and we propose a glance at that subject now.
Theological students generally agree that, in Genesis vi. 2,
"sons of God" mean those of the race of Seth ; and that the
"daughters of men" imply the females of the race of Cain. The
word "fair," in our version, applied to these females, does not
justly teach us that they were white women, or that they were

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 249

of a light complexion. It is translated from tho Hebrew n^lO
fovoth, being in the feminine plural, from ^'i^ tov, and merely ex
presses the idea of what may seem good and excellent to him who
speaks or takes notice : it expresses no quality of complexion nor
of beauty beyond what may exist in the mind of the beholder ; it
is usually translated good or excellent. Immediately upon the
announcement that these two races thus intermarry, God declares
that his spirit shall not always striVe with man, and determines
to destroy man from the earth. Is it not a plain inference that
such intermarriages were displeasing to him ? And is it not also
a plain inference, these intermarriages were proofs that the "wick
edness of man had become great in the earth ?" Cain had been
driven out a degraded, deteriorated vagabond. Is there any proof
that his race had improved ?
The fact is well known that all races of animals are capable of
being improved or deteriorated. A commixture of a better with a
worse sample deteriorates the offspring of the former. Man is no
exception to this rule. Our position is, that sin, as a moral poison,
operating in one continued strain in the degradation and deteriora
tion of the race of Cain, had at length forced them down to be
come exceedingly obnoxious to God. Intermarriage with them
was the sure ruin of the race of Seth : it subjected them at once
to the curses cleaving to the race of Cain. Even after the flood,
witness the repugnance to intermarry with the race of Ham often
manifested by the descendants of Shem ; and that the Israelites
were forbidden to do so.
Now, for a moment, let us suppose that Ham did marry and
take into the ark a daughter of the race of Cain. If the general
intermixture of the Sethites with the Cainites had so deteriorated
the Sethites, and reduced them to the moral degradation of the
Cainites, that God did not deem them worthy of longer encumber
ing the earth before the flood, would it be an extraordinary mani
festation of his displeasure at the supposed marriage of Ham with
one of the cursed race of Cain, to Subject the issue of such mar
riage to a degraded and^ perpetual bondage ?
But again, in case this supposed marriage of Ham with the race
of Cain be true, then Ham would be the progenitor of all the
race of Cain who should exist after the flood ; and such fact
would be among the most prominent features of his history. It
would, in such case, he in strict conformity with the usages of
these early times for his father to have called him by a name indi-

250 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

cative of such fact : instead of calling him Ham, he would announce
to him a term implying his relationship with the house of Cain.
If such relation did not exist, why did he call him Canaan ?
Some suppose that this question would be answered by saying
that the term was applied to the youngest son of Ham ; but all
the sons of Ham were born after the flood ; yet the planting of
the vineyard and the drinking of the wine are the first acts of
Noah which are mentioned afPer that deluge ; and further, Canaan,
the son of Ham, was most certainly not the individual whose ill-
behaviour was simultaneous with and followed by the curse of
slavery. Have we any proof, or any reason to believe, that Canaan,
the son of Ham, was then even born ? But in the catalogue of
Noah's sons, even before the planting of the vineyard is mentioned.
Ham is called the father of Canaan, even before we are told that
he had any sons. Why was he then so called the father of Canaan,
unless iipon the fact that by his marriage he necessarily was to
become the progenitor of the r.ace of Cain in his own then unborn
descendants ?
Under all the facts that have come down to us, we are not to
suppose that there was any Cainite blood in Noah, or in Noah's
wife. Why then did Ham choose to commemorate the race of
Cain, by naming his fourth son Cain, a term synonymous with
Cainite, or Canaanite? And why did the race of Ham do the
same thing through many centuries, using terms differently varied,
sometimes interchanging the consonant and vowel sounds, as was
common in the language they used ? These variations, it is true,
when descending into a language so remote as ours, might not be
noticed, yet the linguist surely will trace them all back to their
root, the original of " Cain."
God never sanctions a curse without an adequate cause ; a cause
under the approbation of his law, sufficient to produce the effect
the curse announces. The conduct of Ham to his father proved
him to possess a degraded, a very debased mind ; but that alone
could not produce so vital, so interminable a change in the moral
and physical condition of his offspring. And where are we to look
for such a cause, unless in marriage ? And with whom could such
an intermarriage be had, except with the cursed race of Cain ? The
ill-manners of Ham no doubt accelerated the time of the announce
ment of the curse, but was not the sole cause. The cause must
have previously existed; and the effect would necessarily have
been produced, even if it had never been announced.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 251

But again, the condition of slavery imposed on the descendants
of Ham, subjected them to be bought and sold ; they became ob
jects of purchase as property, for this quality is inseparable from
the condition of the most abject slavery. Now the very name
Cain signifies "one purchased." "I hsive gotten a man from tho
Lord." The word "gotten," in the original, is the word his mother
Eve gave her son for his name, " Cain." I have purchased, &c.,
evidently shadowing forth the fact that his race were to be subjects
of purchase.
The history of man since the fiood is accompanied with a suffi
ciency of facts by which we are enabled to determine that the de
scendants of Ham were •black, and that the black man of Africa
is of that descent.
" And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him would
kill him."
The word " jrear^" is translated from HlX oth; its signification
is, a mark by which to distinguish ; a memorial or warning; mi
raculous sign or wonder, consisting either in word or deed, whereby
the certainty of any thing future is foretold or known; and hence
it partook of the nature of a prophecy. In the present case it
was the mark of sin and degradation ; it was the token of his
condition of slavery, of his being a, vagabond on the earth. It
distinguished his rank of inferiority and wickedness, proclaiming
him to be the man whose greatest punishment was to live and bear
his burthens, below all rivalship.
Hence its j)rotective infiuence. Now, by the common consent
of all men, at all times, what has been the mark of sin and degra
dation? Were we even now, among ourselves, about to describe
one of exceedingly wicked and degraded character, should we say
that he looked very white ? Or should we say that his character
was black ? And so has been the use of the term since language
has been able to send down to distant times the ideas and asso
ciations of men.
" Their visage is blacker than a coal.'
" Our skin was black."
" I am black : astonishment hath taken hold on me."
" For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much
soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God."
And who shall say that the wicked, disgusting mode of life, the
practices deteriorating the physical and mental powers imputed to
the Cainites, do not constitute what some may call a philosophical

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

cause of the physical development of the mark of sin ? Does not
our own observation teach us that a single lifetime, spent in the
practice of some degrading sins, leaves upon the person the evi
dence, the mark, the proof of such practice ? We are under no
compulsion of evidence or behef to suppose that the mark set upon
Cain was the product of a moment ; but the gradual result of his
wicked practices, as a physical and moral cause.
But allow the fact to have been that, in the case of Cain, the
physical change was instantaneous, God had the power to institute
in a moment what should thereafter be produced only by progres
sion or inheritance. God created man ; but, thereafter, man was
born and became mature through the instrumentality only of phy-
i^ical causes.
" The shew of their countenance doth witness against them ; arid
they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not." Isa. iii. 9. In
fact, "The faces of them all gather blackness." Nahum ii. 10.
But we know that the descendants of Ham were black ; nor is
it stated that any personal mark was placed upon him, although
the name applied to his first-born son, " Cush," signifies that he
was black, giving proof that the colour was inherited ; but from
whom ? Not from his father !
" Can the Ethiopian ('^13 Cushi, the Cushite, the black man)
change his skin?"
The evidence forced on the mind leads to the conclusion that the
descendants of Ham were black, not by the progressive operation
of the laws of God on the course of sin which they doubtless
])ractised, but that they were so at birth, — consequently an inherit
ance from parentage. And a further conclusion also is, that the
wife of Ham must have been black, of the race of Cain, inheriting
his mark, and that that mark was black.
A further proof that Ham took to wife a daughter of the race
of Cain is found in the traces of evidence indicating her person,
who she was. Lamech, of the race of Cain, had a daughter,
Naamah ; her name is given as the last in the genealogy of Cain.
Why did the inspired penman think it necessary to send her name
down to us ? Why was the genealogy of Cain given us, unless to
announce some fact important for us to know ? If this whole race
were to be cut off by the fiood, we see nothing in the genealogy
teaching any lesson to the descendants of Noah. Why was the
particular line from Cain to Naamah selected, unless she was the
particular object designed to be pointed out ? Hundreds of other'

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 253

genealogies, commencing in Cain and terminating in some one just
at the coming of the flood, existed ; but not written down nor
transmitted, for the obvious reason that such list could be of no
benefit to posterity. Are we not, then, led to believe that there
was some design in the preservation of the one terminating in
Naamah ? But this genealogy could only be preserved through
the family of Noah ; through whom we also have a genealogy of
the line from Seth, terminating in Noah's youngest son. These
two stand in a parallel position, at the foot of each separate list.
But it is so extremely unusual for ancient genealogies to give the
name of a female, who had brothers, that it becomes strong evi
dence, when such catalogue terminates in the name of such a
female, that she personally was the individual on whose account the
catalogue was formed. Is not this consideration, and the fact that
it could only be preserved by the family of Noah, evidence that
they attached sufficient importance to it to make its preservation
by them a desirable object ?
Inasmuch as Naamah belonged to a race distinct from that of
Seth, could the family of Noah have any desire to preserve her
lineage from any other cause than that of her having become a
member of that family ? — in which case the cause of its preserva
tion is obvious, and a thing to have been expected. On any other
state of facts, would they have carefully handed down the gene
alogy, so far as we are informed,, of a mere uninteresting woman
of the cursed race of Cain, and neglected to have given us the
name and genealogy of Noah's wife, of the more holy race of
Seth ?
The presumption then being that she did become the wife of
one of Noah's sons, the first inquiry is, to which was she attached ?
A sufficient answer to this question, for the present moment, will
be found in the fact that Ham was doomed to perpetual and bitter
slavery, while his brothers were blessed and ordained to be his
masters. Now since an amalgamation of the races of Seth and
Cain was deemed a most grievous sin before the flood, if Japheth
or Shem had either of them taken Naamah to wife, it would be
past understanding to find them both highly blessed and made the
masters of Ham.
But a more direct evidence that Ham did take to wife Naamah,
of the race of Cain, is found in the fact that the descendants
of Ham commemorated her name by giving it to persons of their

254 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
race, as descendants might be expected to do, who wished to keep
it in remembrance. The name of her mother also is found in
similar use.
These names are varied, often, from the original form, as are a
great number of proper names found in use among the ancient
nations. These words we shall have hereafter occasion particularly
to examine. We shall merely add, that in the marriage of Ham
and Naamah we may find a reasonable explanation for the other
wise inexplicable speech of Lamech to his two wives, — since such
marriage would have produced, what we find was produced, the
ruin and degradation of Ham, — we might say, his moral death, his
extinguishment, from the race of Seth. Some commentators de
duce the name Naamah from the root "nam," and consequently
make it signify beautiful. We give it quite a different origin,
which we shall explain at large elsewhere. It is to be expected
that men will differ in opinion as to the historical facts of these
early days. Some have made Naamah a -^pure saint ; some, the
wife of Noah ; some, of her brother, Tubal-Cain ; some make her
the heathen goddess Venus ; others, the mother of evil spirits.
Thus diversified have been the speculations of men. We pre
sent our view, because we believe it better sustained by Scripture
and known facts than any we have examined : but we deem it no
way important in the justification of the ways of God to man ;
for, whatever the truth may be, this we know, that the curse of
slavery was, if Scripture be true, unalterably uttered against the
race of Ham, — in which condition, as a people, they ever have
been and still are found : a condition so well adapted to their
physical and mental organization, the result of ages spent in bad,
degenerating habits, that when held in such relation by the races
of Japheth or Shem, the race of Ham is found gradually to emerge
from its native brutality into a state of comparative elevation and
usefulness in the world ; a condition without which they, as a race,
have never been' found progressing, but ever exhibiting the desire
of wandering backward, in search of the life of the vagabond, in
the midst of the wilderness of sin ; — unless in this author. Dr.
Channing, we find an exception ; for he more than intimates that
he found the negro women of Jamaica rather to excel the white
ones of New England. We believe, according to his own taste
and judgment, what he said was true ; but we also believe his
taste was very depraved, and his judgment of no value on this

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. , 255

subject ; yet we feel less astonishment at the degenerate sons of
Seth before the flood, on the account of their admiration of the
black daughters of the race of Cain ; and we should feel it a sub
ject of curious solicitudi, if Dr. Channing's taste and judgment
on this subject were to become the standard among his disciples,
whether they will, by their practice, illustrate the habit of these
antediluvians !

256 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

^ttitrg ¥&.

LESSON L
In the course of the present study, we propose to notice the
doctrine and action of the church as connected with the subject of
slavery ; and to examine what were the tenets and conduct of
those men who claimed to be governed by the immediate teachings
of Christ and his apostles.
In this investigation, we must apply to the records of the Catho
lic Church, although we are aware that, in the minds of some, strong
and bitter prejudice may exist against these records ; that some will
say the canker of corruption had destroyed the very kernel of
Christianity in that church.
Bower, a Protestant author, in the preface to his " History of
the Popes," 7 vols, quarto, says —
" We must own the popes to have been, generally speaking, men
of extraordinary talents, the ablest politicians we read of in history ;
statesmen fit to govern the world, and equal to the vast dominion
they grasped at ; a dominion over the minds as well as the bodies
and estates of mankind ; a dominion, of all that ever were formed,
the most wide and extensive, as knowing no other bounds but those
of the earth." Page 10, vol. i. 3d edition, London, 1750.
Mr. Bower was a very learned man, had been educated a Catho
lic, was professor of rhetoric, history, and philosophy in the uni
versities of Rome, Fermo, and Macerata, and counsellor of the
Inquisition at Rome. He commenced a work to prove the pope's
infallibility and supremacy. But he proved to himself the adverse
doctrine. He resigned his professorships and places, removed to
London, abjured the Catholic religion, and wrote the work quoted.
It is a work of great labour and merit, and well worth the attention
of the curious in these matters. But it is proper here to remark,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY

that Mr. Sale, in his preface to his translation of the Koran, has
made a severe, yet an unexplained attack, on the character of this
writer ; but whatever may have been the provocation, we have to
view him through his book. It is not always possible for a just
degree of merit to be awarded those who lived in former times!
We cannot always learn the circumstances influencing them, nor
do we often throw our minds back into their peculiar position, by
which alone can we be able to give a just value to those influences.
History has handed us a few of the acts of him who lived a thou
sand years ago ; by them we judge, as though he lived to-day, acts
which prejudice may have distorted, or favour presented to the lens
of time. We must look to the condition of things at the time of
the act ; to the probable effect under such condition, and to the
real effect as developed by time.
Pope Benedict IX. ascended the throne in A. D. 1033. He is
very unfavourably known to history. During his time there was a
very powerful faction raging against him at Rome, by which, at
one time, he was driven into exile. He is said to have sold the
popedom, because his debaucheries made him an object of con
tempt, and he wished to be free' from restraint ; but in 1041, four
years before he abandoned the papal chair, he established, at a
council in Aquitaine, the Treuga Bei, whence it has been said
that, during three days in the week, he- permitted any man to
commit all sorts of crimes, even murder, free from church censure,
&c. By the Treuga Bei, for any wrong done him, no person was
pet-mitted to revenge himself, from Wednesday evening to Monday
morning : construed, as above, by some, that he might do so dur
ing the remaining portion of the week.
The facts were, all Europe was still groping in the ignorance of
the darkest ages ; yet Christianity had been firmly established as
a system of faith. The church had always forbidden a revengeful
redress of individual wrongs ; and, for such acts, her priests ever
threatened excommunication. But these charges had little or no
effect during these still semi-idolatrous'and barbarous ages.
The kings were but heads of tribes, too weak to restrain their
nobles, as the nobles were their vassals : under such a state of
things, each one strove to redress his own wrongs. This led to
constant murders, and every kind of crime. Each state was con
stantly agitated by civil commotions and bloodshed. Great moral
changes are advanced by short steps. The church took this evil in ^
hand, and hence the Treuga Bei, a word used in the Latin of that
17

258 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

day, a corruption from the Gothic triggua, and now found in the
Spanish and Italian " tregua," and from whence our word truce.
The curse of God was pronounced against all offenders, and death
followed a discovery of the crime. It was thought to be a Divine
suggestion, and hence the name. All consented to yield to it as
such, and it was found to have a powerful effect. In 1095, it was
warmly sustained in the Council of Clermont, under Urban IL,
and extended to all the holy-days, and perpetually to clerks, monks,
pilgrims, merchant.s, husbandmen, and women, and to the persons
and property of all who would engage in crusades, and against all
devastations by fire. It was re-established in 1102, by Paschal II. ;
in 1139, hy Innocent II. ; in 1180, by Alexander III. ; nor would
it be difficult to show that the Treuga Bei, the Truce of God, of
Benedict IX., was one of the most important, during the primary
steps towards the civilization of Europe ; such was the state of
society in that age of the world. But we acknowledge that indi
viduals of the Roman church, some of whom obtruded themselves
into the priesthood, have been very corrupt men. But have not
similar obtrusions happened in every other Christian, Protestant,
or worthy association of men ? Have we not seen, among the
apostles, a Judas, betraying the Saviour of the world ? Ananias
and Sapphira, attempting to swindle even God himself ? Of confi
dence betrayed among men, need we point to the tragical death of
Servetus, which has for ever placed the bloody mark of murder on
the face of Calvin ?
And may we not find sometimes, among ourselves, lamentable
instances of corruption, which, in the blackness of their character,
defy the powers of the pen ? Instances, where, recreant to every
honest, noble, and holy feeling, individuals, hidden, as they think,
beneath the robes of righteousness, have carried poverty and dis
tress to the house of the widow, trampling on the rights — may be,
the hfe — of the orphan, and even using the confidence of a brother
to betray and rob him ?
Nor is it a matter of any exultation to the broken, the wounded
mind, that, in all such instances, unless the stink of insignificance
shall totally exclude such criminal from the page of history, what
ever may be the cloak he may wear, truth will eventually for ever
convert it into the burning shirt of Nessus.
But, if you call a dog a thief, he feels no shame. Generations
of enforced improvement and the grace of God alone can wipe
out the stains of an evil heart. Nor can man alter this ,his des-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 259

tiny. Therefore, in all ages, and among all men, the tares and
the wheat have been found in the same field. What presumption,
then, if not blasphemy, in opposition to the word of Jehovah, to
say, that the looming light of truth never dawned upon this night
of time until the advent of Luther or Knox !
In presenting the action and records of the church and early
fathers, we have freely adopted the sentiments and facts digested
by Bishop England, to whom, we take occasion here to say, we
feel as much indebted, as though we had merely changed a par
ticle or deleted what was irrelevant to our subject. Nor do we
know of higher honour we can do this great and good man than
to lend our feeble mite to extend the knowledge of his research,
his purity, and great learning ; and if, in the continuation of this
his unfinished study, amid the pagan superstitions and bigoted
thousands of Islam in benighted Asia, the confiicts of the Cross
and the Wand of Woden, during the dark ages of continental
Europe, we may be suffered to feel the elevating infiuence of his
life-giving mantle, we shall also surely feel elevated hopes of a
high immortality.
But, it may be well here to remark, that we have no sectarian
church to sustain ; that we belong to no religious order ; nor have,
as yet, subscribed to any faith formed by man. And while we ad
vocate the cause of religion and truth, yielding ourselves in all
humility to the infiuence of Divine power, we feel as certain of his
final notice, as though we had marched through under a thousand
banners at the nead of the world. We have all confidence in the
word of him who hath said that even the sparrow falleth not
without his notice.
But, it is said, when disease infuses bile into the organs of
sight, the objects of vision have a peculiar tinge : to blend pre
vious, sometimes numerous, impressions into one perception, is a
common action of the mind. Thus the present idea is often modi
fied by those that have preceded ; and hence we may conclude
how often the mind is under the insensible influence of prejudice.
Upon these facts she has enthroned her power.
But he who has schooled his mind in the doctrines of a tranquil
devotion, who habituates himself to yiew all things past, present,
and to come, through the medium of cause and effect, as the
mere links of one vast chain, reaching from Omnipotence to the
present action, may well rise superior to the tumult of passion or
the empire of prejudice. And to the utilitarian permit us to

260 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

say, that prejudice is peculiarly unsuited to the age of moral and
physical improvement in which we live. Let no one say, the spirit
of improvement has a deep root, and its lofty ho{ es cannot be
subverted ; that the most penetrating philosophy cannot prescribe
its limits, the most ardent imagination reach its bounds : rather
let him reflect that all improvement must for ever follow the foot
steps of truth; and that the peculiar province of prejudice is to
set us aside from its path.
With such views, let us for a moment consider the circumstances
attending the early ages of the Roman church ; and let us note
that, although her priests were but men, whether her records are
not as reliable as if some of her peculiarities had been different,
or she had been called by a different name. But we shall not
quote or pursue these records down to so late a day as the Pro
testant Reformation. We hope, therefore, that the Protestant
will say that the records we quote are, most decidedly, the records
of the church.

LESSON IL

The moral condition of man was peculiar. To a great extent
the religious systems of the Old World had been analyzed by the
intelligent ; they no longer gave confidence to the mind. The
sanctity of the temples was dissipated by the mere speculations of
philosophy, and the gods of idolatry tottered on their pedestals.
The nations of the earth were brought in suljjection, in slavery,
to the feet of imperial Rome ; and their gods, being presented face
to face, lost their divinity by the rivalship of men.
Such was the condition of the moral world when Christianity
was introduced to mankind.
The old religions pretended to give safety by bargain of sacri
fice, by penance, and payment, but the religion of Jesus Christ
taught that salvation and safety were the free gift of God.
The history of man proves the fact that he has ever been dis
posed to purchase happiness on earth and felicity in heaven by his
own acts, or by the merit of his condition ; and hence, we always
find that a corrupted Christianity for ever borders on the' confines
of idolatry. Nor is it difficult to show how this easily runs into

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 261

all the wild extravagancies of human reason, or, rather, human
ignorance ; while the simplicity of truth tends to a calm submis
sion, and a desire of obedience to the will and laws of the only
true God. The one was the religion of the government of men,
of show, of political power, and expediency ; the other is of
heaven, of truth. "My kingdom is not of this world."
The barbarians of northern Europe and western Asia, while yet
only illumined by some faint rays of the Christian light, feeling
from habit the want of the external pomp and the governing con
trol of a religious power, in a half-savage, half-heathen state of
mind, were disposed to prostrate themselves at the feet of the
chief priest of Rome.
In the year 312, under the pontificate of Melchiades, (by the
Greeks called Miltiades,) the Emperor Constantine established the
Christian church by law. Thus sustained, it became at once the
pool in which ambition and crime sought . to cleanse their robes.
Yet, beneath its waters were priceless pearls. Torn by schism,
sometimes by temporal misrule, the church languished, — but lived.
For several centuries the future became a mere variation of the
past. The ways of God are indeed inscrutable. A flaming meteor
in the fast now agitated the mind. Like the insects of twilight,
thousands marshalled under the crescent light of the prophet.
The disciples of Mohammed swept from the earth the churches at
Antioch and Alexandria, suddenly made inroads on Europe, con
quered Spain, and were in step to overleap the Pyrenees and Alps.
Let us step aside, and reconnoitre their host !
The object of the Arabian, Saracen, and Moorish warriors was
the propagation of their creed. The alternative was proposed to
all, — its embrace, or tribute ; if rejected, the chance of war.
Persia and Syria were quickly subdued. Egypt and Cyprus gave
way, A. D. 645. The slave of Jews or Christians seldom rejected
freedom in favour of the cross ; if so, he was reduced to the level
of the vilest brute. The free were either put to death, or, as a
great favour, permitted to be slaves. Thus the Christian master
and slave were often in a reversed condition under Mohammedan
rule. Sicily and the whole northern Africa substituted the crescent
for the Cross ; and in quick succession Spain was invaded and the
throne of Roderick overturned. Toledo yielded to Mousa ; and
Fleury, lib. xii. part 26, says — " He put the chief men to death,
and subjugated all Spain, as far as Saragossa, which he found open.
He burned the towns, he had the most powerful citizens crucified,

262 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
he cut the throats of children and infants, and spread terror on
every side."
Italy was in consternation ; the church trembled, and Constan
tinople was threatened. Crossing the Pyrenees, A. D. 719, they
poured down upon France, met Charles, the father of Pepin, and
Eude of Aquitaine, who slew Zama, and compelled his troops to
raise the siege of Toulouse ; but, recovering confidence, their in
cursions were frequent and bloody ; and the historians of that day
announce that, upon one occasion alone, they lost 370,000 men
upon the fields of France. But these reverses were the bow of
hope to the Peninsula. Alphonsus struck a blow, and in one day
retook many towns and released from bondage ten thousand
Christian slaves. These exertions were continued with intermitted
success ; and, like the retiring thunder of the retreating storm,
the rage of battle became less terrific and at more distant pe
riods ; but the standard of Islam still continued to affrighten the
world, alternately flaming its red glare over the Peninsula to the
mountains of France and the plains of Italy, and until embattled
Europe, excited to Croisade, dispelled its power on the banks of
the Jordan.
But, let us return. Aistulphus appears amid this flame ff war.
His Lombards threaten extermination, and brandish the sword at
the very gates of Rome. Pepin had now usurped the throne of
the Franks. Hp demanded the confirmation of the church ; and,
in return, promised protection to the " Republic of God." Rome
saw the prospect of her ruin, with searching eyes looked for aid,
and confirmed Pepin in his secular power ; who, in gratitude, drove
for a time the Lombards from Italy, and deposited the keys of
the conquered cities on the altar of Saint Peter.
The Roman emperors had now long since, removed their court
to Constantinople. Their power over western Europe vacillated
with the strife of the times. Charlemagne now appears kissing
the steps of the throne of the church. Again he appears, master
of all the nations composing the Western Empire, and of Rome ;
and, on Christmas-day, in the year 800, Leo III. placed the crown
of the Roman emperors on the head of the son of Pepin. But,
as yet, the act of crowning by the pope was a mere form.
Fifty years had scarcely sunk in the past, when the Emperor
Basilius expelled Photius from the patriarchal see of his capital.
He was charged with having been the tool of the Emperor Michael.
He claimed supremacy over the pope of Rome. Hadrian had now

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 263

ascended the papal chair, 867. Jealous of the bold spirit of Pho
tius, his excommunication was recorded, and Ignatius installed iu
his see.
But the Greeks and Bulgarians, jealous for their native priesthood,
demanded by what authority the see of Rome claimed jurisdiction
over the Old and New Epirus, Thessaly, and Dardania, the country
now called Bulgaria. For more than four centuries there had
been occasional jealousies between these two churches ; certain
articles of faith continued subjects of difference ; and the ques
tions of temporal and spiritual precedence made them ever watch
ful. Histpry records that, as early as 606, Phocas, having
ascended the imperial throne, treading upon the dead bodies of
the Emperor Mauritius, his children and friends, — Cyriacus, the
patriarch, exposed to his view the enormity of his crimes, and
most zealously exhorted to repentance. The supremacy of order
and dignity was instantly granted to the patriarch of Rome, in
the person of Boniface III. But his successors, their historians
say, wisely refused, disclaimed the favour of Phocas, but claimed
it as a Divine right derived from St. Peter. Thus cohimenced
and was made final the severance of the Greek and Roman
churches. But the loss of spiritual rule in the east was accompanied by an
enlargement of temporal power in the west. Upon the death of
Hadrian, John, the son of Gundo, succeeded to the papal chair ;
and, upon the demise of Lewis II., (876,) his uncles, Lewis, king of
Germany, and Charles the Bald, king of France, were rivals for
the vacant throne. Charles and Hadrian were ever at variance.
But, seizing upon the moment, because he was more ready at hand,
or more yielding to his wishes, John invoked him instantly at
Rome, received him with loudest acclamations, and crowned him
emperor, just seventy-five years to a day from the elevation of
Charlemagne to the Western Empire.
Upon this occasion. Pope John announced that he had elected
him emperor in conformity to the revealed will of God ; that his
act of crowning him made him such ; and that the sceptre, under
God, was his free gift. This new doctrine was assented to by
Charles, and ever after claimed as one of the powers of the pope
of Rome. Thus the church of Rome became wholly separated
from the Eastern Empire, — " freely losing its hold on a decayed
tree, to graft itself upon a wild and vigorous sapling." B'Aubigne.
Eutropius, the Lombard, informs us of the rich presents made to

264 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

St. Peter for these favours of the pope, and that the emperor
ceded to him the dukedoms, Benevento and Spoleti, together with
the sovereignty of Rome itself.
Thus we have seen why and how the brawny shoulders of the
idolatrous children of the north elevated to the throne, thus how
the Franks established the temporal power, of the popes of Rome ;
yet, perhaps, little was foreseen how this state of things was
destined, in the course of events, to elevate the church of Rome,
and the power of its pontiffs, to a supremacy of all temporal
government. It could not have been foreseen how the genius of
Hildebr'and (Pope Gregory VII.) should, two hundred years after,
carry into full accomplishment, by mere words of peace, " what
Marius and Caesar could not by torrents of blood."
But corruption, to a greater or less extent, necessarily followed
such a connection of church and state. It matters not to whom,
nor in what age, — give churches temporal power, and they are
liable to be corrupt.
But the church was still a fountain from which the living waters
were dispensed to mankind. Instances of personal wickedness may
have been more or less common ; yet the spirit of truth found it a
focal residence, and diffused its light to the world.
The Christian church is not the contrivance of man, whose
works pass away, but of God, who upholds "what he creates, and
who has given his promise for its duration. Its object is to satisfy
the religious wants of human nature, in whatever degree that
nature may be developed ; and its efficacy is no greater for the
learned than for the unlearned ; for the exalted of the earth, than
for the slave.

LESSON III.

It is said all nature swarms with life. But every animal, in
some way, preys upon his fellow. Even we cannot move our foot
without becoming the means of destructidn to petty animals capa
ble of palpitating for hours, may be days, in the agonies of death.
There is no day upon this earth, in which men, and millions of
other animals, are not tortured in some way, to the fullest extent
of life.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 265

Let us look at man alone ; poor and oppressed ; tormented by
injustice, and stupified to lethargy ; writhing under disease, or tor
tured by his brethren ! Recollect his mental pains ! The loss of
friends, and the poison of ingratitu(^ ; the rage of tyranny, and
the slow progress of justice ; the brave, the high-minded, the
honest, consigned to the fate of guilt !
Dive into the dungeon, or the more obscure prison-house of
penury. See the aged long for his end, and the young languish in
despair ; talents and virtue in eternal oblivion : see malice, ven
geance, and cruelty at their work, while they propagate every
hour ; for severity begets its kind, and hate begets hate.
Look where you will, the heart is torn with anguish ; the soul
is saddened by sorrow. All things seem at war ; all one vast
abortion. Such is the rugged surface ; and the eye sees no golden
sands, no precious gems gleaming from beneath the blackened
waters of human suffering. These things are so ; creation has
grown up ; and human life can never effect one tremble of the leaf
on which it has found its residence^
But the Christian philosopher views these evidences of a great
moral catastrophe without madness. He perceives that sin has
sunk man into degradation, slavery, and death. He comprehends
his own weakness, and trusts in God.
But there is a man, with all these facts before him, who rages.
He makes war on the providence, and determines, as if to renovate
the work, of the Almighty. Is he a man of a single idea ? If
not, let him make a better world ; and, while he is thus employed,
let us resume our subject.
Slavery, either voluntary or involuntary, whether the immediate
result of crime or of mental and physical degradation, is equally
the consequent of sin. Let us consider how far its existence is
sustained by the laws of justice, of religion, and of God.
Our word, God, is pure Saxon, signifying "perfectly good;"
" God is good." "And God saw every thing that he had made,
and, behold, it was very gogd."
Suppose the laws of Japan permit voluntary slavery, as- did
those of Moses. (See Exod. xxi. 5 ; also Lev. xxv. 47.) Suppose
an African negro, of the lowest grade, destitute and naked, volunta
rily finds himself in that island, where the poor, free inhabitants
scarcely sustain life by the most constant toil. The negro finds no
employment. He can neither buy, beg, nor steal; starvation is
at hand. He applies to sell himself, under the law of the country,

266 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

a slave for life. Is not slavery, in this case, a good, because life
is a greater good than liberty ? Liberty is worth nothing in oppo
sition to life. Liberty is worth nothing without available posses
sions to sustain it. The preservation of life is the highest law.
The law of God, therefore, would be contradictory, if it* forbid a
raan to sell himself to sustain his life ; and the justice and pro
priety of such law must be universal and eternal, so far as it can
have relation with the condition of man upon this earth.
But, " What is life without liberty?" said a beggar-woman ! He,
who thinks life without liberty worth nothing, must die if he have
no means to sustain his liberty. Esther entertained no such
notion : " For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed and
slain, and to perish. . But if we had been sold for bond-men, and
bond-women, I had held my tongue." Esth. vii. 4.
Nor has such ever been the notion of the church. Bergier says.
Diet. Theo., Art. Esclava —
" That civil liberty became a benefit, only after the establish
ment of civil society, when man had the protection of law, and the
multiplied facilities for subsistence ; that, previous to this, abso
lute freedom would be an injury to a person destitute of flocks,
herds, lands, and servants."
" The common possession of all things is said to be of the
natural law ; because the distinction of po"ssessions and slavery
were not introduced by nature, but by reason of man, for the
benefit of human life ; and thus the law of nature is not changed
by their introduction, but an addition is made thereto." St. Thomas
Aquinas, 1, 2, q. 94 a 95 ad 2.
And the same father says again, 2, 2 §'. 67 a 3 ad 2 — " This
man is a slave, absolutely speaking, rather a son, not by any
natural cause, but by reason of the benefits which are produced ;
for it is more beneficial to this one to be governed by one who has
more wisdom, and the other to be helped by the labour of the
former. Hence the state of slavery belongs principally to the
law of nations, and to the natural law, only in the second degree,
not in the first."
But a man having the natural right to sell himself proves that
he has the same right to buy others. The one follows the other.
But, suppose the laws of Japan do not permit voluntary slavery
for life, or, rather that they have no law on the subject ; but that
they have a law, that whosoever proves himself to be so degraded
that he cannot, or will not sustain himself, but is found loitering,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 267

begging, or stealing, shall be forcibly sold a slave for life, — is not
the same good effected as in the other case, although the indi
vidual may be too debased to perceive it himself? And is it diffi
cult to perceive, that the same deteriorating causes have produced
both cases ? The doctrine of the church is that " death, sick
ness, and a large train of what is called natural evils, are con
sidered to be the consequences of sin. Slavery is an evil,' and is
also a consequence of sin." Bishop England, p. 23.
And St. Augustine preached the same doctrine, as long ago as
the year 426. See his book, " Of the City of God," liber xix.
cap. 15. He says — " The condition of slavery is justly regarded
as imposed on the sinner. Hence, we never read slave (as one
having a master) in Scripture before the just Noe, by this word,
punished the sin of his son. Sin, not nature, thus introduced the
word." And St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, A. D. 390, in his book on
"Elias and Fasting" c. 5, says — "There would be no slavery to
day had there not been drunkenness."
And so, St. John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople, A. D.
400, Hom. 29, in Gen. : " Behold brethren born of the same
mother ! Sin makes one of them a servant, and, taking away his
liberty, lays him under subjection."
The very expression, " Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants
shall he be to his brethren," most distinctly shows the "sentence to
have been the consequent of sin, and especially so when compared
with the blessing bestowed upon the two brothers, in which they
are promised the services of him accursed.
Pope Gelesius I., a. d. 491, in his letter to the bishops of the
Picene territory, states, " slavery to have been the consequence
of sin, and to have been established by human law."
St. Augustine, lib. xix. cap. 16, " On the City of God," argues
at length to show " that the peace and good order of society, as
well as religious duty, demand that the wholeso'me laws of the
state regulating the conduct of slaves should be conscientiously
observed." " Slavery is regarded by the church * * * not to be in
compatible with the natural law, to be the result of sin by Divine
dispensation, to have been established by human legislation; and,
when the dominion of the. slave is justly acquired by the master,
to be lawful, not in the sight of the human tribunal only, but also
in the eye of Heaven." Bishop England, page 24.

268 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

But again, in the works already quoted, "De Civitate Dei," St.
Augustine says, liber xix. caput 15, that, "although slavery is
the consequence of sin, yet that the slavery may not always light
upon the sinful individual, any more than sickness, war, famine, or
any other chastisement of this sinful world, whereby it may often
happen that the less sinful are afflicted, that they may be turned
more to the worship of God, and brought into his enjoyment," and
refers to the case of Daniel and his companions, who were slaves in
Babylon, and by which captivity Israel was brought to repentance.
In cap. 16, " he presents to view the distinction of bodily em
ployment and labour between the son and the slave ; but that each
are equally under the master's care ; and as it regards the soul,
each deserved a like protection, and that therefore the masters
were called patres familias, or fathers of households; and
shows that they should consult for the eternal welfare of their
slaves as a father for his children ; and insists upon the weight
and obligation of the master to restrain his slaves from vice, and
to preserve discipline with strict firmness, but yet with affection ;
not by verbal correction alone, but, if requisite, corporeal chastise
ment, not merely for the punishment of delinquency, but for a
salutary monition to others."
And he proceeds to show "that these things become a public
duty, since the peace of the vicinage depends upon the good order
of its families, and that the safety of the state depends upon the
peace and discipline of all the vicinage."
This author also shows, from the etymology of the word "servus,"
that, according to the law of nations at the time, the conqueror
had at his disposal the lives of the captives. If from some cause
he forbore to put some of them to death, then such one was servati,
or servi, that is, kept from destruction or death, and their lives
.spared, upon the condition of obedience, and of doing the labours
and drudgery of the master."
And we may again inquire whether, when prisoners taken in
war, under circumstances attending their capture by which the
captor feels himself entitled to put them to death, — it is not a
great good to the captured to have their lives spared them, and
they permitted to be slaves ? The answer will again turn upon
the question, whether life is worth any thing upon these terms ?
And whatever an individual may say, the world will answer like
Esther. Thus far slavery is an institution of mercy and in favour
of life.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 269
We close this lesson by presenting the condition of slavery
among the Chinese, and their laws and customs touching the
subject. M. De Guignes, who traversed China throughout its whole extent,
observing with minuteness and philosophical research every thing
in relation to its singular race, does not believe slavery existed
there until its population had become overloaded, when, as a par
tial relief from its miseries, they systematically made slaves of
portions of their own race.
He says, that in ancient times, "it is not believed that there
were slaves in China, except those who were taken prisoners in
war, or condemned to servitude by the laws. Afterwards, in times
of famine, parents were frequently reduced to the necessity of
selling their children. This practice, originated in the pressure
of necessity, has continued to . exist, and even become common.
* * * A person may also sell himself as a slave when he has
no other means of succouring his father ; a young woman, who
finds herself destitute, may in like manner be purchased with her
own consent.
" The prisoners of war are the slaves of the emperor, and ge
nerally sent to labour on his land in Tartary. The judges have
the power to pass the sentence of slavery on culprits such as are
sold at public auction ; slaves also who belong to persons whose
property is confiscated, are sold to the highest bidder by public
outcry." See work as quoted by Edin. Encyc, Article, " China."

LESSON IV.

The titles which divines and canonists have considered to be
good and valid for the possession of slaves, are purchase, inherit
ance, gift, birth, slaves made in war, and sentenced for crime ;
but, in all cases, the title is vitiated when not sustained by the
civU law. Yet the civil law may be repealed, or ameliorated, so
that prisoners taken in war or crime may not be subject to death
or servitude, in which case the validity of the title follows in the
footsteps of the civil law ; but these conditions primarily exist, as
perpetual as the condition of man. The civil law, by its interven
tion, merely diverts the action during its rule.

^70 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

But, in all cases of a secondary title, the validity follows the
character of the previous holding, as no man can sell, give, or
leave by inheritance a better title than that which he has. The
question thus runs to the origin of what gives a good title, to wit,
the condition that enforces one to be sold, or to sell himself, a
slave, in favour of life. True, Blackstone, Montesquieu, and
others of less note, contend that no man has a right to sacrifice his
liberty ; and what is their argument? They make an assumption,
where there is no parallel, " that liberty is of equal worth to life;"
but before their argument is good, they must show that liberty is
of more value than life : for surely a man may barter an equal for
an equal. They cry, " God gave all men liberty." Even that is
a fiction. The truth is, God gave no man liberty, only upon con
ditions. But to show that life is of more value than liberty, we need
only observe that even with the loss of liberty there is hope —
hope of change, of liberty, and of the means of sustaining it ; and
such hopes have often been realized. There is no truth in the
proposition that liberty is of equal value (or rather superior) to
life. The doctrine therefore is, that man, in his natural state, is
the master of his own liberty, and may dispose of it as he sees
proper in favour of life ; that he may be deprived of it by force,
in consequence of crime, or from his not being able to sustain it ;
and in all cases where liberty has become of less value than life,
and both cannot be sustained, the one may be properly exchanged
for the safety of the other. And upon this principle, in those
countries where the parent had the right, by their law, to put to
death his own children, he also had the right to sell them into
slavery ; and further, by natural law, where the parent cannot sus
tain the life of his child, where civil law gives him no power over
its life, he yet, in favour of life, may sell him into slavery.
Natural law recognises the principle that the child, of right, is
subject to the condition of the parent ; and in these enfeebled con
ditions of man, for sake of more certainty, the civil law usually
acknowledges the maternal line. It acknowledges the paternal
line only when the elevated condition forms a presumption of equal
certainty. The Divine law recognises a good title to hold slaves among all
people. The Divine grant to hold slaves was not an " especial
permit to the Hebrews." Abimelech gave slaves to Abraham:
hal his title been bad, Abraham could not have received them.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 271
Bethuel and Laban gave slaves to their daughters. None of these
were Hebrews, yet they held slaves by a good title ; for the very
act of acceptance, in all these cases, is proof that the title was
good. Besides, the Divine law itself instructed the Israelites to buy
slaves of the surrounding nations. See Lev. xxv. 44. Can there
be a stronger proof of the purity of a title, than this gives of the
title by which the " nations round about" held slaves ? The same
law which permitted the Israelites to buy slaves of the " heathen
round about," also permitted the " heathen round about" to hold
slaves, because it acknowledges their title to be good.
By an inquiry into the history of these "heathen round about,"
•their religion, civil condition, their manners and customs, as well
as the final state to which they arrived, we may form some idea
how a good title to hold slaves and to sell them arose among them ;
and since the laws of God are everlasting, and always applicable
to every case where all the circumstances are similar, we may
reasonably conclude that the same race, or any other race, then,
or at any other period of time, to whom the same descriptions will
apply, will also be found attended with the same facts in regard to
slavery. The conclusion therefore is, that from such a people, who have
a good right to hold and sell slaves, other people, whose civil laws
permit them to do so, may purchase slaves by a good title.
It may not then be wholly an idle labour to compare the history
and race of these "heathen round about," with the history, race,
and present condition of those African heathen who have from
time immemorial held and sold slaves.
But it being shown that the Divine sanction to hold slaves, did,
at one time, exist, it devolves on them, who deny its religious
legality, now to prove that the sanction had been withdrawn.

LESSON V.
We proceed to prove, by a variety of documents, that the Church
of Christ did, at all times during its early ages, consider the exist
ence of slavery and the holding of slaves compatible with a reli
gious profession and the practice of Christian duties.
It is first in order to present the sermons of St. Paul and St.
Peter direct upon this subject. Having heretofore quoted them,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

we now merely repeat the references, and ask for their perusal :
See 1 Cor. vii. 20-24 ; Eph. vi. 6-9 ; Col. iii. 22 to iv. 1 ;
1 Tim. vi. 1-14 ; Tit. ii. 9-16 ; Philemon entire, and 1 Pet. ii. 18-25.
These scriptures distinctly teach the doctrine of the Christian
church. But it remains to see what was the practice that grew
up under it.
Upon the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the mind cannot well con
ceive how the apostles could have avoided, from time to time, meet
ing together for the purposes of consultation and agreement among
themselves as to the particulars of their future course ; and that
such was the fact, we have in evidence, Acts i. 15-26, where they
did thus meet, and elected Matthias to fill the vacancy in their
number. Also, Acts ix. 26-31, where Paul was received by them.
and sent forth as an apostle ; but the book in question only gives
us the outlines of what they did. Now, there is found among the
ancient records of the church what is called " The Canons of the
Apostles," which, if not actually written by them, is still known
to be in conformity with their doctrine, as developed in their own
writings and the earliest usages of the church.
Among these, the canon Ixxxi. is the following :
Servos in clerum provehi sine voluntate dominorum, non permit-
timus, ad eorum qui possident molestiam, domorum enim eversionem
talia efficiunt. Siquando autem, etiam dignus servus visus sib, qui
ad gradum eligatur, qualis noster quoque Onesimus visus est, et
domini concesserint ac liberaverint, et oedibus emiserint, fiat.
We do not permit slaves to be raised to clerical rank without the
will of their masters, to the injury of their owners. For such con
duct produces the upturning of houses. But if, at any time,
even a slave may be seen worthy to be raised to that degree, as
even our Onesimus was, and the masters shall have granted and
given freedom, and have sent them forth from their houses, let it he
done. This is the first of a series of similar enactments, and it should
be observed that it recognises the principle of the perfect domi
nion of the master, the injury to his property, and requires the
very legal formality by which the slave was liberated and fully
emancipated. The slave had the title, without his owner's consent, to the com
mon rights of religion and the necessary sacraments. In using
these, no injury was done to the property of his owner ; but he had
no claim to those privileges which would diminish his value to the

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 273
owner, or would degrade the dignity conferred, and which could
not be performed without occupying that time upon which his
owner had a claim.
There are eight other books of a remote antiquity, known as
" The Constitutions ascribed to the Apostles," said to be compiled
by Pope Clement I., who was a companion of the apostles. It is
generally believed that, though Clement might have commenced
such a compilation, he did not leave it in the form which it now
holds, but, like the Canons of the Apostles, the exhibition of disci
pline is that of the earliest days.
In book iv. ch. 5, enumerating those whose offerings were to be
refused by the bishops as unworthy, we have, among thieves and
other sinners,
(Qui) famulos sues dure accipiunt et tractant ; id est, verberibus,
aut fame afficiunt, aut crudeli servitute premunt.
They who receive and treat their slaves harshly ; that is, who whip
or famish them, or oppress them, with heavy drudgery.
There is no crime in having the slave, but cruelty and oppres
sion are criminal.
In the same book, ch. 11 regards slaves and masters.
De famulis quid amplius dicamus, quam quod servus habeat
benevolentiam erga dominum cum timore Dei, quamvis sit impius,
quatavis sit improbus, non tamen cum eo religione consentiat.
Item dominus servum diligat, et quamvis praestet ei, judicet tamen
esse aequalitatem, vel quatenus homo est. Qui autem habet domi
num Christianum, salvo dominatu, diligat eum, tum ut dominum,
tum ut fidei consortem et ut patrem, non sicut servus ad oculum
serviens sed sicut dominum amans, ut qui sciat mercedem famula-
tus sui a Deo sibi solvendam esse. Similiter dominus, qui Chris
tianum famulum habet, salvo famulatu, diligat eum tanquam filium,
et tanquam fratrem propter fidei communionem.
What further, then, can we say of slaves, than that the servant
should have benevolence towards his master, with the fear of God,
though he should be impious, though wicked ; though he should not
even agree with him in religion. In like manner, let the master
love his slave, and though he is above him, let him judge him to be
his equal at least as a human being. But let him ivho lias a Chris
tian master, having regard to his dominion, love him bvtli as a
master, as a companion in the faith, and as a father, not as an
eye-servant, but loving his master as one who knows that he will re
ceive the reward of his service to be paid hy God. So let the
18

274 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
master who has a Christian slave, saving the service, love him as a
son and as a brother, on account of the communion of faith.
Ne amaro animo jubeas famulo tuo aut ancillae eidem Deo con-
fidentibus: ne aliquando gemant adversus te, et irascatur tibi
Deus. Et vos servi dominis vestris tanquam Deum repraesentan-
tibus subditi estote cum sedulitate et metu, tanquam Bomino, et.
non tanquam hominihus.
Bo not command your man-servant nor your woman-servant
having confidence in the same God, in the bitterness of your
soul ; lest they at any time lament against you, and God be angry
with you. And you servants be subject to your masters, the repre
sentatives of God, with care and fear, as to the Lord, and not to
men. In the eighth book, ch. 33, is a constitution of SS. Peter and
Paul, respecting the days that slaves were to be employed in
labour, and those on which they were to rest and to attend to
religious duties.
Stephen I., who was the pontiff in 253, endeavoured to preserve
discipline, and set forth regulations to remedy evils.
Accusatores vero et accusationes, quas saeculi leges non recipi-
unt, et antecessores nostri prohibuerunt, et nos submovemus.
We also reject these accusers and charges which the secular laws
do not receive, and which our predecessors have prohibited.
Soon after he specifies :
Accusator autem vestrorum nullus sit servus aut libertus.
Lit not your accuser be a slave or a freed person.
Thus, in the ancient discipline of the church, as iu the secular
tribunals, the testimony of slaves was inadmissible.
In the year 305, a provincial council was held at Elvira, in the
southern part of Spain. The fifth canon of which is —
Si qua domina furore zeli accensa fiagris verberaverit ancillam
suam, ita ut in tertium diem animam cum cruciatu effundat : eo
quod incertum sit, voluntate, an casu occiderit, si voluntate post
Bcptem annos ; si casu, post quinquennii tempera ;- acta legitima
paenitentia, ad communionem placuit admitti. Quod si infra tem
pera constituta fuerit infirmata, accipiat communionem.
If any mistress, carried away by. great anger, shall have whipped.
her maid-servant so that she shall ivithin three days die in torture,
as it is uncertai7i ivhether it may happen by reason of her ivill or hi
accident, it is decreed that she may be admitted to communion, hav
ing done lawful penance, a.fter seven years, if it happened by her

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 275
will; if hy accident, after five years. But should she get sick
within the time prescribed, she may get communion.
Spanish ladies, at that period, had not yet so far yielded to the
benign influence of the gospel, and so far restrained their violence
of temper, as to show due mercy to their female slaves.
It may be well to observe a beneficial change, not only in pub
lic opinion, but even in the court, by reason of the influence of the
spirit of Christianity; so that the pagan more than once reproved,
by his mercy, the professor of a better faith.
Theodoret (1. 9, de Graec. cur. aff.) informs us that Plato esta
blished the moral and legal innocence of the master who slew his
slave. Ulpian, the Roman jurist (1. 2, de his quae sunt sui vel
alieni jur.) testifies the power which — in imitation of the Greeks —
the Roman masters had over the lives of their slaves. The well-
known sentence of Pollio upon the unfortunate slave that broke a
crystal vase at supper, — that he should be cast as food to fish, —
and the interference of Augustus, who was a guest at that supper,
give a strong exemplification of the tyranny then in many instances
indulged. Antoninus Pius issued a constitution about the year 150, restrain
ing this power, and forbidding a master to put his own slave to
death, except in those cases where he would be permitted to slay
the slave of another. The cruelty of the Spaniards to their slaves,
in the province of Bcetica, gave occasion to the constitution ; and
we have a rescript of Antoninus to Julius Martianus, the proconsul
of Boetica, in the case of the slave of Julius Sabinus, a Spaniard.
In this the right of the masters to their slaves is recognised, but
the office'r is directed to hear their complaints of cruelty, starva
tion, and oppressive labour; to protect them, and, if the complaints
be founded in truth, not to allow their return to the master; and
to insist on the observance of the constitution.
Caius (in 1. 2, ad Cornel", de sicar.) states that the cause should
be proved in presence of judges before the master could pronounce
his sentence. Spartianus, the biographer, informs us that the Em
peror Adrian, the immediate predecessor of Antoninus, enacted a
law forbidding masters to kill their slaves, unless legally convicted.
And Ulpian relates that Adrian placed, during five years, in con
finement (relegatio) Umbricia, a lady of noble rank, because, for
very slight causes, she treated her female slaves most cruell.y.
But Constantine the Great, about the year 320, enacted that no
master should, under penalty due to homicide, put his slave to

276 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
death, and gave the jurisdiction to the judges; but if the slave
died casually, after necessary chastisement, the master was not
accountable to any legal tribunal. (Const, in 1. i. ; C. Theod. de
emendat. servorum.)
As Christianity made progress, the unnatural severity with
which this class of human beings was treated became relaxed, and
as the civil law ameliorated their condition, the canon law, by its
spiritual efficacy, came in with the aid of religion, to secure that,
the followers of the Saviour should give full force to the merciful
provisions that were introduced.
The principle which St. Augustine laid down was that observed.
The state was to enact the laws regulating this species of property ;
the church was to plead for morality and to exhort to practise
mercy. About the same time, St. Peter, archbishop of Alexandria,
drew up a number of penitential canons, pointing out the manner
of receiving, treating, and reconciling the "lapsed," or those who,
through fear of persecution, fell from the profession of the faith.
Those canons were held in high repute, and were generally adopted
by the eastern bishops.
The sixth of those canons exhibits to us a device of weak
Christians, who desired to escape the trials of martyrdom, -ndthout
being guilty of actual apostasy. A person of this sort procured
that one of his slaves should personate him, and in his name should
apostatize. The canon prescribes for such a slave, who necessarily
was a Christian and a slave of a Christian, but one-third of the
time required of a free person, in a mitigated penance, taking into
account the infiuence of fear of the master, which, though it did
not excuse, yet it diminished the guilt of the apostasy.
The general council of Nice, in Bythinia, was held in the year
325, when Constantine was emperor. In the first canon of this
council, according to the usual Greek and Latin copies, there is a
provision for admitting slaves, as well as free persons who have
been injured by others, to holy orders. In the Arabic copy, the
condition is specially expressed, which is not found in the Greek
or Latin, but which had been previously well knov/n and universally
established, " that this should not take place unless the slave had
been manumitted by his master."
About this period, also, several of the Gnostic and Manicliean
errors prevailed extensively in Asia Minor. The fanatics denied
the lawfulness of marriage ; they forbid meat to be eaten ; they

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.- 277

condemned the use of wine ; they praised extravagantly tho
monastic institutions, and proclaimed the obligation on all to enter
into religious societies ; they decried the lawfulness of slavery ;
they denounced the slaveholders as violating equally the laws of
nature and of religion ; they offered to aid slaves to desert their
owners ; gave them exhortations, invitations, asylum, and protec
tion ; and in all things assumed to be more holy, more perfect, and
more spiritual than other men. ! ! !
Osius, bishop of Cordova, whom Pope Sylvester sent as his
legate into the east, and who presided in the council of Nice, was
present when several bishops assembled in the city of Gangrae,
Paphlagonia, to correct those errors. Pope Symmachus declared,
in a council held in Rome, about the year 500, that Osius con
firmed, by the authority of the pope, the acts of this council. The
decrees have been admitted into the body of canon law, and have
always been regarded as a rule of conduct in the Catholic church.
The third canon :
Si quis docet servum, pietatis praetextu, dominum contemnere,
et a ministerio recedere, et non cum benevolentia et omni honore
domino sue inservire. Anathema sit.
If any one, under the pretence of piety, teaches a slave to despise
his master, and to withdraw from his service, and not to serve his
master with good-will and all respect. Let him be anathema.
Let him be anathema is never appended to any decree which
does not contain the expression of unchangeable doctrine respect
ing belief or morality, and indicates that the doctrine has been
revealed by God. It is precisely what St. Paul says in Gal. i. 8 :
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you
beside that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema."
9: "As we said before to you, so I say now again: If any man
preach to you a gospel besides that which you have received ; let
him be anathema." It is therefore manifest, that although this
council of Gangrae was a particular one, yet the universal recep
tion of this third canon, with its anathema, and its recognition in
the Roman council by Pope Symmachus, gives it the greatest au
thority ; and in Lahbe it is further entitled as approved by Leo IV.,
about, the year 850, dist. 20, C. de libell.
Several councils were held in Africa in the third and fourth
centuries, in Carthage, in Milevi, and in Hippo. About the year
422, the first of Pope Celestine I., one was held under Aurelius,
archbishop of Carthage, and in which St. Augustine sat as bishop

278 -STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

of Hippo and legate of Numidia. A compilation was made of
the canons of this and the preceding ones, which was styled the
"African Council." The canon cxvi. of this collection, taken
into the body of the canon law, decrees that slaves shall not be
admitted as prosecutors, nor shall certain freedmen be so admitted,
except to complain for themselves; and for this, as well as for the
incapacity of several others there described, the public law is cited,
as well as the 7th and 8th councils of Carthage.
The great St. Basil was born in 329, and died in 379. His
works, called " Canonical," contain a great number of those which
were the rules of discipline, not only for Asia Minor, but for the
vast regions in its vicinity. The fortieth canon regards the mar
riages of female slaves. In this he mentions a discipline which
was not general, but was peculiar to the north-eastern provinces of
the church, requiring the consent of the master to the validity o'f
the marriage-contract of a female slave : this was not required in
other places, as is abundantly testified by several documents.
The forty-second canon treats in like manner of the marriages
of children without their parents' consent, and generally of those
of all slaves without the consent of the owner.

LESSON VI.

It may not be improper now to take a more particular view of
the civil world, its condition, and of those wars at the instance of
which it had been, and then was, flooded with slaves. As an
example, we select the middle of the fifth century:
Attila, to whom the Romans gave the sobriquet, " Flagellum
Bei," Scourge of God, was driven by iEtius out of Gaul in the
year 461 ; and the following year, pouring his wild hordes down
upon Italy, conquered Aquillia, Pavia, Milan, and a great number
of small cities, and was in the attitude of marching on Rome.
The Emperor Valentinian IIL, who was a weak prince, panic-
struck, shut himself up in Ravenna ; and his general, jSJtius, Who
had been so victorious in Gaul, partook of the general fear when
invaded at home. The destruction of Rome and its imperial
power, the slaughter and slavery of the Roman people, and the
extinction of the church appeared probable. Under such a state

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 279

of things, the emperor and his council prevailed on Leo the pon
tiff himself, supported by Albienus and Tragelius, men of great
exp^erience and talent, to undertake an embassy to the enemy's
camp, then on the banks of the Minzo. This embassy was ac
companied by a most grand and numerous retinue — a small army — -
armed, not with the weapons of war, but with the crosie^and
crook. Nor did Attila attempt to hide his joy for their arrival.
The most profound attention, the most convincing demonstrations
of his kindness to them, were studiously displayed by him. '
The terms proposed were readily accepted, and Attila and his
firmy, a tornado fraught with moral and physical ruin to Rome,
the church, and the civilized world, silently sank away far behind
the Danube.
Nor is it strange that the great success of this embassy should
have been attributed to some intervention of miraculous power
during the dark ages that followed ; — and hence we find that, four
hundred years after, in one of Gruter's copies of " The Historica
Miscella," it is stated 'that St. Peter and St. Paul stood, visible
alone to Attila, on either side of Leo, brandishing a sword, com
manding him to accept whatever Leo should offer ; and this is
quoted as credible history by Barronius, ad ann. 452, no.
47-59, and has been painted by Raffaele, at a much later period.
The idea was perhaps poetical, and this piece alone would have
immortalized the artist. But it is truly singular that this ap
pearance of Peter and Paul should have gained a place in the
Roman Breviary, especially as it is nowhere alluded to by Leo,
nor by his secretary. Prosper, who was present at that treaty, nor
by any contemporary whatever. The facts attached to Attila, in
connection with this treaty, were : — His army was extremely desti
tute, and a contagious and very mortal disease was raging in his
camp ; in addition to which, Marcian had gathered a large army,
then under march for Italy, to join the imperial forces under
jFltius, while, at the same moment, another army, sent by Marcian
long before, were then ravaging the country of the Huns them
selves: of these facts Attila was well advised. These were the
agencies th^t operated on his mind in favour of peace with Valen
tinian. To us the idea seems puerile to suppose Jehovah sending
Petar and Paul, sword in hand, to frighten his Hunnish majesty
from making slaves of the Roman people.
Would it not be more consonant with the general acts of his
providence to point Attila to his diseased army ; to their conse-

280 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

quent want of supplies, and to the threatening danger of his being
totally cut off by the two armies of Marcian, saying nothing of
the possibility of a restored confidence among, the then panic-
struck Romans ? Besides, it has been well ascertained that, at the
time of Leo's arrival, he had been hesitating whether to march on
Rome — or recross the Alps. See Bower, vol. ii. p. 202 ; also, Jor-
nandez Rer. Goth. c. 41, 49.
But, we acknowledge the intervening influences of the Divine
will, in this case, as forcibly as it could be urged, even if attended
with all the particulars and extravagancies of the poetic painter's
fancy. We have alluded to this particle of the history of that
day, as it stands upon the records, in order that, while we quote,
we may not be misunderstood as to our view of the providences of
God. But to return to our subject : — Upon a review of these times, we
may notice the distractions of the church by means of the various
heresies which imbittered against each other the different profes
sions of the Christian faith. How the followers of Arius, for more
than half a century, spread confusion and violence over the entire
Christian world : — How, crushed and driven out by Theodosius,
thousands took shelter among the pagans, whose movements they
stimulated, and whom we now perceive in progress of the gradual
overthrow of the Roman Empire : — How, upon the partial or more
general successes of these hordes, their Arian confederates, with a
fresh memory of their late oppressions and the cruelties inflicted
on them, retaliated with unsparing severity and bloodshed upon
their Nicene opponents ; while, among all these savage invaders,
the Arian creed supplanted and succeeded the pagan worship : —
How this wild Attila swept the banks of the Danube and the Rhine,
carrying death or desolation to the followers of Pharamond, and
to the Goths, who had then already established themselves in the
strongholds of ancient Gaul and of the more modern Romans.
True, his career was checked on the banks of the Rhone, but, like
a hunted lion, he rushed towards the Mediterranean, and, recruit
ing his force in Pannonia, directed his march to Italy ; and to-day,
after fourteen centuries, it is said that Aquillia still stands the
monument of his barbarity. We have this moment noticed the
extraordinary manner in which, it is said, by the monition of Leo,
his path of ruin was suddenly directed to the ice-bound fortresses
of the north. But the captives made on both sides, in these deso
lating wars, greatly increased the number of slaves of the white

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 281

race, which otherwise, from operating causes, would have been
diminished. Up to this time in these regions, and, as we shall see, to a much
later time, slavery was the result of that mercy in the victor,
whereby he spared the life of the conquered enemy. Its condition
did not depend on any previous condition of degradation, of .free
dom or slavery, nor upon the race or colour of the captive ; — and
the wars, for ages, which had been and were so productive of
slavery, were almost exclusively among those who, in common,
claimed a Caucasian origin. Instances of African slavery were rare.
The Romans derived some few from their African wars, valued
mostly by pride, because they were the most rare.
Thus we read in the Life of Nero, by Tacitus : — " Nero never
travelled with less than a thousand baggage-wagons ; the mules all
shod with silver, and the drivers dressed in scarlet ; his African
slaves adorned with bracelets on their arms, and the horses deco
rated with the richest trappings." But these times had passed
away. Yet we find in the Life of Alphonso el Casto, that, upon
his conquest of Lisbon, 798, he sent seven Moorish slaves as a
present to Charlemagne. And also, in Bower's "Lives of the
Popes," that in 849, "A company of Moors, from Africa, rendez
voused at Tozar, in Sardinia, and thence made an incursion, by the
Tiber, on Rome. But they were mostly lost in a storm before
landmg. Of those who got on shore, some were killed in battle,
some 'were hanged, and a large number were brought to Rome and
reduced to slavery."
Yet the great mass of slaves were of the same race and colour
of their masters ; and at this age, a most important fact with the
Christian, if they were pagans, was their conversion to Christianity.
^or the first three hundred years, we may notice how Chris
tianity had threaded her way amidst the troublous and barbarous
paganisms of that age. But, at the time to which we have arrived,
Christianity had ruled the civilized world for more than a century.
And had Providence seen fit to have attended her future path with
peace, human sympathy might have fondly hoped that the mild
spirit of her religion would have been poured in ameliorating, pu
rifying streams upon the condition and soul of* the slave, and like
a dissolving oil on the chains that bound him.

282 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON VII.
¦a
We present a series of records and documents which elucidate
the practice and doctrine of the church in regard to slavery, as we
find it in that age.
These records are mostly extracts from Bishop England's Let
ters, and collated by him with accuracy. Some few, from Bower,
Bede, Lingard, and others, will be noticed in their place.
It should be remembered that, in all cases where the contrary
is not explicitly announced, the slave is of the same colour and
race as the master. At this era of the world, slaves were too
common, and their value too little, to warrant the expense of a dis
tant importation. The negro slave, from his exhibiting an extreme
variety of the human species, was regarded more as an article of
curiosity and pride than usefulness ; and therefore was seldom or
never found in Europe, except near the royal palaces, or in the
trains of emperors.
As early as the days of Polycarp and St. Ignatius, who were
disciples of the apostles, Christians had, from motives of mercy,
charity, and affection, manumitted many of their slaves in presence
of the bishops, and this was more or less extensively practised
through the succeeding period. In several churches, it was agreed
that if a slave became a Christian, he should be manumitted on
receiving baptism. In Rome, the slave was frequently manumitted
by the form called vindicta, with the' praetor's rod. Constantine,
in the year 817, Sozomen relates, lib. i. c. 9, transferred this au
thority to the bishops, who were empowered to use the rod in the
church, and have the manumission testified in the presence of the
congregation. A rescript of that emperor to this effect is found
in the Theodosian code, 1. i. c. Be his qui in eccl. manumitt. The
master, who consented to manumit the slave, presented him to the -
bishop, in presence of the congregation, and the bishop pronounced
him free, and becaAe the guardian of his freedom. The rescript
was directed to Protogenas, bishop of Sardica, and was in the con
sulship of Sabinus and Ruffinus.
In book ii. of the same code, is- a rescript to Osius, bishop of
Cordova, in which the emperor empowers the bishops to grant the

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 283

privilege of Roman citizenship to such freedmen as they may judge
worthy. In the consulship of Crispus and Constantine, a grant was
^iven to the clergy of manumitting their own slaves when they
pleased, by any form they should think proper. About a century
later, St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, informs us {Sermo. de di-
versis, 50) that this form was established in Africa. " The deacon
of Hippo is a poor man : he has nothing to give to any person :
but, before he was a clergyman, he, by the fruit of his labour and
industry, bought some little servants, and is to-day, by the epis
copal act, about to manumit them in your sight."
This same bishop writes, {Enarrat in Ps. cxxiv.,) " Christ does
not wish to make you proud while you walk in this journey, that
is, while you are in this life. Has it happened that you have
been made a Christian, and you have a man as your master : you
have not been made a Christian that you may scorn to serve.
When, therefore, by the command of Christ you are the servant
of a man, your service is not to him, but to the one that gave you
the command to serve. And he says. Hear your masters, ac
cording to the fiesh, with fear and trembling, and in the simplicity
of your hearts, not as eye-servants, as if pleasing men, but, as
the servants of Christ, doing the will of God, from your hearts,
with a good will. Behold, he did not liberate you from being ser
vants, but he made those who were bad servants to be good ser
vants.. Oh,, how much do the rich owe to Christ who has thus set
order in their houses ! So, if there be in his family a faithless
slave, and Christ convert him, he does not say to him. Leave
your master, because you have now known him who is the true
Master ! Perhaps this master of yours is impious and unjust, and
th|it you are faithful and just ; it is unbecoming that the just and
faithful should serve the unjust and the infidel : this is not what
he said; but, let him rather serve." This great doctor of the
church continues at considerable length to show how Christ, by his
own example, exhorts the servants to fidelity and obedience to
their masters in every thing, save what is contrary to God's ser
vice. Subsequently, he passes to the end of time, and the opening
of eternity, and shows many good, obedient, a'nd afflicted servants
mingled with good masters among the elect, and bad, faithless, and
stubborn servants, with cruel masters, cast among the reprobates.
In his book i., on the Sermon of Christ on the Mount, he dwells
upon the duty of Christian masters to their slaves. They are not

284 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
to regard them as mere property, but to treat them as human
beings having immortal souls, for which Christ died.
Thus we perceive that, though from the encouragement of manu
mission and the spirit of Christianity, the number of slaves had
been greatly reduced and their situation greatly improved, still
the principles were recognised of the moral and religious legality
of holding slave property, and of requiring that they should per
form a reasonable service.
The instances of voluntary slavery, such as that of St. Paulinus,
were not rare. It is related, that having bestowed all that he
could raise, to ransom prisoners taken by the barbarians who over
ran the country; upon the appHcation of a poor widow whose son
was held in captivity, he sold himself, to procure the means of her
son's release. His good conduct procured the affection of his
master, and subsequently his emancipation. Thus slavery lost
some of its 'degrading character. This, together with the confu
sion arising from the turbulence accompanying the invasions,
caused a relaxation of discipline : to remedy some of the abuses.
Pope Leo issued several letters. The following is an extract from
the first of them : it has been taken into the body of the canon
law. Bist. 5, Admittuntur: —
" Admittuntur passim ad ordinem sacrum, quibus nulla natalium,
nulla morum dignitas suffragatur : et qui a dominis suis libertatem
consequi minime potuerunt, ad fastigium sacerdotii, tanquam servilis
vilitas hunc honorem jure capiat, provehuntur, et probari Deo se
posse creditur, qui domino suo necdum probare se potuit. Duplex
itaque in hac parte reatus est, quod et sacrum mysterium (minis-
terium) talis consortii vilitate polluitur, et dominorum, quantum ad
illicitae usurpationis temeritatem pertinet, jura solvuntur. Ab his
itaque, fratres carissimi, omnes provinciae vestrae abstineant sacer-
dotes : et non tantum ab his, sed ab illis etiam, qui aut originali
aut alicui conditioni obligati sunt, volumus temperari : nisi forte
eorum petitio aut voluntas accesserit, qui aliquid sibi in eos vindi-
cant potestatis. Debet enim esse immunis ab aliis, qui divinae
militise fuerit aggregandus ; ut a castris Dominicis, quibus nomen
ejus adscribitur, nullis necessitatis vinculis abstrahatur."
Persons who have not the qualifications of birth or conduct,
are everywhere admitted to holy orders ; and they who could not
pirocure freedom from their masters are elevated to the rank of the
priesthood ; as if the lowliness of slavery could rightfully claim this
honour : and, as if he who could not procure the approbation of

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 285

even his master, could procure that of God. There is, therefore,
in this a double criminality : for the holy ministry is polluted by
the meanness of this fellowship, and so far as regards the rashness
of this unlawful usurpation, the rights of the masters are infringed.
Wherefore, dearest brethren, let all the priests of your province
keep aloof from these : and not only from these, hut also, we desire
they should abstain from those who are under bond, by origin or
any condition, except perchance upon the petition or consent of the
piersons who have them in their power in any way. For he who is
to be aggregated to the divine warfare, ought to be exempt from
other obligations : so that he may not by any bond of necessity be
drawn away from that camp of the Lord for which his name has
been enrolled.
Prosper, lib. 2 de vitd contemplat. c. 3, and many other writers of
this century, treat of the relative duties of the Christian master
and his Christian slave. The zeal and charity of several holy
men led them to make extraordinary sacrifices during this period,
to redeem the captives from the barbarians : besides the remark
able instance of Paulinus, we have the ardent and persevering
charity of Exuperius, bishop of Toulouse, who sold the plate belong
ing to the church, and used glass for the chalice, that he might be
able by every species of economy to procure liberty for the enslaved.
Nor was this a solitary instance. About the year 613, Pope
Symmachus called a national council, by which, among other
enactments, he established the rule that under no circumstances,
could the church property be alienated. See Bower, vol. ii. p. 277.
¦About the year 535, Caesarius, primate of Aries, applied to
Pope Agapetus for means to relieve the poor Christians in Gaul.
But, at that time, the church being quite destitute of money, the
pope excused himself, and quoted the decree of Symmachus. The
Arians, and some others, hence inculcated the doctrine that the
alienation of church property, under any circumstances, was
sacrilege. The laws of the empire also forbid such alienation, but
with the proviso, " except there was no other means by which the
poor could he relieved in time of famine, nor the captives be re
deemed from slavery." Such was the practice among the most
pious of the age.
St. Ambrose did not scruple to melt down the communiourplate
of the church of Milan to redeem some captives, who otherwise
must have continued in slavery. The Arians charged him with
sacrilege: in answer to which he wrote his Apology, which has

286 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

e

reached this late day, as the rules and reasons of the church m
such cases. He says — " Is it not better that the plate should be
melted by the bishop to maintain the poor, when they can be
maintained by no other means, than that it should become th
spoil and plunder of a sacrilegious enemy ? Will not the Lord
thus expostulate with us, Why did you suffer so many helpless
persons to die with hunger, when you had gold to relieve and sup
port them ? Why were so many captives carried away and sold
without ransom ? Why were so many suffered to be slain by the
enemy? It would have been better to have preserved the vessels
of living men than lifeless metals. To this, what answer can be
returned? Should one say, I was afraid that the temple of God
should want its ornaments : Christ would answer. My sacraments
require no gold, nor do they please me more for being ministered
in gold, as they are not to be bought with gold. The ornament
of my sacrament is the redemption of captives ; and those alone
are precious vessels that redeem souls from death."
The saint concludes that though it would be highly criminal for
a man to convert the sacred vessels to his own private use, yet it
is so far from being a crime, that he looks upon it as an obligation
incumbent on him and his brethren to prefer the living temples of
God to the unnecessary ornaments of the material edifices. See
Ambrose de Offic. lib. ii. cap. 28 ; and such was the doctrine of St.
Austin, see Possid. Vit. Aug. caput 24 ; of Acacius of Amida, see
Socrat. lib. vii. c. 24 ; of Deigratias of Carthage, see Vict, de
Persec. Vandal, lib. i. ; of Cyril of Jerusalem, see Theodoret, lib.
ii. c. 27 ; yea all, who have touched on the subject, have subscribed
to the doctrine of St. Ambrose. Even the Emperor Justinian, in
his law against sacrilege, forbids the church plate, vestments, or
any other gifts, to be sold, or pawned ; but adds, " except in case
of captivity or famine, the lives and souls of men being preferable
to any vessels or vestments whatever." See Codex Just. lib. i.
tit. 2. de Sacr. Eccles. leg. 21 ; also see Bower's Life of Agapetus,
p. 354.
It will be readily conceived that the barbarians, in the earlier
ages of the Christian church, treated their slaves with cruelty, in
consistent with the spirit of the new religion; and, upon their
adoption of the Christian creed, they sometimes ran into an oppo
site extreme, contrary to the rules of the church. In both cases
the church used her authority, and, says Bishop England, upon
their embrace of Christianity, " slavery began to assume a variety

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 287

of mitigated forms among them," which will, in some degree, be
developed as we proceed with the history of canonical legislation
on that subject.
The rules of the Christian church are evidently founded upon
the laws of God, as delivered to Moses : "And if a man smite his
servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand, he
shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day
or two, he shall not be punished : for he is his money."
" If a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid,
that it perish, he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. And
if he smite his man-servant's tooth, or his maid-servant's tooth,
he shall let him go for his tooth's sake." Exod. xxi. 20, 21, 26, 27-
And if a man took his female slave to wife, and became displeased
with her * * * gjjg should be free. See Beut. xxi. 10-15.
But fornication in a female slave was not punished by death, but
by stripes. See Lev. xix. 20-23.
Neither the laws of Moses, nor indeed of any civilized people,
have ever permitted unusual or cruel punishments to be inflicted on
the slave. Civilization, as well as Judaism, seems to have incul
cated, " Be not excessive toward any ; and without discretion do
nothing. If thou have a servant, let him be unto thee as thyself,
because thou hast bought him with a price." Eccl. xxxiii. 29.
Among heathen nations, their laws were to the effect, that when
the slave, sick or wounded, was neglected, or abandoned to his fate
by his master ; yet, if he recovered, the master should lose his
property in .such slave, and the slave should be free ; and such
neglect was often otherwise made punishable. The Roman law
sanctioned this doctrine : " Si verberatus fuerit servus non morti-
fere, negligentia autem perierit, de vulnerato actio erit, non de
occiso." See Lex Aquillia. And so in ancient France, see Foedere,
vol. iii. p. 290 : If negligence or bad treatment towards the slave
was proved in the master, the slave was declared free.
At this day, in all civilized countries, the civil law forbids un
usual and cruel punishment of slaves, and also a wanton and care
less negligence of them, either in sickness or health. Thus the
law punishes the master for his neglect to govern his slaves, by
making him responsible for their bad conduct, and the damage their
want of proper goverument may occasion others.
In the year 494, Pope Gelesius admonished the bishops, at their
ordinations, that —
"Ne unquam ordinationes praesumat illicitas ; ne * * * curse

288 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

aut cuilibet conditioni obnoxium notatumque ad sacros ordines
permittat accedere."
That he should never presume to hold unlawful ordinations ;
that he should not allow to holy orders * * * any person bound
to the service of the court, or liable to bond for his condition
(slavery) or marked thereto.
In the year 506, a council was held at Agdle, the sixty-second
canon of which is —
" Si quis servum proprium sine conscientia; judicis occiderit,
excommunicatione vel pcenitentia biennii reatum sanguinis emen-
dabit." If any one shall put his own servant to death, without the know
ledge of the judge, let him make compensation for the guilt of
blood by excommunication or two years' penance.
Another council was held eleven years later. Many of the
canons of this synod are transcripts of those of Agdle. The
thirty -fourth is :
" Si quis servum proprium sine conscienti^ judicis occiderit, ex
communicatione biennii effusionem sanguinis expiabit."
If any one shall slay his own servant without the knowledge of
the judge, let him expiate the shedding of blood by an excommuni
cation of two years.
This was nearly two hundred years after the law of Constantine
forbidding this exercise of power by the master.
The third council of Orleans was held in the year 638.
The thirteenth canon reguMtes, that if Christian slaves shall be
possessed by Jews, and these latter require them to do any thing
forbidden by the Christian religion, or if the Jews shall seize upon
any of their servants to whip or punish them for those things
that have been declared to be excusable or forgiven, and those
slaves fly to the church for protection, they are not to be given up,
unless there be given and received a just and sufficient sum to war
rant their protection.
The canon xxvi. gives a specimen of the early feudalism nearly
similar to the subsequent villain service.
" Ut nullus servilibus colonariisque conditionibus obligatus, juxta
statuta sedis apostolicae, ad honores ecclesiasticos admittatur ;
nisi prius aut testamento, aut per tabulas legitime constiterit abso-
lutum. Quod si quis episcoporum, ejus qui ordinatur conditionem
sciens, transgrcdi per ordinationem inhibitam fortasse voluerit,
anni spatio missas facere non praesumat."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 289

Let no one held under servile or colonizing conditions he ad
mitted to church honours, in violation of the statutes of tlie Apos
tolic see ; unless it be evident that he has been previously absolved
therefrom hy will or by deed. And if any bishop, being aware of
such condition of the person so ordained, shall wilfully transgress
hy making such unlawful ordination, let him not presume to cele
brate mass for the space of a year.
The colonial condition was in its origin different from the mere
servile. The mancipium or manu captum was the servus or slave
made in war : the colonus, or husbandman, though, at the period
at which we are arrived, he frequently was in as abject a condition,
yet was so by a different process. St. Augustine, in cap. i. lib. x.
Be Civitate Bei, tells us, " Coloni dicuntur, qui conditionem debe-
bant genitali solo propter agriculturam sub dominio possessorum."
They are called colonists who owe their condition to their native
land, under the dominion of its possessors.
Tha following history of various modes by which they became
servants, is taken from the work Be Guhernat. Bei, lib. v., by the
good and erudite Salvianus, a priest, who died at Marseilles, about
the year 484.
Nonnulli eorum de quibus loquimur, * * * (.^m domicilia
atque agellos sues pervasionibus perdunt, aut fatigati ab exactoribus
deserunt, quia tenere non possunt, fundos majorum expetunt, et
coloni divitum fiunt. Aut sicut sclent hi qui hostium terrore com-
pulsi, ad'castella se conferunt, aut qui perdito ingenuae incolumi-
tatis statu ad asylum aliquod desperatione confugiunt : ita et isti
qui habere amplius vel sedem vel dignitatem suorum natalium non
queunt, jugo se inquilinae abjectixinis addicunt : in banc necessita-
tem redacti, ut exactores non facultatis tantum, set etiam condi-
tionis suae, atque exultantes non a rebijs tantum suis, sed etiam a
seipsis, ac perdentes secum omnia sua, et rcrum proprietate care-
ant, et jus libertatis amittant. * * * Hlud gravius et acerbius,
quod additur huic male servilius malum. Nam suscipiuntur advense,
fiunt praejudicio hahitationis indigenae, et quos suscipiunt ut extra-
neos et alienos, incipiunt habere quasi proprios : quos esse constat
ingenues, vertunt in servos. ¦
Some of those, when they lose their dwellings and their little fieldf:
hy invasion, or leave them, being worried by exactions, as they can
no longer hold them, seek the grounds of the larger proprietors, and
become the colonists of the wealthy. Or, as is usual with those who
are driven oif hy the fear of enemies, and take refuge in the castles,
•" 19

290 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

orivlio, having lost their state of safe freedom, fly to some asylum in
despair : so they who can no longer have the place or the dignity
derived from their birth, subject themselves to the abject yoke ofthe
sojourner's lot; reduced to such necessity, that they are stripped
not only of their property, hut also of their rank; going into exile
not only from what belongs to them hut from their very selves, and
luith themselves losing all that they had, they are bereft of any pro
perty in things and . lose the very right of liberty. * * * J[
more degrading injury is added to this evil. For they are received
as strangers, they become inhabitants bereft of the rights of inhabit
ants ; they who receive them as foreigners and aliens begin to treat
them as property, and change into slaves those who, evidently, were
free. In this picture of the colonist, we may find the outline of the
villain of a later age ; and in the several enactments and regula
tions of succeeding legislators and councils, we shall discover the
changes which servitude underwent previous to its total extinction
in Europe.
Flodoardin, c. 28, History of the church of Rheims, gives us the
will of St. Remi, its bishop, who baptized Clovis, upon his conver
sion in 496, and who was still living in the year 550. This docu
ment grants freedom to some of the colonists belonging to that
church and retains others in service.
Du Cange says (Art. Colonus) that though in several instances
the condition of the colonists was as abject as that of slaves, yet
generally they were in a better position. Erant igitur coloni
mediae conditionis inter ingenues seu liheros et servos.

LESSON VIIL

From the fact that the slaves of this era were of the same
colour and other physical qualities of their masters ; from their
great number, and consequently little value, their condition
became attended with extremely diverse circumstances ; so various
were, therefore, the relations between them and the master, that
it would now be impossible, perhaps, to give an accurate history of
their various castes. These facts should be kept in mind, lest we
mistake, and find confusion, where distinction was sufficiently clear
and obvious.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 291

Muratori, treating of the Roman slaves and freedmen, acknow
ledges that he is unable accurately to state the conditions on
which they manumitted their slaves. In his treatise, " Sopra i
Servi e Liherti Antichi," he has a passage thus :
Noi non sappiamo se con patti, e con quai patti una vulta si
manomettessero que' Servi, che poi continuavano come Liherti a
servire in Cg-sa de' lore Padroni, con essere alzati a piu onorati
impieghi. Sappiamo bensi dal Tit. ne Operis Lihertorum, e dall'
altro de bonis Lihertorum ne' Digesti, che moltissimi acquistavano
la Liberta con obbligarsi di fare ai Padroni de' Regaii, o delle
Fatture, se erano Artefici, Operas, vel Bonum. Questo si prati-
cava verisimilmente dai soli Mercatanti, ed altri Signori dati all'
interarse, ma non gia dalle Nobili Case. Per conto di questo, le
, antiche Iscrizioni ci fanno vedere, che moltissimi furono colore,
che anche dope la conseguita Liberta seguitavano a convivere, e
servire in quelle medesime Case, non piu come Servi, ma come
Liherti, perche probab'ilmente tornava il conto agli uni e agli
altri. I Padroni si servivano di Persone lore confidenti, e gia
innestate nella propria Famiglia ; ei Liherti cresciuti di onore, e
di guadagno poteano cumulare roba per se e per li Figli. Non
ho io potuto scoprire se i Romani tenessero Servi Mercenarj come
oggidi. 0 di veri Servi, o di Liherti allora si servivano. Cio
posto, maraviglia e, che il Piguoria, in trattando degli Ufizj de'
Servi antichi, imbrogliasse tanto le carte, senza distinguere i Servi
dai Liherti, e con attribuir molti impieghi ai primi, che pure erano
riserbati agli ultimi. E piu da stupire e, citarsi da lui Marmi, che
parlano di Liherti, e pure sono presi da esse, come se parlassero
di Servi. We know not whether they manumitted upon condition, or, if
so, upon what conditions they manumitted formerly those servants
who continued thenceforth as freed persons, but elevated to more
honourable employments, to serve in the houses of their masters.
We do indeed know in the Tit. de Operis Lihertorum, and in
another de bonis Lihertorum of the Bigests, that very many
acquired their liberty with the obligation of giving to their masters
p)resents, or doing work if they were artists. Operas vel donum.
This was in all likelihood practised only hy merchants or other
masters given to making profit, but not hy noble houses. As to
these the ancient inscriptions exhibit to us that very many who
obtained their freedom, yet continued to live and to do service in
those same houses, no loniger as slaves, but as freed persons, because

292 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

probably each party found it beneficial. The patrons kept about
them persons in whom they had confidence, and who had already
been engrafted on their families; the freed persons, grown to
honour and making profit could create property for themselves and
for their children. I cannot discover whether the Romans had
hireling servants, as is now the case. They had then true slaves and
sometimes freed persons. This being the case, it is matter of sur^
prise that Pignoria, in treating of the employment of the ancient
slaves, should have been so perplexed as not to he able clearly to dis
tinguish slaves from freed persons, and should have attributed to
the former many employments which ivere specially reserved for the
latter : and it is more to be wondered at, that marbles ivMcli speak
of freed persons are referred to by him and explained as treating
of slaves.
It is clear that even in the days of the Emperor Claudius, to
whose reign, A. D. 45, the marble of which he treats refers, and
probably long before that period, many of the freedmen of the
Roman empire were hound to do certain services for the patrons
who had been their masters, and that this obligation descended to
their progeny. Hence this would still be a species of servitude.
The barbarians who overran the empire came chiefly from
Scythia and Germany, as that vast region was then called which
stretches from the Alps to the Northern Ocean. When they
settled in the conquered provinces of Gaul and in Italy, they
introduced many of , their customs as well of government as of
policy. Most of their slaves were what the writers of the second,
third, and fourth centuries describe as coloni and conditionibus
obligati. As Tacitus describes, in xxv. Be Moribus Germanorum :
" The slaves in general are not arranged at their several employ
ments in the household affairs, as is the practice at Rome. Each
has his separate habitation, and his own establishment to manage.
The master considers him as an agrarian dependant, who is
obliged to furnish a certain quantity of grain, cattle, or wearing-
apparel. The slave obeys, and the state of servitude extends no
further. All domestic affairs are managed by the master's wife
and children. To punish a slave with stripes, to load him with
chains, or condemn him to hard labour, is unusual. It is true
that slaves are sometimes put to death, not under colour of justice,
or of any authority vested in the master ; but in a transport of
passion, in a fit of rage, as is often the case in a sudden affray ;
but it is also true that this species of homicide passes with impu-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 293
nity. The freedmen are not of much higher consideration than
the actual slaves ; they obtain no rank in their master's family,
and, if we except the parts of Germany where monarchy is esta
blished, they never figure on the stage of public business. In
despotic governments they often rise above the men of ingenuous
birth, and even eclipse the whole body of the nobles. In other
states the subordination of the freedmen is a proof of public
liberty." At all ages, slaves who belonged to the absolute monarch, some
times became elevated above the native nobility : witness the case
of Joseph in Egypt ; of Ebed Melech, who was black, in Judea ;
of Haman, also a black, an Amalekite ; of Mordecai, his successor ;
of Esther the queen ; of Daniel the prophet, and Felix, governor
of Judea, a Greek slave to the Roman emperor. But such things
can never occur in a republic. To a political misfortune of this
kind the prophet alludes — " Servants (slaves) have ruled over
us" — than which nothing can be more expressive of the loss of
liberty. In the appendix to the Theodosian code, Const. 6, we read —
Inverecund^ arte defendetur, si hi ad conditionem vel originem
reposcuntur, quibus tempore famis, cum in mortem penuria coge-
rentur, opitulari non potuit dominus aut patronus.
It is forbidden as a shameless trick, that an effort should be
made to regain to their condition or original state, those ivhom the
master, or patron could not aid, when, in a period of famine, they
were pressed nearly to death by want.
This exhibits the obligation on the patron of the person under
condition, and on the master of the slave, to support them, and the
destruction of their title by the neglect of their duty.
Muratori observes, that in process of time, the special agree
ments and particular enactments regarding the conditions, gave
such a variety as baffled all attempts at classification and precision.
At a much earlier period, slaves had become ^a drug in the
Italian market. When, about the year 405, Rhadagasius, the
Goth, was leading upwards of three hundred thousand of his bar
barians into Italy, the Emperor Honorius ordered the slaves to
be armed for the defence of the country, by which arming they
generally obtained their freedom ; Stilichon, the consul, slew
nearly one hundred and fifty thousand of the invaders in the
vicinity of Florence, and made prisoners of the remainder, who
were sold as slaves at the low price of one piece of gold for each.

294 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Jacobs estimates the aureus at eleven shillings. It is supposed
to have contained about 70 grains of gold, which will make the
price of a slave, at that time, about $2.60. But Wilkins (Leges
Saxon.) informs us that, in England, about the year 1000, the
price of a slave was =62 16s. 3c?. sterling, not quite the value of two
horses. But, of these slaves of Stilichon, numbers died within
the year, so that Baronius relates (Annals, A. d. 406) that the
purchasers had to pay more for their burial than for their bodies ;
according to the remarks of Orosius, in this state of the market,
it was easy for the slave to procure that he should be held at a
condition, and thenceforth the number under condition greatly in
creased, and in process of time became more numerous than those
in absolute slavery.
In the year 541, the fourth council of Orleans was celebrated,
in the thirtieth year of King Childebert. The ninth canon : — Ut
episcopus, qui de facultate propria ecclesise nihil relinquit, de ec-
clesiae facultate si quid alitor quam canones eloquuntur obligaverit,
vendiderit aut distraxerit, ad ecclesiam revocetur, (ab ecclesia, in
other editions.) Sane si de servis ecclesiae libertos fecit numero
competenti, in ingenuitate permaneant, ita ut ab officio ecclesise
non recedant.
Be it enacted. That a bishop who has left none of his private
property to the church shall not dispose of any of the church
property, otherwise than as the canons point out. Should he hind
or sell or separate any thing otherwise, let it be recalled for the
church. But if, indeed, he has made freemen of slaves of the
church to a reasonable number, let them continue in their freedom,
hut with the obligation of not departing from the duty of the church.
The canon xxii. of the same council is —
Ut servis ecclesiae, vel sacerdotum, praedas et captivitates ex-
ercere non liceat; qui iniquum est, ut quorum domini redemp-
tionis praestare sclent suffragium, per servorum excessum disci-
plina ecclesiastica maculetur.
That it be not lawful for the slaves of the church, or of the
priests, to go on predatory excursions or to make captives, for it
is unjust that when the masters are accustomed to aid in redeem
ing, the discipline of the church should be disgraced hy the mis
conduct of the slaves.
In Judaism, God had established a limited sanctuary for slaves
and for certain malefactors, not to encourage crime, but to protect
against the fury of passion, and to give some sort of aid to the

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 295

feeble. Paganism adopted the principle, and the Christian temple
and its precincts became, not only by common consent, but by
legal enactment, the sanctuary instead of the former. Like every
useful institution, this too was occasionally abused.
The xxixth canon was —
Quaecumque mancipia sub specie conjugii ad ecclesise septa
confugerint, ut per hoc credant posse fieri conjugium, minime eis
licentia tribuatur, nee talis conjunctio a clericis defensetur : quia
prohatum est, ut sine legitime traditione conjuncti, pro religionis
ordine, statute tempore ab Ecclesiae communione suspendantur, ne
in sacris locis turpi concubitu misceantur. De qu^ re decernimus,
ut parentibus aut propriis dominis, prout ratio poscit personarum,
accepts fide excusati sub separationis promissione reddantur : post-
modum tamen parentibus atque dominis libertate concessS,, si eos
voluerint propria voluntate conjungere.
Let not those slaves who, under pretext of marriage, take refuge
within the precincts of the church, imagining that by this they
would make a marriage, he allowed to do so, nor let such union he
countenanced by the clergy : for it has been regulated that they
who form an union, without lawful delivery, should he, for the
good order of religion, separated for a fixed period from the com
munion of the church, so that this vile connection may be pre
vented in holy places. Wherefore we decree, that such persons,
being declared free from the bond of any plighted faith and made
to promise a separation, should be restored to their parents or
owners, as the case may require; to he, however, sub^quently, if
the parents or owners should grant leave, married with their own
free consent.
As we have seen in some parts of the East at an earlier period,
now in this portion of the West, the slaves were made incapable of
entering into the marriage-contract without the owner's consent.
In this same council, canon xxx., provision is made for affording
to the Christians, who are held as slaves by the Jews, not only
sanctuary of the church, but in the house of any Christian, until
a fair price shall be stipulated for and paid to the Jewish owner,
if the Christian be unwilling -to return to his service. This is a
clear recognition of the right of property in slaves.
Canon xxxi. of this council provides, that " if any Jew shall
bring a slave to be a proselyte to his religion, or make a Jew of a
Christian slave, or take as his companion a Christian female slave,
or induce a slave born of Christian parents to become a Jew under

296 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

the influence of a promise of emancipation, he shall lose the title
to every such slave. And further, that if any Christian slave
shall become a Jeivfor the sake of being manumitted with condi
tion, and shall continue to he a Jew, the liberty shall he lost and
the condition shall not avail him."
Canon xxxii. provides, that the " descendants of a slave, wher
ever they may be, even after a long lapse of time, though there
should he neglect, if found u,pon the land or possession upon which
their parents were placed, shall be held to the original conditions
established hy the deceased proprietor for the deceased parents, and
the priest of the place shall aid in enforcing the fulfilment, and
any persons who shall through avarice interpose obstacles, shall
be placed under church censures."
The doctrine and discipline of the church of the Franks were
like that of other churches in the several regions of Christendom
at this period.
A fifth council was held at Orleans, in the year 549, the thirty-
eighth of King Childebert. The sixth canon of this council relates to
the improper ordination of slaves, and also exhibits distinctly the
freedmen under condition, classing them in the same category with
slaves. Canon vi. Ut servum, qui libertatem a dominis propriis non
acceperit, aut etiam jam libertum, nullus episcoporum absque ejus
tantum voluntate, cujus aut servus est, aut eum absolvisse digno-
scitur, clericum audeat ordinare. Quod si quisquam fecerit, si qui
ordinatus egt a domino revocetur, et ille qui est collator ordinis, si
sciens fecisse probafur, sex mensibus missas tantum facere non
praesumat. Si vero saecularium servus esse convincitur, ei qui
ordinatus est benedictione servatS, honestum ordini domino suo
impendat obsequium. Quod si saecularis dominus amplius eum
voluerit inclinare, ut sacro ordini inferre videatur injuriam, duos
servos sicut antiqui canones habent, episcopus qui eum ordinavit
domino sseculari r^tituat ; et episcopus eum quem ordinavit ad
ecclesiam suam revocandi habeat potestatem.
That no bishop shall dare to ordain as a clergyman, the slave
ivho shall not have received licence from his proper owners, or a
pei'son already freed, without the permission of either the person
tvhose servant he is, or of the person who is known to have freed
him. And if any one shall do so, let him who is ordained be re
called by his master, and let him ivho conferred the order, if it be
proved that he did so knowing the state of the person, not presume

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 297
to celebrate mass for si.v months only. But if it he proved that he
is the servant of lay persons, let the person ordained be kept in
his rank and do service for his owner in a way becoming his order ;
but if his lay oivner debases him under that grade, so as to do
any dishonour to his holy order ; let the bishop who ordained him
give, as the ancient canons enact, two slaves to his master, and be
empowered to take him whom he ordained to his church.
The canon regards manumission, and the protection of those
properly liberated from slavery, against the injustice of persons
who disregarded the legal absolution from service.
Canon xii. Et quia plurimorum suggestione comperimus, eos
qui in ecclesiis juxta patrioticam consuetudinem a servitio fu-
erint absoluti, pro libito quorumcumque iterum ad servitium revo-
cari, impium esse tractavimus, ut quod in ecclesia Dei considera-
tione a vinculo servitutis absolvitur, irritum habeatur. Ideo
pietatis causS, communi consilio placuit obserVandum, ut quaecum
que mancipia ab ingenuis dominis servitute laxantur, in eS libertate
maneant, quam tunc a dominis perceperunt. Hujusmodi quoque
libertas si a quocumque pulsata fuerit, cum justitiS, ab ecclesiis
defendatur, prseter eas culpas pro quibus leges collatas servis
revocare jusserunt libertates.
And since we have discovered by information from several, that
they who, according to the custom of the country, were absolved
from slavery in the churches, were again, at the will of some per
sons, reduced to slavery ; we have regarded it to be an impiety ;
that what has hy a judicial decree been absolved from servitude in
the church of God, should be set at nought. Wherefore, through
motives of piety, it is decreed by common counsel to be henceforth
observed, that whatever slaves are freed from servitude hy free
masters are to remain in that freedom which they then received
from the masters; and should this liberty of theirs be assailed by
any person, it shall be defended within the limits of justice by
the churches, saving where there are crimes for which the laws
have enacted that the liberty granted to servants shall he recalled.
It is quite evident, from Exodus xii. 44, that the Israelites, who
were themselves slaves in Egypt, also themselves possessed slaves.
Also from Nehemiah vii. 67, that the Jews who were slaves in
Babylon, yet, upon their liberation, were found to own 7337 slaves ;
and from the foregoing it appears that the persons then called
liberti or freedmen, or the conditionati or persons under condition,
and probably, in some instances, coloni or colonists, had slaves, but

298 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

.vere not permitted to liberate them, at least without the consent
of their own masters, for the canon speaks of only the servants of
the ingenui, or those who enjoyed perfect freedom. We see, also,
what is evident from many other sources, that persons who had ob
tained their freedom were for some crimes reduced to servitude,
and we shall see, in future times, even freemen are enslaved for
various offences.
Again, in the canon xxii. of this council, we find provision
which exhibits the caution which was used in regulating the right
of sanctuary for slaves. This right was, in Christianity, a concession
of the civil power, humanely interposing, in times of imperfect
security and violent passion, the protecting arm of the church, to
arrest the violence of one party, so as to secure merciful justice for
the other, and to make the compositions of peace and equity be
substituted for the vengeance or the exactions of power. *It was,
so far from being an encouragement to crime, one of the best
helps towards civilizing the barbarian.
Canon xxii. De servis vero, qui pro qualibet culpS ad ec
clesiae septa confugerint, id statuimus observandum, ut, sicut in
antiquis constitutionibus tenetur scriptum, pro concessS. culpa; datis
a domino sacramentis, quisquis ille fuerit, egrediatur de veniS jam
securus. Enimvero si immemor fidei dominus transcendisse con
vincitur quod juravit, ut is qui veniam acceperat, probetur post-
modum pro ek cum qualicumque supplicio cruciatus, dominus ille,
qui immemor fuit datae fidei, sit ab omnium communione suspensus.
Iterum si servus de promissione veniae datis sacramentis a domino
jam securus exire noluerit, ne siib tali contumaciS, requirens locum
fugae domino fortasse disperiat, egredi nolentem a domino eum
liceat occupari, ut nuUam, quasi pro retentatione servi, quibuslibet
modis molestiam aut calumniam patiatur ecclesia : fidem tamen
dominus, quam pro concessS veniS dedit, nuUS temeritate tran-
scendat. Quod si aut gentilis dominus fuerit, aut alterius sectae,
qui a conventu ecclesiae probatur extraneus, is qui servum repetit
personas requirat bonae fidei Christianas, ut ipsi in person^ domini
servo praebeant sacramenta : quia ipsi possunt servare quod sacrum
est, qui pro transgressione ecclesiasticam metuunt disciplinam.
We enact this to be observed respecting slaves, who may for any
fault fly to the precincts of the church, that, as is found written in
ancient constitutions, when the master shall pledge his oath to
grant pardon to the culprit, whosoever he may be, he shall go out
secure of pardon. But, if the master, unmindful of his oath,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 299

shall he convicted of having gone hegond what he had sworn, so
that it shall he proved that the servant who had received pardon
was afterwards tortured with any punishment for that fault, let
that master who was forgetful of his oath be separated from the
communion of all. Again, should the servant secured from pu
nishment by the master's oath, be unwilling to go forth, it shall be
lawful for the master, that he should not lose the service of a slave
seeking sanctuary by such contumacy, to seize upon such a one un
willing to go out, so that the church should not suffer either trouble
or calumny by any means on account of retaining such servant :
but let not the master in any way rashly violate the oath that he
swore for granting pardon. But, if the master be a gentile, or
of any other sect proved without the church, let the person who
claims the slave procure Christian persons of good account who
shall swear for the servant's security in the master's name : because
they who dread ecplesiastioal discipline for transgression can keep
that which is sacred.

LESSON IX.
Bishop England has, in his eighth letter, alluded to the state of
|ociety in England and Ireland at this early day, for the purpose
of elucidating the fact that the doctrines, of the church concerning
slavery and the civil condition of those regions were materially
without difference from the other parts of Europe. Some portions
of his letter, although, perhaps, too distant from our subject, are,
nevertheless, too interesting to omit.
About the year 462, Niell Naoigiallach, or Neill of the Nine
Hostages, ravaged the coast of Britain and Gaul. In this expe
dition a large number of captives were made. One youth, sixteen
years of age, by the name of Cothraige, was sold to Milcho, and
was employed by him in tending sheep, in a place called Dalradia
— within the present county of Antrim. This Cothraige was St.
Patrick, subsequently the apostle of Ireland.
St. Patrick, in his Confessions, states that many of his unfortu
nate countrymen were carried off and made captives, and dispersed
among many nations.
The Romans had possession of Britain, and even had not

300 STUDIES ON SLAVeRY.

slavery existed there previously, they would have introduced it ;
but, the Britons needed not this lesson ; they had been conversant
with it before : we shall see evidence of the long continuance of
its practice.
About the year 450, a party of them, among whom were
several that professed the Christian religion, made a piratical in
cursion upon the Irish coast, under the command of Corotic, or
Caractacus, or Coroticus.
Lanigan compiles the following account of this incursion frqm
the Eccles. History of Ireland, vol. i. c. iv.
" This prince, Coroticus, though apparently a Christian, was a
tyrant, a pirate, and a persecutor. He landed, with a party of his
armed followers, many of whom were Christians, at a season of
solemn baptism, and set about plundering a district in which St.
Patrick had just baptized and confirmed a great number of con
verts, and on the very day after the holy chrism was seen shining
in the foreheads of the white-robed neophytes. Having murdered
several persons, these marauders carried off a considerable number
of people, whom they went about selling or giving up as slaves to
the Scots and the apostate Picts. St. Patrick wrote a letter,
which he sent by a holy priest whom he had instructed from his
younger days, to those pirates, requesting of them to restore the
baptized captives and some part of the booty. The priest and the
other ecclesiastics that accompanied him being received by them
with scorn and mockery, and the letter not attended to,. the saint
found himself under the necessity of issuing a circular epistle or
declaration against them and their chief Coroticus, in which, an
nouncing himself a bishop and established in Ireland, he proclaims
to all those who fear God, that said murderers and robbers are
excommunicated and estranged from Christ, and that it is not
lawful to show them civility, nor to eat or drink with them, nor to
receive their offerings, until, sincerely repenting, they make atone
ment to God and liberate his servants and the handmaids of Christ.
He begs of the faithful, into whose hands the epistle may come, to
get it read be^re the people everywhere, and before Coroticus
« himself, and to communicate it to his soldiers, in the hope that
they and their master may return to God, &c. Among other very
affecting expostulations, he observes that the Roman and GaUic
Christians are wont to send proper persons with great sums of
money to the Franks and other pagans, for the purpose of redeem
ing Christian captives; while, on the contrary, that monster.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 301

Coroticus, made a, trade of Selling the members of Christ to nations
ignorant of God."
The Britons were frequently invaded by the Scots, upon the
abandonment of their country by the Romans; and at the period
here alluded to, it is supposed by many that the captives taken
from Ireland were in several instances given by their possessors
to the plundering and victorious Northmen, by the Britons, in ex
change for their own captured relatiyes, whom they desired to
release. About the year 555, Pope Pelagius. held, under the protection
of King Childebert, the third council of Paris, in which we find a
canon, entitled, " De Servis Degeneribus," concerning "bastard
slaves," as follows: (See Du Cange.)
Canon ix. De degeneribus servis, qui pro sepulchris defunctorum
pro qualitate ipsius ministerii deputantur, hoc placuit observari, ut
sub quS, ab auctoribus fuerint conditione dimissi, sive heredibus,
sive ecclesiis pro defensione fuerint deputati, voluntas defuncti
circa eos in omnibus debeat observari. Quod si ecclesia eos de fisci
functionibus in omni parte defenderit ecclesiae tam illi, quam posteri
eorum, defensione in omnibus potiantur, et occursum impendant.
It is enacted concerning bastard slaves who are placed to ¦ keej}
the sepulchres, because of the rank of that office, that ivhether they
he placed under the protection of the heirs or of the church for their
defence, upon the condition upon which they were discharged by
their owners, the will of the deceased should he observed in all
things in their regard. But, if the church shall keep them en-
' tirely exempt from the services and payments of the fisc, let them
and their descendants enjoy the protection of the church for de
fence, and pay to it tlieir tribute.
The auctores, or authors, in the original sense, were owners or
ministers ; and subsequently, especially in Gaul, it was often taken
to mean parents, which probably, from the context, is here its
* meaning ; and, we find a new title and a new class, where the mas
ter having committed a crime with his servant, the offspring was
his slave ; yet, his natural affection caused the par^t to grant him
a conditioned freedom, to protect which this canon specified the
guardian to be either the heir or the church.
Martin, archbishop of Braga, who presided at the third council
of that city, in the year 572, collected, from the councils of the
east and the west, the greater portion of the canon law then in
force, and made a compendium thereof, which he distributed into

302 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

eighty-four heads, which formed as many short canons, and thence
forth they were the basis of the discipline in Spain.
The forty-sixth of these canons is — -
Si quis obligatus tribute servili, vel aliqua conditione, vel pa-
trocinio cujuslibet domus, non est ordinandus clericus, nisi pro-
bandae vitae fuerit et patroni concessus accesserit.
If any one is bound to Servile tribute, or by any condition, or
by the patronage of any house, he is not to be ordained a clergy
man, unless he he of approved life, and the consent of the patron
be also given.
This canon is taken into the body of the canon law. Bist. 53.
Canon xlvii. Si quis servum alienum causS religionis doceat
contemnere dominum suum et recedere k servitio ejus, durissimS
ab omnibus arguatur.
If any person will teach the servant of another, under pretext
of religion, to despise his master and to withdraw from his service,
let him be most sharply rebuked hy all.
This too is taken into the body of the canon law. (17, q. 4,
Si quis.)
In the year 589, the third council of Toledo, in. Spain, was cele
brated, in the pontificate of Pope Pelagius II. All the bishops
of Spain assembled upon the invitation of King Reccared.
The articles of faith form twenty-three heads of various length ;
after which follow twenty-three capitula, or little chapters or heads
of discipline.
The sixth of these is in the following words :
De libertis autem id Dei praecipiunt sacerdotes, ut si qui ab
episcopis facti sunt secundum modum quo canones antiqui dant
licentiam, sint liberi; et tamen a patrocinio ecclesiae tam ipsi,
quam ab eis progeniti non recedant. Ab aliis quoque libertati
traditi, et ecclesiis commendati, patrocinio episcopal! regantur :
h principe hoc episcopus postulet.
The priests of God decree concerning freedmen, that if any are
made by the bishops in the way the ancient canons permit, they
shall he considered free ; yet so that neither they nor their descend
ants shall retire from the patronage of the church. Let those
freed by others and placed under the protection of the church, be
placed under the bishop's protection. Let the bishop ask this of
his prince.
This too is taken into the body of the canon law. (12, q. 2,
Be libertis.)

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 303

A custom had already gained considerable prevalence, which we
shall find greatly extended in subsequent ages, of granting to the
churches slaves for its service and support. The administrators
of the church property were called familia fisci. The church
property was in ecclesiastical documents styled the fisc. The fisca
regis, or royal fisc, was a different fund or treasury. It sometimes
happened that the clergy who were the administrators sought to
obtain from the "conditioned slaves" more than they were bound
to give, and also, sometimes, others sought to have their service
taken from the church. The capitulary viii. of this thjrd council
of Toledo was enacted to remedy this latter grievance.
Innuente (other copies, jubente) atque consentiente domino
piissimo Reccaredo rege, id prsecipit sacerdotale consilium, ut cleri-
corum (others, clericos) ex familiS, fisci nullus audeat a principe
donates expetere ; sed reddito capitis sui tribute ecclesiae Dei, cui
sunt alligati, usque dum vivent, regulariter administrent.
By the suggestion {or by the cornmand) and with the consent of
the most pious lord King Reccared, the council of priests directs
that no one shall dare to reclaim from tJie administrators of the
church those clergy given by the prince ; hut having paid their tri
bute to the church of God, to which they are bound, let them, as long
as they live, administer regularly.
In the same council, the canon xv. is the following :
Si qui ex servis fiscalibus ecclesias forte construxerint easque
de suS paupertate ditaverint, hoc procuret episcopus prece suS, auc-
toritate regiS. confirmari.
If any of the king's special servants shall have built churches,
and have enriched .thern hy the contributions from their poverty,
let the bishop obtain that it he confirmed hy the royal authority.
The servi fiscales were the private or patrimonial property of
the king.
This also exhibits the principle that the> slave was not permitted
to contribute, without the consent of his owner, to religious esta
blishments. A canon of the assembly held in Constantinople, 692 :
Canon Ixxxv. In duobus vel tribus testibus confirmari omne
verbum ex Scriptura accepimus. Servos ergo qui a dominis suis
manumittuntur, sub tribus testibus eo frui honore decernimus,
qui praesentes libertati vires et firmitatem afferent, et ut lis quae
ipsis testibus, facta sunt fides habeatur efficient.
We have learned from the Scripture that every word is con-

304 STUDIES ON SL,AVERY.

firmed in two or three witnesses. We therefore declare that slaves
who are manumitted by their masters shall be admitted to enjoy
that honour under three witnesses, who may be able to afford secu
rity hy their presence to the freedopi, and who may be able to secure
credit for the acts done in their view.

0

LESSON X.

As late as the year 577, Britain furnished other nations with
slaves, which is sufficiently proved by the fbUowing extract from
Bede: Nee silentio praetereunda opinio quae- de beat© Gregorio, tra
ditione majorum, ad nos usque perlata est : qu,S videlicet ex causa;
admonitus, tam sedulam erga saluteta nostrse gentiS' curam gesserit.
Dicunt, quia die quSdam cum advenientibus nuper mercatoribus
multa venalia in forum fuissent conlata, multique ad emendum
confluxissent, et ipsum Gregorium, inter alios -advenisse, ac vidisse
inter alia pueros venales positos, candidi corporis ac venusti vultus,
capillorum quoque formS, egregiS. Quos cum aspiceret, interro-
gavit, ut ajunt, de qua; regione vel terrS essent adlati. , Dictumque
est quod de BrittaniS insult, cujus incolae talis- essent as.pectus.
Rursus interrogavit, utrum iidem insu-lani, -Christiani, an paganis
adhuc erroribus- essent implicati? Dictumque est, qliod essent
pagani. At ille intimo ex corde longa trahens suspiria : " Heu,
proh dolor !" inquit, " quod tam'lucidi vult"iis homines tenebrarum
auctor possidet, tantaque gratia frontispicii mentem ab internii
gratis vacuam gestat!"^ Rursus ergo interr.ogavit, 'quod esset
vocabulum gentis illius ? Responsum est quod Angli vocarentur.
At ille, "Ben§," inquit, "nam et angelicam habent faciem, et tales
angelorum in coelis decet esse coheredes. Quod habet nomen ipsa
provincia de qua; isti sunt adlati ?" Responsuta est quod Deiri
vocarentur iidem provinciales. At ille : '' Benfe," inquit, " Deiri, de
irS eruti, et ad misericordiam Christi vocati. Rex provinciae
illius, quomodo appellatur ?" Responsum est quod Aella dice-
retur. At ille adludens ad nomen ait : " Alleluia, laudem Dei
creatoris illis in partibus oportet cantari." Accedensque ad Ponti-
ficem Romanoe et Apostolicse sedis, nondum enim erat ipse Pon-
tifex factus, rogavit, ut genti Angliorum in Britanniam aliquos

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 30^

verbi ministros, per quos ad Christum conwrterentur, mitteret :
seipsum paratum esse in hoc opus Domino co-operante perficien-
dum, si tamen Apostolico Papae hoc ut fieret placeret. Quod
dum perficere non posset ; quia etsi pontifex concedere illi quod
petierat voluit, non tamen cives Romani ut tam longe ab urbc
recederet potuere permittere ; mox ut ipse pontificatus officio
functus est, perficit opus diu desideratum : alios quidem prsedica-
tores mittens, sed ipse praedicationem ut fructificaret suis exhor-
tationibus et precibus adjuvans.
Nor is that notice of the blessed Gregory which has eonie dcna.-n
to us by the tradition of our ancestors to be silently passed over :¦
for, by reason of the admonition that he then received, he became so
industrious for the salvation of our nation. For they say, that on
a certain day when merchants had newly arrived, many things
were brought into the market, and several persons had come to pur
chase; Gregory himself came among them, and saw exposed for
sale, youths of a fair body and handsome countenance, whose hair
was also beautiful. Looking at them, they say, he asked from what
part of the world they were brought ; he was told from the island
of Britain, ivhose inhabitants were of that complexion. Again he
asked whether these islanders were Christians or were immersed in
the errors of paganism. It was ¦ said, that they ivere pagans.
And he, sighing deeply, said, ''Alas ! what a pity thatthe author of
darkness should possess men of so bright a coujitenance, and that
so graceful an aspect should have a mind void of grace within!"
Again he inquired what was the name of their nation. He was
told that they were called Angles. He said, " It is well, for they
have angelic faces, and it is fit that such should be the coheirs with
Angels in Heaven." From what province were they brought, was
his next inquiry. To which it was answered. The people of their
province are called Deiri. " Good again," said he, " Deiri, {de ird
eruti,) rescued from anger and called to the mercy of Christ."
What is the name of the king of that province ? He was told,
Aella. And, playing upon the word, he responded, " Alleluia. The
praisex of God our Creator ought to he chanted in those regions."
And going to the pontiff of the Roman Apostolic See, for he was
not yet made pope himself, he besought him to send to Britain, for
the nation of the Angles, some ministers of the word, through ivhom
they may he converted to Christ ; and stated that he ivas himself
ready, the Lord being his aid, to undertake this work, if the pope
should so please. This he ivas not able to do, for though the pon-
20

306 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

tiff desired to grant his petition, the citizens of Rome would not
consent that he should go to so great distance therefrom. As soon,
however, as he was placed in the office of pope, he performed his
long desired work: he sent other preachers, hut he aided by his
prayers and exhortations, that he might make their preaching
fruitful. Gregory became pope in 590. Soon after his elevation to the
pontifical dignity, he sought to purchase some of the British
youths, in order to have them trained up to be missionaries to
their countrymen.
The holy see had already a considerable patrimony in Gaul,
bestowed by the piety of the faithful : we shall see from the fol
lowing epistle of the pope to the priest Candidus, whom he sent as
its administrator, thp use which was made of its income.

tr

Lib. V. Epist. X. — Gregorius Candido Presbytero eunti ad
patrimonium Galliae.
Pergens auxiliante Domino Deo nostro Jesu Christo ad patri
monium, quod est in Galliis gubernandum, volumus ut dilectio tua
ex solidis quos acceperit, vestimenta pauperum, vel pueros Anglos,
qui sunt ab annis decem et septem, vel decem et octo, ut in mona-
steriis dati Deo proficiant, comparet ; quatenus solidi Galliarum,
qui in terr4 nostrS, expendi non possunt, apud locum proprium
utiliter expendantur. Si quid vero de pecuniis redituum, quae
dicuntur ablatae, recipere potueris, ex his quoque vestimenta pau
perum comparare te volumus ; vel, sicut praefati sumus, pueros qui
in omnipotentis Dei servitio proficiant. Sed quia pagani sunt, qui
illic inveniri possunt, volo, ut cum eis presbyter transmittatur, ne
quid aegritudinis contingat in vik, ut quos morituros conspexerit
debeat baptizare. Ita igitur tua dilectio faciat, ut haec diligenter
implore festinet.
Gregory to the Priest Candidus, going to the patrimony of
Gaul. As you are going, with aid of the Lord Jesus Christ, our God,
to govern the patrimony which is in Gaul ; we desire that out of
the shillings you may receive, you, our beloved, should purchase
clothing for the poor, or English youths about the age of seventeen
or eighteen, that, being placed in monasteries, they may be useful for
the service of God ; so that the money of GauT, which ought not to
be expended in our land, may be laid out in its own place benefi
cially. If you can also get any of the money of thai, inQQme called

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 307

tolls, (ablatae,) we also desire that you should therewith buy clothing
for the poor, or, as we have before said, youths who may become pro
ficients in the service of God. But as they who dwell in that
place are pagans, it is our desire that a priest be sent with them
lest they should get sick on the journey, and he ought to baptize
those whom he may see in a dying state. So let you, our beloved,
do, and be alert in fulfilling what we have desired.
The commission of Pope Gregory to purchase those youths was
executed. But, as Lingard observes, (Ant. Anglo-Saxon Chu. c. i.,)
" their progress was slow, and his zeal impatient." The result
was that St. Augustine and his companions were sent by the pope,
and effected the conversion of the island.
In the same chapter, Lingard describes the Saxons who had
settled in England, previous to their conversion, and refers to
Will, of Malmesbury {de reg. 1. i., c. 3.)
" The savages of Africa may traffic with the Europeans for the
negroes whom they have seized by treachery, or captured in open
war ; but the most savage conquerors of the Britons sold without
scruple, to the merchants of the continent, their countrymen, and
even their own children."
" But their ferocity soon yielded to the exertions of the mis
sionaries, and the harsher features of their origin were insensibly
softened under the mild infiuence of the gospel. In the rage of
victory, they learned to respect the rights of humanity. Death or
slavery was no longer the fate of the conquered Britons ; by their
submission, they were incorporated with the victors ; and their
lives and property were protected by the equity of their Christian
conquerors. * * * The humane idea, that by baptism all
men become brethren, contributed to meliorate the condition of
slavery, and scattered the seeds of that liberality which gradually
undermined, and at length abolished, so odious an institution. By
the provision of the legislature, the freedom of the child was
secured from the avarice of an unnatural parent ; and the heaviest
punishment was denounced against the man who presumed to sell
to a foreign master one of his countrymen, though he were a slave
or a malefactor."
Lingard here refers to the statutes of Ina, quoted in a previous
study. But it may be remarked that here is the earhest notice of
the African slave-trade, as a branch of European commerce, com
pared with the ancient slave-trade carried on with Britain.

308 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

In his book, " Pastoralis Curas," Of the Pastoral Care, part 3,
c. i. Admonit. vi.. Pope Gregory says —
Admonitio ti. — Alitor admonendi sunt servi, atque alitor
domini. Servi scilicet, ut in se semper humilitatem conditionis
aspiciant : domini vero, ut naturae suae qua, aequaliter sunt cum
servis conditi, memoriam non amittant. Servi admonendi sunt
ne dominos despiciant, ne Deum offendant si ordinationi illius su-
perbiendo contradicunt : domini quoque admonendi sunt, quia
contra Deum de munere ejus superbiunt, si eos quos per conditionem
tenent subditos, aequales sibi per naturae consortium non agnoscunt.
Isti admonendi sunt ut sciant se servos esse dominorum : illi ad
monendi sunt ut cognoscant se conserves esse servorum. Istis
namque dicitur : Servi, obedite dominis carnalibus. Et rursum :
Quicumque sunt suh jugo servi, dominos suos omni honore dignos
arbitrentur : illis autem dicitur : et vos, domini, eadem facite illis,
remittentes minas, scientes quod et illorum et vester dominus est in
coelis. Admonition vi. — Servants are to be admonished in one way, mas
ters in another way : servants indeed, that they should always
regard in themselves the lowliness of their condition : masters how
ever, that they lose not the recollection of their nature, by which they
are created upon a level with their slaves. Slaves are to be admo
nished not to despise their masters, lest they offend God, if growing
proud they contradict his ordinance: masters too are to he admo
nished ; because they grow proud against God hy reason of his gift,
if they do not acknowledge as their equals, by the felloivship qf
nature, those whom by condition they hold as subjects. These are
to he admonished that they be mindful that they are the slaves of
their masters ; those that they recollect that they are the fellow-ser
vants of servants. To these it is said : Servants, obey your mas
ters in the flesh : and again. Whosoever are servants under the
yoke, let them consider their masters worthy of all honour : but
to those it is said : And you, masters, do in like manner to them,
laying aside threats, knowing that your and their Master is in
heaven. In his book ii. of Epistles, ep. xxxix., writing to Peter, a sub-
deacon of Campania, he directs him how to act in the case of a
female slave, belonging to a proctor or manager of church property,
{defensor,) who was anxious to be allowed to become a sister in a
monastery, which was not lawful without the consent of her owner.
The pope neither orders the master to manumit her nor to permit

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 309

her profession, for, though he was employed by the church, the re
ligion to which he belonged did not require of him to give away
his property, nor had the head of that church power to deprive
him thereof; hence he writes —
Preterea quia Felix defensor puellam nomine Catillam habere
dicitur, quae cum magnis lacrymis, et vehementi desiderio habitum
conversionis appetit, sed earn praefatus dominus suus converti
minime permittit : proinde volumus, ut experientia tua praefatum
Felicem adeat, atque puellae ejusdem animum sollicite requirat ; et
si ita esse cognoverit, pretium ejusdem puellae suae domino praebeat,
et hue eam in monasterio dandam cum personis gravibus. Domino
auxiliante, transmittat. Ita vero haec age, ut non per lentam ac
tionem tuam praefatse puellae anima detrimentum aliquod in desi
derio suo sustineat.
Moreover, because the proctor Felix is said to have a servant
named Ctttilla, who with many tears and vehement desire wishes to
obtain the habit of religion ; but her aforesaid master will not by
any means permit her making profession : it is then our desire that
your experience would call upon the said Felix, and carefully ex
amine the disposition of that young ivoman, and if you should find
it "such as is stated, pay to the master her price, and send her hither
with discreet persons, to be placed, ivith God's help, in a monastery.
But do this, so that the soul of the young woman may not suffer
any inconvenience in her desire, through your tardiness.
The following is a deed of gift which the same Pope made, to
assure the possession of a slave to the bishop of Porto, one of the
suburban sees near Rome. It is curious, not merely as exhibiting
the fact that the pope and the See of Rome held and transferred
slaves at this period, but also as giving a specimen of a legal docu
ment of that date and tenor : —
Lib. X. Bp. LII. — Gregorius, Felici Episcopo Portuensi.
Charitatis vestrae gratia; provocati, ne infructuosi vobis vi-
deamur existere, praBcipue cum et minus vos habere servitia nove-
rimus ; ideo Joannem juris ecclesiastici famulum, natione Sabinum,
ex mass^ Flavian^, annorum plus minus decem et octo, quem nostra
voluntate jam diu possidetis, fraternitati vestrae jure directo dona-
mus atque concedimus; ita ut cum habeatis, possideatis, atque juri
proprietatique vestra vindicetis atque defendatis, et quidquid de eo
facere volueritis, quippe ut dominus, ex hujus donationis jure libero
potiamini arbitrio. Contra quam munificentise nostrse chartulam

310 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

nunquam nos successoresque nostros noveris esse ventures. Hauc
autem donationem a notario nostro perscriptam legimus, atque
subscripsimus, tribuentes etiam non expectat^ professione vestrS
quo volueritis tempore alligandi licentiam legitime stipulatione et
sponsione interpositL Actum Romae.
Excited hy our regard for your charitable person, that we may
not appear to be useless to you, especially as we know you are short
of servants: we therefore give and grant to you our brother, by
our direct right, John, a servant of the church domain, hy birth a
Sabine, of the Flavian property, now aged about eighteen years,
whom by our will you have a good while had in your possession.
So that you may have and possess him, and preserve and maintain
your right to him and defend him as your property. And that
you may, by the free gift of this donation, enjoy the exercise of
your will, to do what you may think proper in his regard, as his
lord. Against which papier of our munificence, you may know that
neither we nor our successors are ever to come. And we have read
this deed of gift, written out by our notary, and we have subscribed
the same, not even awaiting your profession, respecting the time you
would desire license to register it in the public acts by interposing
the laivful process of signature and covenant. Bone at Rome, ^c.
The massa was generally a portion of land of about twelve acres :
and the servants belonging specially thereto are in the documents
of this and a later period generally called either servi de (or ex)
massa, and when they subsequently became conditioned, or freed
to a certain extent, they were called homines de masnada, or other
names equivalent thereto.
Lib. V. Ep. XXXIV. — Gregorius, Athemio Subdiacono.
Quantus dolor, quantaque sit nostro cordi afflictio de his, quae
in partibus Campaniae contigerunt, dicere non possumus : sed ex
calamitatis magnitudine potes ipse cognoscere. E^ de re, pro re-
medio captivorum qui tenti sunt, solidos experientiae tuae per horum
portitorem Stephanum virum magnificum transmisimus, admonentes
ut omnino debeas esse sollicitus, ac strenu^ peragas, et liberos ho
mines, quos ad redemptionem suam sufficere non posse cognoscis, tu
eos festines redimere. Qui vero servi fuerint, et dominos eorum
ita pauperes esse compereris, ut eos redimere non assurgant, et bos
quoque comparare non desinas. Pariter etiam et servos ecclesia;
qui tua negligentigi, perierunt, curabis redimere. Quo cumque

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 311

autem redemeris, subtiliter notitiam, quae nomina eorum, vel quia
ubi maneat, sive quid agat, seu undo sit, contineat, facere modis
omnibus studebis, quam tecum possis afferre cum veneris. Ita
autem in h&c re te studiose exhibere festina, ut ii qui redimendi
sunt, nullum te negligente periculum possint incurrere, et tu apud
nos postea vehementer incipias esse culpabilis, sed et hoc quam
maxime age, ut si fieri potest, captivos ipsos minori possis pretio
comparare. Substantiam vero sub omni puritate atque subtilitate
describe, et ipsam nobis descriptionem cum celeritate transmitte.
Gregory, to the Suhdeacon Anthemius :
We cannot express how great is our grief and the affliction of
our heart, hy reason of what has occurred in a part of Campania ;
but you may yourself estimate it from the extent of the calamity.
Wherefore, we send to your experience, by Stephen, a worthy man,
the hearer hereof, money for the aid of those captives who are de
tained ; admonishing you that you ought to be very industrious
and exert yourself to discover what freemen are unable to procure
their own release, and that you should quickly redeem them. But
respecting the slaves, when you shall discover that their masters are
so poor as not to have it in their power to release them, you will
also not omit to buy them. In like manner you will he careful to
redeem the servants of the church who have been lost through your
neglect. You will also be very careful hy all means to make a neat brief,
which you can bring when you come, containing their names, as
also where any one remains, how he is employed, or whence he is.
You will be diligent, and so industrious in this transaction, as to
give no cause of danger by your neglect, for those who are to be
released, nor run the risk of being exceedingly culpable in our view.
You will he most particular, above all things, to procure the release
of the captives at the lowest possible rate. You will make out the
accounts as accurately and as clearly as possible, and send them to
us with speed.
The calamity which he bewails was an incursion of the Lom
bards, who, coming originally from Scandinavia, settled for a while
in Pomerania, and about this period ravaged Italy.

312 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON XL
At this age of the world, there still existed a feeling of rival-
ship between the Jew, the pagan, and the Christian ; and, in truth,
between some of the different sects of the latter, as to which sys
tem of religion should prevail. This state of facts often rendered
the condition of the slave peculiar.
The Jew and the Christian were in opposition from the very
origin of Christianity. The first persecutors of the Christians
were the relatives of the first Christians ; the death of the Saviour
and the martyrdom of Stephen, the imprisonment of Peter, the
mission of Saul to Damascus, and a variety of other similar facts,
exhibit in strong relief the spirit of hatred which caused not
merely separation, but enmity. The destruction of Jerusalem, the
captivity of the people who preserved the early records of reve
lation, and the increase of the Christian religion, even under the
swords and the gibbets of its persecutors, only increased and per
petuated this feeling.
The pride of the Gentile ridiculed what he denominated super
stition : while he smote the believer whom he mocked, he bowed
before the idol of paganism. The early heresies of those who
professed the Christian name, but separated from Christian unity,
sprang generally from the efforts to destroy the mysterious nature
of the doctrine of the apostles, and to explain it by the system of
some Gentile philosopher, or to modify it by superinducing some
Judaic rite or principle. The Jew, the Gentile, and the heretic
equally felt elevated by his imagined superiority over the faithful
follower of the doctrine of the Galilean. Thus the sword of the
persecutor, the scoff of ridicule, and the quibbling of a false phi
losophy, were all employed against the members of the church ;
and among those who were by their situation the most exposed
to suffering, were the Christian slaves of the enemies of the cross.
Even they who belonged to the faithful had peculiar trials, because,
frequently, in times of persecution, masters, desirous of obtaining
protection, without actually sacrificing to idols, compelled their ser
vants to personate them in perpetrating the crime. They were fre
quently circumcised, even against their will, by the Jewish owners.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 313

They were frequently mutilated by the infidel master. They
were also exposed to the continued hardships and enticements of
owners who desired to make them proselytes.
It was, therefore, at an early period after the conversion of Con
stantine, enacted that no one who was not a Christian should hold
a Christian slave, upon that principle contained in Lev. xxv. 47,
48. We find in the civil code, lib. i. tit. 10, "Judaeus servum
Christianum nee comparare debebit, nee largitatis aut alio quo
cumque titulo consequetur." A Jew shall notpurohasea Christian
slave, nor shall he obtain one by title of gift, nor hy any other title.
In a subsequent part of the title the penalty is recited, " non
solum mancipii damno mulctetur, veriim etiam capitali sententia
punietur." Not only shall he be mulcted by the loss of the slave,
but he shall he punished by a capital sentence.
By a decree of Valentinian IIL, found after the Theodosian
code, and .entitled, "De diversis ecclesiasticis capitibus," bearing
date 425, Aquileia, vii. of the ides of July, Jews and pagans were
prohibited from holding Christian slaves.
Thus by the laws of the empire at this period, no Jew or Gentile
could have any property in a Christian slave. This principle was
not adopted until a much later period by the Franks and other na
tions, and this will account for the diversity of legislation and of judg
ment which the books of the same period exhibit in various regions.
Another clause of the code was more comprehensive : " Graecus,
seu paganus, et Jud^us, et Samaritanus, et alius haereticus, id est,
non existens orthodoxus, non potest Christianum mancipium
habere." A Greek or pagan, a Jew, a Samaritan, and any here
tic, that is, one not orthodox, cannot hold a Christian slave.
The authority of Gregory over Sicily was not merely spiritual.
He had a temporal supervision, if not a full sovereignty, over the
island. — The document is ep. xxxvii. lib. ii. indict, xi.
Gregorius Libertine, Praefecto Sicili^.
Be prcesumptione Nasoe Judcei, qui altar e nomine B. Helice con-
struxerat, et de mancipiis Christianis comparatis.
Ab ipso administrationis exordio, Deus vos in causae suae voluit
vindicta procedere, et banc vobis mercedem propitius cum laude
servavit. Fertur siquidem quod Nasas quidam sceleratissimus
Judaeorum, sub nomine beati Heliae altare punienda; temeritate
construxerit, multosque illic Christianorum ad adorandum sacrilegS
seductione decepit. Sed et Christiana, ut dicitur, mancipia com-

314 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

paravit, et suis ea obsequiis ac utilitatibus deputavit. Dum igitur
severissime in eum pro tantis facinoribus debuisset ulcisci, gloriosus
Justinus medicamento avaritise, ut nobis scriptum est, Dei distulit
injuriam vindicare. Gloria autem vestra hasc omnia district^ ex-
aminatione perquirat : et si hujusmodi manifestum esse repererit,
ita districtissime ao corporaliter in eundem sceleratum festinet
vindicare Judaeum ; quatenus hac_ ex caus^ et gratiam sibi Dei
nomine conciliet, et his se posteris pro su^ mercede imitandum
monstret exemplis. Mancipia autem Christiana, quaacumque eum
comparasse patuerit, ad libertatem, juxta legum praecepta, sine
omni ambiguitate perducite, ne, quod absit, Christiana religio
Judais subdita polluatur. Ita ergo omnia districtissime sub omni
festinatione corrigite, ut non solum pro h^c vobis discipline gratias
referamus, sed et testimonium de bonitate vestr^ ubi necesse fuerit,
praebeamus. Gregory to Libertinus, Prefect of Sicily :
Concerning the presumption of Nasas, a Jew, who had erected
an altar in the name of the blessed Elias ; and concerning the
procuring of Christian slaves.
God has willed that from the very beginning of your adminis
tration you should proceed to the avenging of his cause; and he
has mercifully kept this reward for you with praise. It is indeed
said that one Nasas, a very wicked man, of the Jewish people, has,
with a rashness deserving punishment, constructed an altar under
the name of the blessed Elias, and deceitfully and sacrilegeously
seduced many Christians thither for adoration. It is also said
that he has procured Christian slaves, and put them to his service
and profit. It has also been written to us that the most glorious
Justin, when he ought to have most severely punished him for such
crimes, has, through the soothing of his avarice, put off the aveng
ing of this injury to God.
Bo you, glorious sir, most closely examine into all the premises;
and if you shall find the allegations evidently sustained, hasten to
p>roceed most strictly to have bodily justice done upon this wicked
Jew, so as to procure for yourself the favour of God in this case,
and to exhibit for your reward, to those who will come after us,
an example for imitation. But, further, do you carry through,
according to the prescriptions of the laws, to their liberty, without
any cavilling, every and any Christian slaves that it may he evi
dent he procured, lest, which God forbid, the Christian religion
should be degraded by subjection to the Jews.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Therefore do all this correction most exactly and quickly, that
you may not only have our thanks for preserving discipline, but
that we may, when opportunity offers, give you proof of our re
cognition for your goodness.
Canon xxx. of the fourth council of Orleans :
Ciim prioribus canonibus jam fuerit definitum, ut de mancipiis
Christianis, quse apud Judaeos sunt, si ad ecclesiam confugerint,
et redimi se postulaverint, etiam ad quoscumque Christianos re-
fugerint, et servire Judaeis noluerint, taxato et oblato a fidelibus
justo pretio, ab eorum dominio liberentur ; ideo statuimus, ut tam
justa constitutio ab omnibus Catholicis conservetur.
Whereas it has been decreed by former canons, respecting the
Christian slaves that are under the Jews, that if they should fly
to the church, or even to any Christians, and demand their re
demption, and he unwilling to serve the Jews, they should he freed
from their owners upon a fair price being assessed by the faithful
and tendered for them : we therefore enact that this so just a regu
lation shall be observed by all Catholics.
At this period, 541, in this province and kingdom, the Jew had
a good title to his Christian slave, and could not be deprived of
him except by law, or for value tendered.
The first council of Macon was assembled at the request of
King Guntram, or Goutran, one of the sons of Clotaire I., to whom
the division of Orleans was left upon the death of his father in
561. This assembly was held in 581. The sixteenth canon is —
Et licet quid de Christianis, qui aut captivitatis incursu, aut
quibuscumque fraudibus, Judaeorum servitio implicantur, debeat
observari, non solum canonicis statutis, sed et legum beneficio pri-
dem fuerit constitutum : tamen quia nunc ita quorundam querela
exorta est, quosdam Judaeos, per civitates aut municipia consisten-
tes, in tantam insolentiam et proterviam prorupisse ut nee recla-
mantes Christianos liceat vel precio de eorum servitute absolvi.
Idcirco praesenti concilio, Deo auctore, sancimus, ut nullus Chris-
tianus Judaeo deinceps debeat servire ; sed datis pro quolibet bono
mancipio xii. solidis, ipsum mancipium quicumque Christianus seu
ad ingenuitatem, seu ad servitium, licentiam habeat redimendi :
quia nefas est, ut quos Christus Dominus sanguinis effusione redemit
persecutorum vinculis maneant irretiti. Quod si acquiescere his
quae statuimus quicumque Judaeus noluerit, quamdiu ad pecuniam
constitutam venire distulerit, liceat mancipio ipsi cum Christianis

316 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

ubicumque voluerit habitare. Hlud etiam specialiter sancientes,
quod si qui Judsus Christianum mancipium ad errorem Judaicum
convictus fuerit persuasisse, ut ipso mancipio careat, et legandi
damnatione plectetur.
And although the mode of acting in regard to Cliristians who
have been entangled in the service ofthe Jeivs by the invasions for
making captives, or by other frauds, has been regulated heretofore
not only hy canonical enactments, hut also by favour of the civil
laws ; yet because now the complaint of some persons has arisen,
that some Jeivs dwelling in the cities and towns have grmvn so in
solent and hold, that they will not permit the Christians demanding
it to be freed even upon the ransom of their service ; wherefore, by
the authority of God, we enact by this present act of council, that
no Christian shall henceforth laivfully continue enslaved to a Jew;
hut that any Christian shall have the power of redeeming that slave
either to freedom or to servitude, upion giving for each good slave
the sum of twelve shillings {solidum): because it is improper that
they whom Christ redeemed by the shedding of his blood, should
continue bound in the chains of persecutors. But if any Jew
shall he univilling to acquiesce in these enacted provisions, it shall
be lawful for the slave himself to dwell where he will, with Chris
tians, as long as the Jew shall keep from taking the stipulated
money. This also is specially enacted, that if any Jew shall be
convicted of having persuaded his Christian slave to the adoption
of Jewish error, he shall he deprived of the slave and amerced to
make a gift.
It was only at this period that we find any of the laws of the
Franks introducing the right of a Christian to refuse service to a
Jew. This, however, was not the case in all the territory, for that
over which Guntram ruled was but a fourth part of the empire.
The following is ep. xxi. lib. iii. indie, xii.
Gregorius Venantio, Episcopo Lunensi :
Quod Judeei non possunt Christiana habere mancipia : sed coloni
et originarii pensiones illis prsebere debent.
Multorum ad nos relatione pervenit, a Judaeis in Lunensi civi
tate degentibus in servitio Christiana detineri mancipia : quae res
nobis tanto visa est asperior, quanto ea fraternitati tuae patientia
operabatur. Oportebat quippe te respectu loci tui, atque Chris
tianas religionis intuitu, nullam relinquere occasionem, ut super-
Btitioni Judaicae simpHces animae non, tam suasionibus quam po
testatis jure, quodammodo deservirent. Quamobrem hortamur

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 3I7

fratcvnitatem tuam, ut secundum piissimarum legum tramitem, nulli
Judaso liceat Christianum mancipium in suo retinere dominio. Sed
si qui penes eos inveniuntur, libertas eis tuitionis auxilio ex legum
sanctione servetur. Hi vero qui in possessionibus eorum sunt, licet
et ipsi ex legum distinctione sint liberi ; tamen quia colendis eorum
terris diutius adhaeserunt, utpote conditionem loci debentes, ad
colenda quae consueverant rura permaneant, pensionesque praedictis
viris prsebeant : et cuncta quse de colonis vel originariis jura prae
cipiunt, peragant, extra quod nihil eis oneris amplius indicatur.
Quodsi quisquam de his vel ad alium migrare locum, vel in obse-
quio suo retinere voluerit, ipse sibi reputet, qui jus colonarium
temeritate su^, jus vero juris dominii sui severitate damnavit. In
his ergo omnibus ita te volumus solerter impendi, ut nee direpti
gregis pastor reus existas, nee apud nos minor aemulatio fraterni-
tatem tuam reprehensibilem reddat.
Gregory to Venantius, Bishop of Luna :
That Jews should not have Christian slaves, but that colonists
and those born on their lands should pay them pensions.
We have learned by the report of many persons that Christian
slaves are kept in servitude hy the Jews dwelling in the city of
Luna, which is the more grievous to us as it has been caused by
the remissness of you our brother. For it was becoming you, as
well hy reason of the place you hold, as from your regard for the
Christian religion, not to allow the existence of any occasion by
which simple souls may he subjected to the Jewish superstition, not
only hy the force of persuasion, but by a sort of right arising from
power. Wherefore we exhort you, our brother, that, according to
the regulation of the most pious laws, it should not be permitted to
any Jew to keep a Christian slave under his dominion, and that
if any such he found under them, the liberty of such should be
secured by the process of law and the aid of protection.
And as regards those who are on their lands, though hy strict
construction of law they may he free, yet, because they have re
mained a long time in the cultivation of the soil, as hound to the
condition of the place, let them remain to till the lands as they have
used to do, and pay their pension to the aforesaid men ; and let
them do all that the laws require of colonists or persons of origin.
Let no additio7ial burthen however be laid on them.
But should any one of these desire to migrate to another place ;
or should he prefer remaining in his obedience, let the conse
quences be attributed to him ivho rashly violated the colonial rights.

318 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
or who injured himself by the severity of his conduct towards his
subject. It is our wish that you he careful so to give your attention to all
these letters as not to be the guilty pastor of a plundered jlock, nor
that your want of zeal should compel us to reprehend our brother.
The law of the empire in force through Italy and Sicily :
1. Slaves who were Christians could not be held by those who
were not Christians.
2. It being unlawful for others than Christians to hold them,
these others could have no property in them : the persons so held
were entitled to their freedom.
3. The church was the guardian of their right to freedom, and
the church acted through the bishop.
4. Consequently it was the duty, as it was the right, of the
bishop to vindicate that freedom for those so unjustly detained.
6. The right and duty of the pope was to see that each bishop
was careful in his charge, and this part of his charge came as
much as any other did under the supervision of his superior and
immediate inspector, and it was the duty of that superior to repre
hend him for any neglect.
6. The law of each country was to regulate the duty of the
master and slave, and if that law made, as in Italy and its envi
rons, the church the proper tribunal for looking to the performance
of those duties, any neglect of the church in its discharge would
be criminal.
7. Through the greater part of Italy and Sicily, at this period,
the pope was the sovereign, and it was only by his paramount in
fluence that the half-civilized Gothic and Lombard chiefs were
kept in any order, and their despotism partially restrained.
They were times of anarchy, between which and the present no
analogy exists. The Jews and separatists from the church were
very numerous, and on their side, as well as on that of their op-
posers, passion frequently assumed the garb of religion, and the
unfortunate slave was played upon by each. The position of the
pope was exceedingly difficult, for while he had to restrain the
enemies of the church on one side, he had to correct the excesses
of its partisans upon the other.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 319

LESSON XIL
The laws of the empire having declared it unlawful for Jewi or
pagans to hold Christian slaves, the church took a further step,
which, in effect, forbade pagan slaves being sold to Jews, and
which, to a considerable extent, suppressed their introduction, by
the difficulties with which the following order surrounded the traffic.
It is found in lib. v. indie, xiv. epist. xxxi.
Gregorius, Fortunate Episcopo Neopolitano :
Ne mancipia quae Christianam fidem suscipere volunt, Judaeis
venundentur : sed pretium h, Christiano emptore percipiant.
Fraternitati vestrae ante hoc tempus scripsimus, ut hos qui de Ju-
daica superstitione ad Christianam fidem Deo aspirante venire deside-
rant, dominis eorum nulla esset licentia venundandi : sed ex eo quo
voluntatis suae desiderium prodidissent, defendi in libertatem per
omnia debuissent. Sed quia quantum cognovimus, nee voluntatem
nostram, nee legum statuta subtili scientes discretione pensare, in
paganis servis h^c se non arbitrantur conditione constringi : fraterni-
tatem vestram oportet de his esse solicitam, et si de Judaeorum ser
vitio non solum Judaeos, sed etiam quisquam paganorum fieri vo
luerit Christianus, postquam voluntas ejus fuerit patefacta, nee hunc
sub quolibet ingenio vel argumento cuipiam Judaeorum venundandi
facultas sit : sed is qui ad Christianam converti fidem desideret, de
fensione vestrS in libertatem modis omnibus vindicetur. Hi vero quos
hujusmodi oportet servos amittere, ne forsitan utilitates suas irra-
tionabiliter sestiment impediri, sollicit^ vos haec convenit considera-
tione servare : ut si paganos, quos mercimonii causS, de externis fini-
bus emerint, intra tres menses, dum emptor cui vendi debeant non in-
venitur, fugere ad ecclesiam forte contigerit, et velle se fieri dixerint
Christianos, vel etiam extra ecclesiam banc talem voluntatem pro-
dederint, pretium ibi a Christiano scilicet emptore percipiant. Si
autem post pr^finitos tres menses quisquam hujusmodi servorum
velle suum edixerit, et fieri voluerit Christianus, nee aliquis eum
postmodum emere, nee dominus quS,libet occasionis specie audeat
venundare, sed ad libertatis proculdubio praemia perducatur : quia
hunc non ad vendendum, sed ad serviendum sibi intelligitur com
parasse. Haec igitur omnia fratcrnitas vestra ita vigilanter ob-

320 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

servet, quatenus ei nee supplicatio quorumdam valeat, nee persona
surripere. " Gregory to Fortunatus, Bishop of Naples :
" That slaves who wish to embrace the Christian faith must not be
sold to Jews, but (the owners) may receive a price from a Christian
purchaser. " We have before now written to you, our brother, that their
masters should not have leave to sell those who, by the inspiration
of God, desire to come from the Jewish superstition to the Christian
faith ; but that from the moment they shall have manifested this
determination they should be, by all means, protected to seek their
liberty. But, as we have been led to know some persons, not
exactly and accurately giving heed to our will, nor to the enact
ments of the laws, think that, as regards pagan slaves, this law
does not apply, it is fit that you, our brother, should be careful on
this head ; and if among the slaves of the Jews, not only a Jew,
but any of the pagans, should desire to become a Christian, to see
that no Jew should have power to sell him under any pretext, or
by any ingenious device, after this his intention shall have been
made known ; but let him who desires to become of the Christian
faith have the aid of your defence, by all means, for his liberty.
" And respecting those who are to lose such servants, lest they
should consider themselves unreasonably hindered, it is fit that you
should carefully follow this rule : that, if it should happen that
pagans, whom they bought from foreign places for the purpose of
traffic, should within three months, not having been purchased, fly
to the church and say that they desire to be Christians, or even
make known this intention without the church, let the owners be
capable of receiving their price from a Christian purchaser. But
if, after the lapse of three months, any one of those servants of
this description should speak his will and wish to become a Chris
tian, no one shall thereafter dare to purchase him, nor shall his
master under any pretext sell him ; but he shall unquestionably
be brought to the reward of liberty, because it is sufficiently in
telligible that this slave was procured for the purpose of service,
a,nd not for that of traffic. Do you, my brother, diligently and
closely observe all these things, so that you be not led away by any
supplication, nor affected by personal regard."
The grounds of the law above given may be partially gathered

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 32I

from the following, which is a letter to the bishop of Catania in
Sicily. Lib. v. ind. xiv. epist. xxxii.
Gregorius, Leoni Episcopo Catanensi :
Be Sama7-(Eis qui pdgana mancipia emerunt et ciroumciderunt.
Res ad nos detestabilis, et omnino legibus inimica pervenit,
quae, si .vera, est, fraternitatem vestram vehementer accusat,
eamque de minori solicitudine probat.esse culpabilem.
Comperimus autem quod Samaraei degentes Catinae pagana
mancipia .emerint, atque ea circumcidere ausu temerario praesump-
seriht. Atque idcirco necesse est, ut omnimodo zelum in hS,c
caus^ sacerdotaleiii exercens, cum omni hoc vivacitate ac solicitu
dine studeas perscrutari : et si ita repereris, mancipia ipsa sine
morS, in libertatem modis omnibus vindica, et ecclesiasticam in eis
tuitionem impende, nee quidquam dominos eorum de pretio quoli
bet mode' recipere patiaris:. qui non solum hoc damno mulctandi,
se.d etiam aliS erant poen^ de legibus feriendi.
" Gregory to Leo, Bishop of Catania :
".Concerning Samaritans (or Jews) who purchased pagan slaves
and circumcised them.
*' Accounts have been brought to us of a transaction very de
testable and altogether ojJposed to the laws, and which, if ^ true,
shows exceedingly great neglect on the part of you, our brother,
and proves you to have been very culpable.
"'We have found that some Jews dwelling at Catania have
bought pagan slaves, and with rash presumption dared to circum
cise them. Wherefore it is necessary that you should exert all
your priestly zeal in this case, and give your mind to examine
closely into it with energy- and care ; and, should you find the
allegation to be true, that you should by all means, and without
delay, secure the liberty of the slaves themselves, and give them
the protection-of the church ; nor should you suffer their masters,
on any account, to receive any of the price given for them, for
they not only shoulji be fined in this amount, but they are liable
also to suffer such other punishment as the laws inflict."

21

322 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON XIIL
In Judea, the creditor could take the children of the debtor, and
keep them as his slaves, to labour until the debt was paid ; and
among the Gentiles this right was not only in existence, but in
most cases the child could be subjected to perpetual slavery, and in
many instances the debtor himself could thus be reduced to bondage.
Improvement had been made in this respect, as will be seen by the
following document, found in lib. iii. indie, xii. epist. xliii.
Gregorius, Fantino Defensor! :
Be CoSma Syro multis debitis obligato.
Later praesentium, Cosmas Syrus, in negotio quod agebat, de-
bitum se contraxisse perhibuit, quod, et multis aliis et lacrymis
ejus attestantibus, verum esse credidimus. Et quia 160 solidos
debebat, volui ut creditores illius cum eo aliquid paciscerentur :
quoniam et lex habet, ut homo liber pro debito nullatenus teneatur,
si res defuerint, quae possunt eidem debito addici, creditores ergo
suos, ut asserit, ad 80 solidos consentire possibile est. Sed quia
multum est ut a nil habente homine 80 solidos petant,, 60 solidos
per notarium tuum tibi transmisimus ; ut cum eisdem creditoribus
subtiliter loquaris, rationem reddas, quia filium ejus quem tenere
dicuntur, secundum leges tenere non possunt. Et si potest fieri,
ad aliquod minus quam nos dedimus, condescendant. , Et quidquid
de eisdem 60 solidis remanserit, ipsi trade, ut cum filio suo exinde
vivere valeat. Si autem nil remanet, ad eamdem summam debitum
ejus incidere stude, ut possit sibi libere postmodum laborare.
Hoc tamen solerter age, ut acceptis solidis ei plenariam munitionem
scripto faciant.
" Gregory, to the Proctor Fantinus :
" Of Cosmas, the Syrian, deeply in debt.
"The bearer hereof, Cosmas the Syrian,. has informed us that
he contracted many debts in the business in which he was engageu.
We believe it to be true ; he has testified it with many tears and
witnesses. And, as he owes 160 shillings, I wish his creditors
would make some composition with him. And as the law regulates
that no freeman shall be held for a debt, if there be no goods
which can be attached for that debt, he says that his creditors

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 323

may be induced to accept 80 shillings; but it is extravagant on
their part' to ask 80 shillings from a man who has nothing. We
have sentyou 60 shillings by your notary, that you may have a
discrete conference with his creditors, and explain matters to them,
because they cannot legally hold his son, whom they are said to
keep. And if they* will come down to any thing less, by your
efforts, than the sum that we send, should any thing remain of the
60 shillings, give it to him to help to support himself and his son ;
should nothing be left, exert yourself to have his debt cancelled by
that amount sent, so that henceforth he may be free to exert himself
for his own benefit. But be careful, in doing this, to get for him
a full receipt and discharge in writing for this money that they get."
.The law to which the pope refers, and by which the persons of
the unfortunate debtor and his family were protected, is found in
Novell. 134, c. vii., and was enacted by Justinian I. in 541.
Ne quis, creditor filium debitoris pro debito retinere prsesumat.
Quia yerd et hujuscemodi iniquitatem in diversis locis nostrae
reipublicse cognovimus admitti, quia creditores filios debitorum
praesumunt retinere aut in pignus, aut in servile ministerium, aut
in conductionem : hoc modis omnibus prohibemus : et jubemus ut
si quis hujusmodi aliquid deliquerit, non solum debito cadat, sed .
tantam aliam quantitatem adjiciat dandam ei qui retentus est ab
eo, aut parentibus ejus, et post hoc etiam corporalibus poenis ipsum
subdi a loci judice ; quia personam liberam pro debito praesumpserit
retinere aut locare aut pignorare.
" That no creditor should presume to retain for debt the son of
the debtor.
" And because we have known that this sort of injustice has
been allowed in several places of our commonwealth, — that credit
ors presume to keep the children of their debtors, either in pledge
or in slavish employment,, or to hire them out. We by all means
forhidall this : and we order that, if any person shall be guilty
of any of these things, not only shall he lose the debt, but he
shall in addition give an equal sum, to be paid to the person that
was held by him, or to the parents of such person ; and, beyond
this, he shall be subjected to corporal punishment by the local
judge^ because he presumed to restrain or to hire out, or keep in
pledge, a free person."
The following docum-ent will exhibit in some degree the origin
of the- principle of escheats to be found in slavery. The slave

324* STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
being freed upon certain conditions, if they were not fulfilled the
master of course re-enterecj upon his rights. The manumitted
slave was sometimes allowed, not only freedom, but a certain gift,
and often with the condition that, if he had not la,wful issue, the
gift, and its increase by his industry, should revert to the master
or his heir. So, in after times, the lord of the soil,'or the monarch,
gave portions of land to his vassals upon condition of service, and,
upon failure of service or of heirs, his land escheated, or went back
to the lord of the soil.
The document is found in lib. v. indie, xiv. epist. xii.
Gregorius, Montanae et Thomae :
Libertatem dot, et eos cives Romanes efficit.
Cum Redemptor noster totius conditor creaturae ad hoc pro-
pitiatus humanam voluerit carnem assumere, ut divinitatis suae
gratia, dirupto quo tenebamur captivi vinculo servitutis, pristinae
nos restitueret libertati : salubriter agitur, si homines quos ah
initio natura liberos protulit, et jus gentium, jugo substituit servi
tutis, in ea naturS, in qua, nati fuerant, manumittentis beneficio,
libertati reddantur. Atque ideo pietatis intuitu, et hujus rei con-
sideratione permoti, vos Montanam atque Thomam famulos sanctae
Romanae ecclesiae, cui, Deo adjutore, deservimus, liberos ex hac
die, civesque Romanes efficimus, omneque vestrum vobis relaxamus
servitutis peculium. Et quia tu, Montana, animum te ad conversio-
nem fateris appulisse monachicam : idcirco duas uncias, quas tibi
quondam Gaudiosus presbyter per supremae suae voluntatis arbi-
trium institutionis mode noscitur reliquisse, hac die tibi donamus,
atque concedimus omnia scilicet monasterio Sancti Laurentii cui
Constantina abbatissa praeest, in quo converti Deo miserante festi-
nas, modis omnibus profutura. Si quid vero de rebus suprascripti
Gaudiosi te aliquomodo celasse constituent, id totum ecclesise
nostrae juri sine dubio mancipetur. Tibi autem, suprascripto
Thomae, quem pro libertatis tuae cumulo etiam inter -notaries
volumus militare, quinque uncias, quas praefatus Gaudiosus . pres
byter per ultimam voluntatem hereditario tibi nomine dereliquit,
simul et sponsalia quae matri tuae conscripserat, similiter hac die
per hujus manumissionis paginam donamus, atque concedimus-, e^
sane lege, atque conditione subnex^, ut si sine filiis legitimis, hoc
est, de legitime susceptis conjugio, te obire contigerit, omnia quae
tibi concessimus, ad jus sanctae Romanae ecclesiae sine diminutione
aliqua revertantur. Si autem filios de conjugio, sicut diximus.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 325

cognitos lege susceperis, eosque s'uperstites reliqueris, earumdem
te rerum dominum sine qua dam statuimus conditione persistere, et
testamentum de his faciendi liberam tibi tribuimus potestatem.
Haec igitur, quae per hujus manumissionis chartulam statuimus,
atque concessimus, nos successoresque nostros, sine aliqu^ scitote
refragatione servare. Nam justitise- ac rationis ordo suadet, ut qui
sua a sTOcessoribus desiderat mandata servari, decessoris sui pro
culdubio voluntatem et statuta custodiat. Hanc autem manumis
sionis paginam Paterio notario scribendam dictavimus, et propria
manu un& cum tribus presbyteris prioribus et tribus diaconis pro
plenissim^ firmitate subscripsimus, vobisque tradidimus. Actum in
urbe RomS,.
" Gregory to Montana and Thomas :
"He emancipates them, and makes them Roman citizens.
" Since our Redeemer, the Maker of every creature, mercifully
vouchsafed to take human flesh, that, breaking the chain by which
we were held captive, he may, by the grace of his divinity, restore
us to. our first liberty, it is then salutary that they whom he at first
made free by nature, and whom the law of nations subjected to the
yoke of slavery, should in the nature in which they were born be^
restored to liberty by that kindness of their emancipator. And
therefore, moved by this consideration, and in respect to piety,
we make you, Montana and Thomas, slaves of the holy Roman
church, in whose service we are by God's help engaged, from this
day forward free and Roman citizens. And we release to you all
your allowance of slavery.
"And because you, Montana, have , declared that it was your
wish to enter into the monastic state, we give and grant to you
this day two ounces, which it is well known were formerly left aa
a legacy to you for inheVitance by the priest Gaudiosus, to be by
all means available to the monastery of St. Lawrence, over which
Constantina is superioress, and into which you desire anxiously by
God's mercy to be admitted. But should it appear that you have
concealed any of the effects of the said Gaudiosus, the entire
thereof doubtless is by right for the service of our church.
"But to you, the said Thomas, whom, in addition to the bestowal
of freedom, we desire to be e'nrolled in iervice among our notaries,
we hkewise this day give and grant, by this charter of manumis
sion, five ounces which the same Gaudiosus the priest left to you
1 V name in his last will, and the portion which he assigned for

-^2Q STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
your mother, but upon this ground and condition well attached.
that, should you die without issue by lawful marriage, all those
o-oods which we have granted to you shall come back, without any
diminution, under the dominion of the holy Roman church ; but
should you leave behind, you children lawfully recognised from
your marriage, we give to you full power to hold the same effects
as their owner, and without any condition, and to make free dis
position of the same by will.
" Know you, therefore, that what we have thus, by this charter
of manumission, enacted and granted to you, bind, without any
gainsay, ourselves and our successors for its observance. For the
order of justice and of reason requires that he who desires his own
commands to be observed by his successors, should also doubtless
observe the will and the statutes of his predecessor.
" We have dictated this writing of manumission to be copied by
our notary Paterius, and have for its most perfect stability sub
scribed it with our hand, and with those of three of the more dig
nified priests and three deacons, and delivered them to you.
"Done in the city of Rome, &c."
One of the subjects which at all times caused slavery to be
surrounded with great difficulties was the result of marriage. The
liability to separation of those married was a more galling affliction
in the Christian law, where the Saviour made marriage indissoluble,
and it often happened that an avaricious or capricious owner cared
as little for the marriage bond as he did for the natural tie of
affection. Hence, as Christianity became the religion of the state,
or of the great body of the people, it was imperatively demanded
that some restraint should be placed upon that absolute power
which the owners sometimes abused, of wantonly making these
separations. On the other hand, the association of the sexes made
marriage desirable : it was ordained by God to be the general
state of the bulk of mankind, and even the self-interest or the
avarice of the master calculated upon its results. Then again the
slave dreaded separation, not only because of the violence committed
on the most sacred affections, but also because, though the husband
and wife should be separated by impassable barriers, yet the bond
of their union subsisted, qj^d could be severed by death alone.
This was a strong temptation to both master and slave' to prefer
.concubinage to wedlock.
Another difficulty arose, in cases of the colonist, by reason of

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 327

the claims of the several owners where colonists of distinct estates
and different owners intermarried. In the case of perfect slaves,
the child generally followed the mother, both as regarded condition
and property. This was not, however, universally the case. But
the owners of colonized lands set up different claims. At length
the dispute was settled in the Roman Empire by a law of Justinian,
in 639, T^ovell. clxii. cap. iii,, and confirmed by a decision in a case
brought up by the church-wardens of Apamea, in Phrygia, in 541,
on the kalends of March, by dividing equally the progeny between
the estates to which the parents belonged, giving the preference,
in all cases of uneven number, to that estate to which the mother
was attached. Nov. clvii. tit. xxxix.
The following law concerning marriages and the separation of
married persons from each other, and of children from their pa
rents, is of the same date.
Novell, clvii. Be Rusticis qui in alienis prcediis nuptias con-
trahunt. Tit. xl.
Imp. Justin. August. Lazaro Comiti Orientis.
Praefatio. Ex his quse diverse mode ad nos relata sunt, didi-
cimus in Mesopotamia; et Osdroen^ provinciis quidquam delinqui,
nostris plane temporibus indignum : consuetudinem etiam apud
ipsos esse, ut qui ex diversis originem trahant praediis, nuptias inter
se contrahant. Inde sane conari dominos, de facto jam contractas
nuptias dissolvere, aut procreates filios a parentibus abstrahere,
exindeque totum ilium locum misere affligi, dum et rusticani viri
et mulieres ex un4 parte distrahantur, et proles his adimitur, qui
in lucem produxerunt, et sol^ nostrS, opus esse providentiS.
Cap. I. Sancimus igitur, ut praediorum domini de caetero rus-
ticos suos, prout voluerint, conservent : neque quisquam eos qui
jam conjuncti sunt possit secundum consuetudinem prius obtinen-
tem divellere, aut compellere ut terram ad ipsos pertinentem
colant, abstrahereve a parentibus filios- prsetextu conditionis colo-
nariae. Sed et si quid hujusmodi forte jam factum est, corrigi
hoc simul, et restitui efficies, sive filios abstrahi contigerit, sive
etiam mulieres, nempe vel a parentibus, vel contubernii consortibus :,
eo, qui reliquo deinceps tempore hujusmodi aliquid facere prae
sumpserit, etiam de ipso praedio in periculum vocando. Quare, libera
sunto contubernia metu, qui dudum ipsis immittitur, et parentes ha-
bento ex hac jussione filios suos : nequeuntibus pr^diorum dominis
subtilibus contendere rationibus, et vel nuptias contrahentes vel

328 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
filios abstrahere. Qui enim tale quid facere praesumpserit, etiam de
ipso praedio in periculum veniet, cui eos vindicare rustiCos attentat.
Epilogus. Quse igitur nobis placuerunt, et per sacram hanc
pragmaticam declarantur fornam, eam providentiam habeto magni-
ficehtia tua, tibique obtemperans cohors, et qui pro tempore
eundem magistratum geret ; ut ad effectum deducantur conserven-
turque, trium librarum auri poena imminenti ei, qui uUo unquam
tempore haec transgredi attentaverit. Dat. Kal. Mali, Constan-
tinop. D. N. Justin. PP. Aug. Bisil. V. C. Cons.
" Of country persons who contract marriage on divers estates.
TheEmperor Justinian Augustus, to Lazarus the Count of the East.
" Preamble. We have learned by relation in various ways,
that a delinquency quite unworthy of our times is allowed in the
provinces of Mesopotamia and of Osdroene. They have a custom
of having marriage contracted between those born on different
estates : whence the masters endeavour to dissolve marriages actu
ally contracted, or to take away from the parents the children who
are their issue ; upon which account that entire place is miserably
afflicted, while country people, husbands and wives, are drawn
away from each other, and the children whom they brought into
light are taken away from them ; and that there needs for the re
gulation only our provision.
" Chapter I. Wherefore, we enact, that otherwise the masters
of the aforesaid keep their colonists as they will ; but, it shall not
be allowed, by virtue of any custom heretofore introduced and in
existence, to put away from each other those who were married, or
to force them to cultivate the land belonging to themselves, or to
take away children from their parents, under the colour of colonial
condition. And you will be careful that if any thing of this sort
has haply been already done, the same be corrected and restitution
made, whether it be that children were taken away from their
parents or women from their consorts of marriage. } And for any
who shall in future presume to act in this way, it shall be at the
hazard of losing the estate itself.
"Wherefore, let marriages of servants be exempt from that fear
which has hitherto hung over them : and from the issue of this
order, let the parents have their children. It shall not be compe
tent for the lords of the estates to strive by any subtle arguments
either to take away those who contract marrisfge, or their children.
Fpr he who shall presume to do any such thing shall incur the

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 329

risk of losing that estate for which he attempts to claim those
colonists. " Epilogue. That therefore which has been good in our view,
and is declared by this sacred pragmatic form, let your magnifi
cence provide to have carried into execution, and the cohort which
obeys you, as also he who for the time being shall hold the same-
magisterial office. To the end, then, that this edict may produce
its effect and continue in force, let him who may at any time vio
late its enactments be liable to a penalty of three pounds of gold.
" Given at Constantinople, on the kalends of May, our most pious
lord Justinian being Augustus, and the most renowned Basil
being consul."
To rectify this, it became a principle, where an estate was large
and the colonists numerous, to confine the choice of the servants
within the bounds of the property ; and thus marriage had its full
sanctity, and families remained without separation.
We. have an instance of the exercise of this right, by Pope St.
Gregory, in a document found in lib. x. indie, v. epist. 28.
Gregorius, Romano Defensori.
Be filiis Petri defensoris extra massam in qua nati sunt non
jungendis. Petrus quem defensorem fecimus, quia de massa juris ecclesia
nostrse, quse Vitelas dicitur, oriundus sit, experientiae tuae bene est
cdgnitum. Et ideo quia circa eum benigni debemus existere, ut
tamen ecclesiae utilitas non Isedatur : hac tibi praeceptione man
damus, ut eum districte debeas admonere, ne filios suos quolibet
ingenio vel excusatione foris alicubi in conjugio sociare prassumat,
sed in eS massS, cui lege et conditione ligati sunt, socientur. In
quS re etiam et tuam omnino necesse est experientiam esse soUi-
citam, atque eos terrere, ut qualibet occasione de possessione cui
oriundo subjecti sunt exire non debeant. Nam si quis eorum
exinde, quod non credimus, exire prsesumpserit ; certum illi est
quia noster consensus nunquam illi aderit, ut foris de mass^ in qu4
nati sunt, aut habitare aut debeant sociari, sed et superscribi terram
eorum. Atque tunc sciatis vos non leve periculum sustinere, si
vobis negligentibus quisquam ipsorum quidquam de iis quas pro
hibemus facere qualibet sorte tentaverit.
" Gregory to the Proctor Romanus.
" Of not marrying the children of Peter the Proctor, without the
limits of the estate upon which they were horn.

330 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

"You, experienced sir, are well aware that Peter, whom we
made a proctor, is a native of the estate of our church territory
which is called Vitelas. And as our desire is to act towards him
with such favour as is compatible with avoiding any injury to the
church, we command you by this precept, that you should strictly
,warn him not to presume, under any pretext or excuse, to have his
children joined in wedlock anywhere but on that estate to which
they may be bound by law or by condition. In which matter it
is quite necessary that you, experienced sir, be very careful, and
instil into them a fear to prevent any of them from going on any
account beyond the estate to which they are subject by origin.
For if any one of them shall presume, as we believe he will not,
to go thence, let him be assured that he shall never have our con
sent either to dwell or to associate himself without the estate on
which he was born, but that the land of any such person shall be
more heavily charged {superscribi). And know you, that if, by
your negligence, any of them shall attempt to do any of those
things which we prohibit, you will incur no small danger."
Many of the restrictions on marriage that are found in subse
quent ages, under the feudal system, had their origin in this prin
ciple, because indeed the vassal, in feudal times, was but a slave
under a more loose dominion in a mitigated form.
The following document shows that, in the west, the separation of
married persons was very uncommon, (quam sit inauditum atque cru-
dele, unheard of and cruel.) It is found in lib. iii. indie, iii. ep. xii.
Gregorius, Maximiano Episcopo Syracusano.
Be uxore cujusdam ahlatd et alteri venumdatd.
Tanta nobis subinde mala, quae aguntur in istS, provinci^, nun-
ciantur, ut peccatis facientibus, quod avertat omnipotens Deus,
celeriter eam perituram credamus. Praesentium namque portitor
veniens lacrymabiliter quaestus est, ante plurimos annos ab homine
nescio quo de possessione Messanensis ecclesise de fontibus se sus-
ceptum, et violenter diversis suasionibus puellae ipsius junctum, ex
quS, juvenculos filios jam habere se asseruit, et quam nunc violenter
huic disjunctam abstulisse dicitur, atque cuidam alii venumdedisse.
Quod si verum est, quam sit inauditum atque crudele malum, tua
bene dilectio perspicit. Ideoque admonemus, ut hoc tantum nefas
sub ea vivacite, quam te in causis piis habere certissime scimus,
requiras atque discutias. Et si ita, ut supradictus portitor insinu-
avit, esse cognoveris, non solum quod male factuin est, ad statum

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 331

pristinum revocare curabis; sed et vindictam, quae Deum possit
placare, exhibere modis omnibus festinabis. Episcopum vero, qui
homines suos talia agentes corrigere negligit atque emendare, ve
hementer aggredere, proponens, quia si denuo talis ad nos de quo-
quam qui ad eum pertinet quaerela pervenerit, non in eum qui
excesserit, sed in ipsum canonice vindicta procedet.
" Gregory to Maximian, Bishop of Syracuse.
" Concerning the wife of some one that was taken away and sold
to another.
" We are told of so many bad things done in that province, that
we are led to believe, which may God forbid, the place must soon
be destroyed.
" Now, the bearer of these presents complained to us in a pitiable
manner, that many years ago, some man whom I know not, belong
ing to the church of Messina stood as his sponsor at baptism, and
prevailed upon him by extreme urgency to marry his servant, by
whom, he says, he has now young children, and whom now this
man has violently taken away and sold to another. If this be
true, you, our beloved, will see plainly how unheard of and how-
cruel is the evil. We therefore admonish you to look into and to
sift so great a crime, with that earnestness which we assuredly
know you have in matters of^ piety : and should you come to know
that the fact is as the aforesaid bearer has stated, you will be
careful not only to bring back to its former state that which was
badly done, but you will quickly, by all means, have that punish
ment inflicted which may appease God. Give a severe lecture to
the bishop that neglected to correct or to amend his people who do
such things; setting before him that if a like complaint comes to
us again of any one who belongs to him, canonical process for
punishment shall issue, not against the one that shall have done
wrong, but against himself."

LESSON XIV.

The form of a deed of gift found in lib. ii. indie, xi. epist. 18 :
Gregorius, Theodore Consiliario.
Acosimum puerum dat per epistolam.
Ecclesiasticis utilitatibus desudantes ecclesiasticu, dignum est
remuneratione gaudere, ut qui se voluntariis obsequiorum necessi-
tatibus sponte subjiciunt, digne nostris provisionibus consolentur.

332 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Quia igitur te Theodorum, virum eloquentissimum, consiliarium nos
trum, mancipiorum cognovimus ministerio destitutum, ideo puerum
nomine Acosimum, natione Siculum, juri dominioque tuo dari tra-
dique prajcipimus. Quem quoniam traditum ex nostri voluntate
jam possides, hujus te necesse fuit scripti pro futuri temporis tes-
timonio ac robore largitatis auctoritate fulciri : quatenus. Domino
protegente, secure eum semper et sine ullius retractionis suspicione,
quippe ut dominus, valeas possidere. Neque enim quemquam fore
credimus, qui tam parvam largitatem pro tu^ tibi devotione conces-
sam desideret, vel tentet ullo mode revocare : ciim uno eodemque
tempore, et verecundum sit a decessoribus ben^ gesta resolvere, et
verecundum sit docere ceteros in su^ quandoque resolutoriam pro-
ferre largitate sententiam.
" Gregory, to Theodore the Counsellor.
" He, hy letter, gives him the hoy Acosimus.
" It is fit that they who labour for the benefit of the church
should enjoy a reward from the church, that they who voluntarily
and of their own accord have undertaken burthensome duties should
be worthily assisted by our provision. Because, therefore, we have
known that you, Theodore, our counsellor, a most eloquent man,
were not well provided with the service of slaves, we have ordered
that a boy, by name Acosimus, of the Sicilian nation, should -be
given up and delivered to your right and dominion. And as you
already have him in your possession by delivery, upon our will, it
was necessary to fortify you with the authority of this writing as
a testimony to the future and for protection of the gift : so that
by God's protection you may have, power to possess him as his
lord and master, always securely for ever and without any ques
tion being raised of his being in any way taken back. Nor indeed
do we believe that there is any one who would desire or would at
tempt in any way to revoke so small a bounty given to you for
your devotion, since it would be shameful to undo the good deeds
of our predecessors, as it would to teach others that each could
from time to time make the revocation of his own gift."
The next document is found in lib. x. indie, v. epist. 40 :
Gregorius, Bonito Defensori.
Be mancipio Fortunati Abbatis.
Filius noster Fortunatus abbas monasterii sancti Severini, quod
in hac urbe Romani situm est,- latores praesentium, monachos suos,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 333
illic pro recolligendis mancipiis juris sui monasterii quae illic lati-
tare dicuntur dirigens, petiit ut experientiae tuae ei debeant adesse
solatia. E4 propter praesenti tibi auctoritate praecipimus, ut eis in
omnibus salvS, ratione concurrere ac opitulari festines : quatenus
te illic coram posito, atque in hSc caus^ ferente solatia, salubriter
haec citius valeant quae sibi injuncta sunt ad effectum, Deo auc-,
tore, perducere.
" Gregory, to the Proctor Bonitus.
" Concerning the slave of the Abbot Fortunatus.
" Our son Fortunatus, the abbot of the monastery of St. Seve-
rinus which is in the city of flome, directing his monks, the bearers
of these presents to your neighbourhood, to gather slaves belong
ing to the rights of his monastery, who are said to be there in con
cealment, begged that he should have your aid for that object.
Wherefore, we command you, by this present order, that you would
De alert in giving them all reasonable concurrence and aid ; so that
you being present there and comforting them in this business, they
may, with God's aid, be able in a wholesome manner the sooner to
perform the duty which has been laid upon them."
The pope did not consider it unbecoming in the monastery of
St. Severinus to hold slaves, nor irreligious for the abbot to send
monks to bring back runaways, nor criminal for the monks to go
looking for theta, nor offensive to God, on his own part, to give
letters to his officer and overseers to aid by all reasonable means
to discover and to capture them.
The following document enters into details for the recovery of
a runaway slave. It is found in lib. vii. ind. ii. epist. 107.
Gregorius Sergio Defensori.
Be Petro puero fugd lapso.
Filius noster vir magnificus Occilianus, tribunus Hydruntinse oi-
vitatis, ad nos veniens, puerum unum, Petrum nomine, artis pisto-
riae, ex jure germani nostri, ad eum noscitur perduxisse. Quem
nunc fug4 lapsum ad partes illas reverti cognovimus. Experientia
ergo tua, antequam ad Hydruntinam civitatem_ valeat is ipse con-
tingere, sub qu& valueris celeritate, vel ad episcopum Hydruntinae
civitatis, vel ad praedictum tribunum, si vel alium quem in loco tuo
te habere cognoscis, scripta dirigas, ut uxorem vel filios praedicti
mancipii sub omni habere debeant cautelft atque de ipso sollicitu-
dinem gerere, ut preveniens valeat detineri, et mox, cum rebus suis
omnibus quae ad eum pertinent navi impositis, per fidelem personam

334 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

hue modis omnibus destinari. Experientia itaque tua cum omni
hoc studeat efficacia; solerti^que perficere, ne de neglectu vel morS
nostros quod non optamus animos offendas.
" Gregory, to the Proctor Sergius.
" Concerning Peter, a servant who fled away.
" Our son Occilianus, a highly respectable man, a tribune of the
city of Otranto, brought with him to our cousin, as is known, when
he was coming to us, a boy named Peter, a baker, who belonged to
that cousin. We have now learned that he has run away, and re
turned to your country. Let then it be your care, experienced
sir, before he shall be able to get back to Otranto, to direct, as
quickly as you can, a writing to the bishop of Otranto, or to the
foresaid tribune himself, or to any one else whom you know, that
you can depute, to have a good care of the wife or children of the
said slave, and to be very careful respecting himself, that as soon^
as he shall arrive he may be detained, and sent with every thing
that pertains to him, by all means hither, embarking them on board
a ship under care of some faithful person.
" You, experienced sir, will therefore exert yourself to do this
with all attention and effect, so as not to displease us by a delay
or neglect, which we should not desire."
The following is taken from lib. viii. indie, iii. epist. 4.
Gregorius, Fantino Defensori.
Be mancipiis Romani spectahilis viri.
Mancipia juris Romani spectahilis memorise viri, qui in dome suS
quse Neapoli sita est monasterium ordinari constituit, habitare in
Sicili^ perhibentur. Et quia monasterium ipsum juxta voluntatem
ejus, Deo auctore, noscitur ordinatum, experientia tua praesentium
portitoribus, qui ad recoUigenda mancipia ipsa illuc directi sunt,
omni studio solatiari festinet, et recollectis eis, possessiones illi
ubi laborare debeant, te solatiante, conducant. Et quidquid eorum
labore accesserit, reservato undo ipsi possint subsistere, reliqua
ad praedictum monasterium, experientiae tuse cur4, annis singulis,
auxiliante Domino, transmittantur.
" Gregory, to the Proctor Fantinus.
" Concerning the slaves of the honourable man Romanus.
" The slaves of the man of honourable memory, Romanus, who
directed that his house in Naples should be formed into a monastery,
are said to dwell in Sicily. And as it is known that, with God's

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

help, the monastery has been established according to the regula
tions of his will ; you, experienced sir, will without delay use your
best efforts to aid the bearers of these presents, who are sent
thither, to collect those slaves : and when they shall be collected,
let them hire lands under your countenance, where they may la
bour ; keeping them out of their produce of labour, whatever may
be necessary for their support ; let the remainder, under the care
of you, experienced sir, be sent, with God's help, every year to the
foresaid monastery."
Gregorius, Vitali Defensori Sardiniae.
. Be Barbaricinis mancipiis comparandis.
Bonifacium praesentium portitorem, notarium scilicet nostrum,
nos experientia tua illuc transmisisse cognoscat, ut in utihtatem
parochise Barbaricina debeat mancipia comparare. Et ideo expe
rientia tua omnino et studio sesoUiciteque concurrat, ut bono pretio,
*t talia debeat comparare, quae inministerio parochise utilia valeant
inveniri, atque emptis eis hue Deo protegente is ipse celerius possit
remeare. Ita ergo te in hac re exhibere festina, ut te quasi servi-
entium amatorem, quorum usibus emuntur, ostendas, et nobis ipsi
te de tu^ valeant sollicitudine commendare.
" Gregory, to Vitalis, Proctor of Sardinia.
" Of buying Barbary slaves.
"Know, experienced sir, that Boniface, our notary, the bearer
of these presents, has been sent by us to your place to purphase
some Barbary slaves for the use of the hospital. And therefore,
you will be careful to concur diligently and attentively with him,
that he may buy them at a good rate, and such as would be found
useful for the service of the hospital. And that having bought
them, he may, under the protection of God, very speedily return
hither. Do you then be prompt to show yourself in this business
so as to exhi'bit your affection for those who serve the hospital, and
for whose use the purchase is made, and that they may have it in
their power to commend you to us for your zeal in their regard."
The word parochise, which is translated " hospital," is more
properly ptochia in some of the ancient MSS., which is a sort of
Latinized imitation of Titd'X,'-^ — * house for feeding the poor.
Gregory had a large establishment of this description in Rome,
attended by pious monks, for whose service those barbarians were
purchased. Procopius informs us, lib. ii. de Bello Vandanco, cap. 13,
'"ho these Barbary slaves were. " When the Vandals had conquered

336 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
the Moors of Africa, they were annoyed by the incursions of some
of the barbarians of the southern part of Numidia. In order to
prevent this, they seized upon them, their wives and children, and
transported them to the island of Sardinia : kept prisoners and
slaves for some time here, they escaped to the vicinity of Cagliari,
and, forming a body of 3000 men, they regained a sort of freedom.
Gregory made various efforts to convert them. They who were
kept in thraldom were frequently purchased, as in this instance,
by the Italians and others."
This is the first instance on record of the purchase of negro
slaves by the church, and occurred about the year 600, At that
time, white slaves cost less than the expense of importation from
Africa. In his sixth book, ep. 21, Gregory commands the priest Can
didus, who was his agent in Gaul, to purchase four of the brothers
of one Dominic, who complained to him that they were redeemed
from their captors by Jews in Narbonne, and held by them in
slavery. The seventh book, ep. 22, to John, the bishop of Syracuse, is
a very curious document. It recites the case of one Felix, who
was a slave born of Christi3,n parents, and given in his youth as a
present to a Jew by a Christian owner : he served illegally during
nineteen years the Jew who, was disqualified from holding a Chris
tian slave; but Maximinian the former bishop of Syracuse, learn
ing the facts, had, as in duty bound, Felix discharged from this
service and made free. Five years subsequently, a son of the
Jew became, or pretended to become, a Christian, and being thus
qualified to hold a Christian slave, claimed Felix as his property.
Felix appealed to the pope, and the letter to the bishop of Syra
cuse is a decision in favour of his freedom, containing also an order
to the bishop to protect him and defend his liberty.

LESSON XV.

We have heretofore, in our fifth lesson, noticed the doctrine of
the church, that the civil power had the prerogative of making
laws in regard to slavery ; although, at that time, paganism may
be said to have governed the world. And while we travel rapidly
through the seventh century, finding the Roman Empire, the mis
tress of the world, novr tottering to decay ; the Lombards firmly

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 337

established in Italy ; the Franks in Gaul ; the Goths in Spain ;
the Suevi in Portugal ; and all Germany filled by various hordes,
governed by their petty chieftains, just now showing some symp
toms of civilization, and Christianity in the ascendant ; yet wc
find this doctrine of the church unchanged.
The church may now be considered strong; and although the
civil power is regarded as the legitimate legislative authority, yet,
in no instance, are the laws found to run counter to the doctrines
of the church on this subject.
In the precept of King Clotaire II. for endowing the abbey of
Corbey, after the grant of the parcels of land therein recited, he
adds, " unS, cum terris, domibus, mancipiis, aedificiis, vineis, silvis,
pratis, pascuis, farinariis, et cunctis appenditiis," &c. — Together
with the lands, houses, slaves, buildiyigs, vineyards, woods, mea
dows, pastures, granaries, and all appendages.
And the abbey not only possessed the slaves as property, but by
the same precept had civil jurisdiction over all its territory and all
persons and things thereon, to the exclusion of all other judges.
The fourth council of Toledo, in 633, in its fifty-ninth canon,
by the authority of King Sisenand and his nobles in Spain, restored
to liberty any slaves whom the Jews should circumcise, and in the
sixty-sixth canon, by the same authority, Jews were thenceforth
rendered incapable of holding Christian slaves. The seventieth
and the seventy-first canons regulated the process regarding the
freed persons and colonists of the church, and the latter affixed a
penalty of reduction to slavery for neglect of formal observances
useful to preserve the evidence of title for the colonist. The
seventy-second canon places the freed persons, whether wholly
manumitted or only conditioned, when settled under patronage of
the church, under the protection of the clergy.
The seventy-fourth allows the church to manumit worthy slaves
belonging to herself, so that they may be ordained priests or
deacons, but still keeps the property they may acquire, as belong
ing to the church which manumitted them, and restricts them
even in their capacity as witnesses in several instances ; and
should they violate this condition, declares them suspended.
In ih6 year 650, which was the sixth of King Clovis IL, a coun
cil was held at Chalons. The canon begins with the announce
ment —
Pietatis est maximse et religionis intuitus, ut captivitatis vinculum
omnino si Christianis redimatur. Unde sancta synodus noscitur
22

338 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
censuisse, ut nullus mancipium extra fines vel terminos qui, ad reg-
num domini Clodovei regis pertinent, penitus, debeat venumdare ;
ne, quod absit, per tale commercium aut captivitatis vinculo, vel,
quod pejus est. Judaic-^ servitute mancipia Christiana teneantur
implicita. "It is a work of the greatest piety, and the intent of religion,
that the bond of captivity should be entirely redeemed from Chris
tians. Whence it is known to be the opinion of the holy synod,
that no one ought, at all, to sell a slave beyond the dominions of
our lord Clovis the king ; lest, which God forbid, Christian slaves
should be kept entangled in the chains of captivity, or what is
worse, under Jewish bondage."
In the tenth council of Toledo, celebrated in the year 656, in
the reign of Receswind, king of the Goths, the seventh chapter is a
bitter complaint of the practice, which still prevailed among Chris
tians, of selling Christian slaves to the Jews, to the subversion of
their faith or their grievous oppression.
In the year 606, a council was held in Merida, in Spain. GBie
eighteenth canon of which allows that, of the slaves belonging to
the church, some may be ordained minor clerks, who shall serve
the priests as their masters with due fidelity, receiving only food
and raiment.
The twentieth chapter complains of many irregularities in the
mode of making freedmen for the service of the church, regulates
the mode of making them, and provides for the preservation of
the evidence of their obligation and the security of their service.
The twenty-first regulates the extent to which a bishop shall
be allowed to grant gifts to his friends, the slaves, the freedmen,
or others.
The thirteenth council of Toledo was held in the year 683, in
the reign of Ervigius, the successor of Wamba. There was an
old law of the Goths, found in lib. v. tit. vii., and repeated in other
forms in lib. x. and xi., regulating that no freedman should do an
injury or an unkindness to his master, and authorizing the master
who had suffered, to bring such offender back again to his state
of slavery. And in lib. xvii. the freedman, and his progeny for
ever, were prohibited from contracting marriage with the family
of their patron or behaving with insolence to them. King Ervigius
was reminded by many of his nobles that former kings, in deroga
tion of this law, had given employments about the palace to slaves
and to freedmen, and even sustained them in giving offence to

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 339

their masters, had even sometimes ordered them so to do, and pro
tected them' ; for this the nobles sought redress. The king called
upon the council to unite with him in putting a stop to this indig
nity. And in the sixth canon we have the detail of the evils set
forth, and also the enactment, in concurrence with the king, that
thenceforward it shall be unlawful to give any employment what
ever about the palace, or in the concierns of the crown, to any slave
or freedman.
The third council of Saragossa was celebrated in the year 691,
in the reign of Egica, king of the Goths.
In Toledo, it had been enacted, that any freedman of the church,
who did not comply with certain regulations, should lose his free
dom and be reduced to slavery. One of the conditions was, that
any person pretending to have been manumitted, or claiming as the
descendant of a freedman, should, upon the death of the bishop,
exhibit his papers to the successor of the deceased, within a year,
or, upon his neglect, should be declared a slave. The object of
this was to discern those who were partially free from the perfect
slave, and to cause the former to preserve their muniments.
The fathers of Saragossa, however, discovered that some of the
bishops, studying their own gain, had been too rigid in enforcing
this law, and thereby reduced several negligent or ignorant per
sons to bondage ; in order then to do justice, they enacted in their
fourth chapter, that the year within which the documents should
be exhibited should not commence to run until aftpr the new bishop,
subsequently to his institution, should have given sufficient notice to
those claiming to be put in partial service, to produce their papers.
The sixteenth council of Toledo was held in the year 693. The
fifth chapter of the acts, determining when a priest may hold two
churches, has the following passage :
Ut ecclesia, quse usque ad decem habuerit mancipia, super se
habeat sacerdotem, quae vero minus decem mancipia habuerit aliis
conjungatur ecclesiis.
'* That the church which shall have as many as ten slaves shall
have one priest over it, but that one which shall have less than
ten slaves shall be united to other churches."
In the tenth chapter of the acts of the same council, not only
was excommunication pronounced against all who should be guilty
of high 'treason against Egica, the king of the Gothic nation, but
the bishops ard clergy united with the nobles {palatii senioribus)
and the popular representatives in condemning traitors and their

340 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
progeny to perpetual slavery, (fisci viribus sub perpetud servitute
maneant religati.)
The laws of Ina, king of the West Saxons, about the year 692,
were made for the regulation of religion :
Servus, si quid operis patr^rit die Dominico ex praecepto domini
sui, liber esto, dominus triginta solidos dependito. Verum si id
operis injussu domini sui aggressus fuerit, verberibus caeditor, aut
saltern virgarum metum precio redimito. Liber, si die hoc operetur
injussu domini sui, aut servituti addicitor, aut sexaginta solidos
dependito. Sacerdos, si in hanc partem deliquerit, poena in duplum
augeator. "If a slave shall do any work on the Lord's day, by order of
his master, let him become free, and let the master pay thirty
shillings, (another copy adds, 'ad witam,' as a fine.) But, if he
went to this work without his master's command, let him be cut
with whips, (another copy has ' cerium perdat,' let him lose his
skin,) or at least, let him redeem the fear of the scourge by a
price. A freeman, if on this day he shall work without the order
of his lord, let him be reduced to slavery, or pay sixty shillings.
Should a priest be delinquent in this respect, his penalty shall be
increased to double."
In the eighth, the division of the weregild for the killing of a
stranger :
Wallus censum pendens annuum, 120 solidorum aestimatur, filius
ejus 100. Servus, alias 60, alias 60, solidis valere putatur. Wal
lus virgarum metum 12 solidis redimito. Wallus quinque terras
hydas possidens 600 solidis aestimandus est.
" A stranger paying a yearly rent is to be rated at 120 shil
lings, his son at 100. A slave at either 50 or 60, is a fair estima
tion. Let a stranger redeem his fear of whipping for 12 shillings.
A stranger being in possession of five hydes of land is to be valued
at 600 shillings."
The seventeenth council of Toledo was celebrated in 694, in
the reign of Egica. It was enacted —
Si quis servum proprium sine conscientiS, judicis occiderit, ex
communicatione biennii sanguinis se mundabit.
" If any one shall put his own slave to death, without the know
ledge of the jud^e, he shall cleanse himself the blood by an ex
communication of two years." *
In the council of Berghamstead, near Canterbury, held in 697,
under Withred, king of Kent, at which Gebmund, bishop of Ro-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 34I
Chester, was present, and where a sort of parliament also assem
bled and gave a civil sanction to the temporal enactments and
penalties of the canons, several regulations were made concerning
slaves. The Saxon MS. is the adoption of the canons into the
common law of Canterbury, and is entitled " The Judgments of
Withred." The ninth canon in this collection is the following :
Si quis servum suum ad altare manumiserit, liber esto, et habilis
sit ad gaudendum hereditate et wirigildo, et fas sit ei ubi volet
sine limite versari.
" If any person shall manumit his servant at the altar, let him
be free, and capable of enjoying inheritance and weregild, and let
it be lawful for him to dwell where he pleases without limit."
The tenth canon is :
Si in vesper^ praecedente diem solis postquam sol occubuit, aut
in vesperS, praBcedente diem lunae post occasum solis, servus ex
mandate domini sui opus aliquod servile egerit, dominus factum
octoginta solidis luito.
" If on the evening preceding Sunday, after the sun has set, or
on the evening preceding Monday, after the setting of the sun, a
slave shall do any servile work by command of his master, let the
master compensate the deed by eighty shillings."
The eleventh :
Si servus hisce diebus itineraverit, domino pendat sex solidos,
aut flagello csedatur.
"If a servant shall have journeyed on these days, let him pay
six shillings to his master, or be cut with a whip."
The thirteenth:
Si paganus uxore nesciS diabolo quid obtulerit, omnibus fortunis
suis plectatur et collistrigio. Sin et ambo pariter itidem fecerint,
omnium bonorum suorum amissione ipsa etiam luat et collistrigio.
" If a villain, without the knowledge of his wife, shall have
offered any thing to the devil, let him be punished by the loss of
all his fortune and by the pillory. And if both did so together,
let her also lose all her goods and be punished by the pillory."
The English villain was the colonist of the European continent,
and in the Speculum Saxonicum, lib. i. art. 3, his imperfect liberty
is compared with the freeman. Also ip Du Cange, Pagani^s,
Pagenses, &c.
The fourteenth :
Si servus diabolo offerat, sex dependat solidos, aut flagro vapulet.

342 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

" If a slave offers to the devil, let him pay six shillings, or be
whipped." The ifteenth :
Si quis servo carnem in jejunio dederit comedendam, servus liber
exeat. " If any one shall give his slave flesh-meat to eat on a fast-day,
let the slave go out free." ^
The sixteenth :
Si servus ex sponte suS eam ederit, aut sex solidis aut flagello.
" If the slave shall eat it of his own motion, let the penalty be
either six shillings or a whipping."
After regulating the mode of declaration of swearing and of
compurgation, for the king, the bishop, the abbot, the priest, the
deacon, the cleric, the stranger, and the king's thane, the twenty-
first canon enacts —
Paganus cum quatuor compurgatoribus, capite suo ad altare in-
clinato, semet eximat.
" Let the villain deliver himself with four compurgators, with
his head bowed down to the altar."
The twenty-third :
Si quis Dei mancipium in conventu suo accusaverit, dominus
ejus eum simplici suo juramento purgabit, si eucharistiam susce-
perit. Ad eucharistiam autem si nusquam venerit, habeat in jura
mento fidejussorem bonum, vel solvat, vel se tradat flagellandum.
" If any person shuU accuse a slave of God in his convent, his
lord shall purge him with a simple oath, if he shall have received
the eucharist. But if he has never come to the eucharist, let him
in his oath have a good surety to answer, or let him pay or give
himself up to be whipped."
The slave of God was one belonging to a monastery, of whom
there appear to have been a good number in England, at that
period, as well as on the continent. The previous canon had legis
lated for the bishop's dependants as distinguished from the slave
of the monastery.
The twenty -fourth canon is :
Si servus viri popularis servum viri ecclesiastici accusaverit, vel
servus ecclesiastici servum viri popularis, dominus ejus singulari
suo juramento eum expurgabit.
" If the slave of a lay person shall accuse the slave of a clergy
man, or if the slave of a clergyman shall accuse the slave of a
layman, let his master purge him by his single oath."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 343

The twenty-seventh regulated the punishment of the person who
permitted a thievish slave to escape, and, respecting the slave him
self, concluded thus :
Si quis eum occiderit, domino ejus dimidium pendito.
" If any one shall slay him, let him pay to his master one-
half." In Germany, however, as yet, in most places paganism pre
vailed, and human sacrifices were offered. St. Boniface had been
sent by the Holy See to endeavour to reclaim to religion and to
civilization the nations or tribes that composed this undefined ex
tent of territory. We find in a letter of Pope Gregory IIL, written
in answer to his request for special instructions, about the year 735,
the following paragraph :
Haec quoque inter alia crimina agi in partibus illis dixisti, quod
quidam ex fidelibus ad immolandum paganis sua venumdent man
cipia. Quod ut magnopere corrigere debeas, frater, commonemus,
nee sinas fieri ultra: scelus est enim et impietas. Eis ergo qui
hsec perpetrg,verunt, similem homicidse indices poenitentiam.
" You have said that, among other crimes, this was done in those
parts, that some of the faithful sold their slaves to pagans to be
immolated. Which you should use all your power to correct, nor
allow it to be done any more : for it is wickedness and impiety.
Impose then upon its perpetrators the same penance as for homi
cide."

LESSON XVL

Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, governed the English
church from 670 to 690, when he died. The following extracts
are from his canonical regulations :
VII. Grffici et Romani dant servis suis vestimenta, et laborant
excepto Dominico die. Graecorum monachi servos non habent,
Romani habent.
" The Greeks and Romans give clothing to their slaves, and they
work except on the Lord's day. The Greek monks have not slaves,
the Romans have."
XVII. Ingenuus cum ingenui conjungi debet.
" A free man should be married to a free woman."

344 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
LXV. Qui per jussionem domini sui occiderit homineta, dies xl.
jejunet. "He who, by the command of his master, shall kill a man, shall
fast forty days."
The seventy-first prohibits the intermarriages of those slaves
whose owners will prevent their living together.
The seventy-fourth regulates, that if a free pregnant woman be
sold into slavery, the child that she bears shall be free ; all subse
quently born shall be slaves.
LXXIX. Pater filium necessitate coactus in servitium sine volun
tate filii tradat.
" A father, compelled by necessity, may deliver his son into
slavery without the will of that son."
LXXXIX. Episcopus et abbas hominem sceleratum servum
possunt habere, si precium redimendi non habet.
"A bishop or an abbot can hold a criminal in slavery, if he
have not the price of his redemption."
CXVII. Servo pecuniam per laborem comparatam nulli licet
auferre. " It is not lawful for any one to take away from a slave the
money made by labour."
In the council of Verberie, held in a palace of King Pepin, the
sixth canon made regulations in the case of marriage between free
persons and slaves. The following are its provisions :
1. If any free person contracted marriage with a slave, being at
the time ignorant of the state of bondage of that party, the mar
riage was invalid.
2. If a person under bond should have a semblance of freedom
by reason of condition, and the free person be ignorant of the
bondage, and this bond person should be brought into servitude,
the marriage was declared originally void.
3. An exception was made where the bond person, by jeason of
want, should, with the consent of the free party, sell himself or
herself into perfect slavery with the consent of the free party ;
then the marriage was to stand good, because the free party had
consented to the enslavement, and profited of its gains.
The seventh canon would seem to show that a slave could hold
property in slaves :
Si servus suam ancillam concubinam habuerit, si ita placet,
potest ilia dimissa comparem suam ancillam domini sui accipere :
sed melius est suam ancillam tenere.

STUDIES'ON SLAVERY. 345

" If a man-servant shall have his own female slave as a concu
bine, he shall have power, if he wishes, leaving her, to marry his
equal, the female servant of his master : but it is better that he
should keep his own servant in wedlock."
The eighth canon provided, in the case of a freedman who,
subsequently to his liberation, committed sin with the female slave
of his former master, that the master should have power, whether
the freedman would or not, to compel him to marry that female
slave ; and should this man leave her, and attempt a marriage
with another woman, this latter must be separated from him.
The thirteenth declares that when a freeman, knowing that the
woman whom }ie is about to marry is a slave, or, not having known
it until after marriage, voluntarily upon the discovery consents to
the marriage, it is thenceforth indissoluble.
The nineteenth declares that the separation of married parties,
by the sale of one who is a slave, does not affect the marriage.
They must be admonished, if they cannot be reunited, to remain
continent. The twentieth provides for the case of a male slave freed by
letter, {chartellarius,) who, having for his wife taken a slave with
the lawful consent of her master, and leaving her, takes another
as his wife. The latter contract is void, and the parties must
separate. Another assembly was held by King Pepin, in Compeigne, forty-
eight miles north-east of Paris, where he had a country-seat. At
this assembly also the prelates held a council in 757, and made
eighteen canons. The fourth makes provision for the case of a
man's giving his free step-daughter in wedlock to a freeman or to
a slave. The fifth declares void the marriage between a free per
son and a slave, where the former was ignorant of the condition of
the 'latter. The sixth regards a case of a complicated description,
where a freeman got a civil benefice from his lord, and takes his
own vassal with him, and dies upon the benefice, leaving after him
the vassal. Another freeman becomes invested with the benefice,
and, anxious to induce the vassal to remain, gives him a female
serf attached to the soil as his wife. Having lived with her for a
time, the vassal leaves her, and returns to the lord's family, to
which he owed his services, and there he contracts a marriage with
one of the same allegiance. His first contract was invalid, the
second was the marriage.
In the year 772, a council was held in Bavaria, at a place called
%

346 STUDIES ON" SLAVERY.

Bingolvinga, the present city of Ingolstadt, in the reign of Tassilo,
duke of Bavaria. The tenth canon of this council decides that a
noble woman, who had contracted marriage with a slave, not being
aware of his condition, is at liberty to leave him, the contract being
void, and she is to be considered free and not to be reduced to
slavery. By noble we are here to understand free, as distinguished
from ignoble, that is, a slave.
We have then sixteen amendments of the national law.
The first regulates, by the authority of the prince and consent
of the whole assembly, that henceforth no slave, whether fugitive
or other, should be sold beyond the limits of the territory, under
penalty of the payment of his weregild.
In the second, among other things, it is enacted that if a slave
should be killed in the commission of house-breaking, his owner is
to receive no compensation ; and should the felon who is killed in
man-stealing, when he could not be taken, whether it be a freeman
or a slave that he is carrying off, no weregild shall be paid by the
slayer, but he shall be bound to prove his case before a court.
The seventh regards the trial by ordeal of slaves freed by the
duke's hand.
The eighth establishes and guards the freedom, not only of them
selves, but of their posterity, of those freed in the church, unless
when they may be reduced to slavery from inability to pay for
damages which they had committed.
The ninth contains, among other enactments, those which explain
the tenth canon of the council. After specifying different were-
gilds for freed persons, it says —
Si ancUla libera (Jimissa fuerit per chartam aut in ecclesiS, et
post haec servo nupserit, ecclesiae ancilla permanebit. *
"Should a female slave be emancipated by deed or in the'
church, and afterwards marry a slave, she shall be a slave to the
church." It then continues, respecting a woman originally free, and the
nobilis of canon x. :
Si autem libera Bajoaria servo ecclesiae nupserit, et servile opus
ancilla contradixerit, abscedat.
"But if a free Bavarian female shall have married a servant of
the church, and the maid will not submit to servile work, she may
depart." Si autem ibi filios et filias generaverit, ipsi servi et ancillse per
maneant, potestatem exinde (exeundi) non habeant.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 347

"But if she shall have there borne sons and daughters, they
shall continue slaves, and not have power of going forth."
Her freedom was not, however, immediately destroyed, for tho
law proceeds —
Ilia autem mater eorum, quando exire voluerit, ante annos iii,
liberam habeat potestatem.
"But she, their mother, when she may desire to go forth before
three years, shall have free power therefor."
In this case the marriage subsisted, but the free woman could
separate, without however the marriage-bond being rent. If she
remained beyond the time of three years, she lost her freedom ;
and it shows us that, probably, previous to this amendment, any
free woman who married a slave, thereby lost her own freedom ;
and that the tenth canon, showing the marriage of which it
treated to be invalid, showed that the woman should not lose her
liberty. The concluding provision of the ninth law is as follows :
Si autem iu annos induraverit opus ancillae, et parentes ejus non
exadomaverunt eam ut libera fuisset, nee ante comitem, ducem, nee
ante regem, nee in publico mallo, transactis tribus kalendis Martis,
(Martu,) post haec ancilla permaneat in perpetuum, et quicumque
ex ea nati fuerint servi et ancillae sunt.
" But if she shall have continued three years doing the work of
a slave, and her relations have not brought her out so that she
should be free, either before the count, or the duke, or the king,
or in the public high court, (mall,) when the kalends of March shall
have thrice passed, after this she shall remain perpetually a slave,
and they who shall be born of her, male and female, shall be
slaves." In 774, Pope Adrian I. delivered to Charlemagne a digest of
canon law, then in force, in which we find —
" The third of Gangrae, condemning as guilty of heresy those
who taught that religion sanctioned the slave in despising his
master ; the thirtieth in the African collection, which showed that
the power of manumission in the church was derived from the civil
authority; the one hundred and second of the same, which de
clared slaves and freed persons disqualified to prosecute, exbept in
certain cases and for injuries done to themselves."
In a capitulary of Charlemagne, puhlished in such a synod and
general assembly in 779, in the month of March, in the eleventh
year of his reign, at Duren, on the Roer, (Villa Duria,) between
Cologne and Aix-la-Chapelle, there being assembled episcopis.

348 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

abbatibus, virisque illustribus, comitibus, un& cum piissimo domino
nostro, — "the bishops, abbots, and the illustrious men, the counts,
together with our most pious lord," — we find the following chapter :
XX. De mancipiis quae venduntur, ut in pr^sentia; episcopi vel
comitis sit, aut in praesenti^ archdiaconi, aut centenarii, aut in
prsesentili vicedomini, aut judicis comitis, aut ante bene nota testi-
monia. Et foras marcham nemo mancipium vendat. Qui fecerit,
tantis vicibus bannos solvet, quanta mancipia vendidit. Et si non
habet precium vivadio, pro servo semetipsum donet comiti, usqu§-
dum ipsos bannos solvat.
" Concerning slaves that are sold, let it be in presence of the
bishop, or of the count, or in presence of the archdeacon, or of the
judge of the hundred, or in presence of the lord's deputy, or of
the judge of the county, or of well known witnesses. And let no
one sell a slave beyond the boundary. Whosoever shall do so
shall pay as many fines as he sold slaves. And if he has not the
money, let him deliver himself to the count in pledge as a slave
until he shall pay the fines."
In a capitulary of Pope Adrian I., containing the summary of
the chief part of the canon law then in force, as collected from the
ancient councils and other sources, delivered to Ingilram, bishop
of Metz, or, as it was then called, Divodurum, or oppidum Medio-
matricorum, on the 19th of September, xiii. kalendas Octobris,
indie, ix. 785, the sixteenth chapter, describing those who cannot
be witnesses against priests, mentions not merely slaves, but
quorum vitae libertas noscitur, those who are not known to he free ;
and in the notes of Anthony Augustus, bishop of Tarragona, on
this capitulary, he refers for this and another passage, viles per-
sonae, persons of vile condition, which is the appellation of slaves,
to decrees of the earliest of popes, viz., Anacletus, A. D. 91, and •
Clement his immediate successor; Evaristus, who was the next,
and died A. D., 109 ; Pius, who diedA. d. 157; Calistus, in 222;
Fabian, 250 ; and several others. In chapter xxi. among incom
petent witnesses, are recited, nullus servus, nullus libertus— mo
slave, no freedman. The notes of the same author inform us that
this portion of the chapter is the copy of an extract from the first
council of Nice, and that it is also substantially found in a passage
from Pope Pontianus, who died in 235, as well as in several of the
early African and Spanish councils, which he quotes.
One of these assemblies, in which Charlemagne published a
capitulary, was held at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aquisgranum) in 789, in

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 349
which eighty-two chapters were enacted. No. xxiii. is founded
upon canon iv. of the council of Chalcedon, and upon- an enact
ment of Leo the Great. It prohibited all attempts to induce a
slave to embrace either the clerical or monastical state without
the will aud license of the master. No. xiv. prohibits, among
others, slaves from being competent witnesses, or freedmen
against their patrons : founded upon the ninety-sixth canon of the
African councils. No. Ivii. referring to the third canon of the coun
cil of Gangrae, prohibits bishops ordaining slaves without the
master's license.
In 794 a council was held at Frankfort on the Maine, at which
the bishops of a large portion of Europe assisted ; the twenty-third
canon of which is the following :
De servis alienis, ut a nemine recipiantur, neque ab episcopis
sacrentur sine licentiS dominorum.
" Of servants belonging to others : they shall be received by no
one, nor admitted to orders by bishops, without their masters'
license." In the year 697, at another assembly held at Aix-la-Chapelle,
the capitulary for the pacification and government of Saxony was
enacted by Charlemagne. The eighth chapter is —
Si quis hominem diabolo sacrificaverit, et hostiam in more paga
norum daemonibus obtulerit, morte moriatur.
" If any person shall sacrifice a man to the devil, and offer him
as a victim to devils after the fashion of pagans, he shall be put to
death." An explanation of this will be found where Pope Gregory III.
answers St. Boniface, who informed him that unfortunate slaves
were bought to be thus immolated.
XI. Si quis filiam domini sui rapuerit, morte moriatur.
" If any one shall do violence to his master's daughter, he shall
be put to death."
XII. Si quis dominum suum vel dominam suam interfecerit,
sitaili mode puniatur.
"If any one shall kill his master or his mistress, he shall be
punished in like manner."
XIV. De minoribus capitulis consenserunt omnes, ad unam-
quamque ecclesiam curtem et duas mansas terrae pagenses ad ec
clesiam recurrentes condonent : et inter centum viginti homines
nobiles et ingenues, similiter et litos, servum et ancillam eidem
ecclesia? tribuant.

350 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

"All agreed concerning the smaller congregations, that the
colonists frequenting each church should bestow upon it one dwell
ing, with proper out-offices, and two manses (24 acres) of land ;
and that they should give to the same church one male slave and
one female slave between one hundred and twenty noble and free
men, and counting also the conditioned servants."
In this newly settled ecclesiastical province the provision made
for the support of religion consisted of land and slaves.

LESSON XVII.

Upon the ascension of Charlemagne to the imperial throne, the
Roman Empire may date its extinction. But, in the reign of the
Franks, in their succession to the throne of the western empire,
we fail to find any change of doctrine on the subject of slavery.
But the Lombards had long disturbed Italy : Charlemagne suc
ceeded in reducing them to better order, and, in the year 801,
amended their laws. One chapter assimilated to that of France
and of Germany :
VI. Be Aldionibus publicis ad jus publicum pertinentibus.
Aldiones vel Aldianes ek lege vivant in Italic, in servitute domi
norum suorum, qu^ fiscalini vel liddi vivunt in Francifi,.
" Of the public Aldions, belonging to the public estate.
" The Aldions, or Aldians, shall in Italy exist upon the same
principle in the service of their masters that the fiscals and lids do
exist in France."
The Aldions were bond-men or bond-women, whose persons
were not at the disposal of their masters, nor did they pass with
the land as colonists did, but their masters or patrons had certain
claims upon stated services from them. They were generally
either freed persons or the descendants of those who had been
manumitted upon the condition of performing stipulated services ;
and if they Tailed to perform these, they were liable to be reduced
to slavery. The lidus or liddus or litus of the Saxon was so
called from being spared in the conquest, and left on the land, with
the obligation of paying the master, who owned it and himself, a
certain portion of its produce, and doing him other fixed services.
Thus neither of them was an absolute slave -ffhose person and pro

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 351

perty were at the owner's disposal. The slave was manumitted,
but this latter description of servants were generally released by
deed or charter : hence, when so freed, they were called chartulani,
ehartellani, or "chartered." The transition from slavery to this
latter kind of servitude was, at the commencement of the ninth
century, greatly on the increase.
VIII. Be servis fug acihus.
Ubique intra ' Italiam, sive regius, sive ecclesiastious, vel cujus
libet alterius hominis servus fugitivus inventus fuerit §, domino suo
sine ullfii annorum prasscriptione vindicetur, ok tamen ratione, si
dominus Francus sive Alemannus, aut alterius cujuslibet nationis
sit. Si verb Longobardus aut Romanus fuerit, e^ lege servos suos
vel adquirat vel admittat, quae antiquitiis inter eos constitutus est.
" Concerning runaway slaves.
"Wheresoever within the bounds of Italy, either the runaway
slave of the king or of the church or of any other man shall he
found by his master, he shall be restored without any bar of pre
scription of years ; yet upon the provision that the master be a
Frank or a German or of any other nation, (foreign.) But if he
be a Lombard or a Roman, he shall acquire or receive his slaves
by that law which has been established from ancient times among
them." Here is evidence of the prevalent usage of the church holding
property in slaves, just as commonly as did the king or any other
person. ^
In the year 805, Charlemagne published a capitulary, at Thion-
ville, in the department of Moselle, France, (Theodonis villa.) . In
the chap. xi. we read —
Be servis propriis vel ancillis.
De propriis servis et ancillis, ut non supr^ modum in monasteria
sumantur, ne deserentur villae.
" Concerning their own male or female slaves.
"Let not an excessive number of their own male or female
slaves be taken into the monasteries, lest the farms be deserted."
This capitulary regards principally the regulation of monas
teries. St. Pachotaius, who was born in Upper Egypt, in 292, and who
was the first that drew up a regular monastic rule, would never
admit a slave into a monastery. Tillemont, vii. p. 180.
In the year 813, a council was held at Chalons, the portions of
whose enactments in any way affecting property or civil rights

352 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
were confirmed by Charlemagne and made a portion of the law of
the empire.
Many of the churches, especially in the country, were curtailed
in their income and reduced to difficulties, because the bishops and
abbots had large estates within their parishes, and many servants
occupied in their cultivation, and the prelates prevented these ser
vants paying tithes to the parish clergy, claiming for themselves
an exemption from the obligation. The canon xix. is the fol
lowing :
Questi sunt prseterea quidam fratres, quod essent quidam epis
copi et abbates, qui decimas non sinerent dari ecclesiis ubi illi
coloni missas audiunt. Proinde decrevit sacer ille conventus, ut
episcopi et abbates de agris et vineis, quae ad suum vel fratrum
stipendium habent, decimas ad ecclesias deferri faciant : famihae
vero ibi dent decimas suas, ubi infantes eorum baptizantur, et ubi
per totum anni circulum missas audiunt.
" Moreover some brethren have - complained, that there were
some bishops and abbots who would not permit tithes to be given
to those churches where colonists hear mass. Wherefore that holy
assembly decreed, that, for those fields and vineyards which they
have for their own support or that of their brethren-, the bishops
and abbots should cause the tithe to be paid to the churches. And
let the servants pay their tithes to the church where their infants
are baptized, and where during the year they hear mass."
In this we have additional evidence of the fact that large bodies
of land, and numerous servants attached to them, were held by
bishops and abbots, not only for themselves, but for their churches
and their monasteries. The canon xxx. is the following :
Dictum nobis est quod quidam legitima servorum matrimonia
potestiv^ qi^dam prEesumptione dirimant, non attendentes illud
evangelicum : Quod Beus conjunxit, homo non separet. Unde
nobis visum est, ut conjugia servorum non dirimantur, etiam si
diversos dominos habeant : sed in uno conjugio permanentes do
minis suis serviant. Et hoc in illis observandum est, ubi legahs
conjunctio fuit, et per voluntatem dominorum.
" It has been stated to us that some persons, by a sort of magis
terial presumption, dissolve the lawful marriages of slaves; not
regarding that evangelical maxim, Wliat God hath put together,
let man not separate. Whence it appears to us, that the wedlock
of slaves may not be dissolved, even though they have different
masters ; but let them serve their masters, remaining in one wed-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 353
lock. And this is to be observed with regard to those where there
ha^een a lawful union, and with the will of the owners."
In the year 816, a council was held at Aix-la-Chapelle, in which
a large portion of the canon law then in force regarding the clergy
was imbodied into one hundred and forty-five chapters. After
the session of the council, the emperor published a capitulary con
taining thirty chapters ; the sixth of which complains of the con
tinued indiscretion of bishops in ordaining servants, contrary to
the canons, and forbids such ordinations except upon the master's
giving full liberty to the slave. If a servant shall impose upon a
bishop by false witnesses or documents of freedom, and thus pro
cure ordination, he shall be deposed and taken back by his owner.
If the descendant of a slave who came from abroad shall have
been educated and ordained, where there was no knowledge of his
condition, should his owner subsequently discover him and prove
his property, if this owner grants him liberty, he may keep his
clerical rank ; but if the master asserts his right and carries him
away, though the slave does not lose his character of order, he
loses his rank, and cannot officiate. Should masters give servants
freedom that they may be capable of ordination, it shall be in the
master's discretion to give or to withhold the property necessary
to enable the person to get orders.
The archbishops are to have in each province the emperor's au
thority in the original, to authorize their ordaining the servants of
the church, and the suffragan bishops are to have copies of this
original, and when such servant is to be ordained, this authority
must be read for the people from the pulpit or at the corner of the
altar. The like form was to be observed when any of the laity
desired to have any servant of the church promoted to orders, or
when the like promotion was petitioned for by the prior of a chap
ter or of a monastery. Lotharius, the emperor, published a
capitulary in Rome, in 842.
In the third chapter of the first part, we find the following ex
pression :
In electione autem Romani pontificis nullus, sive liber sive servus,
praesumat aliquod impedimentum facere.
" Let no one, whether freeman or slave, presume to create any
impedfment in the election of the Roman pontiff."
Which leads us to suspect that some slaves possessed considerable
power or influence.
In the second chapter, fines are imposed for creating riots in
33

354 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
any church. And the chapter concludes in the following
words : •
Et qui non habet unde ad ecclesiam persolvat, tradat se in ser
vitio eidem ecclesiae, usque dum totum debitum persolvat.
" And let him who has not the means of paying the church,
give himself in servitude to that same - church until he pays the
whole debt."
By the tenth chapter he restrained the power of manumission.
Quod per xxx annos servus liber fieri non possit, si pater illius
servus, aut mater ancilla fuit. Similiter de Aldionibus praecipimus.
" That a slave whose father or whose mother was a slave cannot
become free before thirty years of age. We order that the same
shall be the case respecting Aldions."
In the twelfth he states that these are but a continuance of the
laws of his grandfather Charles and of his father Louis. And in
tit. i. 12 of Ulpian, reference is made to a variety of enactments
of the ancient Roman law, that a slave manumitted under the age
of thirty could not be a Roman citizen except by a special grant
of a court.
The thirteenth declares that free women who unite with their
own slaves are in the royal power, and are given up, together with
their children, to slavery among the Lombards.
The fourteenth enacts that a free woman who shall unite her
self to the male slave of another, and remain so for a year and a
day, shall, together with her children, become enslaved to her hus
band's owner.
The fifteenth regulates that if the free husband of a free woman
shall, for crime or debt, bring himself into servitude to another,
and she not.,consent to remain with him, the children are free: but
if she die, and another free woman, knowing his condition, marries
him, the children of this latter shall be slaves.
A number of chapters are also on these records showing the in
sufficiency of servile testimony. Others provide against the op
pression of poor freemen, so that they shall not be easily com
pelled to sell themselves into slavery.
About the year 860, Pope Nicholas I. sent to the newly con
verted Christians of Bulgaria answers to several inquiries which
they made for the regulation of their conduct. The ninety-seventh
regards slaves who accuse their masters to the prince or to the
court : and the pope refers them to the obligation of the master
as given in chapter vi. of the epistle of St. Panl to the Ephesians,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 35.5

(not to use threatenings towards their servants,) and then asks, how
much more strongly does the spirit of this maxim of kindness and
affection bear upon the servant, and teach him to be of an humble
and forgiving disposition, such as that chapter enjoins ; referring
also to the direction of our Saviour, Luke vi. 37, and the injunc
tion of the apostle, 1 Thess. v. 15, for their direction.
At this period of time, the piratical wars of the Northmen,
who were perpetually making inroads on the rest of Europe, kept
the whole of Christendom in commotion, and marked perhaps the
darkest period of the dark ages.

LESSON XVIIL
UNCONNECTED FACTS.

In 1030, Peter, bishop of Girona, in Spain, came to Rome,
and begged leave of the pope (John XIX.) to wear the pall twelve
days in the year, promising to redeem thirty slaves then in capti
vity among the Saracens, provided his holiness granted him this
request. It was readily granted. See Bower, vol. v. p. 153.
Shortly after the 30th October, 1051, Pope Leo IX., having
visited Vercelli and Augsburg, returned to Rome, and held a
council soon after Easter, in which he excommunicated Gregory,
bishop of Vercelli, for committing adultery with a widow betrothed
to his uncle. The bishop was absent when this sentence was
given, but he flew to Rome as soon as he heard of it ; and upon
his promising to perform the penance that his holiness imposed
upon him, he was absolved from the excommunication, and restored
to the functions of his office. On that occasion the canons issued
by other councils against the incontinence of thei clergy were con
firmed, and " some new ones were added, and, in order to check
more effectually the scandalous irregularity of the Roman clergy
in particular, it was decreed, at the request of the pope, that all
women who should for the future prostitute themselves to the
priests within the walls of Rome should be condemned to sei-ve as
slaves in the Lateran palace." See Herman, ad an. 1051 ; also
Bower, idem, p. 183.
By one of Constantino's laws, they vfho ravished virgins or stole
them, even with their consent, against the will of their parents.

366 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

(with the view to make slaves of them or not,) were burned alive.
Cod. Theodos. 1. ix. tit. 29, leg. 1. The severity of this law was
somewhat mitigated by Constantius, but he still made it a capital
offence. Ibid. leg. 2. It was upon this law. Pope Hadrian II.
applied to the emperor for redress against Eleutherius, who had
carried off his daughter Stephania by force, and married her,
although she was betrothed to another. See Bower, idem, p. 11.
We have a remarkable letter, written by Gregory VIL, in January,
1080, in answer to one he had received from Vratislaus, duke of
Bohemia, desiring leave to have Divine service performed in the
Sclavonian tongue, that is, in the language of the country. That
letter the pope answered in the following words :
" As you desire us to allow Divine service to be performed
among you in the Sclavonian tongue, know that by no means can
I grant your request, it being manifest to all, who will but reflect,
that it has pleased the Almighty that the Scripture should be
withheld from some, and not understood by all, lest it should fall
into contempt, or lead the unlearned into error. And it must not
be alleged that all were allowed, in the primitive times, to read the
Scriptures, it being well known that in those early times the
church connived at many" things, which the holy fathers disap
proved and corrected when the Christian religion was firmly
established. He cannot therefore grant, but absolutely forbid,
by the authority of Almighty God and his blessed apostle Peter,
what you ask, and command you to oppose to the utmost of your
power all who require it." Greg. 1. vii. ep. ii. ; also Bower, idem,
p. 279. On the subject of the above letter, it should be remembered
none spoke the Sclavonic at that day except the Sclavonians
themselves ; that the great mass of that people were slaves,
either to some few individuals of their own nation, or to the other
European nations, by whom they had been captured, or to whom
they had been sold. They were a nation of slaves, and hence the
Romans called their language Servian, from servus, a sla-ve. There
is still extant among the ancient German archives some account
of the physical and moral appearance of this people, representing
them as robust, filthy, faithless, and extremely wicked. They
called themselves sclava or sclavas, &c., which word, in their lan
guage, implied an elevated distinction, and was in common use as
a suffix to individual names, indicating that the person was highly
elevated among his countrymen, as in this case, Vrati-Slaus — indi-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 357
eating the fact that Vrati was famous, elevated, a man of high
and honourable distinction. Such men often held immense num
bers of their less elevated countrymen in bondage. From the
form and meaning of this suffix, some modern scholars have erro
neously supposed it to have come from the Latin, laus. We may
form some idea of the. feelings of Pope Gregory VIL, upon this
application, by imagining what would have been the feelings of a
Virginia legislature, fifty years ago, had some free African, then
there, petitioned to have the laws puhlished in Eboe, for the bene
fit of the slaves. In the above letter, the meaning of the assertion,
" in those early times the church connived at many things which
the holy fathers disapproved," &c., at this late day is very liable
to be misconceived. He does not allude to any thing said or done
by Jesus Christ or his apostles, but to the action of his predecessors
in the pontificate on this very subject. About the year 860, Pope
Nicholas I. granted this very privilege to the Sclavonians in Moravia ;
and about ten years after, the same was renewed by Hadrian II. ,
upon the request of St. Cyril, the apostle of the Moravians. See the
Life of Cyril, (Latin,) page 22. And John VIIL, in the year 882,
confirmed the same, at the request of Sfeyito Pulcher, prince of Mo
ravia, calling it the license granted by Pope Nicholas, " of saying the
canonical hours and celebrating mass in their native language."
" The Sclavonian language we justly commend," says the pope
in his letter to the prince, " and order the praise and the works of
Christ our Lord to he celebrated in that tongue, being directed by
Bivine authority to praise tiie Lord, not in three only, hut in all
languages, agreeably to what we find in holy writ — ' Praise ye the
Lord, all ye nations, and bless him, all ye people.' The apostles
announced the wonderful works of God in all languages," &c.,
"and he who made the three chief languages, the Hebrew, the
Greek, and the Latin, created all the rest for his praise and
glory." See Johan. ep. 247.
The same privilege was granted by the Greek church to the
Russians, who speak the Sclavonian language ; and they perform,
to this day, as well as the Moravians, Divine service in their native
language. The pope, however, ordered the gospel to be first read
in Latin, and afterwards, for the sake of those who understood not
that language, in the Sclavonian. (See Bower, idem, p. 37.) It
is not relevant to our subject to inquire what facts presented them
selves to the mind of Gregory VIL, whereby he apprehended that
the Scripture might "fall into contempt," or they " lead the un-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

learned into error." But we have seen, in our own day, a wide de
viation from the instruction of St. Paul, in a version of the New
Testament in Romaic, or modern Greek, evidently translated from
our English version, instead of from the ancient Greek ; wherein
Paul is made to say, 1 Tim. i. 10, anthropokleptas, which indi
cates the stealing of a free man^-instead . of what Paul did say,
andrapodistais, which indicates the stealing of a slave. It is true.
King James's translators substituted "men-stealers," without any
further allusion that the men who were to be the things stolen were
slaves. It does not appear to have occurred to them that a, free
man could be stolen, since in no sense could he be property^ In
said version are other errors of equal magnitude ; and we have it
from good authority that the Greek patriarch, after an examina
tion of said version, most strictly forbad his people to read it, and,
also, to introduce it among them. If such errors were incident to
the Sclavonic, Gregory VIL had at least some ground for his ap
prehensions. But the Sclavonians were of the same colour and
physical formation of the northern tribes to whom they were in
bondage. There was no physical or moral degradation consequent
to an amalgamation with them ; and such connection did happen
to a very great extent, and at this day haS very nearly extin
guished all caste between them. But in the days of Gregory VIL,
and long since, the politer nations of the south of Europe regarded
those of the north, whether free or in servitude, as but a mere
grade, if at all, above barbarians ; and this pope seems to have been
disposed to havefedthem with" milk,'i and not with "strong meat."
Heh. V. 12. We may perceive how the south estimated the north at
those early times, by an incident related by D'Aubigne, vol. i. p. 96.
Reuchlin, a native of Pforzheim, had made himself a distinguished
scholar for any age. In 1498, he found his way to Rome, when
Argyropylos, a celebrated Greek professor, was lecturing on the
elevated standing in literature to which the Greeks had formerly
arrived, &c. Reuchlin, highly delighted with the lecture, visited
the professor, and addressed him in Greek. Argyropylos, perceiv
ing him to be a German, says, "Whence come you, and do you
understand Greek?" Reuchlin replies, " I am a German, and
am not quite ignorant of your language." He took up Thueydides
and read ; when Argyropylos said, in grief, tears, and astonish
ment, " Alas, alas, Greece cast out and fugitive, is gone to hide
herself beyond the Alps !" But the funeral fire of Greece and
Rome illumed the extreme north, and by its light the savage free-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 35;,)

man and his more savage slave were taught their religion, civiliza
tion, and science. " It was thus," says D'Aubigne, " that the sons
of barbarous Germany and those of ancient Greece met together
in the palaces of Rome ; thus it was that the east and the west
gave each other the right hand of fellowship in this rendezvous of
the world, and that the former poured into the hands of the latter
those intellectual treasures which it had carried off in its escape
from the barbarism of the Turks. God, when his plans require it,
brings together in an instant, by some unlooked-for catastrophe,
those who seemed for ever removed from each other." This im
proved condition of the northern nations was fofesCen, perhaps
already felt, by Innocent IV., in 1264, when he permitted Divine
service to be performed in the Sclavonic language, which is noticed
by Bower, vol. vi. p. 254. At the close of his remarks on Popo
Innocent IV., he says — " We have a great number of lettei s
written by this pope on different occasions, and a decree allowing
the Sclavonians to perform Divine service in their mother tongue,
contrary to a decree of Gregory VII." We beg to notice Popt;
Gregory IX. ; for, " by this pope was confirmed the religious
order of St. Mary de Mercede, as it is called, an order instituted
to make gatherings all over the Christian world for the redemption
of Christians taken and kept in slavery by the infidels." Bower,
idem, p. 236. This order was instituted by James, king of Arra-
gon, about the year 1223, and was confirmed by Gregory on tho
17th of January, 1230. The general of this order resides con
stantly at Barcelona, where it was instituted by the king of Arra-
gon, under the direction of Raimund de Pennefort, then canori
of that city. See Oldoinus in notis ad Ciacon. Bullarium in Greg.
IX. constit. 9. About the year 1312, charges of the most wicked
and gross nature were had against the Knights Templars. Their
chief persecutor was King Philip, who suspected them to have en
couraged an insurrection during his war in Flanders. Through
his infiuence the whole order were arrested, not only in France,
but in all Christendom. Pope Clement V. took charge of their
prosecution. But it appearing that thousands of them had and
were ready to defend the Christian religion at the expense of their
lives, and that many of their order were then in slavery among
the Saracens, from which they might redeem themselves by repu
diating Jesus Christ and his religion, yet they preferred rather
to live and die in chains than to purchase freedom at so high a
crice, their judges considered these facts to overbalance the

360 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

evidence against them. But through Philip's influence the order
was suppressed. See Bower, vol. vi. p. 39. By the laws of Moses,
when the Hebrews found it necessary to make war and subdue
their enemies in battle, they were directed to put all the men to
death, and to make slaves of the women and children. See Beute-
ronomy xx. 13, 14. The milder treatment of the women and
children was in mercy, predicated on the presumption of their
being more tractable and less unalterably sunk in sin. We
perceive the same state of facts when the Lord commanded the
Hebrews to nut the Canaanites to death. " Thou shalt smite them,
and utterly destroy them ; thou shalt make no covenant with them,
nor show mercy to them : neither shalt thou make marriages with
them," &c. Beut. Vii. 2, 3. Whereas the adjoining and kindred
tribes were only devoted to slavery. " Both thy bond-men and
thy bond-maids which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that
are round about you : of them shall ye buy bond-men and bond
maids." Lev. xxv. 44. It is, and ever has been, the universal rule
to destroy from the earth, whenever sin has sunk its votary so
low in the depths of crime that there is no longer even hope of
reform. Whereas, for a less degree of depravity, mercy intercedes
for the reformation of the victim, by placing him someway in
surveillance, either for life or for a term of years. On the same
principle is founded the distinction of punishment between homi
cide attended with premeditated malice, and that which is not so
attended. " Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree,
and find none : cut it down ; why cumbereth it the ground ? And
he answering, said unto him. Lord, let it alone this year also, till
I may dig about it, and dung it : and if it bear fruit, well ; and if
not, then after that thou shalt cut it down." Luke xiii. 7.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 3(31

LESSON XIX.
Our English word war is of Saxon origin, (Sax. waer^ and from
whence has also been derived many of the corresponding terms in
the present European languages. Its primary sense implies the
action of a competent power in accomplishing something. But,
like many other words, its use has degenerated into various shades
of meaning. The corresponding Greek term, palemos, from pallo,
or its cognate, hallo, seems originally to have been illustrative of
offensive and coercive action, and hence implies all the agitative
and repulsive movement illustrated by our present word battle :
whereas the Hebrew term, laham, cognate with Ham, on whose de
scendants the curse of slavery was pronounced by Noah, involves
the idea of destruction, as a thing burned, consumed, devoured, and
destroyed ; hence the Hebrews would say, the sword devoured, that
is, eats up, &c. ; yet their term gerav, or kerah, boldly implied offen
sive and opposing force ; hence, to advance upon, or, to approach
unto, in which sense it was often used, as well as to imply confiict
and war. We wish to illustrate the fact that, when the mind of a
Hebrew was in exercise with the complex idea which we express
by the term war, the conception embraced a larger portion of the
simple elements which enter into the complex ideas of destruction,
annihilation, and death, than is now found associated in the mind
of the more highly cultivated descendants of the Caucasian races.
In the idea war, with him, the leading sentiment was the extinc
tion of those against whom the war was waged. Their doctrine,
that God governed the world ; that the Hebrews were his chosen
people ; that no war was justifiable unless authorized by Jehovah ;
that the object of war was to destroy from the earth those who
were too wicked to live, or to place in subjection and servitude,
those who manifested a less degree of stubbornness, but whose sins
made them a nauseant, a nuisance, in the world ; that God always
governed a war in such a manner as rendered it a punishment for
sins. Hence the law of Beut. xx. 13, 14, before quoted. Hence
the wars of the Israelites are named as "the wars of the Lord,"
Numb. xxi. 14. Henrie, we find in Ex. xvii. 16, " The Lord hath
sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to

362 STUDIES ON SLAVERI.

generation," and in the preceding verse, that " Moses built an
altar and called it Jehovah-nissi." The word nissi means the flag,
-standard, or banner of an army, indicating the centre of command,
or the location and movement of^he commander, and is sometimes
used in the sense of example, or model of action, and by figure is
also used to mean the commander or leader himself. And Joshua
said unto them, "Fear not nor be dismayed, be strong and of good
courage : for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies whom ye
fight." Josh. X. 25. " He teacheth my hands to war, so that a
bow of steel is broken by mine arms." 2 Sam. xxii. 35. Also the
same, Ps. xviii. 34. "With good advice make war." Prov. xxiv. Q.
Ps. xviii. 37 : "I have pursued mine enemies and overtaken them ;
neither did I turn again until they were consumed." 38. " I have
wounded them that they were not able to rise. They are fallen
under my feet." 39. "For thou hast girded me with strength
unto the battle. Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up
against me." 40. " Thou hast also given me the necks of mine
enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me." 41. "They
cried, but there was none to save them : even unto the Lord, but he
answered them not." 42. " Then did I beat them small as the
dust before the wind : I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets."
43. " Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people : and
thou hast made me the head of the heathen : a people whom I have
not known shall serve me," {abedini, shall he slaves to me.) 44. "As
soon as they shall hear of me, they shall obey me : the strangers
shall submit themselves unto me."
" 0 God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast
covered my head in the day of battle." cxiv. 7.
" Blessed be the Lord God of my strength, which teacheth my
hands to war and mj fingers to fight." cxliv. 1.
So the prophets : " A noise shall come even to the ends of the
earth, for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations ; he vfill
plead with all flesh : he will give them that are wicked to the
sword." Jer. xxv. 31.
" And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause
thy arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
" Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy
bands, and the people that is with thee : I will give thee unto
the ravenous birds of every sort, and unto the beasts of the field,
to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field : for I have
spoken it, saith the Lord God." Ezek. xxxix. 3-5.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 333
" At the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son ef Amos,
saying. Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put
off thy shoe from thy foot : and he did so, walking, naked and
barefoot. "And thfe Lord said. Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked
and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and
upon Ethiopia;
" So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners,
and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot,
even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt."
Isa. XX. 2, 3, 4.
And again, " The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying.
Son of man, prophesy and say. Thus saith the Lord God ; Howl
ye. Wo worth the day !
" For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy
day : it shall be the time of the heathen.
"And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be
in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take
away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.
" Ethiopia ( Cush) and Libya (Put) and Lydia {Ludim) and all the
mingled {ereb, mixed-blooded) people, and Chub, (the Arabians read
Nub, Nubia,) and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall
with them by the sword.
" Thus saith the Lord : They also that behold Egypt (Mitsraim)
shall fall ; and the pride of her power shall come down : from the
tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord -
God. «©
" And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that
are desolaite, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that
are wasted.
" And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire
in Egypt, {Mitsraim,) and when all her helpers shall be destroyed.
"In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make
the careless (betahh, confident of one's own security, thoughtless,
unconcerned, trusting in themselves) Ethiopians afraid, and great
pain shall come upon them : as in the day of Egypt, {Mitsraim :) for
lo it cometh !
" Thus saith the Lord God, I will make the multitude of Egypt ts
cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. ^
" He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be

364 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords
against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.
" And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand
of the wicl^d : and I will make the land waste, and all that is
therein, by the hand of strangers. I the Lord have spoken it.
" Thus saith the Lord God : I will also destroy the idols, and I
will cause their images to cease out of Noph : and there shall be
no more a prince of the land of Egypt : and I will put a fear in
the land of Egypt.
"And I will make Pathros (a Coptic word signifying south land,
§-c.) desolate, and will set a fireinZoan, (both Isoan, and/saaw; it
means a wanderer, &c. and was the name of a city at the mouth of
the Nile,) and will execute judgments in No.
" And I will pour my fury on Sin, the strength of Egypt ; and I
will cut off the multitude of No.
" And I will set fire in Egypt : Sin shall have great pain, and No
shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily.
" The young men of Avon and Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword :
and» these cities shall go into captivity.
" At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall
break ' there the yokj^ of Egypt : and the pomp of her strength
shall cease in her : a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall
go into captivity. Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt,
{Mithraim, the samg as Misraim, the son of Ham :) and they shall
know that I am the liSrd." Ezek. xxx. 1-19.
And so ^eph. ii. 12 : " Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain
by my sword." We shall take occasion to notice this passage
elsewhere. And Joel iii. 8: "And I will sell your sons and your'
daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall
sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the Lord hath
spoken it." Zephaniah iii. 8-10 may be said to develop the ulti
mate providence of God touching this matter:
" Therefore, wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that
I rise up to the prey : for my determination is to gather the nations,
that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indig
nation, even all my fierce anger : for all the earth shall be de
voured with the fire of my jealousy.
" For then I will turn to the people a pure language, that they
may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one
consent. " From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my suppliants, even tho

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

365

daughter of my dispersed (Putsi, the daughters of Put; the word
means dispersed, because they were scattered and lost as to name)
shall bring mine offering." They were evidently th|e ;most dete
riorated of -all the descendants of Ham.
When a people or nation give evidence that they are insensible
to all rules of right, either divine or human, it necessarily follows
that their hand will be found against every man, and every man's
hand against them. The subjugation of such a people, so regard
less of all law, can only end in their being put to death, or, in the
more merciful provision of the divine law, by reducing them to a
state of absolute slavery.
The experience, of mankind proves that such heathen, so re
duced to a state of bondage, have always given evidence that
their moral and even physical condition has been ameliorated by
it, and in proportion to the scrupulous particularity by which
they to whom they were enslaved successfully compelled and
forced them to walk in the paths of rectitude.
Ever since the world, has been peopled by nations, none have
ever hesitated to make war a protection to themselves against
those who thus had become a nuisance in it. To such men, either
individually or collectively, reason, justice, Hiw are without effect
or influence : nothing short of absolute compulsive force can avail
them beneficially. And, indeed, it is upon this principle that
civilized communities do essentially, in theirprisons and by other
mode of restraint, enslave, for life or a term of years, those who
have proved themselves too reckless to be otherwise continued
among them.
In the year 1437, the Christian right or duty of declaring, or
rather of making war against infidels. Was proposed to the church
for the pope's decision and counsel. Duarte, king of Portugal,
was importuned by his brother Ferdinand, to make war on the
Moors with a view to the conquest of Tangier. Duarte entertained
scruples about his moral and Christian right to do so ; and there
fore proposed the subject to the theologians and to the pope.
Eugenius IV., who then filled the papal chair, decided that there
were but two cases in which an offensive war could be justifiably
undertaken against- unbelievers,' &c. : 1st. "When they were in
possession of territory which had beionged to Christians, and
which the latter sought to recover. 2d. When, by piracy or war,
or any other means, they injured or insulted the true believers."
In all other cases, proceeded his holiness, hostilities are unjust.

366 STUDIES ON SLAVERY

The elements, earth, air, fire, and water, were created for all ; and
to deprive any creature, without just cause, of these necessary
things, was a violation of natural right. See Lardner, Hist. Portu
gal, vol. iii. p. 204. We proceed to instances wherein the records
show the church to have declared offensive war.
In 1375, " the Florentines, entering into an alliance with the
Visconti of Milan, broke unexpectedly into the territory of the
Church, made themselves masters of several cities, demolished the
strongholds, drove everywhere out the officers of the pope, and
setting up a standard, with the word 'Libertas'-in capital letters, en
couraged the people to shake off the yoke and resume their liberty :
at their instigation, Bologna, Perugia, and most of the chief cities
in the pope's dominions openly revolted, and, joining the Floren
tines, either imprisoned, or barbarously murdered those whom the
pope had set over them. Gregory (XL) was no sooner in
formed of that general revolt, and the unheard of barbarities
committed by the Florentines, and those who had joined them,
than he wrote to the people and magistrates of Florence, ex
horting them to withdraw their troops forthwith out of the do
minions of the Church, to forbear all further hostilities, to satisfy
those whom they had injured, and revoke the many decrees they
had issued absolutely inconsistent with the ecclesiastical immunity
as established by the canons. As they paid no regard to the pope's
exhortations, he sumpioned the magistrates to appear in person,
and the people by their representatives, at' the tribunal of the
apostolic see, by the last day of March, 1376, to answer for their
' conduct. The Florentines, far from complying with that summons,
insulted the pope's messengers in the grossest manner, and, con
tinuing their hostilities, laid waste the greater part of the patri
mony, destroying all before them with fire and sword.
"Gregory, therefore, provoked beyond all measure, issued the
most terrible bull against them that had ever yet been issued by
any pope. For, by that bull, the magistrates were all excommu
nicated ; the whole people and every place and person under their
jurisdiction were laid under ^an interdict. All traffic, commerce,
and intercourse with any of that state, in any place whatever,
were forbidden on pain of excommunication. Their subjects were
absolved from their allegiance ; all their rights, privileges, and im
munities were declared forfeited ; their estates, real and personal,
in what part soever of the world, were given away, and declared
to be the property of the first who should seize them, prima occu-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 357
pantis; all were allowed, and even exhorted and encouraged, to
seize their persons, wherever found, as well as their estates, and
reduce them to slavery. Their magistrates were decla,red intest
able, and tbeir sons and grandsons incapable of succeeding to
their paternal estates, or to any inheritance whatever; their
descendants, to the third generation, were excluded from all
honours, dignities, and preferments, both civil and ecclesiastic.
All princes, prelates, governors of cities, and magistrates were for
bidden, on pain of excommunication, to harbour any Florentine, or
suffer any in the places under their jurisdiction in any other state
or condition than that of a slave." This bull is dated in the palace
of Avignon, in some copies the 30th of March, and in some the 20th
of April, in the sixth year of Gregory's pontificate, that is, in 1376,
(apud Ray nald. ad hunc ann. num. i. etseq., et Bzovium, num. xv.)
Walsingham writes, that upon the publication of this bull the
Florentine traders who had settled in England, delivered up all
their effects to the king, and themselves with them, for his slaves.
One of the authors of Gregory's life {auctor primes vit. Gregor.)
tells us, that in all other countries, especially at Avignon, they
abandoned their effects, and returned, being no where else safe, to
their own country. (See Bower, vol. vii. p. 23.)
Again, in 1508 was concluded the famous treaty or league of
Cambray, against the republic of Venice : that state had been long
aspiring at the government of all Italy. The ' contracting parties
were the pope, the emperor, the king of France, and the king of
Spain ; and it was agreed that they should enter the state of
Venice on all sides ; that each of them should recover what that
republic had taken from them ; that they should therein assist one
another : and that it should not be lawful for any of the coiffede-
rates to enter into an agreement with the republic but by common
consent. The duke of Ferrara, the marquis of Mantua, and who
ever else had any claims upon the Venetians, were to be admitted
into this treaty. The Venetians had some suspicion of what was
contriving against them at Cambray, but they had no certain
knowledge of it, till the pope informed them of the whole. For
Julius IL, (then pope,) no less apprehensive of the emperor's
power in Italy than the French king's, acquainted the Venetian
ambassador at Rotae, before he signed the treaty, with all the
articles it contained, represented to him the danger that his re
public was threatened with, and offered not to confirm the league,
but t-D start difficulties and raise obstacles against it, provided

368 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

they only restored to him the cities of Rimini and Faenza. This
remand appeared to be very reasonable to the pope, but it was
rejected by a great majority of the senate, when communicated to
them by their ambassador ; and the pope thereupon confirmed the
league by a bull, dated at Rome, the 22d of March, 1508. The
Venetians, hearing of the mighty preparations that were carrying
on all over Christendom against them, began to repent their not
having complied with the pope's request and by that means broken
the confederacy. They therefore renewed their negotiations with
his holiness, and offered to restore to him the city of Faenza. But
Julius, instead of accepting their offer, published, by way of moni
tory, a thundering bull against .the republic, summoning them to
restore, in the term of twenty-four days, all the places they had
usurped, belonging to the apostolic see, as well as the profits they
had reaped from them since the time they first usurped them. If
they obeyed not this summons, within the limited time, not only
the city of Venice, but all places within their dominions, were,
ipso facto, to incur a general interdict ; nay, all places that should
receive or harbour a Venetian. They were, besides, declared
guilty of high treason, worthy to be treated as enemies to the
Christian name, and all were empowered " to seize on their effects,
wherever found, and to enslave their persons." (See Guicand, et
Onuphrius in vita Julii II., et Raymund ad ann. 1509, and
Bower, vol. vii. p. 379.)
In 1538 was published the bull of excommunication against
Henry VIII. It had been drawn up in 1535, on the occasion
of the execution of Cardinal Fisher, bishop of Rochester ; had
been submitted to the judgment of the cardinals, and approved by
mos? of them in a full consistory. However, the pope, flattering
himself that an accommodation with England might still be brought
about, delayed the publication of it till then, when, finding an
agreement with the king quite desperate, he published it with the
usual solemnity, and caused it to be set up on the doors of all the
chief churches of Rome. By that bull the king was deprived of
his kingdom, his subjects were not only absolved from their oaths
of allegiance, but commanded to take arms against him and drive
him from the throne ; the whole kingdom was laid under interdict ;
all treaties of friendship or commerce with him and his subjects
were declared null, his kingdom was granted to any who should
invade it, and all were allowed " to seize the effects of such of his
subjects as adhered to him, and enslave their persons." See

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 359

Burnet's Hist, of the Reform. 1. 3. Pallavicino, 1. 4. Saudeos
de Schis. b. i., and Bower, vol. vii. p. 447.
We ask permission to introduce a case on the North American
soil, of somewhat later date. We allude to an act, or law, passed
hy the " United English Colonies, at New Haven," in the year
1646, and approved and adopted by a general court or convention 1
of the inhabitants of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield, in the
year 1650. We copy from the " Code of 1650," as puhlished by
Andrus, and with him retain the orthography of that day :
" This courte having duly weighed the joint determination and
agreement of the commissioners of the United English Colonyes,
at New Haven, of anno 1646, in reference to the Indians, and judg
ing it to bee both according to rules of prudence and righteous
ness, doe fully assent thereunto, and order that it bee recorded
amongst the acts of this courte, and attended in future practice, as
occasions present and require ; the said conclusion is as follows :
" The commissioners seriously considering the many willful
wrongs and hostile practices of the Indians against the English,
together with their interteining, protecting, and rescuing of offend
ers, as late our experience sheweth, which if suffered, the peace
of the colonyes cannot bee secured : It is therefore concluded,
that in such case the magistrates of any of the jurisdictions, may,
at the charge of the plaintiff, send some convenient strength, and
according to the nature and value of the offence and damage,
seize and bring away any of that plantation of Indians that shall
intertein, protect, or rescue the offender, though hee should bee in
another jurisdiction, when through distance of place, commission or
direction cannott be had, after notice and due warning given them,
as actors, or at least accessary to the injurye and damage done to
the English : onely women and children to be sparingly seized,
unless known to bee someway guilty: and because it will bee
chargeable keeping Indians in prison, and if they should escape,
they are like to prove 'jnore insolent and dangerous after, it was
thought fitt, that uppon such seizure, the delinquent, or satisfac
tion bee again demanded ofthe sagamore, or plantation of Indians
guilty or accessary, as before ;-^ and if it bee denyed, that then the
magistrate of this jurisdiction, deliver up the Indian seized by the
partye or partyes indammaged, either to serve or to bee shipped
out and exchanged for neagers, as the case will justly beare ; and
though the commissioners foresee that said severe, though just
proceeding may provoke the Indians to an unjust seizing of some

370 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

of ours, yet they could not at present find no better means to
preserve the peace of the colonyes ; all the aforementioned out
rages and insolensies tending to an open warr ; onely they thought
fitt, that before any such seizure bee made in any plantation of
Indians, the ensuing declaration bee published, and a copye given to
the particular sagamores."

LESSON XX.

Under the term war, mankind have from time immemorial in
cluded those acts which the more enlightened nations of modern
days have designated by the name of piracy, a word derived
from the Greek peirao. The primary sense is to dare, to attempt,
&c., as, to rush and drive forward, &c. ; used in a bad sense, as to
attempt a thing contrary to good morals and contrary to law, and
now mostly applied to acts of violence on the high seas, &c. ; the
same acts on land being called robbery, &c. These acts of vio
lence have generally been founded on the desire of plunder, and
in all ages have been recognised as good cause of war against
those nations or tribes who upheld and practised them. Such pi
ratical war has ever been considered contrary to the laws of God
and repugnant to civilized life ; and it may be with the strictest
truth asserted that those nations and tribes of people whom God
devoted to destruction, and also those of whom he permitted the
Jews to make slaves, were distinguished for such predatory excur
sions. The first account we have of any such predatory war is
found in Genesis. True, it is said, they had been subject to Che-
dorlaomer twelve years, and rebelled, but the manner in which he
and his allies carried on the war leaves sufficient evidence of it-
character, even if they had not disturbed Lot and his household :
and it may be well here remarked, that the original parties to this
war were of the black races ; in fact, progenitors of the very
people who were denominated by Moses as the heathen rouno
about. The second instance of this kind of warfare we find carried on
by the sons of Jacob against the Hivites. True, they professed
to be actuated by a spirit of revenge for the dishonour of Dinah.
They put all the adult males to death, made slaves of the women

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 37I
and children, and possessed themselves of all the wealth of She-
chem, for which they were reprimanded by Jacob. Their conduct
upon this occasion was in conformity to the usages of the heathen
tribes who knew not God, and, if persisted in, must have ulti
mately just as necessarily been fraught with their own destruction
and extinction from the earth. And this was no doubt one of the
many crimes that gave proof of their deep degradation, and which
finally sunk them in slavery. The heathen tribes in all ages
have ever been characterized by this kind of warfare, however
truly and often the more civilized portions of the world may have
been obnoxious to similar charges. The doctrine is, that where
such predatory war essentially exists against a people, they, find
ing no other efficient remedy, are authorized by the laws of God
to make war a remedy, to repel force by force, to destroy and kill
until they overcome, and, as the case may be, to subjugate and
govern or reduce to slavery. And the laws of modern civilized
nations regulating the conduct of belligerants are merely an ame
lioration ; but give evidence that such belligerants are already ele
vated above those grades of human life which look to subjugation
and slavery as the only termination of war. But the condition
of man, in this higheu state of mental and religious improvement,
is none the less governed by the laws of Divine power, influencing
and adapted to his improved state. Corollary : When the time
shall come, that all men shall live in strict conformity to the laws
of God, war shall cease from the earth, and slavery be no more
known ; and at that time the Lord will " turn to the people a pure
language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord,"
to serve him with one consent. "Then from beyond the rivers
of Ethiopia, my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed,
(phut) shall bring mine offering." Zeph. iii. 9, 10.
We have heretofore alluded to the idolatrous barbarians of the
north of Europe and to their inroads upon the more civilized re
gions of the south. It may be well to take some further notice
of these people, to mark the influence of their predatory wars on
the morals of those times, and of the influences of the church in
counteracting and ameliorating their effect on the character and
condition of the Christian world. Their religion was cast upon the
¦model of their savage appetite : easily excited by the love of con
quest and plunder, their minds were still further inflamed by their
bards, who promised them, after death, daily combats of immortal
fury, with glittering weapons and fiery steeds, in the immediate

372 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

presence of their supreme god, Oden. The wounds of ^these
confiicts were to be daily washed away by the waters of life.
Congregated in the great hall of their deity, seated upon the skulls
of those they had slain in battle, they spent each night in cele
brating in song the victories they had won, refreshing themselves
with strong drink out of the skulls on which they rested, while
they feasted on the choicest morsels of the victims they had sacri
ficed to their gods. Constantine, having succeeded to the throne
of the Roman Empire, transferred his court to Constantinople.
This, a notable step in the downfall of Rome, was followed by his
dividing his dominions between three sons and two nephews. The
imperial power thus partitioned away, the northern nations, who
had been subjected to her rule, no longer regarded Rome as a
sovereign power over them : at once the German tribes, among
whom were the Franks, overran Gaul : the Picts and Saxons
broke into Britain, and the Sarmatians into Hungary. The spirit
of war was let loose. As early as the time of the Christian era,
scattered from the Caucasus to the north-eastern Pacific, were nu
merous tribes whom the all-conquering arm of Rome had never
reached. Cradled amidst precipitous mountains, savage and wild
scenery, howling tempests or eternal snows,' the form of their
minds and the character of their religion associated with the re
gion of their birth.
Europe has given some of them the appellation. Vandals,
Sueves, Alans, Sclavas, Goths, Huns, Tartars, and Veneti. Rest
less as the elements of their native clime, their leaders ever showed
themselves striving for dominion and thirsty for power. Pushing
westward, one upon the other, they became somewhat amalgamated
in the north of Europe, under the general term of Scandinavians,
yet receiving new cognomens or retaining their old as fancy or
knowledge of them suggested ; yet, in the middle and south of
Europe, they were as commonly known by the appellation of
Northmen. The most of these people were emphatically warlike
and savage. The world possessed no one power sufficiently strong'
to restrain them. Italy was overrun and Rome itself was cap
tured by the Goths, under Alaric — then by the Herulians, under
Odoacer. They in turn were subdued by Theodoric the Ostro
goth — then by the Lombards from Brandenburg, who established
a more permanent government. But they, in turn, yielded to the
power of the Franks, under Charlemagne, who entered Rome in

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 373
triumph, and was crowned Emperor of the West, as elsewhere
noted by us.
Up to the time of Charlemagne, the Northmen were excited to
war, not alone by their love of liberty and a desire to extend their
possessions, but also by their hatred to the Christians and their
religion; and in the countries further north, this prejudice existed
until a much later day. But we have only time to give an ex
ample of the character of their inroads on the peace and prosperity
of Europe. Scotland had been early engaged in these conflicts.
In June, 793, the Northumbrians were alarmed by a large arma
ment on their coast. These barbarians were permitted to land
without opposition. The plunder of the churches exceeded their
expectations, and their route was marked by the mangled carcasses
of the nuns, the monks, and the priests, whom they had massacred.
Historians have scarcely condescended to notice the misfortunes
of other churches than that of Lindesferne, which became a prey
to these barbarians : their impiety polluted the altars ; their ra
pacity was rewarded by its gold and silver ornaments. The monks
endeavoured, by concealment, to elude their cruelty ; the greater
number were discovered and slaughtered. If the lives of the
children were spared, they were sold into slavery. (See Lingard.) In
800, these Northmen made an irruption on the German coast, and
carried off plunder and captives. They shortly visited France : a
large party entered the Loire, and fixed permanent quarters in
the island of Hero, and made their incursions thence. The French
writers describe them . as now pushing in upon their northern
coasts, carrying off captives into slavery and loading their vessels
with booty. In 841 they entered the Seine, sacked and burned the
monastery of St. Ouen, of Jumieges, spared Fontenelle for a
ransom, where the monks of St. Denys paid them twenty-six
pounds of silver for sixty-eight captives. For nineteen days they
ravaged both banks of the river. In 843, they again entered the
Loire, took Nantes, when the city was filled by the inhabitants of
the neighbouring country, celebrating the festival of St. John, who
retired with the bishop and clergy to the cathedral. The gates
were soon burst open, and a general slaughter ensued: loaded
with booty and captives, they retired to their ships. In 844, they
sailed up the Garonne, pillaged Toulouse, made an attempt on
Gallicia in Spain, but were repelled by the Saracens. In 845,
Ragner Lodbroy, one of their sea-kings, entered the Seine with
twenty-six ships, and spread consternation through the land, leaving.

374 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

in their rear. Christians hanging on trees, stakes, and even in
their houses. They entered Paris, when Charles the Bald, by the
advice of his lords, paid them seven thousand^ pounds of silver,
and they swore by their gods to never re-enter his kingdom except
by his invitation. They ravaged the seacoast on their return
homeward, and were wrecked on the shores of Northumbria,
where Ragner and the survivors recommenced to plunder. They
were attacked by Aella, and Ragner slain. But a formidable
fleet, under the comtaand of Ragner's sons, was soon on the coast
of the East Angles, and marked their advances to Northumbria in
lines of blood and ruin. Aella fell into their hands, and was put
to death with untold torture. This incursion of Ragner is noticed
by Voltaire, who says that Charles the Bald paid him fourteen
thousand marks in gold to retire from France, and adds, in his
" General History of Europe," such payments to the Northmen
only induced them to continue these piratical incursions. That
these wars were most strictly piratical, not undertaken for the
good of mankind, but for plunder alone, we beg here to introduce
some proof from the early writers.
Adam of Bremen, who, about the year 1080, wrote his work en
titled, "De Situ Danae et Beliquarum, Septentrionalium," says
of the city of "Lunden," in the island Schonen — "It is a city in
which there is much gold, which is procured by those incursions
on the barbarous nations on the shores of the Baltic Sea, which
are tolerated and encouraged by the king of Denmark on account
of the tribute he draws from them." In proof that Voltaire's esti
mate of the influence of such payments to these northern pirates
was just, we advert to their inroads on Ethelred. Soon after he
ascended the throne, he was invaded by Sweyn, by some called
Sitric, and Olave, and paid them sixteen thousand pounds. Ten
years after, he was forced to pay these Northmen thirty thousand
pounds, and then, at the expiration of only four years, forty thou
sand pounds more ; each time the Northmen swearing by their
gods to never trouble the country again. Yet, twelve years after
the last payment, the crown and throne were transferred to Canute.
We have an anonymous Latin author, a contemporary of Canute,
who informs us to what use these pirate lords appliecf the vast sums
thus procured. The book is entitled, "Emmae Anglorum Reginae
Encomium," — The Encomium of Emma, the Queen of England.
She was the wife of Canute. Page 166, the author, describing the
Danish ships, says — " On the stern of the ships, lions of molten gold

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 375

were to be seen : on the mast-heads were eitl^er birds, whose turning
showed the change of tho wind, or dragons of various forms, which
threatened to breathe out fire. There were to be seen human
figures looking like life, glittering with gold and silver ; dolphins
of precious metals, and centaurs that brought to mind the ancient
fables. But how shall I describe the sides of the ships, which
swelled out with gold and silver ornaments ! But the royal ship ex
ceeded all the rest as far as the king in appearance exceeded the
common soldiers or people." This author, in the second book, de
scribing the landing ofthe Danes, repeats and says — "The ships were
so splendid that they seemed a fiame of fire, and blinded the eyes
of the beholders ; the gold flamed on the sides, and silver-work
was mingled with it. Who could look upon the lions of gold ?
Who on the human figures of electrum, (a mixture of gold and
silver,) their faces of pure gold ? Who on the dragons, gleaming
with brilliant gold^? Who could look on the carved oxen, that
threatened death with their golden horns ? Who could look on
all these things and not fear a king possessed of so great power?"
Jacobs's "Inquiry into the Precious Metals" attributes the accumu
lation of gold and silver, of which we have seen a specimen among
these northern barbarians, to the piracies of these people*. Hel-
moduff, in his Sclavonic Chronicles, {Chronican Sclavieum,) lib. iii.,
says the people of Denmark abounded in all riches, the wealthy
being clothed in all sorts of scarlet, in purple and fine linen,
(nunc non salum scarlatica vario grisio, sed purpurea et bysso in-
duntur;) and he further adds, "that this wealth is drawn from the
herring-fishery at the island of Schonen, whither traders of all
nations resorting, bring with them gold, silver, and other commo
dities, for purchasing fish." The fact was, that island became a
place of great resort by these pirates for supplies. But we return
to sketch these piracies : — In about the year 846, an immense
body of Scandinavians ascended the Elbe with six hundred vessels
under their king Roric. Hamburg was burned ; they then poured
down upon Saxony ; but, having met with a defeat, and just then
learning the fate of Ragner, sent messengers to Louis, king of
Germany, sued for peace, and were permitted ¦ to retire from the
country upon their giving up their plunder and releasing their
captives. After leaving the Elbe, Roric went to the Rhine and
the Scheldt, destroyed all the monasteries as far as Ghent, and
the Emperor Lothaire, unable to subdue him, received him as his
vassal and gave him a large territory. In 850, Godfrey-, another

376 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

chieftain, repulsed in an attack on England, sailed up the Seine,
and, after some successes, obtained from King Charles a permanent
location and territory about Beauvais. In 866, nearly all the
coast of France, and to the interior as far as Orleans, was over
run. The churches were plundered, and captives carried away
and enslaved. In Flanders, all the chief men and prelates were
either slain or in slavery. These pirates circumnavigatexi Spain,
amalgamated with the Moors of Africa; some entered the Gulf
of Lyons, and committed depredations in Provence and Italy. All
notions of peace, of justice, were wasting away, and the laws of
the monarchs and the canons of the councils began to exhibit the
ruins of morality. In 861, the Seine is again infested, and Paris ter
rified. In 883, they poured themselves on both sides of the Rhine,
as high as Coblentz, where the Emperor Charles made a treaty
with Godfrey and gave him the duchy of Friesland. France
was so much overrun by the pagans, that thousapds of Christians,
to escape death or bondage, publicly renounced their religion and
embraced the pagan rites ; and not long after, Rollo, the grand
father of William the Conqueror, at the head of his Scandinavian
bands, took possession and held the dukedom of Normandy, and
forced Charles the Simple to bestow him Gisla his daughter in
marriage. In England, Alfred, placing himself at the head of his
faithful followers, subdued the Danes, who had overrun his king
dom ; and many of them, embracing the Christian religion, were
adopted as subjects of the realm. In 893, a fleet of three hundred
and thirty sail .rendezvoused at Boulogne, under the command of
Hastings, for the avowed purpose of conquering for himself a
kingdom in Britain. Three years he contended against Alfred,
who eventually subdued him, but restored to him all the captives
upon his promise to leave the island for ever.
Nor did Ireland escape the ravages of the Northmen. In 783,
they landed in the extreme north of the island, and burned the town
and abbey of Bere Columh-kill, the Londonderry of more modern
times. Here the Hydaher-teagh, the chiefs of the oak habitations,
(the 0' Bougherty' s of a latter day,) secured the record of their
name in the "Book of Howth."- But here the Tuatha Be Banaan,
the Darnii of Ptolemy, washed out even the history of their race
in the blood of battle.
In 790, the Danes made a general assault upon this devoted
island : in 797, wasted the island of Ragulin, devastated Holm
Patrick, and carried away captives, among whom was the sister of

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 377
St. Findan, and, shortly after, the saint himself. In 802, they
burned the monastery of Hy : in 807, destroyed Roscommon, ra
vaged the country, and made captives and slaves. In 812, they
again burned Londonderry and its abbey ; massacred the students
and the clergy ; nor did they relax their attacks upon the north
of the island until, twenty years after, they were driven from the
place by Neil Calne, with most incredible slaughter. But yet the
whole island was infested by these northern marauders.
In 812, the Irish made a more determined resistance, and the
Northmen, after three defeats, escaped from the island. But, in
.Sl7, Turgesius, with a large force, overran a large portion of the
island, and a large portion of the clergy, monks, and tiuns were
massacred, and many of the inhabitants taken into captivity.
In 837, two large additional fleets arrived; one entered the
Boyne, and the other the Liffy. The masses which they poured
upon the country spread in all directions, committing every kind
of excess.
In 848, Olchobair McKinde, king of Munster, uniting his troops
with those of Dorcan, king of Leinster, was encouraged by a suc
cession of victories over the pagans ; yet the archbishop of Armagh
and seven hundred of his countrymen were made captive, and
sent by Turgesius to Limerick as slaves. But Melseachlin, king
of Ireland, defeated Turgesius and put him to death. The Irish
now arose on every side and drove the barbarians from the country.
But yet, in 850, Dublin was invaded by a band of Northmen, whom
the Irish denominated Fin-gal, or white strangers, and by another
body, called Buhh-gal, or black strangers, who took possession of
Leinster and Ulster, and ravaged the country. In 853, a sea-king,
named Amlave, Auliffe, or Olave, from Norway, with two brothers,
Sitric and Ivor, with large additional forces, arrived, and was
acknowledged chief of all the Northmen in the islands. He took
possession of Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford, which he enlarged
and improved, as if their possession was to be perpetual. But
war not only raged between them and the Irish, but the Irish and
Danes were in perpetual conflict, different parties of Danes with
one another, and discord and strife were constant among the Irish
themselves. Carnage and bloodshed, captivity and slavery every
where covered the island.
In 860, Melseachlin, the king, defeated Auliffe with great
slaughter; but, recovering strength, he plundered and burned
Armagh, and took a large number of captives, who were sent away

378 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

for slaves. In 884, Kildare was plundered,, and more than 300
sent away for slaves. In 892, Armagh was again captured, and 800
captives sent to the ships. But, in quick succession, Carrol, with
Leinster forces, and Aloal Finia, with the men of Bregh, defeated
the Danes and retook Dublin, while in other parts of the island
the Northmen suffered great reverses ; but in 914 we find them
again returned and in possession of Dublin and Waterford, but
quickly put to the sword by the Irish. Another division succeeded
to plunder Cork, Lismore, and Aghadoe ; and, in 916, were again
in Dublin, ravaged Leinster, and killed Olioll, the king. In 919,
they were attacked near Dublin by Niell Glunndubh, king of Ire
land. Thtir resistance was desperate, under the command of the
chiefs Ivor and Sitric : here fell the Irish monarch, the choice
nobility, and the flower of the army. Donough revenged the death
of the king, his father, and the barbarians were again signally de
feated ; but we find them, in 921, under the command of Godfrey,
their king, in possession of Dublin, marching to and plundering
Armagh, and, for the first time, sparing the churches and the offi
ciating clergy. A predatory war, without decisive encounters, was
continued for more than twenty years, when they suffered two
severe defeats from Cougall IL, in which their king, Blacar, and
the most of his army were slain. In  but the mind sickens,
tires at these recitals ; a whole army is swept away, and,' as if
the ocean poured twice its numbers on shore, whole centuries gave
no relief. In short, we have a continuation of these scenes of
piratical war, until the power and spirit of this restless race of the
Northmen were broken at Clontarf, near Dublin, on the 23d of
April, 1014, where they suffered an irrecoverable defeat from the
Irish, under the command of Brian Boroimhe.
Ireland did well to rejoice in the perfect overthrow of these
ruthless invaders ; but here fell Brian, whom ninety winters had
only nerved for the conflict. Here fell his son Morogh, and his
grandson Turlogh, personifications of the rage of battle ; here fell
a numerous, almost the entire, nobility ; here fell Ireland's valiant
warriors in unnumbered heaps. The voice of Ireland is yet some
times heard, but it is the voice of a broken heart ; of complaint, of
weakness, of weeping, and sadness. In a review of these times
and those that followed, the providence of God may be traced by
its final development. Where no mercy was, it is infused by hope
of gain ; and the savage and the captured slave' are led to an equal
elevation in the service of the altar of the God Jehovah.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 379

The sacrifice of the, Lamb is substituted for the victim of war
in the woods of Woden ; while the proud flashes of the crescent
of Islam became dim before the continued ray of the Star of
Bethlehem.

LESSON XXL

The condition of the slave, throughout the whole of Europe,
was attended with some circumstances of great similarity.
The slaves were generally of the same nation, tribe, and people,
who formed a constituent portion of the free population of the
country where they were, and always of the same colour and race.
Even the Sclavonians, on the continent, formed no exception in
the more northern parts of Europe. In short, slavery, as it ex
isted in Europe, was only in a very few instances in the south
marked by any radical distinction of race : consequently, the con
dition of the slave could never be as permanent and fixed as it
ever must be where strong distinctions of race mark the bounda
ries between bondage and freedom— although often far more cruel.
The disgrace of the free, from an amalgamation with the slaves,
did not proceed from any consideration as to race, but merely from
the condition of the slave — more pointed, but somewhat analogous
to the disgrace among the more elevated and wealthy, arising from
an intS-marriage with the ignorant, degraded, or poor. Influenced
by such a state of facts, the particulars of his condition were liable'
to constant change, as affected by accident, the good or ill conduct
of the individual slave, the sense of justice, partiality, fancy, or
the wants and condition of the master ; nor needed it the talent
of deep prophecy to have foretold that such a state of slavery
must ultimately eventuate in freedom from bondage.
A description of the slaves of Britain will give a general view
of those of the continent, for which we refer to Dr. Lingard.
The classes whose manners have been heretofore described con
stituted the Anglo-Saxon nation. They alone were possessed of
liberty, or power, or property. But they formed but a small part
of the population, of which not less than two-thirds existed in a
state of slavery.
All the first adventurers were freemen ; but in the course of

380 STUDIES ON SLAVER-Y.

their conquests, made a great number of slaves. The posterity of
these men inherited the lot of their fathers, and their number was
continually increased by freeborn Saxons, who had been reduced
to the same condition by debt, or made captives in war, or deprived
of liberty in punishment of their crimes, or had voluntarily sur
rendered it to escape the horrors of want.
The ceremony of the degradation and enslavement of a freeman
was performed before a competent number of witnesses. " The
unhappy man laid on the ground his sword and his lance, the sym
bols of the free, took up the bill and the goad, the implements
of slavery, and falling on his knees, placed his head, in token of
submission, under the hands of his master."
All slaves were not, however, numbered in the same class. In
the more ancient laws we find the esne distinguished from the
theow ; and read of female slaves of the first, the second, and
third rank. In later enactments we meet with borders, cocksets,
parddings, and other barbarous denominations, of which, were it
easy, it would be useless to investigate the meaning. The most
numerous class consisted of those who lived on the land of their
lord, near to his mansion, called in Saxon his tune — in Latin, his
villa. From the latter word they were by the Normans denomi
nated villeins, while the collection of cottages in which they dwelt
acquired the name of village. Their respective services were ori
ginally allotted to them according to the pleasure of their pro
prietor. Some tilled his lands, others exercised for him the trades
to which they had been educated. In return, they received certain
portions of land, with other perquisites, for the support of them-
Iselves and their families.
But all were alike deprived of the privileges of freemen. They
were forbidden to carry arms. Their persons, families, and goods
of every description were the property of their lord. He could
dispose of them as he pleased, either by gift or sale : he could
annex them to the soil, or remove them from it : he could transfer
them with it to a new proprietor, or leave them by will to his heirs.
Out of the hundreds of instances preserved by our ancient
writers, one may be sufficient. In the charter by which Harold of
Buckenhole gives his manor of Spaulding to the abbey of Croy-
land, he enumerates among its appendages Colgrin, his bailiff,
Harding, his smith, Lefstan, his carpenter, Fllstan, his fisherman,
Osmund, his miller, and nine others, who probably were his hus
bandmen ; and these with their wives and children. Where\er

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 381

slaves have been numerous, and of the same race as the master,
this variety in their condition has always followed. See the state
ment of Muratori concerning the Roman slaves ; also the laws of
Charlemagne concerning those of the Lombards and Goths.
These records are jjroof that slavery, accompanied with 'such facts,
is always in the act of wearing out.

LESSON XXII.

All historians agree that the Sclavonians, who at an early age
made their appearance on the north-eastern borders of Europe,
came, a countless multitude, pouring down upon those countries
. from the middle regions of Asia.
The precise place from which they originated, the causes of siich
emigration, and the successive impulses that pushed them west
ward, have now, for centuries, been buried beneath the rubbish of
the emigrants themselves and the general ignorance that over
spread the events of that age.
But there are some facts that assign to them a place among the
Hindoo tribes. Brezowski, speaking the Sclavonic of his day, in
his travels eastward, was enabled to understand the language
'of the country as_far east as Cochin-China ; and scholars of the
present day find numerous Indian roots in this language. A
similarity of religious rites is to be noticed between the ancient
Sclavonians and the Hindoos. They burned their dead, and wives
ascended the funeral piles of their husbands. Their principal gods
were Bog, and Seva, his wife. They worshipped good spirits called
Belbog, and bad spirits called Czarnebog.
, These hordes overspread the countries from the Black Sea to
the Icy Ocean ; and, in their turn, were forced westward by similar
hordes of Wends, Veneti, Antes, Goths, and Huns. Thus attacked
and pushed in the rear, they poured themselves upon the inhabit
ants of the more western regions, who, more warlike, and with
superior arms, put them to death by thousands, until the earth was
covered with the slain. Thus fleeing from death, they met it in
front until the nations then occupying the north and ea,st of
Europe, satiated and sickened by their slaughter, seized upon tlic-ii
persons as slaves, and converted them into beasts of burden.

382 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Their nutahers exceeding every possible use, the captors exported
them to adjoining countries as an article of traffic ; and the Vene
tians, being then a commercial people, enriched themselves by this
traffic for many years. All continental Europe was thus filled by this
race, from the Adriatic to the Northern Ocean. Thus their na
tional appellation became through Europe the significant term for
a man in bondage; and although in their own language their name
signified fame and distinction, yet in all the world besides, it has
superseded the Hebrew, the Greek, and Roman terms, to signify
the condition of man in servitude. Thus the Dutch and Belgians
say slaaf; Germans, sclave ; Danes, slave and sclave; Swedes,
slaf; French, esclave; the Celtic French, &c., selaff; Italians,
schiavo; Spanish, esclavo; Portuguese, escravo; Gaelic, slahhadh ;
and the English, slave.
Nor was this signification inappropriate to their native condition.
For these countless hordes were the absolute property of their
leaders or kings, who were hereditary among them, — as was, also,
their condition of bondage.
The Romans called their language Servian, from the Roman word
servus, a bond-man ; and from the same cause, also, a district of
country low down on the Danube, Servia, which name it retains to
this day. This country belongs to Turkey, from whence they took
the name serf. This term has been borrowed from thence, by the
Sclavonic Russians, to signify a man in bondage. The whole num
ber of their descendants is now estimated at 100,000,000; and
notwithstanding their amalgamation has identified them with the
nations with whom they were thus intermingled, yet a thousand
years have not ended their condition of bonda.ge in Russia, and
40,000,000 are accouhted only as an approximation to the number
that still remain in servitude in the north of Europe and Asia.
" The unquestionable evidence of language," says the author of
the Decline and Fall, "attests the descent of the Bulgarians from
the original stock of the Sclavonian, or more properly Slavonian,
race; and the kindred bands of Servians, Bosnians, Rascians,
Croatians, Walachians, followed either the standard or example of
the leading tribes, from the Euxine to the Adriatic, in the state
of captives, or subjects, or allies, or enemies ; in the Greek empire,
they overspread the land : and the national appellation of the
Slaves has been degraded by chance or malice from the significa
tion of glory to that of servitude. Chalcocondyles, a competent
judge, affirms the identity of the language of the Dalmatians,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 333
Bosnians, Servians, Bulgarians, Poles, (Be Rebus Turcitis, 1. x. p.
283,) and elsewhere of the Bohemians, (1. ii. p. 38.) The same author
has marked the separate idiom of the Hungarians.
See the work of John Christopher de Jordan, Be Originibus
Sclavicis, Vindohonse, 1745, in four parts. Jordan subscribes
to the well-known and probable derivation from slava, laus, gloria,
a word of familiar use in the different dialects and parts of speech,
and which forms the termination of the most illustrious names.
Be Originibus Sclavicis, part i. p. 40, part iv. p. 101, 102.
This conversion of a national into an appellative name appears
to have arisen in the eighth century, in the oriental France, where
the princes and bishops were rich in Sclavonian captives, not of
the Bohemian (exclaims Jordan) but of Sorabian race. From
thence the word was extended to general use, to the modern lan
guages, and even to the style of the last Byzantines. (See the
Greek and Latin Glossaries of Ducange; also Gibbon's Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. iv. p. 38.)
The Moors, with whom, the early Christians in the south of
Europe had so many and frequent contentions, at this day differ
from all the other African races, in their physical and mental de
velopment ; — in person, black, with the straight hair of the Arab,
whom they exceed in stature and intellect.
The Arabs are admitted to be an amalgamation of the descend
ants of Shem, of Canaan, and Misrain. Into the particulars of
their admixture, it will be as useless to inquire as it would be into
the paternity of the goats on their mountains.
The Moors, according to King Hiempsal's History of Africa, as
related by Sallust, are descended from an admixture of Modes,
PeVsians, and Armenians with the Libyans and Gastulians, the
original occupants of the country. His statement is, that Her
cules led a large army of the people to conquer new and unknown
countries ; that after his death in Spain, it became a heterogeneous
mass, made up of a great number of nations, among whom were
many ambitious chiefs, each one aspiring to rule ; that a portion
of this mass, mostly of Japhanese descent, passed over to Africa
and seized on the shores of the Mediterranean ; that their ships,
being hauled ashore, were used for shelter; that the Persians
among them passed on to the interior, and mingled with the
Gsetulians, and in after times were known as Numidians, — whereas
those who remained upon the coast internArried with Libyans, and

384 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

in course of time, by a corruption of their language, Medi, in the
barbarous dialect of Libya, became Mauri — now Moor.
To the foregoing, digested from Hiempsal, as given by Sallust,
we may add : — To this amalgamation was also adjoined, from time
to time, large parties of adventurers from the Hebrews, Greeks,
Romans, and from almost every part of Europe,, which were all
absorbed by the native masses ; and between the years &50 and
860, large masses of the Scandinavian hordes were also absorbed
into this general amalgam of the races of man.
The instances of slavery, and the laws and customs of the
church regulating it, as presented in this study, with few excep
tions, have pointed to the case where the white races have been
enslaved or have enslaved one another ; where no strongly
marked physical impediment has branded amalgamation with
deterioration and moral disgust ; nor is it thought necessary to
present an argument to prove that, under such a state of facts, the
condition of Europe at the present moment is in strict conformity
with the result produced by the unchangeable laws of God touch
ing the subject.
God always smiles upon the strong desire of moral and physical
improvement. Had Europe remained under deteriorating influ
ences which determined her moral and physical condition two
thousand years ago, her condition as to slavery could not have
changed. Nor is it seen that she is yet in so highly favoured a
condition as to call upon her the providence of God, charging her
with the pupilage of the backslidden nations of the earth.

LESSON XXIIL

It has been heretofore remarked that the great; mass of the
African tribes are slaves in their own country, — that slavery there
subjects them to death at the will of the master, to sacrifice in the
worship of their gods, and to all the evils of cannibalism ; and yet it
has been seen that even such slavery is a more protected state
than would be a state of freedom with their religion, and other
moral and physical qualities. History points not to the time
when their present condition did not exist, nor to the time when
their removal, in a state of slavery, to the pagan nations of Asia

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 335
commenced. Upon the adoption of Mohammedanism there, we
find the black tribes of Africa succeeding to them in a state of
slavery ; and we also find, and history will support the assertion,
that in some proportion as the slavery of these tribes was adopted
by Christian nations, it was diminished among the Mohammedans ;
and also^that as the slave-trade with Africa was abolished by the
Christians, it was increased there ; and also, that in the propor
tion it has been extended among both or either of these creeds of
religion abroad, it has been invariably ameliorated at home. The
causes of this state of facts seem to have been these : — The African
slave-owner found his bargain with the Christian trader more pro
fitable than with the Mohammedan. He received more value, and
in materials more desired by him : the labour of the slave was of
more value in America than Asia ; and the transportation to the
place of destination was attended with less cruelty and hardship
by sea than by land. The slave of the African owner was
increased in value beyond any native use to which he could be
applied, by reason of both or either trade: hence the slave in his
native land became of greater interest and concern. The native
owner ceased to kill for food the slave whose exportation would
produce him a much greater quantity. His passions were curbed
by the loss their indulgence occasioned. The sacrifice was stayed
by a less expensive, but, in his estimation, a more valuable offering.
The object of our present inquiry is, whether the slavery of the
African tribes to the followers of Mohammed is at all recognised or
alluded to by the inspired writers. The fact exists, nor can it be
contested, although the condition of the African slave is far more
degraded among the Asiatics and Arabians than among the Chris
tians, but that even there it is far more elevated than in his native
land. " Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his
servant." Gen. ix. 26. The prophet Daniel was a captive the
greater portion of his life, in the very region of country, and among
the ancestors of the Mohammedans of the present day, and, of all
the prophets, the most to have been expected to have been en
dowed with prophetic gifts in relation to that country and its
future condition. It is proper also to remark that although there
is in many instances among the Mohammedans of the present day a
mixture of Japhanese descent, yet their main stock is well known
to be Shemitic. It should also be noticed that the Sheraites have
at all times taore frequently amalgamated with the descendants of
Ham than thl^e of Japhet, consequently more liable to moral and
t 2^

386 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

physical deterioration ; and here, indeed, we find a reason why it
was announced that Japhet should possess the tents of Shem.
Ban. viii. 9 : " And out of one of them came forth a little horn,
which waxed exceeding great towards the south, and towards the
east, and towards the pleasant land. 10. And it waxed great,
even to the host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host of
the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. 11. Yea, he
magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the
daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was
cast down. 12. And an host was given him against the daily
sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to
the ground, and it practised and prospered. 23. And in the latter
time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full,
a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,
shall stand up. 24. And his power shall be mighty, but not by
his own power : and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall pros
per, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and holy people.
25. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in
his hand, and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace
shall destroy many : he shall also stand up against the Prince of
princes ; but he shall be broken without hand."
Ban. xi. 40 : " And at the time of the end shall the king of the
south push at him, and the king of the north shall come against
him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with
many ships, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall over
flow and pass over. 41. He shall enter also into the glorious
land, and many countries shall be overthrown ; but these shall
escape out of his hand, even Edom and Moab, and the chief of the
children of Ammon. 42. He shall stretch forth his hand also
upon the countries : and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver,
and over all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and
the Ethiopians shall be at his steps."
Of the language used by this prophet, it is proper to remark
that there are many variations from the more ancient Hebrew,
both as to form of expression and the pa,rticular words used,
among which Arabicisms and Aramacisms are quite common.
Faber supposes that this remarkable vision relates to the history
of Mohammedanism : no previous theory has been satisfactory to
the Christian world, and it is now generally believed that he has
suggested a correct interpretation. We may th'erefate be allowed

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 387
to follow him in considering it as descriptive ot the rise and pro
gress of that religion.
Mohammed was born at Mecca. His education was contracted,
and his younger days devoted to commercial and warlike pursuits.
By his marriage with the widow of an opulent merchant, he rose
to distinction in his native city. For several years he frequently
retired into the cave of Hera and cherished his enthusiastic senti
ments, till, at the age of forty, he stated that he had held communi
cation with the angel Gabriel, and was appointed a prophet and
apostle of God. In 612, he publicly announced to his relations
and friends that he had ascended through seven heavens to the
very throne of Deity, under the guidance of Gabriel, and had re
ceived the salutations of patriarchs, prophets, and angels. This
monstrous statement, however, did not succeed, except with a very
few ; and on the death of his uncle Abn T%leb, who had been his
powerful protector, he was compelled, in 622, to seek security by
flight to Medina. This henceforth became the epoch of Moham
medan chronology ; his power was more consolidated, and his influ
ence extended by a large accession of deluded, but determined fol
lowers. He very soon professed to have received instructions from
the angel Gabriel to propagate his religion by the sword ; and
power made him a persecutor. In seven years he .became the
sovereign pf Mecca, and this led to the subjugation of all Arabia,
which was followed by that of Syria. In less than a century
from the period of its rise in the barren wilds of Arabia, the
Mohammedan religion extended over the greater part of Asia and
Africa, and threatened tp seat itself in the heart of Europe.
The unity of God was the leading article of Mohammed's creed.
When addressing the Jews, he professed highly to honour Abraham,
Moses, and the prophets, and admitted, for the sake of conciliating
Christians, that Jesus was the Messiah of the Jews, and will be the
judge of all. This compromising policy is seen in the Koran.
Mohammedan morals enforce many principles of justice and
benevolence, and inculcate a degree of self-denial, but, at the same
time, permit the indulgence of some of the strongest pagsions of
our nature. The representations given of paradise are adapted to
gratify the sensuality of men, — and of hell, to awaken their fears
of disobeying the Koran or the prophet. " Eastern Christendom,"
says Mr. Foster, " at once the parent and the prey of hydra-headed
heresy, demanded and deserved precisely the inflictions which the
rod of a conquering heresiarch could bestow. The king of fierce

388 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

countenance, and understanding dark sentences, well expresses the
character of Mohammed and his religion." "Mohammed," says
Gibbon, "with the sword in one hand, and the Koran in the
other, erected his throne on the ruins of Christianity and of Rome.
The genius of the Arabian prophet, the manners of his nation, and
the spirit of his religion involve the causes of the decline and fall
of the Eastern empire, and our eyes are curiously intent on one of
the most memorable revolutions which impressed a new and lasting
character on the nations of the globe."
His first efforts were directed against the Jews, who refused to
receive Mohammed's effusions as the revelations of heaven, and, in
consequence, suffered the loss of their possessions and lives.
"When Christian churches," says Scott, "were converted into
mosques, the ' daily sacrifice' might be said to be taken away,"
(viii. 11, 12,) and the ^umbers of nominal Christians who were thus
led to apostatize, and of real Christians and ministers who perished
by the sword of this warlike, persecuting power, fulfilled the pre
diction that he cast down some of the host and of the stars to
the ground, and stamped on them. It is said that " a host was
given him against the daily sacrifice," (or worship of the Christian
church, corresponding with the Jewish sanctuary,) "by reason of
transgressiop." A rival priesthood subverted the priesthood of a
degenerate church. The imams of Mohammed assumed the place
of the apostate teachers of Christianity* The event here pre
dicted was to occur in the latter part of the Grecian empire, (ver. 23,)
"when the transgressors are come to the full."
History relates that the remains of the Eastern empire and the
power of the Greek church were overthrown by Mohammedans.
Their chief endeavoured to diffuse his doctrine, but found that it
could not prevail by "its own power," or the inherent moral
strength of the system : it was requisite to support his pretensions
by "craft" and "policy." Mohammed sanctioned as much ofthe
inspired Scriptures as he thought might tend to obviate the pre
judices of the Jews, and incorporated as much of his own system
with the errors of the Eastern church as might tend to conciliate
Greek Christians.
" Although Mohammedism did not first spring up in the Mace
donian empire, yet it now spread from Arabia to Syria, and
occupied locally, as well as authoritatively, the ancient dominion
of the he-goat." (Scott.) It has been remarked, however, by Mr.
Foster, (Mohammedism Unveiled,) that the part of Arabia which

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 339

included the native country of Mohamtaed, composed an integral
province both of the erapire of Alexander and of the Ptolemean
kingdom of Egypt. Ptolemy had Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Caelo-syria,
and Palestine. The sovereignties of Egypt and Syria, before called
the king of the south and the king of the north, disappeared when
they were absorbed in the Roman empire, and the new power, or the
Saracen and Turkish empires, that succeeded, are now brought to
view. But let it be observed, that the Saracens became masters of
Egypt, the original territory of the king of the south, and the
Turks possessed Syria, or the kingdom of the north, and still
retain it. " The king of the south shall push at him." The power
of Rome was overthrown in the east by the Saracens. This was
the first wo of the revelation, which was to pass away after three
hundred years. The Turks then came, a whirlwind of northern
barbarians, and achieved a lasting conquest, in a day, of the
Asiatic provinces of the Roman empire. The line of march was
along the north of Palestine, and the Turkish monarch entered
only to pass through and overflow : " he entered into the glorious
land;" for, as Gibbon has stated it, the most interesting conquest
of the Seljukian Turks was that of Jerusalem, which soon became
the theatre of nations. "But Edom and Moab, and the chief of
the children of Ammon escaped out of his hand." Even when all
the regions round owned the Turkish sway, these retained their
detached and separate character, and even received tribute from
the pilgrims as they passed to the shrines of Mecca and Medina.
Thus they have escaped and maintained their independence of the
Porte. A race of monarchs arose to stretch out their hand upon the
countries. Othman, Amurath, Bajazet, and Mohammed conquered
nation after nation, and finally fixed the seat of their empire at
Constantinople. The land of Egypt " did not escape ;" it was in
deed the last to yield ; but, though its forces had vanquished both
Christians and Turks, it was at length subdued by Selim I. in 1517,
and came into possession of the Ottomans. {Cox, on Baniel.)
And it may be here remarked, as a fact of well-known history, that
the countries known as Libya and Ethiopia have, at all ages of
the world, supplied this country with slaves, whoever may have
borne rule, and still continue to do the same. Thousands from
the interior of Africa are yearly transplanted from the slavery of
their native land into those countries now under Mohammedan
rule. And it may be well here for the Christian philanthropist to
notice, that so far as the slave-trade with Africa has ceased with

390 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Christian nations, to the same extent it has substantially in-
f^eased with Mohammedan countries.
"And the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps," — a
form of speech as clearly indicating the condition of slavery as
though ever so broadly asserted. The Hebrew word here trans
lated "at his steps," VlJ^yO^ in his footsteps, &c., i. e. attached
or subjected to his interests as slaves, is cognate with the Arabic
word 4>)jiia>:/<) metsuad, and means the chains by which the feet
of captive slaves are bound, and in Hebrew form this word is used
in Isa. iii. 20, nlli^V tseadoth. The whole passage is strictly an
Arabicism, and is to be construed, with reference to that language,
chain for the legs. Of this passage, Adam Clark says, " Uncon-
quered A?-ahs all sought their friendship, and many of them are
tributary to the present time." Some commentators seem to un
derstand this passage to mean only that Libyans and Ethiopians
would be in. courteous attendance, &c. If so, the Hebrew would
haveread, asinJMc^^.iv.10,'7.3'1 regel. " And he went up with ten
thousand men at his feet." This passage, foretelling the slavery
of the Ethiopians to the Mohammedans, may well be compared
with Isa. xiv. 14, announcing the slavery of the same people to
those of the true religion. " Thus saith the Lord, the labour of
Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men
of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine ; they
shall come after thee, in chains they shall come over, and they
shall fall down unto thee ; they shall make supplication unto thee,
saying. Surely God is in thee, and, there is none else, there is no
God" beside.

LESSON XXIV.

In reflection upon the leading ideas that present themselves in
the review of the subjects of this study, we may notice that
slavery has been introduced to the world as a mercy in favour of
life. That, in its operation, its general tendency is to place the
weak, deteriorated, and degraded under the control and govern
ment of a wisdom superior to their own ; from whence the intel
lectual, moral, and physical improvement of the enslaved, to Some
extent, is a consequence as certain as that cause produces its effect.

STUDJES ON SLAVERY. 391

The world never has, nor will it ever witness a case where the
moral, intellectual, and physical superior has been in slavery, as a
fixed state, to an inferior race or grade of human life. The law
giving superior rule and government to the moral, intellectual,
and physical superior is as unchangeable as ,the law of gravitation.
No seeming exception can be imagined which does not lend proof
of the existence of such law. The human intellect can make no
distinction btetween the establisher of such law and the author and
establisher of all other laws which we perceive to be established
and in operation, and which we attribute to God. No one has
ever yet denied that obedience to the laws of God effects and
produces mental and physical benefits to the obedient, or that
their disregard and contempt are necessarily followed by a deteriora
tion of the condition of the disobedient ; nor can any one deny
that the neglect of obedience to the laws of God, which, in its
product, yields to the disobedient mental and physical deteriora
tion, or any one of them, is sin, — and in proportion to its magnitude,
so will be its consequent degradation. To be degraded is sin, be
cause the law is improve. No one will pretend that the relation
of master and slave is not often attended with sin on the part of
the master, on the account of his disobedience to the law of God
in his government of his slave ; or on the part of the slave, on the
account of his disobedience to the same law in his conduct towards
his master. Therefore, such master is not as much benefited, not
the slave as much improved by the relation, as would otherwise be
the case. It is therefore incumbent on the master to search out
and exclude all such abuses from the intercourse and reciprocal
duties between him and his slave. Placed upon him is the respon
sible charge of governing both himself and his slave. The re
sponsibility of the master in this respect is of the same order as
that of a guardian and that of a parent.
The want of a less affectionate regard in the master towards the
slave is supplied and secured to the safety of the slave by the in
creased watchfulness of the master over the slave from the con
sideration that the slave is his property. For where affection can
not be supposed sufficiently strong to stimulate a calm and wise
action, interest steps in to produce the effect.
Tha< every mind will see and comprehend these truths, where
prejudice and education are in contradiction, is not to be expected.
The infiuences of a false philosophy on the mind, like stains of
crime on the character, are often of difficult removal. Some for-

392 STUDIES ON slav«;ery.
bearance towards those who honestly entertain opposing ideas on
this subject, can never disgrace the Christian character, — and we
think it particularly the duty of the men of the South, towards the
men, women, and children of the Northern States, especially of the
unlearned classes. For even among ourselves of the South, we
sometimes hear the announcement of doctrines that declare all the
most rabid fanatic at the North need claim, on the subject of imme
diate abolition. We refer to and quote from Walker's Reports
of Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of Mississippi, at the
June term, 1818, page 42 : " Slavery is condemned by reason and
the laws of nature." This false and suicidal assertion, most un
necessarily and irrelevantly introduced, still stands on the records
of the Supreme Court of that State, and is an epitaph of the in
capacity and stupidity of him who wrote it and engraved it on this
monument of Southern heedlessness. We were at first surprised
at the silence of the reporter, but, at that day, any criticism by
that officer would have been contempt. Yet we may infer that the
ingenious and talented gentleman contrived to express his most
expunging reprobation, by wholly omitting all allusion to the point
in his syllabus of the case.
If in the course of these Studies we shall not have shown that
slavery as it exists in the world is commanded by "reason" and
the laws of "nature," we shall have laboured in vain; and even
now an array of battle is formed, and our enemy has chosen hu
man "reason" for the "bolt of Jove," as wrought from strands
of Northern colds. Southern heats, and Eastern winds ; in their
centre, bound by cloudy fears and avenging fires ; for their aegis,
"the laws of nature" supply Minerva's shield, upon which fanati
cism has already inscribed its government over thirty States, far
exceeding in purity, they think, that of the God of Israel. And
we have come up to the war ! — armed neither with the rod of
Hermes nor the arrows of Latona's son ; but with a word from
him of Bethlehem : " Sanctify them through thy truth ; thy word
is truth."

STUDIES ON slavery. 393

^tutrg V,

LESSON L
The inquirer after truth has two sources by which he can arrive
at some knowledge of the will of God : — 1st. By fait"h and reve
lation ; 2d. By the observance of the facts uniformly developed
in the material and moral world. The accuracy of his knowledge
will be coincident with the accuracy of the mental perceptions and
the extent of the research of the inquirer.
In the Bible he will find the declarations of God himself: some
of them are express, and some of them implied.
In the second place, he may discover the will of God from the
arrangement of his works as manifested in the visible world.
Some call this the light of nature ; others the laws of nature.
But what do they mean other than the light and laws of God ?
Are not the laws of gravitation as much the laws of God as they
would be if set down in the decalogue, although not as important
to man in his primary lessons of moral duty ?
Let us view the forest as planted by the hand of God : we see
some trees made to push their tall boughs far above the rest;
while others, of inferior stem and height, seem to require the par
tial shade and protection of their more lofty neighbours ; others,
of still inferior and dwarfish growth, receive and require the full
and fostering influence of the whole grove, that their existence
may be protected and their organs fully developed for use.
Let us view the tribes of ocean, earth, and air: we behold a
regular gradation of power and rule, from man down to the atom.
Whether -with reason or -with instinct blest.
All enjoy that power that suits them best:
Order is Heaven's first la-w ; and this confess'd,
Some are, and must be, greater than the rest—

394 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

More rich, more -wise ; but who infers from hence
That such are happier, shocks all common sense.
Heaven to mankind impartial we confess,
If all are equal in their happiness ;
But mutual wants this happiness increase.
All nature's difference, keeps all nature's peace :
Condition, circumstance, is not the thing ;
Bliss is the same, in subject, or in Idng ! Pope's Essay.

LESSON IL

They who study even only such portion of the works of God
as can, seemingly, to some extent be examined by the human mind,
never fail to discover a singular affinity between all things, the
creation of his hand. This, to us, would be proof, independent of
inspiration, that one Creator made the whole world and all things
therein. So great is the affinity between the vegetable and animal king
doms, that it is to this day a doubt where the one terminates or
where the other begins. Naturalists all agree that they both spring
from " slightly developed forms, perhaps varied, yet closely con
nected;" true, "starting away in different directions of life," but
ever preserving, it may be an obscure, yet a strict analogy to each
other. These analogies are sufficiently obvious to prove that one power,
one and the same general law, has brought them both into existence.
Thus the devout worshipper of God may, in some sense, view the
vegetable inhabitants of the earth as his brethren.
The animal kingdom may be considered as divisible into five
groups. The vertebreta, annulosa, (the articulata of Cuvier,) the
radiata, the acrita, (in part the radiata of Cuvier,) and the molusca.
Each one of these groups will be found divisible into five classes.
Let us take, for example, the vertebreta, and it is readily divided
into the mammalia, reptilia, pisces, amphibia, and aves.
So each one of these classes is divisible into five orders. Let
us take, for example, the mammalia ; and it is readily divided into
the cheirotheria, (animals with more or less perfect hands,) ferae,
cetacea, glires, and ungulata.
So each one of these orders is divisible into five genera. Let us

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 395

take, for example, the cheirotheria, and it is readily divided into
the bimana or homo, the quadrumana or simiadae, the natatorials
or vespertilionidae, the suctorials or lemuridse, the rasorials or
ceiidae. So each one of these genera is divided in five species. Let us
take, for example, the bimana or homo, and it is readily divided
into the Caucasian or Indo-European, the Mongolian, the Malayan,
the Indian or aboriginal American, and the Negro or African.
Thus we behold man in his relation to the animal world : true,
far in advance as to his physical and mental development ; yet the
natural philosopher finds traces of all his mental powers among the
inferior animals, as does the comparative anatomist those of his
physical structure.
Does he feel degraded by the fact that God has been pleased to
order this relation of brotherhood with the lower orders of crea
tion ? Or will he for ever suffer his pride to hedge up the way of
progress by the impassable darkness of his own ignorance.
The uniformity of these penta-legal ramifications, which reach
down from man through all the orders and groups of the animal
world, gives evidence of a preconceived design — of an arrangement
by Almighty power — of a God whose thought is law ! — while the
analogy of animal formation, the traces of affinity in the mental
qualities found in all, in proportion as those qualities are more or
less developed, and the apparent adaptation of each one to the
condition in which it is found, demonstrate the unity of the law
which governs their physical being.
These analogies, found to exist between all the individuals of the
animal world, and particularly striking and more and more obvious
»as we proceed from a particular group to its genera and species,
have led some philosophers to suppose that the more perfectly de
veloped species have been progressively produced by some instance
of an improved development, as an offshoot from the genera, and
so on back to its original form of animal life, in obedience to the
laws of the great First Cause. But we wish to disturb no man's
philosophy. We deem it of little importance to us what method
God pursued in the creation of our species ; whether we were
spoken instantly into life, as was the light, or whether ages were
spent in reproducing improved developments from the earlier forms
of animal life.
In either case we see nothing contradictory to the inspired
writings of Moses. Man is as much the creation of God through

396 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

one means as another. The wisdom and power required are the
same ; for his existence alone demonstrates him to be the work of
a God. The fact of the existence of these analogies is alone what
we propose to notice. And we offer them merely as indications of
a course of study that may lead to some important results in eluci
dation of the mental and physical relations between the different
varieties of man.
In further illustration, let us for a moment look at the bovine
species, from the genus ruminantia, from the order ungulata, and
we find the ox, the bison, the buffalo, the elk, and the goat.
Like the five species of homo, we find the bovine species divided
into a great number of families or varieties, of which we need take
no further notice. Does any one fail to perceive the analogy be
tween these species of the bos? Are they more obscure, more
aberrant than are the relations between the species of man ? Ex
amine the high physical development of the most intellectual
Caucasian ; trace down the line to the diminutive and ill-formed
cannibal savage of Africa, the habits and mental development of
whom would seem rather allied to the lower orders of animals than
to the Caucasian ! How will it comport with the general laws
manifested by the condition of the animal world and of the obvious
inferiority and influence of one over another, in proportion to their
apparent superiority in physical and mental development, to place
the lowest grade of the African in equal power or in control of
the Caucasian brother ? Is there any manifestation of the Creator
of an arrangement like this, even through the eternity of his own
work ?
On the contrary, through the whole animal race, we find power
and control lodged everywhere in proportion as we find an advance.,
towards perfection in the development bestowed.
In conformity to this law, God gave Adam " dominion" over
every living thing that moved upon earth.
It is known to most men, that, under certain circumstances, the
race of any animal will improve : so also, under adverse, they de
generate. We see these facts daily in the breeds of domestic
animals. We see these changes even in the families of all the
species of man. Nor is it a matter of the least importance to our
inquiry, whether these species of the race have been produced by
an upward movement from the lowest, or a downward degenerating
movement from the most elevated. It is sufficient that they exist
from some cause ; for an individual having been, say an equal,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 397

but now degenerate, falls under the influence and control of his
superior. And in conformity to this law, it was announced to Eve,
the helpmate of Adam, that " he. shall rule over thee."
But if these particles of inspiration had never been proclaimed,
man- would have discovered this law from its constant operation,
not only on the family of man, but on every branch of the animal
world. We can spend but little time with such infidel principles as lead
some men to say, "Down with your Bible that teaches slavery." " If
the religion of Jesus Christ allows slavery, the New Testament is
the greatest curse that could be inflicted on man." " Down with
your God who upholds slavery ; he shall be no God of mine."
"Jesus Christ was himself a negro !" Our hearts bleed when 'we
see such evidence of a destroyed intellect. The maniac in his
ravings excites our extreme sorrow. We feel no harshness. He
has sunk far below resentment. Can we administer to such mental
deformity any relief? Will it be absurd to ask him to deduce
from nature, as it is found to operate, that the various grades
of subjection spread through the animal world exist in conformity
to the natural law ?
But, says the querist, " Your remarks have a tendency towards
the conclusion, — upon the supposition that Adam was created wiih
a perfect, or rather with a very high order of physical organiza
tion and mental development, — that the facts of the greater or
less degeneration of the people of the world, since his fall, now-
exhibited by the different species of man upon the earth, had their
origin in his transgression. Now, by parity of argument, we may
conclude, if such high physical elevation wa« the original condition
of Adam, that each genus of the brute creation also was origin
ally created on a proportional scale. If so, their degeneration
is quite as visible as that of man. Yet we have no account that
they committed sin and 'fell.' "
We do not say that such was the original condition of the first
man. We say, the creation of the animal world was upon princi
ples compatible with progressive improvement; and that as far as
these principles are not obeyed, but changed or reversed by the
practice of the animal world, that the effect is to remain stationary,
or to retrograde and deteriorate.
It is a matter of no importance to our argument what was the
first condition of Adam. But allow it to be as querist has stated:
We answer, the Bible was given to man for his moral govern-

398 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

ment ; not to teach him geology, chemistry, or other sciences.
Such matters were left for him to attain by progressive improve
ment. A minute history of the brute creation, or any portion of
it, from the earliest dawn of animal life up to the time of revela
tion, other than the announcement of their creation and subjection
to him, was irrelevant. But man was the very head and governor
of the whole animal race. Now, who is to say that the degenera
tion of the ruler will not produce a change of conduct in the
ruled ? Who is to say that the poisoned moral feeling of him in
command, breaking forth in acts of violence on all around, will
not produce a Corresponding effect on the animate objects under
him ? Witness the effect, we need not say on children, but on
domestic animals, of the rash, cruel, and crazy treatment of a
wicked and inconsistent man ?
The idea that the brute creation were injured in condition by
the fall of man is put forth by St. Paul, in Rom. viii. 9—22, where
the word "creature" is translated from the Greek term that im
plies the whole dfeimal or the whole created world. But no an
swer to querist is necessary. The fact is sufficient that animals,
under habits ill-adapted to their organization, do degenerate.

LESSON IIL

However insensible individuals themselves may be of the fact,
some men, and those of quite different character, find it un
pleasant to submit themselves to the great Author of animal life.
For they, in substance, make a continual inquiry. How is it to be
reconciled that a Being so perfectly good should have admitted
into the midst of his works, as a constant attendant of all his
sentient creations, so large an admixture of what we call evil ?
We might continue the inquiry by adding. Why, in a mere drop
of water, do we find the animalculae manifesting all the agonies
and repeating the outrages upon one another strikingly visible
among the larger animal developments of the great ocean and of
the land ? Why such an admixture of pain and misery among
men ? Why the m'ale of all animals making destructive war on
their kind ? Why exterminating wars among men ? And why
the numberless, nameless evils everywhere spread through the
world ''

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 399

And do we forget that the great Creator of animal life brought
forth his works and sustains each thing by the unchangeable ex
ercise .of his laws ? Laws which are found to have a direct ten
dency to progressive improvement ? Will rational beings expect
God to change their actions to suit their disregard of them ? Will
fire cease to burn because we may choose to thrust in the hand ?
And what if, even in all this, we shall discover his wisdom and
goodness by making what we may call punishment for the breach
of the law, a pulling back from deeper misery, a powerful stimulus
for a change of direction from a downward to an upward move
ment in the path of progressive improvement ? Do we find no
satisfaction in this view of the constitution of nature, of the
wisdom of God ? a
These men seem desirous that the works of God should have
been on a different footing, or that every thing should have been
at once perfect to the extent of his power. Would they then de
sire to be his equal too ? But, at least as to man, the mind inca
pable of error, the body of suffering ! It is possible that under such
a dispensation, our mental enjoyments would have been on a par
with a mathematical axiom, and our bodies have about as much sym
pathy for the things around them as has a lump of gold. And
how do they know that the rocks, minerals, and trees, yea, tl^
starry inhabitants of the firmament, are not the exact mani
festations of what would have been creations of that order ? We
will not stop here to inquire how far the complaints of these men
operate to their own mental and physical injury.
It is a great popular error to suppose all of our own species to
be born equals. It involves the proposition that each onl* also
possesses the same faculties and powers, and to the same extent.
Even every wiell-informed nursery-maid is furnished with a good
refutation. The grades of physical development are proofs of
grades of mind.
Through the whole animal world, as with man, mental action
takes place, ^providing for the sustenance and security of life ; and
the amount of mental power each one possesses is ever in propor
tion to the development of the nervous system and animal struc
ture. Upon this earth, the highest grade of such development
is found among the Caucasian species of man. Physiologists
assert that the African exhibits, in maturity, the imperfect brain
&c. of a Caucasian foetus some considerable time before its birth :
so the Malay and Indian, the same at a period nearer birth ; while

400 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

the Mongolian, that of the infant lately born. See Lloyd's Popu
lar Physiology. The beard, among men the attribute of a full
maturity, largest in the Caucasian, is scarcely found among the
lower grades of the African.
Colour is also found the darkest where the development is the
least perfect, and the most distant from the Caucasian ; and hence
a philosopher of great learning makes the question pertinent,
" May not colour then depend on development also ? Develop
ment being arrested at so imtaature a stage in the case of the
negro, the skin may take on the colour as an unavoidable conse
quence of its imperfect organization." The different species and
all the varieties of man are nothing but a short history of their
different grades of organization and development. One fraction,
by a long and more or less strict observance of the laws of nature,
becomes, after many generations, quite improved in its organiza
tion. From an opposite course, another fraction has degenerated
and sunk into degradation. It is now a well-known fact that Cau
casian parents too nearly related exhibit offspring of the Mon
golian type. So, a particular tribe of Arabs, now on the banks
of the Jordan, from an in-and-in propagation have become scarcely
to be distinguished from Negroes. This is only an instance, but is
impdirtant when we notice the deteriorating influence such inter
course has among domestic animals. In short, every breach of
the laws tending to the path of progressive improvement must
have a deteriorating effect on the offspring. There was truth in
the ancient adage, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the
children's teeth are set on edge."
Every private habit and circumstance jn life that enervates or
deranges the physical system, or disturbs the balance of the
mind, stamps its impress on the descendant. The moral and
physical condition of the progeny, with slight exceptions the
result of an elevating and upward movement, or a downward and
deteriorating one, (as the case may be,) is the necessary result of
the moral and physical condition of the parentage : and this influ
ence is doubtless felt back for many generations.
But does God make man wicked ? does he predestine to evil ?
These queries may seem pertinent to some, because we are in the
habit of considering each individual by itself ; whereas each ind i-
vidual i& only a link in the chain of phenomena, which owe their
existence to laws productive of good, and even of progressive ini-
provement, but of necessity, in their breach, admit these evils,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 40]

u

because such breach is sin. Our moral faculties are permitted to
range in a wide field ; but evil is the result of a disruption of the
rules 'of action. It is the flaming sword elevated to guard our
good, showing us the awful truth, the mere bad habit in th
parent may become a constitutional inherent quality in the off
spring. We do not suppose these influences always very perceptibly
immediate. Many generations are doubtless often required in the
full development of an upward movement to a higher order of
moral perception ; and so in the opposite. Yet we cannot forbear
to notice how often the immediate descendant is quite apt to prove
its parentage.
Will the theologian object — "You contradict the Scripture.
You make five species of man. Whereas they are all the de
scendants of Noah." Have we not shown ample ground and
time for their formation from his stock ? Besides, we expect
hereafter to prove by Scripture that Ham took a wife from the
degenerate race of Cain; which, if so, would alone place his de
scendants in the attitude of inferiority and subjection.
No ! but we advertise the theologian that we shall take the
Scripture for our platform. We believe it, and hope to even hold
him close to it.
But we now ask for the reflection of all, does not the degene
rate man, degraded in constitution below the possibility of his
emerging from the depth to which he has sunk, by any self-reno
vating power, still lingering about his reduced condition, require
the aid of one of superior nature, of superior organization and
mental development, to act as his adviser, protector, and master ?
Would not such a provision be a merciful one ?
And may we not also inquire, whether the superior endow
ments here required do not also require to be exercised in bear
ing rule over the wayward energies of those more degenerate, as a
necessary element in the school to a higher advance ? And shall
we not perceive that such a relation must produce a vast amount
of improvement and happiness to both ?
Children and inferior persons often show themselves, upon the
slightest temptation, false and cruel, — often the inheritance of
parental imperfection. Absolute command, sustained by physical
force, has alone been found sufficient to eradicate these old, and
to found new habits of truthfulness and humanity.
True, the Scripture asserts that all men are equal in the sight

402 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

of God, just as a father feels an equal parental regard for all his
children. The philosophic mind cannot well conceive otherwise
than that God feels an equal regard for all parts of his creation ;
for " The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever : the Lord shall
rejoice in his work." But this view reaches not the physical
fact ; for the father hesitates not to place a guardian over his
wayward child, or disinherit the utterly worthless. So God
" turneth man to destruction ; and sayeth. Return, ye children of
men." And how gladly would the parent provide the fatted calf
for the worthless son upon his return to honour and virtue ! So
there is more joy in heaven over the return of one sinner than
over ninety-nine who have not gone astray.
The mercy of God shines upon the world in floods of celestial
light ; for Christianiiy,^in its passports to heaven, judges all men
by their own acts. Therefore, the most degraded nature, upon
a sight of its deformity, may feel an unchangeable regret, and
inherit its portion.
Here Christianity itself points the way to progressive improve
ment, and commands children to obey their parents, wives their
husbands, and servants their masters.
The grace of God is as openly manifested in the welfare of the
child or slave, when produced through the interposition of the
parent or master, as if the interposition had been more immediate.

LESSON IV.

Intellect is not found to exist only in connection with a cor
responding physical organization. In the family of man, if that
which may appear a good organization is accompanied by an
inferior intellect, we may suspect our nice accuracy of discern
ment, rather than a discrepancy in the operation of, the general
law ; so also where we may seem to perceive a good intellect, but
which produces inferior or unworthy results. We do not always
notice the small steps of degeneration. Often the first notice we
take is of the fact of a changed condition, as proved by the
results : "By their fruits ye .shall know them."
The idea that intellect and mental development can be inde
pendent of physical organization is an absurdity. A suppressed
or incomplete organization must arrest a further enlargement of

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 403

fc>

the mental faculties. These faculties may be improved, brought
into action, or even their action to some extent suppressed, by
government and culture. Such indeed are the guides to progres
sive improvement. Explanation : — Man has no organization by
which he could build a honey -comb like a bee. Will any culture
applied to him teach him ? Man has no organization by which he
can closely examine spiritual existences : his ideas about them are
therefore variant and confused. Who will arrange their study into
a science ? Man has no organization by which he can fully com
prehend God. Will he ever do so in his present state ?
Are, then, the actions of the child, and of those persons whose
mental development has been arrested at a very early stage, (as
has been supposed the case •with the lower orders of animals, and
of those animals themselves,) the result of some faculty or mental
power different from mind ? The result of instinct ? And what is
instinct but mind in the early dawn of its development ? Are not
such actions as the chick breaking its shell, the young-born infant
receiving its natural food, the necessary consequents of the state
of their infantile organization, which the earliest development of
mind could prompt and enable them to put forth ; and will it be
deemed beyond the reach of reason, to prove that with the differ^
ence of maturity in organization and development, the same
general connection of mind and organization is found, through the
entire of life as well a,s infancy?
Philosophers have, with indefatigable labour, endeavoured to
enlighten the world on the subject of instinct. Can we be par
doned if we suggest that their theories on this subject signally
prove they were but men? Des Cartes says — "Brutes are ma
chines without sensation or ideas ; that their actions are the result
of external force, as the sound of an organ is the result of the
air being forced through the pipes." This is his "instinct." If
this be true, -then it follows that every action in the material
world is instinct. Then the thunder utters its voice, the earth
quakes, and the telegraph works by "instinct." Yet, his theory
has found an advocate in that very classical Latin poem, "Anti
Lucretius," by Cardinal Polignac.
Dr. Reid sustains the mechanical nature of brutes, but classifies
their actions into those of habit and those of instinct.
Dr. Darwin says that instinct is mental, and that the actions of
brutes result from faculties, the same in nature as those of man,
but extremely limited. Smellie takes the same view. Yet Darwin

404 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

asserts that instinct is the reason ; and Smellie, that reason is the
result of instinct. Cudworth says that instinct is an intermediate
power, taking rank between mind and matter, yet often vibrating
from one to the other. Buffon contends that brutes possess an
intellectual principle, by which they distinguish between pleasure
and pain, and desire the one and repel the other. This is his
instinct. Reimar divides instinct into three classes : mechanical, such
as the pulsation of the heart; representative, such as result from
an imperfect kind of memory, and, so far as it is memory, in com
mon with mankind ; and spontaneous, the same as Buffon's.
Cuvier says that instinct consists of ideas that do not result from
sensation, but flow directly from the brain ! Dupont says that
there is no such distinct faculty as instinct. His views are ana
logous to Darwin and Smellie.
Pope, Stahl, and others say, " It is the divinity that stirs
within us." " And reason raise o'er instinct as you can.
In this 'tis God directs, in that 'tis man."
Cullen, Hoffman, and others say that instinct is the "vis
medicatrix naturae." Dr. John Mason Good says that "instinct is
the law ofthe living principle," that "instinctive actions are the
actions ofthe living principle." If so, instinct is as applicable to
vegetables as to animals.
Dr. Hancock, in his work on the Physical and Moral Relations
of Instinct, has evidently enlarged on the doctrine of Pope and
Stahl. He says instinct is the "impulse," " the inspiration ofthe
Holy Spirit;" and, in his own words, "which we can only regard
as an emanation of Bivine wisdom.''
He asserts that the lower we descend in the scale of animal
organization and mental development, the more active and all-
pervading over the conduct of the animal is instinct ! But,
nevertheless, holds that "instinct is in such animals an uncon
scious intelligence." We much admire why he did not think pro
per to cast off from the ancients the charge of a puerile idolatry,
on the account of their worship of hulls, calves, alligators, snakes,
beetles, and bugs, for they must have entertained a somewhat simi
lar notion. But the doctor goes further, and says, that as the
lower grades of the animal world have this quality, in which "the
Divine energy seems to act with most unimpeded power," so the

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 405

holiest of men has it also, hut consciously and willingly, and it
then becomes his ruling principle, "Divine counsellor, his never-
failing help, a light to his feet, and a lantern to his path." (Page
613.) It is quite evident that the doctor's instinct is the same
with the "unerring conscience," "the innate principle of light,"
"the moral sense," "the spiritual power, "the Divine reason,"
"the internal teaching," "the perfect light of nature," and "the
Divine afflatus" of the theologico-abolition speakers and writers
of the present day, which, they say, is the gift of God to every
man. This strange error of some of these writers we have already
had occasion to notice. But it is to be regretted, for the good
credit of religious profession, that they did not acknowledge from
whom they borrowed the idea ; or, will they at this late day,
excuse themselves, and frankly acknowledge they took it, not
from Dr. Hancock, or any other modern, but as a deduction from
the practices of ancient idolatry ?
Since we have ventured an opinion on the subject of instinct, we
trust forgiveness for the introduction "of that of others.
Our desire is to present such considerations as lead to the con
clusion that men are born into the world with different physical
and mental aptitudes : in short, that their corporeal and intellectual
organizations are not of equal power ; or, if some prefer the term,
that their instincts are not of equal extent and activity.
For substantially, upon a contrary hypothesis, are founded all
those beautiful arguments in favour of the entire equality of man.
Some whole systems of political justice are founded upon the pro
position that there is no innate principle ; and one class of phi
losophers argue that, as there is no innate principle, therefore
all men are ushered into the world under the circumstance of per
fect equality ; consequently, all the inequality afterwards found
is the result of usurpation and injustice.
Do they forget that organization itself is innate, and that dif
ferent organizations must direct the way through different paths ?
But these philosophers still persist that there is no such disparity
among the human race whereby the inferiority of one man shall
necessarily place him in subjection to another. This doctrine is
perhaps confuted by practice better than by argument. Counsellor
Quibble saw his client Stultus in the stocks, on which he cries out,
"It is contrary to law. The court has no such power. They
cannot do it." Nevertheless, Stultus is still in the stocks ! But
what would it avail, even if all men were born equals ? Could

406 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

they all stand in the same footsteps, do the same things, think
the same thoughts, and be resolved into a unit ? Who does not
perceive the contrary? — but that from their birth they must stand
in different footsteps, walk in different paths, think difl'erent things,
and, in the journey of life, arrive at different degrees of wealth,
nonour, knowledge, and power ? .
Men organized into some form of government cannot be equal ;
because the very thing, government, proves the contrary : among
perfect equals, government is an impossibility. If laws were pre
scribed, they could never be executed until some of these equals
shall have greater power than those who infringe them. Man is
never found so holy as to punish himself for his own impulses.
Thus the idea of government among equals is a silly fiction.
Men without government cannot be equal, because the strong
will have power over the weak. •
The inequality of men is the progenitor of all civil compact. One
man is strong, another weak ; one wise, another foolish: one virtuous,
another vicious : each one yielding himself to a place in the com
pact, all acquire additional protection, especially so long as all
shall adhere to the terms of the compact. But the compact itself
is the result of the proposition that the majority shall have more
power than the minority, because they are supposed to have more
animal force, and that they hold the evidence of a more lofty
mental development. Here has sprung forth the doctrine that
the good of the greater part is the good of the whole : hence,
under this system, an opposing fraction is often sacrificed to the
ruling power. We must here remark that this doctrine was changed
at an early day into, " The good of the ruling power is the good
of the whole."
Although not a part of our study, we may turn aside here to
remark that, from this monad in the composition of the doctrines
of government, did emanate the idea of all those strange sacrifices
that now deform the pages of ancient idolatry. In its aid the
idol divinity vouched its infiuence, and the daughter of Ham
yielded her new-born to the flaming embraces of her god. Even
now the ancient sources of the Ganges still pour down their holy
waters, are still drinking in an excessive population from the arms
of the Hindoo mother. Nor is this idea only an ancient thought ;
it is not half a century since it was broached in one of the Eu
ropean parliaments to so hedge around the institution of marriage
with thorny impediments, that none excessively poor could legally

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 407

propagate. But to our minds these things strangely show forth
the facts that prove "men are not equal."
But even the lowest grades yield their obedience, and are pro
tected from greater evils. Even though they may have been so low
as to have not been able to take any part in the formation of the
compact, yet they are as certainly benefited as the most elevated.
Such has been the condition of the race through all time, while
falsehood has often mingled in her ingredients, adding misery to
the degradation of man ; — for it is truly observable that falsehood
has for ever led to deeper degradation, to an increased departure
from the laws of civil rule. So far as human intellect has threaded
its way along the path of truth and through the mazes of human
depravity, so far has man improved his condition by increasing his
knowledge and power, — while a reversed condition has ever at
tended a retrograde movement. May not the conclusion th6n be
had, such is the ordinance of God ! But equality among men is
a chimera, not possible to be reduced to practice, nor desirable if
it could be. They never were so, nor was it intended they ever
should be. Cain and Abel were not equal: God told Cain that if
he behaved well, he should have rule over Abel; but if he did
not, he should suffer the consequences of sin. "Who art thou
that repliest against God ? Shall the thing formed say unto
him that formed it. Why hast thou made me thus ? Hath not
the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one
vessel to honour and another to dishonour ?" Rom. ix. 20, 21.
"Who hath made thee to differ one from another?" 1 Cor. iv. 7.
" And the Lord said unto her. Two nations are in thy womb ; and
two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels ; and
the one people shall be stronger than the other people, and the
older shall serve {'\'2V V^ avod, he a slave to) the younger." Gen.
xxv. 23. See also Rom. ix. 12. Can the inequality of man 'be
more strongly inculcated ? And St. Paul seems to suggest that
such inequality will exist hereafter. " There is one glory of the
sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars;
for as one star differeth from another star in glory, so also is the
resurrection of the dead." 1 Cor. xv. 41, 42.
The idea that the souls of men are unequal in a future state of
existence seems to be consonant with the faith of most of the
Christian churches. "And his lord said unto him. Well done,
thou good and faithful servant : thou hast been faithful over a
few things, I will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou

408 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

into the joy of thy lord. For unto every one that hath shall be
given, and he shall have abundance ; but from him that hath not,
shall be taken away even that he hath ; and cast ye the unprofitable
servant into outer darkness : there shall be weeping and gnash
ing of teeth." Matt. xxv. 21, 29, 30.
Some politicians say, government is founded on opinion. Be it
so ; yet opinion is predicated upon the very incidents of men's
conduct, which, when analyzed, are found to prove their inequality.
So also, when, by the aid of the compact formed, one individual
holds a part of the community in subjection, such extended rule is
dependent on the same principles as the elementary case. The
truth is, human society never recedes far from elementary influ
ences, notwithstanding all the artificials in government that ever
have or ever can be brought into use. The conditions to govern
and to be in subjection necessarily imply superiority and inferior
ity : change these relative qualities, and the condition of the par
ties is changed also. But, upon the organization of society, in all
countries and at all times, we find inequality in the conditions of
men, growing out of their social state ; distinctions between them,
affecting their personal considerations, and often disposing of them
for life. Thus, in one country a man is born a monarch, in
another a priest of the Lord, a prince, a peer, a noble, a com
moner, a freeman, a serf, a slave. This arrangement of the con
ditions of social and civil life, from long habit, may well be said
to become constitutional, and necessary to the happiness of that
society, although thereby one may seem forced to be a tinker and
another a tailor. Hence we infer, inequality among men is the
necessary result of the rules of civil life.

LESSON V.
Justice, as a general term, means all moral duty. One of its
rules is, that we should "love our neighbours as ourselves." Some
men have construed this to include each individual of the human
family. Such construction we deem to be error. The word
"neighbour," as here used, includes those virtues which render
one good man acceptable to another and to God. " And who is
my neighbour ?" " And Jesus answered and said, A certain man
went down fron Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 409

stripped him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance
there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him,
he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was
at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other
side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he
was : and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went
to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set
him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care
of him. And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two
pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him. Take care
of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I
will repay thee." Luke x. 30-36.
Who has given a better definition of the word neighbour ? And
how shall we esteem him, who, instead of loving such an one as
himself, shall treat him with ingratitude, fraud, and cruelty ? " God
is angry with the wicked every day." Ps. vii. 2. If to "love our
neighbour as ourselves" implies that we should love all men equally
alike, it also necessarily will imply a subversion of order, and con
sequently lead to acts of injustice, because all men are not equal.
" For if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his
own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."
1 Tim. V. 8.
It would be ungrateful and unjust to not save a parent from
death in preference to a stranger — the life of him on whom the
life and happiness of thousands depended, in preference to an ob
scure individual.
One man taay be of more value to me, and to the public, than
another, because he is further removed from being a mere animal.
He has more knowledge, more power, and does dispense more hap
piness to his fellow-man.
A very evil man and a good one may be in the vicinity or
elsewhere ; but to regard them equally alike is a contradiction of
Christian duty. When we love our neighbour as ourselves, we
love the man, his acts, his character ; but when we are taught to
love our enemies, the mind reaches him as a creature of God, our
erring fellow-mortal, our brother steeped in sin — and we look
upon him with pity, forgiveness ; and yet hate his qualities and
conduct. The cases are quite dissimilar. " Love not the world,
neither' the things that are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John ii. 15.

410 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON VL
Virtue is always an appellant to justice. It is manifested by
the acts of an intelligent being of correct and benevolent motives,
contributing to the general gOod. Consequently an act, however
benevolent may have been the motive of the actor, cannot be a
virtuous act if it have an evil tendency. Ignorance can never be
virtue : so, no man can be virtuous who acts from a wicked motive,
however beneficial may be the result. The motive must be pure,
and the effect good, before the act or the actor is virtuous. A man
may be virtuous, but in so low a degree as to not merit the appel
lation : we must compare what he does, with what he has the
power of doing. The widow's mite may be an example.
We submit the inquiry — Is not the deduction clear, that men are
not equal — neither physically, religiously, mentally, or morally ?
Can they then be so politically ? Will not the proposition be cor
rect, that political equality can never exist with an inequality in
these previous terms ?
Raynal has said, we think correctly, " that equality will always
be an unintelligible fiction, so long as the capacities of men are
unequal, and their claims have neither guarantee nor sanction by
which they can be enforced." "On a dit que nous avions tons
les mSmes droits. J'ignore ce que c'est que les mSmes droits, ou
il y a in^galit^ de talens ou de force, et nuUe garantie,.nulle sanc
tion." Raynal, Revolution d'Amerique, p. 34.

LESSON VIL
The rules of Christianity are always coadjuvant to those of
justice. The least deviation from justice begins to mark the un
christian character. " Just balances, just weights, a just epha
and a just hin shall ye have." Lev. xix. 36. " But thou shalt have
a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou
have ; that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 411

thy God giveth thee." Beut. xxv. 15. "Ye shall have a just
balance and a just epha, and a just bath." Ezek. xiv. 10.
" Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne ; mercy
and tsuth shall go before thy face." Ps. Ixxxix. 14.
"As I hear I judge, and my judgment is just."
" Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good re
port, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on
those things." Phil. iv. 8.
But justice, as an act emanating from the rules of right, is
wholly dependent on the law : with the abolition of all law, justice
or its opposite would cease to exist.
We are aware there are a class who say that Christians have
nothing to do with the law of God ; that they believe in Christ,
and are excused from obedience to the law ; that they are not
"under the law, but the gospel ; that the law to them is of none
effect ; that the laws of God as revealed to Moses have been re
pealed ; — or rather they seem to have but a confused idea of what
they do believe touching the matter, while they fashion a theory
of Divine providence to suit their own fancies, and substantially, by
their own hands, fashion Jehovah into an idol, although not of
wood or stone, yet as much in conformity to their own notions ;
perhaps but little thinking th,at their notions may have arisen
from pride or ignorance. We cannot promise any benefit by ad
dressing such. He who dares take the character of Jehovah into
keeping, selecting from among the manifestations of his providence,
and decide this law to be repealed, or this only in force, would
seem to be as far beyond the reach of human reason as his posi
tion is beyond the bounds of moral sense.
But let us, who claim not so high prerogative, who are able ,
only to notice some faint emanations of the Divine mind, as He has
seen fit to reveal himself to our feeble perceptions, — who have been
taught by the exercise of faith to perceive them in the holy books
of his record of what is past, and the present display of his power
and rule in the government of the world, — take counsel together,
and examine and compare the teachings they may give of the
unohangeableness of, and our relation with, the laws of God.
The Creator of things may be deemed able to impose such rela
tions between the things created as he may judge suitable to effect
the object had in their creation. Such relations we call law ; be-

412 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

cause, as we notice things, they are the rules by which they act or
are acted upon. So far as human reason has been able to examine,
such laws are as unchangeable as the Deity who imposed them.
To such certainty and unohangeableness we give the name of.truth,
and hence we say God is truth, having reference to the unohange
ableness of his nature and of his laws.
With the idea of the changeability of his laws, of necessity
raust be associated the idea of the changeability of God himself.
The wickedness of such argument is announced in its tendency to
the dethronement of Jehovah. It was the very argument used by
the serpent in Eden.
The conclusion is, it is inconsistent with the Deity that his laws
should be repealed ; the same circumstance, un^er which his law
has been noticed to manifest itself, reappearing, and it is again
developed. They are the laws of eternity. They are the voice
of God. The doctrine of the gospel is bold and plain upon this
subject. " Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and
just and good." Rom. vii. 12.
"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith
to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by
the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight,
for the law is the knowledge of sin." "Do we then make void the
law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law."
Rom. iii. 19, 20, 31.
" Whosoever committeth sin liransgresseth also the law, for sin
is the transgression of the law." 1 John iii. 4.
" Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets ;
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Whosoever therefore shall
break one of these least commandments, and shall teach so to do,
he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven ; but who
soever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in
the kingdom of heaven." Matt. v. 17, 19.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 413

LESSON VIIL
Another of the rules of Christian justice which will be found
applicable to our subject, is, " Therefore all things whatsoever ye
would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them: for
this is the law and the prophets." Matt. vii. 12.
The remarks made upon the first rule are in some measure ap
plicable to this.
The desire of something to be done must be founded on good
reason and conformable to justice. Folly ever marks an unrea
sonable desire ; and that desire is always unjust which merely
reaches to the taking from another without the corresponding de
sire to reciprocate. Such desires are changed instantly into the
action of the mind called " coveting," and are most strictly for
bidden, for this good reason, that very action of the mind is a
mental theft; and the moral wickedness in the individual "covet
ing" is the same as though he were practically a thief. But, fur
ther, the desire must be predicated upon a presumable condition ;
for, by the rule, it would be unjust to desire that which it would not
be possible to have done to us ; so it would be to desire any other
impossibility. Suppose A. should desire that you would make hira
rich, does it follow that he must make you rich when he has no
ability to do so ? The case is not founded upon a presumable
condition, nor, on good reason, upon a desire to reciprocate, conse
quently unjust.
But suppose A. feels anxious for your warm regard for his pros
perity in his lawful understandings, here the desire reaches to
nothing unjust, to no disorder in society, or beyond your power,
and clearly within his power to reciprocate ; he is then bound by
the rule to feel a warm desire for your prosperity in all your law
ful undertakings. And who does not perceive that if one desires
your good wishes, he must of necessity feel good wishes for you.
Whether the desire imply merely a mental or physical action, similar
examples will illustrate. The rule is truly a golden one, and, so
far as acted upon, binds society together in peace and good-will.
It is quite analogous to the twenty-fourth maxim of Confucius,
¦which reads thus : " Do unto another as thou would be dealt with

414 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

thyself: thou only needest this law alone: it is the foundation and
principle of all the rest." And is in spirit with the fifty- third
maxim of the same philosopher: " Acknowledge the benefits by the
return of other benefits ; but never revenge injuries." We trust
the rule is none the less sacred because it was revealed to man at
an early period.
Let us illustrate the correctness of these views by the inconsist
ency of those opposite. Others say that if we were in slavery
we should wish to be made free, therefore we are bound by this
rule to set free all who are in slavery now.
If this be true, in order that the whole circle of action may be
consistent, there must be another link added to the chain ; hence
we find that the advocates of this interpretation say, also, " that
same inward principle which teaches a man what he is bound to .
do for others, teaches equally, and at the same instant, what others
are bound to do to him." Channing, vol. ii. p. 33. This proposi
tion inevitably follows the preceding; for who is he that can say
among men that that is a good rule which is not reciprocal.
This imaginary rule would perhaps be less obnoxious in case of
universal equality. For, in that case, we may suppose an uni
versal equality of desire, without which one wishes one thing and
another its opposite. But so long as God rules, universal equality
can only happen in case of universal perfection, in which case
neither sin nor slavery can exist, and in which case the argument
will not be wanted. But the rule as left by Jesus Christ was made
for man in his fallen state.
But again, if the interpretation of our opponents be true, then
the proposition may be resolved into this st^te : — A. is as much
bound by the desire of B. as by 'his own, and the whole world is
fully bound by both. But the whole world individually desire ad
versely to each other, yet each desire is to be harmoniously grati
fied. Let each one make out the examples ; we think they will
find them extremely ridiculous in the result. The doctrine in
volves plainly the most gross contradictions, and is therefore a
naked nullity.
Again, if it be the law of God, that because we desire a thing,
therefore we are bound to give that thing to another, it implies
that the desire was the manifestation of God's will ; in short,
that the desire was a portion of his revealed law ; consequently,
whatever any man desires is a portion of inspiration. Hence
Channing says, (page as above,) " his conscience, in revealing the

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 415

moral law, does not reveal a |aw for himself only, but speaks as a
universal legislator." Now it follows, that, as each man desires
an opposite, therefore there are as many opposite systems of the
laws of God as there are individuals who desire them ; in other
words, it would be making God's law just what each one desired it
to be. Thus making the law of God a perfect nullity.
But again, if the interpretation of the golden rule, as employed
by them who use it to inculcate immediate emancipation, be true,
then it contradicts the spirit of the command, " Thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
wife ; nor his man-servant, (I'l^I?') '"'^ abeddo, male slave,) nor his
maid-servant, (IflONI va amatho, female slave,) nor his ox, nor his
ass, nor any thipg that is thy neighbour's." Exod. xx. 17. Here
the word " covet" is used to mean a strong desire without the wish
or ability to reciprocate ; therefore without good reason — conse
quently unjust. It is the same exercise of the mind that leads a
man to acts of theft that is here forbidden : an exercise of the mind
that leads to many disorders in society, and hence this command.
The command does not extend to him who desires his neighbour's
house, man-servant, maid-servant, ox, or ass, upon the condition
that the desire is founded upon good reason. The neighbour
having the will and power to part with, and he who desires the
power and will to reciprocate, these qualifications bring the de
sire within the purview of the golden rule, and remove all ten
dency to disorders in society. To buy and sell with the view to
reciprocate gain, has a very strong tendency to bind society
together in peace and good-will.
In the lesson of the golden rule, the Saviour gave a check to
impetuous and improper desires, — to the wicked and improper
hankering after the substance or condition of others, — ^by bringing to
view the propriety of performing themselves such acts as they de
manded of others : that they should prove themselves worthy of
the solicited favour by a reciprocity of feeling and action.
This we think evident from what precedes : " If then ye, being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your Father that is in heaven give good things unto
them that ask him."
The doctrine ofthe golden rule seems to be often misunderstood.
We quote from the great Selden : " Guided by justice and mercy,
do unto all men as you would have them do to you, were your cir
cumstances and theirs reversed. If the prisoner should ask the

416 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

judge whether he would be content to be hanged were he in his
case, he would answer. No ! Then says the prisoner. Do as you
would be done to. Neither of them must do as private men ; but
the judge must do by him as they have publicly agreed : that is,
both judge and prisoner have consented to the law, that if either
of them steal, he shall be hanged." Selden.
" If the wickedest wretches among yourselves, the most peevish,
weak, and ill-natured of you all, will readily give good gifts to
their children when they cry for them, how much rather will the
great God, infinite in goodness, bestow blessings on his children
who endeavour to resemble him in his perfections, and for that
ask his grace and other spiritual and heavenly blessings;" but
God grants these blessings alone upon this condition, that, " ani
mated by his goodness, you study to express your gratitude for it
by your integrity and kindness to your fellow-creatures, treating
them in every instance as you would think it reasonable to be
treated by them, if you were in their circumstances, and they in
yours; for this is, in effect, a summary and abstract of all the
human and social virtues recommended in the moral precepts of
the law and the prophets, and it was one of the greatest ends of
both to bring men to this equitable and amiable temper."
Boddridge. Such are the comments of these men upon this subject.
But permit us to remark that the word man-servant, in the
command just quoted, is translated from* the Hebrew "!5i? ebed,
and means what we mean by the word slave. And let it be re
membered that, in the decalogue, in one of the original laws of
God the Father, delivered to Moses from Sinai, the slave is classed
with the ox, the ass, in short, with all other property, as an article
of possession ; and that we are commanded not to have a desire to
change the possession unjustly. And that, by a fair interpretation
of the golden rule issued by the living lips of Jesus Christ, if we
reasonably and justly desire to change the possession, we must
honestly reciprocate the full value thereof.
Let the candid world, the truth-searching philosopher, and the
humble Christian examine, and say whether these conclusions are
not founded on reason, justice, and the laws of God.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 4I7

XESSON IX.
We suppose all Christians will agree that God is a Spirit eternal
and infinite, unchangeable and unaccountable, omnipotent, omni
present, and omniscient, most wise, most true, most holy, and most
good, without beginning or without end. Such from eternity were
his qualities, and such to eternity they will remain.
In contemplation of these characteristics of Jehovah, we are led
to deduce that God must originally and essentially within himself
be eternally happy. " My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my
pleasure." Isa. xlvi. 10. If it is proper to say that God has
desires, then it must be his desire that his " counsel shall stand,"
because it is inconsistent with happiness to be unable to gratify
desire or fail in counsel ; besides, it would prove some deficiency
of power. Before God created some other being or thing, he ex
isted alone. Can it be said he had wants ? For what purpose
then did he create other things ? What object had he in view ?
The object must have been worthy of calling forth his action.
What other object could have been worthy of his action than him
self? Because his work must in all its parts reflect his power,
his every quality, we must therefore conclude God is the sole
and ultimate end of every thing he does. If all the labours of
Deity were not solely for himself, then of the greatness and recti
tude of many of his providences and acts, perhaps none could ever
be comprehended or even perceived by mortals. For God legis
lates not merely for a city, a tribe or nation, but for the universe :
not for an hour, a day or a thousand years, but for eternity. " I
know that whatsoever God doeth it shall be for ever': nothing can
be put to it, nor any thing taken from it ; and God doeth it, that
men shall fear before him." Eccl. iii. 14.
If God himself is the ultimate end of all things, then that moral
philosopher, a poor, ignorant man, a worm of but momentary ex
istence, mistakes, who teaches in substance that true religion, that
is, worship of God, consists in an advantageous, successful, and
well-directed selflshness in favour of himself; for, upon that prin
ciple the vilest enemy may take shelter under the cloak of his
adversary, — but will he be the more worthy ? If God is the supreme
27

418 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

object of creation, then this righteous selfishness must be in ex
treme opposition to God. There are important deductions ema
nating from these refiections, which we are unwilling to deprive
others the pleasure of drawing out for themselves. The use God
makes of his creations proves the end for which he made them.
We might rest here ; but we have heard some say that God's object
in creation was the happiness of all his sentient creatures. If so,
then they all would be happy ; which is not the fact. Human
misery is the first object we behold everywhere. True, man can
never have a very competent idea of God. His powers of thought
are too low ; his associations too trivial. But if the object God
had in creation was the development of his own glory, then there
can be no greater conformity unto God than there is knowledge of
his character. Hence, where we see, hear, and learn the most of
God, we become the most pure and holy. Holiness depends on a
knowledge of God. The reason is obvious : a holy man is a more
perfect exhibition of the Divine character. If so, then the happi
ness of man depends upon his perception of God. Therefore man
can never be happy only in proportion as he is holy. But if the
glory of God is the ultimate end of creation, and if the happiness
of his rational creatures depends upon their perception of him,
then the ultimate end secures in the highest possible degree their
happiness. The great cause of human misery will be found to proceed from
the unquenchable desire in the unregenerate man to rebel against
God — to set up a government of his own, more wise than he
conceives the government of God to be ; in fact, he does not per
ceive his government, for he has no perception of him.
We might deduce an argument in proof that a perception of
God is happiness to man, from the formation of his mental powers.
To whom does it not give deep distress to behold what we call
talent and virtue hid in obscurity and bowed down beneath op
pression and want ? To whom does it not give great delight to
perceive a lucid manifestation of these qualities ? The great ob
ject in the individual creation of man is his improvement ; his
advance towards an approximation of being able to see God as he
is. The business of angels and feaints in heaven is to intensely
seek after a more full knowledge of God.
If the happiness of man is thus dependent upon , his perception
of the greatness and power of God, then we may conclude that a
continued manifestation of it is essential to him in producing

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 419

before his mind an increasing brilliancy of view of the gretit Je
hovah. The order and gradation in the power bestowed on the different
objects his hand has made, displaying his foresight in the work of
creation, from the seraph down to the veriest mite, would seem an
arrangement that might furnish the mind of man or an angel with
never-ending study, with a never-ending employment to find out
God. If the wide and permanent diversity of character and condition
in the present world, and in that which is to come, — if the rela
tions we find between man and man, — if the great sacrifice for
sin and the redemption wrought therefrom, — if the eternal wrath
of Jehovah against the incorrigible sinner, all in combination
manifest the greatest display of the power and perfections of God ;
— in short, if the providences of God collectively, as we see them
manifested in the world, are the true developments of his character,
then it will follow that they all, in combination, terminate in the
greatest good, and, in their external consequences, subserve to the
greatest extent of happiness to which the human mind, in the pur
suit of its only legitimate employment, is now or ever will be sus
ceptible. The first deduction is that sin must always be accompanied with
misery, but that holiness is as surely accompanied' with happiness,
no matter what may be the physical condition. It may not be im
proper here to advert to one of the characteristics of our intellec
tual constitution, which is this : whatever is presented to the mind
calling on its energy and our physical action can never be ap
proached by us with any tolerable degree of perfectedness unless by
constant and long-continued repetitions ; whence we say, " practice
makes perfect." Whereas, whatever is presented wherein we are
wholly passive, repetition and familiarity are in constant action to
diminish, weaken, and wash out the impressions first made. Ex
amples in proof of the first position are found in the necessary and
long-continued exertions before we become adepts in the arts and
practices of civilized life. In the African savage, often, many
generations of constant exertion in the same direction are required
before that race is found to have attained such a state of per
fectibility in these things as is required to sustain a position in
civilized life ; and it is to this they owe their state of pupilage
among the civilized races.
Examples of the second position are found in the ready and

420 STUDIES 6s SLAVERY.

quick adaptation of ourselves to the condition in which we are
placed : even our senses, from constant repetition and familiarity,
often cease to loathe that which was obnoxious. The mind to which
the starry firmament is first unfolded will be filled with astonish
ment and wonder ; but the familiarity of a constant gaze does not
even excite an emotion.
This characteristic of the human intellect gives strong proof of
the power and wisdom of God. For through its means, all in civil
ized and Christian life and practice, from the king upon the throne
down to the slave, are rendered equally happy and contented with
their condition. Therefore he is not a correct philosopher who.
measures the happiness of a lower grade in life by his own feelings.

LESSON X.
From consideration of our previous lesson, we should make the
deduction that Christianity is incompatible with savage life. The
Christian can no longer be a savage, notwithstanding the habits
of civilization may be yet too weakly established to guaranty
against lapses to former habits. The habits of the savage must
be changed so as to approximate civilized life before Christianity
can be successfully taught him. Hence one error into which the
missionary and the teacher of the Negro sometimes fall. They
confine their labours to instructions concerning the more abstruse
doctrines of Christianity ; but the savage has no capability to com
prehend them : his mind has never been prepared for their recep
tion. The child can never comprehend the laws of astronomy till he
has first learned mathematics. The savage must first be made to
comprehend the necessity that individual wants must be supplied by
individual labour, and all the consequent attendants of such a
state of things, before the possibility can exist that he will com
prehend the higher moral duties. Because, without that, he re
mains passive under such teachings ; and in such case, the more
familiar such lessons are made to him the less they affect him.
Instances are not wanting where such a state of facts exists in cir
cles of society where it would seem they should be the least ex
pected ! and from whence the great truth is deducible, that mental

STUDIES ON slave:^y. 421

and physical idleness is a most deadly poison to good morals and
intellectual improvement, and the conduct of such men is always
found searching the way back to a deteriorated condition.
Tho animal propensities require to be forced into habits con-
tributive to the relations and duties of civilized and Christian life.
The mind must be made to comprehend what our relative duties
are, both experimentally and habitually, and also the impossibility
of their being dispensed with, before it will be able to perceive
the laws which bind our action to their performance. And it may
be here remarked, that a perception of these laws sufficiently
strong to influence the conduct of a man will at least place him
in the position of Agrippa before Paul. The history of man does
not point to an instance where an individual has regenerated him
self from the depth of human degradation, except under the pu
pilage and control of a superior wisdom.
Upon this state of facts was founded the necessity of a Saviour
for the children of men.

LESSON XL

The lowness of individual condition, in relation to our fellow
iF-en, or to human society generally, is not incompatible with the
humility of the Christian in the performance of our duty to man
or God, because the Christian is not required to display intellec
tual powers which he does not possess, nor possessions not his own.
If he has but one talent, its occupation alone is required, — the de
sire to bestow one mite marks his character. It is therefore a
very great error which some of the abolitionists seem to suppose,
that, because a man is a slave, he is thereby prevented from being
a Christian or hindered from the worship of God. On the con
trary, so essential is humility to the Christian character, that Jesus
Christ, in a lesson to his disciples, says, " Whosoever will be chief
among you, let him be your servant," ooi/io;, doulos, slave; a
figure, a sentence, which the Divine Being could never have pro
nounced, if slavery was inconsistent with his doctrine, either as to
the condition of the slave or that of the master. With great
similarity of figure and sameness of the humility in the worshipper
of God, David addresses Jehovah: " 0 Lord, truly I am thy ser-

422 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

vant," (?|"?5i^ abedeka, thy slave,) "I am thy servant (^"15!^
abedeka, thy slave) and the'son of thy hand-maid," (^inQN-IS ama
theka, thy female slave,) "thou hast loosed my bonds." Compare
with John viii. 36, also 1 Cor. vii. 22.

LESSON XIL

The institutions of slavery and Christianity can never be an
tagonistic. Slavery enforces obedience in the inferior to a supe
rior power, for the reciprocal benefit of both. Any deviation from
the law of God pertinent to the case, to some extent lessens the
benefit and diminishes what should have been the quotient of the
general good. Slavery is therefore, however rude in its obedience
or commands, an attempt at civilized life ; and we may therefore
judge of the amount of its abuses by its greater or less success in
the cultivation of those virtues incident to that condition. True,
this result is scarcely perceptible where the most elevated are still
deeply degraded, as is for ever the case in all those regions where
the light of Christianity has never been diffused. And it is from
these facts we find the providence of God to be that slavery, in
such regions, is always seeking abroad for a more enlightened
master.

LESSON XIII.

The path of the Christian is described as strait and narrow ;
in it there are no broad provisions for licentiousness, immorality,
crime, or sin of any kind, nor, at suitable distances, are there pri
vate apartments prepared, wherein cunning expediency may change
her apparel ; nor will the poor traveller be perplexed with ambigu
ous directions, whereby any thing is to be performed contrary to
the plain understanding of the law. But each step therein must
be in conformity to the directions of him who made, knows, and
governs all.
How feeble then shall prove the man, swelled with the pride of
his own supposed holiness, who shall attempt to straighten, alter,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 423

and make better this highway to heaven ! " For who hath known
the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been his counsellor ? or who
hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him
again ? For of him, and through him, and to him are all things !"
Rom. xi. 34-36. On every step of this footway to heaven, made
for poor sinners to walk in, for the slave as well as for the crowned
head, are engraven, in letters of the light of God himself, direc
tions for the poor traveller, so that " the wayfaring men, though
fools, shall not err therein." Isa. xxtv. 8. And let us now read
some of these records, and see how they comport with the doctrine
of universal equality as involved in the labours before us :
" Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers ; for there
is no power but of God : the powers that be are ordained of God.
" Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordi
nance of God ; and they that resist shall receive to themselves
damnation. " For rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil.
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power, do that which is good,
and thou shalt have praise of the same.
" But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid ; for he beareth not
the sword in vain ; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to exe
cute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
" Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but
also for conscience sake.
" For, for this cause pay ye tribute also ; for they are God's
ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
" Render therefore to all their dues : tribute to whom tribute
is due ; custom to whom custom ; fear to whom fear ; honour to
whom honour." Rom. xiii. 1-8.

LESSON XIV.

Before we close our present Study, let us survey for a moment
the position of the truly Christian character. Let us see and ex
amine a position, whether filled by lord, subject, or slave, that
seems so surrounded with hope, so particularly the focus of all
the irradiations of heaven, that the distinctions and miseries of
human life, even wrongs done us,- are blotted out by the brilliancy
of their illumination.

424 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

But let us view it in connection with man in an unchristianized
state, under the control of the appetites, passions, and infiuences
of an unredeemed world ; and it may be we shall behold 'with
wonder the operation of that redemption by which his felicity is
made steadfast.
The uncertainty and vanity of human pursuits have for ever
been a subject of remark.
And, if we examine the motives of human conduct and see the
fallacious objects of human hope, we always perceive the constant
attendance of pain, misery, and woe.
As the visions of early life are relinquished, we transfer to the
future that confidence which has been for ever betrayed by the past,
and as these illusions are successively dispelled, new objects con
tinue to fill the imagination, till the very moment when all our
prospects are involved in the darkness of the tomb. Nor think ye
that the miseries that flow from ambition, avarice, voluptuousness,
and open crime, are the only ones that attend us. Each refine
ment of life is accompanied with its own peculiar symptom. Be
sides, there are sufferings that no foresight can foresee, which no
excellence can elude.
The imperfection of a master, or of him placed in power, may
bring to his slave or other dependant unutterable wo !
The lassitude of sickness, the agony of its pain, the distresses,
the imperfections of our friends, their alienation from us, and our
final separation from the objects of our tenderest regard, would
transform paradise itself into a wilderness of wo, did not the light
of God keep it for ever illumined.
Even could we escape from all the external causes of wo, yet
the waters of bitterness would continue to flow from the never-
ceasing sources of sorrow that lie deep in our own bosoms
buried. We are therefore constrained, forced to conclude, that the
balance of our moral constitution has been destroyed ; and by the
derangement of a system once harmoniously attuned, our principles '
of action, no longer in unison, are thrown into perpetual collision :
maintaining no longer their original or their relative strength, they
lead us into perpetual error, and by their conflicts produce a moral
discord incompatible with the happiness of man. " For the crea
ture was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of
him who hath subjected the samp in hope." "Because the crea
ture itself shall be delivered from the bondage (^ov^etag, slavery) of

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 425
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Rom.
viii. 20.
Had we been made acquainted merely with the fall of man and
its effect upon his moral constitution, we should have still been be
wildered in the perplexities of our condition. A consciousness of
guilt would have filled our minds with apprehension, and the fear
of the Divine displeasure would have mingled its bitterness with
every gratification, would have seized upon every hope. Like
Cain, we should have cried out, " Our punishment is greater than
we can bear," and solicited the black mark of slavery as an anti
dote to threatened and instant death.
But the mercy of Godji which always tempers even the natural
events to the delicate sensibilities of our physical perceptions, con
cealed from our view the desolation of our condition, till, in the
maturity of his counsels, he saw fit to blend with the discovery the
bright visions " of the glory about to be revealed." Rom. viii. 18.
The heathen nations, although painfully alive to the brevity of
human life, and deeply impressed with the vanity of our hopes,
were equally ignorant of our fallen nature, and of the holiness of
that God before whom we are to be adjudged. Their conception
of an existence after death was cheerless and indistinct, although,
even at this late day, among the most lofty intellects of their time,
we can now perceive a longing desire after something to them un-
kno'wn, a hankering for the proof of a spiritual immortality. Thus,
while there was but little in their anticipations of a future state to
excite their apprehension or alarm, there was but little to stimu
late their hope.
The vulgar were sometimes alarmed by the majestic terrors of
the Thunderer, and the philosopher was sometimes penetrated by
those perfections which he was led to ascribe to the mighty Mind.
Yet the wisest sages of antiquity do not seem to have perceived
in human guilt an internal malignity, which no penitence can ex
piate, nor blood of dying victims wash away.
If some glimpses of the miseries and dangers in which sin had
involved us were disclosed to the favoured few, yet visions of pro
phecy dispelled the gloom ; for, " where there is no vision the peo
ple perish." Prov. xxix. 18.
It was not till our Saviour had sealed the charter of our hope,
that our condition, with a full view of its desolation, was proclaimed
to a fallen world. A knowledge of the disease and the remedy
has in mercy kept pace with each other. If we learn that the

426 . STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

" creature was made subject to vanity," we also learn that he was
made so in hope.
Now, when we behold our condition, although we see evidences
of our fallen state, of the degradation of our intellectual and moral
faculties, yet we see also a provision of mercy by which the crea
ture may be delivered from "the bondage {Sov7i,eiag, slavery) of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."
Viewed in connection with this sublime truth, the value of human
interests, the pain of human sufferings, and the grief of human
wrongs disappear ; yea, vanish from the eye of the true believer.
The grandeur of his future prospects dignifies his present state,
however humble. His present evils, which might overwhelm him
if attached to his ultimate condition, lose all their bitterness when
converted by redeeming love into mere lessons of moral discipline.
The pain is softened by the endearment of paternal tenderness,
and he feels and knows that they will only accompany the mere
infancy of his being.
The poor, humble, but Christian slave, hears constantly the les
sons of Titus, and is happy in his obedience to his own master,
that he may please him well in all things, watchful to not contra
dict, nor purloin from any one, and careful to show all good fidelity,
that he may adorn the doctrine of God. He feels that no one has
a deeper interest in that grace ; for it hath equally appeared to all
men. He remembers his fellow-slaves of Colosse, and while with sir
gleness of eye he heartily serves his earthly master, he feels t'
he act is ennobled, and is transferred to be an act of devotio'
obedience to the great Jehovah.
Sympathy carries him back to his Corinthian brethren, in common
with whom he feels no anxious care to change the condition in
which he was called, for while he is content to abide where God
has placed him, he knows that he has been purchased by the blood
of Christ, and promoted to the rank of a freeman of the Lord.
With his fellow-slaves of Ephesus, he may tremble with fear lest
his obedience to his master shall not be performed with good-will
and singleness of heart, as unto Christ himself, for he knows thai
God has not required of him merely eye-service ; yet he also
knows that Christians, whether bond or free in this world, will
hereafter be remembered of God for whatever good they do. Yea,
he yields himself to the exhortations of Timothy, and accounts his
own master worthy of all honour and obedience, that the name

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 427

of God and his doctrine should not be blasphemed ; nor does he
f^l the less reverence for his believing master, but rather does his
service with alacrity as to a brother, and with heart-felt joy,
because he is a faithful and beloved partaker of the benefits of his
labour. And when he hears men, whose ignorance of God has caused
them to be puffed up with the idea of their own importance and
purity, evidently filled with pride, as though they could teach God
a more holy government, attempting to exhort and teach them a
different doctrine, he feels, he knows that such are not only evil
and bad men, but ignorant ones, such as dote about questions, and
strifes of words, which, have no other tendency than to fill the
mind with envy, strife, railing, and evil surmises, such as are
among men of corrupt minds, among men who are destitute of the
truth, and among men who suppose that gain is godliness. He
will view such men, however thoughtless they may be of their
true position or sincere in their belief, as standing in the position
of the serpent in Eden. Their lessons to him are disobedience to
God. From such he will withdraw himself ; yea, he will fly from
them as from a deadly poison, because disobedience to God for
ever ends in ruin and death. But from Timothy he learns con
tentment, for, as he brought nothing into the world with him, and
as he can most certainly carry nothing out, so, having food and
raiment, he will be content, and especially so as contentment and
godliness are great gain.
And finally he hears as it were a trumpet sounding from the
very gates of heaven, and looking, he beholds Peter standing
there ; he hears a still small voice, the voice of Jesus Christ, say
ing, "Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and I will give
unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou
shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." Matt. xvi. 18,19.
And then Peter, raising his arm in the direction of the Gentile
nations, says to the slaves: " Be subject to your masters with all
fear ; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward : for
this is thank-worthy, if a man for conscience towards God endure
grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be
buffeted for your faults, ye take it patiently ? But if, when ye do
well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable to
God. For even hereunto were ye called ; because Christ also
suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his

428 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth ; who
when he was reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered he
threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth right
eously ; who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness : by whose
stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep gone astray, but
are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."

LESSON XV.
From the immense disproportion between our finite minds and
the infinite objects of future hope, our conceptions of the disim-
bodied spirit must necessarily be feeble. But while we anticipate
the promised freedom of the celestial world, the disenthralment of
our intellectual faculties, and the deliverance of our moral powers
from all corruption, the mind becomes more and more habituated
to the scenes thus disclosed, and even reaches to prospects of re- -
splendent beauty ; to visions of unclouded truth ; to the solution
of the little difficulties of our own earthly trials ; to the evolutions
of the Divine character in connection with our little planet, and
even to that infinitude that mocks the bounds of time and space.
Thus the pious Christian, who meditates upon God and the
heavens, the work of his hand, feels a divine influence spread over
his soul, while the active and the retired, the ardent and the
timid, the philosopher whose mind is illumined by the varied lights
of science, and the pious slave, whose researches are confined to the
sayings of some unlettered expositor, will each cherish anticipa
tions congenial to his peculiar state of mind. Yet all will grow in
grace ; all will rise above the level of temporal delights ; and all
will embrace in their expanding conceptions the mighty import of
that glorious promise, that " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things that God
hath prepared for them that love him," ICor. ii. 9, till elevated so
far above earthly associations, that each can say, " I shall be satis
fied when I awake in thy likeness." Ps. xvii. 16.
What degree of moral likeness will gradually be produced by a
near contemplation of unveiled perfection is reserved for eternity

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 429

to disclose. But the time will at length come when to every sin
cere Christian and true disciple, dazzled by the refulgence that
will break upon his astonished sight, Jesus Christ will address the
language of affection, as he did to Martha : " Said I not unto thee
that if thou wouldst believe thou shouldst see the glory of God ?"
John xi. 40.
" Then we all, with open face, beholding, as in a glass, the glory
of God, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory."
2 Cor. iii. 18.
Such, then, is the picture and such the prospect of the Christian
character; and well may Christians, even the slave, " Reckon that
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall-be revealed." Rom. viii. 18.
From the monarch down, viewed from the distance of eternity,
man occupies but a point. All earthly distinctions become so
small that nothing short of the eye of omnipotence can see them.
The satae language describes, and the satae God will prepare their
rest. The Christian slave feels exalted even while on earth, for he is
well persuaded " that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princi
palities, nor power, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God." Rom. viii. 38.
If for a few days the afflicted Christian and slave " wander in
the wilderness in a solitary way;" if, "hungry and thirsty, their
souls faint in them," he is yet "hastening to a city of habita
tions." Ps. cvii. 4, 5, 7.
If even the sun of his earthly hopes be set, yet he is hastening
to a country where " thy sun shall no more go down ; neither
shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine ever
lasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended."
Isa. Ix. 20.
With such views the heart is elevated above the pains and mise
ries of this transitory world to the contemplation of hope celestial.
The mere philosopher, who views the mutilated structure of the
moral world, sees no renovating principle to reorganize its scattered
fragments. He mourns with unavailing sorrow over the ruins of
his race, and chills with horror at the prospect of his own decay.
But the Christian sees a fairer earth and a more radiant heaven.
And should the poor slave, forgetful of this high destiny of his
Christian character, and of his ultimate home, feeling, like Hagar,

430 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

the slave of Sarah, the hand of his mistress dealing hardly by
him, and, like her, attempt a remedy by flight ; like her, he will
hear the voice of God, saying, " Return to thy mistress, and sub
mit thyself under her hand." Gen. xvi. 9.
Like her, in humble submission, he obeys the command, and
prays, " 0 Lord, correct me," for " I know that the way of man is
not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps."
Jer. X. 23.
In the miseries and vanities with which he is surrounded, the
Christian only sees proofs of a fallen, not of a hopeless state. He,
like old Mnea,s, is seeking and looking for a home in a foreign
land, and, like him, constantly requires the interposition of some
friendly providence to warn him that he is still distant from the
destined shores. MutandsB sedes ; non h9ec tibi littora suasit,
Delius, aut Cretse jussit considere ApoUo. — 2d JEnead.
Like the Israelites, he has pitched his tent in a wilderness of
sin, and feels grateful for those afflictions that reiterate the admo
nition : " Arise and depart, for this is not your rest." Micah ii. 10.
He knows that "this corruptible will put on incorruption, that
this mortal will put on immortality, and that as he has borne the
image of the earthly, he shall also bear the image of the heavenly."
See 1 Cor. xv. 49, 53.
Why then should our hearts sink in sadness, because, as we
have seen, sin has destroyed the balance of moral power among
men, — even the foundation on which their universal equality could
exist, whence some races of men have gone deep down in the pit of
human degradation, until the man and the brute are found in the
same animal tenement.
Such is the poisonous nature of sin, that the heart that deviseth
wicked imaginations always finds "feet running swiftly to ruin."
See Prov. vi. 18.
But God hath promised that the remnant of Israel shall not
speak lies : " Neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their
mouth, for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them
afraid." Zeph. iii. 12, 13.
But the ways of God are not as the ways of man ; he makes his
enemies build his throne.
Therefore, be ye not deceived, for "there shall be false
teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 431

even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon them
selves swift destruction." 2 Pet. ii. 1.
Study and pray to improve the powers that God hath given,
while you compare the things that be with the causes and designs of
Providence ; and while you note that " the evil bow before the good,
and the wicked at the gates of the righteous," note also that " the
way of the ungodly shall perish." They shall be " like the chaff
which the wind driveth away." For " the hand of the diligent shall
bear rule; but the slothful shall bounder tribute." "He that hath
not sells himself to him that hath." Therefore, " the borrower is
servant to the lender," and- wherefore, "wisdom is better than
rubies ;" for "by me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges
of the earth. I love them that love me, and those that seek me
early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me : yea, durable
riches and righteousness."
But God hath promised that " the whole earth shall be full of
the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Isa. xi. 9.
Therefore, so long as the tares and the wheat shall grow toge
ther, " Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I will
rise up to the prey : for my determination is to gather the nations,
that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour out upon them mine
indignation, even all my fierce anger ; for all the earth shall be
devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to
the people a pure language that they may all call on the name of
the Lord, to serve him with one consent. From beyond the
rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dis
persed, CklSTlS Rcith Putsi, the daughter of Phut, the most
degraded of the African tribes,) shall bring mine offering."
Zeph. iii. 8-10.
The slavery of the African tribes to those of the true faith
is here clearly announced, and the great benefit of their conver
sion to the worship of the true God proclaimed as an abundant
reason. Thus Isaiah, speaking of the house of Israel, the prototype of the
church of God, says — " Thus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt,
and the merchandise of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, men of stature,
shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine ; they shall
come after thee ; in chains they shall come over, they shall fall
down unto thee ; they shall make supplication unto thee, saying.
Verily, God is in thee, and there is no God" beside. Isa. xiv. 14.
And these people, in a state of pupilage, are thus referred to by

432 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Zephaniah: "I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and
poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord."
God ever requires of the powerful the protection of the weak,
of the more learned the instruction of the ignorant, and of the
more wise the government of those who cannot govern themselves.
" For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee
to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation
unto the ends of the earth." Acts xiii. 47.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 433

5)tutrs Vi

LESSON L
Sin is any want of a conformity to the law of God. Man was
created free from sin. He was placed under the government of
laws adapted to his condition. But a want of conformity to any
item of such law necessarily disorganized and deranged some por
tion of his original cq,ndition. Let us cast a hasty view at the
operation of these laws. It is contrary to the law of God that a
man should put his hand in the fire ; when he does so, his condition
is somewhat physically changed, and he is in trouble.
It is contrary to the law of God that a man should bear false
testimony ; he having done so, his condition is changed mentally,
and his troubles increase.
It is contrary to the law of God that a man should remain igno
rant ; he doing so, is not in the condition of him who has multi-
t)lied and replenished his mental and physical capabilities : he is
less capable, he has less power.
The law of God is all powerful, and will be executed. The
punishment of its breach is certain. It is effect following cause.
The whole of God's creation is planned by this principle.
A want of conformity to the law operates as a poison, that
spreads through the moral and physical man, sinking, forcing him
down to trouble, pain, misery, ruin, and death.
The boy, intending to appropriate to himself, takes a pin. If
. there is naught that checks him, petty thefts push him on to deeper
crimes, that end in death. The young gentleman drinks the social
glass, nor thinks harm to himself; he feels strong, he fears no
thing : but habit becomes excess ; his physical appearance becomes
sickly; his mind obtuse, his pleasures gross; his condition is
changed ; he is evidently tending downwards to the grave. And
28

434 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

such are the course and progress of every other sin ; for, whatever
has a tendency to injure the character, health, mind, and body, is
sin. Speculators upon the holy writ may say what they will ; yet it
is certain, that act, called the eating the apple, was an act, what
ever it may have been, that necessarily injured the character.
health, mind, and body of man. It is certain, because it did so.
It was the very birth of death itself. The wages of sin are death —
the Lord God Almighty hath spoken it ! ! Another law of God,
till then unknown to man, was brought instantly into operation.
His wants were changed ; the earth no longer produced sponta
neously to them. In the emphatic language of that day, it was
cursed, that he might have less leisure time and opportunity to
continue in the downward course of sin to sudden destruction and
death. He was in great mercy condemned to labour for the sup
ply of his daily wants ; he was made the slave to the necessities
of animal life. Is it necessary to quote Scripture to show that it
abounds with the doctrine that idleness is a wonderful promoter
of sin ? God in great mercy contrived that his hungry body and
naked back should in some measure keep him from it.
" Therefore, the Lord sent him forth from the garden of Eden to
till the ground from which he was taken." Gen. iii. 23, " To till"
is translated from 131^7 la avod, to slave. It is the very word
that means a slave ; but is here used as a verb, and literally means
to slave the ground. In this early instance of its use in holy writ,
in relation to man, it is used as a verb, to show us, not that he had
become the property of any other person, but a slave to his own
necessities, and that the labour required was the labour of a slave.
Until man had become poisoned by sin there was no want of a
law, of an institution to interpose between him an,d his sudden
destruction and death.
This is the first degree of slavefy among poor, fallen men, and
upon which now depend their health, happiness, and continuance
of life.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 435

LESSON IL
"But Cain was a tiller of the ground." The viovd tiller is trans
lated from the same word used as a noun, a slave of the ground^
having reference to its cultivation for his support and' sustenance.
And here we see the peculiar propriety of the language of the
Psalmist : " He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb
for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the
earth." Ps. civ. 14. In this instance, " service" means slavery,
and is translated from the same word, mDl'? la avodath. " He
J- ^:|-
causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the slavery
of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth."
But we are directly informed that the Lord had no respect for
the offering of Cain ; that Cain was very wroth, and his counte
nance fell ; and the Lord reasoned with him and said, " If thou
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted ? and if thou doest not well,
sin lieth at the door ;" also promising him, if he would do well, he
should have rule over his younger brother ! All this shows that
Cain's progress in sin had become very considerable, notwithstand
ing the mild yet unavoidable slavery already imposed. But, like
many other sinners, he ran his race rapidly, until his hands were
dyed in his brother's blood.
" When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield
unto thee her strength : a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be
in the earth." Gen. iv. 12. Here tillest is also translated from
the same word, and means "when thou slavest the ground," showing
most clearly that the slavery imposed on Adam was attached to
Cain, with the additions, that the earth should not yield unto him
her strength, — that he should be a fugitive and a vagabond, — and
a mark was placed upon him. The expression that the ground
should not yield unto him its strength, may be understood to mean
that it should not be as productive, or, that some other person
should enjoy a portion of the benefit of his labour, or in fact
both : his labours were to be in some measure fruitless. And let
us notice how this portion of his sentence compares with other an
nouncements of Jehovah :

436 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

" Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness de-
livereth from death."
" The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish, but
he casteth away the substance of the wicked."
" The hand of the diligent shall bear rule, but the slothful shall
be under tribute."
"Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuses instruction,
but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured."
"A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children,
but the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just."
" The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul, but the belly
of the wicked shall want." Proverbs.
"He should be a fugitive and a vagabond.
" The wicked fiee when no man pursueth ; but the righteous are
bold as a lion." Prov. xxviii. 1.
" Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the un
godly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat
of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord ; and
his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like
a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit
in his season ; his leaf also shall not wither ; and whatsoever he
doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff
which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not
stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the
righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous ; but
the way of the ungodly shall perish." Ps. i.
And again : " Set thou a wicked man over him ; and let Satan
stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, let him be con
demned ; and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, and
let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his
wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds and beg ;
let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let
the extortioner catch all that he hath ; and let the strangers spoil
his labour. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him : neither
let there be any to favour his fatherless children. Let his posterity
be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted
out. Let the iniquities of his fathers be remembered with the Lord,
and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out." Ps. cix. 6-14.
Such is the prospect of the desperately wicked : " The curse of
the Lord is in the house of the wicked : but he blesseth the habita
tion of the just." Prov. iii. 33.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 437

LESSON IIL
But Cain had a mark set upon him. The word translated mark
is niN oth : it means a mark of a miraculous nature, 'whereby some
future thing is of a certainty known, and may be something done
or only said. Whatever it may have been, the object was to pre
vent him from being slain by any one meeting him, by its procla
mation of the burden of the curses under which he laboured. It
was, therefore, absolutely the mark of sin, sealing upon him and
his race this secondary degree of slavery. The mark distin
guished them as low and*- servile as well as wicked, and hence
its protective influence.
But what was the mark of sin ? What is it now ? and what
has it ever been ? If one is accused of some vile offence, a little
presumptive evidence will make us say, It is a very dark crime ; it
makes him look very black. This flgure, if it be one, now so often
applied, is so strongly used in Scripture, and in fact by all. in every
age, that the idea seems well warranted that the downward, hu
miliating course of sin has a direct tendency, by the Divine law, to
even physically degrade, perhaps blacken and disbeautify, the
animal man.
A similar doctrine was well known to the Greeks. Demosthenes
says to the Athenians, " It is impossible for him who commits low,
dishonourable, and wicked acts, not to possess a low, dirty intel
lect ; for, as the person of a man receives, as it were, a colouring
from his conduct, so does the mind take upon itself a clothing
from the same acts." See Second Olynthiac. So the Arabians :
" God invited unto the dwelling of peace, and directed whom he
pleaseth into the right way. They who do right shall receive a
most excellent reward, and a superabundant addition; neithei
blackness nor shame shall cover their faces." Koran, chap. x.
" On the day of the resurrection, thou shalt see the faces oi
those who have uttered lies concerning God, become black.'
Koran, chap, xxxix.
So, the Mohammedan belief is that a man who has some good
qualities may die ; but, on the account of his wickedness, he wiP
he sent to h^U, and there tormented until his skin is black ; but

438 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

that if he shall ever be taken thence, by the mercy of God, he
will be immersed in the river of life, and his skin becomCj whiter
than pearls ; see Pocock, notis in part. Moris, p. 289 and 292 ;
but that the faces of the wicked will ever remain black. See
Yalkut Shemuni, part ii. fol. 86 ; also Sale, Prelim. Bisc.
p. 104, 105.
So the Mohammedan tradition, that the bad spirits, Monker and
Nakir, who, upon the death of a man, come to examine him, are
awful and black. See Prelim. Bisc. p. 90. And hence the belief
is that the wicked, even before judgment, will stand looking up to
God with their faces obscured by blackness and disfigured by all
the marks of sorrow and deformity. Idem, p. 99.
So also the fable, that a precious stone of paradise fell down to
the earth to Adam, whiter than milk, but turned black by the
touch of a wicked woman, or, as others say, by wickedness of
mankind generally ; but the story is that its blackness is only
skin-deep, and hence the Arabians carefully preserved it in the
Caaba at Mecca. Idem, p. 125. Also, Al Zamakh, &c. in Koran;
and Ahmed Ehen Yusef; and Pocock, Spec. p. 117.
Similar traditions and quotations may be gathered from all
quarters of the world, and from all portions of time ; but let us
turn to the book that never lies nor misleads. "Behold, I g,m
against thee, saith the Lord of hosts ; and I Vill discover thy
skirts upon thy face, and I will show the nations thy nakedness,
and the kingdoms thy shame." Nahum, iii. 5.
The word here translated skirts, is T[*7ltJ' shulaik. We believe
that all scholars agree the Hebrew root of this word is borrowed
from the Arabic . L>i of which the meaning is postrerrpum
cujusque rei ; and, hence the idea skirt, the extreme of something
hanging down, tending downward.
And from the same source we have the Hebrew word 77llJ* T
sholal, a captive, a thing captured, &c., because the captive is in
an extreme condition ; and thus 7W slml is made to mean a hem
or skirt, from its cognate and Arabic root, the extreme of some
thing tending downwards. Thus Ijji shaal, to be loose, to hang
down. From these considerations, the word was often used to mean
a prisoner, a captive. Thus, Job xii. 19 : " He leadeth princes

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 439

away spoiled," ^^Itl' sholal, captive, reduced to the lowest ex
tremity, &c.
Therefore, although perhaps not as literal, the idea of the pro
phet would have been more exactly conveyed had it been trans
lated, " And I will discover the low extremity of your condition
upon your face ;" and in this same sense the word is used in Jer.
xiii. 22 : " If thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things
upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts
(Tj'7lJi' shulaik) discovered, and thy heels made bare." Evidently
proclaiming the doctrine, that a course of sin, through the Divine
providence, will leave its mark.
" She is empty, and void, and waste, and the heart melteth, and
the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the
faces of them all gather blackness. Behold, I am a(gainst thee,
saith the Lord." Nah. ii. 10, 13.
" At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall
break there the yokes of Egypt ; and the pomp of her strength
shall cease in her : as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her
daughters shall go into captivity. Thus will I execute judgments
in Egypt: and they shall know that I am the Lord." Ezek. xxx.
18, 19.
" Our necks are under persecution : we labour and have no rest.
We have given the hand to the Egyptains, and to the Assyrians,
to be satisfied with bread. Our fathers have sinned, and are not ;
and we have borne their iniquities. Servants (?'^]3i^ abadim,
slaves) have ruled over us : there is none that doth deliver us out
of their hand. We get our bread with the peril of our lives, be
cause of the sword of the wilderness. Our skin is black like an
oven, because ofthe terrible famine." Lam. v. 5-10.
"For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt ; I am
black ; astonishment hath taken hold on me." Jer. viii. 21.
"Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are
black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up."
Jer. xiv. 2.
" Her Nazarites were purer than snow ; they were whiter than
milk; they. were more ruddy in body than rubies; their polishing
was of sapphire. Their visage is blacker than a coal ; they are
not known in the streets." Lam. iv. 7, 8.
"For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched,

440 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

and that burned with fire ; nor unto blackness, and darkness, and
tempest." Heb. xii. 18.
" Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shatae ;
wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness
for ever." Jude 13.
'' For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much
soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God."
Jer. ii. 22.
"The show of their countenance -doth witness against them."
Isa. iii. 9.

LESSON IV.

But experience proved that even this second degree of slavery
was not a sufficient preventive of sin to preserve man upon the
earth. " That the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that
they were fair ; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
And the Lord said. My spirit shall not always strive with man."
Gen. vi. 2, 3. The word translated "fair," and applied to the
daughters of men, is JUiD to voth; it is in the feminine plural, and
comes from DC3 tav, and cognate with the Syriac word mA^ tov
or tob ; it merely means good, excellent, as the quality may exist in
the mind of the person taking cognisance.
It implies no quality of virtue or complexion, but in its use is re
flective back to the nominative. It is one of those words which
we find in all languages, of which rather a loose use is made. We
find it in Ban. ii. 32, (the 31st of the English text,) "excellent ;"
also Ezra v. 17, " good." When it is said of Sarah, in Gen. xii. 11,
that she was "fair," meaning that she was of a light complexion,
the word np' yephath is used, and is the same with our Japheth,
the son of Noah, and comes from i^Q' yapha, and means to shine,
to give light, and, as an adjective, well means lightness of com
plexion, fairness, and brilliancy of beauty. So in Esth, ii. 7, " and
the maid was fair and beautiful," n|3' yephath. 1 Sam. xvi. 12,
" Now he was ruddy and of a fair countenance," JlS* yepha.
1 Kings i. 4, "and the damsel was fair," Hfi' yaphah.
It is true that in Solomon's Song, i. 16, " Behold, thou art fair,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 44I

my beloved," — ii. 10, "My beloved spake and said unto me. Rise
up my love, my fair one, and come away," — iv. 1, " Behold, thou
art fair, my love ; behold, thou art fair ; thou hast doves' eyes," —
iv. 7, "Thou art fair, my love; there is no spot in thee," and
also V. 9, " 0 thou fairest among women," the word ^5' yapha,
in grammatical form, is used in the original, and that the term is
applied to a black woman. But this whole song is written in hy
perbole. In the description of Solomon's person, it says, v. 11,
" His head is as the most fine gold ;" in the original, " His head is
the most fine gold." 14 : " His hands are as gold rings set with the
beryl : his belly as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. 15 : His
legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of gold : his counte
nance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars."
Asiatic poetry always abounded in hyperbole. Thus an Arabian
poet, speaking of his mistress, says—
" I behold in thine eyes, angels looking at me.
D eformity in another, in thee is excellent beauty ;
The garments of the shepherd, upon thee, are the finest tissue,
And brass ornaments become fine gold.
Thy excellence, so great among men, the god beholds,
And is astonished at thy Ijeauty."
It is not from such productions that we are to look for the sim
ple, original, and radical meaning of terms ; and probably even in
the case of Canticles, the word J/Q' yapha would not have been
allowed by the rules of composition, had it not been first announced
in a calm, initiatory manner, that she was a black woman, in order
that no misconception might arise from such hyperbole.
Let us suppose ourselves in Arabia, and some poet announces
that, for our evening entertainment and diversion, he will deliver
a panegyric upon some black woman, and, among other things,
says — Thy neck is as a tower of ivory.
Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep.
Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet.
Thy nose like the tower of Lebanon,
That looketh toward^ Damascus ;
And the smell of thy nose like apples ;
And the smell of the roof of thy mouth like the best wine
Thy stature is like the palm-tree.
Thy skin is fairer than snow,
And thy breasts like two clusters of grapes.

442 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Thy head is as Mount Carmel,
And the hair of thy head like purple,
And the curls of thy hair like a flock of goats.
, Behold, thou art fair, my love ; thou hast doves' eyes.
True, amid such hyperbole, we might have mistaken her colour,
if he had not previously informed us on that subject. But, as it
stands, there is no falsehood asserted ; there is no liability to mis
take. The poet merely means that, at least in his conception, she
is as lovely, beautiful, and desirable as all those hyperboles would
make her. And we think we have reason to contend, that the hy
perbolic use of the word J^fi* yapha, in Canticles, does not alter in
any sense its real meaning, or, in any ordinary use of language,
make it a term applicable to people of colour, or in any sense what
ever a synonyme of the itO tav, or J^^'j^ to voth, as used in Genesis.
This explanation is thought necessary, since it is seen that we
shall hereafter contend that the descendants of Cain were black.

LESSON V.

If we take the passage. Gen. vi. 2, 3, as it stands in connec
tion, it seems to us an obvious deduction that the commingling of
the races of Seth and Cain was obnoxious to the Lord.
It is placed in position as the cause why his Spirit should not
always strive. He saw that such amalgamation would, did dete
riorate and destroy the more holy race of Seth ; and therefore
determined, with grief in his heart, to destroy man from the earth.
All were swept away, except Noah, his three sons, and their four
wives. Yet sin found a residence among the sons of Noah, and
Canaan was doomed to perpetual bondage, as it now exists upon
the earth. " And he said. Cursed be Canaan : a servant of ser
vants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said. Blessed be the
Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall
enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and
Canaan shall be his servant." Gen. ix. 25-27.
The expression "servant of servants" is translated from the
words nnSJ/ "151^ ^^'^^ abadim, slave of slaves. The expres
sion is idiomatic, and means the most abject slave.
In the passage quoted, the word servant, in all cases, is trans-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 443

lated from ehed, and means slave. There was no master placed
over Adam, — it is not certain there was over Cain, — bi^t here
the master is named and blessed ; and the slave is named, and
his slavery pronounced to be of the most abject kind. If we
mistake not, it is an article of the Christian creed of most churches,
that Adam was the federal head and representative of his race ;
that the covenant was made, not only with Adam, but also with
his posterity ; that the guilt of his Sin was imputed to them ; that
each and every one of his posterity are depraved through his sin ;
that this, their originalsin, is properly sin, and deserves God's
wrath and curse. If so, can we say less in the case of Cain ? or
that a new relation did intervene in the case of Ham ?

LESSON VL

Having traced the institution of slavery down to its third and
final degree, and finding it firmly lodged in the family of Ham,
let us now inquire what proof there may be that his descendants
are also the descendants and race of Cain. This evidence is to
be found in the fact, 1st. That the descendants of Ham were
black, inheriting the mark of Cain. 2d. That the traditions and
memorials of the family of Ham are also traditions and memorials
of the family of Cain. 3d. That Naamah, of the family of Cain,
is found to be kept in memory by the earlier descendants of Ham.
4th. That the characteristics of these families are the same, and
that no facts are found to exist discordant to the proposition of
their being one and the same race ; but on the contrary, every
vestige of them is in unison with such proposition.
In presenting the evidence touching the several facts of the in
quiry, we cannot claim the most lucid or logical arrangement, nor
that our remarks will be classed in the best methodical order for
the subjects of consideration. But we present the proposition
that aboriginal names are always significant terms : thus, Abram,
the high father ; Abraham, the father of a multitude'; Jacob, hold
ing by the heel, supplanting ; Israel, one who wrestles with God ;
and Cain, one that has been purchased or bought : "And she bare
Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord." Gen. iv. 1.
The word C^in is from n^P Cana, and means to buy, to purchase.

444 STUDIES on slavery.

and, as a noun, a thing bought; and the word "gotten," 'jl'Jp
canithi, terminating with its verbal formation, means, Ihave bought
or purchased — his name signified one purchased.
There is an allusion to Cain in the Koran ; and, although we do
not present it as or for authority, yet it may not be out of place
to notice what the ancient Arabians have said on the subject:
" Verily, I (the prophet) am no other than a denouncer of threats,
and a messenger of good tidings unto the people who believed.
It is he who hath created you from one person and out of him
produced his wife, that he might dwell with her ; and when he had
known her, she carried a light burden for a time, wherefore she
walked easily therewith : but when it became more heavy, they
called upon God their Lord, saying. If thou give us a child rightly
shaped, we will surely be thankful. Yet when he had given them
a child rightly shaped, they attributed companions unto him, for
that which he had given them. But far be that from God, which
they associated with him ! Will they associate with him false
gods, which create nothing, but are themselves created, and can
neither give them assistance nor help themselves?" Koran,
chap. vii.
The Arabian commentators, in explanation of this passage, re
late a tradition among them. They say, when Eve was big with
her first child, the devil came to frighten and fill her mind with
apprehension. But he pretended to her that by his prayers to
God he could persuade him to cause her to have a well-shaped
child, a son, the likeness of Adam, and that she should be safely
delivered of it, upon the condition that she should dedicate or
name the child abed al hareth, the slave of the devil, instead of the
name that Adam would give it, abed Allah, the slave of God ; that
Eve accepted the terms, and the child was born, &c. The legend
is varied by the commentators, some saying the child died as soon
as born, or that the devil applied to Adam instead of Eve, &c. ;
but they all agree that al hareth was the name the devil went by
among the angels.
It is a little remarkable that the passage in Gen. iv. 2,
"But Cain was a tiller of the ground," Heb. obed adamah, the
slave of the ground, would be, in Arabic, this phrase, abed al
hareth, the cognate of the Hebrew word '-^IK erets, the earth.
And therefore the Arabic, abed al hareth, will be a translation of
the Hebrew in Genesis. This legend will be found in AlBeidawi,
Jallado' ddin, Zamakhshari, et al. See Sale's Koran, vol, i. p. 360.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 445

The discovery of the western continent by Columbus was the
great and absorbing event of the age in which it happened. It
was an event which, in consideration of the characteristics of
men, would be held in commemoration : in all parts of the world it
would be a matter of such record as literature made convenient,
or the relative influence of the event rendered constant to the
mind. And hence we find it referred to not only in books, but in
the continent discovered ; it is commemorated by the application
of the name of the discoverer to its seas, lakes, rivers, mountains,
districts of country, cities, towns, &c. Now, if at the time of the
event, the world had not advanced to the achievement of literary
records, it is evident that the latter mode of commemoration could
have been the only one practicable ; and history shows us that this
mode of commemoration was adopted at the earliest ages, nor laid
aside even at this day. This disposition to commemorate is one
of the characteristics of the whole human family. Thus Eve com
memorated some event, described as the purchase of her first-born
of the Lord, by giving said first-born the name of " one purchased."
" And the sons of Noah that went forth of the ark were
Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan."
" And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father,
and told his two brethren without." "And Noah awoke from his
wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And
he said, Cursed be Canaan." Gen. ix. 18, 22, 24, 25. The things
here recorded took place in quick succession from the removal of
Noah's family from the ark. Ham ultimately had four sons, the
youngest of whom he named Canaan. Is there any evidence, at
the time of these records, that any of the children of Ham were
born,, and especially his youngest ?
It does appear to us that the word Canaan, as here used, does
not mean any particular son of Ham. It is evidently used at a
time before he had any sons. From the manner of the relation
it seems probable the planting of the vineyard was among the first
things Noah did after the flood. Two or three years was all the
time required for the consummation of this event. In case Ham
had married a female of the race of Cain, he had also identified
himself with that race, and might well be called by his father,
especially at a moment of displeasure, by a term emphatically
showing, yea announcing prophetically, his degradation through all
future time, — the degradation to which that connection had re
duced him.

446 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

The ill-manners of Ham towards his father were not the great
cause of the curse. The cause must have previously existedJ
The ill-manners only infiuence thettime of its announcement. Even
had it never beien announced, the consequences would have been the
same. The sentence of the law is only declaratory of the relation
in which one has placed himself. The cause of the curse or degra
dation here pronounced must have been something adequate, to
have produced it. The ill-manners could have no so great effect.
And let us inquire, where are we to find an adequate cause for the
immediate degradation of an unborn race, unless we find it in in
termarriage. His intermarriage, then, could have been with no
other than the race of Cain ? When Noah spoke to Ham, and
said, "Cursed be Canaan," he had no reference to any particular
descendant of Ham, but included them all, as the race of Cain, and,
in reproof and disparagement to his son, reproaching the con
nection. Suppose, even at this day, a descendant of Japheth
should choose to amalgamate with the Negro, could not his father
readily foretell the future destiny of the offspring, — their standing
among the rest of his family ? The term Canaan, thus spoken
and applied to Ham, was significant of the character his conduct
had created, by identifying himself with the race of Cain. It was
a new name, deeply and degradingly distinguishing him from the
rest of his father's family. Jacob was called Israel, after having
wrestled with God ; but an honourable cognomen would be made
known and used, whereas one of reverse character might or might
not. It cannot be expected, at this late day, to account for the
anomalies of the ancient Hebrew. Terms applied as proper
names, whether significant or not, are in all languages, and. in all
ages, subject sometimes to strange and even oblique alterations.
Thus, in the family of Benjamin, "Ard," of Genesis and Numbers,
is changed into Addar in Chronicles ; and thus Colon of Genoa
was converted into Columbus in the western continent.
Thus, Muppim and Huppim, in Genesis, are changed into Shup-
ham and Hupham in Numbers, and into Shephupham and Huram
in Chronicles. See Gen. xlvi. 21, Num. xxvi. 39, and 1 Chron.
viii. 5. The Kenites, Kennizites, and Canaanites of Gen. xv. 19 ;
the Kenaz, xxxvi. 11 and 42 ; the Kenite and Kenites of Num.
xxiv. 21; the Kenites of 1 Sam. xxvii. 10, xv. 5, 6; Judges
iv. 11-17 ; and the city called "Cain," TpH ha Kain, Josh. xv. 57,
also Kinah, nj'p, idem 22, — are all legitimately derived and de-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 447

scended from the name given to the first-born of mankind. Doubt
less a critical search would find many more; but in all these
instances the derivative is used for and by the descendants of
Ham. But no instance is found where any such derivative is in
use by the unmixed posterity of Shem or Japheth. We surely
need not point in the direction of the cause of these facts.
In Judges iv. 11, we have, "Now, Heber the Kenite, ('i'p?n>
ha Keni,) which was of the children of Hobah, (the Jethro ofGene-
sis,) the father-in-law of Moses. ' ' We shall hereafter have ocesiJon to
show that the father-in-law of Moses was a descendant of Misraim,
the second son of Ham ; that he dwelt in the mountains of Midian,
and, when spoken of in regard to his country, was called a Mi-
dianite ; but his daughter, when spoken of in regard to her colour,
was called an Ethiopian ; but now, when he is spoken of in regard
to his race, he is called a Cainite, Kenite.
In Josh. XV. 17, we have a derivative in common origin of the
foregoing, in "Kenaz," the brother of Caleb; but upon examining
1 Chron. ii., we shall find a sufficient reason in the blood of that
family; and in all instances where such derivative is found, we
shall find the same cause to warrant its use.

LESSON VIL

Such evidence as there may be that Ham did take to wife some
particular female of the race of Cain, will also be the most posi-
,tive evidence that their descendants are one and the same.
Let it be noticed that, immediately preceding the account of the
flood, and the causes which led to that judgment upon the earth,
we are presented with the genealogical tables of the families of
Cain and Seth, down to that period ; and that these tables termi
nate with Ham, in that of Seth, and in the female Naamah, the
daughter of Lamech, in the genealogy of Cain. Ham and Naamah
are thus placed upon a parallel, so far as it regards these tables.
It surely is not difficult to perceive the cause why, in the table
of Seth, the genealogical line ending in the family of Noah was
selected ; but, if the entire race of Cain were to be destroyed by
the flood, why was the particular line ending in Naamah chosen ?

448 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Why was any such table of his race required ? Beside Eve, the
two wives of Lamech and this Naamah are the only females whose
names are given before the flood ? If the entire race of Cain was
destroyed, how was the name of Naamah of more importance for
us to know than that of thousands of the same race ? Why has
God sent these facts down to us? Has he ever revealed to us
any thing unnecessary for us to know ? Is it consistent with his
character to do so ? There have been, through all time since the
deluge, -traditions and legends among the Arabians, and many
other Asiatic tribes, that this Naamah and her posterity continued
upon the earth subsequent to that period. We give in substance
a tale of traditionary lore among the Eastern nations, found in
the Book Zohar, and referred to by Sale, page 87. They believe
that at an extremely ancient time, there was an inferior race of
beings, whom they call "jin," (query, a cognate of HJ' yana or
jana, to cast down, destroyed, used in a bad sense, to cast away;)
that this race was created from, by, or someway connected with
fire, heat, &c., either in their original state or in an acquired con
dition ; that they eat, drink, propagate, and die, and are subjects
of salvation or reprobation, like men ; that they inhabited the
world for ages before Adam was created ; that they fell at length
into general corruption ; that, therefore, Eblis (one of the names
of the devil) drove them into a remote part of the earth, and con
fined them there ; but,* however, some of their race remained ; and
that Tahmunah, (the Noah of the Hebrew Scriptures,) one of the
ancient kings of Persia, drove them into the mountains of Kdf.
Another version of the same legend is, that this race of beings
was begotten by Aza with Naamah, the daughter of Lamech.
(Let us here note, NfN aza is a Chaldaic word, meaning heat, to
grow hot, &c., and as such is used in Ban. iii. 22, — therefore a.
synonyme with Ham, as applied to the son of Noah.) But some
have it that the race is the joint offspring, or from the double
paternity, of Aza and Azael. (Let us also notice, that this mon
strosity of paternity is reduced to a single personage by the fact,
that the Hebrew suffix el merely gives quality, even by repetition,
as thus, — Aza the mighty Aza.) But this version of the legend de
nominates the race " Shedim," the plural of shed, a word some
times used to express idols, but more often used to mean desola
tion, destruction, &c. ; and because the nursing breast is often
exhausted, or from the notion that such exhaustion is akin to a
thing destroyed, this word is applied to the female breast ; and

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 449

hence a posterity strongly marked by natural peculiarities would
very readily take some name expressive of such fact. Even at
this day, in reference to such peculiarities, we say, they took it
from the "breast."
We deem it unnecessary to enter into a critical history of tho
word shed or shedim, as used by the Arabians, the "sed" of the
Hebrews ; but we may be permitted to remark that, from its con
veying the idea of destruction, desolation, so strongly, the Hebrews
applied it also to mean a "field," or country, in a destroyed or de
solate or uncultivated condition ; and it is thus used in many places.
See Genesis iii. 1. ; and is thus the word we call Sodom. It al
ways carries with it the idea opposite to improvement ; and,
governed by the same leading idea, writers have applied it, per
haps rather figuratively, to any living existence found wandering
over waste and solitary districts. We might pursue the subject of
this tradition, and from the analogy of language, as well as from
ancient associations, at least find some evidence that Zahmurah
was no other than Noah ; that the affix "el" with Aza arose from
the acknowledged superiority of the race of Seth to that of Cain,
in consequence of which they were sometimes described as " the
sons of God," Gen. vi. 4 ; and that the tradition points to the race
of Ham, and their humble condition in the world.
Traces of this legend will not only be found as above, but also
in Gemara, in Hagiga, and Igrat Baale Hayyin, c. 16.
If it be a fact that the Negro race are the descendants of Ham
and Naamah, the daughter of Lamech, of the race of Cain, it might
be thought there would still be existing some traditions of such an
extraordinary fact. As such we present the legend : not that we
attach to it any undue importance, and especially not to be re
ceived as evidence at all, in contradiction of one word found in the
holy books. But if a legend of ancient time shall be found, when
sifted from the ignorance of fable or the fraud of design, to coin
cide with facts as related in the holy books, we may be permitted
to consider the same as a circumstance not altogether unworthy of
consideration. But, we repeat, unless Naamah was to survive the destruction
of the deluge, why was her name, why was her genealogy recorded
and sent down to future time ?
We think it, certain that if she did survive the fiood, she must have
done so as the wife of one of Noah's sons. Now, as it is evident
that the intermixture of the two races was regarded by Jehovah

450 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

as a sin, it is not probable that either Shem or Japheth took her
to wife, since they were both most honourably distinguished by a
public blessing immediately after the flood.
But again : Noah had been preaching the then impending ruin
jiear a hundred years. Lamech might well have had some glimpses
of the subdiluvian world, and certainly saw the consequential ruin
to young Ham, of the holy family of Noah, from such a connection
with his daughter, Naamah. It could not otherwise than operate
as a moral death to all the high hopes of him and his posterity.
In case such connection was formed, and Lamech was forward in
aiding or influencing it, then well might his troubled soul exclaim
to his two wives as related.
But in case Ham did take to wife this daughter of Lamech, we
might expect her name also to be held in remembrance by her
posterity, as we have seen to some extent was that of Cain ; and
if we find such fact to exist in regard to her, it will be to our mind
strong additional proof, that the descendants of Ham were in
common the descendants of Cain. We notice here the fact, which
we may hereafter deem necessary to prove, that, of the children of
Ham, Cush originally settled in Arabia and the southwestern parts
of Asia generally, Misraim in Egypt, Phut in the northern parts of
Africa and southward indefinitely, and Canaan in Palestine.
When this latter country came to be conquered by Joshua, he
found a city by the name of "Naamah," situated in that portion
which was given to the tribe of Judah. See Josh. xv. 41. But
we shall directly see that there must have also been another city
by the name of "Naamah," situated probably in the region origin
ally occupied by Cush. The book of Job is supposed to have been
written as early as the days of Abraham. One of the men named
in it is Zophar the "Naamathite." See Job ii. 11; also xi. 1.;
also xiii. 9. He was an inhabitant of "Naamah," at a much more
ancient period than the time of Joshua. Job is represented as of
the land of " Uz," far distant from the land of Canaan, in the
eastern parts of -Arabia. His intimate friends and acquaintances
cannot be expected to have been of so distant a country as was the
land of Judea. The evidence is then that there must have been a
city in the land of Cush by the same name. But in Gen. x. 7,
one of the sons of Cush is called Raamah : we think those who
will examine the subject will find this term a mere alteration or
adulteration of Naamah, as there are many others, a tedious expla
nation of which might not be excused at onr hand. Suffice it then

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 45I

to say that among the Cushites at a very early period onS whole
tribe were called " Naamathitcs," dictinct from the Naamathites tha,t
lived in the city of Naamah conquered by Joshua. Another varia
tion of this word will be found in the word " Hamathites," Gen. xvi.
18. This word is used, differently varied, in Num. xiii. 21, xxvi.
40 ; Judges iii. 3 ; 1 Kings x. 65, xiv. 21-31 ; 2 Kings v. 1-2" ;
2 Sam. viii. 9 ; 1 Chron. viii. 4, 7 ; 2 Chron. viii. 3, xii. 13 ; Isa.
X. 9, also xi. 11, also xvii. 10 ; Ezek. xlvii. 16, 20, also xlviii. 1,
.ind perhaps many other places; and in all cases in reference to in
dividuals, the people and country of the Canaanites, and no doubt
in memory of their great female progenitor, Naamah, the daughter
of Lamech, of the race of Cain.

LESSON VnL
Before we close this branch of our inquiry, let us examine into
the significancy and composition of the name "Naamah," as ap
plied to the daughter of Lamech : and we take occasion here to
say how deeply we are indebted to the labours of the Rev. Dr.
Lee, the regius professor of Hebrew in the University of Cam
bridge, England, and whom we have no question in believing to
be among the most penetrating oriental scholars of the age. By
an intimate knowledge of the Asiatic languages, he discovered that
in many instances where, in a cognate case, the Heemanti would
be used in Hebrew, in them the word was supplied with a particle,
changing or influencing the sense. Upon full research, he de
termined that the Heemanti, in Hebrew, were the fragments of
ancient or obsolete particles, still infiuencing the significance as
would have done the particles themselves. Let us take an ex
ample in our own language : able implies fulness of power ; add to
it the prefix -un, and you reverse the sense wholly. Yet we do
not perceive, without reflection, that the prefix really is a con
traction of something similar to " I am not," to.
With this door open to a constitutional knowledge of , the lan
guage, let us take the word D>* am. The terminating aspii-ate of
the word Naamah will be readily formed from this by the usual
feminine, as a fragment of the m3 buth, later nil bath. And for

452- STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

the prefix nun, we beg leave to quote from Lee's Lectures, pages
123 'and 124:
"We come now to propose a conjecture on the prefix nun, and
on the modification of sense which primitive words undergo in con
sequence of its influence. If then we take this (3) as the defective
form of some primitive word, appearing sometimes in the form of
jn, at other times as J only, we may suppose it to have been de
rived from the (Arabic) root, which, had it been preserved in
Hebrew, might have been written HJil hanah, Diii anah, or XJK
'CD ITT TT 'tt
ana. The senses attributed to it by Castell (in his Arabic
Lexicon) are, among others, ' ad extremum perfectionis terminum
pervenit — assecutus fuit, seu percepit — retinuit, detinuit, coercuit,
— lenitate, modestia et patientia usus fuit,' &c. Supposing this
word, or some defective form of it, to be construed with any other,
the sense of both taken together would, in general, give the force
of the forms thus compounded. And as this form of compound is
often in the leading word of one of the conjugations, it becomes
the more important to ascertain its properties. Primitive words
receiving this particle will have a sort of passive sense, or will ex
hibit subjection to the action implied by the primitive accidentally,
but not habitually. Words receiving this augment, subjecting
them to the action implied by the primitive word, may, when the
context requires it, also be construed as having a reciprocal sense,
or as implying possibility," &c.
Now then, let us present examples of the influence of this par
ticular Heemanti : — "113^^* sakur, a hireling, one whose habit is to be
hired, one whose occupation is that of being hired by others.
Add J nun, and we have 1")3Ji'J niskkaru, as in 1 Sam. ii. 5, and
translated thus : " They that were full have hired out themselves
for bread." The idea in Hebrew is : They who were habitually
full, from the force of the circumstances influencing the case, have
been compelled to hire themselves to others for bread. The sakur
is a hireling from habit, from constitution, from custom, &c., and
which idea enters into the meaning of the word. But the prefix of
the proposed Heemanti at once destroys all idea of habit, fitness,
constitution, or custom ; but yet the individual is a " hireling," but
only as the force of circumstances infiuencing the case compelled
him to be so. Thus this Heemanti gives a reflective quality, re
flecting back upon the agent or actor, as thus: ")0^' shamar,
he guards, 10 ^''J ndshmar, he guards himself; that is, under the
force of circumstances affecting the case, he was cotapelled to

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 453

guard himself. Thus "l03 cheniar is sometitaes used to express
the idea black, as a constant, habitual quality. In Lam. v. 10, we
find it with this Heemanti, thus, 110 ?J nichemaru, " our skin was
black;" not that their skin was naturally and habitually black, but
made so by the facts of the case : and this same word, with this
Heemanti, is used in Gen. xliii. 30, and translated, by attempting to
express a Hebrew cognate idea, into "yearn." The idea is, his
bowels did not habitually "yearn," but the action was forced upon
him by the facts of the case ; and the same again in 1 Kings iii. 26.
In Hosea xi. 8, we find it again translated " my repentings are
kindled:" because his people were bent on backsliding, which
would cause the Assyrian to be their king, and war to be in their
cities continually, and their bad counsels themselves to be de
stroyed, his repentings were forced to be " kindled." See the
passage. This particle then prefixed to the word DJ^ am, with its femi
nine termination, makes the word HOi^J Naamah, with the mean
ing, under the condition of things, she was to become a people dis
tinct to herself ;. not that she would be a people absolutely, by the
habitual action of constituent ability, but she would be a people
distinct to herself, only as the peculiar influencing causes made her
so, — showing also that these causes gave distinction and cha
racter to her posterity. Thus hej, very name shadowed forth the
condition of her race. A Frenchman goes to England, or vice
versa: a generation passes and nationality is lost. Not so with
the Ethiopian. For " though thou wash thee with nitre and take
thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the
Lord God." Jer. ii. 22.
A form of the word "Naamah" is used in character of a mas
culine plural, in Isa. xvii. 10, and translated " pleasant," as if from
DW nam. Forced to differ from this translation, we beg leave to
place the whole passage before the scholars of the day :
';;c3fi fD-Sj; fi-i3j ah riip.a -^m r\]7_i^'. 'ri^ W'?^ 'p
Tv t: • VT -j: • T ¦=¦:!- li- : ¦
It is translated thus: "Because thou hast forgotten the God
of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy
strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants and shalt set
it with strange slips."
We beg to inquire whether t\iere is not a material defect in the
latter clause of this translation ? The verb "to plant," in Hebrew,

454 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

governs two accusatives, to wit, the plantation and the thing
planted. In English, we are compelled to render one of the names
as governed by a preposition. Thus, he planted a field with corn,
or he planted corn in a field. The word HlOf zemorath, is often
» •
translated a song, as " The Lord Jehovah is my strength and song."
See Ps. cxviii. 14 and Isa. xii. 2. But the idea is more compre
hensive than is our idea expressed by the term "song." It in
cludes the result of a course of conduct. Thus the result of a
devout worship of God is that Jehovah becomes the "Zemorath"
of the worshipper; and we doubt not our term result, although
imperfect, will give a better view of the prophet's idea in this
place -than the song. In this sense this word is used in Gen. xliii.
11, and translated "fruits:" thus, "take of the best fruits ofthe
land," that is, the best results of our cultivation. The prophet
informs his people that they intermix and amalgamate with tho
Naamathites because they have forgot God, and that the result is
the two last words in the passage, to wit, the "zar" and " tizera-
ennu," that is, a " stranger." See Exod. xxx. 33 ; Levit. xxii. 10,
12, 13, where "zar" is translated "stranger;" also, Job xix. 15,
17 ; also, Prov. v. 10, 17, and 20 ; and many other places, surely
enough to determine its meaning here. The original sense of the
last word in the passage was to sow seed, hence to scatter and de
stroy. The result of such amalgamation then is, their posterity
will be a deteriorated race, and the pure Hebrew stock sown to the
winds, scattered, wasted away and destroyed.
In these highly excited and poetic effusions of the prophet, we
are to notice the chain of thought and mode of expression by which
he reaches the object in view. This chapter commences with the
information that Damascus shall cease to be a city ; that ArOer
shall be forsaken, and Ephraim be without a fortress to protect
her ; and finally that Jacob shall be made thin, like a few scatter
ing grapes found by the gleaner, or a few berries of the olive left
in the top of the bough, and the house of Jacob become desolate.
In the passage under consideration the causes of this condition of
Jacob are announced. If our view of the word "Naamah" bo
correct, in the masculine plural, as here used, it will be quite analo
gous to Ethiopians. But we have no one word of its meaning ;
perhaps the idea will be more correctly expressed by Naamathites.
Evidently the idea intended to be conveyed by the prophet by the
word D'^Qi^^4 Naamanim, is, a people whose cultivation would be

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 45*;

abortive as to them and injurious to the cultivator; that is, a
people with whom intermarriage will produce nothing but injury
and destruction to the house of Jacob.
By the use of some such paraphrasis the idea of the prophet
will be brought to mind : " Because thou haSt forgotten the God
of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy
strength, therefore shalt thou (or therefore dost thou) plant Naa
mathites," (that is, amalgamate' with the descendants of Ham and
Naamah,) " and the fruits of the land shall be a stranger" (that is,
their adulterated posterity will be heathen) " scattering thee away ;"
that is, wasting away not only the purity of the Hebrew blood,
but their worship also. *'¦*
Repeat: "Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salva
tion, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength."
Therefore dost thou cohabit with the heathen, and thy posterity,
0 Jacob, shall be an enemy, and thou scattered away and destroy
ed ! Such is the announcement of the prophet.
One of the most bitter specimens of irony contained in the
Scriptures is the answer of Job to the Naamathite : " No doubt
but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you." The pas
sage needs no comment.
The view we take of the word " Naamanim," as used by Isaiah,
we think warranted by the succeeding sentence, which we ask the
scholar to notice.
" For a day thou shalt make thy plant to grow, for a morning
thou shalt make thy seed to flourish, but the harvest shall be a
heap" (a burden unbearable) " in the days of grief and desperate
sorrow." And such has ever been the lot of the white parent who
has amalgamated with the negro ; as to posterity, it is ruin.
The prophet borrowed his flgure from agriculture. His inten
tion was to present to the mind the abortiveness of such a course
of sin, by presenting a bold and distinct view of the mental and
moral character of the descendants of Naamah ; and is on a par
^ith  " Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, 0
children of Israel? saith the Lord." Amos ix. 7.

456 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON IX.
By referring to the instances where we allege are to be found
variations of the names Cain and Naamah, it -will' be at once
noticed that some of them are quite remarkable. Shall we be
excused for a few remarks in explanation, by way of example, of
other lingual changes ? Queen Elizabeth lived but yesterday ;
and her history has not advanced through a very great variety of
languages, yet we find, in commemoration of her, one plS,ce named
Ehzabeth, Ehzabeth City, Elizabethtown, Elizabethville, Elizabeth-
burg, and another, even Betsey's Wash-tub, and because she was
never married, one is called Virgin Queen, and another Virginia.
Now, we all know that at a very ancient period, the worship of
the sun and of fire was introduced into the British Isles. Is there
nothing left at this day in commemoration of that fact ? The sun
became an object of great and absorbing consideration. The
ancient Celtic word grian meant the sun ; from the application of
this word and its variations, we have a proof, not only of how words
are made to change, but also of the fact that the people of that
country were once addicted to the worship of the sun or fire.
Hence Apollo, who was the sun personified, was called Gryn^us.
At once we find a singular change in the name of the Druidical
idol Crom-Cruach, often called Cean Groith, the head of the sun.
This was the image or idol god to whom the ancient inhabitants
of Ireland offered infants and young children a sacrifice. It was
in fact the same as the Moloch of the ancient Hamitic occupants
of Palestine, and was so firmly established in the superstitions of
the world, that whatever race had the ascendency in Ireland, it
continued to be thus worshipped, giving the name of the " Plains
of slaughter" to the place of its location, until St. Patrick had the
success to destroy the image and its worship ; and hence also the
names Knoc-greine and Tuam-greine, hills where the sun was wor
shipped, and other places in Ireland, even now keep in memory
that worship: Cairn- Grainey, the shn's heap, Granniss' bed, cor
rupted from Grian-Beacht, the sun's circle. A point of land near
Wexford is called Grenor, the sun's fire, and the town of Granaid,
because the sun was worshipped there. And we may notice a still

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 457

greater variation in Carig-Croith, the rock of the sun — and even
our present word grange, from the almost obsolete idea, a place
enclosed, separate and distinct, but open to the sun, now used as a
synonyme of farm.
Let us take our word fire, and we shall perceive remarkable
changes through all the languages from the Chaldaic down. Gen.
xi. 28, " Ur" is translated from l-IN which means fire. Abraham
was a native of Chaldea, and from a place where they worshipped
fire, or the sun. It was used to mean the sun. Job xxxviii. 12 ;
also, in the plural, Isa. xxiv. 15 : " Wherefore glorify ye the Lord
in the fires?" It inhere D'"1N urim. Because fire emitted light,
it became used to mean light. The words urim and thummim meant
lights or fires, and truth : among the fire-worshippers the same
term meant fire and sun. The Copts called their kings suns.
Hence from this term they took the word ouro, to mean the idea
of royalty ; their article pi, made piouro, the sun or the king,
which being carried back to the Hebrews, they made it Pharaoh ;
but the sun was regarded as a god, and hence the Egyptian kings
came to be called gods; but the Chaldaic and Hebrew '^Mi, when
applied to fire or the sun by the Copts, as an object of worship,
was distinguished from the idea of royalty by the term ra and re,
with the particle pira and pire, generally written phra and pihre.
Hence the Greek ¦7li;p, pur, to mean fire, and hence pyrites, which
means a fire-stone, a stone well burned, or a stone containing
fire, &c.
And hence also the Hebrew word 'i<"l rai, a mirror, vision, the
god of vision, and by figure a conspicuous or illustrious person.
But according to Butman, the Sanscrit root Raja is the original
of the obsolete Greek word, 'Pa, 'Paia, 'Pansav, and if so, possibly
of the Chaldaic word under view. But however that may be, it is
evident that the Greek radios is at least derived through the channel
indicated ; and we now use the term ray to mean an emanation from
great power. Our word regent is also from the same source, through
the Latin rex, and may be found, slightly modified, through
all the European dialects. And it may be remarked that, cognate
therewith, we have the Arabic word raiheh, or raygeh, to mean fra-
grancy ; the poetic minds of the Arabians uniformly applying this
image to legitimate rule and government.
And if we take a view of the filiations of languages, even as
they are now found, such changes cannot be deemed unusual, espe
cially if we take into consideration the inevitable variation words

458 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

are found to undergo in, their progress through different countries
and ages of time ; and more especially, if we notice the precise
manner in which lingual variations are found to operate.
Changes of language sometimes take place upon a single word
apparently by caprice, among different tribes of people, — some
times by the transposition of the consonant or vowel sound ; by
the insertion of a letter or letters for the sake of euphony ; by the
contraction or abbreviation of letters for the sake of despatch ; by
the reduplication of a letter or syllable on the account of some real
or fancied importance or emphasis attached to it ; and by the de
letion or addition of a letter or syllable at the,commencement or
end of a word, for a real or supposed more felicitous enunciation
of certain sounds in succession ; and hence alterations, slight at
first, are liable to become quite remarkable.
Thus [lop^ in Greek, becomes formce in Latin ; regnum be
comes reign; caelum, del; ultra jectum, Utrecht; and 13J? ehed,
eved, as variously pronounced, meaning a slave, becomes obediens,
obedienter, obedio, obedientia, in Latin, and obey, obedient, &c.,
in English. The Celtic ros becomes horse, and the English grass
becomes garse. Consonants of the same order are interchanged ;
p becomes b, and h v, d t, g k and sometimes n, — ^ becomes ph
or /, d or t becomes th, and g or c gh. It is therefore impossible
that such changes should not have taken place, and therefore they
give proof of the genuineness of the history they may develop.

LESSON X.
We have ieretofore remarked that such names as are derived
from Cain or Naamah are never found in the holy books, except
among and applied to the descendants of Ham. But there are
some few instances of the application of these terms in the family
of the Benjamites. It is therefore our design now to prove, so
far as may be, that such instances, in the family of Benjamin, are
wholly confined to those cases where the Benjamite was a mixed-
blooded person, and a descendant of Ham, as well as of the
youngest son of Jacob. The holy books do give evidence that
individuals of the race of Shem did sometimes commingle with the
descendants of Ham.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 459

From the proximity of the Israelite tribes to those of Ham ;
from their co-habitation of Palestine itself, it was natural to expect
among the low and vulgar, as well as among those whose morals
hung loosely about them, that such intermixture should take place.
" Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had
a servant, (13^* ebed, & slave,) an Egyptian, ('"lyO Mitsri, a 3Iis-
raimite, a descendant of the second son of Ham.) whose name
'.v;'.5 Jarha. And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant,
1^121' ebed, slave) to ¦wife." 1 Chron. ii. 34, 35. Proving the wis
dom and truth of the saying of Solomon, -'He that deHcately
bringeth up his servant (ISJ* ebed, slave) from a child, shall have
him become his son at length.' Prov. xxix. 21.
" Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign ;
and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the
Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name
there : and his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess.
And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried ¦with his
fathers in the city of Da^vid. And his mother's name was Naamah,
an Ammonitess." 1 Kings xiv. 21, 31.
" For Rehoboam was one-and-forty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which
the Lord had chosen out of aU the tribes of Israel, to put his name
there, and his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess." 2
Chron. xii. 13.
•'But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with
the daughter of Pharaoh ; women of the Moabites, Amrnonitis,
Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites ; of the nations concerning
which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go
in to them, neither shall they come in unto you." 1 Kings xi. 1. 2.
By thus personally amalgamating with the various nations over
whom he ruled, Solomon, no doubt, expected more firmly to esta
blish his throne. This led to the selection of the son of this woman
for his successor.
A vast majority of the tribes over whom his reign extended
were the descendants of Ham.
Bat this very act, which he thought to he political wisdom, al
though contrary to the laws of God, brought ruin to the perma
nency of his dynasty. The great majority of his Jewish subjects,
huntiDir up, as was natural, plausible excuses, rejected with scorn
the contamination of the royal house.
And we see such manifestation of Divine providence even at the

460 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

present day : even among ourselves, men whose talents and pa
triotism might authorize them to look to any station, are forced
back by public sentiment, degraded by a notorious amalgamation
with the descendants of Ham.
We shall hereafter see some proof that this "Naamah," the
mother of Rehoboam, was the individual whose praises are cele
brated in the book of Canticles : at any rate, she was an Ammo
nitess, a descendant of Ham, and the prophet Hanani includes the
Ammonites among those whom he calls Ethiopians. See 2 Chron.
xvi. 8.
If then it be true that Naamah, the daughter of Lamech, was
the great female progenitor of the race of Ham, we should expect
to find some testimony of her remembrance even among her min
gled offspring. And since the unmixed race of Ham have gene
rally, at all times of the world, been too degraded to even leave
behind them any ¦written memorials, it is to the mixed race, and
their connection "with the races of Shem and Japheth, that we are
principally to look for any particular fact concerning them ; and
it is reasonable to conclude, as we find this kind of memorial
among the mixed race, that the same kind of memorial existed
much more frequently among the unmixed races of Ham.
"And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and
Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Hup
pim, and Ard." Gen. xlvi. 21.
" The sons of Benjamin after their families of Bela, the family
of the Belaites ; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites ; of Ahi-
ram, the family of the Ahiramites ; of Shupham, the family of
the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites.
And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman ; of Ard, the family
of Ardites, and of Naaman, the family of'NaamaniteS." Num.
xxvL 38-40.
"Now Benjamin begat Bela his first-born, Ashbel the second,
and Ahirah the third, Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.
And the sons of Bela were Addar, and Gera, and Abihud, and
Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah, and Gera, and Shephuphan,
and Huram. And these are the sons of Ehud: these are the
heads of the fathers of the inhabitants of Geba, and they removed
them to Manahath. And Naaman, and Ahiah, and Gera, he re
moved them, and begat Uzra and Ahihud. And Shaharaim begat
children in the country of Moab, after he had sent them away."
1 Ohron.vin. 1-8.

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The hurried reader might well apprehend these three different
accounts of the same matter to be somewhat contradictory. We
think otherwise. We had, in fact, prepared several sheets, eluci
dating these genealogies of Benjamin, but upon a review we found
much irrelevant to the subject of our present inquiry : we deem
only a few remarks necessary.
Our object is to show that these genealogies prove that some
portion of the family named were coloured people, descended from
Ham, and that Naaman is distinguished most clearly to be of that
class. '
It will be readily perceived that Muppim D'90, in Genesis, is
formed from fl,0 Moph, and thus used in Hos. ix. 6 : "Memphis
(^T2 Moph) shall bury them." Our word is a Hebraism of the
Coptic word v"j j Noph, the Nod of Genesis, the No of the prophets
Ezekiel and Nahum, and finally confounded with Memphis.
It is here used after the form of a Hebrew masculine plural,
and as a caput, to aid in the classification of the descendants of
Benjamin ; and clearly designates, whatever may have been their
blood, that one class were Memphites.
So the word huppim D'SPT is formed from the quite ancient
word fin haph, which means innocence, purity ; whence also the
word nSn haphah, covered, shielded, protected ; and hence,
nsn hupah, bride-chamber, the marriage-hed, and marriage it
self. In this sense the word is used in Joel ii. 16, and in several
other places, where the translator has so paraphrased the idea as
to make it imperceptible to the English reader.
Nor is it an unworthy consideration in the etymology of this
, ,word, that from the idea purity, the Arabians borrowed from it
their word (^3.2.- hhar, to mean white, which was quickly introduced
into Hebrew in the word "Tin hur, and Tin hor, to mean white
also. Hence, Mount l"'n Hor, " the white mountain ;" and
from which branch of the derivation the corresponding words in
Numbers and Chronicles have taken their origin. Here, then, we
have another word used in the same manner, to designate another
class of the descendants of Benjamin, as of the pure stock, legiti
mate and white.
The word TlXT va ard or ared in Genesis, and '^"l^t ard or
: ; IT T ; : j-
ar^ed in Numbers, is changed by ddgesh and transposition into

462 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

"TlK addar in Chronicles. It is unnecessary to go into an ex
planation of Hebrew peculiarities. It is probable that we never
have had the true pronunciation of any of these words. But how
ever that may be, the analogy of language seems to show that
this word is a cognate of the Arabic 0^,c gharadh, and the Sy
rian .f^,^.? dharadh, and from whence T1)7 harad or arad ;
yet there is nothing more common than for aleph and ghain to
interchange in one and the same word. They are ever re
garded as "cognates. But again, the word is not of Hebrew
origin, and with the latter spelling, we find it in Num. xxi. 1,
xxxiii. 40, Josh, xii. 14, and Judges i. 16, as the name of a
Canaanitish city. The Arabic is more guttural than Hebrew,
and it has two ghains, one more guttural than the other, distin
guished by i^'5'1 revid, a resting upon; thus, in translating
Arabic" into Hebrew, the; one will take the Hebrew ghain, but the
Arabic ghain with which this word is spelled is at once converted
into the Hebrew aleph; so that while we thus find the very word,
we find it with the evidence of a Canaanitish admixture.
Its application in Hebrew seems to be mostly confined to the
wild ass, (see Ban. v. 21 ;) but the Syriac gives it effrcenatus,
effrcenis fuit, and the Arabic, durus fuit, fugit. Such, then, being
its signification in these languages, we may well perceive its
adaptedness to the wild ass. We all know that the wild Arabs are
the descendants of Ishmael ; now a true synonyme in Hebrew of
this word was applied to him : " He shall be a wild man;" he was
illegitimate, mixed-blooded. The term can apply to no other than
such a race as that of Ishmael, — wild, illegitimate, and of impure
blood. In Numbers we find Shupham, and in Chronicles Shephuphan, '
substituted for the Muppim in Genesis ; both being the same word
in different forms. The root is *3£J' shephi, a high situation;
hence tD^^ shaphat, a judge, and its derivatives are applied to
the person or thing adjudged. Hence HnG^ shiphehhahh, a
female slave ; (See Gen. xvi. 16 ; i. 2, 3 ; also xx. 14 ; also
xxxii. 22 ;) and hence, also the Syrian tA^LA shafefa, a serpent,
because the serpent had been adjudged, condemned. Whence the
Hebrew shephiphim, poetically used to mean a serpent, ^s, "Dan
shall judge his people ; Dan shall be a serpent by the way." Gen.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 463

xlix. 16. In this passage in Hebrew, there is a beautiful paro
nomasia in the word Ban, which also means a judge, judge and
the serpent. But the serpent is called JG'fiB' shephiphon, only
as it had been adjudged ; and it is to be noticed, as here used, it
has the same points and accents as in Chronicles, and is substan
tially the same word, — not, as here, borrowed from the Syriac, to
mean a serpent, but used to mean the adjudged, condemned to
some condition or degradation. "And they removed them to
Manahath." Manaltath was a district of country neaf the Dead
Sea, near the ancient city Zoar ; and it is a little remarkable that
Zoar was by the Canaanites called Bela, the very name of the
son of Benjamin. The whole country was called by the general
term Moab. The fact that it was a custom to send persons of a
certain description there, seems to be alluded to by the prophet :
"Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, 0 Moab !" Isa. xvi. 4.-
But, who were sent there? "Naaman, Ahia, and Gera, he
removed them. * * * And Shaharaim begat children in the land
of Moab after he had sent them away." This explains the whole
matter. Shaharaim is a plural formation of Shihor, and means
black. "And these blacks begat children in the land of Moab
after he had sent them away," — that is, Naaman, Ahia, and Gera;
further establishing the fact that the word Naamah is kept in
remembrance only by the descendants of Ham. One class of the
race of Benjamin is described in Genesis as Memphites ; in fact,
that whole genealogy substantially divides them into those who
were white, and of pure descent, and into those who were not
white, and of impure descent. Numbers and Chronicles confirm
and warrant the same distinction.
The seventh Psalm commences thus : — " Shiggaion of David,
which he sang unto the Lord, concerning the words of Cush, the
Benjamite." It would have been more readily understood, and
more decidedly a translation thus: A song of lamentation of
Bavid, which he sang unto the Lord, concerning the words of an
Ethiopian, a Benjamite.
The word "Cush," as often elsewhere, is here used to designate
a descendant of Ham by his colour. But it clearly proves an
amalgamation, to some extent, of the race of Ham, in the family
of Benjamin.
Indeed, the race of Benjamin had become deeply intermixed
with the descendants of Ham ; and this fact well accounts why

464 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

they did, upon an occasion, behave like as the .Sodomites to Lot ;
and why the other tribes of Israel so readily joined in league to
utterly destroy and annihilate this tribe, and did put to death fifty
thousand warriors in one day, and every man, woman, and child
of the whole tribe, except a few hundred men, who hid in the
rock Rimmon. See Judges xix. xx.

LESSON XL

It remains now to examine what proof there exists that the de
scendants of Ham were black. We wish to impress upon the mind
the fact, that among all aboriginal nations, and in all primitive
languages, proper names are always significant terms. Such is the
fact ainong the Indian tongues of America at this day. The holy
books give ample proof that such was eminently the case among ^
the ancient Hebrews. Every name that Adam bestowed was the
consequence of some cause that operated on his mind. And if we
examine minutely into the infiuences operating even among our
selves, in such cases, we shall be unable to deny that such is the
universal law. There is a cause for every thing.
" And the sons of Ham (were) Cush and Misraim, and Phut and
Canaan." Gen. x. 6.
It will not be denied that the word Ethiopian, as used in Scrip
ture, means a black man. " Can the Ethiopian change his skin,
or the leopard his spots." Jer. xiii. 23. The word "Ethiopian,"
in this passage from Jeremiah, is translated from '^13 Cushi, the
very name of the oldest son of Ham. And we shall find in every
instance where in the Old Testament the word Ethiopia or Ethio
pian is used, that it is translated from the same word, varied in
termination according to the position in which it is used, and as
applied to country or people. "Are ye not as the children of the
Ethiopians (D'^tl'O Cushiim) unto me?" Amosix.l. It became
and was used as a general term, by which all descendants of Ham
were designated by their colour, in the same manner as we now
use the Latin word negro to designate the same thing. "And
Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian
woman whom he had married : for he had married an Ethiopian
woman." Num. xii. 1. And we deem these facts alone sufficient

STUDIES ON SI AVERY. 465

to establish the truth of the proposition that that branch of
Ham's family were black.
In the examination of what evidence may now be found that the
family of Misraim were black, we beg to notice a fact which we
suppose no scholar will dispute — that he settled in Egypt, and, in
fact, gave his name to that country. As Cush gave his name to all
Ethiopia and its inhabitants, as Canaan gave his name to the land
of Canaan, and Canaanites to its inhabitants, so Misraim gave his
name to Egypt and its inhabitants. Whenever we find the word
Egypt or Egyptian in our English version, we never fail to find
D'^VP Mitsraim in the Hebrew text. His descendants took upon
them the particular appellation Misraimites, as in Gen. xvi. 1 :
" And she had a handmaid, (UnQt' shiphehhah, a female slave,)
an Egyptian, (IT'^VP Mitsrith) a descendant of Misraim,) whose
name was Hagar." She was a Misraim, a descendant from
the second son of Ham. The word is translated " Egyptian." A
family feud growing up upon the occasion of her having a son by
her master Abraham, she and her son were sent away to the wil
derness of Paran ; where, when the son was grown, she took him
ft wife of her own race, from the land of Egypt. See Gen. xxi. 21.
The descendants of Ishmael, therefore, were three-fourths of Mis-
raimitish blood, and are known and distinguished as of his race,
by the particular name of Ishmaelites.
Midian was a district of country lying near to and including
Mount Sinai. The people, in reference to the country, were called
Midianites, but without any reference to their descent or race.
From the position of the district of country called Midian, it
would be reasonable to suppose the inhabitants in after times to be
descended from Ishmael ; and in fact, whenever we find any allu
sion made to the whole country of the Ishmaelites, we shall find
it to include Midian. But it may be proper to remark, that from
a notable mountain called Gilead, situated in this region, the
whole country was sometimes called by that name, and one of the
cities in it also called Gilead.
We are all acquainted with that most beautiful and pathetic
history of* Joseph ; but let us read a* passage — and we pray you to
notice with distinctness the language :
" And they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold a com
pany of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing
spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
* * * And Judah said, * * * Come, let us sell him to the
30

466 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him. * * * And his
brethren were content. Then there passed by Midianites, mer
chantmen, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and
sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites ; and the Midianites sold him into
Egypt unto Potiphar. And Joseph was brought down to Egypt,
and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an
Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites which had
brought him down thither." Gen. xxxvii. 25-36, and xxxix. 1. Is
it not positive and clear that the Ishmaelites and the Midianites
were one and the same people ?
But again, there was, during the days of the judges, a destruc- '
tive war between the Israelites and the Midianites. " And the
Midianites and the Amalekites, and all the children of the east,
lay along in the valley, like grasshoppers for multitude. * * *
And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a
dream. * * * _A.nd when Zeba and Zalmunna fled, he pursued
after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zeba and Zalmunna,
and discomfited all the host.
"And Gideon the son of Jo ash returned from the battle before
the sun was up. * * * Then the men of Israel said unto
Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou and thy son, and thy son's
son also, for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.
And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that
you would give me every man the ear-rings of his prey. (For they
had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.)" See Judg.
vii. 12-14, also viii. 12-24.
Here then is another instance where the Midianites and the
Ishmaelites are announced to be the same people. " At the
mouth of two witnesses shall the matter be established." See
Beut. xix. 16 ; also 2 Cor. xiii. 1. " Now Moses kept the flock of
Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian." Exod. iii. 1.
" When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard
of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and
that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt, then Jethro, Moses'
father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, (after he had sent her
back,) and her two sons." Exod. xviii. 1, 2, 3.
" And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses, because of the
Ethiopian woman whom he had married, for he had married an
Ethiopian woman." Num. xii. 1.
Even in the poetic .strain of the prophet, there is a vestige that
goes to prove the sameness between the Midianites and the Ethio

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 457

pians. " I saw the tents of Cushan {\^h2 Ethiopians) in afflic
tion, and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble." Hab.
iii. 7.
Are these facts no proof that the descendants of Misraim were
black ?
Let us then proceed to the same inquiry concerning the de
scendants of Phut.
In the Antiquities of Josephus, book i. 6, we find the following :
" The children of Ham possessed the land from Syria and Amanus
and the mountains of Lybanus ; seizing upon all that was upon the
seacoasts and as far as the ocean, and keeping it as their own.
Some, indeed, of its names are utterly vanished away ; others of
them being changed, and another sound given, hardly to be disco
vered ; yet a few there are, which kept their denominations entire.
For of the four sons of Ham, time has not at all hurt the name
of Chus ; for the Ethiopians, over whom he reigned, are even at
this day, both by themselves and by all men of Asia, called Chus-
ites." " The memory also of the Mesraites is preserved in their
name, for we who inhabit this country (Judea) call Egypt Mestra,
and the Egyptians Mestreans. Phut also was the founder of Lybia,
and called the inhabitants Phutites, from himself. There is also a
river in the country of the Moors which bears that name, whence
it is that we may see the greatest part of the Grecian historio
graphers mention that river, and the adjoining country, by the
appellation of Phut. But the name it has now has been by change
given it from one of the sons of Mestraim, who was called Lybios."
His name, in the English version of Genesis, is Ludim. From him
the Lybian desert has taken its name, and the country now called
Lybia. Thus we discover from Josephus that the memorials of
the nephew had obliterated those of Phut, his uncle. As Phut
was the founder of Lybia, which was at one time called by his
name, it may be well to inquire as to the extent of that region,
that we may know where the descendants of Phut have resided
from the time of their progenitor till now.
In order to form 'a tolerably correct idea of what was the country
once called Phut, we have to examine how far the son of Misraim
extended his name in superseding him. We quote from the Mel
pomene of Herodotus, where he compares the extent of Lybia,
Asia, and Europe. Concerning Lybia, he says— ^
" Except in that particular part which is contiguous to Asia, the

468 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

whole of Lybia is surrounded by the sea. The first person who
has proved this was, as far as we are able to judge, Necho, king
of Egypt : when he had desisted from his attempt to join, by a
canal, the Nile with the Arabian Gulf, he despatched some vessels,
under the conduct of Phoenicians, with directions to pass the columns
of Hercules, and, after penetrating the Northern Ocean, to return
to Egypt.
" These Phoenicians, taking their course from the Red Sea, en
tered into the Southern Ocean. On the approach of autumn they
landed in Lybia, and planted some corn in the place where they
happened to find themselves. When this was ripe, and they had
cut it down, they again departed.
" Having thus consumed two years, they in the third doubled
the columns of Hercules and returned to Egypt. Their relation
may obtain attention from others, but to me it seems incredible ; -
for they affirm that, having sailed round Lybia, they had the sun
on their right hand. Thus was Lybia for the first time known."
Hanno, a Carthaginian, was sent, about 600 years before our
era, with 30,000 of his countrymen, to found colonies on what is
now the western coast of Africa. His account commences — " The
voyage of Hanno, commandef of the Carthaginians, round the
parts of Lybia, which lie beyond the pillars of Hercules."
In the body of the work he says — "When we had passed the
pillars on our voyage, and sailed beyond them two days, we founded
the first city, which we named Thurmiaterium. Below it lay an
extensive plain. Proceeding thence towards the west, we came to
Solous, a promontory of Lybia."
Having proceeded on with his voyage, he says — " We came to
the great Lixus, which flows from Lybia ; on its banks the Lixitse,
a shepherd tribe, were feeding their flocks, among whom we con
tinued several days, on friendly terms. Beyond the Lixitse dwell
the inhospitable Ethiopians."
Herodotus, immediately preceding our quotation of him, says —
" Lybia commences where Egypt ends ; about Egypt the country
is narrow ; one hundred thousand orgise, or one thousand stadia,
comprehend the space between this and the Red Sea. Here the
country expands and takes the name of Lybia."
Africa, to an indefinite extent, was the country of Phut.
The result of the inquiry thus far is, that the tribes of Phut
amalgamated with the descendants of Misraim, until all family
memorials of them became extinct. But let us examine what me-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 459

morials of Phut are to be found in the holy books. " Ethiopia
and Egypt were thy strength. Put and Lubim were thy helpers."
Nahum iii. 9.
Put is the same Phut ; in the text the letter is dagheshed, which
takes away the aspirate sound. We here notice that Put and Lu
bim are associated together.
" They of Persia, and of Lud, and of Phut, were in thine army,
thy men of war." Ezek. xxvii. 10.
"Persia, Ethiopia, and Lybia with them: all of them with
shield and helmet." Ezek. xxxviii. 5.
In this instance the word Lybia is translated from Phut. We
take this as proof that the country of the son of Misraim and Phut
was the same, and the two families amalgamated.
" Come up, ye horses, and rage, ye chariots : and let the mighty
men come forth, the Ethiopians and the Lybians that handle the
shield." Jer. xlvi. 9. Lybians is also here translated from Phut.
"Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host?" 2
Chron. xvi. 8. There Phut is lost in that of Lubim, as accounted
for by Josephus. The families were wholly amalgamated, the
nephew carrying off the trophy of remembrance. '
The proof that the family of Phut were black is rather inferen
tial than positive ; but can the mind fail to determine that it is
certain ?
But again. Phut, as an appellative, signifles scattered. Thus
Num. X. 30. "Let thine enemies be scattered," (1 if B phutsu.)
In Genesis x. 18, it is used with the same Heemanti, and with the
same effect, which we have noticed in the word Naamah, thus :
" And afterwards were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad,"
11>3J naphotsu. The idea is, by the influence ofthe circumstances
attending them, they were scattered. The condition is involuntary,
the action implied is reflective. A similar use of the word occurs
o
in 2 Samuel xviii. 8: "The battle was scattered," mySJ naphot-
seth ; that is, it was scattered only as it was forced to be by the
circumstances attending it. The distinctive appellation thus of
the' family of Phut, means a scattered people. The phonetic
synonyme of Phut means scattered, in all the Shemitic tongues.
Thus in Arabic, i^_}jJ^b phats, and its variations, put down, abiit,
peregrinatus fuit in terra, &c. In Coptic, ^i\^ phet has the
same meaning ; but in the hieroglyphical writings of the Copts,

470 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

found in Egypt, the idea scattered is represented by an arrow.
But an arrow is called phet, because it is shot away, scattered.
And the country or people of the Phutites is represented by a bow,
segment of a globe, nine arrows, and an undulating surface. Those
who have made researches in such matters say, the phonetic
power of this is nephaiat. It ¦wiU be perceived to be quite analo
gous to the Heemanti prefixed to the root. The people who have
been compelled to he exceedingly scattered.
When Jonathan ¦wished in an emphatic manner to signify to his
friend David that he shotdd depart, go off from his family, &c.,
he shot an arrow beyond him. Was not the arrow emblematical
of what was supposed his only safe condition ?
These explanations as to the significance of the word Phut will
enable us better to understand Zephaniah iii. 10. " From beyond
the rivers of Ethiopia, my suppliants, even the daughter of my dis
persed, ('yi3"n5 hath Putsa, the descendants of Phut,) shall bring
mine offering." Unkno^wn and scattered as they are over the
trackless wastes of Africa, yet even to them shall come tl;e know
ledge of the true God. They shall, at one day, come to the
knowledge of the truth.
The hieroglyphical record relating to the Phutites is considered,
by those versed in such matters, to point to a period of at least
2000 years anterior to our era. The inference, to our mind,
is clear, that the family of Phut at an exceedingly ancient period
was whoUy absorbed and lost sight of among the other families
of Ham, especially in that of Ludim, the oldest son of Mitsraim :
that they were of the same colour and other family distinctions,
unless it may be they differed in a deeper degradation: that for
numberless ages the mass of the descent are alone to be found in
the most barbarous portions of Africa.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 471

LESSON XII.
In the inquiry. What evidence have we that the Canaanites were
black ? we may find it necessary to refer to various facts which
have come down to us, connecting their history with that of the
Israelitish people.
Perhaps no fact could be better established than that Abraham
lived on the most friendly terms with the Canaanites. He was a
confederate with their kings. When they lost a battle, he re
trieved it. They treated him with the utmost regard, and he them
with a generous liberality. Could he not have wedded his son
among them, to whom he chose ?
" And Abraham said unto the eldest servant of his house, that
ruled over all that he had. Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my
thigh : and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven,
and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto
my son of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell."
Gen. xxiv. 2, 3.
Under the circumstances of the case, what could have infiuenced
such a determination ?
" And Rebecca said unto Isaac, I am weary of my life, because
of the daughters of Heth : if Jacob take a wife of the daughters
of Heth, such as those which are the daughters of the land, what
good shall my life do me ? And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed
him, and charged him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters
of Canaan." Gen. xxvii. 46, xxviii. 1.
On what rational ground are we to account for this extraordinary
repugnance ?
The conduct of the sons of Jacob does not determine them to
have been very sincerely religious. The soul of Shechem, a prince
of the country, clave unto Dinah their sister ; he was rich, and
offered ever so much dowry for an honourable marriage with her ;
and to show his sincerity, even abandoned his old, and adopted
their religion. There must have been some other deep and un
alterable cause for their unchangeable aversion to that proposed
marriage of their sister.
" When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land'Whither

472 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee,
the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Ca
naanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites,
seven nations greater and mightier than thou ;
" And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee,
thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them ; thou shalt make
no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them :
"Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter
thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take
unto thy son." Beut. vii. 1, 2, 3.
The laws of God are always predicated upon some sufficient
cause : in such cases we may ever notice a tendency towards the
prevention of deterioration.
" Whosoever lieth with a beast, shall surely be put to death."
Ex. xxii. 19.
The terms Japhet, Laban, Hor, and their derivatives in signifi
cancy ever include the idea white, of a light colour. These terms
are applied among the descendants of Japheth and Shem, as the
appellatives of their races and individual names, and as adjectives
in description of their personal appearance, too frequently to per
mit a doubt of these families belonging to the white race.
There is but a single case in all the holy books, where any of
these terms is applied to a person of colour, and which we trust
we have explained ; and if our view be correct, how came the
poet to require its use there, unless to elevate the character he
celebrates ! Do we use any term to signify that a person is white
in a country where there are none but white people ? Whatever
evidence then there may be that the families of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob were white people, is also just as positive testimony
that the Canaanites were black. See Gen. xxvi. 34, 35.
But in Judges i. 16, we find that the family of the race of Ishmael
out of which Moses took his wife are denominated Kenites. We
think that we have abundantly proved that they were black. From
this connection of Moses, the Israelites seem to have felt some
regard for that race. Now it appears that some of that descent
were afterwards residing in the cities of Amalek ; for we find in
1 Samuel xv. 6, that " Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get
ye down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with
them, for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel when
they came out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed." How should
it be a fact, since they were black, that he could not distinguish

STUDIES ON SLAVERY., 473

them from the Amalekites, unless the Amalekites were black
also? The Amalekites were Canaanites, notwithstanding they claimed
Esau in their ancestry. " Esau took his wives of the daughters
of Canaan. Adah the daughter of Ebon the Ilittite ; * * *
and Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz ; * * * and Tirana was con
cubine to Eliphaz, Esau's son ; and she bore to Eliphaz, Amalek."
Gen. xxxvi. 2, 4, 12.
The Amalekites were one of those tribes, that the Israelites
were particularly commanded to destroy from off the earth ; and
in them, he who amalgamates with the daughters of Ham may
see his own prospect as to posterity.

LESSON XIIL

There are circumstances in evidence that the descendants of
Ham were black, more properly referable to the whole family than
to either particular branch.
Among this class of circumstances, we might mention the tradi
tion so universal through the world, that we know no age of time
or portion of the globe that can be named in exception, that the
descendants of Ham were black ; and that the fact announced by
that tradition is made exceedingly more probable by the corre
sponding tradition, that the descendants of Japheth and Shem were
white. The holy books provide proof that Abraham and Sarah, Isaac
and Rebecca, Jacob, Leah, and Rachel, were white. Their de
scendants sojourned in Egypt in a state of bondage about four
hundred years, in the course of which time there was a law that
all the male Hebrew children should be put to death at their birth.
When the mother of Moses put him in the ark of bulrushes, she
would have disguised his birth as much as possible, for the safety
of his life. Yet no sooner had the daughter of Pharaoh beheld
the infant than she proclaimed it to be a Hebrew child. If there
was no difference of colour, from whence this quick decision as to
the nationality of an infant three months old ?
But during the residence of the Israelites in Egypt, it is to be

474 . .STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

apprehended there was more or less commixture between the two
races ; and, if the two races were of different colour, that there
would have been left us some allusioil to such offspring;- and so
we find the fact.
" And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth,
about six hundred thousand on foot, that were men, besides
children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them."
Exod. xii. 37, 38. The word " mixed" is translated from D'lP
ereb, arah. The word means of mixed-blood, that is, the mixture
of the white man with the black ; and in consequence thereof is
often used to mean black itself, and is universally applied as the
appellative, and has become the established name of the mixed-
blooded people of Arabia, the Arabs ; and because it became a
common term to express the idea black, a dark colour, &c., it
was applied to the raven ; and even at this d&y, who can tell
whether Elijah was fed by the ravens or the Arabs, because the
one word was used to mean both or either. And a multitude of
persons of colour, of Hebrew and black parentage,^went up also with
them. This word is used to express the idea of a mulatto race, in
Num. xi. 4, and the " mixed multitude ;" also Neh. xiii. 3, " They
separated from Israel all the mixed multitude ;" also Jer. xxv. 20,24,
thus : "And all tha mingled people," mixed-blooded, "and all the
kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people," mixed-
blooded people. By the expression mixed multitude, it is clear
Moses incll?ded the offspring of the Hebrew with the race of Ham.
But would there have been such distinction if there was no differ
ence of colour ? It will be recollected that the children of Ishmael
were three-fourths of Misraimitish blood, consequently quite dark.
It will also be recollected that when Esau perceived how extremely
offensive to his father and mother was his connection with the
Canaanitish women, that he took wives of the house of Ishmael.
It should also be recollected that Ishmael named one of his sons
Kedar. As we shall hereafter refer to this word, we propose to
examine its meaning and formation. It is of Arabic derivation,
o
Arab, l^o, Hebrew Tl dar, and in this form is used Esth. i. 6,
and translated black marble. With the prefix of the Hebrew koph it
becomes "1'lp Kedar, and is equivalent to "the black." It is
used in Hebrew to mean black, in 1 Kings xviii. 45 ; Joh vi. 16, 30, 28 ;
Isa. Ix. 3 ; Jer. iv. 28 ; Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8, and many other places.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 475

The very name of the son of Ishmael was tantamount to " the
black." In the poem called SolomSn's Song, the female whose praises are
therein celebrated, says, " I am black, but comely, 0 ye daughters
of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Look not upon me because I am black; because the sun hath
looked upon me : my mother's children were angry with me, they
made me the keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyards
have I not kept." Cant.i.b,%.
The word black, which twice occurred in the text, is translated
from inS!' shahar, with many variations. The words mean
abstractly the idea black. Examples of its use will be found in
Lev. xiii. 31, 37, thus: " And there is no black hair in it." "And
there is black hair grown up therein." Job xxx. 30 : " My skin
is black upon me." Zech. vi. 2, 6 : " And in the second chariots
black horses. The black horses that are therein." Lam. iv. 8 :
" Their visage is 5ZacA;er than a coal." Cant. v. 11: "His locks are
bushy and hlack^AS a raven." There is no mistake about the
meaning of this word ; she was surely black, and she says that she
is as black as the tents of Kedar.
The inquiry, then, now is, who was she? When we take into
consideration the Asiatic mode of expression, from the term
" because the sun hath looked upon me," we are forced to under
stand that she vras from a more southern region. That she was
not a native of Palestine, or especially of Jerusalem. Figures of
somewhat analogous import are occasionally found among the
Roman poets. But we suppose, no one will undertake the argu
ment that she was black, merely because she had been exposed to
the sun 1
In vii. 1 of the Hebrew text, she is called Shulamite. Some sup
pose this is a formation of the Gentile term DJW Shunem, be
cause they say the lamda was sometimes introduced. In that
case it would be the synonyme of Shunamite, and would locate her
in the tribe of Issacar. But we see no necessity of a forced con
struction, when a very easy and natural one is more obvious.
We omit the dagesh. n'oSlC' Shulammithis readily formed as the
feminine of HD/^ Shelomoh, Solomon, after the Arabic form
;^l^iA Suleiman, and, so used, would be quite analogous to
what is now quite common — to apply the husband's name as an
appellative of the wife. Upon the occasion of her consecration

476 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

into Solomon's household, she well might, even at that age, be
called by a term that would imply such consecration, especially in
the poem celebrating her nuptials. And we may remark that the
use of this word is in strict conformity to the usage of the Hebrew
and Arabic poets, because it creates an implied paronomasia, de
rived from 7'^\if, signifying that she was a captive by her love to
Solomon, and if she stood in any such relation to him politically, the
beauty of the figure would at that age have been considered very
greatly increased. The poets, at that age ^f time, in compositions
of the character of this poem, appear to have been ever on the
search for an occasion to introduce figures of this class ; and the
more fanciful and extreme, the more highly relished. We fail
therefore to derive any knowledge of her origin from this term.
We have dwelt upon this particular thus long, merely because
commentators have been so desirous to find out a clue to the history
of the poem. Some commentators of elevated character, suppose
this subject of their epithalamium to have been the daughter of
Pharaoh, simply because she was black, and is addressed : " 0
prince's daughter !" Undoubtedly she was the daughter of some_
prince or king. But the question now, is of what one ? There is
no probability that the kings of Egypt, nor even the nobility of
that kingdom, had been of the race of Ham for many ages.
Egypt had been conquered by the Shemites as early as the days
of Abraham, and there is no proof that the descendants of Ham
ever again ascended the throne ; although, perhaps, their religion
had been adopted by their successors from motives of policy, the
great mass of the population being of the old stock.
In fact, the mixed-blooded races, and indeed the Shemites of
pure blood, have, from time immemorial, shown a disposition to
settle in Egypt. The Persians and the Greeks have also, for a
very long time, aided in the amalgamation of the Egypt of the
middle ages of the world.
But she is made to say that she is "the rose of Sharon;" as
much as to say, the 7nost excellent of her country. This district
of country will be found to embrace the Ammonites, and perhaps
some other of the ancient tribes of the family of Ham, at that
time under the government of Solomon. And, iv. 8, we find
Sharon called by its Ammonitish name, amid a cluster of
figures having relation to the locality and productions of that
country. In short, the whole body of this extraordinary poem points to

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 477

the region of the Ammonites for her native place of abode. Now,
since Solomon had an Ammonitess by the name of Naamah for a
wife, and since he selected her son to succeed him on the throne,
it seems at least quite probable she was the person it commemo
rates ; and that fact will make quite intelligible the allusion to her
having been elevated from a servile condition. But, nevertheless,
if it shall be thought not sufficiently proved that she was the
mother of Rehoboam, yet she surely was of some one of the Ca
naanitish or Hamitic tribes, and was as surely black ; and so far is
Th direct proof that the descendants of Ham generally were black
also. There are incidents of this poem which it would seem cannot
be explained on other ground than that this marriage was one of
state policy on the part of Solomon ; and the queen upon this
occasion selected was frora some one of the heathen nations of the
descendants of Ham, whom he had subjected to his government.
It will be recollected that these nations, whom the Israelites had
failed to destroy, had omitted no occasion to make war on the He
brews, from the time of Joshua down to that of David ; and that
they occasionally had thera in subjection.
Solomon had no guarantee how long his rule over them would
prove quiet, or how far they would yield obedience to his succes
sor. What could induce hira to marry an Ammonite princess, and
place her son upon his throne, if not to effect this purpose ? Even
at the time of the nuptials a reference to this political union might
well find a place in the songs to which it gave birth. We introduce
one of the incidents to which we allude : we select the close of the
sixth strain. This poem is written in the form of a dialogue,
mostly between the bride and groom.
Solomon. Return, return, 0 Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon
thee. Naamah. What will ye see in the Shulamite ?
Solomon. As it were the company of two armies.
This surely needs no comment. The poem had already recited
every mental and personal quality ; was it then unnatural deli
cately to allude to her political importance ? The art of the poet,
however, to cover the allusion, recommences a view of her per
sonal charms, changes his order, and commences with her feet.
Much learning has come to many untenable conclusions con
cerning this poem, among which, that of the Targum . may be
placed in the lead.

478 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON XIV.
We have heretofore noticed how, in 2 Chron. xvi. 8, the name
Phut is lost in that of Lubim, as accounted for by Josephus. But
it should be recollected that the prophet Hanani most distinctly
refers to one of the wars between the black tribes and the Jewislf
people, of which there had been a long 'series from the exodus
down. We propose to adduce an argument from the language used in
the description of these wars.
In the time of King Asa, the invading army is described thus :
"And there came out against them Zerah, the Ethiopian, with a
host of a thousand thousand and three hundred chariots. And
Asa cried unto the Lord his God ; so the Lord smote the Ethio
pians before Asa, and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled : and
Asa, and the people that were with him, pursued them unto
Gerar, and the Ethiopians were overthrown." These people the
prophet calls Ethiopians and Lubims. This term proves that
many of them were from Lybia. Now is it to be presumed that
so vast an, army, one million of men and three hundred chariots,
was not composed of all the tribes between the remotest location
of any named and the place of attack ?
But this battle was commenced in the valley of Zephathah, in
Philistia, and pursued to Gerar, a city of the same country.
"And they smote all the cities round about Gerar. For the fear
of the Lord came upon them, and they spoiled all the cities, for
there was exceeding much spoil in them. They smote all the
tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance,
and returned to Jerusalem." See 2 Chron. xiv. 14, 15.
These facts could not have existed had not the Philistines com
posed a part of the army.
Yet they are all Ethiopians. Is this no evidence that the tribes
of Ham generally were black ?
But again, with the view to arrive at a greater certainty as to
what races did compose these arraies, we propose to examine that
which invaded Jerusalem during the reign of Rehoboam.
" And it came to pass when Rehoboam had established the king-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 479

dota, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the
Lord, and all Israel with him ; and it came to pass in the fifth
year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against
Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, with
twelve hundred chariots and threescore thousand horsemen ; and
the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt,
the Lubims, the Sukkims, and the Ethiopians ; and he took the
fenced cities, which pertain to Judah, and came to Jerusalem."
2 Chron. xii. 1-10. "And the people were without number that came
with him out of Egypt, the Lubims, the Sukkims, and the Ethio
pians." The Hebrew construction of the latter clause of this is
thus : : D'tS'l^l D»^^3D Q'^lS DHVSO Mim-mits-raim, Lubim,
1- .- \- • -. r . -. . . ^
Sukkiyyim ve Cushim. We suggest a slight error in the transla
tion of these words. The prefix D mem preceding Mitsraim, we
read a preposition, out of, from, &c., influencing and governing the
two following words also ; s.s, from Egypt, from Lybia, from Succoth.
It will be noticed that Cushim is preceded by the prefix 1 vav.
Grammarians have written much upon this particle : we cannot
enter into an argument on Hebrew grammar, but, with all the
learning that has been expended on this particle, the Hebrew
scholar must find the fact to be, that it is sometimes used to de
signate a result ; and we . take occasion here to say that, in our
opinion. Professor Gibbs has given a more definite and philosophical
description of the Hebrew use of this particle, than any lexico
grapher of modern research.
Suppose an ancient Hebrew physician wished to teach that cer
tain diseases were incurable, that they ended in death, might he
not have said, imOl JJ^'^JK HPI'lp nCn^'P mish shahhepheth
kaddahhath anish vemuth, — from consumption, burning fever,
the mortal sickness, termination is dectth ? Or, allow our Hebrew not
to be so classical, could he not have expressed the idea after this
form ? " The army was without number, from Egypt, from Lybia,
from the Nomads, all Ethiopians." And we here suggest the query,
whether this is not the true reading ? We do not propose that this
prefixed T vav has the power of an adjective or a verb, although it
might require the one or the other to give the idea in English.
What we say is, that it is the sign of the thing which is the result
of the preceding nouns. If it had been used here as a connective
particle, then tho two preceding nouns would also have had it for
a prefix. Such was the Hebrew idiom. It would then have read.

480 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

'' And the people were," &c., from Egypt, and from Lybia, and
from the Nomads, and from Ethiopia, as the translator seems to
have supposed. But, as it is, it determines thera all to have been
Ethiopians. This will be in strict conforraity with the description
of the army at the tirae of Asa. The invading army, at that time,
was denominated Ethiopian, although it is evident that many of
the Hamitic tribes composed it.
The real cause of all these wars w%s the contest whether Pales
tine should be held by the Hamitic race, or by the Shemitic, who
were bearing rule. Keeping this in mind, let us note how per
fectly natural is this description of those who composed the army
under Shishak. The troops first collected would be from among
his own imraediate -people, the Egyptians. The next, those who
lived beyond him from the point of attack, to wit, the Lubims,
who lived to the west of Egypt. These being collected together,
they would commence their march, and the Nomads be added to
the list of the army after they joined it ; but none other than those
governed by the sarae itapulses would attach themselves to it. Suffer
us to illustrate this description of Shishak's army by supposing a
somewhat analogous case, in much more modern times : — That
during the reign of Elizabeth, King Philip of Spain had made
war on England, upon the issue of whether the Protestant or
Catholic faith should prevail in that country. Philip would have
first collected troops in Spain. He may be supposed to collect
large numbers in Portugal. These Spanish and Portuguese troops
may be supposed to march through France, and his army vastly
increased there; and, when upon the coast of England, some Frois-
sart would have said, that the people who carae with Philip were
without number, Spaniards, Portuguese, French, all Catholics.
The manner of such description would be in exact similitude with
this description of Shishak's army. Any one who is acquainted
with the history of the Crusades will readily see how a similar
description would have in truth fitted the army of the Cross. We
think it proof conclusive that the descendants of Ham were black.
But we might add some proof from sketches of profane history.
In the 22d section of Euterpe, Herodotus says that the natives ou
the Nile are universally black. In the 32d section, giving an ac
count of a party of Neesamonians, who in Africa were out upon an
excursion, he says — " While they were thus employed, seven men,
of dwarfish stature, came where they were, seized their persons,
and carried them away. They were mutually ignorant of each

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 481

others' language. But the Neesamonians were conducted over
marshy grounds to a city, in which all the inhabitants were of
diminutive appearance and of a black colour."
In the 57th section, he gives an account of an Egyptian priestess
(vho was brought among the Threspoti. He says that " the cir
cumstance of her being black explains to us her Egyptian origin."
In the 104th section, he says — " The Cholchians certainly appear
to be of Egyptian origin, which indeed, before I had conversed with
any one on the subject, I had always believed. But as I was de
sirous of being satisfied, I interrogated tlie people of both coun
tries. The result was, that the Cholchians seemed to have a better
reraembrance of the Egyptians, than the Egyptians of the Chol
chians. The Egyptians were of the opinion that the Cholchians
were descended of a part of the troops of Sesostris : to this I my
self was also inclined, because they are black, and have their hair
short and curling."
Cambyses fought the black tribes of Egypt and Africa under
Amasis, in the western parts of Arabia. Herodotus says, (Thalia,
section 12th,) "The bones of those who fell in the engagement
were soon afterwards collected, and separated into two distinct
heaps. It was observed of the Persians, that their heads were so
extremely soft as to yield to the slight impression even of a pebble.
Those of the Egyptians, on the contrary, were so firm that the
blow of a large stone could hardly break them. * * * j ga,-yy
the very same fact at Papremis, after examining the bones of
those who, under the conduct of Achaemenes, son of Darius, were
defeated by Inaius the African."
Herodotus notices the distinction between the Arabs and the
Negroes, but calls them all Ethiopians. In the 70th section of
Polymnia, he says — " Those Ethiopians who came from the most
eastern part of their country, served with the Ladians. These
differed from the former in nothing but their language and their
hair. The Oriental Ethiopians have their hair straight : those of
Africa have their hair more crisp and curling than other men."
Herodotus lived and wrote about five hundred years before our
era. We have quoted him through a translation, but not without
examining the original.
We shall close our evidence on this point with a single quotation
from Judg. iii. 8 and 10. The children of Israel intermarried with
the Canaanites : the writer says, " Therefore the anger of the
Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of
31

482 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Chusan rishathaim," the wicked Ethiopians. Whereas it is as
well known as any other fact of biblical history, that these " wicked
Ethiopians" were none other than the Philistines and other abori
ginal tribes of the land of Canaan.
Upon the conquest of Palestine by the Israelites, portions of
the Canaanites overspread the approachable parts of Africa, where
numerous hordes of their race were already in possession. For
ages, there is said to have stood near Tangier, a monument with
inscriptions signifying that it was built in commemoration of the
people who fled from the face of Joshua the robber. From the pre
sumption of this being a fact, and from a collection of other facts
connected with early commerce, Moore, in the first volume of his
History of Ireland, has strongly suggested that the ancient Irish
are partially indebted to the ancient Canaanites for their origin ;
whereas we think we have sufficiently proved that they were black.
We hope the impulsive sons of the Emerald Isle will repel the insult.
But, if what Moore says be true, it only proves another portion
of our theory ; for, as sin sinks to all moral and physical degra
dation and slavery, so virtue and holiness elevate to freedom and
all animal and mental perfections ; and since lern was for ages
regarded as an island of saints, Moore may have the benefit of the
argument, if he chooses, whereby to account for the high-toned
feeling and personal perfections of the modern Irish.
In conclusion, from the history of the family of man, we may
all know that the descendants of Japheth and Shem, when free from
amalgamation with the black tribes, are white people. Unless
then the descendants of Ham were black, how are we to account
for the phenomena of the existence of that colour among men ?
Philosophy has been in search, and history has been on the watch ;
facts upon facts have been recorded touching every matter ; but
have you ever heard of the uncontaminated descendants of Japheth,
living in the extreme, or in the central zone, exhibiting the woolly
crown of the sons of Ham ?

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 433

LESSON XV.
We suggest some origin, some complexion of thought, from
whence may have emanated the word " Ham," and its derivatives,
as found to have existed in the days of the prophets ; and we may
here state that the Shemitic languages seem to exist all in a clus
ter, like so many grapes ; nor are we able to say which stands
nearest the vine. Doubts may be raised as to the priority of any
one named ; yet we might adduce some proof that the Coptic is
younger, as we could that the Greek is younger still.
The Arabic word Uo ma corresponds with the Syriac ^io ma,
and the Hebrew HO mah, and has been translated into the Latin
T '
quid, as an interrogatory, used in all languages very elliptically.
Thus, Gen.iv.V): T\'>f)) nO " What have you done?" If the
ri'tJ'J/ had been omitted, the HD would have expressed the whole
idea. It was an interrogatory expression of exclamation and astonish
ment, to one who had committed a heinous offence. So when Laban
pursued, Jacob said, nO mah, What is my trespass ? &c., as if in
derision, — What is my horrid crime ? Ever since the days of Cain
some have manifested wicked acts, as though they were operated
on by some strong desire, some coveting overwhelming to reason, —
as if the action was in total disregard of the consequences that
must follow it. This state of mind seems to have been expressed, in
some measure, by the particular use of this particle. Let us con
ceive that such a state of mind must be a heated, a disturbed state
of mind, as was that of Cain, and as must have been that of Jacob,
had he stolen the goods of .Laban. The word thus incidentally
expressive of such an idea, by being preceded or influenced by a
particle implying particularity, giving it definiteness and boundary,
must necessarily be converted into an action or actor, implying
some portion of the primitive idea; and hence we find HDn
and "lit and ^.?a ham and hami in Arabic, yu» ham in Syriac,
to mean a cognate idea, i. e. to grow hot, &c., to boil, rage, &c.,
sometimes tumult, &c., &c. And we now ask, these being facts, is

484 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

it difficult to point in the direction of the origin of the word Ham ?
Nor is it a matter of any importance, if the relationship exists,
whether the noun and verb have descended from such exclamatory
particle, or the reverse ; yet we can easily imagine, in the early
condition of things, that the mind, taking congnisance of some
horrid act, would impel some such exclamation, and that it would
become the progenitor of the name of the act or actor.
However this may be, each Hebrew scholar will inform us that
the word On is an irregular Hebrew word. Grammarians have
usually arranged words of this peculiar class among the Heemanti
and augmented words, and they have accurately noticed that the
punctuatists have always preceded the D mem by a (t) Kamets,
or a (1) Kholem. This circumstance has induced Hiller to sup
pose that the 0 mem, as a Heemanti, was a particle, while the ad
junct was either DH or DiN ; but all agree that the form of these
nouns shows that they are intensive in their signification.
If then on ham is a particle of H.OH hamah, which carries
with it the ideas before named, it may be less difficult to conceive
how the particle, when added to other nouns, will make them in
tensive also, while the particle itself would be used alone to ex
press some intensity in an emphatic manner, more' particularly of
its root.
But we find the word Dfi ham, as applied to the son of Noah,
from the root nOn hammah, or HJ^n hhma, of cognate meaning,
and used in Hebrew thus : In Josh. ix. 12, " This our bread we
took hot bn for our provision," &c. Job xxxvii. 17, and vi. 17:
" How thy garments warm (D'SIl hammin, hot) when he quieteth
rt'
the earth by the south wind." "What time they wax warm, they
vanish when it is hot," iSnS behummo, in the heat. So Gen.
viii. 22 : " While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, cold
and heat Dm, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall
not cease." Gen. xviii. 1 : " And he sat in the tent door in the heat
DfiS of the day." 1 Sam. xi. 9-11 : " To-morrow, by the time the
sun is hot, (OnS be hom, in heat.) And slew the Ammonites until the
heat of the day," DrilV c-d hom, until the hot. xxi. 7 (the 6th of
the English text) : "To put hot, ur\ hot in the day," &c. 2 Sam.
iv. 5: "And came about the heat of the day," DnS ke hom, at the

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 435

hot. Isa. xviii. 4 : " Like a clear heat DliS upon herbs, and like
a cloud of dew in the heat UT]"^ of harvest." Hag. i. 6 : "Ye
clothe you, but there is none warm," bn? be hom, not hot. Jer.
li. 39: "In their heats," DSnS be hummon, in their heats, &c.
¦But in Hebrew, as in some other languages, the phonetic power
expressing the idea hot, heat, &c. was cognate with rage, stubborn
ness, anger, wickedness, &c. &c., and hence we say hell is hot,
and hence, in i)aw. iii. 13, 19: " Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage,"
KOn hama, heat, hot. " Therefore shall he go forth with great
fury," KQnS be hama, heat, rage, fury, ke.
Should it be said, the words in their declination, or rather the
affixed and suffix,ed particles, differ, and are marked with different
vowel points, we answer by quoting Lee's Heh. Lex. p. 205 : " This
variety in the vowels may be ascribed either to the punctuatists or
the copyists, and is of no raoraent. But as the word On ham
was thus applied in Hebrew to the original idea of active caloric,
as emanating from the sun, so it will agree with its homophone in
Arabic and Syriac ; for let it be noticed, that the Arabic word
*^^ ham or haman, means to be hot, as of the sun. So the Syriac
p
V^ hama means oestus, calor, kc. But in Beut. xxxii. 24,
33, it is translated poison; thus, poison of serpents, and 'the
poison of dragons,' frora the notion that great heat, rage, anger,
&c. are cognate with poison."
This word occurs in Zeph. ii. 12. The received version is, " Ye
Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword." The original is,
nan ?ann 'SSn D'tb'lD DjIN-D;!, and has been subject to much
investigation. Gesenius considers the word nOn a pronoun in
the second person, and Lee seems to side with him, but says,
" the truth is, the place is inverted and abrupt, and should read
thus: non D'JinS '3")n 'SSn DnN-DJ." and which he trans
lates thus — " Even ye (are) (the) wounded of my sword, — they are
Cushites." We do not perceive how he has made the passage more
plain. Let us, for a moment, examine how the Hebrews used this
form tlf^r] or Dll, that we may the better comprehend its sense
in the present instance. Jer. v. 22 : " Though they roar," ISm.
ve hamu, rage, kc, "yet can they not pass over it!" vi. 23:

486 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

" Their voice roareth like the sea," nOH' rageth, kc. xxxi. 35 :
"Which divideth the sea, when the waves thereof roar," lOn'T
say ye, hemen, rage, ke. li. 15: " When her waves do roar (lOm.
ve hamu se, rage, kc.) like great waters." Isa. li. 13 : "But I am
the Lord thy God that divided the sea, whose waves roared,"
raged, li. 13: "Because of the fury (nOn rage, kc.) ofthe op
pressor," "and where is the fury (non hamath, rage, &c.)of the op
pressor ?" li. 15 : "whose waves roarec?," lO.n^l ra^eci, &c. Ps.
xlvi. 4 (the 3d of the English text) : " Though the waters there
of roar (lOn* rage, kc.) and be troubled," llpn* great agita
tion, rage, kc.
But let us take a more particular ^iew of this word, as used in
the passage from Zephaniah. The Septuagint has translated this
passage in Ka/ v^lg AidioTtEg Tpau^aT/'at pofi^aiag (lov aati.
which is very much like our received version.
But it should be noticed that it has translated the Hebrew word
/{^ into tpavfianfiac; tpavfia would imply the injury, wounds,
carnage, or slaughter of a whole nation, army, or body of people ;
but tpavfiatiai implies individuality, and reaches no farther than
the person or persons named. The prophet had been uttering de
nunciations against many nations, but in this passage emphatically
selects the Ethiopians as individuals ; and the Greek translator
evidently discovered there was in this denunciation something pe
culiarly personal as applied to the Ethiopians.
The Hebrew conveys the idea of reducing, subjecting, or bring
ing low, as by force, to cause to sink in character ; as in Ps.
Ixxxix. 40 (39th of the English text) : " Thou hast made void the
covenant of thy servant : thou hast P^vH wounded, subjected, or
reduced his crown to the earth." Ezek. xxii. 26: "Her priests
have ¦violated my law, and have 17711 {wounded, subjected, lowered
the character of) my holy things."
But the word '77n is here used in the construct state, show
ing that the idea imposed by this word was brought about by the fol
lowing term, O^lfl, Vhich the Septuagint translates pofi^aiag,
which properly means the Thracian spear ; but '3Tn means any
weapon, a goad harpoon as well as a sword. The fact is, neither
of these words were the usual Hebrew or Greek term to mean a
sword. The Greeks would have called a sword (idxaLpa,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 487
and the Hebrews n*jn or On'l or pIS, or perhaps nDb';iind
Dr. Lee has given "Apny; as the Greek translation of '5"]n, which
means a sickle, a goad for driving elephants, &o. It was a thing
to inflict wounds by which to enforce subjection, and the idea is
that the Ethiopians are covered by wounds by their being reduced
by it, or that they shall be. When Jeremiah announced captivity
and slavery to the Egyptians and the adjacent tribes, he used this
word as the instrument of its execution. Thus Jer. xliv. 14 : " De
clare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph,
and in Taphanhes ; say ye. Stand fast, and prepare thee, for the
sword '2')n shall devour round about thee." 16: "Arise and
let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity,
from the oppressing sword," ^Tll. Many such instances might
be cited, sho^wing the fact that, in poetic strain, this was the in
strument usually named, as in the hand of him subjecting others
to bondage ; and much in the same manner, even at this day, we
use the term "whip," in the hand of the master, in reference to
the enforcement of his authority over his slave.
In a further view of the word r\72Tl, as used in this passage, we
deem it proper to state that Gibbs considers it a pronoun of the third
person plural, masculine, they, and adds, " sometimes" (probably
an incorrectness drawn from the language of common life) "used
in reference to women," and quotes Zech. v. 10 ; Cant. vi. 8; Ruth
i. 22. And he further adds, " It is used for the substantive verb in
the third person plural, 1 Kings viii. 40, ix. 20; Gen. xxv. 16;
also for the substantive verb in the second person, Zeph. ii. 12 :
'Also, ye Cushites nSPt '^nn '7 7n shall he slain hy my sword.' "
Gibhs's Lex. p. 175. In Stuart's Grammar, p. 193, he says,
" Personal pronouns of the third person sometimes stand simply
in the place of the verb of ' existence ;" e. g. he cites Gen. ix. 3,
Zech. i. 9, and says, " Plainer still is the principle in such cases,
as follows: Zeph. ii. 12, 'Ye Cushites, victims of my sword
nsn DnK are ye.'"
The fact is, the verb of existence, called the verb "to be," and
the verb substantive, in Hebrew, as in all other languages, is often
not expressed, but understood. This circumstance is well explained
in Gessenius' Hebrew Grammar, revised by Rodiger, and trans
lated by Conant, p. 226, thus, "When a personal pronoun is
the subject of a sentence, like a noun in the same position, it
does not require for its union with the predicate a distinct word

488 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

for the copula, when this consists simply in the verb 'to be,'
nNnn OJN* 'I{am) the seer; 1 Sam. ix. 19." And again : " The
pronoun of the third person frequently serves to convert the
subject and predicate, and is then a sort of substitute for the
copula of the verb to be, e. g. Gen. xii. 26 : ' The seven good cows,
n.3n D*Jti' J/5^ seven years (are) they.'" To say in English,
" The seven good cows, seven years they," would be thought too
eUiptical ; but we do not perceive how the expression converts
"they" into the verb "to be."
But again, the same author says, p. 261 : " The union of the sub
stantive or pronoun, which forms the subject of the sentence, with
another substantive or adjective, as its predicate, is most commonly
expressed by simply writing them together without any copula.
1 .iTm^s xviii. 21 : D'li/J^Jn n'i/'l' 'Jehovah (is) the true God.'"
The idiom of the language then does not necessarily convert nan
in the passage before us into the verb "to be." And here let
us repeat the sentence, nsn '^in 'S^n D'^'IS DJlN-DJl
Zeph. ii. 12. It will be perceived that DilN'DJ are connected by
Makkaph. Hebrew scholars do not agree as to how far this cha
racter is effective as an accent. But the rules for its use are —
" Makkaph is inserted in the following cases : 1. Particles,
which, from their nature, can never have any distinctive accent,
are mostly connected with other words by the mark Makkaph :
n^'NTDJl even to her husband; "''Z^'UPf'Z in the integrity of
my heart. Gen. xx. 6, &c. 2. When words are to be construed
together, &c., as I2"11^"}r its seed (is) within itself. Gen. i. 11," &c.
— Lee's Lectures, p. 61.
But Stuart, seeing no way to translate the sentence without
making T^f2T^ the verb "to be," 3d person plural, "are," takes
DflK the personal pronoun, 2d person plural, equivalent to ye or
you, away from DJ, to which it is attached by Makkaph, and car
ries it down to precede nOIl in the sentence, and thus reads " are
ye," while he supplies another DflX as understood to precede
D'C"13, and reads, "ye Cushites, victims of my sword are ye."
We consider this as quite as objectionable as Dr. Lee's — "Even ye
(are) (the) wounded of my sword, — they are Cushites."
But permit us now to inquire into the probability of nSIl being
even a pronoun. OJN a-no-khi is not believed to be a Hebrew
word. It is a homophone of the Coptic word J^HDVC, and used

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 489

by the Egyptians, who spoke Coptic, as the personal pronoun /.
This word is believed to have been borrowed by the Hebrews at
the time they ¦n^ere in bondage in Egypt, and the habit of it so
strongly established during their four hundred years of servitude,
that neither the literature of the age of Moses nor the genius of
the people could ever eradicate it. Their original personal pro
noun was probably totally lost ; nothing analogous to this Coptic
term can be found in any other of the Shemitic tongues. But Lee
says that Gessenius has found it in Punic, and quotes Lehrege-
baude, note, p. 200. In Chaldaic, the personal pronoun, first person
singular, is HJM a-nah, and its phonetic cognates are found in all
the other sister dialects. We may then well suggest that the lost
Hebrew term was NJK a-na, or quite analogous thereto.
Such then being the facts, let us inquire into the origin, compo
sition, and signification of this Coptic pronoun. It will bd> agreed
that some language must have had precedence in the worlds and it is
usually yielded to the Hebrew. That such precedence was the pro
perty of sorae one of the Asiatic dialects all agree ; and the nearer
the subsequent language exists to its precedent, the raore plainly
will its descent be manifest. If the, Hebrew was such precedent,
or any other of its immediate sisters, the Coptic, existing in their
immediate neighbourhood, must have been originally very analogous
to them.
It is iramaterial whether our suggestion be right or wrong as to
what particularly was the lost Hebrew pronoun ; let us take the
Chaldaic, which, of all these dialects, was the raost nearly like the
Hebrew — the personal pronoun njN I, I am, and the word '3 ki,
which means a mark as a stigma, indelibly fixed, as burned in, a
mark intended pointedly to indicate something ; and hence it became
a particle attached to a word often by Makkaph, whence the atten
tion was to be particularly called, as, mark me, mark ye, are just,
kc. kc. Isa. iii. 24 : '^1' iinn '3 ^ burned mark of stigma, in
stead of beauty. Some have doubted the accuracy of the Hebrew
fn this instance, and the fact is, no doubt, that it is rather an
Arabicism ; but that in no way affects our deduction ; it matters
not whether the Coptic borrowed from Chaldean, Hebrew, or
Arabic. These two words are beyond question the origin, the
compound of the Coptic pronoun, meaning and including the indi
viduality of the first person singular, and originally expressing
also the fact, that such person was marked as a stigma indelibly,
as burned in, kc. Anoki, I, a marked one; I, one deformed as if

490 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

branded, kc. ; I, one that carry the mark of, kc. kc, was the
original idea expressed by this Coptic term of individuality. Thus
it expressed the fact that the person was a successor in the curses
of Ham and Cain, and in no other manner can the extraordinary
appearance of DiT and sometimes nsn in the third person of the
pronoun be accounted for. It is evidently from a new and other
source, the same or cognate with the term applied to the son of
Noah. These adjective associations of tl^e pronoun, through the lapse
of ages, would naturally be forgotten by the Copts themselves, and
were probably unknown to the Hebrews ; just as we ourselves have
forgotten that our word obedient still expresses some of the qualities
of the Hebrew word 13]^^ ebed and abed, from which it has been
derived through the Latin.
This pronoun '3 JN I, kc. was often contracted h^ the Hebrews
into 'JK ani, and in its declination stood thus :
1st person singular, common gender :
'3JX sometimes 'J}<  J.
T " "¦ Plural :
IjmN  We.
2d person singular masculine :
nnK  Thou.
Plural :
OnN*  You.
Singular feminine :
riN  Thou, fern.
Plural :
jriK  You, fern.
2>d person singular, masculine .-
Nin  He.
1 Plural :
? n hem — occasionally nOn..  They.
Here we find the word in question, if a pronoun. The feminine
of the third personis HTj, and plural nj, and yet nsn is used in
Canticles in a condition evidently feminine ; and yet in Zeph. ii. 12,
it is said it must be in the second person plural. But can any
one believe that these words, thus arranged in the declination of

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 491

this pronoun, could ever have had a common origin ? The fact is,
no original language was ever formed from rules ; the rules are
merely its description after it is formed. Language, in the in
fancy of its formation, resents restraint and all laws, except such
as apply to its incipient state. Suppose a soldier for life should
persist in calling his infant son soldier, either playfully or mourn
fully; the child would associate the term "soldier" with his indi
viduality, &nd say soldier am sleepy, kc. In case the soldier's
family was isolated from the rest of the world, in the land of Nod,
or elsewhere, then the family of languages would be quite apt to
have a new term as a personal pronoun.
More pertinent examples would explain our idea perhaps more
fully. There never was a language upon this earth, of which any
thing is known, that does not show an extraordinary irregularity
in the formation of its personal pronouns, — often gi'ving proof that
the different cases and persons have been formed from different
roots. Webster says — " I, the pronoun of the first person, the
word which expresses one's self, or that by which a speaker or
writer denotes himself." "In the plural, we use we and us, which
appear to be words radically distinct from I." Under we, he says,
" From plural of I, or rather a different word, denoting," &:c. Does
any one imagine that I, you, me, and us are from the same root ?
Webster noticed the discrepancy; we could have hoped that he
would have given the world a history of the personal pronoun of
all languages : we know of no intellect more capable. Such a his
tory would develop many curious things in the history of man, but
would be attended with great labour ; and human life has too few
days for such a man.
Thus we may, hypothetically at least, point out the class of
operating causes whereby the Copts introduced Dn or occasion
ally non as a person of the pronoun, with the signification that
the person to whom it was applied was a descendant of the son of
Noah ; and the pronoun so introduced derived from the noun Dn
Ham. For. can we suppose the first person singular ?3JX a-no-ki.
and its third person plural Dn hem, occasionally nOil hemmah,
have the same root, or are of the same origin? This Dn and the
word Dn the son of Noah, are identical, except the son of Noah
is generally -written -with a heth, instead of a he; but all know,
who have studied the matter, these characters very often inter
change, and that copyists have often inadvertently placed the

492 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

one for the other. That which would seem the pronoun is used in
Gen. xiv. 5, and the Septuagint has translated it us ^pronoun;
but our received version has no doubt restored the true reading.
The passage Dn3 is translated "in Ham," i. e. the land occupied
by the descendants of Ham, the son of Noah. The change of
Kamets into Tsere, is really of no moment. These characters
were never invented until after the language ceased to be spoken,
and was long since dead. The points, in reality, are no part of the
language. The word in Genesis is indisputably a noun, preceded
and governed by the preposition 3-
Perhaps no one has ever yet succeeded to satisfy himself and
others in the translation of this passage of Zephaniah ; all, or
others for them, find it full of difficulty : but let us consider T\12'r\
a noun of the same order as the Dn of xiv. 5 of Genesis, — in
some respect in apposition to D'£J'-13, but more emphatic, as the
affix of n would seem to indicate, by its increase of the in
tensity, as well as its accounting for the dagesh of the O mem, or
its duplication. Let us consider it to mean the descendants of
Ham, — to express the idea, with great intensity, that the Cushites
were Hamites. True, it is not in the usual form of a patronymic.
But we know not who will account, by gramraatical rules, for all
the anoraalies found in Hebrew, a language so full of ellipses
that some have thought it a mere skeleton language. With this
view of the subject it will read elliptically, thus : So ye Ethiopians
wounded of the sword, Hamites — with the meaning, that the
Ethiopians were subject to bondage, and at the same time putting
them in mind that the curse of slavery, as to the posterity of
Ham, was unalterable.
The meaning of the prophet is — So ye Ethiopians, reduced to a
condition of bondage, remember ye are the inheritors of the curse
of Ham !
The arrangement of the language to us clearly indicates that
sense. Besides, we taust take into consideration the peculiar
meaning of the words ''J7n and '3111,— that the prophet is
writing in a highly figurative and poetic strain; and we would
also compare what this prophet says to the Ethiopians with what
the other prophets have said of the same people. D'^'l3 is here
appHcable to all the tribes of Ham, as in Amos ix. 7: "Are ye
not as children of the Ethiopians unto me ? 0 children of Israel,
saith the Lord." It may be well here to notice also that the word

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 493

"Ethiopian" is of Greek origin, and associates with the idea
blackness, like that of Ham. Thus, AiQio4', Aithiops, sun-burnt,
swarthy as Ethiopians; atdog, warmth, heat, fire, ardent, blazing
like fire, blackened hy fire, black, dark; aLdo4'> burning, fiery,
blazing, burned, darkened by fire, dark-coloured, consuming, de
stroying. Bonnegan p. 34. But Isaiah speaks ofthe descendants
of Ham perhaps in a more figurative language, and in a more
elevated and poetical strain :
I. Wo to the land shadowing with wings,
Wliich is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia :
2. That sendeth ambassadors by the sea.
Even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters,
Saying, Go, ye s-wift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled ;
To a people terrible from the beginning hitherto ;
A nation meted out and trodden down,
3. Whose land the rivers have spoiled !
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth,
See ye, -when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains.
And when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye !
4. For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest.
And I will consider in my dwelling-place.
Like a clear heat upon herbs,
And like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
5. For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect.
And the sour grape is ripening iu the flower.
He shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, ,
And take away and cut down the branches.
6. They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains,
And to the beasts of the earth ;
And the fowls shall summer upon them.
And the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
7. In that time shall a present be brought unto the Lord of hosts,
Of a people scattered and peeled.
And from a people terrible pom the beginning hitherto ;
A nation meted out and trodden under foot,
Whose land the rivers have spoiled,
To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the Mount Zion. Isa. 18.
The denouncements of Jehovah against the children of Ham
are more plainly expressed in the promises of God to these of the
true worship, his peculiar people :

494 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Thus saith the Lord,
The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia,
And of the Sabeans, men of stature,
Shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine :
They shall come after thee ;
In chains they shall come over;
And they shall fall down unto thee.
They shall make supplication unto thee,
Saying, Surely God is in thee ;
And there is none else.
There is no God (besiile), — (or, there is no other God.) Isa. xiv. 14.
So Jeremiah : " Declare ye in Egypt, and publish it in Migdol,
and publish in Noph and in Taphanhes ; say ye. Stand fast, and
prepare thee ; for the sword shall devour round about thee.
" 0 thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into
captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate, without an
inhabitant. " The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded ; she shall be
delivered into the hands of the people of the north." Jer. xlvi. 1,
19, 24.
" And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall
be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall
take away her multitudes, and her foundations shall be broken
down. " Ethiopia, and Lybia, and Lydia, and all the mingled (mixed-
blooded) people. Chub and the men of the land that is in league,
shall fall with them by the sword.
" In that day shall messengers .go forth from me in ships to
make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come
upon them, as in the day of Egypt : for, lo, it cometh.
" The young men of Avon and of Pibeseth shall fall by the
sword : and these cities shall go into captivity.
" At Taphanhes also the day shall be darkened," when I shall
break there the yokes of Egypt : and the pomp of her strength
shall cease in her : as for her, a cloud shall cover her ; and her
daughters shall go into captivity.
" And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and dis
perse them among the countries, and they shall know that I am
the Lord." Ezek. xxx. 4, 6, 9, 17, 18, 26.
" And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands
of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans,
to a people afar off: for the Lord hath spoken it." Joel iii. 8.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 495

It may be we have occupied too much time, in remarks too
obscure and indistinct for biblical criticism, upon this passage of
Zephaniah; and it may be that, in the judgment of some, we have
thus made ourselves obnoxious to the satire of the reverend and
witty commentator upon the words :
" Strange such difference there should be
'Twixt tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee."
But we were sure the passage had been greatly misunderstood,
and were, perhaps, too much emboldened by the hope, that the pro
vidence of the All-wise might yet again issue forth the truth from
the tongue of the feeble.

LESSON XVI.
From the root nsn has also been derived the Arabic word
^Slc^ haman, and the Syriac ^"".-^ haman, and adopted by
the Hebrews in the word 7011 haman, which Castell translates
"images," dedicated to the worship of the sun, the worship of
fire, heat, &c.
The Hebrew use of this word will be found in a plural form in
Lev. xxvi. 30, thus : " And I will destroy your high places, and cut
down your images," hammanekem. 2 Chron. xiv. 3 (the fourth
of the Hebrew text:) "And brake down the images," D'JOn
hammanim ; also xxxiv. 4, 7: "And the images, (D'JQfl ham-
manim) that were on high above them, he cut down," "and had
beaten the graven images (D'iOll hammanim) into powder."
Isa. xvii. 8: "Either the groves or the images," D'JQtl ham
manim; also xxvii. 9 : " The groves and images (D'JQfl hammanim)
shall not stand up." Ezek. vi. 4:, Q : " Your altars shall be desolate,
and your images (D3*J0n hammanekem) shall be broken," "and
your images (D3'J0n hammanekem) may be cut down." We
have no possible word to express literally this term, but the ham-
manekens, or little hams, or fire-houses, the objects of religious
adoration, were conical towers, from fifty to one hundred feet
h^gh, and fifteen to twenty feet in diameter at the base, and

496 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

gradually decreasing upward, with a small door or opening fifteen
or twenty feet above the base, and four smaller ones near the apex,
looking towards the cardinal points.
The moderns have no certain knowledge of their particular use,
yet all believe that in them was attempted to be kept the perpetual
or holy fire, and perhaps into them was thrust the infant sacrificed
to the god. May we not suppose that Daniel and his brethren
would have informed us, had it been necessary for us to know
more ? Spencer, Heh. Laws, lib. ii. cap. 25, § 3, says of these
edifices : " They were of a conical form and of a black colour." It
seems to us this identifies these edifices with the round towers of
Persia and elsewhere, remains of many of which were anciently
found in Ireland. The curious, about this matter are referred to
Gesenius's Thesaurus, p. 489 ; also Lee's Lex. p. 297, where he
quotes Henrici Arentii Hamaker Miscellanea Phoenicia, pp. 49, 54 ;
also Diatribe Philologico-Critica aliquot monumentorum Punicorum ;
Selden, de Diis Syris, ii. cap. 8, and the authors severally cited by
them. Upon a full consideration of the subject. Dr. Lee says —
" Upon the whole, I am disposed to believe that the term fOn
(haman) is rather derived from Dn Ham, the father of Canaan,
of Mitsraim, &c.. Gen. x. 6-20 ; and hence by the latter worshipped
as presiding angel of the sun, under the title of 'Afioiiv, Greek
"'A^^v (Ammon), which is probably our very word." If so, then
his very name became significant of the worship of fire, and even
expressive of the fire-temples themselves.
By some fanciful relation, not relevant to our subject, between
the fire or sun worshippers and astronomy, when the sun was in
aries (the ram), the god Ham, Ammon, Hammon, or Jupiter
Hammon, was represented with a ram's head for his crest ; with
this crest became associated the idea of the god, and hence
chonchologists, even to this day, call certain shells, that are fancied
to resemble the ram's horn. Ammonites, giving further evidence,
even now, of how deeply seated was the association between the
earlier descendants of Ham and the fire worship of their day.
The long and fanciful story of Io, changed by Jupiter into a
white cow ; of her flight from the fifty sons of Egyptus ; of her
becoming the progenitor of the lonians ; the Egyptians claiming
her under the narae of Isis ; of her marriage with Osiris, who be
came at length Apis and Serapis, worshipped in the image of a
black bull with a white spot in his forehead, and many such tales,
are all legitimately descended from his family peculiarities, their

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 497

relative condition in the world, and the fact that Ham became the
imaginary deity of his descendants.
Much evidence may be had proving that Ham became insepara
bly associated with, and in fact the very father of, idolatry, and of
all those enormities growing out of it ; enormities with which idol
atry has ever been attended, and which time and the history of
man for ever give proof to be a total preventive of all physical and
moral elevation and improvement ; and which, like other breaches
against the laws of God, have, at all times, among all men, for ever
been accompanied by both physical and moral degradation. But
the descendants of Ham gave his narae to their country. ."NT t\jt£i
Chemi was the Coptic narae for Egypt, which the Septuagint trans
lates into ^a^ Cham. Plutarch styles Egypt ^rjfiia Chemia, from
the Coptic *V H-££V Chemi, and, as if he wished to give some ac
count of its origin, adds, Bspiifi ydp iatlv zal vypa, " for it is
hot and humid ;" showing that the 'VrV.jMi Chemi of the Copts
signified the same as the Ham of the Hebrews. But the Coptic
word'V HjMJ Cliemi, 'Kri^i andX>7|«e of Plutarch, also signified the
adjective black. See Gibhs's Hebrew Lexicon, under the word Dn
Ham; and with this signification the viovd Ham is used in Ps. Ixxviii.
51 : " The chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham :" Sep
tuagint, Xa/tt, Cham, from the Coptic '\^t\jt£\ chemi, black, cv. 23 :
" And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham," Dn Ham: Septuagint,
Xttft, Cliam, from the Coptic 'N^HjWi chemi, black. 27: "And
wonders in the land of Ham :" Septuagint, Xa^w, Cham, from the
Coptic 'VHjMI chemi, black, cvi. 22: "Wondrous works in the
land of Ham :" Septuagint, Xa^, Cham, from the Coptic 'V i\-€*i
chemi, black. The idea is, the land of the black people.
In this sense also the word is used in Gen. xiv. 5 : " And smote
the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuziras in Ham."
The Septuagint translates this passage into Kal sOvyj la^vpd
d^ia avtolg, as though the UTV2 be Ham was a pronoun, and
which seems to have been the view of several ancient translators.
But such certainly was not the view of the translators of the re
ceived version ; nor of Martindale, and others from whom he com
piled. He says of this passage — " 2. Ham, crafty, or heat ; the
country of the Zuzims, the situation of which is not known:"
p. 326. We certainly agree with the Septuagint that D.'f-lt Zuzim
was a significant term, and perhaps well enough explained by
32

498 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

sdvy; i(j^vpd, for which a suitable translation would seem to be
wicked, perverse, strong, numerous, or stubborn heathen. They
were probably the D|.Srpf Zamzummiras of Beut. ii. 20.
The word Dn3 be Ham, unless a pronoun as above, against
Avhich much can be said, is evidently used as in the Psalms quoted.
In all these cases Ham is used somewhat as a synonyme of tTIS
Cush ; and when applied to a country generally, meant whatever
country was occupied by the descendants of Ham. The sense of
the sentence, and Zuzims in Ham, will then be, and the stub
born heathen in Ethiopia, or, the perverse tribes of Cush, or
the wicked nations of Ham ; all meaning the black tribes, de
scendants of Ham, or some one of them, when particularity is in
tended, as probably in this case ; and let it be noticed, that Mar
tindale, p. 241, gives "blackness" as his first definition of Cush.
The descendants of Ham applying his name to themselves and
country, they being black, it necessarily became significant of that
colour. We have Germans, Swedes, English ; but if we say "Ne
groes," or if we say Africans, we mean black men, because those
words, as now used, mean men of colour ; and in a sense analo-
to gous, the word Ham seems to have been used in the passages
' quoted. '
This view of the word Ham we think elucidates the history of
Esther and that of Haman fOIl, the son of Hamadatha — Agagite,
ha Agagi. The word is a patronymic of JJIX Agag, — hence he was
an Amalekite: "Agag, the king of Amalek" — "Agag, the king
of the Amalekites." 1 Sam. xv. 20, 32. "Now there was one
Haman, the son of Amadatha, by birth an Amalekite." Josephus,
book ii. cap. vi. 5. This shows the cause of the extraordinary
hatred that existed between her people and his. His very name
shows that he was a descendant of Ham, and we think also proves
that the Amalekites were black ; and which fact is confirmed
by 1 Sam. xv. 6: "And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart;
get ye down from araong the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with
, them," — evincing the fact that by mere inspection he could not dis
tinguish the one from the other. We have before shown that the
Kenites were black. The argument follows, that the Amalekites
were also.
The word Ham is also used in 1 Chron. iv. 40, in the same man
ner as it is in Psalms and Genesis, thus : " For they olHam pn ^^^
dwelt there of old." This is said of Gedar, " even unto the east

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 499

side of the valley." Now Gedar was in the mountains of Judea,
(see Josh. xv. 48-60,) or in the valley, (see Josh. xv. 36;) and as
that account of the country of Judea closes (see idem, 63) by in
forming us whom the inhabitants of Judah could not drive out, and
as the inhabitants of Gedar are not included in such list, it is to
be presumed that the inhabitants of Gedar were so driven ffut at
the time of Joshua; and leaves us nothing else to conclude
than that, whoever they were, they who are spoken of in this pas
sage, as having dwelt there of old, were the people driven out by
him. But Josh. xii. 7, 8 informs us who the people were on the west
side of Jordan, both in the mountains and valleys, and names them
as Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, and Hivites, and Je
busites ; and from the 9th to the 24th gives us an account of their
kings, among whom is named the king of Gedar, who was smitten,^
nnd driven out. It is immaterial which of the tribes they were.
They were inhabitants of Palestine, (see 2 Chrori. xxviii. 18 and
1 Chron. xxvii. 28,) of the land of Canaan, not of south, east, nor
of northern Arabia, nor of Egypt or any part of Africa ; yet they
are emphatically spoken of as of Ham, clearly having reference to
their descent and colour. Here we have an additional key where
by to unlock the meaning of this word as used in Psalms and^
Genesis. There can be no doubt these primitive inhabitants of
Gedar were the descendants of Canaan. Yet they are described
by the same term which in other places is used to describe the
descendants of Cush and Mitsraim ; a term which most unquestion
ably determines them to have been black.
But the Coptic word chemi, which we have seen had the same
significancy as Dn ham in Hebrew, opens to the view the real
meaning of a few Hebrio-Coptic words that grew into comraon
use among the Hebrews subsequent to their bondage in Egypt. We
allude solely to the derivatives of 'V SAjtifi Chemi. "103 Chemar
is thus derived, and occasionally used by the holy writers to sig
nify black; thus, Lam. v. 10 : "Our skin was black" 1"I03J ni
cheviaru. True, some have disputed the accuracy of this transla
tion. They take a cognate meaning, and say our skin was hot, kc
We hope to be excused for adopting the received version. But either
meaning proves the origin of the word from the Coptic "V x\-&Si
chemi, the same as the ham of the Hebrews. The fact is, the cog
nate meaning, sometimes, necessarily forces itself into an English
translation, as in Gen. xliii. 30: " For his bowels didyearn,'"'-n03^

,500 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

grew hot, warmed, became agitated, &c. 1 Kings iii. 26 : " Her
bowels yearned," 1~103'? 5'''ew hot, troubled, kc. ; and also Hosea
xi. 8 : " My repentings are kindled," 11034 became hot, kc.
But in all these instances the figure of speech is more particu
larly Asiatic, and more obscure than is well suited to our modern
dial^t, as vie think will be seen by comparing them with Joh iii. 5,
" Let theblackness of the day terrify it."
From this Coptic name of Ham has also been derived the appel
lative term of the Moabitish and Ammonitish god £^103 Chemosh.
The Syrians applied this term to the fancied being who oppresses
mankind during the dark hours of their sleeping, and hence dis
tressing dreams, incubus, kc. Chemosh is ranked with the god of
destruction among the Hindoos, Muha Bevd. The worshippers of
this god are in Scripture called tJ'103"DJ|^ am Chemosh, the people
of Chemosh, particularly the Moabites and Ammonites. The
image of this god was a black stone.
The term applied to the priesthood in this worship among the
black tribes^ is also derivative from the same Coptic word to which
we have often added in translation the word "idolatrous." Thus,
^0% Kings xxiii. 5, " and he put down the idolati-ous -priests D'lOSilAct
chemarim." Hosea x. 5, "And the |)n'esfs thereof" V103' Zeph.i.4:,
"And the name ofthe Chemarims," D*103n ha Chemarim, i. e.
the priests of the Hamitic fire-worshippers, &c. Some commen
tators, not connecting these words with the Coptic, and the priest,
as the terta applies, with the black families of Ham, have conceived
that the idea blackness, as associated with these idolatrous priests,
had reference to their apparel. Hence they conceive that these
priests always wore black apparel ; whereas the fact is they were .
black men, and, as such, are described by a term indicating that
fact, as well as that of their idolatry and descent ; and here we
find the foundation of that modern and common prejudice, that the
appropriate dress of the clergy is black.
But we find another derivative from the word Ham, Gen.
xxxviii. 13 : " And it was told Tamar, saying. Behold thj father-in-
law Tl'pn goeth up." 25: "She sent to .her father-in-law,"
il'On. So also 1 Sa7n. iv. 19 : "And that her father-in-law was
dead." 21. "And because of her father-in-law," n'On. Thisword
T I- T
is used in the feminine in Micah, vii. 6, thus : " Against her mother-
in-law," ¦T\tyt2\l^ la hamtha. We notice the word is preceded by

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. gQl

the word n73) "which word, in Gen. xxxviii. 11, is applied to Tamar,
and in Jer. ii. 32, evidently to a "bride" taken from the heathen,
which was forbid; and is also used in Cani. iv. 8, for the " spouse,"
who is made to declare herself a black woman, giving evidence
that the word in Micah is used in character.
This word is also used in the feminine in Ruth i. 14 : " And«Orpah
L '*^'-
kissed her mother-in-law," nnlOnv la hamotha. ii. 11 : "All that .
thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law," IfTion hamothek. 18 :
"And" her mother-in-law saw what she had done," hamotha. 19 :
"And her mother- in-law (hamotha) said unto her;" "and she
showed her mother-in-law," la hamotha. 23 : "And dwelt with her
mother-in-law," hamotha. iii. 1: " Then Naomi her mother-in-law,"
hamotha. 6: "All her mother-in-law hude her," hamotha. 16:
"And when she came to her mother-in-law," hamotha. This i&
certainly not the most usual word in Hebrew to express the idea
of parent-in-law.
But these instances of its use are too frequent, its declination
too varied, and in both genders, to admit the ideajthat they are
the result of error or casualty, although some lexicographers seem
to reject it. It may be noticed that the individual holding the;,
junior position was a female — that in each case the parent-in-law
was most unquestionably of pure Shemitic race.
But suspicion may at least be allowed to Buch purity in these
young females. Tamar's husbands were half of Canaanitish blood.
It would be expected that she was of that race, but if not, her in
termarriage with those sons of Judah placed her in that rank. The
sons of Eli were notoriously wicked and licentious, and although
the widow of Phinehas appears to have been of a devout cast, yet
God had determined to destroy the house of Eli on their account,
and to wrest the priesthood from the family. The suspicion as to
her race grows out of these facts and the character of her husband.
Ruth was declaredly a Moabitess, and Orpah was of that country.
Much might be said in favour of the position that in these cases
the parents-in-law on the husband's side were of pure Shemitic
blood, and the reverse as to the daughters-in-law. Now as this pe
culiar term is nowhere else used in the holy books, are we not to
suppose that this peculiar state of facts is nowhere else thus de
scribed ? In Gen. xviii., when the father-in-law of Moses is named,
this term is not used, but the more usual one ; and^the reason is be
cause the position of the parties is changed. Had the father or

502 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

mother of Moses been spoken of as the parent-in-law of Zippora,
then we may presume this peculiar term would have been used and
expressed the fact as to the distinction of races ; that he would
have been called n'On, and she her nnlOn. And we now pre-
sent the inquiry, how came the name of Ham to be thus com
pounded and used to express this particular position of relation
ship and distinction of race, unless from the fact that he had
placed his parents in a similar position, liable to have been called
by these peculiar terms ?

LESSON XVIL
'^
Having thus, at some length, passed these subjects in review,
we present our reflections to the impartial mind.
But there are grown up upon this earth some men who would
seem to be so holy and pure that even the providences of God are
defective in their sight, and by their conduct seem to evince their
opinion to be that Jehovah could not well manage the government
of the world without their especial counsel and aid. And do such
really mean to condemn God, unless his government shall comport
with their views ? In kindness of heart, and for the benefit of
such poor fallen ones, we propose to close this our present Study
by reading to them the thirty-third chapter of Ecclesiastious, omit
ting the five verses irrelevant to the subject.
" There shall no evil happen unto him that feareth the Lord, but
in temptation even again he will deliver him. A wise man hateth
not the law ; but he that is a hypocrite therein is as a ship in the
storm. A man of understanding trusteth in the law ; and the law
is faithful unto him as an oracle. Prepare what to say, and so
thou shalt be heard ; and bind up instruction, and then make
answer." "Why doth one day excel another, where as all the
light of every day in the year is of the sun ? By the knowledge
of the Lord they were distinguished : and he altered seasons and
feasts. Some of them hath he made high days, -and hallowed them,
and some of them hath he made ordinary days. And all men are
from the ground, and Adam was created of earth. In much know
ledge the Lord hath divided them, and made their ways diverse.
Some of them hath he blessed and exalted, and some of thera hath

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 503

he sanctified, and set near himself: but some of them hath he
cursed and brought low, and turned them out of their places. As
the clay is in the potter's hand, to fashion it at his pleasure, so is
man in the hand of him that made him, to render to them as liketh
him best. Good is set against evil, and life against death : so is
the godly against the sinner, and the sinner against the godly.
So look upon all the works of the Most High; and the?e are two
and two, one against another. I awaked up last of all, as one
that gathereth after the grape-gatherers ; by the blessing of God
I profited, and filled my wine-press, like a gatherer of grapes.
Consider that I laboured not for myself only, but for all them tha t
seek learning. Hear me, 0 ye great men of the people, and
hearken with your ears, ye rulers of the congregation." " In all
thy works keep to thyself the pre-eminence ; leave not a stain on
thy honour. At the time when thou shalt end thy days, and finiSt
thy life, distribute thine inheritance. Fodder, a wand and burdens,
are for the ass ; and bread, correction, and work, for a servant.
If thou set thy servant to labour, thou shalt find rest, but if thou
let him go idle, he shall seek liberty. A yoke and a collar to
bow the neck, so are tortures and torments for an evil servant.
Send him to labour, that he be not idle ; for idleness teaohetW
much evil. Set him to work, as is fit for him ; if he be not obedient,
put on more fetters. But be not excessive toward any, and with
out discretion do nothing. If thou have a servant, let him be unto
thee as thyself, because thou hast bought him with a price. If
thou have a servant, entreat him as a brother : for thou hast need
of him as thine own soul : if thou entreat him evil, and he run
from thee, which way wilt thou go to seek hira."
The doctrine is, that man is not exempt from the general law,
that governs the animal world ; that among all the animated races
upon this earth, certain causes produce deterioration; and that it
may take a longer course of time for the restoration of a de
generate race, under the controlling influences of opposite causes,
than even that occupied in a downward direction. " Quickly
is the descent made to hell ; but to recover from the fall, and re
gain our former standing, is a labour, a task indeed." Virgil.
In short, that sin has a tendency forcing downward to moral
and physical ruin ; to deteriorate the mental powers, to rot, to
blast, as with a mildew, all animal perfections ; to fill life with dis
ease and pain, and its hours with misery and wo, and that it never
willingly ceases its iron hold until it can shake hands with death.

504 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

That God, in mercy, by the wisdom of his providence, has contrived
as it were a shield, sheltering poor fallen man from the action of
such portion of this deadly poison as would have destroyed every
hope of intercession, and for ever excluded from our view, perhaps,
even the advent of a Saviour. When the patient is dead, the
physician is not called. The law which produced the deluge and
destruction of the antediluvian world was a law established from
all eternity, meet for just such a case as the moral and physical
condition of man then was. For the sake of ten, Sodom would
not have been destroyed ; but it was less than ten for whom the
Ark was provided ; and we are to remember that quick upon the
promise that all fiesh were not again to be cast off, the lowest
grade of slavery was proraulgated, and its subjects ordered into
the protection of the master ; and may we not hence infer that
slavery is intended, to some extent, as a preventive, as a shield
against sin ? And do we not notice that this shield is more or
less weighty, more or less heavy to be borne, as the safety of the
individual bearing it may require ; and that it is so cunningly
contrived, that its weight and burden are diminished in proportion
as the danger abates ?
"He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wan
der in the wilderness where there is no way ; yet setteth he the
poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.
The righteous shall see it and rejoice, and all iniquity shall stop
her mouth. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even
they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." Ps. cvii.
40-43. In close, we may everywhere notice that some among the
family of man have become so poisoned with sin, so destroyed,
that they are no longer safe guardians to themselves, even under
the general interdict, that animal wants enslave us all. That for
such God provides, as the general safety may seem to require.
That, in the history of man, some races have become so deterio
rated by a continued action in opposition to the laws of God, that
he has seen fit to care for them, by placing them under the con
trol of others; or by placing them, in mercy, under the guidance
of a less deteriorated race, whom, no doubt, he holds responsible
for the good he intends them. And may we be permitted of the
humble Christian to inquire, if this position presents any thing
contrary to the general law of benevolence of the Deity, — con
trary to the welfare of man on " earth, or his hopes of heaven ?

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 505

AVill you reject the doctrine, saying the biblical proofs are too
scattered, too deeply buried under the dust of time ? or, because
a prophet has not appeared, or one arisen from the dead ? The
geologist, from a few fragments of bone, now dug from the deep
bowels of the earth, is able to set up the osseous frame, to clothe
with muscle and sinew, and give character to the animals of ancient
time. And shall it not be recollected by you, who are striving to
make your descendants the very princes of intellect and talent,
that similar researches may be made in the moral history of man ?
We submit the foregoing, confident, although there may be ob
scurity and darkness yet surrounding the subject, which we have
not the ability to dispel, that the time will come, when it will be
made plain to the understanding of all. We therefore resign the
subject, touching the colour of the descendants of Ham, of their
i-elationship with the family of Cain, and the ordinances of G6d
infiuencing their condition in the world, to those more learned,
more critical, and of more mental power, and into the hands of those
whose lips have been touched by a more living coal from the altar
of the prophet.

."^06 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

^tutiB VM,

LESSON L
In the inquiry into the scriptural views of slavery, by Albert
Barnes, Philadelphia, 1846, page 322, we find the following as
sertion : "No man has a right to assume that when the word Sovhyg,
doulos, occurs in the New Testament, it means a slave, or that he
to whom it was applied was a slave."
Our object in our present study is to prove that this assertion is
not true ; and our object further is to prove that when the word
8ov2jOg, doulos, occurs in the New Testament, it means a slave, and
that he to whom it was applied,- as an appropriate distinctive quality,
was a slave.
Suppose some infidel, a monomaniac in the study of infidelity,
should put forth the proposition that when the words Jesus Christ
occur in the New Testament, no one had the right to assume that
they meant the Messiah, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.
We should feel it a needless labour to refute it ; a foolish, false
assertion often does not merit or require refutation, but the falsity
of propositions may not be equally obvious to all, as in the present
case. The premises include the observance of the constitution, idioms,
and use of the Greek language.
To him whose mind can flash upon the volume of Greek litera
ture, like the well-read schoolboy upon the pages of Dilworth, —
our present study and argument will be unnecessary and useless ;
but, as unsavoury as it may seem, from the evidence that reaches
us, we doubt whether the great mass of those called learned, do
not remember and practise their Greek only as the old veterans in
sin do the evening and morning prayers of their childhood.
But, however that may be, a great proportion of us know no

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 507

language but our own, and take on trust what any IMagnus Apollo
may choose to assume concerning others. The assertions of one
man, unaccompanied by evidence, may excite little or no attention ;
but we have seen the substance of this assertion put forth by the
abolition clergy in various small publications, no doubt having
great weight in their immediate vicinage.
We fear those who sit under such teaching may grope in deep
darkness ; and may we humbly pray, that, like the stroke of Jove,
the light of the Almighty may reach them from afar.

LESSON n.
When the untruthfulness of the lesson taught involves a mis
conception of the character and laws of God, its direct tendency
is to create in the mind an idea of, we may say, an image of God
and his laws, as decidedly different from him and his law as is the
lesson taught from the truth ; and here, perhaps, through all time,
has been the commencement of idolatry.
Is it not as much idolatry to worship a false image of the mind,
as it would be an image of wood or stone ?
You teach that 5oi)Xog, doulos, does not mean slave in the word
of God ; you consequently teach that God disapproves of it, anil
that his laws forbid it. We say the exact contrary. It is there
fore e^vident that the idea, the image we form in the mind of our
God, is quite different from the idea you form in your mind of
vpur God. But God cannot possess a contradiction in quality ;
therefore the God we worship must be a different God from the
God you worship. But there can be but one God; therefore your
God is a false God, or our God is a false God. You are an idol
ater, or we are one.
And shall it be said that our language is too strong ? — unneces
sarily extreme in its denunciation ? — unwarranted by the views, bj'
the language held by the advocates of abolition and the friends
of the anti-slavery movements now in action in the Northern sec
tions of our country ? Hear the proclamation of Mr. Wright, an
eloquent speaker, before the Anti-Slavery Society, as reported in
the Boston papers, May 30th, 1850 :
" Down with your Bible ! — down with your political parties ! —

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

down with your God that sanctions slavery ! The God of Moses
Stuart, the Andover God, the God of William H. Rogers, which
is worshipped in the Winter-street Church, is a monster, composed
of oppression, fraud, injustice, pollution, and every crime, in the
shape of slavery. To such a God I am an atheist."
Thus the enemies, of Jehovah give rapid proof of their idolatry.
It may be well here to remark, that the doctrine thus strange
and astray from truth, may be expected to engraft itself upon such
intellects as are led to the conclusion that man possesses within
hiraself an unerring guide between right and wrong, — a doctrine
which to us appears deeply fraught with ruin to the individual, and
degradation to public morals.
We therefore condemn, most decidedly, the doctrine that man
possesses a mental power called "moral sense," "conscience," or
the "light within us," which enables him unerringly to decide on
right and wrong. You may as well say it will always enable him
to discern the truth. Nor do we comprehend how the mind can
entertain such a notion, unless the intellect is thus impressible that
the mind can believe in the existence of what would be a sister
faculty, clairvoyance, or a thousand other such fantasies.
Man possesses no power by which he can know God, only as he
has revealed himself by inspiration and by the daily manifesta
tions of his law. We prefer to worship the God of Abraham and
Moses, who gave them directions how slaves should be governed,
and of whom they should be purchased : — the God of the Bible, in
which he has plainly revealed the reason why they are slaves. The
history of the human intellect gives proof that among its strong
characteristics is a desire, a fondness to search into mystery. While
this quality stimulates to inquiry after truth, in well organized
minds, it is an important means of man's iraprovement and pro
gression. But in the absence of all guides which can direct
the path to successful inquiry, or by the substitution of false
lights, man has ever gone astray. Here idolatry commences her
reign. The condition of man, from the most exalted instance of mental
power, down to the most abject degradation of the African savage,
is for ever marked and located by the fact, whether the guides to
truth in their influence on him and his race have been universal,
or only occasional ; whether their influence has been obeyed only
at distant periods, or at all times rejected. It is the law of God,
man shall not progress to greatness only under the guidance of

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 509

truth : under the guidance of falsehood, man degenerates to insig
nificance, crime, slavery, or to inglorious death.
We do not propose that any man or any race has, without ex
ception, been under the constant influence of those axioms that
guide the mind along the thread of truth ; hut thalT some men and
some races have deviated far more than others, and that the effect
of such difference is quite perceptible. Some races have become
highly improved, while others only give evidence that they belong
to the animal race of men.
Distinctions from this source arose between Cain and Abel ;
between the sons of Noah, Abraham, and the fire-worshippers of
his day ; between Jacob and Esau ; and between the Israelites and
the idolaters of the surrounding Hamitic tribes. This love of
searching into mystery without using the aids to find truth, has at
all times of the world, when supreme power was the object of con
templation, led men to idolatry, sometimes of the grossest kind ;
to the belief in mysterious influences, supernatural agencies, of
spirits and demons, magic, witchcraft, &c.
To the same order of causes we are to attribute the sentiment
entertained by some, that certain portions of Scripture and certain
words sometimes contain unknown, hidden, secret, or mysterious
meanings or instructions. Such views involve the proposition that
such words, when used in the Scripture, have a different meaning
than when otherwise used by men, and are to be translated into
another language by substituting different ideas than those ex
pressed by such words when used by man in his own oral or written
language. Do they forget that the language of man is the language of
God ? That revelation is always adapted to the understanding of
men? They forget to know this first, that no prophecy of the
Scripture is of any private interpretation. It happens that men
take their own circumscribed view of the providence of God, as
God's ordinance touching a matter, and if Scripture is in contra
diction, then they search for mysterious or unusual meaning, and
give it such interpretation as they imagine suits the case.
Hence theologians who deny that slavery is of Divine authority,
are led to the necessity of also denying that the Greek word iov/Mg,
doulos, means slave ; or that, in its verbal formation, it expresses a
cognate action.
The frequency of the use of this word in the copies of the an
cient Greek Testament, as left us in the evangelical writings of

510 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

the apostles ; the varied manner in which they have applied the
term, in figurative illustration, in comparison, in the most simple
explanations, as well as in the expression of the primitive idea
which they intended to convey by it, would seem to be sufficient
proof that whatever such primitive idea may have been, yet that it
surely was in exact conformity to the common and received opinion
of its signification among those who wrote in and used the Greek
language. This is very clear, since it is often used and addressed
to the Greeks themselves, insomuch that no temerity has ever yet
asserted that this word is of different import when found in the
writings of the apostles than when found in the Greek authors
generally.

LESSON IIL
The Greek noun 8ov?X)g, doulos, which we say means a slave
unconditionally, so far as we have been able to examine, took its
origin, both phonetically and literally, among the Greeks. Let us
take Soa, as theme for SiSai^u, and ?MVCd, or from the radical
AOO, loo : both phonetically and significantly the word is complete.
At the most ancient period of the Greeks, it is said they had no
slaves, and it is a little remarkable that the word "doulos" is very
seldom found in the most ancient of the Greek writers : but other
nations more advanced had slaves. The idea, slave, was then ex
pressed by them by the term Sfiag, dmos, evidently of foreign
origin. This latter term was nearly or quite obsolete as early as
the days of Alexander, when the word doulos is found to have
taken its place.
The ancient and Eastern nations were particular in their custom
of bathing their bodies and washing their feet, &c. One of the
first and most important uses to which the early Greeks seem to
have applied slaves, was in these personal purifications ; and
hence the peculiar narae §ov/\,og originated ; Sov-2.ovco, one whose
office it was to bathe and wash them, a bondman for that particular
use. There is no instance in which Homer has used the word incom
patible with such an association. The most affecting, we may say
afflicting, circumstance in which he has introduced the word is, the

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 511

parting of Hector and Andromache; when Hector, anticipating
his own death, and the probability of her being made a slave to
the Greeks, emphatically laments her being compelled to carry
water for her master, as if that was a particular employment in
which the doulos was engaged.
But it does not affect the force of our argument, even if it shall
be thought that the origin we give the word is doubtful. All we
at the present moment propose is, that it is an original Greek term,
all of which terms, either remotely or immediately, spring from
particles having a significant and phonetic relation with the deriva
tive. Such has been the doctrine of all who have written upon
the philology and origin of the Greek language. Valekenaerus
(the edition of Venice, published by Coletos) says, p. 8 —
"Verba simplicia apud Grsecos sunt vel 'primitiva,' vel a primi-
tivis per varies flexus ' derivata.'
"Primitiva verba admodum sunt 'pauca:' ' derivatorum' nume-
rus est infinitus.
" 'Binae' literarum syllabae verbum primitivum constituunt.
"Verba primitiva, secundum observationem tertiam, dissyllaba
sunt vel 'bilittera,' vel trilittera, vel quadrilittera.
"Primitiva 'bilittera,' per rei naturara, dari possunt in univer-
sum (si vel totam linguam perscrntemur) tantum quinque, nempe
dcD, J6), 06), J6), i'6). Primitiva 'trilittera' sunt, quse a 'vocaU.' 'qua
drilittera' (pleraque saltern) quse a ' consonante,' incipiunt. Hoc
certum est : sed de eo etiamnum addubito, an nonnulla verba
' quinque' litteris constantia pro ' primitivis' debeant haberi ?" &c.
And Lennepius, de Anologia Linguae Graecae, (eadem editio,) p. 38 :
"Cognita literarum potestate, earumque antiquitate, ad primas
linguae Graecse origines indagandas progrediendum est. Viden-
dum itaque prime loco, quaenam voces pro ' simplicissimis origini
bus' haberi possint, quaenam minus? Hoc autem ut rite peragatur,
quaedam de ' partibus orationis' ante sunt monenda.
" Ex viii. partibus quas vulgo statuunt graramatici, ' Verbum et
Nomen' principera obtinent locura : quum reliquje omnes facillime
ad harura partium alterutram referi possint. Quapropter etiam
'Aristoteles,' aliique de veteribus, revera 'duas' tantum esse
' partes orationis' voluerunt.
" Addunt quidem alii tertiam partem, utriusque, nempe et ' verbi
et nominis, ligamentum,' sive particulas, quod, nempe, particulse
orationem in unum corpus veluti connectant et devinciant. Sed,
qui attentius ' particularum' naturam inspexerit, facile animad-

512 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

vertatj omnia fere, quse ' particularum' nomine insigniuntur, si ' exte-
riorem formam' eorumque naturam grammaticam inspiciamus,
referenda esse vel ad ' nomen' vel ad 'verbum.'
"Ita verbi gr.: particula tiv, Lat. igitur, revera participium est,
contracta pro iov, quod neutrum a masculo icov est, quo mode partici
pium verbi £«, vel Ei^l, pronuntiarunt lones, quum Attici £ov con-
traxerint in isv. Apparet itaque, Graecum bv revera pertinere ad
nomina participialia. Eadem ratio cernitur quoque in particulis
Ttoi, Ttn, Ttti, quae 'adverbia loci' dicuntur, quorum duo priora
proprie ' dativa antiqua' sunt, postremum vero genitivus est ; quem-
admodum similis ratio cernitur in adverbiis quse dicuntur ' Loci'
apud Latinos, qud, qud, et simiUbus.
" Ad 'verba' porro referenda sunt dyE, ^ips, iSS, l^b,£ia vel sa,
et plura alia similia, id quod in aliis clarius, in aliis minus mani
festo, apparet. Horum tamen omnium rationem eandem fuisse in
prima linguae Graecae infantia, non est quod dubitemus.
" Hsec igitur quum revera sic sese habeant, jam porro inquiren
dum est, utrum verba, an vero nomina, ' primas' linguae Graecae
stirpes nobis subministrent.
" Docet autem ipsa rei natura, si de ' simplicissimis' verbis sermo
fiat, 'nomina' a 'verbis,' non verba a nominibus, primum esse
formata. " Quum enim omnes res vocabulis, tanquam nominibus, signatae,
ab usu qui singulis adest, vel quacumque etiam actione, nomina
sua acceperint : clare apparet, sicut ipsam actionem unde res deno-
minata sit, ita etiam verbum, quo actio designetur, praecedere
nomini, quod ab actione aliqua rei sit inditum. Atque hoc adeo
certum est, non solum in lingua Graeca, sed etiam omnibus omnino
linguis, ut extra omnem controversiara positum esse videatur : nisi
quis delabatur illuc, ut linguas integras, qua late patent, nullo
artificio humane accedente, uno temporis articulo hominihus divi-
nitus datas esse, eosque statim caluisse tot myriadas quot in sin
gulis linguis sunt vocabulorum ; tametsi res ipsas vocabulis istis
designandas plerosque primes homines ignorasse certum est.
" Hoc autem quam sit rationi contrarium, atque ipsi experientiae,
facile apparet, si mode consideremus, ea ratione multa vocabula
existere jam debuisse priusquam eorum utilitas inter homines
ulla esset, quseque proinde, non nisi vani et inutiles soni, facile et
sine ulla jactura dediscenda fuissent.
" Quin imo experientia abunde docet, primum res ipsas inveniri
hommum industria, deinde autem inventis nomina imponi, sive ab

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 513

atilitate sive alia qualitate ducta. Ex quo porro apparet, quo
plures res ab aliquo populo inveniantur, eo ditiorem et uberiorem
eorum linguam fieri, ut adeo mirandum non sit tantam esse linguae
Graecse copiam et ubertatem, quum exculta ea fuerit a populo
ingeniosissimo, cui omnes artes et disciplinae non tantum primordia
sua, sed etiam omnem fere splendorera, debent. Linguas itaque
diligenter consideranti, idem quod in artibus, in iis quoque usu
venire apparebit : eas nirairum a panels simplicissimisque initiis
profectas, non nisi sensim et progressu temporis ad eam qua
postea patuerunt amplitudinem pervenisse. Quum autem hominum
natura ita sit comparata, ut primum eas res circumspiciat, quae
necessario ad vitam sustentandam, et cum aliis quibuscum homo
societatis vinculo conjunctus est secure agendam, requirantur,
dein vero ea excogitat quae vitam jucundiorem possint reddere,
valde verisiraile fit vocabula ea in linguis antiquissiraa esse quibus
res designantur ad vitam degendam necessarise, si recesseris ab
iis vocabulis, quse in antiquissimorum vocabulorum locum deinceps
substituta sunt, ut revera hujus generis multae vocabulorum formse
inveniantur, quae verborum obsoletorum locum occupaverunt.
"Porro non alienum erit hie observasse non tantum ejusmodi
vocabula antiquissima existimari debere, sed etiam 'ipsas' signifi-
cationes verbis subjectas tanto antiquioris usus esse, tantoque
magis proprias esse habendas, quanto sunt propiores iis rebus quas
corporis sensibus percipimus. Ab iis enim semper servata qua-
dam similitudine ad reliquas quascumque verborum significationes
progrediendum est : ut adeo appareat, paucissimas revera esse
proprias verborum ' significationes,' nee alias esse nisi corporeas,
sive eas quibus res sensibus externis expositae designantur.
"E contrario autem, translatarum significationum copiam im-
mensam, quse ex propria notione, tanquam ex trunco arboris rami,
quaquaversum pateant ; manente similitudine inter eas omnes et
propriam seu primam stirpis significationem, similiter atque rami,
utcumque dispersi, et communem et communis trunci naturam
retinent. " Ex his prseterea intelligitur ea verba, quae ovo^ala TtETtoiri-
jiEva a Graecis vocantur, sic dicta quia a ' nomine' vel ' sono' for-
mentur, ' propriam' eam significationem quae soni, unde facta sunt,
naturam referat. Quorum verborum numerus ingens revera in
linguis est, et longe major quam vulgo credi solet. Sed, ut ad
propositum redeamus, ex iis quse supra dicta sunt, clare apparet,
simplicissimas origines non posse repeti nisi ab ejusmodi verbis,
33

514 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

quibus 'actiones ipsae significentur ; adeoque a verbis sic proprie
dictis. " Quumque actiones infinitae, sive nulli certae personse adsignatae,
per rei naturam antecedere debeant iis quae certse personse attribu-
nntur, verba 'infinitiva' simplicissima proprie primas linguae
Graecse origines continere certum est.
"Harum autem plurimae, quum jam a longissimis temporibus,
una cum plerisque notionibus propriis, ex usu ceciderint, ac diffi-
cillimse ssepe indagatu sint, quo certiores progredi possimus, id
semper tenendum est, ne quidquam admittamus quod constanti
analogise linguae repugnet ; dein etiam, ut ex ipsis linguae reliquiis,
rite inter se comparatis, inquiramus a quo verbo originali voca
bulum quodque oriatur : etiam tum, quum minus ipsum verbum
originale superstes sit.
"Ubi enita in sequentibus agetur de 'simplicissimis' verbis
'primitivis,' id non, ita accipiendum est quasi ea omnia, sicut etiam
multa derivata simpliciora, florente lingua Grseca, in sermone
Grsecorum adhuc exstitisse vellem ; sed tantum, in prime linguae
Graecse ortu, aut exstitisse revera aut saltem existere potuisse.
Neque enim, in hoc linguae Grsecse defectu, aequo certo sciri
potest, an tanta copia, quantam fingere verborum per linguse
naturam constanti analogise ductu liceat, prima linguae Graecae
aetate reipsa viguerit."
Our object is here to present the Greek scholar, who may not
have reflected on the subject, such suggestions as will lead him to
perceive that Boi^g, doulos, is an original Greek word, not bor
rowed ; and although he may not agree with us in the derivation of
the term, yet that he may readily satisfy himself what is the
true derivation. It is true, Scheidius, in his "Animadversiones
ad analogiam linguse Graecse," has criticized the views of Lennepius,
and has devoted near thirty pages to that which is our quotation
from him ; and we did fancy, upon its examination, that he had rather
established than weakened the argument of Lennepius : in fact we
did propose to quote him as authority ; but to the most of us long
quotations, in a language to us unknown, are quite objectionable.
We therefore refer to his work, pp. 246 to 275, apud Padden-
burg et filium, 1790, " Traiecti ad Rhenum." It has been said
by some of those who contend that Sov^g, when found in the
Greek Testament, does not mean slave, that the Greek, like all
other languages of modern date, is a compilation from the more

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 515

ancient ones ; and since the Greeks at an early day had no slaves,
it is evident, it is good proof that the more ancient tribes, from
whom they and their language descended, had none ; and in all
such early periods of the world men never had words in their lan
guage to express things which did not exist among them, of which
they could have no idea.
Therefore Sov^g could not have meant slave, — "an idea of
which they had no notion." Even if this statement were true, we
do not perceive how it proves their proposition. To show the fu
tility of such argument, we consent, for the moment, that Sov?Mg
is not an original Greek word, but was borrowed from some other
language, in which it meant something distinct from the idea of
slave : say, a freeman, if you choose. Language, and all its parts,
has ever been found to conform itself to the habits and wants of
those who use it. Wherefore we often find a term, which some
centuries ago expressed a certain distinct idea, now to express
quite a different one. We therefore cannot say, with any propriety,
that, because -the word Sov2x>g meant a " freeman," at the age of
Noah, that it also meant the same thing at the age of Alexander.
If it meant a " freeman" at the age of Noah, we are to determine
that fact by its use at that period ; if otherwise, we should be able
to prove that our word slave does not mean a slave now, but a proud
and lofty distinction.
It is a term borrowed from the Schlavonic, where its significance
was fame, renown, kc; but the Schlavonians going into bond
age to other nations, upon their inroads on Europe, the term im
plying fame in their ancient national distinctions came to signify
in succeeding ages the condition of bondage. But although, as
we have seen, a language is modified by the habits of those who
apply it, yet this liability to change ceases when the language
ceases to be the common vehicle of thought. Such substantially
has been the case with the ancient Hebrew, since the era of the
prophets ; and such has, emphatically, been the case with the ancient
Greek since the breaking down of the Roman Empire.
And even at the age of the apostles, the Greek had already ar
rived at the very highest point of its cultivation. No history, no
writer gives proof of any subsequent improvement. If, then, we
desire with seriousness and truth to determine the significance of
any term then in use, the same is alone to be found by an inves
tigation of the Greek literature of that age.
There are two modes by which an idea expressed in one language

513 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

is ,3xplained in another. Where both languages contain words of
sy lonymous meaning, then the expressing the idea through the
medium of the words in another language, is properly what we
mtin by "translation." But in many instances, the second lan
guage contains no word or words which are synonymes of the term
by which the idea is expressed in the language which we wish to
translate. In that case we can accoraplish the object only by
transferring the term expressing the idea from the one language
to the other. Example: — When the French exhibited to the na
tives here a padlock, the natives associated the thing with their
idea of the tortoise, from the fancied mechanical resemblance, and
with them the name of the one became the name of the other also.
But when we exhibited to them a steamboat, they found their lan
guage destitute of any word to express their idea of the thing ex
hibited ; consequently, they transferred into their own language the
word steamboat, to express the new idea.
With a view to be enabled to come to a truthful decision as to
the definiteness of the idea intended to be conveyed by the word
doulos, when used in the writings of the apostles, let us make a
suitable inquiry among the Greek authors read and studied at their
time, regardless of what may be the result as- to the establishment
of any peculiar theory or favourite notion. Let a development of
the truth be the sole object of the research, careless of what else
may stand or fall thereby. And since all have not chosen to burden
theuselves with the toilsome lesson necessary in a preparation for
sucii examination, we consent that such may pass it by with the
same indifference with which they regard the study.

LESSON IV.

We commence our quotations from the Greek authors with the
Cebetis Tabxda, from the Gronovius edition, Glasgow, 1747 :
P- 17.  ho xai brav dvaTuaa-ri navQ' baa eTmBe Ttapd rng
tV'/ili, dvojyxa^Etai tavtaig taig yvvat^i Sov?ievelv, xai
Ttdrd' vTtofievELV, xai dajQq^ovELv, xai noisiv evexev tovtav baa
iart (STuaSspd.
P. 34. Tovg (/.Eylatovg, e^yj, xai td [lEyixJta ^pia, d TtpoTe-
pov avtov xarria^LE, xai £x6?ia^E, xai iTtoihl Sov?.ov. TavTa

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 517

Ttdvra vEvixYixE, xai dnippv^sv d^' Eavtov, xai XExpdrrixtv
savrov, uars sxEU'a I'vv tovta ^ov^svovOi, 5£a0d7iep or ros
ixEivoig npovspov.
iEschylus, Prometheus Chained. Line 463 :
xd^Ev^a Ttpatog iv ^vyotg xvahahj.
l^EvyXaiat ^ov7.,EVovta.
In his Choephoroi line 75 :
EX yap OLxav
Ttat pacyv 8ov?ulov sadyov alaav,
Sixaia xai (ivi hixata,
TtpETtovr dpxalg ^iov,
^iq. (pEponEVQv aivEOai Ttixpov ^psvav
Gtvyog xpatovari.
Burney translates this passage thus :
Etenim e domo paterna servilem induxeram sortem, stat juste
et injuste, convenienter origini mese, eorum qui vi agunt laudare
acerbura raentis odium coercenti.
Line 133. xdya fiEv dvriSov^og — which the same author trans
lates, Et ego quidem pro serva habeor.
Anacreon, Sur l' Amour Esclave :
At Moijcrat tov "EpoTa
AriaaaaL ats^dvoiat,
T^ KdIlX.£t TtapsSaxav.
Kal vvv 71 KvdspEia
TiYitsl, /linrpa ^ipovaa,
AvaaaOai tov "Epcora.
Kdi' ?ivaYi Se TTig avrov,
OVX E^Etai, flEVEL hi'
AovT^^EVELV, Sshihaxtai.
Lucian, Dialogues ofthe Gods — Jove, -iEsculapius, and Hercules :
tya &, et xai ^yjSsv dT^!^, oi^ts iSov^iSvaa aaTtEp av.
Translation : Ego vero, si nihil aliud, neque servivi quemadmo-
dum tu, &c.
Mercury and Maia :
 aansn ol sv yri zaxog SovT^tEVOfvtEg,
Ut in terris solent, qui malam servitutem serviunt.

518 STUDIES ON, SLAVERY.

Charon sire Contemplantes. Mercury :
Oi yap ola^a baoi tio'Xe^oi hid tovro, xai kniSovTML, xai
"^atnpua, xai iniopxiau, xai ^ovol, xai hsaim, xai 7i?iovg [la-
xpog, xai iiiTtopiai,, xai hov^Etai;
Nescis enim quot propterea bella existant, et insidiae, latrocinia,
perjuria, caedes, vincula, navigatio longinqua, mercaturae, servitutes
denique ?
Cataplus sive Tyrannus :
Clotho. — 'AxovE' ^dX?Mv yap dvidari ^adav. Tnv fiiv yv-
vatxd aoi M/^ocg 6 hovT^og e^ec, xai Ttd/Lat 8s aifrtv snoij(^EVsv.
Audi, magis enim iis auditis lugebis : uxorem tuam Midas ha-
bebit, servus qui olim adulterio illi cognitus est.
Megapenthes. — Kdv iha'triv [is Ttoirjaov, S Moipa, tav Ttsvn-
tav £va, xq.v SovTuov, dvtl tov TuOiau ^adiT^ag.
Vel privatum me facito, Parca, pauperum unum, vel servum, pro
eo, qui rex nuper- fui.
Necyomantia, Menippus:
* * * ExoT^d^ovto ts dfia ndvtsg, ^aaiXslg, hovXoi,
aatpdrtat, Ttsvritsg, TtXovaLOf xai fists[iE2.E Ttdat, tov tsto^jXYj-
(/.Evcrv. EVLOvg Se aitctv xai iyvapiaafiEv iScyvtsg, oTtoaoi naav
tav Eva/yxpg tEtsT^vtYixotaiv. ol 8e EvsxaTuvntovto xai ajtsa-
tps^ovto' si Se xai TtpoaS'kETioisv, iid'ka Sov7.,67tpE7tsg Tt,
xai xoTMXEVtixov xai taita, -Jtag olsl, (iapslg ovtsg xai vrcsp-
oTttai Ttapd tov ^iov ;
Un^ autem omnes punipbantur, reges, servi, satrapae, pauperes, di-
vites, mendici ; cunctosque pcenitebat patratorum ; nonnullos agno-
viraus etiam conspicati, eorum de numero scilicet qui nuper vitam
finierant; illi vero prse pudore vultus tegebant seseque averte-
bant ; quod si forte respicerent, valde quidem servilem in modum,
atque adulatorie, illi ipsi, qui fuerant quam putas graves et su-
perbi aliorum contemtores in hac vita.
Deorum Comitia: *¦
^ Momus:^ * * * t ouy apovv ol txvBat xai ol T stat tavt a
opavtsg avtuv, /^a;«pd nfilv ;^a(paj' slnovtsg, avtoi dnaSava-
ti^ovat, xai ^Eovg xecpotovovaa; oiig dv i^ET^naoai, tov avtov
tponov bvTtsp xa:t Zdiio-klig, Sov?.og ojv^napsvEypdcpyi, oix
oiS' bruag SiaXaOav.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

519

Proinde Scythae ac Getse hsec illorum videntes, longum nobis
valere jussis, immortalitati se donant, et decs quoscunque voluerint
feris sufi'ragiis consalutant, eodem mode quo Zamolxis etiam,
servus cum esset, in album nescio quomodo delitescens, irrepsit.
Demosthenes. Leipsic Ed. 1829, in 4 vols. Vol. i.
Olynthiac 2d. * * * i^ 0)5 ol Ttapd tr[V avTwv d^iav Sshov-
Ti^ojiEvoi Qstta^l vvv oix dv ETuEvdspoi, ysvocvto dafisvoi —
which Leland translates thus : * * * " or that the Thessalians,
who have been so basely, so undeservedly enslaved, would not
gladly embrace their freedom."
P. 70.  btL AaxsSaifiovioLg xataSov?.,ov(i£voig, kc
Philippic 4th, p. 142.  ^nts dov2,£V8iv d?i^.
P. 148.  sig Sov?,Eiav, kc.
Idem.  fnv Se tav Sov2,av aTtsj^sa^ai- SriTtov [ivi ysvsa-
3ai SeI.
Idem, p. 149.  Sov^ua Se, n'kyiyal, xai 6 tov aafiatog
aixva^iog' kc.
Idem, p. 158. * * * {irtO/lotTtov Sov2.evelv.
Idem.  oiSe yap dxpiSag bti Sov7[,Evetv (iev v^stg ovt'
i^sX^astE. Idem, p. 159.  wtT^ydysto slg tnv vvv Ttapoiaav Sov-
y.slav. On the Treaty with Alexander, p. 227. * * * yj jtsia^EVtag
ys Sov'kEVEiv dvtl TTQ^' djpyvpavr[tav .
Idem, p. 229.  tov S' slg SovT^siav dyovtd fis, kc.
De Corona, p. 208.  Ttofep' ag 6 Tiatrip aov, Tpoiirig,
8Sov?uSvs Ttap' 'E/\,Tt('(3i tc) Ttpog t(f) Oyiasia StSdaxovtt ypdfx-
fiata, kc.
Idem.  d/l/l' ag 6 tptv^pavT^rig ^opfilav, 6 Aiuvog tov
^psappiov Sov7\jOg, kc.
Idem, p. 289.  oxnr' E'ksv^spog ex Sov7\,ov, xai, kc
Idem, p. 309.  tovg "^E/L/lrivag xataSovXov^ivovg.
Idem, p. 316.  7tpoads[i£vy;v da<pa?^ag Sov/\,evsiv.
Idem, p. 316.  Si btov Sov/^svaovatv sitv^ag.
Idem.  6 Se xai t^ TtatplSt, vnsp tov firi tavtriv in-
iSelv SovT^svovaav dTto^vnaxstv i^E^iriaEi, xai ^oSspatspag
riyriastat tdg v6pEi,%xal tag altliuag, dg sv SovT.EVOvari tri
TCoXsi ^epEcv dvdyxri tov ^avdtov.

520 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
Idem, p. 343, (in the Epitaph.)  -ag fin fyyov ai'X^s.vi ^sv-
tsg Sov/ioavvrig, kc.
Idem, p. 346. — ^ — sag Sov/iovg STtoiyjaav.
Oratio de Falsa Legatione, vol. ii. p. 37.  d?b2.d Sov?^EV-
ELV, xai tE^vdvai Toj (pofSa, xai tovg Qri^aiovg, xai tovg
^L^iTtTtov ^Evovg, [oi'ig] dvo/yxd^ovtat tps^siv, Siaxta^Evoi
xatd xafiag, xai TtxxpriprtfiEvoL td oTt/la.
Idem, p. 54.  xai yap tot, npatov fisv 'Afi^i7to2.iv, Tiokiv
vfistspav, Sov'kriv xatiatrjaEV, riv tots av[i[iay^ov aitov
xai (pi7.,iriv sypa'^sv.
Idem, p. 60.  aat' sxslvog 6 SovTisvaav £^e7J}\jSV sasa-
^i toig dno T'/ig siprivYig ^vautsTMiGiv, oi% vfislg.
Idem, p. 78.  oti tavta fiEv aWw CDz^/.&t TtETtpary^sva,
xai SovTbog nv TO'V 'pYi^dtav tovtav.
Idem, p. 95. 'E/lej/eta 'XoXavog.
Elg Se xaxTiv 'ra;j;£oj ri/iv^E SovT^^oavvviv,
"H atdatv s^^vTiov, noks^Lov 3-' svSovt" sitEysipsi,
"Og Tto'k'kav spatriv oTisasv yx^txiYiv.
Idem, p. 97.  ol yap iv talg Tto/LeCt yvapiiiatatoi, xai
¦HpoEatdvai tav xoivav d^tovftsvot, triv avtav TtpoStSovtsg
iy^sv^splav, ol Svatv^slg, ai^aipstov avtotg iTtdyovtat Sov-
Xsiav, f^L/^iTtnov ^ikiav, xai ^svlav, xai itaipiav, xai Ta
tOiaV^' VTtOXOpi^OflEVOL.
Oratio adversus Leptinem, p. 174.  Ttag ydp oiy^l xai xata
tovto Ssivotat' dv TtsTtov^ag 6 'Ka(3piag ^avsiri, ei ^n [lovov
i^apxiasLE toig td toiavta TtoTiLtEVOjiEvoig tov ixsivov Sov-
lov AvxiSav Ttpo^Evov v^Etspov TtETtotrixEvai, d?uX si xai Sia
tpvtov TtdXiv TTcii' ixEiva ti So^Evtav d^£?Mivto, xai raiiT'
alt lav My ovt Eg -^EvSn;
Oratio contra Midiam, p. 207.  xai toaavtri y ixpriaato
vTtsplBolYi, aatE, xav sig Sov'kov v(3pi^rj rtg, ofiolag sSaxsv
vnkp toitov ypa^nv. * * * ij^g^^^ ^j g^pg^, q{,^ iTtitnSstov.
fivitE Ttpog Soil /{,0V, fiYi^' b/\xog i^slvai Ttpattstv insta^sv.
P. 208. Nojtfos. — 'Eai' rtg v^pia/i slg twa, n TtaiSa, n yv-
vaixa, n dvSpa, tav iksv'^spi^yv, n tcyv Sov^^av, n Ttapdvofiov
ti Ttoinari Eig tovtav tivd, ypa^sa^a Ttpog tovg ^Eafio^stag

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 521

6 ^ovTMfiEVog 'A^rivalav, oig l^sativ. * * * dxcfVEts, a
dvSpsg 'A^Yivaloi, tov vofiov trig <|)(Xav3pG)Ttja5, 6g oiSs tovg
^oi'iAoi'g vi^pl^sa^t d^tot.
P. 209.  Ojuog ovS' baav dv ti^'hv xata'^svtEg SovT^ovg
xtr^aavtai. P. 210.  'ATtG/l?xjvt aTtoTpoTtat'cj /3ow ^ijcrat, xai ats^-
j-zi^pstv iTiEV^Epovg xai SovXovg, xai £?.a'VELV fiiav yijuepav.
Idem, p. 253.  ri'TtTeti', d^/ld tr.v sTtl trig TtOfiTtng xai
701) ^^VEiv Tipo^ouyiv Xa^av, dSixslv, cjg SovTuOtg ^pa^vog
tolg J/Len^gpotg.
Oratio adversus Androtionem, p. 293.  WTtap Toii (iri to
aofia dP.org etg To Ssa^af/ipiov £2,x£G^i, r, d/LXa da'^/inovoiYi,
d SovT^av, OVX iT^v^spav, iatlv spya, kc.
Idem.  xai fir.v, st S^£/lotTe ffxE-vj/affSat, ti Sov2,ov, n
E/Ui'S'Epov 8tVat, Sia^spsL, tovto ^syiatov dv ivpoits, btt totg
^liv SovT^o ig to aa^a Tav dSLxriy-dtav aTtdvtav vrtsv^vvov
iati. Idem, p. 295.  Ttotsp' ovv oisa^s tovtov ixaatov fiiastv,
xai TtoT^EfMLV aita, Sid tr,v sia^opav tavtr.v, r. tov fiiv
aitavjb~L,Ttdvtavdxov6vtav vfj-av, iv ta Sr^ua Sov?.ov E^ri,
xai ix Sov?iav sivai, xai TtpoariXEiv aita To sxtov ^ipog
iia^ipsLV iLstd Toi' fiEtoixorv.
Idem, p. 298.  ei ydp dvSpaTtdSav Ttakig, akXa ^m
rav dp'x^ELV ktspav d^uovvtav, a^ioTioyElts slvai, bvx dv, a
dv^peg 'A^y^vatoL, tdg v(3pEtg r:v£aj(^Ea'^E tdg tovtov, dg ;caTd
Tr;i' dj^opav v(ipi^Ev, ofiov ^toikovg, ' A^r.i'aiovg, Ssav, dndyav,
3oav iv talg ixx?.r;alaig, iTtl tov iS'raatog, SovTuOvg xai ix
SovXav xa.'XJav, iavtov ^sTutiovg, xai ix i3£?.tlovav, ipatav.
Idem, p. 299.  vvv S' iTtl tatg sia^opalg, 6 Slxaiov gffS-'
opiaag, fin aol TtiatsisLV, a?Odd toig avtr.g SovT^oig, tnv Tto/la',
OTtOT dX/lo Tt TtpdTTCOV, &C.
Oratio adversus Timocratem, vol. iii. p. 128.  xat yap sxsi-
vav, a dvSpsg Stxaatal, baoi dv l^ev^epot yivavtai, oi tr,g
iXsv^spiag xdptv s^ovai toig SsaTtotatg, dXXd itiaoiai fidkiata
dv^paTtav aTtdvtav, bti avviaaaiv avtoig Sov2,ovaaaiv.
Idem, p. 133.  si ovv fin tifiapr,ayia^E tovtovg, oix dv
^^VOl TO Tt^^lS-Og TOIJTOtg Totg 3)7ptOtg SoV?^£VOV.

522 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
Idem, p. 141.  xai finv ei ^£?uOitE Gx£4^a^i, Ttap' i>|Uti
avtotg, a dvSpsg Stxaatal, Tt Soi)2,ov, n iyisv^spov slvac Sia-
^Epsi, tovto [isyiatov dv svpottE, btu totg fiiv Sov^otg To
aafiatav dSixYifidtayv aTtdvtav vrtsv^vvov iati, totg S' iXsv-
S'epotg vatatov tovto Ttpoanxst, xo2,d^siv.
Oratio III. adversus Aphobum, p. 242.  xaitoi Eiy' nv Sov-
2,0 g dv^payrtog, xai (in TtpoafM^Ayyito Ttpog tovS' J/lei33fpog
slvat, kc.
Idem, p. 243.  62,2x1 xai Sov?bOV sivai tov dv^paTtov tuj
bvti. Idem, p. 247.  SioTtsp tovg ofioTuoyovfiivag Sov2,ovg
Ttapa^dg, tov l/leiiS-epov n^lov ^aaavi^siv, bv oiS' baiov Ttapa-
Sovvai, kc. *
Oratio I. adversus Onetorem, p. 266.  xaloTtotav Sov2,oi,
xai i2,EV^Epoi TtapojyEvavtai, Se/j S' svps^vai to ^ritovftsvov,
oi 'x^pna^E tatg tatv iXsv^spav fiaptvpiaig, d2,2.d tovg Soi-
2.0 vg (3oKyavi^ovt£g ovta t,vitstts tnv d^n^siav svpslv tqv
TtsTtpojyfisvav. * * * Sov2,av Sk ^aaavia^Evtaiv, oiSs-
vsg TtaTtoif i^y!2Ayx,^(yoiv, og oix d2,yi^ td ix trig paadvov
ElTtOV. Oratio in Phormionem, vol. iv. p. 13.  vvv S' oix ifiol,
* * * d2,X iv BocTTtdpo), ;cat, Tr;g avyypa^/ig cot xsiiiEvr,g
'AS^Vi^Ci xai Ttpog ifi£, xai, a To x^vaiov aTtsSiSovg, ovtog
^ritov, xai TtsTbO/yog toaovtofv ftE7J2avtog 7t2stv, ^dpTupa
oiSsv iTtoinaa, ovts Sov2,ov, ovt' i2£v'^Epov.
Oratio in Pantsenetum, p. 80. — — Tt'g ydp TtaTtots T6J ^ECTTtoTy;
2MX,av, tov Sov2,ov td Ttpdyfiata, aaTtsp xvpiov, xatriyo-
priaEv ;
Oratio in Macartatum, p. 173.  STta/yy £2,2,£iv Si, TtEpl fisv
tav Sov2,av Tci SEaTtotri TtEpl Si tav iTuEv^ipav totg Ta
Xpnfiat s^ovaiv.
Oratio in Stephanum, I. p. 217.  ^avr,Getai yap oi Tta-
Tpog, i-Tiip vUav ypd^ovtog, iovxvta Sta^hxr,, d2,2La Sov2,ov
2,E2,vfiaafi£vov Ta tav SsaTtotav, oTtoig fin Saasi Slxy;v axonovv-
tog. Idem, p. 231.  xai si fisv Ttsvyjg ovtog nv, nfisig S' sino-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 523

poirvTeg Etvyxdvofisv, xai avvi^ri Tt Tia^slv, o'la Tto2,2jd, ifiol,
ol TtalSsg dv ol tovtov Tov ifiav ^wyaTspoi' iSixd^ovto, ol tov
Sov2,ov TOV ToiJ feffTtOTOD" * * * oiJTog 5' af) TOWtt^-
Ti'oo' TOV &cyTtbT57v 6 Sov2,og i^std^si, 05 &iTa Ttovjypo'v jcat
dffoTov ix tovtav iTtiSsi^oyv.
Idem, p. 234.  ovtav ydp nftav toioytav, artoiovg Ttvag
dv xai av xataaxsvda'^g to 2j6ya, av SQv2,og n.a'^a.
Idem, p. 235. — ,— xat, Siofiai xai dvti(3o2,a xai Ixstsva, fin
vnspiSritE fiE xai tdg ^vyatipag, Si' ivSsiav totg ifiavtov Sov-
2,oig, xai totg tovtov x62,a^iviTtix,dptovgyEVOfi£vovg. * * *
Sov2,oi fiEV ixstvoi, Sov2,og S' ovtog nv, SsaTtotai S' vfistg,
SsaTtotrig S' nv iya.
Oratio in Timotheum, p. 312.  6 Si ovts fiaptvpiav Ttapia-
Xsto, oi'3-' og Sov2,ov Tov Ai(T;^ptWa Ttapa&iig, ix tov Gafia-
tog tov sXsyxpv n^iov ysvsa^i, ^o(3ovfiEVog, dv fiiv fiaptv
piav Ttapdaxritai, og i2,EV^£pov ovtog, kc
Sophocles, Electra, line 814 :
nSr; SeI fis Sov2,eveiv Tiakiv
iv totaiv ixPlatoixSiv dvdpaTtav sfioi,
^ovsiai TtaTpog.
This Francklin translates thus : "Left at last, a slave to those
whom most on earth I hate."
Antigone, line 202.  Toiig Si Sov2,aaag dysiv.
Francklin thus — "And made you slaves."
Idem, line 478. oil yap ixTt£2,Ei
^povslv fii y' batig Sow /log JcrTt tov Tts/lag-
Thus — " 'Tis not for slaves to be so haughty."
Idem, line 517.  oi ydp ti ^oii^og, d^/L' d&/l<|)65 oS.eTo.
Thus — " He was a brother, not a slave."
Idem, line 756.  ywaixog av Sov2,£Vfia, fin xat i2,2,e fis.
Tiius — " Think not to make me thus thy scorn and laughter,
thou woman's slave."
Ajax, line 489.  vvv S' slfil Sov2,ri.
Thus — " Though now a wretched slave."
499.  ^uv Ttat^i, TO (TO ^oD^tav s^siv tpo(pnv.
'J^hus  "And thy loved son shall eat the bread of slavery."

"24 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

1020.  Soil /log 2,6yoiaiv dvt i2,sv^£pov ipavsig.
Francklin thus — "And to slavery doomed."
1236.  taijt' oix dxovsiv fisydTia Ttpog' SQv2,av xajcd;
,Thus — " Shall we be thus insulted by our slaves ?"
1289.  6 Sov2,og,.6 ix Trig ^ap(3dpov firjtpog ysyag.
Thus — "I am a slave, born of a barbarian mother."
Oedipus Tyrannus, line 1062 —
av fiEv ydp, oiS' dv ix tpitrig . iya
firjtpog ^avo tpiSov2,og, ix^avEi xaxn ¦
Thus — " Were I descended from a race of slaves, 'twould not
dishonour thee."
1123.  n Sov2,og, oix avritog, d2,X oixoi tpa^sig.
Thus — " Although I am a slave, yet I was not purchased, but
born and reared up in his house."
1168.  nv Sov2,og, n xsivov tig iyysvng y£yag',
Thus — "Was he the son of a slave; if not, of whom?"
Oedipus Coloneus, line 917 —
xai fioi TtbXiV xivavSpov n SovTuviv tivd
iSo^ag sivai.
Francklin thus — " Or didst thou think I valued a desert land,
or that my people were a race of slaves ?"
Trachinise, line 53.  ooii/latg, female slaves.
Line 63-r- nSs ydp ywn
Sov2,Yi fiiv, EiprixEV S' i2,EV^Epov 2,6yov.
Francklin thus — " This woman, though a slave, hath spoken
what would have well become the mouth of freedom's self to utter."
257.  ^vv Ttaial xai ywaixl Sov2,aasiv en.
Thus — " And bind in slavery his wife and all his race."
267.  ^avsiSs, Sov2,og dvSpog ag i2,sv^£pov
'paioito.
Francklin thus — "And said a slave like him should bend be
neath a freeman's power."
283.  Tto/ltg Se Sov2,Yi.
302.  Tavirv Ss Sov2,ov iaj(pvaLV (Siov.
367.  011^" og Te Sov2,r;v.
467.  £7tepcre xc!.Sov2,aaEv.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 52,-

Philoctetes, line 995 —
01 fioi Td/Lag. nfidg fiiv og Sov2,ovg ffa^og
TtaT'/,p dp' i^E^vaEv, oiS' £/l£DS-£pODg.
Aristophanes, Ranse (Batrachoi), line 191 —
Sov2,ov oix dya,
si fin vsvavfid'X'^xE tnv Ttept tov xpsav.
531.  Us Sov2,og av xai ^vi^tog.
641.  EL Uav^iag fisv Sov2,og av.
684.  5oi3^og dfia xai ^vrjtog av;
632.  dS-draTog etvai ^rifii Atdvuffog Atog,
ToiiTov Ss Sov2,ov.
694.  xdvtl Sov2,av SsaTtotag.
742.  oTf, Sov2jOg av, s^aaxEg sivai SsaTtotrig.
743.  ToiJTo fisvtoi SovT^ixov
Ev'^vg TtETtoirixag.
949.  a2,X £2,EyEv n ywn. t' ifiol jb> Sov2,og oiSiv
nttov. Aves (Ornithes), line 69.  opvtg iyays Sov2,og.
Line 763— tov ^i2,nfiovog yivovg
si Ss Sov2,6g iati Kdp, kc
911.  ETtsita Snta Sov2,og av xofiriv £;^ftg.
Equites (Hyppes), line 44 —
orTog t'^ Ttpotipoi vovfirivici.
iTtpiato Sov2,ov.
Lysistrate, line 330.  Sov2,viaiv aati^ofisvr!.
Acharnenses, 401 —
oS-' o Sov2,og ovtaal aa^ag aTtsxpivato.
Vesp^ (Sphekes), 617 —
d2/ld Sov2,svav 2£2,yi^ag.
Ttavs SovTuslav 2,£yav,
offTtg dp;^o Tov aTtdvTOT".
Line 602—
nv Sov2,siav ovaav s^axsxEg ximYipsaiav aTtoSsi^ELV.
Line 681—
d%2,' aitnv fioi tnv Sov2,Eiav oix dTto^aivav aTtoxvaisig.
oi ydp fisyd2,ri Sov2,Eia 'atlv, tovtovg fiiv dTtavtag iv dp;^atg.

526 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Thesmophoriazusae, line 537 —
aitai y£ xai Ta Sov2,dpia, kc.
564.  oiS' og av, tng Soii/lj^g tsxovavig dppEv'.
Ecclesiazusae, line 661.  ol Sov2,oi.
, Line 721— xai tdg ys Sov2,ag oij^i Sst xoGfiovfisvag
tnv Toi' iTusv^ipav v^apTtd^siv Krrtptv,
d/l/ld Ttapd Totg Sov2.oiai xoifida^i fwvov,
xatavdx'(i tov ;^otpoi' dTtotsti2,fi£vag.
' Homer, Iliad iii. 407 —
MriS' iti aotai TtoSsaaiv v7toatpB4'sia,g ''02,vfntov,
"A/l/L' atfi, Ttepi xsivov ot^vs, xai i ^v2xtxS0E,
M-^bxE a' n d2.oj((yv -Ttoinastai, n oys Sov2,iqv.
Which Pope has paraphrased thus —
" A handmaid goddess at his side to wait,
Renounce the glories of thy heavenly state.
Be fix'd for ever to the Trojan shore,
His spouse, or slave, and mount the skies no more."
Iliad vi. 460—
"ExTopog nSs ywn, og dpuatEVsaxE fid^sadai
Tpaav iTtTtoSdfiav, bts "lAtov dfi^sfia'xpvto.
"Slg Ttoti tig ipssc aol S' av viov iaastai d2jyog
'^ntsi toiovS' dvSpog, dfivvsLV Sov2,iov nfiap.
We should be happy to see the exquisite tenderness of the original
transferred into English. We offer : — " This is the wife of Hector,
the bravest of the horse-taming Trojans, when our people fought
about Ilion. Thus perchance some one will say : and this will be
to thee a fresh sorrow, to feel the want of thy husband to ward
off the day of slavery."
Odyssey xiv. 339 —
"A^X,' oTe yaiTig Tto/l/lov aTtsTtTua TtovtoTtopog vrjig,
Aitixa Sov2,LOV nfiap ifiol Ttspifnq'xavoavto.
Pope thus —
" Soon as remote from shore they plough the wave.
With ready hands they rush to seize the slave."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 527

Odyssey xxii. 421 —
TlEvtvixavtd toi siaiv ivi fisydpoiai yvvatxsg
AfUdai, tdg fisv t' spya SiSd^afiEV ipyd^Ea^ai,
Eipid ts ^aivEiv, xai Sov2,oavvv!g dv£x,£aSyai.
Pope thus —
" Then she : In these thy kingly walls remain
(My son) full fifty of the handmaid train ;
Taught by my care to cull the fleece or weave,
And servitude with pleasing tasks deceive."
Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris, line 130 —
Tto^a TtapS-avtov
offtov oaiag
x2,riSovj(^ov So v2,a (a slave) Ttsfota.
Line 451.  Sov2,Eiag ifd^sv SsiTMiag TtavaiTtovog,
Potter thus — "And bid the toils of slavery cease." '.-'¦<
Troades (Trojan Dames), line 140 —
Sov2,a S' dyofiai ypavg i^ oixav.
" I, an old woman, am led from my home a slave."
Idem, 159.  Sov2,siav aia^ovGiV.
"Bemoan their slavery."
186.  T^ TtpoaxEifiai Sov2,a t2,dfiav.
" Assigned a slave," &c.
197.  Sov2,Evaa ypavg.
"An old woman enslaved."
214. '  £v^' dvtdaa MevsXot So v2,a.
"Exposed me a slave to Menelaus."
Idem, 235— Sov2,ai yap Sn
AapiSog iafiiv %^or6g nSr;.
" We are slaves of the Dorian land, even now."
284.  ^oTt Sov2,EVSiv. *
"I am enslaved," &c.
599.  ^vyd S' vrvvas 8ov2,ia Tpota.
" Troy yields to the yoke of slavery."
615  sig Sov2,ov nxsi.
"Is sunk in slavery."
661  Sov2.Evaa S%kc.

628 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
Idem, 678—
vava62avfiai S' iya
Ttpog "E/l/ld^' ai^fid2atog sig Sov2.ov ^vyov.
"I go by sea to Greece, a prisoner of war, to a yoke of
slavery." 957.  xsivYig Se Sov2,6g iati.
"But is her slave."
971.  Ttixpag iSov2,sva'
"Harshly enslaved."
1341.  iV £Tti. TdXatvav
Sov2,Eiov hfiipav ^iov.
Bacchae, 366.  ydp TO Atog Sov2,svt£ov.
803.  Tt'^povTa; Sov2,svovta Sov2,Eiaig ifiatg;
Potter thus — " What should I do ? be to my slaves a slave ?"
1028.  dig as atsvd^a, Sov2.og av fisv, dX/l' bfiag
XpyiatoiOi Sov2,oig avfi^opd td SsaTtotav.
Potter thus —
"How I lament thee, though a slave; yet slaves,'
If faithful, mourn the ruin of their lords."
Cyclops, 76 — iya S% 6 aog Ttp6aTto2jog,
^tsva KvxTMTti
tqj fiovoSspxta,
SovTbOg d?Mivav avv tqSs
tpdyov 'x2aiva. fisT^sq.
adg xaplg ^t/Ltag.
Helena, 283— ;cat, ^i2jav ti^tafiivv!,
Sov2,yi xadiatYix', ova' i2,Ev^spav dno.
td ^ap^dpav ydp Sov2,a Ttdvta, Tt2,nv ivog.
Potter thus — " Of friends deprived,
I, from the free who draw my generous blood,
Am made a slave; for 'mong barbarians all
Are slaves, save one."
299.  da'^nfiovEg fiiv dyxpvai fiEtdpaiai,
xav total SovT^o ig SvaTtpsTtig vofii^Etai.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 529
Potter thus — " The pendent cord
Disgraces ; even in slaves it is deemed base."
Line 728—
iya fiiv siviv, xsl tK^v^' bfiag XdTptg,
iv Toifft yswaioiaiv npi^fivi^iT^
Sov2,oiai, tovvofi oix i^av J/leiiS-epov,
tov vovv Ss' xpstaaov ydp toS' n Svotv xaxotv
sv' ovta 'xpria'^i, tdg 4)p£7'ag t' i^^iv xaxdg,
dMiov t' dxovEiv SovTuov ovta Tov Tt£^g.
Potter thus — "It is my wish,
Though born a slave, among the generous slaves
To be accounted, bearing a free mind.
If not the name ; for better this I deem.
Than two bad things, to harbour a base' taind.
And hear from those around the name of slave."
We deem this translation defective, because it makes no dis
tinction h'etween the ideas conveyed by the words JldTptg and
Sov2jog. True, at this late day, the passage is somewhat obscure.
But the speaker was not a slave : he says he was born a /IdTptg —
a character far less elevated than the Sov2x)g, yet a freeman, hut
possessing a greater servility of mind than even the doulos, and
his condition often far more abject. The slave possessed the pro
tection of his master ; but the latris, with all the destitution and
degradation incident to the lowest conditions of the freeman, often
coveted the happier condition of the doulos. The idea conveyed
by this messenger is literally this : " Although born a latris, I had
rather be considered among the home-born slaves, not having the
name of freedom, than to have merely the name ; for I consider
this a good choice between the two evils — the being supposed to
have the base mind of the latris, and the being truly called a slave
by those near us." The substance is, he had rather be a doulos
than a latris.
That he was not a slave is evident from what follows in the 797th
line, where Menelaus calls him emphatically his prospolon, merely
an attendant.
1^30.  d2Jbd SsaTtotcn^ xpatnasig, Sov2,og av;
Potter — " Slave as thou art, wilt thou control thy lord?"
34 i

5,30 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
Idem, 1640. Ttpo ^eo'TtoTov
totai ysvvaioiai Sov2.o ig six2,E£atatov ^vstv.
" To home-born slaves, it is glory to die for their masters."
Ion, line 132. — . — ^sotai So v2,av ^s^' £j(^siv.
" To be a slave to the gods."
182.  $ot'/?o SovXsvaa, kc.
327.  totg tov ^Eov xoafiovfiE^', S) Sov^svofiev.
556.  ixTtE^svyafiEV to Sov2,ov.
761.  Sov2t£Vfia matov, kc.
837.  ix Sov2,yig tivog, kc.
854.  £V ydp ti totg Sov2,oiaiv, kc.
855.  tovvofia' td S' dX/la Ttdi^Ta Tov i2,EV^Epaiv
oiSslg xaxiav SovTuog, offTtg Jff^/log f.
Potter— " It is the name ; in all else than the free
The slave is nothing worse, if he be virtuous."
983.  iTtiarifiov 6 ^ovog, xai to Sov2,ov da^svig.
Potter — "An open murder, and with coward slaves."
1109.  Tt S' effTtv, o ^vvSovTue;
"What is the matter, my fellow-slave?"
Hercules, 190.  dvnp mtkitrig Sov2,6g iati tov oTt/lov.
Potter— "  the man array'd in arms
Is to his arms a slave."
Electra, 110.  So'v2jYig ywaixog, female slave.
633.  Sov2,av ydp iSiov tovto, aol Si avfi^opov.
Potter — " Such the slave's nature, but this favours thee.'
Line 898— aog ydp iati vvv
Sov2uog.
" He is thy slave now."
Medea, line 54 —
XpYjatoiai Sov2,oLg ^vfi^opd td SsaTtotav
Jca;cog Ttitvovta xai ^psvav dvddTttstai.
" Slaves who are faithful, suffer in the afflictions of their mas
ters."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 53I
Line 65.  fin, Ttpog yEvsiov, xpvTtts avvSov2,ov as^sv.
"Now by this beard, deceive not by secrecy thy fellow-slave."
Hecuba, line 234 —
si S' sati totg Sov2,oiai tovg i2,sv^£povg
fin 2,vn.pd fiYiSi xapSiag Srixtnpia
i^iatopnaai, aol fiiv sipria^ai xpsixv,
nfidg S' dxoikfai tovg ipatavtag tdSs.
Potter thus —
" But may slaves be permitted of the free
To ask — I mean no rudeness, no reproach —
But may we ask ? And wilt thou answer us ?"
247.  Tt' Sfit' £/l£^ag, Sov2,og av ifiog tots;
Potter — " What didst thou say, when thou wast then my slave f
Idem, 291— vofiog S' iv vfiiv toig t' i2,Ev^ipoig laog
xai total Sov2,oig ouifiatog xsttai Ttipi.
Potter thus — " The laws of blood
Are equal to us slaves, and you our lords."
331.  aiai" To Sov2,ov og xaxov Tts^vxivai.
" Ah well, how great the evil to have become a slave !"
356.  vvv S' Eifil SovTijyi.
"But I am now a slave."
Idem, 865 —
/l£;^)7 Se tdfid Sov2,og avritog Tto^sv
Xpcvst.
" And then, a female stewardess, a slave purchased somewhere,
shall defile my bed."
Idem, 444 — ai'pa, TtovTtdg afipa,
dT£ TtovTOTt6poi;g xofii^Eig
dodg dxdtovg iTt' oiSfia 2,ifivag,
Ttoi fis tdv fis2£av Ttopsiasig ;
ta Sov2,6avvog Ttpog oixov
xtYi^sla' d^i^ofiai;
n AapiSog bpfiov aiag,
n ^^idSog.

532 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Potter— " Tell me, ye gales, ye rising gales.
That lightly sweep along the azure plain.
Whose soft breath fills the swelling sails.
And wafts the vessel dancing o'er the main ;
Whither, ah ! whither will ye bear
This sickening daughter of despair ?
What proud lord's rigour shall the slave deplore,
On Doric or on Phthian shore?"
495.  avtri Si Sov2.yi, ypavg, drtixig, iTtl x^ovi,
xsttai, xovsi (pvpovaa Svati^vov xdpa.
Potter— " Herself a slave, old, childless, on the ground
She lies, and soils her hoar head in the dust."
741.  d2,2,' El fis Sov2,riv Tto2.Efiiav 0' nyovfisvog
yovdtaa> aTtaaait', dlryog av Ttpoa^sifisd' cb'
Potter— " But should he treat me as a slave, a foe.
And spurn me, I should add to my afflictions."
757.  oi Snta' tovg xaxovg Si tifuapovfiivri,
aiava tov ^vfiTtavta Sov?^Evaai ^E2a.
Potter— "Not freedom, but revenge; revenge -on baseness :
Grant me revenge, and let me die a slave."
798.  nfistg fiiv ovv Soi)2,oi ts xda^svsig laag.
Potter — " But we are slaves, but we perchance are weak
809.  Ti'ipavvog nv Ttot% d/l/ld vvv Sov2,'yi ai^sv.
Potter — "Erewhile I was a queen, but now a slave."
Idem, 864— oix iati Bvritav offTtg £ffT' i2£vdspog'
^ %p»7([idTov ydp Sov2,6g iativ n tvy^yig,
n Tt?^ndog aitov Tt6/l£og n vofiav ypa^al
sipyovai ;^p?iff0at fin xatd yvafiriv TpoTtov
Potter— " Vain is the boast of liberty in man :
A slave to fortune or a slave to wealth,
Or by the people or the laws restrained,
He dares not act the dictates of his will."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 533

1262. — — o'ifioi, yvvaixog, og £Gt;^', yiffffOj«evog
Sov2,rig, v^i^a totg xaxioGiv Sixriv.
Potter— " What ! from these wretches shall I suffer thus,
Defeated by a woman and a 'slave ?"
Phcenissse, line 94.  og Sov2j% as a slave,
189.  Sov2,Eiav Tt£pii3a2,av.
"To lead in slavery."
192. -^ — Sov2,oavvav tTiaiviv.
"To suffer slavery."
205.  (!?oi(3a Sov2,a. " Slave to Phoebus."
1606.  d/l/ld Sov2,svaai ti fis — JIo2,v^ov, kc.
" Slave to Polybus," &c.
Orestes, line 221.  iSov tq Sov2,svfi nSv, xoix dvaivofiai.
Idem, 715—  vvv S' dvaiyxaiag £;^£t
Sov2,oia iv slvai totg ao^lai tng tv^yig-
937.  n yvvai^l Sov2,svsiv xpsav.
Potter — "Vile slaves to your wives."
1115.  oiSiv To SovT^ov Ttpog to fin Sov2,ov yivog.
Such was the reply of Pylades to his friend Orestes, in reference
to the Phrygian slave ; and we shall close our quotations from this
remarkable tragic poet, with an interview between Orestes and one
of these Phrygian slaves.
Line 1522—
Orestes. Aov2,og av ^o^st Tov ^MSyiv, og ff' dTta2,2A^Ei xaxofv ;
Slave, ndg dvnp, xav ^oii^log f Ttg, nSstai to ^og opov.
Potter—
Orestes. " Fears a slave death, the end of all his ills ?
Slave. " To slave or free, sweet is the light of heaven."
Alcestes, line 638 — Sov2,iov S' d^' aHfiatog
fiaata yvvavxog ang ims(i2.n6yiv 2Adpa.
Potter — " But, the base offspring of some slave, thy wife stole
me, and put me to her breast."
We find the following in a short notice of the life of Isocrates, ¦¦
by Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

534 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Page 23.  SiSdaxsi S' og oi Msaayivioig totg oixst' ovaiv,
d2,2id Sov2,oig xai ct/loffti' bpfiritnpvov xai xata^vynv
Ttapi^ovai tnv Tt62,iv.
Also, page 26.  Sov2,sv£i ydp n Sidvoia Tt62,2xx,xig to
pvdfia ts 2,E^£ag, xai tav xofi^^v 2,EiTt£tai to d2,7i^iv6v.
Idem, 36.  nfiEtg Se xataSov2,EVfiEvoi, xai td.vavtia
totg tots Ttpdttovtsg.
Idem, 36.  xai tots fiiv si Tpt^ipftg Tt2.Yipotsv, tovg fiiv
^Evovg xai tovg Sov2,ovg -vaiiTag siasSiSa^ov, tovg Ss Tto2,itag
fisO' bTt2jW> i^STtSflTtOV.
Isocrates, (Cantabrigise, 1686,) Orat. ad Demonicum, page 62 —
£v ^£ Totg tspTtvotg, dv aiaxpov vrtoT^dSrig, tav fiiv oixstav
dpx£iv, talg Si nSovalg Sov2,svEiv.
Ad Nicoclem, p. 74.  ;icat ToiiTo nyov ^aai2,ixatatov iav
fiT^Ssfiicf. Sov2^EVYig tav nSovav, d/l/ld ;cpaT-^g Tov iTti^vfiiav
fid2,2av n TOV Tto/ltTov.
Panegyricus, p. 121.  Tov ^£ /?ap^dpov oi ^ov2jOfi£voi
xataSov2,aaaadai tovg '^E2,2frtvag, i^' nfidg TtpoToug
tOVTfg. Idem, 133.  TipoiivTo ^£ tov sl2,atav ivioig Sov2,EVEiV,
oats sig tdg iavtav TtatpiSag vSpi^siv.
Idem, 137.  vivSisig toaavtiqv Sov2,siav xa^satatav.
Idem.  fiiyiatov Ss tav xaxav, btav vrtsp aitng ts Sov-
2,siag dva/yxd^avtai avatpatsvsadai.
Idem.  ;caTop3offavTeg Si fid2,2DV sig tov iTtiTMiTtov xpo-
vov Sov2,svaovaiv.
Idem, 144.  Ttpog fiiv tov Tt62,sfiov ix2,E2,vfiEvog, Ttpog Si
tr(v SovXsiav dfisivov tav Ttap' nfitv oixstav TtsnaiSsvfiivog.
Idem.  drtavta Si tov xpovov Sidyovaiv, og ^£v Toi>g
vSpi^ovtsg, totg Ss Sov2,svovtsg.
Idem, 150.  XixE2,ia Si xataS£Sov2,atai.
Idem, 151.  og wtip toijTov Sov2jSvsiv r.vayxaafiEvai.
Idem, 153.  Srifioaia. Ss toaovtovg tav avfifid^av Ttspi-
opav aitoig Sov2,EVovtag.
Orat. ad Philippum, p. 161.  ^77T£tv Si ixsivovg tovg toTtovg
tovg Ttoppa fiiv xsifisvovg tav dp^Eiv Swafiivav, iyyvg Si
tav Sov2,svEiv si^iafisvav.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

b6b

Archidamus, p. 235.  vi)v xai tnv tcyv Sov2,av Ttappr;-
alav vTtofiEvovtag ^aivsa^i.
De Pace, sive Socialis, page 281.  xai tots fiiv si Tpi>ip£ts
TtXripotsv, tovg fiiv ^ivovg xai tovg Sov2,ovg vavtojg siasSi-
6a^ov. Idem, p. 280.  vfistg Si xat aSov2,ovfiEV0i.
Idemj p. 306.  fin Sov2,siag d2,2,d aatripiag avtotg
airiav yevsG^i.
Evagoras, p. 310.  oi fir(v Sov2,svtEov.
Idem, p. 320.  ^Torg fiiv ^iTuovg tatg sispysaiaig vrC aita
TtQiovfisvog tovg Si dX2ovg tYi fisyaTxi'^vxio- xataSov2,oi-
liEvog. Idem, p. 326.  ot Si "EXkrivsg dvti Sov2,Ei ag aitovo-
Liiav ia^ov 'AS^vatot Si toaavtov iTtiSoaav.
Panathenaicus, p. 396.  ovg fiiv i2£V^EpaaEiV afio26yyiaav
xat sSov2,aaav to fia2,2x>v n tovg £t/koTag.
Idem, p. 400.  xai to firj Sixouag tav d2,2xdv dpx£iv fid^^-
2jov n ^Evyovtag tnv aitiav tavtriv, dSixag AaxsSaifiovioig
Sov2,EV£iv. Idem, p. 412.  ^Toig Si d2,2xivg 'E^Tunvag xataSovXa-
aaadai Ttpog fiiv tovovtov xpatiaaaai paSiag dv avtoi.
Idem, p. 418.  ji;aTa5oiiZG3ffa;[t£voi;g.
Plataicus, p. 469.  ot ft£v oiSiv ri^TTov tov dpyvpavntav
Sov2,svovaLv. Idem.  Te ^i Tov oXTmv Sov2,siag aitovg xvpiovg xa-
^latdai. Idem, p. 463.  8ov2,svsiv.
Idem, p. 466.  Sov2,EVOvaav.
Idem, p. 466.  djOud Tto2,2,ovg fiiv fiixpav svExa avfiSov-
2mw Sov2.EVOvtag, d^/loi'g Si STti ^tsiav lovtag.
Orat. de Permutatione, p. 493.  tnv Se ta yivsi tng
aatripiag aitiav ovaav, Sov2,EVEiv airtolg d^iovv.
Idem, p. 494.  Tov Si /3ap6'dpov ot ^ovTxiftsvoi JcaTa-
^ov^oiiffS'at To-iig 'EXknvag.
Idem, p. 502. — ¦. — r'otg S' d2,^ig Trrv SovXsiav alpovfis-
voig.

536 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Idem.  oiiTo xai tav Tt62,sav tatg i)Tt£pe%oiJffatg Txaits-
2.^eIv i^ dvdpaTtav d^aviadnvai fid2,2x)v n Sov2,ag^6^^vat,
ysvofiivag. Idem.  offTe fin totg "E/l/l>7fftv atTtov yEvnG^ai ti Sov-
/let'ag. Idem, p. 510.  nfislg Si xataSov2,ovfisvoi.
Idem, p. 511.  tovg fiiv ^ivovg xai tovg Sov2,ovg.
De Bigis, p. 630.  Toi)g Tto/ltTag i&tv ^oD/leiJoi'Tag.
Epistolse : to Philip, p. 611.  d E£p£]7 "Te Tti xataSov2,a-
ffaffS-at tovg "E2,2,rivag (SovT^ri^ivti.
To Jason, a freedman, p. 629.  xai tdg tifiag nSiovg
vofii^a tdg Ttapd tav fiiya ^povovvtav, n tdg Ttapd Tov Sov-
2,Ev6vtav.

LESSON V.
But if it shall be objected, that by these writers the word
Sov2,og, doulos, and its derivatives are used in a figurative sense,
since these writers all exhibit rainds deeply excited, or used all
language with poetic license ; we think such objection unfounded,
so far as it alleges that they have used this word in an unusual
manner, or have attributed to it any other sense than was attributed
to it by all the Greeks.
Nevertheless, we propose now to present this word as it was used
by Thueydides, Herodotus, and Xenophon, against whose use no
cavil can be made ; and we now fear not to assert that their use
of this word will be in the most strict accordance with the authors
already examined.
Plutarch, who was somewhat disposed to criticize other authors,
speaking of Thueydides, expresses the idea that he wrote in such
a manner that the reader saw the picture of what he represented.
(See his Be Gloria Atheniensium.) Plutarch was then clearly of
opinion that the language of Thueydides was most appropriately
accurate. We here premise, that we shall not presume to offer our own
translation to the extract we propose to make from Thueydides.
From the many that have been made, we have selected that of the
Rev. Dr. Wilham Smith, of the cathedral of Chester, England,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 537
and concerning whom it may be proper to say a word. He trans
lated Longinus with great accuracy and beauty. The Weekly
Miscellany of Dec. Sth, 1739, says of this translation, " It justly
deserves the notice and thanks of the public." Father Phillips
says, 1756, " A late English translation of the Greek critic, by
Mr. Smith, is a credit to the author, and reflects lustre on Longi
nus himself." Laudits of this work will fill a volume. In 1753
he translated Thueydides, and was directly created a doctor of
divinity, — and we find in his epitaph now in the cathedral of
Chester, " as a scholar his reputation is perpetuated by his valu
able publications, particularly his correct and eloquent translations
of Longinus, Thueydides, and Xenophon." We have been thus
minute that it may be known with what spirit we prepare this
work. The Peloponnbsian War, hy Thueydides.
Book i. chap. 8. Ot T£ oi'ffffowg vTtifisvov tnv tuv xpsiaaovav
Sov2i£iav. " And the great, who had all needful supplies at hand, reduced
less powerful cities into their own subjection."
At that age of the world, when one city was conquered by an
other, all were reduced to slavery, unless by the especial favour of
the conqueror. In this instance it would have been more literal to
our present idiom to have used the term slavery, instead of sub
jection ; because now there has grown up a wide distinction be
tween the mere subjugating and enslaving.
Chap. 16. Kvpog xai n Hepfftxri /?afft/L£t'a, Kpotffov xaBs2avaa,
xai. offa ivtog "A2,vog Ttotafiov Ttpog ^dXaffffav, £Tt£ffTpdTeDff£,
xai, Tdg Iv T'ji nytsipci Tt62,sig iSovTiaas.
"For Cyrus, after he had completed the conquest of Croesus,
and all the country which lieth between the river Halys and the
sea, invaded them, and enslaved their towns upon the continent."
Chap. 18. AexdTo Si £Tet fist' aitnv av0tg 6 jSdp/?apog to
fisydXa at62,a sTtl tnv 'E2i2,dSa Sov2.aG6fiEvog n2,d£.
" And in the tenth year after that, the barbarian, with a vast
armament, invaded Greece in order to enslave it."
Chap. 34. Oi ydp iTtl T&) Sov2,oi, d2,2j' ETti Toi bfioioi totg
2£iTtofiivoig Eivai, ixTtifiTtovtai.

538 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

" They are not sent out to be the slaves, but to be the equals of
those who remain behind."
Chap. 55. Kat Tov Kspxvpaiatv bxtaxoGiovg fiiv, oi nOav
Sov2,oi, dTtiSovto.
" Eight hundred of their Corcyrean prisoners, who were slaves,
they sold at public sale."
Chap. 68. NiJv ^£ Tt SeI fiaxpriyopstv, av tovg fiiv SeSov2,a-
fiivovg bpdts.
" But now, what need can there be of multiplying words, when
some you already see enslaved,"
Chap. 69. 'Eg toSs ts dsl dTtoatspovvtsg oi fiovov tovg vrt'
ixsivav SsSovTMfiivovg i2,sv^Epiag, d2,2,d xai tovg vfistipovg
nSri ^vfifid^ovg. oi ydp 6 Sov2,aadfiEvog d2,2^ 6 SwdfiEvog
fiiv Ttaiaai, Ttspiopav Si, dT^vi^iatspov avtb Spq.
" Ever since you have connived at liberty overthrown, not only
in whatever communities they have proceeded to enslave, but now
where even your own confederates are concerned. For not to the
men who rivet on the chains of slavery, but to such as, though able,
yet neglect to prevent it, ought the sad event with truth to be
imputed." Chap. 74. Tav d2,2bav nSri fiixpi, nficifv Sov2,sv6vtav, kc.
"And every state already enslaved," kc.
Chap. 81. Ovtag sixog, 'A^vaiovg ^povnfiati, fints t^ yii
Sov2,Evaai, fints aaTtsp dTtsipovg xataTt2,aynvai tSi Tto2,Efia.
" It is by no means consistent with the spirit of Athenians to
be slaves to their soil, or, like unpractised soldiers, to shudder at
war." Chap. 98. Ylpatri ts avtvi Tt62,ig ^vfifia^ig Ttapd to xccdsatvi-
xbg iSov2,a'^yi.
" This was the first confederate state which was enslaved to
gratify their aspiring ambition."
Chap. 101. Jl2,slatoi Si tav Et/lciTov iyivovto ol tov Tto-
^tov Meffff57vt'ov ToTe Sov2,aQ£vtav dTtoyovoc ^ xai Meff-
ffT^Vtoi ix2,ndYiaav ol Ttdvtsg.
"Most ofthe Helots were descendants ofthe ancient Messenians,
then reduced to slavery, and on this account all of them in general
were called Messenians."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 639

Chap. 103. "Hv Si tig (tkiaxYitai, tov /la/36vTog siVai Soi^
2,0V. " What if any one of them be ever found there, he should be
made the slave of whoever apprehended him."
Chap. 121. Et ot fiiv ixsivav ^vfifia^oi iTtl Sov2,Eiqi t^ ai-
t&v ^ipovtsg oix dTtspoiaiv.
"Which rivet slavery on themselves," &c.
Chap. 122. ' Kat Tttv ¦^ffffav, ££ xai Ssivov ta> dxovaai, t'ffTo
oix d/l/lo Tt ^ipovGav n dvtixpvg Sov2,Eiav.
" Such a triumph, how grating soever the bare mention of it may
be to any of your ears, yet be it known, can and is nothing else
but plain and open slavery."
Chap. 124. Kai Toiig vvv SsSov2,a fiiv ovg "EXkrivag, i2,EV-
Ospaaafisv. " And shall immediately recover liberty for those Grecians who
are already enslaved."
Chap. 138. Kai tov 'E2.2,rivixov i2,TtiSa, nv vTlEtiOsi aitoi
Sov2,aaEiv. "As the hope be suggested to him of enslaving Greece."
Chap. 141. Tnv ydp aitnv Svvatai Sov2,aaiv.
" The very same tendency to make them slaves."
Book ii. chap. 61. Aov2,ot ydp ^p&vrifia th ai^viSiov xai
aTtpoaSoxritov, xai to Tt/leiffTo Ttapa2Aya ^vfi(3atvov.
" Accidents sudden and unforeseen, and so opposite to that event
you might reasonably have expected, enslave the mind."
Chap. 63. M'^Si vofiiaai Ttspl ivog fiovov, Sov2,Eiag dvt
iTLSvdspiag. " Think not you have only one point at stake^ the alternative of
slavery instead of freedom."
Idem. Oi)^£ iv dp^ovari Tt62,si ^vfi^ipEi, d2,2,' iv vTtrixoa dff-
^a/log Sov2,EVEiv.
" Slavery is never to be endured by a state that once hath go
verned. Such a situation can be tolerable only to that which has
ever been dependent."
Chap. 71. XtpatEvaai ts fiviSiva Ttoti dSixag iTt' aiiToiig,
fl>^S' iTtl Sov2,Eiq..

,540 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

" That no one should' unjustly make war on them, or endeavour
to enslave them."
Idem. 'ETti Sov2,Eia tri nfistipa. nxsts.
"Are come hither to enslave us," &c.
Chap. 78. Kat d/l/log o^&tg nv iv tSi t£ix£i, ovts Sov2,og,
ovts i2,Evdspog.
" Nor was there any other portion within the wall, either slave
or free."
Book iii. chap. 10. Uvfifiaxoi fiivtoi iysvbfisda oix iTtl JcaTa-
^ou^offet Tov ''E2,2,nv.av 'ABrivaioig.
" We made an alliance with the Athenians — not to enslave the
rest of Greece to the Athenians."
Idem. 'ETt£t^ Si iapafiEv aitovg tnv fiiv tov WnSov i^Opav
dviivtag, tnv Si tav ^vfifid^av Sov2,aaiv iTtayofiivovg, oix
dSsstg £Tt rtfisv. dSvvatoi Si bvtsg xad' sv ysvofisvoi, Sid TtdXv-
T^^t'av dfivvaadai, ol ^vfifia^oi iSov2,adriaav, TOJr(v nfiav
xai Xt'ov.
" But when we perceived that they relaxed in their zeal against
the Mode, and were grown earnest in riveting slavery upon allies,
we then began to be alarmed. It was impossible, where so many
parties were to be consulted, to unite together in one body of de
fence ; and ^^^^ ^,11 the allies fell into slavery except oifrselves and
the Chians."
Chap. 38. Aov2,Oi ovtsg tav dsl dtoTiav, vTtspoTttai Si Tov
eto^oTov. " Slaves as you are to whatever trifles happen always to be in
vogue, and looking down with contempt on tried and experienced
methods." Chap. 56. 'Ev ixsiva Si taxaipa>, bts Ttdfft Sov2,siav iTti-
^EpEv 6 ^dp(3apog, oISe fiEt' aitov naav.
" But at that season, when the barbarians struck at enslaving
us all, these Thebans were then the barbarians' coadjutors."
Chap. 68. Ilpog Si, xai ynv, iv f n2,£v6£padriaav ol "E2,2,yiVEg,
SovXaasts ;
" Will you further enslave the spot on which the Grecians earned
their liberty ?"
Chap. 63. Tovg fiiv, xataSov2,ovfiivovg tnv 'E7u2,dSa,
tovg Si, i2,Ev6Epoi)vtag.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 54I
" The Athenians truly have enslaved your' country ; and the
others would regain its freedom."
Chap. 64. 'ATt£/l£t'Tt£Tf ydp aitnv, xai Ttapa^dvtsg, ^vyxa-
t£Sov2,ovaBE fid2,2,ov Aiyivntag, xai d2.2x)vg tivdg Tov
^vvofioadvtav, n SiExa2,VEts.
" You renounced, you violated first the o^ths, which rather con
curred to enslave the .Slginetse and some other people of the same
association, than endeavoured to prevent it."
Chap. 70. TTtdj'oufftv aitov ovtoi ol dvSpsg sig Sixriv, 2A-
yovtsg 'ABrivaioig tnv K£pxt;pav xataSov2,ovv.
" And therefore against him the accomplices prefer an accusa
tion, -as plotting how to subject Corcyra to Athenian slavery."
Chap. 71. ApdffavTEg Si tovto, xai ^vyxa2Aaavtsg Kspxv-
paiovg, siTtav bti tavta xai ^i2,tiGta siri, xai nxiat^ dv Sov-
/lo0£t£v V7t' 'Adrivaiav.
" After this bold assassination, they summoned the Corcyreans
to assemble immediately, where they justified their proceedings as
most highly for the public good, and the only expedient of pre
venting Athenian slavery."
Chap. 73. T'^ S' vatspaicf nxpo^o2,iaavt6 ts o2,iya, xai ig tovg
aypovg TtspiiTtsfiTtov dfi^otspoi, tovg Sov2,ovg TtapaxaTjovvtig
ts, xai i2,EvB£piav vmaxvovfisvoi. xai to fiiv Snfici- tav oixs
tav to Tt2,nBog TtapsyivEto ^vfifia^ov, totg S' stipoig ix tng
nTtsipov iTtixovpoi bxtaxoaioi.
"The day following they skirmished a little with their missive
weapons, and both parties sent out detachments into the field to
invite concurrence of the slaves, upon a promise of their freedom.
A majority of the slaves came in to the assistance of the people,
and the other party got eight hundred auxiliaries from the con
tinent.'.' It will be noticed that oixstav in this passage is also trans
lated slave; but the oixstog was a slave whose condition was
above the mere Sov2ag. In English the word will imply a house-
slave. The oixstog enjoyed a greater portion of his master's con
fidence, and consequently was under a less rigorous governmSht.
The truth of what Thueydides states is evident to those acquainted
with the character : the higher class of slaves ever take sides with
their masters in such cases. It is this wordlBt. Paul uses, by which

542 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

he describes the character of Onesimus in his letter to Philemon.
He had acted as Paul's house-slave at Rome.
Bookiv. chap. 86. 'A2,2,d toivavtiov, vfilv SsSov2,afiivoig
imo 'Adrivaiav ^vfifia^naovtsg.
"But, on the contrary, are to act in support of you, who are op
pressed with Athenian bondage."
Idem. 'OvSi daa^n, tnv i2,svBspiav vofii^a im^ipEiv, si, To
TtdTpiov Ttap£ig, To n2£ov totg b2Ayoig, n t'o 'i2,aaaov totg ndai
Sov2,aGaifii. " I am convinced that liberty can never be re-established by me,
if, disregarding ancient constitutions, I enslave the multitude to
the few, or the few to the cro'wd."
Chap. 87. Ot Si "E2,2,yivEg iva fin xa2,vavtai v^' vfiav Sov-
/Ift'ag dTta2,2AX/ynvai.
" For the sake of the Grecians, that they may not be obstructed
by you in their deliverance from bondage."
Chap. 92. Kai, Ttpog ToiiTotg ys Sn, oi xai fin tovg iyyvg,
d2,2d xai tovg aTtaBsv nsipavtai Sov2,ovaBat,, Ttag oi xph
xai iTtl to ia^cttov dyavog i2,BEtv;
" Let me add further, that when men are bent on enslaving, not
neighbours only, but such people as are more remote, how can it
be judged improper to encounter such, so long as we can find
ground whereon to stand ?"
Idem. Otg ^£ yEvvatov, tnv Tf aiiTov atfi, i2,Evd£povv fid^ri,
xai tnv d/l/lov fin. Sov2,ovaBai dSixag, dvayaviatoi dn' ai
tov oix dniojai.
" But from men who were born to vindicate their own country
for ever by the dint of arms, and never unjustly to enslave another,
that from such men they shall not get away without that struggle
which honour enjoins."
Chap. 114. OiSi ydp inl Sov2,Eiqi.
" They had no enslaving views."
Chap. 118. Mnts iTiEvBEpoV, fints Sov2,ov.
'^Whether they be free men or slaves."
Book V. chap. 9. Kai, t^Ss vfitv tri nfiipcf, n dyaBolg ysvo-
fiivoig s2,£vBEpiav ts vrtdp^siv, xai AaxsSaifioviav ^vfifid^oig
xEx2jPiaBai, n 'ABrivaiatv ts Sov2,oig, ntd dptata dvsv dvS pa-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 543

noSiafiov n ^vataasag npd^rits, xai Sov2,siav ;^aJl£Ttu-
Tspav, n Ttptv six,£i^£.
" That this very day, if you behave with valour, you are hence
forth free, and will gain the honourable title of Lacedsemonian
allies ; otherwise you must continue to be the slaves of Athenians,
where the best that can befall you, if neither sold for slaves nor put
to death as rebels, will be a heavier yoke of tyranny than you ever
yet have felt, while the liberty of Greece must by you for ever be
obstructed." Chap. 23. "Hv Sin Sov2,sia inaviatritai, imxovpslv 'ABri-
vaiovg AaxsSaifiovioig Ttavtl aBivEi, xatd To ^uvaTov.
" That if there happen any insurrection among the Helots, the
Athenians march to the succour of the Lacedsemonians with their
whole strength, to the full extent of their power."
In this instance the translator has substituted " Helots" for slaves,
because the Helots were the slaves at Sparta, and the usual term
by which slaves were designated in Lacedsemonia, Helot and Sov2og,
were synonymous terms there.
Chap. 27. 'Hg %pr!, insiSn AaxsSaiftovLOi oix iTt' dyaBa, d2,2,'
£Tti xataSov2,aaEi trig Tls2x}Ttovvnaov.
" That since the Lacedsemonians, not in order to serve, but to
enslave Peloponnesus," &c.
Chap. 29. Mn fistd 'ABrivaiav ff^dg ^ov2xovtai AaxsSaifio-
vtot Sov2.,aaaaBai.
" That the Lacedsemonians might strike up a bargain with the
Athenians to enslave other states."
Chap. 69. Kai, vitip dp^ng dfia xai Sov2,siag.
" Either such on slavery."
Chap. 86. lispiyiyvofiivoig fiiv *o Sixaia, xai Si' aiiTo fin
ivSoiat, Tt62£fiov nfilv ^ipovaav, TteixyBstai Si, Sov2,siav.
" Since if, superior in debate, we for that reason refuse submis
sion, our portion must be war ; and if we allow your plea, from
that moment we become your slaves."
Chap. 92. Kai, Ttog xpndiftov dv ^vfi(3aiyi nfilv Sov2,EvaaL,
aaTtsp xai vfdv dp^at;
" And how can it turn as beneficial for us to become your slaves
as it will be for you to be our masters ?"

544 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Chap. 100. "HTton dpa, ft ToffaiiTT^v ys vfistg ts, fin TtavaBn-
vai dpxng, xai ol Sov2,svovtsg nSri, dTta,22xxjynvai, tnv
TtapaxivSvvsvaiv noiovvtai, nfilv ys, totg sti i2,EvB£poig,
Tto2,2,n xaxotrig xai &t/lt'a, fin ndv Ttpo tov Sov2,Evaat in-
s^E2,Bstv. " If this' be, and if you, ye Athenians, can readily embark in
so many perils to prevent the desolation of your empire ; if states,
by you enslaved, can do as much to throw off your yoke, must it
not be wretchedly base and cowardly in us, who yet are free, to
leave any method, even to the last extremity, untried of averting
slavery." Book vi. chap. 20. 'ETti, ^f T0 TtapovTt d yiyvaGxa Gvifiava.
inl ydp TtoAftg, og iya dxo^ aiaBdvofiai, fii2,2,ofiEV livai fisyd-
Jlag, xai ovB' vnrixoovg d2,2,n2uav, ovts Ssofdvag fiEta^o2,ng, f
dv ix (Siaiov tig Sov2,Eiag dafisvog ig pqto ftstdataaiv
%"pot'>?. " According to the last information I have been able to procure,
we are now going to invade a number of powerful cities ; cities
independent of one another, nor standing in need of public revolu
tions; which people, who cringe under the yoke of slavery, might
easily embrace, in order to render their condition more support
able." Chap. 27. MrivvEiV d&og tov ^ov2afisvov xai dffTov xai ^£vov
xai Sov2,av.
" He should boldly inform the public of it, whether he were a
citizen, or a foreigner, or a slave."
Chap. 76. AovXaaafiivovg f%ftv.
" They hold fast riveted the yoke of slavery."
Idem. KataSov2,aCea^. "'&j enslaving," kc.
Chap. 77. 'Xlg iSQv2,aByiaav. "Who will be slaves," kc
Chap. 80. AorAft'av. " Slave," kc.
Chap. 82. Oiig ^vyysvstg ^afftv ovTag nfidg XvpaxovGioi Se-
Sov2,aaBai. " Whom the Syracusans say we thought proper to enslave, though
connected with us by ties of blood."
Idem. AoD/lft'av Si avtoi ts i^ov2jovto vfitv to avtb
iTtsvEyxslv.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 545
" They made slavery their choice, and in the same miserable fate
would have been glad to envelop us."
Chap. 83. Kai oi Sov2.aa6fLEvoi, fin naBstv Si fiaX2jov
tovto XO/ll'tffOVTfg.
" So far from the view of enslaving them to ourselves, that we
are solely intent on preserving them from being enslaved by
others." Chap. 84. "Ov d/l6/og yi|Udg ^;7ffi Sov2,aaafi£vovg.
" Whom, after unjustly enslaving," kc
Chap. 88. Tl2,nv xadoaov si tnv Stxf/li'av ciovTo aitovg Sov-
2,aasaBdi. " Save only the ambition they showed of enslaving Sicily."
Book vii. chap. 76. Miyiatov ydp Sn to Sid^opov tovto ta
'E/l^Tjvtx^ at pat sv fiat i iyivsto, oig dvtl fiiv tov d2,2j3vg Sov-
2,aaofiivovg nxsiv.
"For a most cruel turn of fortune this really proved to a Gre
cian army ; who, coming hither to enslave others, were departing
now with the sad alternative of fearing to be made slaves them
selves." Book viii. chap. 15. Tdg Tf Tov Xt'ov STtTd vaiig, at avtotg
^wsno2,ibpxow tdg iv tci IlEtpato, dna/yajyovtsg, tovg fiiv
Sov2,ovg f^aiiTov n2.EvBEpaaav, tovg S' i2.£vBipovg xatiSriGav.
" Having, moreover, fetched off the seven vessels belonging to
the Chians, which assisted in forming the blockade at Piraeus, they
set at liberty the slaves who were on board them, and threw all the
freemen into prison."
Chap. 43. 'Evnv ydp xai vnGovg OTtdffag TtdJltv Sov2,ev£iv.
"For thus he might be enabled once more to enslave all the
islands." Chap. 48. Aov2,svsiv fid2,2/yv, kc.

85

546 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON VL
Xenophon, Memorabilia, ^c.
Book i. chap. 3, § 11. 'H t2/rifiav, i^ b SoxpdT)7g, xai Tt dv
01 £t naBstv, xa2,bv ^i2/^aag; dp' oix dv aitixa fidTut Sov2:,og
fiiv slvai dvt' i2,svdipov;
"Miserum te, ait Socrates, quid eventurum tibi existimas, si
formosum osculeris ? annon subitS pro \ihero servus esses ?" Leun-
clavius. Chap. 5. §2. Aoii/lo S' dxpatsl iTiitpi-^aifisv dv n ^oGxn-
fiata n tafiisla n ipyav imataaiav;
" Et servo intemperanti num vel pecora, vel penum, vel ut operi
praeesset^ committeretaus ?" Leunc.
§ 3. 'A2,2jd finv si ys fiviSi Sov2,ov .dxpatn Ss^aifisB^ av,
Ttag oivc d^iov avtov ys ^v2,d^aaBai toiDvtov yEviaBai;
" Enimvero si ne servum quidem intemperantem accepturi simus,
qui non operse pretium sit cavere ne quis ipse talis fiat ?" Leunc.
§ 5. ""H Tt'g oix dv, tatg nSovatg SovTisvav, aiff;^pog Sua-
t'sBEiyi xai to Gafia xai tnv 4^>x''^'^j
" Quis voluptatibus serviens non turpiter tum corpore tum animo
aiffectus sit ?" Leunc.
Ibid. 'E|ttot fiiv Soxsl, vn. tnv "Hpav, i2£vBipa fiiv dvSpl
sixtiov slvdi, fin tv^siv Sov2,dv toiovtov, Sov2,svovta Si
talg toiavtaig nSovalg, Ixitsvsiv tovg Bsovg, Ssanotav dyadav
TU^ftV. " Equidem ita profectd statue, homini libero optandum esse, ut
hujusmodi servum non consequatur, atque illi qui voluptatibus ejus
modi servit deos esse obsecrandos ut dominos bonos nanciscatur."
Leunc. Book ii. chap. 1. § 11. 'A2,2j' iya Tot, e^yi b 'Apiaturnxog, ovSi
sig tnv Sov2,£iav av ifiavtbv tdtta' 02,2,' slvai tig fiol Soxsl
fdari tovtav bSog, nv nsipafiai ^aSi^siv, ovts Si dpxng, ovts
Sid Sov?ysiag, d2,2a Si i2,EvBEpiag, r^itEp fiaXiata Tjpog EvSai-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

547

fioviav dy£i. (12.) 'AX,;i', ft f^EvTot, e^yi b l^axpdtvig, iitansp
ovtE Si dpxng ovts Swi Sov2,siag n bSbg avt^i ipipsi, ovta
firiSi Si dvBpaTtav, iaag dv Tt ^yotg.
" I surely, stiys Aristippus, do not place myself in slavery ; but
my doctrine is, that the condition equally free from the objections
of those who govern and of those who are in slavery, is true liber
ty. But, says Socrates, the condition of which you speak, be
yond the influences affecting those who bear rule or those in slavery,
can never exist among men ; for," &c. §12. og ^oti^otg %priff-
^at — "for safety they desire slavery."
§ 13. "Eog dv nsiaaaiv £2.iaBai Sov2,svEiv dvtl tov no2,E-
fisiv totg xpsittoai;
"Donee persuaserint eis servire potius quSm helium cum po-
tioribus gerere ?"
§ 15. ''H ^toTt xai Sov2,og dv oisi toiovtog slvai, oTog firi-
Ssvl SsaTtotvt /iDfftt'f/lftv ;
" An qu6d talem te servum esse putas, qui nulli domino pro
sit?" Chap. 6. § 9. Xa/lfTtov Si xai Snaavta xatix£tv, aansp
SovXov. " Neque minus difficile vinctum retinere tanquam servum." ¦
Leunc. Chap. 7. § 3 and 4. "Oti vn Ai', I'^jy, 6 fiiv Sov2,ovg tpi^si,
iya Si i2£vBipovg. (4.) Kat TtoTfpov, s^, tovg Ttapd Gol i2,Ev-
Bipoljg oiEi (3E2,tiovg slvai n tovg Ttapd Kspdfiavi Sov2,ovg;
" By Jupiter, (says Aristarchus,) the reason is obvious. He (Ce-
ramon) rears up slaves, while I only employ freemen. Well, then,
truly, says (Socrates), which do you esteem the most valuable, your
freemen or Ceramon's slaves?"
Chap. 8. § 4. Xa^ETtog dv, s^ri, iya, h Xaxpatsg, Sov-
2,siav vTtofisivaifii. Kal finv di ys iv tatg TtdXffft TtpoffTa-
Tei')ovT£g xat Tov Srifioaiav inifiE2,6fiEvoi oi Sov2,onpEnia-
Tf pot I'vfxa TOTiTow, d2,2j' £2£vBEpiatspoi vofu^ovtai.
" But it is difficult, 0 Socrates, for me to submit to slavery.
But (says Socrates) high political officers, and all those who have
charge of public affairs, are not esteemed to be in a slavish employ
ment, but in that which is the most appropriate to the most elevated
of freemen."

548 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Book iii. chap. 12. § 2. Ilo/l/lot ^£ ^t' airtb tovto ^avtsg
a/lt'ffxovTat, xat d^ovTfg yiTot Sov2,Evovai tov 2mnbv (3iav,
iav ovta Ti'i;^offt, Ttiv ;^a/lfTtoTdT>7V Sov2,Eiav.
" Many endure the most burdensome slavery, produced by their
having been taken captives in war, and as captives, slaves them
selves through the remainder of life."
Book iv. chap. 2. § 33. Tt' Si ; tov AaiSa2,ov, i^, ovx dxn.-
xoag, bti 2,'^^BElg vnb Mt'vo ^ta Triv Go(piav, nvouyxd^Eto ixEiva
Sov2,EVEiv, xai tng ts natpiSog dfia xai tng E2,EvBspiag ia-
xspnBYi, xai ini%Eipav dnoSiSpdaxsiv fista tov vlov tov ts nalSa
dna2,EaE xai aitbg oix nSwnBri aaBnvai, d2,X dnsvE^Bslg sig
tovg (3ap6dpovg Ttd/ltv fxft iSov2,EVE;
" Is it truly so ? You have not heard (says Socrates) that Dae
dalus, captured, deprived of his liberty, and torn from his country
and forced into slavery, on account of his knowledge and wis
dom was detained by Minos ; and, when afterwards attempting
to make his escape with his son, who was slain in the attempt, was
not able to save himself, but was seized by the barbarians and again
forced into slavery."
Ibid. 'A/l^ug ^£ Ttbaovg oisi Sid aoipiav dvapndatovg npbg
l3aGi2,£a yEyovivai, xai ixEl Sov2,EVEiv;
" How many others are born and remain creeping, fawning about
the king (of Persia) ; and because he deems them his, he there en
slaves them."
Chap 5. § 5. A ot; /If tav Si noiav xaxiatriv vofii^sig slvai;
'Eya fiiv, i^ri, tnv Ttapd Totg xaxiatoig Ssanbt aig. Tnv xa-
xiatriv dpa Sov2,Eiav ol dxpatstg Sov2,svovaiv;
Of which Leunclavius gives the following : " Pessimam servitu
tem. Et quam esse arbitraris ? Eam ait, quse apud pessimos do
minos serviatur. Ergone intemperantes servitutem pessimam ser
viunt?" For the benefit of the mere English scholar, we give it thus :
"Now, where do you esteem the most degraded slavery ? Why, to
be sure, says he, when the master is rnost degraded. It follows
then, (says Socrates,) that the slaves of intemperance are the most
degraded of slaves."
In the 30th section of the defence of Socrates before his judges,
by Xenophon, we find thus : —

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 549
°£latE ^Yifii, aitov inl tfi Sov2,onpEnsl SiatpiSri, nv b
Ttatnp aitro Ttapfffxfi'iaxfv, 011 Siafisveiv.
By Leunclavius : " Itaque aio, non permansurum in illo servili
vitse genere, quod pater ei prsescripsit."
We offer : " So that, I said, it is not becoming that his son should
remain in an occupation only proper for a slave, in which alone his
father educated him."

LESSON VIL

At the close of the 23d chapter of the first book of Xenophon's
Cyropsedia, we find :
Ilo2,2,ol Si, oig i^nv ^i2MLg xp^.'^^ou, xai nv noisiv xai nv
ndax£iv, tovtoig Sov2,oig fid2,2xrv ^ov2,yi^£vtEg n <|)t'/lotg
Xp^aBai, vn' aitav tovtav Sixriv sSoaav.
" There are instances of many, who, when they might have used
others as their friends in a mutual intercourse of good offices, and
who, choosing to hold them rather as slaves than as friends, have
met with revenge and punishment at their'hands." Ashley.
Book iii. § 2. Kat ydp sativ, i^ b Kvpog, xaXov fid^EaBai,
biTtag finnotitig Sov'^,og fi£2,2j}i ysvnasaBai' nv Si Sn n no2£fia
xpatri^Eig, n xai d/l/lov Ttvd TpoTtov Sov2,a^Elg, imxEipav
tig ^aivYitai tovg Ssanotag dnoatspstv iavtov, tovtov av, npa-
tog siTti, nbtspov oig dya^bv dvSpa xai xaTud npdttovta tifiag,
n og dSixovvta, nv 2,d6Yig, xo2,6JC,SLg; xo2,dX,a, i^iq, kc
"It is indeed noble, said Cyrus, to fight, in order not to be
made a slave ! But if a man be conquered in war, or by other
means be reduced to slavery, and be found attempting to throw off
his masters, do you yourself first pronounce whether you reward
and honour such a one as an honest man, and as one that does
noble things, or, if you take him, do you punish him as one that
acts unjustly? I punish him, said he." Ashley.
Ibid. 'Hv |j, vn At", t-ai;TO avvoiSsv i2,Ev^£piag fiiv im^vfin-
aag, Sov2,og ^' og oiSsnanote ysvbfisvog.
" Why, by Jupiter, being conscious of himself that, affecting his
liberty, he has become by far much more of a slave than ever."

550 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Ibid. Ot'ft. ovv ti, E^Yi b Tiypdvrig, fid2.2x)V xataSov2,ova-
S'at dvS'poTtoiJg Toil iaxvpov <pb6ov;
" Can you, said Tigranes, imagine what brings men into yielding
CO slavery more effectually than very great fear ?"
Ibid. Kai ot nTuiovtsg, fin vava/ynaaGi, xai ol Sov2,siav
xai SsGfibv ^oSovfisvoi, ovtoi fiiv ovts aitov ov'^' ihtvov 6i)7'av-
Tat TDj';^dvftv ^td Tov ^bSov ol Si nSv; fiiv ^vydSsg, nSr;
S' n^tYifiivoi, nSri Si Sov2,EVovtEg, sativ bts ^ijvavTat xat
jud/l/lov TOV EiSaifiovav ia^isiv ts xai xa^svSsiv.
" They that are at sea, and dread shipwreck, and they that fear
servitude and chains, are neither able to eat nor sleep for fear :
but they who are already under banishment, who are already con
quered, and already slaves, are often in a condition to eat and
sleep better than the fortunate themselves." Ashley.
Ibid. Tov S' ifibv natipa, s^vi, vvv Ttag Soxslg SiaxslG^ai
tnv '4'vxnv, og oi fiovov Ttspl iavtov, d/l/la xai Ttspl ifuov, xai
Ttfpt yvvavxbg, xai nspl ndvtav tov tixvav Sov2,siag ^-
Ssltai ;
" In what state of mind then, said he, do yo« take my father
to be, he who fears not only for his own life, but that his wife,
myself, and all his children will be plunged into slavery?"
Ibid. § 4. 'A2,2A fid Ai', i^, oix ixsivov i^safiriv. 'A2,2m.
Tt'va finv; i^ b Ttj'pdv^yg. Tov Einovta, vn Aia, (5g tng avtov
T|'i;;^5ng dv Ttpt'atTo offTf fin. fi£ Sov2,EVEiv.
" Truly, said she, I did not look at him. At whom then did
you look ? said Tigranes. At him who said, that to save me
from servitude he would ransom me at the expense of his own life."
Ashley. Ibid. § 9. '£lg b2,iya Swdfisvoi Ttpoopav dv3'poTtot Ttfpt Toii
ftS/l/lovTog, Tto/l/Ld imxEipovfiEv npdttsiv. Niiv ydp Sn xai
iya, i2,EV^Epiav fiiv firix^vda'^ai iniXEipn<yoi,g, Sov2,og og
ov&TtOTtoTf iysvofiYiv insl S' Ed2.afiEV, ffa^og aTtoXo^Evat vo-
fiiaavtsg, vvv dva^aivofisBa asaaafiivoi og o^&TtcjTtoTf .
" How few things in futurity are we meri able to foresee ! and
how many projects do we undertake ! I have endeavoured upon
this occasion to obtain liberty, and I have become more a slavi
than ever : and, after having been made a captive, and thinking

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 55I
our destruction certain, we now again appear to be in a condition
of greater safety and security than ever." Ashley.
Bool^iv. cliap. 8. Aitixa fid2.a b-^Ea^E, aanEp So v2,av dno
SiSpaaxovtav xai svpi^fiivav, tovg fiiv Ixstsvovtag aitav, tovg
Si ^Evyovtag, tovg S' oiSi tavta ^povstv Svvafiivovg.
" You will see them, like slaves that have run away and are dis
covered, some supplicating for mercy, some flying, and some with
out presence of mind enough to do either." Ashley.
Chap. 18. 'Edv Si Tig il^ttov, xat iav og nfidg sivoixag xai
TtpdTTov Tt xat SiSdaxav ^aivYitai, tovtov nfisig og EiEpyitriv
xai ^t'/lov, oix ^i Sov2,ov, Ttspii^'OfiEv .
" But, then, if you shall come to us, and shall appear to do any
action, or give any information, in friendship and good-will to us,
him will we treat as a benefactor and a friend, not as a slave."
Chap. 23. A^Tog Si b Kvpog dvsiTtsiv Ixf/lfWfffV, ft' Ttg fi'57 fv
TG) 'Affffupt'ov n Si'pov n 'ApaSiav Gtpatsvfiati dvnp Soi2,og,
n MnSav, n Ilfpffov, n BaxTpiavov, n Kapov, n Kt/lt'xov, n "^E/l-
Xyjvov, n d/l/lo^fv Tto^fv ^sSiaafiivog, ix^aivsa^ai.
" Cyrus himself ordered them to make proclamation, that what
ever slave there might be, either in the Assyrian, Syrian, or Ara
bian armies, whether he were Mode, Persian, Bactrian, Carian,
Cilician, or Greek, or of any other country, forced to serve, that
he should appear." Ashley.
Chap. 24. "E;^S-tffTog ov ifiol, nxa npbg ai, xai lx£tr,g Ttpoff-
Ttinta, xai SiSafii aoi ifiavtbv Sov2,ov xai avfifiaxov, ai Si
tifiapbv aitovfiai ifiol ysvia^ai.
" I bow myself at your feet, a suppliant, and give myself a slave
to you, and a confederate in the war."
Book V. chap. 1. Kai, toivvv bfioiav talg Sov2,aig slxe tnv
ia^ta. " And was clothed in the same manner as were her female
slaves." Ibid. "A/l^' iya, s^, itipaxa xai x^-at'ovTag urth 2,vnrig ^t'
£poTa, xai ^ou^lfiiovTdg ys toig ipafisvoig- xai fid2xj, xaxov
vofii^ovtag, Ttpt'v ys ipdv, to Sov2,£Vsiv. ','¦'
" But I have seen, says he, people in grief and tears when in
love, slaves to those with whom they were in love, yet they deemed
slavery a very great evil when not in love."

552 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Chap. 32. Oi yap dyvoa tovt, s^, bti oi av fiov fiovov
fisi^av El, d/l/ld xat ot £|Mot Sov2,Oi laxvpotspoi ifiov vnav-
tidi^ovai fiOL, xai, kc. • •
" I am not ignorant, says he, that you are above me, but that
my own slaves are above me in power," &c.
Book vi. chap. 26. Kai Ki'po Si Soxa fiEyd2,Yiv tiva nfidg %d-
ptv o^ft'/lftv, OTt fis, aixfid2idtov ysvofiivriv xai i^aips^staav
£ai;To, oi'Tf ^f og Sov2,riv n^iaas xsxtna^ai, ovts ag i2,EV^i-
pav fv dtifia bvofiatc Sis<pv2,a^s Si ffot aaTtsp dSE2^ov yvvatxa
2jaSav. " Then I think we are both under great obligation to Cyrus, who,
when I was captured, and chosen and selected particularly for him,
thought proper not to receive me as a slave, nor even as a free
woman of low standing, but detained me under such restraint as
if I had been his brother's wife."
Book vii. chap. 20. Kai, TtdvTag Si tovg d&nXovg tav vnox£i-
pt'ov ysvofiivav a^svSovqv r(vdyxal^s fiE2,Etq.v, vofii^av tovto
To bn2<x)v Sov2.ixatspov sivai.
, "All those whom he conquered, he compelled to practise with
the sling, whigh he deemed more suitable for slaves."
Chap. 30. N6|t^og j^ap iv ndaiv dv'^panaig dlSiog iativ, btav
no2,Efiovvtav Tto/ltg d/lo, tov i/LovTov ft^vat xai Td aafiata
TOV f V tri Tto/l-f t xai Ta ;^p7ifzaTa.
" For it is a perpetual law among all men, that when a city is
taken from an enemy, both the persons and treasures of the in
habitants belong to the captors." Ashley.
Ibid. ©d^Ttoug fiiv ovv xai "^vxovg, xai aitav xai notav, xai
novav xai vnvov dvdyxri xai toig Sov2,oig fistaSiSovai.
"In heat, and in cold, in meat and drink, in work and rest, we
necessarily allow our slaves a portion."
Ibid. "Oti, insl xExtnfisBa Sov2,ovg, tovtovg xo2,daofisv, nv
novripol offt; xai, Tt TtpOffr,xft aitov biJta novripov nov/jpiag
EVExa n (32,axsiag d/l/loug xo/ld^f tv ;
"When we acquire slaves, we punish them if they are slothful
and vicious. But does it becorae him who is slothful and vicious
himself, to punish others for vice and sloth?"
Book viii. chap. 1. ToffouTov Si Sia^ipsiv nfidg SeI tov Sov-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

553

/lov, offov ot ft£v Sov2,oi, dxovtsg totg Ssanotaig vnripstov-
fftv nfidg Si, sinsp d^iovfisv i2,EV^Epoi Eivai, ixovtag Sst noistv,
6 Tt Tt/lft'ffToD d^iov ^aivstai sivai.
"We ought to distinguish ourselves so far from slaves, as that
slaves do service to their masters against their wills ; and if we
desire tfi be free, we ought willingly to perform what appears to be
most excellent and worthy." Ashley.
Chap. 14. OiJg S' av xatsaxsva^sv sig To Sov2,svsiV, tov
tovg ovts fis2,Etdv TOV i2,EV^spiav novav oiSiva Ttapapfia,
ovts OTt/la xsxtna^ai initpsnsv.
"But in the management of slaves," kc.
Chap. 41. ^6v2oifiYiv S' dv vfidg xai tovto xatavonaai, bti
tovtav, av vvv vfiiv napaxs2,svofiai, oiSiv totg Sov2,OLg npoa-
TttTTO. " And I desire likewise that you should observe, that of all these
orders that I now give you, I give none to those that are of servile
condition." Chap. 47. Kai Toiig fiiv ^i2x)vg inslSov Si ifiov siSaifiovag
ysvofiivovg, tovg Si no2,Efiiovg vn ifiov Sov2,a^£vtag.
" By my means my friends have been made happy, and my ene
mies enslaved."
In Xenophon's Expedition of Cyrus, usually termed the Ana
basis, book i. chap. 9, we find —
"IlffTf ^aivEG^ai tovg fiiv dya^ovg, siSaifiovsatdtog, tovg
Si xaxovg Sov2,ovg tovtav d^iovv sivai.
"So that brave men were looked upon as most fortunate, and
cowards as deserving to be their slaves." Spelman. '
Ibid. Ilapd fiiv Ki'poi;, Sov2,ov ovtog, oiSsig dn^si npbg
(3aai2,ia. " No one, not even a slave, ever deserted Cyrus to go to the
king." Book ii. chap. 3. Aov2.oi Si Tto/l/loi ftTtovTo.
" They were attended by a great many slaves."
Chap. 5. MfTd ^f TaiJTa tov ^ap§dpav tivig htniav, Sid
tov nESiov iT^avvovtsg, oTtvt fVTi;j/;^dvot£V "ETJjyivi n Sov2,0)
n i2,Ev^ipa, ndvtag ixtsivov.
" After this, some of the .barbarian horse, scouring the plains.

554 -STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

killed all the Greeks they met with, both freemen and slaves."
Spelman. , Ibid. 'Eavtov yap sivai ^rialv, insinsp Kijpou ^ffav Toii
ixsivov Sov2jOv.
" For, he says, they are his, having belonged to his slave Cyrus."
Book iii. chap. 1. 'Hfidg Si, oTg xriSsfiav fiiv ovSslg ndpsativ,
iatpatsvaafisv S' iri aitov og Sov2,ov dvtl /?afft/lfog Ttotr;-
ffovTfg xat aTtoxTfvoiJvTfg, ft Swaifx.s'ha, ti dv oiofis^
Tta3f tv ;
" How then will he treat us, who have no support, and who have
made war on him, with the design to reduce him from the condi
tion of a king to that of a slave, and, if in our power, to put
him to death?"
Book vii. chap. 4. "0 S' sinsv 'A/l/l' iyays Ixavnv vofii^a
vvv Sixriv EX^i'V, si ovtoi Sov2,oi iaovtai dvt' iTisv^ipav.
" And then he said, but I think myself sufficiently revenged, if
these people, instead of freemen, are to be made slaves."
Chap. 7. 2oi}(Ltfv j'dp xpaToiJVTog, 5ov/lf t'a wtdp;^fiawotg"
xpatovfiEvov Si aov, E2,EV^Epia.
" For if you conquer, they are slaves, — but if you are conquered,
they are free."

LESSON VIIL
Herodotus of Halicarnassus.

We often find the word ^oii^g, and its various derivatives, in
{he plain, the simple narrative of this author. His use of the
term is as follo^ws :
Book i. chap. 7. Ilapa toijTov ^£ 'B.pax2,siSai initpa^^ivtsg
EGxov tnv dpxnv ix ^sonponiov, ix Sov2,^g ts tng 'lap^dvow
yfyovoTfg xai 'Hpax^Eog.
" The HeracUdae are descended from Hercules and a female
slave of Jardanus."
Chap. 27. Aa^stv dpafisvoi AvSovg iv S'O^dffff'p, iva vnep

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 555

TOV £j' t'fi nnsipoi oixYifiivav 'ETJknvav tiaavtai as, tovg av
Sov2,aGag sx^ii',
" Can they wish for a better opportunity than to meet the Ly-
dians on the Ocean, to revenge those of the Greeks reduced by
you to slavery on the continent ?"
Chap. 94. AvSol fiiv Sn vnb Ilfpff^fft ^f^oiJ^ovTo.
" Thus the Lydians were enslaved by the Persians."
Chap. 95. Kat dTtoffd/Mfvot tnv Sov2,oavvi^v n2,Ev^spa-
3>7ffav. "And rejecting slavery, they became free."
Chap. 114. ^D. (3aai2,Ev, vnb tov aov Sov?^ov.
" 0 king ! by your'slave."
Chap. 126. OiS^Eva Ttovov 5ot;/loTtpfTtf a ixovai.
"Slavish employment," &;c.
Chap. 129. Kat d/LXa 2,iyav ig aitov ^vfiaTjyia insa, xat
Sn xai ftpfTo fiiv Ttpog To iavtov SElnvov, to fiiv ixstvog aap^l
toil naiSbg J^oi'vtfff, 6 Tt siri n ixsivov Sov2,oavvii dvtl tng
(5aai2,yiirig. " Among other things, he asked him what was his opinion of that
supper, in which he had compelled a father to feed on the flesh of
his child ; a supper which had reduced him from a monarch to a
slave." Beloe.
Ibid. "ASixatatov Si, bti tov Ssinvov eivexev WnSovg
xatsSov2,aas. ' ' (He said that he was) most wicked, on the account of the supper,
to enslave the Modes."
Ibid. Niiv Si MnSovg fiiv dvaitiovg tovtov iovtag Sov-
2,0 vg dvtl Ssanotiav yEyovivai, IlEpffag Si Sov2,ovg iovtag
to Ttptv WnSav vvv yEyovivai Ssanbtag.
" The Modes, who were certainly not accessary to the provoca
tion given, had exchanged situations with their slaves. The Per
sians, who were formerly the slaves, were now the masters."
Chap. 170. Kai oiita dTta2,2Mx^ivtag a^iag Sov2,oavv^g
siSaifiovnasiv. "And thus, freed from slavery, deem themselves happy."
Chap. 173. Kai nv fiiv ys ywn datn Sov2,o) awoixnari,
ysvvaia Ta tixva vsvofiiatai.

556 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

" If any free woman marries a slave, the children of such mar
riage are reputed free." Beloe.
Chap. 174. Ot fiiv vvv Kdpfg oiSiv 2/x,fiTtpbv ipyov dnoSs^d-
fisvoi iSov2,a^riaav.
" The Carians made little or no exertion, and were easily en
slaved." Chap. 210. "Og dvTi fiiv Sov2,av inoiriaag i2,sv'^Epovg Tiip-
ffag ftvat.
"You have raised the Persians from slavery to freedom." Beloe.
Book ii. chap. 1. 'fig Sov2,ovg Ttatpatovg iovtag ivbfii^s. ^
"He considered them as slaves by right of inheritance."
Chap. 56. "ETtftTa Sov2,EVOvaa aitb^i ISpvaaa^ai vnb
cpriya nsipvxviri Atog tpov.
" Although in a state of slavery, she there constructed, under a
green spreading beech, a natural little liemple to her god."
Book iii. chap. 125. "Offot Si yjffav ^slvoi ts xai SovT^oi tcyv
ETtofiivav, iv dvSpanoSav 2,6ycf) noisvfisvog eIx^-
" All the strangers, and their slaves accompanying them, were
detained in bondage." See 1 Tim. i. 10.
Chap. 138. Kat' a<pEag Sov2,EVOVtag sv^avta Ft'^^og.
" And they being enslaved, Gillus immediately ransomed them,"
kc. Chap. 140. 'Efiol fints xpv^ov, S) (3aai2,EV, fints dpyupov SiSov,
d/l/l' dvaffoffdftfvog ^ot ^6g tnv natpiSa Xdfiov, tnv vvv dSE2r
^sov tov ifiov Ilo/li;xpdT£og aTtoS-avovTog vnb 'Opoitsa £X£i
SovTuog nfistspog, tavtriv fioi Sbg dvsv ts <p6vov xai i^av-
SpanoSiaiog. " I would have neither gold nor silver ; give me Samos, my
country, and deliver it from servitude. Since the death of Poly-
crates, my brother, whom Oroetes slew, it hath been in the hands
of one of our slaves. Give me this, without any effusion of blood,
or reducing my countrymen to servitude." (Beloe.) See 1 Tim.
I. 10. Chap. 153. 'ATtft'Ttag Totfft Sov2,oiai firiSsvl ^pd^siv To
ysyovbg i(3ov2,Evsto.
" He counselled with himself about that which was foretold, that
Babylon should not be reduced to slavery until this prodigy should
be brought forth."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

557

Book iv. chap. 1. At yap Tov Sxh^eov yvvalxsg, og a^i ol
dvSpsg dnnaav xpbvov noXlbv, i^oitsov Ttapd Totig ^or;ioi;g.
" For the women, deprived so long of their husbands, had asso
ciated with their slaves." Beloe.
Chap. 2. Toiig ^f Sov2.ovg ol Xxv^ai .ndvtag tv^2x)vai
tov yd2.axtog sivExsv toij nivovai noisvvtsg aSs.
^ " It is a custom with the Scythians, to deprive all the slaves of
sight, on the account of the milk, which is their customary drink."
Beloe.
t Chap. 3. Ex ToiJTov Sn S)v ff^t Tov ^oii^ov xat Tov yvvai-
xav iTtstpd^Yi vsotYig.
" From the union of these slaves with the Scythian women, a
numerous progeny was born." Beloe.
Ibid. Aoi) totfft Toifft nfiEtipoiai fiaxofiEvoi aitoi ts £/ldff-
ffovfg xtsivofisvoi yivofis'^a.
" In this contest with our slaves, every action diminishes our
number." Beloe.
Ibid. MaS'OvTfg og siai nfiitspoi Sov2,oi.
" They will be impressed with a sense of their servile condition."
Beloe. Book V. chap. 35. '0 Si tav Sov2,av tov matbtatov dTto-
^vpTi'ffag Ttiv xE^aTuhv satins xai dvifisivs dva^vvai tdg Tpt'^ag.
" He therefore took one of the most faithful of his slaves, and
inscribed what we have mentioned on his skull, being first shaved."
Beloe. Chap. 49. 'lavav nalSag Sov2,ovg sivai dvt" i2,EV^ipav
bvsiSog xai d2/yog fiiyiatov fiiv aitolai nfilv, iti Si tav /lotTtov
Vfiiv, baa npoiatats trig 'E2,2dSog. vvv Sv Ttpog ^fOT* Tov
'EX2,'^viav pvaaa^s "lovag ix Sov2,oavvi^g, dvSpag bfiaifw-
vag. " The lonians, who ought to be free, are in a state of servitude ;
which is not only disgraceful, but also a source of the extremest
sorrow to us, as it must be to you, who are so pre-eminent in
Greece. I entreat you therefore, by the gods of Greece, to relieve
the lonians from slavery, who are connected with you by the ties
of consanguinity." Beloe.
Book vi. chap. 83. "Apyog Si dvSpaiv ixvp^'^ oika aatE ol
8ov2,oi aitav iaxov ndvta td Ttpriyfiata dpxovtig ts xai

558 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

StfTtovTfg, Ig 6 innSriaav ol tav dTto2/}fiivav natSsg, STtsitd
G<psa4 ovtoi dvaxtafisvoi OTtt'ffo Ig iavtovg tb "Apyog i^iSor
/lov i^a^EVfisvoi Si ol Sov2,oi fidx^i iaxov Tt'pi;v3a. T£og
fiiv Sn a^i nv dp^fiia ig d2,2//{2/)vg, ETtftTa Si ig tovg Sov2,ovg
n2,^s dvnp fidvtig' K^iiavSpog, yivog iav ^iya2,Evg an 'Apxa-
^t'>7g' ovTog Torg SovXovg dviyvaas int^ia^ai tolGi Ssanb-
TVjfft. " Argos, however, was deprived of so many of its citizens, that
the slaves usurped the management of affairs, and executed the
offices of government ; but when the sons of those who had been
slain grew up, they obtained possession of the city, and after some
Contest expelled the slaves, who retired to Tyrinthe, which they
seized. They for a time forebore to molest each other, till Olean
der, a soothsayer, and an Arcadian of the district of Phigalis,
came among the slaves, when he persuaded the slaves to attack
their masters."
Book ix. chap. 48. 'Ev "AS^vat'otfft Tf tnv npoTtsipav noisv-
fiivovg aitovg ts dvtia So v2,av tov nfistipcrv taaaofiivovg.
" We see you delegating to the Athenians the more dangerous
attempt of opposing us, and placing yourselves against our slaves."
Beloe. In the "Libellus de VitS. Homeri," attributed to Herodotus, in
the 23d section we find the word awSov2ua, used to mean a, fellow-
slave.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 559

LESSON IX.
We now propose to notice the scriptural use of the word Sov2.og,
doulos, and its derivatives, not only that its use may be compared
with the Greek writer^ but that it may be seen, as we believe is
true, that its use in these carries with it abundant proof, even in
the absence of all other, that "it means a slave," and "that he
to whom it was applied was a slave."
Whenever a thing is made any part of discourse, it is neces
sarily placed in a position of commendation, reprehension, or of
perfect indifference. One of these conditions must unavoidably
attend its mention. A little refiection will enable us to perceive
these* distinctive positions. For instance, in the sentence, "Lay
up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust doth not corrupt, nor
thieves break through nor steal," who does not feel the com
mendable position of the things, treasure and heaven, and the re
verse of moth, rust, and thieves ? Let us apply this view to the word
servant, selecting only those instances in the Christian Scriptures,
where the word is translated from the Greek word Sov2,og, doulos,
and means nothing except what we mean by the word slave.
St. Paul commences his epistle to the Romans, to the Philip-
pians, and to Titus, with the appellation of servant. In the two
first cases he calls himself the servant and apostle of Christ. In
the last instance, he terms himself the servant of God and apostle
of Jesus Christ. Peter, in his second epistle, styles himself a
servant and apostle : Jude, the servant of Christ. In all these
instances the word means slave, and is used commendatively, but
figuratively, to signify their entire devotedness to the cause
in which they are engaged, — devoted tb the cause wholly, as
a good slave is to his master. And it may be here remarked,
that the professing Christian is indebted to the institution for the
lesson of humility and devotedness here plainly taught him, and
without which, perhaps, he never could have been taught his duty
in these particulars so pertinently and clearly. The humility and
devotedness of the Christian are illustrated by this ordinance in
John XV. 20: "Remember the words that I said unto you, the
servant is not greater than his Lord."

560 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

In the parable of the vineyard, Luke 20 and Matt. 21, the
servant {Sov2,og, doulos, slave) is presented in a position evincing
the trustworthiness, devotion, and obedience implied in that cha
racter, clearly indicating the idea that these qualities inspire the
mind of the proprietor with a confidence surpassed only by that in
his son and heir. And it may be well remarked, that the posi
tion of the slave is one of great facility for the generating of such
confidence in the mind of the master. Between the good slave
and the good master there can be no dissimilarity of interest ; but
not so with the hired man, see Matt. 20 ; for the very moment
those hired in the morning for a penny a day perceived that those
who had not laboured the whole day received the same amount
of wages, they commenced a quarrel with the proprietor.
This distinctive use of language we think also perceptible in the
parable of the prodigal son, Luke xv. 17 : "How many hired ser.
vants (nbaoi fiiaBioi, posoi misthioi) of my father have bread
enough and to spare," TtfptfffffiioDfftv dpTov, perisseuousin arton,
an overfiowing of bread.
He is not made to say that his father's slaves had bread enough,
but that even his hired men had enough. "Make me as one of
thy hired servants," fiiaBiav, misthion. He does not ask to be re
ceived as a son, not even to be accounted as a slave, — he feels
unworthy of either. " But the father said to his servants," Sov2ovg,
doulous, slaves, "Bring forth the best robe." Having slaves, it
would have been quite out of place to have called one of his
fiiaBovg, misthous, hired men. But the elder son " called one of
the servants;" nor would it have been natural for him to have
called a hired-man, nor yet one of the common slaves, but a con
fidential servant, whose position in the family would enable him to
possess the information required ; and so we find the fact hy the
expression Tov naiSav aitov, ton paidon autou, his young confi
dential, favourite slave.
But the elder brother said to his father, "Lo, these many years
do I serve thee ;" the verb used is Sov2,sva, douleuo, and expresses
the faithful and devoted service of a good slave, not of a hired
man, who would feel no real interest beyond his own personal
benefit. And this word is put in the mouth of the angered son,
whereby to show more forcibly his sense of his own merits.
While we cast refiection back upon the incidents of this parable,
let us suppose the owner of slaves also to employ hired labourers :
if from famine or other cause he finds himself unable to supply them

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 561

all with bread, which would he turn away, his slaves, or hired men ?
or, if they refused to go, which would he feel disposed to put on
small allowance ?
Jesus Christ seems to have understood that if there was to be
any deficiency of bread, the hired-men raight be expected first to
feel it. Our Lord and Saviour, in pronouncing this parable, has
given us the most explicit assurance that he intimately understood
the domestic relations of the slave, and has taught us the lesson by
placing him side by side with the hired servant.
From the fact that the good slave was wholly devoted and ^ith-
ful to his master, the idea was not only applied to Paul, Peter, and
Jude, but also to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, and
David, and others, to express these qualities in them towards Jeho
vah ; and we find it so used in the Christian Scriptures : "He hath
holpen his servant Israel," 'lapan2, naiSbg aitov, Israel paidos
autou, Luke i. 64. It is noticed that with the word "Israel" is
associated the same term to mean slave which was applied to the
slave called by the elder brother ; and the reason seems to be
because the name Israel is supposed to be in higher regard than
the word Jacob, — the word in apposition should also be expressive
of such elevated regard. Therefore, if the word Jacob had been
used, the word Sov2,og would have followed it. This word Ttatg,
pais, when applied to a slave, was a word of endearment, and hence
was used in the case of the centurion's servant. And we may here
well remark that the case of the centurion is one in point, present
ing an instance where slave-holding was brought to the immediate
and particular notice of the Saviour, and the record shows his
conduct and language upon the occasion.
" For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me,
and I say to this man. Go, and he goeth ; and to another Come, and
he cometh; and to my servant, {Sov2m>, doulo, slave,) Do this, and
he doeth it.
" When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that fol
lowed. Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no,
not in Israel." Matt. viii. 9, 10.
" And as he was now going down, his servants {Sov2/)i, douloi,
slaves) met him, and told him, saying. Thy son liveth." John iv. 51.
36

562 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON X.
The Christian Scriptures use the institution of slavery figura
tively, in illustration of the Christian character and duty, and also
in happy illustration of the providences of God to man.
" 'Who is that faithful and wise servant, {Sov2,og, doulos, slave,)
whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them
meat in due season? Blessed is that servant {Sov2og, doulos,
slave,) whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. But
if that evil servant (SovTiog, doulos, slave) shall say in his heart.
My lord delayeth his coming ; and shall begin to smite his fellow-
servants, {avvSov2Dvg, sundoulous, fellow-slaves,) and to eat and
drink with the drunken, the lord of that servant {Sov2x)v, doulou,
slave) shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an
hour that he is not aware of." " For the kingdom of heaven is as a
man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants,
[SovTiOvg, doulous, slaves,) and delivered unto them his goods."
"His Lord said unto him. Well done, thou good and faithful ser
vant, {Sov2,E, doule, slave,) thou hast been faithful over a few
things, I will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord." " His lord answered and said unto him. Thou
wicked and slothful servant, (Soiyks, doule, slave,) thou knewest
that I i'eap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not
strewed," &c. "And cast ye the unprofitable servant {Sov2x)v,
doulon, slave) into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth." Matt. xxiv. 45-50 ; xxv. 14, 30.
" And he called his servants {Sov2,ovg, doulous, slaves), and
delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them. Occupy till I
come. And it came to pass, that jvhen he was returned, having
received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants {SovTuOVg,
doulous, slaves) to be called unto him, to whom he had given
money, that he might know how much every man had gained by
trading." " And he said unto him. Well, thou good servant {Sov2,e,
doule, slave), because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have
thou authority over ten cities." "And he saith unto him. Out of
thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant, {Sov2,s,
doule, slave.) Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 553
that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow." Luke
xix. 13-28.
"Blessed is that servant, {Sov2.og, doulos, slave) whom his lord,
when he cometh, shall find so doing. But if that servant {Sov2,og,
doulos, slave) say in his heart. My lord delayeth his coming ;
and shall begin to beat the men-servants (Toiig TtalSag, male-slaves)
and maidens, (Tag naiSiaxag, female slaves,) and to eat and drink
and be drunken ; the lord of that servant {Sov2x)V, doulou, slave,)
will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour
when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder." "And'' that
servant (Sov2ag, slave) which knew his lord's will, and prepared
not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with
many stripes." Luke xii. 43-48.
Here is an instance when the most favourite slave, called by the
term expressing such favouritism, when supposed to be disobedient,
is immediately designated by the term Sov2x)g, doulos.
" Blessed are those servants (Sov2oi, douloi, slaves) whom the
lord when he cometh shall find watching ; and if he shall come in
the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so,
blessed are those servants," (SovTmi, douloi, slaves.) Luke xii.
37, 38.
"And sent his servant {Sov2jig, doulos, slave) at supper-time," &c.
* * * "So that servant {Sov2og, doulos, slave) came and showed
his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry,
said to his servant," (Sov2.a, doulo, slave.) "And the servant {Sov2.og,
doulos, slave) said. Lord, it is done. And the lord said unto the
servant, {Sov%ov, doulon, slave,) Go out into the highway," &,c.
Luke xiv. 17-23.
" And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free, (l^lfD^fpofff t eleutherosei, free.) They answered him, We be
Abraham's seed, we were never in bondage (SESov2,EVxafiEV, dedou-
leukamen, slavery) to any man : how sayest thou. Ye shall be made
free ? Jesus 3,nswered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, whoso
ever committeth sin, is the servant of sin, {Sov2x)g, doulos, slave.)
And the servant (Sov2x)g, doulos, slave) abideth not in the house
for ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be
free indeed." John viii. 32-35.
" But which of you, having a servant {Sov2.ov, doulon, slave)
ploughing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by. and by, when he

564 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

is come from the field. Go and sit down to meat ? And will not
rather say unto him. Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird
thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken ; and after
ward thou shall eat and drink ? Doth he thank that servant
{Sov2,a, slave) because he did the things that were commanded him ?
I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those
things which are commanded you, say. We are unprofitable ser
vants {Sov2.0i, slaves) : we have done that which was our duty to
do." Luke xvii. 7-10.
In all these instances slavery is made a lesson of instruction, and
always in the position commendable.

LESSON XL
The Christian Scriptures recognise the force and application of
the command, " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's man-servant,
nor his maid-servant," as applicable to slaves at the time of the apos
tles ; and that the act of " coveting," extended into action, becomes
" stealing," the property named in the command. "Now the end
of the command is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good con
science, and of faith unfeigned: from which some having swerved,
have turned aside unto vain jangling ; desiring to be teachers of the
law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully, know
ing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the
lawless and disobedient, the ungodly, and for sinners, for unholy
and profane, for murderers of fathers, and murderers of mothers,
for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves
with mankind, for men-stealers, (dvSpanoSiatatg andrapodistais,
slave-stealers,) for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any
other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the
glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my
trust." 1 Tim. i. 5-11.
It may be well remembered that the preceding third verse of this
chapter beseeches Timothy to still abide at Ephesus, that he may
charge sorae that they teach no other doctrine, &c.
The word andrapodistais, of the original Greek text, here trans-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 5(]5
lated men-stealers, means the stealing, or enticing away from the
possession and ownership of their masters, their slaves. St. Paul
speaks of it as a part of the law, — speaks of the offence as one
well known, and as too well known to be a part of the law to re
quire any explanation. AVhen we come to know that that act of
the raind called coveting, indulged to action, becomes stealing, — that
the crime in action includes the crime in mind, — we may readily
perceive what particular law is referred to. Is it difficult to decide
that property, which the law forbids us to covet, it also forbids us
to steal, even if "thou shalt not steal" had not preceded ?
The idea stealing was expressed by the Greeks by the word
X/lfTtTo, klepto, but the idea stealing slaves was expressed by the
word in the text. The formation is dvrip, a man, novg, a foot, and
signifies the condition of slavery, as a man bound by the foot. A
whole class of words of this formation, all including the idea of
slavery, were in use by the Greeks, and found in their authors.
When used to express the substantive, the idea of slavery is asso
ciated with the idea of some change of position or ownership;
hence its use in this instance. The thing stolen involves the idea
of a change of position, possession, &c. Yet in many instances it
may be difficult to perceive this distinction, it rather appearing to
have been often used as a synonyme of doulos, both as a verb and
substantive. In the Sth section of the 4th book of the Cyropsedia, Xeno
phon uses this word to mean a slave, the quality growing out of
the imputed change in the condition of the soldier,- thus : £Lg
b tovto noiav oixiti dvnp iativ, d2,2,d axEvo(p6pog, xai i^sati
tO} (3ov2x)fi£va nSi^ ;^p5iff0at ToiiTo og dv^paTto^o. Which
Ashley translates, " And as he that does this can no longer be
reckoned a man, but a mere bearer of baggage, so any one that will
is free to use him as a slave." The Romfins so understood this
word. In the translation of Xenophon into Latin by Amelburnus,
we find this passage : "Nam qui hoc facit non miles et vir est, sed
sarcinarius calo; quem uti mancipium tractare cuivis licet;" nor
can it be said that this learned man misunderstood his Greek, for
we have before us the critical translations of Oxford and Cam
bridge, in which the sentence reads, " Nam qui hoc facit, non am
plius vir est et miles, sed sarcinarius calo, atque hoc aded uti man
cipium licet." They have made no change as to this word, nor
as to the sense of the sen*ence.
Xenophon uses this word also in the 14th section of the 8th

566 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

book, to inean slaves, and in the same passage with Sov2iog, the
ndjective sense existing in the presumed unwillingness in the slaves
to seek freedom, on the account of their happiness being probably
better secured in a state of slavery to Cyrus than it would be in
a state of freedom. We give it entire :
"Ovg S' av xatsGxsva^sv sig tb Sov2,svEiv, tovtovg ovts
fiE2,Etqv Tov £/lfi;S'fpt'ov Ttovov oiSiva napapfia, ovts bn2xx,
xExtna^ai initpEnEV insfis2,stto S' oTtog finnots daitoi fints
UTto-Tot TtoT£ saoivto, l/lfu^f pt'ov EVExa fiE2.EtYifidtav. Kal ydp
bnbtav i2,avvoiEV td S^pt'a Totg Innsiaiv sig td nsSia, ^ipsa-
Oat fft'Tov ftg ^'pav ToiJTotg iTtitpEnE, tov Si i2,EV^ipav oiSEvi.
Kal oTtbtE TtopEia Eiri, nysv aitovg npbg td vSata aaTtsp Ta
wto'^vyia. Kai, oTtoTf ^f opa siri dpiatov, dvifisvev aitovg
iat' dv ^dyoiiv Tt, c5g fin. ^ovTufiiaEV offTf xai orToi aitov
oiffTtfp ot dptffToi, TtaT£pa ixd2uow, bti insfii2,sto aitav oTtag
dvafi^i2Ayag dsl dvSpdnoSa SiatsTioisv.
Which may be translated thus : " But in rearing up his slaves,
he never permitted them to practise the employment of the free,
nor allowed them the possession of arms, but took care that they
would never be without their meat and drink for the sake of the
practices of the free ; for when with their horses they drove out
the wild beasts into the plains, he allowed meat and drink to be
carried for the use of these people during the hunt, but not for
the free ; and when he was upon a march, he led them to water, as
he did the beasts of burden ; and when the time for dinner came,
he waited till they had eaten something, that they might not be
distressed with hunger ; so that these people, as likewise the more
elevated, called him their father ; so he was careful, beyond a doubt,
that they would always remain his slaves," dvSpdnoSa, slaves,
i. e. they would have no desire to change their situation.
Amelburnus translates it thus : " Quos autem ad serviendum in-
struebat, eos nee ad labores ullos liberales excitabat, nee habere
arma sinebat : studioseque dabat operam, ne unquam liberalium
exercitationum causa vel cibo vel potu carerent. Permittebat enim
servis, quoties .equitibus feras in campos adigerent, ut cibum ad
venationem secum sumerent ; ingenuorum verd neraini. Quando
item faciundum erat iter, ad aquas eos, perinde ac jumenta, duce-
bat. Quum prandii tempus erat, expectabat eos donee aliquid come-
dissent, ne furcilla sive fames acrior eos affligereV. Quo fiebat ut, non

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 557
alitor ac optimates, etiam hi Cyrum patrem appellarent, qui curarr.
ipsorum gereret ut semper sine dubio mancipia manerent."
The Oxford translation, which was published in 1737, has per
haps made the Latin more classical, but has strictly adhered to the
same meaning of the words Sov2,EV£iv and dv^pdTto^a. We give
their version also, that the curious may compare, and have no
doubt about this matter. It reads thus :
" Quos autem ad serviendum instruebat, eos nee ad se in labori-
bus ullis liberalibus exercendos excitabat, nee habere arma sinebat.
Studioseque dabat operam, ne unquam liberalium exercitationum
causa vel cibo vel potu carerent. Etenim his permittebat, ut cibum ad
venationem secum sumerent, ingenuorum vero nemini : quando item
faciendum erat iter, ad aquas eos, perinde ac jumenta, ducebat.
Et ciim prandii tempus erat, expectabat eos donee aliquid conje-
dissent ne fames ingens eos invaderet ; quo fiebat ut etiam hi, non
alitor ac optimates, Cyrum patrem appellarent, qui curam ipsorum
gereret ut semper sine dubio mancipia manerent."
We deem it proper to add a word concerning the use of this
term, especially as some, who claim to be learned divines, also
claim that Paul by its use totally forbid slavery. See Barnes, on
Slavery, p. 355. He says — " ' The law is made for manstealers,'
dvSpanoSiatalg, 1 Tim. i. 9, 10. The meaning of this word has
been before considered. It needs only to be remarked here, that
the essential idea of the term is that of converting a freeman into a
slave. Thus Passon defines the word dv^paTto^tff jtfog, andrapodismos:
Verwandlung eines freyen Mannes in einen Sklaven, besonders
durch Varkauf, Unterjochung, U. S. W. : a changing of a freeman
into a slave, especially by traffic, subjection, &c. Now, somehow
this ' conversion of a freeman into a slave,' the sin forbidden in
the passage before us, occurs essentially in the case of every one
who ever becomes a slave."
We know not why Mr. Barnes chose to go to a Dutch dictionary
for his quotation, since he might have found the true signification
in that of any schoolboy.
But we think it a singular argument that, because andrapodismos
means the making or selling a slave, andrapodistais means the
exact same thing. The truth is, the essential idea conveyed by
this word is slave, slavery, kc If I wish to say " stealing a slave,"
I use one form of it ; if " selling a slave," another, and so on ; but
the stealing a freeman with the view to make him a slave was not
expressed by this word, or any form of it. The Greeks used the

568 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

term anthropokleptais, but the legal reduction of a man to slavery
was quite a different matter. St. Paul's animadversion compre
hended the idea of slavery and stealing, — what? a freeman, or
a slave ? Had it been a freeman that occupied the objective case,
it is presumable that his language would have had some analogy to
that used in the Septuagint, Beut. xxiv. 7.
This word, or some form of it, is of most frequent occurrence
in the Greek authors. We need quote but a few passages to show
their use of the term, whether it included the idea of a freeman,
or only that of a slave. Thueydides, Leipsic edition, 1829 :
Ot S' 'A^Yivatoi ovts Td/L/la vnnxovov, ovts tb i^^tffjtta xa^
'/.poDV, fTttxa/loiivTfg £Tt' ipyaaiav Mfyapfiifft tng yng trig Ispdg,
xai trig dopi a tov, xai dvSpanbSav vnoSox^v tav d^iatafii-
vav. " But the Athenians listened to none of these demands, nor
would revoke the decree, but reproached the Megarians for tilling
land that was sacred, land not marked out for culture, and for
giving shelter to runaway slaves."
Vol. ii. p. 138. At Si vnsg nspisTtTisvaav, ta dvSpdnoSa
dyovGai. " But the vessels came hack along the coast, on board of which
were the slaves."
Idem. Kai Td dv^pttTto^a aTtf^offav.
"And here they offered the slaves for sale."
P. 118. 'Avi§pdTtoSa 'Txxaptxa — "Hyccarian s?az;es."
P. 201. Kai, dv^pdTto^ov n2,£ov n Sio fivpiaSEg Yiitofio2,Yt-
xiaav. "And more than twenty thousand slaves had deserted."
P. 314. Kat axEVYi fiiv xai dvSpdnoSa apnaynv noiriadfiEvog,
tovg Si i2,£vMpovg Ttd/ltv xatoixiaag, in' ''A(3vSov n2,^s.
" He gave up all the effects and. slaves to pillage, and after
establishing such as were free people in their old habitations, he
went against Abydos."
The instances of the use of this word are so frequent that we
know not whether more of them should not be given ; but may we
not presume that those who read the language have some know
ledge of the matter ? and we therefore ask them to relieve us frora
that burden. We think it no hazard to maintain the fact that
dvopocTtodt^o, its cognates &nd derivatives, both nouns and adjec-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 559

tives, are never used in the Greek language unassociated with the
idea of slavery. If so, then it follows that the idea stealing, as it
existed in the mind of St. Paul, was not associated with the idea
"man," but "slave," and that he used the term dv5paTto5tffTatg,
andrapodistais, to express the idea "slave-stealers."

LESSON XIL

But as the verb dv^paTto&'^o, andrapodizo, and its conjugates,
are sometimes used to express the action of subjecting to slavery,
it is asked, how are we to know whether Paul did not mean such
subjugation? It was surely in the compass of the Greek lan
guage for Paul so to have used the proper mood and tense of this
verb, with other suitable words, and effectually forbid the subject
ing of others to slavery. But is it probable he could have con
sistently done so ? Such forbidding would have been forbidding what
the law prescribed. It would have been a rebellious teaching
against the laws of the land, as well as against the laws delivered
to Moses for the civil governraent of the Israelites. " When thou
comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, thou shalt proclaim
peace unto it ; and it shall be, if it make answer of peace, and
open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that are found
therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee,"
(nT°l3J71 va abaduka, be slaves to thee — and they shall be slaves to
thee.) "But if it will make no peace with thee, but will make
war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: and when the
Lord thy God hath delivered it into thy hands, thou shalt smite
every male thereof with the edge of the sword. But the women,
and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city,
even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take to thyself." Beut. xx.
10-14. Such, substantially, was the law of all nations at the very time
Paul wrote to Timothy. The verb proposed the making of a slave in
a legal manner, reducing to the condition alluded to by the prophet.
" Shall the prey be taken frora the mighty, or the lawful captive
restored?" Isa. xlix. 24. The verb andrapodizo expressed a law
ful act. If individuals, without law, had seized upon the others
with the view to make them slaves, such act would have been
called by a different name. It would not have been a name formed

570 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

from dvnp and Ttoiig, (aner and pous,) unaccompanied by explana
tions. "We have an example before us' in Beut. xxiv. 7 : "If any
man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Is
rael, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him, then that
thief shall die." Here the individual stolen was not a slave,
either by the laws of God or man : and hence we find that the
Septuagint uses no word to signify slave. The passage reads
thus: "Eav ^£ d/L0 dv^poTtog x2,intav -^x^'^ ^^ '^^ dSs2^av
aitov TOV viav 'Iffpari/l, xai xataSwaatsvGag aitbv drtoSatai,
dno^avsltai b x/lfTtTjyg ixstvog.
And had St. Paul merely in his mind the idea man-stealing,
unconnected with slavery, he would have used analogous language.
In the passage in Timothy, he might well have used the term
dv^poTtox/lfTtTatg, anthropokleptais, which would have expressed
the same thing, — an unlawful act, an act forbidden in the passage
just quoted, — the act of stealing a freeman, with an intention of
making him a slave, contrary to law ; and Paul would have pro
bably added this offence, if the Ephesians had been guilty of the
crime. But Paul did not use a word even conjugated from
dvopaTtoot'^o, andrapodizo, but a cognate substantive, used almost
technically to mean those who stole slaves, not freemen.
The ¦word used by Paul is translated into Latin, in the Vulgate,
by the word plagiariis, which also means those who stole
slaves. It is formed frora plagiger, one born to be whipped,
(the Romans were cruel to their slaves,) and areo, to he parched
up, to be thirsty, and hence plagiarius, from the notion that he
who stole slaves coveted the slave with such intensity that he
thirsted for the slave, and appropriated him to himself as a thirsty
man does water. It originally was a mere cant word. But it
expressed the contempt the Romans entertained for the act of
slave-stealing. Hence has come our word plagiary ; only used
now to mean the act of appropriating the literary property of
another, but still retaining, to some extent, the expression of con
tempt. The learned men who translated the New Testament into
Latin well knew that Paul told Timothy that the law was made
against those who stole slaves : and so we find it, Thou shalt not
steal. Thou shalt not even covet thy neighbour's slave. (See
Exod. XX. 15, 17 ; also Beut. v. 19, 20.) Had Paul used the
word andrapodizo, or some form of it, and had he really intended

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 571
to have told Timothy that he or others should no longer, under any
circumstances, subject others to slavery, or under the Christian
dispensation he should not; that Christianity for|)id it; yet he
could not have been so shallow as to have added the sentiment
that it was against the law, for such addition, such part of his
instruction, Timothy would have at once known to be not true ;
and we trust but few will entertain a position so full of gross con
sequences. This discourse to Timothy was founded upon thj, fact
that "some had swerved" from the end of the law, and turned to
vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding
neither what they say nor whereof they affirm, — probably teach
ing doctrines that led essentially to the crimes here exposed.
Paul's object, in part, was to expose their ignorance and wicked
ness, to sustain the supremacy of the law, and by his counsel to
warn him against a shipwreck of faith, as in the case of Hymeneus
and Alexander.
Can it be supposed that under such circumstances he would have
undertaken to have repealed a law, or to have asserted that the
law prohibited what it sustained ? In such case, he would have
done the. very act himself for which he condemned Hymeneus and
Alexander, and have proved himself one of the lawless and disobe
dient, for whom the law was made. ¦"
There is another consideration, which to our mind is of moment
in the review of this subject. The religion of Jesus Christ never
undertook to meddle with the civil institutions of the law. Its
object was to make its devotees happy under and resigned to its
adjudications, whatever they may have been, by reason of the
greater considerations of a hereafter ; nor do we recollect an in
stance where either Christ or his apostles even suggested any
repeal. His kingdom was not of this world, and therefore his fol
lowers could not act in reference to the things of this world.
Peter in his zeal smote off the ear of the slave of the high-priest,
but Christ immediately rebuked the act and restored the injury
done. Had Paul intended to have suggested that the sulijecting
to slavery, as that subject then existed and ever had from the
time of Moses, was no longer to be countenanced, then, it s'eeras to
us, he would have .travelled beyond the mission of an apostle, the
precepts of his Master, and out of his kingdom into the problem
atical questions of civil government.
Paul, in the passage before us, enumerates a class of the breaches
of the law which came -vvithin the view of Timothy, which breaches

572 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

of the law he pronounces to be " contrary to sound doctrine," and
'¦' to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed
to my trust," having previously- notified him "that the law was
good if a man use it lawfully." Now, one of the plain and well-
known laws on the subject. of slavery was, "Both thy bond-men
and thy bond-maids which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen
that are around about you ; of 'them shall you buy bond-men and
bond-maids. Moreover, of the children of the strangers that do
sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and their families that
are with you, which they beget in your land, and they shall be
your possession. And ye shall take thera as an inheritance for
your children after you, to inherit them for a possession. They
shall be your bond-men for ever."
Under such a state of facts can any thing be conceived more in
consistent, than that Paul should, under such circumstances, design
to slip in a word repealing in fact this law, and directly producing
all the other ill effects which he so pointedly complained of in
others. Whoever can believe such a thing, surely, whatever he
may pretend, can have no respect for the character of Paul, nor
for his religion.
But the character of Paul remains consistent, his religion un
blemished and spotless, and the preaching of Jesus Christ in rela
tion to the matter vindicated and supported, by giving to the word
andrapodistais, as here used by Paul, its plain, legitimate, and
usual meaning, slave-stealers, persons who steal, or entice away
from the possession of their masters, individuals who according to
the law are slaves.

LESSON XIII.

The inquiry naturally occurs, how happened it that St. Paul
found it necessary to instruct and inform Timothy that the law
forbid the stealing or enticing away other men's slaves. By an
examination of his ^Writings and letters to the Gentile churches,
the fact is plainly proven that there had grown up araong them some
new doctrines, which his office as apostle made it his duty to repre
hend. What these doctrines were we are enabled in some measure to
discover, by examining the 7th of the Is* Corinthians, which com-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 573

mences thus : " Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto
me," disclosing the fact that the Corinthians had written to him
for advice and counsel, whom he now answers with instructions
against the abolition of marriage, and against the abolition of
slavery, &c.
Some of the Gentile churches advocated the doctrine that if a
man or a woman of the faith were married to one not of the faith,
that such marriage should be abolished ; so also, that a slave of the
faith should be set free, and especially from his beheving master ;
so also, the believing child should be discharged from the authority
of the unbelieving parents. The promulgation of these doctrines
filled society with disorder there, and the church with confusion.
In his lesson to Timothy, he complains of the doctrines taught
by Hymeneus and Alexander, as blasphemous. Now, in this same
lesson, he applies this epithet to these new abolition doctrines, leav
ing us plainly to infer that these doctrines were also taught by
them, and for which he " delivered" them " unto Satan." And here
we have a connecting link between this lesson to Timothy and his
whole instruction to the Gentile . churches on this subject. But
these doctrines, as taught by Hymeneus and Alexander, or others
analogous, have found advocates ever since ; for folly has never
been so foolish nor wickedness so wicked as not to find followers.
These new doctrines Paul reprehended in many other places, and
touching the subject of our present inquiry, let us examine how he
treated the matter during the time of his apostleship.
" Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
Art thou called being a servant, {Soi)2uOg, doulos, slave,) care not
for it ; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he
that is called in the Lord, being a servant, (ooi/log, doulos, slave,)
is the Lord's freeman ; likewise, also, he that is called, being free,
is Christ's servant, (Sovlog, doulos, slave.) Ye are bought with a
price ; be ye not the servant (&D/log, doulos, slave) of men.
Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with
God." 1 Cor. vii. 20-24. And this is consistent with his introduc
tion to the subject in the 17th verse : " But as God hath distributed
to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk,
and so ordain I in all churches." Compare this with his instruc
tion to Titus: "Exhort servants (SovT^ovg, doulous, slaves,) to be
obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things.
Not answering again, not purloining, but showing all good fidelity ;
that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

574 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all
men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world ;
looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ ; who gave himself for us,
that he might redeem us frota all iniquity, and purify unto himself
a peculiar pciople, zealous of good works. These things speak, and
exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee."
Titus ii. 9-15.
And to the Colossians : " Servants, {Sov2m, douloi, slaves,)
obey in all things your masters according to the flesh ; not with
eye-service, as men-pleasers ; but in singleness of heart, fearing God :
and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto
men ; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of
the inheritance : for ye serve {Sov2,EVEtE, douleuete, ye slave your
selves to) the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall re
ceive for the wrong which he hath done : and there is no respect
of persons. Masters, give unto your servants (Sov2Dig, doulois,
slaves) that which is just and equal ; knowing that ye also have a
Master in heaven." Col. iii. 22, 25 ; iv. 1.
And to the Ephesians : " Servants, (Sov2iOi, douloi, slaves,) be
obedient to them that are your masters according to the fiesh, with
fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ ;
not with eje-service (b^Ba2,fioSov2,siav, ophthalmodouleian, slavery
to the eye) as men-pleasers ; but as the servants {Sov7Mi, douloi,
slaves) of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart ; with
good-will doing service (oof/lfliovTfg, douleuontes, slaving your
selves) as to the Lord, and not to men ; knowing that whatsoever
good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord,
whether he be bond (flOv2,og, doulos, slave) or free (f/lfijOfpog,
eleutheros, a freeman). And ye masters, do the same things unto
them, forbearing threatening : knowing that your Master is also
in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with him." Eph.
vi. 5-9.
And, finally, to Timothy : " Let as many servants {Sov2ml,
douloi, slaves) as are under the yoke count their own masters
worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be
not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them
not despise theta because they are brethren ; but rather do them
service, {Sov2,EV£taGav, do them slave-labour,) because they are

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach
and exhort. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to
wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud,
knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words,
whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse
disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth,
supposing that gain is godliness : from such withdraw thyself.
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For We brought
nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. But
they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and ii^to
many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction
and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil :
which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou,
0 man of God, flee these things ; and follow after righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight
of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called,
and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I
give thee' charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things,
and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a
good confession, that thou keep this commandment without spot,
unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Tim. vi. 1-14.
Froni the arguments here presented to Timothy in support of
the doctrine which Paul invariably taught in relation to slavery,
we may well suppose he felt a deep interest, even anxiety, to pre
vent these new doctrines from affecting Timothy's mind in their
favour ; and we cannot but notice, that while, with the dignified
authority of an apostolic teacher, his instructions are full, distinct,
and certain, yet they are accompanied with a courteousness of
explanation consolatory even to the slave, the subject of them,
and with a solemnity of attestation that fathoms the very founda
tion of the Christian faith.

576 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON XIV.
Jesus Christ announced to the Jews that whosoever com
mitteth sin is the servant {Sov2,og, doulos, slave) of sin ; that the
servant (Sov2,og, doulos, slave) abideth not in the house for ever, but
the son abideth ever, &c.; therefore, if the son make them free,
they shall be free indeed, &c. Of the doctrine here inculcated by
th# Saviour himself, it seems to us St. Paul has given a full and
happy illustration ; and, by his using the institution of slavery as
a principal medium of his illustration, and by referring to facts
well-known in the history of the institution of slavery, has not
only recognised its existence, but also that it existed in conformity
with the ordinances of God : and we deem his illustration not the
less valuable, because it explains what is meant by, and how we are
to understand, the Christian equality of all in that church. In
addition to what we have already read from his writings, we may
also notice, " Is the law then against the promises of God ? God
forbid ; for if there had been a law given which could have given
life, verily righteousness should have come by the law. But the
scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith
of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before
faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith
which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was
our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justi
fied by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under
a schoolmaster. Por ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ,
have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond {Sov2.og, doulos, slave) nor free, there is neither male
nor female : for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
proraise." Gal. iii. 21-29.
" Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth
nothing from a servant, (Sov2x>g, doulos, slave) though he be lord
of all ; but is under tutors and governors until the tirae appointed
of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bond
age {S£Sov2.afiivoi, dedoulomenoi, a state of slavery) under the ele-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 577

ments of the. world. But when the fulness of the time was come,
God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the
Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Where
fore thou art no more a servant, {Sov2,og, doulos, slave,) but a son ;
and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Howbeit then,
when ye knew not God, ye did service {iSov2,EvaatE, edouleusate,
did slave yourselves) unto them which by nature are no gods. But
now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God,
how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto
ye desire again to be in bondage ?" (SovXeveiv, douleuein, to be in
slavery.) Gal. iv. 1-9.
" Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the
law ? For it is written, that Abraham had two sops ; the one by
a bond-maid, (rtaiSiaxvig, paidiskes, a favourite female slave,) and
the other by a free-woman. But he who was of the bond-woman
(rtaiSiaxrig, paidiskes, a favourite female slave) was born after the
flesh, but he of the free-woman was by promise. Which things are
an allegory : for these are the two covenants ; the one from the
mount Sinai in Arabia, which gendereth to bondage, (Sov^Eiav,
douleian, slavery,) which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in
Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bond
age (Sov2£V£i, douleuei, slavery) with her children. But Jerusa
lem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." Gal. iv.
21-26. " Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that
was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what
saith the scripture? Cast out the bond-woman (naiSiaxriv,
paidisken, favourite female slave) and her son : for the son of the
bond-woman (Ttat&'ffx>7g, paidiskes, favourite female slave) shall not
be heir with the son of the free-woman. So then, brethren, we
are not children of the bond-woman, (naiSiaxrig, paidiskes, favour
ite female slave,) but of the. free. Stand fast therefore in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage," {Sov2,Eiag, douleias, slavery.)
Gal. iv. 29-31, v. 1. '
In these lessons of Paul we not only find the Greek use of the
word "doulos," but we find also the doctrine that slavery is the
37

578 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

quotient of sin. It is true he often uses the word figuratively to
illustrate the devotion and obedience of the humble foUoweis of
Jesus Christ ; but in him who spurns obedience to the laws of God,
and rejects the faith of the gospel, the character is fixed and per
manent, as is the course of conduct that gives it.
While in this portion of our present Study, we desire to bring to
mind the word doulos and its cognates, as used in the ancient Greek
Scriptures, with the design that it may be easily compared with
its use by the classical authors in that language. We shall be
happy if successful in the attempt to present it in such form that
the mind may acknowledge the doctrine inculcated to be consistent
with the justice of Divine providence and the mercy of a redeem
ing love ; that the deduction shall be evident ; that slavery is
a creation of Divine justice upon the model of mercy, every way
adapted to benefit the most degenerate and wicked races of man
kind ; and that its whole action manifests the principle, that he
whom the Father loveth, him he chasteneth ; — and such, indeed, is
the object of our entire study.

LESSON XV.
From the writings of St. Paul, we deem the deduction clear,
that he considered slavery to be a consequent of sin, and plainly
set it forth in his address to the Romans. "Wherefore as by one man
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned. For until (dxpi; achri,
as far as— see Iliad, xvii. 599) the law, sin was in the world : but
sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless, death
reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned
after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of
him that was to corae." Rom. v. 12-24.
"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants
{Sov2,ovg, doulous, slaves) to obey, his servants {Sov2,Oi, douloi, slaves)
ye are to whom ye obey ; whether of sin unto death, or of obedi
ence unto righteousness ? But God be thanked, that ye were the
servants (Sov2,oi, douloi, slaves) of sin, but ye have obeyed from

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 579
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being
then made free from sin, ye became the servants {iSov2,aBrits,
edoulothete, je enslaved yourselves) to righteousness unto holi
ness. For when ye were the servants (Sov2,oi, douloi, slaves) of
sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then, in
those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? for the end of those
things is death. But now, being free from sin, and become ser
vants (00D)lo6fvTfg, doulothentes, slaving yourselves) to God, ye
have fruit unto holiness, and in the end everlasting life. For the
wages of sin is death : but the gift of God is eternal life, through
Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. vi. 16-23.
" For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage (Scn}2,siag,
douleias, slavery) again to fear, but ye have received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God ;
and if children, then heirs : heirs of God, and joint heirs with
Christ : if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also
glorified together. For I reckon, that the sufferings of this pre
sent time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the
creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For
the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by rea
son of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the
creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage (^OD^ft'ag,
douleias, slavery) of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the
children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now : and not only they, but
, ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit,
the redemption of our body." Rom. viii. 14-23. " So then, with
the miijid I myself serve (Sov2,sva, douleuo^ slave myself to) the
law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." Rom. vii. 25. "For
they that are such serve (SovXevovGiv, douleuousin, slave them
selves to) not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly." Rom.
xvi. 18.
The word "doulos" is used by Peter in a similar manner:
" For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to
silence the ignorance of foolish men : as free, not using your
liberty for ajcloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God,"
{Sov2,oi, douloi, slaves.) ' Idem: "While they promise them liberty.

580 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
they themselves are the servants, (SovTmi, douloi, slaves) of cor
ruption : for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought
in bondage," (SESov2xotai, dedouhtai, is he enslaved.)
Further instances of the use of the word "doulos" in the ori
ginal Greek Scriptures will be found as follows : — " But I keep
under my body and bring it into subjection, (Sov2xi,yaya, dou-
lagogo, and guide it as in slavery,) lest that by any means when
I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." 1 Cor.
ix. 27. "For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body,
whether we are Jews or Gentiles, whether we are bond {Sov2oi,
douloi, slaves) or free, and have been all made to drink into one
spirit." ICor. xii. 13. "Where there is neithea- Greek nor Jew,
circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond
(Sov2.og, doulos, slave) nor free." Col. iii. 11. " As ye also
learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow-servant" (gwSov2.ov, sun-
doulou, fellow-slave.) Ool. i. 7. " But if the unbelieving depart,
let him depart ; a brother or a sister is not under bondage (o£ooi'-
/¦.^jTat, dedouhtai, is enslaved) in such cases." 1 Cor. vii. 15.
"For ye suffer if a man bring you into bondage," (xataSov2.ot,
katadouloi, reduce you to slavery,) &c. 2 Cor. xi. 20. "For he
that in these things serveth {Sov2,EvaEi, douleusei, shall slave him
self to) Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men." Rom. xiv.
18. "It was said unto her, the elder shall serve (SovT^svasi, shall
slave himself to) the younger; for it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated." Rom. ix. 12, 13., "And behold, one of
them which were with Jesus, stretched out his hand, and drew his
sword, and struck a servant {Sov2.ov, doulon, slave) of the high-
priest, and smote off his ear." Matt. xxvi. 51. "And one of them
that stood by drew his sword, and smote a servant (Sov2,ov, doulon,
slave,) of the high-priest, and cut off his ear." 3Iark xiv. 47.
"And one of them smote a servant (Sov2,ov, doulon, slave) of the
high-priest, and cut off his right ear." Luke xxii. 50. "Then
Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and smote the high-priest's
servant {Sov2x}v, doulon, slave,) and cut off his right ear. The
servant's (Sov2,a, doulo, slave) name was Malchus." "One of the
servants (Sov2.av, doulon, slaves) of the high-priest (being his kins
man whose ear Peter cut off) saith. Did not I see thee in the
garden with him?" John xviii. 10,26. "Aud the servants
(Sov2x)i, douloi, slaves) and officers stood there, who had made a
fire of coals, (for it was cold,) and they warmed themselves : and
Peter stood with them and warmed himself." John xviii. 18.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. ggj
There are several instances where the word is used figuratively,
as a submissive epithet, as an example of which we cite ^-Icfs iv. 29 ;
"And now. Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy
servants (Sov/.oig. doulois, slaves) that with all boldness they
may speak thy word." "And God spake on this wise. That his
seed should sojourn in a strange land ; and that they should bring
them into bondage, (Sov2Maovaiv, doulosousin, should enslave
them,) and entreat them evil four hundred years. And the nation
to whom they shall be in bondage (Sov?.£vaaai, douleusosi, to
whom they shall be enslaved) will I judge, said God." Acts vii. 6, 7.
"Not now as a servant (Sov2.ov, doulon, slave,) but above a servant,
(Sov7mv, doulon, slave,) a brother beloved," kc. Philem. 16.
"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant {Sov2.ov, doulon, slave) de
part in peace." Luke ii. 29.

LESSON XVI.

The English words servant, to serve, service, servile, servilely,
serving, kc. have descended into the language from the Latin
word servus, a slave, and these words, when first introduced into
the language, as distinctly carried ¦with them the idea of slavery as
does now our present term, and will continue to do so wherever
the English language and slavery prevail. In no slave-holding
country will the word servant be applied to a freeman as a legiti
mate term of description, but in non-slaveholding communities
these words are sometimes used in a somewhat different sense, yet
erroneously, because they are then used -without adherence to their
derivation and analogy. These words, when found in the received
translation of the Christian Scriptures, are in the most of instances
translated from some Greek word that signified or included the
idea slavery. But notwithstanding the obvious error in giving
the word servant, kc. as the translation of a word that did not
carry with it the idea which was in unison with the original of
these words, yet we find some few instances of such error. We
give a few examples.
" Jesus answered. My kingdom is not of this world : if my king
dom were of this world, then would my servants fight." John
xviii. 36.

582 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Here servants is translated from DTt>7p£Tat, huperetai, and signi
fies a subordinate. In English it sometimes requires attend-ants,
assistants, inferior officers, &c., but never associates with the idea
of slavery.
" Peter followed him afar off unto the high-priest's palace, and
he sat with the servants, (vnrtpEtav, attendants, kc.,) and warmed
himself at the fire." Mark xiv. 54. "And the servants {Sov2x)i,
douloi, slaves) and officers (vnripitaL, huperetai, attendants, inferior
officers, kc.) stood there, who had made a fire of coals, (for it was
cold,) and they warmed themselves." John xviii. 18.
That the word here used never conjugates with the idea slavery,
we quote it as used in Luke iv. 20, in proof : " And he closed the
book, and he gave it again to the minister," (vrtripitT^ huperete,
attendant, inferior officer, kc) Also, Acts xxvi. 16 : " But rise
and stand upon thy feet : for I have appeared unto thee for this
purpose, to make thee a minister \vn7ipitYiv, hupereten, attendant,
assistant, minister, kc.) and a witness both of those things which
thou hast seen and of those things in the which I will appear unto
thee." Here the requisites of the character required are totally incom
patible with the character of -the doulos, proving with the greatest
certainty that these two words have no analogy whatever. For
we may well here remark, that human learning has never arrived
at a more nicely distinct and definite perfection in the use of lan
guage than is even now manifest in the sayings of Him " who
spoke as never man spake."
Besides, in the case of John xviii. 18, servants, douloi, and officers
VTtripitai, huperetai, being used consecutively and coupled together
by a conjunction, is a strong proof that the idea appropriated here
severally to these terms could not be expressed by either term al
ternately by substitution, and that these terms were by no analogy
synonymous. The word servant has also in errer been rendered from other
terms : see Hebrews iii. 5 : " And Moses verily was faithful in all
his house as a servant,^' (^fpdTtov, therapon.) We have not in En
glish any single term that fully expresses the idea conveyed by
this. It means an associate or companion who is voluntarily under
the direction of one whom he takes and acknowledges to be his
superior. The old Roman umbra, when applied to an attendant,
conveyed the idea more exactly than any one term of ours. Thus,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

58S

the warrior was called the therapon of Mars, and of the muses and
kings of the gods generally. Thus, Menelaus is called the therapon
of his chief, &c. &c. (See Iliad, viii. 113, xviii. 244, xix. 143.)
A similar error is occasionally found in the use of the terms to
serve, served, service, kc, as if they were legitimately derived from
some form of doulos. Thus, Luke ii. 37 : " But served God with
fasting and prayers night and day," — " served," XaTpf rowffa,
latreuousa, from latreuo. The. more appropriate term is " to
worship," &c.
The term was used by the Greeks, "to worship" the gods by
sacrifices and offerings. (See Euripides, Electra, 131; Iphagenia
in Tauris, 1115.) So in Acts vii. 7 : " And after that shall they
come forth and serve me in this place," — " serve," /laTpfrffoufft, la-
treusousi. It should have been, "and worship me in this place."
Rom. ix. 4 : " And the service of God, and the promises," /laTpft'a,
latreia, worship, &c. So also Heh. ix. 1 : " Then verily the first
covenant had also ordinances of divine service," XaTpft'ag, latreias,
worship. So also Heh. xiii. 10 : "We have an altar whereof they
have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle," — " serve," 2ixtpEV-
ovTfg, latreuontes, who are worshipping in the, &c. &c.
Aidxovog, diakonos, is also sometimes erroneously translated
servant, service, to serve, kc. An instance occurs, John ii. 5 : "And
his mother saith unto the servants," otaxdvotg, diakonois, from
diakonos: as a verb, it means to minister unto, to wait upon, to
manage affairs, to perform some function to another ; and hence, in
English, we may occasionally require some other term of cognate
meaning. From this term our word " deacon" has been legitimately
derived. ' The word is of less elevated import in Greek than
therapon (see Aristophanes, Ornithes, line 1322, (5g (^TMXixag
Suxxavstg,) but never consorts in the least degree with the idea
slavery. " Saith unto" them who ministered, who waited upon the
guests, &c. So also John ii. 9 : " But the servants which drew the
water knew," — servants, Sidxovoi, diakonoi, '^4hey who ministered
unto." See also Rom.xvi. 1: "I commend unto you Phebe our
sister, which is a servant of the church," &c., ^tdxovoJ', diakonon,
one who ministers unto, kc. So also John xii. 26 : " If any man
serve," Siaxov^, diakone, wait upon, minister unto me. "And where
I am there shall my servanthe," Sidxovog, diakonos, one who waits
upon, who ministers unto ; "him will my Father honour." It is not
always in English easy to select a phrase distinctly thSbest adapted

584 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

to express the precise difference between the words diakonos and
huperetes, but it may be remarked that the huperetes was of an
employment more of public character : hence those who in the ships
held certain banks of oars were called by that name; also those of
a particular rank in the army, or in civil government ; but the word
diakonos was used as a term more applicable to domestic, personal,
or private life. Keeping this distinction in mind, the same word
may often, in English, give the .sense of either; yet huperetes
will often appear in Greek where diakonos would be ill used. A
more correct use of this word than the preceding will be found
in Matt. iv. 11 : " Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels
came and ministered unto him," SiYixbvovv, diekonoun, ministered
unto, attended to.
Matt. XX. 26 : " But whosoever will be great among you, let him
be your minister," Sidxovog, diakonos, minister, &c. And here
is shown the distinction between this word and doulos, a slave ; for
he proceeds, " And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be
your servant," Sov2x)g, doulos, slave. Also, Luke viii. 3: "And
Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many
others which ministered unto him of their substance," Sirixbvow,
diekonoun, ministered, &c. We have deemed it proper to notice
these inaccuracies in our translation, to prevent the word servant,
kc, when used to mean slave, kc, being confounded with its use
when, given in translation as above ; and it may be proper also to
notice that the hired labourer, a freeman hired into the employ
of another, is never described by any term implying slavery, or
even having any analogy with it, as examples will show:
" For. the kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a householder,
which went out early in the morning to hire labourers (fiiaBa-
aaaBai ipydtag, misthosasthai ergatas, to hire labourers) into his
vineyard." " They say unto him. Because no man hath hired us,"
(ifiiaBaaato, emisthosato, hath hired.) " So when the evening was
come, the Lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, call the
labourers and give them their hire," fnaBbv, misthon, wages, &c.
"And when they had received it, they murmured against the good
man of the house." Matt. xx. 1, 7, 8, 11. " And when he came to
himself, he said. How many hired servants {fiiaBioi, misthioi, hired
persons) of my father's have bread," &c. Luke xv. 17. "But he
that is a hireling, {fnaQatbg, misthotos, a person hired,) and not
the shepherd, •whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf, &;c. and
the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 585

{fiiaBatog, misthotos, a person hired) fleeth because he is a hire
ling (fiiaBatog, misthotos, a person hired,) and careth not for the
sheep." John x. 12, 13. " For the labourer is worthy of his hire,"
toil fiiaBov, hire, wages, payment, &c. Luke x. 7. "Behold,
the hire (6 fiiaBog, payment for being hired) of the labourers
(tov ipyatav, ton ergaton, the labourers, not slaves) who have
reaped down your fields." James v. 4.
He who is seeking to obtain a correct view of the truth will per
ceive the propriety of keeping in mind the distinction between the
different characters thus in our version called by the same name,
'^servants," and not suffer his mind to be governed, or even influ
enced, by any bias which has been produced by an incomplete ex
amination of the whole gospel of God.

586 STUDIES ON SLAVERY,

^tutrg VMh

LESSON L
The Hebrew letters P ain, 3 both, and "y daleth, compose the
word by which the Hebrews meant what we mean by the word
slave. There is some variation among men of letters, even among
the Jews themselves, as to the pronunciation of this word, some
following the Asiatic, some the Portuguese, and some the Polish
method. Out of respect and in deference to King James's translators of
the Old Testament, of the learned and critical Dr. Blany, and of
that indefatigable biblical scholar. Dr. Bagster, we have adopted
their pronunciation of this word, and call it ebed.
This word, as left untranslated by them, will be found in Jer.
xxxviii. 7-12; also xxxix. 16, IT, thus: — "Now, when Ebed-
melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's
house." "Ebed-melech went forth out the king's house." "When
the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian." " So Ebed-
melech took the men with him." ¦ "And Ebed-melech the Ethi
opian said to Jeremiah." "Go, speak to Ebed-melech the
Ethiopian." The words Ebed-melech are here left untranslated,
because we have not, in English, words to express the idea con
veyed by them, except by paraphrasis, as, for instance, they
would have had to have said, his majesty's private, or principal,
and confidential body-servant : and this is the exact meaning im
plied by the words Ebed-melech, as here used : the word servant,
meaning a slave. In Judges ix. 26, 28, 30, 31, 35, the word Ebed
is also left untranslated. Also in ^2ra viii. 6: "Ebed, the son
of Jonathan." And in some other places.
We trust that our authority for the pronunciation of the word
"I5ij ebed, will be deemed sufficient : yet, we admit that, in He-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. gg7
brew pronunciation, it will be varied by suffix, affix, and points, as has
been found by the learned rabbis long since to best agree with their
rules of oantation and the idiomatic construction of the language.
This word ebed is used as a noun, verb, adjective, participle,
and adverb; but we make the proposition, that, however used, and
in whatever form, it is never used disconnected from the idea of
slavery. Philological history will develop to us, at least, one
human weakness : — pride to be thought learned, has more or less,
among the European nations and languages, had its effect in the
compilation of dictionaries.
In some instances, men of learning have undertaken their com
pilation without using their ability to fathom the depths of lan
guage, or to discover the sources of its streams, or describe the
qualities of their combinations. And the world is full of servile
imitations of former and old errors ; and each one seems to think
that the authority of a book warrants their perpetuation.
But there will occasionally arise, in the walks of knowledge,
some Moses, some Confucius, some Homer, some Euclid, some
Socrates, some Bacon; some Newton, some Franklin, some Cham-
poUion, before the fire of whose genius and mental power, all
imitations of error wither away.
Touching the subject of the Asiatic languages generally, and the
darkness that has for ages overspread them, may we not fondly
hope that such a luminary is now culminating in the region of the
universities of England. Permit us, at least, to have some hope
for the Regius Professor of Cambridge.
But to our subject : — We sometimes find the philologist yield his
sceptre and borrow his definitions from a bad translation. And
we often find the translator sacrificing his original upon the altar
of his own imperfections. Now, it is not uncommon that a word
in one language may be in such peculiar use, that, consistently
with the constitution of some other language, it cannot be trans
lated therein by any one single term ; and even if so, not always
by the same word. Should all the different terms and words that
might thus be legitimately used in transla,tion, be collected together,
and put down as the descriptive meaning of some foreign or ancient
term, our lexicons would, of necessity, contain some portions of
error. For example, suppose we take the Arabic word j)^
abed,.vihich means absolutely a slave in that language: we all
know that an Arabian, speaking or writing to one far his superior,

588 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

would someway call himself by this term." He uses it to express
great devotedness, honesty, and integrity of intentions to the one
addressed. If we were composing an Arabic lexicon, what would
the scholar have good reason to say, if we should put as the defini
tion of this word, — honesty, integrity of intention, &c. ? This
Arabic word is the same as in Hebrew, and the word is used in
both languages with great similarity : also in Chaldee, Syriac, and
other Shemitic dialects.
While we premise that the Koran is taken as the standard of
Arabic literature, wo present this word, as used in that language,
as a sample of its use in the other Shemitic dialects.
This word, as above, in Arabic, is composed of the letters gain,
or ain, under point jesm, which is equivalent to the Hebrew
quiescent sheoa, but really having the shortest possible trace ofthe
sound of our short e, and terminated by the letter dhal, or dal,
under the diacritical sign of nunnation.
Mr. Sale, who had great experience in Arabic literature, has
left this word frequently untranslated in. his notes, quoting Bei-
DAWI and lolalo'ddin, to his version of the Koran, and in Roman
letters expressed it thus, abda, and, without annuhation thus, ahd.
We confine ourselves to this particular form of the word. Ifj by
long experience we supply the shortest possible trace of our vowel
e between the b and d, and in annunation cause the terminating
vowel to coalesce in some trace of our consonant n, we should per
haps arrive at as correct a pronunciation as could be attained by
mere rules and it will be seen that the ehed of Jerusalem became
abed at Mecca.
We copy from Sale's translation, without burthening our page'
with a repetition of the original ; our object is to show the precise
idea for the expression of which the Arabians appropriated this
word. " God causeth some of you to excel in worldly possessions : yet,
they who are caused to excel do not give their wealth unto the
slaves whom their right hands possess, that they may become
equal sharers therein." Koran, chap. 16.
Al Beidawi, an Arabian commentator on the Koran, upon this
passage says-^-
" A reproof to the idolatrous Meccans, who could admit created
beings to a share of the divine honour, though they suffered not
their slaves to share with themselves in what God had bestowed
on them."

STUDIES OX SLAVERY.

5S9

The expression of a thing done, held, or " possessed by the right
hand," in Arabic, is a full concession that the doing, holding, or
possessing, is just, rightful, and righteous.
¦• God propoundeth, as a parable, a possessed slave, who hath
power over nothing, and him on whom we have bestowed a good
pro^vision from us, and who giveth alms thereout, both secretly and
openly; shall these two be esteemed equal? God forbid." Koran,
chap. 16.
Of this, the above commentator says, '• The idols, we have
likened to a slave, who is s-j far from having any thing of his own,
that he is himself in the possession of another." Idem.
"And this is the favour which thou hast bestowed on me, that
thou hast enslaved the children of Israel." Koran, chap. 26.
" 0 prophet, we have allowed thee thy ¦wives, unto whom thou
hast given their dower, and also the slaves which thy right hand
possesseth, of the booty which God hath granted to thee.'' Koran,
chap. 33.
Yet. so it is, we find in our Hebrew lexicons, among the signi
fications of this word l^i* ehed. not only its true signification, —
slave, slavery, licc, — ^but als"-. to labour, cultivate, labour generally,
warship, to malw to do, or deal with any one, to take place or hap
pen, work, husiiu'ss, tillage, cultivation of land, agriculture, im
plements, utensils, appurtenamcs, a worship of God or of idols.
wearied, to be icear'ed with labour, complied with, a.ssented to,
performed. ^religious service, a submissive epithet, a minister, to
tninister unto, any one employed in the service of a king, any one
who worships, adores God. one who is commissioned by him for
any purpose, beneft, emphyment of any kind.
But we ¦wiU desist from increasing this catalogue of definitions,
for fear of being charged ¦with slander on the Hebrew lexicons.
Must not that be a very strange language in which one little word
of only three letters has so many varied and adverse meanings?
Yet, in all sobriety, we might double the number. If each and
every Hebrew word were like this, thus loaded ¦with lexicographical
leaminf, we beg to know who would undertake and what would
be the use of its study : for surely, from the same page, there
miirht be a very great number of adverse and contradictory trans
lations, all equally correct. But, if such catalogue is not legiti
mate, to what cause are ¦we to look for its existence ? to some
abiding influence, secret but persevering, in the minds of the lexi
cographers for the last thousand years ? Or shaU we rather con-

590 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
fine our views to the casuaKties of hurried translations and bad
readings, to the facility of the copyist in book-making, instead of
the laborious study of the investigator ?
This circumstance, from whatever cause it may have sprung,
will impose on us some labour to show the correctness of our jwo-
position, to wit, the word 13]^ ebed, however used, and in what
ever form, is never used in Hebrew disconnected from the idea of
slavery. We first propose to show that the Hebrew is abundantly sup
plied -with words to express all these other meanings, disconnected
with the idea of slavery.
Aware that such examination may be extremely uninteresting
to the most of us, yet, deeming it of great importance to our sub
ject, we humbly ask indulgence, while we examine a few of the
most leading terms as examples, whose significations have been
appropriated to the word 15J^ ^^^il'-

LESSON IL

But, before we enter into such examination, it- may be proper
to remark that the Hebrew, in common ¦with all the Shemitic lan
guages, makes abundant use of what we call rhetorical figures.
The word t3 ben means a son ; but hj prosopopoeia it is 'made to
mean an arroiv. Thus, Lam. iii. 13, " He hath caused the arrows
of his quiver," inSB'K 'J3 beney, ashpqtho — literally, the sons of
his quiver, from the notion that the arrow is the produce, issue,
adjunct, &c. of the quiver. We might quote a great number of
instances where the word ?3 ben^ by the same figure, is used to
express some other idea than son, yet never unassociated with the
primitive idea ; but, what would be the value of the lexicographi
cal assertion that this word in Hebrew meant an arrow ? The follow
ing fifteen verses are wholly of the same character : " He hath
filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunk with wormwood."
The Arabians have a common way of expressing "one of great
o^z'ctiow," by saying that , he is a "luormwood heater." Yet the
Arabic word that means affliction' by no means is synonymous of
ivormwood. The figure of Lamentations is also used in Ps. cxxvii. 4, 5: "As

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

591

awards are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of
the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them."
let, the word "IflSB'N'nN is in no sense a synonyme of whatever
word for which it is here figuratively used. A singular instance
of this figure is found* in Lam. ii. 13: "Let not the apple ofthiuf
eye cease;" TjJ'^^Tia bath eynek, the daughter of the eye. The
translators have unders'^ood this to mean the "pupil," otherwise
called the^ apple of the eye ; but, the word hath, daughter, shows
that the thing meant is a produce of the eye; hence, it cannot
mean the apple or pupil of the eye, but tears. But how stupid
the page that shall put down as a signification of the word n3 bath,
an apple, or the apple of the eye, or the pupil, or yet, what it
here mea'ns, a tear ?
, These two words hen, a son, and bath, a daughter, sometimes
heth, are associated in so many different forms of figure and in
connection or compound with other Hebrew words, to express some
complex idea, that, if each different idea thus conveyed was to be
considered a legitimate signification of these words, their descrip
tion would be quite lengthy, and contradictory ; for instance. Gen.
xxiv. 16, ri7in3 is used to mean a virgin. But, 1 Sam. i. 16,
'?i'"'*73"n5 is used to mean quite a different character, as if of dif
ferent origin., Ifl Eccl. xii. 4,*Tti^rT nlJ3 is generally understood to
mean the voice of an old man. But in Ban. xi. 17, D*^|n DJ?
is undferstood to mean a princess. We might multiply examples
without number ; .yet, in all instances, the leading idea, a daughter.
is ever present: other primitive words, whose signification was an
idea of great and leading interest, will be found in similar use.
And it may be remarked, that, at one age of the world, when a
large proportion of the children of men were slaves, that the word
signifying that condition would be naturally and exceedingly often
used in a figurative manner. Even among us, our word servant,
which, from use, has become merely a milder term to express the
same idea, is in the mouth of every devout man, while slave is in
constant use among the moral and political agitators of the day.
One among the causes of our finding in the lexicons so many
and adverse significations of the word ejbed, is the fact, that , the
Hebrew often expressed an adjective quality, by placing the sub
stantive expressing the quality as if in apposition with the sub-
stantivo qualified, thus,. 0»Snp "^'l^^-. *^^^^' ^-^^^^^ (°^°'^) ®P^^®'

592 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
D'n}<_ rj'.'inj? they slaves, brethren, - (7eM. xiii. 11-13, ^"^^r?
1J'3N'7 thy slave our father. Gen. xliii. 28.
In an analogous sense the word'^|J< is used in 2 Kings i. 9, 10,
11, 12, 13. Also iv. 26 and 27, preceding D'il'?Nn a man of God,
meaning one so wholly devoted to God as to partake of the divine
nature. But such use in no manner changes the meaning of the
word u"N or D'H/N. This mode of expressing quality, by
placing one of the substantives .in the genitive, is quite common
even in the modern languages. Grammarians willalso inform us
that substantives are often used adverbially, designating the time,
place, and quality of the action of the verb.
But again, the Hebrew adjectives are in disprO|)ortional scarcity
to the substantives, which the language remedies by a kind of cir
cumlocution ; this, Dn.S'l ii"N a man (of) words, i. e. an
eloquent man, as in Ex. iv. 10; the son of strength 7]n~J^ valiant
or worthy man, 1 Kings i. 52 ; D"7p"'^3 the sons of the East,
i. e. the orientals. Gen. xxix. 1 ; JllO [3 the son of death, i. -e.
doomed to death, 1 Sam. xx. 31 ; 7y"'73n3 the daughter of
baseness, i. e. a base woman, 1 Sam. i. 16.
This use of language is common to our word, ebed, slave:
anvii 13]!^. slaves of God, i. e. a man devoted to God, as a slave
to a master, i. e. a man who most devotedly worships God, Ban. iii.
26 ; Nn7N Tl^l. slave of God, i. e. devoted worshipper of God,
&c.. Ban. vi. 21, the 20th of the English text ; and to express
Q
this adjective quality, is thus compounded in Ezra v. 11, ?•rTl13i?
slaves of God, i. e., devoted to God as slaves are to their masters,
&c., to express the adjective qualities of devotion and obedience.
This word is used and compounded with many other words in a
great variety of instances.
But, doubtless, another cause which has led the lexicographers
into the alleged error, is the peculiar disposition of the Hebrew,
(common to all the Shemitic tongues) to express the idea intended,
by expressing another to which it has a real or supposed analogy,
either in primitive relation or in ultimate result. For example,
let us take the word hen, a son, thus : Isa. v. l,,keren, here used
to mean the top of a mountain, because they fancied an analogy
between the top of a mountain and a horn. Ben, a son, shamen.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

593

fat, son of fatness, is here used to mean a fruitful mountain. But,
do these words acquire new significations from this figurative use
of them ? The sons of the quiver, i. e. arrows. Lem. iii. 13. Shall
we say that hen, means an arrow ? Ben kasheth, the son of the
bow, (cannot make him flee,) i. e. the arrow. Job xYi. 20, (the 28th
of the English text.) Shall we indeed then say that hen means
an arrow ? Ben shahor, the son of blackness, here used to express
night, — son of the night, — used to convey our idea, the morning
star. Shall we say that ben means a star ? or, that blackness
means the morning ? Isa. xiv., 12 HJl' ?3 ben yonah, the son of
a dove, i. e. a young dove, a squab ? Lev. xii. 6. Shall we say
that 73 hen means a squab ? Lev. xii. 8, beni yonah, sons of a
dove, i. e. two young doves or squabs. Shall we then, surely say
that beni means two squabs ? But, in Lev. xiv. 22, we have the
same words used in the same sense : must we say that this word
means squabs ? 3'li' *J3 bene oreb, the sons of the raven, i. e.
young ravens, Ps. cxlvii. 9 : does beni then mean young ravens
also? "Ip3 f3, ben baker, the son of an ox, i. e. a calf, Ex.
xxix. 1. What, does hen mean a calf? Num. xxix. 2-8, son
of an ox, also ; ben the son of an ox — meaning a calf, does hen
most surely mean a calf? Job xxxix. 16, speaking of ostrich-
eggs, calls them, n'J3, the plural: what ! does this word also mean
ostrich-eggs ? But, Eccl. ii. 7, canithi, I purchased, ebadim,
male slaves, shepaphath, and female slaves, and sons, bayith, of my
house, haya, there were, li, to me : — here *J3 bene is used to ex
press the idea " home-born slaves." But, shall we say that this
word means such young slaves ? Would such a catalogue of sig
nifications placed to the word ben, a son, be legitimate or truthful?
But, in Jer. ii. 14, we again find this word bayith, preceded by
yelid, born of the house, meaning a house-born slave. The same
words are used to mean the same thing in Gen. xiv. 14, meaning
house-born slaves ; and again. Gen. xvii. 12, meaning a house-born
slave; also, idem. 13, meaning a slave born in thy house— thy
house-born slave.
God did not speak to Abraham in an unintelligible language :
every one knew what the idea was, even down to this day. Yet,
are either of these words a synonyme of ebed, a slave ?
But we will close this portion of our remarks by stating that
the lexicographers might, in the taanner here pointed out, (which
38

594 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
they have pursued to great extent,) have still increased their cata
logue of significations to the word ebed.
Let us show an instance. It is well known that the ancient
eastern nations punished great offenders by cutting them in
pieces. The term expressing and threatening this punishment
was used somewhat technically, as is now the term to guillotine,
meaning to cut off a man's head. The term used by the ancients
to express this cutting in pieces, as introduced in Hebrew, was,
I'P^n "131^. abad haddamin, which literally was "to enslave in
pieces." The term is expressed thus in Ban. ii. 5 : j'P^rt
p13i^nri in pieces ye shall be enslaved, i.e. "Ye shall be cut
in pieces."
The lexicographers might have continued their catalogue with
the same truthfulness with which they have extended it to such
length, and have said that "!3P ebed also meant to hew, to cut,
&.C., and have cited this instance in proof.
But in Ban. iii. 29, the term is used again thus l^^H'' VDItl
in pieces shall he enslaved, i. e. "shall he cut in pieces." Surely,
they should have added, that ebed means to cut. It is true that
the literal meaning of this term cannot always be given in English
so as to be in pleasant accordance with our use of language.
But the same is true as to many other phrases and terms, and
perhaps applicable to every other language. This form and use
of this word as here used by Daniel, is rather a Persian adultera
tion than pure Hebrew, of which several instances may be found
in some of the later books. The Babylonian and Persian kings
considered even all their subjects as slaves to them, and this word
was evidently used with greater latitude among them than it ap
pears to have been among the Hebrews at the time of Moses.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. rn;

LESSON III.
The lexicons seem tenacious that a very usual signification of
the ¦word "I3i? ebed is labour, both as a noun and verb ; and inas
much as to many there may seem some relation between the ideas
slavery and labour, we wish to be particular in examining the He
brew use of the terms expressive of these ideas. It appears to us
that the Hebrew word J7j|' yaga, and its derivations, carries with
it simply our idea of labour, more closely than any other word.
Yet this word is never disconnected with the idea fatigue and
weariness, and perhaps something of the same character will be
perceived to be attached to our word labour. In Gen. xxxi. 42,
it is used and translated, "the ^''V labour of my hands." Beut.
xxv. 18, "and -^vhen thou wast faint and J^TI. weary." Josh. vii.
3: ''And make not all the people to ^yp) labour thither." xxiv.
13 : "And I gave you a land for which you did not fli^T labour."
2 Sam. xvii. 2: "And I will come upon him while he is ^^
weary." Neh. v. 13 : "So shall God shake out every man from
his house and from his li^U^Ol labour." Job iii. 17: "And the
'jr'Jl' weary be at rest." ix. 29 : "If I be wicked, why then ^J'K
labour I in vain." x. 13 : * * "despised the ^'T work of thy
hands * *." xxviii. 18 : " That which he J^T laboured for shall
he restore." xxxix. 11 : * * "Wilt thou leave thy ^^;j' labour
to him." 16: * * * "her nyj' labour is in vain without fear?"
Ps. Ixix. 4: "They that hate me without a cause;" the idea is,
they that labour to injure, &c. " And their D}^''}''} labour unto
the locust." cix. 11 : "let the stranger spoil his 1i;».r labour."
cxxviii. 2: "For thou shalt eat the I^'J' labour of thy hands."
Proi». xxiii. 4 : "J/J'fl ?aSoiw not to be rich." Eccl.xii.l2: "Much
study is ny_y weariness to the flesh." Isa. xliii. 22, 23, 24 :
"But thou hast been flj/^T weary of me— nor ^'ripjlH wearied
thee with incense." "Thou hast '^ni/'Jlll wearied me with thine
iniquities." xiv. 14: "The :i;»iMabour of Egypt." xlvii. 15 :

596 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

" with whom thou hast fl^^J* laboured." Iv. 2 : "And your D3.J?'J'')
labour tor that which satisfieth not." Ixv. 23: "They shall not
ii^JI* labour in vain." Jer. iii. 24: "For shame hath devoured
the V'>y labour." xx. 5: "And all the tl^''y labours thereof."
xiv. 3: "I 'flJ/J' fainted in my sighing." The idea is, my
sighing was a labour of great weariness, &c. Ezek. xxiii. 29 :
"And shall take away all thy H^'J* labour." Hag. i. 11 : "And
upon all the j/'J* labour of thy hands." Mai. ii. 17 : "Ye have
Q^l^^in wearied the Lord with your words, yet ye say. Wherein
have we UVJlil wearied him?" Eccl. i. 8 : "All things are full
L
of D»3;r labour." x. 16: "The (70;^ amal) labour of the
foolish (1ij^jl*ri) wearieth every one of them." The word labour
in this sentence is translated from amal, another Hebrew word,
which signifies labour, but in its signification is implied the asso
ciation of the idea grief, sorrow, kc. The adjective quality of
this word is mental — in yaga, it is physical. This word amal
seems to be derived from the Arabic ^^^ii amelan, and from
thence the Syriac p\s, having nearly the same signification.
In Arabic the signification is put down by Castell, operator, mer-
cenarius ; and in Syriac, labore defessus. It is used in Hebrew as
follows: Gen. xii. 51: "And Joseph called the name of his first
born Manessa; for God, said he, hath made me forget all my
vQi^ toil," (labour, sorrow.) The word manessa means to
forget, to cause to forget, &c. Num. xxiii. 21 : " He hath not
beheld 70J^ iniquity in Jacob," i. e. labour designed to give
trouble, perplexity, or sorrow. Beut. xxvi. 7 : " The Lord heard
our voice and looked upon our affliction, and our ^^^'Oy labour
and our oppression." Judg. v. 26 : "And her right hand to the
workman's (D''7P^ labourer s)hs,mmer." Jb6 iii. 10 : "Nor hid
^b]?^ sorrow from mine eyes." 20 : " Wherefore is light given unto
him that is in 703^7 misery." iv. 8 : "They that plough udquity
and sow /DJ^ wickedness shall reap the same." v. 7: " Yet man

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 597
is born to 70^7 trouble." vii. 3: " So I am made to possess
months of vanity, and ^70^ wearisome nights are appointed to
me." XV. 35: "They conceive ^D^ mischief and bring forth
vanity." xvi. 2 : ^Q^ "Miserable comforters are ye all." xx. 22 :
"In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in 70^^ straits."
But it should be remembered that the Hebrew copy of Job is
itself a translation. Ps. vii. 16 : "He made a pit and digged it,
and has fallen into the 7QJ7 ditch (sorrow bringing labour) which
he made." 16 : " His 170 J^. mischiefs shall return upon his own
head." x. 7: "Under his tongue is 70i^ mischief and vanity."
14 : "Thou beholdest 70^ mischief and spite." xxv. 18 : " Look
upon mine affliction and my vOJ/l pain, and forgive my sin."
"Yet is their strength 701/ labour and sorrow." cv. 44: "And
they inherit the '^Oi^l labour ofthe people." cxxvii. 1: "Except
the Lord build the house, they labour in vain." Prov. xvi. 26:
"He that 1*7,01'' laboureth 7DV 1770^ laboureth for himself."
J : Tt .. ^l. t : jt
Isa. liii. 11: "He shall see of the 701^0 travail of his soul,"
(labour producing sorrow, &.c.) " And that write 70^ grievousness
which they have prescribed," (a labour producing sorrow, &c.)
Jonah iv. 10 : " Thou hast had pity on the gourd for which thou hast
not PibOi? laboured." Eccl. i. 3 : " What profit hath a man of all
his l':'pi;;Za5ot«- which he taketh under the sun?" ii. 10: "For
my heart rejoiced in all my '70^^ labour." 11: "And then I
looked on all the work that my hands had wrought, and on all
the S.01^31 labour that 1 had Tho];^ laboured." 18: "Yea,
IT T IV • : J T IV
I hated all my 'Voi^^ labour which I had ^D^^ taken (laboured)
under the sun." 19 : " Yet shall he have rule over all my >*7DJ[7^
labour viherein I have '!^bf?il^ laboured." 20: " Therefore I
went about to cause my heart to despair of all the 7D;i^n labour

598 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

which I 'riSo;^^; took (laboured) under the sun." 21: "For
there is a man whose 170^E^ labour is in wisdom, and in know
ledge, and in equity — yet to a man that hath not 7017 laboured
herein shall he leave it for his portion." 22: "For what hath
man of all his 170,J^ labour and of the vexation of his heart,
wherein he hath 7017 laboured under the sun?" iv. 4: "Again I
considered all 7017 travail," (labour and sorrow.) 8: "Yet there
33 no end to all his 170^^ labour, neither saith he, For whom do I
7'pl7 labour." iii. 9: "What profit hath he that worketh in that
wherein he 7017 laboureth?" v. 18: "And to enjoy the good
of all his 1^01^3 labour." vi. 7: "All the Soi7 labour of a
,.,T -: 1- ,- "-.
man is for his mouth." ix. 9 : "For that is thy portion in this
life and in thy ^jSoi^SI labour." x.l6 : "The So^^ labour (amal)
of the foolish 1^17Ti1 wearieth every one of them."
n3K7P melahhah is also quite analogous in its signification to
our word labour, insomuch that our word labour may be often used
in translation without impairing the sense. Gen. ii. 2 : "On the
seventh day God ended his work," 103X^0 labour, xxxix. 11 :
"Joseph went into the house to do his business," (labour.) Exod.
XX. 9: "And do all thj work," ?jri3KSo. 10: "In it thou
shalt not do any work," (labour, ,13^70.) xxxi. 3: "All man
ner of workmanship," .|13K70- 14 : "For whosoever doeth any
tvork," r73kS7?p. 16: " Six days may t^or/c n3N'So be done."
iez>. xiii. 48 : "Of any thing made n3N70 of skin," (done,
laboured, manufactured.) Ezra iii. 8 : "To set forward the work
of the house." 9 : "To set forward the workman," nb^Son
Esther iii. 9: "And those that have charge of the king's busi
ness," n3Nb?3n. ix. 3 : "And officers n3KSorr of the king. '

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Without multiplying examples, it may suffice to say, that this word,
as expressive of labour, is ever associated with the idea of particu
larity, or class of labour, business, employment or joh, without
reference to any other adjective quality ; and hence it came to
mean a message, or one charged with a message, and is therefore
sometimes used to mean an angel, because they were supposed to
be messengers, charged to do a particular labour ; hence, also, ap
plied to a prophet ; and hence, also, the prophet Malachi's name.
nb'i' Asa properly means work or labour, as the result of
making, procreating, producing, doing, acting, or performing,
without any regard to the condition of the agent or actor. Gen.
i. 7 : " God made t'l^l'l the firmament." 16 : " God made VT.\
TWO great lights." ii. 2 : " God ended his work ")n3X70 which
he had made," HC-'l/. This word is also used to express the re
sult of labour in acquiring slaves and other property generally, as
in Gen. xii. 5 : "All their substance that they had gathered, and
¦the souls they had gotten in Haran," i. e. all the property and
slaves that they had laboured for, &c. WV^. Exod. xxxi. 4 : "To
work in gold and silver." 5 : It is used with mcdabkah, thus :
•'to work pi^UV^ in all manner of workmanship," (173X70 naa-
lakah.) These two words occur together again in Neh. iv. 15,
the iv. 21 of the English text: "So we laboured W'^V in the
work," n3NS03. Ezek. xxix. 20 : "I have given him the land
of Egypt for his labour," V^%- Exod. xxx. 25 : "And thou shalt
make it (H'^-'l/l labour it) an oil of holy ointment, an ointment
composed after the art of the apothecary." Art is here translated
from nbTO maase, which is another word of very similar import,
and is derived from TM^'i!, and expresses the idea of labour, as
of a thing done, or wrought, a work, deed, action, concern, business,
i. e. a labour emanating from a habit, or an occupation of busi
ness. Gen. xliv. 15 : "What deed Hu'I^^On is this that ye have
done?" xlvii. 3 : "What is your occupation ?" D3'tJ'l?,0. Exod.

GOO STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

xxiii. 16: "And the feast of the harvest, the firstfruits of thy
labours ^'^170, which thou hast sown in the field, and the first of
the ingathering, which is the end of the year, when thou hast ga
thered in thy labours," ^'^^J/O. Hag. ii. 17 : "And I smote you
with blasting and with hail in all the labours HtJ'l^O of your
hands." ^a5. iii. 17: "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom,
neither shall fruit be in the vine, the labour Jlp^D of the olive
shall fail."
73p sehel is sometiraes translated labour, but it more often
means something consequent to labour, as the burthen of labour
is consequent to the labour : it is sometimes used to mean the pro
duce of labour, and hence the Syrian Ephraimitish word n73p
siholeth, which is said to mean an ear of corn, because an ear of
corn was the produce of labour. Hence, it is sometimes used to
mean prolific and fruitful, because the produce of labour is prolijic
and fruitful; and because to sustain a burthen, as of labour, car
ries with it the idea of physical ability and strength, it is used in
the sense of bearing up, to elevate, to deliver from, &c. A few
instances of its use will suffice. Exod. i. 11 : " To afflict them
with their burthens," Dii73D3. Ps. Ixxxi. 70: "I delivered
73pp thee." cxliv. 14 : " That our oxen may be strong to
labour," Dv3Dp. The Hebrews had thus several ways by which
they could express the idea labour accompanied with different
adjective qualities. So the word 73^7 ebed may express the idea
labour ; but when so, it is always slave-labour, the labour peculiar
to, or performed by a slave ; as in Isa. xix. 9 : " They that work
*73J7 in fine flax." The meaning is, they that labour or slave
themselves in fine flax. The working in fine flax was slave-labour.
If it were good English for us to say, they that slave in fine
flax, it would be exactly what the prophet did say in this passage.
So in Exod. xx. 9 : "Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy
work." Here labour is translated from ehed '73JL7J7, as a verb " do"

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. (jq^
is from n^^ti^^^l and " work" ivom '^H^O^hp. The literal meaning
of this is— Six days shalt thou slave and labour all thy work ;— or,
more plainly— Six days shalt thou slave thyself (i. e. do slave labour)
and n't:'^) labour, or make all thy TjJ-I^nSo particular, accus
tomed, professional or usual work or labour. This command is
addressed to all mankind, and the propriety of it, as here explained,
will be seen in the succeeding verse. "But the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do HtrVn any
work n3K7p"73 thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy
man-servant, (T]'15'^ eheddeka, slave.)" So, then, if this particular
word had not been used, we could not have said that the command
applied to slaves.
But the Hebrews had a way of expressing the idea of labour
alone, associated with the idea of industry as its adjective quality:
Should I say. By your hands you shall be sustained, the idea
would be that you shall be sustained by your labour; that is, your
personal industry. So the Hebrews used the words 7'"7X^ el yod,
which means "hy hand," and is used to mean labour. Thus,
Prov. xiii. 11 : " He that gathereth by vanity shall be diminished,
but he that gathereth by labour (7*'"7i7 by hand, i. e. by his own
industry) shall increase." Is it not clear, then, that the Hebrews
stood in no need of the word ebed to mean labour generally. They
did use it to mean slave-labour, and slave-labour alone, as we shall
more fully see hereafter.
This language enabled its writers to express the distinctive
shades of meaning — those adjective qualities associated with the
idea labour. These facts may appear to the mere English scholar
as matters of no importance — not worth investigation. But,
touching the Hebrew use of this word 7317 ebed and its com
pounds, as it affects and expresses the institution of slavery,
amid the eras of Divine inspiration, we hope to be sustained in
the consideration of its very great importance.

G02 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON IV.
SoiMB of the lexicons say that this root 731^ ebed means also
worship, to worship God, or idols, &c., without any connection
with the idea of slavery. In Geyi. xxii. 5: "And I and the lad
will go yonder and ivorship ;" here, worship is from ninn^'JI^
from the root Hnu shahah, which means to bow down, xxiii.
12 : ^'- And Abraham boived down himself before the people of the
Lord," bowed doivn himself IPiriK'^l. xlvii. 31: "And Israel
bowed hiraself upon the bed's head," innK''^!. Exod. iv. 31:
" Then they bowed their heads and worshipped," Tinri^'.'!. This
root, like all others, takes upon itself a change of shape, according
to the condition in which it is used. We will present a few in
stances of its application in Hebrew. Exod. xi. 8: "And bow
down theraselves unto me," nnriE^'ni. xx. 5: "Thou shalt not
bow down thyself iTinriK^r) unto them." xxxiii. 10: "And the
people rose up and worshipped," ^^^T)\^f^^. Beut. xxvi. 10 :
"And tvorship J7*"iRrity'^'l before the Lord thy God." Josh. v.
14: "And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did tvorship,'-
inri^''l. 1 Sam. XV. 30: "That I may ivorship ?nnnriK'rn.
the Lord thy God." 31: "And Saul worshipped inrity'^l the
Lord." 2Sam.i.2: "That he fell to the earth and did oSeisaJiee,"
inn^'''!. xiv. 33: "And boived himself inD^""! on his face to
the ground before the king." 1 Kings i. 23 : "He bowed himself
inHt^l'l before the king with his face to the ground." 2 Kings
V. 18 : " When my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to
worship nlnr!!S-''n^ there, * * * and I bow myself ?nnnn^'HT
in the house of Rimmon, * * * when I bow myself down
»nnqnB^n3 in the house of Rimmon." xviii. 22: "Ye shall
worship ^'\t]r\VF\ before the altar of Jerusalem." xix. 37 : "And
it came to pass as he was worshipping HinnEJ'O in the house of
Nishrosh, his God." Joh i. 20 : " Then Job arose and fell down

STUDIES ON SLAVERf. 003
upon the ground and worshipped," )f]nd''\ Ezek. viii. 16 : "And
they worshipped DnnnnrO the sun towards the east."
Before we close our examples, let us notice how the Hebrews
applied this word in poetry. Ps. xiv. 12 (11 of the English text) :
"Worship ?innrrri thou him." xcix. 5: "Exalt ye the Lord
our God, and worship imflJi'm at his footstool." cvi. 19 ¦
" They made a calf in Horeb and worshipped IHinji'rT the molten
image." xcvii. 7: "Confounded be all they that serve ('ISp
slave themselves to) graven images; that boast themselves of
idols: ivorship linnCH him, all ye gods." In this instance, the
word serve associates with the idea of slavery, as does the ori-inal ;
but the ivorship with that of reverence. Both words occurring in
the same sentence, will give us sorae idea of their different uses ;
yet sorae think this word in such instances synonymous with the
word worship, notwithstanding the Hebrew writers thought dif
ferently; 3'et true it is, this word is sometimes used (as it were by
figure) to express humility, subserviency, and devotedness of the
true ivorsliipper. In the same manner, St. Paul expresses the
idea, when he says, that he is the doulos (oovXog, slave) of Jesus
Christ. In an analogous sense, the Arabic words ""i^ hel and
'jXi hallel, Hebrew 7711 hallal, are used to mean worship, &c.
Ps. cl. : "Praise ye the Lord, praise God in his sanctuary,"
&c., where this word is in frequent use, and from which our word

s

hallelujah has arisen. Also the Arabic word d^yt hod, Hebrew
71 n hod, is in soraewhat similar use : Ps. cxxxvi. 1, 2, 3, all cora-
mencing, " 0 give thanks to the Lord," meaning glory, majesty,
or dignity to the Lord, as the worship of the Almighty. We trust
no one has ever found the word ebed used in such a sense.
But it is said that /T^d^ avoda means implements, utensils,
appurtenances, (see Gessenius,) and Num. iii. 26, 31, and 36,
is quoted in proof: "And the hangings of the court and the cur
tains for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by
the altar round about, and the cords of it, for all the service there
of." Service is translated from 1n7317 avodatho. The word, as
here used, means slave-labour, and might well have been translated^
" For all the slave-labour thereof," i. e. of the tabernacle. We can-

(304 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

not perceive that it means the hanging of the court, or the curtains,
or cords. The other instances quoted are of the same character,
and we dismiss their consideration, asking the passages to be read.
But it is said, to minister, to minister unto, is sometiraes trans
lated to the word ebed. 1 Kings xix. 21 : " Then he arose and
went unto Elijah, and ministered IHilTtl'M unto him." The word
is from the root n7LJ' shereth, and means to wait upon, to attend
to, &c., distinct from the idea of slavery. In Matt. iv. 11 : " Then
the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered
(Si'iqxovovv, diekonoun) unto hira." This Greek word, we deem, would
be a good translation of this word from Hebrew into Greek. This
word is used in Num. iii. 6 : " That they may minister unto him."
31 : " Wherewith they may minister 1j77ti'| unto it." iv. 12 :
"And they shall take all the instruments of ministry iri7£i'*
wherewith they minister." 14 : "Wherewith they minister about
it." xviii. 2: "That they may be joined unto thee and minister
^li'77^'^'). unto thee." 1 Kings i. 4: "And the damsel was very
fair, and cherished the king and ministered ^t^P^\\yT\^ to him."
15 : " The Shunammite ministered riTti'O unto the kins." If the
word ebed had been used, it would have shown that she was a slave.
The same word is continued to be used to mean minister. In
1 Sam. ii. 11 : "And the child did minister unto the Lord before
Eli." 18: "But Samuel ministered n7a'0 before the Lord.
being a child." iii. 1 : " And the child Samuel ministered n7J2'0
unto the Lord before Eli." 2 Sam. xiii. 17: "Then he called
his servant (17^7^ his young man) that ministered 1ri7'iJ*'0 unto
¦' ; _)T :
him." Now, had the ebed been here used instead of this word,
as a verb, in the required mood and tense, &c., it would have been
proof that the young man was a slave. But, in case the word
ebed, as a noun, had been used, instead of 717J nar, then this
word raight have been used as it is, without affecting the slave
character of the servant. 1 Kings x. 5 : "And the sitting of his
servants, (V73:i7 slaves,) and the attendance of his ministers,"
vn7ii''o. T ; T :
This passage shows with great distinctness the different use and
meaning of the words ehed and shereth, between those who minis-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

605

tcred unto him, and those who did slave-labour, between the
minister and the slave ; and so we ever find the distinct uses and
meanings of these words. See Exod. xxviii. 43 : " Or when
they come near unto the altar to minister n7tJ'7 in the holy
place." Beut. x. 8: "To stand before the Lord to minister
liTn^? unto him." xviii. 5 : " For the Lord thy God hath chosen
him out of all thy tribes to stand to minister n7K'7 in the name
of the Lord, him and his sons for ever." 1 Kings viii. 11 : " So
that the priests could not stand to minister n7lJ'7 because of the
cloud." 2 Kings xxv. 14: "And all the vessels of brass where
with they ministered, liTI^', took they away." 2 Chron. xxiv.
14: "Even vessels to minister," H").^'. Neh. x. 36 (the 27th
of the Hebrew text) : " Unto the priests that minister in the house
of God." 39 (the 40th of the Hebrew text) : "And the priests
that minister," D*ri7£i'0n. Isa. Ix. 7: "The rams of Nebaioth
shall minister 'nj1J77tJ" unto thee." Let it be noticed that the
word strangers is translated from the word 73J nechar. The word
is of Arabic derivation from eker, and has a privative sense, as
nescivit, abrogavit, improbavit. Hence, the Hebrews used it to
mean strange, foreign, and sometimes false, as in Beut. xxxii. 12 :
"No strange (false) God with him." Blal. ii. 11 : " The daughter
of a strange (false) God." And this word was used to mean the
strangers, idolaters, and rejected people, out of whom the Hebrews
were allowed to make slaves, and therefore it was used in Gen.
xvii. 12 : " Or bought with thy money of any stranger (73J neker)
which is not of thy seed." And therefore the propriety of the use
of this word in the description of those who should be their drudges
and slaves, is beautifully expressed by the idea of building up their
walls, as here expressed by the prophet. But the idea of the kings
ministering, is as before, from the root, shereth. Many more ex
amples of the use of this word might be quoted ; but we trust the
foregoing are sufficient to establish its meaning to be altogether dif
ferent and distinct from any use of the word ebed. Yet, there are
in the received translation of the holy books, a few instances where
this word is translated erroneously, as though it were a synonyme
of the word ebed.

606 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

In Num. xi. 28, "And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant ol
Moses," the word servant is translated from ri7u'0) and should
nave been the minister of Moses. In Exod. xxiv. 13: "Moses
rose up and Joshua his minister" 1n7u'0. In this last quotation,
minister is correctly translated from the word as above, proving
the error in Numbers. A sirailar error occurs also in Ezek. xx.
32 ; it reads thus : " And that w-hich cometh into your mind shall
not be at all that ye say. We will be as the heathen, as the fami
lies of the country to serve Pi'^U/ wood and stone." Serve is
translated from as above, and should have been to minister unto
wood and stone. A like error occurs in Exod. xxxiii. 11 : " But
his servant 1ri75J^'D1 Joshua," should have been rendered, "his
mini-iter Joshua." So, also, in Num. iv. 47, the word ehed is
translated as a synonyme of sherath. The passage reads thus :
"From thirty years old and upivard, even unto fifty years old,
every one that comes to do the service of the ministry, and the
service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation." In
this passage, the word ebed, with affixes, is used four times con
secutively, and immediately followed by the word massa, which we
have before seen means labour, with the idea of the burden of
labour altogether predominating.
In the translation, it is plain to see that one of these words is
totally left out, which, we suppose, no one will pretend is not an
error. The translation raade of these five words at the Theological
College at Andover, is far more correct than the received version. It
is thus: " to perform the business of the service and the business of
the burden," kc Yet this is not the language of the original,
which reads thus : NV^'^ n73171 n73i' n"i317 731*''^.
If our proposition is correct, that the word ebed is never used
in Hebrew expression unassociated with the idea of slavery, then
this passage from Numbers should read : "From thii-ty years old
and upwards, even to fifty years old, every one that comes to slave
in the slavery of the slave labour, and in the slavery of the burdens
of the tabernacle of the congregation." We agree that the passaije
is soraewhat difficult to render into English ; but because we may
find some difficulty in making good English, we are not to trans
late from other words of different meaning frora the ones used.
The holy penmen said what they meant, and surely meant what
they said : there was no double dealing in the spirit of Jehovah,
who dictated to them. But that translators should have, in some

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

60:

few instances, mistaken or confounded the use of cne word, is not
to be thought strange. Taking into view the volume of tho holy
books, it is truly wonderful that greater errors were not committed.
And we take occasion here to remark, that, of all the idea.s, quali
ties, and actions, given in definition of the word ebed, unassociated
with the idea of slavery, upon examination of the language, we
shall find graphic symbols representing their phonetic signs, dis
tinct from the idea of slavery, as we have these already examined.

LESSON V.

To show more clearly that the word 73Jl^ ebed is never used
in Hebrew expression unassociated with the idea of slavery, wf
now propose to examine that word as used by the Hebrew writers
in the holy books. Our words servaxt, servitude, service, &c.
are all derived frora the Roman word servus, which meant a
SLAVE ; and our word servant, when first introduced into our lan
guage, as absolutely meant a slave as now does that term itself,
and even now fully retains that meaning, where the English lan
guage and slavery coexist. The oriental scholar (and let him be
invited to examine) will perceive that the word 731^ ebed was
common to all the Shemitic tribes, and almost with the same pho
netic particulars ; but as their figures representing the same
phonetic power were quite dissimilar, we think it a proof, almost
demonstration, that the word 7317 ebed was used as a phonetic
symbol by them long before any of those languages were written.
This circurastance shows the extreme antiquity of the word ; and
if we succeed to establish the fact, that this word meant nothing
but what is now meant by the word slave, we shall ^Iso have esta
blished the extreme antiquity of the thing itself. A word means
nothing, until it is by some means agreed what it shall represent,
what idea, or association of ideas it shall excite in the mind.
Hence, it not unfrequently occurs that a. thing may be better
described by paraphrasis than by the expression of a single term.
In Ge7i. xii. o : "And zVbram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his bro
ther's son, and their substance that they had gathered, and the souls
that they had gotten in Haran." The latter clause of this sentence
is from this Hebrew expression, [7(73 lb'17-7fJ'K e'517-nNl,

608 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

which is correctly translated in the Andover lexicon, " The souls
they had acquired in Haran." Every one knows that the things
here meant are slaves. But, when the scholar comes to examine
the power of the language of this Hebrew paraphrasis, he will dis
cover three incident attendants. S^fi^n hannephesh, translated
souls, also carries with it the idea a living soul, to have life,
the life itself, the living principle, and is so translated in many
places. A slave, therefore, must have life : when dead, the condi
tion ceases. In the same way, the sentence expresses the idea of
acquiring property by purchase, or any other way in which pro
perty may be acquired so as to be property. The three incidents
then are life, a capacity of being acquired, and, when so acquired,
property. All this could not have been expressed by the single
term 73J7 ebed, only as it is made the representative of this com
plex idea : and God has no doubt caused this passage to be on
record at this early period, that these incidents should finally come
to the knowledge of all men. A somewhat similar expression is
used in Rev. xviii. 13. Every one knows that Babylon had been
a great slave-market. St. John, after naming the various articles
of her merchandise, adds xat Tov aafiatav, xat Tjyv -^vxyiv, kai ton
somaton, kai ten psuchen, which is translated, " slaves and souls
vf men:" aafiatav does not mean slaves, but a dead body, and is
so used by Homer, Xenophon, and by the New Testament itself;
but, when united with xat trjv '^vxriv, means 'slaves alone. The
phrase " souls of men," therefore, in the translation, is surplusage.
But the xii. 16 of Genesis is more particular in giving the different
kinds of property and their appropriate names. "And he had
sheep and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants (D'7317 abadim),
and maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels." The word men-
servants is translated from the plural of 73Jt7 ehed. Here we find
the conventional term expressing the complex idea, previously ex
pressed by the phrase " souls gotten," persons in life, subject to
be purchased, and when purchased, property, as were sheep and
oxen, and he-asses and she-asses, and camels. In Gen. xvii. 9—13,
we begin to find the law infiuencing the conduct of Abraham in the
management of this property : " And God said unto Abram, thoix
shalt," &c. 12 : " And he that is eight days old shall be circum
cised," &c. : "He that is born in thy house, or bought with money
of any stranger which is not of thy seed." 13 : " He that is born
in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 609

circumcised." And let it here be remembered that God recoo'- o
nises the possession of this property, by giving directions with his
o^wn voice concerning its government. And in Gen. xx. 14, we
have some account of the origin of Abraham's title to some por
tion of this property : "And Abimelech took sheep and oxen and
men-servants (D'731.* ehedim, the plui-al of ebed), and gave them
to Abraham." xxiv. 35 : "And the Lord hath blessed my master
greatly, and he is become great ; and he hath given him flocks
and herds, and silver and gold, and men-servants and maid-servants,
and camels and asses. " Here the plural of ebed is also used.
Such is the title by which he possessed this property, described as
given to him by the Lord. But God had promised that he would
bless Abraham, Gen. xvii. 1 : " The Lord appeared unto Abraham,
and s,Tid unto him, Z am the Almighty God." 2: "And I ¦will
make my covenant between me and thee." 7 : "And I -wUl esta
blish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee
in their generations, for an everlasting covenant." 10 : " This is my
covenant." (This covenant extends from the beginning of the 10th
to the end of the 14th verse.) One part of this covenant was, that these
ebeds, translated men-servants, whether born in his hotise or bought
with his money of any stranger, should be circumcised. "Where
fore, the possession of these ebeds as property became agreeable
to the terms of the covenant, a part of the covenant itself — a
covenant first proposed and promulgated by the great Jehovah ; as
he styles himself in the covenant, the Almighty God ! Gen.
xxvi. 2 : "And the Lord appeared unto him (Isaaci, and said, Go
not do^wn into Egypt : dwell in the land which I shall teU thee of:
sojourn in this land, and I -will be with thee, and -will bless thee."
4 : " And I wUl make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven,
and I -Rill give unto thy seed aU these countries ; and in thy seed
shall aU the nations of the earth be blessed." 13: "And the
man (Isaac) waxed great, and went forward and grew until he be
came very great." 14: "For he had possession of fiocks, and
possession of herds, and great store of servants (n73i!! ahuddah,
slaves, a plural formation of ebed), and the Philistines envied
him." ! ! ! 39

610 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON VI.
Gen. xxvii. 29 : " Let people serve thee (^1131?^ be slaves to
thee), be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow
down to thee ; cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed
be he that blesseth thee." Let us notice the conformity of this
passage with Gen. xxv. 23 : " And the Lord said unto her, two
nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be sepa
rated from thy bowels, and the one people shall be stronger than
the other people, and the elder shall serve (73]L7' he a slave to)
the younger." Gen. xxx. 43: "And the man (Jacob) increased
exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maid-servants, and men-
servants (D''i3171 the plural of ebed), and camels and asses."
Exod. XX. 1, 2, 9, 10, 17: "And God spake all these words, say
ing," 2: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (D*73J7 out
oi slavery): 5: "Thou shalt not bow down (17)1717^77 worship
them) thyself to them, nor serve (D731^n be a slave to them)
them." 9 : " Six days shalt thou labour (73j[7f1 slave thyself, or
do slave-labour) and do (oso, labour or do work) all thy work,"
(D'tJ'i'l all thy accustomed labours.) This command embraces
all classes, the slave as well as the most elevated. All men, by
the fall of Adam, had become subject to slave-labour. 10 : "But
the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou
shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
man-servant (773]^ thy slave), nor thy maid-servant." 17: In
this commandment we are directed not to covet any thing that is
our neighbour's, including his man-servant and maid-servant.
Here the same word 173^7 is also used. Exod. xxi. 1: "Now
these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them." 2 : "If
thou buy a Hebrew servant (73J7 ebed), six years shall he serve
(73J7^ shall slave himself)," 5: "And if the servant (731717
ha ebed, slave) shall plainly say, I love," &'c. Exod. xxi. 7 : "She
shall not go out as the men-servants do." (D'73i^n the plural is

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 61^|

here used.) 20 : " If a man smite his servant 1731^ or his maid
with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be surely punished :
for he is his money." 26: "If a man smite the eye of his
servant," 17317. 27 : " If he smite out his man-servant's tooth,"
T73i7. 32 : " If the ox shall push the man-servant 73^7 or maid
servant, he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver,
and the ox shall be stoned."
Lev. xxv. ii: "Both thy bond-men 773^?') and thy bond
maids which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are
round about you, of them shall ye buy bond-men," (731^. ebed.)
45 : " Moreover, of the children of the strangers that do sojourn
among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are
with you, which they beget in your land, and they shall be your
possession." 46 : "And ye shall take them as an inheritance for
your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they
shall be your bond-men 17317J7 for ever."
Beut. V. 14 : " But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord
thy God ; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor
thy daughter, nor thy man-servant 7'73j[71, nor thy maid-servant,
that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as
thou." 15: "And remember that thou wast a servant (7317. ehed)
in the land of Egypt." 21 (18th of Hebrew text) : " Neither shalt
thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his man-servant
V73J71, or his maid-servant." Beut. xii. 12: "And ye shall re
joice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your
daughters, and your men-servants (D?*"!?!^) a plural form of
ebed), and your maid-servants, and the Levite," &c. 18: "And
thy sofl, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant," ^7317'!. Beut.
XV. 12 : " If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be
sold unto thee, and serve ^73^71 thee six years." 15: "And
thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man (73.^. ebed) in
the land of Egypt." 17: "And he shall be thy servant (7317,
ebed) for ever." Beut. xvi. 11: "And thou shalt rejoice before
the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy
man-servant 7'73P1, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that
is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the
widow, that are among you." 12: "And thou shalt remember
that thou wast a bond-man (7317. eSei) in Egypt." 14: "And
thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daugh-

612 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
ter, and thy man-servant ^"l^J?!, and thy maid-servant, and the
Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow." Beut.
XX. 10 : " When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it,
then proclaim peace unto it." 11 : "And it shall be if it make
thee an answer of peace and open unto thee, then it shall be, that
all the people found therein shall be tributaries (007 lamas,
afflicted, cast down, to pay tribute, &c.), and they shall serve
(?jn3i7'l be thy slaves) thee." Beut. xxiii. 9-17 contains certain
laws to be observed in time of war with their enemies, &c., one of
which is, that a slave escaped to them from the enemy should not
be restored, &c. Beut. xxiii. 16 (16th ofthe English text) : "Thou
shalt not deliver unto his master the servant," (731^. ebed, slave.)
xxiv. 18 : "But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man,"
(7317. ebed, slave.) 22: "And thou shalt remember that thou
wast a bond-man," 7317. Gen. ix. 25 : "And he said. Cursed be
Canaan, a servant of servants (ebed-ebedim) shall he be unto his
brethren." 26: "And he said. Blessed be the Lord God of Shem,
and Canaan shall be his servant," (7317. ebed.) Many more in
stances of a similar use of this word might be selected from the
holy books ; some of which we hope to notice in the progress of
our study. Such, then, was the Hebrew use of the word, to mean
slave, a person purchased or otherwise acquired, and the unques
tionable property of the master. Such then being the condition
of the ebed, slave, it is evident that he could not be contented and
happy, in case he had ambition to gratify, with hopes and prospects
before him adverse from those of his master ; his whole earthly
felicities are bound up in his master's welfare and prosperity ; like
an individual of an army, he feels that the elevation, the brilliancy
of the commander is reflected upon him ; and with a Christian
spirit, he obeys his master in all things, " not with eye-service, but
with singleness of heart, fearing God." See Col. iii. 22. In such
a state of mind, the slave finds no unhappiness in his condition,
but joy and gladness ; and with the slave of Abraham, he implores
Jehovah: " 0 Lord God of my master Abraham! I pray thee
send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master
Abraham. : Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who
hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and truth." Gen.
xxiv. 12 and 27. Expressive of a character of perfect devoted
ness, humility, and obedience. The term ebed might well be bor
rowed to express the earnest devotion of a worshipper of Jehovah,

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

613

and is so often used in connection with the patriarchs, Moses,
David, and the prophets. The term thus used expresses the
quality of their devotedness and obedience, and not necessarily the
quality of the individual. In this sense, the apostles style them
selves the (Sov2,oi, douloi) slaves of Jesus Christ ; not that they
were personally douloi, but in their devotion and obedience to him,
they were what the doulos was or should be to his master. It is
probable that, in some sense, all raen feel .that in the hand of God
they are as clay in the hands of the potter ; that the great Je
hovah overrules and governs all things ; that, as existences, they
are from and dependent on him : under such a sense, we some
times find the term ebed applied, as in the name Obadiah, Oba-
dyahu, the slave of God, and used as a proper noun. But such
compound words are dependent for their meaning upon the com
plex ideas of what their primitives signified ; and, in a somewhat
analogous sense, the term ebed is applied to Nebuchadnezzar, he
being in the hands of the Almighty, as clay in the hands of the
potter, the mere instrument, the fabrication of his hand. There
is, however, in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel, a use of
this word peculiar to them ; but we should recollect that they were
educated in the Persian capital and employed in high stations by
the Persian monarch. We may therefore well expect some varia
tion in their dialect.

LESSON VIL
And we may well bring to mind the fact that there are two dis
tinctly marked eras in the Hebrew lunguage. The first ends at
the Babylonish captirity. The Pentateuch and older prophets,
Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Psalms, and Proverbs, come within this era.
The second commences with the return of the Israelites from that
captivity, and extends to the introduction of Greek into Palestine,
subsequent to the conquests of Alexander. The first period may
be emphatically called ancient Hebrew ; and the latter, more
modern. The Hebrew of this period is strongly marked by an
approximation to the Chaldee and Persian. To this period of the
language belong the books of Nehemiah, Ezra, Daniel, Esther,
Jonah, Haggai, Malachi, Ecclesiastes, and a part of the Psalms ;

614 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
and these works will ever be regarded by the oriental scholar
as inferior in classical literature to those of earlier date, not
withstanding their other merits of high excellence. But some
of the peculiarities of the writings of the second period are
not to be regarded as recent alterations, but as the phonetic,
unwritten Hebrew of the more remote districts of Palestine itself.
The variations of this more modern from the ancient Hebrew are
extremely numerous, both as to the substitution of one word for
another, but also as to a change of meaning of the same word ; as,
for instance, the more ancient would have used the word 770
malak to signify a king, to rule, &c. ; but the more modern have
used a word, which, from its strong phonetic relation, has evidently
been derived from it, t37£J' shalat, to mean to rule, kc, and so
used Ps. cxix. 133, Eccl. ii. 19, Esther ix. 1, Neh. v. 15, Ban.
ii. 39, and in many other places. So also the ancient would use
the word 7PK amar, to signify to speak, to say ; but the more
modern uses the same word to signify to command. What we say
is, that we cannot always learn the original meaning of a word
from the more modern use of it. We will now notice the use of
the ancient word ebed in this more modern dialect of the Hebrews.
In Ezra iv. 19, we find, "And that rebellion and sedition have been
made therein" is translated from 7317.rip mithahed. Let us ex
amine the circumstances under which this sentence was written.
Rehum had written to the monarch Artaxerxes in opposition to
the building of the walls of Jerusalem, informing him that it had
ever been a rebellious city, hurtful to kings, &c. ; in answer to
which, the king writes, " that the records have been examined, and
it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against
kings, and that rebellion and sedition hath been made therein."
The Persian monarchs were all absolute ; they regarded those whom
they conquered as slaves ; and when they rebelled, they used this
word to signify that it was slaves who rebelled. Our word servile
is somewhat analogous, and might very properly be substituted for
it in the foregoing text, thus : " And it is found, this city of old
time hath made insurrection against kings, and that there hath
been servile rebellion and sedition therein." When we speak of
insurrection, sedition, rebellion, or war with slaves, we call it
servile, as Artaxerxes did in this case, to show the fact that the
war was with slaves. Ezra iv. 24, this word j77'3jL^ is translated

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 615

work. So in v. 8, Nn7'3;7 work, vi. 7, ^"713^7 work, to show
that the labour was done by slaves, or, figuratively, that the labour
was intense, devoted, and obedient, as of slaves, ^vi. 8 : p'73yj7
"Te shall do." 12: 73J;.j7^ "Let it be done with speed."
13: n3J7 "So they did speedily."
vii. 18 : p7517n | " That do after the will of your God."
and 731?P7 j " To do ¦(vith the rest of the silver and gold."
21: 73^n^ "It be done speedily." 23: 731?^n' "Let it be
diligently done." 26: 7317 "Will not do." 7317np "Let
judgment be executed speedily." These instances of the use of
this word seem somewhat peculiar ; but we must recollect that the
monarch of Persia is speaking, who regarded not only the Jews,
but all his subjects, as slaves. It was the court manner of the
eastern monarchs in such decrees to throw in occasionally an ex
clamation of the nature of an imperative interjection, such as.
Slave, attend! Pay attention, slaves! Listen, slaves! kc, all in
substance meaning that those to whom the decree is issued should
perform it quickly and without further notice. And we find the
same custom existing among them even at this day, and such is
the true sense in which the term is here used. Let us exemplify
it. Ezra vi. 12 : " I, Darius, have made a decree ;" then follows
the Persian adverb NJ7GpX asepporna, which means quickly,
speedily, diligently, &c. ; then the word in question, as before
noticed: "quickly, slaves," is therefore the literal meaning, i. e.
what he had decreed they should instantly perform. We do not
pretend to say that translating it to do, &c. gives a substantially
wrong sense ; but it seems it may have led lexicographers to an
erroneous conception of the meaning of the .word. Jer. x. 11 :
" The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth:" made
is translated from 17317. If this word is the correct reading, the
idea of the prophet had regard to the power, not to the act of a
creator, — the gods that have not subjected, have not placed in
suljection, as if in slavery to, whose laws do not govern the heavens
and the earth. The gods who could not do these things are nof
gods, and they shall perish. This was the idea of the prophet.
But this word is marked in all the best copies with a keri, showing
that this reading was suspected by the Jewish scholars to be bad ;
and they supply in the margin the words 1717X3 ni7£3, which is

616 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
at least some proof that they thought its use in this instance unu
sual ; and Kennecott and De Rossi found these words used instead
of 17317 in some copies.

LESSON VIII.

But we have a sure method by which we may discover what
meaning Ezra did affix to this word — by examining his use of it in
those cases where its meaning cannot be doubtful. See Ezra iv.
11: "Thy servants," Hn^J?- v. 11: "We are the servants,"
*n'i73j7, having relevance to their devotedness to God. vi. 16
commences with the word 1731^*, which is omitted in our transla-
tion. The sentence should commence thus : "And the slaves, the
children of Israel, the priests," &c. ix. 9 : "For we were bond
men D'7^i?5 y^t our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage,"
1jri75J731. These instances clearly show how Ezra understood
this word: notwithstanding his writings were touched with the
Persian and Chaldee idioms. A similar result wiM be found upon
the examination of Nehemiah and Daniel. Neh. ii. 10 and 19:
"And Tobiah the servant 7317.ri, the Ammonite heard of it" —
"And Tobiah the servant 73ri7, the Ammonite." v. 5: "Yet
now our fiesh is as the fiesh of our brethren, our children as their
.p
children: and lo, we bring into bondage (D*tJ'33 kovshim) our
sons and our daughters to be servants (D'73J^7 slaves), and some
of our daughters are brought into bondage (nltJ'33^ subjections,
not necessarily slavery) already," (JJ'^S kovash.) The root from
which these two words are formed in no sense means slavery, but
to reduce, to subdue, to humble ; and in this sense is used in
E.'.ther vii. 8, and translated "force." But this word aids very
much in showing what idea was affixedto the word ebed; and we
ask to compare this passage of Nehemiah with Jer. xxxiv. 8-16 :
"This is the word that carae unto Jeremiah from the Lord, after
that king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people
which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them ; * * *
that every man should let his man-servant, (17317 male slave,)

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

617

and every man his maid-servant inrtiJli', being a Hebrew or He-
brewess, go free ; that none should serve ("73^^ slave) himself of
them, to wit, of a Jew his brother. Now, when all the princes,
and all the people which had entered into the covenant, heard that
every one should let his man-servant (173^7 male slave), and
every one his maid-servant, go free, that none serve themselves
("73J^. slave themselves), of them any more, then they obeyed and
let them go. But afterwards they turned and caused the servants
(U^'^p^p ha abadim, slaves), and the hand-maids, whom they had
let go free, to return. Therefore the word of the Lord came to
Jeremiah, from the Lord, saying. Thus saith the Lord, the God of
Israel, I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I
brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bond-men (D*7317 ebedim, slaves), saying. At the end of seven
years, let go every man his brother a Hebrew, which hath been
sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee (773^1 slaved for
thee) six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee ; but your
fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. And
ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaim
ing liberty every man to his neighbour ; and ye had made a cove
nant befcMre ine in the house which is called by my name. But ye
turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant,
(173J7 ebeddo, slave,) and every man his hand-maid, whom he had
set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into
subjection (1 £2^3301) to be unto you for servants (?'73177 for
slaves), and for hand-maids." The comparison of these passages
proves the fact that Nehemiah and Jeremiah used the word ebed
to mean a slave, without any variation of meaning. Nor will we
hold Nehemiah responsible for his word t^'33 kavash, subjection,
being translated bondage. Neh. -vii. 66, 67, gives an account of
the captive Israelites that returned from Susa and Babylon to
Jerusalem. "And the whole congregation together was forty and
two thousand three hundred and threescore. Besides their man
servants (?I7n317 male slaves), and their maid-servants, of whom
there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty score." We
trust that so varied, particular, and descriptive are the records left
in the holy books through which we may search out what the He
brews meant by their use of the word ebed (731^), that its cer
tainty and definiteness must place the inquiry beyond doubt.

618 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

But as in this instance the word SJ'33 kavash has been translated
bondage, it may be well to give a few examples of its use in the
holy hooks, that all may see and know that its meaning is totally
distinct from that of slavery. Gen. i. 28 : " Multiply and re
plenish the earth and subdue it," ntT^^I. Num. xxxii. 22:
"And the land be subdued nLr33J1 before the Lord." 29: "And
n : : - ;
the land shall be subdued n£J'33J1 before you." Josh, xviii. 1 :
"And the land was subdued nB^33J before them." 2 Sam.
viii. 1: "Which he subdued," ^7^3. 2 Chron. ix. 18: "With a
footstool," tJ'^PI, because a footstool was in the place of subjec
tion. Zech. ix. 15: "And subdue ^331 with sling-stones."
Micah vii. 19: "He will subdue £J'133| our iniquities." The
foregoing examples, we trust, are sufficient to disabuse the mind
of the idea of any synonyme of meaning of these two words.

LESSON IX.

We propose to examine the Hebrew use of the vrord ebed in the
5th and 15th of the second chapter of Genesis : " In that day the
Lord God made the earth, and the heavens, and every plant of
the field before it grew ; for the Lord God had not caused it to
rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till 73177 the
ground." To till is here translated from this word ebed, with the
affix of the preposition 7. This is the first instance in which the
word is used in the holy book ; and it may seem extremely strange
that the writers of these books found its use necessary in their de
scription of events even before the creation of man. It is not our
business to draw out theological doctrine unconnected with the
subject of our present inquiry ; but we suppose it will not be dis
puted that the great Jehovah as well knew, before he created the
heavens and the earth, and man upon the earth,. all and every par
ticular of what would happen, as at any subsequent time : with
him, a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day. We may behold the birth, maturity, and death of some
animalcula, in a day or in an hour. But, with him the succession
of generations, of the animal life of a thousand yea,rs, pass in in,-

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 619

stantaneous and present view. Time appertains alone to mortals.
He saw the most ultimate condition of raan ; and the earth and
the herb were made to suit it. But from the manner of the ex
pression of the text, may we not conclude that the herb, although
made, would not grow until man was created, and in the condition
to till (731^7 to slave) the ground ? The support of the animal
world, independent of man, is spontaneously presented before
them : not so with man in his fallen state. " He, sendeth the
springs into the valley, which run among the hills. They give
drink to every beast of the field : the wild asses quench their thirst.
By them shall the fowls of heaven have their habitation, which
sing among the branches. He watereth the hills from his cham
bers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. He
causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service
(i773^7 for the slavery) of man: that he may bring forth food
out ofthe earth," Ps. civ. 10-14. The second instance in which
this word is used is in Gen. ii. 15 : "And the Lord God took the
man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it, and to keep
it." To dress it is translated from this word n73177. There
is certainly much obscurity in the use of the word in this instance.
Professor Stuart, of Andover, supposes that it inculcates the doc
trine that labour was imposed on man in the paradisiacal state ;
consequently, that labour was no part of the curse which followed
the apostacy. (See his Chreestomathy, page 105.) This view ex
cludes the idea that the word, as here used, is associated with the
idea of slavery, and that, if, in the interchange of language,
although the idea of labour may predominate, nevertheless, it
must be slave labour. Our mind does not yield its assent to his
position. We had associated with our idea of this paradise the
most perfect heaven, the dwelling-place of Jehovah ! ! and that
the generations of taan, when guided and governed by Divine
mercy in such a manner that we could be happy therein, that it
would yet become our ultimate home, — ("He that hath an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches ; To him that
overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the
midst of the paradise of God," Rev. ii. 7,) — and that the humble
worshipper of Jehovah while in a state of progressive preparedness,
would therefore cry out with the Psalmist, " Unto thee I lift mine
eyes, 0 thou that dwellest in the heavens ! Behold, as the eyes

620 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

of servants (?*"7317 male slaves) look unto the hand- of their mas-
ter; and as the eyes of a maiden (nn5y' shiphhah, female slave)
unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our
God until he have mercy upon us." Ps. cxxiii. 1, 2. If then the
paradise of old was the type of the paradise eternal, it would seem
that the labour of the ebed was excluded therefrom: "Because
the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage
(Sov2.Eiag, slavery) of corruption into the glorious liberty of the
children of God." Rom. viii. 21. And for this very good reason,
that slavery, the consequent of sin, could never find entrance
there : regeneration is therefore indispensable.
" It strikes me that the use of the verb (73P abad. Gen. ii. 5)
presents no difficulty that calls for explanation. The language
of inspiration is man's language, though employed by God. The
events, facts, things, acts, that preceded man's creation, must still
be described by language and terras that had come into use after
man's creation. Man must first exist before there could be words
to be used in conveying knowledge to man. A word implying
slavery might therefore most reasonably be found in a description
of things prior to the existence of man, or of slavery, which de
scription was written long afterwards by Moses, and in language
which was in use amongst the men for whom he wrote. When
Moses wrote, when God inspired him, 7317 ebed was a familiar
word." Extract from manuscript letter of the Rev. J. B. Stratton
to the author.
But in the pursuance of the chain of thought that first was im
pressed on our mind, we have to remark that the word Eden meant
pleasure, happiness. It seems to have been derived from or
cognate with the Arabic word ,jJii aden, and means softness, gen
tleness, mildness, tenderness, and daintiness, in that language.
The Hebrews had also another word from this same root, '71^. adi,
to mean ornaments, &c., and r717 adain, to mean luxuriousness
and delicate. The word, as used in the text before, is applied to a
district of country, and confers the adjective qualities to said dis
trict, i. e. a district of country of great pleasure and delight. The
general boundaries are given and described by the naming of its
rivers. It was of considerable extent, embracing, perhaps, more
than the whole of the ancient Armenia.
"And a garden was planted eastward in Eden." Garden is trans
lated from f J gan. The word is derived from HJ ganan. The

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

621

word means, to protect, protection, a thing protected. The idea
expressed by it is not confined to a single walled area ; but the
two words are often used together, as if it was intended to convey
the idea of the fact that the protection extended to the whole of
Eden. And it may be well conceived that innocency was its pro
tection. Here cunning art never wove its web for the entangle
ment of its victim. Here no crocodile tears enticed sympathy
within the reach of harm. Here no vile wretch ever betrayed a
brother's confidence. Here the lion and the lamb might have
couched together, and the infant have played with the tiger's paw.
We are aware that some modern scholars consider the description
of the garden of Eden by Moses a mere picture of the mind.
Rosenmaeler says that it is on a par with Virgil's description of
the Elysian fields. This class of philosophers consider the whole
as a fiction : but man had his commencement soraewhere, and it is
.1 fact that four large rivers, answering to the outlines of the general
description of Moses, do fiow from fountain-heads not raore than
thirty or forty miles apart, in the central and most elevated region
of Armenia. These streams meander through the same countries
described by him, and exhibit the same mineral productions : nor
would it be any thing remarkable, if investigation should yet prove
that they were all indebted to one and the same source. Let us
consider then, whether it was not a fact that the garden of Eden
was not confined to a little plat of ground, but included a whole
district of country, embracing the visible sources of the rivers
named: a district of country, from the mildness of its climate,
fruitfulness, and other causes of pleasure and delight, exceedingly
well adapted to the early residence of man. We have therefore
no well founded reason to believe that the account given by Moses
of the garden of Eden was a fiction, independent of Divine au
thority. But his account must be understood so as to be consistent
with itself, and with the facts now existing of which it speaks.
We are not under the necessity of supposing that the felicity of
our first parents was confined to the locality named : a paradise
was to them anywhere. It was their innocence, not the location,
that made it so ; and thus they were driven out of paradise, per
haps, without a change of location. The use of the word ebed
7317, in ii. 15 of Genesis, might then well be of the same fore
shadowing import as in the first instance of its use, even before
the creation of man. For, who must not conclude, when man was
first placed in paradise, that God did not as clearly see his apostasy

622 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

then, as now ? By his wisdom, power, and mercy, all nature was
ready-prepared for the change, and poor fallen man, without
change of habitation, found that habitation no longer heaven, and
commenced his first act of slavery by the vain attempt to hido
himself from God and his own contempt. And here, let us re
mark, we find the true commencement of slavery. "And Jesus
answered them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever commit
teth sin is the servant (Sov2og, slave) oi sin." Johnviii. 34. Force, \
disease, ruin, and death were now introduced to man. For, "A
servant (7317 slave) will not be corrected by word»." Prov. xxix.
19. God had mercifully contrived that he should be forced to
action. " He that tilleth (7317 slaveth) his land shall have plenty
of bread ; but he that followeth after vain persons shall have
poverty enough." Prov. xxviii. 19. When God made "every
plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of
the field before it grew," foreseeing the apostasy of man — its poi
sonous effect upon his moral and physical condition — its direct
influence to produce immediate ruin and death, he also provided,
ordained, and decreed a relation, a law between man and his men
tal and physical wants, which must cleave unto him, upon his
apostasy, and be of the utmost value and efficacy in alleviating,
removing, and preventing the final evils incident to his poisoned
condition. This relation, law, institution, was the ebeduth, the
institution of slavery, as expressed in Ezra ix. 8, 9 : "And give us
a little reviving in our bondage (1jri73jL7 ebeduthenu, slavery).
For we were bond-men (?'73^7 abedim, slaves), and yet our God
hath not forsaken us in our bondage," 1177317. So in 2 Chron.
xii. 8: "Nevertheless, ye shall be his servants (?'73177 le-obedim,
his slaves), that they may know my service ('ri7l317 slavery), and
the service (n7l31^1 and the slavery) of the kingdoms of the coun
tries." So in Esther vii. 4: "For we are sold, I and my people,
to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been
sold for bond-men (?'73J77 r\'\U^pi\) and bond-women, I had
held my tongue."

STUDIES ON SLAVERY. 623

LESSON X.
Towards the close of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses, having
delivered to the children of Israel such of the laws of the Almighty
as were then deemed necessary for their government and guidance,
proceeds to inform them of the consequences of disobedience ; and
boldly informs them, xxviii. 15, "But, if it shall come to pass if
thou ¦ffilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to ob
serve and to do all his -commandments, and his statutes which I
command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee
and overtake thee. 16 : Cui-sed shalt thou be in the city, and
cursed shalt thou be in the field. 17 : Cursed shall be thy basket
and thy store. 18 : Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body and the
fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the fiocks of thy
sheep. 19 : Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed
shalt thou be when thou goest out. 20 : The Lord shall send upon
thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all thou settest thy hand
unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish
quickly, because of the ¦wickedness of thy doings whereby thou
hast forsaken me." "And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt
again ¦with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee. Thou
shalt see it no more again, and there ye shaU be sold unto your
enemies for bond-men (?'73r7 la obedim, for slaves), and bond-
^ J- T " r-
women, and no man shall buy you." They should be so trifling
and worthless that no one wotdd ¦wish to buy them. Josh. ix.
23-27 : "Now, therefore, ye are cursed, and there shall none of you
be freed from being bond-men (731^ slaves), and hewers of wood
and drawers of water," kc "And Joshua made them that day
hewers of wood and drawers of water, for the congregation, and
for the altar ofthe Lord, even unto this day."

624 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON XL
Before closing this subject we offer a few more examples of
the Hebrew use of this word. "Who is David? and who is
the son of Jesse? There be many servants (?'73^7 slaves)
now-a-days that break away every man from his master." 1 Sam.
xxv. 10. Nabal pretended in his drunkenness, that he might be
a runaway slave. 1 Kings ii. 29, 40: "And it came to pass at
the end of three years, that two of the servants (?'731? ebedim,
slaves) of Shimei ran away unto Achish, son of Maachah king of
Gath ; and they told Shimei, saying. Behold thy servants (7'7317
slaves) be in Gath. And Shimei arose and saddled his ass, and
went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants (V73J7 slaves), and
Shimei went and brought his servants (V73^ slaves) from Gath."
1 Kings ix. 20, 21, and 22 : "And all the people that were left
of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebuzites, which
were not of tht children of Israel, their children that were left
after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not
able utterly to destroy, upon these did Solomon levy a tribute of
bond-service (7317 obed, slavery) unto this day. But of the children of
Israel did Solomon make no bond-men," (73y ebed, slaves.) lOhron.
viii. 9 : "But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no ser
vants (?'73177 la ebedim, no slaves) for his work, (in^N^PpV
his works, labours.) But they were men of war, and chief of his
captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen." 2 Kings
iv. 1 : " Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons
of the prophets unto Elisha, saying. Thy servant, my husband, is
dead, and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord, and
the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bond
men," (?''7317.7 la ebedim, for slaves.) In 1 Chron. xxvii. 26,
this word is used in a sense quite analogous to slave-labour, thus :
"And over them that did the work (meleketh, i. e. the particular

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.-

 625
work or labour) of the field for tillage (JTlbj^S slave-labour) of
the ground, was Ezra, the son of Chelub." Job i. 2, 3 : "And
there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His
substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand
camels, and five thousand yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-
asses, and a very ^reat household." The word "household" is
here translated from I773,J71 va ebudda, a body of slaves, i. e. a
large family of slaves. Jb5 iii. 19 : "The small and the great are
there, and the servant (73J?1 ve ebed, the slave), is free from his
master." Joh xxxi. 13: "If I did despise {JDQ^f2 misjudge) the
cause of .my man-servant," ('731? i^J slave.) Job xxxix. 9 : " Will
the unicorn be ¦willing to serve thee ?" .(77317 be a slave to thee.)
Ps. cxvi. 16 : "0 Lord, truly I am thy servant (775i? obedeka,
slave) ; I am thy servant (773J7 slave), and the son of thy hand
maid (7riOX amatheka, female slave) : thou hast loosed my
bonds.". It is a little remarkable how similar is this sentiment of
David to one expressed, by St. Paul. Prov. xii. 9 : "He that is
despised and^hath a servant (7317. ehed, slave) is better than he
that honoureth himself and lacketh bread." Prow. xvii. 2 : "A
wise servant (73^. ehed, slave), shall rule over a son that causeth
shame, and shall have part ofthe inheritance among the brethren."
Prov. xxx. 21, 22, 23: "For three things is the earth disquieted,
and for four which it cahnot bear: ,For a servant (731? ^^^^>
slave) when he reigneth (717P| imlok), and a fool when he is
filled with meat. For an odious woman whfen she is married, and
a hand-maid {r\n^Vlf\ female slave) th&t is heir to bier mistress."
Eccl. ii. 7. "I got me ('i7'3p kanithi, I purchased) servants
(?'731? male slaves) and maidens '(i7il75tJ''l female slaves), and
had servants born in my house." Eccl. vii. 21: "Also take no
heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant
(77517 slave) curse theq." Jer. ii. 14: "Is Israel a servant
(731?I7 a s],ave)'>. is he a home-born slave?, why is he spoiled?"
In the latter part of this quotation, the word 731? ehed is not ex
pressed in Hebrew, but understood, as is often the case in English :
yet King James's translators did not hesitate to supply it in Eng-
40

626 .STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

lish with the word sZttw, giving indis.putable proof of what -they
understood the word ebed to mean, and also, that they used the
English word servant as a synonyme of the word slave. The
omission to express the word 73^7 ebed in Hebrew, in this in
stance, has the effect tp make the idea conveyed by the prophet
more emphatic; and hence the translators seem to have felt the
necessity of using the most forcible synonyme, in order that they
might truly and beyond doubt convey, the full import of the pro
phet's meaning. Mai. i. 6 : "A son honoureth his father, and a
servant (73171 slave) his master." This passage is a connecting
link in a chain of reasoning, and the pTophet continues thus : " If
then I be a father, where is my honour ? If I be a master, where
is my fear ? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, 0 priests that despise
my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised. thy name ?" As
though they were astonished at the accusation ! And this is the
answer — 7: "Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar." A figure,
to show that they had become wholly disobedient, and held in dis
regard the law of God. By their disobedience, they were degene
rating frora the condition of the son to that of the ebed. Instead
of being infiuenced by love, they were about to be operated upon
by fear, and hence the prophet continues, ii. 1 : "And now, 0 ye
priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear,
and if ye will not lay it to . heart, to give- glory unto my name,
saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse.^upon you, and I
will curse your blessings, yea, I have cursed them already, because
ye do not lay it to heart. 3 : Behold, I will corrupt your seed,
and spread dung upon your faces." He would curse them with
the hateful curse of Cain. 'And we beg to notice this scriptural
glancing at the doctrine that a course of sin does produce some
change upon the physical man,— some change of countenance,
which is continued, degenerating and deteriorating the succeeding
generations, — and ask, is not such a doctrine alluded to in Ezek.
xviii. 2, "The fathers, have eaten sour grapes, and the children's
teeth are set on edge." And, again, in Ps. Iviii. 2, 3 : " The
wicked are estranged from the wotab :' they go astray as soon as
they are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a
serpent." Again, in' J"er. vii. 19 : " Do they provoke tae to anger ?
saith the Lord. Do they not provoke themselves to the confusion
of their own faces?" And, in Isa. iii. 9: "The show of their
countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin
as Sodom. They hide it not." Wo unto their soul ! for they have

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

627

rewarded evil unto themselves." Jer. xiii. 22 : "If thou say in thy
heart, wherefore have these things come upon me ? for the great
ness of thine iniquities are thy skirts discovered and thy heels
made bare." And ii. 22: "For though thou wash thee with
nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before
me, saith the Lord God." We will not enter into the examination
of this doctrine at present, but hasten to close our view of the
Hebrew use of the word 7317 ebed. In Joel iii. 2 (ii. 29th of the
English text) is this remarkable passage : " And also upon the
servants (?'73^^17 ha ebedim, the male slaves) and upon the hand
maids (nini^ri hashshephahoth, the female slaves) in those days
will I pour aut my Spirit." This passage was translated at Jeru
salem by St. Peter, into Greek. See Acts ii. 18: "And on my
servants, and on my hand-maids (Sov2.ovg xai sni Tag Sov2xig),
will I pour out in those days my Spirit," — using those Greek
words that most unconditionally mean a slave, and showing as
effectually as language can show, and proving as distinctly as
language can prove, that St. Peter well understood these words of
Joel to mean male and female slaves. He translates the passage,
referring to it, and quoting it. There can have been no mistake.
Besides, the passage is rendered definite by its particularity ; for
the preceding sentence avers that his Spirit should be poured out
"upon all flesh," and goeis on to particularize, "your sons" and
"daughters," "your old men,""yOur young men," and then in
this passage includes the slaves, thus explaining whom he means
by "all flesh." It was on the day of Pentecost, when the dis
ciples of Jesus Christ "were, all with" one accord in one place, and
suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty
wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting; and
there appeared upon them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat
upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost."
Acts ii. 1, 2, 3.
Such were the circumstances under which this translation was
made — just after the death of Jesus Christ. Circumstances more
solemn, more imposing, more awful to the human mind cannot
well be conceived. In the immediate presence of God the Father,
and the Holy Ghost operating upon the mind of St. Peter ! ! Should
any one, timorous, decline to believe men, or mortals, permit us, in
the name of that Jehovah whose work we all are, to call their re
flection on what may be the nature of that sin which contemns,
denies, or treats as untruth the very language of the Holy Ghost.

628

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

LESSON XIL
The Hebrew noun ehed belongs to the declension of factitious,
euphonic segholate nouns of two syllables, with the tone on the
penult and a furtive vowel on the final :

Singular absolute.
751; or 75J^.
With light suffix.
n53^
Plural absolute.
D'73I7
With light suffix.
'73^7

Construct state.
Grave suffix.
D?75j;
Construct state.
Grave suffix.*
Q?n3j7

Declined with the personal pronoun, thus :

Absolute singular,
Suff. 1:
2. m.
2. f.
3. m.
3. f.

'7317 my slave.
thy slave.
^"thy slave.
17317 his slave.
777317 her slave.
T : -
1. (plur.) 1J7.3J? our slave.
2. m. D37317 your slave.
2.-f. J37317 «/0Mr sZawe.
3. m. m?^ *^^*''' slave.
3. f. T73J^ their slave.

* Termed grave, because they always have the tone accent.

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

629

Absolute plural, D '"1.3^7 slaves.
Suff. 1. n3j^^ my slaves.
2. m. ^'73J[7 thy slaves.
3. m. ,1'731^ his slaves.
3. f. i7'7317 her slaves.
1. (plur.) 1J'7.3 J^ owr slaves.
2. m. D3''7.31? «/t)Mr slaves.
2. i. |3'7317 your slaves.
3. m. ?rT'7317 their slaves.
3. f. |)7''73^ their slaves.
Prefixed by a preposition, it will stand thus : 73173 in, at,
with, kc. a slave ; or with 7 thus, 73177 to, at, in, towards, till,
until, kc. a slave ; or, when the word 7317 is used as a verb, it
will stand in place of our infiiiitive mood, thus, I'^^J to slave, as
in Num. iv. 47. So this word 7317 or any form of it may be pre
fixed by P as a contraction of JP, a preposition of various mean
ings or applica,tions, as from, apart from, of, out of, by, kc. kc. ;
and so it may be prefixed by any of the letters ?f)J0.Ni7 forming
the word heemanti, each prefixed letter giving to the root word
some shade of meaning, emphasis, or adjective quality. So, also,
it may be prefixed by 3, used both as a preposition, and as a con
junction, thus, 73173 as, so, according to, after, about, nearly,
almost, kc kc a slave. Hebrew nouns may also be prefixed, by
particles of old obsolete words, varying their form, and exceed
ingly so their phonetic representation ; as for example, nd7t?^
Shelomah was the son and successor . of King David. Now ^,
as the particle of some ancient word, and followed by 7, becomes
the sign of the possessive case ; but when the word begins with
these two letters, they then will be duplicated, as in Canticles iii. 7,
i707IJ'7p* inCSP mittatho shellishlomoh, Solomon's bed, kc.
Prepositions, sometimes two or more, are, or seem to be, com-

630 STUDIES ON SLAVERY.
pounded, yet used in the sense of the last in the compound, thus :
iO and hv used thus, hi?Q for hv, or fP^ for f P, &c. &c.
The noun 7317. ebed may also be prefixed by a conjunction,
thus, 731^1 and a slave, kc. kc.
It may also often be compounded with other nouns. Thus,
in'73i7 the slave of God. In this manner the composition of
significant terms, and their conversion into proper names, is unli
mited: thus, p73i? the judgment, or government of a slave, and
made the name of a city. See Josh. ii. 30 ; also 1 Chron. i. 59,
the 74th of the English text ; and hence the word abaddon has
been used by some to signify a place of punishment. We can
give but a mere sketch of the grammatical formations and varia
tions of the word ebed ; aware that even such sketch, can be con
sidered of value only by a few, we refrain from even a glimpse
of its phonetic variations and peculiarities, deeming them only
interesting to the advanced and more critical of the proficients in
the language ; but we cannot refrain from giving a sketch of its
declension as a verb, for the benefit of the Greek and Roman

scholar.

Conjugation of the word 7317 as a

verb, to slave, kc.

In Kal.

Praet. 3. p. m.

15V

3. f.

n"!?il

2. m.

^l^Z

3. (plur.)

"^VZ

2. m.

d;ii5V

Infinitive absolute.

713:^

Construct state.

i^i

Future, 3. m.

73y'

2. m.

7317n

3. (plur.)

nik:

3. f.

nj73i7ri

Imperative, 2. p. m.

73i7^

2. f.

'l?r

Participle,' act.

73'li7

pass.

¦ -^m

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

631

NiPHAL.

Praet. 3. m.

73J7^

2. m.

r»-!3;7j

Infinitive,

73irrr

Future,

1?v.'

Imperative,

i?^.n

Participle,

73irj

PiEL, (poel, polel.)
Praet. "^"2)}
Infinitive, "'?!?
Future, 73J;7'
Participle, '^r^'H'O

PuAL, (pool, polal.'
Praet. Infinitive,Future, Participle,

) 73r
73j;
"131^.'
7317P

HiPHIL.

Praet.

1*5^0

2. m.
Infinitive, Future, Participle,

HOPHAL.

T5J?S

Praet. Infinitive,Future, Participle,

15V0 7317'
Praet. Infinitive, Future,Participle,
HiTHPAEL.
73i7nn 73i7nn
632

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

The unusual conjugations sometimes found in the form of some
Hebrew words, hothpaal, pilel, pulal, hithpalel, and the Arabic
iq-talla, pealal, pilpel, and the Aramaen tiphel, and the Syriac
shaphel, are not known to the writer to have an example in the
Hebrew Scriptures in the word 7317, and are therefore not ex
emplified. Paradigm ofthe verb 731^ to slave, as a 1. gutturalin Kal.

Praeter, singular, 3. m.

I^V

3. f.

^m

2. m.

^m

2. f.

J77317

1. com.

'n73^

Plural, 3. com.

n?^.

2. m.

?r)7317

2. f.

mvi

1. com.

iJi^v

Infinitive absolute.

li^iV

Infinitive construct.

1?v

Imperative, singular, m.

i?^

f.

n^v

Plural, m.

n?^

f.

^^W-.

Present, singular, 3. m.

1?^

3. f.

"i?4?ri

2. m.

'^^W

2. f.

'1?^^

1. com.

i?i?J<

Plural, 3. m.

¦¦iS-

3. f.

^^i'^v.^

2. m.

n^^n

2. f.

^V^W

1. com.

i?i^P-

Pres. apocope.

i^if,!

Participle, active.

l?i^

passive.

"^m

STUDIES ON SLAV-EBY.

633

Paradigm of the verb 73J7 to slave, as a 1.

. guttural in Niphal.

Praeter, singular, 3. m. ,

-^m

8.f.

^:^.m

2. m.

^im

2. f.

^vm

1. com.

'n7317J

Plural, 8. com.

n?S

2. m.

DJ773i;j

2. f.

Wim

1. com.

in317J

Infin&iee,

¦'^ij!^

Imperative, singular, m.

W.rf

f.

n.m

Plural, m.

'>75^J

i.

^my.rj

Present, singular, 3. m.

-^^r..

3. f.

vm

2. m.

"^^^m

2. f.

nn^

1. com.

-^^.m

Plural, 3. m.

n?^'.

8. £

an;3i7n

2. m:

"^V^.^

2. f.

r^;VV.0

1. com.

^5^^

Participle,

vn

Paradigm- of the verb 73J7 to slavey as a

1. guttural in Pihbl

or piel, {poet, polel.)

Praeter, singular, 8. m.

V^

3. f.

n73j;

2. m.

fl731?

2. f.

f»"!5:^

1. com.

?fl7317

Plural, 3. com..

n3ir

2. m.

?msr

2. f.

iri73y

1. com.

1J7317

Infinitive,

•i?:^

634

STUDIES ON SLAVE.Ry.

Imperative, .singular, m.

V^^

• f-

"73g

Plural, m.

17317

f.

njn^i?

Present, singular, 3. m.

vv:.

8.f.

•T?J?n

2. m.

¦»3rii

2. f.

n3i7n

1. com.

V^3

Plural, 3. m.

n3r.»

3. f.

nip3ii7n

2. ni.

^igirn

2. f.

nj73j7ri

1. com.

' H3r)

Participle,

T?)!^

Paradigm of the verb 7317 to slave, as

al. guttural-in Puhal,

(pual, poal, polal.)

Praeter, singular, 3. m.

1317

3. f.

n^5:^

2. m..

n-i?^

2. f.

ri73V

1. com.

'fi13:?

Plural, 3. com..

nay

2. m.

Dpliy

2. f.

|r)73y

1. com.

in3J^

Infinitive,

^33^

Present, singular, 3. m.

n?r.!

3. f.

^5i^i^

2. m.

t3Pfi

2. f.

n3i7fi

1. com.

-^p.^-

Plural, 3. m.

n3i7'

3. f.

nJ73i7J7

2. m..

n3l7"n

2. f.

nj73i;ri

1. com.

' 7317^

Participle,

-mh

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

635

Paradigm of the verb 7317 to slave, as a 1.
. 'Praeter, singular, 3. m.
3. f.
2. m.
2. f.
1. com.
Plural, 3. com.
2. m.
2. f.
1. com.
Infinitive,Imperative, singular, m.
f.
Plural, m.
f.
Present, singular, 3. m.
3. f.
2. m.
2. f.
1. com.
Plural, 3. m.
3. f.
2. m.
2.f.
1. com.
Pres. apocope,
Participle,
Paradigm of the verb 73)7 to slave, as a 1.
Praeter, singular, 3. m.
3. f.
2. m.
2. f.
1. com.
Plural, 3. com.
2. m.
2. f.
1. com.
Mfinitive,

guttural in Hiphil.
T3J7n
r»^3i7n 7'3i7rr
n'3j^.rT
n'S^n 7'3i;n n'iiT!
nJT3'i;.n n'Srn
nn3:^n T3i70
guttural in Hophal.
n73rn
T : i-t: t—
n73i7n
: : r^: it
'n73i7n 173^17
Dn73jn mm
m3i7a vw

636

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

Present, singular, 3. m.

vz

3. f.

n337.ri •

2. m.

vm

2. f.

"i?VP

1. com.

vm

Plural, 8. m.

n^v,:

3.f.

ni73yn
T : |— t: IT

2. m.

n5vr>

2. f.

nn?:^:^

1. com.

¦'P'i^,;

Participle,

73rp
IT "t: it

Paradigm of the verb 73i7 to slave.

as a 1. guttural in ]

PAEL.

Praeter, singular, 3. m.

i?i?nn

3. f.

n75i7iirT

2. m.

r)73j;7J7rT

2. f.

r»"7?I?nn

1. com.

' ^ir\;2)ir\T\

Plural, 3. com.

17517017

2. m.

Di;i*}3i7J7ri

2. f.

iiti'75^J7r»

1. com.

iiJ73i7nr7

Infinitive,

W.rin

Imperative, singular, m.

' Vt^'^

f.

'V^.ry'n

Plural, m.

^V^-^^

f.

nn3i7nri

Present, singular, 8. m.

. VHT)^

8. f.

73j^riin

2. m.

W.^i:^

2. f.

n5i7nn

1. com.

"'?j^n«

STUDIES ON SLAVERY.

637

Present, plural, 3. m.

n5i7i7»

3. f.

rtn3i7nfi

2. m.

175Wfl

2. f.

nnsi^nn

1. com.

^ V^^^

Participle,

"i^i^rip

In close, it may be remarked that there is perhaps no Hebrew
verb found in all the forms of conjugation in the Holy Books.

THB VSD.

00632 6558

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