The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1849-03-11
THE UNION.

with her. she he'd from her face, And the angel oil the
Lord found her by fountain of water in the wilderness
And he said, Hagar, Sarah'5 maid, whence
CONTEST thou! and whittier wilt thou goi And she said
flee from the face OF my mistress Saai And the angel
of the Lord SAID unto her, return TO thy mistress and sub,
mat RiyseJ under her hand" What pity that some pr
aboonlst had not been present to adnohish the
gel o the Lord OF the improperly OF sending her back
Now STAKEHOLDER she was Sarah regarded by the
abest commentators as the type OF the Virgin Mary who
was the mother OF the Saviour OF mankind.
Isaac was Shareholder; for il is written OF MIN that
he had possession OF great store OF servants Jacob
also was STAKEHOLDER for II is SAID oil hun that ne IN
creased exceedingly and had much cattle and maid SER
Uants and men SERVANTS" might enumerate long caa.
logue oil the ancient pious, who were the owners OF
slaves But hasten on
Now II slavery is so great moral evil, so repugnant TO
the laws OF God so abhoen to the feelings OF our COM
mon humanity, why that these iavone followers
aud worshppers OF the Most High tolerated It, aud were
tolerated IN ITS enjoyment by Heaven! why was It not
prohibited by the Almighty when he gave laws TO ms
people, There were many occasions when 1t would
have been most appropriate il He had designed 10 mani
fest towards IT his high and holy dspeasure How easy
TO have done when lie delivered the ten command,
ments' That was occasion of awful grandeur and
unutterable solemnity. The summit OF the burning
mount was enveoped in cloud, and the earth trembled
under the footsteps Of jehovah in attesaton oil his nef-
fable glory and power The code which he there pro-
mugaed was designed to embrace the great fundamental
principles OF all proper government, moral and civil Il
to be binding through all tme upon all and all
nations and to establish the unerrng standard OF right
and wrong Why did not the Great Lawglyer OF the uni
verse, on this impressive OCCASION either forbid slavery
or MS ulhdppTODtllOH vi IL Dul, 81 from
this, he recognises lis existence, and laid his injunction
upon in reference TO IT, The last of the decao5ue
says Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house, thou
shalt not thy neighbours wife, nor his
va, nor his maid servant nor his OK. nor his ass nor
anything that is thy neighbours" Here servants
recognised subjects of ownership, and placed, as prop
ery, in the same category with the and the ass.
Nor slavery discounienanced by Christ under the
dispensation. He mingled freely and extensively
among men-was at public festivals, and was the IN
slrucor of all ranks and classes of men, and no
casion did vice escape him unrebuked error unre-
proved. The avowed object of his mission earth was
to found system of ethics for the government of men
their application, and suited to both worlds their claims
upon the obedience of mankind, He found slavery in
existence part and parcel of the organization OF So
ciey, and sanctioned by time and immemoral usages.
But he uttered word of condemnation against it. On
the contrary he said, "thnk not that am come TO de-
stroy the law or the prophets; am not come to destroy,
but TO fulfil" He did not come to interfere with the set
tied order of things he found them He did not come
to subver the civil institutions which had been esab
lished But he 10 deal with man as he found him,
and TO instruct HIM in his duties IN all the existing rela
tons of society. Hence, we find the New Testament
Astounding in passages which not only recognise the ex
slence, but the legality OF slavery who was better IN
formed as to the principles which should govern the
conduct OF men than the Apostle Paul Who more fear
less in denouncng vice and error, wherever found,
whether in the walks of obscgry or the favored ncum
bens of kingly thrones' Yet he nowhere condemned
slavery uttered bitter maledcions against the slave
holder But the contrary, he laid down rules Tor the
regulation Of the duties OF masters and servants In
all things your masters according to the flesh; not
with service, as men peases, but In sngleness OF
heart fearing God" In his letter TO the Ephcsians he
Directs servants be obedient to them that your
ers according to the hesh with fear and trembling, In
the geness of your heart unto Christ" In his first
letter to Timothy, he writes " let many servants as
under the yoke count their masters worthy of all
honor that the of God and his doctrine be not BIAS
phemed In his epise Philemon there is incident
applicable to the present time and to this discussion,
that cannot omit to notice it Philemon, professor of
religion, owned slave by the name OF Onesimus, who
away from his master and got to Rome, where Paul
preaching Under the powerful mnistratlons OF the
great Apostle he was converted to the faith of Christian
ty. He became acquainted with Paul, and doubtless
confessed that he was fugitive from his masters pos,
of the Cross Did he harbor and conceal this slave from
his owner, do very philanthrOpc abelonlsts OF
the present day Did he indulge in pulling sympathy and
seek render him dissatisfied with his condition Did
he endeavor to poison his mind and name his preudlces
against his rghtful master! No. He sent him back to
his and offered to indemnify him for the loss OF
his services during his absence. He wrote to Philemon
that if hisslave had wronged him owed hun augh to
put it TO his account 81 Paul, have written it with
mine own hand; will repay it." Sir, what rebuke to
move all impuaGon against slavery as contrary to the
rules of moral rectude! Sir, gives high and holy
sanction to that provision of constitution which re-
qures the part of the free Stales the prompt surrender
of our fugitive slaves.
The institution being thus sanctioned by Revelation,
and entrenched behind the mpregnabe ramparts OF the
constitution, l. repeat the inquiry, why this lncessant
crusade against the South and her just clam to an equal
participation in the common territories of the Union !
Has the South been loyal to the constitution
Has she not borne, without murmur her share OF the
public burdens Has she not been prompt to contribute
her money and her to defend the rights and honor
of flag! Has she not for many long years consented
10 be feeced, in the way of high tariffs, by which north
ern manufacturers have been enriched and the North and
West made prosperous under the expenditure OF extrav
agant appropriations for works OF internal improvements
Sir it is time this warfare against the South had ceased
1t has been kept up long enough. The Union was
formed for the general good for defence against foreign
invasion, and TO secure domestic tranquility lhe soulh
ern States came into it in good faith: When the con-
suon adopted, slavery existed IN nearly all the
States and the great object OF ITS trainers was not to
consider how it might ultimately be abolished, but to
throw around il the most ample guarantees This Union
could have been formed upon other basis than
that of the most absolute equality between the States
The slave States would have entered into the COM
pact upon any other condition. They would have
agreed it, if they could have anticipated that
mehodca and organized attack would have been made
by Congress upon their domestic institutions Sir 1t is
all in violation of the spirit and letter oil the constitution.
1t is with everything like good faith and pollti-
cal fraternity Ii must cease the Union Will be de-
stroycd it cannot withstand agitation VITAL so
fundamental 1t affects the very foundation OF the gov
ernmen and if continued will lay the glorious fabric in
runs.
Ii has been ntmated during this debate that the South
would finally submit to the aggressions OF the North.
Let not gentlemen deceive themselves The people OF
the South will endure evils while evils are tolerable.
But there is point beyond which orbearance ceases to
be virtue, and at which patience wakes into desperation
Sir what the resolutions of State legislatures
which have been piled in rapid succession upon your table
during the present session of Congress- Virginia North
Carolina South Carolina and Florida have all spoken
language not to be misunderstood and if the legsla-
OF the other southern States had been IN session. they
would have uttered similar sentiments Is 1t supposed
that the people of the South dastady that they