Litchfield enquirer., 1851-03-13
FOR THE ENouII,ER.
The Slavery Question.

Mir. EditOr-Much is being said cOncern- ing slavery. On the one hand it is contend cd that it is morally and relgioulsy right while on the other hand 1t is as strongly contended that it is wrong. Both of the contending parties make their appeal to the sacred writings in support of theirposiiions. It appears to be that in point of fact the real question at issue has not been reached sat all. The first that we hear about slavery after the flood, is, C And Noah awoke from his wine, and know what his younger son had done unto him, he said, Cursed be Canaan-a servant of servants shaii he be- Slavery is here considered grievous curse and punishment, and was inflicted for act ual tTansgressiOn. It is morally certain that the words "of servants" |" implies the Jews, or they were in servitude more than all other nations on the face of the earth.
 The histoy of Canaan and his posterity is given at large by Moses. They had set tied that portion of ofcountry which had been covenanted to the descendants of Abraham, and by their almost unheard of wickedness and idolatry, had made themselves odious in the sight of God-so much so that he de tstroyed two of their principal cities with a shower offire and birthstone. Ii we read the 2Oth of Deuteronomy in connection with the llth and l2ih of Joshua, we shall aind that all the nations in and about Pal estine had been condemned to destruction either to the sword or to bondage, to rid the promised land from bondage Joshua having destroyed thirty one kings, and the work of destruction not ending there.
 Moses licensed slavery in case of debt or theft, if the delinquent failed to pay the debt or fine, but not to exceed six years. Eve ry other species of slavery was from those nations condemned to destruction. The case of Pharaoh and his host is most eX- traordlnary one both as to crime and mag nttude; for their ldoiatry was of the blsest Sort, and their conduct to the Jews was of most barbarous nature. It was this that called forth that expression from St Paul, What if God willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, ecdure with much long suff-ring the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. And tl!at he might make known tho riches of his mercy on the Jews, in delivering them from bondage. tue time had arrived when the Almighty had determined to relieve tl.e Jews from their cruel bondage. and to punish the Egy ptiln equal to what they deserved. Pharaoh being the chief actor in this "; k3dncss, the Almighty saw fit in the fir>t place to punish him by deranging his mind. and then to make him His instrument in clas> tizing the Egyptians.
 GId never steps out of the ordinary course of events 10 send curse upon il na- ,ion or individuals without just Cause. Let tacts speak fer themst Ives.
 The old wo:l was destroyed with flood, and Sodom and G,mor,ow with d shower of fire and birthstone; Nnevah that treat city barely escaped by timely repen> lance.: and all this for abulli.lt.tlo wIcked> ness and iiolatry. Pharaoh and his host were drowned ill ,iLe Red Sea for hodl3g III bondage the descendants Ot Abraham What pity it ls ,h t sGme ot our modern logicians could not have siood by the Al, miglty when he was about to pronounce that awful sentence upon Pharaoh. and jus. lave hinted to him that they were the pro. perty of the king for he had held them in bondage for four hudred years The king of E .bylon held the Jews ill bondage tor seventy years for this the Assyrian n.t:ipn ani Dlbyinn were destroyed. ter emiah 2jtl and 3lth chapters. Tine differ cice between the Case of Joshua and that of NebuclladneZz IT Is plain. Joshua di! as the L)Id comm lIdod-whIle Nebuchad. neZzar arrog9ted to himself the privilege of pulling down and bu:!4ing up WAomsocyer he woull.
 We new come down 10 recent events The brother of Na!,o.coa with a large army attempted to qae.l an insarreclon of tEc slaves in the island of lIAJti The army was suddenly ssittd hy ,te rlaGuc, a.d fled in terr.r leaving Tic isaud !u its fate ihe blacks t!estroyedali the whites .ard have hel quiet possess ion ever slice.
 When ,he Almighty seeds judgments upon the wicked, no pharaoi,s or Bona p.rtes can stay them. Let ull sl.Ycholders understand that He will not always slunl- Der over such wickedness. A day of ret ribuiUn will cone, and let all concerned shudder; for when it comes it will come as a thiefin the night.
 Oae thing mo:e. In order tu justify sla very, we are grayely told that St. Paul was a real fugitive-slave catcher. It is really stopping lower than I could wish, 10 med de with a thing in itself so ridiculous as this is. To make the best ( f it, it is base islander upon the character of St Paul And now to the facisas they stand. What q most aifectonaie address. full of Christian love and benevolence, ''unto Phlemoa, our dearly beloved" From the 18th to the l9.h verses of Philemon, we have it that St. Paul sent Onesimus, the servant, back to his master, Philemon, net as a servant. bu; as brother, with instructions that if One- sinus owed anything, to charge it 10 St. Paul. 4 law of Moses existed, giving the creditor the services of the debtor, Gas be- fore stated, )not 10 exceed six years. That this was case ofthat kind, is evident from the manner of St. Paul's address of Phile- mon. What St Paul says to Onesimus in amount is this: Go back, IS Christian ought, and pay your honest debt,
 A NEW ENGLAND FARMER.
 BOARDS.
 O IN n-aL.. 4 H l -l 1