The southern press., 1851-08-29
From he Dsmocroiie Recorder.
slavery.

out claiming any originality for our views, or
pretending TO produce any authorities not here
tofore brought forward Let us, then, inquire
into the origin OF slavery. We iind that the re-
Iatlon is as instituted by God himself, 70 punish
the sin Of Ham, and to reward the filial fidelity
OF Shem and Japhet Gen. TX, 20 TO 81 verse
"And Noah began to be an hust andmaD, and
he planted vineyard-2l v. And he drank of
the wine, and was drunken, and he was uncov-
cred in his teDt-22y. And Ham, the father OF
Canaan, saw the nakedness OF his father, and
told his two brethren without-23v. And Shem
and Japhettook garment and laid upon both
their shoulders, and went backward and covered
the nakedness of their father, aud their faces
were backward, and they saw not their fathers
nakedness I'D v. And Noah awoke from his
wine, and knew what his younger son Ham
had done unto biul-25 v. And he said Cursed
be Canaan, ,he son Of Ham, servant of ser
wants shall he be to his bretbren--26 Y, And
he said Blessed be the Lord God of Shem and
Canaan shall be his servant--27 v. God shall
enlarge Japhet, and he shall dwell in the tents
of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant"
Those who have taken the trouble to investigate
the subject, will adm t the fuflment of the pro-
phesy, and not deny that the descendants of
Canaan have been subjected to those of Shem
DR. Scott says, " the extraordinary accom-
plishment of this prediction, vindicaes Noah
from having uttered it from personal resent
ment, and proves fully that the spirit of God
took occasion, from Hams misconduct TO re-
veal his secret purposes for very important
benefit to posterity, even to this day" BY what
authority, then, was slavery instituted? That
the Africans are the descendants of Canaan the
son Of Ham, cannot be questioned The sons
of Canaan dwelt in the land of Canaan, from
which they and their posterity were driven,
when the measure of their denominations and
idolatres was full. They were extirpated by
Joshua in great numbers, and many were
obliged to fly to Africa and Greece In the
time of Athanascius, the Africans still said
they were descended from the Canaanites and
when asked their origin, said " Canaan" We
think it must be admitted that the descendants
of Shem and Japhet, have the right to enslave
the descendants of Ham from high source,
higher than the higher law" In this connec-
tion, it may not be inappropriate to mention, in
confirmation of these views, and upon The au-
thority of DR.. Hales, that Ham signifies burn
black and is, therefore, peculiarly significant of
the regions allotted TO his family. So much for
the origin of slavery.
Now let us inquire if the institution thus es.
tabished has met with divine sanction and ap-
prova Abraham was the owner Of slaves
some were born on his premises and Others he
purchased. |" He that is eight days old shall be
circumcised--every man-child in your genera
tions--he that is born in the house, or bought
with money of any stranger, which il not of
thy seed" Gen. XVII, l2v. This command
was given by God to Abraham the father of the
faithful, and was part of his covenant v it'll him,
and can only be construed as a recognition of
the institution of slavery God did not rebuke
Abraham for holding slaves, but we find he re-
watded him by grants of silver and gold, maid
SERVANTS and men servants GEN, XIV, 35 v.
Job was STAKEHOLDER. job XXI, l3v The
institution of slavery was recognized in every
form of Jewish society, and the right of prop
erty in slaves recognized BY the laws of the gov
ernment, which was a theocracy Both thy
bondmen and thy bondmaids which thou shalt
have, shall be of the beathen that are around
about you; ofSthem shall you buy bondmen
and bondmaids" Lev. XXV,44v sand you
shall take them for an inheritance for thy chill
dren after thee; they shall be your bondmen
forever" &c. Lev. XIV, 46v
The 10th commandment recognizes the rea-
ton of master and slave, and the right Of pro-
perty in the former to the latter "Thou shalt
not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not
covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man servant,
nor his maid servant, nor his OK, nor his ass, nor
any thirg that is thy neighbor's" Ex. XIV, NV.
Surely the relation of master and slave, is as
clearly recognized here, as that of husband and
wife, and the right of the master TO his slave as
fully acknowledged as TO his OK, or his ass.
But certain pious, wooden nutmeg saints, at this
lay, are too holy TO receive the commandments
Of the MosT HIGH as n sufficiently elevated
standard for their conduct They must be right |
nous overmuch They can water the rum and
sand the sugar, an thea 90 TO prayers, but
ire Mortified at holding slaves, and command the
slaveholder TO stand aside, saying, we are "more
loly than thou" The moral right of slavery
.ests upon the decaIogue as its basis, and the !
itself cannot be overthrown, but must
sxist in some form or other always, and among
III nations and can exist in no form more de- |
,irable than 1t now does in the Southern States |
If this Union. In future number we propose
% examine its consistency with the requirement
,f the gospel, ''that we should do unto Others I
Is we would have them do unto us !" at present, |
ipon this head, we shall only make the annexed |
extract from valuable article in the "Southern |
Literary Messenger" of the present month, to |
which we are greatly indebted for many of our
references and ideas in this editorial. After Gis.
posing OF the question as treated Of in the old /
Testament, the writer says:
But the universal outcry of Christendom
warns us to neglect no means Of defence in
,ur reach; and we proceeded to examine the
deposition of the New Testament writer's
Their testimony is equally unequivocal The
whole Of Jewish and Pagan society at the COM
ng of Christ was thoroughly identified with
he institutions Of slavery. One of the most
bloody and burbarious codes that ever disgraced
be statutes of great people, regulated the
citation of slavery in the Roman empire IT,
therefore,, slavery is the enormity Il is repre-
'ented to be by modern spectators in MORALS
he Apostles of Christ were bound by their
as apostles, by their honesty as
men, by their consistency Of principle and char.
lcter, 10 denounce it as an outrage against man
md an insult to God, and to threaten the retri.
Dutive vengeance Of divine justive upon any
who hesitated to abandon it even for mo.
neht II, then, the New Testament had been
totally silent on the subject that silence would
have afforded an irresistible argument, to prove
that they did not consider slavery sufficiently
criminal to demand a public notice and dis
approval. But slavery is expressly mentioned
and so far from being denounced as crime
Il is regulated by repeated and explicit rules
4 "a i aH 4 .