New-York daily tribune., 1855-08-25
LOWER LAW LOGIC,

by Rev eTead Mr. Stiles fthe religious chsraet.,
of Slavery. They are curiOsties in their va,
ard We print them with all their typographieJ
rhetoric, that our readers may see to what er.
tremities lower.lsw divines will sometimes %
Ii ia very clear that, if Slavery is to be judged
BY the arguments of its friends ii must be pretty
nearly on its last legs.
Mr.. Stiles says that the English have long
plumed themselves on paying the interest Of
twenty millions of pounds sterling for toe emsn.
cipation Of the slaves of the West Indies, ba,
that their commanding" sacrifice WAS moth.
rg TO that of the shareholders of the Soah,
who have sacrificed fve-and-twenty millions Of
pounds in freeing some two hundred and ffty
thousand slaves, Where Mr.. Stiles procured
bis facts we DO not know, but we will take il for
granted that they are au,heotic. We will give
the South credit for one hundred and twenty
FIVE millions Of dollars spent in the cause Of
manumissiCn. Let us look, however, on tbs
other hand, into the debit side of the account.
There are four millions of slaves in the United
States, of whom nearly one million are effective.
able-bcdied workers. Their work is worth on the
average one dollar day, out Of which they get
from twenty TO thirty cents each in the way
of clothing and provisions. All the rest, or, to be
within the msrk, say only fifty cents day, goes
into the pockets of their masters-thst is, fye
hundred thousand dollars of their daily earnings are
seized By the strong arm, In other words, they
are robbed, in the course of year of three hund-
red working day, of about $3.50, 1000 worth Of
labor But this robbery has been going on for the
last fifty years or more, that their masters have
profted by them to the enormous amount fthous
ands Of millions of dollars. As recompeDse, they
have freed negroes to the amount OF hundred
millions Now we submit to the Rev. Mr.. Stiles.
that this account is far from balanced aud that the
philanthropy Of his beloved shareholders 10 not
quite so generous and magnificent as his inagins-
tion paints it There are three millions and three
quarters of slaves yet 20 be freed, and immense
arrearage of back wages to be paid before their
beneyolence is entitled to thorough approval.
Besides, continues the reverend gentleman.
the Shareholders have converted more heather
than all the religious organizations of all the
rest of the world. Two hundred and sixty-four
thousand Africans at the Soutb 49, ION
us pleasure to hear it, We rejoice that ths
poor fellows who have had so hard time OF Is
in this world are not debarred from the hope Of
better world hereafter; and we should rejoice
still more if we could be assured that all
these brands saved from the burning" were
vertable Uncle Toms. But we fear that q ma
joIity of the cases in question do not come up
In, IN fha atau nd rf NJ ri
Salvation means the redemption of the soul from
the power and consequences Of sin, or from it's
subsection to a corrupt nature and the miseries
of that fahen state into the "gloriOus liberty
"of the sops of God" 1t implies, therefore, a
moral and intellectual emancipation, or hange
from state of spiritual servitude to that Of
spiritual freedom. 1t implies that the subject
of it may now not only worship God, but may
perfect the faculties which God has given him,
as the highest glories of his being.
But pray let us ask what means Southern
slave has for the Development of this new con-
ditIon = He msy pray and sing hymns; he may
receive homeopathic doses Of gospel instruc.
tion; and be may, under such disadvantages, OBJ
tain gbmpses of Christian truth-but can he
read the records Of Revelation for hinselfl
Has be any sphere for the increase of his intel
lectual pOwersl Can he enlarge, improve, aud
refine his nature, or the nature of those about
him, or, in short, fulfill any of the higher re-
quirements of the Christian lawi Mr. Stiles
may suppose that religion has completed its
functions when it has taught these poor, gno-
rant "beathen to engage in its out ward rites,
bu. we doubt whether intelligent theological
writer's will generally agree with him.
Allowing, however, that all his converted
heather are Christians, in the full meaning Of
the term-that they are regenerated souls-men
and women consciously redeemed by the blood
of the Sayior"-the true children Of God and
brethren of Chrst-what a reflection that fact
becomes upon the Christianity Of those who ouy
and sell them like chattels What comment
upon the civilization, which allows them to Do
carried like sheep to the sbambles They arc
men and women-redeemed immortal souls ior
who're sake the Infinite Son thought II not uh-
worthy to descend from Heaven TO take on mor'a'
fesh-and yet the laws, the customs tne pontc''
and the public opinion Of the South treats them
as cattle Their backs may be lacerated BY tho
whiu-husband aud wife may be separated oy
caprjee- children torn from parents under the
e,ieepeies of trade-and indeserbable atrocities
committed against them-but they are held 70 20
Christians neyeribeless-anA they who mainsan
tie system under which they suffer, are gooa
Christians, too Oh shades Of Paul and Jon4
upon what shoulders have your nantes allen
There is fllndau ntal defect in the Rev. s'.
stiless logic moreover, That it is needfal 10 poD'