Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1859-11-18

liberty. mean the decay of slavery, an'
its cxrinc ion. Ii might speak for TIN
North. would say 10 the South, "We lov,
yoa, and hate your slavery. We shall leav,
no fraternal effort untricd to deliver you
and ourselves with you, from the Degrade
ton. danger and wickedness of this sys
tenn" Aad for this we cling to the Uatoq
There Is health in il.
A. We are 10 leave no pains untaken
through the Christian conscience Of the
South, 10 give to the slave himself high.
cr moral status. lay j. down as an axiom,
that whatever gives more manhood 10 the
slave slackrns the bonds Thai bind hun, and
that whatever lovers him in the scale of
manhood, ,ighiens those bo,,ds. If you
wish TO work for the acknowledgements of the
Africans, seek to make him better man.
Teach him to be an obetlient servant and
an honest. true, Christian man. These vir-
tues are Coils step-stones 10 liberty. That
man whom Christ first makes free, has a
better chance to be ciyilly free Than any
other. To make slave morosc, fraciious,
disobedient, and unwili ,g to work, is the
way (, defer his emancipation. We do not
ask the slave TO be satisfied with slavery.
But, feeling its gricvous burden, we ask him
to endure it willie he must, "as unto God
and not unto man." not because he does
not loye liberty, hut because he does love
Christ enough TO show forth his spirit under
grievous wrong. Poor slaves will never
breed respect, sympathy and emancipation.
Truth, honor, fidelity, manhood--thssetli things
in the slave will prepare him for freedom.
1t is the low animal condition OF the African
that en,laves him. 1t is moral cnfranchise-
ment that will break his bonds.
The Pauline treatment is the most direct
road to liberty. No part of the wisdom of
the New Testament seems to me more d.
vinely wise than Paul's directions to those
in slavery. They are the food that servants
need. now, at the South. everywhere, the
world over If lived in the South, |
should preach these things to slaves, while
preaching on masters duties 10 those who
hold them. should do il with a firm con-
viction that so | should advance the day of
their liberty
In order to labor the most effectually for
the emancipation of the slaves, would not
ncel to say one word, except to preach
Christ, and purity and manhood, and to en-
join upon them faithfuness in every duty
belonging to their State. should be con-
scious that in doing this was lifting them
up higher and higher. ! should feel that
was carrying them further and fuather TO-
ward their emancipation. There is no dis
agreement between the true spirit of eman-
cipaiion, and the enforcement of every sin
gle one Of the precepts of the New Tesla
ment respecting servants.
D. The things which are lead to emanci-
patton are not so complicated or many as
many people blindly think. A few virtues
established, few usages maintained, few
rights guaranteed to The slave. and the sys-
tenn is vitality wounded. The right of ehas-
tity in the woman, the unbemished house
hold love, the right of parents in their chill
dren Ion these three elements stands the
whole weight of society. Corrupt or en-
feeble these, and there cannot be superin-
cumbent strength. Withhold these rights
from savage people, and they can never be
carried up. They are the integral elements
of associated human life We demand, and
have n right to demand, of the Christian
men,f the South, that they shall revolu-
iionize the moral condition of the slaves in
this regard.
| stand up in behalf of two million wo-
men who are without voice, to declare that
there ought to be found in Christianity,
somewhere, an influence that shall protect
their right TO their own persons and that
their purity shall stand on some other ground
than the caprice of their masters. / de-
mand that the Christian church, both North
and South, shall bear testimony in behalf
OF marriage among the slaves, which shall
make il as inviolable as marriage among
the whites. 1t is not TO be denied that
another cole Of morals prevails upon the
plantation than that which prevails in the
plantation house. So long as husband and
wife are manageable commodities. and TO
be sold apart, to form new connections. there
can DC no such thing as sanctity in wed.
lock. aa# s
Let it be known in New York that man
has two wives, and there is no church so
feeble OF conscience that they will not in
stantly eject him; and the civil law will in.
stantiy visit him with penalty. But the
commandments Of slave churches not only
live with second, while their first compan-
ion Is yet alive, but with third and fourth
nor is it any disqualification for church
membership. The church and the State
wink at it. Ii is part of the commercial
necessity of the system. IL you eM sell
men, you must not be too nice about their
moral virtues. Msga WA
a wedd'"g, among this unhappy people,
Is but a name--a mere form, 10 content
their conscience, or their love of initiating
their snperiors. And every auctioneer in
thar community has the power to nut asun. |
der whom God has joined. And marriage
Is rs movable as misfortune itself. The
of their owner is the l,ankrupt- |
ey OF the marriage relation, in half the |
slaves on lis plantation.
Neither is there any Gospel that has been |
permitted TO rebuke these things. There is |
no church that have ever known in ,l,e |
South, that bears testimony against them. |
Neither will the churches in the North, as /
|, body, take upon themselves the respons;- /
D'iiy OF bearing witness against them.
90 further; | declare that there nusi |
be ehristian public sentiment. which shall /
make the family inviolatc. Men sometimes I
'ay. I'll : rarely the case that families are /