The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1859-03-03


Apostles had taught and they knew, long before our
modern times discoveries that every line which bears the
record and cnions the dscpnes OF that Faith stands In
accusing ebuke OF the pervcrsions of opponents.
They therefore, could not stulfy themselves and dis
grace their ministry by teaching that be sin which the
original doctrine had not 30 taught. On the contrary,
sir, both St Augustine and ST Chrysoston far from
qualifying slavery a SIM claim it to be the result of
the violation Of the law of God and therefore, Of
the forms OF disleasure indicated by the Maker for the
infringement Of his will Them have selected, sir to
complete my testimony drawn from the primitive sources
because as expounder Of the tenets Of the Greek and
Lln church. they stand prominently in advance OF their
glorious compccrs
81. Augustine, in his magnificent conception Of the
mystic city of God lays down the theory of slavery with
anfstesing hand Proceeding argue that the con-
dition of slavery must have been rghtully imposed
SHINING man, he concludes that sin the original
cause Of bondage. II that bc sr, then am ushed
in having, upon Otter occasions this oor carried its
origins to the very threshold Of human existence,
Sn says the great doctor and logican 's the primal
cause OF slavery Whence, made subject TO man
in the bond OF its condition. ,chieh could be DONE ercr
By The judgment Of God, in whom there be njus-
tice And this il not merely his own exposition of the
fact not merely his conclusions from it,
but like all the other doctors, he rests them, so
far as they have any binding power the teachings of
the Apostles who hc repeats after all his coa tutors
manded the slave TO obedience Nay who exhorted them
If they could not be emacpatcd by their masters to
their bodily bondage into spiritual freedom and to serve
their masters In good will, until all human prncpaties
and powers shall have passed away, and God all in all 20
So Mr.. Chairman, according to st. Augustine, who
c,unot be presumed to have had rs much learning or
have welded powerful intellect the Reverend
Cheevers, the equally Reverend Beecher but who MS
suredly must be admitted to be genuine an nerprc
ter of the doctrines of Christ they possibly be
slavery is the result of the will and Judgment Of God in
,ctoa there migniy Yet, sir the Reverend Chccvcrs
and the equally Reverend Beecher stand up in their pull
pits aud virtually darr us for allowing that which lie
himself instituted by special ordinance for special per
nos aee of
Mr.. Chairman, which is laid down 10y of the accrcd
tied cxpoudcs of the Christian faith the result of
judgment off God, opud qusm et niq1as--of God
whom it blasphenly to submit to scrunies or
to charge with injustice; yet God whom northern
friends do not hesitate to arraign, and constructive
Iy to condemn, before their mpcccable tribn
nal Sir, ! do not pretend to be very familiar
with the question agitatcd in this special FORM by the
plst cxpouners of the faith, Indeed confess that my
inquiries this ground Of comparatively recent
date. That they have been confined TO asccrtaning
wheth,r actually and truly in the opinions and by the
teachings of our orebcares, We are tile shocking eters
which our loving brethren would have appear. Con-
fined sir to ascertain whchef the thargs that slavery
il SIM made against OF the South, Is founded IN the
testimonies of tho early church and whether those
many Of them indeed, who gave evidence OF the true
spirit of faith in the greedy raptrrcs OF martyrdom had
really marked us, for centuries and by anticipation,
vioators az the law Of aod into which charitable
northern friends would peryert It's in the sight of tile
country and of the world Yes sir, confess that be-
yond that line my Investigations have scarcely gone but
equally bound to feel and to know that they have
led me Ear enough detect the shallow psetensons OF
etfacors and to discover the of much Of the
acerbty the presumption and intolerance of those who
affect the monopoly of moral goodness and religious
TRUTH by virtue of their auroraborcas system OF faith
looking like the true light yet flashing nothing but error
snd bile the northern heavens Now, do under
stand sir the truculcnt rawlings the madh house bias
phemies of slavery Scripture and an antislavery
God 2? The fiat OF that Scripture which, in this matter
at least cannot be hcirsor truth and fasehood cannot
na1t loo ftp
ordinance of the God whom they would irpiousy shape
to their views speaks in condemnation of their arrogant
pcrvcrsions They howl against the stakeholder of the
South in their very inability to convict him OF sin in
owning slaves Still moro Hcrcely do they howl against
us in their impotence to rail away the seal from the
testament of TRUTH which, not ranking slavery among
the infrngemens of the law of Go has been handed to
by the early propagaos DOCTORS and martyrs of the
Christian faith to protest against their attempts TO wres
s legacies to their own unballowed ends.
have said Mr. Chairman that st. Augustine has laid
down the theory of slavery with uncrrng hand. 1t
is saying but onehalf of what he has done on this head
With precision marked and telling than any
thing that chaructezcs either Pagan or Christian think
erwh coseness of reasoning more binding than you
find in Epicetus, Seneca OF Iibanus he clenches
question with the fiat OF authority which no heathcn
writer could command His premises he carries to con-
clusons which but the hopelesly ignorant and the
wifully perversc resist You have heard him, sir
lay the proposition that slavery the consequence
of sin rightfuy adjudged and 1eoeorilv by God in
whom there is, and there be injustice. Listen
now eir both to the logic of the philosopher and the
doctrines OF the san In the sequence Of his chained
conclusions he takes issue with good friends and
tells thenlno that slavery is snbut that soon as
sin asserted its power it tainted the freedom of man,
and in so much introduced slavery. From this fact,
therefore argues tho great DOCTOR both the slave and
the master alike derive great advantage ii they
shall consider that out of sin grew among the dis
tncon which marks the domination of the master and,
on the other hand, the s,lbscrvience of the slave.
would suppose, sir-ndced, any ono might suppose
that after conclusions tcrmnatve, the question might
well be closed The learned and holy doctor however,
is not satisfied with results which might leave room for
the doubts of the sepc the objections of the sophst
Taking mp his argument he reduces it, under every
phase the searching scrunies of his vast intel
lect and the ultimate conclusion that snvery
the result prc-conccivcd intention that it is evil
dent that IL ,fly introduced into Tie morld By Tie ia'c
Of nations and that the slaves, by the mandate OF Holy
Writ ex spfrd socr1t bound to acknowledge their
masters and to them
Stepping from this conclusion sir, the doctor carries
the question upon other grounds He seems to have
tcpacd the very objection Of those who, admitting the
introduction of slavery by the will of God claim that 1t
condemned aud abolished by the subsequent law of
the gospel If slavery entered the world through SIM It
may be argued he says that it bottcd away by the
atoncment.
But the to the objection Immediately follows in
the compactness of reasoning which is peculiarly his
own ,sIhcse questions he SAYS ''may be sGtisfac-
tory settled by one solution Our foreiathcrs, indeed,
did SIM and by their prevarication introduce slavery into
the world but that slavery, thus introduced their pos
teres confirmed by the fact of their sipsl may
safely the question. Mr. Chairman, the authority
OF teacher of whom have the record that che al
lowed no uttcancc doubtful doctrine to pass
checked and uurebuked - rest it with the conviction
that one SO wach of the sincerity Of religious truth