Year: 1864

|
heather that are round about YOU; of
them shall We buy bond.men and bond
maids Moreover, of the children of the
strangers that do sojourn among you, of
them shall ye buy, and of their families
that are with you, which they begat in
your land and they shall be your pos
session. And We shall take them as an
inheritance for your children after you, to
inherit them for possession they shall
be your bond-men forever" Lev. rs:
44-46.


Fourth, 1t is argued that slavery exist
ed in the Roman Enaphe in the days of
Christ and his Apostles, and "that the
Apostles received Shareholders into the
church and continued them therein, with
out giving any intimation that slavehold-
ing was SIM"


FIFTH. "That Paul sent back a fugi-
tive slave to his own master again, and
assigned as his reason for so doing, that
masters right to the services of his
slaves These are the main points of
Scripture proof adduced in favor of Sls-
very, aud when brought forward with the
ingenuity and sophistry of such men as
the late DR.. Thornwell, of South Caroli-
ma, and Bishop Hopkins of Vermont, it
not surprising that many in the South
and even in the North believe that Sla-
very as it exists in the South is right and
proper And were we in the North sit
uated as multtudes in the South are, like
them we should be persuaded that Slave
ry is scriptural and that to be anti-slave-
ry is to be fanatieal.


2. Another cause of comparative 81
lence on the part of the ministry in the
North was this. Many extreme anti-sla-
very men became nJidels; and this caus-
ed them to hesitate about saying much
on the subject. Indeed the Abolition
movement was for while conducted prin-
cipally under the auspices of such men as
VIM. Lloyd Garrison and his inidel allies
This made many truly anti-slavery men
cautious A minister of the Synod of
Pittsburgh began to preach and lecture
on the abolition of Slavery" Soon he
ran into great extravaganees At length
he began TO question the inspiration Of
the Bible and finally mocking at the
idea of prayer, and scouting at the idea
of Sabbath day, and ridiculing all that


is sacred, he died an avowed, scoffng in
fdel. And his case was not altogether
singular. These apostacies caused many
to say, "Does anti-slavery lead to such
Results as these If so, let us be cautious
what we inculcate."


3. As the discussion of the subject of
Slavery was calculated to influence the
Southern mind, and as the laws forbade
interference with the Slaves in the South
ern States, it was thought by many that
the best way was to be silent on the sub
ject 1t was said that the cause of eman-
cipation had been greatly retarded by the
preaching Of anti-slavery in the North.
Beside, the question got so mixed up with
politics and political parties that minis
ters hardly felt that they could touch the
subject without breaking with their good
church MEMBERS many Of whom were pc
culiarly sensitive on the subject Of Sla-
very. For this reason, no doubt, and be-
cause they anxiously desired the peace
and prosperity Of the country, many abb
stained from utterng the teachings of the
Bible in reference to this great evil.


4. 1t was hoped that the evil would
gradually cure itself, and that the South
ern people would take measures them
selves to abolish slavery, without any
teaching Or interposition on our part. The
Slaves, hard as their condition is are We
ry impossible, and multtudes of them
have been hopefully converted, and made
the children of God. Their bondage in
christian land has been over-ruled to
their spiritual benefit. More of them are
pious by far, in proportion, than of their
masters.


All these things taken together, account
for the position taken by multitudes in the
North who are really opposed to the in
stitution of slavery. If they do not form
an apology, they should, at least, soften
the asperity of those who denounce in Bit
ter words all who have not gone the full
length with them in their measures of re-
form. But while / say this, | wish to be
humble as an American, and | wish you
all to be humble as Americans, in view of
the dreadful guilt that rests upon our ma
tion forNtheir treatment of this unhappy
class of men, 1t seems clear to my mind
that God has controversy with us on
this very ground. And if we have been
indifaent to the signing of the prison.
ers, u the doleful cruelties inflicted up
on them, we arc partakers in the guilt
t We have reason to ask ourselves honestly
: whether we have ever even prayed for
their deliyerance; whether while we have
+ felt for the woes of the heathen and pray
ed for their deliverance. we have not been
afraid even to pray in public for the col
oted man, because he is in some way con-
} nected with our political affairs.


Thus, in the language Of our text, God
says to us, " sought for man among
them that should make up the hedge, and
stand in the gap before me for the land,
that | should not destroy it; but found
none" We in the North have by no


means been guiltess. And if any of us
t have in no way been directly involved in
: upholding slavery, by our gotes or our
t teachings, we cannot plead that we have
: as prayerfully laid this matter to heart,
$ and before God, as we ought to have done.
i We have not stood in the gap to turn