Slaveholding Always Sinful

CONTI'MJKD'. ït wil! be necessory in tlris discussion to fix on the exnct thinjj called Slnvery, which conceding to oor oppor.enis the most important pnrf of tlieir grotfi)d- Paul did approve oh for t will hardly be Contended that helefc to the mjority of sl'uveholden, wlio it may be siipposcd, at Rome, ns clscwhere, were vnbcliners, thépettling of the terms of a condition, by which he and all fuiihful men tv h o ca me aftef iiinï woro to be bund. It" we do not, at once, fix tne terms, Paul will appear to have no principies of action; nll wiih him will be at loose ends, and he wilt acem at one time, to have npprovcd, what at an titer, he greally condernned. The ancien Romans lived on ho simplet- fare. Their chief tmsi8trates, and mst illostribus generale, wbeïi out of ctiltivated the cround with their own handvaat iowii at the same board, and' partook of the snm food, with their slnves- as Cato ihe censor. Tliey, Bometimes, even drepsed the dinner themselves- as Curius dit1;- or had hrir wives o carry it to them to the field. Tliey had no care of their elaves, after the labore of the day - -what books they of hoV fhey &mueed themïelves. Was this the Slaven1 which Paul approved? For we mny imagine to oursclv8, that Paul m-ight have opproved of this, when he wou'd utterly dieapprove of what he was called to About the time of Paul, the influx of wealth into Rome hid made Slavery almost as bad as it could be. Luxnrie8 had 6eized all ranks and the pleasures of tho Uble became the chief object ot attent ion. In order iliat our adversarles may have nothing to eomplain of, we wift rmagine Paul saw the first and approved of H;- that he beheld in advance, after the capture of Asia and África, ihat, owing 1o the entirechange of raanners among tho Romans, the influx andmultitude of Slavcs; that much more stringent laws against theslovos would be rVquired than ay they badyet dreatned of-that these laws wou!d eMend even to the cutting off from the Rlave al) ihat ho and the other npostles had written - all hal Christ, their master, liad written - in fine, the whole Bible ns t was in his time; - and that his npprobative faculties kept pace with it all. He foresaw, hal the elaves vrould be counted by the niillon, the eoldera by the thoitf-and, that the millions would have to go down to denth cerninly unprèpared for the world which was to röme, while the thóusands, for the most part, intouchéd by the gospel, would have to take heir chance ns other men. He yet npprovcd t all. Whnt was dim and Improbable to Cao and Ctiriiii!, was pkin to an Apostlo. Pnul clearly desertbed a Román matron umler the ïand of the Ciniflo, whó'had a lock improp erly placed; he saw the vvfilp present !y ap plied, orthe mirror, made of pnlis'ied steel or brass, aimed at the head of the öÖender. Ile aw the towenng tninsion of á rich Roman, nd at the gate, the PonTER wjih' his faithful og, lolh in chuins. 'The nch slaveho'der nd the poor porter were both members of the Church which he would himseif in time to come, establish at Romft Hi'a heart wbr grieved, but his commiseration for the Slave ïolder overéame all oiher considerutions. -Ie caw abaolute power over the persons and ves of the siave given to the mast erg; he nvv o person sluin at htB own house, the murlerer discovered, and four iiundred s'avespiit o denth on thnt account; he saw Vedius Polio, one of the friendd of Augustus, telling: heemperor of n new punishment he had devised for refractory slaves - nnd he saw him 4ving tho Einperof occular demonstration of the succpss of his device, by ensting nto hia nMipond, to be devoured by eel, a member of PhuI's nwn Churcli. Of a!l that wa? to come, when he should be on the Fcone of action.when slnves shall be more niitnerons nnd insolent - so different froin what he saw t hen,- he lieartüy npproved. Let us suppose that Paul looked throujHh the v sta ofeiwitpon hundred years, and saw ihe resul, from the time thnt he prenehed nt Romt : - tlial tlie pnrt he tUd talte agnins! Slaverv ')nd bonishcd t froin all tho countrir.s of Èurófte bnt one.nnd that but imlf civilized - ilmt it hiel taken refuge in the SonLhern States of this continen' ; - that the poor Africnn had been made it victirn, nrrt) thi?, chirfly, not for nny In Wit that he had coniiniUed. but lor what he could nnt herp, if he wonM: for the lault thnt the Infinité hiraseff Imd emmitted. ff that óm be siippfjffed, would Paul be the frifMid of Amera Dres.ser, or ol his ficourge.rs? Wo'iild he fiud air.on tlic tnob of the Soti'h a bèlier uittlertttondiftg of his Inw, and a more coTrosporrdem nciiiu), tlmn xvith tlinrvictirn.-?' Woiild he find smong llié Two Hundred and t'ifty Thousand slavehoujere - n groator nuinbor Ihnt knetv nrul obcyed tiis aw, :h:in nmnng the Ttca inilliify and a half )f ond tbeir friendo? Would h. on .he unuuthorize.l comtiiittee? of the Sóütii - who, without tho furm of trin], hang scores of slnvcs on the nearest treós- =1 say, vvoiiíd he .-pe mofe of his friends on them, nr amnng thope who openly oppof-ed Fuch viokwe? - Would he be with TJhpnipjwVti nrtl Btirr, in Uuptison of Missouri - wi:l) W:ilker, vvhrn' peltod wit h eggs on the uü'ory of on United Slatps Terriiory, or vi:h Torrcy, bidding him. %be of good checr." in the woVk honsé of the CiTt of Baltimohh - or with thoFc who put them there? Tlie question is ensily nnswored, nnd is nlreurly unawered, by every philunthrop ie hcurt. But sny those wlio itnitnte Jhe ïcri íes and Plinrispe? in moie points tttnn one, these are the "abuses' óf the "system" and we ore as nnich npposed to thorn as you re. There is mis difference bet ween uf,8c as iinpaseiibja one:f i.,ve &reopposcd o the 'system' itself, you are opposed to whnt is not practicable. Yui mi?ht ns wcli opposo the "abuses'1 of cardplnyinpr- of patiiinfr-of dancing - of drinkitior, icc. ns the "abirsee" of n ihing (hat we eseliew altogether, o ml deprécate ns a mighty rcspnss in1 ii'susf. ft caniïot eJiist without a trespass. But os I hnve discussed this subject more fnlfy in the foregoirg, f wil! not now resume it. Tlie episile to the Ephesirrtis-to the Colossinns-a-the Fairst to Timolhy - tho epislle to Titua, nnd the one to areihe only writmgs of Paill, in whlth the subject of Slavery is directly menlioiied. To thiamay be added the First of Ireter;: ortl Í believo, we hove aH ihat i's to be foíirtd in the New Testament, that has any direct relntion to that qiieslion. It is rcmnrkible thut these cpistles were nl! wriiten f rom Rome wheie Slavery prövailed to a great degree, or afier the nirthors hnd been at ilwt Capítol, that thêy wcre ndilressed lo Churches, or persons in Asia Minor, and that they never once made menüon of lioffwn Slaveiy. Tliose xiritteh by Paul were addressed to the Ephesinn-, with whom hc'hac spent three yeare as their minister;- 'to Timothy who had succeêHed hihr there, ho' was a much younger man than fcul, but with him, as being the convert of Paul and Barnabas, Paul was well acquainted; - 10 the Colossinns, also a Church in A6ia wjth which Pauí was on terms of intimacy, as many persons came from that part of the country to hear Pad preach whife fie was ai Ephesus;-Faul' was well aoqnainted with Titus, for Titus was one of his eorliest cort verte. Comparing all the aüthoiities, we öre brought to the conclusión, Ihat Paul was acquainted-Aven with Philemon, a GentHff. If we prove that Paul - and we include with him intended tosubservea particular object in Asia Minor, where they were well known, and where the Christian religión had made considerable advances, instead ofing, forever, what Slavery ehould be, we will bedischjrging whnt we undertook. Indeed, from tlie changiug characler of Slavery, I would be very diflïcult to defino it. Th is we have nlready phewn. The dutiep of Imsbands, of wiree, nnd of children nre still good, and as society advances, we find tliem more and more observed. Bilt society, whenever it becomes refined, is snre to cast olF Slavery. - This would eeem to show that the relations mentioned were intended to be permanent - the condition of Slavery to 1)3 evanescent. Tliis rule of interpretation, too, as itisa rensonablc one, will be ocquieeced in,- that no doctrine is ad'.nissible, or can bo eslablished from the Scripttires themselves, Iliat is either repugnant to them, or conlrary to renson or thennalogy of fait h. VVith the acknowledgement of thia rule, and also, with the ncknowli edgement, that ihe spirit of Christianiry hnmanizes and refinos the most bnrbarous nations where it is believed, we will proceed wilh our inve8ligationd. The teachers - Judaiz'tng teachers, wo will cali them, had insinunted themselves amonw i the Christians, f not into the Cluirch of Asia Minor. They had given Paul much troublc there, where they had simuloted the true religión. They ndded to Christianity all theMosaic ntual. Without this, according to their view, there was no getling toen. Pereous mny sneer at ibis now, but at the starting of a new religión - for such the. Christian may ba called - it was not to le i=necrfid nt. Paul's snperiority of talent and piety made hiui oble to withstand these Juduizing' teachers. Whilst he was absenl nt Jerusnlem and Rom;, they gave additmnal trouble, especinlly to the Eohesiana and Colo?Bians. The latter probably, write to Paul, whilst he was at Rome, or he heard of their Mtuation, anifaddressed a letter to the Colos sians requestintr ihat ihe letter nddresscd to them might be, also. read in ihe chnrdi of the Lnodicenns; and that the Church nt Colosae for the better understnnding of his object, might rend the letter to him from Laod icen. His anxiety, too, lod him, nt or nearly nt the snme timo, to write lettors to his particular and ahle frionde, Timothy and Titus - reqnestinw them to withatand the teacher aforefaid. He had been much engnged in preaching ngainst them. The Jndaizing teachers were probnbly fanatical and ignoran men. Their cotirse thnugh is not very sin(jiilar, r.nBmiich as it is a we.l known Inct, ihat the philoeopher9 particulnrly the Pintón ts, who afterwnrds beearne converts, carried much of their philosophy wiih them nlo ihe Christinn religión. The Judaizingf teachers, as it was very natural they should, firsi gainoi ancRss to tlie Cliristian servants ff Christinn miiFters. It is admitted, that I lie paspnae ni question contain", aiso, directions to he slave 6f íhe vnbetieving ninster - the most poft-e-fn! that can bVaddressed lo nny true Christin n;-=it U "that the name of God and his doctrine be not blnsphemed ." But why should the Judiizing teachers suppose, for a moment-ns they dtd - that as soon as the m'nstcr and slave ernbraced Christatttt'yv the bond which hnd heretofore held ihem logether was loosed, if it wos not rcally so? vvns next to notl'ing then, for mneterg fo give up their Slaves. The man who ombrneécfChrietianity. (hen, wns preparad to lose every th'ing; he'did often !ose eVery thing; nnd ïh givinr úp his slavös was a small matter with hini'. This is 6aid on the admissionthat, nt flrst, somc of the eönverts weré éMeholderp,- though the itamrs demónstrate, that a large rtinjóiily were slaves. Ëphesós has boen caüed n "licentións" city, )y one commentator. Ohce she winy his unimi'ei] power- oiïóe putting to d"nth on the cross: once following tlie example of Vedi - is PoJIio by Ihe Ephftsinn or Colossian Christon Slavelio'der would have rendered moiti ineffectua! ail the labors of the jiidaizing teachers llien PauFV exhorta tions. Th ia would ïavc been an example tlial there would have been no resistinpr, nnd if sluvrholding be nght, nnd ifmeddlin?'' with the slrïvc proverti enn be ftopped in no way, short; of this, I do nol sec that any objections are to be mado tn it - especially by fúcIi a9 contend for the right of the siaveholder to enter the Clnirch. Ño person knowe bettef than thé wrrter, how earnestly the slaves Wlien emancipnted,try to show ihnf Ihpy are ïeally free. The masler who hnsemancipattüThnlf a dozen may think very lilfle of it. Not eó', with the slave. Liberty has ever been With hinr, the j rhonght. The power of the master, easily put f'orth, was onrmipoteHl to him, in repressing the predominant idea of the mirtd.-31 Th'ft has ever had its influefice vi h our black population', where prestnnptioïi arisincr from C olor was, almost every where, against ihem. It wns nniversnlly knowö' that they, eilher lind been thenweivea, or wcro ihfe decendflnts of laves j IIow mncli more Vas it, to be expected ihnt this principie would opérate upon the whíle-sIavesT As long ns they were Feen on lh premises of their Cliristian tnaster- alihongh they tnight be free- bc rcceiving, with great regularity, what Paul hnd befors commHr)dd sfvotrld be given' them, "whnt wHs just and equal "be bettor insïmcted, in evcry way nrtne Conifortable-syet as they were seen there, thny were &et down as alavés. If a slave, or one who hnd benn such, went front Ephesus to' the city of Sardia or to the other city of Miletus, or to any other city, and choae to errg'age in biifintss tliere, different allogether froiïi what he had beforc followed', the remerrtbrance of his having once been1 a slave wonld soon' disappear, if it ever was eniertained. Of this temper the Judoizing teachers may successfully have avnüed themselves,-while it was Poul's temper to keep the servants where they were, knowing it would be bestfor them. Of thie disposition he givos some proof in his first Epistle to the Coriothians. "Let cvery man abide inthe eame calling whercin he was called." - Paul mny have consitlered it essentinl to the i [urthérárice of the gospel, ns woll os for the I :oinfort, in cvery way, of the Cliristian scr yant, that iie romain wilh his Christian i Ier. Every thing would be done by the latler. i which he had directnd, ond cvery thing tlmt ould properly be expected by the latter. - i F rom (doulos) tio Grcek word we gaiher i nothing. Clirit was a doulos; 60 was Paul ' - ?o was Epnphras, fcc. Dovlos signifies list wliat we mean now. without any confusión - by servanls. In the free StMes, orin Europe, wc say serrant, meaninjr those who :nn leave our employmcnt ns otlier peopie :an: in thp South, they cil! their slave3 servant, There they do not say shvr. uniese the case calis for it. ür, we mean, by dovlos, be who is warmly engaged in thn work of mot her - so that he has no o Uier work to which he regularly attends. From oikrtes - pais- or tlwrapone - or from any other tcord, wc gain nolhing that sadrfies an enqniing Tiind. He who iias nol patience to gather tho neaning of the oondition, from more reliable oiirce?, ought r.ot to attempt the j on. He who makes a word his trust has ot gone deeper than the "bark" of hia i cct. Doe8the above interpretation, in any resect, viólate the spirit of the Bihle - does it iterfere, in the sli;htest manner wiih the cope of thnt sacred book? ïf it does, we are entirely 'gnornr.t of t. So far from violaing the spirit or scope of the Bible, we shall ie thankful to any one who will point out such violation to us. We have, for a long time, been convinced that the practice of Slavery was nnt allowed of by the Bible, and have nol made this expo9Íiion but nfler carefully investiga ling all our nncient grounds. We wri'e not for triumph, bilt that the tdilh may be ostnblishod. This examination - but the bcginning, as the writcr would hope of more particular oiip? - will mnkc the Bible better understood, ond its wise mándales more hïark ened to. I knew that, in the timo of the Apostles, there were many who dissen?itiated errors and defended Judaism: henee, it becamc necepsary thai the Apostles should frequentlv write against those errors and opposebe defender of Judaism. I knew, too, that Tiany passages in their epistles wero written A-uil an expresa design ofrefulmg euch errors: Rut ihat the Bible sliould be bronght to dc"end tho continunnce of Southern Slavery, vvhich nlready takes away lite regardless of nther Inws, which in effect precludes from the great mijority, that Iloly Book - which keeps the slave ignorant of his immortal dfstiny and oF tlie Jiidge to u-hom he is gong, has oppcared to me with mmy bnt the result of not knpwing what thnt book tnuwht. To say tlmt the Bible wtll destroy that which the Bibles approvos, doos nt deserve an ansvver, come from what qunrter it may. It was wnften in an evil hour and wns addresáed to pereons ho were thonght unwortliy of any other opinión. Nor are they who gave it, sensible of the wrong they do the Apostle Paul. For Ihey mnke him, the friend of the Slavebolder, ás sxich; ready to odmit him to the Cliurch asa mcniber, and Cjni.lly ready fo destroy the "syetpm" by which he is disting'uished. They ma ke hun, üke themselves unfavornble to the system, bui favorable to him who deüberately engages in it. Let us try the Apostle of the Gentiles by the doctrine which he carne to tnpress on thepopular mind. To say that, to hold a man and his fnmily wlio proceed from hitn, endíessly, in ig norance. for oiir own accommodation, vvlien it is in our power to place him in a different sitúntion, is not doing to others as we would that he shotild do to us. I nm not unaware that they have n traditiou, arnon themselves, at the South, by which they make oí no effect on this part of the divise law: they sív, were I in the slave'p place, as ignorant as the elave is ücknowlrdped to be, nnd weré the slave a? intelligent ns I am, Í would be perfectly patisfied with his choice for me-and his choice is, ns the best thingr he can do for me, that J romrtin his slave. With tuch miserable sophistn-, they beguilo Ihemselvcï - without once thinking that they cannot viólate one part ol the divine law, (which is ahogether consistent) cveff ir' they carry out o nother. "Thou shaít lovethe fjord, thy Öod, with all thy heart, and with all thy soirl, and with all tby mintl- Thbu shalt love thy neighbor os thyself." This Was the vho1e of Paul's commissionwhnt he was to preoch. We shall soy nothinfj at this tim? of the first part of it, I ui confine ouicelf to his duty to his fellow m"n. They whose faïth rs elnetic enough to believe, tfiat Pnnl ihough the whole duty of man was fii'ñücd by the Rom'an or American Slavcholder, are not to brcasoncd with. There is not onc of them that woutd exchongè lots with the s'ave, or thit does not think il n misemble one compared with his own. There was not a slave on the PontineMarshep, or in t'io rice-fn-lds of the South, thnt would "not luiigh Paul to scorn, if he prenched such a doctrine as th9. Pan? did nut believe it himself. He beiieved that Roman Slnvery- and" if he was here, r,e would bftlicve, that American SlaVery, was one of the works whicli his Mnsier came inio tho world to destroy, anif that it was his duty to assist him in it. Tire Éiblo is iho cmanation of ono mind: one that sées every thing from the begïnning tothe end. We cannot expêct ih it, after mok-ing the most liberal ollowanee for the misialfes of transcribers, the least imperfecnon. We do not lookfovany pracltce that is approrcd bxj the anthor of it beiug at vari anee with any prêcept. In givin t!ie hitory of mon, it relates it nccordingr to' the facts. In doing e?o, it makes btit little account of human iustitutions: it makes less account of those who try to sitve Ihem. It knowe, ifoncistent it with the trvth they will stand: if int, thnt no human power can save tlietn.- It deals wi'h the heart of men, knowing if il can pel tliot fifrh, that all cls-e will be rigiit. God IiqiI told him that if he rearded imquity in his heart, he would not hear lim. Paul was his minister, yet do the Slaveholder?, nnd ihus fur, their advocates make the noblc-minded Paul vvho was always ready To die for the trutli, nnd who did die for the truth, say thfit "the 6iun of villnnies'1 was not inconsistent witli the glorious idea with wdich he was onliphtening iho mindu of the muliitudc. Supposing Paul had proposed to Crussus at Rome, or ihnt ho were now alive. nnd proposed to the largest Christian Slaveholder at the South, in order toshew his him:ility, the example of Christ in the twenty-thrd chapter of Motthew. Supposing he were to teil liim, that he oupht to wasfrúie feet of hifl Christian slaves - that he oa"ght to be their 'hervant1" - Jiat they were all "brdhrrn1' He wonld be amazed - he would cali him fanatic, if he would do nothinjf worse. He would sajr, the religión of the Bible leavesXhc civil relations nntoiicheo - the law of the lnnd givea me n wide preference, and if I wos to do whnt you roqnire of me, it would be of evil example to Tiy other slaves, and could terminate in no other way than diísolving the tie by which these creaturss are bonnd to me. Such would probably be his ansv?cr.1p. all the conntries of Europe, whftre classes are recognized, from the kinjr or qneen to the operative, theBible is iiniformly interpreted ns aupporting1 Ihesc clas-pos. It will be readily supposed thatthe writer is opposed to all such interpretations.