Slaveholding Always Sinful

CONTI ÜEO. I In ve snid in the foregoing romarks that Slavery never s073. Tlie remark is a true jne, and verified, by cvery considérate mnn's observation, especially in tliin country. How often have we nnd here "good" Megrinus's and Apiciu8's, who without suspecting nny change in theinfelvee, liove eiuled ss Craseu8 did- oras the Aííiericnn, Wr. Baker, dici in shntting up the men at night, vho toiled for tlirm alune, during the duy! Bnt enough of thie: this is nót the subject that I wishcd pnrticularly to picscnt to your attention. I have BBidj too, elscwhero, thnt Slavery contained within ilself.theseeds of dissolution. So it does alwayp, unless frovidence intends to puniïh the people, who commit it, with the destíácticn of tlieir nationnl existeftce. VVherover a hígher stte of chrlstian civilist on, the oiily one tvhere tfie righl of the popitltir body was rver acknwird ged - wos reserved for the comrntinity, that community has been, always enabled to shake off Slatfery. ft has been.hus with the principal rtatioUs, both Proles:onts and Cathoüc, of Europe. With the 3xception of Rtissia, whicii, as I ífave already 3aid is as yet, but half civiliZed, nnd vrhich 8 not Romnn Cdtholic, Slavery rs rit pernitted to put lts foot on tlieir shores. VVhatever may be thcir form of Öovernmpnt, never have they been known to' malie os rnpid advancea in tnie civilization. Greal Britait: has never been so powerful ns since the time flie banished Slavery from alf her dominions. Othernations of Europe finJ it necessary t: follow her example, and they are preparing themselves nccordingly. An 'e rn'ny be prepared as long as our adrrrinistration is a Slaveholdinor one, to hpar Great Britain ermrged wiih the most improbable offence?. But the Hoiith has, more tlmri onc, TefusecJ to let the moral infíuence that would bnnish Slavery, and relineond drerstén lier, grow i;p in her inidst. She has lvicë rojected newspapers púbüshed v?itbirtr hètówÜ borders, that profeseed to thiow light on thé matter Vvhich keeps her back;nd afl attempts of the kind, whatever people nfiy thirrk of it that have nol duly reflectedon the subject, must in future be costly and bootless. Sho loves too, fhe thing that depresses hér. She nflcribès 10 t lier supposed excellence. Sle luves her country because of lts slavery: jist ás the Bushmnn wiiose language is fo meagre that lie can Bcarcely expresa hïs ordirVary vvants in it; or the Laplander, whose severe clirhate reduce him to less than five feet in height, and who, of a scarce year, is btottght to stibsist on fishbones, loVrs liis.I have said. on nnother occasion, and I still believo, that the Soutnern siavehólding State? if cut off from the rest of the World and lefi to lhem.elves, vvonld eoon ex li i bit 6igns ot distresp, ihat cou'd ot b mistaken- they would be in fact decayin'g cnmmunities. - I stül entpitnin thie opinión, but wi:h modiflcation?, which recent expenencé has intioduced. Her only plan of eafety, though she will be the last to admit it, n her connexiou with the North, and the implication of her government with that of the free States. - It vvoitld be proof pnsitive that as a people vp had been consigned tn Bai 6arísm} fordenying overy principie of Liber'y for wbich we had contended, if the North were' as mucli in love witk Slavery tfg the South. There would, then, be no adrquate redceming pdwer, but we sbould, all ba hastening to that bourne, whence' our only relief would be, consigning our government and mirscíve to some en that was stronger than we. The acquisiMon of Trxas-mniïe &y o: violation of the Constittitin in evcry way, and avowedlv to support slnvpry- may for ar tinve, alleviate the condition of the neighboring Sintes, thotigh it will be of sliou duration. Seifilus delmdafst,'is ne clearly now the proclnmation of tlie public voice, to which a!l must Conform ne Catthngo delenda est, was tlie voice of Cato - was delivered in the Roman Scnaie - and was certainly nceomplished the dcstruction of that city The awakencd energiea of the Nortli - the ncrc.'isi'd vote sfie has give.n every whcre to lie Liberty pirty, afler the spostn of last juumn, has givcn me fresh hops Fut her thal he stil] is, nt hcart, the friend of iberty and hat he dcs'ncs a superior civtJization. It has jiven me, too, a bctter hope for ihe South. - t hns shewn inc, that however she may forfy herself, her slavery is to be soon relinuished, and that bctter timee, thoughfora ong period, an inferior civilizntion, nvvait her. t then" rósts, witli the Nortli to eay, teken Southern Slavery shall ccasc. if 6hegive in ïcrensed Votfi'to the Liberty party sho will expedito it - and just in this proporiioir; - if the jiberty prty rcCede, gloom and night mual ose the prospect. Uow greai reason then,have iE Liberty party, seeing that botb theoiheruariies aretrylrig whicli öaiiuntstnp theother, m mppoft of Rluvery - !o !ie fnifhful to tlieir principie? - to the object with which lliey set "flt. I nove not the {pim ren son Por distrust ing the statements and opïnions jnst expressed. If they are tnie, tliey vill, in all probability, receive nmple confirmalion before long 11 the Stato cf Marylnnd. Slavory thcre bas been DovierfuUy ncted on, by Jier proximity to PeniiHylvnma. As it becotfips less secure, ihe Shveholders will try divers device9 to ustoin it. The non-s!nve1iold?re nre greatly cnconrared. They have there, many co-opc rating causes in tlieir favor - Uip inherent in quity of the Bystem-Torrey's qucstionable conviction - 'the deCreasing number of slnvc, nd the Pope'e Inte Bul!, ncting in f-otne de?ree, on a lorgely extended Remin Cathnlic pnpnlatíon.-besides the cause tö which ) have now espcciolly odverted. The sl.iveholder8 will not o(;ain probably, carry a single point in Jheir favor ín thnt State, without tlieir usual circumvention. ín Virpinin, Kentticky, and Missouri, the Slaveholders by conibining, mny for some time to corne, carry their parlicolar mcastirEe; hut if the Liberty party succeed vvell in the States, the reign of Slavery there wil! be rhort. I must substantinlly repeal, altiiou'g'h it subject me to the charge of lautology, I wish not to be understood as Fayinp, tliat vi:h tlie interpretation ol Pauls longunge, vhich we shall presently contend for, with the desire of the fffective part of the community for a more ad vaneed civilization ihon Slavery could oflTürd, and that uothinj but Christianity could bring, - that Slavery woúíd bc utter ly exterrr.inattd By no'means; any more than Paul's preachin-' the true doctrineshnity would exterminóle infidolü y thro'ighout the rorld. The world can go on,nfter a manner, without the truc doctrines of Chíiátianty. But l cannol with the rpceived doctrine of Slavery; jf we admit that, which is very admissiblc- thattlie immoraliiy of Slnveholding mukei impoisible the Iransaótion' of ordinary business. Such would soon' coiné to be the condition of the Souih, were it not chicflylor wie cause abovementioríed - lier intcrcommunitj' with the free North whcrc a more ndvancpd tnnrality prevailh'. Even witb' this, t is ilifficult to sove.thc Souih- as mcy be particularly seen. in the case of individúale witli hut rare exceptions, of every class nnt3 cnllinp, who migrate thitlier, wuh the iiiten tion of staving. Paul's fai'hfulness, as we contond, hfcd bu Bmall influonce on the' large slaveholders o Rome. Il might have hnü much greater hat he dilnled his doctrine, so as to have con sidered, every Slave-holder epeclolly if o large one ':a christian" so as to1 have im;'e n difference hetween tlintlivith.r?r' sins and "organic" sius - so as tnighaly to "repro bate" Save-ho{ding, as the work of th devil which Christ cnme to destroy, whil tlie Sn e 'holding Christian wat? the wor of God, which ChriFÍ cnmp, lo btfild np: - in lint?, had Paul and the other Apos'les se themselvcs earnestly to work so to use th Christion religión ns to tuve Ihe Rormn Em pire, with all itsvices, from Iftiat díssohuio which awaited t, the large siavcholders wouk eladly liave iinied with them, wliilst ihe non slawhulders, who believed in rts principies o liberty, woüld have been firhiened fmm them. But it so happened, thát Paul anc his true followers ever since were una ble to í6p, that there was a diÖerence be tween Individual" and 'organic" eins - tlm the sin of Slaveliolding img"ljL be repróbate very "stronglyf' yet thnt he w ho was engaget in it was vvell [nlified, so far B3 Slaveholtlin was cor-cerned, for "Christïart rrotherhood; that neiihnr the larpe SlavehoWers, were con cilia'ed: that the Empire was lost - and tha Christinnify was Fïved. Piiul never busie himself nbout inving the Roman Empire, a if i7, not Christianity, wes the trulh wliic was unchanneable. Neither is Slavery ïike nny of the rclatioi in Üfe. RoRiia Roman Catholic city. - It is thee lief city of a faiih whieh condemns, as heretical ever other faitli. ít is the res ider.ee of ihe Pope, the hearf of the Roman Cntholic religión. Yet I, as a Protestant, cou'd abide there in perfect peace. I tould render to my wife aíí that, os a Protestant, she claims. Tliey wotrld not ask me to bow lown to their image.-, theh pictiirep, their Saints or their Virgins, and through them, implore the blessings that I need. h is not so with Slavery. The slaveholdcr must not vrrrLc ni'lililv ff (loilht nf tlm RVtCll AC nood one, and he must do us the inrgest f lave lioI'Jers do: 60 that Ihê rargest paveholder9, w)io as a general thing have most feare, and consciences but 11 al case, have the umi lei and more confidmg class completey in ilieir power. If Crassufflock his skves lip at niglit and withliold the Bible froni them, Apiciut and Megnnus must do the 6au é". S you may try the condition of Slavery - lor it is too preat coiidccension to cali it sation, and compare it with ihc relations of parent andehild - rrrasler nnd npprenticc - mas ter une? serVant, ofrd you wil} tee, that dist isa positivo and not a negative act - ilint it requires sonielhing to be dunt by tlié maLter, which, rerrmirring a sïavoholder, lie cannol :ivok!, or omit. But did not Paul use the words which wo have before q;ioted from the sitfih chapter of his first Ëpislte to Timoti;y? Certamly he did: as certaiuly as he uecd words ot nearly the saaie ituport to the Bphesfans - to iho Colossians - tó Titn's. If he iised them as Siaveholders and tlicir friends nuw con'ond I nm sorr thot I enntrot lay my hnnd on the No. of the North America Keviiw which contniris proof ifre'ragabfe f;ni the Roinnii Empire feil in consequence of Slavery. The article Was publfched in Í8S&- was thoughtvcry conclusive, and was at-ciibed to Mr. Bancroft, now of the U. 5á, Navy lcpartReoi-thal lie did, d they not incotitcsiibly prove, ihut Slaveiiolders were ïnëmbers of the churche which he instituted in his time? f né certBinJy do: but rccallect if we siicceed in disproVitig them, or even ir. casting a doubt lipón that constrnctian, the cause of libetty ib entiiled to the benefit of the doubtfl.for itia generolly snpposêd ttie 'spirit of the Bible fas vors the cause of human freedom. TbiS ia the quesüon, and the only one; for I esleem t"o frivoloun, and not likelyj therefore to obtain the public eof, tlie position t'akeh by Pjof. 'íucHer', late of the Virginia Univereity, that when the Slaveholding States ar!J Terrltories advance from their present pdpulation, which was not quite i wel ve to Ihe square mile, (seehis book publiehëd'ia 1843, page 111,) to a popiilatiöh of about fifty to the square mild, (page 114,) when slavo labor wüí no longer be profitable, elavery will cease;- and the qnestion generally taken, f of granied, by rcligionists, who think elavery a very bad thing, yet hnve not courage enough to unchurchthe vSlaVeftöIders; to wit, that Slaveholders were eomnmnkants in the Church, in thesecondcentury or tbercaboits. The first would make us a nation willing to sacrifico every principie that we profesa, to' proñt: the econd vvou?d compel ua to live, not by what n Aposlle caid or did, but by the abuses hich had crept into the Church, mnnnged, if be os is snid, by euch as they vhoafe ñow the most prominent in giving urrency to the foregoing opinión. I tru6t hat vé neither are the first, and that vfe are oo intelligent to be ttvtlitf otíiei1. But thnt we may Have fully before us the passage in qtiestion,we will ag&in quote it:"Lel as rrany servante as undef Ihe roke count their own masters worthy of all íonor, ihat the name of God and his doctine be nol blasphemid- And they that have believing rnaslers, fet them not despise them, jecause they are brethren; but rather othctn service, beCoOse they are faithfnl and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These ihings teach mid exhort." To prove what we have already aisé'rfé'd- that the spint of the Bible ia in favor of human freedom - we will not go iö tíie nations wliere the Dible is rcad niucli of read litile. Nor will wc for ttott parpóse compare the Wee'. Indies till lately, with Ërïgïand, of the Southern States with ihe Northern. It is as wel known as atiy fací cari b'é, thal tho libcrly of the masseF, is in direct proportioflf tú i he reading of the Scripturee. Bul ttoe Slaveholders themselves, have furnisbert alf the evidence that is necessary r the casé, 6y ejfcluding thcSacred Volume ftáelf from thoïe-that ihey wish to brutify and enslave. íf it 6t;perr'ectly clear, that Paol and Peter's direfftions were to slaven ni evichf and ta miretetj as such, exhorting böth to continue in their present stations- nnd iF they derived therf warrantá for what ihey said and did fróirï Hebrew Slavcry- if it was transfefred W ítoniari Slavcrj', wbefé tïm power' of the mister was tinlimiled- and if it has been' transferred 'hence to the American' èlaveholder, it is" strtmge Ihat some ene, at least, of the latter may not have iwcúlcated slarery, as a Chrtelian duty óp'on their victim, by the eeparate publicalïon of Paui's and Petes epistles, or aucIi parte ot them as euited their purpose.- - But we have not heard that tïrw Jwsr i anj instance been done. Poverfy cannot be pfeadbd, for the elaveholders, asa class, belong to he riek of evcry land where they are to be 'ound. And this accounts, ioo, for fhe facility with which ihey haVe found admipsion to the Chnrch in 6uch countries. The poor have been ffaiJered 6y the condescension of the rich, while the Church has been kept prostrate for the admission of the latten They have been bcggedinio hf as a matter of favor, because ihey wererich and willing1 to nssist ts 'emporaliliep, not becausethey were holy, and woukJ ndd to its spiritual povvers. It it be perfectly clear that Paors tfiliig9 inculcate SlaV'C'ry, why hae keen-sighted and just men, as "weli ns SlaveiiolJers, considercd the spirit of the Bible nnlielavery and Paul a form-ng no exception to the other wiiters who heve assieted in making ip that vofnme? wby have they considered brm as consentaneous with those whose writinjjs conspire to give chnracter to that book? For if these men nrc rigfct in thsir estímate of the spirit of the Bible, PaxiI's departure from thenr must bo onked on as a very remarkable one.ther was a Jong time ii reconciling Paul and Jame?, between whoro, he for one period of fiis lifc thought there was an inconsistency. Aftcr moking due allownnce for the eupcrior rnpur'ancc of Luilier's queetion, no paioa have been taken, that we re aware of, to recoticile Puul. And Peter smy be put in the some catogory with Paul. We are bonnd tiién io inferpret this passopo ns nn antislavery passage, in consistency with ne Cook of wbicb it forms a part, and not differontly from it, unies? we be prepared ter flxnv the retreöft of that tf:íR;rence. W ouglit not, to fait that Slavcry lias insinuated iutèlf into the Christan Church, that slaveholders now t'xercise tt ittc inftiiencè over its concerns, tliat aa re - ïblicans mui (.Jliristians re do not disappToof f Slavery as we ehould do; and that all thg ommentaries, ihnt we are accustoincJ to use ere composcd unuer the bias of Síáveholdinff. 'íñs enáay ia written. to shew,wliEtbEr or notf anl npproved of Roman Siaveholding fitf art of the Chnrrth organization.