OCR Text |
Show 256 APPENDIX· d · 1 ]umc of the New Testament. gospel dispensation, an m t lC vo The code of Christianity is a code of purity ~n~ lo~e. .It pro. · f d P rtin" from every mfractwn e•ther of cbims the neccsstty o c 3 o . . . . . b I vVithout makmg any preciSe mentiOn JUSttce or encvo ence. either of war or slavery, it destroys them both at the root. It teaches us that all men every where-men of eve? character, d lor-are our neiahbors, and under this most com-country, an co o . , . . pre h cnst· ve m· t e rpretation of the word "ne1ghbor, 1t repubhshes the ancient precept, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." It institutes the golden rule, " Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them." Here is the true seed, here is the germinating principle of the abolition of slavery ! But how greatly is the strength of this principle increased, when we call to mind the grand fundamental truths of the gospelthat the Son of God became incarnate, and died on the cross, a prop•'t 't a t ory sacr1'fire for the sins of ALL mankind-that life and salvation are equally offered to ALL of every name who believe in Him-that ALL such arc our brethren and sisters in Christ the Saviour ! Let Christianity spread her genial influence over the face of society without hindrance and without compromise, and slavery must cease. The religion of Jesus in its U11jetlered operation, and an institution under which man is treated as the pro-- erty or chattel of his brother, cannot coexist. p I am aware that my knowledge of the constitution and laws of the federal government of the United States, when compared with that of the Senator of Kentucky, is as nothing; but I own was greatly startled by that gentleman's assertion, as rcpo~ted in the newspapers, that not only under the state constltutwns and governments, but under the fedP.ral governrne11t itself, "negro slaves have been deliberately and solemnly rccogmscd as the legitimate subjects of property." One would hope that thiS noble federal government-the nation as a nation-has not so com· mitted herself. If such a committal has taken place, in any of the laws of the United States, it is surely at variance with that J'REE AND l~Ul};N))J.Y HEMAUKS. 257 care to avoid it, which evidently marked the formation of the constitution, and. the early Jco,i slation of Co ngrcs3. '1'1 u·s care 1· s, to my apprehenswn, remarkably evinced by the provision of the Constitution respecting runaway slaves; " No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping iuto another, sha!J, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such service or labor is due."_ Art. iv, 3. It is obvious that in tl1is provision, there is a pointed avoidance of any reference to the notion of a property of man in man. The whole affair is thrown upon " service or labor;" and the some care is observable in the Act of Congress dated February 12th, 1793, "respecting fugitives fi·om justice, and persons escaping from the service of their masters." In point of fact, the grand principle, that the property of man in man cannot cxi,t de jure, had been previously settled by a master stroke of j ustice, sublime in its own simplicity, in the Declaration of Independence;-" TVe !told these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; tltat they are endowed by thei1· Creator witlt certain inalienable rights; tltat among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." If God has created all men equal, and every man has an inalienable right to his own life and liberty, and if these are selfevident truths, it certainly follows tllat the holding of our fellow men as our property, to be disposed of according to our own will and pleasure, is a frightful anomaly, radically opposed to the laws of nature and of God. I am aware that the framers of the federal government of this country were, some of them, involved in slave-holding, and that they left the question of slavery to be adjusted by the several states, according to the decision of their respective legislatures. It is matter of deep regret that they were so far induced to connive at slavery; for the first establishment of the Union, on the express ground of the equal rights of s |