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Show 114 signed, not for one race or for one time, but for all men and for all times. lt looked not at the abolition of this fom1 of el'il for that age alone, but for its universal abolition. Hence the important object of its author was to gain it a lodgment in every }Jart of the known 1\'orld; so that, by its universal diffusion among all classes of society, it might quietly and peacefully modify and subdue the evil passions of men ; and thus, without violence work a revolution in the whole mass of mankind. In this manner alone could its object, a universal moral revolution, have been accomplished. For if it had forbidden the c·vil instead of subverting the principle, if it had proclaimed the unlawfulness of slavery, and taught slaves to resist the oppression of their masters, it 1\'ould instantly have arrayed 1he tii'O parties in deadly hostility throughout the civilized world ; its aunouncement would have been the signal of servile war; and the very name of the Christian religion wotild have been forgotten amidst the agitations of universal bloodshed. The fact, under these circumstances, that the Gospel does not forbid sla1•ery, affords no reason to suppose that it does not mean to prohibit it ; much less does it afford ground for belief that Jesus C hrist intended to authorize it." " It is important to remember that two grounds of moral obligation are distinctly recognised in the Gospel. The first is our duty to man as man; 115 that is, on the ground of the relation which men sustain to each other; the second is our Juty to man as a creature of God; that is, on the relation which we all sustain to God.-Now, it is to be observed, that it is precisely upon this latter ground that the slave is commanded to obey his master. It is never urged like the duty to obedience to parents, because it is right, but because the cultivation of meekness and forbearance under injury will be well pleasing unto God.- The manner in which the duty of servants or slaves is inculcated, therefore, affords no ground for the assertion that the Gospel authorizes one man to hold another in bondage, any more than the command to honor the king, when that king was N era, authorized the tyranny of the emperor; or than the command to turn the other cheek, when one is smitten, justifies the infliction of violence by an injurious rnan." * *Wayland's Elements of Moral Science, pages 225-6. The discussion of Slavery, in the chapter from which these extracts arc maile, is well worthy attention. |
