A Scriptural examination of the institution of slavery in the United States; with its objects and purposes

Front matter

SCRIPTURAL EXAMINATION

OF THE mSTITUTION OF SLAYERY

UNITED STATES;

Preface

Slavery of the Church.

The system of slavery establislied in the Church, protects the life of the slave against the cruelty or wantonness of the master. The law says : ''And if a man smite his servant or his m.aid with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be surely punished : notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his money." The punishment to be inflicted, in case the slave died under his master's hand, was death. The law continues : "At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed ; for in the image of God made He man." It is easy to see, therefore, that every system of slavery which does not forbid the master taking the life of a slave, or using cruelty towards him, and which does not properly punish the crime when committed, is an abuse of the Divine establishment. Such were the systems of the Roman and Grecian States ; such has ever been the African system ; and such, perhaps, were the English and French systems while they existed. The fact that the English system of African slavery did not protect the life of the slave was one of the most potent reasons brought forward by English abolitionists while urging emancipation.

We assert, and we shall prove, that the system of slavery in the United States, in every feature and in every particular of every feature, is essentially the same as the system authorized by the Bible, and introduced into the church at the time of its organization, and continued to the present day. The Bible does not employ the term slave, but the more significant term servant. Servant is the correct term v/itli us ; it should be used instead of the harsher term slave, which is neither expressive or true. In this work, however, we have used the term slave, simply for convenience sake, and in conformity to custom. 1*

Master.

Webster defines this term thus : ''A man who rules, governs, or directs either men or business. A man who owns slaves is their master ; he who has servants is their master ; he who has apprentices is their master, as he has the government and direction of them." There are many very important obligations imposed upon masters, some by the municipal law, all by the Bible. These obligations form the sum of a master's responsibility. The municipal law and the Bible, therefore, are the sources from which a master is to learn his duty to his slaves.

Servant The term slave occurs but seldom in the Bible, perhaps not more than twice, and in no place in the sense in which it is generally used by us. The terms used which denote slavery, are servant, bondman, bondwoman, maid, handmaid, &c. As there are other servants besides slaves frequently spoken of, we must refer to the circumstances of each particular case, for the purpose of ascertaining the condition that is meant. Martindale says: '' The word [servant] generally signifies a slave. The Hebrews had two sorts of servants or slaves." — See Lev. xxv. 44, 45.

Emanci'pation of Slaves.

England, France, and all the States of the American Union, possessed Negro slaves at one time. England, France, and the Northern States have emancipated their slaves. They were right in so doing, for they never looked beyond pecuniary advantage in possessing them. They made no arrangements for their slaves' moral and religious training, such things were never thought of ; no record testifies in their favor in this respect ; no proofs can be furnished to support such a pretension. By repudiating slavery, England, France and the Northern States, declined fartidj)aling in the objects, jpresent and uUimate, of the institution. They withdrew from this great Providential enterprise.

In favor of English effort in the direction contemplated, we may be pointed to Sierra Leone. The feeble efforts made there do not even make a qualification of our assertion necessary. Let us see. During the war of the Revolution, many American slaves were seduced to the British army, then in the country. Some of them were conveyed to England and some to Nova Scotia. Those that went to England, lounging about London, in a most filthy and miserable condition, excited the sympathy of some benevolent individuals. These persons made efforts, which resulted in the colonization of the Negroes in Africa. This occurred more than seventy years ago. That during this long period some good has been done, we with pleasure acknowledge ; but not the amount of good that ought to have been done, by a great deal. Compare the good done by the colonization of Sierra Leone, with that done by the colonization of Liberia, and it will be seen that the statement we have made above needs no qualification.

Liberia was colonized less than forty j^ears ago (a little over half the time that Sierra Leone has been colonized), and during the period that has intervened has passed through the incipient stages of government to a republic, in which every element of civil, intellectual, moral and religious improvement abounds. Her influence extends far into the interior, over many tribes and nations. She has accomplished more during the brief period of her existence to suppress the slave-trade, than the combined efforts of all civilized nations ever accomplished, or were likely to accomplish.

Aholitiomsts.

There are persons in the northern section of the Union, who, having no proper conceptions of the institution of slavery, seek to destroy it : these persons are denominated abolitionists. Amongst these persons there exists many shades of difference : 1. The freesoiler — this character, who will not admit that he is an abolitionist in the proper sense of the term, professes that he does not wish to disturb slavery where it exists, but opposes the enlargement of its area. 2. The conditional emancipationist — he professes that he would be satisfied if the south would pass acts of emancipation, although such acts might extend through many years. 3. The unconditional emancipationist — he demands that acts of emancipation should be passed, abolishing the institution of slavery forthwith. 4. The amalgamationist — he demands that slavery should be abolished immediately — that there should be a division of property with the emancipated slaves and an amalgamation with the whites. It is a matter of perfect indifierence to us, to which of these phases individuals may be attached ; for we care not whether, in their folly, they be mild or rabid.

Abolitionism is not a political question; it is a religious delusion ; hence, the political adjustments of the question have, in the end, all failed to accomplish their object. These adjustments have only resulted in causing abolitionism to assume some new aspect ; to turn its mischievous tendencies in some new direction. The profound regard which every American citizen should feel and manifest for the constitution, the priceless value of the union of the States, and the clearest, most comprehensive and conclusive arguments of anti-abolitionists, have lost their force, when addressed to abolitionists.

This delusion may be distinctly traced to its source — it sprang from misguided religious teachers ; by them it has been, and is now being, taught to the people. It is a fact upon which we dwell with pleasure, that munj teachers of religion in the northern States, have never been under the influence of this delusion. These cannot agree to prostitute their high and holy vocation to such unworthy purposes. Designing newspaper editors, both secular and religious, fond of filthy lucre (particularly in the form of black-mail) j have contributed largely to inflame the minds of the uninformed ; thereby degrading the liberty of the press, and robbing it of its influence for good. Corrupt politicians, too, the basest of all, have made this delusion subservient to their schemes of ambition. Honest and honorable politicians, they who would not stoop to expedients so low, have been turned out of office and sent into private life. These are some of the workings of abolitionism.

There is nothing more disgusting than abolitionism — nothing, we consider, more wicked and mischievous ; yet we confess that we do not fear it. Many very considerate person suppose that it will ultimately destroy the Union ; in this opinion we do not participate : that it would do that act if it could, we readily allow — w^e firmly believe ; but it has not vitality enough to accomplish that result, we conceive. We cannot, at present, be induced to believe that God, whose hand is so signally seen in every step of our progress, will allow deluded men, no matter what their numbers may be, or how intemperate their zeal, to consummate such great wickedness. The issue. Union or Abolitionism, may be presented to the American people ; it will be, if abolitionists can do it. Should that issue be presented, the anti-abolitionists of the North (for their are many Union-loving people there, who are to be found in all the walks of life), will not require the aid of the South in putting down this bad spirit ; they will perform that very agreeable duty for themselves. Whether abolitionism is to be feared or not, however, the South must not abate one iota of its vigilance against it.

It is an established fact, that the mind may become unsettled by the long and abstract consideration of any subject upon which it may concentrate its energies. In other words, the mind may become insane upon one subject, while upon all other subjects it remains rational. An author says: '' Such partial derangement is the most singular feature of the human character : one can easily imagine that the whole mind should become disordered and prostrated ; but that one part should be deranged, while the rest retains its wonted vigor ; that a man should be capable to create a perfect phantom of the imagination, and then to reason and act upon it as though it were a reality, is most unaccountable ; and yet such instances have frequently occurred." Our author goes on to state a case : " One Wood, indicted D'r Monro, in Westminster, for keeping him as a prisoner in a mad-house, when he was sane. He underwent the most severe examination by the defendant's counsel, without exposing his complaint ; but a physician suggested to Lord Mansfield to ask him what was become of the princess with whom he had corresponded in cherry-juice ; he showed in a moment what he was. He answered, that there was nothing at all in that, because having been (as everybody knew) imprisoned in a high tower, and being debarred the use of ink, he had no other means of correspondence but by writing his letters in cherry-juice, and throwing them into the river which surrounded the tower, where the princess received them in a boat : on this D'r Monro was acquitted." This affords the best apology for abolitionists that can be made for them.

This degree of madness is by no means incurable : for its cure, the people of the South possess an unfailing remedy, which has been applied to many patients, and which will never fail to be applied, whenever it becomes necessary. As to the efficacy of this remedy, many who have been cured, live to testify their gratitude, and to bless their benefactors.

The efforts of abolitionists have made no impression whatever od the institution of slavery in the United States, although long continued and vigorously pressed. Individual slave-owners have been injured, but the institution remains unharmed ; it is as vigorous, firm, and flourishing, to-day, as it has ever been since its foundation, and so is likely to continue.

Amongst the most successful schemes of mischief brought forth by abolitionists, may be reckoned what is familiarly called the Under-Ground Railroad : by this means, many owners have been deprived of their property by persons esteeming themselves, and being esteemed by their associates, pious. How strong must be the delusion, when professing Christians conceive that there is no sin in stealing ! There have been many punished in various ways, no doubt, who have been engaged in this systematized mode of villany. A recent case has fallen under our notice : one McCormick, a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Synod of Indiana, was suspended from the ministry (a very inadequate punishment) for his connection with it. This foolish man was not even a successful rogue ; he betrayed himself by boasting of his performances.

Sometimes works of fiction (we had a specimen of this kind of erudition recently) make their appearance : these purport to be intended to inflame the popular mind, by relating cases of hardship endured by slaves, and thereby to hasten the destruction of the institution. It is suspected, however, that the authoress of the work alluded to (with true Yankee shrewdness), had a more attentive eye in the direction of the money to be realized from the sale of her work, than to the success of the principles she advocated in it.

Sometimes indiscreet individuals of this character propagate their sentiments on southern soil ; nothing can be more hazardous — this cannot, will not, he allowed. In not a few cases of this kind, the ofiender has received summarily such chastisement as would deter him from a like undertaking' for the future, and which v/ould be an effectual admonition to all others in like manner disposed to offend.

A few foreigners, of sufficient notoriety to claim our attention, in the exuberance of their benevolence, and with a philanthropy that unfortunately overlooks the squalidity of their own country and neighborhoods, have visited the United States occasionally for the purpose of our enlightenment on the subject of slavery. Among the most notorious of these, one George Thompson is, perhaps, the most conspicuous. This man, possessing some powers of declamation, and much intemperate zeal, made his appearance here some years ago. He was the employe of some old Scotch ladies, not much wiser than himself, who picked him out of some sewer in the purlieus of Glasgow, or some other filthy place. It is matter of some surprise that the efforts of this abolition agent were not extended to those they were intended to benefit I He confined his labors to the northern section of the Union, and to a very small portion of the people there, members of anti-slavery associations. It is, perhaps, matter of regret that Thompson did not extend his visits into the South, for it is probable had he done so, in the report he made to his employers, upon his return to his own country, he would have had the pleasure of adding some tangihle proofs of his personal reception.

Of another foreigner (Hon. Miss Murray, a lady lately attached to the Court of Queen Victoria), it affords us much pleasure to speak in different language. This lady visited the South with all the prejudices of early education, and long-cherished convictions against us. These prejudices were highly inflamed "by imagined and reported cases of hardship, said to be common among slave-holders. She came, she heard, she saw for herself, and the truth worked an entire revolution in her opinions and feelings. It is matter of deep regret that Miss Murray's determination to publish her knowledge of slavery in the United States, if it did not cause the alienation of her friend, nevertheless caused the cessation of tlie patronage of that friend. This is not only matter of regret to us, it is matter of surprise also. Her Majesty may have suffered herself to be persuaded tliat something of State-policy was involved in the course she was advised to pursue towards Miss Murray's book. However this may be, we regret the course pursued, because we assert that, personally, no sovereign now occupying a throne, is wont to be more highly regarded by the people of the United States than is her Britannic Majesty.

It is supposed b^^some that we have abolitionists residing amongst us, who are engaged in various lucrative employments ; the supposition is well founded. Persons thus situated will best consult their safety by concealing their opinions. This caution, however, may be unnecessary, as those to whom it refers understand as well as we do the prudent line of conduct.

It is also proper to remark, that many persons located amongst us, who were formerlj^ abolitionists — made so by the false teachings to which they were confined — have, since they became acquainted with the practical operations of the institution of slavery, and its objects, thoroughly changed their opinions, and are now as trustworthy on the subject, as if they had never been imposed upon.

It is impossible to conceive the amount of mischief abolitionism has done, and is seeking to do. Its broad slimetrace is to be seen in every direction. It invades the sanctuary of law, and strikes the balance from the hand of justice ; it tramples upon the Constitution ; it repudiates the Bible ; it has rended asunder the church of the living God ; it sports with everything holy and sacred ; it commits murder ; it has progressed far in destroying the comity between the States ; it now menaces the integrity of the Union itself ! This, however, we trust, is as far as it will be allowed, by the. patriotism of the people, to progress. A spirit so emphatically " devilish," demands that every patriot in the land should make haste to put it down.

We address one word to abolitionists not so far gone in their madness as to be incapable of appreciating what we say and mean : " And now I say unto yon, Eefrain from these men (slave-holders), and let them alone, for if this counsel, or this work (slavery), be of men (simply human), it will come to nought ; but if it be of God (as we shall show it is), ye cannot overthrow it ; lest, haply, ye (abolitionists) be found even to fight against God." We know that the foregoing quotation is from a source not much, if at all, respected by abolitionists ; yet we think the advice it contains good, and that it ought to be observed. Whether it be followed or not, however, is matter of perfect indifference to us.

What an amusing spectacle abolitionism personified would be ! AVere some skilful play-writer to employ his talents in this way, and produce a play, called The Abolitionist; consisting of as many parts as there are phases amongst abolitionists ; in which brother Gardner, brother Seward (with a roll in his hand, marked " higher law"), brother Trumbull, brother Parker, brother Greeley (with a slouched hat on his head), brother Wilson, brother Smith, brother Beecher (with a Sharp's rifle on his shoulder), brother Garrison, and their brother Fred, miserahile vulgus ; and those strong-minded women, aunt Harriet, sister Rev. Antoinette, sister Lucy (displaying a marriage protest), sister Abbe, and ^^m- sister the Black Swan {et id genus o?)me), should have conspicuous places ; to conclude with the farce of A Cured Abolitionist returning from the South ; over all which his Satanic Majesty, who has the perfect right, should be seen, with grinning approbation, to preside ; it is probable he would produce as ludicrous an exhibition as was ever presented to the gaze of an admiring audience.

Emanci'pating Slaves.

There is no poiver, divine or huynan, that requires an owner to emancipate his slave. If that be done, it must be a voluntary act, by all the parties concerned — voluntary on the part of the owner, in offering emancipation, and voluntary on the part of the slave, in accepting it. Supposing an owner to be inclined to emancipate his slave, no one has any right to object, no one does object ; for the owner has as perfect a right to dispose of his slave property, as he has to dispose of any other species of property he may possess.

The troubles and responsibilities of an owner are not few or small, as every one well knows. In view of these considerations, owners are sometimes induced to emancipate their slaves, by sending them all, old, middle-aged, and young, to Africa ; nothing, we conceive, is of greater impropriety. In such case the owner gets rid of the inconveniences alluded to, but the slave's condition is much worse than it could have been if he had remained with his owner. The fever peculiar to Africa, called the acclimating fever, which every emigrant must pass through, destroys, as the bills of mortality show, a great many of the very young and the very old ; indeed, so many of these die, that it may be truly said they go there but to be buried. Besides, emigrants of this description embarrass those upon whom they are dependent, and are useless, if not expensive, to the government. These things should be well considered by every owner disposed to emancipate his slaves.

The propriety of emancipating a slave, in view of his transportation to Africa, requires : 1, That the slave be particularly instructed with regard to all the difficulties and dangers he will have to meet in his new situation. 2. That he be in good health, and of a sound constitution, 3. That he be of good moral character. 4. That he be industrious and provident, 5. That he be willing to go. These particulars being ascertained, and the slave being furnished by his owner with such things as will be necessary for his convenience for the first year of his residence in Africa, and the i:>ayment of his passage thither, let him go.

The conveying emancipated slaves to Africa by the Colonization Society, is an incidental undertaking. That society was organized, and still continues to exist, for the exclusive purpose of transporting the free persons of color in the United States to Africa. The society, therefore, should not be expected to divert its means from the direct to an incidental object ; indeed, in many instances, the intentions of owners have been defeated, from the fact that the society has been unable to sustain the expenses of the slaves they proposed to emancipate.

Mahomeianism.

This system of religion, if it be allowable to dignify it with such a title, may properly be divided into two parts, namely : creed and practice. The creed embraces some leading truths, improperly conceived, and, therefore, 'badly taught, and many absurdities — perhaps we would be more correct in calling them profanities. The creed is reduced to a very simple form, thus : " God is God, and Mahomet is His prophet." This must be believed.

The practice consists of four general parts, thus : 1. Prayer. 2. Alms, of which there are two kinds, namel}^: legal and voluntary. 3. Fasting — this Mahometans call " the gate of religion." 4. The pilgrimage to Mecca ; they say a Moslem had as well die a Jew or a Christian, in either of which cases there is no chance for heaven, as to die without having performed this pilgrimage.

This religion is now, as it has been from the first, propagated by force — compulsion is the instrument it employs to make converts. This is the religion of Northern, from whence it has been carried far into Central, but it has not yet reached Southern Africa. There, until Christian missionaries made their appearance, there was no God tanght in any form !

The Christianizing- of Africa involves the fact, that on that^field Christianity and Mahometanism are to engage in their contests, to fight their battles. There the crescent and the cross are to meet face to face. Already the warrior hosts of Christianity are buckling on their armor. In the name of the living God they go forth, and in the name of the living God they shall triumph. The crescent shall bow to the cross. When we survey the whole ground, we see what a mighty work Christianity has to perform in Africa I

Exodus of Slavery.

Whether slavery is a temporary or permanent institution, has been deemed an important inquiry. The thorough investigation of this question does not properly fall within the range of our undertaking ; for we are not interested in hypothetical but historical facts. All that we shall do here, therefore, will be to exhibit the expressed opinions of some men of disting-uished abilities on the subject, and submit some general remarks for the consideration of the reader.

M'r Clay, who thinks the institution temporary, says: '' I believe, and I have as much confidence in the belief as I have in my own existence, that the day will come, distant^ very far distant, perhaps, from the present time, but that the day will come, when^ hy voluntary emancipation^ and by acts of individuals, and of the States themselves^ without any usur'pation of poiver on the 'part of the general government^ there will he an end of slavery. Slavery may find its termination in different modes. It may by laAV ; it may by the sword ; it may by the operation of natural causes, to which I look for its ultimate extinction. As to the sword, nobody, I trust, would think of the em.ployment of that to put an end to slavery.

22 PKEFACE.

"But I may be asked, What is meant by the operation of natural causes? I mean this: upon one occasion, some twenty years ago, I went more at large than I feel now at liberty to do, into this subject. I went into the modus ojperaiidi of these natural causes, by which, in a long time, I am of opinion there will be an extinction of slavery. There will be an extinction of slavery whenever the density of the population in the United States shall be so great that free labor can be procured by those w^ho want the command of labor at a cheaper rate, and under less onerous conditions, than slave labor can be commanded. Although I cannot fix the time when this will occur, I can state the conditions and circumstances under which. When it does occur, there will be a voluntary manu7nission of slaves. It is not to be by any enforced usurpation or legal action of the general, or any other government at all, but by the voluntary consent of the States, and individuals of the States, which are alone interested in the subject of slavery, and which have exclusively the right to determine when and how it shall coast to exist. Whenever, then, you can show to me, and that time will come, that our population shall be three or four times as great as it is, and that time will not be a very long time — when we measure time not by the duration of individuals or particular lives of persons, but by the period of national existence — whenever the time comes, as it will come, that our population shall be three or four times as great as at present ; that the prices of labor, the wages of manual labor, shall be so reduced that it will be too burdensome on the part of the owners of slaves to raise them for the sake of the labor they perform ; whenever it becomes the interest of the slave States and the slave-holders to resort to another kind of labor than that which is furnished by slaves ; whenever that epoch comes, there will be a termination of slavery.

Now, gentlemen, I am not about, as I said before, to specify the time when this is going to happen — I cannot do it — but I would repress, if I could, the impatience of those who are imwilling to wait the slow operation of the means and instrumentalities which God and nature furnish in order to accomplish the great purposes of His wisdom. I ivould ask tJizm to repress their impatience; to liaxe more dependence ufon the icisdom and providence of God than upon their own limited passions and circmnscrihed reason. AVhat, in a national point of view, is a century to a nation ? Nothing. It took two centuries and more to bring from the shores of Africa her sons, now existing in a state of slavery in the United States. It may take two centuries, more or less, to transport their descendants, to such an extent as no longer to create any solicitude or anxiety about the few that may linger and remain behind. It may take some two centuries to carry them back ; and what, I repeat again, is this in the great workings of national existence, and the administration of the affairs of this world, by the Providence that controls, directs, and governs them ? "

M'r Toombs says: ''His condition [the African slave] is not permanent among us, and we may find his exodus in the unvar^dng laws of population. Under the conditions of labor in England, and the continent of Europe, slavery could not exist here, or anywhere else. The moment wages descend to a point barely sufficient to support the laborer and his famil}^, capital cannot afford to own labor, and slavery instantly ceases. Slavery ceased in England in obedience to this law, and not from any regard to liberty or humanity. The increase of population will produce the same result in this country ; and American slavery, like that of England, will find its euthanasy in the general prostration of all labor."

The opinions we have presented above are decidedly in favor of the institution being a temporary one. They are based upon an assumed state of facts, which lie far in the future — a state of facts warranted by no present indications. We do not intend to question the soundness of these opinions ; we do not intend to say that they never will be realized ; but we do inteud to say, that nothing connected with the practical operations of the institution points that way. We do not see "the beginning of the end." These opinions may, they may not, be correct. However that may be, they have no immediate bearing upon the institution. Being, therefore, of no present interest, these opinions (as their authors intended they should not) do not interfere in the slightest degree with the institution. IVe who are connected with the institution at this day, are to regard it as ftrmanent — jpcr'petual.