The voice of freedom. [volume], May 04, 1839, Image 1

About The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848

Image provided by: University of Vermont

                
THE VOII
FREEDOM.
ALLEN &, POLAND, Publishers. Published under the sanction of the Vermont Anti-Slavery Society. CHAUNCEY L. KNAPP, Editor.
VOLUME I. ' MOH'TPEIilER, VJDKiHOIVT, MAY 4, I 39. TV OS RE K IB. '
For the Voice of Frnedom.
Extract of an Address delivered at Richford,Vt
BV A. H. BAKER.
But let us advert to another event in the prog
ress of our cause, which shows-its triumphant sue
cess. I mean the abolition of the West India ap
prenticeship system. It seems evident that God is
removing every obstacle that can servo as an ex
cuse for the continuance ol slavery.
While many have advocated gradualism as th
safest and most practicable many have insisted
upon colonization, or a complete removal of th
colored people many have cried out that it would
be unjust to the master to take away his slave with
out remuneration many have shuddered with th
frightful apprehension that slaves would resent the
gut of Ireedom by cutting their masters' throats
and many with bowels of compassion, have feared
that the slaves would be unable to take care c
themselves, and would be worse off if made free
God has wrought out as it were on the blackboard
of this world s history, an example of gradualism
and immediatism, which settles the point ; and
holds it up to the gaze of nations, as a star
of
guidance to the wise of mankind.
The abolitionists of Great Britain for a Ion
time had been laboring for the overthrow of slave
ry in the West Indies, and with the same obsta
cles as ours in their way fears, slanders, prophe
cies of evil, &c. Even the islands threatened to
'secede' from the British government and throw
themselves upon the United States, unless the in
terference of abolitionists with their ' peculiar in
stitulions' was stopped. At length the Impcria
Parliament passed an act to abolish W. I. slavery
on the 1st ot August, lbJl. It was not, howev
er, to be immediate and full emancipation. The
slaves were to workG years longer for their mas'
ters as apprentices.
This was intended partly as a partial remunera
tion to the master, and partly as a course of prepa
ration, or fitting the slave for freedom. At the
same time, the colonial Legislatures were allowed
II they chose, to adopt immediatism. Mark the
wisdom of God in this. Two of the islands chose
to emancipate fully, at once, as a matter of politi
cal expediency, while the remainder chose gradir
nlism in the form of the apprenticeship. The Brit
ish abolitionists, fioding that Hie latter system was
liable to numerous abuses, and was but another
name for slavery, which they had all along sus
peeled, exerted themselves for its overthrow.
titions were poured into parliament from all parts
ot the kingdom for the abolition ol the apprentice1
ship on the 1st of August, 1838. Their exertions
did not succeed. Providence had ordered other
wise. The islands, that had adopted this system
finding that immediate emancipation worked so
much better was more profitable and that there
was no prospect of getting any further compensa
tion from the home government ; of their own ac
cord,, by their colonial Legislatures, abolished the
apprenticeship, tico years before its termination,
and declared theirislaves completely free on the 1st
of August, 1838. '
Thus, while abolitionists were disappointed in
not bringing the action of the British Parliament
to bear as they wished, God was bringing deliver
ance to the captive in a way which would tell an
hundred fold more in favor of the great work, as
it exhibits the united testimony of all the islands in
favor of immediate abolition: a testimony which
cannot fail to. exert an influence on surrounding
nations and although this was a measure of pol
icy, profit, and expediency, on the part of the Isl
ands, more than from any regard for the rights of
man, or the commands of Gcfl the result has
proved, that the abolitionists were right the fears
of their opponents groundless their prophecies
false and the wisdom of God unbounded.
The question is often asked What have aboli
tionists accomplished with all their high-sounding
pretensions? We answer in part, by pointing to
the 800,000 liberated slaves in the West Indies.
And while we rejoice at this great transformation,
let us remember the millions of our own country
men in bonds, and with hands strengthened, and
hearts encouraged, take hold of the work with re
newed vigor. And why is it, with all this light
blazing round us, tliat we have so much opposition
to encounter ? And above all, why is it that the
greatest difficulty in the minds of some, is the fear
of wronging, not the slave, but the slaveholder!
Surprising as this sympathy may appear, yet ma
ny argue, that slaveholders, relying on the consti
tution and laws of their country, may have invest
ed their whole property in slaves ; now to go and
liberate these slaves without paying for them,
would impoverish the masters, and be a great in
justice to them.
However much we may be opposed to injustice
.of any kind, yet we cannot look upon this mole
hill as of sufficient magnitude to hide from our
view the vast mountains of injustice and oppres
sion, which have for ages been heaped upon the
lave ; nor can we believe, that all these wrongs
must continue to multiply, with all their attendant
miseries, for ages without end, rather than per
chance a few slaveholders may have purchased
slaves and have not robbed them of their earnings
long enough to regain their purchase money, and
thus lose a few dollars.
But why such a flood of sympathy for the slave
holder in this imaginary case ? The child is not
born yet, much less has it ' fell into the oven and
burned to death.' Reserve your tears ; when this
circumstance occurs it will be soon enough to
weep over it; nor need wc expect that mankind
will go without bread, for fear of such an accident.
J3ut seriously Are the slave's sufferings nothing?
Are they not exist in,.' realities? Have not his
wrongs accumulated with every moment of hisex-
isience i is no nui rwiwi-u ...
nression ? And what atonement will be made to
liim? What recompense of reward given him?
Oh ! he will be made a Jree man ! He will own
himself! He will no longer be a slave ! True.
But, is this a recompense n reward a compen
sation ? Not a whit of it. It is only giving him
himself! which is his birthright. Emancipation
is a mere acknowledgement of his rights and ceas
ing to rob him of them by law. It does not give
him a farthing of all the wages of his life! It does
not remunerate him for the brutal assaults on his
body. It does not renew in him the strength worn
out in years of hopeless toil. It does not raise
the dead from their graves and from the depths of
the sea, and restore them to youthful vigor, to their
homes and country,
Why cannot these delicate sympathies these
fertile imaginations, realize the slave's condition
and feel for his wrongs, and ' remember those in
bonds:' even though they are guilty of a colored
skm : as well as to have all their concern taken
up by such imaginary injustice to the master ?
But admitting, for the sake of argument, that
the difficulty is as great as it is thought to be.
How shall it be remedied f bhall those who have
never been guilty of slavery be compelled to pay
tor the slaves ? 1 his certainly would be injustice
Shall the guilty pay ? This would be taking out
of one pocket to put in the other, and would not
promote justice in the least. What then? will
you appeal to the charities of the world for contri'
tuitions to buy the slaves ? Is it probable that
money could be raised in any way to purchase the
three millions? INot at all. Jiut it is idle to
talk of these absurdities. The living reality of
slavery is about us. 1 he slave stands before us
with uplifted, manacled hands, and with flowing
tears, appeals to our philanthropy. ' Am 1 not a
man and a Brother?' For what crime ami
chained in bondage ? Why am I condemned to
hopeless servitude ? Why must 1 cringe beneath
the driver's lash, and toil 'neath scorching suns to
administer to the luxuries of my fellow ? Why
was 1 torn from my family and sold like a beast ?
Why do the fruits of my labor only serve to nil
the coffers of my master, and enable him to add
to the number and sufferings of his slaves ? Oh !
maddening thought! Have I not an immortal
mind ? and must it be forever chained? Is there
not a God of justice? Will He not come down
and deliver me, and judge those who have oppres
sed the stranger and kept back the hire of the la
borer ?
And will ice not hear this cry ? Will we not
leal his wounds? Or will we pass by like the
Priest and the Levite on the other side, and at last
cry ourselves and lmd no mercy f Do you en
quire what you can do ? I ask, and let the question
come home with the lightning's power to the
breast of every individual. What are you doing,
directly or indirectly, to encourage slavery to sus
tain and keep it alive to tread down the colored
man in the dust, and bind his soul in chains of
darkness ?
If wc can ascertain that any act of ours tends
to produce these effects ; it follows, that we are
morally" guilty as long as we persist in that act ;
and are so far responsible for its consequences. It
will be a long time before slavery will come down
by our efforts, if we build it up with one hand as
fast as we pull it down with the other.
I hen one great thing which we must do, is to
cease doing those acts which brace and support the
system, and draw a veil over its enormities. Now
what are these acts ? The consumption of the
products of slave labor the apologies for slave
holders the honors heaped upon them the crin
ging servility to them ' the base bowing of the
nee to the dark spirit ol slavery the general
voice of community in opposition to immediatism
the persecutions of abolitionists the wicked
prejudice against color, and last though not least,
the christian fellowship with the whole system and
its supporters are no doubt among the most prom-
nent.
Want of time will forbid a discussion of all
these points. But there is one branch of chris
tian fellowship which has, I believe.a very impor
tant bearing on the subject I refer to the rcceiv-
ng into the ' treasury of the Lord the contribu
tions of slaveholders. Here, I am aware that I
am treading on ground that may seem forbidden
to many, and that I may be accused of rashness,
denunciation, Sec. But I believe that all who sin-
ojrely desire to wash their hands from all connec
tion with slavery, will give me their candid and
patient attention, while I investigate the point.
Abolitionists have maintained that the system ot
slavery is a system of theft and robbery, and of
course that slaveholders are manstealers and man
robbers, and, as many are excusing themselves for
standing aloof on account of this ' hard language,'
it becomes our duty to ascertain whether the cir
cumstances or truth of the case, warrant the use of
such terms ; and if so, the next question is not,
whether it is right but whether it is expedient
What says the Bible f He that stealeti a man
and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he
shall surely be put to death.' This shows that
there is such a crime as manstealing, and it is one
of those great crimes, which, like murder, Sec. were
punished with death, by the command of the great
Jehovah. INow what is stealing a man? Is it
pouncing upon him in the dead of night, on the
coast of Africa tearing him from all he holds
dear confining him in the accursed slave ship
conveying him to some foreign land, and there
compelling him to toil amidst countless lashes and
groans, without pay and without hope ? No doubt
you will readily admit that this is manstealing.
Now I ask, Is it any less criminal in the sight of
uod or any less an outrage against humanity, to
steal a man from himself in America from his
very birth, and all hi3 natural life or buy or sell
or even keep a person thus stolen ?
When God created man, He stamped ' His own
image' upon him. " In the likeness of God made
he him." He was, as God's representative on
earth, to have dominion over the fish the fowl
the cattle over nil the earth and over every creep
ing thing, &c. but not over man, this ' noblest
work' of creation so highly favored and distin
guished. The Law nnd curse of God, was de
signed to protect ' his own image' from base en
slavement and wanton violation. Mark the pen
alty ! And lust somo might quiet their conscien -ces
with the belief that they were innocent of stca'
ing a man or selling him, as they only ' keep slaves
for their good' the text quoted goes further and
adds ' or if he be found in his hand' making
the latter condition as criminal as the stealing or
selling. It would seem that this was intended to
cover the whole ground, so that no evasion would
be possible. And I ask, Is there a slave in Amer
ica that would not come under some of these
heads?
Man oannot hold property in man without a
wanton violation of God's law, and an insult, an
outrage against God himself, in his ' likeness,' 'im
age,' and 'spirit.' It is unnatural and inconsist
ent with the design of his creation, with his free
agency, and accountability. Every slave in the
United States is a stolen person, stolen from him
self or herself, the only rightful owner ! How did
slavery originate here ? Was it not by stealing Af
ricans? And was not this a wanton violation of
all right and justice ? Did it not rob them of their
all? Yea, of country, home, friends, wives and
children ; and indeed of their descendants as long
as slavery curses the earth? Those who are born
in slavery are as reallv wronged as were their an
cestors, who were stolen from Africa. They are
stolen ' property,' and those who keep them are
manstealers. Slaveholders know that their slaves
and their ancestors were stolen. By retaining
them in bondage they consent unto the original
theft. ' As your fathers did, so do you.'
Much has been said ol our want pf chanty to
the slaveholder. That they ought not to be blam
ed for the system, which was ' introduced by their
ancestors,' and ' entailed upon them,' &c. In an
swer to this, we merely point to Matthew 23 : 29
30. " Wo unto you scribes and Pharisees, Hypo
crites ! because ye build the tomb3 of the proph
ets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
and say, If toe had been in the days of our fathers
we would not have been partakers with them in
the blood of the prophets," Sec.
A thief by retaining stolen property any length
of time, never becomes legally, or morally entitled
to it. On the contrary, the true owner thereof
ias a right to take it wherever he can find it, and
lias a just claim for damages, and the punish
ment of the offender. That person who retains
by force, property, or the product of property,
which he knows to be stolen, and knows who is
the owner thereof; whether he actually commit
ted the theft or not, is an accomplice. And is not
the accomplice as bad as the thief? Yea, is he not
a very thief and a robber ?
1 he slaveholder takes all the slave's earnings !
and not content with this, takes his children!
his wife ! and the poor slave himself! He takes
all this by lorce, with no other right, but might.
and power, and compels the poor slave, through fear
of the torturing lash, and through fear of death
even, to labor unrequited ! Do you doubt it ? What
would be the effect if the slaves should utterly re
fuse to work ? Whips, chains, tortures, imprison
ment, and death, would be put in requisition to
compel them. Remember that in some states, if
the 'slave dies by moderate correct Hon .the mur-
deier goes unpunished by law! And, also, if a
slave strikes a white man, no matter what the prov
ocation, the punishment is death ! And these laws
are not dead letters ; they are put in force ! This
is legalizing robbery and murder with a ven
geance ! Uut go lurther. A refusal to labor on
the part of the slaves as a body, would be deemed
an insurrection, and straightway the United States'
troops must be called out to restore order. Blood
must necessarily flow, nnd the norrors af servile
ar would darken the land, unless, like the vic
tim of midnight robbery, the slaves, through fear
of death, and to save life, part with their rights,
and submit to degrading servitude. WE are con-
titutionally bound to assist in this diabolical rob
bery, and who. of us would be willing to shoulder
a musket and march to the south, and imbrue our
hands in the blood of slaves struggling for liberty,
and compel them tamely to submit to the nameless
horrors of slavery. No wonder the south dreads
the spread of abolition sentiments, as much as she
wishes to continue the system, for one must con
sume the other.
In case any of this human 'property' should take
legs and run away, law compels us to become an
accomplice and give it up not to its owner ! but to
the man who -car prove that he has actually rob
bed or stolen it from its owner! How contrary
is this to justice, or to the word of God.
" Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the ser
vant who is escaped from his master unto thee
He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that
place which ho shall choose, in one of thy gates
where itliketh him be3t. Thou shalt not oppress
him. Who will not clear himself from all par
ticipation in this complicated, legalized, man-robbing,
and God-dishonoring system of wickedness?
Jiut to return. Having thus shown, as I trust sat
isfactorily, that the system of slavery is a system
of manstealing, a crime of that deep crimson
which is denounced by the Bible as worthy the
punishment ot death and that wc are involved in
its support, and that in using these terms, we do
not exceed the bounds of truth: It remains a ques
tion as 1 said before, whether the use is expedient
' Some things are lawful that are not expedient.'
We believe duty is the guide to expediency, and
the commands of God, obligatory as rules of duty,
The Bible affords us ample condemnation of sfa
very, and a safe example ; and in using its lan
guage ; or obeying its precepts, by endeavoring to
1 break every yoke,' and loose every band of oppres
sion, as we would wish, if we were ' bound with
those-in bonds,' that others would do unto us ;
we transgress no rules of expediency, and are do
ing no more than we are bound to do, by the pre
cept ' Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.'
Believing this, need we go about to invent a set
of terms that will sound soft in the ears of the
guilty, and bo as ' pillows,' or ' rotten rags,' ' un
der the armholes' of his conscience, to keep the
cords of truth from galling as we draw him out of
the deep pit of slavery ? May we not be satisfied
to use those terms which God himself has used,
even though thev chafe and cut to the quick ? Or
shall we ' daub with untempered mortar ?'
What reason can be assigned, why we should
not tell the world in what light wc view slavery,
so plainly, as to leave no doubt of our sentiments
and abhorrence ?
We have beon taupht and accustomed to look
for correct principles, and pure, universal love for
mankind, among the followers of Htm, who has
said ' If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye
shall be free indeed.' But when instead of this,
we find ' eminent divines' defending slavery from
the Bible ! Brother making merchandize of broth-
er ! Christians selling the 'imago of God' for
money ! making slaves ! of the Brother and sis
ter and mother' of the Lord Jesus ! whoso name
is ' written in their forehead ;' we are driven to
the alternative of believing, either that the Bible
is a fable, a,nd the christian religion false ; or that
thoso professors of its principles, who, in this en
lightened age, oppose the discontinuance of slave
ry, and withhold the hire of their laborers who
' reap down their fields,' are wofully corrupt, and
destitute of religion. What can we expect, but
that HE to whom 'all power is given in Heaven
and Earth,' will say, ' Inasmuch as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these my brethren' In
asmuch as ye have made slaves of my flock chain
ed body and soul m bondage' Ye have done it
unto ML !' ' Depart from me, ye workers of in
iquity' ' I never knew you !'
Hence, in view of these awful considerations
in view of the vital importance of the subject, with
its danger and guilt, abolitionists have depicted
its triglitlul colors and its tremendous responsib
ties. And they have done this in sorrow, in grief
and in love ; tremblingly alive to the dearest rights
of man, the purity of religion, the welfare of mil
lions, and the honor of God. It is such faithful
reproof which gives offence, and though prompted
by the most unbounded philanthropy, and the pu
rest benevolence, the blow is warded off, and the
conscience soothed, by calumniating the motives
ol the reprover ! 1 he slaveholders feel themselves
to be sleeping over the pent up fires of a volcano.
Guilt prompts the feeling, but covetousncss and
pride forbid a removal from the danger. Thev
dream of daggers and pistols, and start up with
alarm. An accusing conscience warns them of
justice but avarice and luxury stifle the monitor.
In addition to the beliel that slavery is a sin
against God and man, abolitionists have gone up
on the principle that slaveholders are men, and
have the feelings, consciences and susceptibilities
of men that these, though blunted and dormant,
can be moved that they are sensitive on points
touching their honor; that as long as the world
at large does not condemn slavery, nor reprove
and rebuke the slaveholder; his conscience is
comparatively at rest, nor does he feel debased in
the eyes of mankind. But let the world sing in
the cars of slaveholders its utter abhorrence of the
system, and refuse any fellowship with them in
their unfruitful works of darkness keep aloof
from them as they would from a band of robbers ;
and they would shrink back within themselves,
conscience would do its work, and they would abol
ish the system. Hence the pointed rebukes of ab-
olitionists, their strong language, their efforts to
abolitionize the North, Sec. And what has pre
vented our efforts from having their desired effect?
Simply because of the thousands of pro-slavery
editors, politicians, merchants, and clergymen, who
unite to misrepresent nnd slander us, who 'cry
peace, peace, when there is no peace' who array
the slaveholding christians ! (!) in their front rank,
and vehemently cry out ' You must not aim a
dart at christians' ' you will destroy the peace of
the church' ' you will cause infidelity to triumph.'
While on the other hand those entrenched in their
zeal, triumphantly exclaim You cannot wound
us until you first remove these men of God.'
We therefore call upon apologizing proslavitcs,
and upon all who say ' it is of no use to address
the slaveholders, to stand out of the way, and let
their consciences be reached, and see if they are
invincible to the appeals of God and man in be
half of the oppressed see if they will not be
moved by the world's withering scorn see if thev
are mere soulless, heartless, petrifactions of men.
Yea, we call upon them to come up and help us
build the wall of freedom, nnd labor no longer to
pile up rubbish in the way, or pull down the wall.
Is not this a great work ? A work which affects
ihe destiny of millions ? A work in defence of
the rights of man ? A work for the elevation of
men from mere chattels or things, to the proper!
dignity of freemen ? And who shall hinder us ?
Who shall prevent its final consummation ? With
these views of duty and expediency, I return to
the point. If then these premises are correct
which I have advanced as preliminaries, it follows
as a conclusion, that ' The American Board' or
any other ' Board,' by receiving into ' the treasury
of the Lord' the contributions of slaveholders, help
to quiet their consciences, and give countenance to
slavery, with all its attendant wickedness, crime
and wretchedness. And in proportion to the high
cnaracterot the .board lor benevolence and Chris
tianity; this support becomes so much the more
magnified and prominent as a main pillar to the
system.
Is this a staggering conclusion ? Pause and ex
amine it, for 'He that answereth a matter belore
he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.'
Prov. XVIII : 13.
Now supposing I meet a man present a pistol
at his head and rob him of his money, or coward
ly go in the night and steal his horse : and it be-
comes universally known. If I could purchase
the respect and connivance of community quiet
conscience secure my ill-gotten gain, and escape
punishment by giving a small portion of it for the
support of preaching, foreign missions, &c, would
I not gladly do it, and think it cheap enough too?
And supposing the man I had robbed should pre
sent himself to the trustees or agents, and prove
himself the owner of the money, and protest
against their receipt of it. Would he be thrust
aside, and my offering accepted, and myself ac
knowledged and treated as a good christian ? Let
it be understood that robbers can escape in this
way, and who would not be a robber? The sys
tem of slavery robs its millions of human beings,
not of hundreds and thousands of dollars merely,
but of their whole lives ! And here let me ask you
what sum of money, or. what consideration, would
induce you to become a slave for life, and entail
slavery upon all your posterity ? Would you rec
ommend the hired men of Vermont to change
their situation for the ' better oflV condition of the
southern slave ? And, to bring the subject closer
home let me ask, How would you feel, if, on your
return from your daily labor, you should find that
the kidnapper had been at your dwelling, taken
your children, your brothers and sisters, or the
partners ol your bosoms, chained thorn with n
gang of slaves and driven them to the far south,
to be scourged by the lash prostituted to their
lust, nnd toil unrequited? Methinks you shudder
at this, and cry ' God forbid ! I had rather follow
them to their graves.' You would not think their
immediate emancipation absurd, or any too soon.
Nor would you look upon such a circumstance
with the same cool ii)diflbrencoaupon the oppres
sed black. Nor yet would you coin promise with
the wretches who had thus wrested from you your,
nearest friends, on the condition that a fraction
of their earnings should be contributed for benev
olent objects, and you be dumb to all complaint or,
remonstrance.
To kid nap your child would be no greater mor
al crime than to kidnap the poorest colored man
thousands of whom are kidnapped from their birth.
Bring then the case home. Let your child be the
victim. I do not ask you what your efforts would
be. They would be immediate. But the wretch-i
edness of your soul would not approach to that
deep-toned agony of the slave parent whose chili
dren are torn from him, until you had made every
effort which the utmost vigilance of parental feel
ing could prompt, and had set down in the mid
night blackness of despair. I look upon man-,
stealing, or manrobbing, or American slavery by
any name, to be as much more heinous "in thai
sight of God, than common theft or highway robi
bery, as the immortal soul of man is of more val-,
uo than dollars and cents.
The crime of robbing a man of himself, and fami
ily, and all his earnings, and loading him with all
the trappings of slavery, is immeasurably greater,
and incomparably baser; and were vour wifo
or child the victim, you would feel this truth in all
its force. How would it seem for a slaveholder
to come forward with a portion of his slave prod
uce as an offering or donation, and publicly make
a prayer like this. O Lord! I thank thee for our
blessed ' patriarchal, ' domestic institution,' which
' is the corner stone of our republican edifice,' and
enables me to live on the ' hire' withheld from my
'laborers,' kept back from them by fraud, and by
that superior power with which thou hast so mer
cifully endowed me; and as a token of my grati-.
tude for this peculiar privilege, I present this small
sum for the furtherance of the spread of the glo
rious gospel among all nations except our slaves.
For, O Lord ! thou knowest it would excite them
to insurrection if they were allowed to read thy
word. And although thou hast ' witnessed their
groans' their muttered curses and writhing hearts.
as they have been driven by the lash to their dai
ly toil, and hast cursed those who use ' their neigh?
bor's service without wages' yet as ' they are a
lazy vicious set,' and will not work without being
compelled by fear of punishment, and as ' they
love me so well' that ' they would not be free If
they could ; notwithstanding their frequent un
grateful attempts to run away from mv kind care.
and as ' they would cut our throats' if we set them,'
free. I beseech thee O Lord ! to bless this contrir
bution ; make it an instrument of much good, and
pardon us from all the woes threatened in thy word
to those who rob and oppress thy poor, and blot out
from thy remembrance all the cruelties and iniqui
ties the millions of stolen persons sacrificed
lives, and damned souls, that have been numbered
under this system of slavery before this offering ia
brought ! And thy name shall have all the glory
forever. Amen !
Abominable as this carricalure may seem, yet I
appeal to your judgment and ask, is it not correct?
Can a slaveholder present his contribution and
pray over it in the words of truth, conformably to
the facts of the case, arid to the word of Ood.and
agreeably to the dictates of his own conscience,
without making such a prayer ? And would Goc
bless him, unless he ' break off his sins by l igh-i
teousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to
the poor?'
The contributions of slaveholders ore the.frqitsj
of the unrequited toil, coerced from slaves by cxw-r.
cities unnumbered, nccompanied with their tears,
and groans, and blood. The reception of their
donations into the christian treasury, affords then
the highest countenance in the world. It is au
thorizing them to rob the poor, to give to the Lord !
and saying to them go on : use " thy neighbor's
service without wages," and instead of giving him,
for his work, give vs a portion of the spoil, and
we will endorse your character ; we will join,
hands with you in this wickedness ; we will apol-s
ogize for you ; we will testify to yp.ur unbounded
benevolence your christian charity your uni
versal philanthropy your love for the heathen
your desire for the spread of the gospel and the
conversion of the world. And although you have
robbed God's poor, and your offerings are the price
of their blood, yet we are not so superstitjpus of
conscientious as were those wicked chief priests
who put our blessed Lord to death, and thought
it " not lawful" to put the " thirty pieces of silver''
into the treasury. We will snake hands with,
you in this iniquity, and cover it with a veil of
charity ! We will accept of the sop, and sanctify
the deed ! Is not this swallowing the camel 1,
But perhaps some may ask, is it not better that
slaveholders should give their money in aid of
missions, Sec. than to expend it in the purchase of
slaves ? I answer, they have no right to do eh
ther, The precept of the gospel is, "Restore
what thou hast wickedly taken." Restore the
slave to himself. Give him back all that belongs
to him as nn immortal man, Render unto him
" that which is just and equal." The idea of giv
ing, necessarily implies receiving. We cannot
receive the fruits of robbery, knowing v. without
becoming an accomplice, and sharing in its guilt,
We nave no njnit to "do evil," or sanction evil.
that good may come," nor to "continue in (thel
sin" of countenancing slavery " that grace may a
bound" by its contributions into the Lord's treas
ury. "What concord hath Christ with Belial?'1
' What communion hath light with darkness?" ,
Would you consent unto theft, or robbery, for a
paltry share of its fruits offered you as a bribe to
silence ? Would you make'a common stock with
a band of midnight robbers ?
Charily leginsat home :" not by withholding
the Bible, education, clothing, wages, &c. from
the poor laboring slave and, to cuin a Inch char-!
ncler for liberality and benevolence, and cover n
the deep, damning stains tf this niint iinnmtu t....
cing a fraction of the monev thus withheld in.
lighten and christianize the heathen. This, nt
best, is a spurious, rotten-hearted charity; nnd
such a Bible-withhold intr. lilim-rnbliinn' rplivinn.
is one of the greatest abominations under the stui.
It literally makes " the house of God a den of
tnicves ; and such it will 'continue to be, unless
tho " buyers and sellers," nnd robbers of human
flesh, who " trade in the souls of men," who "sell
the righteous for silver nnd the poor for n pair of
shoes' are "east out." Tlja heathen never can.