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Page 34
Make provision then for liberated slaves, and cease, oh! cease, ye
fanatics and fools, to agitate the country by your clamor; and then
shall we behold the noble and generous sons and daughters of Kentucky
and Tennessee, conferring the boon of freedom on the African race,
within their borders. Missouri and Maryland will soon follow their
example; nor will North Carolina and Virginia long lag behind; South
Carolina will straggle long and hard, but she must ultimately yield;
and the soft zephyr of freedom will then fan the fair fields of
Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas; Louisiana will feel its refreshing
influence; and the Lone Star, (Texas), cannot long stand alone, in her
opposition, to the rights of man, and the impulsive calls of humanity.
The shades of Washington and Clay will then hover over the states of
Virginia and Kentucky, and around them will cluster, a convoy of
angels, and the spirits of the fathers of American freedom; all
watching with intense interest the great and godlike movement.
CHAPTER VIII.
I shall now proceed to show, that the holding of slaves is not
necessarily sinful under all circumstances; or in other words, that
the relation of master and slave is not, under all circumstances,
inconsistent with, or in opposition to the revealed will of God. In
the discussion of this question it will be necessary, first to glance
at the origin and history of African slavery. I am apprised of the
difficulties which I shall encounter in the investigation of this
subject; and I am by no means blind, or insensible to my own
incompetency; but I set out with the determination to look the subject
of slavery full in the face, and fearlessly to express my opinions,
regardless of consequences; at least so far as my own personal ease,
interest, or reputation is involved; I shall, therefore, take the
responsibility of openly expressing such opinions and views, as I
conceive to be in accordance with the Holy Bible, and leave
consequences to a just, wise and righteous God. To Him, and to Him
alone, am I responsible for what I write.
God in his infinite benevolence and wisdom, and for the manifestation
of his own glory, created man in his own image, and placed him in the
garden of Eden, holy and happy. And he commanded him, "of every tree
of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of
good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Adam disobeyed the high mandate
of heaven; he ate of the forbidden fruit, and thus he fell by
transgression from his high and holy estate. He was our federal head;
and he fell not alone, for on all his posterity fell the withering
curse of Almighty God. "Curst is the ground for thy sake." "Thorns and
thistles shall it bring forth unto thee." "In the sweat of thy face,
shalt thou eat thy bread, till thou return unto the ground:--for dust
thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." The posterity of Adam soon
forgot God. Gross wickedness soon covered the earth. Vile and
depraved, the descendants of Adam went forth, perpetrating every act
of wickedness, every abomination that the heart of man could devise.
The world was soon filled with brutality, lust, and violence. "And God
looked down upon the earth and behold it was corrupt." "And God said
unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me." "And behold I,
even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all
flesh." Righteous Noah and his wife, and his son's and his son's wives
were preserved in the ark; "and the winds blew, and the rains
descended and the floods came;" "and all flesh died that moved upon
earth;" and God said unto Noah, "go forth of the ark, thou and thy
wife, and thy sons, and thy son's wives with thee." And God said unto
Noah, "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."
The sons of Noah were Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and Ham was the father
of Canaan. And Noah drank wine and was drunken; and he was uncovered
within his tent; and Ham saw the nakedness of his father and told his
two brethren, Shem and Japheth; and they took a garment and covered
their father, without beholding his nakedness; "And Noah awoke from
his wine," and after being correctly informed as to the conduct of his
sons while he was intoxicated, "He said, cursed be Canaan; a servant
of servants shall he be unto his brethren."
We learn from the Sacred Record, that the curse of slavery fell on the
posterity of Ham in consequence of his dishonoring his aged father.
Every Bible reader must have noted the severe punishment of children,
under the Mosaic dispensation, for disobedience and disrespect to
parents. It appears to have been classed amongst the worst of crimes,
and death was the penalty. "Cursed be he," (said Moses on Mount Ebal,)
"that setteth light by his father or his mother." "Every one that
curseth father or mother, shall die the death." The children of Israel
were commanded to "stone a stubborn or rebellious son to death." "Honor
thy father and thy mother, that thy days maybe long in the land, which
the Lord thy God giveth thee," is one of the commands which was
delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai. Here is a command with a promise of
long life annexed to it on condition of obedience, and it is but a
fair inference, that those who disobey the command, will be cut off in
the prime of life. It appears that the punishment for disobedience to
parents, is the same under the gospel dispensation; for St. Paul says;
"Honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and
that thou mayest live long upon the earth." The language of Moses and
St. Paul suggests some solemn reflections, and I entreat my juvenile
readers to observe well the language; it is the voice of God that
speaks. Beware, lest you are brought to an untimely end, and the curse
of a sin-avenging God falls upon you. I cannot dwell on this subject,
but I entreat you, my young friends, to pause for a moment, and
reflect on the awful, the calamitous consequences of disobeying, or
otherwise dishonoring your parents. I must pass on.
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