{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_51371/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_51371","id":"gutenberg_51371","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51371","summary":null,"tags":["Antislavery movements -- United States","Category: History - American","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Politics","Slavery -- United States"],"text":"SLAVEHOLDING\n\nWEIGHED IN THE\n\nBALANCE OF TRUTH,\n\nAND ITS COMPARATIVE GUILT ILLUSTRATED.\n\nBY CHARLES FITCH.\nPastor of First Free Congregational Church, Boston.\n\nBOSTON:\nPUBLISHED BY ISAAC KNAPP,\nNo. 25, Cornhill.\n\n1837.\n\n\n\n\nSLAVEHOLDING, & c.\n\n\nIn order that we may understand the duties, which we owe to God and our\nfellow men, relative to the subject of slavery, it is necessary that we\nexamine the institution, in all its bearings upon the temporal and\neternal interests of the enslaved; and ascertain, as far as we are able\nto do so, the extent of the injuries which it inflicts. To aid my\nreaders in doing this is now my object.\n\nI do not propose however, to gauge this mammoth evil, and show you its\nexact dimensions; I fully confess to you in the outset, that I am not\nable so to do. That it is greater, in some of its bearings at least,\nthan any other evil that ever existed among men, and involves more guilt\nthan any other crime ever committed by men, I fully believe, and shall\nendeavor to show; still the evil has a magnitude which my powers cannot\ndescribe; and the guilt a blackness which can never be painted, except\nby a pencil dipped in the midnight of the bottomless pit.\n\nI am aware, that great complaint has often been made, of those, who\nhave endeavored to rouse the indignation of their fellow men against the\nwrongs inflicted on the poor slave, that they deal in unjust severity of\nlanguage. That they have at any time spoken more than the truth, I do\nnot believe--nor can I admit that they have dealt out severity and\npainted rebuke, in more unmeasured terms, than they have received them\nfrom their opponents.\n\nWhen I remember, too, the long and profound slumberings, even of\nChristians on this subject, while their brethren were groaning under all\nthe injuries, and cruelties, of iron-handed and steel-hearted\noppression; I cannot suppress the feeling, that it was necessary, that\nthat those who would arouse them, should break forth as in thunder\ntones, and gird up all their energies, to shake off the sloth in which\ntheir fellow men were bound. They had themselves but just awoke as from\na dream, and found that they had long been sleeping, as on the\noverhanging brink of a burning crater; and when they saw the whole\nmultitude of their fellow countrymen, still asleep in the same situation\nof fearful peril; who can wonder that they should cry out at the top of\ntheir voice, and resort to every possible expedient, to awaken those\naround them before it was too late? They heard the suppressed and\nterrific mutterings of the incipient earthquake below, and felt the\nground beneath them already giving way, what less could they do, than to\nlay about them with all their strength, in the use of the first\nexpedient, that seemed calculated to awaken and save? They had no time\nto devise a multitude of measures, and then choose from among them,\nsuch as would be most likely to satisfy those who were unwilling to be\nawaked. They must do something, and do it then. Previous measures,\nthough entered upon ostensibly for the purpose of arousing men from\nsleep, had only served as a lull-a-by. The oppressors of their fellow\nmen, were but becoming more secure in their claims of property in God's\nimage--the chains of the slave were getting more and more firmly\nrivetted, and the whole nation were fast binding themselves in a willing\nbondage to those, who found it conducive to their ease, and interest,\nand shameful indulgence, to be permitted to inflict all the wrongs they\npleased on their fellow men, with none to utter a single note of\nremonstrance or rebuke. It was seen that the press was bribed, and the\npulpit gagged, and the lips of the multitude padlocked, and nearly the\nwhole population of the free States bound, by chains either of\nprejudice, or interest, or ignorance, to the tremendous car of Slavery;\nand those who loved to have it so, had mounted the engine and were\ndriving at rail-road speed, withersoever they would; and when a few\nawoke, and saw the nation thus hastening to the precipice of ruin, to be\ndashed in the abyss below--what less could they do, than to cry\nSTOP--and that too, even at a pitch of remonstrance, which should\nsubject them to the imputation of fanaticism or madness.\n\nIt is not unlikely that some of my readers, may regard the language\nwhich I shall use as unreasonably severe; and yet I do not believe, nor\ncan I think that any man, after looking candidly at the subject, will\nbelieve that it expresses more than the truth.\n\nMy design is to draw a parallel between slavery and the evils which\nstand connected with it, and some of the worst evils and vices and\ncrimes, which are ever found among men, that we may see where slavery\nought to be placed in the catalogue of sins.\n\n1. Let us look at the Roman Catholic Church. Much has been said during\nthe last few years, of the efforts which were being made, to bring this\ncountry under subjection to the Pope of Rome. Now it is enough to make a\nman shudder from head to foot, though his nerves were iron, and his\nsinews brass, to think of the most distant possibility that such a thing\nmay ever take place.\n\nBut what are the evils which the Romish Church inflicts, upon such as\nare brought under her control?\n\nShe takes away the Bible from them, and gives them no opportunity, to\nlearn for themselves, the way to heaven. All the religious instruction,\nwhich the people can receive, must come orally, from the lips of the\npriest. Slavery does the same thing precisely, to all who come under its\ncontrol. They may not read the Bible, nor possess it--and can receive no\nreligious instruction, but what comes orally from the lips of the\npriest. The Roman Catholic Church depends for its perpetuity, upon the\nignorance of the common people. Slavery depends for its perpetuity upon\nthe ignorance, of the enslaved. Hence the great effort to shut out all\n_knowledge_. The Romish Church robs the laboring classes of large sums\nof money, to support its pope, and its cardinals, its bishops, and its\npriests, in idleness and luxury and profligacy. Slavery robs the\nlaboring class of their earnings, to support another set of men in the\nsame mode of life. The Romish Church confiscates the property, and\nconfines, and tortures, and puts to death, such as will not submit to\nher rule, whenever she has the power of doing so. Slavery does the same\nthings. Not only the property, the whole earnings, but the wife and\nchildren, the hands and feet and head, the whole body and soul of the\nenslaved, are confiscated, and appropriated to the use of men in power.\nSlavery also has tortures for its victims. It applies the scourge, until\nthe blood runs down their lacerated bodies in streams, and in a\nmultitude of ways inflicts its cruelties, upon such as will not yield an\nentire submission to its rule. If any refuse to submit longer to their\nsufferings, and flee, they are followed into their hiding places, and\nput to death. Others are whipped until death ensues; others are driven\nto hard labor without proper food or rest, until they sink down and die.\n\nBut the Romish Church does not, ordinarily, strip the whole multitude of\nits victims, of everything that bears the name of property, and take the\nownership of themselves out of their hands, and drive them by the\nscourge to hard labor from the beginning to the end of the year. She\ndoes not measure out to them their scanty pittance of food, nor name\nevery rag of clothing which they are permitted to put on, nor mock at\nall the relations of social life--stealing the child out of the father's\narms, or off the mother's breast; and the wife out of the bosom of her\nhusband; and separating them for life, depriving them of all the\nprotection of law, and subjecting them daily to every injury and\nsuffering, which avarice and passion and lust can load upon them. Nor\nare men, women and children under her influence, like cattle, raised to\nsell. Such enormities as these are left to be practiced by slavery; and\nto be legalized in the statute books of a people, who have boastingly\nregarded themselves, as the most thoroughly christianized nation on\nwhich the sun ever shines. I say then, there are points, in which\nslavery far outdoes the Romish Church in cruelty and guilt; binds\nheavier burdens, and more grievous to be borne, and lays them on men's\nshoulders, and will not touch them with a finger. Slavery also like\nRomanism, cries out against free discussion, and the liberty of the\npress, and does not hesitate to silence both, so far as she has the\npower; and to make every possible advance toward it where the power is\nnot possessed. Hence the outrages committed on peaceful citizens,\ntravelling in slaveholding States; and the efforts to put down\ndiscussion, in almost all the States which call themselves free. Hence\nthe destruction of Birney's press in Cincinnati, and the stones cast in\nthe streets of Troy, at the hero Weld, who, like his Master, goes about\ndoing good. Hence all the shameful outrages by which that place has been\ndisgraced, and the still more shameful neglect of the proper authorities\nto protect peaceful, respectable, high-minded, and pious men, in the\nexercise of the most noble of all their rights, that of publicly\nexpressing and defending their own opinions. Hence all the excesses\npracticed in this and several adjoining States, to lay the heaven-born\nspirit of liberty asleep, even among her own New-England hills. Hence\nthe long, loud, and repeated threats of dissolving the Union, which\nSouthern men have sent up on our ears, and which even some of our\nGovernors have echoed back, in declarations that it is felony for a man\nto speak what he thinks on a particular subject. Who doubts, that\nslavery if she could, would go so far in locking up the opinions of men\nwithin their own breasts, as ever popery went in the height of her\npower. She had already, well nigh, taken away the power of free\ndiscussion, from those who dare to assert the rights of their fellow\nmen, and would soon have completed the _work_.\n\n2. Let us look at Infidelity. The evil arising from this source is, that\nit blinds men respecting their duty to God and their own souls, and thus\nleads them down to hell. It urges itself, however, on no man by force. A\nspark of honest desire to know the truth and walk in its light, is at\nall times, abundantly sufficient, to show a man the sophistry and wilful\nunbelief by which such doctrines are supported; and to warn him of all\ntheir snares, and to guide his feet into the path of life. A spark of\nhonesty in the admission of the plainest principles of common sense,\nwill show a man that there is a God, that the Bible is a revelation of\nhis will, and that he will not let the wicked go unpunished, who refuse\nto repent. He, therefore, who suffers himself to be borne upon the\nshoals and rocks, and down the cataracts, or into the whirlpools of\nwilful unbelief, goes there warned of his danger, and with abundant\nmeans and opportunities for escape. But slavery wrests the Bible out of\nthe hands of immortal men by force. In the midst of a Christian land,\nwith the clear light of heaven shining all around them, they are shut\nout from this light, and left to grope their way in darkness down to\nhell. That I may not be suspected of declaring more than the truth on\nthis point, I will just give a specimen of the laws of slave States\ntouching this point.\n\n'A law of South Carolina, passed in 1800, authorizes the infliction of\ntwenty lashes, on every slave, found in an assembly, convened for mental\ninstruction, held in a confined or secret place, although in presence of\na white.' That this cuts them off, and was designed to cut them off from\nall means of mental instruction, nobody doubts; for who in that State is\npermitted to give slaves mental instruction in a public place? 'Another\nlaw, imposes a fine of a hundred pounds, on any person who may teach a\nslave to write.' 'In North Carolina, to teach a slave to read or write,\nor to sell or give him any book, [the Bible not excepted,] or pamphlet,\nis punished with thirty-nine lashes, or imprisonment if the offender be\na free negro, but if a white, then with a fine of three hundred dollars.\nIn Georgia, if a white teach a free negro or a slave to read or write,\nhe is fined five hundred dollars, and imprisoned at the discretion of\nthe Court. If the offender be a colored man, bond or free, he may be\nfined, or whipped, at the discretion of the Court. A father therefore,\nmay not teach his own children, on penalty of being flogged.' 'This was\nenacted in 1829.' 'In Louisiana, the penalty for teaching slaves to read\nor write, is one year's imprisonment. In Georgia also, any justice may,\nat his discretion, break up any religious assembly of slaves, and may\norder each slave present to be corrected, without trial, by receiving on\nthe bare back, twenty-five stripes with a whip, switch, or cowskin.' 'In\nSouth Carolina, slaves may not meet together, before sunrise or after\nsunset, for the purpose of religious instruction, unless a majority of\nthe meeting be of whites, on penalty of twenty lashes well laid on. In\nVirginia, all _evening_ meetings of slaves, at any meeting-house, are\nunequivocally forbidden.' Of course they may not meet in the day time,\nfor then they must labor. Possibly they may on the Sabbath, but their\nopportunities of doing it even then, are few and far between.\n\nYou see, therefore, the strenuous efforts which are made by legislative\nenactments, to shut out all light from the mind of the slave, and\nsurround him with a thick impenetrable darkness, in the midst of which\nhe must live and die; and from which his eye never can open, till death\nfrees him from the grasp of his oppressor. I am aware, that the\nprivilege of giving oral religious instruction to slaves is, to some\nextent, granted, and that some slave masters do pretend to teach their\nslaves the truths of religion. But what is the amount of all this? A\nwriter for the New York Evangelist has, some months since, given us what\nhe terms 'sketches of slavery from a year's residence in Florida,' in\none number of which, he speaks on this very point. He had conversed with\nslaveholders on the subject. One man thought it a very fine thing to\ngive slaves religious instruction. 'I called my slaves together,' said\nhe, 'one Sabbath day, _the only time which I have been able to get this\nseason!!!_ and read to them the account of Abraham's servant going to\nseek a wife for Isaac. I took occasion from this, to speak to them of\nthe integrity of this servant--what an amount of property was committed\nto his care, how faithfully he watched over it, how careful not to\npurloin any of the rich jewels to himself, how anxious to return at the\nappointed time.' 'I think,' said this slaveholder, 'that religious\ninstruction must be decidedly beneficial.' Another master with whom I\nconversed, continues the writer, believed nothing about giving religious\ninstruction to slaves. He regarded it as all a farce. 'There is no man,'\nsaid this slaveholder, 'who will read the whole Bible to his slaves. If\nI recollect right, there is something in the Bible which speaks of\n_breaking every yoke, and letting the oppressed go free_; and there is\nno master,' continued he, 'who will read _that_ to his slaves, not even\nyour good Methodists; and if we must not read the whole Bible, we may as\nwell read none at all.' Such were the views of slaveholders.\n\nI have somewhere read the following. Whether authentic, or not, it\nillustrates my point, and expresses, I am fully persuaded, very much of\ntruth. It was the remark of a slave, after the master had been reading\nthe Bible to him and his companion. 'Massa bery _good_ Christian; him\nbery _good_ Christian _indeed_. Read de Bible to us; but him always read\nde same chapter, what says, servants, obey your massas in all tings.'\n\nHere, unquestionably, we have just about the truth, on the subject of\ngiving religious instruction to slaves. Multitudes never attempt it, and\nthose who do, are sure to do it for their own interest, rather than for\nthe good of the slave. That there are exceptions, I am willing to admit;\nbut all that I have said, exists unquestionably, to a wide extent, and\nto an extent provided for by law. I am aware that the gospel is preached\nto some extent, and that some truly embrace it; but these are the\nexceptions, and not the general rule. My claim is, that slavery destroys\nmore souls among the slaves by keeping the Bible away from them, than\ninfidelity could do in its place, if they were permitted to have the\nBible and read for themselves; and it seems to me that this is a\nposition which no honest man will dispute.--Slavery also destroys souls\nby force, when infidelity could only decoy, and therefore leave an\nopportunity for escape.\n\n3. Let us compare slavery with the making and vending of ardent spirits.\nDo not suspect me of a wish to palliate, or extenuate the evils, or the\nguilt of this abominable business. I have often dwelt on these, until my\nsoul has been pained within me, and until I am well persuaded that all,\nand far more than all which has ever been said or _dreamed_ on that\nsubject, is strictly true. I am aware too, that a highly gifted mind,\nhas, some years since, drawn a parallel between intemperance and the\nslave-trade, in which he has endeavored to show, that the latter is an\nevil of the least magnitude. But I am comparing now the business of\nmaking and vending ardent spirits, with slavery as it exists at this\ntime in our country.\n\nIt has often been said with unquestionable truth, that from three to\nfive hundred thousand miserable men in our nation, are confirmed\ndrunkards, and that from thirty to fifty thousand go down every year to\na drunkard's grave; and inasmuch, as the drunkard cannot inherit the\nkingdom of God, they must go down to the depths of hell. A most fearful\ndestruction this indeed. But instead of five hundred thousand, there are\nnot less than two millions two hundred forty-five thousand in our\ncountry, held in the darkness of slavery. How many of these, think you,\nhave sufficient light to guide their feet to heaven? Shall we say one\nhalf? Who can believe it? But if this be admitted, there are still more\nthan twice the number shut up by slavery, in a state of darkness that\nleads to hell, than have ever, by any man, been estimated in the ranks\nof intemperance. Is it not most clearly a truth, then, that slavery\ndestroys more souls, than the making and vending of ardent spirit? When\nwe consider, too, that slavery seizes its victims by force, and binds\nand rivets chains upon them which they cannot throw off, and thus leaves\ntheir souls unprovided with any of the means of grace, to die without\nhope; and that strong drink leaves men abundant opportunities to escape\nif they will; who will not say that slavery is unspeakably more to be\ndreaded: that it is an evil of far greater magnitude than the other? The\nintemperate man may at any time, break away from his bondage, give up\nhis cups, enjoy the means of grace, embrace the truth and live. But the\nvictim of slavery, shut out from all true knowledge of God, deprived by\nlaw of all opportunity of learning his Maker's will, or of studying the\nway of salvation by Christ; what can he do, but remain in his darkness\nand sin, until the darkness of eternal night closes in upon his\nbenighted soul, and he is left for eternity to suffer the consequences\nof unpardoned sin. True, the guilt of him who dies the willing victim of\nintempesance, must be greater than that of the poor benighted slave, and\nhis future punishment consequently more severe, but if slavery holds\ntwice the number of victims exposed to hopeless reprobation, then it\ndestroys twice the number of souls, and is therefore the greatest evil.\n\n4. Let us compare slavery with theft and robbery. Let me give a case for\nillustration. You are a husband and a father. You commenced the world a\npoor man, but by hard labor and economy, you have collected together a\nsum of money, which, you believe, if well invested, will place you and\nyour family in circumstances of respectability and comfort. From\nstatements made to you, or from your own observation, by going upon the\nground, you come to the conclusion that your money can be more\nprofitably appropriated, by removing to the West. Accordingly you\nconvert every thing you possess into cash, and make all the necessary\narrangements for a removal with your family. On the night previous to\nyour intended departure, a thief enters your house, takes possession of\nall you have, and makes off, and you never hear of it more. Or suppose\nyou are already on your journey, and after many days of fatiguing\ntravel, find yourself near the place of your destination; when you are\nmet by the highwayman, who, with a pistol at your breast, robs you of\nyour last farthing.--Now I suppose this would be a case, where theft and\nrobbery would stand out in their worst features. It would be a trying\ncase indeed. After years of toil, to gain something for yourself and\nhousehold, you are in a moment pennyless, with your destitute, needy\nfamily upon your hands. All you can do, is again to betake yourself to\nhard labor, to provide for those you love.\n\nBut suppose after all this, you were doomed to see your children torn\nfrom you, one after another, and sold under the hammer, to go you know\nnot where; to be subjected to the cruelty, and abuse, and outrage, of\nany monster into whose hands they might chance to fall; where you could\nnever see or hear from them more; and you left with no means of redress,\nto sit down beside your broken hearted wife, and mingle your tears and\nsighs and sobs with hers, with no prospect of relief until death. But in\nthe midst of it all, even the wife of your bosom, dear as your own\nheart's blood, is sundered from you, and sold forever from your embrace,\nand you at last go off under the hammer, to the highest bidder, and are\ndriven by the lash, to groan, and sweat, under long, long days of\nunrequited toil, with no relief till you die. This is slavery. It robs a\nman of all his earnings during his whole life. Labor as he may, sweat as\nhe may, he can never have a farthing to call his own. Just hear the laws\non this subject. 'In South Carolina a slave is not permitted to keep a\nboat, or raise and breed for his own benefit, any horses, cattle, sheep\nor hogs, under pain of forfeiture, and _any person may take them from\nhim_.' I ask, what is that but robbery--except it is unspeakably worse,\nbecause it is legalized--and the poor man has no means of redress? It is\nmade lawful for _any person_ to rob him, by the letter of the statute.\n\n'In Georgia, the master is fined thirty dollars for suffering a slave to\nhire himself to another, for his own benefit. In Maryland, the master\nforfeits thirteen dollars for each month that his slave is permitted to\nreceive wages on his own account. In Virginia, every master is finable,\nwho permits a slave to work for himself at wages. In North Carolina, all\nhorses, cattle, hogs, or sheep, that shall belong to any slave, or be of\nany slave's mark in this State, shall be seized and sold by the county\nWardens. In Mississippi, the master is forbidden under the penalty of\nfifty dollars, to let a slave raise cotton for himself, or to keep stock\nof any description.' Now where is the man under heaven, who would not\nsay, that such a system of legalized oppression, was infinitely worse\nthan theft or robbery, when practiced toward himself? And what, I ask,\nmakes the crime any less heinous, when practiced toward a colored man,\nthan it would be if practiced toward either of us? The poor slave feels\nsuch wrongs as deeply as we could, and groans under them as loudly, and\nsheds tears as profusely as we would do; but there he is, without means\nof redress. And in addition to all this robbery of everything in the\nshape of property; the poor slave is robbed of his children, and his\nwife, and robbed of himself--and has nothing left him, but a miserable\nexistence, subjected to the most cruel, heart-withering tyranny, that\nwas ever practiced by man on his fellow man, since this world has borne\nthe curse of its God. When the thief, or the robber, takes your\nproperty, you can repossess it whenever you can find it; or if not, you\ncan acquire more, and your wife, and children, and yourself, are still\nyour own. Theft and robbery are nothing compared with the wickedness of\nslavery. Make them as bad as you please, and they do not deserve to be\nnamed the same week. The difference between them is too great to be\ndescribed, too wide to be measured, too deep to be fathomed. The\nslaveholder who goes impenitent to hell, will find himself loaded down\nwith a weight of guilt and damnation, that will sink him out of sight of\nthe worst high-way robber that ever walked the earth. But you will say\nthe high-way robber is often guilty of murder. Well, and so is the\nslaveholder often guilty of murder--and this brings me to my next point.\n\n5. Let us now compare slavery with murder. Who does not know, that\noftentimes, when the poor slave can no longer endure the outrages\npracticed upon him, and flies, and takes to the woods, he is hunted down\nby dogs, and guns, and thus put to death, just for trying to escape.\nEvery body knows, that it is a thing of frequent occurrence. Put to\ndeath--just for trying to escape from his sufferings and his wrongs.\nAgain, it is a maxim with them, that at particular seasons, they can\nafford to work a set of hands to death, for the purpose of getting their\ncrops early to market, and thereby securing a much greater price. The\nwriter of sketches of slavery, from a year's residence in Florida,\nspeaks of this particularly, as coming under his observation while\nthere; and I have seen this fact referred to by other writers in public\nprint. They do not hesitate to sacrifice the lives of their slaves to\nhard labor, when it will increase their profits. Besides, the poor slave\nis often whipped until the result is death. Is not my point made clear,\nabundantly clear, that slavery is worse than murder? Would you not\nprefer to be met by a highwayman, and shot dead, rather than have your\nlife worn out on a slave plantation, toiling to enrich the hard-hearted\nwretch who had stripped you of all your rights? Would you not prefer\nthis to being whipped, and then laid away to die under the effect? And\nis not the wretch who inflicts death by such means, to enrich himself,\nmore guilty, than he who blows out the traveller's brains and seizes his\nmoney to enrich himself? Surely, my point needs no more illustration.\nSlavery _is worse_ than murder. But there is still this point to be\ntaken into the account. If a man shoots you dead by the way side, it is\nyour own fault if you do not go to heaven. You have the Bible, and the\ngospel. You know that there is a Saviour, and if you have not repented\nof your sins, and believed in him for salvation, you are without excuse.\nIf you lose your soul, the fault is your own. Though murdered--you might\nif you would, have been saved. But the poor slave is prevented from\nlearning the way of salvation while he lives, and then worn out with\ntoil, he dies and is lost forever. Surely I need not say more--what\nhonest man is not prepared to say that slavery is worse than murder?\n\n6. I come now, to a point, which, in the estimation of some, perhaps,\nought to be suppressed. But I am a servant of the Most High God, and to\nhim accountable; and as such, placed under solemn obligation to cry\naloud and spare not, and show this guilty nation its sins. This, with\nthe Lord's help, I will do. It is high time also, that our mothers, and\nour wives, our sisters, and our daughters, knew the sufferings and the\nwrongs of the poor defenceless female slave, that they may lift up their\nstrong cries to Heaven in her behalf.\n\nI wish, therefore, to compare slavery with fornication and adultery, and\nthe violation of female purity by force. And, my hearers, I do not ask\nyou to believe my naked assertion on this point, I will show you proof,\nas it has been my endeavor to do on every point previously considered.\n\nLook again at the laws. In Kentucky--'any negro, mulatto, or Indian,\n_bond or free, who shall at any time, lift his hand in opposition to any\nwhite person_, (mark the language) shall receive thirty lashes, on his\nor her bare back, _well laid on_, by order of the justice.'\n\nThis regulation, or something very much like it, is believed to be in\nforce in all the slaveholding States. Look now at the condition in which\nthis places the poor female. She is at the uncontrolled will of the\nmaster. He may order her, by fear of the lash, into any secret place\nwhere he pleases; the same fear of the lash, enables him to accomplish\nall the hellish purposes of his heart, and then, by the same means, he\ncan seal her lips in silence, that the crime be never divulged. During\nall this time, if she lift a hand against him, he can procure thirty\nlashes for her, to be well laid on, by order of the justice, in addition\nto all he pleases to inflict himself. Let us now just remember, that in\naddition to such a regulation, no person of color can be a witness\nagainst a white man in a court of justice, and you see the exact\ncondition of the poor female slave. There is nothing, so foul in\npollution, nothing so horrid in crime, but she may be driven by the\nlash, to be the victim of it, and she must not lift a hand in\nself-defence--and then she dare not divulge her wrongs, or if she does,\nthere is no power on earth, from whom she can gain any redress; or even\nprotection, against a repeated infliction of the same evils.\n\nIf slaveholders had framed laws for the express purpose, of placing the\npurity and virtue of their females entirely in their own power, they\ncould not have done it _more_ effectually, than it is now done. It would\nseem to be a system, framed for the very purpose, of giving them full\npower, to pollute by force, just as many as they pleased. At any rate,\nthey know the power is in their hands, and there are developements\nenough which show that they are not slow to use it.[1] There are a\nmultitude of facts on this subject, and I will just relate one or two,\nbecause I know them to be authentic.\n\nA particular friend of mine, who spent several years in a slave State,\ngave me the following as an occurrence, which transpired in the place\nwhere he resided, and at the very time of his residence there. A man,--I\nwill not say gentleman, and in truth I ought to say monster,--who had a\nwife and a family of grown up daughters, residing with him, had also in\nhis house a young female slave. This slave became the mother of a child,\nand it was a matter of public notoriety, that the head of the family was\nthe father of it. So barefaced had the thing become, that the man found\nit necessary to take some measures to get his shame, and the extreme\nmortification of his wife and daughters out of his mind.[2] He\naccordingly sold her for the southern market, and though it was with\nsome difficulty that he could persuade the purchaser to take the infant,\nhe at length did so, and the wretched mother, the victim of the master's\nbeastliness and abominable crime, was taken, or rather torn from the\nhouse, and borne away, literally uttering cries and shrieks of distress.\nNow I would like to know whether there is any language under heaven,\nthat will sufficiently set forth the guilt of such a wretch?\n\nThe following fact was related by a pious physician who resides in the\ncity of Washington. It came to me in such a way that I know it to be a\nfact.\n\n'There is,' said this physician, 'residing in this city, a young female\nslave, who is pious, and a member of the same church to which I belong.\nShe is a mulatto, and her complexion nearly white. One day, she came to\nme in great trouble and distress, and wished me to tell her what she\ncould do. She stated to me, that her master's son, was in the practice\nof compelling her whenever he pleased, to go with him to his bed. She\nhad been obliged to submit to it, and she knew of no way to obtain any\nrelief. She could not appeal to her master for protection, for he was\nguilty of like practices himself. She wished to know what she could do?\nPoor girl, what could she do? She could not lift a hand in self defence.\nShe could not flee, for she was a slave. She would be brought back and\nbeaten, and be placed perhaps in a worse condition than before. And\nthere she was, a pious girl, with all the feelings of her heart alive to\nthe woes of her condition, the victim of the brutal lusts of a dissolute\nyoung man; with no means of defence or escape, and no prospect before\nher, but that of being again and again polluted, whenever his unbridled\npassions should chance to dictate.\n\nPerhaps there is a mother here, who has a pious daughter, and I would\nlike to come into her heart, and ask what would be her feelings, if that\ndaughter were placed in such circumstances as these; or what would be\nthe feelings of that daughter, if she were thus bound down, to a\ncondition so much worse than death. I do solemnly believe that there is\nno adulterer under heaven, no fornicator, covered with a guilt so deep\nand damning, as the wretch that will pursue such a course of conduct as\nthat. Even the victim of seduction is but decoyed from the paths of\nvirtue, but here is a disciple of Christ, bound, and that too, by the\nlaws of the land, and laid, a helpless victim, on the altar of\nprostitution.\n\nHere then, is a crime punishable, under most Governments, with death,\nand the victim has power of redress, and certainly of escape from a\nrepetition of the outrage; but slavery places its victims where there is\nno redress, and no deliverance; and gives the slaveholder full power, to\nroll, and riot, upon the virtue and innocence of as many defenceless\nfemales as he pleases, with no power under heaven to call him to\naccount. I say again, if they had made their laws for the express\npurpose, of securing to themselves this power, they could not have done\nthe thing more effectually; and no man, who has ever seen or heard much\nof southern practices, is ignorant of the truth, that such things as I\nhave been relating, are the common occurrences of every day. O, when I\nreflect on this subject, I could almost pray for a voice like a volcano;\nand for words that would scorch and burn like drops of melted lava, that\nI might thunder the guilt of the slaveholder in his ears, and talk to\nhim in language which he _would_ feel. Who will say, that this system of\nslavery, under which no female, who has a drop of African blood in her\nveins, has any defence for her virtue, against any white man, even for\nan hour, and no possibility of escaping from pollution, is not\nunspeakably worse than fornication and adultery, or even the violation\nof purity by force, where there are laws to apprehend and punish for\nsuch a crime? Do not suspect me of a wish to palliate these vices. They\nwere never painted, in colorings too foul and loathsome; nor was their\nguilt ever portrayed in a blackness deeper than the reality--but I say,\nthe system of slavery is a thing fouler, blacker, guiltier still.\n\n7. But let us look again, and compare slavery with treason. Benedict\nArnold was a traitor. At a time, when his country was in great distress\nand difficulties, he formed the mad purpose, of delivering her over to\nthe will of her enemies; and did what he could, to accomplish his end.\nEvery breast in the land, burned with indignation against him--and, but\nfor his flight, he would have ended his days on a gallows.\n\nBut suppose he had accomplished his end, and the unjust laws against\nwhich our fathers fought and bled, had remained in full force upon us\nuntil now? I am bold to say, that we should not have suffered wrongs,\nthat ought to be mentioned, in comparison with the wrongs of the slave.\nThere was a heavy and unjust taxation, but it was not stripping us of\nall our earnings for life. There was a refusal, to give us a just\nrepresentation, in framing the laws, by which we were to be governed;\nbut it was not stripping us from all protection of law, and reducing us\nin that respect, to the condition of cattle or swine. It was not\nstripping us of all our rights, and robbing us of our children, and\nsubjecting our wives, our sisters and our daughters, to wanton and\npromiscuous violation, with no power to lift a hand in self defence, and\ndepriving us of the power of giving them protection. The husband or\nfather, if he be a slave, may look on, and see his wife or daughter\npolluted before his eyes, and all the laws of the land, are against his\nlifting a finger for their deliverance. He may toil ever so hard, during\nhis whole life, and he cannot be worth a farthing. The treason of\nArnold, had it prospered, would never have subjected us to such evils as\nthese. Besides, had we remained until this time British Colonies, other\nthings being as they now _are_, this evil of slavery would now have been\ndone away, and perhaps years ago. When I think of this, if I had not\nconfidence in the overruling Providence of God, I could almost weep,\nthat it did not seem best to the God of armies, to leave us under the\ncontrol of a power, that would have uprooted this destructive Bohon\nUpas, which is still throwing its broad branches of death and\ndesolation, over such wide spreading portions of our otherwise happy\nland. Sure I am, that Arnold's treason would never have made our land\ngroan under such woes, and send up to heaven such cries of distress, as\nare wrung daily from the breasts of the helpless millions whom our\nnation now enslaves. I say again, therefore, that the system of slavery,\nis unspeakably worse than treason. But I cannot pursue this parallel\nfarther. I have glanced at what men regard as the worst of evils and\ncrimes; but when weighing the guilt of slavery, we find that everything\nwhich we can place in the opposite scale, at once kicks the beam. It has\na weight of guilt attached to it, that can be balanced by the guilt of\nno other _crime_.\n\nThere is one more point to the thing, which I wish to name, as giving\nblackness and aggravation to its guilt, and then I have done. It is,\nthat multitudes of the professed disciples of Christ, come forward to\njustify the system of slavery, and to claim for it the sanctions of the\nword of God. Yes, this system of slavery, red as it is with crime, black\nas it is with guilt, and foul as it is with impurity, is called, even by\nprofessed Christians and Ministers, an institution of the Bible. Oh, it\nseems to me, that if the long suffering patience of a forbearing God,\nwas ever insulted beyond endurance, it must be, when the protection of\nhis authority is claimed, for the perpetuity of such a system as this.\nThere is no crime which it does not legalize--no sin which it does not\nprotect--no depth of impurity which it does not dig, and in which it\ndoes not permit vile men to wallow. And yet there are not wanting men,\nChristian men, and ministers who wait at the altar of God, who call this\nan institution of Heaven, and claim for it the authority of the Most\nHigh. I know that they would plead for slavery, without the abominations\nwhich I have named, and claim to look upon such crimes, and vices, with\nas deep an abhorrence as we.\n\nBut who cannot see, that slavery is the common mother of all this brood\nof hellish ills; in whose frightfully prolific womb they are conceived,\nand by whom they are brought forth. Slavery _itself_ is the thing to be\nreprobated? You must put the odious dam to death, or she will continue\nto multiply her infernal progeny, and send them abroad among us,\nprolific in woes. You cannot have slavery without its concomitant evils.\nI know men may be found, whose hearts have felt the power of the\nreligion of Christ, but whose moral sensibilities are not sufficiently\nawake, to lead them to obey God on this subject, to break every yoke and\nlet the oppressed go free, who claim that _they_ treat their slaves\nkindly, and that under such circumstances, slavery is justifiable; and\nthat moreover, they are not accountable for the crimes which other men\ncommit among their slaves, or for the wrongs which they practice upon\nthem. Kindness to an enslaved man! It is a contradiction in terms. You\nmight as well rob him of his all on earth, cut off his hands and feet,\nand bore out his eyes, and then take him into your house, and treat him\nkindly to make up for the wrong.\n\nThe slave, under the best circumstances, is the victim of robbery every\nday. Day by day, all his life, he is robbed of the fruits of his labor,\nthat it may go to enrich another. He has hands indeed, but he may not\nuse them for his own benefit. Feet he has, but they may not bear him\nwhere _he_ would go. They must go and come at the master's bidding, and\nnot his. He has eyes, but he may not look on the light of science, or on\nthe clearer, purer light of God's revealed truth. Even the sun shines\nnot for him, as it only serves to light him to his unwilling and\nunrequited toil. Of what use then, are hands, and feet, and eyes, to\nhim? He can no more use them for his own benefit, than if he had\nnone--and yet you think to make up to him by kindness what you have\ntaken away; and call yourself a disciple of Christ, and think that\nHeaven will reward you for being so kind to your poor oppressed, down\ntrodden victim, whom you compel to labor unrewarded, for your good. Is\nthat the religion of Christ? Is that loving your neighbor as yourself?\n\nBut, the most kind hearted, and upright, and pious slaveholder in the\nland, so far as he approves of the system of slavery, and pleads for its\nperpetuity, is at best, accessory to all the evils to which the system\ngives rise. He is therefore a partaker in its guilt, and will hereafter\nfind his hands stained and polluted with its vices and its crimes. He\nwho has said in his Bible, Be not partaker of other men's sins, has\nalso said, Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not\nthe unclean thing, _and no man can be guiltless who refuses to do this_.\n\nBut perhaps it will be asked; admitting that slavery is everything that\nyou claim it to be, what right have you to interfere? I claim no right\nof interference, based on the existing laws of our country, for these,\nas we have seen, are so abominably wicked and oppressive, as fully to\nsanction all the evils and crimes which we have been considering. Still,\nI claim, that I have a right to interfere,[3] and to do all in my power,\nby every possible means, for the extinction of slavery. Do any ask, on\nwhat that right is based? I answer, on the statute book of Almighty\nGod--on the pillars of heaven's eternal throne, and better authority\nthan this, to sanction my interference, I do not ask. 'Thou shalt love\nthy neighbor as thyself.' 'Who is my neighbor?' Let Jesus Christ answer.\n'A certain man, no matter who, went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and\nfell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounding him,\ndeparted, leaving him half dead. And by chance, there came down a\ncertain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other\nside.' How exactly like the conduct of many ministers of the gospel,\ntoward the slave. They just look on his sufferings, and pass by, making\nno effort to give him relief. 'And likewise a Levite, when he was at the\nplace, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.' Just so\nmultitudes of professing Christians conduct toward the slave. They look\non him, pass on, and leave him alone in his woes. 'But, a certain\nSamaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when _he_ saw him, he\nhad compassion on him, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring\nin oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an\ninn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took\nout two pence and gave them to the host, and said unto him, take care of\nhim, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay\nthee.' Here our Saviour has shown us what it is to act the part of a\nneighbor. This Samaritan found a fellow being in distress. He stopped\nnot to inquire who he was, but proceeded at once to do as he would like\nto have others do to him in like circumstances. And now the command of\nChrist is, 'Go thou and do likewise.' Wherever, therefore, we find a\nfellow being in distress, we find in him a neighbor, one whom we are\nbound to love as we love ourselves. We are to identify ourselves with\nhim, and feel for his wrongs and his woes, as we would for our own in\nlike circumstances, and are to do for him, so far as lies in our power,\neverything, which, in like circumstances, we could wish others to do for\nus. Tell me not then, that I have no right to interfere, when I see more\nthan two millions of my neighbors, yes, of my brethren, my own fellow\ncountrymen, groaning and toiling, and dying, under the unparalleled\nwrongs of slavery. I have no right not to interfere. I am a traitor to\nmy neighbor, and a rebel against my God, if I forbear to interfere; if I\nfail to use the last power which my Maker has given me, in pleading for\nthe immediate deliverance of my fellow men from their sufferings and\ntheir chains. I trample on the universal law of the infinite Jehovah, if\nI leave undone anything in my power, which I would wish to have done for\nme, if all the miseries of slavery were mine.\n\nBut it is not merely by looking at the general principles of God's\ngovernment, that I learn my duty toward the toil-worn, agonized,\nsuffering slave. I find positive direction for this specific case. Jer.\n21 : 12.--'Thus saith the Lord--Execute judgment in the morning, and\ndeliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my\nfury go forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of\nthe evil of your doings.' Who is spoiled, if it be not the slave? Is he\nnot spoiled of everything? Spoiled of all his earnings--spoiled of the\nchild whom he loves--spoiled of the wife that is bone of his bone, and\nflesh of his flesh--spoiled even of the ownership of himself, and\nspoiled of his immortal soul, by being robbed of the light that would\nguide his feet to heaven? And the poor suffering female slave--of what\nis she not spoiled? Spoiled of all that protection, which the innocent\nand helpless, have a right to claim, even of the savage. Spoiled of all\nthe affectionate tenderness, which woman everywhere, has a right to\nexpect; spoiled even of her virtue, and that by law, for we have seen,\nthat the laws have placed her, where she cannot preserve it, if she\nwould.\n\nWho then, I ask again, is spoiled, if it be not the slave? And who is an\noppressor, if it be not the man who holds him in bondage, and inflicts\nall these wrongs upon him? While, therefore, I hear the God of heaven\nsaying, 'Deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor,\nlest my fury go forth like fire, and burn, that none can quench it,' can\nI expect to escape the fury of that fire, if I shut my ears against the\nmandate, which thunders upon me from the presence chamber, and from the\nlips of Him, who declares himself King of kings, and Lord of lords? Tell\nme not, that I have no right to interfere--no right to plead for the\ndeliverance 'of the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor.' I may not\nfail to do it--lest the fire of God's fury kindle upon me, for my\ndisregard of his high command. And the same, is true of all my readers.\nUnless you have a right to disobey Almighty God, you have no right to\nleave anything undone, which you might do, for the deliverance of the\nslave.\n\nBut who is the slave? He is a man--made in the image of God--and bears\nas much of God's image, remember, as though he had the complexion, and\nthe features, and the limbs, of the white man. Where is the man with a\npale face, even among slaveholders, who will stand up, before the face\nof heaven, and claim that he bears more of God's image than his slave?\nHe would show the image of the devil, large as life, had he the pride,\nand effrontery, to do such a deed of daring impiety. The slave is made\nin the image of his God, and to him God gave dominion over the works of\nhis hand, as much as to the white man. For him God lighted up the sun\nand moon, and made the heavens resplendent with stars, as much as for\nus. For him God made the breath of morning, and the calm stillness of\nthe summer eve--for him the deep blue sky was spread a canopy, and for\nhim puts on alternate tints of purple and of gold. For him the\nlandscape smiles in green, and flowers spring up to beautify his path,\nand trees hang out their foliage, and bend beneath their burdens of\ndelicious fruit. For him the fields wave with their ripening grain--for\nhim the valleys yield their corn--for him the flocks and herds lay down\ntheir treasures, and the sea sends up its inexhaustible supplies. For\nhim the limpid stream, the clear pure fountain were provided, and for\nhim the balmy air, echoing with melody of birds. Ah, and for him,\nremember it ye who dare withhold it from him--for him the Bible was\ngiven. Who dare say, that God provided these things for the master, more\nthan for the man whom he enslaves.\n\nBut what is more than all, for him the Son of God came down and died.\nThe blood gushed from his heart as freely, and in streams as pure, for\nthe oppressed and broken hearted slave, as for us, or for the man who\ndares enslave God's image--for him the river of water of life,\nproceedeth clear as crystal from the throne of God and the Lamb--for him\nthe streets of the New Jerusalem are paved with gold, and for him, the\nglory of God and the Lamb, shall pour forth its light, in beams that\nshall forever hide the brightness of the noonday sun--and for him are\nmade ready the joys of an eternal heaven. Yes, this is the being whom\nslavery binds in chains, and robs of all the richest gifts of heaven,\nand sinks in ignorance and pollution down to hell. Oh, if the whole arch\nof heaven above us, ever echoed with the loud threatenings of an\nindignant God--it may now be heard to echo with the fearful\ninterrogation--'Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord? Shall\nnot my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?'\n\nAnd now will you look on, and seal your lips in silence, and say that\nyou have no right to interfere for the deliverance of the slave? Do you\nnot hear the God of heaven saying, 'Deliver him that is spoiled out of\nthe hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go forth like fire and burn that\nnone can quench it;' and dare you disobey? Do you ask what shall be done\nfor his deliverance? I answer, let every pulpit thunder forth this\nmandate of the most high God--let every minister at the altar cry aloud\nand spare not and lift up his voice like a trumpet--and show this people\ntheir transgressions; this guilty people their sins. Let every press\ngroan to be delivered of its obligation, to make known the Almighty's\nwill--and let such as can pray, pray _now_, that God will break every\nyoke, and let the oppressed go free. Especially, let woman--woman, the\nlast to linger around the cross, and the first to find the sepulchre of\nGod's crucified Son; linger long at the altar of prayer, and be found\nearly upon her knees, wrestling at the throne of grace; and let all who\nfear God or love man, resolve before high Heaven, that they will not\nrest, till every chain is broken, every yoke buried, every scourge and\nfetter burned.\n\nBut I seem to hear some one ask--must we think only of the slave--must\nwe not regard the master's rights? Rights! What rights? Right to hold\nhis fellow man in bondage for one hour? He might as well claim a right\nto sit on the throne of God. He has no such right. But must he\nrelinquish all the property he now holds in slaves? He has no such\nproperty. He has no more right to call them his property, than he has to\ncall the angels in heaven his property. God gave man dominion over the\nbeasts of the field--but over God's own image he never gave him\ndominion. The wicked, heaven-daring laws of men, confer the _power_ of\nenslaving man--but the _right_ they never gave, for it was never theirs\nto give. There is no such thing as property in man--there never can be.\nWe do not ask the slaveholder to relinquish any right. We call upon him,\non the authority of God, to break every yoke and let the oppressed go\nfree. We do not ask them to give up their property. We tell them that\nGod declares them to be 'like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood\nand to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain; and that the prophets have\ndaubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity and divining lies unto\nthem, saying thus saith the Lord, when the Lord hath not spoken. That\nthe people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and\nhave vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the stranger\nwrongfully--and that God now threatens to pour out his indignation upon\nthem, and to consume them with the fire of his wrath, and to recompense\ntheir way upon their own heads.' No--we do not ask the slaveholder to\ngive up his property--we ask them 'to cease beating God's people to\npieces--to cease grinding the face of the poor;' and when the\nslaveholder has done that, the lost slave will have his freedom.\n\nBut you say it would make great changes in society, to free every slave\nat once, and many a man, who now lives in affluence, would instantly\nbecome poor. We doubt it not. We doubt not that many a wretch, who has\nrolled in profusion, by robbing his fellow men of their earnings, would\nbe obliged to go to work with his own hands to earn his bread; and this\nis just what he ought to have done long ago. He is made of no better\nclay than the lowliest of all God's creatures whom he enslaves; and\nthere is no more reason why he should be exempted from eating his bread\nin the sweat of his brow. Let us arise then with one heart, and with\nunited voice, and with ready hands, do our utmost, to deliver the\noppressed from their wrongs.\n\nBut it may still be asked, what do you expect to accomplish? We expect\nto make the slaveholder feel, that when he crushes an immortal soul down\nto the depths of hell, to gratify his own abominable selfishness, God\nwill hold him accountable for that soul at the judgment day. We expect\nto make him see, that the short-lived gratification, which he can have\nderived from enslaving his fellow man, will but poorly compensate him,\nfor the eternal damnation which he must hereafter endure, if he does not\nrepent of his abominable sin. We expect to open to him the broad claims\nof the infinite God, and to make him see that in his present course of\nconduct, he is holding himself in open exposure to the Almighty's wrath;\nand having thus bared his conscience to the arrows of truth, we expect\nto call down the Holy Spirit by our prayers, to fix these arrows deep in\nhis heart; to reprove him of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, and\nthus to bring him to unfeigned repentance before God. We expect not to\naccomplish what we aim at with our unaided strength--but we believe that\nthe Lord of hosts is with us, and trusting in his strength we cannot\nfail. Christians of every name, shall we not have your aid? Lovers of\nyour fellow men, look at the wrongs of the slave, and weep and toil for\nhim, that he may go free. Open your hearts and your hands to him, and\nremember that 'He that hath pity on the poor, lendeth to the Lord, and\nthat which he hath given he will pay him again.'\n\nLet no one think to rid himself of obligation, on this momentous\nsubject. Every man has a tongue, and he can use it; he has influence,\nand he can exert it; he has moral power, and he can put it forth; and\nthis is all the power we need. Our efforts are aimed, not at the life of\nthe slaveholder, but at his conscience--his moral feelings, and with the\nhelp of God, we do expect them to prevail. But, perhaps you will say,\nthat slaveholders have no conscience on this subject. Doubtless their\nconscience may be dead and buried; it may have been sleeping these fifty\nyears in its grave; but come on, one and all, let us raise the trump of\ntruth, and blow a resurrection blast above it, that shall call it forth\nfrom its dust, to take up its whip of scorpions, and scourge the guilty\nmen into obedience to the commands of God. Slavery cannot long live\namong them. 'Behold, the hire of the laborers, who have reaped down\ntheir fields, which is of them kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries\nof them which have reaped, are entered into the ears of the Lord of\nSabaoth.' The Lord of armies, is the fearful signification of that term;\nand if they cease not from their oppression, they may well expect, that\nthe Lord of armies will not long withhold his hand. Up, my friends, and\ndo your duty, to deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor,\nlest the fire of God's fury kindle ere long upon you.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Read Bourne's Picture of Slavery.\n\n[2] This occurrence was not very far South, otherwise, there would have\nbeen no shame.\n\n[3] The author disapproves of interference at the expense of human life,\nbut believes that all possible means short of the shedding of blood, are\njustifiable.","title":"Slaveholding Weighed in the Balance of Truth, and Its Comparative Guilt Illustrated","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":10484}