{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_70704/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_70704","id":"gutenberg_70704","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70704","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - American","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Prayer","Slavery and the church"],"text":"Transcriber\u2019s Note\n  Italic text displayed as: _italic_\n  Bold text displayed as: =bold=\n\n\n\n\n  =No. 38.=\n\n  PRAYER\n\n  FOR THE OPPRESSED.\n\n  A PREMIUM TRACT.\n\n  BY\n\n  REV. JAMES A. THOME,\n\n  CLEVELAND, OHIO.\n\n\n  AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,\n  BOSTON.\n\n\n\n\nSLAVERY UNCHRISTIAN.\n\n\nThere is a deep and growing conviction in the minds of the mass of\nmankind, that slavery violates the great laws of our nature; that\nit is contrary to the dictates of humanity; that it is essentially\nunjust, oppressive, and cruel; that it invades the rights of liberty\nwith which the Author of our being has endowed all human beings;\nand that in all the forms in which it has ever existed, it has been\nimpossible to guard it from what its friends and advocates would call\n_abuses_ of the system. It is a violation of the first sentiments\nexpressed in our Declaration of Independence, and on which our\nfathers founded the vindication of their own conduct in an appeal to\narms. It is at war with all that a man claims for himself, and for\nhis own children; and it is opposed to all the struggles of mankind,\nin all ages, for freedom. The claims of humanity plead against it.\nThe struggles for freedom every where in our world condemn it. The\ninstinctive feeling in every man\u2019s own bosom, in regard to himself,\nis a condemnation of it. The noblest deeds of valor and of patriotism\nin our own land, and in all lands where men have struggled for\nfreedom, are a condemnation of the system. All that is noble in man\nis opposed to it; all that is base, oppressive, and cruel, pleads for\nit.\n\nThe spirit of the New Testament is against slavery, and the\nprinciples of the New Testament, if fairly applied, would abolish\nit. In the New Testament no man is commanded to purchase and own a\nslave; no man is commended as adding any thing to the evidences of\nhis Christian character, or as performing the appropriate duty of\na Christian, for owning one. Nowhere in the New Testament is the\ninstitution referred to as a good one, or as a desirable one. It is\ncommonly\u2014indeed, it is almost universally\u2014conceded that the proper\napplication of the principles of the New Testament would abolish\nslavery every where, or that in the state of things which will exist\nwhen the Gospel shall be fairly applied to all the relations of life,\nslavery will not be found among those relations.\n\nLet slavery be removed from the church, and let the voice of the\nchurch, with one accord, be lifted up in favor of freedom; let the\nchurch be wholly detached from the institution, and let there be\nadopted by all its ministers and members an interpretation of the\nBible\u2014as I believe there may be, and ought to be\u2014that shall be in\naccordance with the deep-seated principles of our nature in favor\nof freedom, and with our own aspirations for liberty, and with the\nsentiments of the world in its onward progress in regard to human\nrights, and not only would a very material objection against the\nBible be taken away,\u2014and one which would be fatal if it were well\nfounded,\u2014but the establishment of a very strong argument in favor of\nthe Bible, as a revelation from God, would be the direct result of\nsuch a position....\n\nThere is not vital energy enough; there is not power of numbers and\ninfluence enough out of the church to sustain slavery. Let every\nreligious denomination in the land detach itself from all connection\nwith slavery, without saying a word against others; let the time\ncome when, in all the mighty denominations of Christians, it can\nbe announced that the evil has ceased with them for ever; and let\nthe voice from each denomination be lifted up in kind, but firm\nand solemn testimony against the system\u2014with no mealy words; with\nno attempt at apology; with no wish to blink it; with no effort to\nthrow the sacred shield of religion over so great an evil\u2014and the\nwork is done. There is no public sentiment in this land\u2014there could\nbe none created\u2014that would resist the power of such testimony. There\nis no power _out_ of the church that could sustain slavery an hour,\nif it were not sustained _in_ it. Not a blow need be struck. Not\nan unkind word need be uttered. No man\u2019s motive need be impugned,\nno man\u2019s proper rights invaded. All that is needful is, for each\nChristian man, and for every Christian church, to stand up in the\nsacred majesty of such a solemn testimony, to free themselves from\nall connection with the evil, and utter a calm and deliberate voice\nto the world, AND THE WORK WILL BE DONE.\n\n  REV. ALBERT BARNES.\n\n\n\n\n  PRAYER\n\n  FOR THE OPPRESSED.\n\n  A PREMIUM TRACT.\n\n  BY\n\n  REV. JAMES A. THOME,\n\n  CLEVELAND, OHIO.\n\n\n  AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,\n  BOSTON.\n\n\n\n\nCALL FOR A PRIZE TRACT.\n\n\n  The subscriber is authorized to say, that a friend, not wishing his\n  name should be publicly known, offers $100 to the person who will\n  write the best tract on the duty and importance of praying for the\n  abolition of slavery and oppression, especially in our own country,\n  particularly adapted to interest new converts before their minds\n  become embarrassed with political and party strife.\n\n  The tract is to be entitled, \u201cPrayer for the Oppressed.\u201d The\n  offerer nominates and requests the gentlemen named below to act as\n  committee of award, to wit: Rev. Elnathan Davis, Fitchburg, Mass.;\n  Rev. George Trask, Fitchburg, Mass.; John W. Sullivan, Boston,\n  Mass.; Charles B. Wilder, Esq., Boston. Mass.; Rev. E. H. Nevin,\n  Chelsea, Mass.\n\n  The tract should not exceed 24 pages of common size when printed,\n  and should be sent to the committee of award in season to be\n  examined, and the prize one transmitted to the publication\n  committee of the A. T. S., Boston, by the 1st of June next.\n\n  NOAH EMERSON,\n  For the offerer of the Prize.\n\n  HOLLIS, N. H., January 21, 1859\n\n  Last winter, a Christian gentleman, by advertisement in the New\n  York Independent, offered a premium of $100 for the best tract\n  which might be submitted on \u201c_Prayer for the Oppressed_.\u201d The\n  undersigned were nominated and requested to act as a committee\n  of award in this case, and have received and examined a large\n  number of manuscripts, many of which were of marked ability and\n  power; but finding no _one_ of these so fully to answer the call\n  of the offerer of the prize as to allow them to award the whole of\n  it to _that_, they have awarded the same in equal divisions, to\n  the authors of the _two best_ manuscripts, viz.: Rev. GEORGE W.\n  BASSETT, Washington, D. C., and Rev. JAMES A. THOME, of Cleveland,\n  Ohio. And they have strong confidence that these tracts will soon\n  come before the public, and that God will mightily bless them as\n  an instrumentality in inciting the Church universal to benevolent\n  action and believing prayer, for the overthrow of slavery and\n  oppression.\n\n  ELNATHAN DAVIS,\n  EDWIN H. NEVIN,\n  GEORGE TRASK,\n  JOHN W. SULLIVAN,\n  C. B. WILDER.\n\n  BOSTON, August, 1859.\n\n\n  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by\n  THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,\n  In the Clerk\u2019s Office of the District Court of the District of\n  Massachusetts.\n\n\nGeo. C. Rand & Avery, Printers, 3 Cornhill, Boston.\n\n\n\n\nPRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED.\n\n\nWho are the oppressed? Those who suffer wrong from the more powerful.\nThey are to be found in all conditions of society, in the bosom\neven of the family and the church. All relationships which involve\nauthority are liable to be abused to the infliction of injustice and\noutrage.\n\nWho are THE OPPRESSED, distinctively? _The enslaved._ These differ\nfrom all other victims of abused power in this essential point,\nthat, by the law, they are regarded not as _men_, but _things_, the\nproperty of men. Denied humanity, they are denied all human rights,\nand excluded from all human relations. They have under the slave\ncode as administered, no legal protection; the show of it which the\nletter of the law, in some instances, affords, being designed rather\nto guard their value as property than their interests as men.[1]\nOutcasts in society, they are outlaws in the State.\n\nOverlooking this vital distinction, many persons hold that slavery is\none of the legitimate social relations, and therefore not in itself\na proper subject of censure; while its grievous evils, the result\nof the abuse of rightful power, may justly be deplored. But others,\nwith a closer discrimination, discern that the \u201cchattel principle\u201d\nwhich characterizes slavery is inherently wrong, and that it is the\nchief promoter of the spirit of oppression. It is believed that\nif slavery were abolished, oppression would thereby be materially\ndiminished throughout society. Holding this view, the people of God\nare earnestly combating the slave system. The moral power of the\nchurch, wielding the pulpit and the press, has been increasingly\narrayed against this stupendous wrong. A more perfect combination\nof the forces of Christendom for the overthrow of oppression is\ndevoutly to be wished. But this will not avail without the power of\nGod. That power must be invoked,\u2014must be secured. The servants of the\nMost High, who would have him honored and his cause promoted by the\nextinction of slavery, must cry unto him day and night,\u2014must give him\nno rest, till he come and deliver the oppressed. Fully persuaded of\nthis, we wish to urge\u2014\n\n_The duty and importance of praying for the abolition of slavery and\noppression._\n\n1. The fitness and effectiveness of prayer as a weapon against\nslavery claims attention.\n\nIt would be powerless in such an extreme case if it were in itself\na feeble instrumentality. But all things are possible to prayer.\nWhat is the scriptural idea of prayer? This; it is the offering to\nGod of desires which his own Spirit has kindled in the heart, with\nimportunities which the same Spirit prompts and sustains; it is\nalso made with humble reliance on the merits of Jesus Christ, and\nthe prevalence of his intercessions. Prayer, then, is not the work\nof man alone; he is but a co-worker with God in this, as in every\nother gracious endeavor,\u2014with the Holy Spirit dwelling in his heart\nand moving him to pray, and with Jesus the Mediator who presents his\nsupplications at the Father\u2019s throne. This is the view of prayer\nwhich our Lord discloses in John 15:7, 16, Paul in Rom. 8:26, 27, and\nJames, also, 5:16; \u201cThe effectual fervent prayer of the righteous\nman availeth much.\u201d It availeth much, not because it is offered by a\nrighteous man, but because it is effectually and fervently inwrought\nby the Holy Ghost, who dwelleth only with the righteous. The power\nof Elijah\u2019s prayer is referred to in the connection, to illustrate\nand confirm the statement that all real prayer is mighty. Elijah had\nno more power than other good men may have; he had the infirmities\ncommon to the servants of God, but the strength of Jehovah was with\nhim; that strength was in his prayer; and so it may be,\u2014must be,\u2014in\nall prayer.\n\nThe power of prayer, then, is God\u2019s own power, exerted by the Spirit\nand the Son through the supplications of the righteous, and therefore\nit availeth much. Nothing can withstand it, because nothing can\nwithstand God. The elements of nature yield to its control; the\ninstitutions of men, founded in sin, fall before its cry.\n\nIf slavery were beyond the power of prayer, it would be not because\nof its strength, but because it is right in the sight of God. And if\nit be right, the Spirit will not move the righteous to pray for its\nabolition. If God be for it, who can be against it?\n\nLet us then inquire whether this be a proper subject of\nprayer?\u2014whether a system of bondage which degrades man into a beast\nof burden and of traffic is pleasing or hateful to God? That it\nexists, and has endured for ages, is no evidence that it enjoys his\nfavor. Sin exists, and has prevailed from the beginning. Romanism\nflourishes, and has had the ascendency in Christendom for fifteen\ncenturies. Idolatry reigns, and the kingdom of Satan looks down from\nits ancient seats scornfully on the kingdom of Christ. Among the most\ndreadful exhibitions of God\u2019s wrath and vengeance have been those in\nwhich he has, with a high hand and an outstretched arm, delivered the\noppressed, and destroyed their oppressors.\n\nSlavery is the foe of Christianity, the enemy of souls, and it\nmust be hateful to the God of love, who would have all men come to\nChrist. It is opposed to the gospel and to every evangelical work, to\nthe tract, the Bible, the missionary enterprise. It disregards the\nspiritual interests of enslaved saints, and of souls perishing in\ntheir sins under its yoke. It is a ruling power in this Christian\ncountry, to the scandal of religion. It rises above other forms of\nsin, as the chief perverter of the right ways of the Lord. It hinders\nthe spread of vital godliness through this land, walling about the\ndominions of its chattels and excluding the preacher of the cross.\nThe Christianity it tolerates within its borders is not that which\ndeclares the whole counsel of God; which cries aloud and spares not,\nand shows the people their sins. The religion of America, fraught\nwith salvation for the nations of the Old World, has been shorn of\nmuch of its power by the encroachments of Southern slavery. Can any\nChristian doubt that a system so hostile to the gospel is abhorred of\nGod? And now, at this moment, the issue is forced upon us, whether\nslavery shall exclude the gospel, or be excluded by it. In this\ncrisis our only help is in God. We must be persuaded that he will\ndefend his gospel, and humble the slave power.\n\nNote this, that slavery is not one of those organic vices of society\nwhich are to be left to the reformatory influence of Christianity\noperating silently upon them, but is rather an _opposing force_ to be\ndirectly and resolutely met, in the name of the Lord. In the advance\nof civilization, ignorance is gradually dissipated, but savage\nviolence is to be encountered at once and subdued. In the school, the\nfamily, the nation, the church, certain evils admit only of indirect\ntreatment, but others call for decisive, positive measures. Slavery\nin a Christian republic pre\u00ebminently demands direct action, aimed\nat its speedy extermination. It may long resist such action, but no\nother is pertinent to its nature. When, after the Revival of 1830-33,\nthe attention of the people of God, especially of the young converts,\nwas turned to this subject, they proclaimed the truth\u2014Chattel\nSlavery is a sin, and immediate emancipation is the duty of the\nslaveholder. With this battle cry _the institution_ was attacked by\na host of witnessing warriors clad in the armor of God. That onset\nhad undoubtedly a divine origin, and the principle that animated it\nwas a true one, that slavery was to be swept away in righteousness.\nAnd had the entire weight of Christian power sustained the assault,\nand had the united energies of the saints in prayer been secured, the\nquarter of a century that has passed would probably have witnessed\nthe downfall of the \u201cpeculiar institution.\u201d But many leading minds in\nthe churches thought it best to let slavery alone, and to leave it\nto the slow but sure influences of Christianity, by which it would\nbe eventually extinguished. Twenty-five years have demonstrated that\nthis grievous system of oppression is not undermined by the gospel,\nnor weakened by revivals. It has made most rapid strides, and is\nnow far more defiant of religious powers than ever before. Shall\nnot the teachings of the past suffice to prove that in dealing with\nslavery nothing is to be gained by _indirection_? Is it not time\nnow, after the late gracious revival, to renew and reassert the\ndeclaration\u2014Slavery is sinful, and must be abolished? Let this voice\nbe raised; let it be echoed by all the churches; and let the saints\ncarry to the throne of grace, and urge with faith and boldness this\nplea,\u2014\u201cGreat God! abolish slavery.\u201d This prayer will be acceptable,\nand will prevail, if God, as we are sure he does, hates this\nstupendous sin.\n\n2. The duty and importance of praying for the abolition of slavery\nappears from this\u2014that if prayer does not prevail against slavery,\nslavery will disarm prayer of its prevailing power, and reduce it to\nan empty form.\n\nIt is an accredited maxim that \u201cpraying will make us leave off\nsinning, and sinning will make us leave off praying.\u201d The reason\nis obvious, and the application is plain. If indulging sin in the\nheart is inconsistent with cherishing there the spirit of prayer,\nthe allowing of any prevalent sin in society, on the ground that it\nis beyond the power of prayer, is equally inconsistent. For this is\nto admit that its removal is impossible with God. The alternative is\nforced upon us,\u2014either slavery must be overcome by prayer, or prayer\nbe foiled by slavery. These two powers now stand opposed to each\nother.\n\nThis is providential, and fraught with vital consequences; as when\nGoliah and David met. Slavery is to test the strength of prayer,\nthe faith of Christians. Which shall prevail? Is the Slave Power\ntoo strong for prayer, or have the saints such faith and argument\ntouching this thing, that they may ask what they will, and it shall\nbe done? It is a first principle of evangelical faith, that, \u201call\nthings are possible to them that believe.\u201d If this principle is\nyielded, the foundations of prayer are removed. If _any_ thing is\nimpossible, nothing is possible; faith that fears is dead, and prayer\nthat quails is powerless. If the servants of the Lord flee before\nthe formidable front of chattelism, instead of compassing it with\nmighty prayer, and dragging it before the Lord to be slain, they will\nbetray a fearfulness which must preclude all acceptable prayer. The\ngreat God loveth strong intercessors, strong and bold, who \u201cwrestle\nnot against flesh and blood,\u201d\u2014weak foes; but \u201cagainst principalities,\nagainst powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,\nagainst spiritual wickedness in high places,\u201d\u2014\u201cpraying always with\nall prayer in the Spirit.\u201d The only aristocracy in Christ\u2019s kingdom\nis composed of the princes who have power with God and with man, and\nall who will believe may wear the title of this order, \u201cIsrael.\u201d But\nthey must believe _only_, \u201clifting up holy hands without wrath or\ndoubting.\u201d They must believe only, not mixing fear with faith, nor\ntrying with trusting; that trying which first scans the magnitude of\na sin, estimates its power, and counts the cost of assailing it. The\nfaith that prevails in prayer has its sphere above the calculations\nof difficulty and danger, where sense fails, and strength staggers.\nIt is just as easy for believing prayer to take hold of great things\nas of small. The little English girl, languishing in her mortal\nsickness, when she was told that Bonaparte was preparing to invade\nher country, could grasp that national peril in her hourly prayer;\nand who will say that the threatened invasion which might have\nchanged the fate of Great Britain was not averted in answer to that\ndying child\u2019s intercessions?\n\nSide by side in the Lord\u2019s Prayer stand the petitions, \u201cThy kingdom\ncome; Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven;\u201d and, \u201cGive\nus this day our daily bread.\u201d No topics could be more dissimilar in\nmagnitude, yet God hath joined them together, and the believer passes\neasily from the greater to the less. But let the petitioner put these\nasunder, and pray for bread alone, as deeming the other too great a\nfavor to ask for, and his prayer will not prevail. God is honored\nby that fearless, resolute faith which says, \u201cWho art thou, O great\nmountain? Before the Zerubbabel of prayer thou shalt become a plain!\u201d\nThis great mountain of slavery is the providential provocative in\nour day of the prayer of faith which removes mountains. The aspects\nof it which most dishearten man do most arouse against it the spirit\nof prayer. \u201cIs any thing too hard for God?\u201d Is slavery too great for\nthe Almighty? We must either pray against this national sin, or limit\nthe Holy One to minor evils. We dare not do the latter, we should\nfear to pray at all. To every intercessor coming to the mercy seat,\nthe gracious King says, \u201cWhat is thy request?\u201d And if, despite the\npressure of the times, no mention is made of the crying wrong of\noppression, he is grieved, and turns away. It is as if queen Esther,\ngoing into the presence of the king, with the fate of her doomed\npeople claiming her entreaties, had feared to ask so great a favor as\nthat their doom might be averted, and had only craved for herself a\nnew chariot, or a larger retinue of servants.\n\nIn this view of the subject, it is painful to reflect that the\ntheme of supplication which for twice ten years God has been urging\nupon his people has been so strenuously excluded from the prayer\nmeeting, the monthly concert, and the sanctuary. Who can say how\nprovoking this has been to the Hearer of prayer, and how often it\nmay have rendered the petitions of his saints an abomination unto\nhim? Had not the Holy Spirit, with more than human forbearance,\nborne with the manners of the people, and laid the unwelcome burden\non their hearts, and inwrought fervent desires, impelling many to\npray earnestly for the oppressed, there might by this time have\nbeen little more than the form of prayer in the American Zion. Yes,\nprayer for the oppressed has done much to preserve the vitality of\nprayer in the churches! This has been its happy reflex influence,\nalthough it has had to struggle against much gainsaying of misguided\nbrethren. When it shall have prevailed against slavery, and wrought\nout the deliverance of them that are in bonds, then will be seen,\nas now is not, the irresistible power of prayer. We rejoice in the\nassurance that prayer will overcome slavery. We have no fear of the\nalternative. We are glad to have this decisive test applied. Let it\nbe seen in this crisis what the prayer of faith can endure, and what\nit can do. It has other trials to overcome, other triumphs to win.\n\n3. The importance of prayer for the abolition of slavery in this\ncountry, is shown from the inefficacy of other means to effect it.\n\nEvery other mode of opposition has been vigorously employed. The\nfirst minds of Christendom have written and spoken against this\nmonster iniquity. Its champions have been forced to acknowledge,\n\u201cThe literature of the world is against us.\u201d But oppression laughs\nat literature,\u2014it defies the rostrum and the press. The moral\ninfluence of the nation has borne against it with a pressure\nseemingly irresistible; State and national anti-slavery societies\nwith the motto, \u201cagitate, agitate, agitate;\u201d mass meetings hurling\nthe thunders of popular indignation; Christian conventions uttering\nthe reprobations of religion; notes of warning from dying patriots;\nappeals to justice and humanity from honored philanthropists;\nremonstrances from the purest divines; the entreating voice of\nChristian women;\u2014all these moral forces have borne against slavery.\nBut it mocks at moral suasion. Political measures have been\ntried,\u2014tried in good faith and with the utmost energy. But the Slave\nPower, versed in the intrigues of politics, has gained victory\nafter victory, and grown stronger by this species of opposition.\nProvidential events have signally fought against slavery. The\nsuccessive acts of European powers have swept chattel slavery from\ntheir colonies. Cuba and Brazil, with our own country, alone retain\nit. Repeated emancipations by individual slaveholders at the South\nhave kept alive the anti-slavery feeling. The violent measures which\nthe slave power has employed to fortify and extend its dominions have\nexasperated and alarmed the people of the North. For a quarter of a\ncentury this movement of the people, of the churches, of political\nmachinery, sustained by favoring providences, has been in progress;\nyet slavery in America is mightier to-day than it was at the\nbeginning of the movement.\n\nDo not these facts show the duty and importance of prayer? We are\nprone to try everything else before we resort to wrestling prayer.\nWe _have_ tried everything else. We have prayed, indeed; but chiefly\nto crave God\u2019s blessing on our other measures. _This will not\nsuffice._ In such a desperate case, prayer must take hold on the\narm of the Lord, and move it to strike the decisive blow. We must\nbe convinced that only the Lord can break every yoke, and bid the\noppressed go free; and we must realize that he will be inquired\nof to do this thing. Not discarding other means, we must give the\npre\u00ebminence to this. We must pray and faint not. Each believer must\nalone intercede for the oppressed. Bands of implorers must join in\nheart as touching this thing, and with full agreement and faith\nbeseech God to abolish slavery. Intent on putting to the proof\nthis last remedy, let the Christians of America establish concerts\nthroughout the land, for closet and for social prayer. Let prayer\nbe accompanied with occasional fasting, in token of humiliation, for\nthe sin of oppression. This demon can be cast out, but not without\nprayer and fasting. Christ is able to rebuke the evil spirit, and\nto bid it come out of the nation. His disciples have been trying to\nexorcise it, and have failed. Let them take the case to him, and see\nif he will not work a deliverance. When he takes it in hand, and\nspeaks the word, there may indeed be a deadly struggle, and the fell\nspirit, ere he departs, may rend the nation and fling it on the verge\nof dissolution; but he who is strong to deliver is also mighty to\nsave. We need not fear the issue. Do not some really dread abolition\nmore than slavery? The remedy is worse than the disease, they think.\nBut should Christians distrust the cure which their Redeemer would\neffect? Here, perhaps, faith is most tried,\u2014to commit this work of\nabolishing slavery to the Lord, and to have him cut short the work in\nrighteousness. It may be we have been secretly determined to keep off\nthe dreaded event which we are sure must come at last. They who have\nbeen foremost as abolitionists and immediate emancipationists may\ndo well to examine themselves on this very point; peradventure they\nare not, after all, prepared to see slavery abolished at once! Where\nstand the people of God generally touching this issue? Are they ready\nto trust the case in his hands? Are they prepared to have every yoke\nbroken, and to see the oppressed set free? Can they be agreed to pray\nfor this unconditionally, dictating no terms?\n\n4. That prayer for this object should be made without longer delay,\nis proved by the extreme dangers of the continuance of slavery, and\nof the strife it occasions.\n\nDo we apprehend the evils of sudden abolition? We had better consider\nthe perils of prolonging chattel slavery in this land of liberty.\n\u201cOppression maketh the wise man mad.\u201d Only the brutish man will\nlong endure brutal treatment himself, or tolerate its infliction\nupon another. If despotism breeds disaffections, slavery begets\ninsurrections, as light enters the house of bondage. And the light\nis advancing\u2014fearfully. Appalling dangers are just ahead. The mixed\nrace is rapidly increasing. The hottest blood of the South flows\nin the veins of slaves, who are often scarcely distinguishable in\ncomplexion from their oppressors. Abolition deferred may come too\nlate. Provocations, slight compared with those of slavery, drove\nour fathers to rebellion. The worst passions are inflamed by the\natrocities of the chattel system. The revolting scenes of the\ninter-State slave trade, the abominations of slave breeding, the\nbarbarities of the cotton field and rice swamps, the ferocities of\nthe slave hunt with blood-hounds in the South, and with more savage\nmen in the free States, the imprisonments and lynchings of Northern\nmen found in the slave States and suspected of holding abolition\nsentiments, the many collisions between slavery and freedom, which\nhave in some instances proceeded to bloodshed and death, have\ncaused much irritation and deep indignation throughout the country.\nFreemen are exasperated; good people are aroused; the moral sense\nof the nation is shocked and tried to the utmost. The sentiments of\npatriotism, devotion to the Union, and respect for federal law, are\nlowered in the public mind. Faith in free institutions, and hope of\ntheir perpetuity are seriously shaken. Sectional animosities are\nrife. The republic is no longer a unit, for the hearts of the people\nare sundered. Issues the most radical divide us: freedom and slavery!\nThere is determination on either side, and strong feeling. There\ncan be no reconciliation and no respite in this fraternal strife.\nNothing can end it but the removal of slavery. Only this can avert\nthe evils that now threaten the republic. Emancipation or ruin is\nthe alternative which the tide of events is forcing on us. It is now\na time of trial, a crisis. The elements are fraught with trouble.\nPeacemakers are abroad, but agitators are stronger than they. This\nis no time to cry peace. Men behold the oppressions that are done\nunder the sun, done under \u201cthe stars and stripes,\u201d and they are\nstirred. There is no leisure for speculation and conjecture. Let no\ntime be wasted in idle fears, or in useless efforts at pacification.\nThe conflict must continue; God wills it! Let his people commit the\ncause to him. Let them betake themselves to prayer.\n\nAnd what shall be the burden of their supplications? Shall they pray\nfor peace, for a calming of the waters, for a putting out of the\nfires of freedom which burn against oppression? No, no! Let them pray\n_for the abolition of slavery_. Let them not mock God by calling upon\nhim to stay the work which his providences have so manifestly been\npushing forward. Where are the intercessors who, in God\u2019s light, see\nlight on this subject, who are prepared to enter into the divine\nplans, and who will please the Lord by asking him boldly, in faith,\nto put an end to slavery? Where are the wise and discerning men, in\nwhom is the Spirit of the Lord, who clearly see that this is the only\nsalvation to all the interests of American liberty? Let them speak\nout, and summon the saints to repair without delay to the throne of\ngrace, in this time of need.\n\nBy the several considerations foregoing we would urge the duty and\nimportance of praying for the _abolition of slavery in America_. We\nwould lay this solemn duty on the hearts of Christians; we would\nearnestly entreat them to stir themselves to take hold on God for\nthis great blessing to the nation and the world. We would humbly\nsay,\u2014Brethren, quench not the Spirit, which may now be moving you\nto pray, and may be waiting to work in your hearts the fervent and\neffectual prayer which, poured forth by the help of his intercessions\nand unutterable groanings, will avail much. Make full proof, beloved,\nof the power of prayer. A better test there could not be. Let it be\nseen that prayer can overcome slavery. Make it manifest that what\nthe literature, the moral suasion, and the political action of\none generation has not done, the prayers of God\u2019s people can do.\nImportant interests await this result\u2014the nation rescued from ruin,\nChristianity saved from apostasy. Emancipation gained by prayer will\navert emancipation wrought by violence.\n\nSlavery done away in righteousness, oppression in its other forms\nwill be meliorated and will gradually disappear. The apprentice, the\nclerk, the sailor, the soldier, the pupil, the child, the laborer,\nthe hired girl, the wife, will be more secure from the abuses of\npower, when the spirit of oppression, driven from its stronghold, is\nshorn of its strength. The abolition of slavery in this country will\ngo far to drive the spirit of oppression out of Christendom, and to\nliberate the nations of Europe.\n\nSuch results, rationally to be anticipated, should certainly impel\nChristians to pray. The purity, the peace, and the prosperity of\nZion are so implicated, that to pray for the abolition of slavery is\nto pray for these. The power of revivals, the success of home and\nforeign missions, the operations of tract and Bible societies would\nbe increased immeasurably by the overthrow of slavery, and by the\naugmented strength this victory would practically give to prayer.\nThe available energies of the American Zion would be multiplied many\nfold. The Bible would be vindicated, Christianity would have the\ntrophies of the triumph, and God would gain great glory.\n\nOh! then, who among the saints will restrain prayer?\u2014Who will come\nnot up to the help of the Lord against the mighty? Who will incur\nthe bitter curse of Meroz? Rather, who will not bear some part in\nthis faith-struggle at the throne of grace? Who will not share in the\nrewards which God will bestow on his people, when he comes to avenge\nthem speedily by the overthrow of slavery? What praying circle, what\npulpit, what concert or closet, will be found wanting in this crisis?\n\nPrayer for the abolition of slavery involves _prayer for the\noppressed_. Ungodly men may oppose slavery, and yet have little\nsympathy for the enslaved; but the Christian can not bear the sin\nof slavery to the throne of God without bearing thither the wrongs\nand woes of the oppressed. Moralists may condemn chattelism in the\nabstract; but they who are moved to pray by the Holy Ghost will\n\u201cremember them that are in bonds as bound with them.\u201d\n\n\u201c_Who are the oppressed?_\u201d we asked at the outset, and answered, The\nenslaved. Again we ask, Who are the oppressed? Who are these victims\nof slavery? Who are they that we should pray for them? We answer:\n\nThey are _men_. They belong to the human family. They are of one\nblood with ourselves. They have the same rights with us, the same\ninterests, the same desires, the same wants, the same love of\nliberty, the same sense of right and wrong, the same deathless\nspirits. The negro in his chains appealingly interrogates us,\u2014\u201cAm\nI not a man and a brother?\u201d What can the Christian do but own the\nrelationship? Is he indeed a man\u2014a brother? Then does not to him the\ngolden rule apply\u2014\u201cDo unto others as ye would they should do unto\nyou?\u201d _Can_ we exclude them from our prayers?\n\nThey are _innocent_ men. By no hideous crime against humanity have\nthey forfeited their place in the brotherhood. For no violation\nof law have they been consigned to bondage. Against them, rather,\nhas all law been violated, and every dictate of humanity outraged.\nGuilty only of a colored skin, and of inevitable ignorance, they\nhave been doomed to abject servitude. From birth they have been made\nproperty. In their infancy they knew no mother, but merely a nurse;\nin their childhood they had no home; in their maturity they have no\ncompanions, and no children, but merely offspring, like the brutes.\nYet, they are innocent men. Sinners indeed they are before a holy\nGod, as are all mankind; but they are innocent of _crime_. They\nare oppressed without cause. What should hinder the prayers of the\nrighteous in their behalf?\n\nMany of them are _the children of God_, by regeneration. These are\nour brethren in the Lord, one with us in Christian bonds, \u201cfellow\ncitizens with the saints, and of the household of God.\u201d They cry\nday and night unto God, and their cry enters into his ear. Our\nblessed Saviour would have us pray for and sympathize with these his\nlittle ones, as we love him. He is very pitiful towards them, and\nvery jealous toward those who slight them. Realize that they are\ntheir Lord\u2019s, that they are not their own, that they can not be the\nproperty of their owners, that they are bought with a price. Regard\nthe enslaved saints as the Lord\u2019s freemen; that their Master hath\nneed of them; that they are forbidden to call any man master, on\nearth, for one is their Master, even Christ. _Can_ it be the will\nof Jesus that his own redeemed saints should be held and treated as\nbeasts? Will he not be grieved if his followers who are free, pray\nnot for the freedom of these their brethren in bonds? When Peter was\nput in prison in Jerusalem, \u201cprayer was made without ceasing of the\nchurch unto God for him,\u201d and it wrought his deliverance. Let prayer\nbe now made without ceasing by the church, for the liberation of all\nenslaved saints, and enlargement shall surely come. The living God\nwaits to be importuned by the church for its own members. He waits\nto hear the cry of distress from Zion, suffering with her suffering\nchildren.\n\nThe unconverted slaves are hopeful subjects of renewing grace\ncompared with the same number of any class of men. No persons on\nearth are more susceptible to gospel influences than the negroes.\nWhat the missionary has labored almost in vain to effect among the\nIndians, among the Jews, among the Catholic immigrants in this\ncountry, would, we are confident, be done with large success among\nthe slaves of the South, if they were emancipated. Strike off the\nshackles, and this Ethiopia would stretch forth her hands unto God.\n\nThe oppressed are _a great multitude_. _Three millions of souls_ are\ncrushed and brutalized by slavery. Three millions of souls are robbed\nof every human right, and subjected to every abuse and cruelty that\nthe caprice, lust, or cupidity of the slaveholder may dictate. The\nmaster is wholly irresponsible. The slave plantation is a petty,\nabsolute despotism. From thousands of fields the blood of the\noppressed crieth to God for vengeance. Millions of groaning, sighing\nwretches are appealing to Heaven for mercy. With these groans of the\nenslaved will mingle the prayers of the righteous in their behalf;\nand no doubt the Lord will hear.\n\nThe oppressed are to be regarded as having wants while in their\nbondage which God only can supply; but it must be borne in mind that\nthe their great want is _freedom_. Let this be sought instantly,\nimportunately. Beware of praying for them as slaves, as if their\ncondition were unchangeable; this were a grievous insult to God and\nto humanity. Pray for the oppressed\u2014that they may go free. Pray\nfor the oppressors\u2014that they may break every yoke. Pray for the\nmissionary and the colporter\u2014that they \u201cmay open their mouths boldly,\nto make known the mystery of the gospel; that therein they may speak\nboldly, as they ought to speak.\u201d We may be sure that God will not\nsuffer the oppressors long to stand between his salvation and the\nsouls of the oppressed. We may plant our feet on this firm assurance\nwhen we pray,\u2014\u201cThe Lord will open a highway for his word.\u201d If he\nsends his messengers to the south to preach salvation, he will stand\nby them and will give their word success, though their blood flow to\nseal their ministry.\n\nLet it not be, O brethren, that our prayer for the oppressed shall be\nless fervent because they are not of our own color; lest it should\nappear that we have \u201cthe faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of\nglory, with respect of persons.\u201d Were this so, how could the Spirit\nof prayer dwell at all in our hearts? It were a crying wrong if\n_prejudice_ should restrain prayer for the enslaved. He who has no\npity for the bleeding bondman because he is an African, is not like\nthe good Samaritan, is not like Christ, who died for all men, is not\nlike God, with whom is no respect of persons.\n\nAnd let not our prayers be hindered by fears of what may come after\nemancipation. The faith that is adequate to prayer is also able to\ncommit the results of God\u2019s action to his management. It is to be\nfeared that some have become discouraged by the growth and ascendency\nof the slave power, and have no faith that prayer for the oppressed\nwill avail. Their trust is in political action, or in the judgments\nof a just God, and the vengeance of the oppressed. Be not, beloved,\ndrawn into this attitude of unbelief and \u201cfearful looking for of\njudgment and fiery indignation.\u201d \u201c_Be not afraid_; ONLY BELIEVE.\u201d\n\nWhat shall be the bearing of the late revival upon slavery? It is a\nsignal fact that each great awakening in this country, including that\nof 1797, has been marked by the arousing of God\u2019s people to the sin\nof oppression.\n\nWe have already spoken of the influence of the outpouring of God\u2019s\nSpirit in 1830-33, as giving rise to the great modern movement in\nopposition to slavery. Simultaneously with this, a strong dislike\nof it on moral grounds was seizing many minds at the South. Various\ndemonstrations of this were made by religious bodies; and in some\nof the slave States emancipation was seriously meditated and openly\nproposed. The writer of this tract, a native of the South and a\nmember of a slaveholding family, religiously trained to regard\nslavery as scriptural, and expecting to be, after the manner of his\nfather, a church member and a slaveholder for life, was hopefully\nnumbered among the subjects of the revival of 1830. He consecrated\nhimself to the work of the ministry. The spirit of prayer was given\nhim, with yearnings to be holy and to be useful. His eyes were then\nopened to the moral condition of the slaves. He saw those of his own\nhousehold, though his father was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian\nchurch, living without God, without religious instruction, without\nmoral restraint; he saw the young slaves, the fruit of promiscuous\nconcubinage, the playmates of his childhood, and scarcely of a darker\nhue, (though happily claiming no blood relationship, as those of\nsome Southern families do,) growing up in ignorance and vice. Deeply\nmoved, he cried unto the Lord that he would save their souls. He\ndaily prayed for those miserable creatures; he nightly bathed his\npillow with tears of pity and distress. But he found no relief; he\nsaw no ray of hope. He dreamed not then that slavery itself was\nwrong, and that its abolition was the only remedy for the ills of\nthe oppressed. He knew not that many others were moved as he was,\nand that it was the Lord who was thus stirring the first impulses\nof a mighty movement for the redemption of the enslaved. Just then,\na tract, or pamphlet, sent by some unknown hand from the East,\nwas taken from the post-office. It was on the safety of immediate\nemancipation. The very subject riveted attention by its novelty and\nboldness. The tract was read in secret, and read again, and soberly\npondered. Light broke in; new thoughts, new feelings, new hopes were\ninspired. In less than one year, (1833,) the writer was a member of\nLane Theological Seminary, and an avowed convert to the new doctrine.\n\nThese were some of the fruits of the revival a quarter of a century\nago. They have lasted till now. Opposition to chattel oppression in\nthis country is in great measure due to that gracious work, and to\nthe spirit of prayer which has sustained and sanctified it. Surely we\ncan not doubt that God is in this movement. Another mighty revival\nhas been enjoyed by our American Zion\u2014the most powerful, perhaps,\nof the series. It has been specially characterized by the spirit of\nprayer, which has been poured out in large measure, and has wrought\nastonishing results.\n\nIt is now a momentous question: To what ends shall this renovated\ninstrumentality of prayer, in the hands of a revived church, and of a\nmultitude of young converts, who owe their hopes to it, be applied?\nAgainst what forms of sin and evil shall this weapon be wielded?\nWhat embodiment of wrong most invites this species of attack, by\nits opposition to everything vital in godliness? Is it not American\nslavery? We assuredly gather that it is God\u2019s will there should be a\nspecial and combined effort in prayer, to pull down this stronghold\nof iniquity. We have confidence that the Holy Ghost, who has given\nthe saints a fresh baptism of prayer, will incline them to unite\ntheir supplications against this abomination.\n\nChristian reader! Will you not bear this burden to your closet?\nWill you not make the bondman\u2019s wrongs your own? Christian parents!\nWill you not mingle with your thanksgivings that your children were\nborn free, importunate supplications that the curse of slavery\nmay be removed from every family in the land? Young converts! Ye\nwho, in answer to prayer, have been liberated from the bonds of\nsin, will you not plead with God to deliver the oppressed, and to\nabolish slavery? Ministers of Christ! Will you not call upon the\nLord, \u201cpraying with all prayer and supplication in the spirit,\u201d\nand leading the sacramental host to the throne of grace? Are there\nChristian households, and Christian sanctuaries in this land, where\nthe oppressed have not been habitually remembered in prayer? Are\nthere disciples who have not sympathized with the sighing bondmen?\nAre there \u201cwomen professing godliness\u201d who have been deaf to the wail\nof slave mothers sundered from their babes? Let these things be no\nlonger, lest the cry of the down-trodden millions call down swift\nretributions. May the spirit of grace and of supplications be poured\nout upon Zion, until liberty shall be proclaimed throughout all this\nland, unto all the inhabitants thereof. So God grant for his Son\u2019s\nsake!\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] The following is a decision of the Supreme Court of Kentucky.\nKentucky Reports, p. 644. JUDGE SHANNON\u2014\u201cSlaves, although they are\nhuman beings, are, by our laws, placed on the same footing with\nliving property of the brute creation. However deeply it may be\nregretted, or whether it be politic or impolitic, a slave by our code\nis not treated as a person, but (_negotium_,) a thing, as he stood in\nthe civil code of the Roman Empire.\u201d\n\n\nFROM A SERMON BY REV. E. N. KIRK, D. D.\n\nIn addition to the reasons urging to prayer for the extinction of\nslavery growing out of the character of the system, and the condition\nof the oppressed, there are other reasons derived from its influence\nupon the slave owners.\n\nOf these there are three classes: the unwilling master\u2014the willing,\nbut kind master\u2014and the oppressor.\n\n1. I know of no condition so full of trials as that of the\nslave-owner who abhors the relation, but does not see that he can\nproperly terminate it. That there are many such can not be doubted.\nBut what a life must a godly man lead who has come to comprehend its\nenormous wickedness! What must be his apprehensions of the wrath of\nGod upon his people, his country! If a man of skeptical views, like\nJefferson, could tremble for his country in remembering that heaven\nis just, what must he feel who fully believes that God is ruler among\nthe nations, and that he hates oppression! How painful must be his\nunavailing sympathy for the poor oppressed beings whom he sees around\nhim! How must his heart be burdened as he observes the demoralizing\ninfluences of slavery on both races; how often must his love of\ncountry be pained with that just contempt which slaveholding in\nAmerica excites in every civilized nation under heaven; how painful\nmust it be to see no relief in any quarter, but, on the contrary,\neverything indicating that the system is to be incorporated into the\nwhole civil and social system of the nation! And to crown all, while\nmany intelligent persons at the South would gladly abandon slavery,\nno man has the courage to utter his sentiments.\n\nThis class of slave-owners demands our deepest and most compassionate\nsympathy.\n\n2. There is another class who have been taught from infancy by their\nparents, teachers, and pastors, that slavery is a divine institution;\nthey see no wrong in it, and consider all the evils as incidental,\nand not as legitimate consequences of the system. They are the most\npowerful upholders of it, because they believe it to be right, and\nare conscious of no other than kind sentiments towards their slaves.\nTo such men and their sentiments the oppressor triumphantly appeals\nas an evidence that slaveholding is not injurious to character, nor\nrepulsive to the feelings of good men.\n\n3. Then there is the oppressor\u2014the man in whom slaveholding is a sin\n_per se_. He holds his brother as property. He denies to man, for\nselfish ends, the rights and prerogatives of manhood. He denies that\nthe possession of life, liberty and happiness, or the unobstructed\npursuit of them, is the right of every man unconvicted of crime.\u2014But\nnot to rest in general statements, let us place side by side some\nfacts, and some passages of the word of God.\n\nThe facts are that slavery robs a man of his humanity. He is made\na thing, a chattel, merchandise. The African has no right on earth\nbut to do the will, and promote the comfort of the Caucasian. He\ncan not choose his residence, his employer, his work. He can not\nreceive wages or the fruits of his industry. He can not defend his\nwife against insult. He can not protect his children from violence.\nHe can not live with his family if it does not suit the interests of\nanother man. He can not educate his children. He can not choose an\nemployment for them. He can not hope for anything but slavery. He can\nnot worship God when he pleases. He can not testify in a court of\njustice.\u2014Now what does God think of all this? \u201cI hate oppression,\u201d is\nhis reply. \u201cRemove not the landmarks of the widow,\u201d he says, \u201ctheir\ncry will come before him; their Redeemer is mighty.\u201d \u201cGo to, now, ye\nrich men, weep and howl; the hire of the laborers who have reaped\ndown your fields which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the\ncries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord\nof Sabaoth.\u201d Not a day, not an hour probably passes in which some\noppressed petitioner is not filing his petition in the chancery of\nheaven against the slave-owners of our land.\n\nWe have probably had more indignation than sympathy for these men.\nAnd yet they are to be pitied. Probably none of us have been as\ndeeply indignant at the sins of oppressors as Moses was at the\nidolatry of his people at the very base of Sinai. And yet when the\nLord threatened to cut off Israel and raise up the promised nation\nfrom him, he prayed thus for them: \u201cForgive their sin;\u2014and if not,\nblot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written!\u201d\n\nWe can not then have exhausted the duty of prayer for the overthrow\nof oppression till our sympathies and intercessions have embraced the\nslave-owners as well as the slaves.\n\nAnd there are peculiar encouragements for seeking the abolition of\nslavery by prayer.\n\n1. God\u2019s special readiness to hear prayer when his people are in\nstraits. Notice the sketches of personal and national history in the\nBible. How many of them are recorded in order to show how ready God\nis to deliver his people when in their perplexities they cry unto\nhim. Jacob, Moses, David, Hezekiah, Mordecai, Nehemiah, the church in\nJerusalem when Peter was in prison. \u201cNow these things were for our\nensamples.\u201d\n\n2. The time of terminating an infliction has come when it has\nproduced an humble and hearty return to God.\n\n3. The mode of deliverance thus secured will be the best. An end\nmight be put to slavery by a civil war; but the remedy would be\nunspeakably worse than the disease. But suppose the church of God\nto take up this matter with an humble, united heart; and before the\nworld and God become, like Moses, an intercessor, and ready to employ\nother means subsequently and subordinately, we can not doubt that\nslavery would come to an end; and then observe with what blessed\nresults:\n\nWhat glory to God! He will be acknowledged as holy, as gracious, as\npowerful, as a hearer of prayer.\n\nWhat benefits to the slave! Liberty, elevation, knowledge, all social\nand civil blessings.\n\nWhat relief to the master!\u2014from crime, from the consciousness of\nwrong-doing, from fear, from a bondage of dependence, unthriftiness,\nand numberless vexations.\n\nWhat blessings to the country! Asperities all softened. North, South,\nEast and West united in one brotherhood; the nation honored in the\napprobation of the world; Freedom a grand reality for all.\n\nWhat advantage to the cause of Christ! Christians henceforth one;\nwounds healed; the way of usefulness unobstructed; the church\nhastening with united strength, and with the blessing of God, to the\nspiritual conquest of the world!\n\n\n\n\nIS HE NOT MAN?\n\n\n    Is he not _Man_, though knowledge never shed\n    Her quickening beams on his neglected head?\n    Is he not _Man_, though sweet religion\u2019s voice\n    Ne\u2019er made the mourner in his God rejoice?\n    Is he not _Man_, by sin and suffering tried?\n    Is he not _Man_ for whom the Saviour died?\n    Belie the Negro\u2019s powers! in headlong will,\n    Christian, _thy_ brother thou shalt prove him still.\n    Belie his virtues! since his wrongs began,\n    His follies and his crimes have stampt him Man.\n                                          Montgomery\u2019s West Indies.\n\n\n\n\nWRONG OF SLAVERY.\n\n\n                            My ear is pained,\n    My soul is sick, with every day\u2019s report\n    Of wrong and outrage, with which earth is filled.\n    There is no flesh in man\u2019s obdurate heart;\n    It does not feel for man; the natural bond\n    Of brotherhood is severed as the flax\n    That falls asunder at the touch of fire.\n    He finds his fellow guilty of a skin\n    Not colored like his own; and having power\n    To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause,\n    Dooms and devotes him as a lawful prey.\n    I would not have a slave to till my ground,\n    To carry me, to fan me while I sleep,\n    And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth\n    That sinews bought and sold, have ever earned.\n    No; dear as freedom is, and in my heart\u2019s\n    Just estimation prized above all price,\n    I had much rather be myself the slave,\n    And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him.\n                                          Cowper\u2019s Task.\n\nNo. 42.","title":"Prayer for the oppressed : $b A premium tract","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":9183}