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APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN WOMEN OF THE SOUTH

Angelina Emily Grimké

APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN WOMEN OF THE SOUTH

BY A. E. GRIMKÉ. 

"Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not within thyselfthat thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. Forif thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall thereenlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place:but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knowethwhether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this. AndEsther bade them return Mordecai this answer:--and so will I go inunto the king, which is not according to law, and _if I perish, Iperish_. " Esther IV. 13-16. 

Respected Friends, It is because I feel a deep and tender interest in your present andeternal welfare that I am willing thus publicly to address you. Someof you have loved me as a relative, and some have felt bound to me inChristian sympathy, and Gospel fellowship; and even when compelled bya strong sense of duty, to break those outward bonds of union whichbound us together as members of the same community, and members ofthe same religious denomination, you were generous enough to give mecredit, for sincerity as a Christian, though you believed I had beenmost strangely deceived. I thanked you then for your kindness, andI ask you _now_, for the sake of former confidence, and formerfriendship, to read the following pages in the spirit of calminvestigation and fervent prayer. It is because you have known me, that I write thus unto you. 

But there are other Christian women scattered over the SouthernStates, a very large number of whom have never seen me, and neverheard my name, and who feel _no_ interest whatever in _me_. But I feelan interest in _you_, as branches of the same vine from whose root Idaily draw the principle of spiritual vitality--Yes! Sisters in ChristI feel an interest in _you_, and often has the secret prayer arisenon your behalf, Lord "open thou their eyes that they may see wondrousthings out of thy Law"--It is then, because I _do feel_ and _do pray_for you, that I thus address you upon a subject about which of allothers, perhaps you would rather not hear any thing; but, "would toGod ye could bear with me a little in my folly, and indeed bear withme, for I am jealous over you with godly jealousy. " Be not afraidthen to read my appeal; it is _not_ written in the heat of passionor prejudice, but in that solemn calmness which is the result ofconviction and duty. It is true, I am going to tell you unwelcometruths, but I mean to speak those _truths in love_, and rememberSolomon says, "faithful are the _wounds_ of a friend. " I do notbelieve the time has yet come when _Christian women_ "will not enduresound doctrine, " even on the subject of Slavery, if it is spoken tothem in tenderness and love, therefore I now address _you_. 

To all of you then, known or unknown, relatives or strangers, (for youare all _one_ in Christ, ) I would speak. I have felt for you at thistime, when unwelcome light is pouring in upon the world on the subjectof slavery; light which even Christians would exclude, if they could, from our country, or at any rate from the southern portion of it, saying, as its rays strike the rock bound coasts of New England andscatter their warmth and radiance over her hills and valleys, and fromthence travel onward over the Palisades of the Hudson, and down thesoft flowing waters of the Delaware and gild the waves of the Potomac, "hitherto shalt thou come and no further;" I know that even professorsof His name who has been emphatically called the "Light of the world"would, if they could, build a wall of adamant around the SouthernStates whose top might reach unto heaven, in order to shut out thelight which is bounding from mountain to mountain and from the hillsto the plains and valleys beneath, through the vast extent of ourNorthern States. But believe me, when I tell you, their attempts willbe as utterly fruitless as were the efforts of the builders of Babel;and why? Because moral, like natural light, is so extremely subtle inits nature as to overleap all human barriers, and laugh at the punyefforts of man to control it. All the excuses and palliations of thissystem must inevitably be swept away, just as other "refuges of lies"have been, by the irresistible torrent of a rectified public opinion. "The _supporters_ of the slave system, " says Jonathan Dymond in hisadmirable work on the Principles of Morality, "will _hereafter_ beregarded with the _same_ public feeling, as he who was an advocate forthe slave trade _now is_. " It will be, and that very soon, clearlyperceived and fully acknowledged by all the virtuous and the candid, that in _principle_ it is as sinful to hold a human being in bondagewho has been born in Carolina, as one who has been born in Africa. All that sophistry of argument which has been employed to prove, thatalthough it is sinful to send to Africa to procure men and women asslaves, who have never been in slavery, that still, it is not sinfulto keep those in bondage who have come down by inheritance, will beutterly overthrown. We must come back to the good old doctrine of ourforefathers who declared to the world, "this self evident truth that_all_ men are created equal, and that they have certain _inalienable_rights among which are life, _liberty_, and the pursuit of happiness. "It is even a greater absurdity to suppose a man can be legally borna slave under _our free Republican_ Government, than under the pettydespotisms of barbarian Africa. If then, we have no right to enslavean African, surely we can have none to enslave an American; if it is aself evident truth that _all_ men, every where and of every color areborn equal, and have an _inalienable right to liberty_, then it isequally true that _no_ man can be born a slave, and no man can ever_rightfully_ be reduced to _involuntary_ bondage and held as a slave, however fair may be the claim of his master or mistress through willsand title-deeds. 

But after all, it may be said, our fathers were certainly mistaken, for the Bible sanctions Slavery, and that is the highest authority. Now the Bible is my ultimate appeal in all matters of faith andpractice, and it is to _this test_ I am anxious to bring the subjectat issue between us. Let us then begin with Adam and examine thecharter of privileges which was given to him. "Have dominion over thefish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every livingthing that moveth upon the earth. " In the eighth Psalm we have a stillfuller description of this charter which through Adam was given toall mankind. "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thyhands; thou hast put all things under his feet. All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, the fish of thesea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. " And afterthe flood when this charter of human rights was renewed, we find _noadditional_ power vested in man. "And the fear of you and the dread ofyou shall be upon every beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air, and upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes ofthe sea, into your hand are they delivered. " In this charter, althoughthe different kinds of _irrational_ beings are so particularlyenumerated, and supreme dominion over _all of them_ is granted, yet_man_ is _never_ vested with this dominion _over his fellow man;_he was never told that any of the human species were put _under hisfeet;_ it was only _all things_, and man, who was created in the imageof his Maker, _never_ can properly be termed a _thing_, though thelaws of Slave States do call him "a chattel personal;" _Man_ then, Iassert _never_ was put _under the feet of man_, by that first charterof human rights which was given by God, to the Fathers of theAntediluvian and Postdiluvian worlds, therefore this doctrine ofequality is based on the Bible. 

But it may be argued, that in the very chapter of Genesis from which Ihave last quoted, will be found the curse pronounced upon Canaan, bywhich his posterity was consigned to servitude under his brothers Shemand Japheth. I know this prophecy was uttered, and was most fearfullyand wonderfully fulfilled, through the immediate descendants ofCanaan, i. E. The Canaanites, and I do not know but it has been throughall the children of Ham but I do know that prophecy does _not_ tell uswhat _ought to be_, but what actually does take place, ages after ithas been delivered, and that if we justify America for enslavingthe children of Africa, we must also justify Egypt for reducingthe children of Israel to bondage, for the latter was foretold asexplicitly as the former. I am well aware that prophecy has often beenurged as an excuse for Slavery, but be not deceived, the fulfilment ofprophecy will _not cover one sin_ in the awful day of account. Hearwhat our Saviour says on this subject; "it must needs be that offencescome, but _woe unto that man through whom they come"_--Witness somefulfilment of this declaration in the tremendous destruction, ofJerusalem, occasioned by that most nefarious of all crimes thecrucifixion of the Son of God. Did the fact of that event having beenforetold, exculpate the Jews from sin in perpetrating it; No--forhear what the Apostle Peter says to them on this subject, "Him beingdelivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, _ye_have taken, and by _wicked_ hands have crucified and slain. " Otherstriking instances might be adduced, but these will suffice. 

But it has been urged that the patriarchs held slaves, and therefore, slavery is right. Do you really believe that patriarchal servitude waslike American slavery? Can you believe it? If so, read the historyof these primitive fathers of the church and be undeceived. Look atAbraham, though so great a man, going to the herd himself and fetchinga calf from thence and serving it up with his own hands, for theentertainment of his guests. Look at Sarah, that princess as her namesignifies, baking cakes upon the hearth. If the servants they had werelike Southern slaves, would they have performed such comparativelymenial offices for themselves? Hear too the plaintive lamentation ofAbraham when he feared he should have no son to bear his name downto posterity. "Behold thou hast given me no seed, &c, one born in myhouse _is mine_ heir. " From this it appears that one of his _servants_was to inherit his immense estate. Is this like Southern slavery? Ileave it to your own good sense and candor to decide. Besides, suchwas the footing upon which Abraham was with _his_ servants, that hetrusted them with arms. Are slaveholders willing to put swords andpistols into the hands of their slaves? He was as a father among hisservants; what are planters and masters generally among theirs? Whenthe institution of circumcision was established, Abraham was commandedthus; "He that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, _every_ man-child in your generations; he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger which is not of thy seed. " Andto render this command with regard to his _servants_ still moreimpressive it is repeated in the very next verse; and herein we mayperceive the great care which was taken by God to guard the _rightsof servants_ even under this "dark dispensation. " What too was thetestimony given to the faithfulness of this eminent patriarch. "For Iknow him that he will command his children and his _household_ afterhim, and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice andjudgment. " Now my dear friends many of you believe that circumcisionhas been superseded by baptism in the Church; _Are you_ careful tohave _all_ that are born in your house or bought with money of anystranger, baptized? Are _you_ as faithful as Abraham to command_your household to keep the way of the Lord?_ I leave it to your ownconsciences to decide. Was patriarchal servitude then like AmericanSlavery?

But I shall be told, God sanctioned Slavery, yea commanded Slaveryunder the Jewish Dispensation. Let us examine this subject calmly andprayerfully. I admit that a species of _servitude_ was permitted tothe Jews, but in studying the subject I have been struck with wonderand admiration at perceiving how carefully the servant was guardedfrom violence, injustice and wrong. I will first inform you how theseservants became servants, for I think this a very important part ofour subject. From consulting Horne, Calmet and the Bible, I find therewere six different ways by which the Hebrews became servants legally. 

1. If reduced to extreme poverty, a Hebrew might sell himself, i. E. His services, for six years, in which case _he_ received the purchasemoney _himself_. Lev. Xxv, 39. 

2. A father might sell his children as servants, i. E. His _daughters_, in which circumstance it was understood the daughter was to be thewife or daughter-in-law of the man who bought her, and the _father_received the price. In other words, Jewish women were sold as _whitewomen_ were in the first settlement of Virginia--as _wives_, _not_ asslaves. Ex. Xxi, 7. 

3. Insolvent debtors might be delivered to their creditors asservants. 2 Kings iv, 1

4. Thieves not able to make restitution for their thefts, were soldfor the benefit of the injured person. Ex. Xxii, 3. 

5. They might be born in servitude. Ex. Xxi, 4. 

6. If a Hebrew had sold himself to a rich Gentile, he might beredeemed by one of his brethren at any time the money was offered; andhe who redeemed him, was _not_ to take advantage of the favor thusconferred, and rule over him with rigor. Lev. Xxv, 47-55. 

Before going into an examination of the laws by which these servantswere protected, I would just ask whether American slaves have becomeslaves in any of the ways in which the Hebrews became servants. Didthey sell themselves into slavery and receive the purchase money intotheir own hands? No! Did they become insolvent, and by their ownimprudence subject themselves to be sold as slaves? No! Did they stealthe property of another, and were they sold to make restitution fortheir crimes? No! Did their present masters, as an act of kindness, redeem them from some heathen tyrant to whom _they had soldthemselves_ in the dark hour of adversity? No! Were they born inslavery? No! No! not according to _Jewish Law_, for the servants whowere born in servitude among them, were born of parents who had _soldthemselves_ for six years: Ex. Xxi, 4. Were the female slaves ofthe South sold by their fathers? How shall I answer this question?Thousands and tens of thousands never were, _their_ fathers _never_have received the poor compensation of silver or gold for the tearsand toils, the suffering, and anguish, and hopeless bondage of _their_daughters. They labor day by day, and year by year, side by side, inthe same field, if haply their daughters are permitted to remain onthe same plantation with them, instead of being as they often are, separated from their parents and sold into distant states, never againto meet on earth. But do the _fathers of the South ever sell theirdaughters_? My heart beats, and my hand trembles, as I write the awfulaffirmative, Yes! The fathers of this Christian land often selltheir daughters, _not_ as Jewish parents did, to be the wives anddaughters-in-law of the man who buys them, but to be the abject slavesof petty tyrants and irresponsible masters. Is it not so, my friends?I leave it to your own candor to corroborate my assertion. Southernslaves then have _not_ become slaves in any of the six different waysin which Hebrews became servants, and I hesitate not to say thatAmerican masters _cannot_ according to _Jewish law_ substantiate theirclaim to the men, women, or children they now hold in bondage. 

But there was one way in which a Jew might illegally be reduced toservitude; it was this, he might be _stolen_ and afterwards sold as aslave, as was Joseph. To guard most effectually against this dreadfulcrime of manstealing, God enacted this severe law. "He that stealeth aman and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely beput to death. " [1] As I have tried American Slavery by _legal_ Hebrewservitude, and found, (to your surprise, perhaps, ) that Jewish lawcannot justify the slaveholder's claim, let us now try it by _illegal_Hebrew bondage. Have the Southern slaves then been, stolen? If theydid not sell themselves into bondage; if they were not sold asinsolvent debtors or as thieves; if they were not redeemed from aheathen master to whom _they had sold themselves_; if they were notborn in servitude according to Hebrew law; and if the females werenot sold by their fathers as wives and daughters-in-law to those whopurchased them; then what shall we say of them? what can we say ofthem but that according _to Hebrew Law they have been stolen_. 

But I shall be told that the Jews had other servants who were absoluteslaves. Let us look a little into this also. They had other servantswho were procured in two different ways. 

1. Captives taken in war were reduced to bondage instead of beingkilled; but we are not told that their children were enslaved Deut. Xx, 14. 

2. Bondmen and bondmaids might be bought from the heathen round aboutthem; these were left by fathers to their children after them, butit does not appear that the _children_ of these servants ever werereduced to servitude. Lev. Xxv, 44. 

I will now try the right of the southern planter by the claims ofHebrew masters over their _heathen_ slaves. Were the southern slavestaken captive in war? No! Were they bought from the heathen? No! forsurely, no one will _now_ vindicate the slave-trade so far as toassert that slaves were bought from the heathen who were obtained bythat system of piracy. The _only_ excuse for holding southern slavesis that they were born in slavery, but we have seen that they were_not_ born in servitude as Jewish servants were, and that the childrenof heathen slaves were not legally subjected to bondage even under theMosaic Law. How then have the slaves of the South been obtained?

I will next proceed to an examination of those laws which were enactedin order to protect the Hebrew and the Heathen servant; for I wish youto understand that _both_ are protected by Him, of whom it is said"his mercies are over _all_ his works. " I will first speak of thosewhich secured the rights of Hebrew servants. This code was headedthus:

1. Thou shalt _not_ rule over him with _rigor_, but shalt fear thyGod;

2. If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve, and inthe seventh year he shall go out free for nothing. Ex. Xxi, 2. [2]

3. If he come in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he weremarried, then his wife shall go out with him. 

4. If his master have given him a wife and she have borne him sons anddaughters, the wife and her children shall be his master's, and heshall go out by himself. 

5. If the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and mychildren; I will not go out free; then his master shall bring him untothe Judges, and he shall bring him to the door, or unto the door-post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shallserve him _forever_. Ex. Xxi, 5-6. 

6. If a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, thatit perish, he shall let him go _free_ for his eye's sake. And if hesmite out his man servant's tooth or his maid servant's tooth, heshall let him go _free_ for his tooth's sake. Ex. Xxi, 26, 27. 

7. On the Sabbath rest was secured to servants by the fourthcommandment. Ex. Xx, 10. 

8. Servants were permitted to unite with their masters three times inevery year in celebrating the Passover, the feast of Pentecost, andthe feast of Tabernacles; every male throughout the land was to appearbefore the Lord at Jerusalem with a gift; here the bond and the freestood on common ground. Deut. Xvi. 

9. If a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod, and he die underhis hand, he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continuea day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his money. Ex. Xxi, 20, 21. 

From these laws we learn that Hebrew men servants were bound to servetheir masters _only six_ years, unless their attachment to theiremployers their wives and children, should induce them to wishto remain in servitude, in which case, in order to prevent thepossibility of deception on the part of the master, the servant wasfirst taken before the magistrate, where he openly declared hisintention of continuing in his master's service, (probably a publicregister was kept of such) he was then conducted to the door of thehouse, (in warm climates doors are thrown open, ) and _there_ his earwas _publicly_ bored, and by submitting to this operation he testifiedhis willingness to serve him _forever_, i. E. During his life, forJewish Rabbins who must have understood Jewish _slavery_, (as it iscalled, ) "affirm that servants were set free at the death of theirmasters and did _not_ descend to their heirs:" or that he was toserve him until the year of Jubilee, when _all_ servants were set atliberty. To protect servants from violence, it was ordained that if amaster struck out the tooth or destroyed the eye of a servant, thatservant immediately became _free_, for such an act of violenceevidently showed he was unfit to possess the power of a master, andtherefore that power was taken from him. All servants enjoyed the restof the Sabbath and partook of the privileges and festivities of thethree great Jewish Feasts; and if a servant died under the inflictionof chastisement, his master was surely to be punished. As a toothfor a tooth and life for life was the Jewish law, of course he waspunished with death. I know that great stress has been laid upon thefollowing verse: "Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, heshall not be punished, for he is his money. "

Slaveholders, and the apologists of slavery, have eagerly seized uponthis little passage of scripture, and held it up as the masters' MagnaCharta, by which they were licensed by God himself to commit thegreatest outrages upon the defenceless victims of their oppression. But, my friends, was it designed to be so? If our Heavenly Fatherwould protect by law the eye and the tooth of a Hebrew servant, can wefor a moment believe that he would abandon that same servant to thebrutal rage of a master who would destroy even life itself. Do we notrather see in this, the _only_ law which protected masters, and wasit not right that in case of the death of a servant, one or two daysafter chastisement was inflicted, to which other circumstances mighthave contributed, that the master should be protected when, in allprobability, he never intended to produce so fatal a result? But thephrase "he is his money" has been adduced to show that Hebrew servantswere regarded as mere _things_, "chattels personal;" if so, why wereso many laws made to _secure their rights as men_, and to ensure theirrising into equality and freedom? If they were mere _things_, why werethey regarded as responsible beings, and one law made for them as wellas for their masters? But I pass on now to the consideration of howthe _female_ Jewish servants were protected by _law_. 

1. If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto another nation heshall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. 

2. If he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her afterthe manner of daughters. 

3. If he take him another wife, her food, her raiment, and her duty ofmarriage, shall he not diminish. 

4. If he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out _free_without money. 

On these laws I will give you Calmet's remarks; "A father could notsell his daughter as a slave, according to the Rabbins, until shewas at the age of puberty, and unless he were reduced to the utmostindigence. Besides when a master bought an Israelitish girl, it was_always_ with the presumption that he would take her to wife. HenceMoses adds, 'if she please not her master, and he does not thinkfit to marry her, he shall set her at liberty, ' or according to theHebrew, 'he shall let her be redeemed. ' 'To sell her to another nationhe shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her;' asto the engagement implied, at least of taking her to wife. 'If he havebetrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner ofdaughters, i. E. He shall take care that his son uses her as his wife, that he does not despise or maltreat her. If he make his sonmarry another wife, he shall give her her dowry, her clothes andcompensation for her virginity; if he does none of these three, sheshall _go out free_ without money. " Thus were the _rights of femaleservants carefully secured by law_ under the Jewish Dispensation; andnow I would ask, are the rights of female slaves at the South thussecured? Are _they_ sold only as wives and daughters-in-law, and whennot treated as such, are they allowed to _go out free?_ No! They have_all_ not only been illegally obtained as servants according to Hebrewlaw, but they are also illegally _held_ in bondage. Masters at theSouth and West have all forfeited their claims, (_if they ever hadany_, ) to their female slaves. 

We come now to examine the case of those servants who were "of theheathen round about;" Were _they_ left entirely unprotected by law?Horne in speaking of the law, "Thou shalt not rule over him withrigor, but shall fear thy God, " remarks, "this law Lev. Xxv, 43, itis true speaks expressly of slaves who were of Hebrew descent; butas _alien born_ slaves were ingrafted into the Hebrew Church bycircumcision, _there is no doubt_ but that it applied to _all_slaves;" if so, then we may reasonably suppose that the otherprotective laws extended to them also; and that the only differencebetween Hebrew and Heathen servants lay in this, that the formerserved but six years unless they chose to remain longer, and werealways freed at the death of their masters; whereas the latter serveduntil the year of Jubilee, though that might include a period offorty-nine years, --and were left from father to son. 

There are however two other laws which I have not yet noticed. Theone effectually prevented _all involuntary_ servitude, and the othercompletely abolished Jewish servitude every fifty years. They wereequally operative upon the Heathen and the Hebrew. 

1. "Thou shall _not_ deliver unto his master the servant that isescaped from his master unto thee. He shall dwell with thee, evenamong you, in that place which he shall choose, in one of thy gateswhere it liketh him best: thou shall _not_ oppress him. " Deut. Xxiii, 15, 16. 

2. "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim _Liberty_throughout _all_ the land, unto _all_ the inhabitants thereof: itshall be a jubilee unto you. " Lev. Xxv, 10. 

Here, then, we see that by this first law, the _door of Freedom wasopened wide to every servant who_ had any cause whatever forcomplaint; if he was unhappy with his master, all he had to do was toleave him, and _no man_ had a right to deliver him back to him again, and not only so, but the absconded servant was to _choose_ where heshould live, and no Jew was permitted to oppress him. He left hismaster just as our Northern servants leave us; we have no power tocompel them to remain with us, and no man has any right to oppressthem; they go and dwell in that place where it chooseth them, and livejust where they like. Is it so at the South? Is the poor runaway slaveprotected _by law_ from the violence of that master whose oppressionand cruelty has driven him from his plantation or his house? No! no!Even the free states of the North are compelled to deliver unto hismaster the servant that is escaped from his master into them. By_human_ law, under the _Christian Dispensation_, in the _nineteenthcentury we_ are commanded to do, what _God_ more than _three thousand_years ago, under the _Mosaic Dispensation, positively commanded_ theJews _not_ to do. In the wide domain even of our free states, there isnot _one_ city of refuge for the poor runaway fugitive; not one spotupon which he can stand and say, I am a free man--I am protected in myrights as a _man_, by the strong arm of the law; no! _not one_. Howlong the North will thus shake hands with the South in sin, I knownot. How long she will stand by like the persecutor Saul, _consenting_unto the death of Stephen, and keeping the raiment of them that slewhim. I know not; but one thing I do know, the _guilt of the North_ isincreasing in a tremendous ratio as light is pouring in upon her onthe subject and the sin of slavery. As the sun of righteousness climbshigher and higher in the moral heavens, she will stand still more andmore abashed as the query is thundered down into her ear, "_Who_ hathrequired _this_ at thy hand?" It will be found _no_ excuse then thatthe Constitution of our country required that _persons bound toservice_ escaping from their masters should be delivered up; no moreexcuse than was the reason which Adam assigned for eating the forbiddenfruit. _He_ was _condemned and punished because_ he hearkened to thevoice of _his wife_, rather than to the command of his Maker; and _we_will assuredly be condemned and punished for obeying _Man_ rather than_God_, if we do not speedily repent and bring forth fruits meet forrepentance. Yea, are we not receiving chastisement even _now_?

But by the second of these laws a still more astonishing fact isdisclosed. If the first effectually prevented _all involuntaryservitude_, the last absolutely forbade even _voluntary servitudebeing perpetual_. On the great day of atonement every fiftieth yearthe Jubilee trumpet was sounded throughout the land of Judea, and_Liberty_ was proclaimed to _all_ the inhabitants thereof. I will notsay that the servants' _chains_ fell off and their _manacles_ wereburst, for there is no evidence that Jewish servants _ever_ felt theweight of iron chains, and collars, and handcuffs; but I do say thateven the man who had voluntarily sold himself and the _heathen_ whohad been sold to a Hebrew master, were set free, the one as well asthe other. This law was evidently designed to prevent the oppressionof the poor, and the possibility of such a thing as _perpetualservitude_ existing among them. 

Where, then, I would ask, is the warrant, the justification, or thepalliation of American Slavery from Hebrew servitude? How many ofthe southern slaves would now be in bondage according to the laws ofMoses; Not one. You may observe that I have carefully avoided usingthe term _slavery_ when speaking of Jewish servitude; and simply forthis reason, that _no such thing_ existed among that people; the wordtranslated servant does _not_ mean _slave_, it is the same that isapplied to Abraham, to Moses, to Elisha and the prophets generally. Slavery then never existed under the Jewish Dispensation at all, andI cannot but regard it as an aspersion on the character of Him who is"glorious in Holiness" for any one to assert that "_God sanctioned, yea commanded slavery_ under the old dispensation. " I would fainlift my feeble voice to vindicate Jehovah's character from so foul aslander. If slaveholders are determined to hold slaves as long asthey can, let them not dare to say that the God of mercy and of truth_ever_ sanctioned such a system of cruelty and wrong. It is blasphemyagainst Him. 

We have seen that the code of laws framed by Moses with regard toservants was designed to protect them as men and women, to secure tothem their rights as human beings, to guard them from oppression anddefend them from violence of every kind. Let us now turn to the Slavelaws of the South and West and examine them too. I will give you thesubstance only, because I fear I shall tresspass too much on yourtime, were I to quote them at length. 

1. _Slavery_ is hereditary and perpetual, to the last moment of theslave's earthly existence, and to all his descendants to the latestposterity. 

2. The labor of the slave is compulsory and uncompensated; while thekind of labor, the amount of toil, the time allowed for rest, aredictated solely by the master. No bargain is made, no wages given. A pure despotism governs the human brute; and even his covering andprovender, both as to quantity and quality, depend entirely on themaster's discretion. [3]

3. The slave being considered a personal chattel may be sold orpledged, or leased at the will of his master. He may be exchanged formarketable commodities, or taken in execution for the debts ortaxes either of a living or dead master. Sold at auction, eitherindividually, or in lots to suit the purchaser, he may remain with hisfamily, or be separated from them for ever. 

4. Slaves can make no contracts and have no _legal_ right to anyproperty, real or personal. Their own honest earnings and the legaciesof friends belong in point of law to their masters. 

5. Neither a slave nor a free colored person can be a witness againstany _white_, or free person, in a court of justice, however atrociousmay have been the crimes they have seen him commit, if such testimonywould be for the benefit of a _slave_; but they may give testimony_against a fellow slave_, or free colored man, even in cases affectinglife, if the _master_ is to reap the advantage of it. 

6. The slave may be punished at his master's discretion--withouttrial--without any means of legal redress; whether his offence be realor imaginary; and the master can transfer the same despotic power toany person or persons, he may choose to appoint. 

7. The slave is not allowed to resist any free man under _any_circumstances, _his_ only safety consists in the fact that his _owner_may bring suit and recover the price of his body, in case his life istaken, or his limbs rendered unfit for labor. 

8. Slaves cannot redeem themselves, or obtain a change of masters, though cruel treatment may have' rendered such a change necessary fortheir personal safety. 

9. The slave is entirely unprotected in his domestic relations. 

10. The laws greatly obstruct the manumission of slaves, even wherethe master is willing to enfranchise them. 

11. The operation of the laws tends to deprive slaves of religiousinstruction and consolation. 

12. The whole power of the laws is exerted to keep slaves in a stateof the lowest ignorance. 

13. There is in this country a monstrous inequality of law and right. What is a trifling fault in the white man, is considered highlycriminal--in the slave; the same offences which cost a white man a fewdollars only, are punished in the negro with death. 

14. The laws operate most oppressively upon free people of color. [4]Shall I ask you now my friends, to draw the parallel between Jewish_servitude_ and American _slavery_? No! For there is _no likeness_ inthe two systems; I ask you rather to mark the contrast. The laws ofMoses _protected servants_ in their _rights as men and women_, guardedthem from oppression and defended them from wrong. The Code Noir ofthe South _robs the slave of all his rights_ as a _man_, reduces himto a chattel personal, and defends the master in the exercise of themost unnatural and unwarrantable power over his slave. They each bearthe impress of the hand which formed them. The attributes of justiceand mercy are shadowed out in the Hebrew code; those of injusticeand cruelty, in the Code Noir of America. Truly it was wise in theslaveholders of the South to declare their slaves to be "chattelspersonal;" for before they could be robbed of wages, wives, children, and friends, it was absolutely necessary to deny they were humanbeings. It is wise in them, to keep them in abject ignorance, for thestrong man armed must be bound before we can spoil his house--thepowerful intellect of man must be bound down with the iron chains ofnescience before we can rob him of his rights as a man; we must reducehim to a _thing_ before we can claim the right to set our feet uponhis neck, because it was only _all things_ which were originally _putunder the feet of man_ by the Almighty and Beneficent Father of all, who has declared himself to be _no respecter_ of persons, whether red, white or black. 

But some have even said that Jesus Christ did not condemn slavery. Tothis I reply that our Holy Redeemer lived and preached among the Jewsonly. The laws which Moses had enacted fifteen hundred years previousto his appearance among them, had never been annulled, and these lawsprotected every servant in Palestine. If then He did not condemnJewish servitude this does not prove that he would not have condemnedsuch a monstrous system as that of American _slavery_, if that hadexisted among them. But did not Jesus condemn slavery? Let us examinesome of his precepts. "_Whatsoever_ ye would that men should do toyou, do _ye even so to them_, " Let every slaveholder apply thesequeries to his own heart; Am _I_ willing to be a slave--Am _I_ willingto see _my_ wife the slave of another--Am _I_ willing to see my mothera slave, or my father, my sister or my brother? If _not_, then inholding others as slaves, I am doing what I would _not_ wish to bedone to me or any relative I have; and thus have I broken this goldenrule which was given _me_ to walk by. 

But some slaveholders have said, "we were never in bondage to anyman, " and therefore the yoke of bondage would be insufferable to us, but slaves are accustomed to it, their backs are fitted to the burden. Well, I am willing to admit that you who have lived in freedom wouldfind slavery even more oppressive than the poor slave does, but thenyou may try this question in another form--Am I willing to reduce _mylittle child_ to slavery? You know that _if it is brought up a slave_it will never know any contrast, between freedom and bondage, its backwill become fitted to the burden just as the negro child's does--_notby nature_--but by daily, violent pressure, in the same way that thehead of the Indian child becomes flattened by the boards in which itis bound. It has been justly remarked that "_God never made a slave_, "he made man upright; his back was _not_ made to carry burdens, nor hisneck to wear a yoke, and the _man_ must be crushed within him, before_his_ back can be _fitted_ to the burden of perpetual slavery; andthat his back is _not_ fitted to it, is manifest by the insurrectionsthat so often disturb the peace and security of slaveholdingcountries. Who ever heard of a rebellion of the beasts of the field;and why not? simply because _they_ were all placed _under the feet ofman_, into whose hand they were delivered; it was originally designedthat they should serve him, therefore their necks have been formedfor the yoke, and their backs for the burden; but _not so with man_, intellectual, immortal man! I appeal to you, my friends, as mothers;Are you willing to enslave _your_ children? You start back with horrorand indignation at such a question. But why, if slavery is _no wrong_to those upon whom it is imposed? why, if as has often been said, slaves are happier than their masters, free from the cares andperplexities of providing for themselves and their families? why notplace _your children_ in the way of being supported without yourhaving the trouble to provide for them, or they for themselves? Do younot perceive that as soon as this golden rule of action is applied to_yourselves_ that you involuntarily shrink from the test; as soon as_your_ actions are weighed in _this_ balance of the sanctuary that_you are found wanting_? Try yourselves by another of the Divineprecepts, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. " Can we love a man_as_ we love _ourselves_ if we do, and continue to do unto him, whatwe would not wish any one to do to us? Look too, at Christ's example, what does he say of himself, "I came _not_ to be ministered unto, butto minister. " Can you for a moment imagine the meek, and lowly, andcompassionate Saviour, a _slaveholder_? do you not shudder at thisthought as much as at that of his being _a warrior_? But why, ifslavery is not sinful?

Again, it has been said, the Apostle Paul did not condemn Slavery, forhe sent Onesimus back to Philemon. I do not think it can be said hesent him back, for no coercion was made use of. Onesimus was notthrown into prison and then sent back in chains to his master, as yourrunaway slaves often are--this could not possibly have been the case, because you know Paul as a Jew, was _bound to protect_ the runaway, _he had no right_ to send any fugitive back to his master. The stateof the case then seems to have been this. Onesimus had been anunprofitable servant to Philemon and left him--he afterwards becameconverted under the Apostle's preaching, and seeing that he had beento blame in his conduct, and desiring by future fidelity to atone forpast error, he wished to return, and the Apostle gave him the letterwe now have as a recommendation to Philemon, informing him of theconversion of Onesimus, and entreating him as "Paul the aged" "toreceive him, _not_ now as a servant, but _above_ a servant, a brotherbeloved, especially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in theflesh and in the Lord. If thou count _me_ therefore as a partner, _receive him as myself_. " This then surely cannot be forced into ajustification of the practice of returning runaway slaves back totheir masters, to be punished with cruel beatings and scourgings asthey often are. Besides the word [Greek: doulos] here translatedservant, is the same that is made use of in Matt. Xviii, 27. Now itappears that this servant owed his lord ten thousand talents; hepossessed property to a vast amount. Onesimus could not then have beena _slave_, for slaves do not own their wives, or children; no, noteven their own bodies, much less property. But again, the servitudewhich the apostle was accustomed to, must have been very differentfrom American slavery, for he says, "the heir (or son), as long as heis a child, differeth _nothing from a servant_, though he be lord ofall. But is under _tutors_ and governors until the time appointed ofthe father. " From this it appears, that the means of _instruction_were provided for _servants_ as well as children; and indeed we knowit must have been so among the Jews, because their servants werenot permitted to remain in perpetual bondage, and therefore it wasabsolutely necessary they should be prepared to occupy higher stationsin society than those of servants. Is it so at the South, my friends?Is the daily bread of instruction provided for _your slaves?_ aretheir minds enlightened, and they gradually prepared to rise fromthe grade of menials into that of _free_, independent members of thestate? Let your own statute book, and your own daily experience, answer these questions. 

If this apostle sanctioned _slavery_, why did he exhort masters-thusin his epistle to the Ephesians, "and ye, masters, do the same thingsunto them (i. E. Perform your duties to your servants as unto Christ, not unto me) _forbearing threatening_; knowing that your master alsois in heaven, neither is _there respect of persons with him_. " And inColossians, "Masters give unto your servants that which is _justand equal_, knowing that ye also have a master in heaven. " Letslaveholders only obey these injunctions of Paul, and I am satisfiedslavery would soon be abolished. If he thought it sinful even to_threaten_ servants, surely he must have thought it sinful to flog andto beat them with sticks and paddles; indeed, when delineating thecharacter of a bishop, he expressly names this as one feature of it, "_no striker_. " Let masters give unto their servants that which is_just_ and _equal_, and all that vast system of unrequited labor wouldcrumble into ruin. Yes, and if they once felt they had no right to the_labor_ of their servants without pay, surely they could not thinkthey had a right to their wives, their children, and their own bodies. Again, how can it be said Paul sanctioned slavery, when, as thoughto put this matter beyond all doubt, in that black catalogue ofsins enumerated in his first epistle to Timothy, he mentions"_menstealers_, " which word may be translated "_slavedealers_. " Butyou may say, we all despise slavedealers as much as any one can; theyare never admitted into genteel or respectable society. And why not?Is it not because even you shrink back from the idea of associatingwith those who make their fortunes by trading in the bodies and soulsof men, women, and children? whose daily work it is to break humanhearts, by tearing wives from their husbands, and children from theirparents? But why hold slavedealers as despicable, if their trade islawful and virtuous? and why despise them more than the _gentlemen offortune and standing_ who employ them as _their_ agents? Why more thanthe _professors of religion_ who barter their fellow-professors tothem for gold and silver? We do not despise the land agent, or thephysician, or the merchant, and why? Simply because their professionsare virtuous and honorable; and if the trade of men-jobbers washonorable, you would not despise them either. There is no differencein _principle_, in _Christian ethics_, between the despisedslavedealer and the _Christian_ who buys slaves from, or sells slaves, to him; indeed, if slaves were not wanted by the respectable, thewealthy, and the religious in a community, there would be no slavesin that community, and of course no _slavedealers_. It is then the_Christians_ and the _honorable men_ and _women_ of the South, who arethe _main pillars_ of this grand temple built to Mammon and to Moloch. It is the _most enlightened_ in every country who are _most_ to blamewhen any public sin is supported by public opinion, hence Isaiah says, "_When_ the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount _Zion_ andon _Jerusalem_, (then) I will punish the fruit of the stout heart ofthe king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. " And was it notso? Open the historical records of that age, was not Israel carriedinto captivity B. C. 606, Judah B. C. 588, and the stout heart of theheathen monarchy not punished until B. C. 536, fifty-two years _after_Judah's, and seventy years _after_ Israel's captivity, when it wasoverthrown by Cyrus, king of Persia? Hence, too, the apostle Petersays, "judgment must _begin at the house of God_. " Surely this wouldnot be the case, if the _professors of religion_ were not _mostworthy_ of blame. 

But it may be asked, why are _they_ most culpable? I will tell you, myfriends. It is because sin is imputed to us just in proportion to thespiritual light we receive. Thus the prophet Amos says, in the name ofJehovah, "You _only_ have I known of all the families of the earth:_therefore_ I will punish _you_ for all your iniquities. " Hear toothe doctrine of our Lord on this important subject; "The servantwho _knew_ his Lord's will and _prepared not_ himself, neither didaccording to his will, shall be beaten with _many_ stripes:" andwhy? "For unto whomsoever _much_ is given, _of him_ shall _much_ berequired; and to whom men have committed _much_, of _him_ they willask the _more_. " Oh! then that the _Christians_ of the southwould ponder these things in their hearts, and awake to the vastresponsibilities which rest _upon them_ at this important crisis. 

I have thus, I think, clearly proved to you seven propositions, viz. : First, that slavery is contrary to the declaration of ourindependence. Second, that it is contrary to the first charter ofhuman rights given to Adam, and renewed to Noah. Third, that the factof slavery having been the subject of prophecy, furnishes _no_ excusewhatever to slavedealers. Fourth, that no such system existed underthe patriarchal dispensation. Fifth, that _slavery never_ existedunder the Jewish dispensation; but so far otherwise, that everyservant was placed under the _protection of law_, and care takennot only to prevent all _involuntary_ servitude, but all _voluntaryperpetual_ bondage. Sixth, that slavery in America reduces a _man_ toa _thing_, a "chattel personal, " _robs him_ of _all_ his rights asa _human being_, fetters both his mind and body, and protects the_master_ in the most unnatural and unreasonable power, whilst it_throws him out_ of the protection of law. Seventh, that slaveryis contrary to the example and precepts of our holy and mercifulRedeemer, and of his apostles. 

But perhaps you will be ready to query, why appeal to _women_ on thissubject? _We_ do not make the laws which perpetuate slavery. _No_legislative power is vested in _us; we_ can do nothing to overthrowthe system, even if we wished to do so. To this I reply, I know youdo not make the laws, but I also know that _you are the wives andmothers, the sisters and daughters of those who do;_ and if you reallysuppose _you_ can do nothing to overthrow slavery, you are greatlymistaken. You can do much in every way: four things I will name. 1st. You can read on this subject. 2d. You can pray over this subject. 3d. You can speak on this subject. 4th. You can _act_ on this subject. I have not placed reading before praying because I regard it moreimportant, but because, in order to pray aright, we must understandwhat we are praying for; it is only then we can "pray with theunderstanding and the spirit also. "

1. Read then on the subject of slavery. Search the Scriptures daily, whether the things I have told you are true. Other books and papersmight be a great help to you in this investigation, but they are notnecessary, and it is hardly probable that your Committees of Vigilancewill allow you to have any other. The _Bible_ then is the book I wantyou to read in the spirit of inquiry, and the spirit of prayer. Eventhe enemies of Abolitionists, acknowledge that their doctrines aredrawn from it. In the great mob in Boston, last autumn, when the booksand papers of the Anti-Slavery Society, were thrown out of the windowsof their office, one individual laid hold of the Bible and was abouttossing it out to the ground, when another reminded him that it wasthe Bible he had in his hand. "_O! 'tis all one_, " he replied, andout went the sacred volume, along with the rest. We thank him for theacknowledgment. Yes, "_it is all one_, " for our books and papersare mostly commentaries on the Bible, and the Declaration. Read the_Bible_ then, it contains the words of Jesus, and they are spirit andlife. Judge for yourselves whether _he sanctioned_ such a system ofoppression and crime. 

2. Pray over this subject. When you have entered into your closets, and shut to the doors, then pray to your father, who seeth in secret, that he would open your eyes to see whether slavery is _sinful_, and if it is, that he would enable you to bear a faithful, open andunshrinking testimony against it, and to do whatsoever your hands findto do, leaving the consequences entirely to him, who still says to uswhenever we try to reason away duty from the fear of consequences, "_What is that to thee, follow thou me_. " Pray also for that poorslave, that he may be kept patient and submissive under his hardlot, until God is pleased to open the door of freedom to him withoutviolence or bloodshed. Pray too for the master that his heart may besoftened, and he made willing to acknowledge, as Joseph's brethrendid, "Verily we are guilty concerning our brother, " before he will becompelled to add in consequence of Divine judgment, "therefore is allthis evil come upon us. " Pray also for all your brethren and sisterswho are laboring in the righteous cause of Emancipation in theNorthern States, England and the world. There is great encouragementfor prayer in these words of our Lord. "Whatsoever ye shall ask theFather _in my name_, he _will give_ it to you"--Pray then withoutceasing, in the closet and the social circle. 

3. Speak on this subject. It is through the tongue, the pen, andthe press, that truth is principally propagated. Speak then to yourrelatives, your friends, your acquaintances on the subject of slavery;be not afraid if you are conscientiously convinced it is _sinful_, tosay so openly, but calmly, and to let your sentiments be known. If youare served by the slaves of others, try to ameliorate their conditionas much as possible; never aggravate their faults, and thus add fuelto the fire of anger already kindled, in a master and mistress'sbosom; remember their extreme ignorance, and consider them as yourHeavenly Father does the _less_ culpable on this account, evenwhen they do wrong things. Discountenance all cruelty to them, allstarvation, all corporal chastisement; these may brutalize and_break_ their spirits, but will never bend them to willing, cheerfulobedience. If possible, see that they are comfortably and _seasonably_fed, whether in the house or the field; it is unreasonable and cruelto expect slaves to wait for their breakfast until eleven o'clock, when they rise at five or six. Do all you can, to induce their ownersto clothe them well, and to allow them many little indulgences whichwould contribute to their comfort. Above all, try to persuade yourhusband, father, brothers and sons, that _slavery is a crime againstGod and man_, and that it is a great sin to keep _human beings_ insuch abject ignorance; to deny them the privilege of learning to readand write. The Catholics are universally condemned, for denying theBible to the common people, but, _slaveholders must not_ blame them, for _they_ are doing the _very same thing_, and for the very samereason, neither of these systems can bear the light which burstsfrom the pages of that Holy Book. And lastly, endeavour to inculcatesubmission on the part of the slaves, but whilst doing this befaithful in pleading the cause of the oppressed. 

 "Will _you_ behold unheeding, Life's holiest feelings crushed, Where _woman's_ heart is bleeding, Shall _woman's_ voice be hushed?"

4. Act on this subject. Some of you own slaves yourselves. If youbelieve slavery is _sinful_, set them at liberty, "undo the heavyburdens and let the oppressed go free. " If they wish to remain withyou, pay them wages, if not let them leave you. Should they remainteach them, and have them taught the common branches of an Englisheducation; they have minds and those minds, _ought to be improved_. So precious a talent as intellect, never was given to be wrapt in anapkin and buried in the earth. It is the _duty_ of all, as far asthey can, to improve their own mental faculties, because we arecommanded to love God with _all our minds_, as well as with all ourhearts, and we commit a great sin, if we _forbid_ or _prevent_ thatcultivation of the mind in others, which would enable them to performthis duty. Teach your servants then to read &c, and encourage them tobelieve it is their _duty_ to learn, if it were only that they mightread the Bible. 

But some of you will say, we can neither free our slaves nor teachthem to read, for the laws of our state forbid it. Be not surprisedwhen I say such wicked laws _ought to be no barrier_ in the way ofyour duty, and I appeal to the Bible to prove this position. What wasthe conduct of Shiphrah and Puah, when the king of Egypt issued hiscruel mandate, with regard to the Hebrew children? "_They_ feared_God_, and did _not_ as the King of Egypt commanded them, but savedthe men children alive. " Did these _women_ do right in disobeying thatmonarch? "_Therefore_ (says the sacred text, ) _God dealt well_ withthem, and made them houses" Ex. I. What was the conduct of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden image inthe plain of Dura, and commanded all people, nations, and languages, to fall down and worship it? "Be it known, unto thee, (said thesefaithful _Jews_) O king, that we _will not_ serve thy gods, norworship the image which thou hast set up. " Did these men _do rightin disobeying the law_ of their sovereign? Let their miraculousdeliverance of Daniel, when Darius made a firm decree that no oneshould ask a petition of any mad or God for thirty days? Did theprophet cease to pray? No! "When Daniel _knew that the writing wassigned_, he went into his house, and his windows being _open_ towardsJerusalem, he kneeled upon this knees three times a day, and prayedand gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. " Did Danieldo right this to _break_ the law of his king? Let his wonderfuldeliverance out of the mouthes of lions answer; Dan. Vii. Look, too, at the Apostles Peter and John. When the ruler of the Jews "_commandedthem not_ to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus, " what didthey say? "Whether it be right in the sight of God, to hearken untoyou more than unto God, judge ye. " And what did they do? "They spakethe word of God with boldness, and with great power gave the Apostleswitness of the _resurrection_ of the Lord Jesus;" although _this_ wasthe very doctrine, for the preaching of which they had just been castinto prison, and further threatened. Did these men do right? I leave_you_ to answer, who now enjoy the benefits if their labours andsufferings, in that Gospel they dared to preach when positivelycommanded _not to teach any more_ in the name of Jesus; Acts iv. 

But some of you may say, if we do free our slaves, they will be takenup and sold, therefore there will be no use in doing it. Peter andJohn might just as well have said, we will not preach the gospel, forif we do, we shall be taken up and put in prison, therefore there willbe no use in our preaching. _Consequences_, my friends, belong no moreto _you_, than they did to these apostles. Duty is ours and events areGod's. If you think slavery is sinful, all you have to do is to setyour slaves at liberty, do all you can to protect them, and in humblefaith and fervent prayer, commend them to your common Father. He cantake care of them; but if for wise purposes he sees fit to allow themto be sold, this will afford you an opportunity of testifying openly, wherever you go, against the crime of _manstealing_. Such an act willbe _clear robbery_, and if exposed, might, under the Divine direction, do the cause of Emancipation more good, than any thing that couldhappen, for, "He makes even the wrath of man to praise him, and theremainder of wrath he will restrain. "

I know that this doctrine of obeying _God_, rather than man, will beconsidered as dangerous, and heretical by many, but I am not afraidopenly to avow it, because it is the doctrine of the Bible; but Iwould not be understood to advocate resistance to any law howeveroppressive, if, in obeying it, I was not obliged to commit _sin_. Iffor instance, there was a law, which imposed imprisonment or a fineupon me if I manumitted a slave, I would on no account resist thatlaw, I would set the slave free, and then go to prison or pay thefine. If a law commands me to _sin I will break it_; if it calls me to_suffer_, I will let it take its course unresistingly. The doctrineof blind obedience and unqualified submission to _any human_ power, whether civil or ecclesiastical, is the doctrine of despotism, andought to have no place among Republicans and Christians. 

But you will perhaps say, such a course of conduct would inevitablyexpose us to great suffering. Yes! my Christian friends, I believe itwould, but this will _not_ excuse you or any one else for the neglectof _duty_. If Prophets and Apostles, Martyrs, and Reformers had notbeen willing to suffer for the truth's sake, where would the worldhave been now? If they had said, we cannot speak the truth, we cannotdo what we believe is right, because the _laws of our country orpublic opinion are against us_, where would our holy religion havebeen now? The Prophets were stoned, imprisoned, and killed by theJews. And why? Because they exposed and openly rebuked public sins;they opposed public opinion; had they held their peace, they all mighthave lived in ease and died in favor with a wicked generation. Whywere the Apostles persecuted from city to city, stoned, incarcerated, beaten, and crucified? Because they dared to _speak the truth_; totell the Jews, boldly and fearlessly, that _they_ were the _murderers_of the Lord of Glory, and that, however great a stumbling-block theCross might be to them, there was no other name given under heavenby which men could be saved, but the name of Jesus. Because theydeclared, even at Athens, the seat of learning and refinement, theself-evident truth, that "they be no gods that are made with men'shands, " and exposed to the Grecians the foolishness of worldly wisdom, and the impossibility of salvation but through Christ, whom theydespised on account of the ignominious death he died. Because at Rome, the proud mistress of the world, they thundered out the terrors of thelaw upon that idolatrous, war-making, and slaveholding community. Whywere the martyrs stretched upon the rack, gibbetted and burnt, thescorn and diversion of a Nero, whilst their tarred and burning bodiessent up a light which illuminated the Roman capital? Why were theWaldenses hunted like wild beasts upon the mountains of Piedmont, andslain with the sword of the Duke of Savoy and the proud monarch ofFrance? Why were the Presbyterians chased like the partridge over thehighlands of Scotland--the Methodists pumped, and stoned, and peltedwith rotten eggs--the Quakers incarcerated in filthy prisons, beaten, whipped at the cart's tail, banished and hung? Because they daredto _speak_ the _truth_, to _break_ the unrighteous _laws_ of theircountry, and chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, "not accepting deliverance, " even under the gallows. Why were Lutherand Calvin persecuted and excommunicated, Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimerburnt? Because they fearlessly proclaimed the truth, though that truthwas contrary to public opinion, and the authority of Ecclesiasticalcouncils and conventions. Now all this vast amount of human sufferingmight have been saved. All these Prophets and Apostles, Martyrs, and Reformers, might have lived and died in peace with all men, butfollowing the example of their great pattern, "they despised theshame, endured the cross, and are now set down on the right hand ofthe throne of God, " having received the glorious welcome of "well donegood and faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord. "

But you may say we are women, how can our hearts endure persecution?And why not? Have not women stood up in all the dignity and strengthof moral courage to be the leaders of the people, and to bear afaithful testimony for the truth whenever the providence of God hascalled them to do so? Are there no women in that noble army of martyrswho are now singing the song of Moses and the Lamb? Who led out thewomen of Israel from the house of bondage, striking the timbrel, andsinging the song of deliverance on the banks of that sea whose watersstood up like walls of crystal to open a passage for their escape? Itwas a _woman_; Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Moses and Aaron. Who went up with Barak to Kadesh to fight against Jabin, King ofCanaan, into whose hand Israel had been sold because of theiriniquities? It was a woman! Deborah the wife of Lapidoth, the judge, as well as the prophetess of that backsliding people; Judges iv, 9. Into whose hands was Sisera, the captain of Jabin's host delivered?Into the hand of a _woman_. Jael the wife of Heber! Judges vi, 21. Who dared to _speak the truth_ concerning those judgments which werecoming upon Judea, when Josiah, alarmed at finding that his people"had not kept the word of the Lord to do after all that was writtenin the book of the Law, " sent to enquire of the Lord concerning thesethings? It was a woman. Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum; 2, Chron. Xxxiv, 22. Who was chosen to deliver the whole Jewish nationfrom that murderous decree of Persia's King, which wicked Hannan hadobtained by calumny and fraud? It was a _woman_; Esther the Queen;yes, weak and trembling _woman_ was the instrument appointed by God, to reverse the bloody mandate of the eastern monarch, and save the_whole visible church_ from destruction. What Human voice firstproclaimed to Mary that she should be the mother of our Lord? It wasa woman! Elizabeth, the wife of Zacharias; Luke 1, 42, 43. Who unitedwith the good old Simeon in giving thanks publicly in the temple, whenthe child, Jesus, was presented there by his parents, "and spake ofhim to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem?" It was a_woman_! Anna the prophetess. Who first proclaimed Christ as the trueMessiah in the streets of Samaria, once the capital of the ten tribes?It was a woman! Who ministered to the Son of God whilst on earth, adespised and persecuted Reformer, in the humble garb of a carpenter?They were women! Who followed the rejected King of Israel, as hisfainting footsteps trod the road to Calvary? "A great company ofpeople and of _women_;" and it is remarkable that to _them alone_, heturned and addressed the pathetic language, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and your children. " Ah! whosent unto the Roman Governor when he was set down on the judgmentseat, saying unto him, "Have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him?"It was a _woman!_ the wife of Pilate. Although "_he knew_ that forenvy the Jews had delivered Christ, " yet _he_ consented to surrenderthe Son of God into the hands of a brutal soldiery, after havinghimself scourged his naked body. Had the _wife_ of Pilate sat uponthat judgment seat, what would have been the result of the trial ofthis "just person?"

And who last hung round the cross of Jesus on the mountain ofGolgotha? Who first visited the sepulchre early in the morning on thefirst day of the week, carrying sweet spices to embalm his preciousbody, not knowing that it was incorruptible and could not be holden bythe bands of death? These were _women!_ To whom did he _first_ appearafter his resurrection? It was to a _woman!_ Mary Magdalene; Mark xvi, 9. Who gathered with the apostles to wait at Jerusalem, in prayer andsupplication, for "the promise of the Father;" the spiritual blessingof the Great High Priest of his Church, who had entered, _not_ intothe splendid temple of Solomon, there to offer the blood of bulls, and of goats, and the smoking censer upon the golden altar, but intoHeaven itself, there to present his intercessions, after having"given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor?" _Women_ were among that holy company; Acts i, 14. And did _women_ wait in vain? Did those who had ministered to hisnecessities, followed in his train, and wept at his crucifixion, waitin vain? No! No! Did the cloven tongues of fire descend upon the headsof _women_ as well as men? Yes, my friends, "it sat upon _each one ofthem;_" Acts ii, 3. _Women_ as well as men were to be living stones inthe temple of grace, and therefore _their_ heads were consecrated bythe descent of the Holy Ghost as well as those of men. Were _women_recognized as fellow laborers in the gospel field? They were! Paulsays in his epistle to the Philippians, "help those _women_ wholabored with me, in the gospel;" Phil. Iv, 3. 

But this is not all. Roman _women_ were burnt at the stake, _their_delicate limbs were torn joint from joint by the ferocious beasts ofthe Amphitheatre, and tossed by the wild bull in his fury, for thediversion of that idolatrous, warlike, and slaveholding people. Yes, _women_ suffered under the ten persecutions of heathen Rome, with themost unshrinking constancy and fortitude; not all the entreaties offriends, nor the claims of new born infancy, nor the cruel threatsof enemies could make _them_ sprinkle one grain of incense upon thealtars of Roman idols. Come now with me to the beautiful valleys ofPiedmont. Whose blood stains the green sward, and decks the wildflowers with colors not their own, and smokes on the sword ofpersecuting France? It is _woman's_, as well as man's? Yes, _women_were accounted as sheep for the slaughter, and were cut down as thetender saplings of the wood But time would fail me, to tell of allthose hundreds and thousands of _women_, who perished in the Lowcountries of Holland, when Alva's sword of vengeance was unsheathedagainst the Protestants, when the Catholic Inquisitions of Europebecame the merciless executioners of vindictive wrath, upon thosewho dared to worship God, instead of bowing down in unholy adorationbefore "my Lord God the _Pope_, " and when England, too, burnt her AnnAscoes at the stake of martyrdom. Suffice it to say, that the Church, after having been driven from Judea to Rome, and from Rome toPiedmont, and from Piedmont to England, and from England to Holland, at last stretched her fainting wings over the dark bosom of theAtlantic, and found on the shores of a great wilderness, a refuge fromtyranny and oppression--as she thought, but _even here_, (the warmblush of shame mantles my cheek as I write it, ) _even here, woman_ wasbeaten and banished, imprisoned, and hung upon the gallows, a trophyto the Cross. 

And what, I would ask in conclusion, have _women_ done for the greatand glorious cause of Emancipation? Who wrote that pamphlet whichmoved the heart of Wilberforce to pray over the wrongs, and histongue to plead the cause of the oppressed African? It was a _woman_, Elizabeth Heyrick. Who labored assiduously to keep the sufferings ofthe slave continually before the British public? They were women. And how did they do it? By their needles, paint brushes and pens, byspeaking the truth, and petitioning Parliament for the abolition ofslavery. And what was the effect of their labors? Read it in theEmancipation bill of Great Britain. Read it, in the present state ofher West India Colonies. Read it, in the impulse which has been givento the cause of freedom, in the United States of America. Have Englishwomen then done so much for the negro, and shall American women donothing? Oh no! Already are there sixty female Anti-Slavery Societiesin operation. These are doing just what the English women did, tellingthe story of the colored man's wrongs, praying for his deliverance, and presenting his kneeling image constantly before the public eye onbags and needle-books, card-racks, pen-wipers, pin-cushions, &c. Eventhe children of the north are inscribing on their handy work, "May thepoints of our needles prick the slaveholder's conscience. " Some of thereports of these Societies exhibit not only considerable talent, but adeep sense of religious duty, and a determination to persevere throughevil as well as good report, until every scourge, and every shackle, is buried under the feet of the manumitted slave. 

The Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society of Boston was called last fall, to asevere trial of their faith and constancy. They were mobbed by "thegentlemen of property and standing, " in that city at their anniversarymeeting, and their lives were jeoparded by an infuriated crowd; buttheir conduct on that occasion did credit to our sex, and affords afull assurance that they will never abandon the cause of the slave. The pamphlet, Right and Wrong in Boston, issued by them in which aparticular account is given of that "mob of broad cloth in broad day, "does equal credit to the head and the heart of her who wrote it wishmy Southern sisters could read it; they would then understand thatthe women of the North have engaged in this work from a sense of_religious duty_, and that nothing will ever induce them to take theirhands from it until it is fully accomplished. They feel no hostilityto you, no bitterness or wrath; they rather sympathize in your trialsand difficulties; but they well know that the first thing to be doneto help you, is to pour in the light of truth on your minds, to urgeyou to reflect on, and pray over the subject. This is all _they_ cando for you, _you_ must work out your own deliverance with fear andtrembling, and with the direction and blessing of God, _you can doit_. Northern women may labor to produce a correct public opinion atthe North, but if Southern women sit down in listless indifference andcriminal idleness, public opinion cannot be rectified and purified atthe South. It is manifest to every reflecting mind, that slaverymust be abolished; the era in which we live, and the light which isoverspreading the whole world on this subject, clearly show that thetime cannot be distant when it will be done. Now there are only twoways in which it can be effected, by moral power or physical force, and it is for you to choose which of these you prefer. Slavery alwayshas, and always will produce insurrections wherever it exists, becauseit is a violation of the natural order of things, and no human powercan much longer perpetuate it. The opposers of abolitionists fullybelieve this; one of them remarked to me not long since, there is nodoubt there will be a most terrible overturning at the South in a fewyears, such cruelty and wrong, must be visited with Divine vengeancesoon. Abolitionists believe, too, that this must inevitably be thecase if you do not repent, and they are not willing to leave you toperish without entreating you, to save yourselves from destruction;Well may they say with the apostle, "am I then your enemy because Itell you the truth, " and warn you to flee from impending judgments. 

But why, my dear friends, have I thus been endeavoring to lead youthrough the history of more than three thousand years, and to pointyou to that great cloud of witnesses who have gone before, "from worksto rewards?" Have I been seeking to magnify the sufferings, and exaltthe character of woman, that she "might have praise of men?" No! no!my object has been to arouse _you_, as the wives and mothers, thedaughters and sisters, of the South, to a sense of your duty as_women_, and as Christian women, on that great subject, which hasalready shaken our country, from the St. Lawrence and the lakes, tothe Gulf of Mexico, and from the Mississippi to the shores of theAtlantic; _and will continue mightily to shake it_, until the pollutedtemple of slavery fall and crumble into ruin. I would say unto eachone of you, "what meanest thou, O sleeper! arise and call upon thyGod, if so be that God will think upon us that we perish not. "Perceive you not that dark cloud of vengeance which hangs over ourboasting Republic? Saw you not the lightnings of Heaven's wrath, inthe flame which leaped from the Indian's torch to the roof of yonderdwelling, and lighted with its horrid glare the darkness of midnight?Heard you not the thunders of Divine anger, as the distant roar of thecannon came rolling onward, from the Texian country, where ProtestantAmerican Rebels are fighting with Mexican Republicans--for what? Forthe re-establishment of _slavery_; yes! of American slavery in thebosom of a Catholic Republic, where that system of robbery, violence, and wrong, had been legally abolished for twelve years. Yes! citizensof the United States, after plundering Mexico of her land, are nowengaged in deadly conflict, for the privilege of fastening chains, andcollars, and manacles--upon whom? upon the subjects of some foreignprince? No! upon native born American Republican citizens, althoughthe fathers of these very men declared to the whole world, whilestruggling to free themselves the three penny taxes of an Englishking, that they believed it to be a _self-evident_ truth that _allmen_ were created equal, and had an _unalienable right to liberty_. 

Well may the poet exclaim in bitter sarcasm, "The fustian flag that proudly waves In solemn mockery o'er _a land of slaves_. "

Can you not, my friends, understand the signs of the times; do you notsee the sword of retributive justice hanging over the South, or areyou still slumbering at your posts?--Are there no Shiphrahs, no Puahsamong you, who will dare in Christian firmness and Christian meekness, to refuse to obey the _wicked laws_ which require _woman to enslave, to degrade and to brutalize woman_? Are there no Miriams, who wouldrejoice to lead out the captive daughters of the Southern States toliberty and light? Are there no Huldahs there who will dare to _speakthe truth_ concerning the sins of the people and those judgments, which it requires no prophet's eye to see, must follow if repentanceis not speedily sought? Is there no Esther among you who will pleadfor the poor devoted slave? Read the history of this Persian queen, itis full of instruction; she at first refused to plead for the Jews;but, hear the words of Mordecai, "Think not within thyself, that_thou_ shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews, for_if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time_, then shall thereenlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place: but_thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed_. " Listen, too, to hermagnanimous reply to this powerful appeal; "_I will_ go in, unto theking, which is _not_ according to law, and if I perish, I perish. "Yes! if there were but _one_ Esther at the South, she _might_ save hercountry from ruin; but let the Christian women there arise, at theChristian women of Great Britain did, in the majesty of moralpower, and that salvation is certain. Let them embody themselves insocieties, and send petitions up to their different legislatures, entreating their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons, to abolish theinstitution! of slavery; no longer to subject _woman_ to the scourgeand the chain, to mental darkness and moral degradation; no longer totear husbands from their wives, and children from their parents; nolonger to make men, women, and children, work _without wages_; nolonger to make their lives bitter in hard bondage; no longer to reduce_American citizens_ to the abject condition of _slaves, _ of "chattelspersonal;" no longer to barter the _image of God_ in human shamblesfor corruptible things such as silver and gold. 

The _women of the South can overthrow_ this horrible system ofoppression and cruelty, licentiousness and wrong. Such appeals to yourlegislatures would be irresistible, for there is something in theheart of man which _will bend under moral suasion_. There is a swiftwitness for truth in his bosom, _which will respond to truth_ whenit is uttered with calmness and dignity. If you could obtain but sixsignatures to such a petition in only one state, I would say, send upthat petition, and be not in the least discouraged by the scoffs andjeers of the heartless, or the resolution of the house to lay it onthe table. It will be a great thing if the subject can be introducedinto your legislatures in any way, even by _women_, and _they_ will bethe most likely to introduce it there in the best possible manner, asa matter of _morals_ and _religion_, not of expediency or politics. You may petition, too, the different ecclesiastical bodies of theslave states. Slavery must be attacked with the whole power of truthand the sword of the spirit. You must take it up on _Christian_ground, and fight against it with Christian weapons, whilst your feetare shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. And _you arenow_ loudly called upon by the cries of the widow and the orphan, toarise and gird yourselves for this great moral conflict, with thewhole armour of righteousness upon the right hand and on the left. 

There is every encouragement for you to labor and pray, my friends, because the abolition of slavery as well as its existence, has beenthe theme of prophecy. "Ethiopia (says the Psalmist) shall stretchforth her hands unto God. " And is she not now doing so? Are not theChristian negroes of the south lifting their hands in prayer fordeliverance, just as the Israelites did when their redemption wasdrawing nigh? Are they not sighing and crying by reason of the hardbondage? And think you, that He, of whom it was said, "and God heardtheir groaning, and their cry came up unto him by reason of the hardbondage, " think you that his ear is heavy that he cannot _now_ hearthe cries of his suffering children? Or that He who raised up a Moses, an Aaron, and a Miriam, to bring them up out of the land of Egypt fromthe house of bondage, cannot now, with a high hand and a stretched outarm, rid the poor negroes out of the hands of their masters? Surelyyou believe that his aim is _not_ shortened that he cannot save. Andwould not such a work of mercy redound to his glory? But anotherstring of the harp of prophecy vibrates to the song of deliverance:"But they shall sit every man under his vine, and under his fig-tree, and _none shall make them afraid;_ for the mouth of the Lord of Hostshath spoken it. " The _slave_ never can do this as long as he is a_slave_; whilst he is a "chattel personal" he can own _no_ property;but the time _is to come_ when _every_ man is to sit under _hisown_ vine and _his own_ fig-tree, and no domineering driver, orirresponsible master, or irascible mistress, shall make him afraid ofthe chain or the whip. Hear, too, the sweet tones of another string:"Many shall run to and fro, and _knowledge_ shall be _increased_. "Slavery is an insurmountable barrier to the increase of knowledge inevery community where it exists; _slavery, then, must be abolishedbefore this prediction can be fulfiled_. The last chord I shalltouch, will be this, "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holymountain. "

_Slavery, then, must be overthrown before_ the prophecies can beaccomplished, but how are they to be fulfiled? Will the wheels of themillennial car be rolled onward by miraculous power? No! God designsto confer this holy privilege upon _man_; it is through _his_instrumentality that the great and glorious work of reforming theworld is to be done. And see you not how the mighty engine of _moralpower_ is dragging in its rear the Bible and peace societies, anti-slavery and temperance, sabbath schools, moral reform, andmissions? or to adopt another figure, do not these seven philanthropicassociations compose the beautiful tints in that bow of promise whichspans the arch of our moral heaven? Who does not believe, that ifthese societies were broken up, their constitutions burnt, and thevast machinery with which they are laboring to regenerate mankind wasstopped, that the black clouds of vengeance would soon burst over ourworld, and every city would witness the fate of the devoted cities ofthe plain? Each one of these societies is walking abroad through theearth scattering the seeds of truth over the wide field of our world, not with the hundred hands of a Briareus, but with a hundred thousand. 

Another encouragement for you to labor, my friends, is, that youwill have the prayers and co-operation of English and Northernphilanthropists. You will never bend your knees in supplication at thethrone of grace for the overthrow of slavery, without meeting therethe spirits of other Christians, who will mingle their voices withyours, as the morning or evening sacrifice ascends to God. Yes, thespirit of prayer and of supplication has been poured out upon many, many hearts; there are wrestling Jacobs who will not let go of theprophetic promises of deliverance for the captive, and the opening ofprison doors to them that are bound. There are Pauls who are saying, in reference to this subject, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"There are Marys sitting in the house now, who are ready to arise andgo forth in this work as soon as the message is brought, "the masteris come and calleth for thee. " And there are Marthas, too, who havealready gone out to meet Jesus, as he bends his footsteps to theirbrother's grave, and weeps, _not_ over the lifeless body of Lazarusbound hand and foot in grave-clothes, but over the politically andintellectually lifeless slave, bound hand and foot in the iron chainsof oppression and ignorance. Some may be ready to say, as Martha did, who seemed to expect nothing but sympathy from Jesus, "Lord, by thistime he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. " She thought ituseless to remove the stone and expose the loathsome body of herbrother; she could not believe that so great a miracle could bewrought, as to raise _that putrefied body_ into life; but "Jesus said, take _ye_ away too stone;" and when _they_ had taken away the stonewhere the dead was laid, and uncovered the body of Lazarus, then itwas that "Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee thatthou hast heard me, " &c. "And when he had thus spoken, he cried with aloud voice, Lazarus, come forth. " Yes, some may be ready to say ofthe colored race, how can _they_ ever be raised politically andintellectually, they have been dead four hundred years? But _we_ have_nothing_ to do with _how_ this is to be done; _our business_ is totake away the stone which has covered up the dead body of our brother, to expose the putrid carcass, to show _how_ that body has been boundwith the grave-clothes of heathen ignorance, and his face with thenapkin of prejudice, and having done all it was our duty to do, tostand by the negro's grave, in humble faith and holy hope, waiting tohear the life-giving command of "Lazarus, come forth. " This is justwhat Anti-Slavery Societies are doing; they are taking away the stonefrom the mouth of the tomb of slavery, where lies the putrid carcassof our brother. They want the pure light of heaven to shine into thatdark and gloomy cave; they want all men to see _how_ that dead bodyhas been bound, _how_ that face has been wrapped in the _napkin ofprejudice_; and shall they wait beside that grave in vain? Is notJesus still the resurrection and the life? Did he come to proclaimliberty to the captive, and the opening of prison doors to them thatare bound, in vain? Did He promise to give beauty for ashes, the oilof joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit ofheaviness unto them that mourn in Zion, and will He refuse to beautifythe mind, anoint the head, and throw around the captive negro themantle of praise for that spirit of heaviness which has so long boundhim down to the ground? Or shall we not rather say with the prophet, "the zeal of the Lord of Hosts _will_ perform this?" Yes, his promisesare sure, and amen in Christ Jesus, that he will assemble her thathalteth, and gather her that is driven out, and her that is afflicted. 

But I will now say a few words on the subject of Abolitionism. Doubtless you have all heard Anti-Slavery Societies denounced asinsurrectionary and mischievous, fanatical and dangerous. It has beensaid they publish the most abominable untruths, and that they areendeavoring to excite rebellions at the South. Have you believed thesereports, my friends? have _you_ also been deceived by these falseassertions? Listen to me, then, whilst I endeavor to wipe from thefair character of Abolitionism such unfounded accusations. You knowthat _I_ am a Southerner; you know that my dearest relatives arenow in a slave Slate. Can you for a moment believe I would prove sorecreant to the feelings of a daughter and a sister, as to join asociety which was seeking to overthrow slavery by falsehood, bloodshedand murder? I appeal to you who have known and loved me in days thatare passed, can _you_ believe it? No! my friends. As a Carolinian Iwas peculiarly jealous of any movements on this subject; and before Iwould join an Anti-Slavery Society, I took the precaution of becomingacquainted with some of the leading Abolitionists, of reading theirpublications and attending their meetings, at which I heard addressesboth from colored and white men; and it was not until I was fullyconvicted that their principles were _entirely pacific_, and theirefforts _only moral_, that I gave my name as a member to the FemaleAnti-Slavery Society of Philadelphia. Since that time, I haveregularly taken the Liberator, and read many Anti-Slavery pamphletsand papers and books, and can assure you I never have seen a singleinsurrectionary paragraph, and never read any account of cruelty whichI could not believe. Southerners may deny the truth of theseaccounts, but why do they not _prove_ them to be false? Their violentexpressions of horror at such accounts being believed _may_ deceivesome, but they cannot deceive _me_, for I lived too long in the midstof slavery, not to know what slavery is. When I speak of this system, "I speak that I do know, " and I am not at all afraid to assert, thatAnti-Slavery publications have _not_ overdrawn the monstrous featuresof slavery at all. And many a Southerner _knows_ this as well as I do. A lady in North Carolina remarked to a friend of mine, about eighteenmonths since, "Northerners know nothing at all about slavery; theythink it is perpetual bondage only; but of the _depth of degradation_that word involves, they have no conception; if they had, _theywould never cease_ their efforts until so _horrible_ a system wasoverthrown. " She did not know how faithfully some Northern men andNorthern women had studied this subject; how diligently they hadsearched out the cause of "him who had none to help him, " and howfearlessly they had told the story of the negro's wrongs. Yes, Northerners know _every_ thing about slavery now. This monster ofiniquity has been unveiled to the world, her frightful featuresunmasked, and soon, very soon will she be regarded with no morecomplacency by the American republic than is the idol of Juggernaut, rolling its bloody wheels over the crushed bodies of its prostratevictims. 

But you will probably ask, if Anti-Slavery societies are notinsurrectionary, why do Northerners tell us they are? Why, I would askyou in return, did Northern senators and Northern representatives givetheir votes, at the last sitting of congress, to the admission ofArkansas Territory as a state? Take those men, one by one, and askthem in their parlours, do you _approve of slavery?_ ask them on_Northern_ ground, where they will speak the truth, and I doubt not_every man_ of them will tell you, _no!_ Why then, I ask, did theygive their votes to enlarge the mouth of that grave which has alreadydestroyed its tens of thousands? All our enemies tell us they areas much anti-slavery as we are. Yes, my friends, thousands who arehelping you to bind the fetters of slavery on the negro, despise youin their hearts for doing it; they rejoice that such an institutionhas not been entailed upon, them. Why then, I would ask, do they lendyou their help? I will tell you, "they love _the praise of men more_than the praise of God. " The Abolition cause has not yet becomeso popular as to induce them to believe, that by advocating it incongress, they shall sit still more securely in their seats there, and like the _chief rulers_ in the days of our Saviour, though _many_believed on him, yet they did _not_ confess him, lest they should _beput out of the synagogue_; John xii, 42, 43. Or perhaps like Pilate, thinking they could prevail nothing, and fearing a tumult, theydetermined to release Barabbas and surrender the just man, the poorinnocent slave to be stripped of his rights and scourged. In vain willsuch men try to wash their hands, and say, with the Roman governor, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person. " Northern Americanstatesmen are no more innocent of the crime of slavery, than Pilatewas of the murder of Jesus, or Saul of that of Stephen. These are highcharges, but I appeal to _their hearts_; I appeal to public opinionten years from now. Slavery then is a national sin. 

But you will say, a great many other Northerners tell us so, who canhave no political motives. The interests of the North, you must know, my friends, are very closely combined with those of the South. TheNorthern merchants and manufacturers are making _their_ fortunes outof the _produce of slave labor_; the grocer is selling your rice andsugar; how then can these men bear a testimony against slavery withoutcondemning themselves? But there is another reason, the North is mostdreadfully afraid of Amalgamation. She is alarmed at the very idea ofa thing so monstrous, as she thinks. And lest this consequence _might_flow from emancipation, she is determined to resist all efforts atemancipation without expatriation. It is not because _she approves ofslavery_, or believes it to be "the corner stone of our republic, "for she is as much _anti-slavery_ as we are; but amalgamation istoo horrible to think of. Now I would ask _you_, is it right, is itgenerous, to refuse the colored people in this country the advantagesof education and the privilege, or rather the _right_, to followhonest trades and callings merely because they are colored? The sameprejudice exists here against our colored brethren that existedagainst the Gentiles in Judea. Great numbers cannot bear the idea ofequality, and fearing lest, if they had the same advantages we enjoy, they would become as intelligent, as moral, as religious, and asrespectable and wealthy, they are determined to keep them as low asthey possibly can. Is this doing as they would be done by? Is thisloving their neighbor _as themselves?_ Oh! that _such_ opposers ofAbolitionism would put their souls in the stead of the free coloredman's and obey the apostolic injunction, to "remember them that arein bonds _as bound with them_. " I will leave you to judge whetherthe fear of amalgamation ought to induce men to oppose anti-slaveryefforts, when _they_ believe _slavery_ to be _sinful_. Prejudiceagainst color, is the most powerful enemy we have to fight with at theNorth. 

You need not be surprised, then, at all, at what is said _against_Abolitionists by the North, for they are wielding a two-edged sword, which even here, cuts through the _cords of caste_, on the one side, and the _bonds of interest_ on the other. They are only sharing thefate of other reformers, abused and reviled whilst they are in theminority; but they are neither angry nor discouraged by the invectivewhich has been heaped upon them by slaveholders at the South and theirapologists at the North. They know that when George Fox and WilliamEdmundson were laboring in behalf of the negroes in the West Indies in1671 that the very _same_ slanders were propogated against them, whichare _now_ circulated against Abolitionists. Although it was well knownthat Fox was the founder of a religious sect which repudiated _all_war, and _all_ violence, yet _even he_ was accused of "endeavoring toexcite the slaves to insurrection and of teaching the negroes to cuttheir master's throats. " And these two men who had their feet shodwith the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, were actually compelledto draw up a formal declaration that _they were not_ trying to raisea rebellion in Barbadoes. It is also worthy of remark that theseReformers did not at this time see the necessity of emancipation underseven years, and their principal efforts were exerted to persuadethe planters of the necessity of instructing their slaves; but theslaveholder saw then, just what the slaveholder sees now, that an_enlightened_ population never can be a _slave_ population, andtherefore they passed a law that negroes should not even attend themeetings of Friends. Abolitionists know that the life of Clarkson wassought by slavetraders, and that even Wilberforce was denounced on thefloor of Parliament as a fanatic and a hypocrite by the present Kingof England, the very man who, in 1834 set his seal to that instrumentwhich burst the fetters of eight hundred thousand slaves in his WestIndia colonies. They know that the first Quaker who bore a _faithful_testimony against the sin of slavery was cut off from religiousfellowship with that society. That Quaker was a _woman_. On herdeathbed she sent for the committe who dealt with her--she told them, the near approach of death had not altered her sentiments on thesubject of slavery and waving her hand towards a very fertile andbeautiful portion of country which lay stretched before her window, she said with great solemnity, "Friends, the time will come when therewill not be friends enough in all this district to hold one meetingfor worship, and this garden will be turned into a wilderness. "

The aged friend, who with tears in his eyes, related this interestingcircumstance to me, remarked, that at that time there were sevenmeetings of friends in that part of Virginia, but that when he wasthere ten years ago, not a single meeting was held, and the countrywas literally a desolation. Soon after her decease, John Woolman beganhis labors in our society, and instead of disowning a member fortestifying _against_ slavery, they have for fifty-two years positivelyforbidden their members to hold slaves. 

Abolitionists understand the slaveholding spirit too well to besurprised at any thing that has yet happened at the South or theNorth; they know that the greater the sin is, which is exposed, themore violent will be the efforts to blacken the character and impugnthe motives of those who are engaged in bringing to light the hiddenthings of darkness. They understand the work of Reform too well to bedriven back by the furious waves of opposition, which are only foamingout their own shame. They have stood "the world's dread laugh, " whenonly twelve men formed the first Anti-Slavery Society in Boston in1831. They have faced and refuted the calumnies at their enemies, andproved themselves to be emphatically _peace men_ by _never resisting_the violence of mobs, even when driven by them from the temple of God, and dragged by an infuriated crowd through the Streets of the emporiumof New-England, or subjected by _slaveholders_ to the pain of corporalpunishment. "None of these things move them;" and, by the grace ofGod, they are determined to persevere in this work of faith and laborof love: they mean to pray, and preach, and write, and print, untilslavery is completely overthrown, until Babylon is taken up and castinto the sea, to "be found no more at all. " They mean to petitionCongress year after year, until the seat of our government is cleansedfrom the sinful traffic of "slaves and the souls of men. " Althoughthat august assembly may be like the unjust judge who "feared not Godneither regarded man, " yet it _must_ yield just as he did, from thepower of importunity. Like the unjust judge, Congress _must_ redressthe wrongs of the widow, lest by the continual coming up of petitions, it be wearied. This will be striking the dagger into the very heart ofthe monster, and once 'tis done, he must soon expire. 

Abolitionists have been accused of abusing their Southern brethren. Did the prophet Isaiah _abuse_ the Jews when he addressed to them thecutting reproofs contained in the first chapter of his prophecies andended by telling them, they would be _ashamed_ of the oaks they haddesired, and _confounded_ for the garden they had chosen? Did Johnthe Baptist _abuse_ the Jews when he called them "_a generation ofvipers_" and warned them "to bring forth fruits meet for repentance?"Did Peter abuse the Jews when he told them they were the murderers ofthe Lord of Glory? Did Paul abuse the Roman Governor when he reasonedbefore him of righteousness, temperance, and judgment, so as to sendconviction home to his guilty heart, and cause him to tremble in viewof the crimes he was living in? Surely not. No man will _now_ accusethe prophets and apostles of _abuse_, but what have Abolitionists donemore than they? No doubt the Jews thought the prophets and apostles intheir day, just as harsh and uncharitable as slaveholders now, thinkAbolitionists; if they did not, why did they beat, and stone, and killthem?

Great fault has been found with the prints which have been employed toexpose slavery at the North, but my friends, how could this be doneso effectually in any other way? Until the pictures of the slave'ssufferings were drawn and held up to public gaze, no Northerner hadany idea of the cruelty of the system, it never entered their mindsthat such abominations could exist in Christian, Republican America;they never suspected that many of the _gentlemen_ and _ladies_ whocame from the South to spend the summer months in travelling amongthem, were petty tyrants at home. And those who had lived at theSouth, and came to reside at the North, were too _ashamed of slavery_even to speak of it; the language of their hearts was, "tell it _not_in Gath, publish it _not_ in the streets of Askelon;" they saw no usein uncovering the loathsome body to popular sight, and in hopelessdespair, wept in secret places over the sins of oppression. To suchhidden mourners the formation of Anti-Slavery Societies was as lifefrom the dead, the first beams of hope which gleamed through the darkclouds of despondency and grief. Prints were made use of to effect theabolition of the Inquisition in Spain, and Clarkson employed them whenhe was laboring to break up the Slave trade, and English Abolitionistsused them just as we are now doing. They are powerful appeals andhave invariably done the work they were designed to do, and we cannotconsent to abandon the use of these until the _realities_ no longerexist. 

With regard to those white men, who, it was said, did try to raisean insurrection in Mississippi a year ago, and who were stated to beAbolitionists, none of them were proved to be members of Anti-SlaverySocieties, and it must remain a matter of great doubt whether, eventhey were guilty of the crimes alledged against them, because when anycommunity is thrown into such a panic as to inflict Lynch law uponaccused persons, they cannot be supposed to be capable of judging withcalmness and impartiality. _We know_ that the papers of which theCharleston mail was robbed, were _not_ insurrectionary, and that theywere _not_ sent to the colored people as was reported, _We know_ thatAmos Dresser was _no insurrectionist_ though he was accused of beingso, and on this false accusation was publicly whipped in Nashville inthe midst of a crowd of infuriated _slaveholders_. Was that young mandisgraced by this infliction of corporal punishment? No more thanwas the great apostle of the Gentiles who five times received fortystripes, save one. Like him, he might have said, "henceforth I bearin my body the marks of the Lord Jesus, " for it was for the _truth'ssake, he suffered_, as much as did the Apostle Paul. Are Nelson, andGarrett, and Williams, and other Abolitionists who have recently beenbanished from Missouri, insurrectionists? _We know_ they are _not_, whatever slaveholders may choose to call them. The spirit which nowasperses the character of the Abolitionists, is the _very same_ whichdressed up the Christians of Spain in the skins of wild beasts andpictures of devils when they were led to execution as heretics. Beforewe condemn individuals, it is necessary, even in a wicked community, to accuse them of some crime; hence, when Jezebel wished to compassthe death of Naboth, men of Belial were suborned to bear _false_witness against him, and so it was with Stephen, and so it ever hasbeen, and ever will be, as long as there is any virtue to sufferon the rack, or the gallows. _False_ witnesses must appear againstAbolitionists before they can be condemned. 

I will now say a few words on George Thompson's mission to thiscountry. This Philanthropist was accused of being a foreign emissary. Were La Fayette, and Steuben, and De Kalb, foreign emissaries whenthey came over to America to fight against the tories, who preferredsubmitting to what was termed, "the yoke of servitude, " rather thanbursting the fetters which bound them to the mother country? _They_came with _carnal weapons_ to engage in _bloody_ conflict againstAmerican citizens, and yet, where do their names stand on the page ofHistory. Among the honorable, or the low? Thompson came here to waragainst the giant sin of slavery, not with the sword and the pistol, but with the smooth stones of oratory taken from the pure waters ofthe river of Truth. His splendid talents and commanding eloquencerendered him a powerful coadjutor in the Anti-Slavery cause, and inorder to neutralize the effects of these upon his auditors, and robthe poor slave of the benefits of his labors, his character wasdefamed, his life was sought, and he at last driven from our Republic, as a fugitive. But was _Thompson_ disgraced by all this mean andcontemptible and wicked chicanery and malice? No more than was Paul, when in consequence of a vision he had seen at Troas, he went over toMacedonia to help the Christians there, and was beaten and imprisoned, because he cast out a spirit of divination from a young damsel whichhad brought much gain to her masters. Paul was as much a foreignemissary in the Roman colony of Philippi, as George Thompson was inAmerica, and it was because he was a _Jew_ and taught customs it wasnot lawful for them to receive or observe, being Romans, that theApostle was thus treated. 

It was said, Thompson was a felon, who had fled to this country toescape transportation to New Holland. Look at him now pouring thethundering strains of his eloquence, upon crowded audiences in GreatBritain, and see in this a triumphant vindication of his character. And have the slaveholder, and his obsequious apologist, gained anything by all their violence and falsehood? No! for the stone whichstruck Goliath of Gath, had already been thrown from the sling. Thegiant of slavery who had so proudly defied the armies of the livingGod, had received his death-blow before he left our shores. But whatis George Thompson doing there? Is he not now laboring there, aseffectually to abolish American slavery as though he trod our ownsoil, and lectured to New York or Boston assemblies? What is hedoing there, but constructing a stupendous dam, which will turn theoverwhelming tide of public opinion over the wheels of that machinerywhich Abolitionists are working here. He is now lecturing to _Britons_on _American Slavery_, to the _subjects_ of a _King_, on the abjectcondition of the _slaves of a Republic_. He is telling them of thatmighty confederacy of petty tyrants which extends over thirteen Statesof our Union. He is telling them of the munificent rewards offered byslaveholders, for the heads of the most distinguished advocates forfreedom in this country. He is moving the British Churches to sendout to the churches of America the most solemn appeals, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting them with all long suffering and patience toabandon the sin of slavery immediately. Where then I ask, will thename of George Thompson stand on the page of History? Among thehonorable, or the base?

What can I say more, my friends, to induce _you_ to set your hands, and heads, and hearts, to this great work of justice and mercy. Perhaps you have feared the consequences of immediate Emancipation, and been frightened by all those dreadful prophecies of rebellion, bloodshed and murder, which have been uttered. "Let no man deceiveyou;" they are the predictions of that same "lying spirit" which spokethrough the four hundred prophets of old, to Ahab king of Israel, urging him on to destruction. _Slavery_ may produce these horriblescenes if it is continued five years longer, but Emancipation _neverwill_. 

I can prove the _safety_ of immediate Emancipation by history. In St. Domingo in 1793 six hundred thousand slaves were set free in awhite population of forty-two thousand. That Island "marched as byenchantment" towards its ancient splendor, cultivation prospered, everyday produced perceptible proofs of its progress, and the negroes allcontinued quietly to work on the different plantations, until in 1802, France determined to reduce these liberated slaves again to bondage. It was at _this time_ that all those dreadful scenes of crueltyoccured, which we so often _unjustly_ hear spoken of, as the effectsof Abolition. They were occasioned _not_ by Emancipation, but by thebase attempt to fasten the chains of slavery on the limbs of liberatedslaves. 

In Gaudaloape eighty-five thousand slaves were freed in a whitepopulation of thirteen thousand. The same prosperous effects followedmanumission here, that had attended it in Hayti, every thing was quietuntil Buonaparte sent out a fleet to reduce these negroes again toslavery, and in 1802 this institution was re-established in thatIsland. In 1834, when Great Britain determined to liberate the slavesin her West India colonies, and proposed the apprenticeship system;the planters of Bermuda and Antigua, after having joined the otherplanters in their representations of the bloody consequences ofEmancipation, in order if possible to hold back the hand which wasoffering the boon of freedom to the poor negro; as soon as they foundsuch falsehoods were utterly disregarded, and Abolition must takeplace, came forward voluntarily, and asked for the compensation whichwas due to them, saying, _they preferred immediate emancipation_, andwere not afraid of any insurrection. And how is it with these islandsnow? They are decidedly more prosperous than any of those in whichthe apprenticeship system was adopted, and England is now tryingto abolish that system, so fully convinced is she that immediateEmancipation is the safest and the best plan. 

And why not try it in the Southern States, if it never has occasionedrebellion; if _not_ a _drop of blood_ has ever been shed inconsequence of it, though it has been so often tried, why should wesuppose it would produce such disastrous consequences now? "Be notdeceived then, God is not mocked, " by such false excuses for not doingjustly and loving mercy. There is nothing to fear from immediateEmancipation, but _every thing_ from the continuance of slavery. 

Sisters in Christ, I have done. As a Southerner, I have felt it wasmy duty to address you. I have endeavoured to set before you theexceeding sinfulness of slavery, and to point you to the example ofthose noble women who have been raised up in the church to effectgreat revolutions, and to suffer for the truth's sake. I have appealedto your sympathies as women, to your sense of duty as _Christianwomen_. I have attempted to vindicate the Abolitionists, to prove theentire safety of immediate Emancipation, and to plead the cause of thepoor and oppressed. I have done--I have sowed the seeds of truth, butI well know, that even if an Apollos were to follow in my steps towater them, "_God only_ can give the increase. " To Him then who isable to prosper the work of his servant's hand, I commend this Appealin fervent prayer, that as he "hath _chosen the weak things of theworld_, to confound the things which are mighty, " so He may cause Hisblessing, to descend and carry conviction to the hearts of many Lydiasthrough these speaking pages. Farewell--Count me not your "enemybecause I have told you the truth, " but believe me in unfeignedaffection, Your sympathizing Friend, Angelina E. Grimkč. 

THIRD EDITION. 

[1] And again, "If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of thechildren of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him;then _that thief shall die_; and thou shall put away evil from amongyou. " Deut. Xxiv, 7. 

[2] And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not lethim go away empty: Thou shalt furnish him _liberally_ out of thy flockand out of thy floor, and out of thy wine-press: of that wherewith theLord thy God hath blessed thee, shalt thou give unto him. Deut xv, 13, 14. 

[3] There are laws in some of the slave states, limiting the laborwhich the master may require of the slave to fourteen hours daily. Insome of the states there are laws requiring the masters to furnish acertain amount of food and clothing, as for instance, _one quart_ ofcorn per day, or _one peck_ per week, or _one bushel_ per month, and"_one_ linen shirt and pantaloons for the summer, and a linen shirtand woolen great coat and pantaloons for the winter, " &c. But "still, "to use the language of Judge Stroud "the slave is entirely under thecontrol of his master, --is unprovided with a protector, --and, especially as he cannot be a witness or make complaint in any knownmode against his master, the _apparent_ object of these laws may_always_ be defeated. " ED. 

[4] See Mrs. Child's Appeal, Chap. II. 

[Transcriber's Note: Footnotes have been relocated to the end. ]