Slavery and the Constitution

s knew nothing of him, to a country where you may come to the knowledge of the only tru

your own interests for time and eternity."-Rev. C. C.

t read;" New York, 1848. In the preface, he says it was the result of a winter's visit to a large Southern plantation, and was adapted by him, "in a course of actual experiment, to the capacity of colored children, from four to twelve years of age." There are twenty lessons in this little book. He teaches, among other things, about the fall, original sin, the atonement,

ne, as well as practice," and contains a very much more elaborate exposition than Bishop I

at the slaves are taught it is their duty to do, and to refr

s, and unto God the things that are God's.' And Christ and his apostles are our example. Did they deem it proper and consistent with the good order of society to preach the gospel to servants? They did. In discharge of this duty, did they interfere with their civil condition? They did not. They expressed no opinion whatever on the subject, if we except that which appears in one of the Epistles to the Corinthian Church (1st Epist. chap. vii. ver. 19-23). There the Apostle Paul considers a state of freedom preferable to one of servitude, and advises slaves, if they can lawfully obtain their freedom, to do it; but not otherwise. He does not treat the question as one of very great moment, in

; and they will be presented with a way whereby they may practically gratify all their benevolent sympathies for the negroes, in the best manner possible. Our attention, as a church, will be tur

laws and regulations concerning slavery which are enacted by the respective civil governments under which they live. The legislature must determine who shall be kept in bondage, and what shall be the

ry is a civil condition, which God, in his mysterious providence, has allowed to exist! But, though it is thus improper to "interfere" with the civil condition of the slaves, that religious teacher (as we shall shortly see) does not "step out of his way," but merely does his duty, who preaches to them that submission to their civil condition, and faithful servi

truction of slaves, a few years since collected and published a volume of sermons and tracts, designed to aid the almoners of Divine Mercy in their work of salvation. T

ife like rich free people, who have estates and money to lay out as they think fit. If others will run the hazard of their souls, they have a chance of getting wealth and power, of heaping up riches, and enjoying all the ease, luxury, and pleasure their hearts should long after. But you can have none of these things; so that, if you sell your souls for the sake of what poor matters you can get in this world, you have made a very foolish bargain indeed. Almighty God hath been pleased to make you slaves here, and to give you nothing but labor and poverty in this world, which you are obliged to submit to, as it is his will that it should be so. And think within yourselves what a terrible thing it would be, after all your labors and sufferings in this life, to be turned into hell in the next life; and, after wearing out your bodies in service here, to go into

n a selection of these sermons, under the title of "Sermons preached on Plantations to Congregations of Negroes." This book[G] contains twenty-six sermons; and in twenty-two of them

s, at the command of the great Judge, shall be gathering together all the obedient followers of Christ, and be setting them on the right hand side of the judgment-seat, and shall place all the remainder on the left. Remember that each of you must be present; remember that the great Judge can make no mistake; and

erlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.' He will tell them to depart: they did not while here see

he devil and his angels, and all people who will not love and serve God, shall there be punished for ever. The Bible says, 'The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever:

echizes[H] the slave

spoken of in the Bible to which the s

they?-A. He

nt is over, into what place do

is heaven?-A. A most g

·

thirst, or nakedness or heat or cold? Shall they any mo

e away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow no

e their everlast

in knowledge and holiness and ha

h and strive to go, more than

t place are the wicked

-A. 'The wicked shall be turned into hel

ce is hell?-A. A plac

burn with?-A.

l besides wicked men?-A.

ll make the wicked do?-A. Weep

en he was tormented in the flame?-A

hing in hell? the least comfort? t

r come out of he

aven to hell, or from

tween heaven and he

f the wicked in hell called

ishment make the

'-A. 'It is a fearful thing to fal

to be to the wicked?

strive to escape from ab

of their stewardship does God require at their hands! He, they are taught, has made them slaves, and has given them nothing but labor and pov

al and waste and hurt any of their substance, when you are saucy and impudent, when you are telling them lies and deceiving them; or when you prove stubborn and sullen, and will not do the work you are set about without stripes and vexation; you do not consider, I say, that what faults you are guilty of towards your masters and mistresses are faults done against God himself, who hath set your masters and mistresses over you in his own stead

d mistresses as if you did it for God himself,-there arise several other rules of duty t

et about it immediately, and faithfully perform it, without any disputing or grumbling, and take care to please them well in all things. And for your encouragement he tells you, that he will reward you for it in heaven; because, while you are honestly and faithfully doing your master's business here, you are serving your Lord and Master in heaven. You see also that you are not to take an

you must obey your masters in all things, and do the work they set you about with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good-will doing service as to the Lord, and not as to men. If, then, you would but say within yourselves, 'My master hath set me about this work, and his back is turned, so that I may loiter and idle if I please, for he does not see me; but there is my great Master in heaven, whose overseer my other master is,[I] and his eyes are always upon me and taking notice of me, and I cannot get anywhere out of his sight, nor be idle without his knowing

he you, unless you take honest care of every thing that belongs to them? Remember that God requires this of you; and, if you are not afraid of suffering for it here, you cannot escape the vengeance of Almighty God, who will judge between you and your masters, and make you pay

y manner! There is something so becoming and engaging in a modest, cheerful, good-natured behavior, that a little work done in that manner seems better done and gives far more satisfaction than a great deal more that must be done with fretting, vexation, and the lash always held over you. It also gains the good-will and love of those you belong to, and makes your own life pass with more eas

hty God, what will become of the master who impoverishes and darkens the mind of his brother-man? Who comm

th Sermon is on the text, Eph. vi. 7, "With good-will doi

hey ought to do their service. They are told to do what is required of

portion that God has given them; and both rich and poor are taught how to lay up treasure in heaven. Parents are told in the Bible how they must bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and children, how they must obey their parents. Masters are taught in the Bible how they must rule their servants, and servants how they must obey their masters. Truly, this holy word of God is a blessed gift indeed; and how greatly blessed shall we all be, if we diligently seek the help of the Holy Spirit, that we may be 'doers of the word, and not hearers only'! I will now read to you the whole of this passage out of God's holy word, which is written especially for your instruction:-'Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and tremb

udgment, "I had no way of hearing and learning about my God and Saviour"! (p. 137). May they not all listen to such words of comfort as fall from his lips? And how full of comfort to their so

Here is a very plain command: 'Servants, be obedient;' be obedient to your masters. A bad servant will not try and obey this command. A worldly-minded servant, who is not living in the fear of God, will neglect t

f the punishment which he will receive, if his disobedience should be found out. But a Christian servant must look up always to his heavenly Master. Therefore, if you love God, whose children you were made at your baptism, you will do every day all that you have to do, with fear and trembling; that is, in the fear of God; knowing that he would be angry with you, if you neglected your duty. If you love the

resting to a reverend father must be the reflection, that, just in the proportion as he serves his God, by imparting to his hearers

inded, professing to be one thing, but really being another; but, in your duty to your master, have a single heart; an hone

ot attend to your work, only when your earthly master's eye is upon you; but remember that the eye of your heavenly Master is always upon you. Do your work as serving Christ, look upon your daily tasks as the will of God, and do them from the heart, with a hearty desire to please God. A bad servant is an eye-servant, doing the work required of him so long as his master's eye is upon him: he has no regard to Christ our Savi

d will; he will try many ways to deceive his master, and will do as little for him as he can. You, however, who call yourselves the servants of Christ, will, if you indeed belong to him

nto the Lord. We do verily believe, that both he and Bishop Meade would follow the desires of man's unregenerate and evil heart, and do their utmost to escape from this unwe

is Sermon with these i

ve been here; it matters not whether we be bond-servants or freemen; it matters not whether we be among the high and the rich, or among the low and the poor, we shall in that day receive according as we now live. If we now live as obedient followers of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we shall, through him who loved us, inherit everlasting life. But if we are not true believers in him, if we are disobedient to his word, we can inherit only everlasting misery. With regard to you, the disobedient servants a

d to neglect of duty and insubordination by hearing such sentences? This effect, says Mr. Jones (speaking in reference to these sentences, "Rel. Inst." p. 197), "might result from imperfect and injudicious religious instruction.... But who will say that neglect of duty and insub

ven so unto them;' that is, do by all mankind just as you would desir

u were looking over them? Would you not expect, that they should take notice of what you said to them? that they should behave themselves with respect towards you and yours, and be as careful of every thing belonging to you as you would be yourselves? You are se

t "to hold any man in slavery is to be every day guilty of robbing him of his liberty, or of man-stealing" ("The Church as it is," p. 8). How solemnly would Bishop Freeman declare to the slaves, that thieves can never enter the kingdom of God, without thinking of the law of North Carolina, which provides that no slave

the degradation of the slaves, when such arguments as these can be addressed to them by intelligent men, with the expectation of producing conviction! How degraded must that slave be who does not feel or who cannot expose these wicked perversions of a beautiful command

ly to submit to all the wrongs of slavery, as being

to be more submissive and obedient to God; ... that they may think less about this world, and may be more diligent in getting ready for heaven. For these good reasons, God chastises his people; and whenever you become sick, or are visited with sorrows, you should try and look up to God as chastising you for your sins, and should pray much to him for his Spirit, that you may be patient like our Saviour, when he suffered for our sins, that you may improve

to be to induce his hearers to believe that Christ really endured the wrongs of a slave, that he sometimes goes beyond the Bible record. Thus, in describing Christ's sufferings before Pilate,

s: he also declares to them, that, unless they love those who wrong them, they

? Are you trying to love your neighbor as yourselves? Are you trying to do to others as you would have them do to you? Do you, for Jesus Christ's sake, love your enemies? Do you bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you? In this way, again, you may try yourselves, and see whether you are the sheep of J

at he was not born in a Slave State, so congenial is slavery to his soul! But the bishop, if he believes in his o

is world, and help you the better towards heaven, if you would but do your duty in it. So that any discontent at your not being free or rich or great, as you see some others, is quarrelling with your heavenly Master, and finding fault with God himself, who hath made you what you are, and hath promised you as large a share in the kingdom of heaven as the greatest man alive, if you will but behave yourself aright, and do the busi

hands, but the care of looking forward and providing necessaries for to-morrow and next day, and of clothing and bringing up their children, and of getting food and raiment for as many of you as belong to their families, which often puts them to great difficulties, and distracts their minds so as to break their rest, and take off their thoughts from the affairs of another world. Whereas you are quite eased from all these cares, and have nothing but your daily labor to look after, and, when that is done, take your needful rest.

ds,-they are part of God's providence! Nothing is too wicked, nothing too infamously mean, for that Being to do whose essence is love, whose law is just. We denounce the African slave-trader as a fiend, and, with appropriate religious ceremonies, hang him by the neck until he is dead, so deep is our detestation of a pirate; and yet, at the same time, we thank God, that, in his infinite wisdom, he has devised and executed the plan of negro-slavery, as the true way of Christianizing and elevating Africa! The slave-owner is said to have it in his power to shut up the kingdom of heaven against

op Meade's book with the following

may appear grievous, that I shall now

orrection, for the fault you have committed, you perhaps have escaped a great many more, and are at last paid for all. Or suppose you are quite innocent of what is laid to your charge, and suffer wrongfully in that particular thing, is it not possible you may have done some other bad thing which was never discovered, and that Almighty God who saw you doing it would not let you escape without punishment one time or another? And ought you not, in such a case, to give glory to him, and be thankful that he

r to a stool under a large hook in the joist, put in for the purpose. He made her get upon the stool, and tied her hands to the hook. She now stood fair for his infernal purpose. Her arms were stretched up at their full length, so that she stood upon the ends of her toes. He then said to her,-'Now, you d--d b--h! I'll learn you how to disobey my orders!' And, after rolling up his sleeves, he commenced to l

the slave-children under hi

f the kingdom of heaven; but will you get eternal life in heaven, if

n?-A. I must have nothing to do with the devil

orks?-A. By keeping within me no bad thoughts; by

houghts?-A. I mean that I must not hate anybody, n

the devil tempts you to do?-A. I mean that I must not hurt anybody;

your master without their knowing it?-A. Y

aven?-A. I must believe all that God

neighbor as yourself?-A. I am to show it by always d

body who lives with me and around

A. My playfellows, my master a

your parents?-A. I am never to lie to them, to steal from them,

inst you?-A. By cursing me, telli

se who thus sin against yo

forgive them?-A. Then

y to him to forgive me,

pass against you?-A. I am not to hurt them, because they

hey do to you?-A. Then God will not

e Lord's prayer, 'Thy will be done'?-A. I pray that

s will known to us?-A. In

h he makes his will known to us?-A. Eve

own in his acts?-A. When God sends trouble or sic

izes the slaves ("Cat

ers?-A. 'Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, no

sters according to the fles

count their masters wo

ir masters?-A. 'With good will, doing se

eir masters?-A. 'Please them well i

nt to his earthly master an eye-ser

nded to do any thing, to be sullen and

not to be as a Christian servant, an example to all ot

an also, ought he not on that account

threatens and punishes more than he ought, what i

ands of his master, and, to please God, takes i

nt to run away, or is it rig

unaway? Did he harbor him, or send him back to his ma

o be punished for his faults, or o

ty to tell lies, and dec

rty to steal from t

and conduct?-A. 'All good fidelity, that they may

in their stations as servants, will they be respected of me

God for the manner in which they s

the tenth commandment ("

uire me to love my n

glad when I see him have and

e the very things he has, and begrudge

with such things as I have, without c

learned?-A. 'I have learned, in whatsoev

reat gain; for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can

every good gift and every

es and honor and greatness and strength, and also ca

walk uprightly with God, will he su

·

the very thought itself of evi

·

and circumstances, as appointed unto us by our

the Rev. Theodore Clapp, after seventeen years' expe

will be contemplated under the aspect of means indispensable to our everlasting progress in knowledge, virtue, and happiness. I would say to every slave in the United States, You should realize that a wise, kind, and merciful Providence has appointed for you your condition in life; and, all things considered, you could not be more eligibly situated. The burden of your care, t

re to him with his slaves than four wagon-loads of cowskins! A judiciously awakened conscience, an earnest wish on the part of the slave to do what he believes to be the will of God, in order to escape never-ending torments in hell, constitute a much more forcible and constant incitement and restraint than that of fear. When we reflect that "ignorance and superstition render them easy dupes to their tea

f the religious instruction of slaves, were published letters from several persons, describing the effect actually produced by such instruction. One person writes, "The deeper the piety of the slave, the more valuable is he in every sense of the word." Another says, "A regard to self-interest should lead every planter to give his people religious instruction." "On such large plantations," says Mr. Jones ("Rel. Inst." p. 239), "as a mere matter of gain, a religious instructor should be employed." By religious instruction (ib. p. 208), "the pecuniary interests of masters will be advanced as a necessary consequence."-Page 204: "Is it not conceded, that a truly pious servant gives less trouble, and is more profitable, than one who is not? Is there one master in a thousand who does not desire such servants? Is it not true, that the most pi

private as well as public religious assemblies, and free intercourse with the people and with their influential men and leaders, exert a restraining influence upon any spirit of insubordination that may exist, and at the same t

and diligently, "in singleness of heart, as unto Christ"! He must act honestly, and never waste any of "the comforts and conveniences of life" which he procures for his master. No accumulation of injuries or deprivations can excuse him for running away; but he is bound to endure all his wrongs with cheerfulness and patience, and, leaving his cause in the hands of God, look to Heaven alone for his reward! Who is there that does not feel irresistibly impelled, with Bishop Ives, to

in ignorance. How much more pitifully wicked is it, then, to teach such unt