10. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them saying, Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. Matt. xxv, 44. 11. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke iv, 18.

do they seem to realize what a draw-back the sin of slaveholding is upon the virtues of some who might otherwise be what their professions would seem to signify.

10. Ye did it not to one of the least of these my brethren. Hence it is indisputable, that Christ considers the good or the evil which is done unto one of the least of his followers, as actually done unto himself. Now suppose for one moment, that slavery is not an evil; suppose it is consistent and right for a Christian to buy and sell men, women, and children, and hold them as his property. Is there any professing Christian, or any minister of the gospel who would deal thus with the person of Jesus Christ were he now here upon earth? How does it seem to the reader, to think of Jesus Christ set up at auction, bought and sold, yoked with an iron collar, chained, scourged, and driven to work with a club or cowhide? But this is the kind of treatment which many of his disciples receive, and this, too, from those who claim to be their Christian pastors, and their brethren in the Lord! And these are they who tell us, "Christ never said anything against slavery!"

11. To preach deliverance to the captives. Though these words primarily refer to the spiritual deliverance which the gospel effects for sinners, who have been slaves to sin, yet

12. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Luke vi, 36.

13. Take heed and beware of covetousness; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Luke xii, 15.

14. These things I command you, that ye love one another. John xv, 17. This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. John xv, 12.

it is a fact that the Christian religion does tend to promote the civil liberties of all nations where it is permitted to operate without restraint. Hence, in about three centuries after the birth of Christ, slavery was abolished throughout the Roman empire. Christianity has since abolished slavery in France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, Austria, Germany, and throughout the British West Indies; and in a word, America is the only civilized Christian nation, where slavery is permitted to exist! And yet, we are the people to reproach other nations for their tyrannies, and to boast of our freedom and our republican laws and institutions!

That is, the year

The acceptable year of the Lord. of Jubilee; as the Jews believed, their year of jubilee was typical of the redemption which was to be accomplished by the Messiah; and to this usage among the Jews the last clause of this text undoubtedly refers.

13. Beware of covetousness. Beware of an eager, inordinate desire of that which belongs to another. If that is not covetousness which leads one to take possession of the liberty of his innocent fellow creatures, and to use their services without paying them wages for their labor, what is it? And covetousness, the apostle informs us, is idolatry. Col. iii, 5.

14. As I have loved you. And how can the system of slave-holding stand in the presence of these words? This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. That is, you should love one another as really and as sincerely in your sphere as I have loved you in mine. It is not doubted but that some slave-holders may covet the

15. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. Acts x, 38.

16. Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, for ye make clean the outside of the cup and platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Matt. xxiii, 25.

liberty and labor of the slaves enough to risk their lives in the support of a system by which they can deprive them of these blessings, but does any enslaver love his slaves enough to lay down his life for them? Nay, does he love them enough to restore to them those blessings and rights of which he has so unjustly deprived them? Let the following fact speak on this subject; it was narrated by the Rev. M. B. Cox, late Missionary to Liberia, in one of the public papers, soon after the event occurred.

After the insurrection in Southampton, Va., which took place a few years ago, a slave-holder went into the woods in quest of some of the insurgents, accompanied by a faithful slave, who had been the means of saving his life in the time of the massacre. After they had been some time in woods, the slave handed his musket to his master, informing him at the same time, that he could not live a slave any longer, and requesting him either to shoot him upon the spot, or set him free. The master took the gun from the hands of the slave, levelled it at his breast, and shot the faithful negro through the heart. Thus he was rewarded for his kindness to his master.

16. Full of extortion. The word here rendered extortion, signifies the act of plundering, rapine, ROBBERY, TAKING away by force; and a better definition of slave-holding could not be given, than is attached to this word. It occurs in two other places, only, in the New Testament, Luke xi, 39, and Heb. x, 34.

Slaveholding, is the act by which a human being is plundered of his right to himself, it is the taking away by force the wife from her husband, the child from its parent, and the fruit of another's labor.

17. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go and do thou likewise. Luke X, 36.

CHAPTER XI.

The Apostle Paul condemns slavery, and shows that slave-holding is directly opposed to the spirit and temper of the Christian Religion.

1. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another, with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another. Rom. xii, 9.

1. Let love be without dissimulation. Let your tempers and actions correspond with your professions; you profess to love your neighbor as yourself; act accordingly. But then, in examining these and similar passages, which bear so directly against slave-holding, we should remember, that it is not love, merely, which demands the immediate and total abolition af slavery in all its forms; for were love and kindness to be left entirely out of the question, the principles of equity and justice, if obeyed, would banish slavery from the church and from the world. But when the demands of justice are disregarded, then we may urge the principles of that sincere and affectionate regard which every Christian should feel towards his brother. And how can one who does really love God, and his neighbor, refuse obedience to the dictates of these principles as they are exhibited in this, and some of the following texts?

2. Art thou called being a servant? care not for it; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's free man; likewise, also, he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. 1 Cor. vii, 21.

2. Art thou a servant. The word here and elsewhere, (with but one exception) in the New Testament, rendered servant is doulos, and it "often implies," says Dr. Clarke, “a servant in general; or any one bound to the serviceranother, either for a limited time, or for life." But it is doubtful whether this term was ever used, either by Christ or any of the Apostles, to signify one who was the entire and absolute property of another, as the slaves of this land are held, for the following, among many reasons:

1. We know that Christ used this word to signify such as were not, and from the facts stated in the case, they could not have been the entire property of another. See Matt. xviii, 23-35. Here we have an account of a dʊûdos, servant, who was so much in his master's debt, that he commanded him to be sold, and payment to be made, which would not have been done had he been the absolute property of his master.

Slaves in Athens, who were held as the entire property of a master, were called okéra, but after their freedom was granted them, they were called dovλor, not being like the former a part of the master's estate, but only required to render some small service, such as was required of the péroikai, resident strangers or aliens, to whom in some respects they were inferior. This the reader will learn by consulting Dr. W. Robinson's Antiquities of Greece, page 30; and Potter's Grecian Antiquities, Vol. I, page 18; and see also an article in the Bib. Repository, for Jan. 1835. "On Slavery in Ancient Greece."

Now when we consider that the Attic Greek is substantially the language in which the New Testament was written, it seems the Apostles must have used the word douλos, to signify a freedman, according to the authorities above quot ed, and not one who was the entire property of another.

2. But it may be observed here, and once for all, that, if