Page 311: "Now this undeniable fact, that the right of the master over the person and services of the slave, is never recognised at all in the New Testament."

Page 312: "Whatever distinction of complexion there may be, it is the doctrine of the Bible that all belong to one and the same great family, and that, in the most important matters pertaining to their existence, they are on a level."

Page 315: "Up to the time when its truths (the gospel's) were made known, the great mass of mankind had no scruples about its propriety; they regarded one portion of the race as inferior to the other, and as born to be slaves. Christianity disclosed the great truth that all men were on a level; that all were equal."

Page 317: "If a man should in fact render to his slaves that which is just and equal;' would he not restore them to freedom? Would any thing short of this be all that is just and equal?"

Page 322: "No man has a right to assume that when the word Sovλos, doulos, occurs in the New Testament, it means a slave.” Page 331: "No argument in favour of slavery can be derived from the injunctions addressed by the apostles to the slaves themselves." Page 340: "From the arguments thus far presented in regard to the relations of Christianity to slavery, it seems fair to draw the conclusion, that the Christian religion lends no sanction to slavery."

Page 341: "The Saviour and his apostles inculcated such views of man as amount to a prohibition of slavery." Page 345: "He (Jesus Christ) was not a Jew, except by the accident of his birth, but he was a man; in his human form there was as distinct a relation to the African * * as there was to the Caucasian."

We have understood that one popular clergyman at the North (an abolitionist) has gone so far as to say that Jesus Christ was a negro! To what folly and extravagance will not wickedness subject its slaves!

Mr. Barnes says, page 375-" These considerations seem to me to be conclusive proof that Christianity was not designed to extend and perpetuate slavery; but that the spirit of the Christian religion would remove it from the world, because it is an evil, and displeasing to God."

To all of which, worthy of answer, it may be well to apply the sentiment which he attributes to Dr. Fuller, that the New Testament is not silent on the subject of slavery; that it recognises the relation; that it commands slaves to obey their masters, and gives reasons why they should do so. And it may be steadily affirmed,

if slavery be a sin, that such commands and counsels are not only a suppressio veri, but a suggestio falsi; not only a suppression of the truth, but a suggestion of what is false!

If it shall be said that God merely sanctioned or permitted slavery in the time of the patriarchs, who will say that he did not enjoin it in the time of Moses? A repeal of this injunction demanded a countervailing revelation of no equivocal character, clear and decided, without the admission of a doubt.

* * *

"And God spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying, But thy bond-men and bond-maids which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bond-men and bond-maids. Moreover, of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy and of their families, which they beget in your land; and they shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance, for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession: they shall be your bond-men for ever." Lev. xxv. 1, 44, 45, 46.

Mr. Barnes has adduced no proof that this law was ever repealed; nor do the holy books contain any evidence of such repeal; yet he has denied the existence of slavery in Judea, at the time of the advent of the Saviour. See pp. 228, 242, 244, and 249, before quoted, and, we trust, sufficiently refuted. But we now add, that at the time Jesus Christ and his apostles were on the earth, Judea was a province of Rome. Now, since it was clear that slavery was inculcated by the Hebrew laws, unless it was forbidden by the Roman, we could not come to the conclusion that slavery did not exist in Judea at their time, even if Jesus Christ and his apostles had never alluded to it.

But, see Matt. xxvi. 51: "Behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant (Sov2ov, doulon, slave) of the high-priest," then some suitable but different word would have been used, as in the following: "And the servants (dov2o, douloi, slaves) and officers (innpέtaι, huрēretai, attendants, persons who aid, assistants) stood there," John xviii. 18; proving the fact that both slaves and other attendants were present, and that the slave was named distinctly from such other attendants. There can be no doubt about these facts; and in proof that slavery was not forbidden by the Roman laws, we quote from Mr. Barnes, page 251: "In Italy, it was computed that there were three slaves to one freeman; and

in this part of the empire alone, their numbers amounted to more than twenty millions."

Page 252:

* * *

"The number of slaves could not have been less than sixty millions in the Roman Empire, at about the time the apostles went forth to preach the gospel."

*

Page 254: * * "The following places are mentioned, either as emporia for slaves or countries from which they were procured: Delos, Phrygia, and Cappadocia, Panticapæum, Diascurias, and Phanagoria on the Euxine or Black Sea; Alexandria and Cadiz; Corsica, Sardinia, and Britain; Africa and Thrace." And does it astonish us that in these dark ages of human degradation, Britain helped to supply Rome with slaves? It should be remembered that conquest gave the right in ancient days to enslave all barbarous and deeply degraded nations; and it might be inquired whether such principle was not alluded to by the prophet: "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered." Isa. xlix. 24. History will inform us that all these nations were of the lowest order. St. Jerome, in his writings against Jovinian, informs us what were the morals of Britain. He says—“ Why should I refer to other nations, when I myself, when a youth in Gaul, have seen the Atticotti, a British tribe, eating human flesh? Should they find shepherds tending their herds of swine or cattle, and flocks of sheep in the woods, they are wont to cut off the fleshy parts of the men, and the breasts of the women, which are esteemed the most delicious food."

Who then is to say that Britain is not now indebted for her high state of intellectual improvement to the pike, bludgeon, and sword of the Roman, Dane, Saxon, and Norman? And can we say that the hand of God was not in this? The same providences and principles that have ever applied to degraded Africa apply to all degraded nations, and even to individual men. "Whosoever . committeth sin is the servant (Sou2os, doulos, slave) of sin."

And it may be said that nations and individuals thus enslave themselves. "Behold, for your iniquities ye have sold yourselves." Isa. 1. 1. These principles may be seen every day operating among the most degraded of even the most enlightened nations. The history of the present day informs us of the deep degradation of the African tribes; and that even in their own country the great mass are slaves. Consistently with the laws of God, they could not be otherwise; and even slavery among themselves, subject to sacrifice and death as we have seen it, is yet better for

them than a state of freedom. We have seen how the free hordes roam like the brutes, making that place home where night overtook them. Suppose such to be cannibals, of which we have proof, it might so happen, that, in one day, one half of their number would be destroyed by themselves. Therefore, as distressing as slavery must be among them, yet it is far preferable to their dejected condition of freedom.

We know of no one who pretends to believe that the masses of the African tribes have increased in number since the commencement of our era; whereas, a few scattering individuals, brought into slavery, within the last few generations, in these States, have increased to near four millions; nearly one-twelfth of the number of the entire population of Africa. However wicked may be the Christian master, how much more is slavery to be desired by the negro than any condition among these pagan hordes! We, therefore, do not deem it presumptuous to say, that so degraded is the condition of the African in his own land, that it has been elevated in proportion as it has been affected by the slave-trade, and more especially with Christian nations. The first tendencies towards civilization, and whatever dawning of mental development there may be now noticed among the African tribes, are traceable alone to that source. And the Christian philosopher might well inquire whether, in the providence of God, its existence, from the time of Noah to the present, has not been the saving principle which has alone preserved the tribes of Ham from the condition of Sodom and Gomorrah, and other nations long since wasted away.

LESSON XX.

MR. BARNES has quoted and adopted the following passage from President Wayland, page 310: "If the religion of Christ allows such a license (to hold slaves) from such precepts as these, the New Testament would be the greatest curse that ever was inflicted on our race." On the account of the avowal of Dr. Barnes as to his race, heretofore noticed, we feel a degree of gladness that the above passage is not original with him: we should expect to find in him a sympathy on this subject, unpleasant to encounter, because legitimately acting on his mind. A man may be a philosopher

or a Christian, yet the ties of nature, the sympathies of kindred are not abated.

We are informed that heretofore, written arguments in favour of abolitionism by Dr. Wayland and against it by Dr. Fuller, have been published. We have not seen the work; but are told that the abolitionists claim victory for Dr. Wayland, and that the opponents also claim it for Dr. Fuller; and from the foregoing passage as quoted, we conclude that Dr. Wayland found himself, at least, in straits on the subject. If such be the fact, it may account why the abolitionists thought Dr. Barnes's present work necessary. But, however these things may be, the passage from Dr. Wayland is a volume of deep instruction, announcing the feelings and theological consistency, we might say fanaticism, of, we hope, but a few extraordinary men, now appearing in our land; men, we doubt not, conscientious in their opinion that God designs the government of the world to be in strict conformity with human reason, and who cannot, therefore, pray in the spirit of the Son: "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done." Luke xxii. 42. "If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Rom. viii. 9.

In the book before us, the author falls into one error, common to every writer on his side of the question: That slavery is the cause of the degradation of the Africans and the slaves generally. We maintain that the converse is the true state of the case. Another error is the substitution of what may be abuses of slavery for the institution itself. This author, like most of the abolition writers of whom we have any knowledge, evinces an inability to enter into an impartial consideration of the subject, from his deep and overshadowing prejudices against it. Indeed, the whole work, from page to page, carries proof of a previous determination to condemn, not less obvious than in the instance of the judge who, in summing up a case, said "It is true, in this case, the accused has proved himself innocent; but, since a guilty man might prove himself so, and since I myself have always been of the opinion that he was guilty, it will be the safest to condemn."

The style of the work before us is always diffuse and declamatory, sometimes elevated, but often cumbrous; still his language bears the impress of classical learning and a cultivated mind; but there is in the work a want of conciseness; it abounds in contradictory positions and a frequent inconclusiveness of deduction, which make it obnoxious to a charge of carelessness. But may