them down to the level of brute creatures, which is a crime so directly at war with the very light of nature and conscience, that it appears almost an insult to the human understanding to attempt its further demonstration.

OBSTRUCTS THE MEANS OF GRACE.

Fifthly-Every practice must be criminal that neces sarily obstructs the means of grace, and tends to prevent the salvation of sinners. But slaveholding is of that nature. To restrain the slaves from learning, has been shewn to be a necessary appendage of slavery. But to learn to read the word of God is an important means of knowing the will of God, revealed to mankind for their salvation; therefore to restrain any of the human race from the knowledge of God's written word, is in the first instance a high insult upon the God of heaven whose end in giv. ing mankind a written revelation, was that they should read it, and thereby acquire a knowledge of his method of salvation, and escape from the wrath to come, and be made faithful subjects of his kingdom and government. Suppose some great earthly potentate was to promulgatesa code of laws for the good government of his subjects, ac companied with a positive injunction upon all people under his dominion to read it and live conformable to it as rules of civil duty. If a certain class of his subjects were to exert their utmost influence to hinder as many of the community as they could have under their power from reading it, merely to answer their own wordly interest, they could not be reputed better than traitors to his gov. ernment. How much more criminal then must be the conduct of those who restrain the subjects of the great potentate of heaven and earth, who is king of kings and lord of lords from reading that revelation of his will which he has given to his subjects, to teach them to glorify and enjoy him forever.

Again, to prevent any of mankind from reading the word of God, is to do that which tends to prevent their salvation, because it prevents the means leading to the end. It prevents them from the knowledge of God's written law his gospel doctrines and promises, and from the hope of eternal life, and implies a sacrificing the sin

ner's salvation to the slaveholder's worldly gains, or a violent attempt to shut up the way to eternal life, to prevent their entering, and depriving the slaves of all that consolation which is apt to be enjoyed in reading the word of God, together with that spiritual profit and advantage which Christians are apt to experience in hearing the gospel preached, so that slaveholders are neither entering the kingdom of heaven themselves, nor will they suffer others to enter in.

AGAINST NATURAL RIGHTS.

Sixthly-That practice must be unlawful which de prives any part of the community, of the natural rights of citizens; but slaveholding is of that description.

All men have a natural right to be citizens, and to enjoy civil protection in that nation or government where they have a permanent residence, except some legal cause should prevent it, in which case such as may be exempt. ed, have a right of removal to some other part of the world; but in the case of slavery the slaves are deprived of both the rights of citizens, and a removal to any other part of the world, without any just reason for their prevention.

All men, both citizens and foreigners, have a right to the protection of law in that nation where, in the course of providence their lot is cast, but the slaves have not the protection of law in slave states, but are placed under the arbitrary power of their masters, and have no more protection from the laws than horses or cattle, except so far as will serve the worldly interest of slaveholders. Hence

it is, that in some slave states killing a slave is not in law murder of the first degree, whereas stealing one is a capital crime. These unjust measures of necessity belong to the business of slaveholding, because no man can be admitted to the protection of the civil law, without being admitted to his oath or affirmation, but slaves cannot be admitted to make oath for or against any person before a court of justice without most dangerous consequences. As, 1st. They cannot be admitted to accuse their masters, as they might readily be suspected of prejudice and false accusation, for there is apt to subsist a deep rooted enmity in slaves against their masters. 2. The danger of being

influenced by fear, in many instances, would justly deter them from being witnesses in behalf of their masters. 3. Their gross ignorance of the nature of an oath, and of the consequences of a false testimony, prevents them from being capable of bearing witness for or against any per son, so that slaves are so far from enjoying the rights of citizens, or even foreigners, that they are completely outlawed. See laws of Kentucky, volume 2, from page 113 to 128, in the appendix.

AGAINST RELATIVE DUTIES.

Seventhly-That practice must be wicked which tends to make void all those moral obligations to relative duties which God by his providence and the authority of his word has made binding. But slaveholding is of that description.

The business of slaveholding deprives the slaves of their natural rights, which cannot be touched at, or affected by, any legitimate civil authority to either grant or withhold, as the right of duty in husbands to wives, and the right of duty in wives to husbands; the right of parental authority over children, and the right of duty in children to their parents.

The question is not whether all masters do in every instance deprive their slaves of all these natural rights; but whether they have a power according to the laws and regulations of slave states, to restrain them of these natural rights and privileges. That slave masters have all this power will not be called in question by any that are acquainted with the rules of slavery. If slaves retain these rights, so as the master has no jurisdiction over them, they are not slaves. For example: If the father has an authority over his children, without the control of his master, to teach his children to read, it supposes he is not a slave in that respect, but is his own master. If the parents have authority to demand obedience from the children to their commands, in preference to the will of their masters, they are no slaves. If the children have a right and power to obey the commands of their parents, as superior to any other human authority, it supposes they are no slaves; but all these relative obligations to duty, are reversed in the case of slavery. Therefore slave

holding is of so heaven-daring a nature as to claim the power of dissolving the moral obligations of parents to their children, and those of children to their parents.

That slaveholding destroys the moral obligations which arise from the conjugal relation, is manifest, because the business in its very nature supposes that any man has a right to purchase a slave whether married or single, and to remove him or her to any distance he may think fit; and the holder of slaves may sell them, whether married or single. If the slave is married he may sell him to a merchant, who may remove him to such a distance as he may never see his partner more, which is done in thou sands of instances. Thus slaveholding puts asunder those whom God has joined together, in direct contradiction to the express command of God. Whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.

The business of slaveholding implies an unrestrained power to divide families which God's ordinance has joined together, and also united by the ties of natural affection and sympathy, so as never to see one another more, or to have it in their power to perform the relative duties which they, by the ties of nature and the law of God, owe one to another.

From the evils now shewn forth as essentially connected with slavery, it may be proved that slaveholding is a breach of all the ten commandments.

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.

Eighthly Slaveholding is an express violation of the first commandment.

The man who holds a slave as his own property, as sumes the place of God, because his authority comes in prior to the obligations of his law, so that he can restrain the slaves from all those duties, which the law of God re quires of him, with which the civil law in no respect interferes, such as the times of worshiping God, the duty of taking times and using means to read his word, in order that he may be fit to discharge his duty to God.

The first commandment requires us to know and ac. knowledge God to be the only true God, and to worship and glorify him accordingly. But slaveholding of neces

sity prevents the slaves from the means of knowing God as the living and true God, and from the most perfect way of worshiping him. It is no solid objection to this argument, that some individuals do not altogether restrain their slaves from the means of knowledge; for certain it is, that the business of involuntary, unmerited, hereditary slavery of necessity requires the means of knowledge to be withheld from the slaves; and it is a well known fact that the slaves in the United States of America and in the West Indies, are, with a very few exceptions, held in most brutish ignorance. Therefore, slaveholding is a most open and daring violation of the first commandment. The slaveholder first usurps the place of God, and claims the first reverence.

He prevents the slave as far as in his power from knowing the true God, and from worshiping and glorifying him accordingly. His usurping the place of God, his injustice and cruelty, in preventing the slaves from knowing the will of God, by reading his word, and from receiving correct ideas of the way of salvation through Jesus Christ, are not only the highest affront to the majesty of God, but they prove the greatest stumbling block in the way of the slaves to prevent their salvation. Their gross ignorance renders them incapable of distinguishing that real Christianity which flows from God through Jesus Christ, which produces love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, temperance, meekness, and that which they experience in their tyrannical masters; and thence are liable to conclude that the Christian's God must be a tyrant, and that the whole scheme of Chris. tianity can be nothing but a system of error and cruelty. And we have good reason to believe that this very stum. bling block is the cause why so few are disposed to attend public worship, even where they are not prevented by the authority of masters.

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.

Ninthly-That practice must be criminal which necessarily requires the breach of the second commandment. But slaveholding is of that description.

The second commandment forbids the worshiping of