,,slaveholding    ,,weighed ,,in ,,the  
,,balance ,,of ,,truth1    ,,and ,,its  
,,comparative ,,guilt ,,illustrated4    
,,by ,,charles ,,fitch4  ,pastor of     
,first ,free ,congregational ,church1   
,boston4    ,,boston3  ,,published ,,by 
,,isaac ,,knapp1  ,no4 #be1 ,cornhill4  
#ahcg4          ,,slaveholding1  c4     
,in order that we may understand the    
duties1 which we owe to ,god and our    
fellow men1 relative to the subject of  
slavery1 it is necessary that we        
examine the institution1 in all its     
bearings upon the temporal and  eternal 
interests of the enslaved2 and          
ascertain1 as far as we are able  to do 
so1 the extent of the injuries which it 
inflicts4 ,to aid my  readers in doing  
this is now my object4    ,i do not     
propose however1 to gauge this mammoth  
evil1 and show you its  exact           
dimensions2 ,i fully confess to you in  
the outset1 that ,i am not  able so to  
do4 ,that it is greater1 in some of its 
bearings at least1  than any other evil 

that ever existed among men1 and        
involves more guilt  than any other     
crime ever committed by men1 ,i fully   
believe1 and shall  endeavor to show2   
still the evil has a magnitude which my 
powers cannot  describe2 and the guilt a
 blackness which can never be painted1  
except  by a pencil dipped in the       
midnight of the bottomless pit4    ,i am
 aware1 that great complaint has often  
been made1 of those1 who  have          
endeavored to rouse the indignation of  
their fellow men against the  wrongs    
inflicted on the poor slave1 that they  
deal in unjust severity of  language4   
,that they have at any time spoken more 
than the truth1 ,i do  not believe--nor 
can ,i admit that they have dealt out   
severity and  painted rebuke1 in more   
unmeasured terms1 than they have        
received them  from their opponents4    
,when ,i remember1 too1 the long and    
profound slumberings1 even of           
,christians on this subject1 while their
 brethren were groaning under all  the  

injuries1 and cruelties1 of iron-handed 
and steel-hearted  oppression2 ,i cannot
 suppress the feeling1 that it was      
necessary1 that  that those who would   
arouse them1 should break forth as in   
thunder  tones1 and gird up all their   
energies1 to shake off the sloth in     
which  their fellow men were bound4     
,they had themselves but just awoke as  
from  a dream1 and found that they had  
long been sleeping1 as on the           
overhanging brink of a burning crater2  
and when they saw the whole  multitude  
of their fellow countrymen1 still asleep
 in the same situation  of fearful      
peril2 who can wonder that they should  
cry out at the top of  their voice1 and 
resort to every possible expedient1 to  
awaken those  around them before it was 
too late8 ,they heard the suppressed and
  terrific mutterings of the incipient  
earthquake below1 and felt the  ground  
beneath them already giving way1 what   
less could they do1 than to  lay about  
them with all their strength1 in the use

 of the first  expedient1 that seemed   
calculated to awaken and save8 ,they had
 no time  to devise a multitude of      
measures1 and then choose from among    
them1  such as would be most likely to  
satisfy those who were unwilling to be  
awaked4 ,they must do something1 and do 
it then4 ,previous measures1  though    
entered upon ostensibly for the purpose 
of arousing men from  sleep1 had only   
served as a lull-a-by4 ,the oppressors  
of their fellow  men1 were but becoming 
more secure in their claims of property 
in ,god's  image--the chains of the     
slave were getting more and more firmly 
rivetted1 and the whole nation were fast
 binding themselves in a willing        
bondage to those1 who found it conducive
 to their ease1 and interest1  and      
shameful indulgence1 to be permitted to 
inflict all the wrongs they  pleased on 
their fellow men1 with none to utter a  
single note of  remonstrance or rebuke4 
,it was seen that the press was bribed1 
and the  pulpit gagged1 and the lips of 

the multitude padlocked1 and nearly the 
whole population of the free ,states    
bound1 by chains either of  prejudice1  
or interest1 or ignorance1 to the       
tremendous car of ,slavery2  and those  
who loved to have it so1 had mounted the
 engine and were  driving at rail-road  
speed1 withersoever they would2 and when
 a few  awoke1 and saw the nation thus  
hastening to the precipice of ruin1 to  
be  dashed in the abyss below--what less
 could they do1 than to cry  ,,stop--and
 that too1 even at a pitch of           
remonstrance1 which should  subject them
 to the imputation of fanaticism or     
madness4    ,it is not unlikely that    
some of my readers1 may regard the      
language  which ,i shall use as         
unreasonably severe2 and yet ,i do not  
believe1 nor  can ,i think that any man1
 after looking candidly at the subject1 
will  believe that it expresses more    
than the truth4    ,my design is to draw
 a parallel between slavery and the     
evils which  stand connected with it1   

and some of the worst evils and vices   
and  crimes1 which are ever found among 
men1 that we may see where slavery      
ought to be placed in the catalogue of  
sins4    #a4 ,let us look at the ,roman 
,catholic ,church4 ,much has been said  
during  the last few years1 of the      
efforts which were being made1 to bring 
this  country under subjection to the   
,pope of ,rome4 ,now it is enough to    
make a  man shudder from head to foot1  
though his nerves were iron1 and his    
sinews brass1 to think of the most      
distant possibility that such a thing   
may ever take place4    ,but what are   
the evils which the ,romish ,church     
inflicts1 upon such as  are brought     
under her control8    ,she takes away   
the ,bible from them1 and gives them no 
opportunity1 to  learn for themselves1  
the way to heaven4 ,all the religious   
instruction1  which the people can      
receive1 must come orally1 from the lips
 of the  priest4 ,slavery does the same 
thing precisely1 to all who come under  

its  control4 ,they may not read the    
,bible1 nor possess it--and can receive 
no  religious instruction1 but what     
comes orally from the lips of the       
priest4 ,the ,roman ,catholic ,church   
depends for its perpetuity1 upon the    
ignorance of the common people4 ,slavery
 depends for its perpetuity upon  the   
ignorance1 of the enslaved4 ,hence the  
great effort to shut out all  knowledge4
 ,the ,romish ,church robs the laboring 
classes of large sums  of money1 to     
support its pope1 and its cardinals1 its
 bishops1 and its  priests1 in idleness 
and luxury and profligacy4 ,slavery robs
 the  laboring class of their earnings1 
to support another set of men in the    
same mode of life4 ,the ,romish ,church 
confiscates the property1 and  confines1
 and tortures1 and puts to death1 such  
as will not submit to  her rule1        
whenever she has the power of doing so4 
,slavery does the same  things4 ,not    
only the property1 the whole earnings1  
but the wife and  children1 the hands   

and feet and head1 the whole body and   
soul of the  enslaved1 are confiscated1 
and appropriated to the use of men in   
power4  ,slavery also has tortures for  
its victims4 ,it applies the scourge1   
until  the blood runs down their        
lacerated bodies in streams1 and in a   
multitude of ways inflicts its          
cruelties1 upon such as will not yield  
an  entire submission to its rule4 ,if  
any refuse to submit longer to their    
sufferings1 and flee1 they are followed 
into their hiding places1 and  put to   
death4 ,others are whipped until death  
ensues2 others are driven  to hard labor
 without proper food or rest1 until they
 sink down and die4    ,but the ,romish 
,church does not1 ordinarily1 strip the 
whole multitude of  its victims1 of     
everything that bears the name of       
property1 and take the  ownership of    
themselves out of their hands1 and drive
 them by the  scourge to hard labor from
 the beginning to the end of the year4  
,she  does not measure out to them their

 scanty pittance of food1 nor name      
every rag of clothing which they are    
permitted to put on1 nor mock at  all   
the relations of social life--stealing  
the child out of the father's  arms1 or 
off the mother's breast2 and the wife   
out of the bosom of her  husband2 and   
separating them for life1 depriving them
 of all the  protection of law1 and     
subjecting them daily to every injury   
and  suffering1 which avarice and       
passion and lust can load upon them4    
,nor  are men1 women and children under 
her influence1 like cattle1 raised to   
sell4 ,such enormities as these are left
 to be practiced by slavery2 and  to be 
legalized in the statute books of a     
people1 who have boastingly  regarded   
themselves1 as the most thoroughly      
christianized nation on  which the sun  
ever shines4 ,i say then1 there are     
points1 in which  slavery far outdoes   
the ,romish ,church in cruelty and      
guilt2 binds  heavier burdens1 and more 
grievous to be borne1 and lays them on  

men's  shoulders1 and will not touch    
them with a finger4 ,slavery also like  
,romanism1 cries out against free       
discussion1 and the liberty of the      
press1 and does not hesitate to silence 
both1 so far as she has the  power2 and 
to make every possible advance toward it
 where the power is  not possessed4     
,hence the outrages committed on        
peaceful citizens1  travelling in       
slaveholding ,states2 and the efforts to
 put down  discussion1 in almost all the
 ,states which call themselves free4    
,hence  the destruction of ,birney's    
press in ,cincinnati1 and the stones    
cast in  the streets of ,troy1 at the   
hero ,weld1 who1 like his ,master1 goes 
about  doing good4 ,hence all the       
shameful outrages by which that place   
has been  disgraced1 and the still more 
shameful neglect of the proper          
authorities  to protect peaceful1       
respectable1 high-minded1 and pious men1
 in the  exercise of the most noble of  
all their rights1 that of publicly      

expressing and defending their own      
opinions4 ,hence all the excesses       
practiced in this and several adjoining 
,states1 to lay the heaven-born  spirit 
of liberty asleep1 even among her own   
,new-,england hills4 ,hence  the long1  
loud1 and repeated threats of dissolving
 the ,union1 which  ,southern men have  
sent up on our ears1 and which even some
 of our  ,governors have echoed back1 in
 declarations that it is felony for a   
man  to speak what he thinks on a       
particular subject4 ,who doubts1 that   
slavery if she could1 would go so far in
 locking up the opinions of men  within 
their own breasts1 as ever popery went  
in the height of her  power4 ,she had   
already1 well nigh1 taken away the power
 of free  discussion1 from those who    
dare to assert the rights of their      
fellow  men1 and would soon have        
completed the work4    #b4 ,let us look 
at ,infidelity4 ,the evil arising from  
this source is1 that  it blinds men     
respecting their duty to ,god and their 

own souls1 and thus  leads them down to 
hell4 ,it urges itself1 however1 on no  
man by force4 ,a  spark of honest desire
 to know the truth and walk in its      
light1 is at  all times1 abundantly     
sufficient1 to show a man the sophistry 
and wilful  unbelief by which such      
doctrines are supported2 and to warn him
 of all  their snares1 and to guide his 
feet into the path of life4 ,a spark of 
honesty in the admission of the plainest
 principles of common sense1  will show 
a man that there is a ,god1 that the    
,bible is a revelation of  his will1 and
 that he will not let the wicked go     
unpunished1 who refuse  to repent4 ,he1 
therefore1 who suffers himself to be    
borne upon the  shoals and rocks1 and   
down the cataracts1 or into the         
whirlpools of  wilful unbelief1 goes    
there warned of his danger1 and with    
abundant  means and opportunities for   
escape4 ,but slavery wrests the ,bible  
out of  the hands of immortal men by    
force4 ,in the midst of a ,christian    

land1  with the clear light of heaven   
shining all around them1 they are shut  
out from this light1 and left to grope  
their way in darkness down to  hell4    
,that ,i may not be suspected of        
declaring more than the truth on  this  
point1 ,i will just give a specimen of  
the laws of slave ,states  touching this
 point4    ',a law of ,south ,carolina1 
passed in #ahjj1 authorizes the         
infliction of  twenty lashes1 on every  
slave1 found in an assembly1 convened   
for mental  instruction1 held in a      
confined or secret place1 although in   
presence of  a white4' ,that this cuts  
them off1 and was designed to cut them  
off from  all means of mental           
instruction1 nobody doubts2 for who in  
that ,state is  permitted to give slaves
 mental instruction in a public place8  
',another  law1 imposes a fine of a     
hundred pounds1 on any person who may   
teach a  slave to write4' ',in ,north   
,carolina1 to teach a slave to read or  
write1  or to sell or give him any book1

 the ,bible not excepted1 or pamphlet1  
is punished with thirty-nine lashes1 or 
imprisonment if the offender be  a free 
negro1 but if a white1 then with a fine 
of three hundred dollars4  ,in ,georgia1
 if a white teach a free negro or a     
slave to read or write1  he is fined    
five hundred dollars1 and imprisoned at 
the discretion of  the ,court4 ,if the  
offender be a colored man1 bond or free1
 he may be  fined1 or whipped1 at the   
discretion of the ,court4 ,a father     
therefore1  may not teach his own       
children1 on penalty of being flogged4' 
',this was  enacted in #ahbi4' ',in     
,louisiana1 the penalty for teaching    
slaves to read  or write1 is one year's 
imprisonment4 ,in ,georgia also1 any    
justice may1  at his discretion1 break  
up any religious assembly of slaves1 and
 may  order each slave present to be    
corrected1 without trial1 by receiving  
on  the bare back1 twenty-five stripes  
with a whip1 switch1 or cowskin4' ',in  
,south ,carolina1 slaves may not meet   

together1 before sunrise or after       
sunset1 for the purpose of religious    
instruction1 unless a majority of  the  
meeting be of whites1 on penalty of     
twenty lashes well laid on4 ,in         
,virginia1 all evening meetings of      
slaves1 at any meeting-house1 are       
unequivocally forbidden4' ,of course    
they may not meet in the day time1  for 
then they must labor4 ,possibly they may
 on the ,sabbath1 but their             
opportunities of doing it even then1 are
 few and far between4    ,you see1      
therefore1 the strenuous efforts which  
are made by legislative  enactments1 to 
shut out all light from the mind of the 
slave1 and  surround him with a thick   
impenetrable darkness1 in the midst of  
which  he must live and die2 and from   
which his eye never can open1 till death
  frees him from the grasp of his       
oppressor4 ,i am aware1 that the        
privilege of giving oral religious      
instruction to slaves is1 to some       
extent1 granted1 and that some slave    

masters do pretend to teach their       
slaves the truths of religion4 ,but what
 is the amount of all this8 ,a  writer  
for the ,new ,york ,evangelist has1 some
 months since1 given us what  he terms  
'sketches of slavery from a year's      
residence in ,florida1' in  one number  
of which1 he speaks on this very point4 
,he had conversed with  slaveholders on 
the subject4 ,one man thought it a very 
fine thing to  give slaves religious    
instruction4 ',i called my slaves       
together1' said  he1 'one ,sabbath day1 
the only time which ,i have been able to
 get this  season666 and read to them   
the account of ,abraham's servant going 
to  seek a wife for ,isaac4 ,i took     
occasion from this1 to speak to them of 
the integrity of this servant--what an  
amount of property was committed  to his
 care1 how faithfully he watched over   
it1 how careful not to  purloin any of  
the rich jewels to himself1 how anxious 
to return at the  appointed time4' ',i  
think1' said this slaveholder1 'that    

religious  instruction must be decidedly
 beneficial4' ,another master with whom 
,i  conversed1 continues the writer1    
believed nothing about giving religious 
instruction to slaves4 ,he regarded it  
as all a farce4 ',there is no man1'     
said this slaveholder1 'who will read   
the whole ,bible to his slaves4 ,if  ,i 
recollect right1 there is something in  
the ,bible which speaks of  breaking    
every yoke1 and letting the oppressed go
 free2 and there is  no master1'        
continued he1 'who will read that to his
 slaves1 not even  your good            
,methodists2 and if we must not read the
 whole ,bible1 we may as  well read none
 at all4' ,such were the views of       
slaveholders4    ,i have somewhere read 
the following4 ,whether authentic1 or   
not1 it  illustrates my point1 and      
expresses1 ,i am fully persuaded1 very  
much of  truth4 ,it was the remark of a 
slave1 after the master had been reading
  the ,bible to him and his companion4  
',massa bery good ,christian2 him  bery 

good ,christian indeed4 ,read de ,bible 
to us2 but him always read  de same     
chapter1 what says1 servants1 obey your 
massas in all tings4'    ,here1         
unquestionably1 we have just about the  
truth1 on the subject of  giving        
religious instruction to slaves4        
,multitudes never attempt it1 and  those
 who do1 are sure to do it for their own
 interest1 rather than for  the good of 
the slave4 ,that there are exceptions1  
,i am willing to admit2  but all that ,i
 have said1 exists unquestionably1 to a 
wide extent1 and  to an extent provided 
for by law4 ,i am aware that the gospel 
is preached  to some extent1 and that   
some truly embrace it2 but these are the
  exceptions1 and not the general rule4 
,my claim is1 that slavery destroys     
more souls among the slaves by keeping  
the ,bible away from them1 than         
infidelity could do in its place1 if    
they were permitted to have the  ,bible 
and read for themselves2 and it seems to
 me that this is a  position which no   

honest man will dispute4--,slavery also 
destroys souls  by force1 when          
infidelity could only decoy1 and        
therefore leave an  opportunity for     
escape4    #c4 ,let us compare slavery  
with the making and vending of ardent   
spirits4  ,do not suspect me of a wish  
to palliate1 or extenuate the evils1 or 
the  guilt of this abominable business4 
,i have often dwelt on these1 until my  
soul has been pained within me1 and     
until ,i am well persuaded that all1    
and far more than all which has ever    
been said or dreamed on that  subject1  
is strictly true4 ,i am aware too1 that 
a highly gifted mind1  has1 some years  
since1 drawn a parallel between         
intemperance and the  slave-trade1 in   
which he has endeavored to show1 that   
the latter is an  evil of the least     
magnitude4 ,but ,i am comparing now the 
business of  making and vending ardent  
spirits1 with slavery as it exists at   
this  time in our country4    ,it has   
often been said with unquestionable     

truth1 that from three to  five hundred 
thousand miserable men in our nation1   
are confirmed  drunkards1 and that from 
thirty to fifty thousand go down every  
year to  a drunkard's grave2 and        
inasmuch1 as the drunkard cannot inherit
 the  kingdom of ,god1 they must go down
 to the depths of hell4 ,a most fearful 
destruction this indeed4 ,but instead of
 five hundred thousand1 there are  not  
less than two millions two hundred      
forty-five thousand in our  country1    
held in the darkness of slavery4 ,how   
many of these1 think you1  have         
sufficient light to guide their feet to 
heaven8 ,shall we say one  half8 ,who   
can believe it8 ,but if this be         
admitted1 there are still more  than    
twice the number shut up by slavery1 in 
a state of darkness that  leads to hell1
 than have ever1 by any man1 been       
estimated in the ranks  of intemperance4
 ,is it not most clearly a truth1 then1 
that slavery  destroys more souls1 than 
the making and vending of ardent spirit8

 ,when  we consider1 too1 that slavery  
seizes its victims by force1 and binds  
and rivets chains upon them which they  
cannot throw off1 and thus leaves  their
 souls unprovided with any of the means 
of grace1 to die without  hope2 and that
 strong drink leaves men abundant       
opportunities to escape  if they will2  
who will not say that slavery is        
unspeakably more to be  dreaded3 that it
 is an evil of far greater magnitude    
than the other8 ,the  intemperate man   
may at any time1 break away from his    
bondage1 give up  his cups1 enjoy the   
means of grace1 embrace the truth and   
live4 ,but the  victim of slavery1 shut 
out from all true knowledge of ,god1    
deprived by  law of all opportunity of  
learning his ,maker's will1 or of       
studying the  way of salvation by       
,christ2 what can he do1 but remain in  
his darkness  and sin1 until the        
darkness of eternal night closes in upon
 his  benighted soul1 and he is left for
 eternity to suffer the consequences  of

 unpardoned sin4 ,true1 the guilt of him
 who dies the willing victim of         
intempesance1 must be greater than that 
of the poor benighted slave1 and  his   
future punishment consequently more     
severe1 but if slavery holds  twice the 
number of victims exposed to hopeless   
reprobation1 then it  destroys twice the
 number of souls1 and is therefore the  
greatest evil4    #d4 ,let us compare   
slavery with theft and robbery4 ,let me 
give a case for  illustration4 ,you are 
a husband and a father4 ,you commenced  
the world a  poor man1 but by hard labor
 and economy1 you have collected        
together a  sum of money1 which1 you    
believe1 if well invested1 will place   
you and  your family in circumstances of
 respectability and comfort4 ,from      
statements made to you1 or from your own
 observation1 by going upon the  ground1
 you come to the conclusion that your   
money can be more  profitably           
appropriated1 by removing to the ,west4 
,accordingly you  convert every thing   

you possess into cash1 and make all the 
necessary  arrangements for a removal   
with your family4 ,on the night previous
 to  your intended departure1 a thief   
enters your house1 takes possession of  
all you have1 and makes off1 and you    
never hear of it more4 ,or suppose  you 
are already on your journey1 and after  
many days of fatiguing  travel1 find    
yourself near the place of your         
destination2 when you are  met by the   
highwayman1 who1 with a pistol at your  
breast1 robs you of  your last          
farthing4--,now ,i suppose this would be
 a case1 where theft and  robbery would 
stand out in their worst features4 ,it  
would be a trying  case indeed4 ,after  
years of toil1 to gain something for    
yourself and  household1 you are in a   
moment pennyless1 with your destitute1  
needy  family upon your hands4 ,all you 
can do1 is again to betake yourself to  
hard labor1 to provide for those you    
love4    ,but suppose after all this1   
you were doomed to see your children    

torn  from you1 one after another1 and  
sold under the hammer1 to go you know   
not where2 to be subjected to the       
cruelty1 and abuse1 and outrage1 of  any
 monster into whose hands they might    
chance to fall2 where you could  never  
see or hear from them more2 and you left
 with no means of redress1  to sit down 
beside your broken hearted wife1 and    
mingle your tears and  sighs and sobs   
with hers1 with no prospect of relief   
until death4 ,but in  the midst of it   
all1 even the wife of your bosom1 dear  
as your own  heart's blood1 is sundered 
from you1 and sold forever from your    
embrace1  and you at last go off under  
the hammer1 to the highest bidder1 and  
are  driven by the lash1 to groan1 and  
sweat1 under long1 long days of         
unrequited toil1 with no relief till you
 die4 ,this is slavery4 ,it robs a  man 
of all his earnings during his whole    
life4 ,labor as he may1 sweat as  he    
may1 he can never have a farthing to    
call his own4 ,just hear the laws  on   

this subject4 ',in ,south ,carolina a   
slave is not permitted to keep a  boat1 
or raise and breed for his own benefit1 
any horses1 cattle1 sheep  or hogs1     
under pain of forfeiture1 and any person
 may take them from  him4' ,i ask1 what 
is that but robbery--except it is       
unspeakably worse1  because it is       
legalized--and the poor man has no means
 of redress8 ,it is  made lawful for any
 person to rob him1 by the letter of the
 statute4    ',in ,georgia1 the master  
is fined thirty dollars for suffering a 
slave to  hire himself to another1 for  
his own benefit4 ,in ,maryland1 the     
master  forfeits thirteen dollars for   
each month that his slave is permitted  
to  receive wages on his own account4   
,in ,virginia1 every master is finable1 
who permits a slave to work for himself 
at wages4 ,in ,north ,carolina1 all     
horses1 cattle1 hogs1 or sheep1 that    
shall belong to any slave1 or be of  any
 slave's mark in this ,state1 shall be  
seized and sold by the county  ,wardens4

 ,in ,mississippi1 the master is        
forbidden under the penalty of  fifty   
dollars1 to let a slave raise cotton for
 himself1 or to keep stock  of any      
description4' ,now where is the man     
under heaven1 who would not  say1 that  
such a system of legalized oppression1  
was infinitely worse  than theft or     
robbery1 when practiced toward himself8 
,and what1 ,i ask1  makes the crime any 
less heinous1 when practiced toward a   
colored man1  than it would be if       
practiced toward either of us8 ,the poor
 slave feels  such wrongs as deeply as  
we could1 and groans under them as      
loudly1 and  sheds tears as profusely as
 we would do2 but there he is1 without  
means  of redress4 ,and in addition to  
all this robbery of everything in the   
shape of property2 the poor slave is    
robbed of his children1 and his  wife1  
and robbed of himself--and has nothing  
left him1 but a miserable  existence1   
subjected to the most cruel1            
heart-withering tyranny1 that  was ever 

practiced by man on his fellow man1     
since this world has borne  the curse of
 its ,god4 ,when the thief1 or the      
robber1 takes your  property1 you can   
repossess it whenever you can find it2  
or if not1 you  can acquire more1 and   
your wife1 and children1 and yourself1  
are still  your own4 ,theft and robbery 
are nothing compared with the wickedness
 of  slavery4 ,make them as bad as you  
please1 and they do not deserve to be   
named the same week4 ,the difference    
between them is too great to be         
described1 too wide to be measured1 too 
deep to be fathomed4 ,the  slaveholder  
who goes impenitent to hell1 will find  
himself loaded down  with a weight of   
guilt and damnation1 that will sink him 
out of sight of  the worst high-way     
robber that ever walked the earth4 ,but 
you will say  the high-way robber is    
often guilty of murder4 ,well1 and so is
 the  slaveholder often guilty of       
murder--and this brings me to my next   
point4    #e4 ,let us now compare       

slavery with murder4 ,who does not know1
 that  oftentimes1 when the poor slave  
can no longer endure the outrages       
practiced upon him1 and flies1 and takes
 to the woods1 he is hunted down  by    
dogs1 and guns1 and thus put to death1  
just for trying to escape4  ,every body 
knows1 that it is a thing of frequent   
occurrence4 ,put to  death--just for    
trying to escape from his sufferings and
 his wrongs4  ,again1 it is a maxim with
 them1 that at particular seasons1 they 
can  afford to work a set of hands to   
death1 for the purpose of getting their 
crops early to market1 and thereby      
securing a much greater price4 ,the     
writer of sketches of slavery1 from a   
year's residence in ,florida1  speaks of
 this particularly1 as coming under his 
observation while  there2 and ,i have   
seen this fact referred to by other     
writers in public  print4 ,they do not  
hesitate to sacrifice the lives of their
 slaves to  hard labor1 when it will    
increase their profits4 ,besides1 the   

poor slave  is often whipped until the  
result is death4 ,is not my point made  
clear1  abundantly clear1 that slavery  
is worse than murder8 ,would you not    
prefer to be met by a highwayman1 and   
shot dead1 rather than have your  life  
worn out on a slave plantation1 toiling 
to enrich the hard-hearted  wretch who  
had stripped you of all your rights8    
,would you not prefer  this to being    
whipped1 and then laid away to die under
 the effect8 ,and  is not the wretch who
 inflicts death by such means1 to enrich
 himself1  more guilty1 than he who     
blows out the traveller's brains and    
seizes his  money to enrich himself8    
,surely1 my point needs no more         
illustration4  ,slavery is worse than   
murder4 ,but there is still this point  
to be  taken into the account4 ,if a man
 shoots you dead by the way side1 it is 
your own fault if you do not go to      
heaven4 ,you have the ,bible1 and the   
gospel4 ,you know that there is a       
,saviour1 and if you have not repented  

of your sins1 and believed in him for   
salvation1 you are without excuse4  ,if 
you lose your soul1 the fault is your   
own4 ,though murdered--you might  if you
 would1 have been saved4 ,but the poor  
slave is prevented from  learning the   
way of salvation while he lives1 and    
then worn out with  toil1 he dies and is
 lost forever4 ,surely ,i need not say  
more--what  honest man is not prepared  
to say that slavery is worse than       
murder8    #f4 ,i come now1 to a point1 
which1 in the estimation of some1       
perhaps1  ought to be suppressed4 ,but  
,i am a servant of the ,most ,high ,god1
 and to  him accountable2 and as such1  
placed under solemn obligation to cry   
aloud and spare not1 and show this      
guilty nation its sins4 ,this1 with  the
 ,lord's help1 ,i will do4 ,it is high  
time also1 that our mothers1 and  our   
wives1 our sisters1 and our daughters1  
knew the sufferings and the  wrongs of  
the poor defenceless female slave1 that 
they may lift up their  strong cries to 

,heaven in her behalf4    ,i wish1      
therefore1 to compare slavery with      
fornication and adultery1 and  the      
violation of female purity by force4    
,and1 my hearers1 ,i do not ask  you to 
believe my naked assertion on this      
point1 ,i will show you proof1  as it   
has been my endeavor to do on every     
point previously considered4    ,look   
again at the laws4 ,in ,kentucky--'any  
negro1 mulatto1 or ,indian1  bond or    
free1 who shall at any time1 lift his   
hand in opposition to any  white person1
 7mark the language7 shall receive      
thirty lashes1 on his  or her bare back1
 well laid on1 by order of the justice4'
    ,this regulation1 or something very 
much like it1 is believed to be in      
force in all the slaveholding ,states4  
,look now at the condition in which     
this places the poor female4 ,she is at 
the uncontrolled will of the  master4   
,he may order her1 by fear of the lash1 
into any secret place  where he pleases2
 the same fear of the lash1 enables him 

to accomplish  all the hellish purposes 
of his heart1 and then1 by the same     
means1 he  can seal her lips in silence1
 that the crime be never divulged4      
,during  all this time1 if she lift a   
hand against him1 he can procure thirty 
lashes for her1 to be well laid on1 by  
order of the justice1 in addition  to   
all he pleases to inflict himself4 ,let 
us now just remember1 that in  addition 
to such a regulation1 no person of color
 can be a witness  against a white man  
in a court of justice1 and you see the  
exact  condition of the poor female     
slave4 ,there is nothing1 so foul in    
pollution1 nothing so horrid in crime1  
but she may be driven by the  lash1 to  
be the victim of it1 and she must not   
lift a hand in  self-defence--and then  
she dare not divulge her wrongs1 or if  
she does1  there is no power on earth1  
from whom she can gain any redress2 or  
even  protection1 against a repeated    
infliction of the same evils4    ,if    
slaveholders had framed laws for the    

express purpose1 of placing the  purity 
and virtue of their females entirely in 
their own power1 they  could not have   
done it more effectually1 than it is now
 done4 ,it would  seem to be a system1  
framed for the very purpose1 of giving  
them full  power1 to pollute by force1  
just as many as they pleased4 ,at any   
rate1  they know the power is in their  
hands1 and there are developements      
enough which show that they are not slow
 to use it4#a ,there are a  multitude of
 facts on this subject1 and ,i will just
 relate one or two1  because ,i know    
them to be authentic4    ,a particular  
friend of mine1 who spent several years 
in a slave ,state1  gave me the         
following as an occurrence1 which       
transpired in the place  where he       
resided1 and at the very time of his    
residence there4 ,a man1--,i  will not  
say gentleman1 and in truth ,i ought to 
say monster1--who had a  wife and a     
family of grown up daughters1 residing  
with him1 had also in  his house a young

 female slave4 ,this slave became the   
mother of a child1  and it was a matter 
of public notoriety1 that the head of   
the family was  the father of it4 ,so   
barefaced had the thing become1 that the
 man found  it necessary to take some   
measures to get his shame1 and the      
extreme  mortification of his wife and  
daughters out of his mind4#b ,he        
accordingly sold her for the southern   
market1 and though it was with  some    
difficulty that he could persuade the   
purchaser to take the infant1  he at    
length did so1 and the wretched mother1 
the victim of the master's  beastliness 
and abominable crime1 was taken1 or     
rather torn from the  house1 and borne  
away1 literally uttering cries and      
shrieks of distress4  ,now ,i would like
 to know whether there is any language  
under heaven1  that will sufficiently   
set forth the guilt of such a wretch8   
,the following fact was related by a    
pious physician who resides in the  city
 of ,washington4 ,it came to me in such 

a way that ,i know it to be a  fact4    
',there is1' said this physician1       
'residing in this city1 a young female  
slave1 who is pious1 and a member of the
 same church to which ,i belong4  ,she  
is a mulatto1 and her complexion nearly 
white4 ,one day1 she came to  me in     
great trouble and distress1 and wished  
me to tell her what she  could do4 ,she 
stated to me1 that her master's son1 was
 in the practice  of compelling her     
whenever he pleased1 to go with him to  
his bed4 ,she  had been obliged to      
submit to it1 and she knew of no way to 
obtain any  relief4 ,she could not      
appeal to her master for protection1 for
 he was  guilty of like practices       
himself4 ,she wished to know what she   
could do8  ,poor girl1 what could she   
do8 ,she could not lift a hand in self  
defence4  ,she could not flee1 for she  
was a slave4 ,she would be brought back 
and  beaten1 and be placed perhaps in a 
worse condition than before4 ,and  there
 she was1 a pious girl1 with all the    

feelings of her heart alive to  the woes
 of her condition1 the victim of the    
brutal lusts of a dissolute  young man2 
with no means of defence or escape1 and 
no prospect before  her1 but that of    
being again and again polluted1 whenever
 his unbridled  passions should chance  
to dictate4    ,perhaps there is a      
mother here1 who has a pious daughter1  
and ,i would  like to come into her     
heart1 and ask what would be her        
feelings1 if that  daughter were placed 
in such circumstances as these2 or what 
would be  the feelings of that daughter1
 if she were thus bound down1 to a      
condition so much worse than death4 ,i  
do solemnly believe that there is  no   
adulterer under heaven1 no fornicator1  
covered with a guilt so deep  and       
damning1 as the wretch that will pursue 
such a course of conduct as  that4 ,even
 the victim of seduction is but decoyed 
from the paths of  virtue1 but here is a
 disciple of ,christ1 bound1 and that   
too1 by the  laws of the land1 and laid1

 a helpless victim1 on the altar of     
prostitution4    ,here then1 is a crime 
punishable1 under most ,governments1    
with death1  and the victim has power of
 redress1 and certainly of escape from a
  repetition of the outrage2 but slavery
 places its victims where there is  no  
redress1 and no deliverance2 and gives  
the slaveholder full power1 to  roll1   
and riot1 upon the virtue and innocence 
of as many defenceless  females as he   
pleases1 with no power under heaven to  
call him to  account4 ,i say again1 if  
they had made their laws for the express
  purpose1 of securing to themselves    
this power1 they could not have done    
the thing more effectually2 and no man1 
who has ever seen or heard much  of     
southern practices1 is ignorant of the  
truth1 that such things as ,i  have been
 relating1 are the common occurrences of
 every day4 ,o1 when ,i  reflect on this
 subject1 ,i could almost pray for a    
voice like a volcano2  and for words    
that would scorch and burn like drops of

 melted lava1 that  ,i might thunder the
 guilt of the slaveholder in his ears1  
and talk to  him in language which he   
would feel4 ,who will say1 that this    
system of  slavery1 under which no      
female1 who has a drop of ,african blood
 in her  veins1 has any defence for her 
virtue1 against any white man1 even for 
an hour1 and no possibility of escaping 
from pollution1 is not  unspeakably     
worse than fornication and adultery1 or 
even the violation  of purity by force1 
where there are laws to apprehend and   
punish for  such a crime8 ,do not       
suspect me of a wish to palliate these  
vices4 ,they  were never painted1 in    
colorings too foul and loathsome2 nor   
was their  guilt ever portrayed in a    
blackness deeper than the reality--but  
,i say1  the system of slavery is a     
thing fouler1 blacker1 guiltier still4  
#g4 ,but let us look again1 and compare 
slavery with treason4 ,benedict  ,arnold
 was a traitor4 ,at a time1 when his    
country was in great distress  and      

difficulties1 he formed the mad purpose1
 of delivering her over to  the will of 
her enemies2 and did what he could1 to  
accomplish his end4  ,every breast in   
the land1 burned with indignation       
against him--and1 but  for his flight1  
he would have ended his days on a       
gallows4    ,but suppose he had         
accomplished his end1 and the unjust    
laws against  which our fathers fought  
and bled1 had remained in full force    
upon us  until now8 ,i am bold to say1  
that we should not have suffered wrongs1
  that ought to be mentioned1 in        
comparison with the wrongs of the slave4
  ,there was a heavy and unjust         
taxation1 but it was not stripping us of
  all our earnings for life4 ,there was 
a refusal1 to give us a just            
representation1 in framing the laws1 by 
which we were to be governed2  but it   
was not stripping us from all protection
 of law1 and reducing us  in that       
respect1 to the condition of cattle or  
swine4 ,it was not  stripping us of all 

our rights1 and robbing us of our       
children1 and  subjecting our wives1 our
 sisters and our daughters1 to wanton   
and  promiscuous violation1 with no     
power to lift a hand in self defence1   
and  depriving us of the power of giving
 them protection4 ,the husband or       
father1 if he be a slave1 may look on1  
and see his wife or daughter  polluted  
before his eyes1 and all the laws of the
 land1 are against his  lifting a finger
 for their deliverance4 ,he may toil    
ever so hard1 during  his whole life1   
and he cannot be worth a farthing4 ,the 
treason of  ,arnold1 had it prospered1  
would never have subjected us to such   
evils as  these4 ,besides1 had we       
remained until this time ,british       
,colonies1 other  things being as they  
now are1 this evil of slavery would now 
have been  done away1 and perhaps years 
ago4 ,when ,i think of this1 if ,i had  
not  confidence in the overruling       
,providence of ,god1 ,i could almost    
weep1  that it did not seem best to the 

,god of armies1 to leave us under the   
control of a power1 that would have     
uprooted this destructive ,bohon  ,upas1
 which is still throwing its broad      
branches of death and  desolation1 over 
such wide spreading portions of our     
otherwise happy  land4 ,sure ,i am1 that
 ,arnold's treason would never have made
 our land  groan under such woes1 and   
send up to heaven such cries of         
distress1 as  are wrung daily from the  
breasts of the helpless millions whom   
our  nation now enslaves4 ,i say again1 
therefore1 that the system of slavery1  
is unspeakably worse than treason4 ,but 
,i cannot pursue this parallel  farther4
 ,i have glanced at what men regard as  
the worst of evils and  crimes2 but when
 weighing the guilt of slavery1 we find 
that everything  which we can place in  
the opposite scale1 at once kicks the   
beam4 ,it has  a weight of guilt        
attached to it1 that can be balanced by 
the guilt of  no other crime4    ,there 
is one more point to the thing1 which ,i

 wish to name1 as giving  blackness and 
aggravation to its guilt1 and then ,i   
have done4 ,it is1  that multitudes of  
the professed disciples of ,christ1 come
 forward to  justify the system of      
slavery1 and to claim for it the        
sanctions of the  word of ,god4 ,yes1   
this system of slavery1 red as it is    
with crime1 black  as it is with guilt1 
and foul as it is with impurity1 is     
called1 even by  professed ,christians  
and ,ministers1 an institution of the   
,bible4 ,oh1 it  seems to me1 that if   
the long suffering patience of a        
forbearing ,god1  was ever insulted     
beyond endurance1 it must be1 when the  
protection of  his authority is claimed1
 for the perpetuity of such a system as 
this4  ,there is no crime which it does 
not legalize--no sin which it does not  
protect--no depth of impurity which it  
does not dig1 and in which it  does not 
permit vile men to wallow4 ,and yet     
there are not wanting men1  ,christian  
men1 and ministers who wait at the altar

 of ,god1 who call this  an institution 
of ,heaven1 and claim for it the        
authority of the ,most  ,high4 ,i know  
that they would plead for slavery1      
without the abominations  which ,i have 
named1 and claim to look upon such      
crimes1 and vices1 with  as deep an     
abhorrence as we4    ,but who cannot    
see1 that slavery is the common mother  
of all this brood  of hellish ills2 in  
whose frightfully prolific womb they are
 conceived1  and by whom they are       
brought forth4 ,slavery itself is the   
thing to be  reprobated8 ,you must put  
the odious dam to death1 or she will    
continue  to multiply her infernal      
progeny1 and send them abroad among us1 
prolific in woes4 ,you cannot have      
slavery without its concomitant evils4  
,i know men may be found1 whose hearts  
have felt the power of the  religion of 
,christ1 but whose moral sensibilities  
are not sufficiently  awake1 to lead    
them to obey ,god on this subject1 to   
break every yoke and  let the oppressed 

go free1 who claim that they treat their
 slaves  kindly1 and that under such    
circumstances1 slavery is justifiable2  
and  that moreover1 they are not        
accountable for the crimes which other  
men  commit among their slaves1 or for  
the wrongs which they practice upon     
them4 ,kindness to an enslaved man6 ,it 
is a contradiction in terms4 ,you  might
 as well rob him of his all on earth1   
cut off his hands and feet1  and bore   
out his eyes1 and then take him into    
your house1 and treat him  kindly to    
make up for the wrong4    ,the slave1   
under the best circumstances1 is the    
victim of robbery every  day4 ,day by   
day1 all his life1 he is robbed of the  
fruits of his labor1  that it may go to 
enrich another4 ,he has hands indeed1   
but he may not  use them for his own    
benefit4 ,feet he has1 but they may not 
bear him  where he would go4 ,they must 
go and come at the master's bidding1 and
  not his4 ,he has eyes1 but he may not 
look on the light of science1 or on  the

 clearer1 purer light of ,god's revealed
 truth4 ,even the sun shines  not for   
him1 as it only serves to light him to  
his unwilling and  unrequited toil4 ,of 
what use then1 are hands1 and feet1 and 
eyes1 to  him8 ,he can no more use them 
for his own benefit1 than if he had     
none--and yet you think to make up to   
him by kindness what you have  taken    
away2 and call yourself a disciple of   
,christ1 and think that  ,heaven will   
reward you for being so kind to your    
poor oppressed1 down  trodden victim1   
whom you compel to labor unrewarded1 for
 your good4 ,is  that the religion of   
,christ8 ,is that loving your neighbor  
as yourself8    ,but1 the most kind     
hearted1 and upright1 and pious         
slaveholder in the  land1 so far as he  
approves of the system of slavery1 and  
pleads for its  perpetuity1 is at best1 
accessory to all the evils to which the 
system  gives rise4 ,he is therefore a  
partaker in its guilt1 and will         
hereafter  find his hands stained and   

polluted with its vices and its crimes4 
,he  who has said in his ,bible1 ,be not
 partaker of other men's sins1 has  also
 said1 ,come out from among them1 and be
 ye separate1 and touch not  the unclean
 thing1 and no man can be guiltless who 
refuses to do this4    ,but perhaps it  
will be asked2 admitting that slavery is
 everything that  you claim it to be1   
what right have you to interfere8 ,i    
claim no right  of interference1 based  
on the existing laws of our country1 for
 these1  as we have seen1 are so        
abominably wicked and oppressive1 as    
fully to  sanction all the evils and    
crimes which we have been considering4  
,still1  ,i claim1 that ,i have a right 
to interfere1#c and to do all in my     
power1  by every possible means1 for the
 extinction of slavery4 ,do any ask1 on 
what that right is based8 ,i answer1 on 
the statute book of ,almighty  ,god--on 
the pillars of heaven's eternal throne1 
and better authority  than this1 to     
sanction my interference1 ,i do not ask4

 ',thou shalt love  thy neighbor as     
thyself4' ',who is my neighbor8' ,let   
,jesus ,christ answer4  ',a certain man1
 no matter who1 went down from          
,jerusalem to ,jericho1 and  fell among 
thieves1 which stripped him of his      
raiment1 and wounding him1  departed1   
leaving him half dead4 ,and by chance1  
there came down a  certain priest that  
way2 and when he saw him1 he passed by  
on the other  side4' ,how exactly like  
the conduct of many ministers of the    
gospel1  toward the slave4 ,they just   
look on his sufferings1 and pass by1    
making  no effort to give him relief4   
',and likewise a ,levite1 when he was at
 the  place1 came and looked on him1 and
 passed by on the other side4' ,just so 
multitudes of professing ,christians    
conduct toward the slave4 ,they look  on
 him1 pass on1 and leave him alone in   
his woes4 ',but1 a certain  ,samaritan1 
as he journeyed1 came where he was1 and 
when he saw him1 he  had compassion on  
him1 and went to him and bound up his   

wounds1 pouring  in oil and wine1 and   
set him on his own beast1 and brought   
him to an  inn1 and took care of him4   
,and on the morrow when he departed1 he 
took  out two pence and gave them to the
 host1 and said unto him1 take care of  
him1 and whatsoever thou spendest more1 
when ,i come again ,i will repay  thee4'
 ,here our ,saviour has shown us what it
 is to act the part of a  neighbor4     
,this ,samaritan found a fellow being in
 distress4 ,he stopped  not to inquire  
who he was1 but proceeded at once to do 
as he would like  to have others do to  
him in like circumstances4 ,and now the 
command of  ,christ is1 ',go thou and do
 likewise4' ,wherever1 therefore1 we    
find a  fellow being in distress1 we    
find in him a neighbor1 one whom we are 
bound to love as we love ourselves4 ,we 
are to identify ourselves with  him1 and
 feel for his wrongs and his woes1 as we
 would for our own in  like             
circumstances1 and are to do for him1 so
 far as lies in our power1  everything1 

which1 in like circumstances1 we could  
wish others to do for  us4 ,tell me not 
then1 that ,i have no right to          
interfere1 when ,i see more  than two   
millions of my neighbors1 yes1 of my    
brethren1 my own fellow  countrymen1    
groaning and toiling1 and dying1 under  
the unparalleled  wrongs of slavery4 ,i 
have no right not to interfere4 ,i am a 
traitor to  my neighbor1 and a rebel    
against my ,god1 if ,i forbear to       
interfere2 if ,i  fail to use the last  
power which my ,maker has given me1 in  
pleading for  the immediate deliverance 
of my fellow men from their sufferings  
and  their chains4 ,i trample on the    
universal law of the infinite ,jehovah1 
if  ,i leave undone anything in my      
power1 which ,i would wish to have done 
for  me1 if all the miseries of slavery 
were mine4    ,but it is not merely by  
looking at the general principles of    
,god's  government1 that ,i learn my    
duty toward the toil-worn1 agonized1    
suffering slave4 ,i find positive       

direction for this specific case4 ,jer4 
#ba 3 #ab4--',thus saith the            
,lord--,execute judgment in the morning1
 and  deliver him that is spoiled out of
 the hand of the oppressor1 lest my     
fury go forth like fire1 and burn that  
none can quench it1 because of  the evil
 of your doings4' ,who is spoiled1 if it
 be not the slave8 ,is he  not spoiled  
of everything8 ,spoiled of all his      
earnings--spoiled of the  child whom he 
loves--spoiled of the wife that is bone 
of his bone1 and  flesh of his          
flesh--spoiled even of the ownership of 
himself1 and  spoiled of his immortal   
soul1 by being robbed of the light that 
would  guide his feet to heaven8 ,and   
the poor suffering female slave--of what
  is she not spoiled8 ,spoiled of all   
that protection1 which the innocent  and
 helpless1 have a right to claim1 even  
of the savage4 ,spoiled of all  the     
affectionate tenderness1 which woman    
everywhere1 has a right to  expect2     
spoiled even of her virtue1 and that by 

law1 for we have seen1  that the laws   
have placed her1 where she cannot       
preserve it1 if she  would4    ,who     
then1 ,i ask again1 is spoiled1 if it be
 not the slave8 ,and who is an          
oppressor1 if it be not the man who     
holds him in bondage1 and inflicts  all 
these wrongs upon him8 ,while1          
therefore1 ,i hear the ,god of heaven   
saying1 ',deliver him that is spoiled   
out of the hand of the oppressor1  lest 
my fury go forth like fire1 and burn1   
that none can quench it1' can  ,i expect
 to escape the fury of that fire1 if ,i 
shut my ears against the  mandate1 which
 thunders upon me from the presence     
chamber1 and from the  lips of ,him1 who
 declares himself ,king of kings1 and   
,lord of lords8 ,tell  me not1 that ,i  
have no right to interfere--no right to 
plead for the  deliverance 'of the      
spoiled out of the hand of the          
oppressor4' ,i may not  fail to do      
it--lest the fire of ,god's fury kindle 
upon me1 for my  disregard of his high  

command4 ,and the same1 is true of all  
my readers4  ,unless you have a right to
 disobey ,almighty ,god1 you have no    
right to  leave anything undone1 which  
you might do1 for the deliverance of the
  slave4    ,but who is the slave8 ,he  
is a man--made in the image of ,god--and
 bears  as much of ,god's image1        
remember1 as though he had the          
complexion1 and  the features1 and the  
limbs1 of the white man4 ,where is the  
man with a  pale face1 even among       
slaveholders1 who will stand up1 before 
the face  of heaven1 and claim that he  
bears more of ,god's image than his     
slave8  ,he would show the image of the 
devil1 large as life1 had he the pride1 
and effrontery1 to do such a deed of    
daring impiety4 ,the slave is made  in  
the image of his ,god1 and to him ,god  
gave dominion over the works of  his    
hand1 as much as to the white man4 ,for 
him ,god lighted up the sun  and moon1  
and made the heavens resplendent with   
stars1 as much as for  us4 ,for him ,god

 made the breath of morning1 and the    
calm stillness of  the summer eve--for  
him the deep blue sky was spread a      
canopy1 and for  him puts on alternate  
tints of purple and of gold4 ,for him   
the  landscape smiles in green1 and     
flowers spring up to beautify his path1 
and trees hang out their foliage1 and   
bend beneath their burdens of  delicious
 fruit4 ,for him the fields wave with   
their ripening grain--for  him the      
valleys yield their corn--for him the   
flocks and herds lay down  their        
treasures1 and the sea sends up its     
inexhaustible supplies4 ,for  him the   
limpid stream1 the clear pure fountain  
were provided1 and for  him the balmy   
air1 echoing with melody of birds4 ,ah1 
and for him1  remember it ye who dare   
withhold it from him--for him the ,bible
 was  given4 ,who dare say1 that ,god   
provided these things for the master1   
more  than for the man whom he enslaves4
    ,but what is more than all1 for him 
the ,son of ,god came down and died4    

,the blood gushed from his heart as     
freely1 and in streams as pure1 for  the
 oppressed and broken hearted slave1 as 
for us1 or for the man who  dares       
enslave ,god's image--for him the river 
of water of life1  proceedeth clear as  
crystal from the throne of ,god and the 
,lamb--for him  the streets of the ,new 
,jerusalem are paved with gold1 and for 
him1 the  glory of ,god and the ,lamb1  
shall pour forth its light1 in beams    
that  shall forever hide the brightness 
of the noonday sun--and for him are     
made ready the joys of an eternal       
heaven4 ,yes1 this is the being whom    
slavery binds in chains1 and robs of all
 the richest gifts of heaven1  and sinks
 in ignorance and pollution down to     
hell4 ,oh1 if the whole arch  of heaven 
above us1 ever echoed with the loud     
threatenings of an  indignant ,god--it  
may now be heard to echo with the       
fearful  interrogation--',shall ,i not  
visit for these things saith the ,lord8 
,shall  not my soul be avenged on such a

 nation as this8'    ,and now will you  
look on1 and seal your lips in silence1 
and say that  you have no right to      
interfere for the deliverance of the    
slave8 ,do you  not hear the ,god of    
heaven saying1 ',deliver him that is    
spoiled out of  the hand of the         
oppressor1 lest my fury go forth like   
fire and burn that  none can quench it2'
 and dare you disobey8 ,do you ask what 
shall be done  for his deliverance8 ,i  
answer1 let every pulpit thunder forth  
this  mandate of the most high ,god--let
 every minister at the altar cry aloud  
and spare not and lift up his voice like
 a trumpet--and show this people  their 
transgressions2 this guilty people their
 sins4 ,let every press  groan to be    
delivered of its obligation1 to make    
known the ,almighty's  will--and let    
such as can pray1 pray now1 that ,god   
will break every  yoke1 and let the     
oppressed go free4 ,especially1 let     
woman--woman1 the  last to linger around
 the cross1 and the first to find the   

sepulchre of  ,god's crucified ,son2    
linger long at the altar of prayer1 and 
be found  early upon her knees1         
wrestling at the throne of grace2 and   
let all who  fear ,god or love man1     
resolve before high ,heaven1 that they  
will not  rest1 till every chain is     
broken1 every yoke buried1 every scourge
 and  fetter burned4    ,but ,i seem to 
hear some one ask--must we think only of
 the slave--must  we not regard the     
master's rights8 ,rights6 ,what rights8 
,right to hold  his fellow man in       
bondage for one hour8 ,he might as well 
claim a right  to sit on the throne of  
,god4 ,he has no such right4 ,but must  
he  relinquish all the property he now  
holds in slaves8 ,he has no such        
property4 ,he has no more right to call 
them his property1 than he has to  call 
the angels in heaven his property4 ,god 
gave man dominion over the  beasts of   
the field--but over ,god's own image he 
never gave him  dominion4 ,the wicked1  
heaven-daring laws of men1 confer the   

power of  enslaving man--but the right  
they never gave1 for it was never theirs
  to give4 ,there is no such thing as   
property in man--there never can be4    
,we do not ask the slaveholder to       
relinquish any right4 ,we call upon him1
  on the authority of ,god1 to break    
every yoke and let the oppressed go     
free4 ,we do not ask them to give up    
their property4 ,we tell them that  ,god
 declares them to be 'like wolves       
ravening the prey1 to shed blood  and to
 destroy souls1 to get dishonest gain2  
and that the prophets have  daubed them 
with untempered mortar1 seeing vanity   
and divining lies unto  them1 saying    
thus saith the ,lord1 when the ,lord    
hath not spoken4 ,that  the people of   
the land have used oppression1 and      
exercised robbery1 and  have vexed the  
poor and needy1 and have oppressed the  
stranger  wrongfully--and that ,god now 
threatens to pour out his indignation   
upon  them1 and to consume them with the
 fire of his wrath1 and to recompense   

their way upon their own heads4' ,no--we
 do not ask the slaveholder to  give up 
his property--we ask them 'to cease     
beating ,god's people to  pieces--to    
cease grinding the face of the poor2'   
and when the  slaveholder has done that1
 the lost slave will have his freedom4  
,but you say it would make great changes
 in society1 to free every slave  at    
once1 and many a man1 who now lives in  
affluence1 would instantly  become poor4
 ,we doubt it not4 ,we doubt not that   
many a wretch1 who has  rolled in       
profusion1 by robbing his fellow men of 
their earnings1 would  be obliged to go 
to work with his own hands to earn his  
bread2 and this  is just what he ought  
to have done long ago4 ,he is made of no
 better  clay than the lowliest of all  
,god's creatures whom he enslaves2 and  
there is no more reason why he should be
 exempted from eating his bread  in the 
sweat of his brow4 ,let us arise then   
with one heart1 and with  united voice1 
and with ready hands1 do our utmost1 to 

deliver the  oppressed from their       
wrongs4    ,but it may still be asked1  
what do you expect to accomplish8 ,we   
expect  to make the slaveholder feel1   
that when he crushes an immortal soul   
down  to the depths of hell1 to gratify 
his own abominable selfishness1 ,god    
will hold him accountable for that soul 
at the judgment day4 ,we expect  to make
 him see1 that the short-lived          
gratification1 which he can have        
derived from enslaving his fellow man1  
will but poorly compensate him1  for the
 eternal damnation which he must        
hereafter endure1 if he does not  repent
 of his abominable sin4 ,we expect to   
open to him the broad claims  of the    
infinite ,god1 and to make him see that 
in his present course of  conduct1 he is
 holding himself in open exposure to the
 ,almighty's wrath2  and having thus    
bared his conscience to the arrows of   
truth1 we expect  to call down the ,holy
 ,spirit by our prayers1 to fix these   
arrows deep in  his heart2 to reprove   

him of sin1 of righteousness and of     
judgment1 and  thus to bring him to     
unfeigned repentance before ,god4 ,we   
expect not to  accomplish what we aim at
 with our unaided strength--but we      
believe that  the ,lord of hosts is with
 us1 and trusting in his strength we    
cannot  fail4 ,christians of every name1
 shall we not have your aid8 ,lovers of 
your fellow men1 look at the wrongs of  
the slave1 and weep and toil for  him1  
that he may go free4 ,open your hearts  
and your hands to him1 and  remember    
that ',he that hath pity on the poor1   
lendeth to the ,lord1 and  that which he
 hath given he will pay him again4'     
,let no one think to rid himself of     
obligation1 on this momentous  subject4 
,every man has a tongue1 and he can use 
it2 he has influence1  and he can exert 
it2 he has moral power1 and he can put  
it forth2 and  this is all the power we 
need4 ,our efforts are aimed1 not at the
 life of  the slaveholder1 but at his   
conscience--his moral feelings1 and with

 the  help of ,god1 we do expect them to
 prevail4 ,but1 perhaps you will say1   
that slaveholders have no conscience on 
this subject4 ,doubtless their          
conscience may be dead and buried2 it   
may have been sleeping these fifty      
years in its grave2 but come on1 one and
 all1 let us raise the trump of  truth1 
and blow a resurrection blast above it1 
that shall call it forth  from its dust1
 to take up its whip of scorpions1 and  
scourge the guilty  men into obedience  
to the commands of ,god4 ,slavery cannot
 long live  among them4 ',behold1 the   
hire of the laborers1 who have reaped   
down  their fields1 which is of them    
kept back by fraud1 crieth2 and the     
cries  of them which have reaped1 are   
entered into the ears of the ,lord of   
,sabaoth4' ,the ,lord of armies1 is the 
fearful signification of that term2  and
 if they cease not from their           
oppression1 they may well expect1 that  
the ,lord of armies will not long       
withhold his hand4 ,up1 my friends1 and 

do your duty1 to deliver the spoiled out
 of the hand of the oppressor1  lest the
 fire of ,god's fury kindle ere long    
upon you4    ,,footnotes3    #a ,read   
,bourne's ,picture of ,slavery4    #b   
,this occurrence was not very far       
,south1 otherwise1 there would have     
been no shame4    #c ,the author        
disapproves of interference at the      
expense of human life1  but believes    
that all possible means short of the    
shedding of blood1 are  justifiable4