The two principles or pillars of his edifice are, 1st. That as the same word (both in Hebrew and in Greek) signifies both slave and servant, and as every slave is a servant, therefore, every servant, is a slave! This species of logic reminds me of the syllogism, that, "as, every man is an animal, and a horse is an animal, therefore, every man is a horse!" Is it necessary to spend time in exhibiting the folly and fallaciousness of this first principle? A child would laugh at it; yet this work is held up by Abolitionists, as of almost equal authority with the Bible itself!
One or two conclusions drawn from this first principle will, no doubt, be gratifying to the reader. In page 220, the editor proceeds thus:
"To keep the South in good spirits, we must believe not only that Abraham kept slaves, but that our blessed Saviour was a slave-holder! Of course heaven must be, on a larger scale, like one of those establishments which line the shores of the Mississippi. When they find a text which recognises masters or servants, they consider it triumphant.
"First. It will prove that every country in Christendom is a slave region. On every farm in Great Britain there are servants. Every statute and every instrument of writing which obliges tenants, and keepers of cattle, &c., calls them servants, and their landlord or employer master. Is Great Britain a slave region? And in our own country every white apprentice is, in his indenture, called a servant. Is he a slave?
"Second. It will prove that slavery is the only kind of servitude which the Scriptures approve. At one "fell swoop," it would unchurch the professors at Princeton, and every master and servant in our free states. If the term servant, of itself, and necessarily, signifies a slave, it follows not only that the kingdom of God has always been like the kingdom of the devil, in regard to servitude and personal rights, but that voluntary and requited servitude is a modern innovation, for which there is neither precedent nor example in Holy Writ; and therefore it is at least doubtful whether a voluntary servant, and the master who pays him wages, ought to be received into the Church! For if inspired men always passed them by unnoticed—if those whom they instruct and recognise as believers were slaves and slavemasters exclusively, where shall we find example for admitting the voluntary servant and his master, till they qualify themselves by slavery? Thus the assumption in question leads to the conclusion, not that God tolerated slavery, but that he tolerated nothing else."!!!
The above paragraph furnishes an admirable specimen of the species of reasoning by which Abolitionists are deluded!
The second principle, upon which the Editor builds his arguments, is that as the original word which signifies "to buy" sometimes signifies something else, therefore it never signifies what we mean by buying or purchasing! I am really astonished at this gentleman's forgetfulness, for to nothing else do I wish to attribute his reasoning on this subject. He will therefore pardon me in reminding him that just in proportion to the poverty of any language, does each word in that language represent numerous ideas; in which case the real meaning intended by the writer can be
ascertained, to a certainty, only by the concomitant circumstances, or adjoining expressions. If in our own language, which is so rich, we have numerous words, each representing many distinct ideas, is it at all surprising that such should be the case in ancient tongues? This, the Editor knows far better, in all probability, than myself; and is also aware that preconceived theories not only put new ideas into our heads, but oftentimes eliminate correct ones! Now when we hear of an article being bought "with money," these two last words put, beyond all possibility of doubt, and beyond all the possibility of sophistry, the nature of the meaning of the word "bought"—viz. "To acquire the property, right, or title, to any thing, by paying a consideration, or an equivalent—to purchase; to acquire by paying a price," &c. [See Webster's American Dictionary]. The various passages of Scripture quoted by the Editor in page 259, in no way whatever militate against the meaning of the word "buy."
Now the following simple questions may be put: 1st. Did God in any one passage in the whole Bible forbid or prohibit the purchase of men? Not in a single instance! 2d. Did God ever give directions respecting the purchase of men, and the treatment of men so purchased? He unquestionably did. [See Gen. xvii. 13, 27. Exodus xxi. 2-7, 26, 27.] 3d. Did God recognize such as were thus purchased with money, as the property of their masters? Most undoubtedly. [See Exod. xx. 17. xxi. 20, 21, where the servant is actually denominated, "HIS MONEY!">[
Having now proved the erroneousness of the two principles upon which the Editor of this Magazine built his arguments; and having demolished the two pillars which supported his whole edifice, the
arguments and the edifice necessarily coming to naught, I shall end this chapter with a few remarks on a text of Scripture which Abolitionists adduce as a justification for encouraging, sheltering, and retaining, those who run away from their legal masters. This text is to be found in Deut. xxiii. 15, and reads thus, "Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee. He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him." Did this verse stand totally unconnected with any other portion of the Scriptures; were it even completely isolated, I could not dare, in common justice, give it that interpretation which would render it in direct opposition to the whole tenor of Scripture; and which Abolitionists do, in order to shelter themselves from the condemnation justly attached to their principles. No marvel that there are thousands of men in the land who consider the Bible a mass of contradictions, when those who profess to believe in its Divine origin thus make it, to promote their own views, contradict itself. Compare the meaning attached to this passage by Abolitionists, with the first column on page 33 in this treatise, and then see if such meaning is not as directly opposed to the spirit and letter of the passages of Scripture contained in that column, as any two things possibly can be!
But we need only look at the passage alluded to, as it stands in the Bible, to see at once the true meaning of it; and that it, no more sanctions or authorises the conduct of Abolitionists, than the command of God to the Jews to extirpate the inhabitants of Canaan, authorises the Abolitionists to extirpate our Southern