Q. Who is exalted as head above all, and giveth riches and honor and greatness and strength, and also casteth down and maketh poor whom he pleaseth?—A. God.
Q. If I work and am industrious, and walk uprightly with God, will he suffer me to want any good thing?—A. No.
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Q. Does this commandment forbid the very thought itself of evil against our neighbor?—A. Yes.
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We are to be contented with our own condition and circumstances, as appointed unto us by our infinitely wise and gracious Father in heaven."
Thus discourseth that eminent son of Massachusetts, the Rev. Theodore Clapp, after seventeen years' experience of the blessedness of slavery (Sermon, p. 66):—
"Let all Christian teachers show our servants the importance of being submissive, obedient, industrious, honest, and faithful to the interests of their masters. Let their minds be filled with sweet anticipations of rest eternal beyond the grave. Let them be trained to direct their views to that fascinating and glorious futurity, where the sins, sorrows, and troubles of earth will be contemplated under the aspect of means indispensable to our everlasting progress in knowledge, virtue, and happiness. I would say to every slave in the United States, You should realize that a wise, kind, and merciful Providence has appointed for you your condition in life; and, all things considered, you could not be more eligibly situated. The burden of your care, toils, and responsibilities is much lighter than that which God has imposed on your master. The most enlightened philanthropists, with unlimited resources, could not place you in a situation more favorable to your present and everlasting welfare than that which you now occupy. You have your troubles. So have all. Remember how evanescent are the pleasures and joys of human life."
Judicious religious instruction, therefore, makes the slaves faithful, diligent, and honest, and very materially promotes discipline; and it produces these results much more perfectly than any other motive which can be used. The cowskin and the paddle are doubtless serviceable; but that South Carolina planter told the truth who said to Dr. Brisbane (Brooke's "Slavery," p. 35), that religion was worth more to him with his slaves than four wagon-loads of cowskins! A judiciously awakened conscience, an earnest wish on the part of the slave to do what he believes to be the will of God, in order to escape never-ending torments in hell, constitute a much more forcible and constant incitement and restraint than that of fear. When we reflect that "ignorance and superstition render them easy dupes to their teachers," and that the more ignorant and superstitious they are, the more easily they may be duped, it is evident that this religious restraint is easily created, and daily increases in strength. How infinitely more powerful, then, is such a motive than the fear of bodily suffering! It is equally easy and vastly more efficacious to ply judicious religious instruction than to ply the cowskin or the paddle!
It is evident also, that the religious instruction of slaves increases their market-value, and greatly promotes the safety of the community. "Experience teaches us," says the Right Rev. Dr. Gibson, "the great value of those servants who are truly religious, compared with those who have no sense of religion" ("Rel. Inst." p. 22). No persons feel this more sensibly than the slaveholders. "Even men of the world," says the Presbytery of Georgia, "throw wide the door of access to their negroes." The fourth of a series of resolutions reported to the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia in 1833 reads, "We deem religious instruction to master and servant every way conducive to our interests for this world and for that which is to come" (ib. p. 74). With the proceedings of a convention held in Charleston, S.C. in 1845, to consider the subject of the religious instruction of slaves, were published letters from several persons, describing the effect actually produced by such instruction. One person writes, "The deeper the piety of the slave, the more valuable is he in every sense of the word." Another says, "A regard to self-interest should lead every planter to give his people religious instruction." "On such large plantations," says Mr. Jones ("Rel. Inst." p. 239), "as a mere matter of gain, a religious instructor should be employed." By religious instruction (ib. p. 208), "the pecuniary interests of masters will be advanced as a necessary consequence."—Page 204: "Is it not conceded, that a truly pious servant gives less trouble, and is more profitable, than one who is not? Is there one master in a thousand who does not desire such servants? Is it not true, that the most pious servants exert the happiest influence in promoting honesty and good order on plantations and in communities?"—Page 210: "The religious instruction of the slaves will contribute to safety. 'The thing that hath been, it is that which may be;' and although, as a slaveholding country, we are so situated that, so far as man can see, the hope of success on the part of our laboring class, in any attempt at revolution, is forlorn; yet no enemy (if there be an enemy) should be despised, however weak, and no danger unprovided for, however apparently remote.... It is, then, but a prudent foresight, a dictate of benevolence and of wisdom, to originate, and set in operation, means that may act as a check upon, if not a perfect preventive, of evil. I am a firm believer in the efficacy of sound religious instruction as a means to the end desired."