I broke the silence, and said,--
"Mr. North, what do you think is the mission of the abolitionists as a
party, and of all who sympathize with them?"
"Why," said he, "to abolish slavery, to be sure. What else can it be?"
"You are mistaken," said I. "The real mission of the abolitionists, thus
far, is, To perpetuate slavery till Providence has accomplished its
plan. You know what Southern synods, and general assemblies, and many of
the ablest men at the South have said about slavery; how they deplored
it, and called upon Christians to seek its extinction. The South would
probably have tried to abolish slavery ere this, if left to themselves.
But they would have failed; and Providence prevented the useless effort.
The influence of those sentiments which prevailed in the General
Assembly of 1818 would have been to remove all the objectionable
features of slavery, at least, preparatory to its final extinction, if
that could be reached. It looked as though Churches generally would, in
obedience to the General Assembly, have made it, in certain cases, the
subject of discipline. Abolitionism, however, began about that time. It
had the effect to make the South defend themselves and slavery too.
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