You say, It is wrong in
itself. To say this, I think, is to be more righteous than God."
"Then you maintain," said he, "that the Most High, in the Bible,
countenances all the atrocities of American slavery."
"What a strange way," said I, "of arguing, do we very generally find
among anti-slavery men, when their feelings are enlisted, as they are so
apt to be. They take unwarrantable, extreme inferences from what we say,
and oppose these as logical answers to a statement or argument. 'Auction
block' and 'Bunker Hill,' are sufficient answers with them to most of
our reasoning on this subject. But let us look at this point in a
dispassionate manner.
"But," said I, "before I begin I wish to be distinctly understood as
holding this doctrine; namely, The Bible does not justify us in reducing
men to bondage at our will. God might appoint that certain tribes should
be slaves to others; but before we proceed to reduce men to slavery, our
warrant for it must be clear.
"If, however, slavery is found by a certain generation among them, and
it is not right and just nor expedient to abolish it, may we not safely
ask, How did the Most High legislate concerning slavery among the people
to whom he gave a code of laws from his own lips?
"Learning this, we must then consider whether circumstances in our day
warrant, or require, different rules and regulations.
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