But now that the quarrel runs
high as to the sinfulness and wrongfulness of the relation itself, there
is nothing for the South to do but to stand by their arms.
"One gentleman made some remarks which interested and instructed me more
than anything that was said. He confessed that the whole subject of the
relation of master and servant,--in a word, slavery, was, for a long
time, a sore trouble to him, because he constantly found himself
searching for his right, his warrant to hold his slaves. At last he
resolved to study the Bible on the subject. He naturally turned to the
last instructions of the Word of God with regard to it, and in Paul's
injunctions to masters and servants, he found relief. There he perceived
that God recognized the relationships of slavery, that the golden rule
was enjoined, not to dissolve the relation, but to make it benevolent to
all concerned. He found the Almighty establishing the relation of master
and servant among his own chosen people, and decreeing that certain
persons might be servants forever, being, as he himself terms them 'an
inheritance forever.'
"Hereupon, he said, his troubles ceased. He gave up his speculations and
casuistry, and concluded to take things as he found them and to make
them better.
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