In this enlightened age when Greece and Rome had shed
superior light on human relationships and obligations, and especially
since Christ had promulgated the golden rule, the idea that man could
own a fellow-creature was so preposterous that he would be an infidel,
nay, he would go farther, he would be an atheist, rather than believe
it. Our moral instincts are our guide. They are the highest source of
evidence that there is a God, and they are a perfect indication as to
what God and his requirements should be. He was for passing a vote of
disapprobation at the act of Paul the Apostle in sending back Onesimus
into bondage. Tell me not, said he, that the Apostle calls him 'a
brother beloved,' and 'one of you;' these honeyed phrases are but
coatings to a deadly poison. Slavery is evil, and only evil and that
continually. Disguise it as you will, Philemon holds property in
Onesimus. By the laws of Phrygia, he could put Onesimus to death for
running away. He deplored the act as a heavy blow at Christianity. It
would countervail the teachings of the Apostle. He sincerely hoped that
the Epistle to Philemon would not be preserved; for should it be
collected hereafter, as possibly it may, among Paul's letters, unborn
ages might make it an apology for slavery, it would abate the hatred of
the world against the sum of all villanies.
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