"'Now, where in all his teachings has he ever intimated that it is wrong
to hold property in man? Nowhere; I repeat it, nowhere. But is he
ignorant of the nature of slavery? We all know what has lately happened
at Rome, in connection with slavery. The very year that Paul arrives at
Rome, the prefect of the city, Pedanius Secundus, was murdered by his
slave; and agreeably to the laws of slavery all the slaves belonging to
the prefect, a great number, women and children among them, were put to
death indiscriminately, though innocent of the crime.[A] Such is slavery
under the Apostle's eye; and yet'--
[Footnote A: Tacitus, _Annals_, xiv. 42.--A thrilling tale. See
Bohn's Classical Library, 53.]
"'And, therefore,' interrupted the Laodicean brother, 'the Apostle
approves of murdering innocent slaves for the sin of one. That is the
conclusion to which your reasoning will bring us.'
"'Excusing the brother for interrupting me, I ask, Is that agreeable to
the plain facts in the case?' said the speaker. 'Are the abuses of
parentage chargeable upon the relationship of parent and child?
Moreover, does not the Apostle expressly teach us, in this Epistle, that
such things are wrong? but still, does he condemn the relation of master
and slave?
"'The tale of that horrid butchery was present to the mind of the
Apostle when he sends Onesimus back into slavery.
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