This is not the Christian rule. Patience and all
long-suffering, obedience, endurance, committing one's self to him that
judgeth righteously, is the temper and spirit of the Gospel. This is the
tone-note of the Sermon on the Mount. At the same time, who blames or
judges harshly a man in peril of his life if, in self-defence, he flees?
I say that Paul would probably judge every fugitive slave case by
itself. One thing is clear: It is not his rule to help a fugitive from
slavery in his flight, as a matter of course. His rule is evidently the
reverse of this. I cannot argue with regard to the exceptions. They
generally provide each for itself. The New Testament rule is for slaves
not to run away; and for us, and for all men, not to encourage them to
do so; but to encourage them to return, and to deal with the masters on
such principles, and in such a fraternal, affectionate way, that the
appeals to their Christian sensibilities may permanently affect their
consciences and hearts.
"'I stand by the record. Let me forsake it, and I am like Paul's ship
when it was driving up and down in Adria, and neither sun nor stars
appeared. My impulses were not given me as my guide.
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