SI male loquutus sum testare de m [...]l [...].—Inconscious of hav­ing violated the law, whom shall I fear? Shall I basely decline the path of virtue, because the path of vice is more frequented? or shun to declare God's whole counsel, because it militates against the wickedness of the wicked? If con­science meets you as an armed man, accusing you of the want of love to God, your neighbour and yourselves, do not blame me, but repent and lead a better life. Shall the most alarm­ing threat or daring menace, deter me from a full discharge of my duty? Shall even the fear of death itself, together with all that flesh can do unto me, (as my master has said, fear not those who kill the body) induce me to recede from it? No! as I have solemnly sworn allegiance to King Jesus; I will not thus dishonour and deny him, by shamefully con­niving at, or by openly and profanely abetting the damna­tion of mankind. As Christ our Saviour died for all, (the Greek word Kosmoon, John iii. 16. signifies, 'all who par­take of the nature in which he suffered') he hath command­ed his gospel to be preached to all, saying—Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature—Go and Matheteusate make disciples (not slaves) of all nations—Go, proclaim liberty to the captives. (Doth the Almighty con­descend to liberate souls from the power of sin and satan? and will you refuse to copy after him in liberating men from perpetual bondage to their oppressors?) Whoever then at­tempts to impede the progress of the gospel of the blessed Jesus, (as all do who forbid ministers to instruct the ignorant) [Page 10] [...] the divine displeasure, comes under the denomination of those who gather not, but scatter and destroy the flock of Christ, who bring upon themselves swift destruction, through denying him in his members, which Christ looks upon as done to himself, and for which he will say unto all such—Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Permit me to expostulate with you on this painful and distressing subject. I ask in the name of common sense▪ What ill consequences can arise from calling sinners to repentance, to forsake their sins, to become the ser­vants of Christ? and as a stimulus to this very important and necessary undertaking, to inform them, that God hath made of one blood all nations. (Acts 17.) That we are all the offspring of God—That the soul of the slave is of the same intrinsic value as the soul of the master. All souls are mine, says Jehovah. Have they then not an equal right with others, to the privileges of the gospel, and to all other rights and privileges belonging to a free nation, under certain limita­tions and restrictions? If any of them should prefer liberty to slavery, do either the laws of God, or the nature of the constitution, authorize you to exact more from them than you first advanced when you purchased them? (allowing a legal stated hire, together with the interest of your money, &c.) It is certain that neither the laws of God, or the na­ture of the constitution, authorize you to do otherwise by them. Does God esteem men merely for their worldly pomp and grandeur? The rich man, mentioned in the gospel, evinceth the contrary. He was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day; but through making a miserable and wretched choice in life, experienced a most distressing and suitable change at death. He exchanged all his glory, for what? for a winding sheet of sire! In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments. Reader, will this be thy case? So sure as there is a God it will, if thou livest and diest in an open violation of God's law. Time is short and life very uncertain. O seek for, attain to, and keep inno­cency, and do the thing that is right, for this will bring thee peace at the last! When thou failest on earth, thou shalt (with poor despised Lazarus) then be received into everlast­ing [Page 11] [...] habitations. Se [...], li [...]et nemi [...]i esse n [...]? Or why was the peace violated on Lord's Day, August 11, 1790, by the [...] guard? The city guard, it is true, found me in the market, but neither with riot or tumult, neither was I when they came, either singing, praying or preaching, and I dare affirm, that there was not a [...]re orderly congregation, or any congregation in the city which had assembled with greater, if with equal devotion. I could not conceive at first what was about to be done, till at length I beheld the peo­ple (who were assembled for the worship of God) escaping in almost every direction; the city guard falling on them▪ and beating them without regard to age or sex. Mean while, I could not but admire the great propriety of the prophet David's words, viz. the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel! I I said to the city guard, Are you come out as against a thief with swords and slaves for to take me? they said they were; I desired they would inform me if I had violated the law? to which they made no reply; (it had previously been said, that they did not attend to law in such cases) but one of them, by order of Lieutenant Stone, seized me by the arm, and took me to the guard house. Passing trough meeting street, as I was reminding them how contrary their treatment of me was to the nature of the constitution, and their appeal to hea­ven relative to the rights of man, &c. a Captain Graham or­dered the Captain of the guard, saying, break the rascal's (alias damned rascal's) mouth. This kind of language is very prevalent in the minds of a very great majority in this city, from the man of gray hairs down to the infant: this, I think, portends some very awful and distressing event. I am apprehensive, that the novel and antiscriptural notions, im­bibed and propagated by many, viz. denying the divinity of the blessed Jesus, will cast a gloomy and impenetrable veil over the land. Do you, who are heads of families, pray with and instruct them in the fear and love of God? Do you watch over their souls, as those who must give an account to him who is ready to judge both the quick and the dead? Is Joshua's resolution, (viz. but as for me and my [...] we will serve the Lord) reduced to practice by you? No. Is not base language your them? Do you not [...] at reli­gion [Page 12] contemn and despise religious characters? You do, If then you teach your children and slaves, both by precept and example, to be wicked, and forbid them to hear those preach who would inform them of their danger, and teach them their duty towards God and man, can you reasonably think they will be good and faithful? You cannot. How dwelleth the love of God in you▪ who care not if the souls under your care perish? If your hearts were right with God, and the eyes of your understandings open to discern spiritual and eternal things, would you not be stimulated, through a consideration of the worth and value of their souls, the command of our Lord, to instruct them, and the expec­tation and certainty of a promised reward, (viz. he who turn­eth many to righteousness shall shine as the stars of heaven forever and ever) to seek their conversion and salvation? You would. O how are you deceived, who, for the sake of a little short-lived pleasure, empty joy, and vain delight, neglect present and eternal salvation! and hereby secure to yourselves death and eternal damnation! Is slavery unlaw­ful, that you are so astonishingly alarmed at their being taught the value of their souls, as a stimulus to prevail with them, to emerge out of the deplorably abject and wretched state into which they are involved, by sin, satan, and wicked men? I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say! From whence came they? They were brought to this continent by a people called Christians. Was it done with or without their consent? Was it with the view to instruct them in the knowledge and love of God, our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ?—(He who doth evil that good may come, his damna­tion is just.) It was done without their consent, and doubt­less without any intention of instructing them in our Lord's most holy religion. Is it not evil, in the first instance, as it violates all the tender ties of nature, separating what God has joined, and making those twain whom he hath made one flesh? Is it not a manifest breach of God's divine com­mand? Gen. chap. ii. v. 24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be one flesh.—In the aforementioned chapter we are informed, that the sabbath and marriage were two ordi­nances [Page 13] instituted in innocency; the former for the preserva­tion of the Church, the latter for the preservation of man­kind. It is said by Matt. xix. 4. 5. that it was God himself who said here, a man must leave all his relations to cleave to his wife; and, I think it appears from verse 23. they are the words of Adam in God's name, laying down this law to all his posterity. The virtue and bonds of a divine ordi­nance are stronger even than those of nature. You say, they were in bondage prior to their being brought to this continent? Admitting they were, this is no argument in support of its perpetuity, as it is contrary to the rights of man the nature of the constitution, and also to the gospel law which law not only commands us to love our neigh­bours as ourselves, but also to do good to our enemies, and to do to all men as we would they should do unto us, on change of circumstances. Hear the words of our Lord: Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.—I appeal to your own consciences in the sight of God: Would you that men of another nation should come and violently take from you, your wives, husbands or children, leaving you to grieve, la­ment and mourn, without hope of being comforted? or would you be taken with these from your native residence to some foreign land, and there to be confined to drag out a miserable and wretched life, kept shut up in the most pro­found ignorance of God, and when you would make an ef­fort towards seeking and serving God, your overseer should confiscate your books to the flames, sentence you to a severe castigation, for attempting to look over the walls of igno­rance, and leave your souls to perish (in the flames of hell for aught he cares) for lack of knowledge, leaving no stone unturned, reducing every effort to practice, to render, if pos­sible, your state more abject, and to make you the more effec­tual and servile dupes to his caprice and to the tyrannic des­potism of your merciless owners, without any stimulus to la­bour but the whip, hard fare, and perpetual slavery for selves and families; and not content with thus depriving you of your rights, they pursue you with the malevolence of fiends, and on the slightest off [...] given (which perhaps your igno­rance [Page 14] or a consciousness of the injuries done you would suf­ficiently atone for) they again separate you from your wives, children or husbands, breaking these tender ties afresh, through multiplying your sorrows and augmenting your griefs? Would you that a nation more powerful than your­selves, should take advantage of you as a weak, unarmed, de­fenceless, and indeed innocent people, (for they never invaded the rights of America) indicate to you the most dastardly and unparalleled cowardice—would you I say, that men should thus treat you? You would not. But you have, and are now, treating others in the aforementioned manner. Is it not then infallibly certain that you are violators of God's most holy law, and despisers of what his holy prophets have spoken and written in his name? If you persevere in your opposition to Almighty God, and refuse to amend your ways, to put away from you the evil of your doings; unless you cease to do evil and learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, &c. to tremble when ye hear these awful pas­sages of holy writ, viz. What measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again—Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish!—He who despised Moses' law died without mercy—He shall have judgment without mercy who hath shewed no mercy. And, when ye shall hear the awfully tremendous voice of Jehovah God, saying, arise ye dead and come to judgment, to intreat some kind rock, some lovely mountain, to fall on you and hide you from his flaming wrath, and from his avenging frown. Are not highwaymen honourable men compared with men-stealers? Men-stealers are in scripture ranked with the vilest characters. See 1 Tim. i. v. 10. The law is made for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly, and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fa­thers and mothers, for men-slayers, for whore-mongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, (i. e. sodomites) for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. O man, where art thou? Art thou not in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity? Dost thou already cry out, O wretched man that I am! joyful news! O escape for thy life! Take asylum in the ark of safety, the Lord Jesus Christ, or [Page 15] thou art undone and damned forever! If you desire to ad­vance God's glory in the salvation of mankind, introduce the gospel in Africa, and no longer connive at or publicly abet the villainous practice of the slave trade with it. How can you expect mercy from the Algerines if you shew none to the Africans? But alas! no temporal gain would arise from introducing the gospel among them; and where gain is deified, nothing but it is worthy our attention; but as it is a false God, the love of it is the root of all evil, and instead of elevating its votaries to the summit of true happiness, drowns them in sin, and in eternal perdition; and yet it is a God notwithstanding, which a very great majority of mankind profoundly worship, or they would not violate the laws of Jehovah, and deprive men of their natural and acquired rights to accumulate it; but, that the Africans were imposed on you by people of another nation, that you did not bring them from their native land, seems altogether out of the question. Permit me to ask, Would there be any thieves if there were no receivers? There would not long. Doubt­less those who first put this villainous and unnatural prac­tice into execution, will be punished for it equal to their de­merit. But do you not resemble those with whom our Lord conversed when on earth, who said, had we lived in the days of our forefathers we would not have killed the prophets as they did? by which they proved themselves to be men of like evil dispositions with those who killed the prophets; in that they sought to take his life. And you say, you did not bring them to this country, and some of you at least, blame and condemn those who did; but inasmuch as you perpetuate their crime in keeping them in ignorance and in perpetual slavery, and conniving at, if not publicly abetting their being brought into Savannah, [...]itting out vessels in this port for the slave trade, &c. and soliciting that the trade may be opened again, prove, that you are men of like evil dispositions with those who first put this villainous and unnatural practice into execution. It is said, if there [...]re a preacher at every cor­ner of the streets, the negroes [...] steal. Is it not common for the most subtle and crafty o [...] a gang of thieves to make off with the most valuable part of the booty? It is. If you [Page 16] then rob them of their rights, what marvel if under their pre­sent degraded circumstances they render you evil for evil, and rob you in their turn, as they are not permitted, in the gene­ral, to enjoy the fruit of their hard and servile labour? Per­mit me to ask, if any person or persons should attempt to rob you of your rights, if you, instead of taking a part of their property, would not deprive them of life? Let the late hos­tilities between you and Great Britain decide this question. Do they not act then, however wicked they may be, as if they think that vengeance is the Lord's, and that he will re­pay it, in not doing to you as you would do to them, on change of circumstances? But you say, they are the accursed seed of Ham, and therefore ought to be in bondage. It is said, Gen. ix. 5. Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. But this does not imply that temporal servitude or slavery should be their lot forever; much less that they should be kept ignorant of God; for some of the Canaanites under that dispensation became [...] and converts to the Jewish religion, as Araunah the [...] 2 Sam. xxiv. 18. and what one did all might have [...]. It is evident then, that the curse fell on them only in consequence of their own actual sin. But, when they re­pented and turned unto the Lord, they were restored to God's favour, and to equal privileges with their brethren. It is observable, that by quoting this scripture you acknowledge them to be your brethren, and thereby condemn your own procedure as illegal, for neither Jewish or Christian laws subject any one, much less a brother, to perpetual slavery; and as the text expressly mentions, to their brethren, you are equally culpable if you acknowledge them not. But why do we dwell on a subject so remote? Is not life and immortality brought to light through the gospel? The par­tition wall broken down between the Jew and Gentile? And all men every where called upon to repent, and believe the gospel? That whoever will, may come and partake of the water of life freely—That whoever will be greatest in Christ's Kingdom, must become the [...]vant of all, condescend to do the lowest acts of kindness, that he may win souls to Christ. Is not your procedure entirely contrary to this? It is▪ Do [Page 17] you think with the Romish Church that ignorance is the mo­ther of devotion? Or why do you insist on their being kept ignorant that they may be obedient? Is this Republicanism? Is there not some fraud here? (Alas! there is death in the pot.) Or why do you not come to the light? If you have divine authority for what you are doing, whom or what do you fear? Or why do you introduce club-law instead of equity? The faithful are as the Mount Sion, which cannot be moved, they put to flight the armies of aliens. The Lord, says David, is on my side, I will not fear what flesh can do unto me! But the truth is—The wicked fleeth when no man pursueth him: he that doth evil cometh not to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. He works in the most secret and covert way possible, conscious to himself that his procedure is illegal, and will not bear a strict and im­partial investigation. Indignum est homine esse scelesto. As it required an Apelles to paint an Alexander, so it requires an abler pen than mine to write a portrait of the innumerable and destructive evils wherewith slavery is pregnant. The slavery held here was doubtless devised in hell, and reduced to practice by Belial's unruly and benighted sons, who study mischief on their beds, who sleep not unless they cause some to fall, who eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence, who forsake the guide of their youth and walk in the old way in which wicked men have trodden; and as it has its root in hell, ignorance of God (its gloomy and infer­nal offspring) has been inculcated in them by these sons of night, with great diligence and success; which, instead of being the mother of devotion, is the sure foundation of all heresy and error; for, those who are ignorant of God, are unthankful, unholy, and to every good work reprobate. You say that^* "more knowledge will not comport with their con­tinuing in their servile and slavish state;" Alas! what a co­vetous, unchristian, and at the same time diabolical disposi­tion, do you here manifestly betray. O thou full of all sub­tility, dost thou not resemble that fallen spirit, that deceiver [Page 18] of mankind, viz. the devil? Thou dost.—Does not satan, the father of lies, practice the same deceitful and accursed art? Does he not know, if sinners saw the danger of living in sin, and also the privilege of serving God, that they would desert his service, that they would renounce the former and embrace the latter? He does; or at least is apprehensive of it; and therefore works with mighty energy on their hearts, vailing and blinding their minds, lest the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine into them, and they should be saved. You charge the slaves of possessing en­vious and malevolent dispositions, that they are mere eye ser­vants, &c. If you were taken from your native land to some foreign nation, to live forever in slavery, and kept as ignorant of God as possible, would not such a conduct create a bitter and lasting enmity in your breast, against such vile bloody, and unfeeling miscreants as these? And wouldst thou not perpetuate its memory by inculcating the same in thy offspring? Reason says thou wouldst. Thou sayest, that thy slaves will not accept of liberty; but why not? Probably thou tenderest them liberty at such a disadvantage that they cannot embrace it, seeing no way whereby they can procure the necessaries of life. The air is the bird's ele­ment, yet after long confinement in a cage, becomes blind to its natural right. The Israelites, after long servitude, sunk into a low and abject state, even beneath the dignity of men, so as to murmur against Moses their temporary mediator; and preferred Egyptian bondage to that liberty which God saw to be their privilege, and had called them to the enjoy­ment of. There may be many other reasons assigned why they will not accept of liberty, viz. living as they li [...]t, &c. But if under proper circumstances you tender them liberty, and they prefer continuing with you, this is not an evil thing. If we minutely examine the internal state of slavery, it discloses to us a scene of the most horrid nature, attended with the most alarming consequences, viz. the owner carry­ing on illicit commerce with the female slave, by which he entails slavery on his own offspring, and deprives it of its na­tural right. Thus one sin begets another. The female slave perceiving that she is caress'd by her owner, meditates [Page 19] the ruin and destruction of her mistress; and having recourse to some pernicious and baneful corrosive, or in a more pre­meditated and sudden manner, ushers in her untimely death. Do they not often poison one another; and do not the own­ers connive at it, either through a servile fear of being mur­dered themselves, (as a great gentleman said to me, "we know not when we lie down at night but our throats may be cut ere the morning,") or through fear of losing the slave who has perpetrated the wicked deed. Is not the owner, if pos­sible, in a more wretched and servile state than the slave? He is. As his procedure is wrong, he does not rest secure beneath the shadow of the Almighty, neither do the angels of God encamp around his habitation. Lo! this is the man who taketh not God for his strength, but trusteth in the mul­titude of his riches, and strengtheneth himself in his wicked­ness, for "he knoweth not but his throat may be cut ere the morning." O most wretched and distressing state this! O sin how deceitful is thy gain, and how fascinating are thy charms, that rationals by thee are divested of their rationality, and live in misery to be more abundantly miserable! O what a disgrace to human nature, dishonour to God, hatred to Christ, despite to the spirit of grace, destruction to them­selves, and injury to others, is done by incorrigible and aban­doned sinners! Neither are they alarmed at the judgments of God, which have not been a few. In the first place, the rice was destroyed by the freshets: these have been succeeded by two tremendous fires in the city, and the fires by the pesti­lence, which swept away a very great number; but as these can be accounted for by natural causes, the hand of God is not seen in them; therefore, because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. You add, that you have "ministers enough already, and such as do not cry down slavery, the ball-room, play-house, billiard-table, &c. as be­ing of so pernicious a kind as I represent them to be." Is not the reason obvious? It is. They either receive large salaries, which are a very great temptation to them, to con­nive at the fashionable vices of the age, to submit to the mere cant of the day, and to see no evil in whatever comports with [Page 20] their present lucrative station; or they frequent the same places, and do the same things with their deceived auditors. Some of them it is certain, not only hold slaves (contrary to the station of true Levites and ministers of the New Testa­ment,) but at the same time are either afraid, ashamed, (or think it will not comport with their continuing to be the dupes of their avarice and ambition,) to instruct them in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Does not this plainly evince, that they are only nominal, not real ministers of Jesus Christ? It does: unless it can be proved that religion is not in substance what it was seventeen hun­dred years ago. Is it not evident that they are fallen beneath the dignity of men, and much more of Christian ministers? For the scriptures enjoin ministers to feed the Church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood. O ye ministers! How will you answer it to God, for suffering [...]hese weak brethren (for you call them brethren) to perish for whom Christ died? And instead of making converts of those to whom you preach, to the religion of Jesus Christ, make them tenfold more the children of hell, by your evil example, than it is probable they otherwise would have been. Do you not neglect to reprove them sharply that they may be found in the faith, and thereby suffer sin upon them, and also confirm them in it, by acting contrary to your profession? Is this a time for ministers to be absorbed in the business of this world, in buying, selling, and getting gain; holding a vast number of slaves shut up in ignorance; living as beasts before the Lord, without either food or seeder? O ye minis­ters! is this walking as Christ walked? It is not. Unto the wicked, faith God, wherefore dost thou preach my laws? Whereas thou hatest to be reformed.—For the Lord's sake, your own souls sake, and for the sake of others, amend your ways, or resign your important station; give full proof of your ministry in future, or the Lord will come upon you at a time when you expect him not, and at an hour when you look not for him, and cut you asunder, and appoint you your portion with the hypocrites! Do you not profess to believe that you were moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon you the work of the ministry? You do. But where are the [Page 21] souls you have been instrumental of turning to the Lord? Are they not to be found? What is the cause? Is it not that you have been moved by an unholy spirit to neglect your duty; and instead of teaching the people to abstain from the very appearance of evil, and to stand aloof from balls, plays, billiards, cards, horse-races, &c. as pernicious and destructive things, you sanction them by your presence, and thereby en­courage men in the way to destruction. Let shame and con­fusion cover your faces, that you have so highly dishonoured God, degraded yourselves, and injured others, in bringing a stain on the most holy religion of the blessed Jesus, by being seen at any of the above places, as you have thereby caused the enemies of religion and God, to blaspheme, supposing that religion is a cunningly devised fable, and that gain is godliness. Was it ever known that any was gathered into the fold or flock of Christ at a play-house? No! an in­fallible proof that players are not of God; for our Lord faith, He that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad! and this saying is verified both in players, and in their auditors, as the more they repeat and hear plays, &c. the less desire they have to hear sermons, and to seek the salvation of their souls. And with respect to the innocency of balls, suffice it to say, that heathens were more discreet than to admit of la­dies and gentlemen dancing together. Cicero says, Nemo so­brius saltat—no modest man danceth. Chrysost. says, Ubi est saltatis the est Diabolus—where dancing is, there the devil is. Let it then be remembered by these male, and female, triflers with God, that a dance caused the head of John the Baptist to be taken off, and that every dancer at best is a murderer of precious dear-bought time. But you have taken offence at my preaching in the public market! Is it contrary to scrip­ture to preach abroad? It is not. If I preferred your pre­sent and future happiness to temporal gain, pardon me this wrong. What would you have me do? I endeavoured to procure the old Baptist Church (pro tem.) but did not suc­ceed, it being hired previous to my application; neither could I obtain liberty to preach in the French Church, though I would have given ample payment, and also sufficient security to resign whenever their minister should arrive.—Relative to [Page 22] my attempting to join the English Church, I shall only men­tion, that there was no vacancy—further particulars may be mentioned hereafter. But did you not in some recent adver­tisements, solicit the inhabitants of other states to migrate to this state for the "enjoyment of greater privileges?" and also that you protected "every kind of religion?" You did.—It appears then by your mode of expression, that you would protect and defend their persons in the free exercise of their religious worship. But how does this comport with your treatment of me, (as it is well known that Methodists from the beginning preached aloud) unless you mean by protec­tion, that you will carefully lodge them in the guard-house? But intendant E—ds professeth a greater degree of sanctity than some other persons do, though it is evident that profes­sion is not possession, or he would not disperse the slaves, and also the free blacks, whenever he is informed of their being assembled to pray and to praise God. Intendant E—ds it seems, has offered to join all his influence to ruin me, and to destroy my wife's school: but why would he do this?^* Be­cause [Page 23] cause I, pursuant to our Lord's command, went out into the streets and lanes of the city, to call sinners to repentance. I [Page 24] appealed to every man's conscience if it was not enough that the poor Africans were torn away from their native land, but that the additional trial of being confined to a plantation, or shut up in a rice swamp, must be superadded? That I view­ed it to be incompatible with the Christian character, and at the same time contrary to the Declaration of Independence, which says, That liberty is every man's natural birthright. I also, (after the example of St. Paul) exhorted the slaves to be regardless of their servile state, to serve God, and not de­prive their owners of any part of their property, but to be honest, upright and sincere unto the day of Christ, who will abundantly reward all his true and faithful followers, and punish with everlasting destruction, their oppressors and the opposers of his gospel. What colour of excuse have you for the contempt with which you treat this part of our species? that contrary to the laws of God and man, you refuse to put them upon the common foot of humanity? Have you not offered more for the head of a slave than for his being restored to you?^* (What a stimulus is this to murder). And is not [Page 25] the murder of them frequently passed over unnoticed? And it is evident you do all you can to cut them off from the pros­pects of happiness in the other world, as well as in this, and deny them the means (as far as in you lieth) of attaining it. Are you republicans? God pity you! I would rather be found in the place of an **** than in yours, if you die as you live; and what hope is there but that you will die so? You ask, is slave-holding a soul-damning sin? Let the scrip­tures decide this question. 1 Cor. vi. 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extorti­oners shall inherit the kingdom of God. Is not slave-holding both an unrighteous and unjust thing? The hope of unjust men perisheth. Prov. xi. 7. Is it not pregnant with injustice, extortion, covetousness and theft? I think so. It is then infallibly certain (as the scriptures cannot be broken) there is no alternative. You must either decline it, or be excluded the kingdom of God; except they prefer living with you in bondage to being liberated, then you are free from that con­demnation. Abraham's servants enjoyed religious privileges equally with his own son. They were not trained up in ig­norance of God, but taught to serve and obey him. Teach your slaves to do likewise. Would it not be adviseable to weigh in the balance of justice and equity, the present abject and servile state of the poor despised and oppressed Africans? Admitting (as you say) that local circumstances necessitate you to hold them, if they are necessary in order to your sup­port, do they not merit from you much better treatment and attention than they generally meet with? It is certain they do. Slavery may be necessary to the support of luxury and extravagance, but not to the support of frugal and abstemious [Page 26] living, which every Christian ought to be contented with. Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out; but where godliness is wanting, there is an aching void in the soul, which (though many things are substituted in its stead) nothing can supply. Hence the covetous man trou­bleth his own house, is a flat idolator, destroyeth his own soul, and aims (at least) at the destruction of others, and final­ly sinks into perdition. As you employ overseers to superin­tend your business, and to insist on the slaves doing whatever he shall insist on as a duty incumbent on them to their own­ers. Why do you not employ a good man who, at the same time might instruct them in their duty to God? Ought not your ministers to visit them, to see that every man has his own wife, and every woman her own husband? To join them together in holy matrimony. For marriage is honour­able in all▪ and the bed undefiled, but whore-mongers and adulterers God will judge; whether they are high, or low, rich or poor, white or black, bond or free. For without holiness shall no man see his face in glory. Some families whom I much esteem, and from whom I have received many favours, have frequently complained of the dishonesty and ingratitude of their slaves, in rendering them contempt, ha­tred, and disobedience, in return for their indulgence and kindness to them. This I know to be truth, and am very sorry they are thus perplexed and troubled, instead of being obeyed, honoured, and esteemed by their servants; as I be­lieve they are better done by than they could do for them­selves if they were liberated. (It is true there are very few such instances!) But it seems that nothing will atone for their being deprived of their natural right. Nature pleads for its own, and will not (in the general) be content without it, though you would give many gifts. The very idea of li­mitation is irksome to the rational soul. As the Almighty has given us just and holy laws, and has capacitated and qua­lified us to keep them; and at the same time, freedom and liberty to obey or disobey, and to these has annexed gracious promises and dreadful threatenings; the former to encourage and stimulate to love and obedience, the latter to awe and [Page 27] deter us from sin and disobedience. And that we might not live beneath our privileges on the one hand, and remain igno­rant of our dangers and disadvantages on the other, hath (through Christ) given the Holy Ghost, and a preached gos­pel. Would it not be laudable to imitate, and copy, after Jehovah God? The apostle says, be ye imitators of God as dear children; which, in the first instance, would lead us to put into execution the Declaration of Independance, viz. that liberty is every man's natural and unalienable right; and to instruct all men in the truth, making them acquainted with the laws of God, and with the laws of their country; that whenever they violate them, they may not do it through ignorance; that being convicted of transgression, they may be justly punished; and, in consequence of their good de­portment and well regulated life and conversation, they may be equally esteemed in this world, and also in the world to come receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away. I fear you have not considered the dangerous consequences of cow-skin or forced obedience, or you would immediately de­cline it. The only proper method whereby to know what men are, is to treat them as free agents; and whoever fol­lows not this rule, is either ignorant or dishonest; for where there is no stimulous to obedience but ignorance, castigation, menaces and abusive language, it forebodes a most melan­choly, alarming and dire catastrophe! Here I might (to il­lustrate this awful and tremendous scene) begin with Egypt, where literature first flourished; and from thence proceed to the Chaldean, Grecian and Roman nations, and even down to individuals; and then inquire, what has been the cause of these changes, and of the great devastation and ruin wrought among them; the answer would be sin! What is sin? Sin is anomia! A transgression of the law. And as no person is under the necessity of transgressing God's holy law, it plainly evinceth, that their condemnation for sin is just, and that their destruction is entirely of themselves; and what has been may be again; however secure we may think ourselves our sins will find us out. Solomon saith, let a bear bereaved of her whelps meet a man rather than a fool in his folly▪ Ig­norant persons, when stimulated to contend for their rights▪ [Page 28] will shew you no pity. (This is very discernable from their present deportment, for when you say to them go or come, they do these when they please. Here the lady must com­mence savage, and the gentleman diabolian, to make them subservient to their commands; and wound, grieve, and de­stroy their immortal souls, through breathing out bitter oaths, and horrid imprecations, &c.) When, on the contrary, if their support or sustenance, as free men, depended on their good deportment, &c. they would not dare act as they now do. Take a retrospect not only of the ancient, but more particularly of the recent changes, commotions, and deso [...] ­lations, which have happened, and are now taking place in the neighbouring nations and islands; changes, which had they been mentioned a few years ago, would have been scoff­ed at, and the author or propagator of such things either ap­prehended as a "dangerous character," and confined in pri­son, or banished, if not deprived of life. And has not God said, that righteousness shall cover the face of the earth? It then behoves all those who would wish to escape the wrath of God, to reduce their utmost efforts to practice, to establish it in the earth. Let it be remembered, that if we provoke the Almighty to come down to remove the evils which he hath commanded us to remove, and to establish that justice and equity among men which he hath commanded us to esta­blish, we may expect to meet with no other treatment from him than our base, wicked, and ungodly conduct has me­rited, viz. death, and without repentance (which will then be uncertain) damnation. Have you never read of that aw­fully tremendous period, when Jehovah, from Jehovah, rained brimstone and fire out of heaven upon Sodom and Go­morrah? Or when Jehovah caused the earth to open her mouth and to swallow up Dathan, &c.? And do you believe that he is the same, yesterday, to-day, and forever? That the wicked shall be turned into hell with all the nations that forget God? That he can destroy both soul and body in hell? What then will all your gain, pomp and grandeur avail you? All the pains you have been at to aggrandize self, or to accumulate large fortunes, and a vast number of slaves for your children, when death gnaweth upon your [Page 29] souls, O how then will the scene change! When you will have to reflect on your past misconduct; that you heaped up treasure to eat your flesh as it were fire! Is it not more than probable that the very slaves you are now training up in sin and ignorance, and securing as a portion for your children, will be the very instruments of their, if not of your destruc­tion? Thus will the Almighty visit the sins of wicked pa­rents on their wicked offspring. Is not the curse reversed? Are not the owners become the servants of servants? In a spiritual sense they are; for they fear lest the slaves should either poison them or cut their throats. Thus the head is become the tail, according to the saying of Moses in Deute­ronomy. This city has already received a deadly wound, which is judged will take ten years in healing; but without a speedy reformation, who can say it will ever be healed? I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, that you de­cline cow-skin reformation, (excepting the case of infants, who must be chastised betimes, to drive foolishness far from them) sentencing [...] blacks to be severely chastised by the merciless,^* that you reprobate the very idea of continu­ing the slave-trade, and, endeavour at least, to instruct those you already have in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; for consider how you will lament, and mourn, when death stares you in the face, that the gain you got by slavery served only to nourish and increase your pride; and to prompt you to spend your precious strength, time and talents, at those places and about those things wherein you could not glorify God, but blaspheme his honour! O repent and lead a holy life! O be intreated, for Christ's sake, for your soul's sake, to escape the damnation of hell, and to enjoy eternal felicity! But, do you hate to be reformed? Will you defy Jehovah? Are you regardless of what will be the end of sinning? Will you treasure up wrath against the day of wrath, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them who know not God, and who have not obeyed the gospel of our Lord [Page 30] Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruc­tion, from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. Can you dwell with devouring fire? Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched? Where the smoke of their torments ascendeth up for ever and ever? What, will you chuse death in the error of your life, and dwell with devils and damned spirits in eternal fire? Be drenched with the sulphurous fumes of the deep abyss? What, will you who are redeemed by Jesus Christ, become the reproach of devils? Through denying him, by wicked works, will you dare him to deny you, before his Father and the holy an­gels? O God! can these dead sinners live? Lord thou knowest! O Lord, breathe upon these slain by sin and satan, that they may live! Do you not live, as if you were created for yourselves, instead of being created for God's service and the good of mankind? Have you not already turned Jesus Christ out of doors? You have, in denying his divinity and contemning his worship. And have you not done this because your manner of living contradicts his holy mandates, as if this would be a sufficient excuse for you at that great and awful period, when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed? But let it be remembered, that there is no other name given among men, whereby we can be saved, but by Jesus! There­fore if you live and die without an interest in his merits, you wilfully exclude yourselves from the glory and happiness of heaven, and plunge yourselves into the miseries and torments of hell. Alas! did not but see your sins, the nearness of death and judgment, the lake of fire and brimstone, and the fiends who attend you, what loud cries and bitter wailings would you make! What, can you eat, drink and talk, on the verge of hell, without any concern for your immortal soul? Is the song of the drunkard your delight? O thou neglector of sal­vation! God is angry with thee, condemns thee to be damn­ed, and may the next moment slay and send thee to hell. Art thou bold on the brink of endless burnings? Awake and call upon the Lord! Dost thou see how sin turned angels into devils and damned them forever; and sudden death may soon separate thee from all good, and plunge thee into eternal torments! The fire of God's wrath will enter and go through [Page 31] sinners, and make their torments intolerable. This is part of the damnation of hell. But to prevent thy destruction, and that thou mayest not despair of salvation, when thou con­siderest thy dangerous state and condition, and what a bitter enemy thou hast been against God, thy neighbour and thyself, the Lord hath said, As I live I will not the death of the sin­ner, but that he repent, return and live—When the wicked man turneth away from the wickedness that he hath com­mitted, and doth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive—Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The doubt is not whe­ther God will have mercy on you, but whether you will em­brace it in his way and on his own plan, viz. through Christ. O come to God, depending on the alone merits of his only begotten Son for present and future salvation! And rest not satisfied until you know that you are accepted in and through the beloved Jesus, until you know that you have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of all your past sins, and have received the Holy Ghost as your comforter and guide, and as the earnest of your eternal inheritance—that following his guidance, and living a holy and spotless life, and being re­newed in righteousness and in true holiness, you may be pre­sented faultless before the presence of his glory with exceed­ing joy, and receive the crown of life—the sentence, Come ye blessed of my Father, and receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; when the righte­ous will shine forth as the sun in the firmament in the king­dom of their father; where they will behold God in the person of Jesus Christ, through the countless ages of eternity; singing praises to him who liveth forever and ever. O most great and glorious God, impart thy sovereign aid, to give success to what is here written, consonant to thy most holy and sacred will, that sinners may fear and tremble and turn unto the Lord; and that saints may join with angels in laud­ing th [...] great and glorious name at th [...] conversion, through Christ Jesus. Amen.