We have already shown, that slavery originated in the practice of sparing and enslaving captives taken in war. Judge Blackstone, whose argument on this subject is triumphantly cited by the abolitionists, denies the right to make prisoners of war islaves; for, he says, we have no right to enslave, unless we had the right to kill; and we had no right to kill, unless "in cases of absolute necessity for selfdefence; and it is plain this absolute necessity did not subsist, since the victor did not actually kill him, but made him prisoner." (See chap. 6, on Civil Government.) Professor Dew, in his work on slavery, furnishes the following conclusive refutation of Blackstone's position. "Upon this we -proceed to remark:1st. That Judge Blackstone here speaks of slavery in its pure unmitigated form, whereby an unlimited power is given to the master over the life and fortune of the slave. Slavery scarcely exists any where in this form, and if it did, it would be a continuance of a state of war, as Rosseau justly observes, between the captive and the captor. Again: Blackstone, in his argument on this subject, seems to misunderstand the grounds upon which civilians place the justification of slavery, as arising from the laws of war. It is well known, that most of the horrors of war spring from the principle of retaliation, and not, as Blackstone supposes, universally from absolute necessity." rfonIt seems, that almost every distinguished writer on the jus gentium, has admitted the justice of slavery, under certain circumstances. Grotius says that, as the law of nature permits prisoners of war to be killed, so the same law has introduced the right of making them slaves, that the captors, in view of the benefits arising from the labour or sale of their prisoners, might be induced to spare them. Puffendorf speaks of slavery as established by the 1 66 Slavery considered in continuation Sanctioned by the Old and New Testaments, and accordant with the precepts and spirit of Christianity! THE scheme of abolition had its origin in religious fanaticism, and is still urged on religious grounds. Religious feelings and prejudices are invoked in its favour; religious periodicals are enlisted in its sup port; and even religious persecution has been already used to aid and urge its advance. These measures have, it is feared, deceived some, who have not examined this subject, into a belief that slavery is inconsistent with religion; and good, but weak men, have thus been induced to lend their names to one of the most sanguinary schemes which ever borrowed the cloak of religion to conceal the purpose and perpetration of crime. To such it may be well to mention, that the whole elergy of the South, certainly not inferior, in any particular, to their brethren in any part of the world, lend their express sanction to slavery. If inconsistent with the letter or spirit of Christianity, if cruel or op pressive, could they be thus induced unanimously to approve a and countenance it? Such an imputation on their purity and holiness cannot for a moment be cherished. 1971 10 We will, however, proceed by quotations from Scripture, to prove that slavery, so far from being irreconcilable to religion, is fully sanétioned by the clear and unequivocal expression of the divine will, Immediately after the deluge, Noah, an inspired prophet, pronounced the following curse upon the posterity of Ham, from whom the African race is supposed to have sprung:-" Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brethen. And he said, blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant." Gen. ix. 25, 26, 27. Thus when there was but one family on the face of the earth, a portion of that family was doomed to be slaves to the others. ・ ・ N In the covenant made by God with Abraham, the patriarch is directed to ratify it with the ceremonial of circumcision. Among those included in the co venant, were slaves. "He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised." Gen. xvii. 13. In the 27th verse of the same chapter, we are informed that this direction was obeyed:" And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him." From these passages, it is evident that slavery existed in the time of Abraham; that the patriarch was himself a slave-holder; that his slaves were not captives in war, nor convicts of crime, but "bought with money, of the stranger;" that Abraham, notwithstanding that he was a slave-holder, was the chosen of God among the families of the earth; and that God, in making the covenant, mentions the slaves, and impliedly sanctions their bondage. After this time, the patriarch increased his stock of slaves. In Gen. xx. 14, it is said, " And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and men servants and women servants, and gave them unto Abraham." In a subsequent chapter, a servant of Abraham says, "And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and men servants and maid servants, and camels and asses." Gen. xxiv. 35. Jacob also, Gen. xxx. 43, is spoken of as follows: "And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maid servants and men servants, and cari mels and asses." There is but little doubt, notwithstanding the Lord frequently declares himself “the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob," that all those holy and faithful patriarchs were slaveholders; and that men servants and maid servants constituted a large constituent in the wealth, which the favour of Providence conferred upon them. The book of Exodus furnishes many conclusive evidences of the direct sanction of slavery. In the 12th chapter, a distinction is made between hired servants and slaves, the latter being entitled to the benefit of the covenant, the former excluded. “But every man servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner and a hired servant, shall not eat there of." See verses 44 and 45.The following passages recognize slavery in the most distinct manner; and refer to slaves as property. And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money." The whole chapter abounds in evidence of the existence of slavery, in some cases limited in duration, in others perpetual. 1 * In Leviticus, the subject is still further elucidated. The following passages, from the 25th chapter, give a full account of slavery among the Jews, as reguFated by the ordinances of God. And if thy brother, that dwelleth by thee, be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant: but as a hired servant, and as a sojourner he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of the jubilee: and then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. For they are my servants which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour, but shalt fear thy God. Both thy bondmen and the bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the hea then that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover, of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land; and they shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever; but over your brethren, the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour. It From these passages, it appears that the divine code discouraged the holding of the children of Is rael as slaves; and, when they fell into bondage, secured them certain privileges, in consideration of their being members of the favoured nation. But a policy wholly different is directed towards foreigners or the descendants of foreigners. The Jews are not merely permitted but directed to procure from them slaves of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids." The "strangers occupied towards the Jews the relative position which the Africans bear towards us, except that they were not, like the Africans, separated by the hand of nature from their masters, and from difference in colour and inferiority of character, rendered incapable of |