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Appendix III
- The University of North Carolina Press
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APPENDIX III Church Action on Slavery IN REFERENCE to this important subject, we present a few extracts from the first and second chapters of the fourth part of the "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin:" Let us review the declarations that have been made in the Southern church, and see what principles have been established by them: 1. That slavery is an innocent and lawful relation, as much as that of parent and child, husband and wife, or any other lawful relation of society. (Harmony Pres., S. C.) 2. That it is consistent with the most fraternal regard for the good of the slave. (Charleston Union Pres., S. C.) 3. That masters ought not to be disciplined for selling slaves without their consent. (New School Pres. Church, Petersburg, Va.) 4. That the right to buy, sell, and hold men for purposes of gain, was given by express permission of God. (James Smylie and his Presbyteries.) 5. That the laws which forbid the education of the slave are right, and meet the approbation of the reflecting part of the Christian community. (Ibid.) 6. That the fact of slavery is not a question of morals at all, but is purely one of political economy. (Charleston Baptist Association.) 7. The right of masters to dispose of the time of their slaves has been distinctly recognized by the Creator of all things. (Ibid.) 8. That slavery, as it exists in these United States, is not a moral evil. (Georgia Conference, Methodist.) 9. That, without a new revelation from heaven, no man is entitled to pronounce slavery wrong. 10. That the separation of slaves by sale should be regarded as separation by death, and the parties allowed to marry again. (Shiloh Baptist Ass., and Savannah River Ass.) 577 578 APPENDIX III 11. That the testimony of colored members of the churches shall not be taken against a white person. (Methodist Church.) In addition, it has been plainly avowed, by the expressed principles and practice of Christians of various denominations, that they regard it right and proper to put down all inquiry upon this subject by Lynch law. The Old School Presbyterian Church, in whose communion the greater part of the slaveholding Presbyterians of the South are found, has never felt called upon to discipline its members for upholding a system which denies legal marriage to all slaves. Yet this church was agitated to its very foundation by the discussion of a question of morals which an impartial observer would probably consider of far less magnitude, namely, whether a man might lawfully marry his deceased wife's sister. For the time, all the strength and attention of the church seemed concentrated upon this important subject. The trial went from Presbytery to Synod, and from Synod to General Assembly; and ended with deposing a very respectable minister for this crime. Rev. Robert J. Breckenridge, D.D., a member of the Old School Assembly, has thus described the state of the slave population as to their marriage relations: "The system of slavery denies to a whole class of human beings the sacredness of marriage and of home, compelling them to live in a state of concubinage; for, in the eye of the law, no colored slaveman is the husband of any wife in particular, nor any slave-woman the wife of any husband in particular; no slave-man is the father of any child in particular, and no slave-child is the child of any parent in particular." Now, had this church considered the fact that three millions of men and women were, by the laws of the land, obliged to live in this manner, as of equally serious consequence, it is evident, from the ingenuity, argument, vehemence, Biblical research, and untiring zeal, which they bestowed on Mr. McQueen's trial, that they could have made a very strong case with regard to this also. The history of the united action of denominations which included churches both in the slave and free states is a melancholy exemplification , to a reflecting mind, of that gradual deterioration of the moral sense which results from admitting any compromise, however slight, with an acknowledged sin. The best minds in the [54.210.83.20] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 10:42 GMT) APPENDIX III 579 world cannot bear such a familiarity without injury to the moral sense. The facts of the slave system and of the slave laws, when presented to disinterested judges in Europe, have excited a universal outburst of horror...