The Gospel of Slavery

Enlarge your plantations, and multiply slaves,
Till luxury gets what it wrongfully craves, —
Yet woe be to him who the inquiry scorns,
Do grapes grow on brambles or figs upon thorns?
Consider it well, ere the summer be past,
And the harvest be ended, with gloom at the last.
And ever this adage in memory keep,
Who sows to the wind, of the whirlwind shall reap.

The evils of Slavery to the white race, in a material sense, are clearly shown by statistics; but no one can reckon the low estate of education, religion, and morals, especially in the country-districts of the South. The larger the plantations are, the wider is the space between the white families; and an increase of the number of slaves, is no increase of exalting social intercourse. The mansion cannot escape the malaria of the hovels, nor can any one escape the just judgment of the Almighty.

I Stands for Infidel. Many contemn
What you and I hold, as a riddle to them;
And sceptics are made (it is mournfully true)
By priests in the pulpit and saints in the pew,
Who torture the Gospel to get at the proof
That one man is made for another's behoof!
The Bible comes not with its quickening light.
Till conscience and reason interpret aright,
And, vainly you moan o'er the infidel fruit
While nourishing faith in the Slavery-root.

The creed should be better than the man; but what if the man be better than the creed? Business relations with the South, or friends residing there, or political clanship, may so blind men to the hideous conjunction of the Gospel and Southern Slavery, that they may profess to believe in both; but religionists grieve the Holy Spirit and chiefly make Infidels, by fastening any inhuman institution or abominable theory on the Word of God.

J Stands for Justice. Whoe'er a man is,
Proclaim and defend what is rightfully his.
Content yourself not with his lawful demands,
Nor harden the links of his slavery-bands;
For all institutions are born of the dust '
Which conscience declares to be wrong and unjust.
– Will God in his majesty look to the hue
In making award of the recompense due?
Or will he in judgment be heedless or slack,
For justice withheld from the ignorant black?

Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire… Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped, are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton: ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.'" – James v. 1 – 3.

K Stands for Kidnapped. Whoso receives.
"What others have stolen, is leagu'd with the thieves.
But setting aside what this proverb reveals,
The Slaveholder breeds what the Kidnapper steals?
Distinction there is, and a difference too —
But which, if you chose, would be chosen by you?
To buy, or to sell, involves profit or waste —
To breed, or to steal, is a question of taste;
And whoso does either, a business may claim
That perfects in meanness the sin and the shame!

What odds to the buyer whether the chattel has been kidnapped or bought by the Trader? In one sense, there is something manly (because risk of life is incurred) in taking prisoners in war and making slaves of them; but kidnapping is unmitigated villainy. How then can we sufficiently express abhorrence of the men who make a business of breeding slaves for the market? Doubtless, they are all, all honorable men, and, worthily accounted the chivalry of the land!

L Stands for Liberty, Know you the bell
That '76 sounded so nobly and well?
Or know you that soon was developed a flaw,
By Freedom's assertion of Slavery Law?
"Created all equal." – "Excepting the black,"
From States of the Union the answer came back.
Then cracked the big bell. Vainly chipped to the core,
No "compromise measures" its tone could restore,
And the prophecy stands, though the bell, in its fall,
Now silently hangs in Old Liberty Hall!

The bell referred to, cast in 1753, has on it the inscription, "Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." – Lev. xxv. 10. Was this a prophecy? That bell announced the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was afterwards cracked – I know not the date. Occasional use on national anniversaries increased the difficulty. Chipping, so as to separate the vibrating edges, failed to remedy the mischief. It now hangs in Independence Hall.

M, Stands for Master. When one would impart
To others his knowledge of mystery-art,
A Master is he and Apprentices they,
And what he commands it is theirs to obey.
But if from the cradle till laid in the grave,
You claim the relation of Master and Slave,
And stretch your dominion, by heirship or gold,
O'er men who as cattle are driven and sold,
Consider, I pray you, the end of the strife,
When called to account by the Master of Life.

Is the distinction without a difference? An Apprentice is indentured by his own consent. The term of service is limited and specified. There is a covenant that he shall be sent to school. He has legal redress in case of maltreatment or neglect. He cannot be branded with a hot iron. If he absconds, he cannot be hunted with dogs, nor advertised for, dead or alive. He cannot be sold. At twenty-one he is a freeman. Are these the marks of the condition of a Slave?

N Stands for Negro, To be all he can,
Without doing wrong, is the birth-right of man,
And noblest humanity evermore lies
In prompting and helping the lowly to rise.
Are Slaves dull and ignorant? Multitudes are:
Shall therefore the Master improvement debar?
Yet if to instruct them you open your mouth,
Beware of the penalty, down in the South!
– Can that be of God which for Slavery greed
Forbids you to teach a poor Negro to read?

Whether the African race, now in bondage in the South, be or be not in a better condition than their kindred in Africa, need not here be discussed. Morality and religion inquire, simply, whether Southern laws encourage an advancement? Do they not rather hinder, by severe penalties, any efforts to educate the slave population? Public Schools are the pride and glory of the North: What is the boast and shame of the South?

O Stands for Ox, that necessity broke
To work with an Ass in the Union Yoke.
To walk in the furrow and take the short end,
Seemed ever the fate of the Ox to attend,
While the Ass, having learned a political trick,
Knew wickedly well how to bray and to kick.
But patience wears out, though it ever adorns, —
The ears are now feeling the push of the horns,
And wonders of justice are coming to pass: —
The North is the Ox and the South is the Ass.