S E R MO N
.
E
t am e
C C 'E S I ' S 'E S
f
or
ee
v ry
,
C ' '' I I I
.
,
l st an d 7 th
ve rse s.
p u rp ose u n d er t he sun — a t z m e to
'
ee
' p
'
'o
e ey
v r
ee
t hm g t h r
sz l e nc e an d a
as a seaso n , a n d a
,
tu ne to sp ea'
'
.
are su bj e c ts w hich under ordinary c ir c ums ta n c es
do n o t so appropriately b elong to writings or di s c o u rses
u
e
l
r
l
re
igious as to those which are of a more s e c ular
p
y
nature The subj e c t of slavery for example regarded
merely in its politi c al aspe c ts may b e one of this c haracter
b ut regarde d as a moral question— as one of right or wrong
— as one deeply a ffe c ting the interests of humanity it
always c omes within the legitimate S c ope of the pulpit
and the press
Nay regarde d as a political question
there are times and seasons when it may assume such an
attitude— when the evil to which it relates portends so
wide a sweep of wrong and O ppression and injury that
it demands the attention of the whole religious community
and summons all its v oices and all its a c ti vities in order
seasonab ly to e x pose and if possib le to ward o ff the
dan ge rs whi c h it thre atens
'h ere
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The late sudden and extr aordinary onset of the sup
porters o f slavery both North and South through the
Senate of the U nited States— the onset I mean ; upon the
time hallowe d c omp acts and c ompromises of the c ountry
it was supposed would ke ep back forever the
w hich
aggressions and intrusions of this institution from c ertain
well defin e d latitudes furnishes the o cc asion for calling
forth the thinking an d sp eaking and acting of all orders in
the community
If th e clergy did right at the momentous c risis of the
re v olution in sustaining as they did the gre at cause of
fre edom b y their pray ers their preaching and their whole
p ersonal influenc e it must b e right for the clergy and for
all Christian men to come to the rescu e of the same gre at
c ause of human fre e dom n o w when threatene d to b e
trampled in the dust by that advers e power which u n for
tu n at e ly b eing harb ore d at the b eginning has grown up
and expande d itself to a giant si z e in the midst of u s— a
p ower at once grasping domine ering and determine d to
extend its sway at whatever sacrifice If the gospel has
a v oi c e to summon men to p atriotism or to duty in
resisting the wrong or defen ding the right let it speak
through the pulpit through the press and through every
me dium in which it c an make itself heard
In my c omparative se clusion of late from the more
e x citing and agitating scene s of the outer world I have
been in a situation for c alm refle c tion both on the past
history and present startling attitude of Slavery in our
country 'n d it is now my purpose in the simplest and
briefest manner possible to express some of the thoughts
that have b een ac cumulating and gi ving no little disturb
anc e to my mm d on this stirring subj ect
In view of all I have he ard and read and observed I
feel authori z e d to say that the great body of the p eople in
the non S lavery States particularly in New E ngland have
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be en more th an convinced t hat Slavery as it exi sts in o ur
country is in principle and in fact nay in every possi
ble view of it wrong that it is at onc e a political social
and moral evil — that it is a most palpable violation of that
christian law which bids us do to others — to all others
what we would that they should do to u s — that it is a
flagrant sin against 'o d and humanity
The p eople
ge nerally have long felt— some with less and some with
greater intensity— that Slavery ought to b e abolishe d just
as soon as it can be d o ne consistently w ith the rights and
interests of all concerned
These c onvictions have b een all but universal in the
States of the North I know that th ey have pervade d and
deeply penetrated the minds of nearly the whole body of
the clergy an d of those comprising what we may call the
great Christian communi ty Indeed if the r e have b een
or are those of any cl ass among us who do not entertai n
them the exceptions are those politicians and their
par ti z ans who know h o w necessa ry the favor of the S outh
is to the success of their aS prrrn gs or men whose bus
in e ss connections and enterp ri ses are dependent on the
same
'ut while the Northe rn p eople generally are thus unite d
in their condemnation nay abh o re n c e of Slavery and in
their strong desire that it may everywhere and wholly
c ease they have felt restrained from doing what thei r
convictions of ri ght would have prompte d them to do had
they be en fre e I mean in seeking the rem o val of the
great evil in those se ctions of the c o untry where its
existence is guaranteed by certain c ompacts and c ompro
mises constituting as they have regarde d it a bar g ain o f
binding forc e having been ratified by all concerned
The compacts of the constitution which thus restr ain
the patriotism and humanity of the North it isgenerally
understood were ag reed to by our fathers from the urgent
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of yiel ding something on all sides for the sake
of securing w hat they felt it so important to s ec ure— the
p ermanent union of the States under a fe d eral go ve rn m en t
and on the supp osition too that the institution of Slavery
although it seemed necessary under existing c i rcumstances
it having b een previously planted in th e c ountry by the
British government would soon c ome to an end of itself
Most c ertainly it was understood on all hands that
while it existed Slavery sho u ld b e confined to its original
limits The compacts securing to it not only non inter
ference on the part of the fre e Stat es b ut a kind of
pr o tection were manife stly frame d and adopted in
' enc e the strong ordinance
accordance with this ide a
of 1 7 8 7 p assed by C ongress soon after when the whole
when the views and
bj e c t was fresh in the minds of all
intentions of the framers of the constitution and when
the sentime n t of the country North and South were fully
understood
I say henc e this ordinanc e prohibiting
Slavery forever from the then only unorgani z ed territory
of the c o untry now including the States of O hio Indiana
Michigan Illinois and ' isconsin
C oming into existence
and under the circumstances stated this
at the time
ordinance is a most decisive exponent of the great prin
of S l aver y r estr ic tion
It shows that all the
c ipl e
c onc essions and compacts of the constitution favorable to
th e ex istence of Slavery are based on this idea this principle
But this great c ommentary upon the con
o f restriction
stitu tio n in respect to Slavery having b een thus fully made
by the representatives of the p eople in the ordinance of
1 7 8 7 there was supposed to b e what is now c alled a
n ality on the whole difficult and embarrassing subj ect
fi
But new circumstances arose O u r government pur
chased the immense region west o f the Mississippi c alled
In the settle d part of this Slavery existed
'ouisiana
under the Sp anish and 'rench law The question w as
c e ssity
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therefore now to b e determined as to the further extension
of Slavery in th e new States to be forme d from this pur
chased territory
This as might b e supposed led to
much discus sion and agitation
But 'ouisiana having
Slavery as I have alre ady said in it was admitte d to the
'n d afterwards Missouri was
U nion as a Slave S tate
admitted as the same ; but not without strenuous oppo
nor till the agre ement or compromise had b een
sitio n
m ade guarante eing that Slavery hereafter should never b e
e xtended ab ove 3 6 30 north latitude
This was c onsidered at the time and has b een considered
for more than thirty ye ars as another final settlement of
th e whole question of slavery extension certainly so far
as the unorgani z e d territory then in the possession of the
U nited States was con c erned
Nay further dep endin g on the plighted faith of the
South that Slavery above 3 6 30 should not exist in any
new States to b e formed and yielding too readily to the
c laim that below this line the compromise implied that it
mi ght e x ist the opposers of Slavery allo w ed the admission
of all the Slav e States which that part of the territory
would a dm it of Thus the South have actually se cure d to
themselves all the adv antage of the c ompromise according
to their understanding of it
The North in the meantime so scrupulously tru e to their
b argain as to yield much and no doubt w r ongfully to the
une x pe c ted interp r etation ofthe compromise on the other side
ha v e done nothing but sought to keep Slavery from intru ding
in to those p ortions of our territory which the acknowledged
c omp ac ts and engagements had set apart for fre edom
But hard inde ed it is and ever will b e found to confine
a p estilen c e to any one loc ality— hard it is
and ever will
b e found where any great p ro fligac y is allowed in one
se c tion to keep up su c h barriers that it shall not pass over
an d w o r' mis c hie f in others
Slavery too is an e vil that
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enlists in favor of it so many passions and in t erests that it
bursts through the b ounds b y which we attempt to re strain
'll who know anything of its history in our country
it
must be fully convin c e d of the impossibility of rendering
it harmless or even tolerable by whatever we can do to
keep it within certain define d limits More and more
apparent has it be come that in order to do anything
e ffectual for relieving the country fro m the a allin
p
g and
growing evils of this institution the axe must be laid at
the root of the tre e — Slavery must b e followe d int o its
stron gholds and assaile d by the whole armory of spiritual
weapons — the aim must be not simply r estr iction for this
is found to b e unavailing but to put forth wise unite d
and Christian e fforts to over c ome it in a n ame and by a
power mightier than itself
But hitherto whatever individuals or asso c iations o f
individuals have attempted for exp osing the wro ng s of
Slav ery and for persuading those who maintain it to
c o O pe rate for its abolition there have b e en i mpedime nts
and o b stacles in the way of any p olitical a c tion for this
purp ose The North have b e en restraine d and 'ep t b a c k
from such action by old compa c ts gu aranteeing the u n
The se
mo lested e xistence of Slavery in c ertain lo c alities
have had a p ar aliz in g influence 'hey h ave forme d a
b arrier around the evil which the friends of fre edom hav e
wished to over c ome and kept them at b ay
But now I ask and in asking b espeak th e attention of
all
has n ot the time c ome when the lib erty loving and
fre e North may with united and e arnest purpos e pu t
forth their b est exertions for removing Slav ery root and
branch from the whole land 3 are they not full y at liber ty
not simply to r esist its ex tension but to do what the y can
b y Christian means for utterly s ub ve rting an d des troying
it as an i nstitut i on wholly in c omp ati b le with the w ell being
p f the c ountry an d the r hts o f h umani y
ig
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Is it asked bow the neutrali z ing and em b arrassing
restraints that have hitherto kept them b a c k from a work
like this are removed I answer , by the repudiating on
th e part of the South of the bar g ain that had b een made
b etween us of the North an d them ' hen one party to
a b argain se t aside and trample under foot its most essential
conditions the other party is clearly release d from its
obligations and is fre e from all hindran c e or restraint
arising from the same
Now as the Missouri C ompromise yielded to fre edom all
North of 3 6
on the same principle that the ordinanc e of
1 7 8 7 clearly c arrying out the spirit and intentions of what
e v er in the c onstitution relating to Slave ry c ompacts existe d
had yielded to fre edom all the then existing territory of the
country thi s is a most essential link in the c hain of
compa c ts b etween the North and the South
Of
course it b eing taken awa y b y the South the c hain is
dissol v e d and the North are no longer held b y it
But now look at the fact The Senate of the U nited
States largely representing the Slave power have by an
al most unanimou s vote on the part of the South sundered
the link to whi c h I have referred— have repudiate d as a
thing of naught the Missouri C ompromise and done it b e
it o b served on the avowe d p r incip le of its b eing the r ight
and the constitution al right of the p eople in all new ter
ritorie s north or south of 3 6
c ompacts or no compacts
— to have Slavery incorporated in their State organi z ations
if they will But if as assumed it is and ever has b een
the right of the p eople in every degre e of latitude to settle
th e question for themselves ; and if the Missouri C ompromi se
is set aside on this ground then for the same reason and
o n the same ground
the ordinanc e of 1 7 8 7 excluding
Slav ery from the old north west territory is as it e v er has
b e e n a mere n ullity and as thi s was undou b tedl y b as e d
on wh at w as u n d e rsto od to b e the re stri c ti v e prin c ipl e as
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to Slavery e ssentially b elonging to all the c om pacts of th e
c onstitution the b low whi c h annihilates the Missouri
C ompromise annihilates also not only the ordinance of
8 7 but every comp a c t existing anywhere which obliges
the North to tolerate or protect slavery I repeat the
essential an d fundamental prin c iple of restri c tion b eing
set aside b y the south the North are fre e from all the
o b ligations of the suppose d b argain betwe en these two
parties The repudiating and nullifying principles of the
Ne b raska b ill b eing adopte d and violently put forth b y th e
advo c ates of slavery nothing remai ns for the O pposers of
it but to a c cept their freedom from the shackles of the n o w
discarded comp acts and do the ir duty to their c ountr y and
to th emselves
This new movement or act of the south c onsidering the
principles involve d is a plain mani festo — a b old and full
announcement of the plan and purpose of s etting the Sl ave
power fre e to go through the length and br e adth o f the
land and to establish itself whe re the p eople shall ple ase
to have it all agreements and c ompromises notwithstanding
The faith is b r ok e n on
' ell b e it so if it must b e
the other side It now only remains then that b ei n g thus
released from the engagement longer to prote c t an in stitu
tion whi c h we had agr e ed to prote c t o n th e well u n derstoo d
condition of its ke eping within certain stipulate d bound s,
we may now do justic e to our sense of du ty in resisti ng by
o u r politi c al action and by the honorable use of all the me ans
in o ur p o w er Slavery itself wherever it ex i sts th u s
r estoring our countr
y to a p osition w hich al on e is c o nsis tent
with the de claration o f equal right s l y ing at the b asi s of
o ur constitution ;
whi c h al on e is c onsist ent with a ll t rue
id e a s o f rep u b li c an ism — w ith th e honor and wel fare of the
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th e age ,
of
wi
th
'
that
an d
b o ve
l
is
C hristi anity w ho s e gre at l aw
re
a
all ,
ch
a on e
'
‘
w hi
con s stent
i
qu ires
us ,
11
ithout distin c tion of color to love our neighbor as our
selve s
The issue now to b e met — the great question n o w to be
settled the other p arty having set aside the compa c ts and
c ompromises of the past is shall our c ountryb e a slave
hol ding or fre e country
Shall all among us the native
all
an d the foreigner the white man and the black man
who are on a soil which our fathers conse crate d to liberty
enj oy equal rights as fre emen or shall increasing millions
groan on under a most oppressive system of outrage and
wrong
I repeat now we know that it is the poli c y and the
p urpose of the Slavery side of the question to trampl e
down the Missouri Compromise and of course all other
c ompromises based on the same principles with that there
is nothing to prevent th e North from acting hen c eforth
according to their honest c onvictions of right and duty
from giving free expression and c ir c ulation to their
from making full us e of all their powers of
O pinions
remonstran c e and p ersuasion from unrestraine d political
a ction
especially from resisting to the utmost extent of
their power the admission of any new States to the U nion
' hether from C uba or from Mexi c o whether on the southern
o r northern side of the now discarde d line of 3 6
that
shall tolerate Slavery
O utrageous then as we must regard the breach of faith
the trampling upon contracts and engagements involved in
the Ne b raska bill and revolting as are the o bj e cts of tha t
b ill we still see h o w thismad c on spiracy b etw e en the Slavery
loving leaders of the South and the o ffic e lo ving le aders of the
North may b e overrule d by a wonder working 'rovidenc e for
the maintenanc e and ultimate triumph of that very cause of
fre edom which it was intende d to cripple and destroy It
brings about a c risis needful in order to arouse the too
readily slumbering spirit of th e North R e v e aling c l e arly
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the plans and purp oses of the grea t antagonist power it
shows us our danger an d what we are to e x pe ct unless ; b y
the help of 'o d w e suc c essfull y resist and r o ll back the
tide of oppression and wrong that is c oming in like a
mighty rushing flood
Now we are at li berty the other party having taken
the imp ediments out of the way to array ourselves not
simply as w e have hitherto done against the extension of
Slavery b ut to enter with the b est influen c es we c an
command p oliti c al and moral its v ery se ats and strong
holds and to do all we c an by Christian means and
instrumentalities to destroy it
'ut hardly prepare d— with our old hab its of being
restraine d b y c ompa c ts and c ompromises— for taking the
new position on the subj e c t that the South is for c ing us to
take we may p erhaps b e led to pause and in our
b ewilderment— so suddenly has the change c ome about
to ask are we not to o fast 3 The Ne b raska bill has not
ye t p as se d both houses and therefore mus t we not ke e p by
the old c ompacts till it shall b e 7
I answer we have already the manifesto of the party
before us in regard to their p rin c iples their plans and
their purposes
They have appeare d in full force with
unmistakable col ors and all their Northern allie s with
them on the field of a c tion and b oldly tell us wherefore
and for what purpose the y are there 7 'n d now under
these circumstan c es must we wait in silence and ina c tivity
until it is se en whether they may not p ossibly b e outvoted
for onc e— I say for once for should this hap p en th e p re sent
session of C ongress does that put the matter to rest '
' as the scheme of annexing Texas given u p b ecause not
sustaine d by one C ongress
Is there anything in the pas t
history of the onward determined aggressive spirit of th e
Slave power to justify the expe c tation that having tri
u m h an tl
a
'
ll
c
rried
ouse
o
ongress
the
y
wi
give
o
C
ne
f
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matter in c onsequ en c e o f a single defeat in the
other
we have in the principles of the Nebraska
NO
b ill their ultimatum and it only remains that we surrende r
or determine to resist as we ma y b e able
No I repeat to all practical purposes the deed is done
The determined advocates of Slavery have taken their
osition
with
all
the
compa
c
ts
and
com
romises
that
have
p
p
hitherto bo u n d either us or them under their feet Th ey
have given us a new and startling issue and now we must
either fold our hands and let things take their own cours e
— w e must look on tamely and se e Slaver y with its iron
hoof over ride the land marring and destroying all our
goodly herit age
or as worthy sons of those sires who
gained our independence
as the lovers of uni v ersal
fre edom and as the frie n ds of u niversal humanity nay
as the disciples of him who c anre to proclaim liberty to the
c aptives and the O p en i ng of the prisons to them that are
bound we must fully awake we must arise in all the
maj esty of truth of patriotism and humanity and in the
name of our 'o d me et the emergen cy as wisely and as
faithfully as we can
I have thus fully given expression to the convictions
the thoughts and the fe eli n gs that have be en gathering in
my own mind in relation to the important subj e ct b efore us
N o :slight; c au se no ordinary al arm in regard to the gre at in
t er ests and destinies of our c o u try could have induce d me to
diverge even for a moment from th at p e cu l iarl y gosp el c o u rse
or sphere of preaching in whi c h it has long seemed to me the
ministers of Christ had better confine themselves without
yielding to the temptation whi c h is often powerful to plunge
into the vortex of excited and exciting political agitation
But in a crisis like the present when I really think a darker
and more thre atn in g cloud has : gathere d O ver the land
than long as I have lived I have se en before I fe el urg e d
on b y an una cc ountab le im puls e
former ha b its and age
up
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conscio us w ea'ness notwith stan ding
to do w h at littl e
I can to sw ell th at tide of p atriotic fe eli ng at th e No rth
which I pray may me et and roll b ac k the coming tide of
evil from the S outh I c an never consent no ne ve r th at
th e glorious heritage which our fath e rs or rathe n the 'o d
of our fathers have given us shall be al l marred and
b lig h ted by a w i de sp read and con ti nue d enslavement on the
part of so many millions of the people all of one blood
b one an d flesh of our fl esh
w i th
an d
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