a servant, a brother beloved,both in the flesh and in the Lord." And Paul further says to Philemon, "having confidence in thy obedience, I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say." Does this look like sanctioning Philemon's property in Onesimus ?

Oh! it is a foul slander to say that the Bible, either by its words or its silence, sanctions holding men as merchandise. It is blasphemy against the blessed Saviour, who came to "preach deliverance to the captives, to set at liberty them that are bruised," to say that he lends his sanction to the chains of a merciless personal bondage.

TO THE

PRESBYTERIANS OF KENTUCKY,

PROPOSING A PLAN

FOR THE

INSTRUCTION AND EMANCIPATION

OF

THEIR SLAVES.

BY A COMMITTEE OF THE SYNOD OF KENTUCKY.

NEWBURYPORT:

PUBLISHED BY CHARLES WHIPPLE.

1836.

For the purpose of promoting harmony and concert of action on this important subject, the Synod do

Resolve, That a committee of ten be appointed to consist of an equal number of ministers and elders, whose business it shall be to digest and prepare a plan for the moral and religious instruction of our slaves, and for their future emancipation, and to report such plan to the several presbyteries within our bounds, for their consideration and approval.

JOHN BROWN, ESQ.

THOMAS P. SMITH, ESQ.
CHARLES CUNNINGHAM, ESQ.
JAMES K. BURCH,

NATHAN J. HALL,

JOHN GREEN, ESQ.

J. R. ALEXANDER, ESQ.
REV. WM. L. Breckenridge,
ROBERT STEWart,

JOHN C. YOUNG,

Committee.

The committee would respectfully request every preacher to read this address to his congregation on some Sabbath. The object of the Synod in appointing a committee to prepare a plan, is stated to be to "promote harmony and concert of action on this important subject;" and this can only be effected by presenting the plan with the reasons urging its adoption, before every member of our Church.

ADDRESS.

DEAR BRETHREN :

The will of Synod has made it our duty to lay before you a plan for the moral and religious instruction, as well as for the future emancipation, of the slaves" under your care. We feel the responsibility and difficulty of the duty to which the church has called us, yet the character of those whom we address strongly encourages us to hope that labor will not be in vain. You profess to be governed by the principles and precepts of a holy religion; you recognise the fact that you have yourselves "been made free" by the blood of the Son of God; and you believe that you have been imbued with a portion of the same spirit which was in "Him who, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor." When we point out to such persons their duty, and call upon them to fulfil it, our appeal cannot be altogether fruitless. But we have a still stronger ground of our encouragement, in our firm conviction that the cause which we advocate is the cause of God, and that his assistance will make it finally prevail. May He "who hears the cry of the poor and needy," and who has commanded to let the "oppressed go free," give to each one of us wisdom to know our duty, and strength to fulfil it.

We earnestly entreat you, brethren, to receive our communication in the same spirit of kindness in which it is made; and permit neither prejudice nor interest to close your minds against the reception of truth, or steel your hearts against the convictions of conscience. Very soon it will be a matter of no moment whether we have had large or small possessions on the earth; but it will be of infinite importance whether or not we have conscientiously sought out the will of God and done it.

We all admit that the system of slavery, which exists among us, is not right. Why, then, do we assist in perpe

tuating it? Why do we make no serious efforts to terminate it? Is it not because our perception of its sinfulness is very feeble and indistinct, while our perception of the difficulties of instructing and emancipating our slaves is strong and clear? As long as we believe that slavery, as it exists among us, is a light evil in the sight of God, so long will we feel inclined to pronounce every plan that can be devised for its termination, inexpedient or impracticable. Before, then, we unfold our plan, we wish to examine the system, and try it by the principles which religion teaches. If it shall not be thus proved to be an abomination in the sight of a just and holy God, we shall not solicit your concurrence in any plan for its abolition. But if, when fairly examined, it shall be seen to be a thing which God abhors, we may surely expect that no trifling amount of trouble or loss will deter you from lending your efforts to its extermination.

Slavery is not the same all the world over; and to ascertain its character in any particular state or country, we must examine the constituents and effects of the kind of slavery which there exists. The system as it exists among us, and is constituted by our laws, consists of three distinct parts-a deprivation of the right of property, a deprivation of personal liberty, and a deprivation of personal security. In all its parts it is, manifestly, a violation of the laws of God, as revealed by the light of nature, as well as the light of revelation.

1st. A part of our system of slavery consists in depriving human beings of the right to acquire and hold property. Does it need any proof to show that God has given to all human beings a right to the proceeds of their own labor? The heathen acknowledge it—every man feels it. The Bible is full of denunciations against those who withhold from others the fruits of their exertions. "Wo unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his cham. bers by wrong; that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work."* Does an act which is wrong, when done once and toward one individual, become right because it is practised daily and hourly, and towards thousands? Does the just and holy One frown * Jeremiah, xxii, 13. See also James, v, 4; Lev. xix, 13; Deut. xxiv, 14, 15