PREFACE. THE writer of the following letters was, in 1826, so unfortunate as to give some offence, on the subject of Slavery, to a part of the Cumberland Congregation, (Va.) of which he was then Pastor. The whole facts of the case appeared to him to justify, if not require, that he should give a statement of them to the public. With this view the following letters were written soon after that event occurred. He yielded, however, to the opinion of some friends, that on account of existing excitement, some little time should be allowed to pass before they were given to the public. His object in these letters is, after a brief statement of the facts above alluded to, to examine more fully than he has seen done the teaching of Scripture respecting Slavery, notice its manifold evils, the dangers with which it threatens the South, and what religion and self-preservation require us to do. Danville, Ky. March, 1833. CONTENTS. LETTER I.—Introductory-Narrative of Facts, &c. 1. II.-Ministerial Prudence in Regard to Slavery, 15. III.-Reasons for discussing the Subject, 26. IV.-Origin and Nature of Slavery in the United States, 42. V.-Inconsistent with our free Institutions, and the Na- VI.—Its Inconsistency with the Moral Teaching of ΤΟ THE CUMBERLAND CONGREGATION. CHRISTIAN BRETHREN, LETTER I. THE circumstances under which we separated have induced me to address to you the following letters. The subject on which they treat, had a connection with our separation. That event led me to examine it more carefully than I had previously done, and there appears a propriety in addressing to you the result of said examination. A part of the matter in letters XI. and XII. and a small portion of it, with but little alteration, belonged to an essay, the third number of which, perhaps rather incautiously written,* gave some offence-and was the immediate cause of my leaving you. It will to me be a matter of regret, should you consider these letters as designed to fix a serious charge on you, or raise an odium against you in the public mind. This is not my object. It is due to candour to say, that I have thought, and still think, that I was not kindly treated. Admitting that the piece in the Visitor was incautiously written-that as a friend since suggested, it had "too much truth in it—that I gave at once what was enough for half a dozen doses;" still, as it was, by general admission, all truth, it might, I think, in a world so false as this, and at a time when truth is so hard to come at in the public prints, have passed with much less complaint. I am satisfied that much the greater part of the congregation soon became sensible, that improper means were used by a few, to get up the excitement, and that it greatly exceeded the cause of offence. Of this I had evidence be * See Appendix, A. |