e will of God from the heart; with good
will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that
whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the
Lord, whether _he be_ bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same
things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master
also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with
him."[59]

[Footnote 59: Ephesians, vi. 5-9.]

Without repeating here what has already been offered in exposition
of kindred passages, it may be sufficient to say:--

1. That the relation of the servants here addressed, to their master,
was adapted to make him the object of their heart-felt attachment.
Otherwise they could not have been required to render him an
affectionate service.

2. This relation demanded a perfect reciprocity of benefits. It had
its soul in _good-will_, mutually cherished and properly expressed.
Hence "THE SAME THINGS," the same in principle, the same in
substance, the same in their mutual bearing upon the welfare of
the master and the servants, was to be rendered back and forth
by the one and the other. It was clearly the relation of mutual
service. Do we here find the chattel principle?

3. Of course, the servants might not be slack, time-serving,
unfaithful. Of course, the master must "FORBEAR THREATENING."
Slavery without threatening! Impossible. Wherever maintained, it is
of necessity a _system of threatening_, injecting into the bosom of
the slave such terrors, as never cease for a moment to haunt and
torment him. Take from the chattel principle the support, which it
derives from "threatening," and you annihilate it at once and
forever.

4. This relation was to be maintained in accordance with the
principles of the divine government, where "RESPECT OF PERSONS"
could not be admitted. It was, therefore, totally inconsistent with,
and submissive of, the chattel principle, which in American slavery
is developed in a system of "respect of persons," equally gross and
hurtful. No Abolitionist, however eager and determined in his
opposition to slavery, could ask for more than these precepts, once
obeyed, would be sure to confer.

"The relation of slavery," according to Professor Stuart, is
recognized in "the precepts of the New Testament," as one which "may
still exist without violating the Christian faith or the church."[60]
Slavery and the chattel principle! So