eholding as a sin, or by universal agitation at the
North, but by the improvement of the slaves. It no more follows that
because the master has a right to hold slaves, he has a right to keep
them in a state of degradation in order to perpetuate their bondage,
than that the Emperor of Russia has a right to keep his subjects in
ignorance and poverty, in order to secure the permanence and quiet
possession of his power. We hold it to be the grand principle of the
gospel, that every man is bound to promote the moral, intellectual, and
physical improvement of his fellow men. Their civil or political
relations are in themselves matters of indifference. Monarchy,
aristocracy, democracy, domestic slavery, are right or wrong as they
are, for the time being, conducive to this great end, or the reverse.
They are not objects to which the improvement of society is to be
sacrificed; nor are they strait-jackets to be placed upon the public
body to prevent its free development. We think, therefore, that the
true method for Christians to treat this subject, is to follow the
example of Christ and his apostles in relation both to despotism and
slavery. Let them enforce as moral duties the great principles of
justice and mercy, and all the specific commands and precepts of the
Scriptures. If any set of men have servants, bond or free, to whom they
refuse a proper compensation for their labor, they violate a moral duty
and an express command of Scripture. What that compensation should be,
depends upon a variety of circumstances. In some cases the slaveholder
would be glad to compound for the support of his slaves by giving the
third or the half of the proceeds of his estate. Yet this at the North
would be regarded as a full remuneration for the mere labor of
production. Under other circumstances, however, a mere support, would be
very inadequate compensation; and when inadequate, it is unjust. If the
compensation be more than a support, the surplus is the property of the
laborer, and can not morally, whatever the laws may be, be taken from
him. The right to accumulate property is an incident to the right of
reward for labor. And we believe there are few slaveholding countries in
which the right is not practically acknowledged, since we hear so
frequently of slaves purchasing their own freedom. It is very common for
a certain moderate task[274] to be assigned as a day's work, which may
be regarded as the compensation rendered by the slave for h