ects has indeed long since passed the fiftieth
thousand; a degree of success which, in his own estimation, authorizes
him to issue his letters on slavery over the signature of "THE AUTHOR OF
THE MORAL SCIENCE." But the very fact that his popularity is so great,
and that he is _the_ author of _the_ Moral Science, is a reason why his
arguments on a question of such magnitude should be subjected to a
severe analysis and searching scrutiny, in order that, under the
sanction of so imposing a name, no error may be propagated and no
mischief done.

Hence we shall hold Dr. Wayland amenable to all the laws of logic.
Especially shall we require him to adhere to the point he has undertaken
to discuss, and to retrench all irrelevancies. If, after having
subjected his arguments to such a process, it shall be found that every
position which is assumed on the subject is directly contradicted by
himself, we shall not make haste to introduce anarchy into the Southern
States, in order to make it answer to the anarchy in his views of civil
and political freedom. But whether this be the case or not, it is not
for us to determine; we shall simply proceed to examine, and permit the
impartial reader to decide for himself.

Sec. I. _The first fallacy of the abolitionist._

The abolitionists do not hold their passions in subjection to reason.
This is not merely the judgment of a Southern man: it is the opinion of
the more decent and respectable abolitionists themselves. Thus says Dr.
Channing, censuring the conduct of the abolitionists: "They have done
wrong, I believe; nor is their wrong to be winked at because done
fanatically or with good intentions; for how much mischief may be
wrought with good designs! They have fallen into the common error of
enthusiasts--that of exaggerating their object, of feeling as if no evil
existed but that which they opposed, and as if no guilt could be
compared with that of countenancing or upholding it."[142] In like
manner, Dr. Wayland says: "I unite with you and the lamented Dr Channing
in the opinion that the tone of the abolitionists at the North has been
frequently, I fear I must say generally, 'fierce, bitter, and abusive.'
The abolitionist press has, I believe, from the beginning, too commonly
indulged in _exaggerated statement_, in violent denunciation, and in
coarse and lacerating invective. At our late Missionary Convention in
Philadelphia, I heard many things from men who claim to be the exclusiv