of slavery; for as often
as it has served his purpose to assert this fact, he has not hesitated
to do so. Thus, "the universal existence of slavery at the time of
Christ," says he, "took its origin from the moral darkness of the age.
The immortality of the soul was unknown. Out of the Hebrew nation not a
man on earth had any true conception of the character of the Deity or of
our relations and obligations to him. The law of universal love to man
had never been heard of."[145] No wonder he here argues that _slavery
received the universal sanction of the heathen world_, since so great
was the moral darkness in which they were involved. This darkness was so
great, if we may believe the author, that the men of one nation esteemed
those of another "as by nature foes, whom they had a right" not only "to
subdue or enslave," but also to murder "whenever and in what manner
soever they were able."[146] The sweeping assertion, that such was the
moral darkness of the heathen world, is wide of the truth; for, at the
time of Christ, no civilized nation "esteemed it right to murder or
enslave, whenever and in what manner soever they were able," the people
of other nations. There were some ideas of natural justice, even then,
among men; and if there were not, why does Dr. Wayland appeal to their
ideas of natural justice as one argument against slavery? If the heathen
world "esteemed it right" to make slaves, how can it be said that its
conscience condemned slavery? Is it not evident that Dr. Wayland is
capable of asserting either the one thing or its opposite, just as it
may happen to serve the purpose of his anti-slavery argument? Whether
facts lie within the province of moral philosophy or not, it is certain,
we think, that the moral philosopher who may be pleased to set facts at
naught has no right to substitute fictions in their stead.

Sec. VII. _The seventh fallacy of the abolitionist._

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," is the rule of action which,
in the estimation of abolitionists, should at once and forever decide
every good man against the institution of slavery. But when we consider
the stupendous interests involved in the question, and especially those
of an intellectual and moral nature, we dare not permit ourselves to be
carried away by any form of mere words. We _must_ pause and investigate.
The fact that the dexterous brandishing of the beautiful precept in
question has made, and will no doubt continue to m