and writings of the great
apostle.

The epistle in question was written to a slaveholder, who, if the
doctrine of Mr. Sumner be true, lived in the habitual practice of "a
wrong so transcendent, so loathsome, so direful," that it "must be
encountered _wherever it can be reached_, and the battle must be
continued, without truce or compromise, until the field is entirely
won." Is there any thing like this in the Epistle to Philemon? Is there
any thing like it in any of the epistles of St. Paul? Is there anywhere
in his writings the slightest hint that slavery is a sin at all, or that
the act of holding slaves is in the least degree inconsistent with the
most exalted Christian purity of life? We may safely answer these
questions in the negative. The very epistle before us is from "Paul, a
prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon, _our
dearly-beloved, and fellow-laborer_." The inspired writer then proceeds
in these words: "I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my
prayers. Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord
Jesus, and toward all saints; that the communication of thy faith may
become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in
you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love,
because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother."

Now if, instead of leaving out this portion of the epistle, Mr. Sumner
had pronounced it in the hearing of his audience, the suspicion might
have arisen in some of their minds that the slaveholder may not, after
all, be so vile a wretch. It might even have occurred to some, perhaps,
that the Christian character of Philemon, the slaveholder, might
possibly have been as good as that of those by whom all slaveholders are
excommunicated and consigned to perdition. It might have been supposed
that a Christian man may possibly hold slaves without being as bad as
robbers, or cut-throats, or murderers. We do not say that Mr. Sumner
shrunk from the reading of this portion of the epistle in the hearing of
his audience, lest it should seem to rebuke the violence and the
uncharitableness of his own sentiments, as well as those of his brother
abolitionists at the North. We do say, however, that Mr. Sumner had no
sort of use for this passage. It could in no way favor the impression
his oration was designed to make. It breathes, indeed, a spirit of
good-will toward the Christian master as different f