al and
pecuniary interests depending on the good-will of the slaveholders. The
whole subject is perfectly simple and intelligible, and has been
intentionally misrepresented and mystified.

Human government is indispensable to the happiness and progress of human
society. Hence God, in his wisdom and benevolence, wills its existence;
and in this sense, and this alone, the powers that be are ordained by
him. But civil government cannot exist, if each individual may, at his
pleasure, forcibly resist its injunctions. Therefore Christians are
required to _submit_ to the powers that be, whether a Nero or a
slave-catching Congress. But obedience to the civil ruler often
necessarily involves rebellion to God. Hence we are warned by Christ and
his Apostles, and by the example of saints in all ages, in such cases,
not to obey, but to submit and suffer. We are to hold fast our
allegiance to Jehovah, but at the same time not take up arms to defend
ourselves against the penalties imposed by the magistrate for our
disobedience. Thus the Divine sovereignty and the authority of human
government are both maintained. Revolution is not the abolition of human
government, but a change in its form, and its lawfulness depends on
circumstances. What was the "den" in which John Bunyan had his glorious
vision of the Pilgrim's Progress? A prison to which he was confined for
years for refusing obedience to human laws. And what excuse did this
holy man make for conduct now denounced as wicked and rebellious? "I
cannot obey, but I can suffer." The Quakers have from the first refused
to obey the law requiring them to bear arms; yet have they never been
vilified by our politicians and cotton clergymen, as rebels against the
powers that be, nor sneered at for their acknowledgment of a "higher"
than human law. The Lord Jesus Christ, after requiring us to love God
and our neighbour, added, "There is none other commandment greater than
these"; no, not even a slave-catching act of Congress, which requires us
to hunt our neighbour, that he may be reduced to the condition of a
beast of burden. Rarely has the religious faith of the community
received so rude a shock as that which has been given it by your
horrible law, and the principles advanced by its political and clerical
supporters. Cruelty, oppression, and injustice are elevated into
virtues, while justice, mercy, and compassion are ridiculed and
vilified.

But lately, the business of catching slaves w