ul, are clearly of the
opinion that as a system, it should be abolished throughout this land
and throughout the world. They differ as to the time and mode of
abolition. The abolitionists consistently argue, that whatever is
sinful, should be instantly abandoned. The others, _by a strange sort of
reasoning for Christian men_, contend that though slavery is sinful,
_yet it may be allowed to exist until it shall be expedient to abolish
it_; or if, in many cases, this reasoning might be translated into plain
English, the sense would be, both in church and State, _slavery, though
sinful, may be allowed to exist until our interest will suffer us to say
that it must be abolished_. This is not slander; it is simply a plain
way of stating a plain truth. It does seem the evident duty of every man
to become an abolitionist, who believes slavery to be sinful, for the
Bible allows no tampering with sin."

"To these remarks, there are some noble exceptions to be found in both
parties in the church. _The South owes a debt of gratitude to the
Biblical Repertory, for the fearless argument in behalf of the position,
that slavery is not forbidden by the Bible_. The writer of that article
is said, without contradiction, to be _Prof. Hodge of Princeton--HIS
NAME OUGHT TO BE KNOWN AND REVERED AMONG YOU, my brethren, for in a land
of anti-slavery men, he is the ONLY ONE who has dared to vindicate your
character from the serious charge of living in the habitual
transgression of God's holy law_."]

[Footnote C: Pittsburgh pamphlet p. 31.]

"It is," affirms the Princeton professor, "on all hands acknowledged,
that, at the time of the advent of Jesus Christ, slavery in its worst
forms prevailed over the whole world. _The Savior found it around him_
in JUDEA."[A] To say that he found it _in Judea_, is to speak
ambiguously. Many things were to be found "_in_ Judea," which neither
belonged to, nor were characteristic of _the Jews_. It is not denied
that _the Gentiles_, who resided among them, might have had slaves; _but
of the Jews this is denied_. How could the professor take that as
granted, the proof of which entered vitally into the argument and was
essential to the soundness of the conclusions to which he would conduct
us? How could he take advantage of an ambiguous expression to conduct
his confiding readers on to a position which, if his own eyes were open,
he must have known they could not hold in the light of open day?

[Footnote A: Pit