e practical effects of the action of these churches upon the slave,
and what the _per se_ doctrine has done in depriving him of the gospel.

Another remark, and we have done with this topic. Nothing is more
common, in certain circles, than denunciations of the Christian men and
ministers, who refuse to adopt the _per se_ principle. We leave others
to judge whether these censures are merited. One thing is certain: those
who believe that slavery is a great civil and social evil, entailed upon
the country, and are extending the gospel to both master and slave, with
the hope of removing it peacefully, can not be reproached with acting
inconsistently with their principles; while those who declare slavery
_malum in se_, and refuse to fellowship the Christian slaveholder,
because they consider him a robber, but yet use the products of slave
labor, may fairly be classified, on their own principles, with the
hypocritical people of Israel, who were thus reproached by the Most
High: "What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou
shouldst take my covenant in thy mouth? . . . . . When thou sawest a
thief, then thou consentedst with him."[95]

FOOTNOTES:

[92] This is the phrase, nearly verbatim, used by Mr. Sumner in his
speech on the Fugitive Slave Bill. Language, a little more to the point,
is used in "The Friendly Remonstrance of the People of Scotland, on the
Subject of Slavery," published in the _American Missionary_, September,
1855. In depicting slavery it speaks of it as a system "which robs its
victims of the fruits of their toil."

[93] An anecdote, illustrative of the pliability of some consciences, of
this apparently rigid class, where interest or inclination demands it,
has often been told by the late Governor Morrow, of Ohio. An old Scotch
"Cameronian," in Eastern Pennsylvania, became a widower, shortly after
the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. He refused to
acknowledge either the National or State Government, but pronounced them
both unlawful, unrighteous, and ungodly. Soon he began to feel the want
of a wife, to care for his motherless children. The consent of a woman
in his own Church was gained, because to take any other would have been
like an Israelite marrying a daughter of the land of Canaan. On this
point, as in refusing to swear allegiance to Government, he was
controlled by conscience. But now a practical difficulty presented
itself. There was no minister of his Church in th