f the earth,
infusing hope, life and animation into all around him; and his words,
yea, his commands, should descend as the gentle and genial showers on
a parched and thirsty soil, and not in torrents of wrath, anger and
indignation. Anger, clamor and strife should be banished from his
household. His commands should be mild but firm; and unconditional
submission and prompt obedience should be strictly enjoined on his
children, dependants and slaves. Beloved by all, he would then move in
the midst of his family with that dignity and grace which becometh the
true Christian gentleman. Beloved, respected and venerated by every
member of his family, he would find it no difficult task to enforce
obedience, and thus to govern them according to the requisitions of
God's word.

Masters, I conceive, by pursuing the course indicated in the preceding
pages, would discharge their duty to their slaves, and stand guiltless
in the sight of God. The condition of the slaves would be ameliorated;
their minds expanded and their manners improved; and thus, at some
future period, if in the providence of God it should be their happy
lot to attain the rights of freemen, then would they be qualified to
appreciate the blessings of freedom, and not sink again into their
original barbarism. Thus would they, as freemen, be competent to
exercise the rights and privileges of free citizens; and, while rising
in the scale of nations, they would point to our government as their
great benefactor, who raised them from the lowest depths of savage
barbarism and brutality, and conferred on them light, liberty and
science, and inducted them into the doctrines of the Christian
religion. Then would they view our nation as their great donor, from
whom they received light, science and religion, and not as their
oppressor.

It is incumbent on me to state, in conclusion, that the clergy of the
slave States have done all that was practicable, under the
circumstances, to confer on the slaves the benefits and advantages of
religious instruction. I doubt whether the poorer class of people,
white or black, have had superior religious advantages in any part of
Christendom, at least so far as it relates to the preaching of the
gospel, and the ordinances of the church. The clergy of the different
denominations have been untiring in their efforts to Christianize the
African population. And it is a little remarkable that, in many
instances, irreligious men,--men who make