olders and
slaves, and the slavery of the Roman empire, in which the early churches
were planted, corresponded with that of Virginia, and where it differed,
it was worse. The relation of master and servant is placed by the
apostles upon the same footing as that of parent and child, and of
husband and wife.[528:A] It is enjoined upon servants to be obedient to
their masters, whether "good and gentle, or froward." Christian servants
were commanded to obey their masters, whether heathens or believers; and
Christians, to withdraw themselves from any, who, rejecting divine
authority, should teach a contrary doctrine.[528:B]

In the New Testament no censure is cast upon the institution of
slavery, no master is denounced for holding slaves, nor advised to
emancipate them. The evils incidental to the relation of master and
slave are, in kind, like those incidental to the other domestic
relations, and do not render the one unlawful or sinful any more than
the others. The evils of slavery are not in the relation, but in the
parties to it; therefore the abolition of the relation (the whites and
the blacks still continuing together) would not extinguish the evils,
but only change them, and a new relation would be substituted, fraught
with still greater evils. The two races, separated by a barrier of
natural incompatibility, cannot coalesce, nor can they coexist on equal
terms.

The evils connected with slavery are, like others, to be remedied by the
reforming influence of Christianity. Slavery originated in a curse, but
out of it Providence has mysteriously educed a blessing, as from
poisonous flowers honey is extracted by the bee.[529:A]

The religious instruction of the slaves in Virginia was, with some
honorable exceptions, too generally neglected by the ministers of the
established church. The churches afforded but little room or
accommodation for the negroes, and the difficulties in the way of
imparting instruction to them were no doubt great, yet by no means
insuperable. The Rev. Samuel Davies appears to have labored more
successfully for their benefit than any other minister in Virginia,
either before his time or since. The Rev. Mr. Wright, co-operating with
him in this work, established Sunday-schools, for the instruction of
negroes, in the County of Cumberland, in the year 1756.[529:B]

FOOTNOTES:

[527:A] Anderson's Hist. of Church of England in the Colonies, second
ed., iii. 159.

[528:A] Ephesians, vi.; Coloss