ness of the human race was the object of his coming;
and is it possible that the large portion of them then slaves could have
escaped his all-seeing eye! Did he condemn the institution which he had
made? Did he establish universal freedom? Oh! no; he came to redeem the
world from the power of sin; his was no earthly mission; he did not
interfere with the organization of society. He healed the sick servant of
the centurion, but he did not command his freedom; nor is there a word that
fell from his sacred lips that could be construed into a condemnation of
that institution which had existed from the early ages of the world,
existed then, and is continued now. The application made by the
Abolitionist of the golden rule is absurd: it might then apply to the
child, who _would have_ his father no longer control him; to the
apprentice, who _would_ no longer that the man to whom he is bound should
have a right to direct him. Thus the foundations of society would be
shaken, nay, destroyed. Christ would have us deal with others, not as they
desire, but as the law of God demands: in the condition of life in which we
have been placed, we must do what we conscientiously believe to be our duty
to our fellow-men.

Christ alludes to slavery, but does not forbid it. "And the servant abideth
not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever. If the Son therefore
shall make you free, you are free indeed."

In these two verses of the Gospel of St. John, there is a manifest allusion
to the fact and condition of slaves. Of this fact the Saviour took
occasion, to illustrate, by way of similitude, the condition of a wicked
man, who is the slave of sin, and to show that as a son who was the heir in
a house _could_ set a bondman free, if that son were of the proper age, so
he, the Son of God, could set the enslaved soul free from sin, when he
would be "free indeed." Show me in the history of the Old Testament, or in
the life of Christ, authority to proclaim _as a sin_ the holding of the
race of Ham and Canaan in bondage.

In the times of the apostles, what do we see? Slaves are still in bondage,
the children of Ham are menials as they were before. Christ had come, had
died, had ascended to heaven, and slavery still existed. Had the apostles
authority to do it away? Had Christ left it to them to carry out, in this
instance, his revealed will?

"Art thou," said Paul, "called being a slave? care not for it; but if thou
mayest be made free, use