me, without the least intention of being
discourteous. I mean no offence, and I hope I shall give none.

Mr. Henson says he is dealing in a brief compass with a big subject, but
"the outlines are clear, and may be perceived very readily by any honest
man of moderate intelligence." Well, whether it is that I am not an
honest man, or that I possess immoderate intelligence, I certainly
do not see the outlines of the subject as Mr. Henson sees them. The
relation of Christianity to slavery is an historical question, and Mr.
Henson treats it as though it were one of dialectics. However, I suppose
I had better follow him, and show that he is wrong even on his own
ground.

Mr. Henson undertakes to prove three things. (1) That slavery is flatly
opposed to the teaching of the New Testament. (2) That the abolition
of slavery in Europe was mainly owing to Christianity. (3) That at this
present time Christianity is steadily working against slavery all over
the world.

Before I discuss the first proposition I must ask why the _Old_
Testament is left out of account. Mr. Henson relegates it to a footnote,
and there he declares "once for all, that the Mosaic Law has nothing to
do with the question." But Mr. Henson's "once for all" has not the force
of a Papal decree. It is simply a bit of rhetorical emphasis, like a
flourish to a signature. Does he mean to say that the author of the
Mosaic Law was not the same God who speaks to us in the New Testament?
If it was the same God, "the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever," the
Mosaic Law has very much to do with the question; unless--and this is
a vital point--Jesus distinctly abrogates it in any respect. He _did_
distinctly abrogate the _lex talionis_, an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth; but he left the laws of slavery exactly as he found them,
and in this he was followed by Peter and Paul, and by all the Fathers of
the Church.

Mr. Henson tells us that "the Jews were a barbarous race, and slavery
was necessary to that stage of development," and that "the Law of Moses
moderated the worst features of slavery." The second statement cannot
be discussed, for we do not know what was the condition of slavery among
the Jews before the so-called Mosaic Law (centuries after Moses) came
into vogue. The first statement, however, is perfectly true; the Jews
_were_ barbarous, and slavery among them was inevitable. But that is
speaking _humanly_. What is the use of God's interference if he d