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Title: Prayer for the oppressed
A premium tract
Author: James A. Thome
Release Date: May 5, 2023 [eBook #70704]
Language: English
Produced by: Bob Taylor, hekula03 and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRAYER FOR THE
OPPRESSED ***
Transcriber’s Note
Italic text displayed as: _italic_
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=No. 38.=
PRAYER
FOR THE OPPRESSED.
A PREMIUM TRACT.
BY
REV. JAMES A. THOME,
CLEVELAND, OHIO.
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
BOSTON.
SLAVERY UNCHRISTIAN.
There is a deep and growing conviction in the minds of the mass of
mankind, that slavery violates the great laws of our nature; that
it is contrary to the dictates of humanity; that it is essentially
unjust, oppressive, and cruel; that it invades the rights of liberty
with which the Author of our being has endowed all human beings;
and that in all the forms in which it has ever existed, it has been
impossible to guard it from what its friends and advocates would call
_abuses_ of the system. It is a violation of the first sentiments
expressed in our Declaration of Independence, and on which our
fathers founded the vindication of their own conduct in an appeal to
arms. It is at war with all that a man claims for himself, and for
his own children; and it is opposed to all the struggles of mankind,
in all ages, for freedom. The claims of humanity plead against it.
The struggles for freedom every where in our world condemn it. The
instinctive feeling in every man’s own bosom, in regard to himself,
is a condemnation of it. The noblest deeds of valor and of patriotism
in our own land, and in all lands where men have struggled for
freedom, are a condemnation of the system. All that is noble in man
is opposed to it; all that is base, oppressive, and cruel, pleads for
it.
The spirit of the New Testament is against slavery, and the
principles of the New Testament, if fairly applied, would abolish
it. In the New Testament no man is commanded to purchase and own a
slave; no man is commended as adding any thing to the evidences of
his Christian character, or as performing the appropriate duty of
a Christian, for owning one. Nowhere in the New Testament is the
institution referred to as a good one, or as a desirable one. It is
commonly—indeed, it is almost universally—conceded that the proper
application of the principles of the New Testament would abolish
slavery every where, or that in the state of things which will exist
when the Gospel shall be fairly applied to all the relations of life,
slavery will not be found among those relations.
Let slavery be removed from the church, and let the voice of the
church, with one accord, be lifted up in favor of freedom; let the
church be wholly detached from the institution, and let there be
adopted by all its ministers and members an interpretation of the
Bible—as I believe there may be, and ought to be—that shall be in
accordance with the deep-seated principles of our nature in favor
of freedom, and with our own aspirations for liberty, and with the
sentiments of the world in its onward progress in regard to human
rights, and not only would a very material objection against the
Bible be taken away,—and one which would be fatal if it were well
founded,—but the establishment of a very strong argument in favor of
the Bible, as a revelation from God, would be the direct result of
such a position....
There is not vital energy enough; there is not power of numbers and
influence enough out of the church to sustain slavery. Let every
religious denomination in the land detach itself from all connection
with slavery, without saying a word against others; let the time
come when, in all the mighty denominations of Christians, it can
be announced that the evil has ceased with them for ever; and let
the voice from each denomination be lifted up in kind, but firm
and solemn testimony against the system—with no mealy words; with
no attempt at apology; with no wish to blink it; with no effort to
throw the sacred shield of religion over so great an evil—and the
work is done. There is no public sentiment in this land—there could
be none created—that would resist the power of such testimony. There
is no power _out_ of the church that could sustain slavery an hour,
if it were not sustained _in_ it. Not a blow need be struck. Not
an unkind word need be uttered. No man’s motive need be impugned,
no man’s proper rights invaded. All that is needful is, for each
Christian man, and for every Christian church, to stand up in the
sacred majesty of such a solemn testimony, to free themselves from
all connection with the evil, and utter a calm and deliberate voice
to the world, AND THE WORK WILL BE DONE.
REV. ALBERT BARNES.
PRAYER
FOR THE OPPRESSED.
A PREMIUM TRACT.
BY
REV. JAMES A. THOME,
CLEVELAND, OHIO.
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
BOSTON.
CALL FOR A PRIZE TRACT.
The subscriber is authorized to say, that a friend, not wishing his
name should be publicly known, offers $100 to the person who will
write the best tract on the duty and importance of praying for the
abolition of slavery and oppression, especially in our own country,
particularly adapted to interest new converts before their minds
become embarrassed with political and party strife.
The tract is to be entitled, “Prayer for the Oppressed.” The
offerer nominates and requests the gentlemen named below to act as
committee of award, to wit: Rev. Elnathan Davis, Fitchburg, Mass.;
Rev. George Trask, Fitchburg, Mass.; John W. Sullivan, Boston,
Mass.; Charles B. Wilder, Esq., Boston. Mass.; Rev. E. H. Nevin,
Chelsea, Mass.
The tract should not exceed 24 pages of common size when printed,
and should be sent to the committee of award in season to be
examined, and the prize one transmitted to the publication
committee of the A. T. S., Boston, by the 1st of June next.
NOAH EMERSON,
For the offerer of the Prize.
HOLLIS, N. H., January 21, 1859
Last winter, a Christian gentleman, by advertisement in the New
York Independent, offered a premium of $100 for the best tract
which might be submitted on “_Prayer for the Oppressed_.” The
undersigned were nominated and requested to act as a committee
of award in this case, and have received and examined a large
number of manuscripts, many of which were of marked ability and
power; but finding no _one_ of these so fully to answer the call
of the offerer of the prize as to allow them to award the whole of
it to _that_, they have awarded the same in equal divisions, to
the authors of the _two best_ manuscripts, viz.: Rev. GEORGE W.
BASSETT, Washington, D. C., and Rev. JAMES A. THOME, of Cleveland,
Ohio. And they have strong confidence that these tracts will soon
come before the public, and that God will mightily bless them as
an instrumentality in inciting the Church universal to benevolent
action and believing prayer, for the overthrow of slavery and
oppression.
ELNATHAN DAVIS,
EDWIN H. NEVIN,
GEORGE TRASK,
JOHN W. SULLIVAN,
C. B. WILDER.
BOSTON, August, 1859.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by
THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of
Massachusetts.
Geo. C. Rand & Avery, Printers, 3 Cornhill, Boston.
PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED.
Who are the oppressed? Those who suffer wrong from the more powerful.
They are to be found in all conditions of society, in the bosom
even of the family and the church. All relationships which involve
authority are liable to be abused to the infliction of injustice and
outrage.
Who are THE OPPRESSED, distinctively? _The enslaved._ These differ
from all other victims of abused power in this essential point,
that, by the law, they are regarded not as _men_, but _things_, the
property of men. Denied humanity, they are denied all human rights,
and excluded from all human relations. They have under the slave
code as administered, no legal protection; the show of it which the
letter of the law, in some instances, affords, being designed rather
to guard their value as property than their interests as men.[1]
Outcasts in society, they are outlaws in the State.
Overlooking this vital distinction, many persons hold that slavery is
one of the legitimate social relations, and therefore not in itself
a proper subject of censure; while its grievous evils, the result
of the abuse of rightful power, may justly be deplored. But others,
with a closer discrimination, discern that the “chattel principle”
which characterizes slavery is inherently wrong, and that it is the
chief promoter of the spirit of oppression. It is believed that
if slavery were abolished, oppression would thereby be materially
diminished throughout society. Holding this view, the people of God
are earnestly combating the slave system. The moral power of the
church, wielding the pulpit and the press, has been increasingly
arrayed against this stupendous wrong. A more perfect combination
of the forces of Christendom for the overthrow of oppression is
devoutly to be wished. But this will not avail without the power of
God. That power must be invoked,—must be secured. The servants of the
Most High, who would have him honored and his cause promoted by the
extinction of slavery, must cry unto him day and night,—must give him
no rest, till he come and deliver the oppressed. Fully persuaded of
this, we wish to urge—
_The duty and importance of praying for the abolition of slavery and
oppression._
1. The fitness and effectiveness of prayer as a weapon against
slavery claims attention.
It would be powerless in such an extreme case if it were in itself
a feeble instrumentality. But all things are possible to prayer.
What is the scriptural idea of prayer? This; it is the offering to
God of desires which his own Spirit has kindled in the heart, with
importunities which the same Spirit prompts and sustains; it is
also made with humble reliance on the merits of Jesus Christ, and
the prevalence of his intercessions. Prayer, then, is not the work
of man alone; he is but a co-worker with God in this, as in every
other gracious endeavor,—with the Holy Spirit dwelling in his heart
and moving him to pray, and with Jesus the Mediator who presents his
supplications at the Father’s throne. This is the view of prayer
which our Lord discloses in John 15:7, 16, Paul in Rom. 8:26, 27, and
James, also, 5:16; “The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous
man availeth much.” It availeth much, not because it is offered by a
righteous man, but because it is effectually and fervently inwrought
by the Holy Ghost, who dwelleth only with the righteous. The power
of Elijah’s prayer is referred to in the connection, to illustrate
and confirm the statement that all real prayer is mighty. Elijah had
no more power than other good men may have; he had the infirmities
common to the servants of God, but the strength of Jehovah was with
him; that strength was in his prayer; and so it may be,—must be,—in
all prayer.
The power of prayer, then, is God’s own power, exerted by the Spirit
and the Son through the supplications of the righteous, and therefore
it availeth much. Nothing can withstand it, because nothing can
withstand God. The elements of nature yield to its control; the
institutions of men, founded in sin, fall before its cry.
If slavery were beyond the power of prayer, it would be not because
of its strength, but because it is right in the sight of God. And if
it be right, the Spirit will not move the righteous to pray for its
abolition. If God be for it, who can be against it?
Let us then inquire whether this be a proper subject of
prayer?—whether a system of bondage which degrades man into a beast
of burden and of traffic is pleasing or hateful to God? That it
exists, and has endured for ages, is no evidence that it enjoys his
favor. Sin exists, and has prevailed from the beginning. Romanism
flourishes, and has had the ascendency in Christendom for fifteen
centuries. Idolatry reigns, and the kingdom of Satan looks down from
its ancient seats scornfully on the kingdom of Christ. Among the most
dreadful exhibitions of God’s wrath and vengeance have been those in
which he has, with a high hand and an outstretched arm, delivered the
oppressed, and destroyed their oppressors.
Slavery is the foe of Christianity, the enemy of souls, and it
must be hateful to the God of love, who would have all men come to
Christ. It is opposed to the gospel and to every evangelical work, to
the tract, the Bible, the missionary enterprise. It disregards the
spiritual interests of enslaved saints, and of souls perishing in
their sins under its yoke. It is a ruling power in this Christian
country, to the scandal of religion. It rises above other forms of
sin, as the chief perverter of the right ways of the Lord. It hinders
the spread of vital godliness through this land, walling about the
dominions of its chattels and excluding the preacher of the cross.
The Christianity it tolerates within its borders is not that which
declares the whole counsel of God; which cries aloud and spares not,
and shows the people their sins. The religion of America, fraught
with salvation for the nations of the Old World, has been shorn of
much of its power by the encroachments of Southern slavery. Can any
Christian doubt that a system so hostile to the gospel is abhorred of
God? And now, at this moment, the issue is forced upon us, whether
slavery shall exclude the gospel, or be excluded by it. In this
crisis our only help is in God. We must be persuaded that he will
defend his gospel, and humble the slave power.
Note this, that slavery is not one of those organic vices of society
which are to be left to the reformatory influence of Christianity
operating silently upon them, but is rather an _opposing force_ to be
directly and resolutely met, in the name of the Lord. In the advance
of civilization, ignorance is gradually dissipated, but savage
violence is to be encountered at once and subdued. In the school, the
family, the nation, the church, certain evils admit only of indirect
treatment, but others call for decisive, positive measures. Slavery
in a Christian republic preëminently demands direct action, aimed
at its speedy extermination. It may long resist such action, but no
other is pertinent to its nature. When, after the Revival of 1830-33,
the attention of the people of God, especially of the young converts,
was turned to this subject, they proclaimed the truth—Chattel
Slavery is a sin, and immediate emancipation is the duty of the
slaveholder. With this battle cry _the institution_ was attacked by
a host of witnessing warriors clad in the armor of God. That onset
had undoubtedly a divine origin, and the principle that animated it
was a true one, that slavery was to be swept away in righteousness.
And had the entire weight of Christian power sustained the assault,
and had the united energies of the saints in prayer been secured, the
quarter of a century that has passed would probably have witnessed
the downfall of the “peculiar institution.” But many leading minds in
the churches thought it best to let slavery alone, and to leave it
to the slow but sure influences of Christianity, by which it would
be eventually extinguished. Twenty-five years have demonstrated that
this grievous system of oppression is not undermined by the gospel,
nor weakened by revivals. It has made most rapid strides, and is
now far more defiant of religious powers than ever before. Shall
not the teachings of the past suffice to prove that in dealing with
slavery nothing is to be gained by _indirection_? Is it not time
now, after the late gracious revival, to renew and reassert the
declaration—Slavery is sinful, and must be abolished? Let this voice
be raised; let it be echoed by all the churches; and let the saints
carry to the throne of grace, and urge with faith and boldness this
plea,—“Great God! abolish slavery.” This prayer will be acceptable,
and will prevail, if God, as we are sure he does, hates this
stupendous sin.
2. The duty and importance of praying for the abolition of slavery
appears from this—that if prayer does not prevail against slavery,
slavery will disarm prayer of its prevailing power, and reduce it to
an empty form.
It is an accredited maxim that “praying will make us leave off
sinning, and sinning will make us leave off praying.” The reason
is obvious, and the application is plain. If indulging sin in the
heart is inconsistent with cherishing there the spirit of prayer,
the allowing of any prevalent sin in society, on the ground that it
is beyond the power of prayer, is equally inconsistent. For this is
to admit that its removal is impossible with God. The alternative is
forced upon us,—either slavery must be overcome by prayer, or prayer
be foiled by slavery. These two powers now stand opposed to each
other.
This is providential, and fraught with vital consequences; as when
Goliah and David met. Slavery is to test the strength of prayer,
the faith of Christians. Which shall prevail? Is the Slave Power
too strong for prayer, or have the saints such faith and argument
touching this thing, that they may ask what they will, and it shall
be done? It is a first principle of evangelical faith, that, “all
things are possible to them that believe.” If this principle is
yielded, the foundations of prayer are removed. If _any_ thing is
impossible, nothing is possible; faith that fears is dead, and prayer
that quails is powerless. If the servants of the Lord flee before
the formidable front of chattelism, instead of compassing it with
mighty prayer, and dragging it before the Lord to be slain, they will
betray a fearfulness which must preclude all acceptable prayer. The
great God loveth strong intercessors, strong and bold, who “wrestle
not against flesh and blood,”—weak foes; but “against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places,”—“praying always with
all prayer in the Spirit.” The only aristocracy in Christ’s kingdom
is composed of the princes who have power with God and with man, and
all who will believe may wear the title of this order, “Israel.” But
they must believe _only_, “lifting up holy hands without wrath or
doubting.” They must believe only, not mixing fear with faith, nor
trying with trusting; that trying which first scans the magnitude of
a sin, estimates its power, and counts the cost of assailing it. The
faith that prevails in prayer has its sphere above the calculations
of difficulty and danger, where sense fails, and strength staggers.
It is just as easy for believing prayer to take hold of great things
as of small. The little English girl, languishing in her mortal
sickness, when she was told that Bonaparte was preparing to invade
her country, could grasp that national peril in her hourly prayer;
and who will say that the threatened invasion which might have
changed the fate of Great Britain was not averted in answer to that
dying child’s intercessions?
Side by side in the Lord’s Prayer stand the petitions, “Thy kingdom
come; Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven;” and, “Give
us this day our daily bread.” No topics could be more dissimilar in
magnitude, yet God hath joined them together, and the believer passes
easily from the greater to the less. But let the petitioner put these
asunder, and pray for bread alone, as deeming the other too great a
favor to ask for, and his prayer will not prevail. God is honored
by that fearless, resolute faith which says, “Who art thou, O great
mountain? Before the Zerubbabel of prayer thou shalt become a plain!”
This great mountain of slavery is the providential provocative in
our day of the prayer of faith which removes mountains. The aspects
of it which most dishearten man do most arouse against it the spirit
of prayer. “Is any thing too hard for God?” Is slavery too great for
the Almighty? We must either pray against this national sin, or limit
the Holy One to minor evils. We dare not do the latter, we should
fear to pray at all. To every intercessor coming to the mercy seat,
the gracious King says, “What is thy request?” And if, despite the
pressure of the times, no mention is made of the crying wrong of
oppression, he is grieved, and turns away. It is as if queen Esther,
going into the presence of the king, with the fate of her doomed
people claiming her entreaties, had feared to ask so great a favor as
that their doom might be averted, and had only craved for herself a
new chariot, or a larger retinue of servants.
In this view of the subject, it is painful to reflect that the
theme of supplication which for twice ten years God has been urging
upon his people has been so strenuously excluded from the prayer
meeting, the monthly concert, and the sanctuary. Who can say how
provoking this has been to the Hearer of prayer, and how often it
may have rendered the petitions of his saints an abomination unto
him? Had not the Holy Spirit, with more than human forbearance,
borne with the manners of the people, and laid the unwelcome burden
on their hearts, and inwrought fervent desires, impelling many to
pray earnestly for the oppressed, there might by this time have
been little more than the form of prayer in the American Zion. Yes,
prayer for the oppressed has done much to preserve the vitality of
prayer in the churches! This has been its happy reflex influence,
although it has had to struggle against much gainsaying of misguided
brethren. When it shall have prevailed against slavery, and wrought
out the deliverance of them that are in bonds, then will be seen,
as now is not, the irresistible power of prayer. We rejoice in the
assurance that prayer will overcome slavery. We have no fear of the
alternative. We are glad to have this decisive test applied. Let it
be seen in this crisis what the prayer of faith can endure, and what
it can do. It has other trials to overcome, other triumphs to win.
3. The importance of prayer for the abolition of slavery in this
country, is shown from the inefficacy of other means to effect it.
Every other mode of opposition has been vigorously employed. The
first minds of Christendom have written and spoken against this
monster iniquity. Its champions have been forced to acknowledge,
“The literature of the world is against us.” But oppression laughs
at literature,—it defies the rostrum and the press. The moral
influence of the nation has borne against it with a pressure
seemingly irresistible; State and national anti-slavery societies
with the motto, “agitate, agitate, agitate;” mass meetings hurling
the thunders of popular indignation; Christian conventions uttering
the reprobations of religion; notes of warning from dying patriots;
appeals to justice and humanity from honored philanthropists;
remonstrances from the purest divines; the entreating voice of
Christian women;—all these moral forces have borne against slavery.
But it mocks at moral suasion. Political measures have been
tried,—tried in good faith and with the utmost energy. But the Slave
Power, versed in the intrigues of politics, has gained victory
after victory, and grown stronger by this species of opposition.
Providential events have signally fought against slavery. The
successive acts of European powers have swept chattel slavery from
their colonies. Cuba and Brazil, with our own country, alone retain
it. Repeated emancipations by individual slaveholders at the South
have kept alive the anti-slavery feeling. The violent measures which
the slave power has employed to fortify and extend its dominions have
exasperated and alarmed the people of the North. For a quarter of a
century this movement of the people, of the churches, of political
machinery, sustained by favoring providences, has been in progress;
yet slavery in America is mightier to-day than it was at the
beginning of the movement.
Do not these facts show the duty and importance of prayer? We are
prone to try everything else before we resort to wrestling prayer.
We _have_ tried everything else. We have prayed, indeed; but chiefly
to crave God’s blessing on our other measures. _This will not
suffice._ In such a desperate case, prayer must take hold on the
arm of the Lord, and move it to strike the decisive blow. We must
be convinced that only the Lord can break every yoke, and bid the
oppressed go free; and we must realize that he will be inquired
of to do this thing. Not discarding other means, we must give the
preëminence to this. We must pray and faint not. Each believer must
alone intercede for the oppressed. Bands of implorers must join in
heart as touching this thing, and with full agreement and faith
beseech God to abolish slavery. Intent on putting to the proof
this last remedy, let the Christians of America establish concerts
throughout the land, for closet and for social prayer. Let prayer
be accompanied with occasional fasting, in token of humiliation, for
the sin of oppression. This demon can be cast out, but not without
prayer and fasting. Christ is able to rebuke the evil spirit, and
to bid it come out of the nation. His disciples have been trying to
exorcise it, and have failed. Let them take the case to him, and see
if he will not work a deliverance. When he takes it in hand, and
speaks the word, there may indeed be a deadly struggle, and the fell
spirit, ere he departs, may rend the nation and fling it on the verge
of dissolution; but he who is strong to deliver is also mighty to
save. We need not fear the issue. Do not some really dread abolition
more than slavery? The remedy is worse than the disease, they think.
But should Christians distrust the cure which their Redeemer would
effect? Here, perhaps, faith is most tried,—to commit this work of
abolishing slavery to the Lord, and to have him cut short the work in
righteousness. It may be we have been secretly determined to keep off
the dreaded event which we are sure must come at last. They who have
been foremost as abolitionists and immediate emancipationists may
do well to examine themselves on this very point; peradventure they
are not, after all, prepared to see slavery abolished at once! Where
stand the people of God generally touching this issue? Are they ready
to trust the case in his hands? Are they prepared to have every yoke
broken, and to see the oppressed set free? Can they be agreed to pray
for this unconditionally, dictating no terms?
4. That prayer for this object should be made without longer delay,
is proved by the extreme dangers of the continuance of slavery, and
of the strife it occasions.
Do we apprehend the evils of sudden abolition? We had better consider
the perils of prolonging chattel slavery in this land of liberty.
“Oppression maketh the wise man mad.” Only the brutish man will
long endure brutal treatment himself, or tolerate its infliction
upon another. If despotism breeds disaffections, slavery begets
insurrections, as light enters the house of bondage. And the light
is advancing—fearfully. Appalling dangers are just ahead. The mixed
race is rapidly increasing. The hottest blood of the South flows
in the veins of slaves, who are often scarcely distinguishable in
complexion from their oppressors. Abolition deferred may come too
late. Provocations, slight compared with those of slavery, drove
our fathers to rebellion. The worst passions are inflamed by the
atrocities of the chattel system. The revolting scenes of the
inter-State slave trade, the abominations of slave breeding, the
barbarities of the cotton field and rice swamps, the ferocities of
the slave hunt with blood-hounds in the South, and with more savage
men in the free States, the imprisonments and lynchings of Northern
men found in the slave States and suspected of holding abolition
sentiments, the many collisions between slavery and freedom, which
have in some instances proceeded to bloodshed and death, have
caused much irritation and deep indignation throughout the country.
Freemen are exasperated; good people are aroused; the moral sense
of the nation is shocked and tried to the utmost. The sentiments of
patriotism, devotion to the Union, and respect for federal law, are
lowered in the public mind. Faith in free institutions, and hope of
their perpetuity are seriously shaken. Sectional animosities are
rife. The republic is no longer a unit, for the hearts of the people
are sundered. Issues the most radical divide us: freedom and slavery!
There is determination on either side, and strong feeling. There
can be no reconciliation and no respite in this fraternal strife.
Nothing can end it but the removal of slavery. Only this can avert
the evils that now threaten the republic. Emancipation or ruin is
the alternative which the tide of events is forcing on us. It is now
a time of trial, a crisis. The elements are fraught with trouble.
Peacemakers are abroad, but agitators are stronger than they. This
is no time to cry peace. Men behold the oppressions that are done
under the sun, done under “the stars and stripes,” and they are
stirred. There is no leisure for speculation and conjecture. Let no
time be wasted in idle fears, or in useless efforts at pacification.
The conflict must continue; God wills it! Let his people commit the
cause to him. Let them betake themselves to prayer.
And what shall be the burden of their supplications? Shall they pray
for peace, for a calming of the waters, for a putting out of the
fires of freedom which burn against oppression? No, no! Let them pray
_for the abolition of slavery_. Let them not mock God by calling upon
him to stay the work which his providences have so manifestly been
pushing forward. Where are the intercessors who, in God’s light, see
light on this subject, who are prepared to enter into the divine
plans, and who will please the Lord by asking him boldly, in faith,
to put an end to slavery? Where are the wise and discerning men, in
whom is the Spirit of the Lord, who clearly see that this is the only
salvation to all the interests of American liberty? Let them speak
out, and summon the saints to repair without delay to the throne of
grace, in this time of need.
By the several considerations foregoing we would urge the duty and
importance of praying for the _abolition of slavery in America_. We
would lay this solemn duty on the hearts of Christians; we would
earnestly entreat them to stir themselves to take hold on God for
this great blessing to the nation and the world. We would humbly
say,—Brethren, quench not the Spirit, which may now be moving you
to pray, and may be waiting to work in your hearts the fervent and
effectual prayer which, poured forth by the help of his intercessions
and unutterable groanings, will avail much. Make full proof, beloved,
of the power of prayer. A better test there could not be. Let it be
seen that prayer can overcome slavery. Make it manifest that what
the literature, the moral suasion, and the political action of
one generation has not done, the prayers of God’s people can do.
Important interests await this result—the nation rescued from ruin,
Christianity saved from apostasy. Emancipation gained by prayer will
avert emancipation wrought by violence.
Slavery done away in righteousness, oppression in its other forms
will be meliorated and will gradually disappear. The apprentice, the
clerk, the sailor, the soldier, the pupil, the child, the laborer,
the hired girl, the wife, will be more secure from the abuses of
power, when the spirit of oppression, driven from its stronghold, is
shorn of its strength. The abolition of slavery in this country will
go far to drive the spirit of oppression out of Christendom, and to
liberate the nations of Europe.
Such results, rationally to be anticipated, should certainly impel
Christians to pray. The purity, the peace, and the prosperity of
Zion are so implicated, that to pray for the abolition of slavery is
to pray for these. The power of revivals, the success of home and
foreign missions, the operations of tract and Bible societies would
be increased immeasurably by the overthrow of slavery, and by the
augmented strength this victory would practically give to prayer.
The available energies of the American Zion would be multiplied many
fold. The Bible would be vindicated, Christianity would have the
trophies of the triumph, and God would gain great glory.
Oh! then, who among the saints will restrain prayer?—Who will come
not up to the help of the Lord against the mighty? Who will incur
the bitter curse of Meroz? Rather, who will not bear some part in
this faith-struggle at the throne of grace? Who will not share in the
rewards which God will bestow on his people, when he comes to avenge
them speedily by the overthrow of slavery? What praying circle, what
pulpit, what concert or closet, will be found wanting in this crisis?
Prayer for the abolition of slavery involves _prayer for the
oppressed_. Ungodly men may oppose slavery, and yet have little
sympathy for the enslaved; but the Christian can not bear the sin
of slavery to the throne of God without bearing thither the wrongs
and woes of the oppressed. Moralists may condemn chattelism in the
abstract; but they who are moved to pray by the Holy Ghost will
“remember them that are in bonds as bound with them.”
“_Who are the oppressed?_” we asked at the outset, and answered, The
enslaved. Again we ask, Who are the oppressed? Who are these victims
of slavery? Who are they that we should pray for them? We answer:
They are _men_. They belong to the human family. They are of one
blood with ourselves. They have the same rights with us, the same
interests, the same desires, the same wants, the same love of
liberty, the same sense of right and wrong, the same deathless
spirits. The negro in his chains appealingly interrogates us,—“Am
I not a man and a brother?” What can the Christian do but own the
relationship? Is he indeed a man—a brother? Then does not to him the
golden rule apply—“Do unto others as ye would they should do unto
you?” _Can_ we exclude them from our prayers?
They are _innocent_ men. By no hideous crime against humanity have
they forfeited their place in the brotherhood. For no violation
of law have they been consigned to bondage. Against them, rather,
has all law been violated, and every dictate of humanity outraged.
Guilty only of a colored skin, and of inevitable ignorance, they
have been doomed to abject servitude. From birth they have been made
property. In their infancy they knew no mother, but merely a nurse;
in their childhood they had no home; in their maturity they have no
companions, and no children, but merely offspring, like the brutes.
Yet, they are innocent men. Sinners indeed they are before a holy
God, as are all mankind; but they are innocent of _crime_. They
are oppressed without cause. What should hinder the prayers of the
righteous in their behalf?
Many of them are _the children of God_, by regeneration. These are
our brethren in the Lord, one with us in Christian bonds, “fellow
citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” They cry
day and night unto God, and their cry enters into his ear. Our
blessed Saviour would have us pray for and sympathize with these his
little ones, as we love him. He is very pitiful towards them, and
very jealous toward those who slight them. Realize that they are
their Lord’s, that they are not their own, that they can not be the
property of their owners, that they are bought with a price. Regard
the enslaved saints as the Lord’s freemen; that their Master hath
need of them; that they are forbidden to call any man master, on
earth, for one is their Master, even Christ. _Can_ it be the will
of Jesus that his own redeemed saints should be held and treated as
beasts? Will he not be grieved if his followers who are free, pray
not for the freedom of these their brethren in bonds? When Peter was
put in prison in Jerusalem, “prayer was made without ceasing of the
church unto God for him,” and it wrought his deliverance. Let prayer
be now made without ceasing by the church, for the liberation of all
enslaved saints, and enlargement shall surely come. The living God
waits to be importuned by the church for its own members. He waits
to hear the cry of distress from Zion, suffering with her suffering
children.
The unconverted slaves are hopeful subjects of renewing grace
compared with the same number of any class of men. No persons on
earth are more susceptible to gospel influences than the negroes.
What the missionary has labored almost in vain to effect among the
Indians, among the Jews, among the Catholic immigrants in this
country, would, we are confident, be done with large success among
the slaves of the South, if they were emancipated. Strike off the
shackles, and this Ethiopia would stretch forth her hands unto God.
The oppressed are _a great multitude_. _Three millions of souls_ are
crushed and brutalized by slavery. Three millions of souls are robbed
of every human right, and subjected to every abuse and cruelty that
the caprice, lust, or cupidity of the slaveholder may dictate. The
master is wholly irresponsible. The slave plantation is a petty,
absolute despotism. From thousands of fields the blood of the
oppressed crieth to God for vengeance. Millions of groaning, sighing
wretches are appealing to Heaven for mercy. With these groans of the
enslaved will mingle the prayers of the righteous in their behalf;
and no doubt the Lord will hear.
The oppressed are to be regarded as having wants while in their
bondage which God only can supply; but it must be borne in mind that
the their great want is _freedom_. Let this be sought instantly,
importunately. Beware of praying for them as slaves, as if their
condition were unchangeable; this were a grievous insult to God and
to humanity. Pray for the oppressed—that they may go free. Pray
for the oppressors—that they may break every yoke. Pray for the
missionary and the colporter—that they “may open their mouths boldly,
to make known the mystery of the gospel; that therein they may speak
boldly, as they ought to speak.” We may be sure that God will not
suffer the oppressors long to stand between his salvation and the
souls of the oppressed. We may plant our feet on this firm assurance
when we pray,—“The Lord will open a highway for his word.” If he
sends his messengers to the south to preach salvation, he will stand
by them and will give their word success, though their blood flow to
seal their ministry.
Let it not be, O brethren, that our prayer for the oppressed shall be
less fervent because they are not of our own color; lest it should
appear that we have “the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of
glory, with respect of persons.” Were this so, how could the Spirit
of prayer dwell at all in our hearts? It were a crying wrong if
_prejudice_ should restrain prayer for the enslaved. He who has no
pity for the bleeding bondman because he is an African, is not like
the good Samaritan, is not like Christ, who died for all men, is not
like God, with whom is no respect of persons.
And let not our prayers be hindered by fears of what may come after
emancipation. The faith that is adequate to prayer is also able to
commit the results of God’s action to his management. It is to be
feared that some have become discouraged by the growth and ascendency
of the slave power, and have no faith that prayer for the oppressed
will avail. Their trust is in political action, or in the judgments
of a just God, and the vengeance of the oppressed. Be not, beloved,
drawn into this attitude of unbelief and “fearful looking for of
judgment and fiery indignation.” “_Be not afraid_; ONLY BELIEVE.”
What shall be the bearing of the late revival upon slavery? It is a
signal fact that each great awakening in this country, including that
of 1797, has been marked by the arousing of God’s people to the sin
of oppression.
We have already spoken of the influence of the outpouring of God’s
Spirit in 1830-33, as giving rise to the great modern movement in
opposition to slavery. Simultaneously with this, a strong dislike
of it on moral grounds was seizing many minds at the South. Various
demonstrations of this were made by religious bodies; and in some
of the slave States emancipation was seriously meditated and openly
proposed. The writer of this tract, a native of the South and a
member of a slaveholding family, religiously trained to regard
slavery as scriptural, and expecting to be, after the manner of his
father, a church member and a slaveholder for life, was hopefully
numbered among the subjects of the revival of 1830. He consecrated
himself to the work of the ministry. The spirit of prayer was given
him, with yearnings to be holy and to be useful. His eyes were then
opened to the moral condition of the slaves. He saw those of his own
household, though his father was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian
church, living without God, without religious instruction, without
moral restraint; he saw the young slaves, the fruit of promiscuous
concubinage, the playmates of his childhood, and scarcely of a darker
hue, (though happily claiming no blood relationship, as those of
some Southern families do,) growing up in ignorance and vice. Deeply
moved, he cried unto the Lord that he would save their souls. He
daily prayed for those miserable creatures; he nightly bathed his
pillow with tears of pity and distress. But he found no relief; he
saw no ray of hope. He dreamed not then that slavery itself was
wrong, and that its abolition was the only remedy for the ills of
the oppressed. He knew not that many others were moved as he was,
and that it was the Lord who was thus stirring the first impulses
of a mighty movement for the redemption of the enslaved. Just then,
a tract, or pamphlet, sent by some unknown hand from the East,
was taken from the post-office. It was on the safety of immediate
emancipation. The very subject riveted attention by its novelty and
boldness. The tract was read in secret, and read again, and soberly
pondered. Light broke in; new thoughts, new feelings, new hopes were
inspired. In less than one year, (1833,) the writer was a member of
Lane Theological Seminary, and an avowed convert to the new doctrine.
These were some of the fruits of the revival a quarter of a century
ago. They have lasted till now. Opposition to chattel oppression in
this country is in great measure due to that gracious work, and to
the spirit of prayer which has sustained and sanctified it. Surely we
can not doubt that God is in this movement. Another mighty revival
has been enjoyed by our American Zion—the most powerful, perhaps,
of the series. It has been specially characterized by the spirit of
prayer, which has been poured out in large measure, and has wrought
astonishing results.
It is now a momentous question: To what ends shall this renovated
instrumentality of prayer, in the hands of a revived church, and of a
multitude of young converts, who owe their hopes to it, be applied?
Against what forms of sin and evil shall this weapon be wielded?
What embodiment of wrong most invites this species of attack, by
its opposition to everything vital in godliness? Is it not American
slavery? We assuredly gather that it is God’s will there should be a
special and combined effort in prayer, to pull down this stronghold
of iniquity. We have confidence that the Holy Ghost, who has given
the saints a fresh baptism of prayer, will incline them to unite
their supplications against this abomination.
Christian reader! Will you not bear this burden to your closet?
Will you not make the bondman’s wrongs your own? Christian parents!
Will you not mingle with your thanksgivings that your children were
born free, importunate supplications that the curse of slavery
may be removed from every family in the land? Young converts! Ye
who, in answer to prayer, have been liberated from the bonds of
sin, will you not plead with God to deliver the oppressed, and to
abolish slavery? Ministers of Christ! Will you not call upon the
Lord, “praying with all prayer and supplication in the spirit,”
and leading the sacramental host to the throne of grace? Are there
Christian households, and Christian sanctuaries in this land, where
the oppressed have not been habitually remembered in prayer? Are
there disciples who have not sympathized with the sighing bondmen?
Are there “women professing godliness” who have been deaf to the wail
of slave mothers sundered from their babes? Let these things be no
longer, lest the cry of the down-trodden millions call down swift
retributions. May the spirit of grace and of supplications be poured
out upon Zion, until liberty shall be proclaimed throughout all this
land, unto all the inhabitants thereof. So God grant for his Son’s
sake!
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The following is a decision of the Supreme Court of Kentucky.
Kentucky Reports, p. 644. JUDGE SHANNON—“Slaves, although they are
human beings, are, by our laws, placed on the same footing with
living property of the brute creation. However deeply it may be
regretted, or whether it be politic or impolitic, a slave by our code
is not treated as a person, but (_negotium_,) a thing, as he stood in
the civil code of the Roman Empire.”
FROM A SERMON BY REV. E. N. KIRK, D. D.
In addition to the reasons urging to prayer for the extinction of
slavery growing out of the character of the system, and the condition
of the oppressed, there are other reasons derived from its influence
upon the slave owners.
Of these there are three classes: the unwilling master—the willing,
but kind master—and the oppressor.
1. I know of no condition so full of trials as that of the
slave-owner who abhors the relation, but does not see that he can
properly terminate it. That there are many such can not be doubted.
But what a life must a godly man lead who has come to comprehend its
enormous wickedness! What must be his apprehensions of the wrath of
God upon his people, his country! If a man of skeptical views, like
Jefferson, could tremble for his country in remembering that heaven
is just, what must he feel who fully believes that God is ruler among
the nations, and that he hates oppression! How painful must be his
unavailing sympathy for the poor oppressed beings whom he sees around
him! How must his heart be burdened as he observes the demoralizing
influences of slavery on both races; how often must his love of
country be pained with that just contempt which slaveholding in
America excites in every civilized nation under heaven; how painful
must it be to see no relief in any quarter, but, on the contrary,
everything indicating that the system is to be incorporated into the
whole civil and social system of the nation! And to crown all, while
many intelligent persons at the South would gladly abandon slavery,
no man has the courage to utter his sentiments.
This class of slave-owners demands our deepest and most compassionate
sympathy.
2. There is another class who have been taught from infancy by their
parents, teachers, and pastors, that slavery is a divine institution;
they see no wrong in it, and consider all the evils as incidental,
and not as legitimate consequences of the system. They are the most
powerful upholders of it, because they believe it to be right, and
are conscious of no other than kind sentiments towards their slaves.
To such men and their sentiments the oppressor triumphantly appeals
as an evidence that slaveholding is not injurious to character, nor
repulsive to the feelings of good men.
3. Then there is the oppressor—the man in whom slaveholding is a sin
_per se_. He holds his brother as property. He denies to man, for
selfish ends, the rights and prerogatives of manhood. He denies that
the possession of life, liberty and happiness, or the unobstructed
pursuit of them, is the right of every man unconvicted of crime.—But
not to rest in general statements, let us place side by side some
facts, and some passages of the word of God.
The facts are that slavery robs a man of his humanity. He is made
a thing, a chattel, merchandise. The African has no right on earth
but to do the will, and promote the comfort of the Caucasian. He
can not choose his residence, his employer, his work. He can not
receive wages or the fruits of his industry. He can not defend his
wife against insult. He can not protect his children from violence.
He can not live with his family if it does not suit the interests of
another man. He can not educate his children. He can not choose an
employment for them. He can not hope for anything but slavery. He can
not worship God when he pleases. He can not testify in a court of
justice.—Now what does God think of all this? “I hate oppression,” is
his reply. “Remove not the landmarks of the widow,” he says, “their
cry will come before him; their Redeemer is mighty.” “Go to, now, ye
rich men, weep and howl; the hire of the laborers who have reaped
down your fields which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the
cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord
of Sabaoth.” Not a day, not an hour probably passes in which some
oppressed petitioner is not filing his petition in the chancery of
heaven against the slave-owners of our land.
We have probably had more indignation than sympathy for these men.
And yet they are to be pitied. Probably none of us have been as
deeply indignant at the sins of oppressors as Moses was at the
idolatry of his people at the very base of Sinai. And yet when the
Lord threatened to cut off Israel and raise up the promised nation
from him, he prayed thus for them: “Forgive their sin;—and if not,
blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written!”
We can not then have exhausted the duty of prayer for the overthrow
of oppression till our sympathies and intercessions have embraced the
slave-owners as well as the slaves.
And there are peculiar encouragements for seeking the abolition of
slavery by prayer.
1. God’s special readiness to hear prayer when his people are in
straits. Notice the sketches of personal and national history in the
Bible. How many of them are recorded in order to show how ready God
is to deliver his people when in their perplexities they cry unto
him. Jacob, Moses, David, Hezekiah, Mordecai, Nehemiah, the church in
Jerusalem when Peter was in prison. “Now these things were for our
ensamples.”
2. The time of terminating an infliction has come when it has
produced an humble and hearty return to God.
3. The mode of deliverance thus secured will be the best. An end
might be put to slavery by a civil war; but the remedy would be
unspeakably worse than the disease. But suppose the church of God
to take up this matter with an humble, united heart; and before the
world and God become, like Moses, an intercessor, and ready to employ
other means subsequently and subordinately, we can not doubt that
slavery would come to an end; and then observe with what blessed
results:
What glory to God! He will be acknowledged as holy, as gracious, as
powerful, as a hearer of prayer.
What benefits to the slave! Liberty, elevation, knowledge, all social
and civil blessings.
What relief to the master!—from crime, from the consciousness of
wrong-doing, from fear, from a bondage of dependence, unthriftiness,
and numberless vexations.
What blessings to the country! Asperities all softened. North, South,
East and West united in one brotherhood; the nation honored in the
approbation of the world; Freedom a grand reality for all.
What advantage to the cause of Christ! Christians henceforth one;
wounds healed; the way of usefulness unobstructed; the church
hastening with united strength, and with the blessing of God, to the
spiritual conquest of the world!
IS HE NOT MAN?
Is he not _Man_, though knowledge never shed
Her quickening beams on his neglected head?
Is he not _Man_, though sweet religion’s voice
Ne’er made the mourner in his God rejoice?
Is he not _Man_, by sin and suffering tried?
Is he not _Man_ for whom the Saviour died?
Belie the Negro’s powers! in headlong will,
Christian, _thy_ brother thou shalt prove him still.
Belie his virtues! since his wrongs began,
His follies and his crimes have stampt him Man.
Montgomery’s West Indies.
WRONG OF SLAVERY.
My ear is pained,
My soul is sick, with every day’s report
Of wrong and outrage, with which earth is filled.
There is no flesh in man’s obdurate heart;
It does not feel for man; the natural bond
Of brotherhood is severed as the flax
That falls asunder at the touch of fire.
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin
Not colored like his own; and having power
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause,
Dooms and devotes him as a lawful prey.
I would not have a slave to till my ground,
To carry me, to fan me while I sleep,
And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth
That sinews bought and sold, have ever earned.
No; dear as freedom is, and in my heart’s
Just estimation prized above all price,
I had much rather be myself the slave,
And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him.
Cowper’s Task.
No. 42.
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