In answering objections of masters to allowing the religious
instruction of the negroes, he supposes the following objection,
and gives the following answer:--
If we suffer our negroes to be instructed, the tendency will be to change the
civil relations of society as now constituted.
To which let it be replied, that we separate entirely their religious and their
civil condition, and contend that the one may be attended to without interfering
with the other. Our principle is that laid down by the holy and just One:
“Render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's, and unto God the things
which are God's.” And Christ and his apostles are our example. Did they
deem it proper and consistent with the good order of society to preach the gospel
to the servants? They did. In discharge of this duty did they interfere with
their civil condition? They did not.
With regard to the description of heaven, and the torments of
hell, the following is from Mr. Jones's catechism, pp. 83, 91,
92:--
Q. Are there two places only spoken of in the Bible to which the souls of men
go after death?--A. Only two.
Q. What are they?--A. Heaven and hell.
* * * * * * *
Q. After the Judgment is over, into what place do the righteous go?--A. Into
heaven.
Q. What kind of a place is heaven?--A. A most glorious and happy place.
* * * * * * *
Q. Shall the righteous in heaven have any more hunger, or thirst, or naked-
ness, or heat, or cold? Shall they have any more sin, or sorrow, or crying, or
pain, or death?--A. No.
Q. Repeat “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”--A. “And
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death
neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain; for the former
things are passed away.”
Q. Will heaven be their everlasting home?--A. Yes.
Q. And shall the righteous grow in knowledge, and holiness, and happiness for
ever and ever?--A. Yes.
Q. To what place should we wish and strive to go, more than to all other
places?--A. Heaven.
* * * * * *
Q. Into what place are the wicked to be cast?--A. Into hell.
Q. Repeat “The wicked shall be turned.”--A. “The wicked shall be turned
into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
Q. What kind of a place is hell?--A. A place of dreadful torments.
Q. What does it burn with?--A. Everlasting fire.
Q. Who are cast into hell besides wicked men?--A. The devil and his angels.
Q. What will the torments of hell make the wicked do?--A. Weep, and wail,
and gnash their teeth.
Q. What did the rich man beg for when he was tormented in the flame?--A.
A drop of cold water to cool his tongue.
Q. Will the wicked have any good thing in hell? the least comfort? the least
relief from torment?--A. No.
Q. Will they ever come out of hell?--A. No, never.
Q. Can any go from heaven to hell, or from hell to heaven?--A. No.
Q. What is fixed between heaven and hell?--A. A great gulf.
Q. What is the punishment of the wicked in hell called?--A. Everlasting
punishment.
Q. Will this punishment make them better?--A. No.
Q. Repeat “It is a fearful thing.”--A. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God.”
Q. What is God said to be to the wicked?--A. A consuming fire.
Q. What place should we strive to escape from above all others?--A. Hell.
The Rev. Alex. Glennie, rector of All-saints parish, Waccamaw,
South Carolina, has for several years been in the habit of preach-
ing with express reference to slaves. In 1844 he published in
Charleston a selection of these sermons, under the title of
“Sermons preached on Plantations to Congregations of Negroes.”
This book contains twenty-six sermons; and in twenty-two of
them there is either a more or less extended account, or a refer-
ence to eternal misery in hell as a motive to duty. He thus
describes the day of judgment (Sermon 15, p. 90):--
When all people shall be gathered before him, “He shall separate them, one
from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and he shall set
the sheep on the right hand, but the goats on the left.” That, my brethren, will be
an awful time, when this separation shall be going on; when the holy angels, at
the command of the Great Judge, shall be gathering together all the obedient fol-
lowers of Christ, and be setting them on the right hand of the judgment-seat, and
shall place all the remainder on the left. Remember that each of you must be
present; remember that the Great Judge can make no mistake; and that you
shall be placed on one side or on the other, according as in this world you have
believed in and obeyed him or not. How full of joy and thanksgiving will you be,
if you shall find yourself placed on the right hand! but how full of misery and
despair, if the left shall be appointed as your portion!
* * * * * * *
But what shall he say to the wicked on the left hand? To them he shall say,
“Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels.” He will tell them to depart; they did not, while here, seek him by re-
pentance and faith; they did not obey him, and now he will drive them from him.
He will call them cursed.
(Sermon 1, p. 42.) The death which is the wages of sin is this everlasting fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. It is a fire which shall last for ever; and
the devil and his angels, and all people who will not love and serve God, shall there
be punished for ever. The Bible says, “The smoke of their torment ascendeth up
for ever and ever.” The fire is not quenched, it never goes out, “their worm dieth
not;” their punishment is spoken of as a worm always feeding upon but never
consuming them; it never can stop.
Concerning the absolute authority of the master, take the fol-
lowing extract from Bishop Meade's sermon. (Brooke's Slavery,
pp. 30, 31, 32.)
Having thus shown you the chief duties you owe to your great Master in heaven,
I now come to lay before you the duties you owe to your masters and mistresses
here upon earth; and for this you have one general rule that you ought always to
carry in your minds, and that is, to do all service for them as if you did it for God
himself. Poor creatures! you little consider, when you are idle and neglectful of
your masters' business, when you steal and waste and hurt any of their substance,
when you are saucy and impudent, when you are telling them lies and deceiving
them, or when you prove stubborn and sullen and will not do the work you are
set about without stripes and vexation--you do not consider, I say, that what faults
you are guilty of towards your masters and mistresses are faults done against God
himself, who hath set your masters and mistresses over you in his own stead, and
expects that you will do for them just as you would do for him. And pray do not
think that I want to deceive you when I tell you that your masters and mistresses
are God's overseers, and that, if y
ou are faulty towards them, God himself will
punish you severely for it in the next world, unless you repent of it, and strive to
make amends by your faithfulness and diligence for the time to come; for God
himself hath declared the same.
Now, from this general rule--namely, that you are to do all service for your
masters and mistresses as if you did it for God himself--there arise several other
rules of duty towards your masters and mistresses, which I shall endeavour to lay
out in order before you.
And, in the first place, you are to be obedient and subject to your masters in all
things.... And Christian ministers are commanded to “exhort servants to
be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things, not
answering them again, or gainsaying.” You see how strictly God requires this of
you, that whatever your masters and mistresses order you to do, you must set
about it immediately, and faithfully perform it, without any disputing or grum-
bling, and take care to please them well in all things. And for your encourage-
ment he tells you that he will reward you for it in heaven; because, while you are
honestly and faithfully doing your master's business here, you are serving your
Lord and Master in heaven. You see also that you are not to take any excep-
tions to the behaviour of your masters and mistresses; and that you are to be
subject and obedient, not only to such as are good, and gentle, and mild towards
you, but also to such as may be froward, peevish, and hard. For you are not at
liberty to choose your own masters; but into whatever hands God hath been
pleased to put you, you must do your duty, and God will reward you for it.
* * * * *
You are to be faithful and honest to your masters and mistresses, not purloining
or wasting their goods or substance, but showing all good fidelity in all things.
... Do not your masters, under God, provide for you? And how shall they be
able to do this, to feed and to clothe you, unless you take honest care of everything
that belongs to them? Remember that God requires this of you; and, if you are
not afraid of suffering for it here, you cannot escape the vengeance of Almighty
God, who will judge between you and your masters, and make you pay severely in
the next world for all the injustice you do them here. And though you could
manage so cunningly as to escape the eyes and hands of man, yet think what a
dreadful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God, who is able to cast
both soul and body into hell!
You are to serve your masters with cheerfulness, reverence, and humility. You
are to do your masters' service with good will, doing it as the will of God from the
heart, without any sauciness or answering again. How many of you do things
quite otherwise, and, instead of going about your work with a good will and a
good heart, dispute and grumble, give saucy answers, and behave in a surly manner!
There is something so becoming and engaging in a modest, cheerful, good-natured
behaviour, that a little work done in that manner seems better done, and gives far
more satisfaction, than a great deal more, that must be done with fretting, vexation,
and the lash always held over you. It also gains the good will and love of those
you belong to, and makes your own life pass with more case and pleasure. Besides,
you are to consider that this grumbling and ill-will does not affect your masters
and mistresses only. They have ways and means in their hands of forcing you to
do your work, whether you are willing or not. But your murmuring and grumbling
is against God, who hath placed you in that service, who will punish you severely
in the next world for despising his commands.
A very awful query here occurs to the mind. If the poor,
ignorant slave, who wastes his master's temporal goods to
answer some of his own present purposes, be exposed to this
heavy retribution, what will become of those educated men who,
for their temporal convenience, make and hold in force laws
which rob generation after generation of men, not only of their
daily earnings, but of all their rights and privileges as immortal
beings?
The Rev. Mr. Glennie, in one of his sermons, as quoted by
Mr. Bowditch, page 137, assures his hearers that none of them
will be able to say, in the day of judgment, “I had no way of
hearing about my God and Saviour.”
Bishop Meade, as quoted by Brooke, pp. 34, 35, thus expa-
tiates to slaves on the advantages of their condition. One would
really think, from reading this account, that everyone ought to
make haste and get himself sold into slavery, as the nearest road
to heaven.
Take care that you do not fret or murmur, grumble or repine, at your condition;
for this will not only make your life uneasy, but will greatly offend Almighty God.
Consider that it is not yourselves, it is not the people that you belong to, it is not
the men that have brought you to it, but it is the will of God, who hath, by his
providence, made you servants, because, no doubt, he knew that condition would be
best for you in this world, and help you the better towards heaven, if you would
but do your duty in it. So that any discontent at your not being free, or rich, or
great, as you see some others, is quarrelling with your heavenly Muster, and finding
fault with God himself, who hath made you what you are, and hath promised you
as large a share in the kingdom of heaven as the greatest man alive, if you will
but behave yourself aright, and do the business he hath set you about in this
world honestly and cheerfully. Riches and power have proved the ruin of many
an unhappy soul, by drawing away the heart and affections from God, and fixing
them on mean and sinful enjoyments; so that when God, who knows our hearts
better than we know them ourselves, sees that they would be hurtful to us, and
therefore keeps them from us, it is the greatest merey and kindness he could
show us.
You may, perhaps, fancy that, if you had riches and freedom, you could do your
duty to God and man with greater pleasure than you can now. But pray con-
sider that, if you can but save your souls through the mercy of God, you will have
spent your time to the best of purposes in this world; and he that at last can get
to heaven has performed a noble journey, let the road be ever so rugged and
difficult. Besides, you really have a great advantage over most white people, who
have not only the care of their daily labour upon their hands, but the care of
looking forward and providing necessaries for to-morrow and next day, and of
clothing and bringing up their children, and of getting food and raiment for as
many of you as belong to their families, which often puts them to great difficulties,
and distracts their minds so as to break their rest, and take off their thoughts from
the affairs of another world. Whereas, you are quite eased from all these cares,
and have nothing but your daily labour to look after, and, when that is done, take
your needful rest. Neither is it necessary for you to think of laying up anything
against old age, as white people are obliged to do; for the laws of the country
have provided that you shall not be turned off when you are past labour, but shall
be maintained, while you live, by those you belong to, whether you are able to
work or not.
Bishop Meade further consoles slaves thus for certain incidents
of their lot, for which they may think they have more reason
to find fault than for most others. The reader must admit that
he takes a very philosophical view of the subject.
There is only one circumstance which may appear grievous, that I shall now take
notice of, and that is correction.
Now, when correction is given you, you either deserve it or you do not deserve
it; but whether you really deserve it or not, it is your duty, and Almighty God
requires, that you bear it patiently. You may, perhaps, think that this is hard doc-
trine; but if you consider it right, you must needs think otherwise of it. Suppose,
then, that you deserve correction, you cannot but say that it is just and right you
should meet with it. Suppose you do not, or at least you do not deserve so much,
or so severe a correction, for the fault you have committed, you perhaps have
escaped a great many more, and at last paid for all. Or, suppose you are quite
innocent of what is laid to your charge, and suffer wrongfully in that particular
thing; is it not possible you may have done some other bad thing which was never
discovered, and that Almighty God, who saw you doing it, would not let you escape
without punishment one time or another? And ought you not in such a case
to give glory to Him, and be thankful that He would rather punish you in this life
for your wickedness than destroy your souls for it in the next life? But suppose
even this was not the case (a case hardly to be imagined), and that you have by no
means, known or unknown, deserved the correction you suffered; there is this
great comfort in it, that if you bear it patiently, and leave your cause in the hands
of God, he will reward you for it in heaven, and the punishment you suffer unjustly
here shall turn to your exceeding great glory hereafter.
That Bishop Meade has no high opinion of the present com-
forts of a life of slavery, may be fairly inferred from the following
remarks which he makes to slaves:--
Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin Page 81