“’Now, where in all his teachings has he ever intimated that it is wrong to hold property in man?  Nowhere; I repeat it, nowhere.  But is he ignorant of the nature of slavery?  We all know what has lately happened at Rome, in connection with slavery.  The very year that Paul arrives at Rome, the prefect of the city, Pedanius Secundus, was murdered by his slave; and agreeably to the laws of slavery all the slaves belonging to the prefect, a great number, women and children among them, were put to death indiscriminately, though innocent of the crime.[A] Such is slavery under the Apostle’s eye; and yet’—­

   [Footnote A:  Tacitus, Annals, xiv. 42.—­A thrilling tale.  See
   Bohn’s Classical Library, 53.]

“‘And, therefore,’ interrupted the Laodicean brother, ’the Apostle approves of murdering innocent slaves for the sin of one.  That is the conclusion to which your reasoning will bring us.’

“’Excusing the brother for interrupting me, I ask, Is that agreeable to the plain facts in the case?’ said the speaker.  ’Are the abuses of parentage chargeable upon the relationship of parent and child?  Moreover, does not the Apostle expressly teach us, in this Epistle, that such things are wrong? but still, does he condemn the relation of master and slave?

“’The tale of that horrid butchery was present to the mind of the Apostle when he sends Onesimus back into slavery.  Moreover, he knew that by our laws Philemon could put Onesimus to death; yet he sends him back.

“’It is said by my brother that Paul enunciated principles which in time would kill slavery, and therefore he did not care to denounce it, but prudently let it alone.  What else, I inquire, did Paul fail to denounce? and why is this “enormous wrong,” this “stupendous injustice,” alone, left to die, without being attacked?  No, Paul treated slavery as he did all other forms of government; he did not denounce government, not even its despotic forms; for he knew that a despotism may be the best form of government in some circumstances.  But he spoke against the abuse of power by rulers, and in the same way he speaks against the abuse of power by the master.

“’My brother tells us that slavery is “the sum of all villanies.”  A comprehensive term, truly.  Let us admit the correctness of the phrase.  “All villanies” includes all “the works of the flesh,” and the Apostle enumerates the principal of them, where he says, “Now the works of the flesh are these;”—­concluding his account with the expression, “and such like.”  With unsparing denunciation, he portrays each and every “villany,” and shows how the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against it.

“’But while he is thus bold and faithful with regard to “all villanies” in particular, we cannot but think it strange that a thing which is said to be the “sum” of them all, is nowhere spoken against by the Apostle!  On the contrary, he recognizes the duties which grow out of slave-holding.