“‘I put it to the brother,’ said the Laodicean, ’whether he himself would not flee to Rome, were he a single man, if he should be made a slave to that monster in human shape, Osander of Hieropolis?’

“‘I cannot say,’ replied the Colossian, ’what my temptations might be, nor how well I should resist them; but slavery being incorporated into the government, and I being, in the providence of God, sold into bondage to Osander,—­I being either the child of a slave, or one of those who are called “lawful captives,”—­my race, or my capture in war, or my indebtedness, or my crimes, subjecting me to bondage according to the constitution of government, I ought to consider my slavery as the mode which God had chosen for me to glorify him,—­by my spirit and temper, by my words and conduct, by my Christian example in everything, for the good of Osander’s soul, and the honor of religion.  I believe that I should please God more by staying to suffer, and even to die, than to run away.  I doubt even the expediency of running away, as a general rule.  It implies a want of faith.  He is the Christian hero who stays where God has manifestly placed him.

“‘I know,’ continued he, ’how easy it is to make this appear ridiculous; and also how often cases occur in which flight, and even the taking of life, are proper, under extreme hardships.  It is frequently the case that a servant sees and feels his mental superiority to the man who owns him.  Now one may be so disgusted, and be so constantly vexed and chafed at this, as to make out a strong case for escaping; another, in the same circumstances, will feel that God has placed him in charge of his master’s soul, to please him well in all things though he be “froward.”  Whether is better, to run off or to “abide”?  There can be no doubt how the Apostle would answer the question.  Exceptional cases of extreme distress do not make a rule; the rule is for each one to “abide” in the calling in which he is called of God.  See what perfect insubordination would everywhere follow if every one who is oppressed, or believes himself to be oppressed, should flee:  children would desert their parents; husbands and wives would flee from each other, at any supposed or real grievance.  This is not the Christian rule.  Patience and all long-suffering, obedience, endurance, committing one’s self to him that judgeth righteously, is the temper and spirit of the Gospel.  This is the tone-note of the Sermon on the Mount.  At the same time, who blames or judges harshly a man in peril of his life if, in self-defence, he flees?  I say that Paul would probably judge every fugitive slave case by itself.  One thing is clear:  It is not his rule to help a fugitive from slavery in his flight, as a matter of course.  His rule is evidently the reverse of this.  I cannot argue with regard to the exceptions.  They generally provide each for itself.  The New Testament rule is for slaves not to run away; and for us, and for all men, not to encourage them to do so; but to encourage them to return, and to deal with the masters on such principles, and in such a fraternal, affectionate way, that the appeals to their Christian sensibilities may permanently affect their consciences and hearts.