“’I stand by the record.  Let me forsake it, and I am like Paul’s ship when it was driving up and down in Adria, and neither sun nor stars appeared.  My impulses were not given me as my guide.  They are to be compared with the divine will.  Many questions may be asked which I cannot answer, and many difficulties encompass this subject of slave-holding which I cannot solve.  I abide by the example and teachings of inspired men, and am safe in following them, even if I cannot explain everything connected with their principles and conduct to the satisfaction of others.  I only know that if our masters and servants would take the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to Philemon as the rule of their spirit and life, there would be no such thing as oppression, nor fugitive servants.  Now, as to revolutionizing society to eradicate slavery, I would no more attempt it than I would try to dig down Cadmus to dislodge yonder snow and ice upon his top.  The sun will in due time melt them and pour them into the Lycus and the Moeander.  So the Gospel, when it has free course, will dissolve every chain, break every yoke, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.’

* * * * *

“Philemon was now the first to rise.

“’I am the master to whom Paul the Apostle sends back my fugitive servant.  This man, Onesimus, is my brother in Christ; in heaven, it may be, I shall see him far above me as a faithful servant of our common Lord.  He has given a proof of obedience to the Gospel, of submission, of patience and long suffering, of implicit compliance with the rules of Christ, which excite my Christian emulation.  My endeavor shall be to imitate Onesimus as he has imitated Christ, and to surpass him in likeness to that Lord who is meek and lowly in heart.  The bonds which hold Onesimus to me are no stronger than those which bind me to him.  (Great sensation and much emotion.) Can I ever treat this servant in an unfeeling manner?  Can I recklessly sell him?  Can I deprive him of comforts?  Can I fail to provide for his highest happiness?  God do so to me and more also, if I prove deficient in these particulars.

“’Let me ask, What would be the state of things among us if the benign influences of Christian love pervaded every case of slave-holding as, by the grace of God, I hope it will in my case?  We must have a serving class; our customs and laws ordain the relationship of involuntary servitude, property in the services of others, by purchase of their persons.  While this is so, suppose that every servant is an Onesimus and every master such as I ought to be, under the influence of the Apostle Paul’s directions!  It is plain that in no way can we better promote the spiritual and eternal good of certain men, as the times are, than by standing in the relation of Christian masters to them.  This is the great thing with Paul.  We can mitigate the sorrows of their bondage; we can compensate for the appointments of providence reducing them to slavery, by making them the freemen of Christ.  While this state of things continues, it may be a blessing to both parties.  God will open a way for any change which he decrees in our social relation, in his own time and manner.