It was decreed by one of the ancient councils of the church,—­“if any teach, that by virtue of religion or Christian instruction, that the slave may despise his master, or may withhold his service, let him be anathema,” viz., let him be accursed of God, and separated or excommunicated from the church of Christ.  Let the church have no fellowship, union, or communion with him, and let him be an off-cast from society.

Mark the above, reader!  It is the language of the apostle Paul, and the voice of the primitive church of Christ with reference to abolitionism.  I have said nothing worse—­I have not said more—­I shall not say less.  It is God’s truth; harsh and severe as it may appear to some of you.  And to abolitionists, I have only to say in conclusion, poor deluded souls, I sincerely pity you.  Bow your heads with shame and grief—­it may be, the Lord will have mercy upon you.

CHAPTER XI.

I am not yet done with the obligations of masters to their slaves.  I cannot hastily dismiss the subject.  In it I feel an intense interest.  Bear with me, my beloved friends and fellow citizens of the South.  For I assure you, that if I know anything of my own heart, I am prompted to write by the best of motives and the kindest of feelings.  To many of you I am personally known; and I flatter myself, that those who know me best, will not suspect me of improper motives or feelings.  I have for you the highest respect, and for you I entertain the kindest feelings.  I long resided in your midst, and was treated with kindness by you, in all the relations of life, whether private or public; and I feel myself bound to you by ties of gratitude, which neither time nor space can separate; by all those tender and endearing associations and relations in life, which must necessarily grow out of a long residence in the midst of a generous, humane and hospitable people.  My regard and solicitude for my Southern friends is now a thousand fold greater than at any previous period of my life.  And my anxiety for your peace, happiness, and permanent prosperity, becomes more and more ardent.  But I must come directly to the point under investigation.

Masters, I conceive, are under obligations to act with reference to the comfort and happiness of their slaves; and not solely with a view to their own pecuniary interests.  If they fail to provide for their slaves comfortable houses, clothing suited to their various wants, and adapted to the varying and changeable seasons of the year, together with a supply of wholesome and nutritious food, they violate the commands of God.  Their own interests, as well as duty, demand it at their hands.  I do not contend that the master is bound to furnish the slave with clothing of the same material with which he clothes himself; nor do I contend, that in all cases, he is bound to provide for him the precise articles of food, on which he himself subsists.  The occupations of the master and the slave may be different; and supposing that they are engaged in the same occupation, their feelings, views, appetites and propensities differ.  In other words, their wants differ.  Hence, what would conduce to comfort in the case of the slave, would not, at all times, suffice for the master’s happiness and comfort.