condemn the institution which he had made?  Did he establish universal freedom?  Oh! no; he came to redeem the world from the power of sin; his was no earthly mission; he did not interfere with the organization of society.  He healed the sick servant of the centurion, but he did not command his freedom; nor is there a word that fell from his sacred lips that could be construed into a condemnation of that institution which had existed from the early ages of the world, existed then, and is continued now.  The application made by the Abolitionist of the golden rule is absurd:  it might then apply to the child, who would have his father no longer control him; to the apprentice, who would no longer that the man to whom he is bound should have a right to direct him.  Thus the foundations of society would be shaken, nay, destroyed.  Christ would have us deal with others, not as they desire, but as the law of God demands:  in the condition of life in which we have been placed, we must do what we conscientiously believe to be our duty to our fellow-men.

Christ alludes to slavery, but does not forbid it.  “And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever.  If the Son therefore shall make you free, you are free indeed.”

In these two verses of the Gospel of St. John, there is a manifest allusion to the fact and condition of slaves.  Of this fact the Saviour took occasion, to illustrate, by way of similitude, the condition of a wicked man, who is the slave of sin, and to show that as a son who was the heir in a house could set a bondman free, if that son were of the proper age, so he, the Son of God, could set the enslaved soul free from sin, when he would be “free indeed.”  Show me in the history of the Old Testament, or in the life of Christ, authority to proclaim as a sin the holding of the race of Ham and Canaan in bondage.

In the times of the apostles, what do we see?  Slaves are still in bondage, the children of Ham are menials as they were before.  Christ had come, had died, had ascended to heaven, and slavery still existed.  Had the apostles authority to do it away?  Had Christ left it to them to carry out, in this instance, his revealed will?

“Art thou,” said Paul, “called being a slave? care not for it; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.  Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he is called.”  “Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrines be not blasphemed.  And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren, but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit.”