ISBN: 9780217769075

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustra… More...

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1864 Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XLV. Right Reverend Brother: I shall now invite your attention, and that of my readers in general, to the positive testimony of the Southern clergy, on the subject of the treatment and condition of the slaves; not derived from a residence of six months on a single plantation, but drawn from an intimate and life-long familiarity with all the facts connected with the institution. The first evidence is entitled to serious consideration and respect, being an extract from an Appeal of Southern Clergymen, addressed to Christians throughout the world, signed by ninety-five ministers, and representing all the principal Protestant denominations. It was published in England, in the Edinburgh Review, as well as in the Southern States, and bears date at Richmond, April 22, 1863. I omit all that portion of this interesting document which discusses the war, and confine my extract to the paragraphs which concern my special subject. We are aware, saith this Appeal, that in respect to the moral aspects of the question of slavery, we differ from those who conceive of emancipation as a measure of benevolence, and on that account we suffer much reproach which we are conscious of not deserving.-With all the facts of the system of slavery, in its practical operations before us, ''as eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word, having had perfect knowledge of all things'' on the subject of which we speak, we may surely claim respect for our opinions and statements. Most of us have grown up from childhood among the slaves; all of us have preached to and taught them the Word of Life; have administered to them the ordinances of the Christian Church; sincerely love them as souls for whom Christ died; we go among them freely, and know them in health and sickness, in labor and r... John Henry Hopkins, Books, History, A Scriptural, Ecclesiastical, And Historical View Of Slavery; From The Days Of The Patriarch Abraham, To The Nineteenth Century. A Books>History, General Books LLC<