just and reasonable. It is a curious fact, but a fact, nevertheless, and
fully sustained by the Bible; and that fact is this; That God _never
conferred_, and never _designed_ to _confer_, any great _blessing_ on
the human family, but what he _always_ selects or selected a white
_slaveholder_ or one of a white _slaveholding nation_, as the _medium_,
by or through which _that blessing_ should reach them. Why he has done
so, is not material to discuss now; but the _fact_, that he _always_ did
so, the Bible abundantly proves. Abraham, the father of the faithful,
and in whom and his seed all the families of the earth were to be
blessed, is a notable instance of this truth. For Abraham owned three
hundred and eighteen _slaves_. And the Saviour of the world was of a
white _slaveholding nation_; and they held slaves by God's own laws, and
not by theirs. And how has it been in respect of our own nation and
government, the United States? A government now declared by thousands of
lips, latterly, to be the best, the very best, that has ever been in the
world. Who made this government? Who established it and its _noble
principles_? Let us appeal to history. The first attack on British
power, and the aggressions of its parliament, ever made on this
continent, was made by a slaveholder, from a slave state, Patrick Henry,
May 30, 1765. The first president of the first congress, that ever
assembled on this continent, to consider of the affairs of the thirteen
colonies, and which met in Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, was a slave
owner from a slave state, Peyton Randolph. The only secretary that
congress ever had, was a slave owner from a slave state, Charles
Thompson. The gentleman who was chairman of the committee of the whole,
on Saturday, the 8th of June, 1776, and who, on the morning of the 10th
reported the resolutions, that the thirteen colonies, of right ought to
be free and independent _states_, was a slaveholder from a slave state,
Benjamin Harrison. The same gentlemen again, as chairman of the
committee of the whole, reported the Declaration of Independence in
form; and to which he affixed his signature, on Thursday, July 4, 1776.
The gentleman who wrote the Declaration of Independence, was a slave
owner, from a slave state, Thomas Jefferson. The gentleman who was
selected to lead their armies, as commander-in-chief, and who did lead
them successfully, to victory and the independence of the country, was a
slave owner, from a slave state, George Washington. The gentleman who
was president of the convention, to form the constitution of the United
States, was a slave holder, from a slave state, George Washington. The
gentleman who wrote the constitution of the United States (making it the
best government ever formed on earth), was a slave owner, from a slave
state, James Madison. The first president of the United States, under
that constitution, and who, under God gave it strength, consistency and
power before the world, was a slave owner, from a slave state, George
Washington; and these were all white men and slave owners; and whatever
of peace, prosperity, happiness and glory, the people of the United
States have enjoyed under it, have been from the administration of the
government, by presidents elected by the people, of _slave holders_,
from _slave states_. Whenever the people have elected a president from a
non-slaveholding state, commencing with the elder Adams, and down to Mr.
Lincoln, confusion, wrangling and strife have been the order of the day,
until it culminated in the greatest civil war the world has ever beheld,
under the last named gentleman. Why this has been so is not in the line
of our subject. We mention it as a matter of history, to confirm the
Bible fact, _that God always_ selects _slaveholders_, or from a
_slaveholding_ nation, the media through which he confers his blessings
on mankind. Would it not be wisdom to heed it now?
One reflection and then we are done. The people of the United States
have now thrust upon them, the question of negro equality, social,
political and religious. How will they decide it? If they decide it one
way, then they will make the _sixth_ cause of invoking God's wrath, once
again on the earth. They will begin to discover this approaching wrath:
(1.) By God bringing confusion. (2.) By his breaking the government into
pieces, or fragments, in which the negro will go and settle with those
that favor this equality. (3.) In God pouring out the fire of his wrath,
on this portion of them; but in what way, or in what form, none can tell
until it comes, only that in severity it will equal in intensity and
torture, the destruction of fire burning them up. (4.) The states or
people that favor this equality and amalgamation of the white and black
races, _God will exterminate_. To make the negro, the political, social
and religious equal of the white race by _law_, by _statute_ and by
_constitutions_, can easily be effected in _words_; but so to elevate
the negro _jure divino_, is simply _impossible_. You can not elevate a
_beast_ to the level of a son of God--a son of Adam and Eve--but you may
depress the sons of Adam and Eve, with their _impress_ of the Almighty,
_down to the level of a beast_. God has made one for immortality, and
the other to perish with the animals of the earth. The antediluvians
once made this depression. Will the people of the United States make
another, _and the last_? Yes, they will, for a large majority of the
North are unbelievers in the Bible; and this paper will make a large
number of their clergy deists and atheists. A man can not commit so
great an offense against his race, against his country, against his God,
in any other way, as to give his daughter in marriage to a negro--a
_beast_--or to take one of their females for his wife. As well might he
in the sight of God, wed his child to any other beast of forest or of
field. This crime _can not_ be expiated--it never has been expiated on
earth--and from its nature never can be, and, consequently, _never was
forgiven by God, and never will be_. The negro is now free. There are
but two things on earth, that may be done with him now, and the people
and government of this country escape destruction. One or the other _God
will make you do_, or _make you accept his punishment_, as he made
Babel, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Canaanites, before you. You _must
send him back to Africa_ or _re-enslave him_. The former is the best,
_far the best_. Now, which will my countrymen do? I do not say
_fellow-citizens_, as I regard myself but as a sojourner in the land,
whose every political duty is now performed by obeying _your_ laws, be
they good or bad--not voting, nor assisting others in making _your_
laws. Will my countrymen, in deciding for themselves these questions,
_remember--will they remember_, that the first law of liberty is
obedience to God. Without this obedience to the great and noble
principles of God, truth, righteousness and justice, there can be no
liberty, no peace, no prosperity, no happiness in any earthly
government--if these are sacrificed or ignored, God will overturn and
keep overturning, until mankind learn his truth, justice and mercy, and
conform to them.
To the people of the South, we say, _obedience_ to God is better than
all sacrifices. You have sacrificed all your negroes. It was _your
ancestors_, that God made use of to form this noblest of all human
governments--no others could do it. Do not be cast down at what has
happened, and what is _yet to happen_--God will yet use you to reinstate
and remodel this government, on its just and noble principles and at the
_proper time_. The North _can never do it_. These are perilous
times--the _impending decisions will be against you, and against God_.
But keep yourselves free from _this sin--do not by your acts, nor by
your votes, invite the negro equality--if it is forced upon you_, as it
will be--obey the laws--remembering _that God will protect the
righteous_; and that his truth, like itself, will always be consistent,
and like its Author, will be always and _forever triumphant. The finger
of God is in this. Trust him._ The Bible is true.
_July_, 1840.
_December_, 1866. ARIEL.
NOTE 1. Any candid scholar, wishing to address the writer, is informed,
that any letter addressed to "Ariel," care of Messrs. Payne, James &
Co., Nashville, Tennessee, during this summer and fall (1867), will
reach him and command his attention.
NOTE 2. Some few kinky-headed negroes, have been found embalmed on the
Nile, but the inscriptions on their sarcophagii, fully explain who they
were, and how they came to be there. They were generally _negro traders_
from the interior of the country, and of much later dates.