There are no duties which we owe our slaves as “our money,” or as
social beings, which do not derive additional weight and importance
from the fact that they are religious beings, and that, as such, we
owe them all these duties, and still higher and more solemn duties.
“But I am not a Christian, and therefore am not concerned in the
discussion of this topic.” But I am not aware that to omit to profess
to be an honest man, or to neglect to strive to be an honest man,
absolves one from the obligation to be honest: so neither will a
failure to profess Christianity free any one from the duty of being a
Christian. Both you and your slaves are religious beings; and if you
are not a Christian, you ought to be, and God will hold you to account
for all the duties of a Christian life, whether in this world you
acknowledge the obligation or not. Your slaves are entitled to the
rights which belong to religious beings in their circumstances; and it
is your duty to treat them as such; nor is there a single master who
will not be held to a strict account for the faithful performance of
these duties to his slaves.
The religious sentiment is strong in the African. Both his mind and
his heart respond readily to the fear of God, the love of virtue, and
the hope of heaven. But they are religious beings in a low state of
civilization. Their intellects are usually dull. They are subject to
wild, extravagant, and superstitious opinions, and consequently to
strong and violent religious emotions. They do not, as some suppose,
have stronger feelings naturally than others. They do not differ in
this respect from barbarians of any other race of people; but they
have a low grade of mental development. Their wills, therefore, are
not supplied with those motives which would enable them to hold their
attention to views of truth such as produce a more chastened,
substantial, and elevated tone of Christian feeling. For the want of
enlightened views, the religious sentiment displays itself in
superstitious conceits, which usually lead to wild and sometimes
frantic feelings. We need not dwell upon the evils of this state of
things. They are too obvious, in their influence upon the blacks, and
oftentimes through them upon the nursery of white children, to require
discussion. That which demands attention is this: it is a duty which
the master owes his slave to pursue that course in the government of
his domestic empire which shall contribute to correct these evils, and
to fit his slaves for their destiny in the spirit-world, where the
distinction of master and slave will no longer exist. Aside, then,
from other and less important objects in that Divine economy which
introduced the African into this country, God has thereby committed to
you these ignorant, these suffering poor. He requires you to care for
their souls as well as their bodies. The latter of these duties you
may fulfil for your own interests merely. But each one of them you
ought faithfully to perform, both for God’s sake and for the common
interests of yourselves and your slaves. “And ye masters, do the same
things unto them:” that is, as the context shows, serve their
interests faithfully, and that for the sake of Christ, as they are
required to serve your commands faithfully, and that for the sake of
Christ. But how may you do this?
You should provide for them the means of public religious instruction.
The owner of a large plantation of slaves should charge himself with
the expense of a minister of the gospel for his slaves. Smaller
plantations should unite to employ the services of a minister. The
owners of still smaller plantations in thinly settled communities of
whites, should see that the usual supply of ministerial service for
the neighborhood is sufficient to meet the demands of their slaves.
Those who employ a minister, or those who unite with others to employ
one to devote himself to the religious instruction of their slaves,
should see that he is a man of blameless life, of sound, practical
Christian experience, simple in his language, familiar in his manners,
and fervent in spirit. He should devote himself to teach the children
the oral catechism, to visit the sick, to bury the dead, and preach
the gospel regularly on the Sabbath. On all occasions of public
worship on the Sabbath, both old and young should be required to be
present, and in their best clothes. Masters should occasionally attend
all these meetings. Our missions on plantations are fine examples of
the system here recommended. The Sabbath--the Christian Sabbath--is
the great civilizer of men. The clean skin, the Sunday suit, the
companionship of friends, all unite with the sound instruction of the
pulpit, and the warm-hearted reception of the truth, to raise man in
the scale of being, to make him a better servant, and a better
citizen--an heir, together with the master, of the inheritance of the
saints in light.
Those more densely populated white communities which are well supplied
with the Christian ministry should afford ample accommodations to the
colored population to hear the word of life, and share the blessings
of the holy Sabbath. Masters should see to this. They have not done
their duty when they subscribe to build a church in the neighborhood,
and pay a trifle to the preacher. Their slaves should also be provided
for. If they will not go to heaven themselves, their slaves can go
there, and many of them desire to go there. Their masters unjustly
withhold the means. In many instances, suitable provision is not made.
The houses are small. The slaves are crowded out. They hear but
little; at least, they are not instructed. A still greater defect of
this system in Virginia is, the slaves are but poorly supplied with
pastoral labor out of the pulpit. The sick are seldom visited. The
dead are only buried in crowds. There is great room, then, for
improvement. Why may not the masters of a neighborhood engage the
services of their minister to have a regular appointment for an
afternoon on the plantation of some one, for the benefit of the slaves
of the neighborhood, and to visit their sick? I know many masters who
are always ready to subscribe liberally to their minister if he would
engage in this service. Why should he not do it? Perhaps some do. I
should rejoice to see this system more generally adopted, and by our
circuit preachers especially. They would accomplish great good. I
doubt if a better remedy for the wants of the African population in
such communities can be found.
But not only to help supply this deficiency, but also on the score of
its own intrinsic value, each family should contribute their personal
attention to supply the religious wants of their slaves. The Sabbath
should be a day of rest, of companionship, and of religious
instruction and enjoyment in every family. From no part of these
should the slaves be excluded or overlooked in the domestic
arrangements. That slaves appear in their clean Sunday-clothes, is the
first duty. They should all know that they are expected to be at
church. For the invalids and the aged, the means of conveyance should
be provided. The old man, the old woman who nursed your parents, and
who have descended to you as the heir-looms of an ancient house; or,
it may be, who began life with you, have nursed your children, and
helped to build up your house and your fortune--shall they be
forgotten in the feebleness of their age? Do they still stand to
service, and help to make their bread; and when the merry crowd hies
away “to the Sabbath-meeting,” shall the weight of their years make
them turn to their seat, because they shrink from the journey of a few
miles on foot? This should not be. We should provide for the old and
the infirm to ride to meeting. I wonder some masters do not fear that
an ungrateful son will one day feed them in their old age in a private
room and from a trencher, instead of at the family table and around
the domestic hearthstone! To the credit of our system, the old family
servants are generally honored. White and black do reverence to their
age and their position. This is right.
But why should the master think it beneath him to call the young
together on a Sabbath afternoon, and invite the attendance of all the
slaves, and instruct them orally in the truths and lessons of our holy
religion: What God is: what the Saviour is: what man is: what is to
become of us when we die; and how we may be saved. The simple forms of
these truths as laid down in our Catechism may by any one be made
interesting to children and instructive to all. The children should
be taught by being made to repeat after us and respond all together.
Their attention will be aroused, and they will readily catch the idea
of a great many truths that may lead them to fear God and desire to do
right. Withal, it will make them feel that you care for them. They
will think more of themselves. They will rise in the scale of social
being. They will be less trouble to you. They will be more happy in
themselves, and ultimately share with you the joys of heaven. Much of
all that is here enjoined, any gentleman may do and ought to do,
though he may not be a Christian. He will himself be profited by the
exercise it will give his mind on spiritual subjects.
I should not omit to notice, that in speaking of the duty of the
_master_, I use the term generically--I embrace the mistress. All the
duties enjoined require the cordial coöperation of the mistress. Much
of it, if done at all, must be done by her. She oftener has a heart to
do it. She can do it, and, with a little encouragement, will do it,
when other persons perhaps cannot or will not. If, then, the master
will not be the high-priest as well as the lawgiver of his house, let
him, at least, devolve a portion of the care for the religious
interest of the slaves upon his wife, and especially that which
relates to the instruction of the young. She, also, can often employ
her own children to aid in this service. It will both interest and
instruct them.
So far as my observation goes, I am satisfied that the Southern family
in which a proper discipline is maintained, and domestic religion, in
that wide sense which embraces both blacks and whites, is duly
cultivated, for good order, for peace and quiet, for general morality
and general prosperity, in all that concerns the comfort and happiness
of a family, stands unrivalled in the history of the country.