A LETTER TO DR CUNNINGHAM,

CONTAINING THE DOCTOR'S APOLOGIES FOR SLAVERY, AN ACCOUNT
OF EIGHT HUMAN BEINGS SOLD BY A THEOLOGICAL SEMI.
NARY, AND OF THE SALE OF A YOUNG WOMAN;

AND ALSO THE OPINIONS OF

THOMAS CLARKSON AND DR ANDREW THOMSON.

BY HENRY C. WRIGHT,

OF AMERICA.

"When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him; and hast
been partaker with adulterers. Be not partakers of other men's sins.
Woe unto him that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth
him not for his work. Woe unto him that buildeth his house (CHURCH)
by unrighteousness."-BIBLE.

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EDINBURGH:

QUINTIN DALRYMPLE, 29 FREDERICK STREET;

GLASGOW: GEORGE GALLIE. ABERDEEN: G. AND R. KING.

MDCCCXLV.

INTRODUCTION.

To the people of Great Britain, and especially to the Members and Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland, is this pamphlet addressed. Its object is to show that every man, who, by any means, becomes a slaveholder in America, must become one by his own consent, and must, of necessity, be guilty (1.) Of reducing human beings to the condition of brutes and things; (2.) Of keeping men and women in a state of concubinage, by denying to them the right of legal marriage; Of abolishing the family state; (4.) Of keeping men in ignorance and heathenism, by by holding hold them in a condition in which it is impossible that they should be taught to read and write, or have access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. American slavery could not exist one hour without THEFT, ROBBERY, and CONCƯBINAGE. These crimes are chargeable upon every slaveholding minister and member of churches in America; and all who fellowship them as "respectable, honoured, evangelical Christians," are abettors and promoters of theft, robbery, and concubinage. Whether these views are "extreme, rash, ferocious, slanderous, unjust, calumnious, and unscriptural," as Rev. Doctors Cunningham and Candlish say they are, let the reader of the following pages judge.

As to the Scripture argument, I would ask Doctors Cunningham and Candlish, Do you say that Christianity justifies man, under any circumstances, in holding and using human beings as property? Can any man possibly be influenced and guided by the Spirit of Christ, and hold and use men and women as beasts and things in a state of concubinage? Can you rob a man of his person, of his industry, of all knowledge, of the Gospel, of marriage, of wife, children, and domestic happiness, of all civil rights and privileges,of time and eternity, of himself and his God, and be a Christian? This is what all American slaveholders do. Were such "slaveholders ministers and members of the Church in Apostolic times?" If not, then all appeals to the Bible to justify the Free Church in holding Christian fellowship with AMERICAN slaveholders, and in going to them for money to build their churches and pay their ministers, are null and void.

HEAR THE TESTIMONY OF COMPETENT WITNESSES.

DALRYMPLE

HAS FOR SALE

A KISS FOR A BLOW:

A BOOK OF INTERESTING

STORIES FOR CHILDREN;

TO SHOW THEM HOW TO LIVE TOGETHER

WITHOUT QUARRELLING.

AMERICAN SLAVERY

PROVED TO BE

THEFT AND ROBBERY.

THE POWER TO WHICH ALL SLAVES ARE SUBJECTED IN AMERICA.

:

EVERY slave in America is subjected to all the liabilities of the chattel principle, exactly as are the cattle and merchandise of Britain. There is no other kind of slavery there than CHATTEL slavery.

The following is the essential law of American slavery :"A slave is one who is in the power of a master to whom he belongs. The master may sell him, dispose of his person, his industry, and his labour; he can do nothing, possess nothing, nor acquire anything but what must belong to his master."-Louisiana Civil Code.

His PERSON, as well as industry and labour, is property. "Slaves shall be deemed, held, taken, reputed, and judged in law to be CHATTELS PERSONAL, in the hands of their owners and possessors, and their executors, administrators, and assigns, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever." - South Carolina Civil Code.

"Slaves are liable, as CHATTELS, to be sold by the master at his pleasure, and may be taken in execution in payment of debts." -Kentucky Law of

Descent.

"All Negroes, Indians, Mulattoes, or Mertizoes, and all their issue and offspring, born or to be born, shall be, and they are hereby declared to be, and remain for ever hereafter, absolute slaves, and SHALL FOLLOW THE CONDITION OF THE MOTHER." - South Carolina.

Judge Ruffin, of North Carolina, says,

"We cannot allow the right of the master to be brought into discussion in the courts of justice. The slave, to remain a slave, must be made sensible that there is no appeal from his master; that his power is, in no instance, usurped; but is conferred by the laws of man, if not by the law of God."

Such is the present condition of three millions of human beings in America. They are held, deemed, reputed, and used as beasts and things. In this consists the crime of all slave

holders. They herd man-the image of God-with beasts and things.

Dr Cunningham says, in apology for them, that " They define this right of property to be a mere compulsory and permanent right to a man's services." "Mere compulsory and permanent right!" As though such a claim was nothing, and no discredit to him that makes it. How came these slaveholders by their right to the "mere compulsory and permanent" labour of the slave? But they do define it to mean more, - even the right to hold the "persons" of men as property. A whole association of ministers in South Carolina said in 1835, - " The question is, Shall the OPERATIVES of a country be bought and sold, and themselves become property; or shall they be hirelings, and their LABOUR only become property?" They answer, that the right to own the labourers as property, " is recognised by the

Creator."

Mr Patterson, in the Convention that formed the Federal Constitution, said, in 1787,

"The Negroes are not free agents, have no personal liberty, no faculty of acquiring property, but on the contrary, are themselves property, entirely at the will of their master, LIKE OTHER PROPERTY."

To hold and use human beings as beasts and things, is the slavery which Abolitionists hold to be a sin under all circumstances. Doctors Cunningham and Candlish do not believe this. Hence all their apologies for slaveholders. They seem to represent the relation of slaves and owners as the relation of children and parents. Hear what Judge Ruffin says of this,

" This relation of slave and master has been assimilated at the bar, to the domestic relations; and arguments drawn from principles which confine and restrain the authority of the parent over the child, THE TUTOR OVER THE PUPIL, THE MASTER OVER THE APPRENTICE, have been pressed upon us. The court does not recognize their application. THERE IS NO LIKENESS BETWEEN THE CASES. They are in opposition to each other, and there is an impassable gulf between them. The difference is, that which exists between freedom and slaverya MAN and a THING a greater cannot be imagined."

This is the prominent, undisputed fact-known and read of all men that three millions of human beings are owned and used as beasts and things in America; and Dr Cunningham quotes the example of the Apostles to justify American slave

holders.