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the Southerner.
‘But how would you talk about slavery if you were there?’
‘Just as I do here, to be sure,’ answered the Quaker.
‘I would advise the slaves to be honest, industrious, and obedient, and never try to run away from a good master, unless they were pretty sure of escaping; because if they were caught, they would fare worse than before.
But if they had a safe opportunity, I should advise them to be off as soon as possible.’
In a more serious tone, he added, ‘And to thee, who claimest to be a minister of Christ, I would say that thy Master requires thee to give deliverance to the captive, and let the oppressed go free.
My friend, hast thou a conscience void of offence?
When thou liest down at night, is thy mind always at ease on this subject?
After pouring out thy soul in prayer to thy Heavenly Father, dost thou not feel the outraged sense of right, like a perpetual motion, restless within thy breast?
Dost thou not hear a voice telling thee it is wrong to hold thy fellow men in slavery, with their wives and their little ones?’
The preacher manifested some emotion at this earnest appeal, and confessed that he sometimes had doubts on the subject; though, on the whole, he had concluded that it was right to hold slaves.
One of his daughters, who was a widow, seemed to be more deeply touched.
She took Friend Hopper's hand, at
Boston, J. P. Jewett and Company; Cleveland, Ohio: Jewett, Proctor and Worthington; London; Low and Company, 1854.
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