* * * Now, sir,
upon the general nature and influence of slavery there exists a wide
difference of opinion between the northern portion of this country and
the southern. It is said on the one side, that, although not the subject
of any injunction or direct prohibition in the New Testament, slavery
is a wrong; that it is founded merely in the right of the strongest; and
that it is an oppression, like unjust wars, like all those conflicts by
which a powerful nation subjects a weaker to its will; and that, in its
nature, whatever may be said of it in the modifications which have taken
place, it is not according to the meek spirit of the Gospel. It is not
"kindly affectioned"; it does not "seek another's, and not its own";
it does not "let the oppressed go free." These are sentiments that are
cherished, and of late with greatly augmented force, among the people of
the Northern States. They have taken hold of the religious sentiment of
that part of the country, as they have, more or less, taken hold of the
religious feelings of a considerable portion of mankind.
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