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Testimonies for the Church Volume 1 - A New You Ministry

Testimonies for the Church Volume 1 - A New You Ministry

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The escaped slaves have been told by <strong>the</strong>ir masters that <strong>the</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>rn men wantedto get possession of <strong>the</strong>m that <strong>the</strong>y might cruelly misuse <strong>the</strong>m; that <strong>the</strong> abolitionistswould treat <strong>the</strong>m worse than <strong>the</strong>y had been treated while in slavery. All manner ofhorrible stories have been repeated in <strong>the</strong>ir ears to make <strong>the</strong>m detest <strong>the</strong> North, and yet<strong>the</strong>y have had a confused idea that some hearts in <strong>the</strong> North felt <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir grievancesand would yet make an ef<strong>for</strong>t to help <strong>the</strong>m. This has been <strong>the</strong> only star which has shedits glimmering light upon <strong>the</strong>ir distressed and gloomy bondage. The manner in which<strong>the</strong> poor slaves have been treated has led <strong>the</strong>m to believe that <strong>the</strong>ir masters have told<strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong> truth in <strong>the</strong>se things. And yet a national fast is proclaimed! Saith <strong>the</strong> Lord:“Is not this <strong>the</strong> fast that I have chosen? to loose <strong>the</strong> bands of wickedness, to undo <strong>the</strong>heavy burdens, and to let <strong>the</strong> oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” Whenour nation observes <strong>the</strong> fast which God has chosen, <strong>the</strong>n will He accept <strong>the</strong>ir prayersas far as <strong>the</strong> war is concerned; but now <strong>the</strong>y enter not into His ear. He turns from <strong>the</strong>m,<strong>the</strong>y are disgusting to Him. It is so managed that those who would undo <strong>the</strong> heavyburdens and break every yoke are placed under censure, or removed from responsiblestations, or <strong>the</strong>ir lives are planned away by those who “fast <strong>for</strong> strife and debate, andto smite with <strong>the</strong> fist of wickedness.”I was shown that if <strong>the</strong> object of this war had been to exterminate slavery, <strong>the</strong>n,if desired, England would have helped <strong>the</strong> North. But England fully understands <strong>the</strong>existing feelings in <strong>the</strong> Government, and that <strong>the</strong> war is not to do away slavery, butmerely to preserve <strong>the</strong> Union; and it is not <strong>for</strong> her interest to have it preserved. OurGovernment has been very proud and independent. The people of this nation haveexalted <strong>the</strong>mselves to heaven, and have looked down upon monarchical governments,and triumphed in <strong>the</strong>ir boasted liberty, while <strong>the</strong> institution of slavery, that was athousand times worse than <strong>the</strong> tyranny exercised by258

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