UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

his
bonds, and bars,and his brother'sleftto
"the good there is in human nature"?
Never are we so impressedwith the utter
deadness of public sentiment to protect the
slave, as when we see such opinions as these
uttered bj men of a naturally generous and
noble character.
KEY TO UNCLE TOM S CABIN. 127
The most striking and the most painful
examples of the perversion of publicsentiment,
with regardto the negro race, are of that inestimableworth which Mr. Jones
often given in the writings of men of humanity,
believes, does it not follow that he ought to
amiablenessand piety.
have the very best means for gettingto
That devoted laborer for the slavețhe
Rev. Charles C. Jones țhus expresses his
sense of the importance of one African
soul:
Were it now revealed to ns that the most extensive
of "instructionwhich we could
system
devise,requiring
throughages, would
mercy
one poor African,
cheerfullyenteringupon our work,with all its
costs and sacrifices.
a vast amount of labor and protracted
result in the tender to meet
of our God in the salvation of the soul of
we should feel warranted in
of the finestmind may be perverted
familiarity with such a system.
We find him constructing an
masters
appealto
to have theirslavesorally instructed
advanced years
can acquire very littlefrom
it ; and yet he decidedlyexpresses his say,
dependent upon
othersfor spiritual food as
.
a man without hands is dependentupon
others for bodily food. He recognizes fact, which show
him,
own experience must
that the slave is at alltimes liableto
pass into the hands of those who will not
take the trouble thus to feedhis soul ; nay,
around him many
havingspiritually cut off the slave'shands,
refuse to feed him. He sees that,by the
operationof this law as a matter of fact,
thousands are placedin situationswhere the
perdition of the soul is almost certain, and
yet he declaresthat he does not feelcalled
upon at allto interferewith their civilcondition
!
But,if the soul of every poor African is
heaven which it is possible to give him ?
And is not he who can read the Bible for
himself in a better conditionthan he who is
dependent upon the reading
of another? If
it be said that such teachingcannot be
afforded, because itmakes them unsafe property,
like Mr. Jones
language:
oughtnot a clergyman
thisobjection in his own
expressive
"Were itnow revealed to us that the most extensive
of instruction which wo could
system
Should not a clergyman, like Mr. Jones,
tell masters
of all thing seen
that theyshould risk the loss
and temporal, rather than
incur the hazard of bringing eternal ruin
by constant
in religion Ịn on
many passages he these souls? All
speaks
the arguments which
of oral instruction as
Mr. Jones so
confessedly an imperfect
eloquently used with masters,
species of instruction, very much inferior
to persuade them to givetheir slaves oral
to that which results from personalinstruction,
would applywith double force
readingand examination of the to
Word of show their obligation to givethe slave
God. He says, in one placețhat in order the power of reading the Bible for himself.
to do much good it must be Again,we come to hear Mr. Jones
begun telling
very
earlyin life, and intimatesthat people in masters of the power they have over the
souls of their servants, and we hear him
And,when we hear Mr. Jones say allthis,
and then consider that he must see and
know this awful powTer is often lodged in
the hands of whollyirreligious men, in the
devise,requiring a vast amount of labor and pro-
What a noble,what a sublime spirit, is throughages, would result in the tender
here breathed ! Does it not show a mind mercy of our God in the salvation of the soul of
capable of the one poor African,we should feel warranted in
very highestimpulses ? cheerfullyenteringupon
our work,with all its
And yet, ifwe look over his whole writings,
costs and sacrifices.
we shall see painfully how the moral sense
tracted
opinion that slavery is an institutionwith We
which
may,
no Christianhas cause to interfere.
according to the power lodgedin our
hands, forbidreligious meetings
The slaves,according to his own showing,
and religious in-
on our own plantations ; we
may forbid
are cut off from the best means for the salvation
our servants going to church at all,or onlyto such
of their churches as
souls,and restrictedto
we
one
may selectfor them. We may
of a
very inferiornature. literally shut
They are placed
up the kingdom of heaven againsl
men, and suffernot them that are entering
under restrictionwhich makes their to go
soulsas
struction
hands of men of the most profligate character,
we can account for his thinking such a
if we may judge from his urgentappeals. to system rightonlyby attributing it to
masters,he perceives
who,
that
blinding,deadening influence which the