Granville Sharp

“ How many nations, now subsisting in the world, have forfeited their natural liberty, and are now sitting under the iron yokes of unnatural, arbitrary governments, subjected to the will and pleasure of their respective sovereigns, instead of law! ”

“ He, who denies this, is ignorant of the true dignity of human nature, and wants a teacher to point out to him not only the equality of mankind before God, but also the universal conditions of man's subsistence in the world! The hereditary knowledge of good and evil may, at least, be esteemed as the one talent for which all mankind are accountable to the universal Lord? ”

“ Such an one unhappily demonstrates that he has more fear of man than of God, and much more love for himself than he has for his neighbor and country, and, consequently, in that awful day, when he "shall be judged by the law of liberty," [21] must be liable, (unless a timely repentance should have previously restored him to a better use of that hereditary knowledge for which all men are accountable,) must be liable, I say, to be cast with the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth!" ”

“ So that a zeal for the glory of God, and of his religion (the principles of the first great commandment) is the apparent ground and sole purpose of the Christian slave's submission, which was therefore to be "with singleness of heart as unto Christ; not with eye service, as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free." ”

“ To an inattentive reader, indeed, the apostle's expression may seem too much to favour such doctrines, if the sense and connextion of the whole context are not carefully weighed together: but though he said—" Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they, that resist, shall receive to themselves damnation." ”

“ All men, therefore, be they ever so rich, or ever so poor and mean, are required to vindicate the cause of truth, justice, and righteousness, whenever they have a favourable opportunity of doing so; they are required, I say, because they are enabled by their natural knowledge of good and evil to discern and judge concerning the fitness or unfitness of human actions, and of the justice or injustice of all measures and proceedings that happen to fall within the reach of their inspection and consequent observation. ”

“ No earthly dominion whatever is conducted with such an equal distribution of rewards and punishments, as that it may always with truth be said, "there is no respect of persons," for this is the proper characteristic of the judgments and dominion of God and Christ alone. "For the Lord is judge, and with him is no respect of persons." ”

“ Do we not profess to serve the same God who so severely punished the Jews for this very crime ? And is there any just ground to hope, that God, who spared not his own peculiar people, will, nevertheless, excuse the inhabitants of Great Britain and her colonies, when they are wilfully guilty of the same offence! ”

“ Every man knows, by what we call conscience, (which is only an effect of human reason upon the mind,) whether his own actions deserve the censure of the magistrate, who "bears not the sword in vain!" And the same principle of hereditary knowledge enables him to judge also concerning the outward actions of other men, whether they be just or unjust ”

“ In this hereditary knowledge, and in the proper use of it, (according to the different stations of life in which men subsist in this world,) consists the equality of all mankind in the sight of God, and also in the eye of the law, I mean the common law and rules of natural justice, which are formed upon the self-evident conclusions of human reason, and are the necessary result of the above mentioned hereditary knowledge in man. ”

“ Fear, indeed, may too often be said to be due to such
men when in power; but it is a very different sort of fear from that reverential fear which is due to him who "is the minister of God to us for good!" It is such a fear only as that, which men have of a wild beast that devours the flock! ”

“ The law, therefore, which forbids the speaking evil of the ruler of the people, is certainly to be understood with proper exceptions, so as not to exclude any just censure of rulers, when their abuse of office, and the cause of truth and justice, may render such censure expedient and seasonable. ”

“ This excellent man, I say, has left us by his own example an unquestionable precedent on record to demonstrate that honour is not due to the highest temporal authority on earth, not even to a great national council of rulers and elders, while they exercise their authority in unjust prosecutions, and abuse their power by enacting unreasonable and tyrannical ordinances. ”

“ Can any robbery or injustice whatsoever be more atrocious than that of wearing out our poor brethren in a hard involuntary service, without wages or reward! thereby continually robbing them of the fruit of their labors! ”

“ And, with respect to the British colonies the uncharitable practice of slaveholding, especially in the West-India Islands and the more Southern Colonies, is grown up into a more enormous and destructive oppression (whether we view the prodigious multitudes of the oppressed, or the unconscionable severity of the oppresors) than perhaps ever disgraced any other nation at any one period of time! ”

“ Paul as a grave and strong irony, by which he would make those understand, by whom he was accused of want of respect for the high priest, that this person was a man unworthy of that character, and that he did not believe, that a vicious and wicked man, such as Ananias, who had usurped the pontificate by purchasing it of the Romans, could deserve to be esteemed as the high priest of God! ”

“ This heavenly principle is the true and proper ground for patriotism, and undoubtedly has always been the predominant motive of great and good men, (such as the disinterested and loyal apostle Paul, following his Lord's example,) in their opposition to the injustice of rulers and magistrates, though they passively submit to personal injuries from other hands! for, in this, as I have already remarked, consists the due distinction between the necessary Christian submission to personal injuries, and the doctrine of an unlimited passive obedience. ”

“ Let us not forget, before it is too late, that the Almighty has not only declared himself ready to "hear the cry" of the oppressed stranger, but hath deigned to add to his glorious name Jehovah, a brief remembrance of his merciful interposition in behalf of an enslaved nation: "I am the Lord your God" (or Jehovah your God, said the Almighty to the Israelites) "which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." ”

“ But how the master who enforces that involuntary servitude, can be said to act consistently with the Christian profession, is a question of a very different nature, which I propose to examine with all possible care and impartiality, being no otherwise interested in it than as a Christian who esteems both masters and slaves as brethren, and consequently, while he pities the unhappy temporal condition of the latter, is extremely anxious for the eternal welfare of the former. ”

“ For common charity obliges us, as Christians, to suppose that all men, who believe and hold the same professions as ourselves, are "faithful and beloved," as well as "partakers of the benefit" of Christ's redemption, because belief is the true means of leading and disposing men to acquire such happiness; and though many other necessary Christian qualities may seem wanting in our believing brethren, yet we must not presume to condemn them ”

“ A man, who "is notoriously guilty of perverting the laws, and of abusing the delegated power, with which he is entrusted, by acts of violence and injustice, is so far from being "the minister of God," that he is manifestly "the minister of the devil;" which is the express doctrine of the common law of this kingdom, according to the most approved and most ancient authorities ”

“ The prophet Jeremiah manifestly alluded to the like deceitful practices of the Jews (whereby they reduced the poor to slavery) when he made a solemn protest against them in the name of God:—"Your sins" (said he) "have withholden good things from you. For among my people are found wicked (men) : they lay wait as he that setteh snares; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage (or coup) is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked ”

“ The gospel of peace cannot authorize the oppression of these lawless men, though it clearly enjoins patience, submission, and acquiescence, to the individuals that are injured, whether freemen or slaves! The placability and absolute submission, commanded by the last cited text, to Christians in general, are manifestly founded on the very same principles with that particular submission which the gospel requires of Christian slaves ”

“ The scripture history of this great apostle affords many proofs of his extraordinary humility and patience under sufferings, so that his spirited opposition to the illegal proceedings of magistrates cannot be attributed to private resentment on his own account, but merely to his zeal for the public good, founded upon the great Christian principle of "loving his neighbor as himself," since the maintaining of good laws is, certainly, the most effectual means of promoting the welfare and happiness of society. ”

“ And husbands by love to their wives: for they are expressly charged in the following verse "not to be bitter against them," that is, they must, by love and sincere affection, moderate and soften that supreme authority with which husbands are entrusted, (by the laws of God and man,) that they may rule rather by the gentle influence of an inviolable love and fidelity, as so good an example will seldom fail to produce due respect, and will certainly "adorn the doctrine" or profession of the Christian. ”

“ The universal Lord and Master of all men delights in promoting the dignity of human nature; which cannot be said of the temporal slaveholder, who enforces an imaginary "right of dominion" by exacting an involuntary service, and that for no other purpose than for the sake of a little pecuniary gain, by depriving the laborer of his hire; which savors of no other love but self-love; whereas, our disinterested Lord and Master hath even laid down his life through love and compassion to his servants, and hath declared us free, as before recited. "Henceforth I call you not servants ”

“ Does not the word of God, which cannot change, appeal to us, my countrymen, as well as to the Jews?—"Shall not my soul" (saith the Lord!) "be avenged on such a nation as this?"
The same prophet, in the next chapter, declares the divine vengeance to be at hand:—"For thus hath the Lord of hosts said,—Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem. This (is) the city to be visited! she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness; violence and spoil is heard in her ”

“ If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions, and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil-surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness. ”

“ We have an eminent example of this loyal zeal in the behavior of the apostle Paul, who could not brook an infringement of the Roman liberty from any persons whatever in the administration of government, though he could endure personal injuries from men unconnected therewith, and the persecutions of the multitude, with all the Christian patience and meekness which the gospel requires. ”

“ Christ having purchased all men to be his peculiar servants, or rather freemen. —"Ye are bought with a price," says the apostle in the 23d verse, "be not ye the servants of man," which plainly implies, that it is inconsistent with the dignity of a Christian who is the servant or freeman of God, to be held in an unlimited subjection, as the bond servant or slave of a man ”

“ Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses," &c.—"Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and their shall be none. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor," &c.—"The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their (own) way, and according to their deserts" (or rather their own judgments) "will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord." ”

“ God alone being their judge: and, for this reason also, Christian servants must not condemn and despise their believing masters, (though they know themselves equal in dignity as brethren, and that it is, consequently, their masters duty to
treat them as brethren) but must render them service the more willingly on this account, having brotherly love as an additional motive to faithful service. It is manifest, therefore, that this text was intended to regulate the conduct of Christian servants, and not that of Christian masters ”