saith: 'Although it may be in thy power to be manumitted and made free, remain rather in servitude.' And then he adds the reason: For he who is called in the Lord, being a bondman, is the freedman of Christ. In like manner also, he who is called, being free, is the bondman of Christ.' For in those things which are according to Christ, both are equal. But how is it that he who is a bondman is free? Because He has freed thee not only from sin, but even from external slavery, though remaining a slave. And how is it that he who is a slave is free, remaining a slave? When he has been freed from the passions and afflictions of the mind. When he has learned to despise money, anger, and the other perturbations of the soul. 'You are bought with a price, be not the servants of men.' This is said not only to slaves but also to freemen. For it is possible that while he is a slave, he is not a slave, and while he is free, he may be a slave notwithstanding. But how, when he is a slave, can it be true that he is not a slave? When he does every thing for the sake of God, when he is neither a deceiver, nor a hypocrite, nor an eyeservant: this is to be the slave of men, and yet free. And how, again, does any freeman become a slave? When he performs any action which works evil to men, or works in the service of gluttony, or covetousness, or ambition. For he who is of this sort, is a worse slave than all others, although he be a freeman. But consider these things. Joseph was a slave, but not the servant of men, for even in his slavery he was freer than they all. He certainly did not yield to the mistress who owned him, in those acts which she desired. Again, she was free, yet she was a greater slave than all, because she besought her slave, and implored and provoked him, but did not persuade the freeman to do what she desired. Here therefore (on Joseph's part) was not slavery, but the highest liberty. What hindrance, then, was slavery to his virtue? Let both slaves and freemen hear. This truly is what the Apostle tacitly signifies by saying: 'Be not the servants of men.' But if it be otherwise-if he orders them to leave their masters, and contend that they should be made free, how could he say, 'Let every man remain in the condition in which he was called;' and again, 'Whoever are under the yoke of slavery, let them esteem their masters worthy of all honor.' To the Ephesians and the Colossians also he writes, ordering and commanding the same things. From all which it is evident, that he does not take away this slavery, but that which is from vice, in which respect, slaves themselves are free." (30)

This long and most interesting specimen of true Christian doctrine, from the illustrious Chrysostom, is, of itself, enough to satisfy a candid mind on the subject before us; proving distinctly that the primitive Church had no idea of regarding slavery as involving sin, in the relation of the master and the slave, but on the contrary esteeming the condition of servitude as better than freedom for the slave, while the bondage to sin, whether in the master or the servant, was the worst kind of slavery ; and the only kind which God requires all men to cast aside, whether they be bond or free.

From Chrysostom, I proceed to his disciple, Prosper of Aquitaine, who flourished in the fifth century, and a short sentence will suffice to show that he held the same sentiments as his eminent teacher.

"It was transgression and not nature," saith Prosper, "that produced the name and condition of slavery, and the first cause of this subjection was sin; as it is written, every one that committeth sin is the slave of sin. Hence the condition of him who is a bond-servant to man, is better than that of him who is a slave to his own cupidity." (31)

There is no name in the sixth century which shines with greater lustre than that of Gregory the Great, the Bishop of Rome, and from his writings I shall take my next testimony.

"It is well known," saith Gregory, "that there are two kinds of good servitude, one of fear, the other of affection; one, the service of bondmaids and bondmen, who dread their master; the other, of children who love and please their parent. The bondmaid fears, lest she should be punished; the wife fears, lest she should offend her husband." (32)

Again, in his book concerning the "Pastoral Care," we have this rule laid down to the clergy:

:

"Slaves should be admonished in one way, and the masters in another. The slaves, to wit, that they should always, in themselves, regard the humility of their condition; but the masters, that the memory of their nature, in which they are created equally with their slaves, must not be forgotten. Slaves should be admonished, lest they should despise their masters, lest they offend God by proudly contradicting his ordinance; the masters are also to be admonished, that they do not grow proud of his gift, against God, (the Giver,) by refusing to acknowledge that those who are by condition their subjects, are their equals by nature. These are to be admonished that

they may know themselves to be the slaves of their masters: those are to be admonished, that they may confess themselves to be the fellow-servants of their slaves. For to these it is said: Servants, obey your masters according to the flesh. And again: Let those who are under the yoke of bondage, esteem their masters to be worthy of all honor. But to those it is said: And you, masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threats, knowing that their Master and yours is in heaven." (33)

There is another evidence of the doctrine maintained by Gregory the Great, which is not only conclusive in itself, but is also interesting as a specimen of the ancient forms observed in such matters. And this is the deed of gift conveying one of his own slaves to the Bishop of Porto, which was a small suburban diocese, in the vicinity of Rome. It is as follows:

"GREGORY, TO FELIX, THE BISHOP OF PORTO.

แ "Moved by favor of your charity, lest we should seem unfruitful to you, and chiefly because we know you to have few servants, therefore we give and grant unto you, our brother, by direct right, John, a servant of the church law, by nation a Sabine, of the Flavian property, aged about eighteen years, whom you have had in your possession, by our will, for a long while, so that you may have and hold him, and preserve and maintain your right to him, and defend him as your property, and do, by the free right of this donation as his master, whatsoever you will concerning him. Against which charter of our munificence, you may know that neither we nor our successors are ever to come. And this donation, written by our notary, we have read and subscribed, granting also, your profession not being expected, our license of recording it, whenever you will, with the legitimate stipulation and security. Done at Rome." (34)

To these clear and decisive testimonies of the famous Gregory the Great, I shall add one witness more, a saint likewise in the Roman Catholic calendar, Isidore, who was Bishop of Seville, in .D. 601, and died A.D. 636. This will bring us to the seventh century. A single extract from his valuable writings will suffice to prove his unity of doctrine with all that were before him:

"On account of the sin of the first man," saith Isidore, "the punishment of slavery was brought upon the human race, by the Deity, so that to those for whom he sees liberty to be incongruous,

he may mercifully appoint servitude. And although original sin is remitted to all the faithful by the grace of baptism, nevertheless God has equitably put this difference of life in men, making some to be slaves, and others masters; that the licentiousness of evil-doing on the part of servants, might be restrained by the power of their lords. For if all men were without fear, who could prohibit any one from evil? Hence also, princes and kings are chosen over the nations, that they may coërce the people to abstain from evil by terror, and oblige them to live rightly according to the laws. Better is slavery in subjection than liberty in pride. For many are found freely serving God under wicked masters, who, although they are inferior to them in body, are far above them in mind." (35)

Here, my Right Reverend brother, I shall close the testimony of the fathers, only reminding you that all these writers lived before the unity of the Church was broken by the separation of the East from the West, that they were the lights and ornaments of their day, that they are held to the present hour, throughout the whole Christian world, in the highest veneration, and that our own reformers had constant recourse to them in every controversy, as the most authoritative guides to the sense of the Holy Scriptures. The Bible was the unquestionable rule of faith. The Church was the interpreter. And as it is the undoubted maxim of the courts, in every construction of written law, to take the earliest decisions as the most binding, so it has been among all sound theologians, that the oldest voices of the Church are heard with the greatest reverence.

But although I have closed the testimony of the individual fathers, I have not done with the testimony of the primitive Church, presented in a still more solemn form by the Councils of her bishops. To these, therefore, I invite your attention, in the following chapter.

CHAPTER X.

RIGHT REVEREND BROTHER: The first place in the list of the Coun. cils of the Church is due to the very ancient code called "The Canons of the Apostles." In the eighty-first of these we read as follows: "We do not allow slaves to be advanced to the order of the clergy without the will of their masters, to the injury of those who possess them; for such things produce the overthrow of houses. But when a slave is seen to be worthy, who may be chosen for that degree, as also our Onesimus was, and the masters shall have consented, and given liberty, and dismissed them from their houses, it may be done." (36.)

The Clementine Constitutions may be reckoned next, being an old compilation, supposed formerly to have been arranged by Clement, who was the companion of the apostles, and became, by their authority, Bishop of Rome. By many critics, however, amongst the Roman Catholics themselves, the work is assigned to the third or fourth century. But be this as it may, these Constitutions, contained in eight books, are full of very admirable matter, expressed with great force and beauty, and held, especially by the eastern Churches, in the highest veneration.

From the fourth book, chapter second, I quote the following passage: "Concerning slaves, what more can we say than that the servant should have benevolence towards his master, with the fear of God, though he should be impious, though he should be immoral, ever. though he should not accord with him in religion? So likewise let the master love his slave, and though he is above him, let him notwithstanding acknowledge equality inasmuch as he is a man. And let him who has a Christian master, the authority being secured, love him not only as his master, but as a companion in the faith and as a father; not serving with eye-service, but as loving his master, knowing that the reward of his service will be rendered to him by God. In like manner let him who has a Christian slave, his subjec