Page:The African Slave Trade (Clark).djvu/104

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100
THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE

and water will not mingle. Barbarism and Christianity were not made to dwell together in peace.

We should also consider the inevitable effect of this evil upon the pulpits and churches of our land. Ministers of the gospel must either preach against this sin, or be corrupted and weakened by it. Professing Christians must oppose it, or yield to it. And what must be the character of a church for purity, efficiency, and spiritual power, that tolerates such an iniquity? What would be its influence in converting men to the principles of brotherly love, self-denial, faith, and holiness taught by our Saviour? Is it to be supposed that impenitent men will close their eyes to such gross inconsistencies?

Every man's common sense teaches him that the power of the gospel lies in its purity, and in its hostility to every form of sin. The instant it compromises with evil, it ceases to be the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, it is the solemn duty of every American patriot and Christian to rise up and decree that, let the consequences be what they may, another slave shall never pollute our coast, and that, God helping them, they will resist now and for ever, every attempt to revive this accursed traffic. To allow ity is to increase and perpetuate the evils that to-day threaten the very existence of the republic. It puts in peril the American Union, and what is more, endangers the liberties of the whole nation. No greater calamity could befall us, no greater