Page:A memoir of Granville Sharp.djvu/116

112 with that particular submission which the gospel requires of Christian slaves; and is further parallel to the latter, by being equally passive; so that the oppression of the slaveholder can no more be justified by any text of the New Testament, that I am able to find, than the oppression of the striker and robber. Unhappily for the Christian world, the duties of patience, submission, and placability, enjoined by the gospel to persons injured, are too commonly either misunderstood or rejected; though the temporal, as well as the eternal, happiness of mankind greatly depends upon a conscientious and proper observance of these duties: for even the most rigid obedience to the letter of the command would be far from being productive, either of the real evils to which the pernicious doctrine of a national passive obedience apparently tends, or of the imaginary inconveniences apprehended by the advocates for duelling, because the same benevolent principles, (viz: universal love and charity, founded on the great commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,") which oblige the true Christian, most disinterestedly, to forgive all injuries, and pass over every affront offered to his own person, will necessarily engage him, on the other hand, as disinterestedly, to oppose every degree of oppression and injustice, which affects his brethren and neighbors, when he has a fair opportunity of assisting them; and from hence arises the zeal of good men for just and equitable laws, as being the most effectual means of preserving the peace and happiness of the community, by curbing the insolence and violence of wicked men. 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. The scripture history of this great apostle affords many proofs of his extraordinary humility and patience under sufferings, so that his spirited opposition to