An Appeal to the Christian Women of the SouthGrimké, Angelina Emily
Religion
An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South
Grimké, Angelina Emily
Slavery -- United States
But perhaps you will be ready to query, why appeal to _women_ on this
subject? _We_ do not make the laws which perpetuate slavery. _No_
legislative power is vested in _us; we_ can do nothing to overthrow
the system, even if we wished to do so. To this I reply, I know you
do not make the laws, but I also know that _you are the wives and
mothers, the sisters and daughters of those who do;_ and if you really
suppose _you_ can do nothing to overthrow slavery, you are greatly
mistaken. You can do much in every way: four things I will name. 1st.
You can read on this subject. 2d. You can pray over this subject. 3d.
You can speak on this subject. 4th. You can _act_ on this subject.
I have not placed reading before praying because I regard it more
important, but because, in order to pray aright, we must understand
what we are praying for; it is only then we can "pray with the
understanding and the spirit also."
1. Read then on the subject of slavery. Search the Scriptures daily,
whether the things I have told you are true. Other books and papers
might be a great help to you in this investigation, but they are not
necessary, and it is hardly probable that your Committees of Vigilance
will allow you to have any other. The _Bible_ then is the book I want
you to read in the spirit of inquiry, and the spirit of prayer. Even
the enemies of Abolitionists, acknowledge that their doctrines are
drawn from it. In the great mob in Boston, last autumn, when the books
and papers of the Anti-Slavery Society, were thrown out of the windows
of their office, one individual laid hold of the Bible and was about
tossing it out to the ground, when another reminded him that it was
the Bible he had in his hand. "_O! 'tis all one_," he replied, and
out went the sacred volume, along with the rest. We thank him for the
acknowledgment. Yes, "_it is all one_," for our books and papers
are mostly commentaries on the Bible, and the Declaration. Read the
_Bible_ then, it contains the words of Jesus, and they are spirit and
life. Judge for yourselves whether _he sanctioned_ such a system of
oppression and crime.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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