General History, Ecclesiastical History, Councils, Bulls, etc.
Christianity appeared for the purpose of effecting a regeneration in man's moral nature; this necessarily included also his social regeneration.
The primitive2 Christians3, apostles, and martyrs4, by their words, actions, and death, taught charity, brotherly love, and equality before God; and thus slowly but powerfully undermined slavery. They consoled in every possible way their lowly and suffering brethren, and tried to inspire the slaveholders with feelings of charity and benevolence6 toward their bondmen; but as the apostles did not attack any prevalent social or political evil, nay7, even seemed to countenance8, by their silent recognition or their advice, the existing imperial despotism, so, for obvious reasons, they could not directly attack domestic slavery nor proclaim universal emancipation9. They preached to slaves and slaveholders, made converts from both, and considered and treated both as equal before God and the law. The few words of apostolic consolation10 which have been transmitted to us as re[Pg 166]ferring especially to chattels12, logically and morally contain a condemnation13 of slavery, for it is only misfortune and evil that inspire pity or require consolation. So that the apostles and primitive Christians, by advising slaves to bear their yoke14 patiently, thereby15 proclaimed slavery to be an evil, like any of the sufferings, losses, or misfortunes of life.
When, under Constantine, Christianity was embodied16 in a national ecclesiasticism, the Church watched more directly over the condition of the slaves. In various ways it tried to alleviate17 their condition and effect their manumission; and this it urged the more earnestly as the Christians belonged mostly to the poorer classes, and also numerous serfs and slaves.
But the Church had now become a material fact, and henceforward, beside its legitimate18 moral aims, it had also worldly and selfish desires. It received imperial and private donations, became a large proprietor19 of lands, and therefore also a holder5 of slaves and serfs. It could therefore take no distinct interest in emancipation, but nevertheless still continued to inspire slaveholders with a milder spirit, and tried to prevent, as far as possible, the slave traffic, at least in Christian1 chattels.
None of the apostles, fathers, confessors, or martyrs of the Church ever affirmed slavery to be a moral and divine institution, or ever attempted to justify20 it in any way. These primitive Christians and holy fathers never once thought to refer to the curse of Noah as a justification21 of slavery. The Biblical story[Pg 167] of Noah and his curse was first dragged into this question by the feudalized medi?val clergy23, to justify the enslavement, not of black Africans but of white Europeans, among whom, undoubtedly24, were the ancestors of many blatant25 American supporters of the divine origin, on Biblical authority, of slavery.
When the Roman empire was broken in pieces by the northern invaders26, the body of the Roman Church and clergy belonged to the subdued27 and enslaved race. The Franks, Northmen, and Anglo-Saxons were then altogether heathen; but many of the invaders—as the Visigoths and Ostrogoths, the Vandals, Burgundians, Heruli, and Longobards—were Christians; but, being Arians (Unitarians), they were enemies of the Trinitarians, and treated the Roman clergy as they did the rest of the subdued population. The Roman clergy, however, finally succeeded in superseding28 the Arian dogmas by their own, and they then constituted the sole expounders of Christian doctrine29. Moved then by the Christian spirit, as well as by consanguinity30 with the enslaved population, they never failed to impress on the conquerors31, whether heathen or Christian, their duties toward their slaves. They also continued to promote manumissions by declaring them meritorious32 before God. These manumissions were performed at the sacred altar with all the pomp and impressive rites33 of the Church, and were often extorted34 from the slaveholding barbarian35 in his last agonies.
As before, so during the first centuries of the Germanic settlements of Western and Southern Europe,[Pg 168] the Church never recognized the right of one man to enslave another; but rather through the voice of Gregory the Great, bishop36, pope, or saint, reaffirmed the ancient axiom of the Roman jurist: "Homines quos ab initio natura creavit liberos—et jus gentium jugo substituit servitutis." The efforts of Gregory the Great, as also those of his predecessors37 and successors, were directed toward stopping the infamous38 slave traffic, first in Christian slaves, and then in Jews, Mussulmans, and all heathen. The Roman Church and its leaders unceasingly condemned39 the slave-trade, and the popes menaced with excommunication the traffickers in Mussulman prisoners in Rome, Lyons, Venice, etc., as also those Germans who afterward40, in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, enslaved the prisoners of war which they made among the Slavonic tribes, Christian and heathen. The popes have likewise perpetually condemned the African or negro slave-trade, from its beginning down to the present day. Gregory XVI. interdicts41 "all ecclesiastics42 from venturing to maintain that this traffic in blacks is permitted under any pretext43 whatsoever44;" and prohibits "teaching in public or in private, in any way whatever, any thing contrary to this apostolic letter." Explicit45 words of this tenor46, coming from the pope, were generally considered as expressing the spirit of the Papal Church. In the Roman, as in all other churches and sects47, however, both clergy and laity48 were wont49 to interpret all such mandates50 according to their own convenience.
For reasons formerly51 alluded52 to, the various national[Pg 169] ecclesiastical councils held in countries politically reconstructed by German invaders—as Spain, France, and England—repeatedly and explicitly53 legislated54 on slavery. These councils had it constantly in view to moderate the general treatment of slaves and bondmen, and to prevent mutilation and other cruel modes of punishment. The churches were proclaimed inviolable places of refuge for fugitive55 slaves, and while emancipation was urged as meritorious, the enslavement of freemen was visited with excommunication.
Soon, however, the Church, that is, the priesthood and hierarchy56, came to form an integral part of the feudal22 system. The higher clergy shared the public spoils, and had fiefs and other estates stocked with serfs and chattels. Then the fervor57 for emancipation abated58; nevertheless, the clergy generally recommended a humane59 treatment of the enslaved. The Irish clergy and councils perhaps proved themselves the most disinterested60 at that early medi?val epoch61: they were the "underground railroad" of the period—assisting in the escape of slaves from bondage62; and a council held in Armagh in 1172, gave liberty to all English (that is, Saxon) slaves in Ireland. Nowadays, on the contrary, the immense majority of the Irish Roman clergy on this continent support and sanction chattel11 slavery.
In the course of time the clerical hierarchies63, monasteries64, etc., inoculated65 with the feudal and baronial spirit, became as zealous66 for the preservation67 of even[Pg 170] the most revolting forms of servitude imposed upon the bondmen, as the most rapacious68 lay barons69 could possibly have been. Nowhere did the clergy raise its voice for either a total or a partial abolition70 of bondage.
Serfdom, which had long previously71 vanished from Italy, was, at the appearance of Luther, on the point of dissolution in England. The father of the religious reformation of Germany rather avoided blending social with spiritual reform; but the French and Swiss reformers, as well as the anabaptists and other sects, kept especially in view the amelioration of the condition of the oppressed masses. In general, the great movements for a freer spiritual activity which characterized the sixteenth century, contributed to promote the emancipation of serfs: and this first by purifying and elevating the public conscience, and then by bringing about the secularization72 of church property. The state, on becoming the heir of the clergy, was everywhere foremost in abolishing servitude: the ecclesiastical corporation, on the other hand, never labored73 for its abolition.
Among the various religious bodies—the Quakers and the modern Unitarians excepted—the absoluteness of Christian doctrine and morals has always been greatly modified by worldly interests. Not the Episcopal nor Scottish churches, nor indeed any other denomination74, can claim the merit of having begotten75 the noble sentiment so universal in England on the subject of human bondage. The Roman clergy[Pg 171] continues, as it always has done, to oscillate between duty and interest; and the various Protestant sects do the same. And it is a significant feature that in the American union almost every religious denomination has its pro-slavery and its anti-slavery factions76.
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1 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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2 primitive | |
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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3 Christians | |
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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4 martyrs | |
n.martyr的复数形式;烈士( martyr的名词复数 );殉道者;殉教者;乞怜者(向人诉苦以博取同情) | |
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5 holder | |
n.持有者,占有者;(台,架等)支持物 | |
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6 benevolence | |
n.慈悲,捐助 | |
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7 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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8 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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9 emancipation | |
n.(从束缚、支配下)解放 | |
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10 consolation | |
n.安慰,慰问 | |
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11 chattel | |
n.动产;奴隶 | |
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12 chattels | |
n.动产,奴隶( chattel的名词复数 ) | |
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13 condemnation | |
n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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14 yoke | |
n.轭;支配;v.给...上轭,连接,使成配偶 | |
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15 thereby | |
adv.因此,从而 | |
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16 embodied | |
v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 );象征;包括;包含 | |
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17 alleviate | |
v.减轻,缓和,缓解(痛苦等) | |
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18 legitimate | |
adj.合法的,合理的,合乎逻辑的;v.使合法 | |
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19 proprietor | |
n.所有人;业主;经营者 | |
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20 justify | |
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护 | |
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21 justification | |
n.正当的理由;辩解的理由 | |
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22 feudal | |
adj.封建的,封地的,领地的 | |
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23 clergy | |
n.[总称]牧师,神职人员 | |
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24 undoubtedly | |
adv.确实地,无疑地 | |
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25 blatant | |
adj.厚颜无耻的;显眼的;炫耀的 | |
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26 invaders | |
入侵者,侵略者,侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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27 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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28 superseding | |
取代,接替( supersede的现在分词 ) | |
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29 doctrine | |
n.教义;主义;学说 | |
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30 consanguinity | |
n.血缘;亲族 | |
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31 conquerors | |
征服者,占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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32 meritorious | |
adj.值得赞赏的 | |
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33 rites | |
仪式,典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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34 extorted | |
v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 );曲解 | |
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35 barbarian | |
n.野蛮人;adj.野蛮(人)的;未开化的 | |
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36 bishop | |
n.主教,(国际象棋)象 | |
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37 predecessors | |
n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 );前辈;(被取代的)原有事物;前身 | |
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38 infamous | |
adj.声名狼藉的,臭名昭著的,邪恶的 | |
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39 condemned | |
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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40 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
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41 interdicts | |
n.正式禁止( interdict的名词复数 );禁令;(罗马天主教)停止(某人)教权的禁令;停止某地参加圣事活动v.禁止(行动)( interdict的第三人称单数 );禁用;限制 | |
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42 ecclesiastics | |
n.神职者,教会,牧师( ecclesiastic的名词复数 ) | |
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43 pretext | |
n.借口,托词 | |
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44 whatsoever | |
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么 | |
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45 explicit | |
adj.详述的,明确的;坦率的;显然的 | |
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46 tenor | |
n.男高音(歌手),次中音(乐器),要旨,大意 | |
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47 sects | |
n.宗派,教派( sect的名词复数 ) | |
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48 laity | |
n.俗人;门外汉 | |
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49 wont | |
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯 | |
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50 mandates | |
托管(mandate的第三人称单数形式) | |
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51 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
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52 alluded | |
提及,暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53 explicitly | |
ad.明确地,显然地 | |
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54 legislated | |
v.立法,制定法律( legislate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55 fugitive | |
adj.逃亡的,易逝的;n.逃犯,逃亡者 | |
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56 hierarchy | |
n.等级制度;统治集团,领导层 | |
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57 fervor | |
n.热诚;热心;炽热 | |
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58 abated | |
减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 ); 减去; 降价; 撤消(诉讼) | |
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59 humane | |
adj.人道的,富有同情心的 | |
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60 disinterested | |
adj.不关心的,不感兴趣的 | |
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61 epoch | |
n.(新)时代;历元 | |
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62 bondage | |
n.奴役,束缚 | |
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63 hierarchies | |
等级制度( hierarchy的名词复数 ); 统治集团; 领导层; 层次体系 | |
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64 monasteries | |
修道院( monastery的名词复数 ) | |
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65 inoculated | |
v.给…做预防注射( inoculate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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66 zealous | |
adj.狂热的,热心的 | |
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67 preservation | |
n.保护,维护,保存,保留,保持 | |
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68 rapacious | |
adj.贪婪的,强夺的 | |
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69 barons | |
男爵( baron的名词复数 ); 巨头; 大王; 大亨 | |
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70 abolition | |
n.废除,取消 | |
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71 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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72 secularization | |
n.凡俗化,还俗,把教育从宗教中分离 | |
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73 labored | |
adj.吃力的,谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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74 denomination | |
n.命名,取名,(度量衡、货币等的)单位 | |
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75 begotten | |
v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 );产生,引起 | |
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76 factions | |
组织中的小派别,派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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