On the contrary, he made all men to be free and equal, as saith our
Declaration of Independence. Hence, every negro child that is born is as
free before God as the white child, having precisely the same right to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as the white child. The law
which denies him that right does not destroy it. It may enable the man
who claims him as a slave to deprive him of its exercise, but the right
itself remains, for the wicked law under which he acts does not and
cannot set aside the divine law, by which he is as free as any child
that was ever born.

But if God made every man, woman, and child to be free, and not
property, then he who uses a human being as property acts contrary to
the will of God and SINS! Is it not so, my children?

Yet that is what every slaveholder does. _He uses his slaves as
property_. He reckons them as worth so many dollars, just as your father
sets a certain money value on his horse, farm, or merchandise. He sells
him, gives him away, uses his labor without paying him wages, claims his
children as so many more dollars added to his estate, and when he dies
wills him to his heirs forever. And this is SIN, my children--a very
great sin against God, a high crime against human nature.

Mark what I say! the sin of slavery does not lie merely in whipping,
starving, or otherwise ill-treating a human being, but in using him as
property; in saying of him as you do of your dog: "He is my property. He
is worth so much money to me. I will do what I please with him. I will
keep him, use him, sell him, give him away, and keep all he earns, just
as I choose."