Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833, by A. T. SKILLMAN, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the State of Kentucky. PHILADELPHIA: C. SHERMAN & co., PRINTERS, NO. 19 ST. JAMES STREET. 7-12-27. PREFACE. THE writer of the following letters was, in 1826, so unfortunate as to give some offence, on the subject of Slavery, to a part of the Cumberland Congregation, (Va.) of which he was then Pastor. The whole facts of the case appeared to him to justify, if not require, that he should give a statement of them to the public. With this view the following letters were written soon after that event occurred. He yielded, however, to the opinion of some friends, that on account of existing excitement, some little time should be allowed to pass before they were given to the public. His object in these letters is, after a brief statement of the facts above alluded to, to examine more fully than he has seen done the teaching of Scripture respecting Slavery, notice its manifold evils, the dangers with which it threatens the South, and what religion and self-preservation require us to do. Danville, Ky. March, 1833. CONTENTS. LETTER I.—Introductory-Narrative of Facts, &c. 1. II.-Ministerial Prudence in Regard to Slavery, 15. III.-Reasons for discussing the Subject, 26. IV.-Origin and Nature of Slavery in the United States, 42. V.-Inconsistent with our free Institutions, and the Na- |