Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1838-02-07

lpudent imposition, hypocrisy, and lying,
we might assuredly expect that they
would reduce them to the condition of
tchattels and property, if there was anu
case in which God permitted them to do
so. r.>.' "-.@'@s
/ ~ Because, throughout the Mosaic
system, God sarns them against holdius
! their servants in such a condition as then
oers hetdin By the Egyptians. How oft.
en- are the Israelites pointed back to the
grindings of their prison-house What
motives to the exercies of Justice and kind
ness towards their servants, are held ont
to their fears in threatened judgments; to
their hopes in promised good and to all
within them that could feel, by those oft
repeated words of tenderness and terror
For ye were bondmen in the land of
Egypt waking anew the memory of
tears and anguish, and of the wrath that
avenged them.
That the argument derived from the
condition of the Israelites in Egypt, and
Gods condemnation Of it, may be appreci-
ated, it Is important that the Egyptian
bondage should be analysed. We shall
then be able 10 ascertain, of what rights
the israelItes were pluadered, and what
they retained.
EGYPTIAN BONDAGE ANALYzED. U.)
The lsrasIites soe'e not dispersed among
the families OF Egypt, the propertyof imdi-
caduGt 0acners* They formed a sepe1ate
community. See Gen. Xvi IS. Elk.
viii. %, "a, and tx. 26, and x. %, and xi.
7, and ii. 9, and xvi 90, and xvii. S.
(2.) They had the ezcIusire possession
OF the land Of GOshen,t one Of the richest
and most productive parts of Egypt. Gen.
xiv. l8, and Xvii. 6, II, 81. Ex. xii 4,
10, 20, %, 27.
49, They lioed in permanent dwellings.
these were houses, not tents. In Elk. xii.
3, the two side posts, and the upper door
posts of the houses are mentioned, and in
the 22d, the two side posts and the Intel.
Each family seems to have occupied a
house by itselt-Acts vii. 20, Elk. xii. d
and from the regulation about the eating
OF the Passover, they could hardly have
been small ones-Ex. xii. 4-and proba-
bly, contained seperate apartments, & pla-
ces for seclusion. Elk. ii. 2, 3; Acts vii. |
20. They appear to have been we'll ap-
parelled. Elk. xii. IL. To have had
their own burial grounds. Elk. xiii. 10,
and xiv. ii.
e. They oaoned" a mi1ed multitude ofl
eoeks and herds" and "rery mach cattle.h
Elk. xii. 80, 81, SO.
(5.) They had their own form of gov.
eminent, and preserved their tribe and fam
lily divisions, and their internal organiza-
ton throughout, though still a province
of Egypt, and tributary to it. Eek. ii. l.,
and xii. 10, FL, and vi. IA, Is, and v. 10,
and iii. l6, l8.
cradle measure, the disposal of their osru |
time,-Ex. xiii. 4, and ill., l6, I8, and
xii: 6, and ii. 9, and iv. 81, 29-3l. Also
to have practised the fine arts. Elk. xxi.
4, and xxxv. 1875.
(7.) They ,oere all armed. Elk. xxi.
(8.) All the females seem to Aape k,soaon
something of domestic re6nements; tev
icere familiar toith instruments of music.
and skilled IN the 'oorking Of fine fabrics.
Elk. XIV. 20, and 35, Sc.
IT, They held their possessions inde-
Pe"de"tIy, and the Egyptians seem to
AGOe regarded them as inUioIable This
we infer from the fact that there is no init
nation that the Egyptians dispossessed
them OF their habitations, or took awav
their focks, or herds, or crops, or imple-
ments ofagriculture, or any article of prop
erty.
llO.) SeTO1ce seems to haze been enacted
from none bat adult males. Nothing is
said from which the bond service of fe-
males could beinferred; the hiding of Mo-
ses three months by his mother, and the
payment of wages to her by Pharaoh's J
daughter, go against such supposition. ,,
Elk. ii. 90.
lll) So far from being fed upon Civ. q
en- allowance, their food was abundant, &
had great variety. "They sat by the
fesh-pots," and did eat bread to the full" t
Ex. xvi. 3, and xiv. /, and xvii. S, and A
". 20, and vi. ii. Also, "they did eat t
flsh freely, and cucumbers, and melons, & v
leeks, and onions, and garlic" Mum. XII. l.
4, s, and x. l6, and Xxx S. o
tl2) That the great body ofMe people v
'0eTe not IN the serUice of the Egypt;aus, u
oe anter from the fact, that the extent
md variety of their own possessions to- Il
3ether with such cultivation of their .
'rops as would provide them with bread. 5
Ind such care of their immense focks and q
nerds. as would secure their profitable in 6
crease, must have furnished constant en-
oloyment for the main body of the nation. N
(2) During theplague of darkness, God .
Informs US that "ALL the children of Is o
'ael had light in their dwellings," We
infer that they were there to enjoy it. Il
(3( 1t Seems improbable thatthemaL;n '