The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1847-11-20

Tha servant had the same religious
v;l,ges and instructions as his
fsnd was thus regarded and treaaed
law as in all respects man. an I'M
h..;ng and not as piece oil pro
s.a,ee,llv the enactments on this sub
we NJ 49, 90. 1913, and 80 10-l3.
kV;,h ,bese enactments compare the statutes
already quoted in a previous number re-
oa;rine tbe servant TO be present o. All tile
go ssflvafs. and the passage nom me
7ew;sb LAWYER, MaimOnides. Compare,
- ,exts ike the following which are OIL
e 60 occurrence in the Mosaic code.
~ tboa. shall not Cypress a stranger
Tar Us kylorc the heart OF a stranger, see
;ng no ,rere arang gers in the land Of Egypt.
rToi %. 9. Ee shall hare one manner
If lar as uoeH for the stranger as for
ous Of vonr OIrn country for 4 am me
Toy6 ,,onr God. Lev. "a: p. The
Hebrews had been both strangers and slaves
/ n tbe land of Egypt. they had been grew
pusy oppressed; and their wise and ha-
mspe legislator frequently reminds them oil
i ,beir former su6enngS to excite their tender
81 ympathies towards those who were IN
Ike circumstances among themselves. The
term stranger is often used anonymously
vi,b that OF bondman; and strangers and
b,ndmen were TO be the objects OF peculiar
rsgard. especially in respect TO the enjoy
msnt Of religious privileges. Compare tue
'.u of the Sabbath. Exod. 20: 10. The
srsnh dan IS the Sabbath Of The Lord
IN God. IN Il thou shalt not do any lcoTk.
.bor. nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor
rBy MAN SERVANT, NOR THY MAID SER
Want, nor thy cattle, nor THY STRANGE
tat is trithin thy gate.
8. Full provision was made to secure
the escape Of a servant from an unjust and
crusl master.
Thou shalt not deliUer unto has master
me ssrrdnt tia, is escaped from has master
1H,e thee he shall dIreil Ieith thee, eCsn
among you IN that place ichich he shall
choose IN one Of thy gates, rchere Il Liktth
him best, thou shall not Cypress him. Dert.
.. Is, 10.
There Is nothing in the context to modify
or limit in any way the meaning oil this
statute. Ii stands entirely disconnected
with what precedes and with what follows,
and must, therefore, be understood according
TO the full import Of the terms in which II
is written. 1t does not, indeed, prohibit the
master retaining his own servant if be can;
but It does positively forbid any one helping
him to do it, Ii gives the servant the
sane chance 10 escape that was granted 10
the homicide by laws pertaining to the cities
Of refuge, in Nun. 35.
There is no injustice done by this law O.
drrstood in il fullest sense. A worthy SCI
want, treated according to the principle OF
the Mosaic code, would never desert Wei
thy mas;er-a worthy master would never
desire to be afflicted with a worthless ser
vsni-and worthless master has no busi-
nsss with a servant Of any kind. We have
already seen how easy the Mosaic code de
sgnedly made il to deprive worthless mas
ter Of all his servants. The statute, under
stood in its fullest sense, is in exact accor-
dance with the whole spirit and design OF
The Mosaic law OF servitude-whiCh was so
to limit and modify and civilize the slavery
actually existing, that it should become a
system Of voluntary labor, sustained by the
mutual advantage Of both master and ser.
vanL-that the master might have neither
motive mol power to Cypress the servant
and tia; the servant might have no strong
temptation to defraOd the master. This
vas the point which was reached at last
and towards all this the statutes tended.
The assumption that this statute, express
ed in the most unlimited and equivoca.
terms, applies only to slaves escaping from
other nations, is wholly gratuitous, entirely
contrary to all the principles Of legal inter
pFetation, and directly at variance with the
entire spirit Of Ibs Mosaic code. 1t is ;
positive statute, and statute must be strict
iy interpreted. 1t is expressed in terms thu
mSs universal, and there is nothing in thu
context to limit in the least degree the mean
ing Of the terms; and there is no othe
statute in the whole Mosaic code incon
ssent with this understanding Of it. Or
every principle Of Interpretation, we sr'
Obliged as honest men, to receive the status
IN It's literal sense.
but says an director: "This would abol
ish the whole system Of servitude, which
was one object Of the Mosaic code to main
TAIN and regulate and it is absurd to inter
pref one statute in conuaTiety to the Who'll
system, grant that the statute thus under
Stood would in time break up the Who'll
system OF Involuntary, compulsory serri
'Ode-and this, affirm, is the very thin
winch Moses intended to do, the very thin
which as matter Of fact, lac actually accom-
Pllshed. This and nothing else was til
very purpose Of the whole Mosaic law {
ssVllude' as must be manifest to any Eai
minded man who examines it closely; an
ras purpose in point of fact it did most e
i'clnally accomplish. Is it any objectio
20 'ne plain, literal, obvious interpretatio
o. IhIs passage, that such an interpretatio
makes It accomplish the very thing that II
whole code to which it belongs was inten'
60 10 accomplish, and which il actually d
accomplish in the Hebrew nation? thin
nol' c. Z. s.
Afrirau s,o,..,...s.x ~.