The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-11-03

~ mandments means slave, they come to d
ng conclusion thas the tenth ccmmandme
ed recognises the right OF the master to ho
,st another human being as slaye-as pro-
ly erty. What chasms between premises an
IN conclusions! Theirs must be really iuml
ing logic to leap such.
The word servant as here used, could nc
10 have been used to denote slave-a perso
g. held to involuntary seryitude. The lsrae
n ties were ust emerging from the land @
b bondage-themsslves in poverty-in an un
organised sta.e--no law, nor systematise,
I'll government 10 aid the eovstors in extortin,
:. involuntary sevice from taeir fellow beings
and wandering for forty years amidst hos
r. ule tribes-hov was il possible for them Il
J., hold slaves!-nere involuntary servitude
Sage philosophers" indeed. The servants
c contemplated were only such as exist in oul
free States.
c Again, even If some coyetous man was
then robbing his fellow Of personal owner.
ship; and the text forbade bis neighbor to
covet that slave, still this is no recognition
( OF masters right to hold another man as
slave. For if any ndghbor has a stolen
piece Of cloth, it is wnng, a violation Of
the command, for me to covet it; though he
, has no right to it. To covet, would be an
injury to my own heart and it is right that
!, should be forbidden 10 exercise such desires
though the robber title be bad.
| The moral law, then as we have seen,
condemns slavery.
| But in the Old Testament we have not
only general precepts condemnatory OF
slavery, but also many specific precepts.
| In the chapter following that in which
the decalogue is found, Exod. 81: 16,) we
lind statute. or precept, most sacredly
guarding the liberty CT man as man. "He
that stealeth a man and selleth him, or If he
be found in his hands, he shall surely be
put to death" Does any one say this pas
sage means that one man shall not steal the
servant or slave OF another mani We an.
swer:
/ I. Then the text would have been writ.
ten, che that siealeth The servant or slave OF
smother man shall be put to DEATH" 1t is
not so written, but forbids stealing any
man.
| 2. The Hebrew word which is here trans.
lated stsaleth, is such as is used to designate
the ROBBERY Of liberty--kidnapping. Thus
Joseph using the same word says, II indeed
was stolen away out OF the land Of the He
bTews," Gen. 40: IS.
3. Had the text been simply designed to
guard the property tenure OF the master,
then the statute would have required prop.
euy punishment, as an atonement. ltwas
principle, in the Jewish law, that when
property was taken, the thief should return
an increased amount Of property; and il he
had not property. then he was to be sold
until his services would pay the amount
No such penalty is here AFFIXED. But us the
crime was that Of robbing man Of his lib
erty, and as liberty was, aud il, a right dear
as life, the same penalty was affixed az that
for taking life.
Do you say, though the Jew might not
seize free man and rob him Of his lber-
ty. vet. he might buy from Others, those
who had been robbed OF their Liberty! We
answer: "The statute as really forbade slave
holding, as II did slave making. Not only
he that stealeth man, but If the stolen
man be found in his hands, he shall surely
be put TO DEATH And every body can
see that there was consistency in .his.-I
Suppose Moses had passed law lorbidding
horse stealing. and then another allowing
the Jew to buy those that they knew were
stolen, would it not have been a glaring in.
consistency, bringing reProach upon the
law and its author, in the eye Of the whole |
world. Reader, in your haste to defend
despo,ism, do not charge God with folly.
Again, that all service in the nation might |
be strictly voluntary, and that all servants
might be freed from every form Of oppres.
sion, God caused another statute 10 be writ |
ten: Thou shalt not deliver unto his mas
ter the servant which is escaped from his
master unto thee: He shall dwell with |
thee, even among you, in that place which
he shall choose in one Of thy gates, where |
it liketh him the best: thou shalt not op.
press HIM" D Dec: 23: Is, 10. This pre-
vented all forms of oppression-nothing !
could be endured only that which was vol.
untary.
Again, that assurance might be doubly |
sure, God established not only precepts, but
national customs. securing liberty to all
men-"Ye shall hallow the fftieth year, |
and proclaim liberty throughout all the land
unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be |
a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return
every man unto his possession, and ye shall
return every man unto his family."--Lev, |
IS: 10. By this statute and national Gus.
tom all the tendencies to oppression, and
possibilities of slavery were broken up. III
Jew or Gentle were even disposed,
they could not sell their service for longer
period than to the jubilee. Never was a
nation of people more ssdulously guarded
against the sin Of slavery And this is jus:
what from the history Of the nation, we
would expect God had just delivered
them from the CALLING yoke of oppression,
and awfully punished the Egyptians for
the sin; and God who loved his people,
guarded them from ike sin and calam-
iy.
Nations, however, likeindividuals, some-
times forget the pit from whence they have
been digged-break their wholesome laws,
and commit outrages on others. So did the
Jews in after years. Ard then We hear
God crying by the noun Of his Prophet:
"Woe unto him that bui deth his house by
unrigheousness, and lis chambers by
wrong-that useth his neighbours service
without wages, and gieth him not for his