Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1852-03-24
FoR THESE cfAToR.
Letters to Northern UMiOuists ON
the Scripture View OF Slavery.
LETTER NO. 10.


LETTER NO. 10.
WEST VIRGINIA, March, 1852.
isaac and Jacob. pious s7ape-owners.-Jol
not censured for slareholding. Joseph in
Egypt.-Egyplian bondage Of the He
bre,cs.
RESPECTED FRIEEDs abraham was not
the only one Of the holy patriarchs, who
held men as property. Isaac, his son and
heir, inherited his fathers possessions Of
every kind. This was expressly stipula-
ted in his marriage settlement, Gen. "a: SO.
The schedule of property, in the previous
verse, among other items, includes "men-
servants and maid-servants." The stipu-
lation was faithfully executed, Gen. %: 5,
"And Abraham gave all that he had unto
Isaac" Isaac's servants are mentioned,
Gen. 90: 49,, Is, 80. In each of these
erses the term ebed is applied to them. In
verses 70: IA, we read ;-"And the Lord
blessed him. And the man waxed great,
and went forward. and grew until he be-
came very great. For he had possession
of focks, and possession of herds, and great
store ofservants.' The Hebrew word trans
lated "store of servants, is ebudah, which
is kindred to e6sd, and signifies body Of
slares. This passage shows that he was a
great STAKEHOLDER. 1t shows also that he
was blessed of the Lord, and that the bles-
sing consisted in part, in his becoming rich
in slaves. This proves that he held them
for his own advantage, and that such hold
ing of them was not sinful. The Scriptures
show abundantly, that he was a pious man,
and that he received repeated tokens OF the
Divine favor. Gen. 26: 8, II will be with
thee and will bless thee" VS.. "a, %, Fear
not, for am with thee, and will bless thee
rand he builded an altar there, and called
upon the name of the Lord" Heb. IL: 20.
'By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau."
The patriarch Jacob, was like his father
and grandfather, an owner OF slaves, Gen.
80: 43, "And the man increased exceed
ingly, and had much cattle, and maid-ser-
wants, and men-servants, and camels and
asses" He says, Gen. 80: S, 81 have oxen,
and asses, ,and hocks, and men.servants, and
women-servants." Ebed and shiphchah are
found in the original of both Of these pas
sages. The former word is applied to his
servants, Gen. 80: 16. But at the same
time that he was STAKEHOLDER, he was an
object of Gods peculiar favor. The Lord
repeatedly appeared to him, confirmed the
covenant which had been made with Abra-
ham, and promised to be with HIM, and to
keep him, and to make him blessing to
all the families of the earth, Gen. %: 1922,
and 81: 8. He repeatedly interpreted for
the benefit of Jacob, Gen. 81: TO, "a, AZ.
and 35: IS. This patriarch was man OF
great piety, and mighty in prayer. His
name was changed to Israel, which means
prince of God and the reason given was,
"For as prince hast thou power with God
and with men, and hast prevailed" This
was when he had wrestled with God, and
had said ;-''I will not let thee 60 unless
thou bless me-" Gen. 80: 9-S0.-The Lord
is called "the God of Abraham, of Isaac and
of jacob" We are informed, that the right
eous "shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, in the kingdom of God" The
rabid abolltionists would think themselves
very much out ofplace in such company -
we think as much.
Job, the patient man of Uz, was great
slave holder. "a very great household"
is mentioned as forming part of his prop
erty, Job 1: 8. The original word for
"household," is e5udah, which means, as we
have seen, body Of SLAVES. He speaks of
his servants, male and female, Job 19: 15,
16, and 81: 13. The terms applied to them
are ebed and amah. The Hebrew word for
servant, Job /: Is, 16, 17,-where we have
the account of the destruction Of Jobs SER
wants, s. the loss of his whole property,--is
naar. This WORD, ,as was shown in former
letter, when applied to domestic, means.
generally if not always, slave. There is
then no room for any reasonable doubt that
Job, like the other patriarchs, held men as
property; and that too in great numbers
His slave family was ga rery greal house
hold" He must then have been very
great sinner. if slave.holding be sinful.-
What Is the testimony Of the Bible respect
ing his character' God says Of him, Job
/: :8, "There is none like him in the earth,
a perfect and an upright man, one that fear
eth God and escheweth evil" 1t IS not
necessary to discuss the question as to the
precise meaning of the word "perfect" in
this text it is sufficient that itmust be ac-
khe@ledged, that he was perfect in as high
sense, as that in which any mere man has
since been. Similar testimonies are given,
Job 1: 1, and 2: 8. The patience which
was exhibited by him tifider his unexam-
pied affections, shows that his piety was Of
no ordinary character. He is spoken of. as
an eminent saint in other. parts of the Bi-
BILE, Eek. IA, 14-20-Jas. o: II. His
conduct underwent d severe scrutiny. In
the first place, the devil accused him Of be-
ing hypocrite, and mere hireling in the
service Of God, and he declared that if Ger.
tain calamities were brought upon him, ne
would curse God to his face. The expert
ment was tried Job retained hIs integrity,
and the adversary was honplused, Job l /:
9-22, and 2. 4-10. But If slaveholdlng
were sinful, he might have said, that Job,
with all his professions of piety, was thief
and pirate. In short, the devil could have
assailed the patriarch, with an invective as
powerful and as elegant, as any with which |
his children have assailed the stockholders
of the South. Jobs three friends brought
various charges against him in their attempt
to prove him hypocrite inferrlng from his
misforttnes that he must be one. But they |
never alluded to The notoriods fact, that he
had owned slaves. He defended himself
at large against their accusations, maintain
ing, athohg other things. that he had not
his servants, Job. 81: 1915; but
he did not think It necessary to go into an
to prove that slaveholding was
not, in itself, sinful. Nor does he declare,
that he had held his slaves merely for their
own benefit. Finally, God himself chatged