The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1854-02-22
THE LANCASTER LEDGER.

there Is one very peculiar and exceptional
case, (Deut. xxi. A. in which master
is forbidden to sell a female captive whom
he had taken to wife; he shall not make
merchandise Of her. And this exceptional
prohibition leads to the belief that of all
other slaves he might make merchandise.
Again il is said, "lf man be found steal
ing any of his brethren of the children Of
Israel, and maketh merchandise Of him or
seitetin him, then that thief shall de-
Deut. xiv. ~ Which seems to me to
prove that there were regular slave mar
kcts III Israel; otherwise tho kidnapper
could not "makc merchandise" Of his Sto-
len brethren, and could have no tempta-
ton to steal him for sale. And lastly, in
providing for the moderate punishment OF
slaves with rods, the law declares that,
oven if the slave die of his beating after a
day or two, yet his master shall not be
punished; for, saith the text, "ho is his
money" The learned commentator ci-
ted before remarks on this passage: "In
any nation where slavery is established, a
master must have a right to chastse his
slave. If they are obstinate, and provoke
him into passion, his blows may prove
fatal, contrary TO his inclination; but a
predetermination to kill slave will not be
imputed to him." for he is money.
Now, if mans slave was his inherit
ance, and his childrc IS Inheritance, and
lis money, and if in the whole Mosaic
law there is to be found but one enact
ment against sclling-,hat is, forbiddling
a man to sell his wife if she was a'D hi.
slave-torbidding it not because she was
his slave, but because she WAS lis wife
then clearly we arc entitled to assume tha,
slaves were marketable commodity
among the Jews. as they were among all
other nations of antiquity.
l hope, therefore, You will tell your
hearers at your next lecture that YOU have
been misrepres enting Moses all this time
and that, in fact, the Mosaic law imposed
no restrictions upon slavery at all, except
in the case of lsraelitish slaves-a class of
restrictions which are here happily unne-
cessary, as no American citizen can sell
himself into slavery, or become slave
even for debt, as Hebrew citizen might.
So much for authority. And rs to the
nature Of liberty ITSELF believe it is a
thing little understood in these times.
Liberty requires n,w definitions" saith
CARLYLE "Tha true liberty of a man, YOU
would say, consisted in his finding out,
or being forced to find out, the right path.
and to walk thereon; to lealn or to he
taught, what work he actually was able
for; and thus, by permission, persuasion,
and even compuIsion, to set about doing
of the same. That is his true blrssedness,
honor, liberty, and maximum OF well be-
lug" Wisely, as it sce.Is To me, the same
writer again exclaims: "Surcly, of all
rights Of man, this right Of the ignorant
man to be guided 10y the wiser, to DC
gently or forciblv held in the true course
by him, is tho inlispu,ahcs,. Nature
herself ordainS it from the first. Suriiy
struggles towards perfection by enforcing
aud accomplishing it more anil more. 1t
Is a sacred right and duty on both sides;
and the summary Of ali Socai duties what
soever between the two"
Thus the ideal ola shareholders position
is true patria'chat". He is the father
OF Il family. And how much higher are
his duties and responsibilities than those
OF mere employer for money wages, be-
tween whom and his laborrr the sole nerus
is cash payment. If lie do his duty, how
much higher he stands in the scale o.
Gods creatures, than the man who merely
pays his workmen their wages on ~atur.
day night, and dismiSses them to the groy
shop! If he do not his duty, or il he
abuse his power, may God forgive him
Before closing this letter. shall quote
for you q sentence or two from another
keen observer Of the world, Father Ken
yon: "ln general" he says, II regard the
whole question rs one whose importance
is much exaggerated by yfancv-perchance
by fanaticism. We are all slaves, in "A
thousand senses Of the word; slaves to
time, to place, TO circumstance to the
habits of our great grandfalhcrs on either
side, and to the whims of our maternal
ancestors in all their nonsensical genera
tlons; to fire, air, earth and water through
out all their analyses; To tailors-a
most Calling yoke; snuff, washer women,
quacks, policemen, umbrellas, London
merchants, native milers. and royal en-,
gineers. II to all these slaveres there be
supcradded one another-namely, slavery
to shareholders, | cannot see that our DO
sition will be very essentially deteriora.
ted"
Now, your reverence is a slave: a slave
to certain words and phrases, which have
got the mastery over your poor mind, and
thus over your body too. You are rs one
possessed by them. They make you cry
out, and gesticuIate violently, and toll
and sweat, and revile passers by. Who
will emancipate you, unhappy congrega-
tional pastor! You call these noisy spir-
its that possess You, principles and you
ask me where is my principle" You
tell me that you thought had risen up
against English dominion in Ireland "for
principle" God forbid! / trust that |
have no principles of this sort but who
knows his own hearth Who can tell
whether he is truly emancipated or not
Yet l do flatter myself that, in seeking to
throw ofrthe dominion Of England, | was
actuated by no other principle than intol-
erance of insolcnt and ignorant oppres.
sion: my principle was simply that Irish.
mon Wora EIfaI L.. m h;.ln. 4