Squatter sovereign., 1855-06-12
BY THORNTON sTR1NGFELLow
Continued

Continued.
LOCUST GROVE, Culpepper Co., Va, 1871.
BRoTHER SANDS:
Again, in Gen. xvii, we are informed
of u covenant God entered into with Abra-
ham; in which he stipulates, to be a God
to him and his seed (not his servants, and
to give his seed the land of Canaan for an
everlasting possession. He expressly stip-
ulates, that Abraham shall put the token
of this covenant upon every servant born
in his house, and upon every servant bought
,cith his money O any stranger. Gen.
xvii. II, 13 Here again servants are
property. Again, more than 400 years
afterwards, we find the seed Of Abraham,
on leaving Egypt, directed to celebrate the
rite, that was ordained as a memorial OF
their deliverance, viz: the Passover, al
which time the same institution which makes
property of men and seowen, is recognized
and the seruant bought acith money, is Civ
en- the privilege of partaking, upon the
ground of his being circumcised by his
master, while the hired servant, over whom
the master had no such control, is exclud-
ed until he uoluatarily submits to circum-
cision; showing clearly that the institution
of involuntary slavery then carried with il
right, on the part of master to choose
a religion for the serrant who was his
money, as Abraham did, by Gods direc-
ton, when he imposed circumcision on
those he had bought with his money!
when he was circumcised himself, with
Ishmael his son, who was the only in.
dividual, beside himself, on whom he had
a right to impose it, except the bond-ser-
wants bought of the stranger with his mo-
ney, and their children born in his house
The next notice we have of servants as
property, is from God himself, when cloth
cd with all the visible tokens of his pres
cnce and glory on the top of Sinai, when
he proclaimed his law to the millions that
surrounded its base: "Thou shalt not CO.
vet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not
covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man ser.
want, nor his maid-servant, nor his OK, noi
his ass. nor anything that is thy neigh.
boris" Ex. Xxx. IL. Here, is patriarchal
catalogue of property, having God for its
author, the wife among the rest who was
then purchased, as Jocob purchased his
two, by IA years service. Here, the term
servant, as used by the Almighty, under
the circumstances of the case could not be
understood by these millions, as meaning
anything but property, because the night
they left Egypt, a few weeks before, Mo.
ses, by divine authority, recognized then
servants as property, which they had bought
with their money.
Cd. In addition to the evidence from the
context Of these, and various other places
| TO prove the term servant to be Identical in
the import of its essential particulars with
| the term slave among us, there is unques'
tionable evidence, that, an the patriarchaI
| age, there are two distinct states Of servi.
| tude alluded to, and which are indicated by
two distinct terms, or by the same term, and
an adjective to explain.
These two terms, are first, servant ol
bond-servant; second, hireling or hired ser.
want: the first, indicating involuntary ser.
vitude for stipulated wages and specified
time. Although this admits of the clear
est proof ,,nder the ia,r, yet it admits ol
proof before the law was given. On the
night the Israelites left Egypt, which was
before the law was given, Moses, in desig-
mating the qualifications necessary for the
passover, uses this language, Exod. XII. A
As: every mans servant that is bough
for money, when thou hast circumcised
him, then shall he eat thereof. Aforeign'
er and an hired servant shall not eat there
of" This language carries to the human
mind, with irresistible force, the idea o
tro distinct sfafes-one state of freedom
the other state of bondage: in one o
which. person is serving with his consent
for wages; In the other of which, person
is serving without his consent. according t.
his masters pleasure. - f.#
Again, In Job III. Job expresses the
strong desire he had been made by his af
flictions to feel, that he had died in his IN,