Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1860-06-01

.lOW A,
The law against theft (Ex. xxi, /, 2, 8,
which slavery claims for its benefit, afte
discriminating, with characteristics wisdom
between the midnight desperate and th'
harmless villain of the day, provided heav!
restitution, as penalty for the crime, to NEE
which the person, as well as the property, Q
the thief was held liable. Now, to show tina
the laws of Moses had undergone amendment
for the sake of improvement and perfection
and, more particularly, to show the impro
priety Of the English word "sold' in thi'
connection, the lecturer referred to Lev. XIV
%, which declares property snaliena6le; ane
then raised the question how it was possible
for an Isfaelite, under these circumstances, t.
be reduced to poverty, as intimated in th'
same chapter, rs, 80, 4o2 Itwerel possible
only, he said in reply, under conviction fol
theft, and the sentence Of multiplied restitu
ton; and thus the Hebrew teaches the wore
rendered, in English, "poor'' being with much
more propriety "degraded." The error o
translation occurred, no doubt, through
inattention to the chronological order and
consistency of this law with the rest Of the
code and, perhaps, the translator was misled
by the popular vulgarity Of associatine
degradation with poverty, as terms synony.
NOUS. The transaction termed "sale,"' tc
which the cu,prit, in the one case (Lev. XIV,
25), stood actively" and in the other (Lev.
XIV, 39), touching himself, "passively y
related, was, strictly speaking, a. eonusyed
temporary right to property, or to reuenus
aeeruing from labor; the body being abso-
lutely out of all jurisdiction, as may be
understood from the following-Dieut. xiii,
5,16: ussa s.s .ar 9as az a.asi..
'Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the
servant which is escaped from his master
unto thee" -" &. .vi.a "a
Which did not, however, acquit the fugitive
from rendering restitution for theft, if due,
his wages flowing by law to that object,
whether he consented or not.* We ask the
objectors to this view, who, of course, know
very little personally about the Jewiah system,
to furnish theory more consistent with the
sum Of all the facts Is stated in the English
version, accepted without qualification. It
can't be donel ........-. ,.... 81.
We now come to notice another radical
distinction, which should have been pointed
out before, and which our translators seem to
have overlooked, in the words used to express
the condition Of servitude. In Ex. xxi, 2, the
word '.sseF' is rendered "servant," and in
Lev. XIV, 80, the same word is made "bond-
with more uniformity, perhaps,
"sochir'' is rendered "hred-servant." An
Good is 'nson.et-allwork," as we would say,
engaged for aprotracted period, or for Z years !;
and, BY pardonable partiality, the Hebrews
or foreigners, including the dispossessed
Canaanites, were exclusively devoted to this
service (Lev. XIV, Az. Perhaps it was a
sufficient franchise to grant them employment,
and certainly they enjoyed very great priv
ileges besides. Under no pretext could the
Israelite be held as an cred, but as a soshir,
or sercant hired By the day, for some specified
labor, he could be held to serve-J the
sentence Of the laso demanded 1T, even until
the year Of jubilee (Lev. XIV, 4o) - the
ushering in, with the fiftieth year, of new
period, when all debts were RENTED, and
property reverted to original holders (Lev.
XIV, 10--13). .. .a
Weregret that Mr. Liberman was prevented
from dwelling more at length upon this
remarkable institution. The jubilee is GER
tainly the seal and signet to his argument;
and we wonder how the most infatuated
slaveocrat could pause before system Of
emancipation so sublime, and not wilt under
an overwhelming sense of shame for the
outrageous sentiments he has imputed to its
author. ---
The provision contained in Lev. XIV, 46, Of
which advantage is sought to be taken fer
slavery, was simply to convey, upon the
decease of master, to his surviving heirs Gin
this case the Hebrew has it for song only,
but the right of inheritance was subsequently
extended to daughters--N Mum. xvii, 1--s,)
the benefit of unsatisfed claims or engage
ments of service, and was founded upon
principles of unexceptionable justice and
equity. s 4.r
The speaker closed by urging a more careful
and critical perusal of the Bible, calling upon
Christians to interest themselves more in the
Old Testament, and to oppose themselves
decisively to the disparagement Of any portion
of Gods Word. Let Error, he said, be cut
adrift--let it float helpless to the shoreless
ocean, to buffet the angry waves, and it will
soon be engulphed. Let the Church disavow
paternity to Slavery, and close her doors upon
it. Without father or mother, without home
Or shelter, Slavery will be reduced to forlorn
condition "a wretched outcast, doomed
speedily to perish! ..sat"t,.a.
%We may have been mistaken in attributing to
Mr.. Liberman the assertion that the servant, when
disposed of indicated in the first law under con-
sideration Exodus xxi, ~ could, in any case,
control his own wages. The point is immaterial
except as a matter of correct information for,
however il may have been, it afforded no advantage
to the 'buyer." al'- .a' 9 7
FoR LINcoLN.-The Buffalo Commercial
Advertiser, a journal Of great ability and
influence, which, in 1856, supported Mr..
Fillmore, places the Chicago ticket at the
head Of its columns, and, while PROCESSING
great respect for the ticket nominated at
Ralt;nnora hv the ssCon sfitntional TTnionists -