Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1861-03-28
The Bible on Slavery Reply to
a. O. BOnha1z1-

=
to the Word ofsGod, perhaps you will have
the kindness to permit me to reply to his
letter which appeared in your number Of
2lst current, and in which he desires some
one to explain certain texts Of Scripture
relative to slavery, which he quotes. |
presume Mr. Bonham has been studying
the letter Of Bishops Hopkins Of Vermont,
and holds with tbs Bishop that these texts
prove that The Almighty has sanctioned
slavery.
The first text which Mr.. Bonham quotes
is Genesis TX: 25-27 containing the curse
of C;aanan the son of Ham. The argu-
ment drawn from these verses in favor Of
slavery, seems, so far as | can understand
it, to stand thus Noah curses Caanan
and predicts that he would be ga servant
Of servants and also that he would be the
servant of Jappeth and Shem. Africa
was peopled by The descendants Of Caanan,
therefore Africans ought to be made slaves
A curious argument. What if it should
happen however, that the Africans are not
descended from Caanan? 1t would be an
extremely awkward thing to condemn the
inhabitants Of an entire continent to slay-
cry, upon mere probability. ALI that
the Bible tells lis Of the descendants Of
Caanan, is to be found in Genesis X: 10
20, and there we learn that they settled III
the land Of Caanan. How very silly to
maintain upon the strength Of the verses
which Mr.. Bonham has quoted, that we
are entitled to reduce millions of human
beings to bondage There Is not enough
Of strength il the argument deduced from
them to warrant us IN Withholding a slice
If bread and butter from single piccanin-
ny.
The next quotation is from Leyiticus
ky: 44th and 46th verses. "Both thy
bontneu and thy bondmaids which thou
shalt have, shall be Of the heather that are
round about you. Of them shall ye buy
bondmen and bondmails, and We shall take
them for al inheritance for your children
after you to.inhcrit them for a possession,
they shall be your bondmen forever"
This looks somewhat more spacious than
the first, but 4 iittIe knowledge Of the He
brew law enables us to explain it. That a
modified form OF slavery existed under the
Hebrew economy is well known. 1t was
tolerated by the Divine law-giver in the
same manner is poligalny and retaliation,
but at the same time placed under such
strict regulation as to be reduced almost to
a reality. If slave ran away from his
master, the person with whom he took
refuge, was forced to deliver him up or OPP
press him.-Deut. XIII: 1916. The
kidnapper was punished With death.-Ex.
XXI: is. But the remarkable law was that
of the Jubilee which ran thus: land ye
shall halow the fitch year and proclaim
LIBERTY throughout all the land, unto all
tile inhabitants thereof; it shall be jubi-
lee unto you, ard you shall return every
man into his possession, and yeshall return
every man TO his family" Ley. XIV: 10.
The phrase ..Iorcyern does not therefore
mean perpetual bondange, bat merely UNI
til the year of jubilee; and that the bond
age must have been Of an extremely modi-
fed character, is evident from the fact that
a runaway could not be delivered up. In
point Of fact it seems to have been nothing
more than contract for a specified time,
extending to six years in the case of lie
brews, and forty-nine years in the case of
heather. That no servile class such as that
which exists in the South, were TO befound
in Israel, Is evident from the fact that no
mention whatever is made Of them in his
tory.
The last quotation is from Exodus XXI:
20-21: elf man srlite his servant or
his maid With a rod and he die under his
hand, he shall be surely punished, notwith-
standing, if be continue day or two, he
shall not lie punished for he is bis money"
The reference deduced by Mr.. Bonham
from this verse is, that the master was or
was not to be punished according as his
servant died at once, or lived day or two
after the stroke, law which would sane
ton murder. If he would look at the mar
ginal reading Of his, Bible he would find
that the word spunished," may be render
ed "ayengec," which entirely changes the
meaning Of the verse. 1t is the servant
who is spoken OF land not the master; it is the
servant who is to be avenged or not, accord
inc as he dies at once or whether day on
two. The reference here is evidently to the
custom Of the ayenger Of blood, who was
bound accordingly TO Oriental ideas, to
ayenqe the accidental death of friend.
TO modify the bafbarous but deeply rooted
custom. God ordained six cities Of refuge,
to which the hanslayer might flee, ard IN
to which the aVenger Of blood could aot
follow him. Now If the master striking
the servant with rod killed him at once,
(but without meaning to do so otherwise it
would be MURDER he was liable to DO kill
ed himself by the ayenger Of blood, but
not if the servant live q day or two. In
either case as a matter Of cor.se he would
Sc handed over to the legal tribunals and
punished for manslaughter. But from tie
phrase she is bis money! Mr.. Bonham I'M
fers that be was the masters property, to
be bought and sold in the same manner as
American slaves are. Thclaw ofthe jubi-
lee shows the idea to be mistaken one.
The whole matter was a contract between
the master and the servant IL which the
ryantsold lis services for SIX or for for
ty-nine years, according lis he was He