Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1861-01-24

itic race, styled here "heatheu" and "stran
gers" we make the following comments. ::
A. That it authorizes the reduction o.
the heather to slavery is too plain for dis
cussiou The manner of that reduction il
specified to be by purchase, gift, or inheri
tance. Violence and fraud in the acquisl
tion of even these slaves, constituted the
crime of "man stealing," and was visited
with death. Exod. 2l :16.
B Such were to be real property to the
owners Proved by his "buyiug" them
by their being called "possession," at
"inheritauce" and "money," as in Exod
81: 20, 21; and by their being recognized
as property in the 10th Command. This
by no means, implies that they we're regar
ded and treated as brutes, for their treat
ment as men, whose services were controlled
by their owners, is plain from Exod 2l
20, where cruelty was to be punished, and
from Exod 2O:S-11; IL: A Deut. 10
9-l2; IL: 1918, where they were to
! receive religious privileges as other mem
bers of the family.
C. This servitude was perpetual, as fol
lows from the phrase, "shall be your bond
men forever" and from no provision being
made for this class of servants, emitting
them to emancipation, as in case of Hebrew
slaves; and from their being held as ar
ssinheritance for their children after them.
D. The ownership here granted to the
Hebrew master over his heather slave, Ger
tainly entitled him to retain and recover
him if he attempted to escape from hls
bondage. This is deducible from the very
terms of property used, which indicated q
supreme right to the services of the slave;
from there being no provision made fol
such slave to escape from Hebrew mas
ter; from the fact that for one thus to de-
prive lis neighbor Of his property, by de-
coyiug his slave from him, would have con
victed him of man stealing, which was con
demued. and if allowed, in case of slaves
escaping from one Hebrew tribe to another
would have soon put an end to slavery
from the fact that God sent back Hagar te
her mistress, thus inculcating the principe
of the rendition of fugitives. See fact alse
taught in l Kings 2:39, 40. There was
however, an exceptional case, in which the
Jew was not bound to send back the slaves
escaping into Judea from foreign countries
and so from heather masters Deut. %: Is
IL, compared with l Sam. 30:l5. Thi:
was specific law, and had special reasons
to be enforced in the cases for which inten
ded. To return a slave under these cir
cumstances would be subjecting him to al
most certain death, from his cruel heather
master, and besides it would be banishing
him from the religious privileges of Judea
and consigniug him to the horrors and dark
ness of heathenism. A law then, so vel
guarded and commended by special reasons
is motto be perverted into principle of &C
tion, in cases where there is no similarity
but coutrariety of circumstances.
T. The Biblical argument, also, receives
illustration from the traces Of slauery al
through the JewiM history down to the ad
cent of Christ. 1t is found in the tim'
of the kings, as proved from l Sam 8: Is
16, and 9:3, and from its mention in th
Psalms, aud in the history of David and o
Solomon, l Kings 1917, 8; in the time o
Nehemiah, chapters 10; 4:l9, %, ant
from the same book, 7:67, as contraste'
with Isaiah 14:1, 2, it is certain that th
Jews, on returning from Babylon, had owe
seven thousand slaves. And throughou
the whole old testament there is not sylla
bic intimating either the suspension, repea
or even modification of the slave laws, en-
acted for, and exempli6ed among the Jews
From what we have now seen, it is al
ine1itabl conclusion that the institution 0
slavery, being supported by Patriarchal ex
amples, incorporated in the civil code 0
lJewish laws, and recognized in the lei
Commands, and traceable through the Jew
ish history down to the close of the OIL
Testament Canon, and not one word of re
buke or condemnation uttered against it o
its advocates, must have an implied, not
say, as we might, direct sanction in tn
word of God How this conclusion can b
avoided, and yet the facts be fairly inter
preted is not patent, at least, to the mind
PHILEMON.