Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-03-14

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Judgment and discriminating temper
That. is why "Cities of Refuge" be-
came necessary. For family feuds.
whether in Breathitt county. Ken
tncky. or in Canaan. do not work out
the social well-being of the people,
They are the cause of great injustice
and terrible loss of life.
The East has not outgrown the
system of privately administering
law, of the sort that the wise Mosaic
legislation endeavored to overcome.
Swinging along on the backs of
dromedaries over the Libyan desert.
one day my Bedouin dragoman told
me tale that illustrates the theme
under discussion. In brief and shorn
Of its picturesque local color and
the quaint speech in which Abdullah
told it, the story is this: A lad of
twelve one day was in quarrel with
some playmates. They taunted him
with the fact that his father had
been murdered, and that the slayer
still lived. The crime had happened
in the boys infancy, and he had
grown up ignorant of 1t. Going
home, he awaited his opportunity.
and when he found his mother near
the fire. he suddenly grasped her and
held her face near the blaze. threat
ening to burn her unless she should
reveal the slayer of his father.
The Woman. who had kept the Sc
cret from her son. out of dred for
the bloody feud, was forced to name
the murderer. prominent citizen of
the next village. The boy went to
ha q.
neighbor's gun, and having found
the man he sought sitting among
the village elders. he approached him
with the words, You killed my
father; am going to kill you" This
he did straightway. Thereupon the
elders held a conference and decided
that the blood debt was due, and
that the boy had done right. Thus
continuance of the feud which
might have resulted in the decima-
tion of the neighboring villages; was
averted.
The Cities of Refuge
From prehistoric times this GUS
tom has been practiced in the East.
1t was a custom attended by grave
dangers-the danger of making the
blood -avenger ,, or "goel," as the
Hebrew has, it. an instrument of
private revenge; the danger Of
creating long bloody feuds. with the
determination of the community's
best life; the danger of visiting the
penalty for murder upon one who
has accidentally caused death; the
danger of the peryersion of Justice
by the rich and powerful, through
the, payment of "blood-money."
In the construction of an organ
ized social life. the Hebrews were
bound to have some, better method
OF justice than this. with the ad-
vance of civilization and the grad
ual evolution of the state, the duty
of safeguarding the rights of the
community passes to the state" So
Joshua was instructed, after the law
given to Moses, to appoint "cities of
refuge" in the new land now being
settled. SIX OF these were named
at the six most favorably situated
points in Canaan, and to them the
highways were to be made and kept
free, so that naught might hinder the
man seeking asylum from the blood
avenger. Along the way were signs
hearing the wards Refuge! Refuge!'
to guide the unhappy fugitive. If
any one refused to flee to these cities
of refuge, his blood was upon his
own head.
This principle of an inviolable sys-
tenn was not designed to make mur-
der safe. The cities of refuge were
for those who had taken life un-
Willingly or without criminal intent.
The murderer yielded himself to the
elders of the city for refuge. declar-
ing his case fully to them; in other
| Z
for his deed. Df guilty, he died
at the hands of the avenger. II not
found guilty of wilful murder, the
man was safe so long as he remained
in the city of refuge. This deten-
tion from home. and virtual exile,
until the death of the high priest.
1 was in itself in the nature of pun
ishment; for men must suffer for
their mistakes as well as for their
| crimes.
Where Shall We Now Fleet
This right of sanctuary is an old
one: England's famous churches
were, prior to the Reformation,
sanctuaries for fugitives. Greeks and
Romans had similar provisions In
| connection with their temples. The
principle is one that runs through
all of life; the threatened, fleeing
heart of man seeks an asylum of
safety. In all ages. religion has
been regarded as the great refuge
of mankind. This is a function OF
religion which is important to bear
in mind.
A present day aspect of this truth
is indicated in an ordinary editorial
in The Wall Street Journal:
What America needs more than
railway extension. and western irri-
cation, and low tariff and a big
ger wheat crop, and a merchant ma
rine. and a new navy, is a revival
| of piety. the kind father and mother
used to have-piety that counted II
good business to stop for daily fam
lily prayers before breakfast right In
the middle of the harvest; that quit
work half hour earlier Thursday
] night. so as to get the chores done
and go to prayer meeting; that bor-
rowed money to pay the preachers
salary and prayed fervently in Sc
cret for the salvation of the rich
man who looked with scorn on such
unbusinesslike behaviour. That's
what we need now to clean this
country OF the filth of graft, and OF
greed, petty and big; of worship OF
fine houses and big lands and high
office and grand social functions
What is this thing which we are
worshiping but a vain repetition O,
what decayed nations fell down and
| worshiped just before their light