gaping marvel would it be if they did not. Why should they not follow in the footsteps of their masters and mistresses? Dull scholars indeed! if, after so many lessons from _proficients_ in the art, who drive the business by _wholesale_, they should not occasionally copy their betters, fall into the _fashion_, and try their hand in a small way, at a practice which is the _only permanent and universal_ business carried on around them! Ignoble truly! never to feel the stirrings of high impulse, prompting to imitate the eminent pattern set before them in the daily vocation of “Honorables” and “Excellences,” and to emulate the illustrious examples of Doctors of Divinity, and _Right_ and _Very Reverends_! Hear President Jefferson’s testimony. In his Notes on Virginia, pp. 207-8, speaking of slaves, he says, “That disposition to theft with which they have been branded, must be ascribed to their _situation_, and not to any special depravity of the moral sense. It is a problem which I give the master to solve, whether the religious precepts against the violation of property were not framed for HIM as well as for his slave–and whether the slave may not as justifiably take a _little_ from one who has taken ALL from him, as he may _slay_ one who would slay him?”]
IV. Heirship.–Servants frequently inherited their master’s property; especially if he had no sons, or if they had dishonored the family. Eliezer, the servant of Abraham; Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, Jarha the servant of Sheshan, and the _husbandmen_ who said of their master’s son, “this is the HEIR, let us kill him, and the INHERITANCE WILL BE OURS,” are illustrations; also Prov. xvii. 2–“A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and SHALL HAVE PART OF THE INHERITANCE AMONG THE BRETHREN.” This passage gives servants precedence as heirs, even over the wives and daughters of their masters. Did masters hold by force, and plunder of earnings, a class of persons, from which, in frequent contingencies, they selected both heirs for their property, and husbands for their daughters?
V. ALL were required to present offerings and sacrifices. Deut. xvi. 15, 17, 2 Chron. xv. 9-11. Numb. ix. 13. Servants must have had permanently, the means of _acquiring_ property to meet these expenditures.
VI. Those Hebrew servants who went out at the seventh year, were provided by law with a large stock of provisions and cattle. Deut. xv. 11-14. “Thou shall furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy flour, and out of thy wine press, of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, thou shall give him[A].” If it be said that the servants from the Strangers did not receive a like bountiful supply, we answer, neither did the most honorable class of _Israelitish_ servants, the free-holders; and for the same reason, _they did not go out in the seventh year_, but continued until the jubilee. If the fact that the Gentile servants did not receive such a _gratuity_ proves that they were robbed of their _earnings_, it proves that the most valued class of _Hebrew_ servants were robbed of theirs also; a conclusion too stubborn for even pro-slavery masticators, however unscrupulous.
[Footnote A: The comment of Maimonides on this passage is as follows–“Thou shalt furnish him liberally,” &c. “That is to say, ‘_Loading, ye shall load him_,’ likewise every one of his family, with as much as he can take with him–abundant benefits. And if it be avariciously asked, “How much must I give him?” I say unto _you, not less than thirty shekels_, which is the valuation of a servant, as declared in Ex. xxi. 32.”–Maimonides, Hilcoth Obedim, Chap. ii. Sec. 3]
VII. The servants were BOUGHT. In other words, they received compensation in advance. Having shown, under a previous head, that servants _sold themselves_, and of course received the compensation for themselves, except in cases where parents hired out the time of their children till they became of age[B], a mere reference to the fact is all that is required for the purposes of this argument.
[Footnote B: Among the Israelites, girls became of age at twelve, and boys at thirteen years.]
VIII. We find masters at one time having a large number of servants, and afterwards none, without any intimation that they were sold. The wages of servants would enable them to set up in business for themselves. Jacob, after being Laban’s servant for twenty-one years, became thus an independent herdsman, and was the master of many servants. Gen. xxx. 43, xxxii. 15. But all these servants had left him before he went down into Egypt, having doubtless acquired enough to commence business for themselves. Gen. xlv. 10, 11; xlvi. 1-7, 32.
IX. God’s testimony to the character of Abraham. Gen. xviii. 19. “For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep, THE WAY OF THE LORD TO DO JUSTICE AND JUDGEMENT.” God here testifies that Abraham taught his servants “the way of the Lord.” What was the “way of the Lord” respecting the payment of wages where service was rendered? “Wo unto him that useth his neighbor’s service WITHOUT WAGES!” Jer. xxii. 13. “Masters, give unto your servants that which is JUST AND EQUAL.” Col. iv. 1. “Render unto all their DUES.” Rom. xiii. 7. “The laborer is WORTHY OF HIS HIRE.” Luke x. 7. How did Abraham teach his servants to “_do justice_” to others? By doing injustice to them? Did he exhort them to “render to all their dues” by keeping back _their own_? Did he teach them that “the laborer was worthy of his hire” by robbing them of _theirs_? Did he beget in them a reverence for honesty by pilfering all their time and labor? Did he teach them “not to defraud” others “in any matter” by denying them “what was just and equal?” If each of Abraham’s pupils under such a catechism did not become a very _Aristides_ in justice, then illustrious examples, patriarchal dignity, and _practical_ lessons, can make but slow headway against human perverseness!
X. _Specific precepts of the Mosaic law enforcing general principles_. Out of many, we select the following: (1.) “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn,” or literally, while he thresheth. Deut. xxv. 4. Here is a general principle applied to a familiar case. The ox representing all domestic animals. Isa. xxx. 24. A _particular_ kind of service, _all_ kinds; and a law requiring an abundant provision for the wants of an animal ministering to man in a _certain_ way,–a general principle of treatment covering all times, modes, and instrumentalities of service. The object of the law was; not merely to enjoin tenderness towards brutes, but to inculcate the duty of rewarding those who serve us; and if such care be enjoined, by God, both for the ample sustenance and present enjoyment _of a brute_, what would be a meet return for the services of _man_?–MAN with his varied wants, exalted nature and immortal destiny! Paul says expressly, that this principle lies at the bottom of the statute. 1 Cor. ix. 9, 10, “For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he it altogether for OUR SAKES? that he that ploweth should plow in HOPE, and that he that thresheth in hope should be PARTAKER OF HIS HOPE,” (2.) “If thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve him, YEA, THOUGH HE BE A STRANGER or a SOJOURNER that he may live with thee. Take thou no usury of him, or increase, but fear thy God. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.” Lev. xxv. 35-37. Now, we ask, by what process of pro-slavery legerdemain, this regulation can be made to harmonize with the doctrine of WORK WITHOUT PAY? Did God declare the poor stranger entitled to RELIEF, and in the same breath, authorize them to “use his services without wages;” force him to work and ROB HIM OF HIS EARNINGS?
V.–WERE MASTERS THE PROPRIETORS OF SERVANTS AS LEGAL PROPERTY?
The discussion of this topic has already been somewhat anticipated, but a variety of additional considerations remain to be noticed.
1. Servants were not subjected to the uses nor liable to the contingencies of property. (1.) They were never taken in payment for their masters’ debts, though children were sometimes taken (without legal authority) for the debts of a father. 2 Kings iv. 1; Job xxiv. 9; Isa. l., 1; Matt. xviii. 25. Creditors took from debtors property of all kinds, to satisfy their demands. Job xxiv. 3, cattle are taken; Prov. xxii. 27, household furniture; Lev. xxv. 25-28, the productions of the soil; Lev. xxv. 27-30, houses; Ex. xxii. 26-29, Deut. xxiv. 10-13, Matt, v. 40, clothing; but _servants_ were taken in _no instance_. (2.) Servants were never given as pledges. Property of all sorts was given in pledge. We find household furniture, clothing, cattle, money, signets, and personal ornaments, with divers other articles of property, used as pledges for value received; but no servants. (3.) All lost PROPERTY was to be restored. Oxen, asses, sheep, raiment, and “whatsoever lost things,” are specified–servants _not_. Deut. xxii. 13. Besides, the Israelites were forbidden to return the runaway servant. Deut. xxiii. 15. (4.) The Israelites never gave away their servants as presents. They made costly presents, of great variety. Lands, houses, all kinds of animals, merchandise, family utensils, precious metals, grain, armor, &c. are among their recorded _gifts_. Giving presents to superiors and persons of rank, was a standing usage. 1 Sam. x. 27; 1 Sam. xvi. 20; 2 Chron. xvii. 5. Abraham to Abimelech, Gen. xxi. 27; Jacob to the viceroy of Egypt, Gen. xliii. 11; Joseph to his brethren and father, Gen. xlv. 22, 23; Benhadad to Elisha, 2 Kings viii. 8, 9; Ahaz to Tiglath Pilezer, 2 Kings vi. 8; Solomon to the Queen of Sheba, 1 Kings x. 13; Jeroboam to Ahijah, 1 Kings xiv. 3; Asa to Benhadad, 1 Kings xv. 18, 19. But no servants were given as presents–though it was a prevailing fashion in the surrounding nations. Gen. xii. 16; Gen. xx. 14. It may be objected that Laban GAVE handmaids to his daughters, Jacob’s wives. Without enlarging on the nature of the polygamy then prevalent suffice it to say that the handmaids of wives were regarded as wives, though of inferior dignity and authority. That Jacob so regarded his handmaids, is proved by his curse upon Reuben, Gen. xlix. 4, and Chron. v. 1; also by the equality of their children with those of Rachel and Leah. But had it been otherwise–had Laban given them as _articles of property_, then, indeed, the example of this “good old patriarch and slaveholder,” Saint Laban, would have been a forecloser to all argument. Ah! we remember his jealousy for _religion_–his holy indignation when he found that his “GODS” were stolen! How he mustered his clan, and plunged over the desert in hot pursuit, seven days, by forced marches; how he ransacked a whole caravan, sifting the contents of every tent, little heeding such small matters as domestic privacy, or female seclusion, for lo! the zeal of his “IMAGES” had eaten him up! No wonder that slavery, in its Bible-navigation, drifting dismantled before the free gusts, should scud under the lee of such a pious worthy to haul up and refit: invoking his protection, and the benediction of his “GODS!” “Again, it may be objected that, servants were enumerated in inventories of property. If that proves _servants_ property, it proves _wives_ property. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s WIFE, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.” Ex. xx. 17. In inventories of _mere property_ if servants are included, it is in such a way, as to show that they are not regarded as _property_. See Eccl. ii. 7, 8. But when the design is to show not merely the wealth, but the _greatness_ of any personage, servants are spoken of, as well as property. In a word, if _riches_ alone are spoken of, no mention is made of servants; if _greatness_, servants and property. Gen. xiii. 2. “And Abraham was very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold.” So in the fifth verse, “And Lot also had flocks, and herds, and tents.” In the seventh verse servants are mentioned, “And there was a strife between the HERDMEN of Abraham’s cattle and the HERDMEN of Lot’s cattle.” See also Josh. xxii. 8; Gen. xxxiv. 23; Job xlii. 12; 2 Chron. xxi. 3; xxxii. 27-29; Job i. 3-5; Deut. viii. 12-17; Gen. xxiv. 35, xxvi. 13, xxx. 43. Jacobs’s wives say to him, “All the _riches_ which thou hast taken from our father that is ours and our children’s.” Then follows an inventory of property. “All his cattle,” “all his goods,” “the cattle of his getting.” He had a large number of servants at the time but they are not included with his property. Comp. Gen. xxx. 43, with Gen. xxxi. 16-18. When he sent messengers to Esau, wishing to impress him with an idea of his state and sway, he bade them tell him not only of his RICHES, but of his GREATNESS; that Jacob had “oxen, and asses, and flocks, and men-servants, and maid-servants.” Gen. xxxii. 4, 5. Yet in the present which he sent, there were no servants; though he seems to have sought as much variety as possible. Gen. xxxii. 14, 15; see also Gen. xxxvi. 6, 7; Gen. xxxiv. 23. As flocks and herds were the staples of wealth, a large number of servants presupposed large possessions of cattle, which would require many herdsmen. When servants are spoken of in connection with _mere property_, the terms used to express the latter do not include the former. The Hebrew word _Mikne_, is an illustration. It is derived from _Kana_, to procure, to buy, and its meaning is, _a possession, wealth, riches_. It occurs more than forty times in the Old Testament, and is applied always to _mere property_, generally to domestic animals, but never to servants. In some instances, servants are mentioned in distinction from the _Mikne_. And Abraham took Sarah his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their SUBSTANCE that they had gathered; and the souls that they had gotten in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan.”–Gen. xii. 5. Many will have it, that these _souls_ were a part of Abraham’s _substance_ (notwithstanding the pains here taken to separate them from it)–that they were slaves taken with him in his migration as a part of his family effects. Who but slaveholders, either actually or in heart, would torture into the principle and practice of slavery, such a harmless phrase as “_the souls that they had gotten_?” Until the slave trade breathed its haze upon the vision of the church, and smote her with palsy and decay, commentators saw no slavery in, “The souls that they had gotten.” In the Targum of Onkelos[A] it is rendered, “The souls whom they had brought to obey the law in Haran.” In the Targum of Jonathan, “The souls whom they had made proselytes in Haran.” In the Targum of Jerusalem, “The souls proselyted in Haran.” Jarchi, the prince of Jewish commentators, “The souls whom they had brought under the Divine wings.” Jerome, one of the most learned of the Christian fathers, “The persons whom they had proselyted.” The Persian version, the Vulgate, the Syriac, the Arabic, and the Samaritan all render it, “All the wealth which they had gathered, and the souls which they had made in Haran.” Menochius, a commentator who wrote before our present translation of the Bible, renders it, “Quas de idolatraria converterant.” “Those whom they had converted from idolatry.”–Paulus Fagius[B]. “Quas instituerant in religione.” “Those whom they had established in religion.” Luke Francke, a German commentator who lived two centuries ago. “Quas legi subjicerant”–“Those whom they had brought to obey the law.”
[Footnote A: The Targums are Chaldee paraphrases of parts of the Old Testament. The Targum of Onkelas is, for the most part, a very accurate and faithful translation of the original, and was probably made at about the commencement of the Christian era. The Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel, bears about the same date. The Targum of Jerusalem was probably about five hundred years later. The Israelites, during their captivity in Babylon, lost, as a body, their own language. These translations into the Chaldee, the language which they acquired in Babylon, were thus called for by the necessity of the case.]
[Footnote B: This eminent Hebrew scholar was invited to England to superintend the translation of the Bible into English, under the patronage of Henry the Eighth. He had hardly commenced the work when he died. This was nearly a century before the date of our present translation.]
II. The condition and treatment of servants make the doctrine that they were mere COMMODITIES, an absurdity. St. Paul’s testimony in Gal. iv. 1, shows the condition of servants: “Now I say unto you, that the heir, so long as he is a child, DIFFERETH NOTHING FROM A SERVANT, though he be lord of all.” That Abraham’s servants were voluntary, that their interests were identified with those of their master’s family, and that the utmost confidence was reposed in them, is shown in their being armed.–Gen. xiv. 14, 15. When Abraham’s servant went to Padanaram, the young Princess Rebecca did not disdain to say to him, “Drink, MY LORD,” as “she hasted and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.” Laban, the brother of Rebecca, “ungirded his camels, and brought him water to wash his feet and the men’s feet that were with him!” In 1 Sam. ix. is an account of a festival in the city of Zuph, at which Samuel presided. None but those bidden, sat down at the feast, and only “about thirty persons” were invited. Quite a select party!–the elite of the city. Saul and his servant had just arrived at Zuph, and _both_ of them, at Samuel’s solicitation, accompany him as invited guests. “And Samuel took Saul and his SERVANT, and brought THEM into the PARLOR(!) and made THEM sit in the CHIEFEST SEATS among those that were bidden.” A _servant_ invited by the chief judge, ruler, and prophet in Israel, to dine publicly with a select party, in company with his master, who was at the same time anointed King of Israel! and this servant introduced by Samuel into the PARLOR, and assigned, with his master, to the _chiefest seat_ at the table! This was “_one_ of the servants” of Kish, Saul’s father; not the steward or the chief of them–not at all a _picked_ man, but “_one_ of the servants;” _any_ one that could be most easily spared, as no endowments specially rare would be likely to find scope in looking after asses. Again: we find Elah, the King of Israel, at a festive entertainment, in the house of Arza, his steward, or head servant, with whom he seems to have been on terms of familiarity.–1 Kings xvi. 8, 9. See also the intercourse between Gideon and his servant.–Judg. vii. 10, 11. Jonathan and his servant.–1 Sam. xiv. 1-14. Elisha and his servant.–2 Kings iv. v. vi.
III. The case of the Gibeonites. The condition of the inhabitants of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim, under the Hebrew commonwealth, is quoted in triumph by the advocates of slavery; and truly they are right welcome to all the crumbs that can be gleaned from it. Milton’s devils made desperate snatches at fruit that turned to ashes on their lips. The spirit of slavery raves under tormenting gnawings, and casts about in blind phrenzy for something to ease, or even to _mock_ them. But for this, it would never have clutched at the Gibeonites, for even the incantations of the demon cauldron, could not extract from their case enough to tantalize starvation’s self. But to the question. What was the condition of the Gibeonites under the Israelites? (1.) _It was voluntary_. Their own proposition to Joshua was to become servants. Josh. ix. 8, 11. It was accepted, but the kind of service which they should perform, was not specified until their gross imposition came to light; they were then assigned to menial offices in the Tabernacle. (2.) _They were not domestic servants in the families of the Israelites_. They still resided in their own cities, cultivated their own fields, tended their flocks and herds, and exercised the functions of a _distinct_, though not independent community. They were subject to the Jewish nation as _tributaries_. So far from being distributed among the Israelites, and their internal organization as a distinct people abolished, they remained a separate, and, in some respects, an independent community for many centuries. When attacked by the Amorites, they applied to the Israelites as confederates for aid–it was rendered, their enemies routed, and themselves left unmolested in their cities. Josh. x. 6-18. Long afterwards, Saul slew some of them, and God sent upon Israel a three years’ famine for it. David inquired of the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you, and wherewith shall I make the atonement?” At their demand, he delivered up to them, seven of Saul’s descendants. 2 Sam. xxi. 1-9. The whole transaction was a formal recognition of the Gibeonites as a distinct people. There is no intimation that they served families, or individuals of the Israelites, but only the “house of God,” or the Tabernacle. This was established first at Gilgal, a day’s journey from their cities; and then at Shiloh, nearly two day’s journey from them; where it continued about 350 years. During this period, the Gibeonites inhabited their ancient cities and territory. Only a few, comparatively, could have been absent at any one time in attendance on the Tabernacle. Wherever allusion is made to them in the history, the main body are spoken of as _at home_. It is preposterous to suppose that all the inhabitants of these four cities could find employment at the Tabernacle. One of them “was a great city, as one of the royal cities;” so large, that a confederacy of five kings, apparently the most powerful in the land, was deemed necessary for its destruction. It is probable that the men were divided into classes, ministering in rotation–each class a few days or weeks at a time. This service was their _national tribute_ to the Israelites, for the privilege of residence and protection under their government. No service seems to have been required of the _females_. As these Gibeonites were Canaanites, and as they had greatly exasperated the Israelites by impudent imposition, and lying, we might assuredly expect that they would reduce _them_ to the condition of chattels if there was _any_ case in which God permitted them to do so.
IV. Throughout the Mosaic system, God warns the Israelites against holding their servants in such a condition as they were held in by the Egyptians. How often are they pointed back to the grindings of their prison-house! What motives to the exercise of justice and kindness towards their servants, are held out to their fears in threatened judgments; to their hopes in promised good; and to all within them that could feel; by those oft repeated words of tenderness and terror! “For ye were bondmen in the land of Egypt”–waking anew the memory of tears and anguish, and of the wrath that avenged them.
God’s denunciations against the bondage of Egypt make it incumbent on us to ascertain, of what rights the Israelites were plundered, and what they retained.
EGYPTIAN BONDAGE ANALYZED. (1.) The Israelites were not dispersed among the families of Egypt[A], but formed a separate community. Gen. xlvi. 35. Ex. viii. 22, 24; ix. 26; x. 23; xi. 7; ii. 9; xvi. 22; xvii. 5. (2.) They had the exclusive possession of the land of Goshen[B]. Gen. xlv. 18; xlvii. 6, 11, 27. Ex. xii. 4, 19, 22, 23, 27. (3.) They lived in permanent dwellings. These were _houses_, not _tents_. In Ex. xii. 6, 22, the two side _posts_, and the upper door _posts_, and the lintel of the houses are mentioned. Each family seems to have occupied a house _by itself_,–Acts vii. 20. Ex. xii. 4–and judging from the regulation about the eating of the Passover, they could hardly have been small ones, Ex. xii. 4, probably contained separate apartments, and places for concealment. Ex. ii. 2, 3; Acts vii. 20. They appear to have been well apparelled. Ex. xii. 11. To have their own burial grounds. Ex. xiii. 19, and xiv. 11. (4.) They owned “a mixed multitude of flocks and herds,” and “very much cattle.” Ex. xii. 32, 37, 38. (5.) They had their own form of government, and preserved their tribe and family divisions, and their internal organization throughout, though still a province of Egypt, and _tributary_ to it. Ex. ii. 1; xii. 19, 21; vi. 14, 25; v. 19; iii. 16, 18. (6.) They seem to have had in a considerable measure, the disposal of their own time,–Ex. xxiii. 4; iii. 16, 18, xii. 6; ii. 9; and iv. 27, 29-31. And to have practiced the fine arts. Ex. xxxii. 4; xxxv. 22-35. (7.) They were all armed. Ex. xxxii. 27. (8.) They held their possessions independently, and the Egyptians seem to have regarded them as inviolable. No intimation is given that the Egyptians dispossessed them of their habitations, or took away their flocks, or herds, or crops, or implements of agriculture, or any article of property. (9.) All the females seem to have known something of domestic refinements; they were familiar with instruments of music, and skilled in the working of fine fabrics. Ex. xv. 20; xxxv. 25, 26. (10.) Service seems to have been exacted from none but adult males. Nothing is said from which the bond service of females could he inferred; the hiding of Moses three months by his mother, and the payment of wages to her by Pharaoh’s daughter, go against such a supposition. Ex. ii. 29. (11.) So far from being fed upon a given allowance, their food was abundant, and of great variety. “They sat by the flesh-pots,” and “did eat bread to the full.” Ex. xvi. 3; xxiv. 1; xvii. 5; iv. 29; vi. 14; “they did eat fish freely, and cucumbers, and melons, and leeks, and onions, and garlic.” Num. xi. 4, 5; x. 18; xx. 5. (12.) The great body of the people were not in the service of the Egyptians. (a.) The extent and variety of their own possessions, together with such a cultivation of their crops as would provide them with bread, and such care of their immense flocks and herds, as would secure their profitable increase, must have furnished constant employment for the main body of the nation. (b.) During the plague of darkness, God informs us that “ALL the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” We infer that they were _there_ to enjoy it. (c.) It seems improbable that the making of brick, the only service named during the latter part of their sojourn in Egypt, could have furnished permanent employment for the bulk of the nation. See also Ex. iv. 29-31. Besides, when Eastern nations employed tributaries, it was as now, in the use of the levy, requiring them to furnish a given quota, drafted off periodically, so that comparatively but a small portion of the nation would be absent _at any one time_. Probably one-fifth part of the proceeds of their labor was required of the Israelites in common with the Egyptians. Gen. xlvii. 24, 26. Instead of taking it from their _crops_, (Goshen being better for _pasturage_) they exacted it of them in brick making; and it is quite probable that labor was exacted only from the _poorer_ Israelites, the wealthy being able to pay their tribute in money. Ex. iv. 27-31. Contrast this bondage of Egypt with American slavery. Have our slaves “very much cattle,” and “a mixed multitude of flocks and herds?” Do they live in commodious houses of their own, “sit by the flesh-pots,” “eat fish freely,” and “eat bread to the full?” Do they live in a separate community, in their distinct tribes, under their own rulers, in the exclusive occupation of an extensive tract of country for the culture of their crops, and for rearing immense herds of their own cattle–and all these held inviolable by their masters? Are our female slaves free from exactions of labor and liabilities of outrage? or when employed, are they paid wages, as was the Israelitish woman by the king’s daughter? Have they the disposal of their own time and the means for cultivating social refinements, for practising the fine arts, and for personal improvement? THE ISRAELITES UNDER THE BONDAGE OF EGYPT, ENJOYED ALL THESE RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES. True, “all the service wherein they made them serve was with rigor.” But what was this when compared with the incessant toil of American slaves, the robbery of all their time and earnings, and even the power to “own any thing, or acquire any thing?” a “quart of corn a-day,” the legal allowance of food[C]! their _only_ clothing for one half the year, “_one_ shirt and _one_ pair of pantaloons[D]!” _two hours and a half only_, for rest and refreshment in the twenty-four[E]!–their dwellings, _hovels_, unfit for human residence, with but one apartment, where both sexes and all ages herd promiscuously at night, like the beasts of the field. Add to this, the ignorance, and degradation; the daily sundering of kindred, the revelries of lust, the lacerations and baptisms of blood, sanctioned by law, and patronized by public sentiment. What was the bondage of Egypt when compared with this? And yet for her oppression of the poor, God smote her with plagues, and trampled her as the mire, till she passed away in his wrath, and the place that knew her in her pride, knew her no more. Ah! “I have seen the afflictions of my people, and I have heard their groanings, and am come down to deliver them.” HE DID COME, and Egypt sank a ruinous heap, and her blood closed over her. If such was God’s retribution for the oppression of heathen Egypt, of how much sorer punishment shall a Christian people be thought worthy, who cloak with religion a system, in comparison with which the bondage of Egypt dwindles to nothing? Let those believe who can that God commissioned his people to rob others of _all_ their rights, while he denounced against them wrath to the uttermost, if they practised the _far lighter_ oppression of Egypt–which robbed it’s victims of only the least and cheapest of their rights, and left the females unplundered even of these. What! Is God divided against himself? When He had just turned Egypt into a funeral pile; while his curse yet blazed upon her unburied dead, and his bolts still hissed amidst her slaughter, and the smoke of her torment went upwards because she had “ROBBED THE POOR,” did He license the victims of robbery to rob the poor of ALL? As _Lawgiver_ did he _create_ a system tenfold more grinding than that for which he had just hurled Pharaoh headlong, and overwhelmed his princes, and his hosts, till “hell was moved to meet them at their coming?”
[Footnote A: The Egyptians evidently had _domestic_ servants living in their families; these may have been slaves; allusion is made to them in Ex. ix. 14, 20, 21.]
[Footnote B: The land of Goshen was a large tract of country, east of the Pelusian arm of the Nile, and between it and the head of the Red Sea, and the lower border of Palestine. The probable centre of that portion, occupied by the Israelites, could hardly have been less than sixty miles from the city. The border of Goshen nearest to Egypt must have been many miles distant. See “Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt,” an able article by Professor Robinson, in the Biblical Repository for October, 1832.]
[Footnote C: Law of N.C. Haywood’s Manual 524-5.]
[Footnote D: Law of La. Martin’s Digest, 610.]
[Footnote E: Law of La. Act of July 7, 1806. Martin’s Digest, 610-12.]
We now proceed to examine various objections which will doubtless be set in array against all the foregoing conclusions.
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.
The advocates of slavery find themselves at their wits end in pressing the Bible into their service. Every movement shows them hard-pushed. Their ever-varying shifts, their forced constructions, and blind guesswork, proclaim both their _cause_ desperate, and themselves. The Bible defences thrown around slavery by professed ministers of the Gospel, do so torture common sense, Scripture, and historical facts it were hard to tell whether absurdity, fatuity, ignorance, or blasphemy, predominates in the compound; each strives so lustily for the mastery it may be set down a drawn battle. How often has it been bruited that the color of the negro is the _Cain-mark_, propagated downward. Cain’s posterity started an opposition to the ark, forsooth, and rode out the flood with flying streamers! Why should not a miracle be wrought to point such an argument, and fill out for slaveholders a Divine title-deed, vindicating the ways of God to man?
OBJECTION 1. “Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” Gen. ix. 25.
This prophecy of Noah is the _vade mecum_ of slaveholders, and they never venture abroad without it; it is a pocket-piece for sudden occasion, a keepsake to dote over, a charm to spell-bind opposition, and a magnet to draw around their standard “whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie.” But “cursed be Canaan” is a poor drug to ease a throbbing conscience–a mocking lullaby, to unquiet tossings, and vainly crying “Peace be still,” where God wakes war, and breaks his thunders. Those who justify negro slavery by the curse of Canaan, _assume_ all the points in debate. (1.) That _slavery_ was prophesied rather than mere _service_ to others, and _individual_ bondage rather than _national_ subjection and tribute. (2.) That the _prediction_ of crime _justifies_ it; at least absolving those whose crimes fulfill it, if not transforming the crimes into _virtues_. How piously the Pharoahs might have quoted the prophecy _”Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and they shall afflict there four hundred years.”_ And then, what _saints_ were those that crucified the Lord of glory! (3.) That the Africans are descended from Canaan. Whereas Africa was peopled from Egypt and Ethiopia, and they were settled by Mizraim and Cush. For the location and boundaries of Canaan’s posterity, see Gen. x. 15-19. So a prophecy of evil to one people, is quoted to justify its infliction upon another. Perhaps it may be argued that Canaan includes all Ham’s posterity. If so, the prophecy is yet unfulfilled. The other sons of Ham settled Egypt and Assyria, and, conjointly with Shem, Persia, and afterward, to some extent, the Grecian and Roman empires. The history of these nations gives no verification of the prophecy. Whereas, the history of Canaan’s descendants for more than three thousand years, records its fulfilment. First, they were put to tribute by the Israelites; then by the Medes and Persians; then by the Macedonians, Grecians and Romans, successively; and finally, were subjected by the Ottoman dynasty, where they yet remain. Thus Canaan has been for ages the servant mainly of Shem and Japhet, and secondarily of the other sons of Ham. It may still be objected, that though Canaan alone is _named_ in the curse, yet the 23d and 24th verses show the posterity of Ham in general to be meant. “And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.” “And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his YOUNGER son had done unto him, and said,” &c. It is argued that this “_younger_ son” can not be _Canaan_, as he was the _grandson_ of Noah, and therefore it must be _Ham._ We answer, whoever that “_younger son_” was, _Canaan_ alone was named in the curse. Besides, the Hebrew word _Ben_, signifies son, grandson, or _any_ of _one_ the posterity of an individual. “_Know ye Laban the SON of Nahor?_” Laban was the _grandson_ of Nahor. Gen. xxix. 5. “_Mephibosheth the SON of Saul_.” 2 Sam. xix. 24. Mephibosheth was the _grandson_ of Saul. 2 Sam. ix. 6. “_There is a SON born to Naomi._” Ruth iv. 17. This was the son of Ruth, the daughter-in-law of Naomi. “_Let seven men of his (Saul’s) SONS be delivered unto us._” 2 Sam. xxi. 6. Seven of Saul’s _grandsons_ were delivered up. “_Laban rose up and kissed his SONS._” Gen. xxi. 55. These were his _grandsons_. “_The driving of Jehu the SON of Nimshi._” 2 Kings ix. 20. Jehu was the _grandson_ of Nimshi. Shall we forbid the inspired writer to use the _same_ word when speaking of _Noah’s_ grandson? Further; Ham was not the “_younger_” son. The order of enumeration makes him the _second_ son. If it be said that Bible usage varies, the order of birth not always being observed in enumerations, the reply is, that, enumeration in that order is the _rule_, in any other order the _exception_. Besides, if a younger member of a family, takes precedence of older ones in the family record, it is a mark of pre-eminence, either in endowments, or providential instrumentality. Abraham, though sixty years younger than his eldest brother, stands first in the family genealogy. Nothing in Ham’s history shows him pre-eminent; besides, the Hebrew word _Hakkatan_ rendered “the _younger_,” means the _little, small_. The same word is used in Isa. xl. 22. “_A LITTLE ONE shall become a thousand_.” Isa. xxii. 24. “_All vessels of SMALL quantity_.” Ps. cxv. 13. “_He will bless them that fear the Lord both SMALL and great_.” Ex. xviii. 22. “_But every SMALL matter they shall judge_.” It would be a literal rendering of Gen. ix. 24, if it were translated thus. “When Noah knew what his little son[A], or grandson (_Beno Hakkatan_) had done unto him, he said cursed be Canaan,” &c. Further, even if the Africans were the descendants of Canaan, the assumption that their enslavement fulfils this prophecy, lacks even plausibility, for, only a _fraction_ of the Africans have at any time been the slaves of other nations. If the objector say in reply, that a large majority of the Africans have always been slaves _at home_, we answer: _It is false in point of fact_, though zealously bruited often to serve a turn; and _if it were true_, how does it help the argument? The prophecy was, “Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be _unto his_ BRETHREN,” not unto _himself_!
[Footnote A: The French follows the same analogy; _grandson_ being _petit fils_ (little son.)]
OBJECTION II.–“If a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his money.” Ex. xxi. 20, 21. What was the design of this regulation? Was it to grant masters an indulgence to beat servants with impunity, and an assurance, that if they beat them to death, the offense shall not be _capital_? This is substantially what commentators tell us. What Deity do such men worship? Some blood-gorged Moloch, enthroned on human hecatombs, and snuffing carnage for incense? Did He who thundered from Sinai’s flames, “THOU SHALT NOT KILL,” offer a bounty on _murder_? Whoever analyzes the Mosaic system, will find a moot court in session, trying law points–settling definitions, or laying down rules of evidence, in almost every chapter. Num. xxxv. 10-22; Deut. xi. 11, and xix. 4-6; Lev. xxiv. 19-22; Ex. xxi. 18, 19, are a few, out of many cases stated, with tests furnished the judges by which to detect _the intent_, in actions brought before them. Their ignorance of judicial proceedings, laws of evidence, &c., made such instructions necessary. The detail gone into, in the verses quoted, is manifestly to enable them to get at the _motive_ and find out whether the master _designed_ to kill. (1.) “If a man smite his servant with a _rod_.”–The instrument used, gives a clue to the _intent_. See Num. xxxv. 16, 18. A _rod_, not an axe, nor a sword, nor a bludgeon, nor any other death-weapon–hence, from the _kind_ of instrument, no design to _kill_ would be inferred; for _intent_ to kill would hardly have taken a _rod_ for its weapon. But if the servant die _under his hand_, then the unfitness of the instrument, is point blank against him; for, to strike him with a _rod_ until he _dies_, argues a great many blows and great violence, and this kept up to the death-gasp, showed an _intent to kill_. Hence “He shall _surely_ be punished.” But if he continued _a day or two_, the _length of time that he lived_, together with the _kind_ of instrument used, and the master’s pecuniary interest in his _life_, (“he is his _money_,”) all made a strong case of circumstantial evidence, showing that the master did not design to kill. Further, the word _nakam_, here rendered _punished_, is _not so rendered in another instance_. Yet it occurs thirty-five times in the Old Testament, and in almost every place is translated “_avenge_,” in a few, “_to take vengeance_,” or “_to revenge_,” and in this instance ALONE, “_punish_.” As it stands in our translation, the pronoun preceding it, refers to the _master_, whereas it should refer to the _crime_, and the word rendered _punished_, should have been rendered _avenged_. The meaning is this: If a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod, and he die under his hand, IT (the death) shall surely be avenged, or literally, _by avenging it shall be avenged_; that is, the _death_ of the servant shall be _avenged_ by the _death_ of the master. So in the next verse, “If he continue a day or two,” his death is not to be avenged by the _death_ of the _master_, as in that case the crime was to be adjudged _manslaughter_, and not _murder_. In the following verse, another case of personal injury is stated, for which the injurer is to pay a _sum of money_; and yet our translators employ the same phraseology in both places. One, an instance of deliberate, wanton, killing by piecemeal. The other, an accidental, and comparatively slight injury–of the inflicter, in both cases, they say the same thing! “He shall surely be punished.” Now, just the discrimination to be looked for where God legislates, is marked in the original. In the case of the servant wilfully murdered, He says, “It (the death) shall surely be _avenged_,” that is, the life of the wrong doer shall expiate the crime. The same word is used in the Old Testament, when the greatest wrongs are redressed, by devoting the perpetrators to _destruction_. In the case of the unintentional injury, in the following verse, God says, “He shall surely be _fined_,” (_Aunash_.) “He shall _pay_ as the judges determine.” The simple meaning of the word _anash_, is to lay a fine. It is used in Deut. xxii. 19: “They shall amerce him in one hundred shekels,” and in 2 Chron. xxxvi. 3: “He condemned (_mulcted_) the land in a hundred talents of gold.” That _avenging_ the death of the servant, was neither imprisonment, nor stripes, nor a fine, but that it was _taking the master’s life_ we infer, (1.) From the _use_ of the word _nakam_. See Gen. iv. 24; Josh. x. 13; Judg. xiv. 7; xvi. 28; I Sam. xiv. 24; xviii. 25; xxv. 31; 2 Sam. iv. 8; Judg. v. 2: I Sam. xxv. 26-33. (2.) From the express statute, Lev. xxiv. 17; “He that killeth ANY man shall surely be put to death.” Also Num. xxxv. 30, 31: “Whoso killeth ANY person, the murderer shall be put to death. Moreover, ye shall take NO SATISFACTION for the life of a murderer which is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.” (3.) The Targum of Jonathan gives the verse thus, “Death by the sword shall surely be adjudged.” The Targum of Jerusalem. “Vengeance shall be taken for him to the _uttermost_.” Jarchi, the same. The Samaritan version: “He shall die the death,” Again the clause “for he is his money,” is quoted to prove that the servant is his master’s property, and therefore, if he died, the master was not to be punished. The assumption is, that the phrase, “HE IS HIS MONEY.” proves not only that the servant is _worth money_ to the master, but that he is an _article of property_. If the advocates of slavery insist upon taking the principle of interpretation into the Bible, and turning it loose, let them stand and draw in self-defence. If they endorse for it at one point, they must stand sponsors all around the circle. It will be too late to cry for quarter when its stroke clears the table, and tilts them among the sweepings beneath. The Bible abounds with such expressions as the following: “This (bread) is my body;” “this (wine) _is_ my blood;” “all they (the Israelites) _are_ brass and tin;” “this (water) _is_ the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives;” “the Lord God _is_ a sun and a shield;” “God _is_ love;” “the seven good ears _are_ seven years, and the seven good kine _are_ seven years;” “the tree of the field _is_ man’s life;” “God _is_ a consuming fire;” “he _is_ his money,” &c. A passion for the exact _literalities_ of the Bible is so amiable, it were hard not to gratify it in this case. The words in the original are (_Kaspo-hu_,) “his _silver_ is he.” The objector’s principle of interpretation is a philosopher’s stone! Its miracle touch transmutes five feet eight inches of flesh and bones into _solid silver!_ Quite a _permanent_ servant, if not so nimble with all–reasoning against “_forever_,” is forestalled henceforth, and, Deut. xxiii. 15, utterly outwitted. The obvious meaning of the phrase, “_He is his money_,” is, he is _worth money_ to his master, and since, if the master had killed him, it would have taken money out of his pocket, the _pecuniary loss_, the _kind of instrument used_, and _the fact of his living some time after the injury_, (if the master _meant_ to kill, he would be likely to _do_ it while about it,) all together make a strong case of presumptive evidence clearing the master of _intent to kill_. But let us look at the objector’s _inferences_. One is, that as the master might dispose of his _property_ as he pleased, he was not to be punished, if he destroyed it. Whether the servant died under the master’s hand, or after a day or two, he was _equally_ his property, and the objector admits that in the _first_ case the master is to be “surely punished” for destroying _his own property!_ The other inference is, that since the continuance of a day or two, cleared the master of _intent to kill_, the loss of the slave would be a sufficient punishment for inflicting the injury which caused his death. This inference makes the Mosaic law false to its own principles. A _pecuniary loss_ was no part of the legal claim, where a person took the _life_ of another. In such case, the law spurned money, whatever the sum. God would not cheapen human life, by balancing it with such a weight. “Ye shall take NO SATISFACTION for the life of a murderer, but he shall surely be put to death.” Num. xxxv. 31. Even in excusable homicide, where an axe slipped from the helve and killed a man, no sum of money availed to release from confinement in the city of refuge, until the death of the High Priest. Numb. xxxv. 32. The doctrine that the loss of the servant would be a penalty _adequate_ to the desert of the master, admits his _guilt_ and his desert of _some_ punishment, and it prescribes a kind of punishment, rejected by the law in all cases where man took the life of man, whether with or without the intent to kill. In short, the objector annuls an integral part of the system–makes a _new_ law, and coolly metes out such penalty as he thinks fit. Divine legislation revised and improved! The master who struck out his servant’s tooth, whether intentionally or not, was required to set him free. The _pecuniary loss_ to the master was the same as though he had killed him. Look at the two cases. A master beats his servant so that he dies of his wounds; another accidentally strikes out his servant’s tooth,–_the pecuniary loss of both cases is the same_. If the loss of the slave’s services is punishment sufficient for the crime of killing him, would _God_ command the _same_ punishment for the _accidental_ knocking out of a _tooth?_ Indeed, unless the injury was done _inadvertantly_, the loss of the servant’s services was only a _part_ of the punishment–mere reparation to the _individual_ for injury done; the _main_ punishment, that strictly _judicial_, was reparation to the _community_. To set the servant free, and thus proclaim his injury, his right to redress, and the measure of it–answered not the ends of _public_ justice. The law made an example of the offender. That “those that remain might hear and fear.” “If a man cause a blemish in his neighbor, as he hath done, so shall it be done unto him. Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Ye shall have one manner of law as well for the STRANGER as for one of your own country.” Lev xxiv. 19, 20, 22. Finally, if a master smote out his servant’s tooth the law smote out _his_ tooth–thus redressing the _public_ wrong; and it cancelled the servant’s obligation to the master, thus giving some compensation for the injury done, and exempting him form perilous liabilities in future.
OBJECTION III. “Both thy bondmen and bondmaids which thou shalt have shall be of the heathen that are round about you, of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover of the children of the stranger that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land, and they shall be your possessions. And ye shall take them as an inheritance of your children from you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen forever.” Lev, xxv. 44-46.
The _points_ in these verses urged as proof, that the Mosaic system sanctioned slavery, are 1. The word “BONDMEN.” 2. “BUY.” 3. “INHERITANCE AND POSSESSION.” and 4. “FOREVER.”
The _buying_ of servants was discussed, pp. 17-22, and holding them as a “possession.” pp. 37-46. We will now ascertain what sanction to slavery is derivable from the terms “bondmen,” “inheritance,” and “forever.”
1. “BONDMEN.” The fact that servants from the heathen are called “_bondmen_,” while others are called “_servants_,” is quoted as proof that the former were slaves. As the caprices of King James’ translators were not inspired, we need stand in no special awe of them. The word here rendered bondmen is uniformly rendered servants elsewhere. The Hebrew word “_ebedh_,” the plural of which is here translated “bondmen,” is in Isa. xlii. 1, applied to Christ. “Behold my _servant_ (bondman, slave?) whom I have chosen.” So Isa. lii. 13. “Behold my _servant_ (Christ) shall deal prudently.” In 1 Kings xii. 6, 7, to _King Rehoboam_. “And they spake unto him, saying if thou wilt be a _servant_ unto this people, then they will be thy _servants_ forever.” In 2 Chron. xii. 7, 8, 9, 13, to the king and all the nation. In fine, the word is applied to _all_ persons doing service for others–to magistrates, to all governmental officers, to tributaries, to all the subjects of governments, to younger sons–defining their relation to the first born, who is called _Lord_ and _ruler_–to prophets, to kings, to the Messiah, and in respectful addresses not less than _fifty_ times in the Old Testament.
If the Israelites not only held slaves, but multitudes of them, if Abraham had thousands and if they _abounded_ under the Mosaic system, why had their language _no word_ that _meant slave_? That language must be wofully poverty-stricken, which has no signs to represent the most common and familiar objects and conditions. To represent by the same word, and without figure, property, and the owner of that property, is a solecism. Ziba was an “_ebedh_,” yet he “_owned_” (!) twenty _ebedhs_! In our language, we have both _servant_ and _slave_. Why? Because we have both the _things_ and need _signs_ for them. If the tongue had a sheath, as swords have scabbards, we should have some _name_ for it: but our dictionaries give us none. Why? Because there is no such _thing_. But the objector asks, “Would not the Israelites use their word _ebedh_ if they spoke of the slave of a heathen?” Answer. Their _national_ servants or tributaries, are spoken of frequently, but domestic servants so rarely that no necessity existed, even if they were slaves, for coining a new word. Besides, the fact of their being domestics, under _heathen laws and usages_ proclaimed their _liabilities_, their _locality_ made a _specific_ term unnecessary. But if the Israelites had not only _servants_, but a multitude of _slaves_, a _word meaning slave_, would have been indispensable for every day convenience. Further, the laws of the Mosaic system were so many sentinels on the outposts to warn off foreign practices. The border ground of Canaan, was quarantine ground, enforcing the strictest non-intercourse in usages between the without and the within.
2. “FOREVER.” This is quoted to prove that servants were to serve during their life time, and their posterity from generation to generation. No such idea is contained in the passage. The word “forever,” instead of defining the length of _individual_ service, proclaims the permanence of the regulation laid down in the two verses preceding, namely, that their _permanent domestics_ should be of the Strangers, and not of the Israelites: it declares the duration of that general provision. As if God had said, “You shall _always_ get your _permanent_ laborers from the nations round about you–your servants shall always be of that class of persons.” As it stands in the original it is plain–“Forever of them shall ye serve yourselves.” This is the literal rendering.
That “_forever_” refers to the permanent relations of a _community_, rather than to the services of _individuals_, is a fair inference from the form of the expression, “Both thy bondmen, &c., shall be of the _heathen_. Of THEM shall ye buy,” &c. “THEY shall be your possession.” To say nothing of the uncertainty of _those individuals_ surviving those _after_ whom they are to live, the language used, applies more naturally to a _body_ of people, than to _individual_ servants. Besides _perpetual_ service cannot be argued from the term _forever_. The ninth and tenth verses of the same chapter, limit it absolutely by the jubilee. “Then thou shalt cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound * * throughout ALL your land.” “And ye shall proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto ALL the inhabitants thereof.” It may be objected that “inhabitants” here means _Israelitish_ inhabitants alone. The command is, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto ALL _the inhabitants thereof_.” Besides, in the sixth verse, there is an enumeration of the different classes of the inhabitants, in which servants and Strangers are included; and in all the regulations of the jubilee, and the sabbatical year, the Strangers are included in the precepts, prohibitions, and promises. Again: the year of jubilee was ushered in, by the day of atonement. What did these institutions show forth? The day of atonement prefigured the atonement of Christ, and the year of jubilee, the gospel jubilee. And did they prefigure an atonement and a jubilee to Jews only? Were they types of sins remitted, and of salvation proclaimed to the nation of Israel alone? Is there no redemption for us Gentiles in these ends of the earth, and is our hope presumption and impiety? Did that old partition wall survive the shock, that made earth quake, and hid the sun, burst graves and rocks, and rent the temple veil? and did the Gospel only rear it higher to thunder direr perdition from its frowning battlements on all without? No! The God of our salvation lives “Good tidings of great joy shall be to ALL people.” One shout shall swell from all the ransomed, “Thou hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” To deny that the blessings of the jubilee extended to the servants from the _Gentiles_, makes Christianity _Judaism_. It not only eclipses the glory of the Gospel, but strikes out the sun. The refusal to release servants at the jubilee falsified and disannulled a grand leading type of the atonement, and was a libel on the doctrine of Christ’s redemption. Finally, even if _forever_ did refer to _individual_ service, we have ample precedents for limiting the term by the jubilee. The same word defines the length of time which _Jewish_ servants served who did not go out in the _seventh_ year. And all admit that they went out at the jubilee. Ex. xxi. 2-6; Deut. xv. 12-17. The 23d verse of the same chapter is quoted to prove that “_forever_” in the 46th verse, extends beyond the jubilee. “The land shall not be sold FOREVER, for the land is mine”–since it would hardly be used in different senses in the same general connection. As _forever_, in the 46th verse, respects the _general arrangement_, and not _individual service_ the objection does not touch the argument. Besides in the 46th verse, the word used, is _Olam_, meaning _throughout the period_, whatever that may be. Whereas in the 23d verse, it is _Tsemithuth_, meaning, a _cutting off_.
3. “INHERITANCE AND POSSESSION,” “Ye shall take them as an INHERITANCE for your children after you to inherit them for a possession.” This refers to the _nations_, and not to the _individual_ servants, procured from these nations. We have already shown, that servants could not be held as a _property_-possession, and inheritance; that they became servants of their _own accord_, and were paid wages; that they were released by law from their regular labor nearly _half the days in each year_, and thoroughly _instructed_; that the servants were _protected_ in all their personal, social and religious rights, equally with their masters &c. All remaining, after these ample reservations, would be small temptation, either to the lust of power or of lucre; a profitable “possession” and “inheritance,” truly! What if our American slaves were all placed in _just such a condition_ Alas, for that soft, melodious circumlocution, “Our PECULIAR species of property!” Verily, emphasis would be cadence, and euphony and irony meet together! What eager snatches at mere words, and bald technics, irrespective of connection, principles of construction, Bible usages, or limitations of meaning by other passages–and all to eke out such a sense as sanctifies existing usages, thus making God pander for lust. The words _nahal_ and _nahala_, inherit and inheritance by no means necessarily signify _articles of property_. “The people answered the king and said, we have none _inheritance_ in the son of Jesse.” 2 Chron. x. 16. Did they moan gravely to disclaim the holding of their kin; as an article of _property_? “Children are an _heritage_ (inheritance) of the Lord.” Ps. cxxvii. 3. “Pardon our iniquity, and take us for thine _inheritance_.” Ex. xxxiv. 9. When God pardons his enemies, and adopts them as children, does he make them _articles of property_? Are forgiveness, and chattel-making, synonymes? “Thy testimonies have I taken as a _heritage_” (inheritance.) Ps. cxix. 111. “_I_ am their _inheritance_.” Ezek. xliv. 28. “I will give thee the heathen for thine _inheritance_.” Ps. ii. 8. “For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his _inheritance_.” Ps. xciv 14. see also Deut. iv. 20; Josh. xiii. 33; Ps. lxxxii. 8; lxxviii. 62, 71; Prov. xiv. 8. The question whether the servants were a PROPERTY-“_possession_,” has been already discussed–pp. 37-46–we need add in this place but a word, _ahuzza_ rendered “_possession_.” “And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a _possession_ in the land of Egypt.” Gen. xlii. 11. In what sense was Goshen the _possession_ of the Israelites? Answer, in the sense of _having it to live in_. In what sense were the Israelites to _possess_ these nations, and _take them_ as an _inheritance for their children_? Answer, they possessed them as a permanent source of supply for domestic or household servants. And this relation to these nations was to go down to posterity as a standing regulation, having the certainty and regularity of a descent by inheritance. The sense of the whole regulation may be given thus: “Thy permanent domestics, which thou shalt have, shall be of the nations that are round about you, of _them_ shall ye get male and female domestics.” “Moreover of the children of the foreigners that do sojourn among you, of _them_ shall ye get, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land, and _they_ shall be your permanent resource.” “And ye shall take them as a _perpetual_ provision for your children after you, to hold as a _constant source of supply_. Always _of them_ shall ye serve yourselves.” The design of the passage is manifest from its structure. It was to point out the _class_ of persons from which they were to get their supply of servants, and the _way_ in which they were to get them.
OBJECTION IV. “If thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a BOND-SERVANT, but as an HIRED-SERVANT, and as a sojourner shall he be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee.” Lev. xxv. 39, 40.
As only _one_ class is called “_hired_,” it is inferred that servants of the _other_ class were _not paid_ for their labor. That God, with thundering anathemas against those who “used their neighbor’s service without wages,” granted a special indulgence to his chosen people to force others to work, and rob them of earnings, provided always, in selecting their victims, they spared “the gentlemen of property and standing,” and pounced only upon the strangers and the common people. The inference that “_hired_” is synonymous with _paid_, and that those servants not _called_ “hired” were not _paid_ for their labor, is a mere assumption. The meaning of the English verb _to hire_, is to procure for a _temporary_ use at a certain price–to engage a person to temporary service for wages. That is also the meaning of the Hebrew word “_saukar_.” It is not used when the procurement of _permanent_ service is spoken of. Now, we ask, would _permanent_ servants, those who constituted a stationary part of the family, have been designated by the same term that marks _temporary_ servants? The every-day distinction on this subject, are familiar as table-talk. In many families the domestics perform only the _regular_ work. Whatever is occasional merely, as the washing of a family, is done by persons hired expressly for the purpose. The familiar distinction between the two classes, is “servants,” and “hired help,” (not _paid_ help.) _Both classes are paid_. One is permanent, the other occasional and temporary, and therefore in this case called “_hired_[A].”
[Footnote A: To suppose a servant robbed of his earnings because he is not called a _hired_ servant is profound induction! If I employ a man at twelve dollars a month to work my farm, he is my “_hired_” man, but if _I give him such a portion of the crop_, or in other words, if he works my farm “_on shares_,” every farmer knows that he is no longer called my “_hired_” man. Yet he works the same farm, in the same way, at the same time, and with the same teams and tools; and does the same amount of work in the year, and perhaps earns twenty dollars a month, instead of twelve. Now as he is no longer called “_hired_,” and as he still works my farm, suppose my neighbours sagely infer, that since he is not my “_hired_” laborer, I _rob_ him of his earnings and with all the gravity of owls, pronounce the oracular decision, and hoot it abroad. My neighbors are deep divers!–like some theological professors, they not only go to the bottom but come up covered with the tokens.]
A variety of particulars are recorded distinguishing _hired_ from _bought_ servants. (1.) Hired servants were paid daily at the close of their work. Lev. xix 13; Deut. xxiv. 14, 15; Job. vii. 2; Matt. xx. 8. “_Bought_” servants were paid in advance, (a reason for their being called _bought_,) and those that went out at the seventh year received a _gratuity_. Deut. xv. 12, 13. (2.) The “hired” were paid _in money_, the “bought” received their _gratuity_, at least, in grain, cattle, and the product of the vintage. Deut. xiv. 17. (3.) The “hired” _lived_ in their own families, the “bought” were part of their masters’ families. (4.) The “hired” supported their families out of their wages: the “bought” and their families were supported by the master _besides_ their wages. The “bought” servants were, _as a class, superior to the hired_–were more trust-worthy, had greater privileges, and occupied a higher station in society. (1.) They were intimately incorporated with the family of the masters, were guests at family festivals, and social solemnities, from which hired servants were excluded. Lev. xxii. 10; Ex. xii, 43, 45. (2.) Their interests were far more identified with those of their masters’ family. They were often, actually or prospectively, heirs of their masters’ estates, as in the case of Eliezer, of Ziba, and the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. When there were no sons, or when they were unworthy, bought servants were made heirs. Prov. xvii. 2. We find traces of this usage in the New Testament. “But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, this is the _heir_, come let us kill him, _that the inheritance may be ours._” Luke xx. 14. In no instance does a _hired_ servant inherit his master’s estate. (3.) Marriages took place between servants and their master’s daughters. Sheshan had a _servant_, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha. And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife. 1 Chron. ii. 34, 35. There is no instance of a _hired_ servant forming such an alliance. (4.) Bought servants and their descendants were treated with the same affection and respect as the other members of the family.[A]. The treatment of Abraham’s servants, Gen. xxv.–the intercourse between Gideon and his servant, Judg. vii. 10, 11; Saul and his servant, 1 Sam. iv. 5, 22; Jonathan and his servant, 1 Sam. xiv. 1-14, and Elisha and his servant, are illustrations. No such tie seems to have existed between _hired_ servants and their masters. Their untrustworthiness was proverbial. John ix. 12, 13. None but the _lowest class_ engaged as hired servants, and the kinds of labor assigned to them required little knowledge and skill. Various passages show the low repute and trifling character of the class from which they were hired. Judg. ix. 4; 1 Sam. ii. 5. The superior condition of bought servants is manifest in the high trusts confided to them, and in their dignity and authority in the household. In no instance is a _hired_ servant thus distinguished. The _bought_ servant is manifestly the master’s representative in the family–with plenipotentiary powers over adult children, even negotiating marriage for them. Abraham adjured his servant not to take a wife for Isaac of the daughters of the Canaanites. The servant himself selected the individual. Servants also exercised discretionary power in the management of their masters’ estates, “And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, _for all the goods of his master were under his hand_.” Gen. xxiv. 10. The reason assigned for taking them, is not that such was Abraham’s direction, but that the servant had discretionary control. Servants had also discretionary power in the _disposal of property_. See Gen. xxiv. 22, 23, 53. The condition of Ziba in the house of Mephibosheth, is a case in point. So in Prov. xvii. 2. Distinct traces of this estimation are to be found in the New Testament, Matt. xxiv. 45; Luke xii, 42, 44. So in the parable of the talents; the master seems to have set up each of his servants in trade with a large capital. The unjust steward had large _discretionary_ power, was “accused of wasting his master’s goods,” and manifestly regulated with his debtors, the _terms_ of settlement. Luke xvi. 4-8. Such trusts were never reposed in _hired_ servants.
[Footnote A: “For the _purchased servant_ who is an Israelite, or proselyte, shall fare as his master. The master shall not eat fine bread, and his servant bread of bran. Nor yet drink old wine, and give his servant new; nor sleep on soft pillows, and bedding, and his servant on straw. I say unto you, that he that gets a _purchased_ servant does well to make him as his friend, or he will prove to his employer as if he got himself a master.”–Maimonides, in Mishna Kiddushim. Chap. 1, Sec. 2.]
The inferior condition of _hired_ servants, is illustrated in the parable of the prodigal son. When the prodigal, perishing with hunger among the swine and husks, came to himself, his proud heart broke; “I will arise,” he cried, “and go to my father.” And then to assure his father of the depth of his humility, resolved to add, “Make me as one of thy _hired_ servants.” If _hired_ servants were the _superior_ class–to apply for the situation, savored little of that sense of unworthiness that seeks the dust with hidden face, and cries “unclean.” Unhumbled nature _climbs_; or if it falls, clings fast, where first it may. Humility sinks of its own weight, and in the lowest deep, digs lower. The design of the parable was to illustrate on the one hand, the joy of God, as he beholds afar off, the returning sinner “seeking an injured father’s face” who runs to clasp and bless him with unchiding welcome; and on the other, the contrition of the penitent, turning homeward with tears from his wanderings, his stricken spirit breaking with its ill-desert he sobs aloud. “The lowest place, _the lowest place_, I can abide no other.” Or in those inimitable words, “Father I have sinned against Heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy HIRED servants.” The supposition that _hired_ servants were the _highest_ class, takes from the parable an element of winning beauty and pathos. It is manifest to every careful student of the Bible, that _one_ class of servants, was on terms of equality with the children and other members of the family. (Hence the force of Paul’s declaration, Gal. iv. 1, “Now I say unto you, that the heir, so long as he is a child, DIFFERETH NOTHING FROM A SERVANT, though he be lord of all.”) If this were the _hired_ class, the prodigal was a sorry specimen of humility. Would our Lord have put such language upon the lips of one held up by himself, as a model of gospel humility, to illustrate its deep sense of an ill-desert? If this is _humility_, put it on stilts, and set it a strutting, while pride takes lessons, and blunders in apeing it.
Israelites and Strangers, belonged indiscriminately to _each_ class of the servants, the _bought_ and the _hired_. That those in the former class, whether Jews or Strangers, rose to honors and authority in the family circle, which were not conferred on _hired_ servants, has been shown. It should be added, however, that in the enjoyment of privileges, merely _political_, the hired servants from the _Israelites_, were more favored than even the bought servants from the _Strangers_. No one from the Strangers, however wealthy or highly endowed, was eligible to the highest office, nor could he own the soil. This last disability seems to have been one reason for the different periods of service required of the two classes of bought servants–the Israelites and the Strangers. The Israelite was to serve six years–the Stranger until the jubilee. As the Strangers could not own the soil, nor even houses, except within walled towns, most would attach themselves to Israelitish families. Those who were wealthy, or skilled in manufactures, instead of becoming servants would need servants for their own use, and as inducements for the Stranger’s to become servants to the Israelites, were greater than persons of their own nation could hold out to them, these wealthy Strangers would naturally procure the poorer Israelites for servants. Lev. xxv. 47. In a word, such was the political condition of the Strangers, that the Jewish polity offered a virtual bounty, to such as would become permanent servants, and thus secure those privileges already enumerated, and for their children in the second generation a permanent inheritance. Ezek. xlvii. 21-23. None but the monied aristocracy would be likely to decline such offers. On the other hand, the Israelites, owning all the soil, and an inheritance of land being a sacred possession, to hold it free of incumbrance was with every Israelite, a delicate point, both of family honor and personal character. 1 Kings xxi. 3. Hence, to forego the control of one’s inheritance, after the division of the paternal domain, or to be kept out of it after having acceded to it, was a burden grievous to be borne. To mitigate as much as possible such a calamity, the law released the Israelitish servant at the end of six years[A]; as, during that time–if of the first class–the partition of the patrimonial land might have taken place; or, if of the second, enough money might have been earned to disencumber his estate, and thus he might assume his station as a lord of the soil. If neither contingency had occurred, then after another six years the opportunity was again offered, and so on, until the jubilee. So while strong motives urged the Israelite to discontinue his service as soon as the exigency had passed which made him a servant, every consideration impelled the _Stranger_ to _prolong_ his term of service; and the same kindness which dictated the law of six years’ service for the Israelite, assigned as a general rule, a much longer period to the Gentile servant, who had every inducement to protract the term. It should be borne in mind, that adult Jews ordinarily became servants, only as a temporary expedient to relieve themselves from embarrassment, and ceased to be such when that object was effected. The poverty that forced them to it was a calamity, and their service was either a means of relief, or a measure of prevention; not pursued as a permanent business, but resorted to on emergencies–a sort of episode in the main scope of their lives. Whereas with the Strangers, it was a _permanent employment_, pursued both as a _means_ of bettering their own condition, and that of their posterity, and as an _end_ for its own sake, conferring on them privileges, and a social estimation not otherwise attainable.
[Footnote A: Another reason for protracting the service until the seventh year, seems to have been the coincidence of that period with other arrangements, in the Jewish economy. Its pecuniary responsibilities, social relations, and general internal structure, were _graduated_ upon a septennial scale. Besides as those Israelites who became servants through poverty, would not sell themselves, till other expedients to recruit their finances had failed–(Lev. xxv. 35)–their _becoming servants_ proclaimed such a state of their affairs, as demanded the labor of a _course of years_ fully to reinstate them.]
We see from the foregoing, why servants purchased from the heathen, are called by way of distinction, _the_ servants, (not _bondmen_,) (1.) They followed it as a _permanent business_. (2.) Their term of service was _much longer_ than that of the other class. (3.) As a class they doubtless greatly outnumbered the Israelitish servants. (4.) All the Strangers that dwelt in the land were _tributaries_, required to pay an annual tax to the government, either in money, or in public service, (called a “_tribute of land-service_;”) in other words, all the Strangers were _national servants_ to the Israelites, and the same Hebrew word used to designate _individual_ servants, equally designates _national_ servants or tributaries. 2 Sam. viii. 2, 6, 14. 2 Chron. viii. 7-9. Deut xx. 11. 2 Sam. x. 19. 1 Kings ix. 21, 22. 1 Kings iv. 21. Gen. xxvii. 29. The same word is applied to the Israelites, when they paid tribute to other nations. 2 Kings xvii. 3. Judg. iii. 8, 14. Gen. xlix. 15. Another distinction between the Jewish and Gentile bought servants, was in their _kinds_ of service. The servants from the Strangers were properly the _domestics_, or household servants, employed in all family work, in offices of personal attendance, and in such mechanical labor, as was required by increasing wants, and needed repairs. The Jewish bought servants seem almost exclusively _agricultural_. Besides being better fitted for it by previous habits–agriculture, and the tending of cattle, were regarded by the Israelites as the most honorable of all occupations. After Saul was elected king, and escorted to Gibeah, the next report of him is, “_And behold Saul came after the herd out of the field_.” 1 Sam. xi. 7. Elisha “was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen.” 1 Kings xix. 19. King Uzziah “loved husbandry.” 2 Chron. xxvi. 10. Gideon _was “threshing wheat_” when called to lead the host against the Midianites. Judg. vi. 11. The superior honorableness of agriculture, is shown, in that it was protected and supported by the fundamental law of the theocracy–God indicating it as the chief prop of the government. The Israelites were like permanent fixtures on their soil, so did they cling to it. To be agriculturalists on their own inheritances, was with them the grand claim to honorable estimation. Agriculture being pre-eminently a _Jewish_ employment, to assign a native Israelite to other employments as a business, was to break up his habits, do violence to cherished predilections, and put him to a kind of labor in which he had no skill, and which he deemed degrading. In short, it was in the earlier ages of the Mosaic system, practically to _unjew_ him, a hardship and rigor grievous to be borne, as it annihilated a visible distinction between the descendants of Abraham and the Strangers.–_To guard this and another fundamental distinction_, God instituted the regulation which stands at the head of this branch of our inquiry, “If thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond-servant.” In other words, thou shalt not put him to servant’s work–to the business, and into the condition of domestics. In the Persian version it is translated thus, “Thou shalt not assign to him the work of _servitude_.” In the Septuagint, “He shall not serve thee with the service of a _domestic_.” In the Syriac, “Thou shalt not employ him after the manner of servants.” In the Samaritan, “Thou shalt not require him to serve in the service of a servant.” In the Targum of Onkelos, “He shall not serve thee with the service of a household servant.” In the Targum of Jonathan, “Thou shalt not cause him to serve according to the usages of the servitude of servants.”[A] The meaning of the passage is, _thou shalt not assign him to the same grade, nor put him to the same service, with permanent domestics._ The remainder of the regulation is,–“_But as an hired servant and as a sojourner shall he be with thee._” Hired servants were not incorporated into the families of their masters: they still retained their own family organization, without the surrender of any domestic privilege, honor, or authority; and this even though they resided under the same roof with their master. While bought servants were associated with their master’s families at meals, at the Passover, and at other family festivals, hired servants and sojourners were not. Ex. xii. 44, 45; Lev. xxii. 10, 11. Hired servants were not subject to the authority of their masters in any such sense as the master’s wife, children, and bought servants. Hence the only form of oppressing hired servants spoken of in the Scriptures as practicable to masters, is that _of keeping back their wages_. To have taken away such privileges in the case under consideration, would have been pre-eminent “_rigor_,” for it was not a servant born in the house of a master, not a minor, whose minority had been sold by the father, neither was it one who had not yet acceded to his inheritance: nor finally, one who had received the _assignment_ of his inheritance, but was working off from it an incumbrance, before entering upon its possession and control. But it was that of _the head of a family_, who had known better days, now reduced to poverty, forced to relinquish the loved inheritance of his fathers, with the competence and respectful consideration its possession secured to him, and to be indebted to a neighbor for shelter, sustenance, and employment. So sad a reverse, might well claim sympathy; but one consolation cheers him in the house of his pilgrimage; he is an _Israelite–Abraham is his father_, and now in his calamity he clings closer than ever, to the distinction conferred by his birth-right. To rob him of this, were “the unkindest cut of all.” To have assigned him to a grade of service filled only by those whose permanent business was serving, would have been to “rule over him with” peculiar “rigor.” “Thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond-servant,” or literally, _thou shalt not serve thyself with him, with the service of a servant_, guaranties his political privileges, and a kind and grade of service, comporting with his character and relations as an Israelite. And “as a _hired_ servant, and as a sojourner shall he be with thee,” secures to him his family organization, the respect and authority due to its head, and the general consideration resulting from such a station. Being already in possession of his inheritance, and the head of a household, the law so arranged the conditions of his service as to _alleviate_ as much as possible the calamity, which had reduced him from independence and authority, to penury and subjection. The import of the command which concludes this topic in the forty-third verse, (“Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor,”) is manifestly this, you shall not disregard those differences in previous associations, station, authority, and political privileges, upon which this regulation is based; for to hold this class of servants _irrespective_ of these distinctions, and annihilating them, is to “rule with rigor.” The same command is repeated in the forty-sixth verse, and applied to the distinction between servants of Jewish, and those of Gentile extraction, and forbids the overlooking of distinctive Jewish peculiarities, the disregard of which would be _rigorous_ in the extreme[B]. The construction commonly put upon the phrase “rule with rigor,” and the inference drawn from it, have an air vastly oracular. It is interpreted to mean, “you shall not make him a chattel, and strip him of legal protection, nor force him to work without pay.” The inference is like unto it, viz., since the command forbade such outrages upon the Israelites, it permitted and commissioned their infliction upon the Strangers. Such impious and shallow smattering captivates scoffers and libertines; its flippancy and blasphemy, and the strong scent of its loose-reined license works like a charm upon them. What boots it to reason against such rampant affinities! In Ex. i. 13, it is said that the Egyptians “made the children of Israel to _serve_ with rigor.” This rigor is affirmed of the _amount of labor_ extorted and the _mode_ of the exaction. The expression, “serve with rigor,” is never applied to the service of servants under the Mosaic system. The phrase, “thou shalt not RULE over him with rigor,” does not prohibit unreasonable exactions of labor, nor inflictions of cruelty. Such were provided against otherwise. But it forbids confounding the distinctions between a Jew and a Stranger, by assigning the former to the same grade of service, for the same term of time, and under the same political disabilities as the latter.
[Footnote A: Jarchi’s comment on “Thou shall not compel him to serve as a bond-servant” is, “The Hebrew servant is not to be required to do any thing which is accounted degrading–such as all offices of personal attendance, as loosing his master’s shoe-latchet, bringing him water to wash his feet and hands, waiting on him at table, dressing him, carrying things to and from the bath. The Hebrew servant is to work with his master as a son or brother, in the business of his farm, or other labor, until his legal release.”]
[Footnote B: The disabilities of the Strangers, which were distinctions, based on a different national descent, and important to the preservation of national characteristics, and a national worship, did not at all affect their _social_ estimation. They were regarded according to their character, and worth as _persons_, irrespective of their foreign origin, employments, and political condition.]
We are now prepared to review at a glance, the condition of the different classes of servants, with the modifications peculiar to each class. In the possession of all fundamental rights, all classes of servants were on an absolute equality, all were equally protected by law in their persons, character, property and social relations; all were voluntary, all were compensated for their labor, and released from it nearly half of the days in each year; all were furnished with stated instruction: none in either class were in any sense articles of property, all were regarded as _men_, with the rights, interests, hopes and destinies of _men_. In all these respects, _all_ classes of servants among the Israelites, formed but ONE CLASS. The _different_ classes and the differences in _each_ class, were, (1.) _Hired Servants._ This class consisted both of Israelites and Strangers. Their employments were different. The _Israelite_ was an agricultural servant. The Stranger was a _domestic_ and _personal_ servant, and in some instances _mechanical_; both were occasional and temporary. Both lived in their own families, their wages were _money_, and they were paid when their work was done. (2.) _Bought Servants_, (including those “born in the house.”) This class also, consisted of Israelites and Strangers, the same difference in their kinds of employments noticed before. Both were paid in advance[A], and neither was temporary. The Israelitish servant, with the exception of the _freeholders_ was released after six years. The stranger was a permanent servant, continuing until the jubilee. A marked distinction obtained also between different classes of _Jewish_ bought servants. Ordinarily, they were merged in their master’s family, and, like his wife and children, subject to his authority; (and, like them, protected by law from its abuse.) But the _freeholder_ was a marked exception: his family relations, and authority remained unaffected, nor was he subjected as an inferior to the control of his master, though dependent upon him for employment.
[Footnote A: The payment _in advance_, doubtless lessened the price of the purchase; the servant thus having the use of the money, and the master assuming all the risks of life and health for labor: at the expiration of the six year’s contract, the master having suffered no loss from the risk incurred at the making of it, was obliged by law to release the servant with a liberal gratuity. The reason assigned for this is, “he hath been worth a double hired servant unto thee in serving thee six years,” as if it had been said, as you have experienced no loss from the risks of life, and ability to labor, incurred in the purchase, and which lessened the price, and as, by being your servant for six years, he has saved you the time and trouble of looking up and hiring laborers on emergencies, therefore, “thou shalt furnish him liberally,” &c.]
It should be kept in mind, that _both_ classes of servants, the Israelite and the Stranger, not only enjoyed _equal natural and religious rights_, but _all the civil and political privileges_ enjoyed by those of their own people who were _not_ servants. They also shared in common with them the political disabilities which appertained to all Strangers, whether the servants of Jewish masters, or the masters of Jewish servants. Further, the disabilities of the servants from the Strangers were exclusively _political_ and _national._ (1.) They, in common with all Strangers, could not own the soil. (2.) They were ineligible to civil offices. (3.) They were assigned to employments less honorable than those in which Israelitish servants engaged; agriculture being regarded as fundamental to the existence of the state, other employments were in less repute, and deemed _unjewish._
Finally, the Strangers, whether servants or masters, were all protected equally with the descendants of Abraham. In respect to political privileges, their condition was much like that of naturalized foreigners in the United States; whatever their wealth or intelligence, or moral principle, or love for our institutions, they can neither go to the ballot-box, nor own the soil, nor be eligible to office. Let a native American, be suddenly bereft of these privilege, and loaded with the disabilities of an alien, and what to the foreigner would be a light matter, to _him_, would be the severity of _rigor_. The recent condition of the Jews and Catholics in England, is another illustration. Rothschild, the late banker, though the richest private citizen in the world, and perhaps master of scores of English servants, who sued for the smallest crumbs of his favor, was, as a subject of the government, inferior to the lowest among them. Suppose an Englishman of the Established Church, were by law deprived of power to own the soil, of eligibility to office and of the electoral franchise, would Englishmen think it a misapplication of language, if it were said, the government “rules over him with rigor?” And yet his person, property, reputation, conscience, all his social relations, the disposal of his time, the right of locomotion at pleasure, and of natural liberty in all respects, are just as much protected by law as the Lord Chancellor’s.
FINALLY,–As the Mosaic system was a great compound type, rife with meaning in doctrine and duty; the practical power of the whole, depended upon the exact observance of those distinctions and relations which constituted its significancy. Hence, the care to preserve serve inviolate the distinction between a _descendant of Abraham_ and a _Stranger_, even when the Stranger was a proselyte, had gone through the initiatory ordinances, entered the congregation, and become incorporated with the Israelites by family alliance. The regulation laid down in Ex. xxi. 2-6, is an illustration. In this case, the Israelitish servant, whose term expired in six years, married one of his master’s _permanent female domestics_; but her marriage, did not release her master from _his_ part of the contract for her whole term of service, nor from his legal obligation to support and educate her children. Neither did it do away that distinction, which marked her national descent by a specific _grade_ and _term_ of service, nor impair her obligation to fulfill _her_ part of the contract. Her relations as a permanent domestic grew out of a distinction guarded with great care throughout the Mosaic system. To render it void, would have been to divide the system against itself. This God would not tolerate. Nor, on the other hand, would he permit the master, to throw off the responsibility of instructing her children, nor the care and expense of their helpless infancy and rearing. He was bound to support and educate them, and all her children born afterwards during her term of service. The whole arrangement beautifully illustrates that wise and tender regard for the interests of all the parties concerned, which arrays the Mosaic system in robes of glory, and causes it to shine as the sun in the kingdom of our Father. By this law, the children had secured to them a mother’s tender care. If the husband loved his wife and children, he could compel his master to keep him, whether he had any occasion for his services or not. If he did not love them, to be rid of him was a blessing; and in that case, the regulation would prove an act for the relief of an afflicted family. It is not by any means to be inferred, that the release of the servant in the seventh year, either absolved him from the obligations of marriage, or shut him out from the society of his family. He could doubtless procure a service at no great distance from them, and might often do it, to get higher wages, or a kind of employment better suited to his taste and skill. The great number of days on which the law released servants from regular labor, would enable him to spend much more time with his family, than can be spent by most of the agents of our benevolent societies with _their_ families, or by many merchants, editors, artists &c., whose daily business is in New York, while their families reside from ten to one hundred miles in the country.
We conclude this Inquiry by touching briefly upon an objection, which, though not formally stated, has been already set aside by the whole tenor of the foregoing argument. It is this,–“The slavery of the Canaanites by the Israelites, was appointed by God as a commutation of the punishment of death denounced against them for their sins.” If the absurdity of a sentence consigning persons to _death_, and at the same time to perpetual _slavery_, did not sufficiently laugh at itself, it would be small self-denial, in a case so tempting, to make up the deficiency by a general contribution. For, _be it remembered_, only _one_ statute was ever given respecting the disposition to be made of the inhabitants of Canaan. If the sentence of death was pronounced against them, and afterwards _commuted_, when? where? by whom? and in what terms was the commutation, and where is it recorded? Grant, for argument’s sake, that all the Canaanites were sentenced to unconditional extermination; as there was no reversal of the sentence, how can a right to _enslave_ them, be drawn from such premises? The punishment of death is one of the highest recognitions of man’s moral nature possible. It proclaims him _man_–rational, accountable, guilty, deserving death for having done his utmost to cheapen human life, when the proof of its priceless worth lived in his own nature. But to make him a _slave_, cheapens to nothing _universal human nature_, and instead of healing a wound, gives a death-stab. What! repair an injury to rational being in the robbery of _one_ of its rights, by robbing it of _all_, and annihilating their _foundation_–the everlasting distinction between persons and things? To make a man a chattel, is not the _punishment_, but the _annihilation_ of a _human_ being, and, so far as it goes, of _all_ human beings. This commutation of the punishment of death, into perpetual slavery, what a fortunate discovery! Alas! for the honor of Deity, if commentators had not manned the forlorn hope, and by a timely movement rescued the Divine character, at the very crisis of its fate, from the perilous position in which inspiration had carelessly left it! Here a question arises of sufficient importance for a separate dissertation; but must for the present be disposed of in a few paragraphs. WERE THE CANAANITES SENTENCED BY GOD TO INDIVIDUAL AND UNCONDITIONAL EXTERMINATION? As the limits of this inquiry forbid our giving all the grounds of dissent from commonly received opinions, the suggestions made, will be thrown out merely as QUERIES, rather than laid down as _doctrines_. The directions as to the disposal of the Canaanites, are mainly in the following passages: Ex. xxiii. 23-33; xxxiv. 11; Deut. vii. 16-25; ix. 3; xxxi. 3-5. In these verses, the Israelites are commanded to “destroy the Canaanites,” “drive out,” “consume,” “utterly overthrow,” “put out,” “dispossess them,” &c. Did these commands enjoin the unconditional and universal destruction of the _inhabitants_ or merely of the _body politic?_ The word _haram_, to destroy, signifies _national_, as well as individual destruction, the destruction of _political_ existence, equally with _personal_; of governmental organization, equally with the lives of the subjects. Besides, if we interpret the words destroy, consume, overthrow, &c., to mean _personal_ destruction, what meaning shall we give to the expressions, “throw out before thee;” “cast out before thee;” “expel,” “put out,” “dispossess,” &c., which are used in the same passages? “I will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies _turn their backs unto thee_” Ex. xxiii. 27. Here “_all thine enemies_” were to _turn their backs_ and “_all the people_” to be “_destroyed_.” Does this mean that God would let all their _enemies_ escape, but kill all their _friends_, or that he would _first_ kill “all the people” and THEN make them “turn their backs,” an army of runaway corpses? If these commands required the destruction of all the inhabitants, the Mosaic law was at war with itself, for directions as to the treatment of native residents form a large part of it. See Lev. xix. 34; xxv. 35, 36; xx. 22. Ex. xxiii. 9; xxii. 21; Deut. i. 16, 17; x. 17, 19, xxvii. 19. We find, also that provision was made for them in the cities of refuge. Num. xxxv. 15;–the gleanings of the harvest and vintage were theirs, Lev. xix. 9, 10; xxiii. 22;–the blessings of the Sabbath, Ex. xx. 10;–the privilege of offering sacrifices secured, Lev. xxii. 18; and stated religious instruction provided for them, Deut. xxxi. 9, 12. Now does this same law require the _individual extermination_ of those whose lives and interests it thus protects? These laws were given to the Israelites, long _before_ they entered Canaan; and they must have inferred from them that a multitude of the inhabitants of the land were to _continue_ in it, under their government. Again Joshua was selected as the leader of Israel to execute God’s threatenings upon Canaan. He had no _discretionary_ power. God’s commands were his _official instructions_. Going beyond them would have been usurpation; refusing to carry them out rebellion and treason. Saul was rejected from being king for disobeying god’s commands in a _single_ instance. Now, if God commanded the individual destruction of all the Canaanites. Joshua _disobeyed him in every instance_. For at his death, the Israelites still “_dwelt among them_,” and each nation is mentioned by name. Judg. i. 5, and yet we are told that Joshua “left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses;” and that he “took all that land.” Josh. xi. 15-22. Also, that “there _stood not a man_ of _all_ their enemies before them.” How can this be, if the command to _destroy_ enjoined _individual_ extermination, and the command to _drive out_, unconditional expulsion from the country, rather than their expulsion from the _possession_ or _ownership_ of it, as the lords of the soil? True, multitudes of the Canaanites were slain, but not a case can be found in which one was either killed or expelled who _acquiesced_ in the transfer of the territory, and its sovereignty, from the inhabitants of the land to the Israelites. Witness the case of Rahab and her kindred, and the Gibeonites[A]. The Canaanites knew of the miracles wrought for the Israelites; and that their land had been transferred to them as a judgment for their sins. Josh. ii. 9-11; ix. 9, 10, 24. Many of them were awed by these wonders, and made no resistance. Others defied God and came out to battle. These occupied the fortified cities, were the most inveterate heathen–the aristocracy of idolatry, the kings, the nobility and gentry, the priests, with their crowds of satellite, and retainers that aided in idolatrous rites, and the military forces, with the chief profligates of both sexes. Many facts corroborate the general position. Such as the multitude of _tributaries_ in the midst of Israel, and that too, after they had “waxed strong,” and the uttermost nations quaked at the terror of their name–the Canaanites, Philistines, and others, who became proselytes–as the Nethenims, Uriah the Hittite–Rahab, who married one of the princes of Judah–Ittai–the six hundred Gitites–David’s body guard. 2 Sam. xv. 18, 21. Obededom the Gittite, adopted into the tribe of Levi. Comp. 2 Sam. vi. 10, 11, with 1 Chron. xv. 18, and 1 Chron. xxvi. 45–Jaziz, and Obil. 1 Chron. xxvi. 30, 31, 33. Jephunneh the father of Caleb, the Kenite, registered in the genealogies of the tribe of Judah, and the one hundred and fifty thousand Canaanites, employed by Solomon in the building of the Temple[B]. Besides, the greatest miracle on record, was wrought to save a portion of those very Canaanites, and for the destruction of those who would exterminate them. Josh. x. 12-14. Further–the terms employed in the directions regulating the disposal of the Canaanites, such as “drive out,” “put out,” “cast out,” “expel,” “dispossess,” &c. seem used interchangeably with “consume,” “destroy,” “overthrow,” &c., and thus indicate the sense in which the latter words are used. As an illustration of the meaning generally attached to these and similar terms, we refer to the history of the Amelekites. “I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amelek from under heaven.” Ex. xxvii. 14. “Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amelek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.” Deut. xxv. 19. “Smite Amelek and _utterly destroy_ all that they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep.” 1 Sam. xv. 2, 3. “Saul smote the Amelekites, and took Agag the king of the Amelekites, alive and UTTERLY DESTROYED ALL THE PEOPLE with the edge of the sword.” Verses 7, 8. In verse 20, Saul says, “I have brought Agag, the king of Amelek, and have _utterly destroyed_ the Amelekites.” In 1 Sam. xxx. we find the Amelekites marching an army into Israel, and sweeping everything before them–and this in about eighteen years after they had _all been_ “UTTERLY DESTROYED!” Deut. xx. 16, 17, will probably be quoted against the preceding view. We argue that the command in these verses, did not include all the individuals of the Canaanitish nations, but only the inhabitants of the _cities_, (and even those conditionally,) because, only the inhabitants of the _cities_ are specified,–“of the _cities_ of these people thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth.” Cities then, as now, were pest-houses of vice–they reeked with abominations little practiced in the country. On this account their influence would be far more perilous to the Israelites than that of the country. Besides, they were the centres of idolatry–there were the temples and altars, and idols, and priests, without number. Even their buildings, streets, and public walks were so many visibilities of idolatry. The reason assigned in the 18th verse for exterminating them, strengthens the idea,–“that they teach you not to do after all the abominations which they have done unto their gods.” This would be a reason for exterminating _all_ the nations and individuals _around_ them, as all were idolaters; but God commanded them, in certain cases, to spare the inhabitants. Contact with _any_ of them would be perilous–with the inhabitants of the _cities_ peculiarly, and of the _Canaanitish_ cities pre-eminently so. The 10th and 11th verses contain the general rule prescribing the method in which cities were to be summoned to surrender. They were first to receive the offer of peace–if it was accepted, the inhabitants became _tributaries_–but if they came out against Israel in battle, the _men_ were to be killed, and the women and little ones saved alive. The 15th verse restricts this lenient treatment to the inhabitants of the cities _afar off_. The 16th directs as to the disposal of the inhabitants of Canaanitish cities. They were to save alive “nothing that breathed.” The common mistake has been, in supposing that the command in the 15th verse refers to the _whole system of directions preceding_, commencing with the 10th, whereas it manifestly refers only to the _inflictions_ specified in the 12th, 13th, and 14th, making a distinction between those _Canaanitish_ cities that _fought_, and the cities _afar off_ that fought–in one case destroying the males and females, and in the other, the _males_ only. The offer of peace, and the _conditional preservation_, were as really guarantied to _Canaanitish_ cities as to others. Their inhabitants were not to be exterminated unless they came out against Israel in battle. But let us settle this question by the “law and the testimony.” “There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel save the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon; all others they took in battle. For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should COME OUT AGAINST ISRAEL IN BATTLE, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses.” Josh. xix. 19, 20. That is, if they had _not_ come out against Israel in battle, they would have had “favor” shown them, and would not have been “_destroyed utterly._” The great design was to _transfer the territory_ of the Canaanites to the Israelites, and along with it, _absolute sovereignty in every respect_; to annihilate their political organizations, civil polity, and jurisprudence and their system of religion, with all its rights and appendages; and to substitute therefor, a pure theocracy, administered by Jehovah, with the Israelites as His representatives and agents. In a word the people were to be _denationalized_, their political existence annihilated, their idol temples, altars, images groves and heathen rites destroyed, and themselves put under tribute. Those who resisted the execution of Jehovah’s purpose were to be killed, while those who quietly submitted to it were to be spared. All had the choice of these alternatives, either free egress out of the land[C]; or acquiescence in the decree, with life and residence as tributaries, under the protection of the government; or resistance to the execution of the decree, with death. “_And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, the Lord liveth as they taught my people to swear by Baal_; THEN SHALL THEY BE BUILT IN THE MIDST OF MY PEOPLE.”
[Footnote A: Perhaps it will be objected, that the preservation of the Gibeonites, and of Rahab and her kindred, was a violation of the command of God. We answer, if it had been, we might expect some such intimation. If God had strictly commanded them to _exterminate all the Canaanites_, their pledge to save themselves was neither a repeal of the statute, nor absolution for the breach of it. If _unconditional destruction_ was the import of the command, would God have permitted such an act to pass without rebuke? Would he have established such a precedent when Israel had hardly passed the threshold of Canaan, and was then striking the first blow of a half century war? What if they _had_ passed their word to Rahab and the Gibeonites? Was that more binding than God’s command? So Saul seems to have passed _his_ word to Agag; yet Samuel hewed him in pieces, because in saving his life, Saul had violated God’s command. When Saul sought to slay the Gibeonites in “his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah,” God sent upon Israel three years famine for it. When David inquired of them what atonement he should make, they say, “The man that devised against us, that we should be destroyed from _remaining in any of the coasts of Israel_, let seven of his sons be delivered,” &c. 2 Sam. xxii. 1-6.]
[Footnote B: If the Canaanites were devoted by God to unconditional extermination, to have employed them in the erection of the temple,–what was it but the climax of impiety? As well might they pollute its altars with swine’s flesh, or make their sons pass through the fire to Moloch.]
[Footnote C: Suppose all the Canaanitish nations had abandoned their territory at the tidings of Israel’s approach, did God’s command require the Israelites to chase them to the ends of the earth and hunt them out, until every Canaanite was destroyed? It is too preposterous for belief and yet it follows legitimately from that construction, which interprets the terms “consume,” “destroy,” “destroy utterly,” &c. to mean unconditional, individual extermination.]
[The original design of the preceding Inquiry embraced a much wider range of topics. It was soon found, however, that to fill up the outline would be to make a volume. Much of the foregoing has therefore been thrown into a mere series of _indices_, to trains of thought and classes of proof which, however limited or imperfect, may perhaps, afford some facilities to those who have little leisure for protracted investigation.]
THE
ANTI-SLAVERY EXAMINER NO 4.
THE
BIBLE AGAINST SLAVERY.
AN INQUIRY INTO THE
PATRIARCHAL AND MOSAIC SYSTEMS
ON THE SUBJECT OF
HUMAN RIGHTS.
Fourth Edition–Enlarged.
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY,
NO. 143 NASSAU STREET.
1838.
This No. contains 7 sheets:–Postage, under 100 miles, 10 1/2 cents; over 100 miles, 14 cents.
Please read and Circulate.
CONTENTS.
DEFINITION OF SLAVERY,
NEGATIVE,
AFFIRMATIVE,
LEGAL,
THE MORAL LAW AGAINST SLAVERY
“THOU SHALT NOT STEAL,”
“THOU SHALT NOT COVET,”
MAN-STEALING–EXAMINATION OF EX. xxi. 16,
SEPARATION OF MAN FROM BRUTES AND THINGS,
IMPORT OF “BUY” AND “BOUGHT WITH MONEY,”
SERVANTS SOLD THEMSELVES,
RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES SECURED BY LAW TO SERVANTS,
SERVANTS WERE VOLUNTARY,
RUNAWAY SERVANTS NOT TO BE DELIVERED TO THEIR MASTERS,
SERVANTS WERE PAID WAGES,
MASTERS NOT “OWNERS,”
SERVANTS NOT SUBJECTED TO THE USES OF PROPERTY,
SERVANTS EXPRESSLY DISTINGUISHED FROM PROPERTY,
EXAMINATION OF GEN. xii. 5.–“THE SOULS THAT THEY HAD GOTTEN,” &c.
SOCIAL EQUALITY OF SERVANTS AND MASTERS,
CONDITION OF THE GIBEONITES AS SUBJECTS OF THE HEBREW COMMONWEALTH,
EGYPTIAN BONDAGE CONTRASTED WITH AMERICAN SLAVERY,
CONDITION OF AMERICAN SLAVES,
ILL FED,
ILL CLOTHED,
OVER-WORKED,
THEIR DWELLING UNFIT FOR HUMAN BEINGS,
MORAL CONDITION–“HEATHENS,”
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.
“CURSED BE CANAAN,” &c.–EXAMINATION OF GEN. ix. 25,
“FOR HE IS HIS MONEY,” &c.–EXAMINATION OF EX. xxi. 20, 21,
EXAMINATION OF LEV. xxv. 44-46,
“BOTH THY BONDMEN, &c., SHALL BE OF THE HEATHEN,”
“OF THEM SHALL YE BUY,”
“THEY SHALL BE YOUR BONDMEN FOREVER,”
“YE SHALL TAKE THEM AS AN INHERITANCE,” &c.
EXAMINATION OF LEV. xxv. 39, 40.–THE FREEHOLDER NOT TO “SERVE AS A BOND SERVANT,”
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIRED AND BOUGHT SERVANTS,
BOUGHT SERVANTS THE MOST FAVORED AND HONORED CLASS,
ISRAELITES AND STRANGERS BELONGED TO BOTH CLASSES,
ISRAELITES SERVANTS TO THE STRANGERS,
REASONS FOR THE RELEASE OF THE ISRAELITISH SERVANTS IN THE SEVENTH YEAR,
REASONS FOR ASSIGNING THE STRANGERS TO A LONGER SERVICE,
REASONS FOR CALLING THEM THE SERVANTS,
DIFFERENT KINDS OF SERVICE ASSIGNED TO THE ISRAELITES AND STRANGERS,
REVIEW OF ALL THE CLASSES OF SERVANTS WITH THE MODIFICATIONS OF EACH,
POLITICAL DISABILITIES OF THE STRANGERS,
EXAMINATION OF EX. xxi. 2-6.–“IF THOU BUY AN HEBREW SERVANT,”
THE CANAANITES NOT SENTENCED TO UNCONDITIONAL EXTERMINATION,
THE BIBLE AGAINST SLAVERY.
The spirit of slavery never seeks refuge in the Bible of its own accord. The horns of the altar are its last resort–seized only in desperation, as it rushes from the terror of the avenger’s arm. Like other unclean spirits, it “hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest its deeds should be reproved.” Goaded to phrenzy in its conflicts with conscience and common sense, denied all quarter, and hunted from every covert, it vaults over the sacred inclosure and courses up and down the Bible, “seeking rest, and finding none.” THE LAW OF LOVE, glowing on every page, flashes around it an omnipresent anguish and despair. It shrinks from the hated light, and howls under the consuming touch, as demons quailed before the Son of God, and shrieked, “Torment us not.” At last, it slinks away under the types of the Mosaic system, and seeks to burrow out of sight among their shadows. Vain hope! Its asylum is its sepulchre; its city of refuge, the city of destruction. It flies from light into the sun; from heat, into devouring fire; and from the voice of God into the thickest of His thunders.
DEFINITION OF SLAVERY.
If we would know whether the Bible sanctions slavery, we must determine _what slavery is_. An element, is one thing; a relation, another; an appendage, another. Relations and appendages presuppose other things to which they belong. To regard them as the things themselves, or as constituent parts of them, leads to endless fallacies. Mere political disabilities are often confounded with slavery; so are many relations, and tenures, indispensible to the social state. We will specify some of these.
1. PRIVATION OF SUFFRAGE. Then minors are slaves.
2. INELIGIBILITY TO OFFICE. Then females are slaves.
3. TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. Then slaveholders in the District of Columbia are slaves.
4. PRIVATION OF ONE’S OATH IN LAW. Then atheists are slaves.
5. PRIVATION OF TRIAL BY JURY. Then all in France are slaves.
6. BEING REQUIRED TO SUPPORT A PARTICULAR RELIGION. Then the people of England are slaves.
7. APPRENTICESHIP. The rights and duties of master and apprentice are correlative. The _claim_ of each upon the other results from his _obligation_ to the other. Apprenticeship is based on the principle of equivalent for value received. The rights of the apprentice are secured, equally with those of the master. Indeed while the law is _just_ to the former it is _benevolent_ to the latter; its main design being rather to benefit the apprentice than the master. To the master it secures a mere compensation–to the apprentice, both a compensation and a virtual gratuity in addition, he being of the two the greatest gainer. The law not only recognizes the _right_ of the apprentice to a reward for his labor, but appoints the wages, and enforces the payment. The master’s claim covers only the _services_ of the apprentice. The apprentice’s claim covers _equally_ the services of the master. Neither can hold the other as property; but each holds property in the services of the other, and BOTH EQUALLY. Is this slavery?
8. FILIAL SUBORDINATION AND PARENTAL CLAIMS. Both are nature’s dictates, and intrinsic elements of the social state; the natural affections which blend parent and child in one, excite each to discharge those offices incidental to the relation, and are a shield for mutual protection. The parent’s legal claim to the child’s services, is a slight return for the care and toil of his rearing, exclusively of outlays for support and education. This provision is, with the mass of mankind, indispensable to the preservation of the family state. The child, in helping his parents, helps himself–increases a common stock, in which he has a share; while his most faithful services do but acknowledge a debt that money cannot cancel.
9. CLAIMS OF GOVERNMENT ON SUBJECTS. Governments owe their subjects protection; subjects owe just governments allegiance and support. The obligations of both are reciprocal, and the benefits received by both are mutual, equal, and voluntarily rendered.
10. BONDAGE FOR CRIME. Must innocence be punished because guilt suffers penalties? True, the criminal works for the government without pay; and well he may. He owes the government. A century’s work would not pay its drafts on him. He will die a public defaulter. Because laws make men pay their debts, shall those be forced to pay who owe nothing? The law makes no criminal, PROPERTY. It restrains his liberty, and makes him pay something, a mere penny in the pound, of his debt to the government; but it does not make him a chattel. Test it. To own property, is to own its product. Are children born of convicts, government property? Besides, can _property_ be guilty? Can _chattels_ deserve punishment?
11. RESTRAINTS UPON FREEDOM. Children are restrained by parents, pupils, by teachers, patients, by physicians, corporations, by charters, and legislatures, by constitutions. Embargoes, tariffs, quarantine, and all other laws, keep men from doing as they please. Restraints are the web of civilized society, warp and woof. Are they slavery? then a government of LAW, is the climax of slavery!
12. INVOLUNTARY OR COMPULSORY SERVICE. A juryman is empannelled against his will, and sit he _must_. A sheriff orders his posse; bystanders _must_ turn in. Men are _compelled_ to remove nuisances, pay fines and taxes, support their families, and “turn to the right as the law directs,” however much against their wills. Are they therefore slaves? To confound slavery with involuntary service is absurd. Slavery is a _condition_. The slave’s _feelings_ toward it cannot alter its nature. Whether he desires or detests it, the condition remains the same. The slave’s willingness to be a slave is no palliation of the slaveholder’s guilt. Suppose he should really believe himself a chattel, and consent to be so regarded by others, would that _make_ him a chattel, or make those guiltless who _hold_ him as such? I may be sick of life, and I tell the assassin so that stabs me; is he any the less a murderer? Does my _consent_ to his crime, atone for it? my partnership in his guilt, blot out his part of it? The slave’s willingness to be a slave, so far from lessening the guilt of his “owner,” aggravates it. If slavery has so palsied his mind that he looks upon himself as a chattel, and consents to be one, actually to hold him as such, falls in with his delusion, and confirms the impious falsehood. These very feelings and convictions of the slave, (if such were possible) increase a hundred fold the guilt of the master, and call upon him in thunder, immediately to recognize him as a MAN, and thus break the sorcery that cheats him out of his birthright–the consciousness of his worth and destiny.
Many of the foregoing conditions are _appendages_ of slavery, but no one, nor all of them together, constitute its intrinsic unchanging element.
ENSLAVING MEN IS REDUCING THEM TO ARTICLES OF PROPERTY–making free agents, chattels–converting _persons_ into _things_–sinking immortality into _merchandize_. A _slave_ is one held in this condition. In law, “he owns nothing, and can acquire nothing.” His right to himself is abrogated. If he say _my_ hands, _my_ body, _my_ mind, MY_self_, they are figures of speech. To _use himself_ for his own good, is a _crime_. To keep what he earns, is _stealing_. To take his body into his own keeping, is _insurrection_. In a word, the profit of his master is made the END of his being, and he, a _mere means_ to that end–a mere means to an end into which his interests do not enter, of which they constitute no portion[A]. MAN, sunk to a _thing!_ the intrinsic element, the _principle_ of slavery; MEN, bartered, leased, mortgaged, bequeathed, invoiced, shipped in cargoes, stored as goods, taken on executions, and knocked off at a public outcry! Their _rights_, another’s conveniences; their interests, wares on sale; their happiness, a household utensil; their personal inalienable ownership, a serviceable article or a plaything, as best suits the humour of the hour; their deathless nature, conscience, social affections, sympathies, hopes–marketable commodities! We repeat it, THE REDUCTION OF PERSONS TO THINGS! Not robbing a man of privileges, but of _himself_; not loading him with burdens, but making him a _beast of burden_; not restraining liberty, but subverting it; not curtailing rights, but abolishing them; not inflicting personal cruelty, but annihilating _personality_; not exacting involuntary labor, but sinking man into an _implement_ of labor; not abridging human comforts, but abrogating human _nature_; not depriving an animal of immunities, but despoiling a rational being of attributes–uncreating a MAN, to make room for a _thing_!
[Footnote A: To deprive human nature of _any_ of its rights is _oppression_; to take away the _foundation_ of its rights is slavery. In other words, whatever sinks man from an END to a mere _means_, just so far makes him a slave. Hence West-India apprenticeship retained the