wife and little ones separated from the husband and father. The Jewish master could not sell the woman, nor her offspring: and the servant would naturally remain in the neighborhood of his family; perhaps laboring as a hired servant in the house of his master. What necessity is there for supposing, with some commentators, that God allowed Hebrew servants that legal fornication which the Romans called contubernium? The whole law, while scrupulously mindful of the master's rights acquired by previous contract with a female servant, is marked by the benevolence of Him "who taketh the lambs in His bosom."

"Proposition IV. The Hebrews were permitted by their law, to buy servants from the heathen, to hold them in perpetual servitude; and to transmit them as hereditary property to their children." (p. 37.) "This is a compound proposition," says our author, "and may be broken down into three distinct parts." We add, that while no one denies the first part of this proposition, the second and third parts may be "broken down" so as never to rise again: which charitable work we shall endeavor to perform in the sequel.

"Proposition V. A very considerable degree of severity, in the treatment of servants, was indulged in during the Old Testament times." (p. 39.)

What the author can have in view, in attempting to sustain this proposition, we cannot conceive; unless, indeed, he has resolved to show how far a christian minister dares venture to represent the word of God in the most odious light. If he means that a just degree of severity, a severity not inconsistent with the law of love, was, with the approbation of Heaven, employed in the management of servants, the proposition is a very harmless one: and were the admission of any use to the Doctor, we would grant that the same thing was true in regard to the treatment of children! If he means to say that in the Old Testament times, even good people sometimes fell into a passion, and used unjust severity, and even cruelty, toward their dependents; for which God was angry with them; he is engaged in a very easy, but needless business. But if he would intimate that the Father of mercies, the God and Father of all flesh, allowed those whom he had chosen to be a special people, and a

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holy people unto himself, (Deut. vii. 6,) to employ unjust severity and cruel treatment toward their inferiors,-all the reply that can be necessary, is, an expression of mingled contempt and indignation at the assertion, and of profound pity for its author; who, in his zeal to defend American slavery, has charged God so 'foolishly. We might pass this proposition without further notice; but the examples which have been adduced as proof, demand some attention.

1. The case of Sarai is cited, who "dealt hardly" with Hagar. (Gen. xvi. 1-9.) The original is, waatteanncha Sarai, "and Sarai afflicted her;" anah signifying, to afflict, &c. "She was abused and maltreated," says Doctor J., "to such a degree, as to induce her to flee to the wilderness. * * * * We can form no idea of this affliction but by referring to other passages where the word is used." (pp. 39, 40.) The following are then cited: 7. He (Christ) was oppressed and he was afflicted. 11, Because he hath loosed my cord and afflicted me. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters, to afflict them with their burdens. "We cannot but conclude," he adds, "that this affliction was corporeal, and exceedingly hard to bear."

Isa. liii. Job xxx. Ex. i. 11,

But why not quote Gen. xv. 13? And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them (weinnu) four hundred years. And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, (that is, punish.) Ex. i. 11, might have been illustrated by Ex. iii. 7, 8, And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction (eth-oni) of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows: and am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians. As good old Job has been summoned to testify in this case, it may not be amiss to hear "ane word mair" from him: [xxxiv. 28,] So that they [the wicked, mighty men] cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, [God,] and he heareth the cry of the afflicted, [aniyyim.] How truly was this declaration, so consolatory to the oppressed, verified in the case of Hagar! "When Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness. * * * And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence

comest thou? And whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction, [aneyek.] And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi."

How does Doctor J. represent this angelic visit? Leaving wholly out of sight his message of mercy, he describes "the mighty Redeemer," like some Kentucky slave-catcher, as having come down from heaven, simply to defend the rights of the master, to restore the fugitive slave! "The angel of the Lord found her. This is none other but the angel Jehovah, the mighty Redeemer. * * * And what was God's message to her? Like a modern abolitionist, did he give her wings to fly, and bid her be off from such cruelty and oppression? Did he hire some Vanzandt, to conceal her in his wagon, and hurry her away towards Egypt, *** or toward some frozen Canada, to suffer in an inhospitable climate? *** And the angel Jehovah said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. Such is Jehovah's command, to a poor, abused and afflicted runaway African slave. How different the counsels of Infinite Wisdom, from those of modern abolitionism!" [p. 40.] And as if he labored to present the story in the most repulsive features possible, he adds, "The phrase, under his hand, [Ex. xxi. 20,] may throw some light on the instruction of the angel to Hagar, when he tells her to submit herself under the hands of her mistress. It undoubtedly implies the use of the hands in severe correction!" The Lord Jesus, then, came from the throne of glory, to tell the poor, "abused and maltreated" slave to return and receive further severe correction from the hands of her enraged mistress! And this was "God's message to her!" Not one word of comfort! Not a single intimation to Sarai that she was doing wrong! And this was the God "who heareth the cry

of the afflicted!" A more awful and horrible misrepresentation of the blessed word and character of God, it has seldom been our misfortune to read.

Let us look at the truth of the case. [1.] Hagar was not the slave, but the wife of Abram. [Gen. xvi. 3.] She was pregnant by him; and in a delicate, if not dangerous situation. At Sarai's own suggestion, she had become a secondary wife. [2.] Sarai, offended at her pride, which, under the circumstances, was very natural, but of course sinful,-afflicted her. [3.] God has promised to hear the cry of the afflicted; and he fulfilled his promise; not sending an angel, but coming personally. He calls her "Sarai's maid," "as a check to her pride: though she was Abram's wife, and as such, obliged to return, yet he calls her Sarai's maid to humble her." (Henry.) He tells her to return, and submit herself under the hands of her mistress; for the secondary wives were subject to the principal wife. So says Josephus; who, being himself a Jewish priest, and conversant with oriental customs, was perhaps as well qualified to judge of this matter as the President of Miami University. Speaking of Zilpah and Leah, who stood in precisely the same situation to Jacob, as Hagar to Abram, he says, "Zilpah was handmaid to Leah, and Bilhaḥ to Rachel, by no means" slaves, but however subject to their mistresses." (Antig. B. I. c. 19, § 8.) The Saviour then adds these words of consolation: that the child in her womb should be a son; that she should be safely and happily delivered; that by this son she should become the parent of an innumerable posterity,— the very blessing given to the father of the faithful; and that her seed should be invincible, a promise not made respecting the seed of Abram by Isaac. He condescended, also, to name her unborn child; and to remind her of his gracious visit, and his attention to the cry of her affliction, called him Yishmael, that is, God will hear. No wonder that after an interposition in her behalf, so kind, timely, and honorable, Hagar too set up her Eben-ezer, calling the Lord El-roi, the visible God; and the well where he had appeared to her, Beer-lahai-roi, the well of him that liveth and seeth me. And let it be remembered, that all this while, Abram, though the father of Ishmael and of believers, received no heavenly visit, no divine promise respecting his

future son; and that so far as we know, Jehovah never appeared to him nor spoke with him during the fourteen years following. How different the air of the Scripture narrative, from that of the Speech before us! How forcibly we are reminded, by every circumstance, of His loving kindness, and regard for the oppressed, who afterwards said, in the law of Moses, “Any widow, (almanah, forsaken one, and Hagar was very like such an one when her husband said to Sarai, Behold thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee.)-"Any widow, or fatherless child ye shall not afflict, (lo theannun.) If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless."(Ex. xxii. 22-24.) "How different the counsels of Infinite Wisdom," from the representation of these modern anti-abolitionists! Such is a fair specimen of the manner in which the Scripture is perverted, for the defence of slavery, by a Doctor of Divinity, a master in Israel! Tell it not in Gath; publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. * I am distressed for thee, my brotherJunkin.

2. Ex. xxi. 20-21, is the other proof cited to sustain this fifth proposition. "If a man smite his servant, (abhdo,) or his maid, (amatho,) 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. **** Here we see extremely violent whipping; and, if death follow immediately, the master shall be punished, to what extent the law does not define. But, if the slave survive the beating a day or two, the man-slayer goes with impunity-'he shall not be punished.' The reason of this impunity is stated for he is his money.' It is presumed that the interest of the master will be, in all ordinary cases, a sufficient guarantee to the safety of his own purchased slave."-(p. 41.)

It must be admitted that this law, as it appears in our English version, would seem to be a hard one for the poor servant, but we think it has been satisfactorily shown by Weld, in his Bible