The doctrine that slavery, disease, and death are the necessary effects
of sin, we humbly claim to perceive spread on every page of the holy
books. This doctrine is forcibly illustrated in the warning voice of
Jehovah to the Israelites. They were emphatically called his
children—peculiar people—his chosen ones. He made covenants with them to
bless them; yet all these were founded upon their adherence to the
Divine law. These promises repealed no ordinance of Divine necessity in
their behalf. He expressed, revealed the law, so far as it was important
for them at the time, and then says, _Deut._ xxviii. 14–68:—
“15. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice
of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his
statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come
upon thee and overtake thee:
“16. Cursed _shalt_ thou _be_ in the city, and cursed _shalt_ thou _be_
in the field.
“17. Cursed _shall be_ thy basket and thy store.
“18. Cursed _shall be_ the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land,
the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
“19. Cursed _shalt_ thou _be_ when thou comest in, and cursed _shalt_
thou _be_ when thou goest out.
“20. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all
that thou settest thy hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and
until thou perish quickly: because of the wickedness of thy doings
whereby thou hast forsaken me.
“21. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have
consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
“22. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and
with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword,
and with blasting, and with mildew: and they shall pursue thee until
thou perish.
“23. And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth
that _is_ under thee _shall be_ iron.
“24. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from
heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
“25. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou
shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them; and
shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
“26. And thy carcass shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto
beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray _them_ away.
“27. The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the
emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be
healed.
“28. The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and
astonishment of heart:
“29. And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness,
and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways; and thou shalt be only oppressed
and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save _thee_.
“30. Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou
shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant
a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
“31. Thine ox _shall be_ slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat
thereof: thy ass _shall be_ violently taken away from before thy face,
and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep _shall be_ given unto thine
enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue _them_.
“32. Thy sons and thy daughters _shall_ be given unto another people,
and thy eyes shall look, and fail _with longing_ for them all the day
long: and there _shall be_ no might in thy hand.
“33. The fruit of thy land and all thy labours shall a nation which thou
knowest not eat up: and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed always:
“34. So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thy eyes which thou
shalt see.
“35. The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a
sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top
of thy head.
“36. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over
thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, and
there shalt thou _serve_ (וְעָבַֽדְתָּ _ve abadta_, _and shall slave
yourselves to_) other gods, wood and stone:
“37. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word,
among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.
“38. Thou shalt carry much seed out unto the field, and shalt gather
_but_ little in: for the locust shall consume it.
“39. Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress _them_, but shalt neither
drink of the wine, nor gather _the grapes_: for the worms shall eat
them.
“40. Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout, but thou shalt not anoint
_thyself_ with the oil: for thine olive shall cast _his fruit_.
“41. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them,
for they shall go _into captivity_.”
(_Into captivity_ is translated from בַּשֶׁבִי _bashshebi_; the prefix
preposition _in_, _into_, &c. here makes _bash_. The root is _shebi_.
The translation is correct, but the idea extends to such a possession of
the captive as includes the idea of a right of property. The same word
is used when dumb beasts are taken as spoil in war; thus, _Amos_ iv. 10,
שְׁבִי סוּסֵיבֶם _shebi susekem_, _I have taken your horses_, _i. e._ I
have _captured_ your horses,—the right of property in the horses is
changed. The idea in the text is, _they shall go into slavery_.)
“42. All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.
“43. The stranger that _is_ within thee shall get up above thee very
high; and thou shalt come down very low.
“44. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be
the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
“45. Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue
thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed: because thou
hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his
commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee.
“46. And they shall be upon thee for a _sign_, and for a wonder, and
upon thy seed for ever.”
(_For a sign_ אוֹת _oth_, _a mark_, _sign_, _&c._ It may be noted that
this word is used in _Gen._ iv. 15: “And the Lord set a _mark_ upon
Cain,” אוֹת _oth_, _mark_, _sign_, _&c._)
“47. Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with
gladness of heart for the abundance of all _things_.
“48. Therefore shalt thou _serve_ (עָבַדְתָּ _be a slave to_) thine
enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in
thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all _things_: and he shall put
a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.
“49. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end
of the earth, _as swift_ as the eagle flieth, a nation whose tongue thou
shalt not understand;
“50. A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person
of the old, nor show favour to the young:
“51. And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy
land, until thou be destroyed: which _also_ shall not leave thee
_either_ corn, wine, or oil, _or_ the increase of thy kine, or flocks of
thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.
“52. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and
fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land:
and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land which
the Lord thy God hath given thee.
“53. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy
sons and of thy daughters which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the
siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
“54. So _that_ the man _that_ is tender among you, and very delicate,
his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his
bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave.
“55. So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his
children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the
siege, and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee
in all thy gates.
“56. The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure
to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and
tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and
toward her son, and toward her daughter,
“57. And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and
toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for
want of all _things_ secretly in the siege and straitness wherewith
thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
“58. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are
written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful
name THE LORD THY GOD.
“59. Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of
thy seed, _even_ great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore
sicknesses and of long continuance.
“60. Moreover, he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which
thou wast afraid of, and they shall cleave unto thee.
“61. Also every sickness, and every plague which is not written in the
book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be
destroyed.
“62. And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of
heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the
Lord thy God.
“63. And it shall come to pass, _that_ as the Lord rejoiced over you to
do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to
destroy you and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off
the land whither thou goest to possess it.
“64. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people from the one end
of the earth even to the other, and thou shalt _serve_ (עׇבַדְתָּ, _be
slave to_) other gods which neither thou nor thy fathers have known,
_even_ wood and stone.
“65. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the
sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a
trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind.
“66. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear
day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:
“67. In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even
shalt thou say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thy heart
wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou
shalt see.
“68. And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the
way whereof I spake unto thee. Thou shalt see it no more again: and
there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bond-men and bond-women,
and no man shall buy _you_.
_Ye shall be sold_, _i. e._ be exposed to sale, or expose yourselves to
sale, as the word הִתְמַכַּרְתֶּם _hith maccartem_ may be rendered; they
were vagrants, and wished to become slaves that they might be provided
with the necessaries of life.” _Clarke’s Commentary._
The markets were overstocked with them, says Josephus: * * * “They were
sold with their wives and children at the lowest price, there being many
to be sold, and few purchasers.”
Hegesippus also says—“There were many captives offered for sale, but few
buyers, because the Romans disdained to take the Jews for slaves, and
there were not Jews remaining to redeem their countrymen.”
“When Jerusalem was taken by Titus, of the captives who were sent into
Egypt, those under seventeen were sold; but so little care was taken of
them, that 11,000 of them perished for want.” _Bishop Newton._
St. Jerome says—“After their last overthrow by Adrian, many thousands of
them were sold, and those who could not be sold were transported into
Egypt, and perished by shipwreck and famine, or were massacred by the
inhabitants.”
A similar condition happened to the Jews in Spain, when, under the reign
of Ferdinand and Isabella, they were driven out of that kingdom,
concerning which, Abarbinel, a Jewish writer says—“Three hundred
thousand, young and old, women and children, (of whom he was one,) not
knowing where to go, left on foot in one day: some became a prey, some
perished by famine, some by pestilence,—some committed themselves to the
sea, but were sold for slaves when they came to any coast; many were
drowned and burned in the ships which were set on fire. In short, all
suffered the punishment of God the Avenger.”
Benson, in his Commentary, says—“How these instances may affect others,
I know not, but for myself I must acknowledge, they not only convince,
but astonish me beyond expression. They are truly, as Moses foretold
they would be, _a sign and a wonder for ever_.”
Scott says—“Numbers of captives were sent by sea into Egypt, (as well as
into other countries,) and sold for slaves at a vile price, and for the
meanest offices; and many thousands were left to perish from want; for
the multitude was so great that purchasers could not be found for them
all at any price. * * * To such wretchedness is every one exposed, who
lives in disobedience to God’s commands. * * * None will suffer any
misery above his deserts: but, indeed, we are all exposed to this woful
curse, for breaking the law of God.”
Henry says—“I have heard of a wicked man, who, on reading these
threatenings, was so enraged that he tore the leaf out of his Bible.”
Upon a review of all this evidence, to what conclusion is the mind
inclined? Are there no circumstances under which man may become a
slave—“property, in the sight of God and justice?”
Dr. Channing says, vol. ii. page 28—“Such a being (man) was plainly made
to obey a law within himself. This is the essence of a moral being. He
possesses, as part of his nature, and the most essential part, a cause
of duty, which he is to reverence and follow.”
This is in accordance with his idea of conscience—“the Divine monitor
within us.” But we are forced to differ from Dr. Channing. To obey the
law of God, not some creature of man’s, or our own judgment, is the
creed we inculcate; and we further teach that “such a being was plainly
made” “to reverence and follow” the law of God, not his own opinion or
the feelings of his own heart.
If this doctrine is not true in theology, can it be so in regard to
slavery, or any thing else?
Page 29, he says—“Every thing else may be owned in the universe; but a
moral, rational being cannot be property. Suns and stars may be owned,
but not the lowest spirit. Touch any thing but this. Lay not your hand
upon God’s rational offspring. The whole spiritual world cries out,
FORBEAR!”
We do not quote this as an argument. If his postulate be true concerning
the “law within himself,” he needs no argument; his opinion is enough:
his feeling, his “sense of duty” governs the matter. But, while his
disciples “reverence and follow” their “sense of duty,” by obeying a law
within themselves, and, according to their conscience, “own the sun and
stars,” may not those who believe the Bible to be the word of God, who
“reverence and follow” it, as their “sense of duty,” and obey it as a
law within themselves, according to their conscience, own slaves?
But Dr. Channing continues—“The highest intelligences recognise their
own nature, their own rights, in the humblest human being. By that
priceless, immortal spirit which dwells in him, by that likeness of God
which he wears, tread him not in the dust, confound him not with the
brute.” And he then gravely adds—“We have thus seen that a human being
cannot rightfully be held and used as property. No legislation, not that
of all countries or worlds, could make him so. Let this be laid down as
a first, fundamental truth.”
Such were his opinions. We view them, if not the ravings, at least the
impressions, of fanaticism. When counsellor Quibble saw his client
Stultus going to the stocks, he cried out, “It is contrary to my sense
of justice; to the laws of God and man; no power can make it right!”
_Yet Stultus is in the stocks!_
But what shall we say of him who makes the sanction of his own feelings
the foundation of his creed, of his standard of right? What of him, who,
in his search for truth, scarcely or never alludes to the Bible as the
voice of God, as the Divine basis of his reasons, as the pillar on which
argument may find rest? Has some new revelation inspired him? Has he
heard a voice louder and more clear than the thunder, the trumpet from
the mount of God? Has he beheld truth by a light more lucid than the
flaming garments of Jehovah? Or has he only seen a cloud, not from the
top of Sinai, but from the dismal pit of human frailty?
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