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offence, the judge, and not his master, was to pronounce the fentence. If the master wilfully murdered his flave, he was to fuffer death. The Ifraelites were not permitted to use the captive women, who were of course flaves, at their pleasure. The law is fo exprefs on this fubject, that I shall recite it. Deut. xxi. 10, When thou goeft forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou haft taken them captive, and feeft among the captives a beautiful woman, and haft a defire unto her, that thou wouldeft have her to thy wife, thou shalt then bring her home to thy house, and fhe fhall fhave her head, and pare her nails (as it is in our tranflation; but the meaning is, that she should make them beautiful by colouring them, which is at this time done in the East, and confidered as a great article of beauty); and fhe fhall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and fhall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month; and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and fhe fhall be thy wife. And it fhall be if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither he will, but thou fhalt not fell her at all for money, thou shalt not make

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make merchandise of her, because thou haft humbled her. We fhall find no law approaching to the humanity of this among the Greeks or Romans a thoufand years after this time, and ftill lefs among nations of greater antiquity. How little will the treatment of flaves by Europeans bear to be compared with this?

Voltaire charges the Jews with a violent hatred of all other nations; but let us attend to their original laws and inftitutions on this fubject. Deut. xxii. 8, If a ftranger Jojourn with you in your land, ye shall not vex him, but the ftranger fhall dwell with you. He fhall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself. For ye were ftrangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. The Lord loveth the ftranger. Exod. xxii. 22. Many ancient nations made great difficulties about the naturalization of foreigners; but among the Hebrews any perfon being circumcifed, and conforming to the laws of the land, became one of themselves in all refpects. Only, for particular reafons, perfons of certain nations could not be completely naturalized till after the expiration of a certain number of generations.

In all ancient nations, and many modern

ones,

ones, torture was made ufe of both in the punishment of crimes, and for procuring evidence. But no use whatever was made of it among the Hebrews. Punishment by scourging was limited to forty ftripes, murder and fome other atrocious crimes were punished with death, but executions were performed by ftoning or hanging, and the body buried before funfet. Where, then, are those "cruel "and torturous executions, and that unre

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They have no ex

lenting vindictiveness" which Mr. Paine fays contribute to make him confider the Bible as the word of a demon rather than "the word of God," and which makes him "deteft it as," he fays, "he detefts every "thing that is cruel." istence whatever but in his own imagination. How easy is it to calumniate what a man does not understand, and what he is strongly predisposed to diflike and misreprefent. In cafes of mere manflaughter, a city of refuge was provided, in which the innocent author of the death of another was fafe from the pursuit of the relations of the deceased. Theft was punished by reftitution, by fine, or flavery, but not with death.

Such, my brethren, is the general outline,

and

and fome of the principal features, of that fyftem of religion, and civil policy, which Voltaire treats as most execrable; but judge for yourselves with what juftice. On the contrary, I have no doubt but that, if all the circumstances of the Hebrew nation, and of other ancient and neighbouring nations, could be known, we should be fatisfied that it was, in all refpects, the best fyftem poffible; as much fuperior to any of those of human invention, as the works of nature are fuperior to those of art,

DISCOURSE

DISCOURSE VII.

The Principles of the Heathen Philosophy compared with those of Revelation.

IN

The world by wisdom knew not God.

I COR, i. 21.

N my two laft difcourfes I fhewed you how greatly fuperior were the religious inftitutions of Mofes, though fo much decried by modern unbelievers, to those of the heathens, the fhocking enormities, and grofs abominations, of which are so much disguised and smoothed over by them. But because it will be faid that what I then exhibited was only the system of fuperftition, adopted by the vulgar, and that the more intelligent perfons among the heathens (though, for political reasons, they did not choose to oppofe, and even countenanced it) held a more rational system, I shall now fhow you what that more rational fyftem

was.

For

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