ward forms of respect towards parents or elders are peculiarly marked and expressive; the father has undisputed authority over his family, his wish is law, his word has a holy power. But the fifth commandment is no less scrupulously observed in other climes; and those men and women who have won most honour and fame, have, as a rule, most vividly remembered and most gratefully acknowledged the care and devotion of a wise father or of a tender mother.

6

The sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill,' already enjoined in the time of Cain, and more distinctly still in the age of Noah, was repeated in the decalogue on account of its paramount importance. Man was created in the image of God; his life is a breath from the Divine spirit. The destruction of a man is, therefore, an attack against the majesty of God Himself. The Lord who gave the life can alone take it away. Murder is rebellion against all human and Divine laws.

And as the life of our fellow-men is to be sacred to us, so likewise should be his property; and so, in a higher degree, his wife, his dearest and most sacred possession, the companion of his life, the joy of his heart, the mother of his children; and so also his honour and good name, which might be assailed by the poisonous weapon of the slanderer and the tale-bearer. Therefore the commandment, thou shalt not kill,' is followed by the prohibitions, 'thou shalt not commit adultery,' 'thou shalt not steal,' and thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.'

But not in deed and word only, but even in thought man is commanded to abstain from encroaching upon his neighbour's property. His heart and mind are to be no less clean than his hands and lips. He has been told, 'thou shalt not covet;' he is to keep away the cankering worms of envy and jealousy, because they are certain to

destroy his repose, his happiness, and his virtue. Unless thought, the root of our words and of our deeds, be pure and healthy, we cannot hope to render our life holy and profitable.

And thus the last of the Ten Commandments may well be considered as the kernel, the very essence of the Law, warm with the breath of Divine truth and love, pure and sublime as the faith it was designed to strengthen and to support.

40. THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT.

[EXOD. XXI.-XXIV.]

The Israelites who had grown into a nation, recognised God as their king, and not only accepted the laws which He bestowed upon them through His servant Moses, but solemnly pledged themselves to observe and respect them: they concluded, as it were, a Covenant with God. It will be well briefly to consider these laws, both in groups and classes, and then individually in their mutual bearing. They comprise

I. Ordinances respecting the right of persons, of free men and slaves, in all their relations;

II. Provisions in reference to the right of property;

and

III. Moral laws which, however, are intimately connected with the civil organisation of the state.

I. The statutes which treat of the right of persons, and which, among other objects, aim at the protection of the slave from the caprice or cruelty of his master, belong to the most important of the whole code. The Hebrews,

for centuries bondmen in Egypt, had at last been released to become citizens of a free commonwealth; therefore the first laws they received related to slavery. The legislator saw indeed fit to allow or tolerate it among the Israelites, but it was slavery of a very different kind from that now understood by that term, the very sound of which fills us with strong and just aversion. A people who were to live by husbandry and agriculture, required labourers or hirelings to till and work the fields, to cultivate and tend the vineyards, and to gather in the fruits. As a rule, such labourers belonged to foreign nations. They were either prisoners of war, or were purchased in times of peace. Their children, if born in the houses of their masters, became the property of the latter. These strange slaves were protected by mild and generous laws. If fugitives from another country, they were shielded from persecution; they were treated with signal kindness and forbearance; they shared the blessed rest of the Sabbath-day; they were freely admitted to the festivals of Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, and by undergoing certain rites, even to the paschal lamb. But it might happen that Hebrews also fell into slavery, especially if poverty compelled them to sell themselves. But in such cases, their dependence was not to be permanent; it was by the law restricted to six years. In the seventh year, the servants had not only the right, but the duty to return to freedom. They were, in reality, hirelings or labourers for a certain limited time, during which they were even allowed to work for their own benefit and thus acquire means of redeeming themselves before the lapse of the six years. Of course, the Hebrew slave participated in all the religious privileges of his master: he ate of the paschal lamb at the Passover meal; he worshipped the Lord at the Feast of Weeks; and he joined in the hymns of praise which resounded on the Feast of

His

Tabernacles. He knew that, after his six years of servitude, he would go out free-not poor and empty-handed, but with flocks and herds, and corn and wine. master was to dismiss him with a part of the blessings he had helped to store up for him, in remembrance of the first and great release from the Egyptian house of bondage. If the slave had come into the master's house a single man, he should always go out alone; if married, his wife was to leave with him; but if he had taken a wife in his master's house and had children, he should go out alone, while his family were to remain with the master, until they were redeemed. However, it sometimes happened, that the slave was so much attached to his master, or to the wife he had married, that he preferred remaining with him after his six years of servitude. Now those who thus disdained liberty, man's birthright and glory, were treated with public ignominy: they were brought before the judge, and in token of lasting and degrading slavery, their ear was bored with an awl at the door or its posts, and they were thus branded as bondmen for life. The provisions with respect to maidservants were, on the whole, identical with those regarding menservants. If a maidservant became the wife of her master or her master's son, she remained for ever in his house, enjoying all the privileges of a wife, her children being in the same position as those of a free Hebrew woman. But should she not receive her just rights, she was free to go out at once without waiting for the seventh year. While slavery, as is manifest from all these enactments, was practised in a merciful and humane manner among the Hebrews, it was hard and barbarous amongst other nations; therefore, a Hebrew sold to a stranger was a soul cut off from a privileged community, thrown from enlightenment to idolatry, and lowered from a life of dignity to one of disgrace. Hence kidnapping for the purpose of

selling into slavery was threatened with death; the severity of this law was calculated to prevent the tempting and lucrative slave-trade which could easily be carried on in Palestine, situated in the centre of the Eastern commerce and bounded by the Mediterranean.

No less judicious are the laws of murder. He that smites a man so that he dies, he shall surely be put to death.' Just and prompt retaliation was to fall on the murderer's head. This was the inexorable rule whenever the murder had been perpetrated intentionally and deliberately, or with 'malice prepense'; the criminal was to be taken even from the altar to die. But blood might be shed unintentionally and unawares, that is, manslaughter or homicide merely might be committed. Now, a general Eastern custom imposes upon the nearest relative of a murdered person the duty of avenging the murder, and he is therefore called 'the avenger of blood' or Goel (D). In order to prevent unjust bloodshed in cases of manslaughter, the Hebrew law provided cities of refuge to which the unfortunate homicide might escape. After the first settlement of the Israelites in Canaan, three such cities were appointed; and as their territory increased, the number was doubled-Golan, Ramoth, and Bezer in the east of the Jordan, and Kadesh, Shechem, and Hebron in the west; they were so chosen that one of them might be within easy reach, in whatever part of the land the homicide had taken place. The fugitive was received at the gates by the elders and judges, who heard his case and decided whether he was a wilful murderer or an unwilling and unfortunate man-slayer. If his crime was established, he was at once given over to the avenging Goel; if the case was doubtful, he was sent back to the town where the deed had been committed, to be there tried before the competent tribunals; but if his innocence was unmistakable, he was received into the shelter and safety of the

M