By this omission things became so situated, that Joshua and the princes could not execute the judgments of God on the Gibeonites, without violating the oath which they had made.

Moses transgressed at the waters of Meribah; and doubtless he soon repented; for the Lord was with him. And it is likely that Joshua was deeply humbled, under a sense of his omission; for it appears that God continued him in his office, and spared the lives of those people, for the sake of the league and oath made in his name.

The wickedness of these people was great, and they were worthy to die, or perfect justice would not have passed sentence of death on them; and as their execution was prevented by this league and oath, they were, it appears, content to be servants: "As it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do." Instead of death, these criminals had the sentence of servitude pronounced on them, in these words: "Now therefore ye are cursed; and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God."

We find, Deut. xx. 10, that there were cities far distant from Canaan, against which Israel went to battle; unto which they were to proclaim peace, and if the inhabitants made answer of peace, and opened their gates, they were not to destroy them, but to make them tributaries. The children of Israel were then the Lord's host, and the executioners of his judgments on people hardened in wickedness. They were not to go to battle, but by his appointment. The men who were chief in his army, had their instruction from the Almighty; sometimes immediately, and sometimes by the ministry of angels. Of these, among others were Moses, Joshua, Othniel, and Gideon; see Exod. iii. 2, and xviii. 19. Josh. v. 13. Those people far off from Canaan, against whom Israel was sent to battle, were so corrupt, that the Creator of the universe saw it good to change their situation; and their subjection, though probably more mild than absolute slavery, was to last little or no longer than while Israel remained in the true spirit of government.

It was pronounced by Moses, the prophet, as a consequence of their wickedness. "The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. He shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail." Deut. xxviii. 43, 44. This we find in some measure verified in their being made tributaries to the Moabites, Midianites, Amorites and Philistines.

It is alleged in favor of the practice of keeping slaves, that the Jews by their law made slaves of the heathen. "Moreover, of the children of the strangers 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 possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever." Lev. xxv. 45. 46." It is difficult for us to have any certain knowledge of the mind of Moses, in regard to keeping slaves, any other way than by looking upon him as a true servant of God, whose mind and conduct were regulated by an inward principle of justice and equity. To admit a supposition that he in that case was drawn from perfect equity, by the alliance of outward kindred, would be to disown his authority.

Abraham had servants born in his house, and bought with his money; "And the Almighty said of Abraham, I know him, that he will order his house after him." Which implies, that he was a father, an instructor, and a good governor over his people. And Moses, considered as a man of God, must necessarily have had a prospect of some real advantage in the strangers and heathens being servants for a time to the Israelites.

As mankind had received and established many erroneous opinions and hurtful customs, their living and conversing with the Jews, while the Jews stood faithful to their principles, might be helpful to remove those errors, and reform their manners. But for men, with private views, to assume an absolute power over the persons and properties of others; and to continue it from age to age in the line of natural generation, without regard to the virtues and vices of their successors, being manifestly contrary to

true universal love, and attended with great evils, it requires the clearest evidence to convince us, that Moses intended that the strangers should, as such, be slaves to the Jews.

He directed them to buy strangers and sojourners. It appears that there were strangers in Israel who were free men; and considering with what tenderness and humanity the Jews, by their law, were obliged to use their servants, and what care was to be taken to instruct them in the true religion, it is not unlikely that some strangers, in poverty and distress, were willing to enter into boods to serve the Jews as long as they lived; and in such case the Jews, by their law, had a right to that service.

When the awl was bored through the ear of the Hebrew servant, the text saith, "He shall serve for ever;" yet we do not suppose that by the words "for ever," it was intended that none of his posterity should afterwards be free. When it is said in regard to the strangers which they bought, "They shall be your possession," it may be well understood to mean only the persons so purchased; all preceding relates to buying then; and what follows, to the continuance of their service, "Ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you; they shall be your bondmen for ever."

Moses directing Aaron and his sons to wash their hands and feet, when they went into the tabernacle of the congregation, saith, "It it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.' Exodus, xxx. 21. And to express the continuance of the law, it was his common language, "It shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations." So that had he intended the posterity of the strangers so purchased to continue in slavery to the Jews, it is likely that he would have used some terms clearly to express it. The Jews

undoubtedly had slaves, whom they kept as such from one age to another; but that this was agreeable to the genuine designof their inspired law-giver, is far from being a clear

case.

Making constructions of the law contrary to its true meaning, was common among that people. Samuel's sons took bribes, and perverted judgment-Isaiah complained

that they justified the wicked for reward-Zephaniah, contemporary with Jeremiah, on account of the injustice of the civil magistrates, declared that those judges were evening wolves; and that the priests did violence to the law.

Jeremiah acquaints us, that the priests cried peace, peace! when there was no peace; by which means the people grew bold in their wickedness; and having committed abominations, were not ashamed; but through wrong constructions of the law, they justified themselves, and boastingly said, "We are wise; and the law of the Lord is with us." These corruptions continued till the days of our Saviour, who told the Pharisees, "Thus have ye made. the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition." Mark xv. 6.

Thus it appears that in many ways they corrupted the law of Moses; nor is it unlikely that among others the oppressing of the strangers was one; this was a heavy charge against the Jews, and was very often strongly represented by the Lord's faithful prophets. That the liberty of man was, by the inspired law-giver, esteemed precious, appears in this; that such as unjustly deprived men of it, were to be punished in like manner as if they had murdered them. "And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his band, he shall surely be put to death." Exodus xxi. 16. This part of the law was so considerable, that Paul the learned Jew, giving a brief account of the uses of this law, adds this, "It was made for men-stealers. 1 Tim. i. 10.

The great men among that people were exceedingly oppressive: and it is likely, exerted their whole strength and influence to have the law construed to suit their turns. The honest servants of the Lord had heavy work with them in regard to their oppression. They were fully resolved to have slaves, even of their own brethren, notwithstanding the promises and threatenings of the Lord, by the prophet, and their solemn covenants to set them free, confirmed by the imprecation of passing between the parts of a calf cut in twain; intimating by that ceremony, that on breach of the covenant, it were just for their bodies to be so cut in pieces. Yet after all they held fast to their old

customs, and called home the servants whom they had set free-Jer. xxiv. 15. 16. 17. 18.

Soon after this their city was taken and burnt, the king's sons and the princes were slain, and the king with the chief men of his kingdom, carried captive to Babylon. Ezekiel, prophesying the return of that people to their own land, directs," Ye shall divide the land by lot, for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you; in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall he give him his inheritance, saith the Lord God." Nor is this particular direction, and the authority with which it is enforced, without a tacit implication, that their ancestors had erred in their conduct towards the stranger.

Some who keep slaves, have doubted the equity of the practice; but as they knew men, noted for their piety, who were in it, this they say, has made their minds easy. If we keep slaves from no other motive than a real sense of duty, and true charity governs us in all our proceedings towards them, we are so far safe; but if another spirit, which inclines our minds to the ways of this world, prevail upon us, and we are concerned for our own outward gain more than for their real happiness, it will avail us nothing that some good men have had the care and management of

negroes.

Since mankind spread upon the earth, many have been the revolutions attending the various families, and their custoins and ways of life greatly differ. This diversity of manners operates not in favor of any, so far as to justify them to do, violence to innocent men, or to bring them from their own to another way of life. The mind when moved by a principle of true love, may feel a warmth of gratitude to the universal Father, and a lively sympathy with those nations, where Divine Light has been less manifest; and this desire for their real good may beget a willingness to undergo hardships for their sakes, that the true knowledge of God may be spread among them: but to take people from their own land, with views of profit to ourselves, by means inconsistent with pure justice, is foreign to that principle which seeks the happiness of the whole creation. Forced subjection of innocent persons of full age, is inconsistent