UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

Inquiry,"c,
"
-just
-10
that slavery existed at all in the land in^hetime
of the later prophetsof tliQMaccabees,or when
the Saviour i
appeared? There are abundant
proofs, as we shall see, tnat it existed in Greece
and Rome ; but what is the evidence that it existed
in Judea 1 So far as I have been able to
ascertaințhere are no declarations that it did to
be found in the canonical books of the Old Testament,
There are no allusions
or in Josephus.
to laws and customs which imply that itwas prevalent.
There are no coins or medals which suppose
it. There are no facts which do not admit
of an
easy explanation
the supposition that
had ceased. p. 226*.
slavery
"
Two objections have been urgedto the
interpretations which have been givenof two
of the enactments before quoted.
1. It is said that the enactment, " Thou
shaltnot return to his master the servant
that has escaped," "c, relatesonlyto servants
escaping from heathen masters to the
Jewish nation.
The following remarks on this passage
are from Prof. Stowe's lectures:
These words
KEY TO UNCLE TOM S CABltf. 119
Deuteronomy23: 15, 16.
"
make a statute which,like every other statute,
is to be strictly construed. There is read and comparedwith the fugitive
nothingin the language to limit itsmeaning
slave law alreadyadverted to. Just when
; there is nothing the connection in the men are drawn up ready for the expedition,
which it stands to limit its meaning; nor
at the moment when even the
is there anything in the history of the Mosaic
heartsof brave men are apt to fail them,"
legislation to limit the application of the officers are commanded to address the
thisstatute to the case of servants escaping soldiersthus :
from foreign masters. The assumption that
it is thus limited is whollygratuitous, and.
so far as the Bible isconcerned, unsustained
by any evidence whatever. It is said that
itwould be absurd for Moses to enact such
a law while servitude existed among the
Hebrews. It would indeed be absurd, were
it the object of the Mosaic legislation to sustain
and perpetuateslavery ; but,if it were
the object
and finally to extinguish slavery,
'ofMoses to limit and to return unto his house,lest he die in the battle,
restrain,
this statute
was admirablyadaptedto his purpose.
That it was the objectof Moses to extinguish,
and not to perpetuateșlavery, is perfectly
heart faint,as well as his heart."
clear from the whole course of his
legislation
the subject.Every slave Now, considerthat the Hebrews were exclusively
was to have all the religious privileges
an agricultural people, that warlike
and instruction to which his master's children
parties necessarily consist mainly of young
were entitled. Every seventh year men, and that by this statute every man
releasedthe Hebrew slave, and every fiftieth who had built a house which he had not
year produceduniversalemancipation. If yet lived in, and every man who had planted
a master, by an accidental or an angry a vineyard from which he had not yet
blow,deprivedthe slave of a toothțhe gathered fruit,and every
man who had engaged
slave,by that act,Avas forever free. And
a wife whom he had not yet married,
if the slave and every one who felttimid and fainthearted,
so, by the statute in question,
felt himself oppressed,he could make
his escape, and, though the master was
not forbidden to retake him if he could,
every
one was forbidden to aid his master in
doing it. This statute, in fact,made the
servitude voluntary, and that was what
Moses
intended.
Moses dealt with slaveryprecisely as
he
dealtwith polygamyand with war : without
directly prohibiting, he so restricted as
to destroy it ; instead of cutting down the
he girdledit,and leftit to die
poison-tree,
of itself.There is a statute in regardto
military expeditions precisely analogous to
this celebrated fugitiveslave*law. Had
Moses designed to perpetuate a warlike
spirit among the Hebrewsțhe statute would
have been preeminently absurd ; but. if it
was his designto crush it,and to render
foreign wars almost impossible, the statute
was exactlyadaptedto his purpose. It
rendered foreignmilitary service, in effect,
entirely voluntary, just as the fugitive law
rendered domestic servitude, in effect,
voluntary.
The law may be found at lengthin Deuteronomy
20 : 5
"
; and let it be carefully
"
What man of you is there that hath built a
new house,and hath not dedicated it 1 Let him
go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle,
and another man dedicate it.
"
And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard
and hath not yeteaten of it1 Let him also
go and return to his house,lest he die in the battle,
and another man eat of it.
"
And what man is there that hath betrothed a
wife,and hath not taken her ? Let him
go and
and another man take her."
And the officers shall speak
further unto the
"
people,and theyshall say, What man is there
that is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him
go
and return unto his house, lest his brethren's
was permitted and commanded to
home,"
go how many would there probably
be left1 Especially when the officers, in-