that age of the world, and make it an object for those who had been reduced to this condition in other lands, to become, if practicable, the servants of a Hebrew. So humane and careful was the Jewish law on this subject; so averse to sundering the ties which bind husband and wife and parents and children together, that the law expressly provided that, where, by the limitation of the service, the husband and father became free, he might, if he chose, remain with his family, and share their lot. Ex. xxi. 2-6. In the Hebrew commonwealth scenes could never occur such as are constantly taking place in the United States, where families are separated for ever by sales at public auction, or where, at the pleasure of the master, a husband and father may be removed to a distant part of the land, to see his wife and children no more. It is only necessary to read the description of such scenes as frequently occur in the Southern states of this Union, to be forcibly impressed with the humanity of the Mosaic law, and to see the strong contrast between servitude under that law and slavery in our own country. It is hardly necessary to remark, what a modification it would make in slavery in this land, if it should become a settled principle that a slave could never be soLD; that if he came into the hand of an American master, he was certain that he would never be set up by the sheriff at auction; that he would never be consigned to another for the payment of a debt; that he would never be exhibited and examined for private sale; and that he never could be transferred to a slavedealer and conveyed to a distant part of the land to endure the evils of a harder bondage. Then he might look upon wife and children with the feeling that nothing but death. could part them. Then he would dread the approach of no stranger, as if he had come to purchase himself, his wife, or child, to be removed for ever. Then he might solace his sad hours with something of the feeling that he had a home, and that however hard his lot, this most bitter of all evils was never to be experienced by him :-that neither he nor his family could be SOLD; that, for the sake of gain to his master he could not be torn away from an agonized wife, or his wife from him; and that a child could never be snatched from his embrace, to be manacled, and fettered, and borne to unknown woes, more dreadful to parent and child than death itself. The slave is a man, and there are few men who, rather than have a son or daughter subjected to the evils of slavery in Louisiana or Texas, would not prefer to see them laid in the silent abode where "The wicked cease from troubling, and where "The servant is FREE from his master. Job iii. 17, 19 * If such a provision existed in the laws of this land respecting slavery, a scene such as the following would never occur. The account is given by a correspondent of the "Christian Advocate and Journal" (Methodist), and is evidently drawn from life, and is such a scene as must often occur under the system of slavery in this land. There is no law to prevent its occurring as often as a master shall find it for his convenience to part with any portion of his slaves. It could never have occurred in Palestine. The occurrence took place at Wilmington, North Carolina. "There are at Washington City, at Norfolk, at Charleston, and perhaps some other places in the old states of the South, slave markets, where slave-dealers purchase upon speculation such slaves as they can obtain, for the purpose of resale at a profit in the extreme South. "As I went on board the steamboat I noticed eight coloured men, handcuffed and chained together in pairs, four women, and eight or ten children, of the apparent ages of from four to ten years, all standing together in the bow of the boat, in charge of a man standing near them. Of the men, one was sixty, one was fifty-two, three of them about thirty, two of them about twenty-five, and one about twenty years of age, as I subsequently learned from them. The two first had children, the next three had wives and children, and the other three were single, but had parents living from them. Coming near them, I perceived they were all greatly agitated; and, on inquiring, I found that they were all slaves, who had been born and raised in North Carolina, and had just been sold to a spe (6.) A sixth fundamental principle of servitude among the Hebrews was, that if an Israelite had become poor, and was under a necessity of selling himself to a stranger or sojourner who had become rich, he was, at all events, to be set at liberty culator who was now taking them to the Charleston market. Upon the shore there was a number of coloured persons, women and children, waiting the departure of the boat; and my attention was particularly attracted by two coloured females of uncommonly respectable appearance, neatly attired, who stood together, a little distance from the crowd, and upon whose countenance was depicted the keenest sorrow. As the last bell was tolling, I saw the tears gushing from their eyes, and they raised their neat cotton aprons and wiped their faces under the cutting anguish of severed affection. They were the wives of two of the men in chains. There, too, were mothers and sisters, weeping at the departure of their sons and brothers; and there, too, were fathers, taking the last look of their wives and children. My whole attention was directed to those on the shore, as they seemed to stand in solemn, submissive silence, occasionally giving utterance to the intensity of their feelings by a sigh or a stifled groan. As the boat was loosed from her moorings, they cast a distressed, lingering look towards those on board, and turned away in silence. My eye now turned to those in the boat; and although I had tried to control my feelings amidst my sympathies for those on shore, I could conceal them no longer, and I found myself literally weeping with those that weep.' I stood near them, and when one of the husbands saw his wife upon the shore wave her hand for the last time, in token of her affection, his manly efforts to restrain his feelings gave way, and fixing his watery eyes upon her, he exclaimed, "This is the most distressing thing of all! My dear wife and children, farewell!' The husband of the other wife stood weeping in silence, and with his manacled hands raised to his face, as he looked upon her for the last time. Of the poor women on board, three of them had husbands whom they left behind. One of them had three children, another had two, and the third had none. These husbands and fathers were among the throng upon the shore, witnessing the departure of their wives and children, and as they took their leave of them they were sitting together upon the floor of the boat, sobbing in silence, but giving utterance to no complaint. But the distressing scene was not yet ended. Sailing down the Cape Fear river twenty-five miles, we touched at the little village of Smithport, on the south side of the river. It was at this place that one ་ in the year of Jubilee, and might in the mean time be redeemed. That he was to be free in the year of Jubilee was a fundamental condition of the sale. Lev. XXV. 54. Equally positive was the law that he might be redeemed, and this, too, of these slaves lived, and here was his wife and five children; and while at work on Monday last his purchaser took him away from his family, carried him in chains to Wilmington, where he had since remained in jail. As we approached the wharf, a flood of tears gushed from his eyes, and anguish seemed to have pierced his heart. The boat stopped but a moment, and as she left, he bid farewell to some of his acquaintance whom he saw upon the shore, exclaiming, Boys, I wish you well; tell Molly (meaning his wife) and the children I wish them well, and hope God will bless them.' At that moment he espied his wife on the stoop of a house some rods from the shore, and with one hand which was not in the handcuffs, he pulled off his old hat, and waving it toward her, exclaimed, Farewell!' As he saw by the waving of her apron that she recognised him, he leaned back upon the railing, and with a faltering voice repeated, Farewell, for ever.' After a moment's silence, conflicting passions seemed to tear open his heart, and he exclaimed, What have I done that I should suffer this doom? Oh, my wife and children, I want to live no longer!' and then the big tear rolled down his cheek, which he wiped away with the palm of his unchained hand, looked once more at the mother of his five children, and the turning of the boat hid her face from him for ever. As I looked around I saw that mine was not the only heart that had been affected by the scene, but that the tears standing in the eyes of many of my fellow-passengers bore testimony to the influence of human sympathy; and I could, as an American citizen, standing within the limits of one of the old thirteen states, but repeat the language of Mr. Jefferson, in relation to the general subject, I tremble when I think that God is just.' After we left Smithport, I conversed freely with all these persons; and in intelligence and respectability of appearance, the three men who have thus been torn from their families would compare favourably with the respectable portion of our coloured men at the north. This is a specimen of what almost daily occurs in the business of the slave-trade; and I hesitate not to say, that there is not a Christian in the whole South who will refuse to unite with his brethren everywhere in the condemnation of, and in the most effective measures to extinguish the evils of this nefarious traffic. "Yours in the bonds of the gospel, A. C." was one of the conditions of the sale. The privilege of being redeemed was secured to him by law, and was not at the discretion of his master. The right of doing this was conceded to so many persons, that if the condition of servitude was at all severe, it would be morally certain that it would be done. "After he is sold, he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him, either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him, or, if he be able, he may redeem himself." Lev. xxv. 48, 49. Every thing about this was arranged on as mild and equal terms as possible. (a) It was presumed that in many cases the servant himself might, by occupying the leisure time allowed him by law, procure the means of purchasing his own freedom. (b) The remotest of his kindred might claim the right to redeem him, and the master could not prevent it. (c) It was required by the law that only a fair and equitable price should be demanded for his restoration to freedom. A just estimate of his value was to be made in proportion to the time which remained to the year of Jubilee, and the price was to be fixed accordingly. Lev. xxv. 56-52. This provision was an important part of the Mosaic arrangements respecting servitude. It is true that it did not extend to those who were foreign slaves, but it was of much importance that any who were held as servants might be redeemed. At all events, this feature of Hebrew servitude stands in strong contrast with all the arrangements for slavery in our land. Here, no one who becomes a slave can be redeemed except by the will of the master. There is no common understanding that when a man becomes a slave he may ever be redeemed, either by a relative, by a friend, or by his own labour. There is not in any of the slave states. of the Union a law making it obligatory on the master, under any circumstances whatever, to liberate a slave. If a slave is ever in circumstances to purchase his own freedom, or if a friend is willing to do it for him, it depends wholly on the |