own head." (Joel iii. 6, 7; Jer. xxii. 13; Amos vii. 7–17; Prov. xiv. 31.)

At the very moment that I re-peruse these great words, the Catholic Church is celebrating the solemnities of the times which preceded the nativity of the Lord. Like a distant echo which becomes gradually more intense, like a gleam of light arising in the south with the dawn, the marvellous liturgy carries us back through the ages to the impressions and words of the Old Testament. The expectation of the Messiah is about to be followed by his coming, the days grow shorter, realities come to crown the promises. What does humanity await? What does the Saviour bring? Listen:

"Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory; for thou art our Father and our Redeemer. .. O that thou wouldest rend the heavens, and come down. Where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and thy mercies? Display thy power, and come to save us." (Isa. lxiii., lxiv. 1st S. in Advent, Procession.)

"Look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke xxi. 28. 1st S. in Advent.)

"The Lord has sent me to preach the Gospel to the poor, to preach deliverance to the captives." (Luke iv. 18. 2d S. in Advent, Tierce.)

"Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them. bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together." (Isa. xlv. 8. Ibid., Procession.)

Say to them that have a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you." (Isa. xxxv. 4. 3d S. in Advent, Communion.)

XXXV.

'Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more, and will burst thy bonds in sunder. Behold upon the moun

tains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that pub lisheth peace." (Nahum i. 13-15. Ember Wednesday, Introit.)

"Fear no more, O Jacob, my servant; have no fear, 0 Israel; behold, I come to save thee." (Jer. iii. Ember Friday, Communion.)

'The Lord raiseth up all that be bowed down; but all the wicked will he destroy." (Ps. cxlv. Ember Saturday, Gradual.)

"Keep ye judgment, and do justice; for my salvation. is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed." (Isa. lvi. 4th S. Advent, Introit.)

"I will break thy captivity; rejoice, I am with thee, and I will save thee."

“O Lord, break our captivity.” (Isa. Ivi. Ibid., Vespers.) 'Master, what shall we do? Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages." (Luke iii. Monday after 1st S. in Advent.)

"O key of David, open to the captive the door of his prison! Sun of justice arise! arise, that iniquity may be destroyed, and that justice may reign!" (Grand Anthems, 15, 19, 20.) "I will remove iniquity from the land." (Zech. iii. Christmas Eve, Off.)

"The Lord hath said unto me: Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee." (Ps. ii.)

Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace, good-will to men." (Luke ii. Christmas Eve, Mass, Introit.)

"For the Son of God has put on human nature to reconcile it with its Creator. He who has the nature of God has annihilated himself, taking the form of a slave to render himself like unto men." (St. Leon, Sermon. Gradual. St. Paul to Philip. ii.)

It is by this marvellous portico, to the memory of these ancient predictions, to the sound of these sublime chants,

among the soothing strophes of this dialogue of the prophets and apostles, through these solemn promises of freedom and salvation, that the Old Testament prepares us for the New, that the Church conducts us to the cradle of Jesus Christ.

It is time to open the Gospel, in order to witness the triumph of peace, justice, and liberty, and to show once more that the slaves, like the shepherds, received the glad tidings announced by the angels.

CHAPTER II.

SLAVERY IN THE SIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY.*

I.

THE GOSPEL.

In general, those who dispute to Christianity the honor of having abolished slavery pass lightly over the Gospel. There is, I grant, little question in it of slavery, at least directly.

Learned commentators have essayed to demonstrate, by the aid of somewhat grave proofs, that our Lord came at a time when there were no longer slaves in Judæa; they affirm that he was never brought face to face with a single slaveowner; they observe that, always choosing examples placed before the eyes of his listeners, he said nothing of the temple of Delphos, or the groves of Dodona or Bacchus, in the same manner, he would have made no allusion to the slavery that did not pollute his sight, and would have employed the word servant only in the sense of domestic.‡

I think this proof contestable, and moreover superfluous.

* I need hardly say, that, distrusting my own knowledge, I have consulted learned theologians on all the texts quoted. I disown in advance anything that, without my knowledge, may be incorrect or audacious.

We know that the servant or the centurion is called by Luke maîs, puer, and that nothing proves that this servant was a slave.

The word servus introduces into all arguments drawn from texts a lamentable confusion, of which it is important to be forewarned. Servus signifies servant as well as slave. All the words of the Gospel and Epistles apply exactly in countries where the servants are domestics; nevertheless, they were uttered in countries and at a time when slavery was universal; it is evident that they apply no less exactly to slaves. When does servus mean slave; and when does it signify domestic?

The Greek language, more affluent, has as many different terms as the expression admits of shades; the general, indistinct term is doûdos, dovλeúw ; λατρεύω, λάτρις, to serve as a soldier or to serve God; οἰκετεύω, οἰκέτης,

The words and looks of the Saviour, issuing from the narrow categories invented by men, as well as from the petty frontiers of Judæa, took flight to the extremities of time, of space, and of the created world. There are precise texts in the Gospel concerning slavery.

What is true is, that the Divine Master, striking to the root of the evil, as a chemist (pardon me the comparison), taking no account of compounds, acts directly upon simple bodies, does not point out by name the varied results of human corruption, but goes straight to the capital sins, pride, idleness, theft, and homicide, and in condemning them condemns in the same breath the homicidal yoke which pride and idleness impose on a being robbed of his chief blessing, which is liberty. Do not say, therefore, that the Gospel comprises few texts against slavery, for it comprises

domestic; μισθόω, μίσθιος, person receiving a salary; ὑπακούω, ὑπήκοος, follower, attaché; — åvồρáñodov, slave properly called. In all of the cases where doûλos is employed, to which of its synonymes does it correspond?

The Hebrew makes no distinction, it always employs the general expressions ebedh, abodha, abudda, servant, service, to serve, which come from abadh, to labor, and sometimes only sakir, person receiving wages. The two words

are found in the same verse, Job vii. 2, 3.

The only conclusion to be drawn from these linguistic difficulties is, that it is not sufficient that the words ebedh, doûλos, servus, servant, knecht, serviteur, are employed in the different translations of the Scriptures to conclude thencefrom that slaves are in question. The facts must control the meaning. It has been calculated (Barnes, p. 64, etc.) that the word doulos or servus is encountered 122 times throughout the New Testament, of which number it signifies

Is it possible to affirm that in these last examples veritable slaves were once in question? No; the Greek language does not a single time contain the word andrapodon, although the correlative word andrapodistes, dealer in men, plagiarius, is read in St. Paul (1 Tim. i. 10). We do not cling to the words, therefore, but only to the sense and the circumstances in which these words are employed. In the French translation of the New Testament the word slave is often used instead of the word servant, employed both in the Protestant and Catholic English versions. — TR.

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