Numb. xxxv. 24 — 28. TJie congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood, according to these judg- ments : and the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of
the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled ; and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high-priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled ; and the revenger of blood find him without the bor- ders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood ; because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high-priest : but after the death of the high-priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession.
THE impartial administration of justice is one of the richest blessings that result from civilization and good government. It counteracts the evil which might otherwise arise from inequality of rank and fortune, and, without levelling the distinctions which are necessary for the well-being of society, prevents the abuse of them. It keeps every member of the community in his proper place and station : it pro- tects the rich from the rapacity of the envious, and the poor from the oppression of the proud : and, while it imposes on all a salutary restraint, it gives to all personal security and mutual confidence. Sup- posing therefore that the inspired volume had made no provision for the administration of justice, it would have been expedient to establish such an order of things as should maintain the rights of men inviolate, or inflict condign punishment on the aggressors. But God has graciously admitted this subject into the code which he has given us : he has put honour upon those who are appointed to preside in judgment : he has declared them to be his own representatives and vicegerents upon earth : he has required the utmost deference to be paid them, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake ; and has on some occasions ratified their decisions by extraordinary dispensations of his providence a. The protecting of the innocent, and the punishing of the guilty, were objects of especial care in the government which he himself established upon earth. This appears, as from a variety of other ordinances, so particularly from the
a In the destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.