crimC': to nlch hiR good name is a serious one; but the worst robbery of all is to steal hi~ JlC'r~on. CiviliRed, refined, polished, intellectulll men, hRppy in the enjoyment of freedom. wea_lth, honour, domeHtic he.ppine~R, hRve gone to sleep in comfort, peRce, nnc! fllncu,d security, to Wilke up in the grip of lRwless miin-ste11.lers, who have bound them and carried them into e. hopeless Cll.ptivity, far from iiny relative or friend, to becomo ~miliar with every sort of ill-usage and indignity. Cilician e.nd other pirates did this rn the olden time ; N orm1m sea-kings in the middle ages; Algerine corsairs so late Ill! the last century. The blood boils when we think of the sufferings inflicted on thou• l!!l.nds of our species by these fionds in human shape, without pity, without conscience, ·9.ithout remorse. Death WIIS certainly a punishment not one whit too severe for this atrocious crime, by which the happiest of the human race might become suddenly one of the mo~t wretched. In modern times, the conscience of mankind, enlightened by eighteen centuries of Chmtianity, bas revolted against the enormity long committed with impunity on the negro races of Western Africa, e.nd the slave-trade has been proclaimed a form of piracy. Yet the accursed traffic still continues in the centre and in the east of the "Dark Continent;" still quiet villagers are awakened in the dead of night by the news that the kidnapper is upon them; harmless, peaceable men, together with their wives and children, are carried off in hundreds by Arab and sometimes by ~lied Christian traders, driven to the coast in gangs, shipped in crowded dhows, and sold to the best bidder in the marts of Arabia and Persia. It is a subject well worthy the consideration of Christian governments, whether a revival of the Mosaic enactment is not required, to stop a trade the profits of which are so enormous, that nothing short of death is likely to deter avaricious men from engagi~ in it. Vers. 23-25.-7Yie nde of retalialwn. "To suffer that a man has done is strictest, i;traightcst right," wa.s a line which passed into a proverb in ancient Greece. The admi- nistration of justice is rendered very simple and easy by the adoption of the principle, which approves itself to simple minds, and might work well in a simple state of society. The law of "life for life" (ver. 23) remains, and must always remain, the basis on which societ.y justifies the execution of the murderer. If "eye for eye, hand for hand, foot for foot" (vcr. 24), were enforced, the criminal could not complain; but the State would suffer by the mutilation and consequent debilitation of its members. In the administration of "burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe" (ver. 25), there would be difficulties, it being almost impossible for the public executioner to inflict a burn, wound, or blow exactly similar to the burn, wound, or blow given by the criw.i.na.l. These difficulties lead naturally to the suhstitution of " compensation" for " retaliation," which we find sanctioned in vers. 19, 22, 30, and 32. If the damage caw.ed by a wound, bum, blow, or even by the loss of a slave or wife, can be estimated, and the injurer be made to pay that amount to the injured party, then the original loss is in a certain sense retaliated, and the wrongdoer " suffers what he has done." In the ru:lministration of justice the rule of retalia.tion has thus still a place. Retaliation is made unlawful by Christianity (Matt. v. 38-42), not in the administration of justice, but in the private dealings of man with man. We must not ourselves give blow for Liaw, "wound for wound, burning for burning;" no, nor gibe for gibe, slight for slight, insult for insult. Firstly, because we are not fair judges in our own case, and should be almost sure to o~restimate our own injury; and, secondly, because we should provoke a continuance of strife. We should not even be eager to prosecute those who have injured 'JS, if there be a chance that by patience and forbearance we may bring them to a better mind. We should be content to "suffer wrong," if by so doing we may win souls I( Christ. The Christian law is, " Love your enemies ; bless them that curse you ; do goud to them that hate you; and pray for them which despitefully use you and perse- cute you ; " and the ground of the law is, that by so doing we may "overcome evil with good" (Rom. xii. 21).
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 1.-The "judgments." The "rights" or "judgments" contained in this and the two following chapters show the manner in which the spirit and principles of the preu:dii,g moral legislation were intended to he applied to the regulation of the out- 1.11. xxr. 1-12.) THE BOOK OF EXODUS.