1ers. 10-14.-The captor captured. God's laws arc accommodations to human infirmities. To require from men summarily, and as the result of law, perfect conduct of life is impracticable. Hence legislation, to be successful, must be adapted to the case, and must lead by gradations to a nobler life. This law, though tolerant of lesser e1·il, is a marked amelioration of earlier custom-a step towards order and purity. I. FEMALE BEAUTY WINS THE HEARTS EVEN OF WARRIORS. There are other con- quests, and nobler, than military conquests. Beauty snatches the palm from strength. In the very hour of victory the conqueror has laid all his spoils at the feet of a gentle woman. Love rules the camp. External beauty has its uses. Real beauty is the exponent of some hidden worth. It eloquently says," There is some goodness here: search and find it out." And beauty has its perils too-it may excite sexual passion which cannot be controlled. JI. Co~JUGAL UlIION IS TO RESULT, NOT FROM SUDDEN PASSION, BUT FROM WELL-TRIED LOVE. This sudden desire to have his captive as his wife was required to be tested by time. Calm reflection is to precede a union so full of possible results. Beauty may fling her robe of colour about the haze of dawn, but the gay haze of dawn does not constitute the day. Mere bloom on summer fruit will not meet the hunger of the man. Marriage is a temple of God, and must not be built on an imaginary foundation. The charm of the fair captive's locks was to be temporarily removed, so that the lover's desire might rest, not on :fleeting accessories, but on personal worth. Ill-assorted marriages are a fertile curse. Sympathy in religion is essential to e. prosperous marriage union. Ill. THE NATURAL FEELINGS OF WOMAN, AS WOMAN, ARE TO BE SCRUPULOUSLY RESPECTED. We may not understand all the purposes this Jewish law was designed to serve; but certain it is that, though a captive, the natural feeling of filial sorrow was. to be allowed, yea, expected. To repress or root out the affectionate feeling of a daughter would be mutilation of the soul. A forgetful daughter will never be a worthy wife. Nothing in our external fortunes-not even success in war-warrnnts our playing the tyrant. It is for the benefit of the human race that woman should be treated on equal terms. Her fine endowments have a noble part to play in the culture of humanity. IV. MARRIAGE HAS ITS DUTIES AS WELL AS ITS ENJOYMENTS. By the custom of that. barbarous age, the captive, whether male or female, became the absolute property of the captor. He could reduce her to slavery. But if he chose to make her his wife, he conveyed to her rights which could not be alienated. It became henceforth his duty to protect her a.nd all her interests. She was secure against the lust of avarice, Goci threw around her the shield of his sacred Law. But the very· necessity for this com• mandment disclosed the rampant greed for gain which rules in some men, Thankful ought we to be that God removes such a possible temptation out of our way. Not by God's consent is marriage ever contracted or terminated for the sake of money gain.-D. •
Vers. 15-17.-Monogamy essential to domestic peace. Every indication of God's will is a finger-post to felicity. A wise man will not wait for peremptory law. The faintest whisper of J ebovah's will is law to him. Without doubt, that each man should be the husband of one wife was the ordination of God. l. THE FIBBTROBN SON 18 PLACED IN A POSITION OF SPECIAL PRIVILEGE AND POWER, All human government is built upon the model 9f the family. Within the com11ass of OH, XXI, 1-28.] THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 3:i3
the family the firstborn was a sovereign, had sovereign rule and rasponsihility. In families like Jacob'e, where there were many chilaren and dependents, thi.~ was a position of eminence 1md power. In every case, special duties devolve upon the first- born. He has often to act as the representative of the family, and to defend family rights. He becomes the natural arbitrator in family disputes. His influence, for go 0 d or for evil, is great. Therefore, to sustain his position and power, a double portion of the ancestral estate was his. II. THE PRIVILEGE OF THE FIRSTBORN IB INALIENABLE. For a time the firstborn srm is sole heir to his father's rank and riches; hence, for reasons exterual to him, it won!,\ be unjust to depose him. And injustice always leads to strife, disorder, and mischief. Filial reverence would be undermined. Seeds of hatred would be sown. The removal of the father's authority by death would be the sign for feud, litigation, and waste. What God has ordained let not man disturb. Our earthly possessions are entrusted to us temporarily by God, and the entailment has been determined by the Divine Pro- prietor. For the just management of our secular estates and of our family concerns, we are accountable at the great assize. Favouritism among children is a prolific evil. III. Tms PROSPECTIVE MISCHIEF ISSUES FROM A PLUnALJTY OF WIVES. God has often tolerated among men what he has not approved. He does this, in some respect, every day. If he had imposed capital punishment upon the violation of monogamy, the effect, in many cases, would have been unchastity. Law, in order to be effectual, can never transcend the highest level of moral sentiment prevalent in the age. Otherwise judges themselves would be culprits, and no one- could be found to administer the law. llut the family intrigues, quarrels, and mis"eries which spring from a plurality of wives are God:s visible brands and scourges on disobedience. What works best for society, for the human race, is (in the absence of other instruction) the revealed will of God. Wherever there is more than one wife there must be divided affection, divided interests, divided authority. 'l'be house is divided against itself.-D.