with which they were honoured, claim the notice of every young person. These youths, it is probable, were unacquainted with the hardships and privations of slavery, to which, perhaps, many of their fellow-countrymen in the humbler ranks of life, or with less attractive abilities, might be exposed. All, however, shared the distress of being exiled from the land of their nativity, and the holy city and " beautiful house" where their fathers had worshipped God; and all were exposed to the cruel taunts and derision of their insulting foes, who most of all upbraided them for their lingering attachment to their religion. This period called forth some exquisite expressions of patriotism and piety from the captive Jews:—"By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows, in the midst thereof; for there they that carried us away captive required of us a song, and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.' How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning; if I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy," Ps. cxxxvii. 1—6. Several of the captives were raised to situations of high honour and trust under government; such as Daniel, a high officer under Nebuchadnezzar, and prime minister under Darius and Cyrus; and his three companions, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were rulers in the province of Babylon; Nehemiah, who was cup-bearer to the king Ahasuerus, or Artaxerxes Longimanus; Esther, who was selected from

among all the damsels of the Persian empire as the queen of that monarch; and Mordecai, her kinsman, who became his prime minister.

Remarkable interpositions of Providence brought about the elevation of these individuals; and their holy and consistent conduct was eminently honoured, both in bringing glory to the God of Israel, and in working deliverances for his captive people. Perhaps the young reader, whose mind has been interested in the affecting details of slavery, and the sacred triumphs of its abolition, will read with a new interest the books of Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra, as connected with the slavery and deliverance of the nation of the Jews. He will observe, how the wonder-working hand of Providence then brought real good from seeming evil, and will be encouraged to hope that even the slavery of Africa will be rendered subservient to the establishment of the gospel of truth and liberty, and that thus the wrath of man will be made to praise God, who has so wonderfully restrained the remainder of that wrath.

It would appear that the Jews who did not avail themselves of the first proclamation of Cyrus, to return to Jerusalem, were afterwards restrained from doing so, and remained in a kind of captivity under the Persian government, rather tolerated than protected, not restrained from pursuing their useful callings, by which they contributed in no trifling degree to enrich and accommodate the nation among whom they dwelt, but by no means secure of the enjoyment of the fair produce of their industry hence many Jewish families were impoverished in circumstances, and diminished in number. Such appears to have been the case with

the family of Hadassah, or Esther, and her kinsman, Mordecai. But whatever might be the circumstances of particular families or individuals, the malignant proposal of Haman to king Ahasuerus, (see Esther iii. 8—10,) leads us to infer two things: first, that no great respect was paid to the rights of justice and humanity, as due to the captive Jews, or their blood-thirsty enemy would not have dared to make such a proposal, much less would he have gained the ready, uninquiring permission of his monarch, to put to the sword a whole nation of unoffending subjects, with as little ceremony as if the permission had been to cut down a field of corn; and, secondly, that the Jews must have been numerous, important, and profitable to the government, or Haman would not have thought it necessary to offer a sum, amounting to about four millions sterling, by way of compensation for the loss of revenue, which he, no doubt, expected to raise out of the property of the massacred Jews. These suppositions are confirmed by the tenor of Esther's appeal, when pleading with the king for her own life, and that of her people, whom the decree of Haman had consigned to destruction :— "We are sold," said she, "to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage," Esther vii. 4. It is evident that the Jews, though in a state of captivity, were not, in general, bond-servants; also, that they were so useful and valuable to the state, that the compensation offered could never make up the loss which the king would have sustained by thus oppressing his peaceable and industrious servants.

After the return from the captivity, Nehemiah, Ezra, and other pious and liberal persons, to the utmost of their ability, ransomed from slavery such of their poor brethren as had been sold among the heathen; but there were, among the wealthy and noble of the Jews, others of a different spirit. In a time of general distress they took advantage of the necessities of their brethren, and cruelly oppressed them; not only compelling them to mortgage their lands, vineyards, and houses, but, in direct violation of the Divine law, selling their sons and daughters for bond-slaves, in payment for the assistance they had been compelled to solicit, in order to obtain the necessaries of life. Nehemiah forcibly expostulated against their extortion and oppression, and prevailed upon them to liberate the enslaved children, and to make a solemn engagement against usury and oppression, the rich consenting to assist the poor in time of distress, and to wait for payment in better times. In later ages there have been too many ready to follow the example of oppression and cruelty; they have been careless of the welfare, and callous to the miseries, of their fellow-creatures, and have usurped authority over them as bond-slaves, especially as their own wealth, power, and prosperity increased. But how few have followed the noble example of penitence and reformation, in yielding to the force of principle and conscience, and permitting the oppressed to go free. There does not appear to be any other distinct reference to slavery than those which have been already referred to, except that in the prophetical description of the destruction of Babylon (generally supposed to signify anti-christian Rome). Among the various articles of her

merchandize, which will have for ever ceased, we find mentioned, "slaves, and the souls of men," Rev. xviii. 13. The manner in which this is predicted, corroborates the general observation, that luxury and oppression go hand in band, and almost invariably announce the approaching ruin of a slate. It was so with ancient Rome; so it is predicted of modern Rome. Happy is it for Britain that she has at length been aroused to discern her duty and her interest, and voluntarily to free herself from the guilt of oppression, which otherwise might soon have precipitated her to ruin.

SECT. IX.—SLAVERY IN EUROPE.

This section will consist chiefly in a description of the feudal slavery,* which prevailed throughout Europe during the middle ages, and some traces of which are to be found in most countries even to the present day. The origin of this system appears to have arisen in the conquest of lands by

* It may be interesting to mention the supposed origin of the words slave and slavery, for, perhaps, no word has travelled to a sense so perfectly opposite to its original meaning. It was a national appellation, signifying glory; in this sense it is still used in the Russian language, "Slava Russia," i. e., Glory of Russia. But from the Sclavonian or Slavonian nation, who had adopted this proud sense of the term, it was transferred to the servitude of a conquered people. "Follow me," said one of the ambitious leaders of an invading army, "and I will lead you into a province where you may acquire gold, silver, slaves, cattle, and precious apparel, to the full extent of your wishes; I give you the people and their wealth as your prey, and you may transport them, at pleasure, into your own country." Such are the inducements to aggressive war!