of Moses upon the curse of Noah, in relation to the people of Ham, is here incontrovertibly made out, on which account, they were not bold enough, though abolitionists, to contradict that decision of heaven.
How is it that Adam Clarke, who was the most learned man in Christendom, and a man who has criticised, wisely and profoundly, on almost every verse of the Holy Scriptures, and particularly on those involving the most difficult subjects, should have thus passed silently over this remarkable trait in the book of the law? Had he considered that portion of the holy text above his comprehension, or beyond the reach of human understanding, and as containing matter too obscure for the lights of science and criticism to penetrate, he would have said as much; but this he has not done.
Other commentators, however, have not thus withheld their opinions on these passages, although the doctrine contained in them is exceedingly repulsive to the minds of many. Among such as have ventured an opinion is Dr. John Gill, a Baptist commentator on the Holy Scriptures, of great learning, who wrote before the times of abolitionism. This divine has boldly asserted, as every unprejudiced reader would do, that the Hebrews, in those three famous verses of the law, were allowed to have real bond men, or slaves. The following are his words on the 46th verse of the 25th chapter of Leviticus, which reads: "And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you." Such servants "they might leave at their death to be inherited, as they did their estates and lands; for such servants are
