The Jewish Commonwealth.
It will be self-evident to every one, who but glances at the Decalogue, that its
precepts are the foundation of the whole Mosaic law. If we search through all the statutes
of this code, they can be traced to one or more of the precepts of the Decalogue; and thus
it will be seen, that though but ten commandments were made known to the Israelites
without a mediator, it may yet be said that all the remaining civil, moral, and ceremonial
ordinances are contained and comprehended in them, and it may therefore be maintained,
that to a certain extent the whole law was communicated to the whole
Israelitish nation. — As an illustration of this let us consider the duties towards
God, as we find them detailed in Deuteronomy, in connection with the first precept.
If it is once solemnly impressed upon our minds that we owe our being and our
preservation to the Almighty Creator, Who liveth for everlasting, and Who reigns through
all eternity, we must be impressed with feelings of awe at His greatness, with sentiments
of admiration at His wisdom, and with gratitude for His kindness and mercy. All this will
lead us to adore and love this great Being, who shows us kindness when we act righteously;
defends us from danger and injury, when we are menaced; and forgives us our
transgressions, when we repent of our errors. Have we thus established the love of God in
our hearts, we will naturally desire to do something, by which we can manifest our love,
and to let our feelings be displayed in our actions. But as we can neither injure God by
our misconduct, nor benefit Him by any thing we can accomplish, since He is so far
elevated above us in power and beatitude: we can do nothing else in requital of His
goodness, we can show our love in no other manner, save by listening with profound
attention to His instruction, which is contained in the revelation He has given, and
regulating our lives by the records of His will.
This idea is beautifully illustrated in the tenth chapter of Deuteronomy, commencing at
the twelfth verse. There is not perhaps in the whole Bible, though full of passages
strikingly grand for their beauty and force, not another passage more calculated to awaken
religious awe in the soul of man, than the one we are speaking of. It places before our
eyes the relative position which man bears to his Maker in the strongest light. God is
exhibited as the greatest conceivable being, in possession of the immensity of space, and
of every thing animate and inanimate contained therein; man among this infinity is almost
nothing; and still he is told, that his case, his life, and his wants are objects of
importance to the Deity, from whom nothing is hidden, be it ever so insignificant.
Further, that obedience, love of God, and justice and kindness towards others, are deeds
which will propitiate the favor of the infinite One, and that this exhibition of piety is
a thing desired of man. Who will not now be willing, so to say, to oblige the Creator? Who
would withhold obedience, when man can gain to great a prize by it? But I need not comment
on a passage so very lucid in itself, and will present it therefore entire to the reader,
and let him compare it with the idea advanced, that through the whole Bible the same chain
of thoughts and precepts is continually kept in view.
Moses had been reminding the Israelites in a preceding part of the address he held to
them a short time before his death, of the many benefits they had received from God, and
how often He had pardoned their sins; and then proceeded to say:
"And now, O Israel! What does the Eternal, thy God, ask of thee, but to fear Him,
the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Him, the Lord thy
God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; to observe the commandments of the Lord,
and His statutes, which I command thee this day, that thou mayest fare well. — Behold
the heaven, and the heaven of heavens belong to the Eternal thy God, also the earth, and
all that is upon it. Only in thy ancestors did the Lord find pleasure, and He therefore
chose their descendants after them, namely you, from all the nations, as you see
this day. Lay then aside all wickedness of heart, and be no longer stubborn and
disobedient. For the Eternal, your God, is the God of gods, and the Lord of lords; the
great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who respects no face, and receives no bribe; who
rights the orphan and the widow, and loves the stranger, to give him food and clothes. And
love you the stranger, for you yourselves have been strangers in Egypt. — The
Eternal thy God thou shalt fear, Him thou shalt serve, to Him thou shalt adhere, and by
His name thou shalt swear; He is thy Glory, and He is thy God, who has done for thee
these great and wonderful things, which thy own eyes have seen."
If we mortals now only considered how much we owe to God, that He not alone gave us
existence, but also a law, to make this existence beneficial to ourselves:
should we not of our own accord, and even without the certainty of punishment for
transgression, be diligent in the study of His law, careful in the observance of His
statutes, in short dedicate our whole life to His glory? And how are we commanded to act?
To imitate God in His acts of mercy, as far as we can. Is He merciful? So shall we be too
— is He good to all mankind? So shall our love to the human race be universal, and
not confined to any particular sect — Does He show us benevolence without any
possibility of remuneration? So ought our charity to be, proceeding from feelings of love,
pity, and goodness of heart, but should never be practiced for the sake of fame or reward
— Does He teach the world how to act rightly? So shall we also be ever ready to
diffuse the knowledge of truth and of our holy law; in fine, to be loving God and
be perfect means to practice universal charity! How then can the freethinker, or even the atheist,
ridicule our law as superstitious and injurious to society, when he sees the love of the
stranger and the protection of those who need our protection, enjoined at the same time
with the observance of the ceremonial law (statutes of God)? Let me tell him, that
we think not that man good, who says his prayers at the appointed time, is a
regular attendant at the place of worship, but is unmindful of the duties towards man;
but only him we call a good and pious man, who besides being a devout
observer of the laws relating to the worship of God alone, is also a philanthropist,
and protects the orphan, is kind to the widow, comforts the distressed, is charitable as
far as lies in his power to the poor, and is liberal, and just, and forgiving to the
affluent. — I cannot stop to quote passages for every part of the foregoing
assertions, since the Mosaic law is so replete with exhortations and injunctions on these
points, that they are to be met with in almost every chapter; it is moreover my hope that
every one, who reads this defense, may be induced to read the Pentateuch through with
profound attention, and long quotations can be of but little use, not to say tiresome, to
most readers.
If we take the foregoing in connection with the five last precepts of the Decalogue, it
will be apparent, that our law is very careful in guarding the rights of every person of
the community, from the chief of the nation down to the humble stranger who has no
permanent dwelling. The rights of every individual are so well defined, that no
misunderstanding can take place. — When we yet had a government of our own, every man
was in fact upon an equality with the most exalted of the nation, and the governors were
raised to the dignity they possessed only by the choice or consent of their
fellow-citizens. The Israelites exercised the right of meeting in primary assemblies,
without permission of government, and of discussing public matters, also of petitioning
their governors for the redress of grievances, long before a republican constitution of
that kind was known amongst other nations. (See 1st Kings, chap. xii.) Every Jew was
eligible to any office he was capable of filling, with the exception of the service at the
altar, and the watches in the temple, and singing whilst the sacrifices were offered. But
even here the Israelites proper had a share, as well as the priests and the
Levites. For besides the twenty-four divisions of the two latter, there were
representatives chosen from among all Israel, who, being likewise divided in twenty-four
companies, were obliged to stand by, whilst the sacrifices were going forward. These men
were selected from the most wise and virtuous, and were called
אנשי מעמד (Anshe
mangamahd). — Although none but the male Levites were allowed to sing the psalms
in the temple, yet were the Israelites, and even females, permitted to accompany the
singers with instrumental music. So that even in the temple worship and the sacrifices,
each of the three divisions had their particular rights assigned to them, which were on no
account to be invaded or usurped by the other.
It has been intimated, that the institutions of the republic of the North
American confederacy are of modern invention; but this cannot be admitted as
altogether founded on fact, for the Mosaic code was evidently intended to form a republic
of freemen, who were all equally entitled to protection from the government.
The government of the Jews was in the strictest sense of the word a government of laws,
and not of arbitrary rule. It is true, our constitution is not the work of the
people themselves; but then it has that advantage over every other yet invented, that its
laws have never, to this very day, required the slightest amendment or repealing, as it is
well known, that the wisdom of every precept it contains has been proved by the experience
of every age. It is almost needless to compare our laws with those of the other nations of
antiquity, for none of them ever enjoyed any rational liberty; and besides it is,
if I do not err, universally admitted, that truly free governments have only been
formed among nations, who enjoyed, at least to a certain extent, the light of revelation.
And the late French revolution proves, more than any argument I can adduce, that no
nation can be free, which has not a proper respect for the Mosaic code; and the
virtuous republic of Switzerland as clearly demonstrates, that a people truly regardful of
the word of God must ever be free, for a thorough knowledge of it is the best
safeguard any nation can devise for the upholding of its liberty and the crushing of
tyranny, whenever it should dare to rear its dreadful and blighting head. — But
without religion liberty soon degenerates into frenzied licentiousness, and instead of a
government founded on reason and equal rights, despotism and the spirit of faction will
govern the land with a bloody sceptre and unrelenting oppression!
Though properly speaking it does not belong to a defence of our law to describe our
judiciary system; yet can I not refrain from inserting a few particulars in relation
thereto. — Money matters were decided by arbitrators, chosen by the parties
themselves, each appointing one, and these two selecting a third; and these three, thus
chosen, pronounced judgment; but appeal could be taken, or rather contested points of law
and equity could be carried before the high court or Sanhedrin of seventy-one in
Jerusalem. In matters of corporeal punishment, or trials for life and death, the number of
judges was twenty-three, and if there was but a majority of one vote for finding the
criminal guilty, he was forthwith to be set free, as a division of thirteen to ten
was necessary for the conviction and condemnation of the accused. If a man was once
condemned, his sentence could be revised to save him from death; but if a man was once acquitted,
though there should afterwards have been found the most positive evidence of his guilt, he
could not be tried again for the same offense.
We thus find some of the provisions of the laws of the American republic practiced
already three thousand years ago. — Every contested point of law of whatever
description, civil, criminal, or ceremonial, was finally decided upon by the Sanhedrin,
and their decision was to be strictly obeyed. (See Deut. chap. xvii. v.11.) To
establish any cause, it was necessary to produce at least two lawful witnesses, who
were obliged to testify as to the fact, that they had seen it, and forewarned the person
who committed the act, previously to his doing so, or admonished him to desist while
engaged in the supposed crime. They were interrogated separately, so that one should give
no clue to the other; in this way any discrepancy in the testimony must have been easily
detected, in which case, if the difference was a material one, the accused was acquitted.
In case the witnesses could be convicted of having offended against the ninth precept of
the Decalogue, they were to be punished with the same punishment the person by them
accused would have suffered if he had been convicted; and no pardon durst be extended to
false witnesses (Deut. chap. xix. v.21). — No man could act as judge, if he had seen
any crime committed, or in money matters, if he was capable of giving testimony for or
against either party; even the president of the Sanhedrin, emphatically called the
judge (chief justice), could not sit on the bench, but was obliged to give his
evidence before the inferior judges; so that every case must necessarily have had a fair
hearing, and every man accused of crime an impartial trial.
I have said that no rational liberty was enjoyed by any heathen people, and thinking
that some proof may be required of me for this bold and unqualified assertion, I shall
take the liberty of comparing a few points of Solon's laws, which are, I believe, the most
liberal of the ancient systems, with those of Moses, whose fate it has been to be so much
cried down and denounced. Every liberal man will agree with me, that it is dangerous to
entrust one class of men with particular privileges over any other class of the came
community, or to use the figurative language of a great philosopher and statesman now
dead, "to provide the backs of one class of the community with saddles, that they may
be ridden by the more favored class." — If Solon's laws had this tendency, then
I hope, that their superiority over our laws will no longer be asserted by any man, whose
boast it is to be the supporter of universal liberty and equality of rights.
I shall not waste much space and time in investigating the subject at any great length,
but shall content myself with picking up a few facts, as I find them related in Gillies;
Greece (vol. ii. p.93 and 94). He says, the Athenians were divided into four classes
according to the property they possessed, and that the lowest class, though they
had a right to vote in the popular assemblies, yet could never become members of the
senate or Areopagus, or hold any magistracy whatever. Now let me ask, what great use was
the power of voting to the commons, when the senators had the extraordinary
authority of deciding what business should be laid before the popular assemblies? And had
they not the right of convoking these very assemblies? Then again the senators had the
power of passing laws, which were in force for a whole twelvemonth, without even
consulting the people at all about them; they possessed the chief part of the executive
power; the senate alone could build ships, equip fleets and armies, and seize and confine
state criminals; and to crown all, they could examine and punish several offenses,
which were not prohibited by any positive law! — I am not disposed to pursue the
subject any further, not being engaged in writing a dissertation on the Athenian laws; but
let me respectfully ask all Americans, who have so justly a great horror of all ex post
facto laws and constructive treason, how they would like to have their representatives
in congress invested with power to examine and punish offenses not prohibited by any
particular law? — Away then with the cant of these men, who prefer Solon's laws to
Moses's code, solely because Solon was a Greek and Moses a Hebrew, and
claimed no merit for those excellent laws, made known through him, because he said, and
said truly, that they were not the fruit of his own invention, but the expression of the
will of God! I had thought, that the world had grown too liberal and too enlightened to
act so foolishly from ignorance; to what cause then are we to ascribe that silly praising
of the Greek and Roman legislators and the rancorous abuse of the Jewish code? Is it
malice? Hatred towards the Jews and aversion to individuals belonging to other nations,
what can be said in exculpation of those of our own people, who act the parricide by
ridiculing Moses and despising his code? It must be considered equally improper, as for a
person to be pleased with every thing abroad, and to find fault with
every thing at home, solely because it is at home. And it may be likened to the
conduct of fretful and too much indulged children, who spurn every endearment of their
own mother, but are pleased to excess with the most useless and trifling toy from the
hands of a stranger. — But is such conduct becoming men and philosophers,
who say they search for truth? Shame! Shame! Remember that you have not all the wisdom and
all the knowledge to yourselves, and you would therefore do well to draw some lessons from
that book, which confessedly contains the best code of laws, ever devised for the
government of mankind.
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