Chapters from the Biblical Law. slower than Eldon himself; while his suc cessor, Leach (1818-27), disposed of his cases with such speed that a witty counsel, com paring Leach's court with that of the chan cellor, characterized the former as terminer sans oycr and the latter as oyer sans terminer, and suggested that Leach employ his spare
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time hy setting his decided cases back on the calendar and hearing the other side. Both Plumer and Leach were deficient in technical knowledge. Plumer was celebrated for his long opinions, while Leach's opinions had at least the merit of brevity.
THE
BIBLICAL
LAW.
THE CASE OF JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER. BY DAVID WERNER AMRAM. THE story of the sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter illustrates the relation of parent and child in the old patriarchal days. It also gives us a glimpse into the ideas of the ancients in relation to crime and its pun ishment, and of the extent of the patriarchal authority. The story is recorded in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Judges, verses twentynine to forty. For the study of ancient law and custom, the Book of Judges and the Book of Genesis are the most important in the entire Bible. More especially in the former are found traditions hoary with age, reflecting conditions of law and society re motely anterior to the legislation found in the Pentateuch, and to the condition of soci ety described in the Books of The Kings. Much of the Pentateuchal legislation, pre supposes a well-organized society, differing materially from that which is thus described in the Book of Judges: "In these clays there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes." The fate of Jephthah's daughter was deter mined by his success in his campaign against the Ammonites. After he entered the ene my's country, "Jephthah vowed a vow unto Tehovah and said: If thou wilt deliver the sons of Ammon into my hands, then shall it be that whatsoever cometh forth out of the
doors of my house towards me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, shall surely be Jehovah's; and I will offer it up for a burnt offering." It was no uncommon thing among the ancients, the ancient Hebrews included, for men to seek to obtain the favor of the Deity by making vows, the performance of which depended upon the success of some contem plated undertaking. These vows were in the nature of contracts, the contracting parties being the Deity and the maker of the vow, whereby the latter agreed that in case suc cess attended his enterprise, he would per form certain services or offer certain sacri fices or subject himself to certain penance pleasing to the Deity. These vows were made with solemn formality and were looked upon as absolutely binding and irrevocable, and, if the wish of the person making the vow was granted and his enterprise success ful, the fear of offending the Deity by break ing the vow was the only sanction required to insure its fulfillment. Thus, Jacob on his way to Laban's house on the morning after he had his dream of the angels ascending and descending the ladder reaching to heaven, was filled with fear and he sanctified the place in which he had been sleeping bysetting up a pillar there and consecrating it with oil. Conscious of the proximity of
