1. It is not the relation of wife or child. In one sense a man may be said to "possess" these; but he can not buy or sell them. These are natural relations; and he who violates them for the sake of gain is branded by all as barbarous and criminal. 2. Not the relation of apprentice or minor. This is temporary, having for its primary object, not the good of the master or guardian, but that of the apprentice or minor, his education and preparation for acting his part as a free and independent member of society; but chattelism is _life_ bondage, for the _sole_ good of the master. 3. Not the relation of service by contract. Here a bond or agreement is implied, and therefore reciprocal rights, and the mutual power of dissolution on failure of either in the terms of mutual agreement; but chattelism ignores and denies the ability of the slave to _make a contract_. 4. Not serfdom or villeinage. The serf or villein was attached to the glebe or soil, and could not be severed from it, deprived of his family, or sold to another as a chattel; being retained as part of the indivisible feudal community. But the chattel slave is a "thing" incapable of family relations, and may be sold when, where, or how the master pleases. Chattelism is none of these relations; its principle is "property in man." Its definition is thus given in the law of Louisiana, (Civil Code, art. 35:) "A slave is one who is in the power of his master, to whom he belongs. The master may sell him, dispose of his person, his industry, his labor; he can do nothing, possess nothing, acquire nothing, but what must belong to his master." South Carolina says, (Prince's Digest, 446,) "Slaves shall be deemed, sold, taken, reputed, and adjudged in law, to be chattels personal in the hands of their owners and possessors, and their executors, administrators, and assigns, to all intents, purposes, and constructions whatsoever." Judge Ruffin, giving the opinion of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, (case of State _v._ Mann,) says a slave is "one doomed in _his own person_ and _his posterity_ to live without knowledge, and without the capacity to make any thing his own, and to toil that another may reap the fruits." We now come to the point at issue: Does the Bible sanction this system? OLD TESTAMENT. 1. _Hebrew Terms._ The Hebrew terms used in reference to this subject are עָבַד, _auvadh_, "to serve;" the noun, עֶבֶד, _evedh_, "servant" or "bondman," one contracting service for a term of years; שָּׂכִיר, _saukir_, a "hired servant" daily or weekly; אָמָה, _aumau_, and שִׁפְחָה, _shiphechau_, "maid-servant" or "handmaid;" but there is _no_ term in Hebrew synonymous with our word _slave_, for all the terms applied to servants are, as we shall show, equally applicable and applied to free persons.