Moses appointed six cities of refuge, three “on this side of Jordan” and three “in the land of Canaan,” in order that the slayer might flee thither which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing to one of these cities, he might live.[1] Deuteronomy refers to the case of “the slayer which shall flee thither that he may live”; distinguishing the man who lies in wait, from the man who “killeth his neighbour innocently, whom he hated not in times past.”[2] In the book of Joshua it is provided that “When he that doth flee to one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly and hated him not beforetime.”[3] Over a thousand years before Christ we find Adonijah claiming the privilege of sanctuary to protect him from the wrath of Solomon, for it is recorded in the first book of Kings:[4] “And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon, for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying: Let king Solomon swear unto me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword. And Solomon said: If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth; but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die.” This case of Adonijah taking refuge in the temple, at the altar, as a protection against the supposed wrath of Solomon, is nothing more nor less than a claim of sanctuary, for even the hand of Solomon was stayed at the threshold of such a consecrated place and the sinner taking refuge at the altar was supposed to be surrounded by the protecting mantle of the Great Jehovah. This is only one of many thousand similar concrete cases that could be mentioned, no doubt, if the unwritten history of the unnoticed millions of patriarchial days could be known, for the right of sanctuary obtained generally in those ancient days. The ever-flowing flood of time has swept away all records of the ordinary mortals, however, and only the great peer out through the darkness of the past.