And our law works a little that way yet; being the result of ecclesiastical law it naturally would.* * See Appendix N. 5 and P. 5. Next we have Num. xxxvi.: 8 And every daughter that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, _shall be wife_ unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, _that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers_. 9 Neither shall the inheritance remove from _one_ tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance. 10 _Even as the Lord commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad_. That is all the women were for--articles of conveyance for property. Save the land, no matter about the girls. Now these silly women actually believed that God told Moses whom they had to marry just because Moses said so! I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, it is not safe to take heavenly communications at second-hand. Second-hand articles are likely to be varnished over, and have to be taken at a discount. And it seems to me that, if the Lord is at all particular as to whom a girl should marry, she is the one for him to discuss the matter with. Moses didn't have to live with the _sons_ of Zelophehad, and consequently wasn't the one to talk the matter over with. But, you see, it won't do to question what Moses said God told him, because upon his veracity the whole structure is built. He had more personal interviews with the Deity than any other man--he and Solomon--and hence they are the best authority. I have here the 31st chapter of Numbers, but it is unfit to read. It tells a story of shame and crime unequalled in atrocity. It tells that God commanded Moses and Eleazar, the priest, to produce vice and perpetrate crime on an unparalleled scale. _It tells us that they obeyed the order, and that 16,000 helpless girls were dragged in the mire of infamy and divided amongst the victorious soldiers_. They were made dissolute by force, and by direct command of God!