7. In some points the spirit of the Mosaic code was so greatly in advance of the Egyptian as to stand related to it, not in the way of imitation or even modification, but of direct opposition. It held squarely the opposite doctrine and put forth statutes of an opposite character. Thus, the Egyptian code legalized slavery, and had its special law for the reclamation of fugitives. Among the recent discoveries in Egyptian antiquities “A warrant for the arrest of fugitive slaves” has been brought to light. From the tone of this warrant and from other evidence, collateral, it is inferred that slave-holders were obliged by law to register them in a list kept by government and disputes with regard to ownership must be brought before the judges. The rights of the master in his slave were not absolute. It was not by virtue of orders direct from the owner that search was instituted and arrest made, but by the authority of a high functionary of government, to whom the case is reported and who issues his mandate. Thus the government itself put forth its hand to recover a slave who had escaped from any citizen.――――It was therefore specially pertinent that the law of Jehovah to Israel should plant itself on ground precisely the reverse of this:――_no reclamation of fugitives whatsoever_. Thou shalt _not_ do what Egyptian slave-holders were authorized by the highest authority of the kingdom to do――force back the escaped fugitive to his unendurable bondage. In the line of their religious institutions Israel stood related to Egypt in numerous particulars, borrowing some things for the adornment of its tabernacle from Egyptian art; and on the other hand, guarding by stringent prohibitions against many Egyptian usages associated with idolatry. These points will be in place after we have considered the religious institutions of Moses. II. The second proposed historic question, viz. How far have the best civil codes of all history and how far has the world at large been indebted to this Hebrew code?――opens a field of inquiry quite too wide to be fully canvassed within our prescribed limits. A few hints may be useful perhaps to guide the further inquiries of the reader. The following points are put comprehensively and suggestively: 1. Moses sought to impress it upon his people that this system far surpassed that of any other nation. “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me.... Keep, therefore, and do them, for this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of all the nations who shall hear of all these statutes and shall say, Surely this nation is a wise and understanding people, for what great nation hath their God so nigh to them as the Lord our God is to us in all that we call upon him for? And what great nation hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day”? (Deut. 4: 5–8.)