GLEANING. 
257 
" When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and thou 
hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not turn again to fetch 
it : it sliall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the 
widow : that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of 
thine hands." — Deut. xxiv. 
Whether a custom of this kind already prevailed in the ancient 
world before the days of Moses, we cannot determine, since the 
Pentateuch is the oldest authority extant. The earlier books of 
the sacred writings. Genesis and Exodus, contain nothing on the 
subject. Some of the precepts of the Mosaic code, however, are 
known to be merely a confirmation and repetition of those given 
still earlier, such as those which enjoin sacrifice and circumcision, 
&c., &c. Many others doubtless flowed first, at the period of the 
Exodus, from Almighty wisdom and mercy, like the raising of 
the tabernacle, the estabhshment of the Levitical Priesthood, &c., 
&c. The protection of the gleaner may have belonged to either 
class of precepts ; but its minuteness partakes very much of the 
character of the Hebrew law, and it is quite possible that it may 
have been first inculcated from the lips of Moses in the wilder- 
ness. Whatever be the origin of the custom, it has since spread 
far and wide ; it was a simple form of charity, natural to a primi- 
tive age, and during thirty-three hundred years at least, it has 
prevailed in the world. There is, I believe, no part of the Old 
World where it has not been more or less practiced, whether in 
Asia, Africa, or Europe; and it is possible there may be some 
portions of this continent also where it is customary, though we 
have never seen any allusion to it by travellers, either in North 
or South America. Within the limits of our own country, it is 
beheved to be entirely unknown. 
