N 
 
 
 
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 AN INQUIRY 
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, 
 
 n istorical fittcl of 
 
 THOMAS R. R. COBB, 
 
 OF GEORGIA. 
 
 "Nemo ex Anglorum. gente, modo sanus et ingenue sincerus, qui persuasus, antequam 
 informatus fuerat, in Teritate (<iu:>m ipse oculis intueatur SMIS) abnuet, ne ab errore dis- 
 suaderetur, quo obcacatus git abductus; misere enim cum illo agitur et misericordia di^t- 
 nus, qui fuit persuasus priusquam informatus, et nunc intbrmari abnuit, quia persuader! 
 nolit." LORD COKE. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 T. & J. W. JOHNSON & CO. 
 
 535 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 
 SAVANNAH: 
 W. THORNE WILLIAMS. 
 
 1858.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, 
 
 BY THOMAS R. R. COBB, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Georgia.
 
 HON. JOSEPH HENRY LUMPKIN, LL.D., 
 
 PRESIDINO JUDGE OP THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, 
 
 WHO IN HIS LIFE HAS ILLUSTRATED 
 THE PROFOUND LAWYER, THE ELOQUENT ADVOCATE, 
 
 THE IRREPROACHABLE JUDGE, 
 
 AND THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER, 
 
 WITH SENTIMENTS OF PROFOUND ADMIRATION FOR HIS VIRTUES, 
 
 GRATITUDE FOR HIS KINDNESS, 
 AND SINCERE AFFECTION FOR HIS FRIENDSHIP, 
 
 1 ktote i\ii Mark. 
 
 869-132
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 I ENTER upon an untrodden field. Stroud's 
 "Sketch of the Law of Slavery" is and was in- 
 tended only as an Abolition pamphlet; Wheeler's 
 " Law of Slavery" professes to be only a compend 
 of abridged decisions on prominent questions. An 
 elementary treatise, purporting to define the Law 
 of Slavery as it exists in the United States, has not 
 been brought to my notice. 
 
 As a pioneer I doubt not I have, like others, fre- 
 quently deviated from the true course. Keflection 
 has induced me to change many positions which I 
 had committed to paper. Subsequent reflection, and 
 the exposition of other minds, may induce me to 
 change some now committed to the public. 
 
 This work has been prepared at leisure hours, in 
 the midst of a laborious practice. These have 
 varied in length from a few moments to a few days. 
 The natural result disconnection and incoherency 
 may be detected by experienced eyes. 
 
 Eesiding in an interior village, I have felt the 
 want of access to extended libraries. I have taken 
 advantage of occasional sojourns in the cities of
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Washington, Philadelphia, and New York, to exa- 
 mine references previously noted, and such books as 
 related to my subject. I have added also a number 
 of works to my own library, which I could not other- 
 wise examine. Never having visited the extensive 
 University Library at Cambridge, I took the liberty 
 to apply to the lamented Greenleaf, before his death, 
 to examine and copy for me from several authors 
 that I could not find elsewhere. With a courtesy 
 and kindness, equalled only by his ability and accu- 
 racy as a lawyer and a scholar, he cheerfully com- 
 plied with my request. The MSS. sent me are in 
 his own handwriting, and I prize them as relics of 
 a great and good man. 
 
 From the causes before stated, I have been forced 
 to rely on the accuracy of others for some of the 
 references made. In almost every case I have no- 
 ticed, at the time, the person on whose authority I 
 cite. 
 
 My book has no political, no sectional purpose. 
 I doubt not I am biassed by my birth and educa- 
 tion in a slaveholding State. As far as possible, I 
 have diligently sought for Truth, and have written 
 nothing which I did not recognize as bearing her 
 image. So believing, I neither court nor fear criti- 
 cism ; remembering that "veritas seapius agitato, 
 mag is splendescit hicem" 
 
 ATHENS, GEORGIA, August, 1858.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Slavery as ancient as authentic history Slavery in Patri- 
 archal times, xxxv 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Slavery among the Jews Two different classes Status of 
 the Hebrew servant Of the Heathen slave Negro 
 slaves Value of slaves Public and private slaves 
 Manumission Slavery in the time of our Saviour 
 Jewish disregard of the law of release, . . . xxxviii 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Slavery in Egypt Evidence of its early existence Negro 
 slaves Sources of Egyptian slavery Prejudice of color 
 Eunuchs Rigorous treatment Transition to castes 
 System of castes Present condition of laboring classes 
 Negro and other slaves in Egypt at the present day, . xliv 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Slavery in India Castes Sources of slavery Unlimited 
 power of the master Manumission Mohammedan
 
 xii CONTENTS. 
 
 PACE 
 
 slavery Rules regulating it Emancipation Effect of 
 British rule as to slavery Negro slaves Slave-trade 
 with Africa on Eastern coast Treatment of slaves 
 Eunuchs Abolition of slavery Its effects, ... 1 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Slavery in the East In Assyria Among the Medes and 
 Persians Unlimited power of master Revolts Customs 
 In other countries In China Early existence in 
 China Sources of slavery Hereditary slavery rTreat- 
 ment of slaves Enfranchisement Effect of Grecian and 
 Roman conquest Of Mussulman rule Negro slaves 
 Slave-trade Japanese slavery Classes distinguished by 
 hair-pins, liv 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Slavery in Greece Apparent paradox Early existence 
 Frequent reference in its literature Ante-Hellenic peiiod 
 Transferred to their gods Mercury God of the slave 
 Sources of slavery Enslavement of debtors Relief 
 law of Solon Enslavement of the Heathen Slave-steal- 
 ing expeditions The swineherd Eumseus Piracy 
 Hereditary slavery Effect of concubinage Metics 
 In expiation of crime Agrestic and domestic slaves 
 Origin of each The Helots Their treatment The 
 Penestae of Thessaly The Klarotse of Crete Public and 
 domestic slaves Slave-markets Negro slaves Value of 
 slaves " White" slaves not favorites Eunuchs Num- 
 ber of slaves Profitableness Fugitives Branding 
 Treaties as to fugitives Insurance against escapes Con- 
 dition of slaves Familiarity with master Fidelity 
 Feasts and holidays Affection of masters Protection of 
 the law Places of refuge Homicide Marriage relation 
 Appearance in court, as a suitor, as a witness 
 Peculium Sale Labor of slaves Laws more rigid than 
 customs Punishment of slaves Manumission Effect 
 thereof, lix
 
 HISTOEICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. Xlll 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Slavery in Rome Very partial in early days The elements 
 of slavery Paternal power Exposure of children 
 Sale for debt Difference between these and ordinary 
 slaves Children of debtor Its final abrogation Sale 
 for crime Conquest Slave-dealers Piracy Taxation 
 Voluntary slavery Source of revenue Slave-marts 
 Customs incident to the sales Terms of sale Frauds of 
 slave-traders Characteristics of different nations Slave- 
 dealing considered degrading Negro slaves Their early 
 introduction Originally all personal slaves Public and 
 private slaves The difference in their condition Treat- 
 ment of convict-slaves Rustic and city slaves Distinc- 
 tions from occupations Number of slaves Large num- 
 ber of domestics Their names The dotalis, or confi- 
 dential slave Preference for negroes The literary slaves 
 
 Gladiators Insurrections Prices of slaves Legal 
 status Disabilities Master's power and rights Consti- 
 tution of Antonine Cruel treatment General treatment 
 
 Discussions of moralists Union with master in feasts, 
 &c. Peculium Their riches Places of refuge Fugi- 
 tives Feasts and holidays Intimate relation between 
 master and slave Instances of cruelty Punishments of 
 slaves Protection of master's life yanumission Con- 
 ditionj)f freedinen; Duty to patron Libertini, Llberti, 
 
 manumission as to citizenship 
 
 Dedititii Instances of freedmen acquiringHTstinction 
 Extinction of slavery in Rome Its causes Effect of 
 Christianity Discussion of slavery 'by Roman moralists 
 Later opinions, ...... . kxiv 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Slavery in Europe in middle ages Universal prevalence 
 Difficulty of distinguishing between freemen and slaves 
 Causes and sources of slavery Not the result of Roman 
 conquest Extended sometimes to entire districts Aer 
 efficit servilem statum Wales infected Names of slaves
 
 XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 MOB 
 
 in different states Slavery in Germany Mild in its 
 character originally Familiar intercourse Custom of 
 burning slaves on funeral pyre More rigorous subse- 
 quently Fugitives Extent of master's power Distinc- 
 tion in dress and ornaments Gaming a source of slavery 
 Punishments of slaves Different from those of free- 
 men Not allowed as witnesses Marriage relation 
 Excluded from offices Punishment of fugitives, and 
 those aiding them Delivery of fugitives Manumission 
 Effect thereof Amelioration of condition of German 
 slaves Causes assigned Effect of Crusades Of Chris- 
 tianity Teachings of fathers Practice of the Church 
 Condition of German peasantry at the present day 
 Slavery in Gaul Extent of feudal system Of frequent 
 conquests Condition of slaves Opinion of Gibbon 
 Of Michelet Condition of Rustic serf Treatment by 
 masters Sales Mainmorte Origin of Slaves of re- 
 ligious houses Disposition of the children of slaves 
 Right of prelibation Torture Insurrections The Ba- 
 jaudan conspiracy The Jacquerie Names of slaves 
 Slave-trade Enfranchisement of serfs Continuation of 
 feudal system Slavery in Sicily Italy and Venice In 
 Poland In Russia Condition of Russian slaves Eman- 
 cipation Effects Slavery in Turkey Present condition 
 of the serfs of Europe Compared with slavery Opinion 
 of Michaelis, xcix 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Slavery in Great Britain But little known of the social 
 system of ancient Britons Slavery after Roman invasion 
 Effect of Saxon conquest Sources of slavery Con- 
 dition of slave Power of master over life Sale Ex- 
 cluded from the Courts as suitor or witness Branding 
 and yoking Brazen collars Holidays allowed them 
 Working on Sabbath Harboring fugitives Prices of 
 slaves Slave-trade at Bristol Peculium Punishments 
 of slaves Manumission Effect of manumission Ame- 
 lioration of slavery, and transition to villanage Base
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. XV 
 
 PAGE 
 
 villanage only modified slavery Condition of villain 
 Transition to privileged villanage Relics of this at pre- 
 sent day Statutes to compel laborers to work Slavery 
 in Scotland Colliers and salters Slavery in Ireland 
 Their voluntary relinquishment of it Present condition 
 of laboring classes in Britain The problem of misery, . cxxii 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Negro slavery and slave-trade Early existence of negro 
 slavery Its cruelties in their native land Commence- 
 ment of slave-trade in A. D. 1399 Certainly in A. D. 
 1442 Early horrors of the traffic Success of early ex- 
 peditions Missionary pretext Impetus to trade from 
 discovery of America Religious zeal the avowed object 
 of each Instructions to Columbus Enslavement of In- 
 dians Their sufferings and extinction Recommendation 
 of Las Casas Negroes introduced in America in A. B. 
 1501 First patent granted to individuals by Charles V 
 Decrease in Indian population of Hispaniola Demand 
 for negroes Their superiority as slaves Cardinal Xi- 
 menes and the trade Early revolt of negroes English 
 participation in the trade Introduction of negroes into 
 England Sir John Hawkins Partnership with Queen 
 Elizabeth Cruelty toward negroes Chartered compa- 
 nies Royal African Company The King a partner 
 Its history Negroes declared " merchandise" Partici- 
 pation of France Assientoes The Spanish King and 
 British Queen partners Contents of the Treaty Pro- 
 visions for transportation Sanitary regulations War of 
 A. D. 1739 Acts of Parliament regulating and encou- 
 raging the trade Negro slaves in England The Portu- 
 guese and Dutch participation in the trade-" Bounties 
 Introduction of negro slaves in Virginia (A. D. 1620) 
 Introduction of cotton-plant (A. D. 1621) Participation 
 of New England Rules regulating the trade Massa- 
 chusetts laws Slavery in Connecticut In Rhode Island 
 In New Amsterdam In New Netherlands Bounty 
 offered in New Jersey Slavery in Pennsylvania In
 
 XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 Delaware In North Carolina In South Carolina 
 Georgia Settled as a free colony History of introduc- 
 tion of slavery Character of negroes introduced into 
 America Impression as to the effect of baptism Re- 
 moval of this idea Estimated number imported Pro- 
 test of the Colonies Conduct of Britain Action of 
 Congress of 1776 Constitutional restriction to A. D. 1808 
 Action of Georgia in 1798 Number of negroes ex- 
 ported from Africa Effect of the trade on Africa 
 Character of tribes exported " The horrors of the 
 middle passage" Sanitary provisions of British Parlia- 
 ment Predominance of males among the 
 
 Profits C.pndition_pf negroes imported Their nature 
 rebellious Cruel treatment in West Indies Wars of 
 the Maroons Treatment by the American colonists 
 Comparison with~the West India planters Results in the 
 increase of the slave population in the Colonies Intro- 
 duction of negroes in Spain, England, and France 
 Number in England in 1775 Trade on eastern coast of 
 Africa Its origin and present state, .... cxxxiv 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The abolition of the slave-trade Protests of literary men 
 against the trade Of the Quakers Of the American 
 Colonies Opposition of Britain Action of United 
 States The struggle in Great Britain Final abolition 
 in A. D. 1807 Suggestion as to real cause Action ef 
 French government Of Spain Quintuple treaty of 1841 
 Treaty with Netherlands and Brazil Declared piracy 
 by United States and Britain Illicit trade Its character 
 and effects Its markets, ...... clxii 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Abolition of slavery in some of the United States Origi- 
 nated in America War of Revolution fought on a prin- 
 ciple The Declaration of Independence The result of 
 the struggle for political liberty Feeling of leading men
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. XV11 
 
 PAGE 
 
 In Virginia Ordinance of 1787 Small number of 
 slaves in North and East Abolition in Vermont Mas- 
 sachusetts New Hampshire Rhode Island Connecti- 
 cut Pennsylvania New York New Jersey Difficulty 
 of emancipation in the South Result of agitation, . clxix 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Abolition in Hayti Free negroes The cry of the French 
 Revolution, "Liberty and Equality" Three parties in 
 Hayti Dissensions among them Prejudice against mu- 
 lattoes Decree of 8th March, 1790 Prejudice of color 
 Insurrection of 24th Aug. 1791 Decree of 15th May, 
 1791 War between whites and mulattoes Treaty 
 Cruel treatment of the armed slaves Fickle policy of 
 National Assembly Results Renewed civil war De- 
 cree of 4th April, 1792 Commissioners Offer to deliver 
 the island to the English Renewal of hostilities Volun- 
 tary exile of the whites War between France and Spain 
 Slaves enrolled in Spanish army Liberty proclaimed 
 to all slaves who would join the army of the Republic 
 Six towns delivered to the English Effect of yellow 
 fever Decree of 4th Feb. 1794, abolishing slavery 
 Agricultural regulations Toussaint His history Ri- 
 gaud Their dissension Prejudice of mulattoes against 
 the blacks Commencement of war between blacks and 
 mulattoes Triumph of the blacks Confirmation of 
 Toussaint by Consuls Central Assembly The Constitu- 
 tion Provisions to enforce labor Idleness punished with 
 death Peace of Amiens Efforts of Napoleon to re- 
 conquer Hayti Mission of Le Clerc Firmness of Tous- 
 saint Strategy of Le Clerc Death of Toussaint Civil 
 war Death of Le Clerc Rochambeau His fatal policy 
 Success of Dessalines Declaration of independence 
 Massacre of the whites Dessalines declared emperor 
 His assassination Civil war between the mulattoes and 
 blacks Petion and Christophe Their variant courses, 
 and the results President Boyer Revolt of Spanish 
 colony Conquest by Boyer Independence of Hayti ac- 
 knowledged The terms, clxxiv
 
 XV111 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Abolition of slavery by Great Britain Early efforts of 
 Clarkson and others Compromise measures Liberation 
 of " Crown slaves" Insurrection among the slaves 
 Gradual Emancipation Act of 1833 Apprentice system 
 Compensation to masters Failure of apprentice system 
 Causes alleged Complete abolition Difference be- 
 tween slavery in West Indies and in United States Abo- 
 lition by Sweden and Denmark Their ameliorating 
 system Abolition in French West Indies The history 
 of the struggle Report of Due de Broglie The law of 
 18th July, 1843 Its provisions The law of 19th July, 
 1845 Their failure Alleged causes Subsequent agi- 
 tation Summary and unjust action of the Republic of 
 1848 Final abolition in French West Indies, . clxxxviii 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The effects of abolition Tendency of the negro to return 
 to barbarism Sad effects in St. Domingo The reasons 
 assigned by emancipationists The anticipated results 
 from a peaceable and gradual emancipation Effects in 
 British colonies Investigations by Committees of Parlia- 
 ment Importation of Coolies and negro apprentices 
 Sad results to the negro, physically, intellectually, and 
 morally The end not yet seen Guiana Southern 
 Africa and Mauritius Effects of emancipation in other 
 European colonies, ....... cxcvi 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Effects of abolition in United States Substantially the same 
 to the negro as in other countries Effect on the State 
 'different Reasons therefor The physical, intellectual, 
 and moral condition of the freed negroes Their civil and 
 political status Comparison with slaves of the South, as 
 to crime, mortality, and disease, cci
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. XIX 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Slavery in South America Colored races in Brazil No 
 prejudice of color there Character of slaves and free 
 negroes Colored races in New Granada Emancipation 
 Acts Effects disastrous Slaves of Chili and Peru 
 Numbers small, and well treated In La Plata Manu- 
 mission during the Revolution, 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Slavery in the United States First Abolition Society in 
 1787 Fanaticism Contests in the National Assembly 
 The present state of the question The peaceable and 
 quiet conduct of the slaves in the United States No 
 Maroons, and but one insurrection Manumissions fre- 
 quent Checks on domestic manumission Prohibitions 
 of non-slaveholding States to the ingress of free negroes 
 Liberia the only asylum of the free negro Mild treat- 
 ment of slaves Their rapid increase Their longevity 
 Their intellectual improvement Their moral develop- 
 ment Slavery a missionary agent Slavery viewed as a 
 political institution Its benefits and evils as such 
 Viewed as a social relation Its benefits and evils as such 
 The future destiny of the slaves of America, 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 African colonization Sierra Leone an admitted failure 
 Inauguration of the scheme in America Cordial co-ope- 
 ration of the philanthropists of the entire Union Liberia 
 the child of philanthropy and religion Its history prior 
 to its independence The material aid from the British 
 and French Governments From America Its present 
 condition Census of 1845 Statistics extracted from it 
 and the reports of the American Colonization Society 
 The physical, intellectual, and moral condition of the 
 Liberians The success of the scheme problematical 
 Doubts expressed, ccxxii
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 What is slavery ; and its foundation in the natural law, . 3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Negro slavery viewed in the light of Divine Revelation, . 53 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Of the origin and sources of slavery in America, . . 65 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Of the slave as a person The rights of personal security, . 82 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Same subject continued, 97 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 \_ 
 Personal liberty, and herein of fugitive slaves, . . . 105 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Slaves escaping or carried into other States Personal statutes 
 
 as applied to slaves, 116 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Same subject continued, and examined in the light of the 
 
 opinions of foreign jurists, 138
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Same subject continued, and decisions of foreign judicial 
 
 tribunals examined, ....... 148 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Same subject continued How far the question is affected 
 
 by our form of government and Constitution, . . 182 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Same subject continued Decisions of our own Courts ex- 
 amined, ......... 201 
 
 CHAPTER XII> 
 
 Same subject continued Fugitive slaves, and of the right 
 
 of the master to remove the slave, . . . .221 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Of the privilege of a slave to be a witness, . . 226 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Of the right of private property as applied to slaves, . 235 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Of contracts by slaves, and herein of marriage, . . 240 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Of suits for freedom, 247 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Of other disabilities of slaves, 260 
 
 B
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Of offences committed by slaves, 263 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Of manumission, and herein of direct manumission by deed, 278 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Of manumission by will or executory contract, . . . 296 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 Of indirect manumission, . . ...... . . 306 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 \ Of the effect of manumission, and herein of the status of 
 
 free persons of color, . . . . . "". . 312
 
 TABLE OF CASES. 
 
 Abraham v. The Commonwealth, 110. 
 Adams v. Adams, 78, 302. 
 
 v. Barrett, 72. 
 Adele v. Beauregard, 67. 
 Aickens, Hitchcock v., 191. 
 Akins's heirs, Esther and others v., 72, 
 
 76. 
 
 v. Peggy et al., 72, 76. 
 Alexander v. Stokely, 256. 
 Alston v. Coleraan et al., 238, 301. 
 Allen v. Jim Sharp, 252, 281, 294, 301. 
 
 v. Peden, 281. 
 
 v. The State, 271. 
 
 Wallingsfordv.,279. 
 Alterbery, Maria v., 290. 
 Amedy, United States v., 189. 
 America, negro, Collins v. , 216, 217, 219. 
 American Bible Society, Taylor v., 297. 
 Colonization Society, Wade 
 
 etal. v., 251, 291, 303. 
 Amos, McMichen v., 252. 
 Amy v. Smith, 247. 
 Anderson v. Garrett, 117, 295, 299. 
 Antelope, Case of the, 5. 
 Anthony v. The State, 269. 
 Archer, Dunlap v., 288, 304. 
 Armstrong v. Carsons, 191. 
 Arthur v. Wells, 92, 93, 276. 
 Ashburn, Brooks v., 93, 276. 
 Ashton, Mahonyv.,67, 112, 163, 174,219, 
 
 254. 
 
 Avart, Maria v., 251. 
 Aves, Commonwealth v., 209. 
 
 Bank of Augusta v. Earle, 127. 
 Barbour, Shelton v., 256. 
 
 Barnett, Wilson v., 295, 300, 301. 
 
 Barrett, Adams v., 72. 
 
 Barringtons v. Logan's Admrs., 68, 72, 
 
 78. 
 
 Bartlett v. Knight, 191. 
 Batty et al. v. Horton, 219. 
 Baugh, Gregory v., 66, 254. 
 Bazzi v. Rose, &c., 287. 
 Beal, Nedetal. v.,68, 72,76. 
 Beall, Drane v., 291,292. 
 v. Joseph, 242, 304. 
 Beaty v. Judy, 253. 
 
 Sally v., 241, 304. 
 Beasley v. Beasley, 124. 
 Beauregard, Adele v., 67. 
 Becton, Woolen v., 291. 
 Bell v. Graham, 107. 
 Bemis, Stanley v., 119. 
 Ben, State v., 231, 270. 
 Benham, Union Bank of Tennessee v., 
 
 248, 281, 294. 
 
 Berard v. Berard, 247, 253. 
 Berkeley, Harrison v., 276. 
 Berry v. The State, 230, 232. 
 Birdwhistle v. Vardill, 125. 
 Bissell v. Briggs, 191. 
 Black v. Meaux, 73, 74, 297. 
 Blackman v. Gordon, 291. 
 Blackmore, Aberilla, Penna. v., 214. 
 
 v. Phill, 80, 294. 
 Blair v. Worley, 91. 
 Blakely, Cooper v., 291. 
 Bland and mother v. Dowling, 240, 304. 
 Woolfork v. Beverly Dowling, 
 
 247. 
 Blocker and wife, Trotter, Admr., v., 238.
 
 XXIV 
 
 TABLE OF CASES. 
 
 Blunt, Washington v., 302. 
 
 Boarman, Butler v., 66, 68. 
 
 Bodine's Will, 250. 
 
 Bogard v. Jones, 111. 
 
 Boggers, Phoebe v., 297. 
 
 Bollar et al., Henry et al. v., 256. 
 
 Boon v. Joliet, 78. 
 
 Booth, Commonwealth v., 68, 90, 108. 
 
 Boozer, State v., 108, 109. 
 
 Boston, Rawlings v., 72. 
 
 Bowen, State v., 98. 
 
 Bowman, Chastain v., 261. 
 
 Boyce v. Nancy, 299. 
 
 State v., 108. 
 
 Boycott, Keane v., 242, 304. 
 Boylston, R. B. Ex parte, 92, 94, 106, 
 
 273. 
 
 Bradford, Henry v., 73, 76. 
 Brandon v. The Huntsville Bank, 235, 
 
 237. 
 
 Briggs, Bissell v., 191. 
 Bromby, Carroll v., 302. 
 Brooks v. Ashburn, 93, 276. 
 Broughton v. Telfer, 292. 
 4 Brown, Jesse, Ex parte, 269. 
 
 Fable v., 83, 87, 88, 89, 235, 237, 
 
 238, 242. 
 
 Jenkins v., 235, 240, 241. 
 v. Lester, 231. 
 Potter and another v., 126. 
 Shanklinv.,241. 
 v. Shields, 257. 
 State v., 108. 
 
 v. Williams, 177, 246, 304. 
 Bruce v. Bruce, 119. 
 
 Willis, v., 304. 
 Bryan v. Dennis, 289. 
 
 v. Wadsworth, 295. 
 Bryant, Fanny v., 78. 
 Bullock, Nancy Jackson v., 211. 
 Burcham, Stringer v., 290, 295. 
 Burgwin, Caroline v., 254." 
 
 Sampson v., 290, 295. 
 Burke v. Joe, 67, 295. 
 Burruss, Nicholas v., 297. 
 Bush's Repres.v. White and wife, 216. 
 Butler v. Boarman, 66, 68. 
 v. Craig, 66. 
 v. Hopper, 204. 
 Porter v., 219. 
 
 Butler et al. v. Delaplaine, 214, 298. 
 Butts v. Penny, 157, 159. 
 Byers, Trongott v., 67, 110, 246. 
 
 Cabarrus et al., Louis v., 218, 219, 221. 
 Caesar, State v., 95, 275. 
 dwell, Cline v., 292. 
 
 v. Langford, 106, 108, 109. 
 Calvert v. Steamboat Trinoleon, 253. 
 Cameron v. Com. of Raleigh, 291. 
 
 ampbell v. Street, 78. 
 Carmille v. Admr. of Carmille, 241, 
 242. 
 
 aroline v. Burgwin, 254. 
 
 arpenter v. Coleman, 251. 
 Carrell et al., Wynn et al. v., 74, 77,283. 
 
 arroll v. Bromby, 302. 
 
 arsons, Armstrong v., 191. 
 Carter, Sawney v., 289. 
 Cartwright, Minney v., 279, 288, 294. 
 Carver, Commonwealth v., 91. 
 Castillion, Cuffy v., 298, 304. 
 Caston, Hilton v., 90. 
 Cateche et al. v. The Circuit Court, 247. 
 Catin v. d'Orgenoy's heirs, 72, 76. 
 Cato v. Howard, 304. 
 Cato's Exrs., McGren v., 86. 
 Cecil, State v., 67. 
 Chamberlain v. Harvey, 158. 
 Chambers, White v., 106. 
 Chancellor v. Milton, 256. 
 Chapman, Fenwick v.,251, 252, 298, 300. 
 Chappie's, Dolly, case, 91. 
 Charity, State v., 271, 272. 
 Charles v. French, 72, 77. 
 Charlotte v. Chouteau, 298. 
 Chastain v. Bowman, 261. 
 Cheatwood, State v., 92, 96. 
 Chisolm, Thornton v., 291. 
 Chloe, Remickv.,67, 293. 
 Chouteau, Charlotte v., 298. 
 La Grange v., 217. 
 Marguerite, v., 66, 68. 
 v. Pierre, 258. 
 Chretien, Seville v., 66. 
 Christy, Petry v., 287, 289. 
 Circuit Court, Cateche et al. v., 247. 
 City Council, Kelly v.,277. 
 Clara v. Meagher, 289. 
 Clarissa, Harris v., 72, 76, 77, 253.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 XXV 
 
 Clark, in the matter of, 222. 
 
 Clarke, Pepoon v., 255. 
 
 Cleveland et al. v. Waters, 291, 298, 302. 
 
 Clements, Commonwealth v., 304. 
 
 Cline v. Caldwell, 292. 
 
 Cochrane, Forbes v., 129, 161, 178. 
 
 Cohens v. Virginia, 222. 
 
 Colchester v. Lyme, 278. 
 
 Coleman, Carpenter v., 251. 
 
 v. Dick and Pat, 253. 
 et al., Alston v., 238, 301. 
 Colin et al., Patty v., 299. 
 Collins v. America, a woman of color, 216, 
 
 217, 219. 
 
 Collomb v. Taylor, 111. 
 Commissioners of Raleigh, Cameron v., 
 
 291. 
 
 Commonwealth, Abrahams v., 110. 
 . Aves, 209. 
 . Booth, 86, 90, 108. 
 
 Carver, 91. 
 . Clements, 304. 
 Cook, 214, 304. 
 Foster, 108. 
 . Gilbert, 109. 
 .Griffith, 110, 223. 
 Holloway, 79, 214. 
 Parker v., 109. 
 of Penn., Prigg v., Ill, 
 198, 202, 222, 223, 
 224. 
 
 v. Robinson, 304. 
 v. Smyth, 214. 
 v. Taylor, 811. 
 v. Turner, 86, 87. 
 Cook, Commonwealth v., 214, 304. 
 
 Kinney v., 67. 
 Cooke v. Cooke, 297, 304. 
 Cooley, Leech v., 238, 302. 
 Cooper v. Blakely, 291. 
 Copeland v. Parker, 93, 276. 
 Coquillon, Dorothee v., 247. 
 
 Lunsford v.,117, 218. 
 Cordell, Manning v., 268. 
 Cornish v. Willson, 298, 299, 300. 
 Corse's Admr., George v., 301. 
 Covey, Sylvia and Phillis v., 251. 
 Cox v. Williams, 291. 
 Cragg, Hamilton v., 78. 
 Craig, Butler v., 66. 
 
 Crank, State v., 92. 
 Crawford v. Moses, 76. 
 Vance v., 291. 
 
 Crenshaw, Matilda v., 247, 248, 255. 
 Cuffy v. Castillion, 298, 304. 
 Cully v. Jones, 290. 
 Cunningham v. Cunningham, 284, 292. 
 Curry, Davis v., 65, 67. 
 
 Dabbs, Fisher's negroes v., 250, 290. 
 Dalby, Pirate, alias Belt v., 66. 
 Dalrymple v. Dalrymple, 125. 
 Daniel and others, Williamson and others 
 
 v., 68. 
 
 Dave v. The State, 94, 95, 271, 276. 
 David v. Porter, 219. 
 
 Snead v.,294. 
 
 Talbot v., 290. 
 Davis v. Curry, 65, 67. 
 
 Macon v., 268. 
 
 v. Tingle et al., 216, 217, 281. 
 
 John, et al. v. Wood, 254, 256. 
 Deacon, Wright v., 222. 
 Dedham's Admr., Free Lucy and Frank 
 
 v., 246, 247. 
 
 Dejarnet's Admr., Fanny v., 289. 
 Delaplaine, Butler et al. v., 214, 298. 
 Demors, Richard v., 248. 
 Demoss, Thornton v., 290. 
 Deniger, Moses v., 67. 
 Dennis, Bryan v., 289. 
 
 Spencer v., 289, 302. 
 Dick and Pat, Coleman v., 253. 
 Dillahunt, Wm., State v., 67. 
 Doe v. Vardill, 125. 
 Donaldson v. Jude, 74, 289, 290. 
 D'Orgenoy's heirs, Catin v., 72, 76. 
 Dorothee v. Coquillon, 247. 
 Dougherty v. Dougherty, 292. 
 Doughty v. Owen, 270. 
 Dowling, Bland and mother v., 240, 304. 
 Beverly, Bland and Woolfork 
 
 v., 247. 
 
 Drane v. Beall, 291, 292. 
 Dumoody, Smith v., 292. 
 Duncan, Gordon v., 255. 
 Ralph v., 217. 
 Vincent v., 255. 
 Dunlap v. Archer, 288, 304. 
 Duryee, Mills v., 188, 192.
 
 XXVI 
 
 TABLE OF CASES. 
 
 Dusseau, Victoire v., 242, 304. 
 D willing, Miller v., 72, 78. 
 
 Earle, Bank of Augusta v., 127. 
 Earnest & Parker, Witsell v., 93, 276. 
 Edmund, State v., 491. 
 Elbers and Kraffts v. The U. S. Insurance 
 
 Co., 119. 
 Elder, John, McVaughters, Admr. of 
 
 McLain v., 68. 
 Elijah v. The State, 270. 
 Elliott's John, Exrs., Peter and others v., 
 
 296. 
 
 Emeline, Jameson v. 68, 76. 
 Emerson v. Rowland, 240. 
 Emmons, State v., 289. 
 Erskine v. Henry and wife, 78. 
 Esther and others v. Akins's heirs, 72, 
 
 76. 
 Evans v. Kennedy, 248. 
 
 Fable v. Brown, 83, 87, 88, 89, 235, 237, 
 
 238, 242. 
 Fanny v. Bryant, 78. 
 
 v. Dejarnet's Admr., 289. 
 
 Griffith v., 218. 
 
 Hart v., 78. 
 
 Farmer, Neal v., 4, 83, 87, 89, 91. 
 Farra, P., Ulsire et al. v., 66. 
 Fen wick v. Chapman, 251, 252, 298, 300. 
 Ferguson et al. v. Sarah, 279, 282. 
 Field v. Walker, 254. 
 Fields v. The State, 86, 90. 
 Finley v. Hunter, 290. 
 Fisher, United States v., 91. 
 Fisher's negroes v. Dabbs, 250, 290. 
 Fit/hugh, Kitty v., 72. 
 Fleet, Kettletas v., 288, 304. 
 Fleming, State v., 86. 
 Flowers, Glasgow v., 68. 
 Forbes v. Cochrane, 129, 161, 178. 
 Fore, Sam v., 293. 
 Forward v. Thamer, 289. 
 Foster, Commonwealth v., 108. 
 Fox v. Lambson, 105, 287. 
 Frank v. Shannon's Esrs., 78. 
 Free Jack v. Woodruff, 254. 
 Free Lucy and Frank v. Dedham's 
 
 Admr., 246, 247. 
 Frees, State v., 237. 
 
 French, Charles v., 72, 77. 
 Fulcher, Hunter v., 218, 219. 
 Fullerton, Lewis v., 218, 219, 293. 
 Fulton v. Shaw, 73, 283. 
 
 Garnett v. Sam and Phillis, 254. 
 Garrett, Anderson v., 117. 295, 299. 
 Gatliffe's Admr. et al. v. Rose et al., 66, 
 
 67, 242, 257, 304. 
 Geer v. Huntington, 287. 
 Gentin, Phillis v., 256. 
 Gentry v. McMinnis, 66, 67, 78, 254,257. 
 George v. Corse's Admr., 301. 
 
 Hartsell v., 72, 290. 
 Gibbons v. Morse, 67. 
 Gilbert, Commonwealth v., 109. 
 
 Rucker v., 297. 
 Gillaspie, Spoils v., 78, 79. 
 Girod v. Lewis, 243. 
 Gist v. Toohey, 235, 241, 242. 
 Givens, Manus v., 303. 
 
 and another v. Mann, 280, 289. 
 Glasgow v. Flowers, 68. 
 Glenn v. Hodges, 222, 246. 
 Gober v. Gober, 67. 
 Gordon, Blackman v., 291. 
 
 v. Duncan, 255. 
 Goslee, O'Bryan v.,77. 
 Gould, Smith v., 158. 
 Grace, case of the slave, 88, 128, 173, 
 
 180. 
 
 Grady v. The Stale, 274. 
 Graham, Bell v., 107. 
 
 v. Slrader, 205, 216, 219, 220, 
 
 225. 
 
 Graham's Exrs. v. Sam, 74, 297, 299. 
 Granlham's, Sir Thomas, case, 162. 
 Green v. Lane, 294. 
 
 v. Sarmiento, 188, 191, 193. 
 Greenlow v. Rawlings, 290. 
 Gregg v. Thompson, 238, 240, 242. 
 Gregory v. Baugh, 66, 254. 
 Griffith, Commonweallh v., 110, 223. 
 
 v. Fanny, 218. 
 Grigg, Spaulding v., 284. 
 Guillemelle v. Harper, 257. 
 Guvierv. O' Daniel, 119. 
 
 Hage, Mary, State v., 273. 
 Hagen, Admr., Laura Jane v., 289.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 XXV11 
 
 Hall v. Mullen, 237, 240. 
 
 State v., 84, 90. 
 
 Halloway, Commonwealth v., 79, 214. 
 Hamilton v. Cragg, 78. 
 Hampden v. McConnell, 192. 
 Hancock, Smith v., 92. 
 Hannah, Thrift v. 288, 289. 
 Hargrave et al., Peter et al. v., 255, 256. 
 Harper, Guillemette v., 257. 
 Harriet v. Ridgely, 251, 253. 
 Harris v. Clarissa, 72, 76, 77, 253. 
 
 James, State v., 67. 
 Harrison v. Berkeley, 276. 
 Hart v. Fanny, 78. 
 
 State v., 261. 
 
 Hartsell v. George, 72, 290. 
 Harvey, Chamberlain v., 158. 
 
 Kinlockv.,94. 
 
 Haviland, Stoutenborough v., 67. 
 Hensley et al., Walls v., 254. 
 Henderson v. Jason, 295. 
 Henry v. Bradford, 73, 76. 
 
 v. Nunn, 74, 252, 283, 296. 
 
 and wife, Erskine v., 78. 
 
 et al. v. Bollar et al., 256. 
 Hepburn, Mima Queen and child v., 254, 
 
 258. 
 
 Herbert, Miller v., 289. 
 Hewlett, Parks v., 281,294. 
 Higbee, Jarrett v., 109, 110. 
 Hill v. Low, 222. 
 Marr v., 231. 
 State v., 105, 295. 
 Hilton v. Caston, 90. 
 Hitchcock v. Aicken, 191. 
 Hobson v. Perry, 242. 
 Hodges, Glen v., 222, 246. 
 Holmes, Middleton v., 86. 
 Holt, Macon and W. R. R. Co. v., 67. 
 Hooe, Mahomer v., 293, 296. 
 Hook v. Nancy Pagee, 66, 254. 
 Hopper, Butler v., 204. 
 Horton, Batty et al. v., 219. 
 Howard, Cato v., 304. 
 Rowland, Emerson v., 240. 
 Hudgens v. Spencer, 77. 
 Hudgins v. Wright, 65, 66, 68, 252, 253, 
 
 254, 257. 
 Hunter, Finley v., 290. 
 
 v. Fulcher, 218, 219. 
 
 Hunter, McCIintock v., 231. 
 
 v. Shaffer, 105. 
 
 Hunter's Lessee, Martin v., 197, 222. 
 Huntington, Geer v., 287. 
 Huntsville Bank, Brandon v., 235, 237. 
 
 Inhabitants of Thames Ditton, The King 
 
 v., 133, 169, 175. 
 Isaac et al. v. McGill, 251, 302. 
 
 v. West, 77, 288, 294. 
 Isabel, Pegram v., 254, 256. 
 
 Jack v. Martin, 222, 223. 
 
 Jackson ex dem. &c. v. Lervey, 83, 235, 
 
 238, 240, 243, 245. 
 James v. Jones, 256. 
 
 v. Le Roy et al., 110. 
 Jameson v. Emeline, 68, 76. 
 Jarrett v. Higbee, 109, 110. 
 Jarrott, State v., 95, 273, 275. 
 Jason, Henderson v., 295. 
 Jenkins v. Brown, 235, 240, 241. 
 Joe, Burke v., 67, 295. 
 John v. Moreman, 302. 
 v. The State, 95. 
 etal. v. Tateetal.,291. 
 et al. v. Walker, 252. 
 Johnson, Linam v., 105. 
 
 v. Tompkins, 110, 111, 204, 
 
 222, 253. 
 Johnson's Admrs. v. Johnson's heirs, 73, 
 
 77. 
 
 Joliet, Boon v., 78. 
 Jones, Bogard v., 111. 
 Cully v., 290. 
 James v., 256. 
 State v.,5, 86. 
 v. Vanzandt, 204, 205, 222. 
 Winn, Admr. &c., v., 230. 
 Ben v. Wootten, 72. 
 Jordan v. Smith, 230. 
 Joseph, Beallv., 242, 304. 
 Josephine v. Pouhney, 218. 
 Judges, reports of, 91. 
 Judy, Beaty v., 253. 
 
 Donaldson v., 74, 289, 290. 
 Mechum v., 231. 
 Julia v. McKinney, 217. 
 Julienv.Langlish, 288.
 
 xxvm 
 
 TABLE OF CASES. 
 
 Keane v. Boycott, 242, 304. 
 
 Kegler v. Miles, 67. 
 
 Kelly v. The City Council, 277. 
 
 Kelly & Little v. The State, 86, 94, 98. 
 
 Kelso's Admr., Ben Mercer et al. v., 250. 
 
 Kennedy, Evans v., 248. 
 
 Kerr, State v., 111. 
 
 Kettletasv. Fleet, 288, 304. 
 
 King, The, v. Inhabitants of Thames 
 
 Ditton, 133, 169, 175. 
 Robinson v., 292, 298. 
 Kingston, Town of, Town of Marbletown 
 
 v.,68. 
 
 Kinlock v. Harvey, 94. 
 Kinney v. Cook, 67. 
 Kitty v. Fitzhugh, 72. 
 Knight, Bartlett v., 191. 
 Knox, Tumey v., 231. 
 
 La Grange v. Chouteau, 217. 
 
 Laird, Stuart v., 222. 
 
 La Jeune Eugenie, United States v., 154, 
 
 202. 
 
 Lambson, Fox v., 105, 287. 
 Lane, Green v., 294. 
 Wells v., 295. 
 
 Langford, Caldwell v., 106, 108, 109. 
 Langlish, Julien v., 288. 
 Lanham v. Meacham, 298, 301. 
 Laura, Jane, v. Hagen, Admr., 289. 
 Lee v. Lee, 252. 
 Leech v. Cooley, 238, 302. 
 Lenoir v. Sylvester, 235. 
 Leroy et al., James v., 110. 
 
 Lervey, Jackson, ex dem. &c. v., 83 
 235, 238, 240, 243, 245. 
 
 Lester, Brown v., 231. 
 
 Lewis v. Fullerton, 218, 219, 293. 
 Girod v., 243. 
 v. Simonton, 74,287,289, 290. 
 
 Linam v. Johnson, 105. 
 
 Logan's Admrs., Barrington v., 68, 72 
 78. 
 
 Louis v. Cabarrus et al., 218, 219, 221. 
 
 Low, Hill v., 222. 
 
 Lowe, Wright v., 292. 
 
 Lunsford v. Coquillon, 117, 218. 
 
 Lydia, Rankin v., 216, 252. 
 
 Lyme, Colchester.v., 278. 
 
 Macon v. Davis, 268. 
 
 v. The State, 261. 
 
 Macon and W. R. R. Co. v. Holt, 67. 
 Madrazzo v. Willes, 179. 
 Jahomer v. Hooe, 293, 2%. 
 Mahony v. Ashton, 67, 112, 163, 174, 219. 
 
 254. 
 
 Maner, State v., 90,96. 
 Mann, Givens and another v., 280, 289. 
 
 State v., 83, 90. 
 Vlanning v. Cordell, 268. 
 Manus v. Givens, 303. 
 Vlarbletown, Town of, v. Town of 
 
 Kingston, 68. 
 Marguerite v. Chouteau, 66, 68. 
 Maria v. Alterbery, 290. 
 v. Avart, 251. 
 Sibley v., 291. 
 
 et al. v. Surbaugh, 72, 73, 74, 76. 
 Marrv. Hill, 231. 
 Marshall, McCutchen v., 68, 72, 74, 75, 
 
 77, 279. 
 Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, 197, 222. 
 
 Jack v., 222, 223. 
 Mary v. Morris, 253. 
 
 v. The Vestry, &c.,65. 
 Matilda v. Crenshaw, 247, 248, 255. 
 Maverick v. Stokes, 289. 
 Mayho v. Sears, 72, 75, 77, 283. 
 McClintockv. Hunter, 231. 
 McConnell, Hampden v., 192. 
 McCoy, Pinckard v., 291. 
 McCutchen v. Marshall, 68,72, 74, 75, 77, 
 
 279. 
 
 McDonald, State v., 296. 
 McGill, Isaac v., 251, 302. 
 McGren v. Cato's Exrs., 86. 
 McKinney, Julia v., 217. 
 McMichen v. Amos, 252. 
 McMinnis, Gentry v., 66, 67, 68, 254, 
 
 257. 
 McVaughters, Admr. of McLain,v. John 
 
 Elder, 68. 
 
 Meacham, Lanham v., 298, 301. 
 Meagher, Clarav., 289. 
 Meaux, Black v., 73, 74, 297. 
 Meechum v. Judy, 231. 
 Melugen, Robert v., 218, 289. 
 Meloin, Wilson v., 218. 
 Mercer, Ben et al., v. Kelso's Admr., 
 
 250. 
 
 Mickel, Nan, in the matter of, 287, 289, 
 297.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 XXIX 
 
 Middleton v. Holmes, 86. 
 Miles, Kegler v., 67. 
 Miller v. Dwilling, 72, 78. 
 
 v. Herbert, 289. 
 
 v. Reigne, 295. 
 Mills v. Duryee, 188, 192. 
 Milleyv. Smith, 217. 
 Milton, Chancellor v., 256. 
 Mima Queen and child v. Hepburn, 254 
 
 258. 
 
 Mingo et al., Paul's Admr. v., 256. 
 Minney v. Cartwright, 279, 288, 294. 
 Monica v. Mitchell, 298. 
 Moreman, John v., 302. 
 Morse, Gibbons v., 67. 
 Moses, Crawford v., 76. 
 
 v. Deniger, 291. 
 Muller, State v., 67. 
 Mullin, Hall v., 237, 240. 
 Mulling v. Wall, 296. 
 Munro v. Munro, 120. 
 Myrick, Pierce v., 92, 271. 
 
 Nancy, Boyce v., 299. 
 
 v. Snell, 293, 297, 298, 299, 300, 
 301. 
 
 v. Wright, 302. 
 
 Jackson v. Bullock, 211. 
 Nat v. Ruddle, 217. 
 Neal v. Farmer, 4, 83, 87, 89, 91. 
 Neale, Queen v., 255. 
 Ned et al. v. Beal, 68, 72, 76. 
 Newlin, Thompson v., 291. 
 Nicholas v. Burruss, 297. 
 Noelv. Robinson, 160. 
 Nunn, Henry v., 74, 252, 283, 296. 
 
 Oatfield v. Waring, 280. 
 O' Bryan v. Goslee, 77. 
 O'Daniel, Guvier v., 119. 
 O'Neal, Tate v., 107, 108. 
 Opinion of Daniel Dulany, 238, 243. 
 Owen, Doughty v., 270. 
 
 Pagee, Nancy, Hook v., 66, 254. 
 Parker v. The Commonwealth, 109. 
 
 Copeland v., 93, 276. 
 Parks v. Hewlett, 281,294. 
 Parish, Reuben v., 289,293. 
 Patty v. Colin et al., 299. 
 
 Paul's Admr. v. Mingo et al., 256. 
 
 Peden, Allen v., 281. 
 
 Peggy, Redford v., 303. 
 
 et al., Akin's heirs v., 72, 76. 
 
 Pegram v. Isabel, 254, 256. 
 
 Pemberton & Smith, State v., 264. 
 
 Penna v. Aberilla Blackmore, 214. 
 
 Penny, Butts v., 157, 159. 
 
 Pepoon v. Clarke, 255. 
 
 Perry, Hobson v., 242. 
 
 Peter and others v. John Elliott's Exrs., 
 
 296. 
 
 State v., 269. 
 et al. v. Hargrave et al., 255, 256. 
 
 Peters v. Van Lear, 247, 248, 251, 253, 
 299. 
 
 Petry v. Christy, 287, 289. 
 
 Phebe, Vaughn v., 253, 254, 256. 
 
 Phill, Blackmore v., 80, 294. 
 
 Phillis v. Gentin, 256. 
 
 Phoebe v. Boggers, 297. 
 
 Pierce v. Myrick, 92, 271. 
 
 Pierre, Chouteau v., 258. 
 
 Pile, Thomas v., 254. 
 
 Pinckard v. McCoy, 291. 
 
 Pirate, alias Belt, v. Dalby, 66. 
 
 Pitney, State v., 289. 
 
 Piver, State v., 90, 95. 
 
 Pleasants v. Pleasants, 74, 76, 248, 252, 
 256. 
 
 Polydore v. Prince, 248. 
 
 Porter v. Butler, 219. 
 David v.,219. 
 
 Posey, State v., 263, 265, 269. 
 
 Potter and another v. Brown, 126. 
 
 Poultney, Josephine v., 218. 
 
 Prall's Admr., State v., 287, 304. 
 
 Preston, Worthington v., 222. 
 
 Prigg v. The Commonwealth of Penn- 
 sylvania, 111, 198, 202, 222, 223, 
 224. 
 
 Prince, Polydore v., 248. 
 
 Queen v. Neale, 255. 
 
 Mima and child v. Hepburn, 254, 
 258. 
 
 Rachel v. Walker, 218. 
 ilaines, State v., 90, 96. 
 Ralph v. Duncan, 217.
 
 XXX 
 
 TABLE OF CASES. 
 
 Rankin v. Lydia, 216, 252. 
 Rawlings v. Boston, 72. 
 
 Greenlowv., 290. 
 Redford v. Peggy, 303. 
 Reed, State v., 86. 
 Reigne, Miller v., 295. 
 Remick v. Chloe, 67, 293. 
 Reports of Judges, 91. 
 Respublica v. Lambert Smith, 214. 
 Reuben v. Parish, 289, 293. 
 Rice v. Spear, 300. 
 Richard v. Demors, 248. 
 Richardson, Stiles v., 304. 
 Ridgely, Harriet v., 251, 253. 
 Roberson v. Roberson, 301. 
 Robert v. Melugen,218, 289. 
 Roberts v. Smiley, 257. 
 Robinson, Commonwealth v., 304. 
 
 v. King, 292, 298. 
 
 Noel v., 160. 
 Rose, &c., Bazzi v., 287. 
 
 \ et al., Gatliffe's Admr. et al. v., 
 
 66, 67, 242, 257, 304. 
 Ross et al. v. Vertner et al., 238. 
 Rucker v. Gilbert, 297. 
 Ruddle, Nat v., 217. 
 Rusk v. Sowerwine, 230. 
 
 Sally v. Beatty, 241,304. 
 Sam v. Fore, 293. 
 
 Graham's Exrs. v., 74, 297, 299. 
 
 and Phillis, Garnett v., 254. 
 Sampson v. Burgwin, 290, 295. 
 Samuel, a slave, The State v., 230, 231, 
 
 243, 245. 
 Sanford, Dred Scott, v., 120, 121, 205, 
 
 206, 207, 209. 
 
 Sarah, Ferguson et al. v., 279, 282. 
 Sarmiento, Green v., 188, 191, 193. 
 Saul v. His creditors, 126, 127. 
 Sawney v. Carter, 289. 
 _Scott, Dred, Sanford v.,120, 121, 205, 206, 
 207, 209. 
 
 v. Waugh, 68, 77. 
 
 v. Williams, 67, 256. 
 Sears, Mayho v., 72 ; 75, 77, 283. 
 Seville v. Chretien, 66. 
 Shaffer, Hunter v., 105. 
 Shanklinv. Brown, 241. 
 Shannon's Exrs., Frank v., 78. 
 
 Sharp, Jim, Allen v., 252, 281, 294, 301. 
 
 Shaw, Fulton v., 73, 283. 
 
 Shelton v. Barbour, 256. 
 
 Shields, Brown v., 257. 
 
 Sibley v. Maria, 291. 
 
 Sidney v. White, 72, 73, 79, 80, 293. 
 
 Simes, State v., 232. 
 
 Simmons, Ex parte, 222. 
 
 Simonton, Lewis v., 74, 287, 289, 290. 
 
 Singlebury, State v., 292. 
 
 Smiley, Roberts v., 257. 
 
 Smith, Amy v., 247. 
 
 v. Dumoody, 292. 
 v. Gould, 158. 
 v. Hancock, 92. 
 Jordan v., 230. 
 Milly v., 217. 
 
 Lambert, Respublica v., 214. 
 Smyth, Commonwealth v., 214. 
 Snead v. David, 294. 
 Snell, Nancy v., 293, 297, 298, 299, 300, 
 
 301. 
 
 Somersett Case, 116, 132, 133, 134, 140, 
 150, 151, 153, 161, 162, 163, 163, 
 170. 
 
 Sommerville v. Sommerville, 120. 
 Sowerwine, Rusk v., 230. 
 Spalding v. Grigg, 284. 
 Spear, Rice v., 300. 
 Spencer v. Dennis, 289, 302. 
 
 Hudgens v., 77. 
 Spotts v. Gillaspie, 78, 79. 
 Stanley v. Bemis, 119. 
 State, Allen v., 271. 
 
 Anthony v., 269. 
 
 v. Ben, 231, 270. 
 
 Berry v., 230, 232. 
 
 v. Boozer, 108, 109. 
 
 v. Bowen, 98. 
 
 v. Boyce, 108. 
 
 v. Brown, 108. 
 
 v. Cassar, 95, 275. 
 
 v. Cecil, 67. 
 
 v. Charity, 271,272. 
 
 v. Cheatwood, 92, 96. 
 
 v. Crank, 92. 
 
 Dave v., 94, 95, 271, 276. 
 
 v. Dillahunt, Win., 67. 
 
 v. Edmund, 4, 91. 
 
 Elijah v., 270.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 State v. Emmons, 289. 
 
 fields v., 86, 90. 
 
 v. Fleming, 89. 
 
 v. Frees, 287. 
 
 Grady v., 274. 
 
 v. Hage, Mary, 273. 
 
 v. Hall, 84, 90. 
 
 v. Harris, Jas., 67. 
 
 v. Hart, 261. 
 
 v. Hill, 105, 295. 
 
 v. Jarrott, 95, 273, 275. 
 
 John v.,95. 
 
 v.Jones, 5, 86. 
 
 Kelly & Little v., 86, 94, 98. 
 
 v. Kerr, 111. 
 
 Macon v., 261. 
 
 v. Maner, 90, 96. 
 
 v. Mann, 83, 90. 
 
 v. McDonald, 296. 
 
 v. Muller, 67. 
 
 v. Pemberton & Smith, 264. 
 
 v. Peter, 269. 
 
 v. Pitney, 289. 
 
 v. Piver, 90, 95. 
 
 v. Posey, 263, 265, 269. 
 
 v. Prall's Admrs., 287, 304. 
 
 v. Raines, 90, 96. 
 
 v. Reed, 86. 
 
 v. Samuel, a slave, 230, 231, 243, 
 245. 
 
 v. Simes, 232. 
 
 v. Singlebury, 292. 
 
 v. Tackett, 86, 92. 
 
 v. Thackam & Magson, 264. 
 
 v. Van Waggoner, 66. 
 
 Wash v., 9 1,269. 
 
 v. Weaks, 108. 
 
 Whaley v., 232. 
 
 v. \Vliyte and Sadler, 92. 
 
 v. Will, 93, 94, 95, 274, 276. 
 
 William v., 95. 
 
 v. Wilson, 99. 
 
 Worley v.,86, 276. 
 Stewart v. Williams, 297. 
 Stephen, Wood v., 257. 
 Stephens, Violet and another v., 253. 
 Stiles v. Richardson, 304. 
 Stokely, Alexander v., 256. 
 Stokes, Maverick v., 289. 
 Stoutenborough v. Haviland, 67. 
 
 Strader, Graham v., 205, 216, 219, 220, 
 
 235. 
 
 Street, Campbell v., 78. 
 Stringer v. Burcham, 290, 295. 
 Stuart v. Laird, 222. 
 Surbaugh, Maria et al. v., 72, 73, 74, 76. 
 Susan v. Wells, 247. 
 Sweeper, Woolfork v., 256. 
 Sylvester, Lenoir v., 235. 
 Young v., 235. 
 Sylvia and Phillis v. Covey, 251. 
 
 Tackett, State v., 86, 92. 
 Talbot v. David, 290. 
 Tate v. O'Neal, 107, 108. 
 Tate et al., John et al. v., 291. 
 Taylor v. American Bible Society, 297. 
 Collomb v., 111. 
 Commonwealth v., 211. 
 Telfer, Broughton v., 292. 
 Thackam and Magson, State v., 264. 
 Thamer, Forward v., 289. 
 The People, Willard v., 126, 184, 198, 
 
 214. 
 
 Vestry, &c., Mary v., 65. 
 Thomas v. Pile, 254. 
 
 v. Wood, 294, 299, 301. 
 Thompson, Gregg v., 238, 240, 242. 
 v. Newlin, 291. 
 v. Thompson, 280. 
 v. Wilmot, 216, 242, 256, 
 
 304. 
 Thornton v. Chisolm, 291. 
 
 v. Demoss, 67. 
 Thrift v. Hannah, 288, 289. 
 Tingle et al., Davis v., 216, 217, 281. 
 Tom, case of, 288. 
 Tompkins, Johnson v., 110, 111, 204, 222, 
 
 253. 
 
 Toohey, Gist v., 235, 241, 242. 
 Trinoleon, Steamboat, Calvert v., 253. 
 Trongott v. Byers, 67, 110, 246. 
 Trotter, Admr., v. Blocker and wife, 
 
 238. 
 
 Tumey v. Knox, 231. 
 Turner, Commonwealth v., 86, 87. 
 
 Ulsire et al. v. P. Farra, 66. 
 Union Bank of Tennessee v. Benham, 
 248, 281, 294.
 
 XXXll 
 
 TABLE OF CASES. 
 
 United States v. Amedy, 189. 
 v. Fisher, 91. 
 v. La Jeune Eugenie, 154. 
 Insurance Co., Elbers & 
 Krafftsv., 119. 
 
 Vance v. Crawford, 291. 
 
 Van Lear, Peters v., 247, 248, 251, 253, 
 
 299. 
 
 Van Waggoner, State v., 66. 
 Vanzandt, Jones v., 204, 205, 222. 
 Vardill, Birdwhistle v., 125. 
 
 Doe v., 125. 
 
 Vaughan v. Williams, 204. 
 Vaughn v. Phebe, 253, 254, 256. 
 Victoire v. Dusseau, 242,304. 
 Vincent v. Duncan, 255. 
 Violet and another v. Stephens, 253. 
 Virginia, Cohens v., 222. 
 
 Wade et al. v. American Colonization 
 
 Society ,251, 291, 303. 
 Wadsworth, Bryan v., 295. 
 Walker, Field v., 254. 
 
 John et al. v., 252. 
 Rachel v., 218. 
 Wall, Mullins v., 296. 
 Wallingsford v. Allen, 279. 
 Walls v. Hemsley et al., 254. 
 Waring, Oatfield v., 280. 
 Washv. The State, 91,269. 
 Washington v. Blunt, 302. 
 Waters, Cleveland et al. v., 291, 298, 
 
 302. 
 
 Waugh, Scott v., 68, 77. 
 Weaks, State v., 108. 
 Weathersby v. Weathersby, 292. 
 Welch's Heirs v. Welch's Admrs., 296. 
 Wells, Arthur v., 92, 93, 276. 
 v. Lane, 295. 
 Susan v., 247. 
 
 West, Isaac v., 77, 288, 294. 
 Whaley v. The State, 232. 
 White v. Chambers, 106. 
 
 Sidney v., 72, 73, 79,80, 293. 
 
 White v. White, 292. 
 
 and wife, Bush's Repres. v.,216. 
 Whitesides alias Prewitt, Winny v., 217. 
 Whyte and Sadler, State v., 92. 
 Will, Bodine's, 250. 
 
 State v., 93, 94, 95, 274, 276. 
 Willard v. The People, 126, 184, 198, 
 
 214. 
 
 Willes, Madrazzov., 179. 
 William v. The State, 95. 
 Williams v. Brown, 177, 246, 304. 
 
 Cox v., 291. 
 
 Williams, Scott v., 67,256. 
 Stewart v., 297. 
 Vaughan v., 204. 
 Williamson and others v. Daniel and 
 
 others, 68. 
 Willis v. Bruce, 304. 
 Willson, Cornish v., 298, 299, 300. 
 Wilmot, Thompson v., 216, 242, 256, 
 
 304. 
 
 Wilson v. Barnett, 295, 300, 301. 
 Melvinv., 218. 
 State v., 99. 
 
 Winn, Admr., &c., v. Jones, 230. 
 Winny v. Whitesides alias Prewitt, 217. 
 Witsell v. Earnest and Parker, 93, 276. 
 Wood, John Davis et al. v., 254, 256. 
 v. Stephen, 257. 
 Thomas v.,294, 299, 301. 
 Woodruff, Free Jack v., 254. 
 Woolfork v. Sweeper, 256. 
 Woolen v. Becton, 291. 
 Wootten, Ben Jones v., 72. 
 Worley, Blair v., 91. 
 
 v. The State, 86, 276. 
 Worthington v. Preston, 222. 
 Wright v. Deacon, 222. 
 
 Hudgins v., 65, 66, 68, 252, 253, 
 
 254, 257. 
 v. Lowe, 292. 
 Nancy v., 302. 
 Wynn et al. T. Carroll et al., 74, 77, 283. 
 
 Young v. Sylvester, 235.
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY, 
 
 EARLIEST PERIODS TO THE PRESENT DAY.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 PHILOSOPHY is the handmaid, and frequently the most 
 successful expounder of the law. History is the ground- 
 work and only sure basis of philosophy. To understand 
 aright, therefore, the Law of Slavery, we must not be 
 ignorant of its history. 
 
 A detailed and minute inquiry into the history of 
 slavery would force us to trace the history of every na- 
 tion of the earth ; for the most enlightened have, at 
 some period within their existence, adopted it as a sys- 
 tem ; and no organized government has been so barbar- 
 ous as not to introduce it amongst its customs. It has 
 been more universal than marriage, and more permanent 
 than liberty. 1 All that we can propose for ourselves 
 here, is a limited and brief glance at its existence and 
 condition during the several ages of the world. 
 
 Its beginning dates back at least to the deluge. One 
 of the inmates of the ark became a " servant of ser- 
 vants ;" and in the opinion of many the curse of Ham 
 
 1 See Bancroft's United States, vol. i, ch. v. " Liberty and Tyranny 
 have kept pace with each other. The helots at Sparta, the slaves at 
 Rome, the villains of the feudal system, bear testimony to this melan- 
 choly truth." Brown's Civil Law, i, 97.
 
 XXXvi HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 is now being executed upon his descendants, in the en- 
 slavement of the negro race. From the familiarity with 
 which Noah spoke of the servile condition of his young- 
 est son, it seems probable that the condition of servitude 
 must have existed prior to the flood. 
 
 In every organized community there must be a labor- 
 ing class, to execute the plans devised by wiser heads : 
 to till the ground, and to perform the menial offices 
 necessarily connected with social life. This class have 
 generally been slaves, and, in the opinion of Puffendorf, 
 their bondage naturally arose, in the infancy of society, 
 from their occupation. The poorer and less intelligent 
 applied to the more opulent and intelligent for employ- 
 ment. The return was food and raiment, at a time 
 when there was no currency. With the removal of the 
 employer mankind at that age having no permanent 
 abode the employee moved also, and with him his 
 family. His children, as they grew to youth and man- 
 hood, naturally aided the parent in his labors, and re- 
 ceived the same reward; and thus, either by express 
 contract or custom, the one, with his descendants, be- 
 came attached to and a part of the household of the 
 other. Certain it is, that Abraham had his man-servants 
 and maid-servants, born in his house and bought with 
 his money ; and that Sarah, his wife, was a hard mis- 
 tress to Hagar, her handmaid, who became a fugitive 
 from her hand, and returned only by the direction of the 
 angel of the Lord. The slave-trade too, was of early 
 origin, as we find Joseph sold to Midianitish merchants, 
 and resold by them in Egypt. The transfer of slaves 
 from parent to child, was of still earlier origin, as we 
 find Rebecca, on her marriage to Isaac, carrying her 
 damsels home with her ; a custom followed by Laban, 
 on the marriage of Leah and Rachel to Jacob. The 
 slavery in these patriarchal days, was undoubtedly mild ; 
 and the relations between the master and slave, of the
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXV11 
 
 most familiar character. Job protested before God, that 
 he despised not the complaint of his man-servant or his 
 maid-servant, when they contended against him ; and 
 gave, as his reason, that both master and slave were 
 fashioned by the same hand. 1 The servant frequently 
 had control of all his master's goods ; 3 and in default of 
 children, became his nominated heir. 3 
 
 ' Job 31 : 13, 15. 2 Gen. 24 : 10. 
 
 8 Gen. 15:3; Prov. 17 : 2. Our Saviour alludes to this in the parable 
 of the wicked servants who slew the son the only heir that the inherit- 
 ance might be theirs.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE JEWS. 
 
 THERE were, among the Jews, two distinct classes of 
 slaves, distinguished by great difference of treatment 
 and status, as well as by the duration of their bondage. 
 The one class consisted of their Hebrew brethren ; the 
 other of strangers and heathen. The bondage of the 
 first expired on the seventh year; unless the servant 
 " shall plainly say, 'I love my master, my wife, and my 
 children. I will not go out free.' Then his master 
 shall bring him unto the judges ; he shall also bring 
 him unto the door or doorpost ; and his master shall 
 bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him 
 forever." 1 Thus the Hebrew servant became one of the 
 other class, whose bondage was perpetual. 8 On the 
 seventh year, the Hebrew servant, when he went free, 
 took with him his wife, if she came with him. But if 
 his master had given him a wife, she and her children 
 
 1 Exodus 21 : 5, 6 ; Deut. 15 : 16. 
 
 2 I am aware that abolitionists, including learned prelates in the Bri- 
 tish House of Lords, have explained the word " forever" to mean only 
 until the year of Jubilee. I am not a sufficient Hebrew scholar to enter 
 into this controversy or to pretend to decide the question. I would re- 
 mark that the same argument is resorted to, by those contending for uni- 
 versal salvation, to meet and refute the orthodox doctrine of eternal 
 punishment. The curious on this point are referred to Fletcher's Studies 
 on Slavery; Priest's Bible Defence of Slavery, 136 ; Gill's Commentary ; 
 Lev. 25 : 44; Michaelis's Comm. on Mosaic Law, vol. ii, art. 127. This 
 learned author supposes that even the Hebrew servant in some cases 
 served till the year of Jubilee.
 
 SLAVEEY AMONG THE JEWS. XXXIX 
 
 belonged to the master, and remained with him, while 
 the man-servant went out by himself. 1 He was not sent 
 forth penniless, but was furnished " liberally out of the 
 flock, and out of the floor, and out of the wine-press." 2 
 This limitation upon the servitude of Hebrews did not, 
 at least under the first law, apply to Hebrew women that 
 had been purchased as concubines for the master or his 
 son. If she ceased to please him, " then shall he let her 
 be redeemed." If not, food, raiment, and marriage 
 duty were not to be diminished ; on failure of either, she 
 was enfranchised. 3 
 
 The Hebrew servants consisted of those that, from 
 poverty, either sold themselves or their children, or were 
 sold for debt or crime. 4 If the Hebrew sold himself to 
 a stranger, he was subject to be redeemed, either at his 
 own instance or that of his near relatives, by paying the 
 wages of a hired servant up to the year of Jubilee. 4 If 
 his master was a Hebrew, the right of redemption does 
 not seem to have applied. 
 
 A marked difference was made in the law as to the 
 status of a Hebrew servant and one bought from the 
 heathen. He was not to serve as a bond-servant, but as 
 a hired servant and a sojourn er. 6 He was not to be 
 treated with rigor, but as a brother "waxen poor." 7 He 
 lost, in his bondage, only his liberty, none of his civil 
 rights. He was still a citizen, and might acquire pro- 
 perty of his own. 8 Tiba, one of Saul's servants, pos- 
 sessed twenty slaves of his own. 9 In case of war, the 
 
 1 Exodus 21 : 3, 4. 2 Deut. 15 : 14. 8 Exod. 21 : 7-11. 
 
 4 Lev. 25 : 39 ; 2 Kings 3 : 16-28, 4 : 1 ; Ex. 22 : 2 ; 2 Chron. 12:8; 
 Neh. 5 : 4, 5 5 Is. 50 : 1 ; Matt. 18 : 25 ; Michaelis's Comm. vol. ii, 160, 
 et seq. 
 
 6 Lev. 25 : 42, 47-51 j 1 Kings 9 : 22 ; Neh. 5 : 5. 
 
 8 Lev. 25 : 39, 40. 7 Lev. 25 : 39, 43. 
 
 8 Lev. 10 : 49 ; Priest's Bible Defence of Slavery, 139. 
 
 9 2 Sam. 9 : 10.
 
 Xl HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 slaves " born in the house" were frequently armed and 
 went forth to battle with their master. 1 
 
 The condition of the other class, the bond-servants, 
 bought from the stranger and the heathen, or the cap- 
 tives taken in war, was very different. 2 They were pure 
 slaves, considered as "a possession," and "an inherit- 
 ance for their children after them," to inherit them for 
 a possession. They were "bondmen forever." 3 These 
 were very numerous, and rigorous treatment of them 
 was tacitly allowed. That many of them were Africans 
 and of negro extraction, seems to admit of but little 
 doubt. Josephus says, " King Solomon had many ships 
 that lay upon the Sea of Tarsus. These he commanded 
 to carry out all sorts of merchandise, to the remotest 
 nations, by the sale of which silver and gold were 
 brought to the king, and a great quantity of ivory, apes, 
 and Ethiopians." 4 These were doubtless sometimes 
 taken captives in the wars of Israel, 5 and frequently ob- 
 tained in exchange of goods, as there was undoubtedly 
 a slave-trade at that time, in which the Jews sometimes 
 engaged. 6 This practice and trade are negatively proved 
 by the prohibition to sell the Hebrew women that were 
 
 1 Lev. 25 : 49. 
 
 2 Gen. 17 : 13; Exodus 12 : 44-45 ; Deuter. 20 : 14, 21 : 10, 11 ; 1 
 Kings 9 : 20-22 ; Michaelis's Comm. vol. ii, art. 123. 
 
 3 Lev. 25 : 44, 45, 46. 
 
 4 Antiquities of the Jews, Book VIII, ch. 7, p. 293. In another edition 
 translated "negroes." See 2 Chron. 9 : 21 ; 1 Kings 10 : 21. I am 
 aware of the strictures of Gliddon and others upon the common accepta- 
 tion of the term " Ethiopians.' 7 I am inclined to believe that the term 
 was applied to all black races, the Hindoo as well as the negro. See re- 
 marks of Abbe Gregoire on this subject, in his work De la Littcrature des 
 Nlgres, ch. i. 
 
 6 See 2 Chron. 14 : 9 ; 1 Kings 9 : 20, 22 ; Isaiah 20 : 3, 4; 1 Chron. 
 9:2; Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book III, ch. ii, p. 85. The 
 Abbe Gregoire cites and approves a statement of J. Ch. Jahn, in his Ar- 
 chffiologia Biblica, that the Hebrews had negro eunuchs. Literature 
 des Negres, p. 7. 
 
 6 Joel 3: 8; Ezek. 27:13.
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE JEWS. xli 
 
 slaves, "unto a strange nation." 1 Among the Egyp- 
 tians, with whom the Jews carried on a brisk commerce, 
 we shall see there were numbers of negro slaves. Their 
 existence among the latter nation, therefore, is a matter 
 of no great surprise. 2 
 
 The negro among the Jews, as everywhere he is found, 
 was of a proscribed race. He was even forbidden to 
 approach the altar to offer the bread of his God. 3 
 
 The treatment of this class of slaves, among the 
 Hebrews, was extremely rigorous. Corporal chastise- 
 ment was customary, and sometimes resulted in death. 
 In such event, if the death was immediate, the master 
 was punished; but if the slave lingered "a day or two," 
 he was not punished: "For," said the law, "he is his 
 money." 4 If the slave was maimed by loss of an eye, 
 or a tooth, the penalty was his enfranchisement. 5 The 
 slave sometimes escaped, 6 in which event, the master 
 had the right of recaption. This right seems to have 
 extended to the territory of the neighboring nations, as 
 was exemplified in the case of Shimei pursuing his 
 fugitives into the territory, and even the house of the 
 King of Gath. 7 With the characteristic exclusiveness of 
 the Jews, they denied this right to other nations, whose 
 slaves sought refuge among them. 8 
 
 The status of this class of servants was very different 
 from that of the Hebrew servant. He was entitled to 
 no civil rights ; could make no complaint against his 
 master, and could not be heard as a witness. He could 
 not redeem himself, because he could acquire nothing. 
 
 1 Exodus 21 : 8. 
 
 * The curious are referred to a very ingenious argument by Rev. J. 
 Priest, in his Bible Defence of Slavery, to prove that all the Canaanites 
 were black, and that " heathen" refers entirely to the black race. 
 
 * The flat-nosed must refer to the negro. Lev. 21 : 18. 
 
 4 Exodus 21 : 20, 22 ; see Michaelis's Conim. vol. iv, art. 277. 
 
 6 Exod. 21 : 26, 27. 6 1 Sam. 25 : 10. 
 
 7 1 Kings 2 : 39, 40. 8 Deut. 23 : 15, 16.
 
 xlii HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 Xor was it allowed, among the Jews, for a stranger to 
 possess the land. Hence, the argument that the bondage 
 of these was determined by the year of Jubilee, fails, for 
 they had no " possession" to which they could return. 
 Their descendants also were slaves, following the condi- 
 tion of the mother. Thus Solomon says, "I got me 
 servants and maidens, and had servants born in my 
 house." 1 
 
 The value of slaves doubtless varied with their quali- 
 ties and other circumstances. In the event of a slave 
 being killed by a vicious ox, the price was fixed by the 
 law, without regard to the circumstances, at 30 shekels. 3 
 In the case of releasing a person from a vow, a more 
 discriminating scale of value was affixed, which we may 
 safely take as the customary value of the times. A 
 child under a month was valued at nothing. From 1 
 month to 5 years, males were valued at 5 shekels, females 
 at 3. From 5 years to 20, males were valued at 20 she- 
 kels, females at 10. From 20 to 60 years, males at 50 
 shekels, females at 30. Upwards of 60 years, males at 
 15 shekels, females at 10. 3 
 
 There were public slaves as well as private, among the 
 Jews. These were attached to the sanctuary, and per- 
 formed the menial labors for the priests and Levites. 4 
 Thus the Gibeonites, for their deceit, were condemned 
 to be "hewers of wood and drawers of water." 5 Their 
 posterity were called nethinims (meaning presented as 
 gifts), and are mentioned on several occasions. 6 Samuel 
 was a public servant, attached to the sanctuary, being so 
 devoted from his mother's womb. 7 
 
 Manumission was allowed among the Jews. The 
 
 1 Eccles. 2 : 7. See also Gen. 17 : 13,23 ; 15 : 3 ; 14 : 14; Ex. 23 : 12 ; 
 Psalm 86 : 16. 2 Ex. 21 : 32. 
 
 3 Lev. 27 : 1-8 ; Michaelis's Comm. voL ii, art. 124 ; see also Hosea 3 : 2. 
 
 4 Lev. 31 : 40, 47 ; Michaelis's Comm. vol. ii, art. 126. 
 
 6 Josh. 9 : 27. 6 1 Chron. 9:2; Ezra 8 : 17, 20. 
 
 7 1 Sam. 1 : 11.
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE JEWS. xliii 
 
 effect of it, however, was not to confer any political 
 privileges upon the freed man. His very name signified 
 "uncleanness." 1 
 
 At the Jewish feasts, the Mosaic law required the 
 slaves to be invited, and, for a time, to enjoy them equally 
 with their masters. The Sabbath was also, expressly, a 
 day of rest for them. 8 
 
 Slavery continued among the Jews so long as they 
 were an independent nation. Even in their captivity 
 they did not lose them ; for we find, upon their return 
 under Nehemiah, one-sixth of the people that came up 
 from their captivity were " men-servants and maid-ser- 
 vants," exclusive of the children of Solomon's servants. 3 
 In the days of the Saviour, they still retained them. 4 
 !N"or did he hesitate to avow the rightful superiority of 
 the master, and to illustrate his precepts by this relation. 4 
 The kindly feeling existing towards the slave, is exem- 
 plified in the centurion whose sick slave was " dear unto 
 him." 6 
 
 "When Nebuchadnezzar and his hosts came and 
 "pitched against Jerusalem," the Jews, alarmed at their 
 situation, made a covenant with Zedekiah, their king, to 
 manumit all their Hebrew servants. After the imme- 
 diate danger was removed, however, they reduced them 
 again to servitude. It seems that the provision of the 
 law, requiring them to be released on the seventh year, 
 after six years of bondage, had been disregarded, and it 
 was for this, among other sins, that Jeremiah prophesied 
 that captivity which soon overtook them. 7 
 
 1 Michaelis's Comm. vol. ii, art. 126. 
 
 2 Deut. 12 : 17, 18; 16 : 11. Michaelis conceives that the provision 
 prohibiting the muzzling of the ox while threshing the corn, Deut. 25 : 4, 
 was extended to the slaves eating of the provisions they prepared for their 
 masters. Vol. ii, art. 130. 8 Neh. 7 : 57, 66. 
 
 4 Mark 14 : 66. 
 
 6 John 13 : 16 ; 8 : 35, 36 ; Luke 17 : 7, 8, 9 ; 22 : 27. 
 
 6 Luke 7:2. 7 2 Kings 25 : 1 ; Jer. 34 : 8-20.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SLAVERY IN EGYPT. 
 
 NEXT to the Jews, the Egyptians have the earliest 
 authentic history ; and as Ancient Egypt was not only 
 the cradle of the arts and sciences, but has been justly 
 said to be " the first that found out the rules of govern- 
 ment, and the art of making life easy and a people happy," 1 
 our attention seems to be properly called next to the 
 history of her system of slavery. 
 
 The bondage of the Israelites shows that the Egyptians 
 were not only slaveholders at an early day, but hard 
 taskmasters. 2 That they had slaves, not only agrestic, 
 but domestic, attached to the person of the master, is 
 abundantly shown by the inscriptions upon the nume- 
 rous monuments of their ancient grandeur. 3 It is, more- 
 over, well agreed from these monuments, that many of 
 these domestic slaves were of pure negro blood. 4 In one 
 of them, a large number of negroes are represented as 
 prisoners of war. 5 Herodotus confirms this conclusion, 
 
 1 Rees's Cyclopaedia, Article " Egypt." 
 
 2 Slaves constituted a part of the present the King of Egypt gave to 
 Abraham. Gen. 12 : 16. 
 
 8 Egypt and its Monuments. By Dr. Hawks. 2d ed. p. 144. 
 
 4 The curious on this point are referred to Nott and Gliddon's Types of 
 Mankind, p. 248, et seq. These monuments show negro slaves in Egypt at 
 least 1600 years before Christ, p. 255, 262, 268, 307. That they were 
 the same happy negroes of this day is proven by their being represented 
 in a dance 1300 years before Christ, p. 263. The negro mummy, described 
 on page 267, puts their existence beyond cavil. 
 
 5 Wallon, Histoire de 1'Esclavage, torn, i, p. 24, 27, n. Sir G. Wilkinson
 
 SLAVERY IN EGYPT. xlv 
 
 and informs us that Ethiopia furnished Egypt with gold, 
 ivory, and slaves. 1 Slave-markets undoubtedly there 
 were, as the history of Joseph exemplifies ; and it is 
 said, that a city founded by fugitive slaves was one of 
 the principal slave-markets. 2 
 
 Upon one of the monuments at Thebes, an Egyptian 
 scribe is represented as registering negroes as slaves, 
 both men, women, and children. 3 Upon, another, the 
 victorious Egyptian king is represented as putting to 
 flight a troop of negroes. 4 In still another, they are re- 
 presented as indulging in their favorite amusement of 
 this day, the dance. 5 These representations are so per- 
 fect, that the most unpractised eye would recognize them 
 at a glance. A negro skull was exhumed in the Island 
 of Malta, among the ruins of Hadjerkem. 6 
 
 Purchase and conquests seem to be the principal 
 sources of Egyptian slavery. 7 A law abolishing slavery 
 for debt, and referred to by Diodorus, shows that prior 
 to that time this was another prolific source. He also 
 notices the substitution, by one of the emperors, of 
 slavery, for the penalty of death. 8 Such commutation 
 made the recipients public slaves, of which there was a 
 vast number. These were engaged upon the public 
 
 says, " It is evident that both white and black slaves were employed as 
 servants/' Egypt and its Monuments, p. 169. A picture of this inscrip- 
 tion may be found in Types of Mankind, p. 250. See also Pulszky's 
 contribution to Indigenous Races of Man, for other and farther proofs 
 on this point, pp. 150, 189. 
 
 1 Herod. 3 : 97. 
 
 2 Plin. Hist. Nat. vi, 34, cited by "Wallon, torn, i, p. 25, n. See re- 
 marks of Sir Gardner Wilkinson, quoted by Dr. Hawks, Egypt and its 
 Monuments, p. 168. 
 
 3 See representation of this in Types of Mankind, 252. 
 
 4 Types of Mankind, 269. 6 Ibid. 263. 
 
 6 Wilkes's Exp. Exp. vol. ix, 186. 
 
 7 Wallon, torn, i, p. 23 ; Odyssey, Bk. XIV, 260 ; Egypt and its Monu- 
 ments, by Dr. Hawks, p. 164, 168. 
 
 8 Diod. i, 75, 79.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 works, and it was the boast of the Pharaohs, that the 
 hand of no Egyptian labored in their erection. 1 
 
 Though the negroes in Egypt were generally slaves, 
 " prejudice of color" does not seem to have been so 
 great as at this day, as we find in one of their inscrip- 
 tions, the representation of the negro queen of one of 
 the emperors receiving equal homage with himself. 2 
 
 Among the Egyptians we first find an account of 
 eunuchs, exhibiting a feature of ancient slavery, per- 
 haps the most cruel and barbarous. 3 Moses sought, by 
 every means, to deter the Jews from such a custom, yet 
 we find eunuchs among the king's household, 4 and the 
 prophet offering such consolation. 5 
 
 The treatment of slaves by the Egyptians was very 
 rigorous. Homicide was punished in every one except 
 the master, but as to him there seems to have been no 
 penalty. In the whole kingdom there was but one 
 temple (that of the Egyptian Hercules, near Canope) 
 in which fugitives might take refuge from cruel treat- 
 ment. 6 " From the monuments," says Taylor, " we find 
 that the mistress of a mansion was very rigid in en- 
 forcing her authority over her female domestics. We 
 see these unfortunate beings trembling and cringing 
 before their superiors, beaten with rods by the overseers, 
 and sometimes threatened with a formidable whip, wielded 
 by the lady of the mansion herself." Other scenes upon 
 these monuments indicate kinder treatment. " In a 
 tomb at Thebes," says Dr. Hawks, " is a representation, 
 copied by Wilkinson, of a lady enjoying the bath, who 
 is waited on by four female servants, where nothing 
 
 1 Wdlon, Hist, de 1'Esclavage, torn, i, p. 28 ; Egypt and its Monuments, 
 p. 168. 
 
 2 Wallon, torn, i, p. 29, n.; Types of Mankind, 262. 
 
 Gen. 37 : 36. The word here translated " officer" means literally 
 " eunuch." See Egypt and its Monuments, p. 169. 
 
 * 2 Kings 9: 32. 6 Is. 56: 3. 
 6 Wallon, Hist, de 1'Esclavage, &c., torn, i, p. 30.
 
 SLAVERY IN EGYPT. xlvii 
 
 appears to indicate any other feeling than that of mutual 
 kindness, and on the part of the attendants respectful 
 affection." 1 Other representations, upon the monuments, 
 show the cruelty of the taskmasters, and the use of the 
 bastinado. 3 
 
 Whenever, from the excess of the supply over the de- 
 mand, labor becomes so cheap that the free laborer can 
 make for his wages only his food and clothing, there 
 ceases to be value in property in slaves ; on the contrary, 
 the ownership is a burden, because the old, the infirm, 
 and the infant, require care, clothing, and food, without 
 remunerating labor. The feudal system in Middle Eu- 
 rope and Britain laid the foundation for the emanci- 
 pation of the serfs, at this stage of society. In Egypt 
 and the East, a more refined system of bondage was 
 adopted in lieu of that of personal slavery, which con- 
 tinued the degradation of the slaves, while it relieved 
 the masters from the obligations of ownership. This 
 system was that of castes, by w r hich the proprietorship 
 of the lands and the holding of the oifices of govern- 
 ment were restricted to those and their descendants who 
 were the former masters, while the laboring classes 
 and their descendants were arranged in subordinate 
 castes, ranking in dignity according to the supposed 
 honorableness of their occupations ; and that this might 
 be a perpetual condition, the children were prohibited, 
 under severe penalties, from attempting, under any cir- 
 cumstances, to improve their condition by obtaining a 
 position in a higher caste. 3 The transition from a state 
 of slavery to that of an inferior caste was gradual and 
 
 1 Egypt and its Monuments, p. 144, 2d ed. 
 
 2 Egypt and its Monuments, p. 219, 220. A remarkable picture in the 
 Tomb of Roschere, at Thebes, gives so accurate a representation of the 
 Jews engaged in the making of bricks, overlooked by their Egyptian task- 
 masters, as to cause doubts to be expressed of its authenticity. Ibid. p. 
 222. 
 
 3 Prichard's Analysis of Egyptian Mythology, Book IV, ch. iii, sec. 1.
 
 Xlviii HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 easy; and the fact that the laborers were chiefly 
 foreigners and captives and their descendants, the pre- 
 servation of the distinctive castes became an easy mat- 
 ter, the line being drawn by nature herself in the dif- 
 ferent races. 1 
 
 The number of these castes in Egypt (about which 
 there is disagreements in different authors), may be re- 
 duced to five. 1st. The sacerdotal order, or priesthood. 
 2d. The military. 3d. The herdsmen. 4th. The agri- 
 cultural and commercial class. 5th. The artificers or 
 laboring artisans, 2 ranking in dignity as they are named. 
 To the two former classes belonged, by inheritance, the 
 lands and the enjoyment of all the honorable offices of 
 the government. The three lower classes differed only 
 in their occupations, and might, indeed, be properly 
 ranked together, as Strabohas done in his classification. 3 
 These were the original, slaves of Egypt, and by the 
 change have reaped no benefit. The privileged orders 
 keep them in complete subjection; laboring without 
 hope of advancement, "and for wages," says Volney, 
 "barely sufficient to sustain life." 4 " The rice and corn 
 they gather are carried to their masters, and nothing is 
 reserved for them but dourra or Indian millet, of which 
 they make a coarse and tasteless bread, without leaven." 5 
 
 This system of castes gives, necessarily, a permanent 
 and remarkably uniform character to a nation ; and 
 hence Egypt, to-day, would be, in her internal polity, the 
 same as Egypt in the time of Herodotus and Diodorus, 
 had not change of government and Mussulman rule crip- 
 pled more completely her energy, and stagnated her in- 
 dustry. Recent travellers testify, that the cultivators of 
 the present day retain of the fruit of their industry 
 
 1 "Wallon, de 1'Esclavage, &c., torn, i, p. 22. 
 
 2 Prichard, as above, p. 377, and authorities cited by him. 
 
 3 Strabo, Lib. XVII. 
 
 4 Prichard, 378 ; Wallon, de 1'Esclavage, &c., torn, i, p. 22. 
 6 Kees's Cyclopedia, Art. " Egypt."
 
 SLAVERY IN EGYPT. 
 
 barely enough to support existence. Their cattle and 
 agricultural implements even, belong to the landlord. 1 
 Over them the landlord exercises unlimited control, 
 with power to punish for offences, and to settle all dis- 
 putes, without liberty of appeal. 2 
 
 "While the system of castes seems thus to have re- 
 moved from the Caucasian races the status of personal 
 slavery to the negro, it brought no relief, for the slave- 
 market of the present day, in Cairo, offers still to the 
 purchaser the children of Ethiopia, from whom are sup- 
 plied the personal domestics of Egypt. 3 
 
 There is one other class of slaves, at the present day, 
 bought and sold in Egypt. These are the pure white 
 Circassians, from whom the harems are supplied ; and 
 many of whose youths are purchased and educated, 
 sometimes, for the highest offices in the state. 4 
 
 1 Olin's Travels in the East, vol. i, p. 40. 
 8 Ibid. p. 43. 
 
 3 Ibid. p. 61 ; Stephens's Egypt, &c., vol. i, p. 39 ; Types of Mankind, 
 251. Mr. Gliddon states the price of a negress to be about fifty dollars ; 
 Wilkes's Expl. Exped. vol. ix, p. 185. 
 
 4 Olin's Travels in the East, vol. i, p. 34.
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 SLAVERY IN INDIA. 
 
 WE turn naturally from Egypt to India, for the re- 
 markable similarity in their law of castes seems hardly 
 to be a coincidence, but indicates, in some way, a com- 
 mon origin. According to Menu, all men were created, 
 respectively, from the mouth, arm, thigh, and foot of 
 Deity ; and separate duties were allotted to each, accord- 
 ing to their origin. The first class (from the mouth), 
 had wisdom to rule and to sacrifice. The second (from 
 the arm), had strength to fight and protect the others. 
 The third (from the belly and thighs), were allotted to 
 provide nourishment for the whole, by agriculture and 
 traffic. The fourth (from the feet), were naturally ser- 
 vile, formed to labor and to serve. 1 There were subdi- 
 visions of some of these classes, corresponding, with 
 striking similarity, to the Egyptian castes. The first 
 clasa among the Hindoos (originally Brahmans, 2 now 
 Bramins), and the military, or second class, as among 
 the Egyptians, monopolized all the priesthood, the go- 
 vernment, and the learning. The agriculturists were 
 mere tenants, having no interest in the land. And the 
 fourth, or servile class, were declared by Menu, to be 
 
 1 Richard's Analysis, &c., note to Book IV, ch. iii, p. 397 ; Rees's Cy- 
 clopaedia, Article "Caste;" Institutes of Menu; Wallon, torn, i, p. 31. 
 
 2 Some have supposed Brachman to be a contraction of Abrachman, 
 and thus seek to trace this leading caste of the Hindoos to a descent from 
 Abraham and his wife, Kiturali. Rees's Cyclopaedia, Article Brachman.
 
 SLAVERY IN INDIA. 11 
 
 naturally slaves. 1 To serve a Brahman, was declared 
 their most laudable action." 
 
 The same provision existed and exists in India as in 
 Egypt, in reference to the immutable status of the differ- 
 ent castes, and similar penalties inflicted for any effort 
 to seek to migrate from the one to another. 3 The effect 
 of which is, that India, to-day, is comparatively the same 
 as India three centuries before Christ, when Megasthenes 
 accompanied Alexander in his conquest, and left a record 
 of his impressions. 4 
 
 Though the servile class, or Soudras, were declared by 
 Menu to be naturally slaves, yet we find, in modern 
 times, many of them that, either from the clemency of 
 their masters or the unprofitableness of their labor, are 
 emancipated from the control of any particular master. 
 And while those that belong to the military and agricul- 
 tural castes seem originally to have been free, yet we 
 find, in later times, from voluntary sale or other causes, 
 many of them have become slaves to their superior 
 castes; there being only one restriction, according to 
 Hindoo law, and that is, that no one shall become a 
 slave to a master of his own or an inferior caste. 5 In the 
 event of a marriage between persons of different castes, 
 the offspring followed the condition of the inferior 
 parent. 6 
 
 By the Hindoo law, slaves might become such, by 
 voluntary sale, by sale or gift of children, by sale for 
 
 1 Institutes of Menu, ch. viii, v. 414 ; Adam, on Slavery in India, p. 
 13 ; Wallon, torn, i, p. 32. 
 
 2 Wallon, torn, i, 32, n. 5. It will be perceived that, by this means> 
 slavery became a part of the religion of the Hindoos. Ibid. 35. 
 
 3 Rees's Cyclopaedia, Article " Caste ;" Wallon, torn, i, p. 34, 35. 
 
 4 Arrian, Strabo, and Diodorus derived all their information from Me- 
 gasthenes. See Prichard's Analysis of Egyptian Mythology, note to 
 Book IV, ch. iii, p. 397. 
 
 5 Adam on Slavery in India, pp. 12, 13, and authorities cited by him ; 
 Wallon, de 1'Esclavage, &c., torn, i, p. 32. 
 
 6 Wallon, torn, i, p. 34.
 
 I'll HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 debt, by captivity, by birth, by marriage to a slave, or by 
 sale as punishment for crime. 1 Children follow the con- 
 dition of their mother ; and all slaves are inherited as a 
 part of the estate of a deceased master. The agrestic 
 slaves (such as are attached to the soil), are subject to 
 the laws of ancestral real property ; while the domestics, 
 attached to the person, pass under the laws regulating 
 personal property. 2 
 
 The Hindoo law gave the master unlimited powers 
 over his slaves. " It makes no provision for the protec- 
 tion of the slave from the cruelty and ill-treatment of an 
 unfeeling master, nor defines the master's power over 
 the person of his slave. It allows to the slave no right 
 of property even in his own acquisitions, except by the 
 indulgence of his master." 3 
 
 The modes of enfranchisement, by this law, were 
 various. Among others, the preservation of the master's 
 life; or the bearing to him a son, by a female slave, 
 operated as a manumission. 4 
 
 When India passed under Mussulman rule, the Mo- 
 hammedan law of slavery became engrafted upon that 
 of India, and, until the possession by Britain, was the 
 paramount law. 
 
 The Mohammedan law recognized but two legitimate 
 sources of slavery, viz. : captive infidels, and their de- 
 scendants; these are subject to all the laws of contract, 
 sale, and inheritance, as other property. They cannot 
 marry without the consent of their masters ; they can- 
 not testify as witnesses; they cannot be parties to a suit; 
 they are ineligible to all offices of profit and trust ; nor 
 can they contract, or acquire, or inherit property. 
 
 1 Adam, on Slavery in India, 14, citing Colebrooke's Digest of Hindoo 
 Law, vol. ii, pp. 340, 346, 368 ; Menu's Institutes of Hindoo Law, ch. 
 viii, v. 415 ; Wallon, de 1'Esclavage, &c., torn, i, p. 30. 
 
 2 Ibid. 
 
 3 Colebrooke, quoted by Adam, p. 17; Wallon, de 1'Esclavage, &c., torn. 
 i, 33. Adam, on Slavery in India, 17, 19.
 
 SLAVERY IN INDIA. liii 
 
 The master's control over the slave is very great ; and 
 his murder subjects the master to no punishment. If 
 another person kills him, his master may commute the 
 punishment for a pecuniary compensation. 
 
 This description of slaves cannot be emancipated. 
 There are other or qualified slaves who, under certain 
 circumstances, such as bearing children to the master, 
 become free. 1 
 
 When India, through the agency of the East India 
 Company, passed under British rule, it became a matter 
 of grave concern, how far the laws of Britain should be 
 substituted for the native regulations. After various 
 provisions, looking wisely to the adoption of laws " suit- 
 able to the genius of the people," it was finally esta- 
 blished, in 1793, that, "In suits regarding succession, in- 
 heritance, marriage, and caste, and all religious usages 
 and institutions, the Mohammedan law, with reference 
 to Mohammedans, and the Hindoo law, with regard to 
 Hindoos, are to be considered the general rules by which 
 the Judges are to form their decisions." Under this 
 provision, it was held that the Hindoo and Mohammedan 
 laws of slavery were established, as to those coming 
 under their respective influence ; and these laws were 
 enforced by the British East India Court, from the date 
 of this regulation (1793) until the nominal abolition of 
 slavery by the East India Company. 3 
 
 Slavery in British India, however, was not confined 
 entirely to those so declared by the Hindoo and Moham- 
 medan law. There were slaves, made so originally 
 and directly under the law of the British Government. 
 
 1 This summary of the Mohammedan law is extracted from Macnagh- 
 ten's Principles and Precedents of Mohammedan Law, as cited by Adam, 
 on Slavery in India, pp. 20, et seq., 41, 63, et seq. ; see also Buchanan's 
 Travels in Mysore, &c., vol. ii, 495. 
 
 2 See Adam, on Slavery in India, 24-27 ; Harrington's Analysis of the 
 Laws and Regulations, vol. i, p. 1, et seq. ; Macnaghten's Hindoo Law, 
 vol. i, p. 113.
 
 llV HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 Thus, in 1772, certain bands of robbers, termed Deceits, 
 infesting the public roads, upon conviction, were to be 
 executed publicly ; " and the family of the criminal shall 
 become the slaves of the state, and be disposed of for the 
 general benefit and convenience of the people, according to 
 the discretion of the government." 1 Thus, by the Hindoo 
 law, men were enslaved for their own crimes ; by the 
 British law, for the crimes of their parents. This law 
 was repealed in 1793. 
 
 The servile class in India are very nearly the color of 
 the African negro. There are, however, distinguishing 
 characteristics, showing them to be of different races. 
 The negro proper, however, has found his way to India, 
 and is there, as he is everywhere, in a state of slavery. 
 The East India Company early discovered his adapta- 
 tion to the labor of this hot climate, and worked their 
 most extensive plantations of the nutmeg and clove by 
 African labor. 2 And even at the time that British 
 cruisers were hovering on the western coast of Africa, 
 more effectually to prevent the African slave-trade, on 
 the eastern coast a similar trade was being prosecuted, 
 within their knowledge and to their own dominions, 
 declared by an order of the Vice-President in Council, 
 on 9th September, 1817, to be " of a nature and ten- 
 dency scarcely less objectionable than the trade which 
 has been carried on between the western coast of Africa 
 and the West India Islands." 3 Prohibitory regulations 
 were afterwards adopted, the effect of which, according 
 to Mr. Chaplin's Report, was to " increase the price, 
 without putting a stop to the traffic." 4 Mr. Adam, an 
 
 1 Adam, on Slavery in India, 38 ; Colebrooke's Digest of the Regula- 
 tions, Supplement, p. 7, 114; Harrington's Analysis, vol. i, p. 308. 
 
 2 Adam, on Slavery in India, 40. 
 
 3 Harrington's Analysis, vol. iii, p. 755 j. Adam, on Slavery in India, 
 78, 149. 
 
 4 Report, pp. 150, 151 ; Adam, 14&
 
 SLAVERY IX INDIA. Iv 
 
 eyewitness, gives it as his opinion, that the trade had 
 not entirely ceased in 1840. 1 
 
 Slaves cannot be valuable where free labor demands 
 only about four cents per day for wages; and, hence, 
 we are not astonished to find the prices of slaves vary- 
 ing from eleven shillings to Z 5s." The treatment 
 of the slaves in British India was generally mild. " The 
 slave is a favorite and confidential servant rather than 
 an abject drudge. . . . The mildness and equanimity 
 of the Indian's temper (or his apathy and slowness, if 
 this better describe the general disposition of the people), 
 contribute to insure good treatment to the slave." 3 The 
 food and raiment allowed them were scanty, but fully 
 equal to that of the free laborers of that class. 4 In India, 
 as in all Eastern countries, many of the slaves are 
 eunuchs. 
 
 The East India Company have lately abolished slavery 
 within their dominions. This was necessarily merely 
 nominal. The slaves remain with their old ma 
 receiving as wages what they formerly received as food 
 and raiment. Their actual servile condition remains 
 unchanged. The number of them, in 1840, was estimated 
 at about one million. 5 
 
 1 Slavery in India, 151. 2 Adam, 107. 
 
 8 Mr. Colebrooke's official paper of 1812. 
 4 Buchanan's Travels in Mysore, &c., vol. ii, 370, 491. 
 6 Adam, 129.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SLAVEKT IN THE EAST. 
 
 AMONG the earliest records of the Assyrian Empire, 
 we find the model of that system of slavery which dis- 
 tinguishes all oriental nations. Tradition ascribes to 
 Queen Semiramis the introduction of the barbarous 
 custom of making eunuchs of slaves. The Zendavesta, 
 the most ancient of their records, and containing the 
 pretended revelations of Zoroaster, recognizes four 
 classes or castes : the priests, the warriors, the agricul- 
 turists, and the artisans. Infidels and negroes (les fits des 
 tenebres\ taken captive in war, were reduced to slavery. 1 
 
 The Medes and Persians, the successors to the religion 
 of Zoroaster, exhibit oriental slavery in its full perfec- 
 tion. The number of domestic slaves attending the 
 person and the various household duties was very 
 great. The sources of slavery were chiefly captives 
 taken in war, and children purchased either from their 
 parents or from slave-dealers. The merchants of Phe- 
 nicia and of Greece made them one of the articles of 
 commerce. Hence the slaves were very numerous at 
 Tyre and in the Phenician cities. The satrap of Babylon 
 and of the Assyrian country, furnished annually to the 
 Persians five hundred young eunuchs. And in the ex- 
 pedition against Ionia, the most beautiful children were 
 reserved and condemned to this condition.* The fidelity 
 of the eunuchs made them, according to Herodotus, 
 
 1 Kees's Cyclopaedia, Art. Zendavesta ; Wallou, de 1'Esclavage dans 
 I'AntiquitS, torn, i, 45, 47. 
 
 2 Wallon, de 1'Esclavage dans I'Antiquite', torn, i, 47. In speaking of the
 
 SLAVERY IN THE EAST. Ivtt 
 
 highly prized among barbarous nations, and they con- 
 sequently filled the highest offices in the households of 
 the nobles. 1 
 
 The power of the master over the slave, among the 
 Persians, was almost unlimited. Herodotus says, it was 
 not allowed a Persian to punish one of his slaves cruelly 
 for a single fault, but if, after due consideration, his 
 faults were found to outnumber and outweigh his virtues, 
 the master might then follow the dictates of his anger. 8 
 Sometimes the slaves revolted, as at Tyre, where they 
 massacred the freemen, and took possession of the city. 3 
 
 Frequently the nobles armed their slaves, and led 
 them in battle. The Parthians are said to pursue the 
 same course. 4 At Babylon there was a custom, at a cer- 
 tain fete, for the masters to obey their slaves for five days. 
 One was selected to rule as king. At the expiration of 
 the fete he was killed. 5 
 
 "What has been said of Persia is true of all the sur- 
 rounding countries. In fact, in the countries of the East, 
 slavery is universally an element of the social organiza- 
 tion. A celebrated French writer upon this subject, in 
 summing up, says, " Comme on vient de le voir par ce 
 rapide apergu pour 1'orient, cet antique berceau du genre 
 humain et de la civilisation du monde, 1'organisation 
 sociale se rdsume en deux mots qui sont, pour ainsi dire, 
 les deux termes d'un meme rapport: despotisme, escla- 
 vage." 6 China, with her wonderful self-existing and 
 self-perpetuating civilization, forms no exception to this 
 remark. At least twelve hundred years before the 
 Christian era, captivity and other sources furnished 
 slaves to the Chinese. The most fruitful source, was 
 
 number of domestics, he enumerates " legions of cooks, musicians, dan- 
 cers, valets de table, porters, and keepers of baths." Cyrus, we recollect, 
 among the Medes, acted as a wine-bearer. Xen. Cyrop. 
 
 1 Herod, viii, 105. a Herod, i, 137. 8 Wallon, torn, i, p. 50. 
 
 4 Xenophon, Cyrop. viii, 8, 20 ; Wallon, torn, i, 52, note. 
 
 6 Wallon, torn, i, p. 51 ; Dion. Chrysost. Orat. iv, De Regno, p. 69. 
 
 6 Wallon, torn, i, p. 52.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 the sale of themselves and their children by the poor. 
 The children of slaves were slaves by birth ; and on the 
 master's death, were the subjects of inheritance. 
 
 The treatment of slaves in China was milder than in 
 the East generally. The law protected his life and his 
 person. The branding of a slave with fire worked his 
 enfranchisement. "Thus," says "Wallon, "the mark of 
 slavery became his title to liberty." 1 
 
 When the Greeks and Eomans successively overran 
 the East, they introduced no change in the system of 
 slavery. It was, if different, more lenient in practice 
 than their own. When Arabia, under the infatuation 
 of religious zeal, brought the surrounding nations, at 
 one time, under her power, and to the knowledge of the 
 faith, she found nothing in slavery that was not only 
 consistent with, but expressly commanded, in that great 
 miracle of the Prophet, the Koran. 2 Years and ages, 
 hence, have made but little change in the law of Eastern 
 slavery, though much of Eastern glory has departed. 
 
 Here, too, we find the negro still a slave. 3 The num- 
 bers, in ancient times, we cannot estimate. In later 
 days, a brisk trade has been and even now is carried 
 on with the eastern coast of Africa by Arab dealers, who 
 supply Persia and Arabia with African slaves. 4 
 
 Commodore Perry describes the Japanese slavery of 
 the present day as of the most abject and wretched cha- 
 racter. The poor frequently sell themselves as slaves, the 
 price varying from two to ten dollars. The different ranks 
 in society were distinguished by the metal of which the 
 hair-pin was made, whether of gold, silver, or brass. 5 
 
 1 See Wallon, torn, i, p. 40. He refers to and cites freely M. Biot, 
 MSmoires sur les Chinois. 
 
 2 By its provisions, homicide of a freeman only was murder, and al- 
 lowed the retribution by the avenger of blood. Chap, ii, 173. 
 
 8 Texier's Armenie, Perse, et Me~sopotamie, 1842, PL 113. Quoted in 
 Types of Mankind, 254. 
 
 4 Harrington's Analysis, vol. iii, p. 748 ; Adam, on Slavery in India, 
 78. s United States Japan Exped. vol. i, pp. 219-226.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SLAVERY IN GREECE. 
 
 IT has been considered a striking contradiction in the 
 character of the Greeks, that while they professed to be 
 worshippers of liberty, during their whole history they 
 not only tolerated but encouraged slavery, and in such 
 a form, that it became a proverb, that " at Sparta the 
 freeman is the freest of all men, and the slave the 
 greatest of slaves." 1 "Whether this is really a contra- 
 diction we shall elsewhere consider, when we examine 
 the political and social influences of slavery ; and pei- 
 haps we may find that true philosophy confirms the con- 
 clusions of Aristotle and Plato, that this is an element 
 essential in a true republic, for the preservation of per- 
 fect equality among citizens, and the growth and en- 
 couragement of the spirit of liberty. 
 
 Our inquiry now is as to the facts, and we find slavery 
 among the Greeks from their earliest authentic history. 
 True, it is stated, that among the Hellenes, in the ear- 
 liest times, there was no slavery. 8 Yet, in the time of 
 Homer, we find it in general use ; not only of captives 
 taken in war, but of slaves purchased for a price. 3 The 
 familiar use of the institution in illustration, by the 
 poets, dramatists, and writers of Greece, shows how 
 completely it was interwoven into their entire system/ 
 
 1 Plutarch's Lycurgus. 2 Herod, vi, 137. 
 
 Odyssey, xiv, H39 ; xv, 483 ; xxii, 421 ; Iliad, iii, 407 ; vi, 460 ; 
 Eurip. Hecuba, 442, 479. 
 4 The curious will find a large number of extracts and illustrations |
 
 Ix HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 The legitimate use of these by the historian, is beauti- 
 fully defended by M. Wallon : " Car les muses sont 
 filles de la memoire (Mne'mosyne) et dans ces premiers 
 temps, fideles si leur origine, elles puisent aux traditions 
 nationales le sujet de leurs chants." 1 
 
 The Hellenes were not the earliest inhabitants of 
 Greece. The Ante-Hellenic period, however, is so 
 legendary, as to be almost fabulous. Even the name of 
 the people, Pelasgi, is said, and believed by many, to be 
 without a corresponding race, in fact, and those who 
 are said to be their descendants, occupied, in Ancient 
 Greece, an inferior position in society. 2 We may, there- 
 fore, well doubt the statement that there ever was a 
 period in which the Hellenes did not practise and recog- 
 nize slavery. The barbarous aboriginal inhabitants 
 formed too convenient a material to be disregarded by 
 their superiors ; and the right to and practice of en- 
 slaving the conquered, were recognized by all the sur- 
 rounding countries. These, of all others, saw a wider 
 difference between themselves and barbarians, and were 
 the least likely to doubt the right or discourage the prac- 
 tice of enslaving barbarians. Certain it is, that from the 
 earliest period of their authentic history, we find conquest 
 a fruitful source of slavery among the Greeks. 3 An in- 
 telligent French writer concludes, after a full investiga- 
 tion, that the critic may rightfully determine that slavery 
 existed in Greece prior to that time at which we have 
 the evidence to demonstrate its presence. 4 So deeply im- 
 
 collected by the research and industry of Mr. Fletcher, in his Studies on 
 Slavery, p. 516, et seq. ; See Eurip. Hecuba, 442; Troades, 186, 282; 
 Plautus, Casina. Captivi ; Aristophanes, Plutus, et passim ; Sophocles, 
 Trachiniffi. ' De 1'Esclavage dans 1'Antiquite, torn, i, 58. 
 
 * Grote's History of Greece, vol. ii, 261, et seq., and authorities cited. 
 8 Xen. Cyr. vii, 5, \ 73. Homer gives a graphic description of the 
 
 taking of a city and its consequences in the address of the old knight, 
 Phosnix. Iliad, ix, 585-600. 
 
 * Wallon, de 1'Esclavage dans l'Antiquit<3, torn, i, p. 56.
 
 SLAVERY IN GREECE. Ixi 
 
 pressed was slavery upon the Grecian institutions in 
 the heroic age, that we find it transplanted among the 
 Gods, and Apollo serving as the slave of Admetus, as a 
 penalty for the murder of the Cyclops. 1 And Hercules, 
 Bold to Omphale a barbarian, completes a year in her ser- 
 vice. Enraged at this indignity, he seeks revenge upon 
 Eurytus, whom he looked to as the cause, and taking 
 an advantage of Iphitus, the son, while his eye is turned 
 in another direction, hurls him from a towering height. 
 Jupiter, incensed at this cowardly trick, condemned 
 Hercules again to slavery. 2 In a fragment of Panyasis, 
 he says, " such (slavery) was the lot of Ceres, of the 
 illustrious blacksmith of Lemnos, of Neptune, of Apollo, 
 of the terrible Mars, bending under the fatal will of his 
 father." 3 
 
 In the Grecian mythology, Mercury was the peculiar 
 God of the slave, who protected and partook of hia 
 thefts. 4 
 
 The sources of slavery among the Greeks were the 
 same as those we have noticed among other nations, 
 until the celebrated Seisachtheia (SsiaaxOsca) or Relief 
 Law of Solon, the insolvent debtor was the slave of his 
 creditor. This act forbade the pledge of the person as 
 a security for the debt, released many debtors, who were 
 suffering the penalty of slavery, and even made provi- Jl 
 sion for the repurchasing and bringing back in liberty, 
 many insolvent debtors, who had been sold and exported. 
 Solon farther forbade the sale by parents of their chil- 
 dren as slaves, except in the case of an unchaste daugh- 
 ter. 5 The policy of their laws from that time discou- 
 
 1 Eurip. Alcestis, i, 2. 
 
 2 Sophocles, Trachiniae, 225-293 ; yEschylus, Agam. 1020. 
 8 Quoted in Wallon, torn, i, 81. 
 
 4 Aristoph. Plutus, 1140, et seq. Quoted in "Wallon, torn, i, p. 300. 
 
 5 Grote's Hist, of Greece, vol. iii, p. 98 ; Plutarch's Life of Solon. In 
 the other Grecian states, except Athens, the sale of children into slavery 
 continued. Wallon, i, 158.
 
 Ixil HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 raged the enslavement of Greeks, and looked to the 
 barbarians alone for a supply, 1 although, in some states, 
 the debtor still remained the subject of sale. 3 
 
 Expeditions were fitted, and wars undertaken fre- 
 quently, merely for the purpose of procuring slaves. 3 
 Such expeditions filled up' the leisure hours of the 
 Greeks during the siege of Troy. The stealing of 
 beautiful girls and boys for the purpose of enslaving 
 them was a common practice with the maritime nations. 
 The touching story of the swineherd Eumseus told 
 Ulysses, illustrates this truth. 4 Piracy formed also a 
 continual source of supply, which kept even pace with 
 the demand. 5 
 
 The children of female slaves followed the condition 
 of their mother, even if the master was their acknow- 
 ledged father. An excepted case was that of a master's 
 living with a female slave as -aMax^ or concubine, in 
 which event the children were free. 6 Ulysses was the 
 offspring of such a connection, and he gratefully ac- 
 knowledged that his father honored him equally with 
 his legitimate sons. 7 Though free, their position, how- 
 ever, was precarious, and depended more upon the will 
 and power of the father than any fixed rights. Hence, 
 Tecmessa appealed to Ajax in behalf of her son, the 
 issue of such concubinage, in the event of his dying 
 during the son's tender years, lest she " should eat the 
 
 1 See the speech of Callicratidas, Xen. Hellen. vi, 14. 
 
 2 Isocr. Platocens, 19 ; Becker's Charicles, 272 ; Smith's Diet, of G. & 
 R. Antiq. " Servus" (Greek). In the intestine wars among the different 
 Greek nations, and even in the civil wars in the several states, the en- 
 slavement of the vanquished was enforced. See Wallon, i, 162, 163, and 
 the authorities cited. 
 
 3 Odyssey, xiv, 250 ; Sophocles, Trachinias, 253, et seq. Aristotle 
 maintained the justice of such wars. Polit. iv, 7 ; xiii, 14. 
 
 4 Odyssey, Bk. XV, 375, 500. Plautus, Captivi. 
 
 6 Wallon, i, 166, et seq. ; Smith's Diet. " Servus" (Greek). 
 
 6 Becker's Charicles, Excursus to Scene vii, p. 27 ; Wallon, i, 157. 
 
 7 Odyssey, xiv, 200-210.
 
 SLAVERY IN GREECE. Ixiii 
 
 bread of slavery with her son." 1 This concubinage did 
 not emancipate the mother. In the same appeal Tec- 
 messa acknowledges her state of slavery. 2 
 
 Another source of slavery among the Greeks was from 
 the sale of strangers, residents in the city, Metics, who, 
 upon failure to discharge their obligations to the state, 
 or upon fraudulently, by marriage, introducing them- 
 selves into the family of a citizen, were condemned to 
 slavery. 3 
 
 Sometimes slavery was voluntarily submitted to as an 
 expiation for an offence, especially homicide. 4 
 
 There were two kinds of slavery among the Greeks, 
 which may be denominated agrestic, attached to the 
 land, or serfs, and domestic or personal servants. The 
 former consisted chiefly of the conquered inhabitants of 
 a country, who were first made the slaves of the com- 
 munity, and were retained in the possession of the con- 
 quered territory. 5 Among conquered nations, however, 
 there was a difference in the degree of servitude, arising 
 from the circumstances under which the conquest was 
 effected, and the degree of force used therein. Of some, 
 tribute only was required, and an acknowledged state of 
 dependence, with a liability to answer the calls of the 
 conquerors for men and munitions of war. Such were 
 admitted to bear arms in the wars, and sometimes to 
 hold offices, though their condition was still inferior to 
 that of citizens. In Laconia, these were termed Perioiki, 
 occupying a middle rank between the freemen and the 
 Helots. 6 
 
 In other cases, when the resistance was obstinate, or, 
 after subjection, the vanquished were rebellious, a more 
 
 1 Sophocles, Ajax, 485-518. 2 Ibid. 
 
 8 Wallon, i, 160. 4 Wallon, i, 63. 
 
 6 Wallon, torn, i, 56 ; Smith's Diet. " Servus" (Greek). 
 
 6 Wallon, torn, i, 94, et seq. ; Grote's Hist, of Greece, vol. ii, 364. The 
 original meaning of the word xspioixui is, " surrounding neighbor states," 
 and is thus used by Thucydides, i, 17, by Isocrates, De Pace, p. 182.
 
 1X1V HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 rigorous servitude was enforced. Such were the Helots 
 of Sparta, pure slaves, having no rights and allowed but 
 few privileges ; restricted from bearing arms, except as 
 attendants of their masters, or even from self-defence. 
 The tradition was, that they derived their name from 
 the inhabitants of Helos ; who, refusing to accept the 
 same terms with the other Perioiki, were reduced to a 
 more severe bondage, and this gave an appellation to 
 this class of slaves. 1 The Helots were the property of 
 the state, though their services were given to indivi- 
 duals. The state reserved the right of emancipating 
 them, and sometimes exercised it. 2 They constituted 
 the rustic population of Laconia ; sometimes working 
 the lands for a fixed rent, and sometimes under the im- 
 mediate direction of a master. 3 By reason, however, of 
 their being the slaves of the state, they were subject to 
 the control and order of every citizen. 4 The rent that 
 he paid for the land was fixed by the state : a certain 
 portion of barley and a proportional of oil and wine. 5 
 Being the slave of the state, the Helot was never sold, 
 especially out of the country ; and feeling the pride of 
 Grecian birth and descent, frequently on the field of 
 battle won his freedom. They were permitted to pos- 
 sess a small amount of property, how much is not cer- 
 tain. 6 These circumstances gave them a marked supe- 
 riority over the barbarian slave population of Athens 
 and Chios ; while, at the same time, they rendered them 
 more rebellious and unruly, requiring for their subjec- 
 tion a greater degree of rigor. Instances of great 
 cruelty and inhumanity are recorded of the Spartans, in 
 
 1 Smith's Diet. " Helotes." A more satisfactory definition is from 
 the obsolete verb, e'Atw, to take or conquer. See Wallon, torn, i, 100- 
 101 ; Grote, vol. ii, 374. 2 Smith, as above ; Wallon, torn, i, 103. 
 
 8 Smith, as above ; Grote's History of Greece, vol. ii, 373. 
 
 4 Wallon, torn, i, 103. 
 
 s Plutarch, Lye.; Wallon, i, 103; Smith, as above. 
 
 6 Grote's Hist. vol. ii, 375.
 
 SLAVERY IN GREECE. IxV 
 
 their treatment of the Helots. Some of them bear 
 marks of exaggeration, which justify incredulity ; such 
 as the story of the disappearance of two thousand of 
 them immediately after emancipation. The truth seems 
 to be, that they sought to break the spirit of their un- 
 ruly slaves by exhibitions of ostentatious scorn ; and, at 
 the same time, to inspirit their youth with a detestation 
 of the degradation of slavery, and an unconquerable 
 determination to preserve their own status as freemen'. 
 Such was the twofold motive for exhibiting them to their 
 youth in a state of drunkenness. The result of such 
 teaching would, naturally, lead to cruelty from the youth 
 to the slaves ; and the absence of a specific master to 
 protect them (being slaves of the state), frequently, with- 
 out doubt, subjected the unfortunate Helot to cruel op- 
 pressions. 1 
 
 The other states of Greece had their agrestic slaves, 
 as well as Athens and Sparta. The Penestae of Thes- 
 saly resembled very much the Helots of Sparta, their 
 condition being generally superior. They were slaves 
 of particular masters, and not of the state. They are 
 supposed to have been the descendants of the aboriginal 
 inhabitants, and, like the Helots, were more ungovern- 
 able than the purchased slaves of Athens. 2 
 
 So the Klarotse, or Perioiki, of Crete, according to 
 Aristotle, occupied a similar position with the Helots of 
 Sparta. Some of them, however, were the property of 
 particular masters, while others belonged to the state. 
 The latter worked the public lands, and attended the 
 public flocks the principal source of their public reve- 
 nue attended at the public feasts, and performed similar 
 duties on public occasions. Even those belonging to 
 particular masters, were generally occupied with rural 
 
 1 Grote's Hist vol. ii, 375 ; Smith's Diet " Helotes ;" Wallon, i, 104 
 
 2 Smith's Diet. "Penestae." 
 
 E
 
 Ixvi HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 labors. The menial duties of domestics were performed 
 by purchased slaves. 1 
 
 At Corinth, also, we find the agrestic slaves. 3 So at 
 Argos, Epidaurus, Sicyone, and at Delphos. 3 
 
 In almost every Grecian state we find the public 
 slaves. Those at Athens were termed " Demosii." They 
 were educated to fill subordinate offices, such as heralds, 
 clerks, &c. Sometimes they formed a part of the city 
 guard, and preserved order in public assemblies. It is 
 supposed that these possessed superior legal rights to 
 the private domestic slave. 4 
 
 In every portion of Ancient Greece we find the do- 
 mestic slave. In Sparta they were selected from the 
 Helots. 5 In most of Greece they were purchased slaves, 
 generally barbarians, and bought in the slave-markets. 
 These markets were regularly opened ; the supply, from 
 wars, commerce, piracies, and kidnapping, being ample. 
 The largest and most remarkable were held at Chios 
 and at Athens. 6 In these, the purchaser could supply 
 himself with slaves from different countries and of dif- 
 ferent qualities, according to the service for which they 
 were bought. Their very names indicated their different 
 origin. 7 Those of the North were large, rough, and 
 sometimes unruly. Those from Egypt were accustomed 
 to burdens, and were very enduring. From Egypt prin- 
 cipally came the supply of negroes. These were prized 
 for their color, were kept near the persons, and were 
 considered slaves of luxury. 8 The prices of slaves varied 
 
 1 Grote's Hist. vol. ii, 364; Wallon, torn, i, 121-125. 
 
 2 xwoipuAov, literally race of dogs ; "Wallon, i, 127. 
 
 3 Ibid. 130. 4 Smith's Diet, verb, " Demosii." 
 6 Grote's Hist, of Greece, vol. ii, 375. 
 
 6 Becker's Charicles, 272. Both at Athens and at Rome the market 
 took its name from the stone on which the sale was made. 
 
 7 Wallon, i, 169, et seq. ; Smith's Diet. " Servus." 
 
 8 Wallon, i, 169; Theophe. Char, xxi ; Becker's Charicles, Exc. 1, 
 and Scene vii, 275. See Indigenous Races of Man, pp. 190, 191, for cuts 
 of Etruscan vases, showing the perfect negro face and head.
 
 SLAVERY IN GREECE. Ixvii 
 
 very much, according to their qualities, and the object 
 for which they were purchased. Artisans were some- 
 times very valuable. They never, however, reached 
 those exorbitant rates which were afterwards paid for 
 them at Rome. They were generally stripped naked 
 when sold. 1 
 
 As we have seen, the negro was a favorite among 
 slaves. The opposite color, "white," does not seem to 
 have enjoyed the same favoritism. According to Plu- 
 tarch, in his Life of Agesilaus, when that king made an 
 expedition into Persia, he ordered his commissaries, one 
 day, to strip and sell the prisoners. Their clothes sold 
 freely, "but," says the historian, "as to the prisoners 
 themselves, their skins being soft and white, by reason 
 of their having lived so much within doors, the specta- 
 tors only laughed at them, thinking they would be of no 
 service as slaves." Eunuchs were common among the 
 slaves in Greece. 2 
 
 In the later days of Greece, it denoted poverty to be 
 seen without an attendant. The number of these varied 
 according to rank and wealth, but never was so great as 
 at Rome. In Greece, slaves were looked to as a source 
 of income and revenue ; but in Rome, merely as min- 
 istering to their pride and luxury. No individual in 
 Greece ever swelled out the number of his slaves to the 
 enormous limit common at Rome. But the most of the 
 Grecian slaves were artisans, or skilled in some way to 
 be profitable to the master. 3 Hence there were no 
 learned slaves, as at Rome; nor slaves kept for mere 
 pleasure, as actors, dancers, musicians. When attend- 
 
 1 Smith's Diet. "Servus" (Greek); Xen. Mem. ii, 5, 2; Becker's 
 Charicles, as above. See Wallon, torn, i, 197, et seq. 
 
 * Herod, viii, 105. 
 
 3 See Becker's Charicles, as above ; Smith's Diet. " Servus ;" Arist. De 
 Repub. ii, 3, iii, 4 ; Aristoph. Eccl. 593 ; Xen. Mem. i, 7, 2 ; Plato, Leg. 
 v, 742, vii, 806. When Phocion's wife had only one female slave to attend 
 her, it was the subject of remark at the theatre. Plutarch's Phocion.
 
 Ixviii HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 ing his master in the streets, the slave preceded, and did 
 not follow. The reason for this custom was the frequent 
 escapes of fugitive slaves. 1 More than 20,000, we are 
 told, escaped at one time during the occupation of De- 
 celea by the Lacedemonians.* The master had the right 
 to pursue and recapture the fugitive, and the penalty 
 was, frequently, branding in the forehead, to prevent a 
 repetition of the offence. 3 The delivery of fugitive 
 slaves was frequently a subject-matter for treaties be- 
 tween the different states/ In the later days of the 
 republic, there were offices where insurance was taken 
 to respond, in the event of the flight of the slave. 5 
 
 The number of female slaves about the house was not 
 proportionally great, many of their offices being per- 
 formed by men. 6 They were under the direction of a 
 stewardess, as the men were under a steward. The 
 slaves on a farm were controlled entirely by an overseer; 
 the master and owner residing generally in the city. 7 
 
 The number of slaves in Greece was very large. Their 
 imperfect census, however, leaves the exact number and 
 proportion doubtful. The better opinion is, that they 
 were three or four times the number of the free popula- 
 tion. 8 
 
 The condition of the Greek slave was much more 
 tolerable than that of the Koman. He was much more 
 familiar with his master than the Koman. Plutarch's 
 
 1 Becker's Charicles, as above ; Lucian, Amor. 10. 
 
 Thucyd. vii, 27. 
 
 3 Xen. Mem. ii, 10; Plat. Protag. p. 310; Smith's Diet.; Becker's 
 Charicles, 279; Athenaeus, vi, 225; Aristoph. The Birds, 758; Wallon, 
 torn, i, 317. 4 Thucyd. iv, 118. 
 
 6 Smith's Diet. " Servus" (Greek). Antigenes, of Rhodes, was the 
 first to establish such an insurance. Ibid. 
 
 6 Becker's Charicles, 275. 
 
 7 Xen. Econ. xii, 2 ; ix, 11 ; Aristot. De Repub. i, 7 ; Wallon, i, 310. 
 
 8 Smith's Diet. " Servus" (Greek) ; Becker's Charicles, 273. The sub- 
 ject is elaborately considered by Wallon, Histoire, &c., torn, i, 220, et 
 seq.
 
 SLAVERY IN GREECE. IxiX 
 
 anecdote concerning " Garrulity," evidences the latter 
 thus : Piso invited Clodius to dine, a slave being the 
 bearer of the invitation ; the dinner was delayed by the 
 non-arrival of Clodius. At last the host inquired of the 
 slave if he was sure he invited him. The reply was, 
 "Yes." "Why doesn't he come then?" "Because 
 he declined the invitation." " Why did you not tell me 
 that before ?" " Because you never asked me about it," 
 was the slave's reply. 1 Euripides represents the depriva- 
 tion of the liberty of speech as the greatest of ills, and 
 adds, that this is the condition of a slave. 2 While, how- 
 ever, the legal right was absent, the privilege was ex- 
 tended almost ad libitum to the Athenian slave at least. 3 
 Plato objects to this practice as evil, and adds, " The 
 address to a slave ought to be entirely or nearly a com- 
 mand; nor should persons ever in any respect jest with 
 them, whether males or females, acts which many per- 
 sons do very foolishly towards their slaves, and by 
 making them conceited render it more difficult during 
 life for their slaves to be governed, and for themselves 
 to govern." 4 
 
 The result of this kind treatment was a correspond- 
 ing fidelity on the part of the slave. Thus, Plato bears 
 witness, that " many slaves, by conducting themselves 
 with respect to all virtue, better towards some persons 
 than brothers and sons, have preserved their masters 
 and their possessions, and the whole of their dwellings." 
 
 " Other masters," he says, "by frequent use of goads 
 and whips, cause the very souls of their servants to be- 
 come slavish." 3 
 
 1 De Garrul. 18 ; Plaut. Stech. iii. 2 The Phenician Virgins, 391, 3. 
 
 3 Becker's Charicles, Exc. Sc. vii, 276 ; Dem. Phil. iii. The comedies 
 of Aristophanes abound with confirmations of this fact. See especially 
 The Frogs, 51, et passim, Pseudolus; see also Terence, Andr. vi, 676; 
 see also Plautus, Casina (Prologue), Epidicus. 
 
 4 De Leg. Bk. VI, ch. xix, Burges's Trans. 
 6 De Leg. Bk. VI, ch. xix.
 
 1XX HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 Occasionally the slaves were allowed feasts and holidays, 
 at which times they enjoyed unrestrained liberty. The 
 master frequently furnished the feast luxuriously. 1 There 
 were also certain public feasts, in which the slave parti- 
 cipated freely with his master ; such were the Anthes- 
 teria feasts of Bacchus ; at the conclusion of which the 
 herald proclaimed : " Depart, ye Carian slaves, the fes- 
 tivals are at an end." 2 So, even at Sparta, during the 
 feast of Hyacinthia, the slaves were admitted to the 
 same table and sports with the masters. 3 In Thessaly, 
 during the feasts of Jupiter Pelorius, the masters ex- 
 changed places with them and served them. During 
 the feasts of Saturn, in Greece as well as at Rome, un- 
 restrained liberty was allowed to all.' 4 
 
 The affection of the master frequently followed the 
 slave to the grave ; and more than once they lay in a 
 common sepulchre. The inscriptions on several monu- 
 ments at Athens testify to the high esteem and sincere 
 grief of the surviving master. 5 Euripides gives us a 
 touching proof of this affection in the death-scene of 
 Alcestis. " All the servants wept throughout the house, 
 bewailing their mistress, but she stretched out her right 
 hand to each, and there was none so mean whom she 
 addressed not, and was answered in return." 6 
 
 The life and person of the slave were protected by 
 law at Athens, and an action lay by the master for in- 
 jury done to his slave. 7 If the slave was cruelly treated 
 by his master, he could take refuge in the Thescion, or 
 
 1 Plautus, Stechus, Act III, Sc. I. 
 
 8 Potter, Gr. Ant. vol. i, p. 422, et seq. ; Wallon, torn, i, p. 299. 
 3 Wallon, torn, i, 299, 300. 4 Wallon, torn, i, 300. 
 
 6 Bceckh. P. II, Inscrip. Atticse, Cl. XI, Nos. 939, 1002, 1890, 1891, 
 1792, 2009, 2327, 2344; Wallon, torn, i, 301. 
 
 6 Alcestis, 175, et seq. ; see also Odyssey, xvii, 33; xv, 363, et seq.; 
 xxiv, 226 ; Iphigenia in Aulis, passim, and the old nurse in Media. 
 
 7 Xen. De Rep. Ath. i, 10 ; -^Eschin. in Timarch, 41 ; Demosth. in Mid. 
 529.
 
 SLAVERY IN GREECE. Ixxi 
 
 at some other altar, and then the master was forced to 
 sell him. 1 The reason is given by the poet : " The seat 
 of the Gods is a common defence to all !" 2 In some 
 cases the master lost all right of property upon the 
 slave's taking refuge. Thus the temple of Hercules, 
 at Canope, kept possession of all slaves seeking an asy- 
 lum there. So that of Hebe at Phlius, gave liberty to 
 the fugitives, suspending their chains upon the boughs 
 of the sacred trees. 3 For the greater protection of the 
 slave, who could not always reach the asylum, the mere 
 presence with him of a consecrated relic, was an amulet 
 and a charm against the master's cruelty: such were 
 crowns of laurel from the temple of Apollo, and some- 
 times small bands or mere strings worn around the fore- 
 head. 4 
 
 The homicide of a slave at Athens, by any one other 
 than the master, was punishable in the same manner as 
 that of a freeman. 5 With the master, the punishment 
 was exile and religious expiation. 6 Plato, in his laws, 
 proposes for the former, indemnity to the master for the 
 loss of the slave, and religious purification. In the case 
 of the master, religious purification solely. 7 
 
 Slaves were not considered as persons in the Greek 
 law. Marriage was not recognized between them, 
 although a kind of contubernial relation existed. This 
 was entered into with the same solemnity, and some- 
 times with the same feasting, as a regular marriage. 
 Hence, in the prologue to Casina, the question is asked, 
 " Are slaves to be marrying wives, or asking them for 
 themselves, a thing that is done nowhere in the world ? 
 
 1 Becker's Char. Exc. Sc. vii, 277 ; see note 33, in Appendix to Wallon, 
 torn, i, p. 482. 
 
 2 Eurip. Heracl. 260 ; see also Androm. 260. 
 8 Herod, ii, 113; Pausan. ii, xiii, 4. 
 
 4 Wallon, torn, i, 313; Aristoph. Plut. 20. 
 
 6 Dem. in Midias ; Eurip. Hec. 288. 
 
 6 Wallon, torn, i, p. 315. Bk. IX, ch. viii.
 
 Ixxii HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 But I affirm that this is done in Greece and at Carthage, 
 and in our own country, in Apulia." 1 
 
 The slave could not appear as a suitor in the courts, 
 except in the single case of a suit for his liberty, when he 
 appeared by a guardian. 3 He was sometimes permitted 
 to testify in the courts, but always under torture a pro- 
 ceeding which shocks our sense of justice and humanity, 
 but was approved and defended by the orators of that 
 time. Neither age nor sex was a protection against this 
 cruelty, and if the master refused to permit it, he was 
 himself subjected to punishment. 3 Though deprived by 
 law of any right of property, still the slave was allowed 
 by usage his peculium.* 
 
 Wherever in Greece slaves were private property, they 
 were the subject of sale. They frequently constituted 
 a part of the dowry of a daughter upon her marriage. 5 
 
 The manual labor was almost entirely performed by 
 slaves. The working of the mines, of the oars of the 
 vessels, of the fields, of the machinery, was chiefly per- 
 formed by them. 6 It is said, that, when from old age 
 they became useless, they were abandoned in their 
 misery ; but I have not been satisfied, from the evidence, 
 that this allegation is well founded. 7 
 
 It is unquestionably true, that the laws governing 
 slavery were more rigid than the practices of the com- 
 munity. Wallon, speaking on this subject, says, " Mais 
 la loi est moins puissante que les moeurs, et les mceurs 
 grossieres encore, n'dtaient point commune'ment cruel- 
 les." 8 It is also true, that generally the slaves were 
 
 1 Plautns, Casina ; Wallon, torn, i, 290. 
 
 2 Wallon, torn, i, 324. 
 
 Wallon, Ibid. ; Plato, De Leg. xi, 937 ; Plautns, Truculentus, Act. IV, 
 Sc. iii : Dem. in Onet, i, 874. 
 
 4 Wallon, torn, i, 293 ; Plautus, Aulul. Ill, Sc. v, 422. 
 
 5 Clytemnestra's dowry; in Iphigenia in Aulis; Eurip. 
 
 6 Beckers Charicles, 280. 
 
 7 Wallon, torn, i, 332. 
 
 8 Histoire de 1'Esclavage, &c., torn, i, 81, 291, 334.
 
 SLAVERY IN GREECE. 
 
 coarse and vulgar, incapable of noble feelings, their chief 
 praise being their freedom from crime. 1 
 
 For offences committed by the slave, corporal punish- 
 ments alone were inflicted. If the offence was worthy 
 of death, it could be inflicted only by process of law, 
 and not by the friends, as the avengers of blood, nor by 
 the master. 2 
 
 Manumission of the slave was allowed in all the Gre- 
 cian states. The effect of this manumission differed 
 according to the manner and circumstances attending it. 
 The manumitted slave, at Sparta, did not become a citi- 
 zen thereby, nor was he even entitled to the privileges 
 of a Perioikus without a special grant for this purpose, 
 from a Perioikic township. 3 At Athens he came under 
 a double tutelage. He occupied, in the state, the posi- 
 tion of a metic, or alien resident. As to his former 
 master, he became his client, and lived under his patron- 
 age. His condition was intermediate the slave and the 
 citizen, tending rather to the former. In order to be- 
 come a citizen, he must be adopted by the vote of an 
 assembly of at least six thousand citizens. 4 
 
 It is supposed, by some, that the slave could force the 
 master to manumit him upon the payment of a certain 
 price. The authorities cited in favor of this view, are 
 not sufficient to warrant this conclusion, in the silence 
 of so many other writers. 5 
 
 1 Becker's Charicles, Exc. Sc. vii, p. 279. 
 
 8 Becker's Cnaricles, Exc. Sc. vii, p. 278, gives a full description of 
 the various fetters and machines used. Wallon, i, 316, et seq. ; Eurip. 
 Hec. 287, 288. 
 
 8 Grote's Hist. vol. ii, 379 ; Dion. Chrysos. Orat. xxxvi, p. 448, b. 
 
 4 Wallon, i, 345, 350. There is some doubt whether even then he was 
 entitled to the full privileges of citizenship ; 351-2. The privilege seems 
 to have been voted so freely and frequently as to have been a matter of 
 complaint ; 353. See also Smith's Diet. "Libertus." 
 
 5 Plautus. The expression of Olympic, " Why do you frighten me 
 about liberty ? Even though you should oppose it, and your son as well, 
 against your will and in spite of you both, for a single penny, I can be- 
 come free." Act. II, Sc. v. ; Dion. Chrysos. xv, 240, 241.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE ROMANS. 
 
 IN the earlier days of Rome, during the reign of her 
 kings, and the beginning of the republic, slavery, though 
 it existed, occupied an unimportant place in the political 
 and domestic economy. The Romans, in this heroic 
 age, were a rude, martial people, their greatest wealth 
 being their land (hence locuples, a rich man), their source 
 of revenue their flocks (pascua\ and their very name for 
 money (pecunia\ having cattle for its root. 1 In their 
 organization, however, were elements whose fruits must 
 eventually be slavery. These elements were their spirit 
 of conquest, the unlimited paternal power, and generally 
 that devotion to and tendency towards the development 
 of the principle of " power," which formed the basis of 
 all her institutions, and the secret of her unparalleled 
 success. In these, we find the fruitful sources of that 
 slavery which, in the later days of the republic, and 
 under the emperors, held in bondage so large a portion 
 of the subjects of the Roman power. We will consider 
 more minutely these sources. 
 
 And first of the paternal power. This was without 
 parallel among civilized nations. " Nulli enim alii sunt 
 
 'Pirn. Nat. Hist, xviii, 3 ; South. Quart. Rev. vol. xiv, Oct. 1848, art. 
 4, p. 391, Slavery among the Romans. This article is supposed to be 
 from the pen of Judge Campbell of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States. Prom the known ability and accuracy of its author, I have not 
 hesitated to use it freely in the preparation of this sketch.
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE ROMANS. 
 
 homines qui talem in liberoshabeantpotestatem, qualem 
 nos habemus." 1 The potestas vitse et necis, the power 
 to expose the infant without liability to punishment, the 
 power to sell into slavery, these were the legitimate ele- 
 ments of the paternal power. It was not until the days 
 of Constantine, that the exposure and abandonment of 
 infants became penal ; and a decree of Diocletian con- 
 tains the first formal denial of the power of sale, though 
 Troplong suggests, that the influence of Christianity had 
 rendered the usage obsolete before that time. 2 Children 
 thus sold became absolute slaves, without the power of 
 redemption, either in the parent or themselves. 3 It was 
 otherwise of children exposed. The preserver held them 
 subject to reclamation. Many instances are given of 
 such reclamations. 4 
 
 Another internal source of slavery was the power of 
 the debtor, either to sell himself directly into slavery, or 
 to pledge his body (nexus) for the payment of his debt. 
 In default of payment, he was, after a certain time of 
 imprisonment, taken for three successive days before the 
 praetor, and payment demanded. He was then ordered 
 to be sold, out of the city, and became what was called 
 addictus. 5 Though the debtor thus lost his liberty, he 
 was not in precisely the same situation with an ordinary 
 slave. He could not be killed by his master, but might 
 claim the protection of the law as a freeman ; could in- 
 herit property, and retain his name. " Ad servum nulla 
 lex pertinet ; addictus legem habet. Propria liberi, quse 
 nemo habet, nisi liber, prsenomen, nomen, cognomen, 
 tribum, habet heec addictus." 6 And again, the slave 
 when manumitted, became a " libertinus." The addictus 
 
 1 Gaius Inst. Com. i, 55. 
 
 2 Influence du Chr. sur le droit civil, pt. ii, ch. ii. 
 
 3 Wallon, Esclav. dans 1'Antiq. torn, ii, p. 21. 
 
 4 Plin. Epist. x ; Suet. De Illustr. Gram. 21 ; Wallon, as above. 
 6 Wallon, ii, 23; Becker's "Gallus," 201. 
 
 6 Quinctil. vii, 3, 27 ; Arnold's Hist, of Rome, ch. xxvi, p. 224.
 
 Ixxvi HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 became a citizen (ingenuus}. The slave, without the con- 
 sent of his master, could not obtain his liberty. The 
 addictm solvendo, by redeeming his price, could demand 
 his release. 1 
 
 The purchaser took with the debtor, all that belonged 
 to him, and hence his children, unless previously eman- 
 cipated from the paternal power, went into slavery 
 together with their father. This power of the creditor 
 over the debtor, caused frequent disturbances, and was 
 much weakened by the Licinian laws. 2 Its final abro- 
 gation happened in this wise: A young man, Caius 
 Publilius, of extreme youth and beauty, surrendered his 
 person for his father's debt, to one Papirius, a cruel 
 usurer. He, excited with lust, approached the youth 
 with impure discourses ; and then by threats, and finally 
 by stripes, endeavored to compel his assent. With the 
 marks of the scourge upon him, the young man rushed 
 into the street. A large concourse of people gathered 
 around him in the forum, and from thence in a body 
 went to the Senate-house. The consuls called the Senate, 
 and as each senator went in he was shown the lacerated 
 youth and told the tale of cruelty. The consequence 
 was, a law abolishing this penalty upon the insolvent 
 debtor. 3 
 
 Another internal source of slavery was the penalty 
 for violating various laws. The person who withdrew 
 himself from the census, or who avoided military ser- 
 vice, the open robber, and the free female who main- 
 tained sexual intercourse with a slave, severally forfeited 
 their freedom. 4 After the battle of Cannae, the dictator, 
 pressed by the necessity, offered liberty to all such as 
 
 1 Ibid. Wallon, ii, 24, 25. 2 Arnold's Hist. ch. xxvi. 
 
 8 Livy, Bk. VIII, 28. 
 
 4 So. Quart. Rev. xiv, 393 ; Wallon, ii, 31, 32 ; Gaius, iii, 189. The 
 latter was by senatus-consultum Claudianum. For its provisions, see 
 Smith's Dictionary. The master of the slave might relieve her of the 
 penalty by consenting to the cohabitation.
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE ROMANS. 
 
 would enrol as soldiers. Six thousand availed themselves 
 of this offer. 1 
 
 The most fruitful sources of slavery were the continual 
 wars of the Komans. The number of captives brought 
 home into slavery appears sometimes incredible. It be- 
 came common to release them sometimes upon the field 
 for a ransom. A small tax was laid upon such contracts, 
 and the revenue derived therefrom was very considera- 
 ble. The captives were divided with the spoils upon 
 the battle-field, and each soldier provided for the slaves 
 allotted to him. Hence, it became common for the 
 slave-dealers (mangones) to accompany the army for the 
 purpose of purchasing the captives. The prices at such 
 times became very trifling, sometimes as small as four 
 drachmae, about seventy-five cents, federal currency. 
 Every nation of the then known world, as it bowed its 
 head before the Roman Eagle, yielded at the same time its 
 beauty and sinew to satiate the appetite and perform the 
 labor for its victorious master. According to Josephus, 
 97,000 captives followed the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 Africa, Asia, Greece, Germany, Gaul, and even Britain, 
 brought their quota to swell the mighty mass. The 
 valley of the Danube for a long time furnished the 
 greater number, and gave the generic name of Scythian 
 and afterwards slave (sclavi) to the whole class. 3 
 
 While the Roman arms subdued the land, and de- 
 stroyed the marine of all rival nations, yet Rome at 
 no period of her history sought to become powerful 
 upon the sea. This was then truly an unoccupied ocean, 
 and numberless pirates soon took possession of the Medi- 
 terranean. The prisoners taken by these robbers of the 
 sea, were made profitable booty in the Roman slave- 
 
 1 Livy, xxiii, H ; Wallon, ii, 31, 2. 
 
 1 Wallon, ii, 32-40 ; So. Quart. Rev. xiv, 394 ; Smith's Diet, of Gr. 
 and Rom. Ant. " Servus," Roman ; Plautus, " Captivi," Prologue ; 
 Henry's Hist, of Eng. ii, p. 225.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 market; and hence, piracy is to be numbered among 
 the fruitful sources of Roman slavery. It is said that 
 the Cilician pirates imported and sold as many as 10,000 
 slaves in one day. 1 Men of the highest rank in Rome 
 engaged in this honorable calling (metier honorable), 
 and they constituted a powerful organization, threaten- 
 ing the security of the citizen himself. 9 Upon the land 
 they built gaols, in which they secretly confined their 
 victims, many of whom were kidnapped upon Roman 
 territory. 3 
 
 The tyranny of the Roman proconsuls in levying and 
 collecting the tribute was another abundant feeder of 
 the slave-market. Unable to respond to the heavy exac- 
 tions, they borrowed money at exorbitant usury. The 
 protection of the debtor in the city was not extended to 
 the provinces, and hence, in a few years, numbers were 
 sold into slavery. When Marius demanded a quota of 
 troops from the King of Bithynia, his reply was, that 
 his kingdom was depopulated by this process of exac- 
 tion, extortion, and sale/ 
 
 The children of slaves always followed the condition 
 of the mother ; and hence the maxim of the law, " servi 
 nostri nascuntur autfiunt." The breeding of slaves, until 
 the latter days of Rome, was encouraged, it being cheaper 
 to rear than to buy. For this reason a kind of marriage 
 relation (contubernium) was recognized among them. 5 
 
 Under the oppressions of the Empire of Rome, so 
 great was the abhorrence of the citizens to holding the 
 
 1 Strabo, xiv, 664-8 ; Smith's Diet, as above ; Wallon, ii, 44, 45. 
 
 2 Ibid. For an account of the power of the pirates and its final over- 
 throw, see Plutarch's Life of Pompey. 3 Wallon, ii, 47, 8. 
 
 4 Diod. Fragm. xxxvi, iii, 1 ; So. Quart. Rev. vol. xiv, 394 ; Wallon, ii, 
 44. 
 
 6 So. Quart. Rev. xiv, 400 ; Wallon, ii, 209 ; Plut. Cato, the Censor. 
 Columella, in his work De re rust., recommends that a female slave, the 
 mother of three children, should be relieved from hard work, and, for a 
 greater number, should be granted her liberty ; i, 8, 18.
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE ROMANS. IxXlX 
 
 civil offices of the government, that many voluntarily 
 subjected themselves in preference to a state of sla- 
 very. 1 
 
 Slaves constituted an important article of commerce, 
 and also of revenue, in the tariff laid upon their impor- 
 tation and exportation, and also upon their sale. Carthage 
 itself dealing largely in slaves, working the mines of 
 the Peninsula exclusively with their labor, carried on a 
 brisk trade in them. Delos and Chios also were slave- 
 marts. But Rome was the centre of the trade, and the 
 slave-market at Rome gives us the most perfect idea of 
 its extent and variety. Slaves of peculiar beauty and 
 rarity were kept separate and apart, and sold privately. 
 The slaves generally were sold at auction, standing upon 
 a stone, so that they might be closely scrutinized. Fre- 
 quently they were stripped naked, to avoid the cheats 
 the dealers were noted for practising. Sometimes the 
 advice of medical men was obtained. 3 Newly imported 
 slaves had their feet whitened with chalk. 3 Those from 
 the East had their ears bored. All of them had a scroll 
 (titulus) suspended around the neck, giving their ages, 
 birthplace, qualities, health, &c., and the seller was held 
 to warrant the truth of this statement. He was bound 
 to discover all defects, especially as to health, thievish- 
 ness, disposition to run away, or to commit suicide. 4 
 
 If the seller was unwilling to warrant, instead of the 
 titulus, he placed a cap (pileus) upon the head of the 
 slave, and exposed him thus. 5 A crown upon the head 
 indicated a captive taken in war. 
 
 The seller would cause the slave to run, leap, or per- 
 form some other act of agility. They possessed the art 
 of causing their limbs to look round and their flesh 
 
 1 Edwards's Eccl. Journ. \ 18. 
 
 * Claudian in Eutrop. i, 35. 3 Juv. i, 111 ; vii, 10. 
 
 4 Cic. de OS., iii, 17; Aul. Gell. iv, 2; Smith's Diet "Servus" (Ro- 
 man) ; Wallon, ii, 53. 6 Gell. vii, 4.
 
 l.KXX HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 young, and to retard the appearances of age. 1 They 
 vaunted loudly the praises of their good qualities. Varro 
 and Seneca, Pliny and Quinctilian give warnings, to the 
 purchasers, of these arts, and rules of recommendation 
 for their protection. Still the sellers succeeded in de- 
 frauding, and finally an edict declared, " that those who 
 sell slaves must acquaint the purchaser with the diseases 
 and vices of each, and declare whether he has been a 
 runaway or vagabond, or the contract of sale will be 
 avoided. These declarations must be made publicly and 
 aloud before the sale. If a slave is sold contrary to 
 these stipulations, or if he does not answer to the things 
 affirmed or promised when he was sold, the purchaser or 
 his assigns may rescind the sale. Moreover, if the slave 
 has committed any capital offence, or has attempted 
 suicide, or has fought with wild beasts in the arena, it 
 must be made known at the sale, or it can be avoided." 2 
 
 Slaves newly imported, were preferred for labor. Those 
 who had served long were considered artful. 3 The pert- 
 ness and impudence of those born in the master's house 
 were proverbial. 4 The nativity of the slave gave some 
 indication of his qualities. Thus, the Phrygian was 
 timid ; the African vain ; the Cretan mendacious ; the 
 Sardinian unruly ; the Corsican cruel and rebellious ; the 
 Dalmatian ferocious; the Briton stupid; the Syrian 
 strong ; the Ionian beautiful ; the Alexandrian accom- 
 plished and luxurious. 5 
 
 Dealing in slaves was, nevertheless, considered a de- 
 grading occupation. They were denied even the name 
 
 1 Wallon, ii, 56. Hence, mangozinare, from mangones. 
 
 2 Wallon, ii, 57, 8. A vast number of questions arose under this edict 
 as to what was a defect. For some of them see Wallon, as above. For 
 the manner in which the auctioneer communicated the vices, but at the 
 same time covered them up with praises, see Horace, Epist. ii, 2. 
 
 8 Terence, Heaut. v, 16. * Hor. Sat. ii, 6, 66. 
 
 Wallon, ii, 64, 65 j So. Quart. Rev. xiv, 394 ; Juvenal, v. 73 ; Cic. ad 
 Att. Lib. iv, 16.
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE ROMANS. Ixxri 
 
 of merchants (mercatores), but were called mangoncs. 
 They amassed large fortunes, yet they had not the con- 
 fidence of the community. Plautus makes his chorus 
 speak of their faithlessness and dishonesty. 1 It seems 
 there was, and ever has heen, something in the prosecu- 
 tion of this traffic, which either repels the good man, 
 or else deadens his sensibility, and soon destroys his 
 virtue. 
 
 To attest the early day at which the negro was com- 
 monly used as a slave at Rome, the following description 
 of a negress, written in the second century, serves well : 
 
 " Interdum clamat cybalen ; erat unica custoa. 
 Afra genus, tota patriam testante figura, 
 Torta comam, labroque tumens et fusca eolorem, 
 Pectore lata, jacens mammis, compressior alvo, 
 Cruribus exilis, spatiosa prodiga planta, 
 Continuis rimis calcanea scissa rigebant." 2 
 
 So Seneca: "Nbn est .^Ethiopia inter suos insignitus 
 color, nee rufus crinis et coactus in nodum apud Ger- 
 manos." 3 
 
 Originally, all the slaves of Rome were personal slaves. 
 None were attached to the soil. All were the subject of 
 removal and sale. When slavery, subsequently, gradu- 
 ally changed into serfdom, the contrary was true. There 
 were, in Rome, public and private slaves. The former 
 belonged to the state, and their condition was rather 
 better than the other class. They possessed the privilege 
 of willing one-half of their peculium. They were em- 
 ployed about the public buildings, and as attendants of 
 the various officers. And also as lictors, jailors, execu- 
 
 1 Curculio, 17, Sc. I; Smith's Diet. "Servus" (Rom.); Wallon, ii, 
 50, 51. 
 
 * Quoted in Types of Mankind, 255 ; see also reference in same place 
 to Virgil's description of field slaves. 
 
 s De Ira, cap. iii. 
 
 F
 
 lixxii HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 tioners, watermen, &C. 1 There were also convict- slaves 
 (servi poenae), whose servitude was the penalty of some 
 crime. These were treated with great rigor ; and it is 
 probable, much of the recorded cruelty to slaves was to 
 this class. 2 
 
 The private slaves were again distinguished into two 
 classes, the rustic and the city slaves ; any number of 
 them, owned by the same master, were called familia. 
 Hence, every master had the familia rustica, and the 
 familia urbana. The private slaves were still farther 
 subdivided, according to their occupations, and from 
 these occupations they derived their names : such as 
 ordinarily vulgares, mediastini, and quales quales. The 
 literati, were literary slaves. 3 
 
 The number of Roman slaves, at any period, cannot 
 be accurately ascertained. That they were very numer- 
 ous, and more numerous than the free population, is 
 indisputable, and that the numbers increased rapidly 
 during the latter days of the republic and under the 
 emperors. The numbers owned by a single individual 
 are almost incredible. 4 They were chiefly employed in 
 agricultural pursuits, or the mechanic arts. 5 Many, how- 
 ever, were, in these days, used as personal attendants ; 
 it being considered discreditable for a person of rank to 
 be seen without a train of them. 6 From the moment a 
 stranger entered the vestibule of a Roman house, through 
 the hall, in the reception-room, at the table, everywhere 
 
 1 Smith's Diet. " Servus ;" So. Quart. Rev. xiv, 427 ; see Livy, xxvi, 47 ; 
 Copley's Hist, of Slav. 45 ; Wallon, ii, 89, et seq. 
 
 2 For a full inquiry into the penal slavery of the Romans, see Ste- 
 phens's W. I. Slavery, i, 337, et seq. 
 
 3 Wallon, ii, 95 ; Smith's Diet. " Servus ;" Becker's Gallus, Exc. Ill to 
 Sc. I. 
 
 * So. Quart. Rev. xiv, 396-7 ; Wallon, ii, 72, et seq.; Becker's Gallus, 
 Exc. Ill, Sc. I ; Athena3us says as many as 20,000, vi, p. 272 ; see Pliuy, 
 xxxiii, vi, 9-10 ; Juvenal, xiv, 305 ; Hor. Sat. Bk. I, iii, 11. 
 
 5 Cic. de Off. i, 42 ; Liv. vi, 12. 
 
 6 Cic. in Piso, 27; Hor. Sat. i, 3, 12.
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE ROMANS. 
 
 lie was attended by different servants, each taking their 
 name from their particular occupation. The same sys- 
 tem was developed in every part of the household. The 
 female slaves were, in like manner, so distinguished ; 
 every conceivable want being attended by a separate 
 slave. The nursery, especially, being furnished with 
 midwife (obstetrix\ guard, nurse, porters, &c. &c. The 
 smallest service had its appropriate slave. Thus, the 
 holding of the umbrella (umbelliferce), the fan (flabelli- 
 ferce), the sandal (sandaligerulce), gave names to particular 
 slaves. So the arranging the dress, the setting of the 
 teeth, and the painting of the eyebrows, required dis- 
 tinct attendants. 1 Seneca says, "Infelix qui huic rei 
 vivit ut altilia secet decenter." 2 
 
 The wife, upon her marriage, received always a confi- 
 dential slave (dotalis). He belonged to her, the master 
 having no control over him. He frequently had the con- 
 fidence of the wife more than her own husband. He 
 was sometimes called " servus recepticim" because, per- 
 haps, he received and took charge of the paraphernalia 
 of the wife. 3 For her footmen and couriers, the wife 
 preferred always the negroes ; and one reason given was 
 because of the contrast of the skin and the silver plate 
 suspended upon the breast, upon which was inscribed 
 the name and titles of the mistress. 4 
 
 Even the schoolboy was followed by his little slave 
 (vernula, born in the house), to bear his satchel to the 
 school. 5 The old and luxurious were borne in sedans or 
 
 1 So. Quart. Rev. xiv, 400 ; Wallon, ii, 118, 145. It is probable that 
 the same slave performed several of these offices though bearing different 
 names : Ibid. 140, and authorities cited. 
 
 2 Epist. xl, vii, 4. 
 
 8 Plautus, Asin. Act I, Sc. i ; Aul. Gell. Bk. XVII, vi ; Wallon, ii, 
 116. 
 
 4 Sen. Epis. Ixxxvii, 8 ; Wallon, ii, 120 ; Mart, vii, 201 ; Becker's Gal- 
 lus, Exc. Ill to Sc. i, 201. 
 
 6 Juv. Sat. x.
 
 Ixxxiv HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 chairs, by stout Mesian slaves ; while the wealthy made 
 an ostentatious display of their means, by multiplying 
 the number of their bearers (lecticarii}. 1 
 
 In addition to the common employments of slaves, 
 they were frequently used in other spheres, where the 
 labor was more or less intellectual. The literary slaves, 
 those used as librarians and amanuenses, were of this 
 class. So all the professions, now termed "learned," 
 were not free from slave competition. "Physic" cer- 
 tainly was not. In every branch of trade and commerce 
 slaves were employed by their masters as agents, and in 
 many cases, sole managers and controllers. 3 
 
 The Roman sports, corresponding to their tastes, were 
 always rough and violent. The combat of the gladiators 
 was more exciting and attractive than the pathos of 
 tragedy, or the wit of the comic muse, though Terence 
 and Plautus catered to their taste. To rear and prepare 
 slaves for these dangerous and murderous conflicts, as 
 well as for the fighting of wild beasts, became a common 
 practice, especially under the emperors ; who encouraged 
 these sports in the people, in order to disengage their 
 thoughts from their own bondage. We should not, 
 however, judge them too harshly for this cruelty, as 
 frequently freemen, knights, senators, and even empe- 
 rors, descended into the arena, and engaged in the fatal 
 encounter. 3 Sometimes even women joined in the con- 
 flict. 4 Juvenal gives a graphic idea of the passion for 
 this cruel sport, in the description of the horrid-looking 
 
 1 Juv. Sat. vii, ix, 190, 200. 
 
 8 Wallon, ii, 124; Plautus, Menaechmi, Act V, Sc. iii; C. Nep. Pomp. 
 Att. 13 ; So. Quart. Eev. xiv, 398-9. See Becker's Gallus, Exc. Ill to 
 Sc. i, for a full and learned disquisition upon the various classes of slaves, 
 their names, and occupation. It would seem as if, in the earlier days, 
 medicine was not considered an honorable avocation with the Komans. 
 Plautus does not hesitate to ridicule the whole fraternity (Menajchmi, 
 Act V, Sc. i). 
 
 8 Wallou, ii, 126-139 ; Smith's Diet. " Gladiatores ;" Livy, xxviii, 21 ; 
 Suet. Jul. Caes. xxxix. Suet. Dom. iv.
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE ROMANS. IxXXV 
 
 gladiator, for whose bed, simply on account of his pro- 
 fession, Hippia, the wife of a senator, abandoned her 
 husband and her home. 1 
 
 This training of the slave, rendered him indomitable 
 and intractable. Hence, we find this particular class 
 frequently in insurrections. In Sicily the servile wars 
 assumed a more alarming aspect. 2 
 
 The price of slaves in Eome varied very much at dif- 
 ferent times, and according to the qualities of the slave. 3 
 Under the empire, immense sums were paid for beautiful 
 slaves, and such as attracted the whim of the purchaser. 
 We have accounts of their selling from 100,000 to 
 200,000 sesterces (say five to ten thousand dollars). 4 In 
 the time of Horace, 500 drachm ee (about one hundred 
 dollars) was a fair price for an ordinary slave. 3 Eunuchs, 
 clowns, or jesters, and pretty females, brought high 
 prices. 6 Females generally sold for less than males. 7 
 Hannibal, after the battle of Cannae, being burdened 
 with his prisoners, suffered the knights (equites) 10 be 
 ransomed at seventy-five dollars, the legionary soldier at 
 fifty dollars, the slaves at twenty dollars. 8 Negroes, being 
 generally slaves of luxury, commanded a very high price. 9 
 Juvenal declares, that a rich man could not enjoy his 
 dinner unless surrounded by the dusky and active Moor, 
 and the more dusky Indian. 10 
 
 The status of the slave, in the Eoman law, was lite- 
 rally as a thing and not as a person. Some, apparently 
 paradoxical, rights were given to him, which we cannot 
 here specifically repeat. His general status was " pro 
 
 1 Satire, vi, 110. * Smith's Diet. " Servus." 
 
 * For the prices in the time of Justinian, see Codex, L. vi, tit. 44, \ 3 ; 
 Wallon, ii, 160. 
 
 4 Martial, iii, 62 ; xi, 70 ; Pliny, vii, x, 5, 6. 5 Sat. ii, 7, 43. 
 
 6 Martial, viii, 13 ; Plaut. Pers. Act IV, Sc. iv, 113. 
 
 7 Smith's Diet. " Servus" (Roman). 
 
 8 So. Quart. Rev. xiv, 398. Juvenal, v, 73. 
 10 Sat. xi, 211.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 quadrupedibus." He consequently could not be a party 
 nor a witness in court, except in extreme cases, and then 
 under torture. 1 He could acquire no property ; his pecu- 
 lium being held only at the will of the master. What- 
 ever he received, by gift or bequest from others, became 
 immediately the property of his master. He lived, as it 
 were, in the shadow of his master. To him, all his 
 gains, his acts, and the very current of his life, tended. 
 From him, he received support and protection. He was, 
 like the son and all the household of the Eoman, swal- 
 lowed up in the master. The state recognized the 
 citizen, and addressed its laws and its requirements to 
 him. The master controlled, as he listed, the household 
 of which he was the head and representative. Hence, 
 the power to kill the son and the slave with impunity ; 
 a power recognized, as to the latter, until the days of 
 Antoninus, when it was abolished. 2 By the same consti- 
 tution, for cruel treatment, the master might be com- 
 pelled to sell the slave, and the slave was empowered to 
 make his complaint to the proper authority. 3 
 
 Notwithstanding this unlimited power of the master, 
 and the fact that there are recorded many instances of 
 its cruel abuse, 4 yet other facts and circumstances impress 
 
 1 Dig. xxii, \ 5, De Testibus ; Terence, Phorm. Act II, Sc. i, 292 ; 
 Plaut. Curcul. Act V, Sc. ii, 630 ; Juvenal, x, 100. It would seem from 
 this passage that they testified with a halter around their necks. 
 
 * Wallon, Part II, ch. v, vi ; Gaius, i, 52 ; Smith's Diet. " Servus." A 
 constitution of Claudius also made the homicide of a slave murder. It 
 farther provided that the exposure of an infirm slave gave him freedom j 
 Sueton. Claud, xxv. 
 
 8 Seneca, de Benef. iii, 22. According to Bodin, in commenting on 
 this passage in Seneca, Nero was the first emperor who required of 
 magistrates to receive the complaints of slaves against their masters. It 
 would be a curious fact if the tyrant of the citizen was indeed the defender 
 of the slave. Troplong, Influence du Christianisme, &c., 148. 
 
 4 The cases of Flaminius, who killed a slave to gratify a guest who had 
 never seen a man killed (Plutarch's Life of Flaminius), and of Polio, 
 who fed his enormous fish upon the bodies of his slaves (Seneca, de 
 Ira, Lib. iii, ch. xl), are familiar to all who have read or heard of Roman 
 slavery.
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE ROMANS. Ixxxvil 
 
 the belief that, as a general rule, the relation of master 
 and slave was one of kindness and mutual regard. 1 This 
 was peculiarly true of the urban slave, he that was always 
 near his master. 2 The rustics, controlled by the villicus, 
 and often unseen, for years, by the master, were doubt- 
 less more frequently subjected to oppression. 3 The 
 claims of humanity were not entirely forgotten, nor 
 overwhelmed by the more practical calls of interest. 
 Hence, we find their moralists discussing clearly and 
 fully such questions, as whether, in a famine, the master 
 should abandon his slave ? Whether, in the case of dis- 
 tress at sea, where the vessel must be lightened, should 
 valuable property or valueless slaves be cast overboard ? 4 
 It is true, that the elder Cato, in giving advice and direc- 
 tions as to the management of a farm, recommends the 
 sale of old and infirm slaves. 5 Yet this is only the 
 opinion of one man, and one noted for avarice a pas- 
 sion which withers and blights the principle of humanity 
 in any soul^and in any age of the world. 6 Certain it is, 
 that we find the corpse of the deceased slave frequently 
 interred in the same tomb with that of his master. 7 And 
 the Roman satirist declares his preference to be a slave, 
 and dig some great man's land, than to be the satiated 
 votary of pleasure. 8 
 
 1 Plutarch tells of a faithful slave of Octavins whose ejes were torn 
 out while he was defending his master from an incensed mob ; Tib. Grac- 
 chus. Many such instances of fidelity and affection are recorded. See 
 especially Seneca, De Benef. ch. iii ; Valer. Max. Lib. vi, 8 ; Macrob. 
 Sat. i, 11. 
 
 8 Juvenal, describing the h^ppy condition of a man " contented with 
 little," compares it to that of the^household slave. Sat. 5x, 5. 
 
 8 Quart. Rev. xiv, 401 ; Wallon, ii, M4, et seq. 213 ; Copley's Hist, of 
 Slavery, 45 ; Smith's Diet. " Servus.'? 
 
 4 Cic. De Offic. iii, 23. * De Re Rust. ii. 
 
 6 Plut. Cato, the Censor, passim. 
 
 * Wallon, ii, 213. He refers to the work of Gruter, Sect. " Affectus 
 dominorum et patronorum erga servos et libertos." I regret that this 
 work is not within my reach. See also Smith's Diet. " Servus ;" Dig 
 Lib. xi, tit. 7, g 31. Juvenal, ix, 25.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 According to Horace, they joined their masters in 
 offering up prayers and thanksgivings to the Gods. 1 In 
 the earlier days, they partook of their meals in common 
 with their masters, though not at the same table, but 
 upon little benches (subsellia), placed at the foot of the 
 lectus. 3 This habit was probably continued in such por- 
 tions of the republic, where the proprietors of small 
 farms overlooked and managed them for themselves. 
 
 While the law recognized no property of the slave, 
 yet his peculium, as well as all property he acquired by 
 gift or by finding, were secured to him by public opinion 
 and natural justice. 3 Hence, we find slaves frequently 
 purchasing their freedom ; nor was a Roman audience 
 shocked in hearing a master entreat his own slave for a 
 loan of money, and finally to secure his end, hoist him 
 upon his back, and submit to be kicked and jeered at by 
 his own slave. 4 Frequently they became very rich. Juve- 
 nal scourges the respect paid to money, by referring to 
 the fact that a freeman felt honored by the company of 
 a slave if only rich. 5 
 
 The Romans, in later days, had no asylums, or places 
 of refuge, for slaves flying from the cruelty of their mas- 
 ters ; and such fugitives were harshly treated, being 
 branded and forced to work in chains. The master 
 could pursue him anywhere, and all officers and autho- 
 rities were required to give him aid. A class of persons 
 called Fugitivarii, made it their business to recover run- 
 away slaves. 6 We have already noticed the provisions 
 
 1 Epist. Bk. II, i, 142. 
 
 2 Plut. Coriol. 24; Smith's Diet. "Servus;" Sen. de Tranquil, ii, 15; 
 Plaut. Captivi, iii, i, 11. 
 
 8 Terent. Phorm. Act I, Sc. i, 9 ; Seneca, Ep. 80 ; Plaut. Eudens, An- 
 lularia. 
 
 4 Plaut. Asiiiaria, Act III, Sc. ii, iii. 5 Sat. iii, 150. 
 
 8 Wallon, ii, 243 ; Smith's Diet. " Servus ;" Plautua, Most. Act. IV, Sc. 
 i. Death was sometimes the punishment of fugitives. They were some- 
 times thrown among wild beasts. Polybius, Lib. i ; Lactantius, Lib. v, 
 cap. 18 ; Val. Max. Lib. ii, cap. 6.
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE ROMANS. IxXXlX 
 
 of the Constitution of Antoninus to protect the slave 
 from the cruelty of the master. 
 
 There were certain feasts during which the slaves 
 were abandoned to perfect liberty ; of these the most re- 
 markable were the Saturnalia, when such perfect equality 
 existed that the master waited on the slave at the table. 
 This feast was in the latter part of December, and lasted 
 seven days. 1 Another was the feasts in honor of Ser- 
 vius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome, he being himself 
 the son of Ocrisia, a captive and a slave. These lasted 
 from the Ides of March, the date of his birth, to the 
 Ides of April, the date of his inauguration of the temple 
 of Diana. 8 
 
 The Compitalia, a feast in honor of the Lares, or 
 Household Gods, was also a season of liberty to the 
 slaves. Augustus established an order of priests, to 
 attend to their worship, called Augustales. These were 
 selected from the libertini, or freedmen. 3 
 
 The intimate relation between the slaves and their 
 masters, may be gathered from many other allusions in 
 the Roman authors. Juvenal gives, as the especial rea- 
 son for leading an upright life, " that you may be able 
 to despise your servants' tongues. For bad as your 
 slave may be, his tongue is the worst part about him. 
 Yet worse are you when you place yourself in his 
 power." 4 The too intimate relation between the slave 
 and the mistress, which sometimes existed, did not 
 escape his observing eye, or his lashing pen. 5 A gilded 
 bed, he said, seldom witnessed childbirth ; but he con- 
 soles the childless husband with the reflection, that if 
 
 1 Macrob. Saturnal. ; Niebuhr, Hist, of Rome, vol. i, p. 319. Horace 
 gives an amusing account of an interview between himself and one of his 
 slaves on the occasion of the Saturnalia. Satires, Bk. II, Sat. vii. 
 
 2 Wallon, ii, 235-6. The origin of the name " Servua" is attributed by 
 some to " Servius." 
 
 3 Dion, iv, 14 ; Macr. Sat. i, 7 ; Smith's Diet. " Compitalia." 
 
 4 Sat. ix, 86. 6 Sat. vi, 300.
 
 XC HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 the child was allowed to be born, he would be " the sire 
 perchance of an Ethiopian a blackamoor would be his 
 sole heir." 1 
 
 There were, doubtless, instances of great cruelty ex- 
 hibited towards slaves such as justified partially the 
 picture drawn by the satirist of the haughty and over- 
 bearing wife compelling her husband to crucify an inno- 
 cent slave : " Crucify that slave !" "What is the charge, 
 to call for such a punishment ? What witness can you 
 produce ? Who gave the information ? Hark ! where 
 man's life is at stake, no deliberation can be too long." 
 " Idiot ! so a slave is a man then ! Let it be that he has 
 done nothing. I will it ! I insist on it ! Let my will 
 stand instead of reason." 2 Nevertheless, with the hu- 
 mane at least, the assurance of Trimalchio to his guests 
 was believed and observed. " Amici et servi homines 
 sunt, et seque unum lacten bibunt." Hence, we find 
 the great moralist announcing, " Cum in servum om- 
 nia liceant, est aliquid, quod in homineni licere, com- 
 mune jus vetet." 3 
 
 1 Sat. vi, 700. 
 
 * Juvenal, Sat. vi, 219, rendered thus by Gifford: 
 
 " ' Go crucify that slave !' ' For what offence ? 
 Who the accuser ? Where the evidence ? 
 For when the life of man is in debate, 
 No time can be too long, no care too great. 
 Hear all, weigh all with caution, I advise.' 
 'Thou sniveller! Is a slave a man?' she cries. 
 ' He's innocent be't so 'tis my command, 
 My will let that, sir, for a reason stand.' " 
 
 All the descriptions of Juvenal are exaggerated of course. Satire 
 deals in hyperbole, and requires only a substratum of truth. The de- 
 scriptions he gives of the lewdness and corruption of the Roman women, 
 if literally true, would be a more awful picture than that of the slaves. 
 Sat. vi, passim. 
 
 This cruelty on the part of the master frequently and usually rebounded 
 on himself in the vengeance of the slaves. Pliny gives a striking instance 
 of this. Epis. iii, 14. 
 
 * Sen. de Clem, i, 18.
 
 SLAVERY AMONO THE ROMANS. XCl 
 
 The punishments inflicted upon slaves for offences 
 were various, and some very severe. They necessarily 
 differed from those prescribed for the same offences 
 when committed by freemen. Minor misdemeanors were 
 submitted to the correction of the master. 1 The courts 
 took cognizance only of graver charges, and even of 
 these the master seems to have had concurrent jurisdic- 
 tion. 2 The removal of the urban slave into the familia 
 rustica, was a mild and yet a much-dreaded penalty. In 
 such cases they worked in chains. 8 The handmill (mola 
 pistrinum) was also a place of punishment,' and its con- 
 stant working became sometimes severe. Thus asks 
 the slave in the Asinaria, " Will you send me there where 
 stone grinds stone V' 4 Sometimes they were scourged, 
 after being suspended with manacles to the hands and 
 weights fastened to the feet. 5 Another mode of punish- 
 ment was a wooden yoke (furca) upon the neck, and 
 bound to the arms on either side. 6 Upon every Roman 
 farm was a private prison (ergastulum), in which refrac- 
 tory slaves were confined. A trustworthy slave was the 
 keeper. They were abolished in the time of Hadrian. 7 
 Sometimes extraordinary and cruel punishments were 
 resorted to ; such as cutting off the hand for thefts, and 
 death by the cross. These, however, were very rare. 8 
 
 1 Cato, the Censor, upon his farm, instituted a kind of jury trial among 
 the slaves themselves, and submitted to them the guilt and the punish- 
 ment. Copley's Hist, of Slavery, 44. 
 
 2 This is inferrible from a passage in Horace, where he represents 
 himself as the judge of his slaves, even in cases of theft or murder. See 
 Stephens on West India Slavery, 341. Dig. Lib. xi, tit. 4, sect. 5. 
 
 8 Plautus, Hostel, Act I, Sc. i. 
 
 4 Plaut. Asin., Act I, Sc. i. See also Odyssey, vii, 104. Cato, De re 
 rust. 56 ; Matthew 24 : 41. 
 6 Asinaria, Act II, Sc. ii. 
 
 6 Plautus, Casina, Act II, Sc. ii ; Mil. Act II, Sc. iv; Mostel. Act I, 
 Sc. i ; Dig. Lib. 48, tit. 13, \ 6. 
 
 7 Columel. i, 8 ; Gaius, i, 53 ; Juv. viii, 180. 
 
 8 Plaut. Epid. Act I, Sc. i, ii ; Hor. Ep. i, 16, 17 ; Senec. De Ira, iii, 
 40.
 
 XCli HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 In every slaveholding state, the intimate terms of 
 companionship of the master and slave necessarily give 
 the slave frequent opportunity for committing violence 
 upon the master unknown to any other person. To 
 protect the master, the Eoman law was very stringent, 
 and provided that, where the master was found mur- 
 dered in his house, and no discovery of the perpetrator, 
 all the domestic slaves should be put to death. This law 
 necessarily could be enforced very rarely, as the slaves 
 would discover themselves the murderer in their midst. 
 However, we find that on some occasions, it was en- 
 forced rigorously we might almost say barbarously. 1 
 
 Instances of manumission were very frequent among 
 the Romans. This could be effected in various ways, 
 and the effects of it differed under different circum- 
 stances. In all cases, the enfranchised slave continued 
 to serve his former master, who became his patron. 
 Thus, in the Menaschmi, the freedman addresses his 
 former master, "My patron, I do entreat that you won't 
 command me any the less now, than when I was your 
 slave. With you will I dwell, and when you go, I'll go 
 home with you." 3 
 
 Liberty was sometimes granted the slave by way of 
 reward for discovering the perpetrators of certain 
 crimes. 3 The enjoyment of liberty for a certain time 
 barred the master's right, it being included within the 
 prcescriptio temporis.* On the contrary, no length of 
 illegal bondage deprived the slave of the privilege of as- 
 serting his right to liberty. 5 
 
 If the freedman conducted himself ungratefully towards 
 his patron, he was reduced to his former state of slavery. 8 
 
 1 Tac. Ann. xiv, 41 ; Cic. ad Fam. iv, 12. 
 
 2 Plautus, Mengechmi, Act IV, Sc. vi. 8 Code Theod. tit. 21, | 2. 
 4 Code Theod. tit. 14 ; Bk. VII, tit. 39, \ 3. 5 Gaius, ii, 48. 
 
 6 Sueton. Claudius, xxv. This rule seems not to have obtained in the 
 time of Nero (see Tac. Ann. xiii, 27), but was restored under the later 
 emperors. Dig. Lib. xi ; tit. 9, 30.
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE ROMANS. XC111 
 
 He was bound to support his patron, and the children 
 of his patron if necessary ; and to undertake the man- 
 agement of his property and the guardianship of the 
 children. 1 E converse, the patron lost all of his rights, if 
 he failed to support his freedman, in case of necessity. 
 These patronal rights were very considerable, espe- 
 cially in relation to the succession to the property 
 of the freedman. 3 By a decree of the emperor declaring 
 the libertus to be ingenuus, the patronal rights were not 
 destroyed. This change was denominated "jus annuli 
 aurei,"from the fact that the ingenui alone had the right 
 of wearing the gold seal-ring. That of the liberti being of 
 silver, and the slaves of iron. 3 If, however, the form of 
 proceeding, entitled natalibus restitutio, was adopted to 
 confer perfect freedom on the libertus, this took away 
 the patronal rights, because, by the fiction, the freedman 
 was restored to his natural rights of liberty. 4 
 
 In some cases, by the act of manumission, the slave be- 
 came a Roman citizen at the same. time that he became 
 a freedman. In other cases he became only a Latinus or 
 Latinus Junianus, so called from the fact that the Lex 
 Junia declared and defined the rights of such persons, 
 and placed them on the same footing with colonized 
 citizens Latini coloniarii. 5 In various ways the La- 
 tinus could obtain the rights of citizenship. The Lex 
 Aelia Sentia, prescribed the formalities necessary to 
 effect this object. 6 There was still a lower class of freed- 
 men, but a little elevated above slaves, termed Dedititii. 
 They took the name, and their status was the same with 
 the peregzini dedititii, or persons subdued by the Roman 
 
 1 Dig. Lib. xxxvii, tit. 14, 19. * Smith's Diet. " Patronus." 
 
 8 Smith's Diet. " Annulus ;" Isidorus, xix, 32 ; Dig. Lib. xl, tit. 10, 1 
 5. St. James alludes to this in ch. ii, v. 2. 
 
 4 Dig. Lib. xl, tit. 11. 
 
 6 Smith's Diet. " Libertus ;" Gaius, iii, 56. The Latinus had not the 
 power of making a will, nor of taking under a will. Gaius, i, 24. 
 
 6 Gaius, i, 28.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 arms, and submitting to their conquerors unconditionally. 
 They were not slaves, but had not political existence. 
 The Lex Aelia iSentia, adopted in the time of Augustus, 
 declared all manumitted slaves to be Dedititii, who, pre- 
 vious to manumission, had been in bonds, or branded, 
 or put to torture, or fought with wild beasts, or as gla- 
 diators. 1 This law seems to have been framed to protect 
 the state from the too frequent and unlimited use of the 
 power of manumission in the master. Hence, one of its 
 provisions, that slaves manumitted under the age of 
 thirty years became Roman citizens only when a legal 
 ground (justa causa) for such manumission had been 
 made to appear before the Consilium, a tribunal ap- 
 pointed especially for this purpose, and which held ses- 
 sions at stated times, in the provinces and at Rome. 8 
 Other restrictions on manumission were prescribed 
 by this law, as to masters under the age of twenty 
 years ; and where the act was done with a view to de- 
 fraud creditors. 3 Constantino abolished almost all the 
 formalities necessary for manumission, and gave to the 
 freedman in every case the privileges of Roman citizen- 
 ship. What was left undone by him Justinian com- 
 pleted, and opene<J wide the doors and added greatly 
 to the inducements for general emancipation. 4 
 
 The condition of the freedman in the earlier days of 
 Rome differed but little from that of the slave. " Liber- 
 tis, quibus illi non multum secus ac servis imperabant."* 
 
 There were instances, however, of freedmen and their 
 
 1 Gaius, i, 13 ; Smith's Diet. " Dedititii." 
 
 8 Gaius, i, 19, 20. 
 
 8 Ibid. Smith's Diet. " Lex Aelia Sentia." 
 
 4 Constitutions of Constantine. Justinian's Institutes. See Troplong, 
 Influence du Christianisme, &c., 159, et sq. 
 
 6 Cic. ad Quint. The suit to obtain freedom, was called " proclamare 
 ad libertatem." Cicero is related by Plutarch to have perpetrated a 
 pun upon this word. A person suspected of having been once a slave, 
 was speaking boisterously in the Senate. " Nolite mirari," said Cicero 
 to the bystanders, " quia unus est ex iis, qui olim proclamaverunt."
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE ROMANS. XCV 
 
 descendants attaining eminence and distinction among 
 the Romans. Servius Tullius, "the last of the good 
 kings," was the son of a bondmaid. 1 Vindicius, who 
 gave to the Conscript Fathers notice of a secret treason, 
 himself a slave, was mourned publicly by the Roman 
 matrons at his death, as Brutus had been. 2 Terence, a 
 captive slave, born near Carthage, became the delight of 
 Roman audiences, through his graceful comedies. 3 And 
 Horace was not ashamed to acknowledge himself the son 
 of a freedman.' 4 
 
 There existed no reason why this result should not 
 follow. The captives brought to Rome were of races 
 intellectually equal ; in cultivation, superior to their Ro- 
 man masters. Slavery was, to them, an unnatural con- 
 dition. The inferior should serve the superior, and the 
 reverse is a violation of nature. 
 
 The precise time when slavery, property in the person, 
 ceased to exist among the Romans, cannot be fixed with 
 certainty. It was never abolished formally, by statute or 
 decree. Circumstances combined to work a gradual 
 change in the system, from slavery to serfdom. 5 Rome 
 entered into the turbid flood of the dark ages weighted 
 with slavery. When she emerged again, so that history 
 
 1 Liv. i, 39 ; Juvenal, Sat. viii. Thus rendered by Gifford : 
 
 " And he who graced the purple which he wore, 
 The last good King of Rome, a bondmaid bore." 
 
 2 Juv. viii, ad finem; Liv. ii, 7. Livy derives from his name "vin- 
 dicta" the rod of manumission used on occasions of manumitting 
 slaves. 
 
 3 Life, &c., Terence, prefixed to his plays. 
 
 4 Sat. vi. He did not hesitate, however, to speak scornfully of the low 
 birth of a freedman, who was made a military tribune. Carmina, Lib. 
 v, Ode iv. 
 
 ' M. Wallon, speaking of slavery under the empire, says: "L'homme 
 libre devient moins libre, il est moins maitre de lui et des siens ; et par 
 contre-coup, 1'esclave n'a pas change" en droit : il n'a pas plus de libertS, 
 mais il a moins de dependance ; et le mSme mot finira par couvrir deux 
 etats fort diffe'rents, 1'esclave et le serf, servus." Part iii, ch. iii, 121.
 
 XCVl HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 could mark her appearance, serfdom was substituted in 
 its place. The causes which produced this result, are 
 matters mostly of speculation. A few we may clearly 
 perceive. The supremacy of the barbarian conquerors, 
 unused to luxury, and eschewing even the comforts of 
 civilized life. The common bondage into which their 
 conquest threw both master and slave. The stagnation 
 of commerce, and all other channels of industry. These, 
 and concurrent causes, rendered the slave valueless in 
 the market, and a burthen to the master. The support 
 of the aged and infirm and infants, was without corre- 
 sponding benefit, when the labor of the strong and 
 healthy barely provided for his own necessities. The 
 renunciation, by the master, of his rights and power, 
 became therefore a matter of interest, a much stronger 
 motive, according to man's history, than humanity and 
 charity. 
 
 Many have sought to discover in Christianity, and its 
 pure and holy precepts, a sufficient explanation for the 
 extinction of slavery. That it contributed to this object 
 is undoubtedly true ; and many masters felicitated them- 
 selves upon the charitable act of manumitting their 
 slaves, when those slaves had ceased to be useful. Habit 
 possibly would have continued the system awhile longer, 
 and Christianity, to this extent, shortened its duration. 
 To the truly pious and zealous, imbued with the doctrine 
 of the equality of all men before the bar of God, who is 
 no respecter of persons, and that every man is a brother, 
 to whom we should act as we would have him, under 
 similar circumstances, to act towards us, the slavery of 
 Rome must have appeared sinful, and inconsistent with 
 their professions of universal charity. Alexander Seve- 
 rus caused this golden rule to be inscribed not only upon 
 the walls of his own palace, but also upon all the public 
 edifices. 1 Constantine, by taking away the restraints 
 
 1 Lamp, in Vita Alex. Sev. 350 ; Troplong, Influence du Christianisme, 
 Ac, 87.
 
 SLAVERY AMONG THE ROMANS. XCV11 
 
 upon manumission, and giving additional privileges to 
 those manumitted in ecclesia, by enforcing, with stern 
 penalties, the humane treatment of slaves, and adopting 
 in his laws the Christian principle of brotherhood, has 
 received from M. de Chateaubriand the praise of having 
 "affranchi tout d'un coup une nombreuse partie de 
 1'espece humaine." 1 
 
 Yet the same Emperor forbade the marriage of the 
 curiales with slaves, under penalty of the woman's being 
 condemned to the mines, and the man to perpetual 
 banishment, with confiscation of all his movable goods 
 and city slaves to the public, and all his lands and 
 country slaves to the city of which he was a member. 3 
 
 The true agency of Christianity in effecting the de- 
 struction of Koman slavery, is more accurately described 
 by M. Troplong : " It is the feudal age, which, at a later 
 period, has had the eternal honor of having restored to 
 liberty the lower classes, oppressed with the yoke of 
 slavery. To arrive at this great result, it was necessary 
 that Christianity, penetrating profoundly the heart, had 
 humanized the masters to a high degree ; and that the 
 general interests had been brought, by a happy combina- 
 tion of circumstances, to agree with these ideas. Great 
 revolutions are not accomplished by a sudden virtue. 
 Ages of preparation are necessary before they arrive at 
 their maturity. Slavery, though ameliorated by Chris- 
 tian morality and reforms full of humanity, continued to 
 exist legally, and to be fed from the impure sources, 
 trade and conquest." 3 
 
 In Rome, as in Athens, the morality and expediency 
 of slavery did not fail to attract the attention of her 
 statesmen and philosophers, and as great diversity of 
 opinion existed in the former place as the latter. " Our 
 
 1 Essais hist., torn, i, p. 308. 
 
 Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church, Bk. XXII, ch. ii, 6. 
 3 Influence du Christianisme surle droit civil des Remains, 162, 3. See 
 also Sismondi, torn, i, pp. 85 104. 
 
 G
 
 XCVlil HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 slaves are our enemies," said Censor Cato. "Slaves 
 truly, but men," "fortasse liberi animo," preached the 
 almost Christian Seneca. " The old and infirm slaves 
 are a nuisance on the farm, and should be sold," said 
 Cato. "In servos superbissimi, crudelissimi, contume- 
 liosissimi sumus," responded the conscientious Seneca. 
 And in another place, either from inspiration or Chris- 
 tian teaching, adds the golden rule, " Sic cum inferiore 
 vivas, quemadmodum tecum superiorem velles vivere." 1 
 
 Cicero, the greatest of Roman philosophers as well as 
 orators, seems to have been imbued with the same views 
 concerning slavery as Plato and Aristotle. He even 
 justified the cruelty with which some of them were 
 treated. " lis, qui vi oppresses imperio coercent, est sane 
 adhibenda sgevitia, ut heris in famulos." 2 Yarro adopted, 
 to its full extent, the doctrine of Aristotle. 3 Florus 
 speaks of slaves as an inferior species of men. 4 And 
 Pliny compares them to the drones among the bees, to 
 be forced to labor, even as the drones are compelled. 3 
 
 A different opinion prevailed among the later writers, 
 and hence we find but one voice in the Digest and Code : 
 "Jure naturali omnes liberi nascuntur." 6 "Servitus 
 est constitutio gentium contra naturam." 
 
 So Quintillian: "Quid non liberum natura genuit? 
 Taceo de servis, quos bellorum iniquitas in prsedam victo- 
 ribus dedit, iisdem legibus, eadem fortuna, e&dem neces- 
 sitate natos. Ex eodem ccelo spiritum trahunt; nee 
 natura ullis, sed fortuna dominum dedit." 7 
 
 1 Let. 47 : " Quid est eques Romanus, aut libertinus, aut servus ? 
 Nomina ex ambitione aut ex injuria nata." Let. 32. 
 
 8 De OS. Lib. II, 7. See also his oration against Verres, V. 3, De 
 rep. iii. De re rustica, Ixvii, 1. 
 
 4 Florus, iii, c. xx, 2. * Pliny> xi, c. xi, 1. 
 
 Dig. Lib. IV, De Just, et Jure. 7 Declam. iii.
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 SLAVERY IN EUROPE DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. 
 
 "!N every age and country, until times comparatively 
 recent," says Mr. Hallam, "personal servitude appears 
 to have been the lot of a large, perhaps the greater por- 
 tion of mankind." 1 Certainly during the middle ages, 
 upon the continent of Europe, it was universal. So 
 much oppressed and deprived of so many privileges 
 were even the freemen of the lower classes, that it is 
 with some difficulty that we are enabled to distinguish 
 the slave, the serf, and the freeman. A term which, in 
 one nation, indicated slavery, in an adjoining one repre- 
 sented a class of freemen. Thus, the collibert of France 
 was a slave : "Libertate carens colibertus dicitur esse;" 
 but among the Lombards, the collibert was ranked among 
 freemen. 2 The truth seems to be, that .all the classes 
 below the nobles or lords, were in a state of actual ser- 
 vitude. In the absence of well-ordered government, the 
 small proprietors of lands were the constant subjects of 
 depredation by the lawless and warlike. Their only 
 recourse was the protection of some more powerful 
 neighbor. For that protection they yielded their liberty, 
 frequently voluntarily, becoming thus the serfs or coloni 
 
 1 Hist. Middle Ages, ch. ii, pt. ii, p. 89. "In the infancy of society,'' 
 says M. Guizot, "liberty is the portion of strength. It belongs to who- 
 ever can defend it. In the absence of personal power in the individual, 
 it possesses no other guarantee." Essais snr 1'Histoire de France, 12G. 
 
 2 See Appendix to Michelet's History of France.
 
 C HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 so universal in these ages. 1 In seasons of famine, also, 
 many freemen sold themselves as slaves. Their redemp- 
 tion, at equitable prices, is provided for in a Capitulary 
 of Charles the Bald. 2 Others surrendered themselves 
 and their property to churches and monasteries, and 
 became, with their posterity, their perpetual bondmen. 3 
 To these, extraordinary, were added the usual and uni- 
 versal sources of slavery, viz., war, debt, crime, birth, 
 and sale of themselves and of children. 4 
 
 Slavery existed in these countries long before their 
 subjection to the Roman yoke. The number of domestic 
 slaves, previous to that period, was small ; but the prsedial 
 or agrestic slaves were numerous. Of the slavery in 
 Gaul and Germany, previous to that time, we have some 
 accounts. 5 After the Roman subjugation, the laws of 
 Roman slavery were extended more or less to every na- 
 tion, modified necessarily by their previous customs. 
 
 Frequently, the status of slavery attached to every 
 inhabitant of a particular district, so that it became a 
 maxim, " Aer efficit servilem statum;" a different atmo- 
 sphere it must have been from that which fans the 
 British shores, according to the boasts of some of their 
 judges. It is a little curious that, by an ordinance of 
 Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, the air of Wales was de- 
 clared to be of the infected species. 6 
 
 1 Guizot's Hist, of Civilization in France, g 8, citing Salvianus de 
 Gubern. Dei. Lib. v. Bishop England gives us this quotation from Sal- 
 vianus at large, in Letter VI, to Jno. Forsyth, p. 53. See also Michelet, 
 Origines du Droit Frangais, p. 274. 
 
 2 Hallam, as above. See also Muratori, Annali d'ltalia. 
 
 3 Beaumanoir, ch. 45. In a charter granted by the Emperor, Otto I, 
 to a monastery, are these words : " Si vero aliquis ex liberis voluerit litus 
 fieri, aut etiam colonis, ad monasteria supra dicta, cum consensu suorum 
 haeredum, non prohibeatur a qualibet potestate." Potg. i, 5. 
 
 4 See Du Cange v. Heribannum. 
 
 6 Caesar, De Bel. Gall. Lib. VI, cap. xiii ; Tacitus, cap. xxiv ; Potg. 
 
 Lib. I, cap. i ; Giraud, Histoire du Droit Frangais au Moyen-Age, art. v. 
 
 6 Hertius, Lib. II, p. xii ; Potgiesser, De Stat. &c., Lib. I, cap. i, \ 15.
 
 SLAVERY IN EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. Cl 
 
 The names given to slaves differed in the several 
 states, and at different times. Among the French, they 
 were called hommes de pooste. 1 In some of their authors, 
 coustumiers. 2 In the Salique laws and the Capitularies, 
 they were called servi, tributarily lidi, coloni, liti, and 
 lasince. 3 In the formulas of Marculf, they are distin- 
 guished as mansionarii and servientes. In the Bavarian 
 law, lazi. In the German law, homines proprii, genetiarice, 
 ancillce, &c. These names varied in different centuries, 
 indicating a change in their employments, and a meliora- 
 tion of their condition. In the twelfth century they 
 were first called "rustici;" and not until the fourteenth 
 were they called glebarii, indicating their permanent at- 
 tachment to the soil. In the fourteenth century, also, we 
 first find them called slavi. 4 
 
 Of slavery in the German states, we have the most 
 full and accurate account. The works of Heineccius 
 and Potgiesser, and especially the treatise by the latter, 
 "De Statu Servorum," answer every inquiry we could 
 desire to make. From them we learn, that the early 
 German slavery was mild in its character, differing 
 widely from the Roman. The master and the slave were 
 equal in education, tended upon the same flocks, and 
 
 1 Hallam, as above ; derived from the Latin Homines in potestate. 
 Bonnemere. 2 Du Cange v. Potestas. 
 
 3 Hallam, Potg., Lib. I, cap. iii, iv ; Guizot, Essais sur 1'Histoire de 
 France, 134; Giraud, as above. 
 
 4 Potg., as above. 
 
 St. Augustine defines Colonus thus : " Coloni dicuntur, qui conditionem 
 debebant genital! solo propter agriculturam sub dominio possessorum." 
 De Civ. Dei. Lib. X, cap. i. 
 
 Guizot, in his Hist, of Civilization in France, Lect. vii, distinguishes, 
 at length, the condition of the Colonus from the absolute slave. In his 
 Essais sur 1'Histoire de France, he says, that these names varied accord- 
 ing to the extent of the liberty and the right of property which they 
 possessed, p. 134. 
 
 Giraud traces the Colonus to the times of Augustus, vol. i, p. 155. 
 
 See Bonnemere, Histoire des Paysans, Introduction.
 
 Cll HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 rested upon the same pillow. The invention of the one 
 was not taxed to provide tortures for the other ; nor did 
 his cruelty excite the latter to devise schemes for his 
 destruction. The master sometimes did kill the slave, 
 not from cruelty and severity, but from anger and im- 
 pulse, aa an enemy, and for his own protection. In 
 Celtic Gaul, a custom existed at one time of burning 
 the slaves upon the funeral pyre of their master. 1 Caesar 
 notices this custom in Gaul ; 3 and Peter Dusbergensis 
 states its existence among the Prussians. The latter 
 gives the reason for it, in the popular belief of the trans- 
 migration of souls : that, in another world, the soul of 
 the slave entered into the master's body, and that of the 
 master into the body of the slave. 3 A similar supersti- 
 tion is frequently found among the negro slaves in the 
 United States at this day. 
 
 This state of things was of short duration, and the 
 condition of the slave became worse. The power of the 
 master over him was very extensive subsequently. Thus, 
 in an ancient deed, by which a sale of a freeman into 
 slavery was made by himself, it was covenanted that 
 the master should have power, "Ad disciplinandum, 
 tenendum, imperandum, et quicquid ei placuerit facien- 
 dum, tarn de rebus, quam de peculio." 4 Slaves could 
 be sold, pawned, or otherwise disposed of, and were the 
 subject of inheritance at the death of the owner. If, 
 however, the master left no heir, the slave became free ' 
 immediately. 5 The master's power seems sometimes to 
 have been abused, as an edict of Charles, in the year 
 864, directs that slaves guilty of a fault, should be 
 beaten naked with rods, and not with huge clubs. 6 
 Fugitives were arrested and returned to their owners, 
 
 1 Potgiesser, Prolegomena, xlviii. 2 De Bel. Gall. Lib. VI. 
 
 8 Chron. Pruss. Part III, ch. v, cited in Potg. 
 4 Quoted in Potg. Lib. I, cap. i, g v. 
 
 6 Potg. Proleg. L. Lib. I, cap. iii, v, x ; Heinec. Elem. Jur. Germ. 
 Lib. I, tit. i. Potg. \ xiv.
 
 SLAVERY IN EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. till 
 
 and if no owner claimed them, were, nevertheless, re- 
 tained in slavery. Even shipwrecked persons were 
 reduced to slavery, for many centuries, notwithstanding 
 the anathemas of the Church. 1 
 
 We may judge of the extent of the master's power 
 by a German proverb, which has been preserved : " He 
 is mine : I can boil him or roast him." So, also, we read 
 of a German custom : " If a master does not wish to 
 place his slave in irons, he can put him under a cask, 
 and place above a piece of cheese, a small loaf of bread, 
 and a pot of water, and leave him thus till the third 
 day." 1 
 
 The slaves were distinguished in their dress from free- 
 men. " After a battle, in the year 711, one could distin- 
 guish," says an old chronicler, "the corpses of the Goths, 
 by their rings." Those of the nobles were of gold, those 
 of the freemen of silver, and those of the slaves of cop- 
 per. 3 
 
 The sources of slavery among the Germans were the 
 same as with the Romans. Tacitus mentions one pecu- 
 liar to them, viz., gaming, the loser becoming the slave 
 of the winner. 4 
 
 The punishment of slaves differed from that prescribed 
 for freemen, for the same offence. Thus, where a free- 
 man was fined, the slave was stripped naked and pub- 
 licly whipped. The testimony of slaves was not allowed 
 against a freeman, nor were they permitted to bring ac- 
 cusations against their masters. They were excluded 
 from all offices, nor could they receive ecclesiastical 
 orders, except by the consent of their master. 5 Mar- 
 riage was not allowed among them until the ninth cen- 
 
 1 Potg. Lib. I, c. ii and iii. 
 
 * Cited by Michelet, Origines du Droit Frangais, 272. 
 
 3 Capit. v, 247, vi, 271, cited by Michelet, as above, p. 273. 
 
 4 Ea est in re prava pervicacia: ipsi fidem vacant. Tac. de Mor. 
 Germ. 6 Potg. \ xi.
 
 CIV HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 tury, and then, if celebrated without the master's con- 
 sent, it was void. 1 
 
 The punishment of fugitives varied ; none was speci- 
 fied among the early Germans. Among the Franks it 
 was left purely to the discretion of the master. In the 
 Capitularies we frequently find directions to the presby- 
 ters of churches to deliver up fugitives seeking refuge 
 therein. 3 The laws were more specific as to the punish- 
 ment of those who harbored or concealed them. By the 
 Bavarian law it was a fine and the restitution of another 
 slave. By the law of the Visigoths the restitution of 
 three slaves. The law of the Frisians agreed with the 
 Bavarian. The Burgundian law provided for a fine 
 only. 3 
 
 Long hair, being the badge of a freeman, was pro- 
 hibited to slaves. Hence, one, that permitted a fugitive's 
 hair to grow long, was subject to a fine. The Burgun- 
 dian law forbade the giving of a loaf of bread to a fugi- 
 tive. The law of the Visigoths forbade the showing 
 him the way, ostendere viam. 
 
 Escapes into a neighboring state were frequent. They 
 were always unhesitatingly delivered to their owners. 
 Marculf has preserved the form of a letter of demand 
 for a fugitive. Potgiesser, who wrote about the first year 
 of the eighteenth century, says the same form in sub- 
 stance was used in his day for the demand of homines 
 proprii. 4 
 
 Various modes of manumission were recognized. 
 After the days of Constantine, manumission in ecclesid 
 or circa altar e, was the most common. Something in- 
 
 1 Ibid. 3 xiv ; Heinec. EL Jur. Ger. Lib. I, tit. i. 
 
 2 In one of the Capitularies it is provided that slaves taking refuge in 
 a church are to be delivered up, on promise of a light punishment. A 
 fine was imposed on the master for violently abstracting his slave from 
 the church, and for violating his promise, the master was excommuni- 
 cated. Potg. Lib. II, cap. viii, \\ 10, 11. 
 
 3 Potg. Lib. II, cap. viii. 4 Potg. Lib. II, cap. viii.
 
 SLAVERY IN EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. CV 
 
 dicating a renunciation of dominion by the master is 
 all that, in the earlier nations, was required. Hence, 
 the striking of a penny from the hand, among the 
 Franks, the leading a servant to an open door, or to 
 where two roads cross, and speaking these words, " De 
 quatuor viis, ubi volueris ambulare, liberam habeas 
 potestatem," adopted among the. Lombards, the delivery 
 to the slave of the arms of a freeman, 1 and various other 
 modes, were considered sufficient. 2 
 
 The depriving a slave of an eye ipso facto manumitted 
 him. 3 For other cruelties the master was sometimes 
 compelled to sell him/ 
 
 The manumitted slaves, according to Heineccius, dif- 
 fered but little from their former associates, " Quod ad 
 reliqua attinet, eorum status a servorum vel hominum 
 propriorum conditione parum differt." 5 
 
 Towards the fifteenth century the condition of slaves 
 became ameliorated in many parts of Germany. This 
 seems to have been attributed to various causes. One 
 cause assigned, was the introduction of the Roman law 
 and rule ; under which the coloni were recognized in 
 the census among freemen, because they possessed, in 
 a modified manner, the right to marry, to contract, and 
 to make a testament, whereas under the Saxon law they 
 were ranked as slaves. Another cause assigned, was 
 the numerous intestine wars among the German states, 
 which necessarily relaxed for the time the domestic dis- 
 cipline over their slaves. Another cause was the indul- 
 gence and negligence of masters, especially the religious 
 communities, who owned large numbers and demanded 
 of them only a yearly rent or hire. 6 Occasionally, how- 
 
 1 The use of these arms being forbidden to slaves. Thus, in Capitula- 
 ries, Lib. V, cap. 247, " Et ut servi lanceas non portent." 
 
 2 Heinec. El. Jur. Germ. Lib. I, tit. ii ; Potg. Lib. IV. 
 
 3 Ducange v. Servus. 4 Potg. Lib. I, cap. ii. 
 6 Heinec. as above, 57. 
 
 6 Potg. Lib. I, cap. iii, \\ 35, 36, and 37.
 
 Cvi HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 ever, the immediate tithe-gatherers became very oppres- 
 sive, and demanded more than was required by their 
 superiors. The Pope himself interfered frequently on 
 such occasions. 1 
 
 Another cause maybe traced in the effects of the Cru- 
 sades. In these holy wars, the vassal and his lord had 
 fought side by side, stimulated by the same religious 
 enthusiasm, rejoicing in the same victory, and suffering 
 from the same defeat. The idea of equality among men 
 became an admitted dogma, and the friendships origina- 
 ting in common toils and sufferings added another rea- 
 son for admitting this equality. Commerce, between 
 nations, springing up from this common intercourse and 
 common end, tended to enlarge and liberalize the 
 opinions of masters as well as men. 8 
 
 In addition to these, were the mild and humanizing 
 influences of Christianity, which, while it did not forbid 
 the control of the master over his slave, for their mutual 
 benefit, exhorted him to remember that his slave was 
 "the Lord's freeman," and joint heir with him in Christ 
 of the promises held out to the faithful. At the same 
 time, teaching the slave obedience to his master under 
 the law, all earthly authority being by permission ot 
 God. That bond or free, on earth, is a matter of no 
 moment, so that heavenly freedom is obtained. Tertul- 
 lian thus developed this idea to the early Christians : 
 " In the world they who have received their freedom are 
 crowned. But thou art ransomed already by Christ, and 
 indeed bought with a price. How can the world give 
 freedom to him who is already the servant of another ? 
 All is mere show in the world, and nothing truth. For 
 even then, thou wast free in relation to man, being re- 
 deemed by Christ, and now thou art a servant of Christ, 
 
 1 See the Letters of Gregory the Great to the Subdeacon Peter, as to 
 the administration of the property of the Church in Sicily, given by Gui- 
 zot, in Sect. 8, on Hist, of Civil, in Europe. 
 
 2 See Michelet, Hist. &c. Bk. IV, ch. iv.
 
 SLAVERY IN EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. CV11 
 
 although made free by a man. If thou deemest that the 
 true freedom which the world can give thee, thou art, 
 for that very reason, become once more the servant of 
 man, and the freedom which Christ bestows thou hast 
 lost, because thou thinkest it bondage." 1 
 
 So Ignatius, of Antioch, writes to the Bishop Poly- 
 carp, of Smyrna : " Be not proud towards servants and 
 maids ; but neither must they exalt themselves ; but they 
 must serve the more zealously for the honor of God, so 
 that they may receive from God the higher freedom. 
 Let them not be eager to be redeemed at the expense of 
 the Church, lest they be found slaves of their own 
 lusts." 2 
 
 Such was not only the teaching of the early Christians, 
 but we may well believe their works were in accordance 
 with their faith. Thus, when a fatal pestilence devas- 
 tated Carthage, we find the Bishop Cyprian writing to 
 his flock : " How necessary is it, my dearest brethren, 
 that this pestilence which appears among us, bringing 
 with it death and destruction, should try men's souls ; 
 should show whether the healthy will take care of the 
 sick ; whether relations have a tender regard for each 
 other; whether masters tvill take home their sick servants." 3 
 
 Thus, also, we find in the Apostolical Constitutions 
 (which is of very early date in the Church, though not 
 probably of apostolic origin), that the slave of a believ- 
 ing master was not to be received except upon the good 
 report of the master himself, and not until he was ap- 
 proved by the master. Bingham adds, that " Experience 
 proved it to be a useful rule ; for it both made the mas- 
 
 1 De Corona Militis, c. xiii, quoted in Neander's Hist, of Church, vol. 
 i, 269. (2d Amer. Ed.) Quoted by Neander, as above. 
 
 8 Lib. de Mortalitate, quoted by Neander, p. 258. Locenius, a com- 
 mentator on Swedish law, speaking of the cessation of slavery, about 
 the year 1295, says, "Hanc que id suasisse inter alios, rationem quod 
 servatore nostro vendito, omnes redempti fuerint Christiaui, et liberti 
 <acti." Quoted by Potg. Lib. I, cap. iii, \ 39.
 
 CV111 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 ters zealous for the salvation of their slaves, as we have 
 seen in the African negro mentioned in Fulgenthis, and 
 also made the slaves sincere in their professions and pre- 
 tences to ^eligion, when they knew they could not be 
 accepted as real converts, worthy of baptism, without 
 the corroborating testimony of their masters. 1 The same 
 Constitutions provided that no slave should be ordained 
 among the clergy, except by the consent of his master ; 
 and the canons of several councils reiterated the same 
 injunction. The Council of Eliberis went further, and 
 provided that the slave of a heathen master should not 
 be ordained even if he was manumitted. 2 So St. Basil 
 forbade the marriage of slaves without the consent of 
 their masters, ?nd declared it to be fornication ; and if 
 a woman, that si: 3 differed nothing from a harlot." 3 
 
 That the true " heavenly freedom" was open to all, 
 bond or free, was inculcated by all the Fathers. St. 
 Justin illustrates this idea by the history of Jacob : 
 " Jacob served Laban for the spotted and particolored 
 of the flock, and so Christ submitted to the vilest servi- 
 tude for every form and variety of the human race, pur- 
 chasing them with his divine blood, by the mystery of 
 the cross." 4 St. Jerome declares " that we are all born 
 alike, kings and paupers ; we all die alike the same is 
 the condition of all;" 5 but that " enfranchisement exists 
 in the knowledge of the truth, so that there will be no 
 perfect liberty until the truth shall appear unclouded at 
 the judgment day." 6 St. Ambrose develops this thought 
 more at large : " He is a slave who has not a pure con- 
 science, who is cast down by fear, entangled by plea- 
 sure, governed by passions, excited by anger, over- 
 
 1 Antiquities of Christian Church, vol. i, 502. A full exposition ot 
 these Constitutions can be found in Chevalier Bunsen's work, Hippo- 
 lytus and his Age, vol. ii. 
 
 2 Bingham's Antiquities, &c., vol. i, 147. 3 Ibid. vol. ii, 985. 
 
 4 Dial, cum Trupho. 134. 5 Hieron. in Ps. Ixxxi, \ 4. 
 
 6 Hieron. Comm. in Ps. clvi.
 
 SLAVERY IN EUKOPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. C1X 
 
 whelmed by grief. . . The man bound by his vices 
 has many masters in himself. . . He who has power 
 over his own conduct is perfectly free, for he does every- 
 thing with prudence, and lives as he ought "o live he 
 alone is free." 1 So, in another place, " Servile est omne 
 pecatum, libera est innocentia." 3 St. Augustine exhorts 
 the slave to serve his master according to the flesh, for 
 in so doing for Christ's sake, he serves God, and to serve 
 God is true liberty. 3 
 
 St. Chrysostom goes still farther, and exhorts servants 
 not to seek temporal liberty, even if they could obtain 
 it, as their bodily bondage caused their spiritual liberty 
 to be more pre-eminent and shining. 4 
 
 The Popes of subsequent days enforced the same 
 views, both by precept, as is fully seen in Gregory the 
 Great's book, Pastoralis Curse, Admonition VI, and by 
 their acts, holding and buying and transferring slaves. 5 
 
 M. Wallon justly observes, that the Christian Fathers 
 and Church did not pretend to undertake the labor of 
 working out the abolition of slavery : " Another graver 
 and more urgent labor in every respect, in their view, 
 was the enfranchisement of their souls. In the short 
 journey of life, where we take and leave our bodies mat- 
 ters not. The soul alone, born for eternity, gives inte- 
 rest to the question of liberty and slavery." Such was 
 their view of Christian duty. 6 
 
 1 De Jacob, et vita beata, Lib. II, c. iii, \ 12. 
 
 2 De Joseph, IV, 19, 20. 
 
 8 "Servire Deo regnare est." Cited, with many others, by Wallon, 
 Part III, ch. viii. Speaking of the liberation of the Jewish servants, 
 he says, " Ne servi Christian! hoc flagitarent a dominis suis, apostolica 
 auctoritas jubet servos dominis suis esse subditos, ne nomen Dei blas- 
 phemetur." Qua3st. in Ex. Ixxvii. * In Genes. Serm. v. 
 
 6 Bishop England's Letters to John Forsyth, tracing the whole history 
 of the Catholic Church, in reference to slavery. 
 
 6 Hist, de 1'Escl. dans 1'Ant. Part III, ch. viii. As late as the seven- 
 teenth century, Bossuet, the great pulpit orator of the world, declared 
 that to condemn slavery " was to condemn the Holy Spirit, who com-
 
 CX HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 While this was the teaching of the Fathers, and such 
 was the effect of the principles of Christianity, yet it does 
 not appear that the Church was at all forward in manu- 
 mitting her slaves. The villains upon the Church lands 
 were among the last emancipated. 1 
 
 Villanage has never been entirely extinct in Germany. 
 The distinction between the villain and the ordinary 
 peasant is more in name than in fact. Indeed, the situa- 
 tion of the peasantry of the present day, differs but 
 little from their condition when they were coloni and 
 rustici. Mr. Hallam, speaking of the latter, says : 
 " Even where they had no legal title to property, it was 
 accounted inhuman to divest them of their little pos- 
 session (the peculium of the Roman law) ; nor was 
 their poverty perhaps less tolerable upon the whole, than 
 that of the modern peasantry in most countries of Eu- 
 rope."" 
 
 In Gaul, the feudal system had a more extensive and 
 general sway, and continued for a longer time, than in 
 Germany. Under that system, the mass of the people 
 were bondmen not absolute slaves, perhaps, but far 
 from exercising the privileges of freemen. Prior to 
 that system the bondmen in Gaul were numerous. 
 After the invasion of the Goths, the Burgundians and 
 Franks, who possessed themselves of different portions 
 of Gaul, the feudal system with its servitudes became 
 permanently fixed. The frequent conquests of Gaul, 
 and the consequent number of captives, swelled greatly 
 the list of bondmen, and the subsequent intestine wars 
 among the conquering hordes themselves, rendered ser- 
 vitudes more general in France than in any other of the 
 European countries. 8 As these conquering nations were 
 
 manded all slaves, by the mouth of St. Paul, to remain in their estate, 
 and did not force their masters to enfranchise them." Cinquieme Aver- 
 tiss. aux Protestants, 2 50. 
 
 1 Hallam's Mid. Ages, Pt. II, ch. ii. Ibid. 
 
 3 Montesq. Esp. des Lois, Lib. XXX, ch. ii ; Histoire des Paysans, by 
 Eugene Bonnemere.
 
 SLAVERY IN EUROPE IX THE MIDDLE AGES. CXI 
 
 of Germanic origin, and carried "with them their laws 
 and customs, it is unnecessary to enter into a detailed 
 view of the condition of the bondmen of Gaul. Miche- 
 let, speaking of the days of Charlemagne, says : " Sla- 
 very, mitigated it is true, is greatly increased. Charle- 
 magne gratifies his master, Alcuin, with a farm of 
 20,000 slaves. The nobles daily forced the poor to give 
 themselves up to them, body and goods. Slavery is an 
 asylum where the freeman daily takes refuge." 1 
 
 The condition of the bondmen in France was more 
 onerous than in Germany. In both, the burthen of 
 raising the revenue for the support of government, fell 
 upon them ; one of the privileges of a freeman, was 
 freedom from taxation. 2 Gibbon says, " The Goth, the 
 Burgundian, or the Frank, who returned from a success- 
 ful expedition, dragged after him a long train of sheep, 
 of oxen, and of human captives, whom he treated with 
 the same brutal contempt. The youths of an elegant 
 form and ingenuous aspect, were set apart for the domes- 
 tic service ; a doubtful situation, which alternately ex- 
 posed them to the favorable or cruel impulse of passion. 
 The useful mechanics and servants employed their skill 
 for the use or profit of their master. But the Roman 
 captives who were destitute of art, but capable of labor, 
 were condemned, without regard to their former rank, to 
 tend the cattle and cultivate the land of the barbarians." 
 " An absolute power of life and death was exercised by 
 these lords ; and when they married their daughters, a 
 train of useful servants, chained on the wagons to pre- 
 vent their escape, was sent as a nuptial present into a 
 distant country." He adds : " From the reign of Clovie, 
 during five successive centuries, the laws and manners 
 of Gaul uniformly tended to promote the increase and 
 to confirm the duration of personal servitude. Time and 
 
 1 Hist, of France, vol. i, ch. ii ; see also Gibbon's Decline, &c., ch. 
 xxiviii. * Montesq. Lib. XXX, ch. 15.
 
 CX11 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 violence almost obliterated the intermediate ranks ol 
 society, and left an obscure and narrow interval between 
 tlie noble and the slave. This arbitrary and recent divi- 
 sion has been transformed by pride and prejudice, into a 
 national distinction, universally established by the arms 
 and the laws of the Merovingians. The nobles, who 
 claim their genuine or fabulous descent from the inde- 
 pendent and victorious Franks, have asserted and abused 
 the indefeasible right of conquest, over a prostrate crowd 
 of slaves and plebeians, to whom they imputed the ima- 
 ginary disgrace of a Gallic or Eoman origin." 1 Miche- 
 let, describing the peasants of the fourteenth centuiy, 
 says : " It did not take long to make an inventory of the 
 peasant's property: meagre cattle, wretched harness, 
 plough, cart, and some iron tools. Household goods lie 
 had none. He had no stock, save a small quantity of seed- 
 corn. These things taken and sold, what remained for 
 the lord to lay his hands upon ? the poor devil's body, his 
 skin. Something more was tried to be squeezed out of 
 him. The boor must have some secret store in a hiding- 
 place. To make him discover it, they did not spare his 
 carcass ; his feet were warmed for him. At any rate they 
 had no mercy on the fire and iron." 2 
 
 The rustic serf differed somewhat from the slave. He 
 could not be sold for his master's debt, nor could he be 
 separated from the land to which he was attached. He 
 had a peculium, or rather the right to have one. If, 
 however, he sought to fly from the rigors of his situation, 
 the reclaimed fugitive became a pure slave. 3 The cruelty 
 of the lord's treatment equalled anything related of the 
 Roman masters. The Due de Soissons caused to be 
 buried alive a male and a female serf, who intermarried 
 
 1 Decline and Fall of Roman Emp. ch. xxxviii. 
 
 2 Hist, of France, Bk. VI, ch. iii ; see also Dr. Robertson's u View of 
 the Progress of Society in Europe;" Edwards's Ecclesiastical Jurisdic- 
 tion, 36 ; Bonnemere's Histoire des Paysans, Introduction. 
 
 3 Bonnemere, p. 5.
 
 SLAVERY IN EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. CXHl 
 
 without his consent. At his feasts he amused himself 
 by forcing a naked serf to hold between his legs a flaming 
 torch until it should be extinguished, repressing his cries 
 and his moving by threatening death with a sword. 1 The 
 low estimate placed upon their value, may be inferred 
 from the fact that the Bishop of Avranches gave five 
 women and two men for a spirited horse, on which to 
 enter his diocese. 3 The slaves were bought and sold as 
 other choses ; and there are manuscripts in existence, 
 showing the exchange of the half of a woman for the 
 half of a man. 3 
 
 The mainmorte of the French had its origin in the 
 custom of the master to cut off the right hand of the 
 deceased serf and presenting it to the lord, which evi- 
 dence of dominion entitled him to the goods and effects 
 of the deceased, to the exclusion of his children. Even 
 the religious lords sometimes nailed these hands over 
 the doors of their towers, by the side of the heads of 
 wild animals taken in the chase. 4 The miserable condi- 
 tion of the people, combined with a superstitious piety, 
 multiplied largely the slaves of the religious houses. 
 The formulas of the ceremony, on receiving such volun- 
 tary slaves, are still extant. The Church encouraged 
 this practice, and in A. D. 847, procured a capitulary, by 
 which every freeman was required to select a lord, under 
 whose protection to place himself. 5 The serfs bore 
 around their necks a collar, upon which was inscribed 
 the master's name. 6 
 
 The children of slaves were frequently divided between 
 the owners of the husband and wife ; sometimes the 
 former taking the males, and the latter the females. 
 Some curious agreements, in reference to the division of 
 
 1 Bonnemere, p. 37, citing Greg, de Tours, for his authority, who adds, 
 that the Christian masters were equally cruel ; naming a Bishop of Mans, 
 Bertram, whose acts were of the same character. 
 
 2 Bonneraere, 37. 8 Ibid. 38. 
 
 * Ibid. 39. 6 Ibid. 51. 6 Ibid.
 
 CX1V HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 the children are still in existence. The most abominable 
 feature of this state of slavery, was what was called the 
 "right of prelibation," which was the lord's privilege of 
 lying with the female vassal on the first night after her 
 marriage. This custom seems to have prevailed, at one 
 time, in Scotland, England, Germany, Piedmont, and 
 most parts of Europe. 1 To make this custom more hor- 
 rible, the husband was required to carry his espoused to 
 her bed of dishonor. 2 The remains of this custom are 
 still seen in certain gifts required of the villain on his 
 marriage, in various countries in Europe, being origi- 
 nally a composition for this right. 3 
 
 The art of tormenting was carried to a degree of re- 
 finement seldom equalled, even in the imagination of 
 those depicting the horrors of the Inquisition. " The 
 fire, the sword, the pit, the quartering, the wheel, the 
 sack, the axe, the fork, the gibbet, had no secrets from 
 him (the lord). He knew how to draw, to prick, to rack, 
 to break the teeth, to burn the eyes, to cut off the hands, 
 the feet, nose, ears. He knew how to castrate, to dis- 
 member, to lash, to break on a wheel, to castigate, to 
 flay alive, to boil, to roast, and with wise deliberation." 4 
 
 That people, thus oppressed, should frequently revolt 
 and inflict vengeance upon their tyrants, is not surpris- 
 ing. Their desperation compensated for their want of 
 discipline, and hence we are not surprised at their suc- 
 cess for a season. The Bagaudan conspiracy was a most 
 remarkable instance. They became masters of several 
 of the rural districts, burnt several towns, and committed 
 other depredations. 5 Almost the same scenes were re- 
 
 1 Bonnemere, 57, et seq. 
 
 2 " Maritus ipse femora nuptae aperiet, ut dictus dominus primum flo- 
 rein primitiasque delibet facilius." Ibid. 3 Ibid. 
 
 4 Bonnemere, 63. 
 
 5 Michelet's Hist, of France, Bk. I, ch. iii. A full history may be 
 found in Bonnemere's Histoire des Paysans. Introduction, ch. ii.
 
 SLAVERY IN EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. CXV 
 
 enacted in the fourteenth century, in the celebrated re- 
 volt of the peasants, known as the " Jacquerie.' n 
 
 The names of the servile classes in France varied 
 according to their grades from the seneschal and mareschal, 
 the chief slaves, down to the gens de corps, who were 
 classed with the cattle, as levant et couchant. The inter- 
 mediate grades, between absolute liberty and absolute 
 slavery, were infinite. 2 
 
 The wars of the Christians and Moors in France and 
 the Peninsula, increased largely the number of slaves. 
 France and Italy were filled with Saracen slaves. At 
 the same time, the Jews of Lyons and Verdun were fur- 
 nishing Christian slaves to their Saracen customers. 3 
 
 On the other side, the wars of the German and Sla- 
 vonic tribes gave to the slave-trade its greatest activity, 
 and filled the neighboring nations with so many of the 
 Slavonic captives, as to transfer their name " slaves," to 
 servitude itself. 4 
 
 From the sixth to the fourteenth centuries there was 
 very little improvement in the condition of the serfs of 
 France. In 1315, Louis le Hutin, to render famous his 
 reign, promulgated a celebrated ordinance for the en- 
 franchisement of royal serfs; wherein, after declaring, 
 by the law of nature, all men are born free, and that the 
 kingdom of the Franks should comport with its name 
 and be a kingdom of freemen, as an example to other 
 seigneurs, he ordered his officers to grant freedom to his 
 serfs, "upon certain composition, whereby sufficient 
 compensation shall be made to us for the emoluments 
 
 . ! See a graphic description of this, by Michelet, Hist, of France, Bk. 
 VI, ch. iii. 
 
 8 For a full and accurate view of this subject, see Michelet, Origines du 
 droit fran$ais, 276 ; Du Cange Gloss, v. Colonus, Mancipia, Accola, &c. 
 Guizot, Essais sur 1'Histoirede France, p. 105; Giraud, Histoire du droit 
 frangais, torn, i, art. v ; Bonnemere, Histoire des Paysans, Introduction. 
 
 3 Bancroft's United States, i, 162, 164, and authorities there cited. 
 
 4 Bancroft's United States, i, 162.
 
 CXV1 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 arising to us and our successors from their said servi- 
 tude." The result, as might have been expected, was 
 much honor to the royal munificence and justice, and 
 but little amelioration to the serf. 1 
 
 "With very considerable abatement in rigor, the feudal 
 system, and the consequent oppression of the peasant, 
 continued in France until the revolution of 1789. " Fiefs 
 and the feudal system," says M. Troplong, " had intro- 
 duced in France a noblesse, the members of which have, 
 even to the latest times, preserved privileges very oner- 
 ous to the people, and unjust prerogatives very humilia- 
 ting to the balance of the nation." 2 One can almost 
 excuse the horrors of the revolution, when it is remem- 
 bered, to use the figure of Macaulay, that the Devil of 
 Tyranny always tears and rends the body which it leaves. 
 Certain it is, that a people unjustly enslaved by masters, 
 in nowise their superiors, acquired thereby for the first 
 time their enfranchisement. The great Napoleon, it is 
 true, after the Empire, established a new and even an 
 hereditary nobility. But he exhibited the sagacious 
 wisdom of his master mind even in this ; for while he 
 rewarded the brave and virtuous, and stimulated the 
 pride and emulation of their posterity, he withheld from 
 the new noblesse those prerogatives and powers which 
 oppressed the people. The French people objected not 
 to the display and pageantry attendant upon a titled 
 aristocracy; and when unaccompanied by oppression, 
 they were not distasteful to them. 
 
 Sicily, Italy, and Venice, for many ages furnished 
 marts to the slave-dealer. Venetian ships were engaged 
 in the commerce long after Venetian laws had prohibited 
 it; and never did the trade therein fully cease, until 
 treading the deck of an argosy of Venice was declared 
 by law to be itself freedom. 3 
 
 1 Guizot's History of Civilization, Lecture viii. 
 
 2 Droit civil fran$ais, Liv. I, Int. 195. 
 
 8 Bancroft's United States, i, 163, and authorities there cited.
 
 SLAVERY IN EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. CXV11 
 
 Slavery continued in Poland so long as it remained an 
 independent state ; the slaves were mostly prsedial, living 
 upon their master's land, furnished by him with agri- 
 cultural implements and cattle, and bound to labor for 
 him a specified portion of their time. They were al- 
 lowed, by their lords, to own and possess personal pro- 
 perty, and thus acquired occasionally a comfortable com- 
 petency. 1 
 
 When Eussia became master of most of her soil, the 
 condition of the serfs was not improved, as the slavery 
 of Russia is as arbitrary and oppressive as that of any 
 portion of the world. It has existed there ever since the 
 Muscovite Empire has been known, and has undergone, 
 in the progress of time, but little amelioration. It in- 
 cludes the vast majority of the population of this exten- 
 sive domain, and presents but little prospect of change 
 or improvement. Besides yielding passive obedience, 
 the Russian slave must uncover himself in the presence 
 of his master ; must succor him when attacked ; must 
 not marry without his permission ; must make no com- 
 plaint against his master, except under the severest 
 penalties, if it be decided against him ; and must sub- 
 mit to any labor or punishment which his master may 
 inflict upon him. The master may dispose of his serf 
 in any manner he pleases, sell or mortgage him, transfer 
 him from one estate to another, or to his household, or 
 transport him to Siberia. May inflict any punishment 
 he pleases upon him. May seize all of his earnings, and 
 appropriate to his own use. However, by the indulgence 
 of their masters, some of the serfs acquire considerable 
 estates. 
 
 Emancipation is allowed by law ; and one article pro- 
 vides, that " an emancipated serf can never again become 
 a slave, but he may be compelled to serve as a soldier 
 all his life." But emancipation is no blessing to the 
 
 1 See Dickens's Household Words, i, 342.
 
 CXV111 HISTOEICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 Russian serf. There exists no intermediate grades be- 
 tween the nobles and the serfs. There is no opening for 
 rewarding industry and probity ; no stimulus for energy 
 and integrity. The serf, bond or free, is still a serf, con- 
 fined to the occupation of a serf, without hope of a 
 better condition. As free, he is liable to starvation, 
 while otherwise his master must provide food for him : 
 and hunger and famine are realities among the Russian 
 serfs. It is not surprising then, that they are contented 
 with their lot and seek no change. They are indolent, 
 constitutionally, and indulge it at their master's expense. 
 They are mendacious, beyond the negro perhaps, and 
 feel no shame at detection. Like him, too, they have 
 no providence for the future, and no anxiety about it. 
 They are filthy in their persons, and in their rude huts ; 
 exhibiting, in all their handiworks, the ignorance of a 
 savage and the stupidity of a dolt. 1 
 
 In Turkey, and wherever Islamism prevails, slavery is 
 a part of the religion of the people. The slave-market 
 at Constantinople is always crowded with both blacks 
 and whites; and in the same stall maybe seen the negro 
 from Sennaar or Abyssinia, and the beautiful Circassian 
 girl, sold by her parents to avoid poverty and misery. 
 Except to the Christian slave, the Turk is not in practice 
 a cruel master, though his power is almost absolute. It 
 is said that other Europeans, residing in Turkey, are in- 
 variably more cruel masters than the Turks themselves. 
 Young and promising boys are frequently purchased by 
 the sovereign, to be reared and educated for officers of 
 state ; and the Circassian beauties usually find a home 
 in the harem of a wealthy proprietor. The right of re- 
 demption, too, is strictly enjoined by the Koran ; for all 
 slaves who properly conduct themselves, a writing is 
 
 1 In this description of Russian serfdom, I have followed, chiefly, the 
 work of Germain de Ligny, " The Knout and the Russians," Art. viii, 
 " Slavery."
 
 SLAVERY IN EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. CX1X 
 
 given to them fixing their value, and when the sum is 
 tendered, the master is bound to accept it. 1 
 
 A few remarks as to the condition of the peasantry at 
 the present time, will properly close our view of slavery 
 on the continent of Europe. Except in Turkey and 
 Russia, slavery in name does not exist at this day. In 
 these we have already noticed the present condition of 
 the servile classes. It is due to the Emperor Nicholas 
 of Eussia to say, that he emancipated many of his serfs, 
 as an experiment to test the success of freedom granted 
 to them. The present Emperor is seeking to extend the 
 experiment. "Without a radical change in the constitu- 
 tion of the state, offering greater inducements for effort 
 on the part of the people ; and perhaps also a change 
 still more difficult to produce, that of the character of 
 the serf himself, no bright hopes need be cherished of 
 any material improvement in the condition of Russian 
 slavery. 
 
 In Hungary and Transylvania, the serfs rise but little 
 above a state of slavery. Involuntary and vile personal 
 services to their lords are still enforced ; corporal pun- 
 ishment, at the will of the lord, is still allowed in the 
 latter country, and existed in the former till the year 
 1835. The Urbarium of Maria Theresa, the Magna 
 Charta of the peasantry, with all its boasted reform, did 
 not elevate them to the position of base villanage in 
 England. 2 
 
 While slavery in name is extinct, slavery in fact exists 
 on the continent, and must continue to exist, until 
 enlightenment shall have driven intellectual darkness 
 from the earth, and religion shall have changed so com- 
 pletely the heart of man, that every one shall be con- 
 
 1 See Stephens's Travels in Greece, Turkey, &C., voL i, ch. xiii; Copley's 
 Hist, of Slavery, p. 92. For description of slave-market, see Byron's 
 Don Juan, Canto iv and v. 
 
 2 For an interesting and graphic view of the peasantry of Hungary and 
 Transylvania, see Paget's work, 5, 178, et seq. ; ii, 143, et seq.
 
 CXX HISTORICAL SKETCH OP SLAVERY. 
 
 tented to occupy that sphere for which his nature fits 
 him. 
 
 The labor performed by the lower classes, is servile 
 labor. In name, it is voluntary, in reality, it is involun- 
 tary, forced by a master more relentless than their feudal 
 lords, stern necessity. The female slavery described 
 by Professor Silliman in his Second Visit to Europe, as 
 witnessed by himself in Saxony, 1 had no parallel among 
 the ancient Germans, whose slavery we have been exam- 
 ining. When population becomes dense, and the num- 
 bers depending upon their labor for their food increase, 
 the price of labor can have but one standard, to which 
 it of necessity comes: that is, the smallest possible 
 amount upon which the laborer can feed and clothe him- 
 self and such of his family as are absolutely helpless. 
 Another result is, that, as the price of labor decreases, 
 the age at which the child shall be considered capable 
 to toil for his own support correspondingly decreases ; 
 and the age at which the old shall be considered exempt 
 from labor, in the same ratio increases. Necessity, too, 
 forces the laborer to submit to an amount of labor to 
 which his physical frame is incompetent, and hence, laws 
 are necessary to protect him from such exactions. An- 
 other result is, that, despairing of an honest support, or 
 yielding to natural indolence, the number of paupers 
 frightfully increases, and with it the number of thefts 
 and offences of that character. Michaelis, a learned 
 German writer, after considering the question, " whether 
 it be better to have slavery or not ?" sums up thus : " To 
 strike a balance, then, between the advantages and dis- 
 advantages of slavery, is a difficult matter ; but upon 
 the whole, when I consider the severity of our numerous 
 capital condemnations for thefts, and our insecurity after 
 all against its artifices ; when I consider that the punish- 
 ment of our culprits only serves to make them a burden 
 
 1 Vol. ii, p. 34L
 
 SLAVERY IN EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. CXX1 
 
 to our neighbors, who in return land theirs upon us, and 
 that it thus becomes a sort of nursery for robbers, or, at 
 any rate, for vagabonds and beggars, who are the pest 
 of every country, I am often led to think that the es- 
 tablishment of slavery under certain limitations would 
 prove a profitable plan." 1 
 
 1 Commentaries on the Laws of Moses, Art. cxxii; see also Silliman's 
 Second Visit, vol. i, p. 233 ; vol. ii, p. 7, 9, 11 ; Prime's Travels in Europe 
 and the East, i, 361, 394; ii, 8, 47.
 
 CHAPTER Yin. 
 
 SLAVERY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 A GLANCE at the history of slavery in Great Britain 
 must suffice us. 
 
 . The ocean-bound isle has not been exempt from the 
 common fate of the nations of the world. 
 
 Of the ancient Britons and their social system but 
 little is known. They were a simple, rude, and warlike 
 people ; "satisfied with a frugal sustenance and avoiding 
 the luxuries of wealth." 1 They were governed by a 
 large number of petty chiefs or lords, by whom the peo- 
 ple were not oppressed ; " for," says an old writer, " it 
 is a certain maxim, that though great nations may be 
 upholden by power, small territories must be maintained 
 by justice." 3 In fact, they seemed unusually free, for 
 Dion, in the Life of the Emperor Severus, says, " that, in 
 Britain, the people held the helm of government in their 
 own power." 3 Their wealth consisted of cattle, and they 
 might almost be termed a nomadic race, their towns 
 consisting of mere huts, temporary in their structure and 
 occupation. 4 Among such a people it is more than pro- 
 bable slavery, if it existed at all, was mild, and similar 
 to that of the Jewish patriarchs. 
 
 The Romans, with their invasion, introduced their 
 system of slavery. Many of the conquered Britons were 
 
 1 Diodorus, Lib. V, p. 301. 
 
 2 Discourse on Government, by Nath'l Bacon, p. 2. 
 
 3 Cited by Bacon, as above. 
 
 4 Turner's Anglo-Saxons, Bk. I, ch. v, pp. 63, 64.
 
 SLAVERY IN GREAT BRITAIN. CXX111 
 
 exposed in the slave-market of Rome. 1 The rule of the 
 Saxons did not change the social system of Britain in 
 this respect. Among no people were the orders or 
 classes more distinctly divided. The edhiling, or nobi- 
 lity; ihefrilingi, or freed slaves; and the lazzi, or slaves, 
 were among their earliest distinctions. 1 The slaves are 
 mentioned by other names, in the ancient laws, such as 
 theow, thrcel, men, and esne. 3 There were great numbers 
 of these slaves, being a large majority of the population. 
 Single individuals owned large numbers. Alcuin, an 
 Anglo-Saxon abbot, had ten thousand. 
 
 The usual sources of slavery were recognized among 
 the Saxon laws. Birth, sale, captivity in war, the pen- 
 alty for crime, are all mentioned as legitimate sources of 
 slavery. From the laws of Henry I, it would appear that a 
 great variety of causes of slavery were recognized at that 
 time : " Servi alii natur^, alii facto, et alii empcione, et 
 alii redempcione, alii, sua vel alterius dacione servi, et si 
 qui sunt alije species hujusmodi." He reduced them all 
 to two, " servi, alii casu, alii genituraV' 4 
 
 The condition of the Saxon slave was that of pure 
 slavery. His very existence was merged in the master, 
 so that the maxim of their law was, " omne damnum 
 quod servus fecerit, dominus emendet." The master 
 could inflict corporal punishment ad libitum; and while 
 their laws prescribed the " wegreaf" or " weregild" of 
 a tfteoiv, when slain by a stranger, no punishment was 
 affixed for his homicide by his master. 5 He was the 
 
 1 They were considered, in Rome, as stupid. Thus Cicero, speaking 
 of the captive Britons, "Ex quibus nullos puto te literis aut musicis eru- 
 ditos expectare." Ad Art. Lib. IV, 16. 
 
 8 Turner's Anglo-Saxons, Bk. VII, ch. ix ; Nithard's Hist. Lib. IV. 
 From lazzi, comes the English word lazy, so often applied to servants. 
 See Rees's Cyclopedia, " Lazzi." 
 
 3 Turner, as above; Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, passim. 
 
 4 Leg. Hen. I, \ 76. 
 
 5 Laws of Kings Hlothheare and Eadric, 1, and note thereto. Wihtr. 
 ch. xxiii. The slayer of a slave, by the law of Aethelbert, paid three
 
 CXX1V HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 subject of sale and of gift. Some of the later kings 
 forbade the sale of a Christian slave to be sent beyond 
 the realm. 1 He could not appear in court except through 
 his lord ; nor was he allowed his oath, that privilege 
 being one of the characteristics of a freeman. 2 The 
 slaves were conveyed both by deed and by will, and in 
 juxtaposition with cattle and other personalty. 3 Brand- 
 ing was a common punishment with them ; and it would 
 seem, from one expression, that they were sometimes 
 yoked : " Let every man know his teams of men, of 
 horses, and oxen." 4 
 
 It is very certain that the slaves wore around their 
 necks brazen collars, having their own and their masters' 
 names inscribed thereon. 5 
 
 The freedmen were allowed, by the laws of Alfred, as 
 holidays, " xii days at Yule (Christmas), and the day on 
 which Christ overcame the Devil, and the commemora- 
 tion day of St. Gregory, vii days before and vii days 
 after ; one day at St. Peter's tide and St. Paul's ; and in 
 harvest, the whole week before St. Mary mass ; and one 
 day at the celebration of All-Hallows, and the iv Wed- 
 nesdays in the iv Ember weeks. To all theow men be 
 given to those to whom it may be most desirable to give, 
 
 shillings. By the law of Ethelred, the slayer paid one pound. By the 
 same law, the slayer of a freeman paid thirty pounds. Laws of Ethelred, 
 ii, 5. See also Bacon's Discourse, 35. Alfred procured the passage 
 of the Jewish law, as to the homicide of a slave, or the maiming by loss 
 of eyes or teeth, by the master. Laws, \ 17. 
 
 1 Laws of King Cnut (secular), 3. Laws of Etheldred, viii, \ 5, 
 which adds, " Si quis hoc presumat, sit praster benedictionem Dei, et 
 omnium sanctorum, et prater omnem Christianitatem, nisi pceniteat et 
 emendet, sicut episcopus suus edocebit." Laws of William the Con- 
 queror, I 41. 2 Laws of King Withraed, \\ 22, 23. 
 
 3 Some curious instances are collected in Turner's Anglo-Sax., Bk. VII, 
 ch. ix. 4 Wilk. Leg. Sax. p. 47. 
 
 6 In Ivanhoe, ch. i, Sir Walter Scott introduces a slave, with his collar 
 on his neck, with the inscription " Gurth, the son of Beowulph, is the 
 born thrall of Cedric, of Eotherwood."
 
 SLAVERY IN GREAT BRITAIN. CXXV 
 
 whatever any man shall give them in God's name, or 
 they, at any of their moments, may deserve." 1 
 
 The working of slaves on the Sabbath, however, was 
 expressly forbidden, and the penalty therefor was the 
 freedom of the slave. If a freedman worked on that 
 day, without his lord's command, he forfeited his free- 
 dom. If a slave worked on that day, without his lord's 
 command, "let him suffer on his hide." 2 
 
 The harborer of a fugitive slave was required to pay 
 the owner the value of the slave. 3 The slaves themselves 
 were not allowed admittance into sacred orders, " ante 
 legitimam libertatem." 4 
 
 The written contracts of that day, which have been 
 preserved, enable us to give accurately the prices of slaves. 
 A half pound was the average price. 5 They were pur- 
 chased for exportation, until that was forbidden; and 
 Henry states, that at Bristol a brisk slave-trade was car- 
 ried on, in purchasing Englishmen and exporting them 
 to Ireland for sale. 6 And William of Malmsbury states, 
 that it seems to be a natural custom with the people of 
 Northumberland, to sell their nearest relations. 7 
 
 It would seem, from the fact that slaves purchased 
 their freedom sometimes, that the indulgence of masters 
 allowed them something similar to the Roman peculium. 
 Theft appears to have been a common offence with them, 
 and the master was made responsible therefor, unless he 
 showed, by his oath and compurgators, that it was done 
 without his command. In the event of their committing 
 homicide, they were required to be delivered to the 
 avengers of blood ; and for other offences, branding was 
 
 1 Laws of King Alfred, ch. xliii. 2 Dooms of King Ina, \ 3. 
 
 8 Laws of King Ina, $ 30. 4 Laws of Henry I, ch. Ixviii. 
 
 6 Turner has collected several ; Bk. VII, ch. ix. 
 
 6 Hist. vol. iv, p. 238 ; Barrington on Statutes, 274 ; Bancroft's United 
 States, i, 162. 
 
 7 Lib. I, ch. iii ; consult also Strabo, Lib. IV, p. 199 (ed. Paris, 1620).
 
 CXXV1 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 a common punishment. 1 We have already mentioned 
 the punishment for the homicide of a slave. The rape 
 of a female slave was also punished by a fine. 3 
 
 Manumission at the altar, is mentioned as early as the 
 laws of King Wihtraed (about the year 700), as an exist- 
 ing and established custom. 3 The laws of William the 
 Conqueror prescribe other modes of manumission, evi- 
 dently borrowed from the continent, viz., the declaration 
 of freedom before the County Court, the " ostendens ei 
 liberas vias et portas," the giving to him of the arms of 
 a freeman, a lance and a sword. 4 The laws of Henry I 
 are very full in prescribing additional modes of effecting 
 manumission. 5 
 
 The records of ancient wills exhibit a number of cases 
 of emancipation by will. The causes operating upon 
 the testator were usually gratitude and benevolence. 
 One instance is given of two Irishmen who were freed 
 for the sake of an abbot's soul. 6 
 
 The effect of manumission was simply to release the 
 slave from the bondage of the master. It did not place 
 him upon the footing of a free citizen. " Thus," says 
 Bacon, " though they had escaped the depth of bondage, 
 yet attained they not to the full pitch of freemen ; for 
 the lord might acquit his own title of bondage, but no 
 man could be made free without the act of the whole 
 body. And therefore the historian (Tacitus) saith, that 
 they are not multum supra servos, or scarce not servants. 
 .... Those are, nowadays, amongst the number and 
 rank of such as are called copyholders, who have the pri- 
 vilege of protection from the laws, but no privilege of 
 vote in the making of laws." 7 
 
 1 Laws of King Ina, ch. Ixxiv ; Laws of King Aethelstan, Ordinance 
 3 ; Laws of King Ethelred, ch. ii ; Laws of King Cnut, ch. xxxii. 
 
 2 Laws of King Alfred, ch. xxv. 
 
 8 Ibid. ch. viii. 4 Ibid. ch. xv. 5 Ibid. ch. Ixxviii. 
 
 6 See Turner, Bk. VII, ch. ix. 
 
 7 Discourse of the Laws and Government of England, by Nath'l Bacon 
 (1739), p. 35 ; see also Glanville, Lib. V, ch. v.
 
 SLAVERY IN GREAT BRITAIN. CXXvii 
 
 The Christian religion, and other causes, combined 
 both to promote manumission and to ameliorate the 
 condition of the Saxon slaves. 1 King Alfred procured 
 the adoption of the Jewish law, that whosoever bought 
 a Christian slave, the time of his servitude should be 
 limited to six years, and on the seventh he should go 
 free, with his wife, if he brought her with him. But if 
 the master had given him a wife, she and her children 
 remained. If he chose to continue a slave he might 
 do so. 2 So Edward the Confessor ordained : " That the 
 lords should so demean themselves towards their men, 
 that they neither incur guilt against God, nor offence 
 against the king : or which is all one, to respect them aa 
 God's people and the king's subjects." 3 
 
 The invasion of the Normans had considerable effect 
 upon the Saxon slavery. The followers of the Conqueror 
 were accustomed to the feudal system. In accordance 
 with it, they reduced to a state of vassalage, indiscrimi- 
 nately, both masters and men. 4 The most ruinous op- 
 pressions were resorted to, to extort the last cent, from 
 which " neither the poor man's poverty, nor the rich 
 man's abundance, protected them." 5 The very existence 
 of a common oppressor, and of a common hatred, pro- 
 duced a feeling of kindness and sympathy, lessening the 
 distance between the master and his villain. When the 
 fruits of the slave's industry were taken from the master 
 by oppressive taxation, and the slave ceased therefore to 
 be valuable, the lord either manumitted him, or by dis- 
 use lost his absolute control. Thus by degrees villan- 
 
 1 Edwards's Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, \ 37. 
 
 8 Wilk. Leg. Sax. 29; Alfred, in his will, "In the name of the living 
 God," forbade his heirs to invade the liberty of those men whom he had 
 set free. Edwards's EC. Jur. \ 55. 
 
 3 Bacon's Discourse, as above. 
 
 4 Fitzherbert gives this account of it ; see Bar. on Statutes, 307 ; see 
 Black. Comm. Bk. II, p. 92. 
 
 6 William of Malmsbury, Bk. IV, ch. i. Roger of Wendover's Chro- 
 nicle, A.D. 1085.
 
 CXXViii HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 age, with its acknowledged rights to the villain, was 
 substituted for the ancient Saxon slavery. 
 
 Pure or base villanage, however, was only a modified 
 slavery. Their service was uncertain, and entirely 
 within the discretion of the lord. They were liable to 
 corporal chastisement and imprisonment. 1 They were 
 incapable of acquiring property, except by the lord's 
 permission ; the rule of law being " quicquid acquiritur 
 servo, acquiritur domino." They could not purchase 
 , their own liberty, because, says Glanville, " omnia catalla 
 nativi intelliguntur esse in potestate domini sui." 3 They 
 could be sold and transferred, if vileins in gross, ad 
 libitum ; if vileins regardant, with the land. They de- 
 scended as chattels real to the heir, and their condition 
 was transmitted to their posterity ; the status of the 
 father determining their condition, contrary to the rule 
 of the civil law. 3 They could not be heard as witnesses 
 or suitors against their lord ; nor were they allowed their 
 oath in any case, the privilege of being sworn being the 
 privilege of a freeman. 4 If the villain ran away, or was 
 purloined from the lord, he might be retaken or re- 
 
 1 The Stat. of 1 Eich. II, recites, that the villeyns had assembled 
 riotously, and endeavored to withdraw their services from their lords ; 
 not only those by which they held their lands, but likewise the services of 
 their body ; and provides for their imprisonment at the will of the lord, 
 without bail or mainprise. Harrington on Stat. 299. This oppression 
 was the occasion of the insurrection under Wat Tyler and Jack Straw. 
 Ib. 300. 
 
 2 Lib. V, ch. 5. Bracton describes a villain as one, " ubi scire non 
 poterit vespere quale servitium fieri debet mane." Lib. IV, fol. 208. 
 
 8 Glanville, Lib. V, ch. vi ; Bracton, fol. 4 ; Fleta, Lib. I, ch. iii ; and 
 The Mirror, ch. ii, sect. 28 ; all declare that the villanage of either parent 
 makes the issue bond. 
 
 4 Black. Comm. Bk. II, p. 93 j Glanville, Bk. V, ch. v. Some of the 
 rights exercised by the lord are hardly to be credited ; such as the "jus 
 laxandse coxae sponsarum vassallorum." The same author informs us, 
 "In dominum peccat vassallus, si dominum cucurbitaverit, sive ejus 
 uxore concubiverit vel etiam conatus fuerit, turpiter contrectando, vel 
 osculando." Struvii Jur. Feud. p. 541, cited Bar. on Stat. 306, 307.
 
 SLAVERY IN GREAT BRITAIN. CXX1X 
 
 covered by action, " like beasts or other chattels." 1 As 
 to persons other than the lord, the villain had some 
 recognized rights. He could sue if his lord did not in- 
 terfere. He could be executor. He could purchase and 
 sell, if done before his lord took possession." 
 
 The lord could not kill or maim his villain, and an 
 appeal of murder lay at the instance of the relatives of 
 a murdered serf. 3 
 
 Base villanage gradually gave place to privileged vil- 
 lanage, by which the services due the lord were made 
 fixed and determinate, and generally payable in money. 
 The latter have still their relics in Britain, in the copy- 
 hold tenures. 4 The last instance of a claim of base vil- 
 lanage in the courts of justice, is said to be found in the 
 fifteenth year of James I. 5 Edward IH, when in need 
 of funds, gave to a manumitted villain, John Simondson, 
 a general power to go through the royal manors, and 
 grant manumission to all the vassals thereon for a cer- 
 tain composition in money. This example of the sove- 
 reign was followed by many other lords in similar need, 
 and to this, among other causes, may be attributed the 
 extinction of villanage. 6 In 1574, we find a commission 
 issued by Queen Elizabeth, for inquiry into the condition 
 of " all her bondmen and bondwomen in the counties of 
 Cornwall, &c., such as were, by blood, in a slavish condi- 
 tion, and to compound with them for their manumission 
 and freedom." 7 The benevolence and negligence of 
 lords, and the unfruitfulness of villain services (especially 
 
 1 Black. Comm. Bk. II, p. 93. 
 
 2 Co. Lit. Bk. II, ch. xiii. 3 Ibid. 
 
 4 So says Coke and Blackstone, Comm. Bk. II, 96. But Lord Lough- 
 borough questions the correctness of this opinion as to the origin of copy- 
 holds. Dougl. 698. 
 
 5 See Mr. Hargraves's argument, and Lord Mansfield's decision, in 
 Somersett case, 20 HowelPs State Trials. 
 
 6 Barr. on Statutes, 304, 305. 
 
 7 Rymer, quoted in Barr. on Stat. 308.
 
 CXXX HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 when confined to the land), may be added as principal 
 causes of the gradual extinction of villanage. It is true, 
 however, in Britain as on the Continent, that the reli- 
 gious houses were the last to grant freedom to their 
 villains. 1 
 
 About the middle of the fourteenth century we find 
 the first of a number of statutes passed by Parliament, 
 the object of which was to compel laborers and servants 
 to work at reasonable wages, and also to regulate their 
 diet, their apparel, and their games. 3 Other acts gave to 
 the justices of the peace the power to rate wages, and 
 fix prices of work. 3 When the employers ceased to be 
 dependent on laborers, and the provision as to justices 
 rating wages, would work beneficially to the laborer, 
 Parliament repealed the act ; and when, in 1824, the 
 Arbitration Act was passed, a provision was inserted, 
 prohibiting the justices from establishing wages, without 
 the consent of both master and workmen. 4 
 
 In Scotland, the colliers, coalbearers, and salters con- 
 tinued in a state of actual personal bondage to a much 
 later period than we find villains in gross in England. 
 In fact, freedom was not acquired by them till the pas- 
 sage of the Act of 39 Geo. 3, c. 56. Nearly a quarter of 
 
 1 Black. Comra. Bk. II, 95, 96 ; Barr. on Stat. 309 ; Sir Thorn. Smith, 
 Comm. Bk. Ill, ch. x. 
 
 2 The curious will be amused with some of these provisions. " No 
 servant nor common laborer shall wear, nor suffer their wives to wear 
 in their clothing, any cloth, whereof the broad yard shall pass the price 
 of two shillings. Nor shall they suffer their wives to wear any veile or 
 kercheffe, whose price exceedeth twenty pence ; nor any hosen, whereof 
 the paire shall pass eighteen pence." No valet, or under that degree, 
 " shall use, nor wear in array for his body, any bolsters, nor stuffs of cotton, 
 wool, or cadas, nor other stuffing in his parer point," &c. &c. 3 Edw. 
 IV, c. v ; 22 Edw. IV, c. i. Sampson on Codes and Common Law, 
 pp. 131, 132, 133 ; Smith on Master and Servant, Introd. p. 29, &c. 
 
 3 5 Eliz. c. iv ; 29 Geo. 2, c. xxxiii ; 20 Geo. 2, c. xix. 
 
 4 Smith on Master and Servant, Introd. p. 30.
 
 SLAVERY IX GREAT BRITAIN. CXXX1 
 
 a century before that time an act was passed for the 
 same purpose, but was disregarded by those for whose 
 benefit it was intended. 1 In fact, they esteemed the in- 
 terest taken in their freedom, to be a mere device on 
 the part of the proprietors to get rid of what they called 
 head or harigald money, payable to them when a female, 
 by bearing a child, added to the live stock of their mas- 
 ter's property. 3 
 
 The villains in Ireland were termed BetagJiii or Tcea- 
 gua. 3 The Irish do not seem ever to have been fond of 
 slaveholding. 4 Their early slaves were Englishmen, all 
 of whom, in 1172, they emancipated by a decree of a 
 national synod/ Their subsequent history has been a 
 succession of efforts to rid themselves of political bond- 
 age. 
 
 The present condition of the laboring classes in Great 
 Britain differs from personal bondage chiefly in the name. 
 Necessity and hunger are more relentless masters than 
 the old Saxon lords. The power of life and death, 
 and the use of corporal chastisement are the mere at- 
 tendants of slavery ; neither are necessary to constitute 
 perfect bondage. 6 When the time and labor of one 
 person are by any means not purely voluntary, the pro- 
 perty of an other, the former is a slave and the latter is 
 a master. And it makes no change in their condition, 
 whether the food and clothing of the laborer be fur- 
 nished him from the obligation to support and clothe 
 
 1 Hargraves's argument, Somersett case, 20 Howell's State Trials ; 
 Smith on Master and Servant, Int. xxviii, note 2. 
 
 2 See note to Red Gauntlet, ch. xxi, p. 265 (Abbotsford edition). 
 
 3 Hence the Irish term of reproach, Teague. Barr. on Stat. 303, 306. 
 
 4 Fancy might suggest as the reason for this, the fact that St. Patrick 
 was himself sold, by his father, into slavery, to a Scotchman, whom he 
 served as a swineherd ; see Roger of Wendover's Chronicle, A.D. 491. 
 
 5 Copley, on Slavery, 82. 
 
 6 Yet the most cruel corporal punishment is used in the English mines. 
 See Cobden's White Slaves of England, 33, 34.
 
 CXXX11 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 one's property, or from the scanty return of nominal 
 wages. 
 
 As to food, clothing, residences, and the amount and 
 character of the labor required, the working classes of 
 Britain compare unfavorably with many slaveholding 
 countries. 1 The earnings of the agricultural peasant 
 will barely furnish a support, when he is in health and 
 employment. When out of employment or diseased, 
 he becomes necessarily a pauper. The parliamentary 
 reports give a view of wretchedness, destitution, igno- 
 rance and cruelty, in connection with the men, women, 
 and children, engaged in the English mines, which from 
 any less reliable source would be incredible. 
 
 From the same reliable evidence we are informed of 
 degradation, poverty, and cruel oppression under which 
 the poor laborers, of every age and sex, groan and exist 
 in the factories and workshops of the United Kingdom. 
 The use of the lash is no uncommon resort of the bosses, 
 and the fear of starvation bars up the door of justice. 
 
 The menial and liveried servants of Britain share a 
 fate not much superior. Actual, corporal cruelty is not 
 so frequent, and detection and punishment more cer- 
 tain ; yet, the abject submission required, and the con- 
 temptuous treatment received, break the spirit of the 
 slave, and give food to the insolence of the master. 
 
 A prominent evil to which the poor of Britain are sub- 
 jected, is their miserable homes. Crowded into a single 
 
 1 Says M. De Beaumont, " J'ai vu 1'Indien dans ses forets ; j'ai vu le 
 noir dans 1'esclavage, mais je n'ai vu auciyie misere qui puisse elre com- 
 par6e a celle de 1'Irlandais." Quoted by M. Levavasseur, who adds, 
 " Nous avons vu a Dublin meme des hommes qu'on eut pris pour des 
 spectres, et a leur approche nous detournions involontairementles regards, 
 car ils avaient Faspect du cadavre." Esclavage de la race noire, pp. 
 40, 41. Carlyle compares the condition of the Saxon slave with the 
 modern peasant; and, af' showing its preferableness, concludes, 
 " Liberty, I am told, is a div) . thing. Liberty, when it becomes the 
 liberty to die by starvation, is not so divine." Past and Present, Bk. Ill, 
 ch. xiii.
 
 SLAVERY IN GREAT BRITAIN. CXXX111 
 
 room, of all sexes and ages, filth, disease, vice, and 
 crime, are the inevitable consequences. To this, add a 
 degree of ignorance appalling, in so old and civilized a 
 nation; and the result is not astonishing that so many of 
 the children should be thieves, and the women prosti- 
 tutes, and the men paupers. 1 
 
 The Parliament of Great Britain, at the instance of 
 great and good men, have not been backward in striving, 
 by legislation, to stay the oppressor's hand ; to give air 
 and light, and food and clothing to the caged children ; 
 to encourage all improvement in the lodging-houses for 
 the poor; in fact, to remedy every evil within the reach 
 of their legislation, without giving too violent a shock 
 to the great agricultural, mechanical, and commercial in- 
 terests. Nor has the philanthropy of England been 
 exclusively extended abroad. Private and associated 
 charity have done much to relieve suffering humanity. 
 Yet after all that charity enlightened by religion, and 
 legislation guided by humanity, can do, the picture we 
 have drawn is not overcolored, when applied to the ac- 
 tual condition of many of their poor. How these evils 
 shall be remedied is a problem yet unsolved, and to-day 
 taxing the thoughts and burdening the hearts of the wise 
 and good of the land. 
 
 1 In addition to the Reports to Parliament, I have relied upon the fol- 
 lowing authorities: Mayhew's London Labor and London Poor; Cob- 
 den's White Slaves of England ; Dickens's Household W rds, ix, 398 ; 
 Silliman's Second Visit to Europe, i, 31 ; Dr. Durbin's Observations 
 in Europe, ii, 120, 170, 171, ch. xii, at large; The Glory and Shame 
 of England; Prime's Travels in Europe and the East, i, 149, 173, 182; 
 Chartism, by Thomas Carlyle.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 WE cannot go back to the origin of negro slavery. 1 
 We have seen that the earliest authentic histories 
 and monuments exhibit the negro in a state of bond- 
 age. 3 From that time to the present he has in greater 
 or less numbers ever been a slave. Whether this condi- 
 tion is the curse on Canaan, the son of Ham, as many 
 religiously believe, and plausibly argue, it is not our pro- 
 vince to decide. The investigation would lead us into 
 tempting but too extensive fields for our purpose. The 
 fact exists undeniably, be the cause what it may. Xor is 
 it our purpose -to describe the oppressive slavery to 
 which the negro is subjected in his own land and at the 
 hand of his fellows. Both master and slave being bar- 
 barians, we could expect to find only the most savage 
 and cruel forms of slavery. The ingenuity of an en- 
 lightened intellect could scarcely, by effort, devise the 
 numerous and skilful and horrid cruelties of these bar- 
 barian masters. 3 
 
 1 Herodotus, the oldest Greek historian, commemorates the traffic in 
 slaves, Lib. IV, c. clxxxi. 
 
 2 " We have effigies of negroes, drawn by six different nations of anti- 
 quity : Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans, 
 from about the eighteenth century before Christ, to the first centuries of 
 our own era." See Indigenous Races of Man, 190. 
 
 3 To those disposed to pursue this inquiry, the following works will 
 give most ample information: Travels of Park, Clapperton, Saunders, 
 and others, passim ; Capt. Canot, or, Twenty Years of an African Slaver; 
 Bayard Taylor's Journey into Central Africa; Buxton's Slave-Trade and 
 its Remedy, Pt. I, ch. iv; Edwards : s West Indies, vol. ii, ch. xvii.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. CXXXV 
 
 In the ecclesiastical annals of Ortiz de Zuniga it is 
 mentioned, that a traffic in negro slaves to the city of 
 Seville existed as early as A.D. 1399. There certainly 
 were large numbers in Seville at the time he wrote 
 (1474) ; but the former statement seems doubtful. In 
 1442, some Moors who had been captured by the Portu- 
 guese, proposed to purchase their liberty by a ransom of 
 negro slaves. Prince Henry of Portugal instructed Gon- 
 salvez to accept the ransom, for whatever negroes he 
 should get " he would gain souls, because they might be 
 converted to the faith, which could not be managed 
 with the Moors." 1 Ten negro slaves were obtained ; 
 and around this nucleus, thus commenced, either from 
 true or pretended religious zeal, was gathered that im- 
 mense trade, for which Spain, Portugal, and England, for 
 centuries, contended, and which has since been branded 
 as piracy by almost every civilized nation of the world. 
 
 The horrors of the trade seem to have commenced 
 with its beginning, and there were generous hearts to 
 weep over them then, as there were in after years. The 
 good chronicler, Azurara, thus opens his description of 
 a division of captive slaves, in the year 1444 : " thou 
 heavenly Father ! I implore thee that my tears may not 
 condemn my conscience, for not its law but our common 
 humanity constrains my humanity to lament piteously 
 the sufferings of these people." The good man, after 
 describing the scene, thus concludes, " And I, who have 
 made this history, have seen in the town of Lagos, young 
 men and young women, the sons and grandsons of those 
 very captives born in this land, as good and as true 
 Christians as if they had lineally descended since the 
 commencement of the law of Christ, from those who 
 were first baptized." 2 
 
 1 The Conquerors of the New "World and their Bondsmen, i, 28, 29 ; 
 Edwards's West Indies, ii, c. XT. La trajte et son origine, par M. 
 Schcelcher. 
 
 2 The Conquerors, &c. i, 33, 36.
 
 CXXXVi HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 The success of the first expeditions encouraged the 
 Portuguese, and they sent out, in successive years, 
 numerous expeditions, each with instructions "to con- 
 vert the natives to the faith." This, and discovery, were 
 the paramount objects with the early Portuguese expe- 
 ditions. The slaves obtained by them, were in exchange 
 for merchandise with slave-dealers, who brought them 
 from the interior ; and until the discovery and coloniza- 
 tion of America, there was no market for the slaves 
 sufficient to excite the covetousness and other evil pas- 
 sions of men. 1 
 
 The discovery of America in 1492 was an event, the 
 effect of which upon the civilized world can never be 
 calculated, and perhaps is seldom fully apprehended. 
 Upon the subject we are now considering, it was both 
 the forcing-bed, and yet the broad field. It stimulated 
 enterprise and discovery. It furnished a receptacle for 
 the innumerable slaves which the African petty kings 
 offered in exchange for the manufacture and gaudy trin- 
 kets of Europe. The demand necessarily increased the 
 supply, and of course gave stimulus to the petty wars 
 and marauding expeditions by. which that supply was 
 effected; and thus we might travel from cause to effect 
 almost ad infinitum. 
 
 The same religious fervor which governed and con- 
 trolled the action of the Portuguese, in their early con- 
 duct towards the negro slaves, seems to have been the 
 ruling passion with the Spaniards in their discoveries in 
 the New World. Hence, we find the pious Herrera 
 chronicling the death of the first baptized Indian, as the 
 pioneer of that nation in his entry into heaven. 2 The 
 
 1 Ibid. 37 to 75. Expedition of Ca da Mosta, Astley's Voyages, i, 574. 
 He places the exportation at seven to eight hundred per annum. But 
 this was evidently more than the truth. 
 
 2 Dec. I, Lib. II, cap. 5. The proclamation made by the voyagers to 
 the Indians, is a curious picture of the notions of those times. After 
 telling them of the creation of the world, it traced title thereto to
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. CXXXV11 
 
 same spirit is breathed in all the early instructions of the 
 government to Columbus. The prime object is to bring 
 all the dwellers in the Indies to a knowledge of the 
 sacred Catholic faith, and to that end he is charged to 
 deal lovingly with the Indians. 1 The Admiral, fully ap- 
 preciating his instructions, in 1494, sent home some 
 Indians, " as slaves, to be taught Castilian, and to serve 
 afterwards as interpreters, so that the work of conversion 
 may go on." a It was not a difficult task for the Spaniards 
 to convince themselves, that in enslaving the Indians 
 they were doing God's service ; and hence, we find their 
 captives first, and afterwards the unoffending neighbor- 
 ing natives, 3 by thousands, reduced to the most abject 
 slavery. The fields and the mines of their conquerors 
 were soon filled to overflowing with these easily acquired 
 laborers ; and so different a life was this from the indo- 
 lent habits of a people, whose generous land had ever 
 supplied their scanty wants without toil or care, that it 
 is not strange that we should hear piteous tales of their 
 Bufferings under their new masters. It would be aside 
 from our subject to give a minute detailed account of 
 
 St. Peter, and thence to the reigning Pope. It then recited the grant of 
 the Indies, by the Pope, to the sovereigns of Castile ; and after urging 
 the Indians to acknowledge their fealty to these sovereigns, it threatened 
 them with war and slavery if they refused. The historian adds : " We may 
 fancy what ideas the reading of the document conveyed to a number of 
 Indians sitting in a circle, squatting on their hams." The Conquerors, &c., 
 vol. ii, 117. 
 
 The question of the legality of the Indian enslavement was frequently 
 discussed in Spain, and submitted by the King to both learned lawyers 
 and divines. Their various opinions, and the reasons given for them, 
 are curious and amusing. See Conquerors of the New World and their 
 Bondsmen, vol. i, passim. 
 
 1 The Conquerors, &c., i, pp. 118, 119. Ibid. 121. 
 
 3 Isabella seems, at first, to have been much horrified at the enslave- 
 ment of Indians not captives in war, and has been much applauded for 
 proclamations she caused to be made, ordering.all such to be restored to 
 freedom. Herrera, Dec. I, Lib. IV, cap. vii ; quoted in The Conquerors, 
 &c., i, 155.
 
 CXXXvili HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 these sufferings. Suffice it to say, that they broke the 
 spirit of a people so long accustomed to freedom, and 
 constitutionally so little qualified for slavery, and that 
 they sickened and died under the restraint. The race 
 dwindled away, both in physical capacity and numbers, 
 and the fact was soon demonstrated, that though morally 
 heathen, and intellectually the inferior race, still the 
 Indian was not by nature qualified and capacitated for 
 bondage. It was this fact, and the observation of these 
 sufferings, which induced the good Las Casas, the early 
 friend of the red man, to remonstrate with his govern- 
 ment against this system, and to urge the importation of 
 negroes, accustomed in their native land to a state of 
 bondage, and whose physical and intellectual develop- 
 ment improved while in slavery. The wisdom and the 
 piety of the good man have both been severely censured 
 for this advice, by which, it is said, he enfranchised one 
 race by enslaving another. But the subsequent history 
 of the races, and the observation of the world, will 
 eventually vindicate both his far-seeing wisdom and his 
 broad benevolence. 1 
 
 The first mention made of negroes carried to the Tew 
 "World, we find in the instructions given by the Spanish 
 court to Ovando, in the year 1501, by which negro slaves, 
 " born in the power of Christians," were allowed to be 
 sent to the Indies. 3 In 1510 and 1511, we find frequent 
 mention of negro slaves sent by the mother country, al- 
 though the numbers did not increase very fast up to the 
 
 1 Las Casas, though much censured, was not alone in his recommen- 
 dation of this policy. Herrera says, "This project was rather that of the 
 Cardinal Tortosa." Dec. II, Liv. II, ch. xx. This cardinal afterwards 
 occupied the Holy See, as Adrian V. In 1516, a proposition similar to 
 that of Las Casas, was made by the Three Fathers of the Order of St. 
 Jerome. So also the orders of Ferdinand, dated in 1512 and 1513, refer 
 to representations of like import, from the Franciscan friars. La 
 traite et son origine ; Colonies Etrangeres, par M. Schrelcher, i, 3T3. 
 
 2 The Conquerors, &c., i, 170 ; Irving's Columbus, Bk. XIV, ch. iii.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AXD THE SLAVE-TRADE. CXXX1X 
 
 death of Ferdinand, in 1516. The last notice we have 
 of this trade during his reign, was a reply of his to a 
 request from the Bishop of Conception, in Hispaniola, 
 for more negro slaves, in which he says, that there are 
 already many negroes, and it may bring inconvenience 
 if more male negroes should be introduced into the 
 island. 1 It would seem from this, that up to that time 
 none but grown males had been sent over ; and it is true, 
 that up to his death no private enterprise was engaged 
 in this traffic. All the negroes were sent by order of the 
 government. 3 To his successor, Charles Y, it was left to 
 grant the first license to De Bresa, one of his Flemish 
 favorites, for the importation of negroes into the West 
 Indies. This license or patent was sold to some Genoese 
 merchants for 25,000 ducats, and here may be properly 
 dated the commencement of the slave-trade proper. 3 
 
 By this time, the Indian population of Hispaniola had 
 decreased from 3,000,000, the number at the date of its 
 discovery, according to Las Casas, and 1,130,000, accord- 
 ing to Tuazo, to about ten to twelve thousand. Such 
 mortality is almost incredible. 4 The result, however, 
 was a still more urgent cry for negro laborers. From 
 the governors, the priests, and the people, one united 
 
 1 The Conquerors, &c., vol. ii, 214, 215. 
 
 2 Bancroft states the opposite, and says, "Herrera is explicit." I have 
 not access to this book. Irving, who wrote from the same sources, viz., 
 the MS. of Las Casas, from which Herrera compiled this portion of his 
 work, gives a synopsis of the ordinances of Ferdinand, which agree with 
 the text ; see Irving's Columbus, Appendix, No. 28 ; Bancroft's United 
 States, i, 170. 
 
 3 Ibid. 230, 231 ; Robertson's America, i, 163 (Harper's Ed.) ; Irving's 
 Columbus, as above. 
 
 4 Ibid, ii, 206, 207. We are told that whole villages of Indians com- 
 mitted suicide, to escape this bondage. Some villages invited others to 
 join them in the dreadful work (198, 199). The free Indians had no 
 better fate. Wishing to starve out the Spaniards, they agreed to plant 
 no crops for a year. The result was, numbers of them died of starva- 
 tion (vol. i, 137, 138). Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, Pt. II, c. xxvi, 
 and the authorities referred to by him.
 
 CXI HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 voice demanded negro slaves. The Genoese merchants 
 who had purchased the patent, sent over cargoes of 
 slaves, but the prices were so high that the people re- 
 fused to purchase. Las Casas and the Jeronimite priests, 
 whose business it was to protect the Indians remaining 
 from oppression, joined in suggesting to the King to pay 
 back to the Genoese merchants their 25,000 ducats, and 
 allow the free importation of negroes by the Spaniards, 
 paying De Bresa the custom duties. 1 So great was the 
 demand for labor at this time, that the colonists fitted 
 out vessels to cruise on the coast of the mainland, and 
 by traffic and by force made slaves of the Indians, whom 
 they took back to Hispaniola. 3 
 
 The superiority of negroes as slaves over Indians was 
 early demonstrated by the Spaniards. Vasco Nunez, 
 wishing to explore the sea beyond the Isthmus, cut his 
 wood and prepared his timbers for four brigantines on 
 the Atlantic side, and thence carried them across the 
 Isthmus until he reached the waters flowing into the 
 Pacific. In this work he employed numerous Indians, 
 thirty negroes, and a few Spaniards. Five hundred 
 Indians perished in executing this terrible labor. Not a 
 single negro died. 3 " The Africans," says Herrera, " pros- 
 pered so much in the island of Hispaniola, that it was 
 the opinion, unless a negro should happen to be hanged, 
 he would never die ; for, as yet, none had been known 
 to perish from infirmity. Like oranges, they found their 
 proper soil in Hispaniola, and it seemed even more na- 
 
 1 Ibid, ii, 268, 270, 271, 273. This was very different from the remon- 
 strance of Ovando, in 1503, at the number of negroes in the colony. 
 Irving's Columbus, Appendix, No. 28, p. 418. 
 
 8 Robertson's America, i, 167, 168. It appears that there was slavery 
 among the Indians on the Continent, along the present coast of Mexico 
 and Central America ; as we find slaves among the subjects of their sacri- 
 fices, and also presents of slaves to the early explorers. The Conquerors, 
 &c., ii, 8, 73. 
 
 3 The Conquerors, &c., vol. i, 150, 151.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. Cxll 
 
 tural to them than their native Guinea." 1 An ordinance 
 of the Spanish Court, in 1511, gives the secret of the 
 slave-trade, wherein it was decreed that " a large number 
 of negroes should be transported to the colonies, because 
 one negro does more work than four Indians." 2 
 
 Cardinal Ximenes has received undeserved praise for 
 his opposition to the patents granted by Charles Y, for 
 the furnishing of negro slaves to the Indies, the praise 
 being based upon his supposed benevolence and spirit 
 of justice. 3 The reasons assigned by the historians for 
 this opposition vary, but the more plausible one is, that 
 his sagacity foresaw that the numbers of negroes would 
 be greatly multiplied in a climate so favorable to their 
 race, and that revolt would be the inevitable result. 4 
 This result was hastened beyond the expectation of the 
 statesman, for as early as 1522 there was a revolt among 
 the negroes of Hispaniola. The number engaged in it 
 was small, and their punishment exemplary, and their 
 example was not followed for many years." This revolt 
 was doubtless the effect of cruel treatment; yet, we 
 must admit that while the Spaniards were brutal in their 
 conduct, both to the Indians and the negroes, yet their 
 government, as exhibited through their ordinances and 
 instructions, was ever anxious to mitigate these evils, 
 having the care of souls and the conversion of the hea- 
 then as the paramount objects, and the discovery of gold 
 as a secondary but eagerly desired consummation. The 
 latter object was obtained, but in the words of an elo- 
 
 1 Hist. Ind. Lib. II, Dec. Ill, c. iv. 
 
 8 La traite et son origine, par M. Schcelcher; found in Colonies Etran- 
 geres, i, 369. 
 
 3 Robertson's America, i, 163; Copley, on Slavery, 3. 
 
 4 Irving's Columbus, Appendix, No. 28, p. 418; The Conquerors, &c., 
 ii, 231, et not; Colonies Etrangeres, par M. Schoelcher, i, p. 367; His- 
 toire du Cardinal Ximenes. par Marsollier, Liv. VI. 
 
 6 Irving's Columbus, App. No. 2, p. 303 ; Herrera, Dec. Ill, Liv. IV, 
 ch. ix. He mentions a previous attempt in 1518. Dec. II, Liv. Ill, 
 cb. xiv.
 
 CXIii HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 quent historian, "the nation, like the Phrygian monarch 
 who turned all he touched to gold, cursed by the very 
 consummation of its wishes, was poor in the midst of its 
 treasures." 1 
 
 No religious zeal prompted the English nation in their 
 participation in the African slave-trade. In 1553, we 
 are informed by Hakluyt, twenty-four negro slaves were 
 brought to England from the coast of Africa. The vir- 
 tuous indignation of the people seems not to have been 
 aroused, but the slaves were quietly sold as in other 
 markets. The introduction of negro slaves into that 
 country continued without question as to its legality, 
 until the trial of the celebrated Somersett case, in 1771, 
 when it was discovered that even as far back as the 
 eleventh year of Elizabeth's reign, in the case of the 
 Russian slave, it had been solemnly adjudged that the 
 air of England was too pure for a slave to breathe in. And 
 yet strange to say, in 1 Edward VI, c. iii, certain vaga- 
 bonds and idle servants were by Parliament declared to 
 be slaves to their masters ; and still stranger, while the 
 Russian slave was thus enjoying the pure air of England, 
 the virtuous Elizabeth was sharing the profits and par- 
 ticipating in the crimes of the African slave-trade.* 
 
 Sir John Hawkins has the unenviable distinction of 
 being the first English captain of a slave-ship, about the 
 year 1562. His first cargo, landed in Hispaniola, yielded 
 a rich return in the tropical production with which his 
 ships returned laden to England. The news of his suc- 
 cess attracted the notice of the reigning sovereign Eliza- 
 
 1 Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, Pt. II, ch. xxvi. 
 
 2 Barrington, on Statutes, 312, and N. S. The present philanthropists 
 of Britain are greatly horrified at the advertisements in American news- 
 papers, carefully collated by American abolitionists. To such we com- 
 mend the files of old English journals, in the British Museum; where 
 they will find negro runaways and negro sales advertised, with as much 
 naivetS as their virtuous ancestors could assume. See London Quarterly 
 Review, 1855, Art. Advertising.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. Cxliii 
 
 beth, and in the subsequent expeditions of this most 
 heartless manstealer, she was a partner and protector. 
 The account given by an eye-witness of one of these 
 expeditions, exhibits an amount of brutal atrocity and 
 heartless cruelty but seldom equalled and never surpassed 
 in the subsequent history of the slave-trade. 1 During 
 the reign of James I (1618), a charter was granted to Sir 
 Robert Rich and his associates, merchants of London, 
 for the exclusive privilege of carrying on the slave-trade 
 from the coast of Guinea. A second charter was granted 
 to a company during the reign of Charles I (1631), and 
 so extensive were their operations, that at vast expense 
 they erected numerous forts and warehouses on the 
 coast of the West Indies for the defence of their com- 
 merce. During the reign of Charles II (1662), a third 
 company with exclusive privileges was chartered. The 
 Duke of York, the King's brother, was at the head of 
 this company. They engaged to furnish the West In- 
 dian colonies with three thousand slaves annually. 
 
 In 1672, the fourth and last exclusive company was 
 chartered, under the name of the Royal African Com- 
 pany, including among its stockholders, the King, his 
 brother, the Duke of York, and others of distinguished 
 rank. This Company continued its existence until the 
 Revolution in 1688, when Parliament abolished all ex- 
 clusive charters. They continued their operations, how- 
 ever, seizing the ships of private traders. In 1698, the 
 trade to the African coast was by Act of Parliament 
 made free to all persons, upon the payment of certain 
 duties ; negroes and gold, however, were exported free 
 of duty. This act operating hardly upon the " Royal 
 African Company," Parliament voted them annually 
 from 1739 to 1746, 10,000. 2 
 
 1 Edwards's West Indies, ii, 355, et seq. ; Bancroft's United States, i, 
 173. Rev. John Newton, in his Thoughts upon the African Slave- 
 Trade, p. 33, bears testimony to the humanity of the Portuguese traders, 
 and to the contrary and cruel and selfish policy of the English traders. 
 
 * Edwards's West Indies, ii, 359-363. The magnitude of the trade
 
 CxllV HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 But while the monopoly of the Company was destroyed, 
 the monopoly of British subjects in furnishing slaves to 
 British colonies was strictly secured. Ten judges (among 
 them Holt and Pollexfen), declared that " negroes are 
 merchandise," and hence, within the Navigation Acts. 1 
 
 France was not blind to the vast profits arising from 
 the trade, nor remiss in taking measures for supplying 
 her colonies with slaves, the source of their wealth, and 
 also in protecting the trade with the African coast, and 
 by proper regulations. 2 
 
 Portuguese and French companies, at sundry times, 
 procured assientoes from the Spanish government, grant- 
 ing to them the privilege of furnishing slaves to the 
 Spanish colonies. At the conclusion of that granted to 
 the Royal Guinea Company of France, in 1713, a treaty 
 was entered into between Philip V, King of Spain, and 
 Anne, Queen of Great Britain, by which the privilege 
 of furnishing negro slaves to the Spanish West Indies, 
 Buenos Ayres, and other Spanish colonies, was secured 
 to British subjects. This treaty was to last for thirty 
 years, within which time at least 144,000 negroes were 
 to be imported. The Spanish sovereign reserved to him- 
 self a duty per capita on the negroes, and also one-fourth 
 the net profits, as well as five per cent, upon the remain- 
 ing three-fourths. He bound himself to furnish one vessel 
 of five hundred tons burthen. Her Britannic Majesty's 
 share of the profits is recognized by the treaty (Sec. 29), 
 but the exact amount is not specified. 3 A distinct 
 tribunal is established for the ascertainment and settle- 
 
 with Africa, at this time, is hardly appreciated by those who have not 
 made it a subject of inquiry. The curious are referred to a very full 
 table, showing the amount of merchandise sent in British vessels, from 
 1701 to 1787, in McPherson's Annals of Commerce, iv, 153. 
 
 1 3 Bancroft's United States, 414. 
 
 2 Valin, torn, i, 411 ; cited in 2 Mason Rep. 420. 
 
 3 Bancroft says one-fourth, and this seems to be the intention ; vol. ii, 
 p. 232.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. Cxlv 
 
 ment of the shares of these high contracting parties, and 
 extraordinary privileges are granted for the collection 
 from the purchasers, of the price of the slaves. 1 Her 
 Majesty, in her speech to Parliament announcing this 
 treaty, boasted of her success in securing to Englishmen 
 a new market for slaves. 
 
 Not only the fact of the making of this treaty, and of 
 the royal partners in the enterprise, but the contents of 
 the paper itself, show the sentiment of the day in rela- 
 tion to this subject. The eighth section declares, that 
 experience has shown the prohibition to import negroes 
 into certain provinces to be very prejudicial to the inte- 
 rest of his Catholic Majesty; "it being certain that the 
 provinces which have not had them, endured great hard- 
 ships for want of having their lands and their estates 
 cultivated, from which arose the necessity of using all 
 imaginable ways of getting them, even though it were 
 fraudulently." 
 
 The provisions of this treaty also indicate the care 
 taken for the health and comfort of the slaves during 
 the passage. Twelve hundred being required for Buenos 
 Ayres and Chili, it is provided, that four large vessels 
 shall be used in their transportation. Other sanitary 
 regulations were prescribed. While the trade was thus 
 regulated by law, the " horrors of the middle passage" 
 were not enacted, at least to the extent which was sub- 
 sequently developed. 
 
 The non-payment to Spain of the amounts due her 
 under this treaty, was the principal cause of the war 
 declared in 1739, and ended by the peace at Aix-la-Cha- 
 pelle, in 1748. 3 
 
 By various acts of Parliament, the trade in slaves was 
 regulated and encouraged. As late as 23d George II 
 (1749-50), we find indirect encouragement given to the 
 
 1 This treaty may be found in full, in Collection of Treaties, vol. iii, 
 375, London, 1782. * Smollett's. Hist. Bk. II, ch. vL 
 
 j
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 traffic, in the "Act for extending and improving the 
 trade to Africa ;" and the fact is spread upon the statute- 
 book, that "the slave-trade is very advantageous to 
 Great Britain." The last act regulating the trade was 
 passed in 1788. 1 
 
 In the meantime large numbers of negro slaves were 
 introduced into the British Isles, and were held in sub- 
 jection without question as to their master's title. At 
 one time, the negro page was indispensable to the Eng- 
 lish lady on her daily walks through the city thorough- 
 fares; and for fear "the pure air of Britain" might 
 engender beneath his thick skull some idea of liberty, 
 the collar, known to the Roman slave, was fastened 
 around his neck, with the name and residence of his 
 mistress neatly engraved thereon. 8 
 
 The other nations of Europe did not, as we have seen, 
 leave this profitable trade entirely in the hands of the 
 English. The Portuguese furnished not only their AVest 
 Indian colonies, but also their East Indian possessions, 
 the latter trade being supplied from Mozambique. To 
 insure humane treatment, they used negro seamen, and 
 offered premiums for every slave transported safely. 3 
 The Dutch carried on a similar trade to their colonies, 
 confining the privilege to their own vessels. 4 The 
 French government, to encourage the trade, in the year 
 1784, gave a bounty of forty livres upon every ton of 
 the vessels employed therein, and a premium of sixty to 
 one hundred livres for every negro carried to their dif- 
 ferent colonies. 5 
 
 1 Anderson's Hist, of Commerce, vi, 905. 
 
 2 See London Quarterly Review, 1855, Art. Advertising. The follow- 
 ing is from the London Gazette, 1694 : " A black boy, an Indian, about 
 13 years old, run away on the 8th inst, from Putney, with a collar about 
 his neck, with this inscription, 'The Lady Brorafield's black, in Lincoln's 
 Inn Fields.' Whoever brings him to Sir Edward Bromfield's, at Putney, 
 shall have a guinea reward." See a similar statement in Granville Sharp's 
 Just Limitation of Slavery, p. 34. 
 
 3 McPherson's Annals of Commerce, iv, 164. 
 
 4 Ibid. 165. Ibid.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 In 1607, the first successful English colony was landed 
 at Jamestown, in Virginia. Thirteen years thereafter 
 (1620), a Dutch man-of-war landed twenty negro slaves 
 for sale. This was the germ of negro slaveholding in 
 the territory now occupied by the United States of 
 America. 1 The Spaniards may have introduced them at 
 an earlier day in Florida, but of this we have no certain 
 knowledge. During the next year (1621), the cotton 
 plant was first cultivated in the new province. 3 The 
 negro and the cotton plant seem to be natural allies, and 
 there was something ominous in their almost simulta- 
 neous introduction into the New World. For many 
 years, the number of negroes in Virginia was compara- 
 tively small; the introduction of the cultivation of 
 tobacco increased the demand, and finally impressed 
 upon Virginia and Maryland the position of slaveholding 
 States. 
 
 The enterprise of E"ew England was not tardy in 
 availing itself of the prospect for gain, held out in the 
 cheap labor of negro slaves, and the rich returns of the 
 slave-trade. 3 Among the "fundamentals," or body of 
 liberties adopted in Massachusetts, as early as 1641, we 
 find the distinct recognition of the lawfulness of Indian 
 and negro slavery, as well as an approval of the African 
 slave-trade. 4 The Puritans, however, insisted that the 
 traffic should be confined to those who were captives in 
 war and slaves in Africa. Hence, when, in 1644 or 1645, 
 a Boston ship returned with two negroes captured by 
 
 1 Beverly's Virginia, 35 ; 1 Bancroft's United States, 176 ; Cooper's 
 Naval History, 25. 
 
 2 1 Bancroft, 179. The coffee-tree was introduced in the West Indies, 
 about the beginning of the eighteenth century. There is a species of 
 coffee indigenous to these islands, but not the one cultivated. Du Tour 
 says, that a tree, sent by the magistrates of Amsterdam to Louis XIV, 
 in 1714, is the parent of all those subsequently introduced into the West 
 Indies. See Rees's Encyc. "Coffee." 
 
 3 See Remarks of Goodall, Slavery and Anti-Slavery, p. 11. He 
 thinks "the scent of the roses hangs round it still." 4 1 Hild. Hist. 278.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 the crew, in a pretended quarrel with the natives, the 
 General Court ordered them to be restored to their native 
 land. 1 In 1754, hy an official census, there appears to 
 have heen 2448 negro slaves over sixteen years of age 
 in Massachusetts about 1000 of them in the town of 
 Boston. Manumission was allowed, but only upon secu- 
 rity that the freed negroes should not become a burden 
 upon the parish. 2 
 
 Connecticut was not free from the " sin of slavery." 
 In 1650, Indians who failed to make satisfaction for in- 
 juries were ordered to be seized and delivered to the 
 injured party, " either to serve or to be shipped out and 
 exchanged for negroes, as the case will justly bear." In- 
 solvent debtors also were authorized to be sold to English 
 purchasers, and the proceeds applied to their debts. 
 Negro slavery had been abolished in Connecticut many 
 years before the latter provision was expunged from the 
 statute-book. 3 The proportion of slaves to freemen was 
 greater in Connecticut than in Massachusetts. 4 
 
 Ehode Island joined in the general habit of the day, 
 with the exception of the town of Providence. The 
 community of the heretical Roger Williams, alone 
 placed the services of the black and the white races on 
 the same footing and limitation. 5 In the plantations 
 generally, slaves abounded to a greater extent than in 
 any other portion of New England, and in Newport, the 
 second commercial town of New England, there was a 
 greater proportion of slaves than in Boston. 6 
 
 As early as 1626, the West India Company imported 
 negro slaves among the quiet burghers of New Am- 
 sterdam. The city itself owned shares in a slave-ship, 
 advanced money for its outfit, and participated in the 
 profits. The slaves were sold at public auction to the 
 
 ' 1 Hild. 282. 2 2 Hild. 419. 3 1 Hild. 372. 
 
 4 2 Hild. 419. Goodall gives some instances of cruel rigor in this 
 State, Slavery and Anti-Slavery, pp. 11-13. I do not vouch for him as 
 reliable authority. 5 1 Hild. 373. 6 2 Hild. 419.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. Cxlix 
 
 highest bidder, and the average price was less than $140. 
 Stuyvesant was instructed to use every exertion to pro- 
 mote the sale of negroes. " That New York is not a 
 slave State like Carolina," says a distinguished historian, 
 " is due to climate and not to the superior humanity of 
 its founders." 1 In New Netherlands, negroes were em- 
 ployed as agricultural laborers as well as domestics. In 
 the city of New York, about the year 1750, the slaves 
 constituted one-sixth of the population. The slave code 
 differed but little from that of Virginia. 2 
 
 New Jersey, it is known, was dismembered from New 
 York when New Netherlands was conquered by Eng- 
 land in 1664. In the next year, a bounty of seventy-five 
 acres of land was offered by the proprietaries for the im- 
 portation of each able-bodied slave. This was doubtless 
 done in part to gain favor with the Duke of York, then 
 President of the African Company. 3 
 
 The Quakers of Pennsylvania did not entirely eschew 
 the holding of negro slaves. It is a mooted question 
 whether William Penn himself did or did not die a slave- 
 holder. 4 In 1712, to a general petition for the emancipation 
 of negro slaves by law, the response of the Legislature of 
 Pennsylvania was, "It is neither just nor convenient to 
 set them at liberty." 5 As early as 1699, Penn had pro- 
 posed to provide by law for the marriage, religious in- 
 struction, and kind treatment of slaves, but there was no 
 response from the legislature. Slaves, however, were 
 never numerous in Pennsylvania, and manumissions 
 were frequent. The larger portion were to be found in 
 Philadelphia, one-fourth of the population of which, 
 about the year 1750, are supposed to have been of Afri- 
 can descent. 6 
 
 The Swedish and German colony of Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, who formed the nucleus of the subsequent State 
 
 1 2 Bancroft, 303. 2 2 Hild. 419. 3 2 Bancroft, 316. 
 
 4 2 Bancroft, 401, and n. 1 ; 1 Stephens's Hist, of Georgia, 286. 
 6 3 Bancroft, 408. 2 Hild. 420.
 
 Cl HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 of Delaware, was designed to rest on free labor ; and 
 although negro slavery crept in among them, as early as 
 1688, the German friends resolved that it was not lawful 
 for Christians to buy or keep negro slaves. 1 Yet slavery 
 retained its foothold, and to this day Delaware is ranked 
 among the slaveholding States. 
 
 North Carolina, from its climate and soil, became an 
 inviting field for slave labor, and though many of its 
 early settlers were Quakers, negro slavery soon obtained 
 a sure foothold. 
 
 In South Carolina slavery was planted simultaneously 
 with the colony. Sir John Yeamans brought African 
 slaves with him from Barbadoes in 1671. The climate 
 was congenial to the negro, while the miasma of the 
 swamps was fatal to the white laborer. The prosperity 
 and wealth of the planter was in proportion to the num- 
 ber of his slaves, and hence, at a very early day, " to buy 
 more slaves" was the great object of his desire. 2 It is 
 not astonishing, therefore, that the race multiplied so 
 rapidly by importations, that in a few years the whites 
 constituted but little over one-third of the population. 3 
 
 Georgia, on the other hand, is the only colony in 
 which slavery was positively prohibited by its organic 
 law. Rum, Papists, and negroes, were all excluded from 
 the new colony ; the former because experience had 
 proved it to be the bane of the colonist, and the destruc- 
 tion of his neighbor, the Indian ; the last, not from 
 any principles of humanity to the negro,* but as a mat- 
 ter purely of policy ; to stimulate the colonists to personal 
 exertions; to provide a home for the poor and starving 
 population of the mother country ; to create a colony 
 densely populated with whites, to serve as a barrier 
 
 1 2 Bancroft, 401. 2 Wilson's Carolina, 17. 
 
 3 2 Bancroft, 171. 
 
 4 Oglethorpe himself was Deputy-Governor of the Royal African Com- 
 pany, and owned a plantation and slaves, in South Carolina. 1 Stephens, 
 287, 288.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND TUE SLAVE-TRADE. Cll 
 
 against incursions from the Spanish settlements in 
 Florida, and also to promote the cultivation of silk and 
 wine, to which the negro was by no means adapted. The 
 trustees provided laborers in indented white servants, in 
 their judgment better adapted to the wants of the colo- 
 nists. Experience soon proved the fallacy of their rea- 
 soning. The contests between them and the colonists 
 were unceasing and stubborn on this point. The best 
 and wisest of the latter joined in the universal demand 
 for slave labor. The Salzburghers of Ebenezer, accus- 
 tomed to the labors and exposures of husbandry at home, 
 for a time maintained the policy of the trustees. But 
 the white servants imported, for more than half the year 
 (from March till October), were utterly unable to do ser- 
 vice, and to so deplorable a state did the colony arrive, 
 that at last the pastor of these hardy Germans (Mr. 
 Bolzius), beseeched the trustees " not to regard any 
 more our or our friends' petitions against negroes." The 
 great and good Habersham, and the Rev. George White- 
 field, the celebrated divine, were the most efficient advo- 
 cates, in behalf of the colonists, in obtaining a removal 
 of this restriction. The purity of their motives, and 
 their opportunities for personal observation, convinced 
 those who had been deaf to the clamors of the people. 
 The latter distinguished man was himself a planter and 
 a slaveholder, within the borders of South Carolina, the 
 proceeds of his farm being devoted to his darling charity, 
 the orphan-house at Bethesda. In 1749, the restric- 
 tion was finally removed, after a struggle of fifteen 
 years. At this time Georgia numbered only fifteen hun- 
 dred inhabitants, and the condition of " her borders" was 
 anything but "blest." Her climate and her soil demanded 
 negro laborers, and her resources began to be developed 
 when this demand was supplied. 1 
 
 The negroes thus introduced into America, were gross 
 
 1 1 Stephens's Hist, of Georgia, ch. ix.
 
 dii HISTORICAL SKETCH OP SLAVERY. 
 
 and stupid, lazy and superstitious. "With an occasional 
 exception of a captive warrior, they were only trans- 
 ferred from the slavery of a savage to that of a civilized 
 and Christian master. 1 It is true that their enslavement 
 was justified on the plea that they were heathen, and 
 that, for a time, the idea prevailed extensively, that upon 
 baptism they were enfranchised; but the opinions of 
 Talbot and Yorke, the attorney and solicitor general of 
 England, in 1729, in reply to the inquiry of the planters, 
 satisfied their minds that this proposition was legally 
 untrue ; while the declaration of Gibson, the Bishop of 
 London, about the same time, that " Christianity and 
 the embracing of the Gospel does not make the least 
 alteration in civil property," quieted their consciences 
 as to the moral question. To make "assurance doubly 
 sure," however, the Legislature of South Carolina, in 
 1712, of Maryland, in 1692 and 1715, and of Virginia, at 
 sundry times from 1667 to 1748, denied to baptism the 
 supposed effect. 2 To the fact of their improved condi- 
 tion, as well as their natural constitution and habit, the 
 want of a common language, a common sympathy, and 
 a common grief, may be attributed the absence of any 
 concerted attempt at rebellion, even in those colonies 
 where they outnumbered the white population. 
 
 We cannot determine, with accuracy, the number of 
 negroes imported into the Colonies prior to their inde- 
 pendence. Bancroft, the historian, estimates the num- 
 ber, up to 1740, at 130,000 ; and prior to 1776, at 300,000. 
 His estimate is as reliable as any we can make. 3 The 
 colonies to which the largest -number were brought, 
 
 1 As an evidence of the early attention paid to their Christian teaching, 
 see the provisions made, when first admitted in Georgia. 1 Stephens, 
 312. 
 
 2 3 Bancroft, 408, 409 ; 2 Hild. 426 ; Plantation Laws (1704), Mary- 
 land, p. 50. 
 
 3 Vol. iii, p. 407. Mr. Carey's estimate is 333,000 for the entire impor- 
 tation. See his " Slave Trade," ch. 3.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. cliii 
 
 were not unmindful spectators of this continual influx 
 of barbarians ; and hence, we find Virginia, Maryland, 
 and Carolina, not only remonstrating, but passing laws, 
 designed to restrict their importation. But the trade 
 was profitable to the mother country. Every slave added 
 to the treasury. British capital and British commerce 
 were too deeply engaged in the traffic for the voice of 
 the Colonies to be heard, or their interests to prevail ; 
 and hence the veto of royal governors, and the with- 
 holding of the royal assent, which continually frustrated 
 the will of the people. 1 The Continental Congress of 
 1776 resolved, that " no slaves be imported into any of 
 the thirteen United Colonies." 2 After the recognition of 
 the independence of the States, the Convention which 
 framed the Constitution of the United States were 
 unanimous in putting a limit upon the introduction of 
 negroes. Massachusetts, whose merchants were engaged 
 in the slave-trade, joined with Georgia and South Caro- 
 lina in demanding a few more years ere the final prohi- 
 bition. 3 The year 1808 was agreed upon. Yet, in 1798, 
 Georgia, of her own accord, incorporated into her or- 
 ganic law a prohibition of the slave-trade. It may not 
 be amiss here to allude to the fact, that this action of 
 America, in her Convention, in 1789, was eighteen years 
 in advance of the British government ; and that it re- 
 quired a struggle of twenty years, the last throes of which 
 were felt in 1807, to enable British philanthropy to rise 
 to the point to which Georgia attained in 1798 ! 
 
 1 Another reason given by "A British Merchant," in a pamphlet issued 
 at the time, was, that white emigrants became freemen, and might become 
 troublesome. The increase of slaves increased dependence on the mother 
 country. 
 
 2 Journals of Congress, i, 307. The original frame of the Declaration 
 of Independence, contained, as one of the grievances of the Colonies, this 
 withholding of the royal assent. 
 
 3 The State of Ehode Island alone numbered fifty-four vessels engaged 
 in the slave-trade, at the period when the Act of Prohibition took effect.
 
 Cliv HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 The entire number of slaves exported from Africa 
 prior to 1776, has been variously estimated. Raynal 
 adopts the large sum of nine millions. The German 
 historian, Albert Hune, considers this estimate too small. 
 The lowest is three and a quarter millions. More than 
 one-half of these were carried in English ships ; and the 
 profits from this traffic, to English merchants, is Bup- 
 posed to have been at least four hundred millions of 
 dollars. 1 
 
 Since 1776, the numbers exported from Africa have 
 been variously estimated. Notwithstanding the efforts 
 of Great Britain, France, and the United States, to re- 
 press the trade, the demand for the slaves has caused a 
 supply of a larger annual exportation than there ever 
 was while the trade was free. It is estimated, that 
 during the whole continuance of the traffic, legal and 
 illegal, full forty millions of negroes have been exported 
 from Africa. 3 
 
 The immense supply of slaves (near 75,000 annually), 
 necessarily caused most wretched cruelties to be prac- 
 tised by the petty kings and slave-dealers on the African 
 coast. From the great river Senegal to the farther limits 
 of Angola, a distance of many thousand miles, the entire 
 coast was visited to furnish this supply. The interior, 
 especially along the banks of the rivers, yielded its 
 quota to the general demand. Numerous tribes in- 
 habited this vast extent of country, and consequently 
 great differences existed in the color, nature, habits, and 
 dispositions of the negroes exported. Prominent among 
 these were the Mandingoes, Koromantyns, Whidahs or 
 Fidahs, Eboes, and Congoes. The first were considered 
 the most elevated and farthest removed from the pure 
 type. The second, from the Gold Coast, were 
 
 1 3 Bancroft, 411, 412 ; see Edwards's West Indies, vol. ii, p. 368, et 
 seq. In the year 1771, there sailed from England alone, 192 ships, pro- 
 vided for the exportation of 47,146 slaves. Copley's Hist, of Slavery, 
 114. 2 M. Schcelcher, Colonies Etrangeres, i, 386.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AXD THE SLAVE-TRADE. civ 
 
 the most stubborn, unruly, rebellious, and intrepid. The 
 Whidahs were the most thievish ; and the Eboes from 
 Benin, the most timid and dejected. Their peculiarities 
 were soon discovered; and hence, upon the arrival of a 
 slave-ship, the advertisement always gave notice of the \ 
 tribes from which they were purchased. 1 \ 
 
 The passage from Africa to the Colonies was the most \ .. 
 trying period in the sufferings of the slaves. The " hor- V** 
 rors of the middle passage" have been sung by poets ?-p _J 
 and minutely described by eye-witnesses. Nothing 
 aided so much to the final prohibition of the trade. Yet 
 doubtless these "horrors" have been exaggerated. The 
 cupidity and avarice of the dealer tempted him to over- 
 load his small vessel. Yet experience soon taught that 
 the consequent pestilence and decimation of his cargo, 
 more than overbalanced his gains. Self-interest co-ope- 
 rated with humanity in demanding a proper regard to the 
 health and comfort of the victims. The slaves were trans- 
 ported naked. Yet clothing was, to them, an unknown and 
 unnecessary luxury. The males were secured with irons 
 when put on board, but these were removed, unless they 
 proved unruly and rebellious. The decks, between 
 which they were stowed side by side like bales of goods, 
 were only high enough to allow a sitting posture. Yet 
 the day was spent on the upper deck, and ample provi- 
 sion made for ventilation ; while cleanliness was enforced 
 as a matter of necessity. Wholesome and bountiful 
 food was provided, as a matter of calculation for the im- 
 provement of their appearance. While bathing and 
 other sanitary regulations were of universal practice. 2 
 
 1 Edwards's West Indies, ii, ch. xvi. 
 
 2 Edwards's West Indies, ii, ch. xvii ; Capt. Canot, &c., ch. xi ; Bux- 
 ton's Slave-Trade and Remedy, Pt. I, ch. ii. The great and good John 
 Newton was once engaged in the trade, and was captain of a slave-ship. 
 His Thoughts upon the African Slave-Trade give a candid, and doubt- 
 less, truthful account of the trade, as he knew it. They will be found to 
 agree substantially with the text. See also McPherson's Annals of Com- 
 merce, vol. iv, 140-149.
 
 Clvi HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 While this is the general truth, instances existed of 
 great wretchedness experienced during the voyage. And 
 even with all these precautions, disease frequently made 
 sad havoc among the poor creatures. Avarice and 
 cupidity too frequently drowned the voice of experience ; 
 and hence we find the British Parliament, by statute, 
 restricting the number of slaves to be carried to five for 
 every three tons, up to 201 tons, and to one for every ad- 
 ditional ton. By the same act, a well-qualified surgeon 
 was required on every vessel ; and as an inducement to 
 efficiency, fifty pounds sterling was allowed him, and 
 double that sum to the master, if the mortality during 
 the voyage did not exceed two per cent. 1 
 ^Of the slaves exported to the West Indies two-thirds 
 were males. Various causes conspired to bring about 
 this result. A more even proportion of females were 
 found in the cargoes intended for the American colonies. 
 The prices varied, but seldom exceeded forty pounds 
 sterling for females and fifty pounds for males. 3 The 
 cost on the African coast varied from three pounds to 
 twenty pounds sterling. 3 The profits of such a trade, 
 notwithstanding the large percentage of deaths, are 
 manifest. 
 
 The negroes thus imported were generally contented 
 and happy. The lamentations placed in their mouths 
 by sentimental poets, were for the most part without 
 foundation in fact. In truth their situation when pro- 
 perly treated was improved by the change. Careless 
 and mirthful by nature, they were eager to find a mas- 
 ter when they reached the shore, and the cruel separa- 
 tions to which they were sometimes exposed, and which 
 for the moment gave them excruciating agony, were 
 
 1 Edwards, 413. 
 
 * Edwards, 427 ; McPherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. iv, p. 153, 
 makes the prices much lower. The tables there given show 10 as the 
 minimum and 35 as the maximum. Average, 20. 
 
 8 MePherson's Annals, &c., iv, 153.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. civil 
 
 forgotten at the sound of their rude musical instruments 
 and in the midst of their noisy dances. The great 
 Architect had framed them both physically and men- 
 tally to fill the sphere in which they were thrown, and 
 His wisdom and mercy combined in constituting them 
 thus suited to the degraded position they were destined 
 to occupy. Hence, their submissiveness, their obedience, 
 and their contentment. 
 
 Some of the more turbulent occasionally instigated 
 rebellion ; for their treatment in the West India Islands, 
 and especially while the Spaniards were almost exclu- 
 sive owners, was harsh in the extreme. Newton records, 
 the candid confession of a planter at Antigua, in 1751, 
 that the owners had calculated with exactness to deter- 
 mine whether it was most to their interest to treat the 
 slaves in such manner as to protract their lives, or to 
 wear them out before they became old and decrepid, 
 and to supply their places with new ones. The latter 
 was found to be most profitable, and was their settled 
 policy, and hence, nine years was considered the limit 
 of a slave's life on many plantations. 1 That such rigor 
 should produce rebellion in the most abject slave would 
 be a natural result. Hence, the early disturbances in 
 1518 and 1522, already alluded to. In 1551, Charles V 
 interdicted the carrying of arms to all negroes, free and 
 bond, and in 1561, Philip IV renewed the ordinance 
 and extended it to the slaves of the viceroys themselvc 
 even in their master's presence. 2 When Jamaica was 
 ceded to the English, in 1655, the mountains were in- 
 fested with fugitive and rebellious negroes, known as 1 
 the Maroons, who made frequent incursions on the y 
 plains. These continued at intervals till 1796, when, by ^^) 
 the aid of bloodhounds, they were effectually repressed. 
 
 1 Thoughts upon the African Slave-Trade, p. 38. 
 
 2 La traite et son origine, par M. Schoelcher, 368.
 
 Clviii HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 The captives were transported to Lower Canada and 
 afterwards to Sierra Leone. 1 
 
 "The treatment of the English colonists on the Ameri- 
 can continent towards their slaves was very different. In 
 fact, the relation between the master and slave in the 
 "West Indies and in the English colonies was totally 
 different. In the former, slaves were merely articles of 
 merchandise, a commercial institution worked in large 
 numbers, upon vast plantations, under the care of agents 
 frequently, and for the benefit of masters whose homes 
 were in many cases in the mother country. Bought 
 from the slave-ship, their language was an unknown 
 tongue to the master, and the only communication be- 
 tween them was to learn to understand the orders to 
 work and to enforce obedience thereto. It being more 
 profitable to buy |than to breed, 3 instead of servants 
 " born in his house, "the West India planter continually 
 was surrounded with new supplies of untutored Afri- 
 cans. Having the sanction of the Holy See to the 
 traffic, his religion left his conscience unexcited to the 
 duties he owed to his fellow-man, farther than to require 
 the occasional visit of a priest or the distribution of 
 mass. The bountiful productions of a generous soil, in 
 a region of perpetual spring, stimulated his avarice to 
 give no rest to the laborer where no rest was required 
 by the land. Hence, despite the humane laws, inhuman 
 treatment never ceased, though the government of some 
 of the islands passed into other hands ; and notwith- 
 standing the trade has been declared piracy, and the 
 bristling guns of ships of war have striven to clear the 
 
 1 Dallas's Wars of the Maroons ; Schcelcher, Colonies Frangaises, i, ch. 
 viii. The term maroon was applied to all fugitive slaves. It seems to 
 have originated with the Spaniards, where it was called cimarron. Schoel- 
 cher, as above, 102. 
 
 2 See Statistics of M. Puynode, as to rate of increase in the French 
 and English West Indies, De 1'Esclavage, p. 35 ; Carey's Slave-Trade, 
 Domestic and Foreign, 8.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. clix 
 
 seas of the slave- dealers, yet the ports of the "West 
 India Islands ever afforded a ready market for slaves so 
 long as slavery was permitted to exist. 
 
 On the contrary, the English colonists on the conti- 
 nent were generally men of moderate means, who had 
 sought a home in the New "World." The slave bought 
 from the slave-ship wielded his axe side by side with his 
 master in felling the forest around his rude home. He 
 was his companion in wild hunts through the pathless 
 woods. A common danger made them defend a com- 
 mon home from the wild beast and the more cruel 
 savage. The field cultivated by their common labor 
 furnished to each his daily bread, of which they fre- 
 quently partook at a common board. The more wealthy 
 master lived generally in the midst of his farm. No 
 tempting market enticed him to forget humanity in his 
 search for gain. The return of the labor of his slaves 
 was generally in grain, consumed mostly in reproducing 
 more. Even tobacco was exported but in small quan- 
 tities. Cotton was reared almost exclusively to furnish 
 employment for the females in extricating the seed, and 
 then by the flax-wheel and the hand-loom, in providin; 
 clothing for the slaves themselves. The culture of rice 
 required but moderate labor, except at harvest. The 
 vine, and the olive, and the silk-worm, were all sought 
 to be introduced in the more Southern colonies, to fur- 
 nish employment for the slaves. With all, the labor 
 was light. The master was not therefore tempted to 
 overwork his slave. Even upon the score of interest it 
 was with him more profitable to breed than to buy. 
 Hence, at an early day the females were brought to tKe"\ 
 Colonies in numbers far beyond those carried to the 
 islands. To take care of the sick, to shelter and pro- 
 vide for the children, to feed bountifully and clothe 
 warmly, became the interest of the planter, and soon 
 his pride. The natural result of all these causes was a
 
 ell HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 sympathy between the master and slave unknown upon 
 the islands. 
 
 They stood to each other as the protector and the pro- 
 tected. The relation became pati'iarchal. The children 
 of the planter and the children of his slaves hunted, 
 fished, and played together. An almost perfect equality 
 existed, in their sports, between the future master and' 
 his future slave. To dispense exact justice to all was 
 the office of the planter. Obedience and respect from 
 all was his reward. Such a state of society made sla- 
 very, in the Colonies, a social institution. It was upheld 
 and maintained, not for gain solely, but because it had 
 become, as it were, a part of the social system, a social 
 necessity. 
 
 It is not strange, therefore, that the treatment of slaves 
 upon the continent, differed widely from their treatment 
 upon the islands. The result of this difference is to be 
 seen in the great and steady increase of the negroes 
 within the Colonies, as exhibited by the census, and their 
 astounding decrease in the islands, notwithstanding the 
 constant influx from the African coast. 1 
 
 The slave-trade was not confined to America as a 
 market. Though to a much more limited extent, Eng- 
 land, Spain, and perhaps France, received a part of the 
 cargoes prepared for the Indies. 8 At the time of the 
 decision of the Somersett case, Lord Mansfield supposed 
 there were 15,000 slaves in the British Isles ; and Lord 
 Stowell, in the case of the slave Grace, says, " The per- 
 sonal traffic in slaves, resident in England, had been as 
 public and as authorized in London, as in any of our 
 
 1 See the instructive and conclusive statistics and comparison, given 
 by Carey, in his Slave-Trade, Domestic and Foreign. 
 
 2 Hume, in his Essay on National Characters, asserts that negro slaves 
 were "dispersed all over Europe;" and Granville Sharp, in his Essay 
 on the Just Limitation of Slavery, quotes the passage from Hume, and 
 admits the fact, pp. 29, 30. Dr. Beattie does the same, Essay on Truth, 
 p. 459.
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE-TRADE. clxi 
 
 West India Islands. They were sold on the Exchange 
 and other places of public resort, by parties themselves 
 resident in London, and with as little reserve as they 
 would have been in any of our West India possessions. 
 Such a state of things continued from a very early period 
 up to nearly the end of the last century. 1 
 
 Long before this trade commenced upon the western 
 coast of Africa, the Mohammedan markets of Morocco, 
 Tunis, Tripoli, Egypt, Turkey, Persia, Arabia, and other 
 portions of Asia, had been supplied with slaves from the 
 great hive of Africa. When it commenced we cannot 
 say. Before the days of Abraham doubtless. It has 
 continued to the present time. It is carried on, partly 
 by means of Arab vessels on the northeast coast, and 
 partly by caravans across the desert. The number thus 
 exported is probably 50,000 annually, if not more. 3 
 
 1 2 Hagg. Adm. Rep. 105 ; Granville Sharp states, in his Essay on the 
 Just Limitation of Slavery, that three married women were torn violently 
 from their husbands, in London, and quotes an advertisement for a negro 
 boy, "having round his neck a brass collar, with a direction upon it, to a 
 house in Charlotte Street, Bloomsbury Square," p. 34. 
 
 2 The reader disposed to examine this branch of the trade more fully, 
 is referred to Buxton's Slave-Trade and Remedy, p. 59, et seq. ; Leva- 
 vasseur's Esclavage de la race noire, 84.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 THAT the slave-trade should have been prosecuted so 
 long by Christian nations, is a matter of greater surprise 
 than the united efforts subsequently made for its aboli- 
 tion. In the meantime, there were not wanting those 
 who not only deprecated the trade, but denied the law- 
 fulness of the relation of master and slave. Milton em- 
 bodied his protest in his immortal poem : 
 
 " But man over man 
 He made not lord, such title to himself 
 Reserving, human left from human free." 
 
 Pope, Cowper, Savage, Thomson, Shenstone, and many 
 others of less reputation, continued the strain thus com- 
 menced, and Montgomery devoted an epic poem to 
 the descriptions of the wrongs of " Afric's sons." 
 
 The prose writers of England, during this period, are 
 equally numerous. And America was not behind in 
 furnishing her voice against the trade. Among the 
 former may be mentioned Baxter, Steele, John Wesley, 
 and Warburton. Among the Americans, Dr. Franklin, 
 Dr. Kush, and William Dillwyn, were among the most 
 prominent. Montesquieu and the Abbd Raynal, awak- 
 ened the French nation to the importance of the same 
 question. . 
 
 As a body the Quakers, or Society of Friends, were 
 the first to take bold position as to the sinfulness both
 
 ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. clxiii 
 
 of the trade and the system. George Fox, and his co- 
 workers on either shore of the Atlantic, early recognized 
 the fact that God was no respecter of persons, and that 
 the souls of Africans were redeemed by a Saviour's 
 blood, as well as those of the descendants of Japhet. It 
 was not surprising then that their zeal should become a 
 fanaticism upon this subject, that has continued to the 
 present day. 1 
 
 As already observed, the American colonists were the 
 first people, through their legislative bodies, to seek to 
 put an end to the trade with the colonies. No religious 
 zeal, nor Quixotic crusades for universal liberty, prompted 
 them to act ; but a sincere self-interest, which dictated 
 this policy, as a preventive against an overflowing black 
 population. The trade, however, was too valuable to 
 British merchants, and too profitable to the British 
 treasury, and hence the royal assent was repeatedly 
 refused. 2 
 
 "We have already seen the action of the Continental 
 Congress, in 1776, and the subsequent adoption into the 
 Constitution of the United States, of the clause limiting 
 the importation to the year 1808, if Congress should see 
 proper. Before the time arrived, viz., in 1807, Congress 
 availed itself of the power granted, and passed an act 
 prohibiting the farther importation of slaves. Before 
 that time, however, Georgia, in 1798, by virtue of her 
 own State sovereignty, incorporated into her State Con- 
 stitution, a prohibition of future importation into that 
 
 1 By the laws of Barbadoes, passed 1696, negroes were prohibited from 
 attending the meeting of Quakers, under a penalty of 10Z., to be recovered 
 of any Quaker present. If the negro belonged to the Quaker, he was 
 forfeited. See Plantation Laws (1704), p. 249. In 1663, Virginia pro- 
 hibited the introduction of Quakers, under a penalty of 5000 Ibs. of 
 tobacco upon the captain of the vessel. Ibid. 52. 
 
 2 This was inserted in the original draft of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, as one of the grievances of the Colonies, but was stricken out, 
 at the instance of the delegation from Georgia.
 
 clxiV HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 State. South Carolina had preceded her, by a legislative 
 enactment to the same effect. 
 
 To bring the British mind to such a sense of the evils 
 and sin of the trade, as to induce the nation to forego 
 the benefits arising therefrom, was a much more difficult 
 task ; and the fervid zeal of Granville Sharp, the un- 
 wearying exertions of Thomas Clarkson, and the power- 
 ful appeals and touching eloquence of "Wilberforce, but 
 barely effected this object, after a parliamentary struggle 
 continuing through nineteen years. After spending 
 months in preparing the public mind for the effort, the 
 first motion was made in Parliament on the 9th May, 
 1788 (the year subsequent to the adoption of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States). Defeat attended that, 
 and a similar effort in 1789. The accession of both Pitt 
 and Fox to their ranks in 1790, did- not change the 
 result. In 1791, there were arrayed in behalf of the 
 movers, Pitt, Fox, Burke, Grey, Sheridan, Wyndham, 
 Whitbread, Courtnay, Francis, and others ; but defeat 
 still awaited them. In the meantime, pamphlets and 
 books had been written. Pictures of slave-ships, deli- 
 neating the decks and the close confinement, and other 
 " horrors of the middle passage," had been distributed 
 throughout the kingdom. The people had become ex- 
 cited, and voluntarily abandoned, in many places, the 
 uses of sugar and rum. In almost every part of the 
 kingdom, public meetings gave vent to the public voice, 
 demanding the prohibition of the trade. 1 
 
 In 1793, the Commons yielded to the public voice, and 
 passed an act for the gradual abolition of the trade. It 
 was lost in the Lords, by a motion to hear farther evi- 
 dence, which postponed action till the next session. In 
 1794, the Commons receded from their position, and left 
 the battle to be fought over again. In 1795, it was again 
 carried in the Commons, and lost in the Lords. The 
 
 1 See Stuart's Memoir, pp. 51, 52.
 
 ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 sessions of 1796, 1798, 1799, still brought defeat to the 
 cause. The years 1797 and 1800, 1801, 1802, and 1803, 
 were allowed to pass without effort in Parliament. In 
 1804, the bill again passed the Commons, but was lost 
 in the Lords. In 1805, it was again lost in the Com- 
 mons. In 1806, the measure was brought forward under 
 the auspices of the government, being then under the 
 administration of Lord Grenville and Mr. Fox. During 
 that session an act was passed prohibiting British ves- 
 sels and British capital from being employed in the 
 foreign slave-trade ; and, in 1807, the last struggle was 
 ended by the "Act for the abolition of the slave-trade." 1 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that that which Parliament 
 denied to the voice of the excited public, was yielded 
 when that excitement had passed away, and then on the 
 motion of government. When we remember that Fox 
 was the devoted friend of the East India Company, and 
 the fact that, at that time, the project was rife of grow- 
 ing sugar in the East Indies at a less cost than in the 
 West Indies, we may surmise a reason for the final suc- 
 cess of the measure, not based either upon philanthropy 
 or justice. 8 
 
 In France, Napoleon Bonaparte, upon his return from 
 Elba, in 1815, passed an order for the immediate aboli- 
 tion of the trade. And in the same year, the Congress 
 at Vienna, representing Great Britain, Austria, Russia, 
 Prussia, and France, declared the slave-trade to be "re- 
 pugnant to the principles of humanity and of universal 
 morality ; and that it was the earnest desire of their 
 sovereigns to put an end to a scourge which had so long 
 desolated Africa, degraded Europe, and afflicted hu- 
 manity." After the restoration of the Bourbons, the 
 decree of Napoleon was re-enacted, and the year 1819 
 
 1 See Clarkson's History of the Abolition of the Slave-Trade. A con- 
 cise history may be found in Rees's Cyclop., Slave-Trade. 
 
 8 See Remarks of Bryan Edwards, published in 1794, in History of 
 West Indies, vol. ii, p. 637.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 witnessed the legal abolition of the trade by France. 
 No active measures, however, were taken to enforce this 
 edict until 1831, when the right of search was granted 
 to English cruisers. 
 
 The treaty of 1814, between Spain and Great Britain, 
 provided for the cessation of the trade under the flag of 
 the former in 1820. The violations of the law, however, 
 have continued ever since, notwithstanding the efforts 
 of a mixed commission of British and Spanish judges, 
 established at Havana, f^r the condemnation of slavers. 1 
 
 A quintuple treaty for the suppression of the trade, 
 signed at London, December 20, 1841, by representa- 
 tives of Great Britain, France, Austria, Russia, and 
 Prussia, allowed a mutual right of search. Previous to 
 that time a treaty with the Netherlands in 1818, and with 
 Brazil in 1826, provided for the cessation of the trade 
 by the citizens of those nations. The trade with Brazil, 
 however, continued to be carried on without any effort 
 on the part ot the Brazilian Government to prevent it 
 effectually until about the year 1850. 
 
 The Act of 5 Geo. IV, c. 113, declared the slave-trade 
 to be piracy in British subjects. Five years before that 
 date (1820), the United States had passed a statute to 
 the same effect. Before these statutes the trade was 
 held to be legitimate by the subjects of all countries 
 not expressly forbidding it, 2 and these statutes do not 
 and cannot make the offence piracy, except in citizens 
 of these respective nations. 3 
 
 1 See Buxton's Slave-Trade, &c., 212 et seq. In a despatch from Lord 
 Palmerston to Lord Howden, dated Oct. 17th, 1851, with reference to 
 this matter, he says, " During the last fourteen or fifteen years, those 
 treaty engagements have been flagrantly violated, and those laws have 
 been notoriously and systematically broken through in Cuba and Puerto 
 Rico." 
 
 2 Judge Story held to the contrary, in the case Le Jeune Eugene, 2 
 Mason, 409 ; but this decision, in the words of Mr. Wildman, in his 
 work on International Law, is "elaborately incorrect." 
 
 3 See 2 Mason, p. 417. The sweeping provisions of these acts, show
 
 ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. clxvii 
 
 Notwithstanding these several treaties and statutes, 
 and notwithstanding both Britain and the United States 
 have for many years kept a naval force cruising upon 
 the western shores of Africa along the Slave Coast ; yet 
 the trade remains unsuppressed to this day, and for a 
 series of years the number of slaves shipped for trans- 
 portation was greater than it had ever been while the 
 trade was legal and fostered by the legislation of 
 France, Britain, and Spain. Its illicit character, how- 
 ever, has added much to its enormity and horrors. The 
 slave-marts have ceased to be markets overt, and the 
 victims of the trade are hidden in prisons and dens from 
 the time they are brought to the coast. The transfer to 
 the slave-ship is by night, and attended with much dan- 
 ger. The ship itself, instead of the large commodious 
 vessels formerly used, is of the narrow clipper-built style, 
 prepared with a view to a chase from the English or 
 American cruiser. The slave decks are no longer ven- 
 tilated with a view to health, but placed below the 
 hatches, to escape detection, closely confined and of 
 much diminished proportions. The numbers crowded 
 into these narrow cells are much increased, being no 
 longer regulated by law, and the increased risk and in- 
 creased expense requiring increased profits to the ad- 
 venturous owners. The persons engaged in the trade, 
 of necessity, are no longer the enlarged and liberal mer- 
 chant, with his humane master and crew, but the most 
 desperate of buccaneers, who being declared pirates by 
 law, become pirates in fact. The horrors of the middle 
 passage are necessarily increased, and the difficulties of 
 
 another instance of the object of legislation defeated by its own vindic- 
 tiveness. The bona fide purchaser of slaves, in a slave country, who 
 seeks to transport them to another slave country, is not a pirate. The 
 kidnapper of free negroes might be properly so declared. The acts are 
 justified upon the difficulty of making proof of kidnapping, &c. This is 
 an unfortunate truth, but does not justify the severity of the proposed 
 remedy. The result is, that convictions under the act are very rare.
 
 Clxviii HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 landing the cargoes add to the sufferings of the slaves, 
 already more than decimated hy disease. 1 
 
 This trade is not carried on with the United States. 
 But few slaves have been landed on their coast since the 
 trade was prohibited. All the West Indies for a time, 
 and subsequently the Spanish and Portuguese West 
 Indies and Brazil, furnished the markets for this illicit 
 trade. 2 As already remarked, the policy has been to 
 buy rather than to breed negroes. And so long as slave 
 labor in the West Indies remains so profitable, the price 
 of slaves will continue to hold out inducements to law- 
 less adventurers to violate all treaties and laws, in order 
 to reap the immense profits of this trade. The abolition 
 of slavery, in the English, French, Danish, Dutch, and 
 Swedish West Indies, as we shall directly ' show, have 
 only increased the profits of slave labor in the Spanish 
 and Portuguese colonies, and thus increased the value of 
 slaves and the temptation for the trade. 
 
 1 Mr. Buxton estimates that seven-tenths of the captured slaves die in 
 the process. Thus, of 1000 victims of the trade, 
 
 One-half perish in the seizure, march, and detention on 
 
 the coast, . . . . > .500 
 
 One-fourth of those embarked, die in the middle passage, 125 
 One-fifth of the remainder die in being climatized, . 75 
 
 700 
 Slave-Trade and Remedy, 199, et seq. 
 
 2 See Wilkes's Exp. Exp. i, pp. 36, 55, 88. He states that the eastern 
 coast of Africa furnishes most of the slaves. Zanzibar is a great slave- 
 mart. The slaves are carried across the Island of Madagascar, to be sold 
 on the eastern coast to Europeans, ix, pp. 184, 190, 272, 273. The slaves 
 in the captured vessels are treated but little better by the English than 
 by the traders ; i, 55, 88.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ABOLITION OF NEGRO SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 As the first efforts for the prohibition of the slave- 
 trade were made in America, so the first movement for 
 the abolition of negro slavery had its origin there. To 
 trace all the efforts that have been made, their origin and 
 end, would be a task we have neither time nor space to 
 enter upon. A mere glance at results is all that we can 
 do. 
 
 The American Revolution was in a remarkable de- 
 gree a struggle for political liberty. The grievances of 
 the Colonies, though existing in fact, were not sufficiently 
 aggravated to have aroused a whole people to throw off 
 the government of their fathers. The war was under- 
 taken for a principle, was fought upon principle, and 
 the success of their arms was deemed by the colonists 
 as the triumph of the principle. That principle was the 
 right of a people to the enjoyment of political liberty. 
 But the investigation and assertion of this right by a 
 nation for a series of years necessarily imbued their 
 minds with an ardent love of personal liberty, and 
 hence, the very declaration of their political liberty an- 
 nounced as a self-evident truth, that all men were created 
 free and equal. 
 
 This announcement was not a formal incorporation 
 of an abstract truth into a diplomatic paper. It was the 
 reflection of the feelings of the ardent espousers of the 
 cause. It was the natural result of the excited state of 
 the public mind. We should expect to find such a 
 declaration from men about to engage in such a struggle.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 And knowing as we do, and rejoicing as we should, in 
 the honesty and purity of their motives, we should ex- 
 pect to find such men prosecuting their principles to 
 their legitimate results, and proclaiming all involuntary 
 servitude to be opposed to the natural rights of man. 
 It is not surprising, then, that Franklin should have 
 been the president of the first abolition society in Penn- 
 sylvania, as early as 1787 ; nor that Henry, and Jefier- 
 son, and Jay, should avow their hostility to the system, 
 and their hopes for its overthrow ; nor that even the 
 wise, and good, and great Washington, should, by his 
 will emancipating his own slaves, acknowledge that his 
 own mind was at least wavering as to the propriety of 
 their bondage. In fact, at that day, Virginia was much 
 more earnest in the wish for general emancipation than 
 were New York, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island. So 
 general was the feeling, that the Ordinance of 1787, 
 which excluded slavery from the Northwest Territory 
 (out of which the present populous and thriving North- 
 western States are formed), was ratified by the first Con- 
 gress of the United States, with but one dissenting voice, 
 and that from a delegate from New York ; the entire 
 Southern vote being cast in its favor. 
 
 Neither the climate nor the productions of the northern 
 and eastern portions of the United States are adapted 
 to negro slavery. The sun is as necessary to negro per- 
 fection as it is to the cotton plant. The labor of the 
 slave is only valuable where that labor can be applied to 
 a routine of business which requires no reflection or 
 judgment upon the part of the laborer, and which con- 
 tinues throughout the year. Hence, the number of 
 slaves in these older and more flourishing portions of 
 the States, by the census of 1790, amounted only to 
 40,370, while the southern and more feeble colonies 
 (Virginia excepted), embraced in their territory 567,527. 
 It required, therefore, no sacrifice of interest upon the
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN UNITED STATES, clxxi 
 
 part of these States, to provide for the extinction of 
 slavery. It checked not their growth ; did not make it 
 necessary for them to seek out new channels for labor 
 and the acquisition of wealth ; and required no great 
 sacrifice of property at their hands. Vermont claims 
 the honor of having first excluded slavery, by her Bill 
 of Rights, adopted in 1777. The census of 1790 shows 
 but seventeen slaves in the whole State. It required no 
 great measure of philanthropy to sacrifice the value of 
 seventeen slaves. 
 
 Massachusetts never did, by statute, abolish slavery ; 
 and as late as 1833, her Supreme Court left it an open 
 question, when slavery was abolished in that State. 1 
 Certain it is, that the census of 1790 gives no enumera- 
 tion of slaves in that State. 
 
 The statute-book of New Hampshire also seems to 
 be silent upon this subject, and the census of 1790 gives 
 to this State 158 slaves ; one of these was still reported 
 in 1840. 
 
 Rhode Island adopted a plan of gradual emancipation 
 by declaring that all blacks born in that State after 
 March, 1784, should be free. Five of the old stock seems 
 to have survived to have their names registered in the 
 census of 1840. 
 
 Connecticut adopted a similar plan of emancipation, 
 and seventeen of her slaves, it seems by the census, were 
 surviving in 1840. Connecticut held 2759 slaves in 
 1790. The interest was too great for immediate eman- 
 cipation. 
 
 Pennsylvania was in the same situation, having 3737 
 slaves in 1790. This State also provided for gradual 
 emancipation, by an act passed in 1780, by which it 
 was provided, that all slaves born after that time should 
 serve as slaves until they reached the age of twenty- 
 
 1 Commonwealth v. Aves, Pick. 209.
 
 Clxxii HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 eight, after which time they were free. The census of 
 1840 shows sixty-four still in slavery. 1 
 
 In New York a similar act was passed in 1799, eman- 
 cipating the future issue of slaves, males at the age of 
 twenty-eight, females twenty-five years. In 1817, an- 
 other act was passed, declaring all slaves free on the 
 4th July, 1827. In 1790, there were 21,324 slaves in 
 this State. In 1800 (before the emancipating act could 
 take effect), there were only 20,343. In 1840, four only 
 remained. 
 
 New Jersey, in 1790, held 11,423 slaves. In 1804, 
 the prospective extinction of slavery was provided for 
 by a similar statute to those of New York and Pennsyl- 
 vania. The process, however, must have been slower, 
 as the census of 1840 gives her 674 slaves, and that of 
 1850, 236. 
 
 Notwithstanding the ardent temperament of the 
 Southern people, and their early zealous advocacy of 
 universal liberty, practical emancipation with them was 
 a much more momentous question. Virginia alone in 
 1790 contained 293,427 slaves, more than seven times 
 as many as all the foregoing States combined. Her pro- 
 ductions were almost exclusively the result of slave 
 labor. Her white population exceeded her slaves only 
 about twenty-five per cent. Her soil and climate and (in 
 a much greater degree), those of the more Southern 
 States, were not only peculiarly fitted for negro labor, 
 but almost excluded white labor from agricultural pur- 
 suits. The problem was one of no easy solution, how 
 this " great evil," as it was then called, was to be re- 
 moved with safety to the master and benefit to the 
 slave. It would have doubtless remained a problem 
 perplexing the thoughts and paining the hearts of the 
 
 1 A negro woman slave was sold by the sheriff, in Fayette County, 
 Pennsylvania, to pay debts, in the year 1823. Lynch v. The Common- 
 wealth, 6 Watts, 495.
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN UNITED STATES. 
 
 good and wise to this day, had not the Northern and 
 foreign fanaticism forced upon the South an investiga- 
 tion back of the stand-point which was then occupied, 
 and with it the conviction that the Omnipotent Ruler of 
 the universe has not permitted this " great evil" to accu- 
 mulate until it is beyond control, but has exhibited in 
 this, as in all his dealings with man, that overruling 
 wisdom and providence which causes man's wrath to 
 praise Him.
 
 CHAPTEK XII. 
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN HAYTI, OR ST. DOMINGO. 
 
 WE will refer hereafter to tlie subsequent history of 
 the abolition struggle in the United States. We turn 
 now to the West Indies, to trace hurriedly the progress 
 of emancipation there. 
 
 Prominent among them stands Hayti, or St. Domingo. 
 Originally belonging to Spain, by gradual encroach- 
 ment it became partially under the French dominion, 
 until, in 1789, the latter nation owned about one-third 
 of the island. Voluntary manumission, granted gene- 
 rally to the half-breed or mulattoes, the fruit of the 
 illicit intercourse of the whites with the slaves, had, at 
 the time of the French Revolution, placed in the French 
 portion of the island a population of 21,808. At that 
 time the whites numbered only 27,717, while the slaves 
 amounted to 405,564.' The cry of " Liberty and Equa- 
 lity" of the French metropolis was taken up and echoed 
 by the whites of Domingo, especially the poorer classes, 
 who looked with envy and hatred upon the immense 
 estates of the landed proprietors. The free mulattoes 
 also (many of whom were possessed of slaves and other 
 property), rejoiced in the cry, for though free they had 
 never been admitted to any political privileges, and the 
 " prejudice of color" existed to a remarkable degree, 
 
 1 These are the estimates of M. Barbe-Marbois, in 1788. See Rees's 
 Cyclopeedia, Domingo. Others estimate the slaves at 700,000. Schoel- 
 cher, Colonies Etrangeres, torn, ii, p. 86.
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN HATTI. 
 
 where nothing but color and these political privileges 
 distinguished the one class from the other. 
 
 The first outburst of the French Revolution found 
 three distinct parties in Domingo : the wealthy landed 
 proprietors, who were averse to change, and desired at 
 least to act in subordination to the Government of the 
 metropolis ; Les Blancs, or the white Republicans, 
 who desired to set up an independent government in 
 the island ; and the mulattoes, who were clamorous for 
 equality, whatever might be the extent of the privileges 
 gained. The first dissension arose between the two 
 former classes, and so great was the prejudice of color, 
 that neither would accept of the aid of the mulattoes 
 unless they would wear a badge, of a color different 
 from the whites. 1 The latter petitioned the National 
 Assembly for a recognition of their rights, and the reply 
 was, that " no part of the nation should appeal in vain 
 for its rights before the assembled representatives of the 
 French people," 9 and on the 8th March, 1790, a decree 
 was passed, granting political privileges to all free per- 
 sons of the age of twenty-five years, and who were pro- 
 prietors of land. Both factions of the whites combined 
 to defeat this decree, and succeeded in inducing the 
 Governor of the island to construe it as applying only 
 to white persons. The fraud was subsequently dis- 
 covered by a young mulatto, Vincent Oge', while in 
 France, and upon his return home he assembled eighty 
 or ninety of his class, and boldly demanded the execu- 
 tion of the decree. He was routed by the chief of the 
 National Guard, and he and his followers taken prisoners 
 and executed. But the " prejudice of color" would not 
 allow the scaffold to be erected where the whites were 
 usually executed. 3 
 
 In the meantime each party of the whites were at- 
 
 1 Schcelcher, Colonies Etrangeres, torn, ii, 95. 2 Ibid. p. 91. 
 
 * Schrelcher, torn, ii, pp 95, 96.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 tempting to set up a government. The Governor, 
 Peynier, at St. Domingo, represented the metropolitan 
 party. The Assembly of the Reformers was held at St. 
 Mark. 
 
 Pending these difficulties, the slaves in the north 
 began to talk of liberty. 1 The 24th of August, 1791, 
 witnessed a formidable insurrection among them. They 
 carried fire and devastation in their route. The National 
 Guard, however, soon dispersed them, and the head of 
 their leader, Boakmann, was placed on a pike in the 
 midst of the public square. The punishment inflicted 
 by the whites was excessive. They confined it not to 
 those engaged in the revolt, but considering every black 
 an enemy, massacred without distinction all that fell in 
 their way. 8 In this insurrection it is supposed that two 
 thousand white persons perished ; twelve hundred fami- 
 lies were reduced to indigence ; one hundred and eighty 
 sugar and nine hundred cotton plantations destroyed, 
 and the buildings consumed by fire. 3 
 
 About this time, there reached the island the decree 
 of the National Assembly of the 15th May, 1791, which, 
 in plain terms, granted equal political privileges to all 
 freemen born of free parents, without regard to color. 
 The whites resolved that they would not submit to its 
 provisions; the mulattoes to obtain, by force, their 
 legal rights. Each party armed themselves, and each 
 party armed also a body of their faithful slaves, to do 
 
 1 Insurrectionary pamphlets had been previously distributed among 
 them, issued by the abolitionists of Paris (Amis des Noirs), who counted 
 among their numbers, Mirabeau, Robespierre, Abb6 Gr<jgoire, and other 
 leaders of the Revolution. See Speech of the Deputies, before the 
 National Assembly, Nov. 3d, 1791, in which the insurrection is attri- 
 buted entirely to this cause. 
 
 2 See Schcelcher, pp. 99-101. Some palliation for this is found in 
 the barbarous cruelty of the revolting negroes. Their standard was the 
 body of a white child, elevated on a pole. Their murders and rapes 
 were brutal in the extreme. See Speech of Deputies, as above. 
 
 * Rees's Cyclopaedia, Domingo.
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN HAYTI. clxXVli 
 
 battle for them. On the 2d September, an engagement 
 was had near Port au Prince, in which the mulattoes 
 obtained the advantage. On 23d October, a treaty of 
 peace was signed, acknowledging the political equality 
 of the mulattoes. Their armed slaves, however, were 
 banished from the island and sold in Jamaica. They 
 were driven thence by the English governor, who sent 
 them back to St. Domingo, where they were executed, 
 and their bodies cast into the bay. 1 This peace was of 
 short duration, as the Provincial Assembly declared 
 the treaty to be subversive of the colonial system. 
 The whites, being in open violation of the decree of the 
 Home Government, proposed to deliver the island to 
 the English Governor of Jamaica, which proposal he 
 declined to accept. 
 
 In the meantime, the National Assembly, by the 
 fickleness of their policy, only aggravated the state of 
 anarchy in the island. By a decree of the 24th Sep- 
 tember, that of the 15th May was annulled, and power 
 was given to the Colonial Assembly to regulate the 
 political status of the free persons of color. This they 
 exercised on 2d November, by postponing indefinitely 
 their political emancipation. 
 
 Hostilities soon recommenced, and on 29th November 
 one-half of Port au Prince was reduced to ashes. The 
 whites accused the mulattoes of the deed, and to avenge 
 themselves massacred indiscriminately their women and 
 children who were within their reach. 3 With varying 
 success, this civil war continued until the Governor, 
 Blanchelande, joined his forces to the mulattoes, and 
 thus subdued the whites. This step of his was in con- 
 sequence of another decree of the vacillating National 
 Assembly, who, on the 4th April, 1792, revoked the 
 decree of 24th September, and declared all freemen to 
 be equal. To enforce this decree, they sent out three 
 
 1 Schcelcher, 102, 103. 2 Pamphile La Croix, torn, i, ch. 4. 
 
 L
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 commissioners, Sonthonax, Polverel, and Alliand, and 
 six thousand troops. These commissioners took part 
 with the colored men, and heaped upon them honors 
 and arms. For a time peace seemed to have been esta- 
 blished, but the equality of the mulattoes was too gall- 
 ing for the whites, and they again endeavored to right 
 themselves by an appeal to arms. Fortifying themselves 
 in Port au Prince, they again offered to deliver the 
 island to the English, if they would re-establish the an- 
 cient order of things. 1 
 
 After considerable skirmishing, this rebellion was re- 
 pressed, and peace seemed again to be restored ; but 
 mutual hatred was still rankling in the bosoms of both 
 classes, and an opportunity soon offered for the recom- 
 mencement of hostilities. A difficulty between a mu- 
 latto and an officer of marine was sufficient, and the 
 battle was fought in the streets of Port au Prince. In 
 the meUe, a parcel of revolted negroes placed fire to the 
 jail, to release four or five hundred negro prisoners. The 
 flames spread, and reduced to ashes the most beautiful 
 city of the Antilles. The government troops and the 
 mulattoes again triumphed over the whites, and one 
 thousand of the latter, the flower of the island, con- 
 demned themselves to voluntary exile. 
 
 In the meantime, Spain had declared war against the 
 French Republic. The close proximity of their posses- 
 sions in Domingo, gave the Spaniards a fine opportunity 
 of harassing the already distracted French colony. The 
 slaves of the latter were encouraged to take refuge 
 among the Spaniards, and many of them were enrolled 
 in their army, under the lead of two of their fellows, 
 Jean Frangois and Biasson. Under these generals, con- 
 tinued attacks were made upon the French province. 
 About August, 1793, a desperate attack was made by 
 them. They were about to take possession ot Fort 
 
 1 See Schceleher, 105, et seq., and authorities cited by him.
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN HAYTI. 
 
 Liberty, and menaced even the town of the Cape. Son- 
 thonax occupied it alone, with about one thousand 
 troops, and five or six hundred mulattoes, and without 
 the munitions of war. Moreover, the rebellious whites 
 had called upon the English of Jamaica to come to 
 their assistance, and they themselves occupied much of 
 the country. Under these circumstances, Sonthonax 
 proclaimed, on 29th August, liberty to all slaves who 
 would enrol themselves under the banner of the Re- 
 public. His colleague, Polverel, condemned this act as 
 an abuse, or rather a stretch of power. But when the 
 English at length came to take part with the rebels, he 
 admitted the necessity of the act, and obtained the con- 
 sent of the proprietors thereto. Malenfant, who gives 
 this account, adds, that he himself was the only proprietor 
 who refused to subscribe to this consent. 1 This was the 
 formal beginning of the emancipation of the blacks of 
 Domingo. 
 
 On 3d September, 1793, a treaty was signed by the 
 English and the colonists in Jamaica. On 19th Septem- 
 ber, the British soldiers, eight hundred and seventy in 
 number, were introduced into one of the towns where 
 the rebels were in power, and five others were succes- 
 sively delivered up to them. On 4th June, 1794, Port 
 au Prince surrendered to the British arms. But the 
 fatal black vomit appeared among the troops, and forty of 
 the officers and six hundred of the rank and file fell vic- 
 tims to the scourge. 2 
 
 On 4th February, 1794, the National Convention not 
 only confirmed the offer of liberty made by Sonthonax, 
 but by decree abolished slavery in all of the French 
 colonies. To maintain some kind of order, Polverel, 
 one of the commissioners, in May, 1794, published agri- 
 cultural regulations, by which the enfranchised slaves 
 
 1 See Schcelcher, torn, ii, p. 114. 
 
 2 Schcelcher, ii, 115 et seq. ; Rees's Cyclop. Domingo.
 
 clx'XX HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 were to have one-fourth of the gross products of their 
 labor. This arrangement for a time seemed to be satis- 
 factory. 
 
 Previous to this time there appeared upon the stage 
 the most remarkable person in this eventful drama. A 
 negro of middle age, the coachman of a rich planter, 
 fled from his master and took refuge with the Spaniards. 
 Having learned to read and write, and knowing some- 
 thing of simple medicines, he was placed under Biasson, 
 the negro General, and honored with the titles of Sur- 
 geon and Colonel. He continued to serve in the Spanish 
 army until the news arrived of the decree of February 
 4th, 1794, when he immediately deserted. The time 
 was propitious. The French General Lavaux had been 
 appointed Governor ad interim, while the commissioners 
 went to Paris to answer charges made against them by 
 the colonists. The troops had been left under the direc- 
 tions of three mulatto officers, Beauvais, at Jacmel ; 
 Eigaud, at Cayes; and Villatte, at the Cape. The 
 Governor, Lavaux, made the latter his headquarters and 
 took command. Villatte, dissatisfied with being in a 
 subordinate position, fomented a sedition, and placed 
 the Governor in prison, under the pretence of saving 
 him from the fury of the populace. In this conduct he 
 was but following the example of Montbrun, another 
 mulatto, who a short time previously had forced Sontho- 
 nax to fly from Port au Prince. Toussaint, the negro 
 alluded to, placing himself at the head of five thousand 
 men, marched upon the Cape, defeated Villatte, released 
 the Governor, and placed himself subject to his orders. 
 It must be remarked in passing, that there was no more 
 sympathy between the blacks and mulattoes, than be- 
 tween them and the whites, for the mixed race were 
 equally as averse to an equality with the negro as the 
 whites. Lavaux, from gratitude, nominated Toussaint 
 general-of-brigade, and placed him at the head of his
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN HATTI. 
 
 administration. In his zeal lie pronounced him " the 
 liberator of the blacks." 
 
 The knowledge which Toussaint had of the country, 
 and especially of the situation of his old protectors, the 
 Spaniards, enabled him very soon to drive them out 
 from the French possessions. The enfeebled condition 
 of the English forces gave him a good opportunity of 
 at least holding them from any aggressive movements. 
 At the same time he forced the blacks to enrol them- 
 selves in the army, or else return to their work upon the 
 plan of Polverel, before alluded to. The commissioner, 
 Sonthonax, upon his return to the island, appointed 
 him general-of-division. 
 
 About this time Kigaud, another of the mulatto 
 generals, placed himself in an attitude of independence 
 in the South. He oppressed indiscriminately both 
 blacks and whites, and his command, almost exclusively 
 mulattoes, sustained him in his position. The govern- 
 ment was too feeble to resist him, and Toussaint had no 
 disposition to aid them in it, for the design had already 
 formed itself in his breast of setting aside this exhausted 
 government and taking possession of the island for the 
 colored race exclusively. The commissioner soon pene- 
 trated this design, and hastened to return to France to 
 make it known. Toussaint, suspecting his intention, 
 sent with him two of his sons as hostages for his devo- 
 tion to the Republic. 
 
 After his departure Toussaint drove the English from 
 Port au Prince, Jeremy, and the Mole. They sought 
 in vain to bribe him to deliver the island to them. His 
 scheme was independence. Failing in this last resort, 
 the English finally evacuated the island, where disease 
 and defeat had added nothing to the glory of their 
 arms. 
 
 Both Toussaint and Rigaud endeavored to force the 
 negroes to continue their work. They were required to 
 remain upon the farms and not to leave them without
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 permits. Notwithstanding, many of them fled and be- 
 came highway robbers. Rigaud erected a prison in 
 which he incarcerated all such. 
 
 The French Directory sent out General Hedonville, 
 as their agent, to supervise Toussaint and to arrest 
 Rigaud. He arrived 21st April, 1798. Toussaint re- 
 fused to aid in the arrest of Rigaud, pleading as an ex- 
 cuse his great services to the Republic. At the same 
 time he proposed to Rigaud to combine against Hedon- 
 ville and declare the island independent. The prejudice 
 of color, however, extended even to the mulattoes, and 
 a combination with the negroes was repugnant to their 
 feelings. Rigaud rejected these overtures and preferred 
 to combine with Hedonville against the blacks. 
 
 This combination was an expiation for his offences, 
 and when Hedonville, in October following, was forced 
 to leave the island, he released Rigaud from all obli- 
 gation to obey the general-of-division, and appointed 
 him commander-in-chief of the army in the South. 
 Thus commenced the war between the blacks and 
 mulattoes. The whites were already virtually driven 
 from the island. The contest for the mastery was now 
 between the other colors. The mulattoes in Toussaint's 
 army deserted and joined their own color. A bitter and 
 bloody contest ensued. But the blacks were too nume- 
 rous for the small band of mulattoes. After several 
 desperate conflicts, on 29th July, 1800, Rigaud, Petion, 
 Boyer, and their followers, abandoned the island and 
 left the old negro Toussaint sole master thereof. 
 
 The Consular Government confirmed Toussaint in his 
 plenary powers, and ordered him to take possession of 
 the Spanish portion of the island ceded to the French 
 by the Treaty of Basle in 1795, which order he executed 
 with but little opposition. 
 
 In June, 1801, Toussaint called together such of the 
 white inhabitants as were subject to his will, under the
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN HAYTI. 
 
 name of the Central Assembly of St. Domingo, and 
 published a constitution by which slavery was forever 
 abolished in the island, and he was nominated as governor 
 for life. This constitution he formally presented to the 
 French government for their sanction ; but, at the same 
 time, made every preparation to maintain it by force. 
 He endeavored, also, to reconstruct the social condition of 
 the island ; opened a court around himself; encouraged 
 luxury in his favorites ; and sought, by rigorous decrees, 
 to enforce upon the agricultural slaves, a continuance of 
 their labors. Idleness in them was punished by death. 
 In short, he established an iron despotism that knew no 
 law but his will. In this manner he alienated from 
 himself the affections of those whose gratitude for his 
 services would have bound them to him. 
 
 In 1801 was signed the Peace of Amiens. The First 
 Consul of France had time now to turn his attention to 
 her colonies. He reviewed the scenes in St. Domingo, 
 and his great intellect soon detected the fatal mistake 
 which the National Assembly had made. That mistake 
 was, in seeking to make equal those whom the Almighty 
 had made unequal. The white colonists, who had fled 
 to Paris, urged him to restore the former order of things. 
 His wife, Josephine, herself a West India Creole, doubt- 
 less as an eyewitness, gave him a true picture of the 
 condition and capacity of the negro. He resolved to 
 restore the old regime. Le Clerc, his brother-in-law, 
 with 23,000 troops, embarked; and on 5th February, 
 1802, appeared at the Cape. He demanded possession 
 of the city of the negro commandant, Christophe. He 
 refused ; and following the instructions formerly given 
 him by Toussaint, reduced the town to ashes. Leogane, 
 Port de Paix, and Saint Marc, shared the same fate at 
 the hands of their commandants. Other cities were de- 
 livered into the hands of the French general. 
 
 Le Clerc endeavored to induce Toussaint to acquiesce
 
 clxXXlV HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 in the views of the First Consul, and with this view, 
 sent his two sons (formerly sent to France as hostages) 
 to persuade him to this course. But the old negro's 
 ambition could not be thus restrained. Several engage- 
 ments were had. In the attempt to take a fort called 
 Crete-a-Pierrot, the French suffered considerably. Le 
 Clerc changed his tactics, and published that there was 
 no intention, on the part of the First Consul, to enslave 
 the negroes ; that they should continue to enjoy their 
 liberty. The despotic conduct of Toussaint was now 
 avenged. All of his officers, with but few exceptions, 
 accepted of this overture, and yielded to the terms of 
 the French General. Toussaint was forced at last to 
 treat. He made two conditions : the liberty of his fellow- 
 citizens, and that he should retire to his own estate, re- 
 taining his title as General, and his staff. Being subse- 
 quently detected in a conspiracy (as it was alleged) 
 against the government, he was arrested and sent to 
 Paris. He was there cast into prison, and soon ended 
 his life in a dungeon. 1 
 
 After the departure of Toussaint, Le Clerc disarmed 
 many of the negro and mulatto soldiers, removed their 
 officers, put to death several, under various accusations, 
 and then, throwing off the mask, announced the Con- 
 sular decree restoring slavery. Dessalines, and others 
 of the old negro officers, deserted, and raised the standard 
 of revolt. The mulattoes and negroes now cordially 
 united against the whites, their common foe. They had 
 enjoyed their liberty too long to submit quietly to a re- 
 enslavement. Thus commenced the bloody war between 
 
 1 In giving this brief account of this remarkable negro, I have followed 
 chiefly M. Schcelcher, a French abolitionist. There is great conflict 
 among authors in respect to him. Some laud him as the model upon 
 which Napoleon endeavored to improve ; others treat him as a traitor 
 and weak tool in the hands of others. I have taken the middle, and I 
 believe the true ground.
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN HAYTI. clxXXV 
 
 the whites and the colored races. The yellow fever, the 
 negro's ally, came to their assistance. The French army 
 were decimated in numbers, and the remainder enfeebled 
 by disease. Le Clcrc himself fell a victim to the vomito. 
 
 The war was bloody and desperate ; no quarter was 
 given on either side. The negroes devastated the coun- 
 try, destroying the crops, and even cutting down the 
 trees. Famine then came to add to the difficulties of 
 the French. Great Britain having declared war against 
 the Consular government, neutral nations could furnish 
 provisions only by stealth. 
 
 Eochambeau, the successor to Le Clerc, was an unfor- 
 tunate appointment. Cruel and despotic, he exercised 
 his unlimited power so as to drive from the French all 
 sympathy. In fact, his exactions upon the French them- 
 selves made them his enemies. Besieged and confined 
 in the Cape, he exacted from the inhabitants enormous 
 taxes, to pay for provisions introduced by American ves- 
 sels. A merchant, who refused to pay 33,000 francs, 
 was shot down in the national palace. 
 
 Dessalines finally carried on his siege so successfully, 
 that the French General was forced to capitulate. He 
 and his soldiers were permitted to embark, and thus 
 evacuate the island, with the exception of a small garri- 
 son in St. Domingo, under General Ferrand. These 
 bravely maintained themselves until they were expelled 
 in 1809. The treaty of Paris, in 1814, re-ceded that por- 
 tion of the island to Spain. 
 
 On 1st January, 1804, the officers of the army met in 
 convention and declared the independence of Hayti (re- 
 suming the aboriginal name). At this time, the civil 
 wars had reduced the population to about 400,000. 
 Dessalines was declared Governor-general, and signalized 
 his entry into office by a proclamation written in blood, 
 justifying and ordering the massacre of the whites re- 
 maining in their midst.
 
 CIXXXVI HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 On 8th October, 1804, Dessalines was declared empe- 
 ror. He ruled with a rod of iron. His hatred of the 
 whites was intense. In May, 1805, a constitution was 
 published, by which a white man was prohibited from 
 emigrating thither to purchase land or acquire any other 
 property. In 1806, Pdtion, a mulatto general, headed a 
 conspiracy against him, and caused him to be assassi- 
 nated. 
 
 The war of races again commenced between the mu- 
 lattoes and blacks ; Pdtion heading the former, and 
 having control of the South and West ; Christophe, a 
 black, controlling the North. The latter was nominated 
 President of the Republic by the Assembly at Port au 
 Prince, on 27th December, 1806. On 9th January, 1807, 
 he was deposed by the same Assembly, and Petion 
 named in his stead. Hence the claim of each. 
 
 Petion continued, in name, President of the Republic. 
 Christophe soon had himself declared King, under the 
 name of Henry I. He established a court, and granted 
 vast numbers of titles and orders of nobility, and of the 
 grand cross. He maintained, essentially, a military 
 government. He compelled the laborers to continue at 
 their posts with an iron arm ; and required his soldiers 
 to furnish their own equipments, under pain of death. 
 Two of his mulatto officers having deserted at St. Marc, 
 he butchered, in cold blood, every mulatto man, woman, 
 and child, in the city. 
 
 A deliverer appeared about the year 1820, in a negro, 
 Richard, Duke of Marmelade, who led a conspiracy of 
 the principal officers of the army, and delivered the 
 North to Boyer, then President of the South. The two 
 sons of the King were massacred, after he himself com- 
 mitted suicide. 
 
 Petion took a different course. He encouraged idle- 
 ness. He was faithless to the constitution under which 
 he was elected, and dispersed the Senate, who sought to
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN HAYTI. 
 
 limit his powers. He put to death many of the senators, 
 and alienated all of his friends. About 1810, Rigaud 
 returned from France, and assuming the title of Re- 
 storer of Liberty, headed an army in the South to put 
 down Pe'tion. They met, and agreed to hold separate 
 dominions ; a small part of the island being set apart for 
 Rigaud, as General-in-chief of the South. He died 
 suddenly, shortly thereafter, and a mulatto, General 
 Borghella, was named as his successor. On the approach 
 of Pe'tion he surrendered. In 1816, Pe'tion was nomi- 
 nated President for life ; and on 29th March, 1818, he 
 died, having, during his long exercise of power, done no 
 act to entitle him to a higher commendation than that 
 he was an ambitious sluggard. Boyer, a French mu- 
 latto, who accompanied Le Clerc, was elected President 
 in his stead. 
 
 We have seen how he was indebted to Richard for 
 the possession of the North. Upon a false charge of 
 conspiracy he caused him to be shot, on 28th February, 
 1821. Five or six others of the most prominent of his 
 subjects shared a similar fate. 
 
 About this date, the Spanish colony of Domingo re- 
 volted from the mother country and set up an indepen- 
 dent republic. This fell an early prey to Boyer, who 
 thus became master of the whole island. * 
 
 Upon the restoration of the Bourbons, negotiations 
 were opened, and efforts made to restore this most prized 
 colony to the French throne. It would be tedious to 
 pursue the details. In April, 1827, Charles X sent his 
 last propositions, and accompanied them with a fleet of 
 thirty sail. Boyer, intimidated by the fleet, accepted 
 of the terms proposed. By these, the independence of 
 Hayti was acknowledged upon the payment of an in- 
 demnity of 150,000,000 francs. Thus was effected the 
 first great effort of liberating the slaves of the West In- 
 dies. 1 We will consider its consequences hereafter. 
 
 1 Colonies Frangaises, par M. Schoelcher.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY BY GREAT BRITAIN, SWEDEN, 
 DENMARK, AND FRANCE. 
 
 IN the year 1823, a society was formed " for the miti- 
 gation and gradual abolition of slavery throughout the 
 British dominions." Clarkson, who had been so instru- 
 mental in calling public attention to the slave-trade, 
 devoted his time and pen to this consummation of his 
 Work. During the same year, the subject was brought 
 before Parliament by Mr. Buxton, and immediate aboli- 
 tion urged by him, Wilberforce, and others. Compro- 
 mise resolutions, recommending judicious reforms, were 
 proposed by government and finally passed. In 1826, 
 the same gentlemen renewed the subject in Parliament, 
 and numberless petitions were presented from various 
 portions of the kingdom, especially from the manufac- 
 turing cities ; the latter praying particularly that equal 
 facilities be afforded for commerce to the East Indies, 
 with those extended to the West Indies. The motion 
 was renewed in various shapes from year to year. Com- 
 missioners were appointed by the government to inquire 
 into the state of affairs in the colonies, and especially 
 into the administration of civil and criminal justice; and 
 their elaborate reports gave minute information as to 
 the condition of the islands. 1 From forfeitures and es- 
 cheats sundry slaves had become the property of the 
 
 1 See substance of the three reports, published in 1827. London. 
 The reports, complete, make a dozen folio volumes.
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY BY GREAT BRITAIN, ETC. 
 
 government. These were termed " crown slaves." In 
 1830, these were liberated by an order in council. The 
 number, however, was very small, not exceeding a few 
 thousand. 
 
 The efforts being made for their liberation could not 
 be concealed from the slaves. The colonists charged 
 that it was not only industriously circulated, but that 
 the slaves were incited to insurrection by various Baptist 
 and Methodist missionaries, who were sent out among 
 them from the mother country. Certain it is, that insur- 
 rection and rebellion did follow, and that numbers of the 
 slaves lost their lives in consequence thereof. The mis- 
 sionaries were arrested, imprisoned, and some of them 
 driven from the islands. 
 
 In 1832, committees were appointed in both Houses of 
 Parliament to inquire and report such measures as were 
 expedient on the subject of emancipation. These spent 
 some time in examining witnesses, and reported their in- 
 vestigations. In 1833, was finally passed the act pro- 
 viding for the abolition of slavery. Fearing the result 
 of immediate abolition, the act postponed its operation 
 for one year (till 1st August, 1834), and then substituted 
 a system of apprenticeships, varying from four to six 
 years, prescribing the number of hours per week the 
 apprentices should labor for their former masters, allow- 
 ing one-third of their time for themselves, restricting 
 the infliction of corporal punishment, except by order of 
 special justices of the peace, and giving minute speci- 
 fications of the powers and rights both of the masters 
 and the apprentices. The sum of 20,000,000 was 
 appropriated to make compensation to the owners for 
 the loss of their property. 
 
 This act was the result of the wisdom and philan- 
 thropy of the British nation, and great expectations 
 were entertained of the beneficial results to flow from 
 this tutelage of the slave, before investing him with per-
 
 CXC HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 feet liberty. That it failed of its object is universally 
 admitted, and the emancipationists attributed to this 
 apprentice system the many evils growing out of this 
 violent uprooting of an entire social system. The colo- 
 nists complained bitterly, and their opponents (perhaps 
 not without cause), accused them of seeking to evade all 
 of its provisions. They again accused the negroes of 
 miserable evasions under pretence of sickness and other- 
 wise. On the day before perfect liberty was granted, the 
 infirmaries of Jamaica, says an intelligent French 
 writer, were crowded with negroes professing to be 
 sick. The next day they were all cured. What worked 
 this miracle? The arrival of liberty. 1 The English 
 abolitionists appealed to Parliament to cut the Gordian 
 knot and grant immediate freedom. The rights of the 
 proprietors were laughed to scorn. It is possible that 
 this movement would have succeeded, but it was ren- 
 dered unnecessary by the colonies themselves, who, sick 
 of their apprentices, granted entire freedom before the 
 day appointed. Antigua led in this movement con- 
 temporaneously with the commencement of the system. 
 Bermuda and other smaller islands followed the example 
 soon thereafter. Barbadoes came next early in 1838, 
 others followed, and on 1st August of that year, the 
 apprentice system ended in Jamaica. Some insignificant 
 outbreaks had attended its workings, but on the whole it 
 was effected peaceably. 2 
 
 In another place we will examine the results of this 
 abolition in its effects upon these colonies. It may be 
 well here to remark, that the character of the slavery of 
 the negro in the British West Indies and in the United 
 States, differs widely. That the negroes were not im- 
 proving physieally in the former, is proven conclusively 
 by the fact, that instead of increasing in numbers, they 
 
 1 Cassagnac's Voyage aux Antilles, i, 275. 
 
 2 Report of Due de Broglie, p. 10.
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY BY GREAT BRITAIN, ETC. CXC1 
 
 were rapidly decreasing. Before the abolition of the 
 trade, twenty years were estimated as the average labor 
 of a healthy negro. It is estimated, that at least 700,000 
 negroes were imported and retained in Jamaica before 
 the trade was checked. Yet, in 1834, there were libe- 
 rated only 311,000, showing a destruction of life almost 
 unparalleled. That this annual decrease continued to 
 the last days of slavery, is evident from the registry of 
 deaths and births kept by requisition of law. These 
 show a plurality of deaths for almost every year. The 
 same results are shown from the statistics of Barbadoes, 
 St. Vincents, British Guiana, Trinidad, and Grenada. 
 The whole number of slaves imported into the British 
 West Indies is estimated at 1,700,000. There were 
 emancipated 660,000, a little over one-third of the im- 
 portations. The decrease for the last five years, before 
 emancipation, was nearly one per cent, per annum. 
 
 On the other hand, for 333,500, estimated as imported 
 into the United States, there were, in 1850, 3,800,000 ; 
 showing a steady increase of population itself almost 
 unparalleled. Had the negroes imported into the 
 British West Indies increased in the same ratio as they 
 increased here, instead of the sum paid, it would have 
 required from the British treasury the enormous sum of 
 ,500,000,000 to have compensated the masters at the 
 same prices. And so, had the negroes decreased with 
 us as they did in the British colonies, every master could 
 now be compensated, at the same rates paid there, with 
 the small sum of X^OOOjOOO. 1 
 
 Sweden and Denmark, by various provisions, amelio- 
 rated greatly the condition of the slaves in their respec- 
 tive colonies. The hours of work were prescribed, their 
 food and clothing, the amount of chastisement, and the 
 instrument. The right of the slave to his peculium, and 
 to make complaint against his master, was secured by 
 
 1 See Carey's Slave-Trade, Foreign and Domestic, ch. ii, iii.
 
 CXCU HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 law, and also the right to purchase his own freedom. 1 
 These regulations were not followed by the elevation of 
 the slaves, but were followed by a diminution of the 
 products of the colonies. 3 Sweden finally, in 1846, de- 
 termined on the abolition of slavery in her only island, 
 St. Bartholomew. There were only 578 slaves, and to 
 purchase these there was appropriated about $50,000, 
 payable in five instalments. On 9th October, 1847, the 
 work of emancipation was completed. 8 Denmark fol- 
 lowed the next year (1848), and by indemnifying the 
 masters, gave liberty to the slaves in her colonies. 
 
 Martinique, Guadalupe, Bourbon, and French Guiana, 
 had slavery restored under Napoleon, although he failed 
 in his efforts to restore it in Hayti. After British eman- 
 cipation, the French abolitionists renewed the agitation 
 of the question in France. It was argued with great 
 zeal and learning by its advocates and opponents, and 
 many volumes were written on either side. 4 On 26th 
 May, 1840, a commission was appointed by a royal edict, 
 to examine into and report upon the state of the Colo- 
 nies. The mass of material and evidence laid before 
 this commission almost defy analysis. The reports to 
 the Due de Broglie upon colonial questions, by M. J. 
 Lechevalier alone, are embodied in three huge folio 
 volumes. 5 From these, we learn that the condition of 
 the French colonies was wretched in the extreme. The 
 abolitionists at Paris were threatening, and urging 
 emancipation. The colonists were protesting, and yet 
 
 1 Schoelcher, Histoire de FEsclavage, i, 532 ; Gurney's Letters on the 
 West Indies, 19. 
 
 8 Gurney's Letters on the West Indies, 17 et seq. 
 
 3 Schcelcher, as above, 534. 
 
 4 It is a little curious that Voltaire, who painted so vividly the miseries 
 of the slave and the slave-trade, in Candide, took an interest in a 
 slave-ship, and rejoiced, in a letter to his partner, in having " made a 
 good speculation and done a good action." Levavasseur, pp. 75, 76. 
 
 6 The curious can find a list of these documents prefixed to the report 
 of the Due de Broglie.
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY BY GREAT BRITAIN, ETC. CXC111 
 
 in continual suspense. The slaves were discontented 
 and rebellious, causing frequent insurrections, with much 
 loss of life. Once in the enjoyment of freedom, of which 
 they, were again deprived, surrounded by the English 
 colonies, where abolition had not only granted liberty to 
 the slaves, but a refuge and asylum for all fugitives from 
 the French colonies, with the hopes of abolition ever 
 held out before them, it is not at all strange that two 
 hundred and fifty thousand negroes should resist the 
 domination of the few constituting their masters. The 
 report of this Commission shows, that all parties agreed 
 as to the necessity of some action on the part of the 
 home government. The abolitionists insisted on imme- 
 diate freedom. The colonists insisted that an end be 
 put to this state of suspense, by perpetuating the old 
 regime. 1 The Commission, after examining both sides 
 with apparent candor, recommended as the most salutary 
 plan the apprentice system adopted by the English 
 government. The evils flowing from it were admitted, 
 but the Commission looked hopefully to time ; which, 
 by replacing the old generation of slaves with a new of 
 freeborn men educated to liberty, would do away with 
 the idleness, vice, and superstition, which they attributed 
 to the former state of bondage. 2 Time has shown that 
 this hope was ill-founded. The secret of the error was 
 the ignorance of European statesmen of the negro cha- 
 racter. The result of this Commission was the law of 
 18th July, 1843, which sought to ameliorate the condi- 
 tion of the slaves, and to regulate the relation of master 
 and slave. It provided for the punishment of the slaves, 
 for their marriage, for their mental and religious instruc- 
 tion, and for the protection and security of their pecu- 
 
 1 See the Report of Due de Broglie to the Colonial Secretary, March, 
 1843. 
 
 2 There was much plausibility in this hope. Moses, under Divine direc- 
 tion, kept the Israelites in the wilderness until the generation of Egyp- 
 tian slaves was extinct. These were not the conquerors of Canaan. 
 
 M
 
 CXC1V HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 Hum. It regulated the number of hours of labor to be 
 required of the slaves, provided for their holidays, and 
 required that one day in each week should be allowed 
 them to labor for themselves ; and that land should be 
 provided for their cultivation on their own account, with 
 various other similar provisions, calculated to insure 
 humane treatment. 
 
 It gave also to every slave the privilege of purchasing 
 himself, his parents, or his descendants, and provided a 
 mode of ascertaining the price where the master and 
 slave could not agree. This law was followed by ano- 
 ther, of 19th July, 1845, to encourage the introduction 
 of free laborers from Europe into the colonies, by which 
 930,000 francs were appropriated, 400,000 of which were 
 to be used in aiding slaves in the purchase of them- 
 selves. 1 That these laws failed of their desired effect 
 seems to be acknowledged. The abolitionists complained 
 that the colonial officers joined with the colonists in 
 having them evaded. In January, 1846, no part of the 
 400,000 francs had been used in effecting the purchase 
 of slaves. In March, 1846, 3,900,000 francs had been 
 expended for establishing schools, to which the young 
 negroes were gratuitously admitted, and yet only twelve 
 such scholars had ever partaken of their benefits. Whip- 
 ping having been virtually abolished by the act, cudgel- 
 ling was substituted in its place. It is useless to multiply 
 the details. 2 
 
 The French Government were not prepared to pay the 
 requisite indemnity of the purchase of 250,000 slaves, 
 though constantly urged thereto by the abolitionists. 
 In June, 1846, 140,000 francs were appropriated for the 
 purchase of the royal slaves (esclaves du domaine), and 
 this was the only appropriation ever made for this pur- 
 pose. In 1847, petitions signed as was said by one of 
 
 1 Schoelcher, Histoire de 1'Esclavage, i, 33-38. 
 
 2 Schoelcher, i, passim.
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY BY GREAT BRITAIN, ETC. CXCV 
 
 the orators, by " tous les Fran^ais," were again presented, 
 demanding the complete and immediate emancipation 
 of the slaves. A law to that effect is proposed in the 
 Chamber of Deputies, and ably advocated among others 
 by M. Ledru Rollin, but it could not be passed. 1 
 
 What could not be effected by the Kingdom of France, 
 was soon accomplished by the Kevolutionary Republic. 
 One of the first acts of the Provisional Government of 
 1848, was to declare freedom to all held in bondage 
 throughout the French dominions. No pretence of in- 
 demnity was attempted at the time. In the mad zeal 
 for new-born liberty, justice was forgotten. We shall 
 hereafter examine the effects of this emancipation. Sub- 
 sequently, a mere nominal indemnity has been paid to 
 the planters. 
 
 1 Schoelcher, ii, 135-146.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE EFFECTS OF ABOLITION. 
 
 MY intention was to have examined minutely the 
 effects of abolition upon Hayti and the British West 
 Indies, to have followed the history of the transition, to 
 have noted the tendency and gradual return to barbarism, 
 of a race rescued from that condition only by slavery, 
 and to have sought in the character of the negro for the 
 reasons of this decline ; but the extent of this prefatory 
 sketch forbids so minute a detail. It is unquestionably 
 true, that from the ancient kingdom of Meroe, in which, 
 centuries before Christ, the experiment of a negro govern- 
 ment of a nation far advanced in civilization, was at- 
 tended with retrogradation and final extinction, down to 
 the latest abolition in the West Indies, however varying 
 the circumstances, however cautious and wise the pro- 
 visions, the result has been uniformly and invariably 
 disastrous to every element of civilization. The fact is 
 admitted; the difference of opinion exists only as to 
 causes. 
 
 " From 1804 downwards, the history of the unfortu- 
 nate island (Hayti), has been little or nothing else than 
 the history of rapine one black rising up to contest the 
 sovereignty with another, and filling the island with 
 scenes of confusion and misery, which go far to prove 
 the theory of those who maintain that the negro race is 
 by natural incapacity unfitted for self-government." 
 Such is the testimony of an intelligent Englishman, who
 
 THE EFFECTS OF ABOLITION. CXCV11 
 
 visited St. Domingo in 1849, and whose prejudices are 
 all in favor of the negro race. 1 The statistics of the 
 commerce of the islands show a continual retroces- 
 sion. Every visitor, whatever be his opinions as to 
 negro capacity, notes and admits the evidences of decay 
 in every mark of advancement and civilization, and to- 
 day the mock empire of Hayti, the subject of ridicule 
 and regret, is but a transfer of an African despotism 
 from Ethiopia to the West Indies. 3 
 
 The history of Hayti and its present condition show 
 the results of an abolition effected by insurrection and 
 revolution. In these causes, the abolitionists of Eng- 
 land and France found reasons for all the savage barba- 
 rity, the miserable idleness, the continual outbreaks, 
 the ruined cities, the abandoned agriculture, in short, 
 for the dark mantle of heathenism which settled upon 
 this once beautiful and fertile island. 3 A peaceable 
 emancipation, with proper guards against the natural 
 outbreaks of too sudden liberty, with judicious provision 
 for educating and training the rising generation, whose 
 spirits had never been crushed by the galling chains of 
 slavery : this was the true philosophy and philanthropy, 
 and from such a course, results very different from those 
 witnessed in Hayti, were confidently predicted and sin- 
 cerely anticipated. As we have seen, Great Britain took 
 the first steps in this new experiment. A gradual 
 emancipation, during which an apprentice system and 
 ample educational privileges were provided, was the 
 result of the best statesmanship and philanthropy of the 
 wisest and best of the nations of the Old World. Its 
 
 1 Impressions and Experiences of the West Indies and North America, 
 in 1849, by Robert Baird, A.M., 82. 
 
 2 Franklin's Present State of Hayti ; Levavasseur's Esclavage de la 
 race noire, 22, et seq. 
 
 3 Colonies Etrangeres, by Schoelcher, vol. ii, pp. 171-320, gives a 
 minute history of this period; pp. 321-331, give the excuses of the 
 abolitionists.
 
 CXCVlii HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 first fruits differed so widely from prophecy, that new 
 causes bad to be sought to explain the result. These 
 were found in this tardy system of gradual emancipa- 
 tion. Immediate and unconditional manumission was 
 the only panacea. We have seen how soon it followed. 
 The world knows its results, and none are more ready 
 to acknowledge the utter failure of the entire scheme, 
 than the enlightened statesmen and patriots of England. 
 This is not attributable to their want of statesmanship 
 or foresight. The whole secret of the failure was their 
 utter ignorance of the negro character. Tbe same legis- 
 lation for a body of oppressed Saxons or Celts, would 
 have been productive of blessings commensurate with 
 the sacrifices made. But for the negro, they labored not 
 only in vain but to his injury. 
 
 There is but one testimony as to the present condition 
 of the British West Indies. " Magnas inter opes inops," 
 is the lamentable condition of them all, and " daily they 
 are sinking deeper and deeper into the utter helplessness 
 of abject want." Taking Jamaica, the largest and most 
 visited, as a standard (ex uno, disce omnes) : " Shipping 
 has deserted her ports ; her magnificent plantations of 
 sugar and coffee are running to weeds ; her private dwell- 
 ings are falling to decay; the comforts and luxuries 
 which belong to industrial prosperity have been cut off, 
 one by one, from her inhabitants ; and the day is at hand 
 when 'there will be none left to represent the wealth, 
 intelligence, and hospitality, for which the Jamaica 
 planter was once so distinguished." 1 
 
 The condition of the Colonies has been frequently 
 the subject of investigation by committees of the British 
 Parliament ; and huge volumes are filled with the evi- 
 
 Bigelow's Notes on Jamaica (1850); The West Indies and North 
 America, by Robert Baird (1849); The State and Prospects of Jamaica, 
 by Dr. King ; Colonies Etrangeres, by Schcelcher ; Gurney, on the West 
 Indies; Cassagnac, Voyage aux Antilles; Negromania, by Campbell, 
 and opinions of Knox, Franklin, and others, cited by him.
 
 THE EFFECTS OF ABOLITION. CXC1X 
 
 dence taken before such commissions. Legislative pal- 
 liatives and cures have been exhausted in seeking to 
 restore prosperity to these rich dependents of the crown. 
 Despairing of ever infusing industry and thrift, where 
 nature implanted idleness and improvidence, resort has 
 been and is now being had to the introduction of Coolies 
 from East India, to supply the labor necessary for an 
 island amply supplied, could it be brought into requisi- 
 tion ; and even a modified resumption of the importa- 
 tion from Africa meets with favor from British states- 
 men, substituting (nominally, as it must be) voluntary 
 for involuntary emigration. 
 
 N"ot alone in material wealth has been the decline of 
 these once flourishing colonies. The condition of the 
 negroes physically, intellectually, and morally, keeps 
 pace with this downward tendency. Their numbers are 
 annually decreasing from disease, the result of unclean- 
 liness, and from want, the result of improvidence. In- 
 crease of crime is proportionate with the spread of 
 misery. Chapels and schools are abandoned, and faithful 
 teachers and missionaries have returned in despair to 
 Europe. 1 
 
 If the reports of travellers and the local newspapers 
 can be relied on, these islands have not yet reached the 
 lowest depth of degradation and misery to which they 
 are doomed. Every year but adds to the desolation, 
 physical and moral. 2 
 
 The other British possessions upon which the decree 
 
 1 See Reports of Missionaries, made in 1849, quoted by Dr. King, p. 
 Ill ; The Slave-Trade, Foreign and Domestic, by Carey, p. 27. 
 
 2 See numerous quotations, in Mr. Carey's work, pp. 25-35 ; also an 
 instructive statement, by the West India Association of Glasgow, made 
 April 14th, 1853 ; and found in New York Herald, May 31, 1853. From 
 the official documents attached, it appears that from 1832 to 1847, 605 
 sugar and coffee plantations, containing 356,432 acres of land, and afford- 
 ing employment to 49,383 laborers, had been entirely abandoned. From 
 1848 to 1853, 513 more, containing 391,187 acres, were totally or par- 
 tially abandoned.
 
 CC HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 of emancipation took effect, have experienced the same 
 results. A graphic account of Guiana is given in the 
 report of a commission, appointed in 1850, to inquire 
 into its state and prosperity. " The most ordinary marks 
 of civilization are fast disappearing," and the prediction 
 is made of " its slow but sure approximation to the con- 
 dition in which civilized men first found it." 1 
 
 In Southern Africa the effects have been equally dis- 
 astrous. Though the British residents at the Cape keep 
 up a flourishing trade, the agricultural interests have 
 suffered for want of laborers, and the farms have run to 
 waste. 9 The same effects followed the Emancipation Act 
 at Mauritius, and Coolies have been introduced to supply 
 the place of former laborers. The free blacks every- 
 where were idle, unreliable, vicious, and thievish. 3 
 
 The same results have followed the experiments of 
 abolition made in the "West Indies by other European 
 nations. In the Danish colonies, where the slaves were 
 well treated, the free negroes are described as living in 
 " the greatest poverty, filth, and wretchedness." 4 The 
 prosperity of the island is in the same degree dimi- 
 nished. 
 
 We shall see hereafter that the results in South Ame- 
 rica, Mexico, and Central America, exhibit a negro popu- 
 lation in the same abject condition. 5 
 
 1 Lord Stanley's Letters to Mr. Gladstone. 
 
 2 United States Japan Expedition, i, pp. 99-101, 103 ; The Cape and 
 the Kaffirs, by Harriet Ward. 
 
 3 United States Japan Expedition, 103, 109. 
 
 4 Cor. of N. Y. Herald, Nov. 9th, 1855 ; Brougham's Colonial Policy, 
 Bk. IV, Sect. 1. 
 
 5 Dunn's Sketches of Guatemala.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 EFFECTS OP ABOLITION IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 THE number of negroes emancipated in the United 
 States was comparatively small, but the effects do not 
 vary materially as to their condition, from those already 
 noticed. The fact of their limited number, as well as 
 the additional facts, that previous to their emancipation 
 they were employed but little in agricultural pursuits, 
 and that the nature of the agriculture of the Northern 
 States of the Union was illy suited to this species of labor, 
 protected the prosperity of those States from the depress- 
 ing influences experienced elsewhere from the abolition 
 of slavery. That their physical condition does not com- 
 pare favorably with that of the slaves of the South is 
 evident from the decennial census of the United States, 
 showing a much larger increase in the latter than in the 
 former. No surer test can be applied. 1 
 
 1 In order to obtain accurate information, I sent a circular to the Go- 
 vernors and leading politicians of the non-slaveholding States. I received 
 answers as follows : 
 
 Maine, Hon. I. J. D. Fuller. 
 
 Vermont, Hon. J. Meacham. 
 
 Connecticut, Gov. Pond, and Hon. 0. S. Seymour. 
 
 Rhode Island, Hon. B. B. Thurston. 
 
 New Jersey, Gov. Foot. 
 
 New York, Hon. S. G. Haven. 
 
 Pennsylvania, Hon. B. D. Ingraham. 
 
 Indiana, Gov. Wright. 
 
 Illinois, Gov. Matteson, Hon. W. A. Richardson. 
 
 Iowa, Judge Mason, Hon. Mr. Hern. 
 
 Michigan, Gov. Parsons.
 
 CCli HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 Notwithstanding the very labored efforts made for 
 their intellectual improvement, taken as a body they 
 have made no advancement. Averse to physical labor, 
 they are equally averse to intellectual effort. The young 
 negro acquires readily the first rudiments of education, 
 where memory and imitation are chiefly brought into 
 action, but for any higher effort of reason and judgment 
 he is, as a general rule, utterly incapable. 1 
 
 I extract from their answers : 
 
 Maine. " The condition of the negro population varies ; but is very 
 far below the whites." 
 
 Vermont. " Their condition and character have great varieties. They 
 are not in as good condition as the whites." 
 
 Connecticut. Gov. Pond says : " The condition of the negro popula- 
 tion, as a class, is not thrifty, and does not compare favorably with the 
 whites. There are many, comparatively speaking, who are industrious." 
 
 Rhode Island. " They are, generally, industrious and frugal." 
 
 New Jersey. " Their condition is debased ; with few exceptions very 
 poor ; generally indolent." 
 
 New York. " The condition of the negro population is diversified, 
 some prosperous, some industrious. They have no social relations with 
 the whites. Generally on about the same level that whites would occupy 
 with like antecedents." 
 
 Pennsylvania. "I deem the condition of the negro population, in 
 this State, to be that of a degraded class, much deteriorated by freedom. 
 They are not industrious." 
 
 Indiana. "They are not prosperous. The majority of them are not 
 doing well. We have sent off thirty or forty this year to Liberia, and 
 hope to send off one hundred or more, next year, and finally to get rid of 
 all we have in the State, and do not intend to have another negro or 
 mulatto come into the State." 
 
 Illinois. " As a class, they are thriftless and idle. Their condition 
 far inferior to that of the whites." (Gov.) "About the towns and cities, 
 idle and dissolute, with exceptions. In the rural districts, many are in- 
 dustrious and prosperous." (Mr. Richardson.) 
 
 Iowa, " Very few negroes in Iowa. Far above the condition of those 
 met with in our Eastern cities." 
 
 Michigan. " Tolerably prosperous. Far behind the white popula- 
 tion." 
 
 1 Maine. " Admitted into the public schools with the whites. Very 
 far below them in education."
 
 EFFECTS OF ABOLITION IN UNITED STATES. CC111 
 
 His moral condition compares unfavorably with that 
 of the slave of the South. He seeks the cities and 
 towns, and indulges freely in those vices to which his 
 nature inclines him. His friends inveigh against " the 
 prejudice of color," hut he rises no higher in Mexico, 
 Central America, New Grenada, or Brazil, where no 
 such prejudice exists. The cause lies deeper: in the na- 
 ture and constitution of the negro race. 1 
 
 Vermont. "Generally able to read and write; a few are liberally edu- 
 cated ; not like the whites." 
 
 Connecticut. "Fall much below the whites in education." 
 
 Rhode Island. " Some are educated in the district schools. Compare 
 well with the whites of their condition." 
 
 New Jersey. " Generally ignorant. Far below the whites in intelli- 
 gence." 
 
 New York. " Generally very poorly, or but little educated." 
 
 Pennsylvania. "Not educated. It is remarkable, that almost all the 
 decent and respectable negroes we have, have been household slaves in 
 some Southern State." 
 
 Indiana. " Not educated." 
 
 Illinois. "Ignorant." (Gov.) 
 
 Michigan. " Not generally educated. Far below the whites." 
 
 1 Maine. " Far below the whites." 
 
 Vermont. " Not as good as the whites." 
 
 Connecticut. " Does not compare favorably with the whites." (Gov.) 
 " They are, with us, an inferior caste ; and in morality fall much below the 
 whites." (Seymour.) 
 
 New Jersey. " Immoral ; vicious animal propensities ; drunkenness, 
 theft, and promiscuous sexual intercourse quite common. One-fourth of 
 the criminals in the State prison are colored persons ; while they consti- 
 tute only one twenty-fifth of the population." 
 
 New York. " Diversified ; some moral." 
 
 Pennsylvania. "Immoral. I am satisfied, from forty years' attention 
 to the subject, that the removal of the wholesome restraint of slavery, 
 and the consequent absence of the stimulus of the coercion to labor of 
 that condition, have materially affected their condition for the worse. 
 They exhibit all the characteristics of an inferior race, to whose personal 
 comfort, happiness, and morality, the supervision, restraint, and coercion 
 of a superior race seem absolutely necessary." 
 
 Indiana. " In many instances very immoral." 
 
 Illinois. " Thriftless, idle, ignorant, and vicious." (Gov.) " In towns 
 and cities dissolute, with exceptions." (Richardson.)
 
 CC1V HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 The emancipated negroes do not enjoy full and equal 
 civil and political rights in any State in the Union, ex- 
 cept the State of Vermont. In several of the States they 
 are not permitted to vote, 1 in some under peculiar re- 
 strictions. 3 In almost every State where the matter has 
 been made a subject of legislation, intermarriages with 
 the whites are forbidden. 3 In none are such marriages 
 at all common. 4 In many they are forbidden to serve as 
 jurors, or to be sworn as witnesses against a white per- 
 son, 5 or hold any elective office. 6 
 
 The criminal statistics of the slaveholding and non- 
 slaveholding States show that the proportion of crime 
 committed by negroes in the former does not reach the 
 ratio of this population as compared with the whites, 7 
 while in the latter the ratio is much greater. The 
 same is true of the statistics of mortality and disease. 
 The apparent disproportion in the former case is greater 
 than the truth, as many petty crimes by slaves do not reach 
 the courts ; and in the latter, it may be truly said that 
 the southern climate is more favorable to the health and 
 longevity of the negro. But making due allowances in 
 both cases for these causes, it is still true, that the ne- 
 
 lowa. " Of a fair character." 
 
 Michigan. " Tolerably moral. Far below the whites." 
 1 Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, 
 Michigan. 2 New York. 
 
 3 Maine, Rhode Island, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan. 
 
 4 Connecticut. Issue cannot vote. 
 
 New Jersey. No legislation ; and no cases of such marriage. 
 New York. Issue considered as blacks. 
 Pennsylvania. Issue considered as blacks. 
 Iowa. No such cases. 
 
 5 Connecticut, New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa. 
 
 6 Connecticut, New Jersey ,. Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan. 
 
 7 Judge Starnes, of Georgia, published several articles, giving statistics 
 on this point, worthy of a more lasting existence, than derived from the 
 columns of a newspaper.
 
 EFFECTS OF ABOLITION IN UNITED STATES. CCV 
 
 groes are less addicted to crime, and are more healthy 
 and longlived, in a state of slavery than of freedom. 1 
 
 1 In giving my conclusions, as to the free negroes of the North, I have 
 relied on numberless authorities, combined with personal observation. I 
 subjoin only a few. Paulding, on Slavery ; Abolition a Sedition, by A 
 Northern Man; Bishop Hopkins's American Citizen, 135; Seaboard 
 Slave States, p. 125; Reports of American Colonization Society; Re- 
 port of Naval Committee of H. of R., on establishing a line of Mail 
 Steamships to Liberia (1850) ; Negromania, by John Campbell, being a 
 collection of papers by distinguished men.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 SLAVERY IN SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 THE slave-trade was kept open by the Brazilian 
 Government to a very late period. The number of ne- 
 groes and persons of mixed blood within the territory is 
 estimated as bearing the proportion of five to one of the 
 white population. All of these are not slaves ; the bond 
 being estimated as only two-fifths of the whole. The 
 number of free negroes, mulattoes, &c., is hence very 
 considerable. There is probably no state in the world 
 where there is less " prejudice of color" than in Brazil, 
 though a slaveholding state. At court, in the army, in 
 the haunts of business, everywhere may be found freely 
 mingling together persons of every hue. The free ne- 
 groes are frequently the owners of numbers of slaves, 
 and are reported to be the most cruel masters. The 
 slaves generally are kindly treated by, and are attached 
 to their masters, though destitute in a great measure of 
 the sense of gratitude. They are " indolent, thought- 
 less, and licentious," but not rebellious. 1 
 
 New Grenada, with all other Spanish provinces, in- 
 herited negro slavery. The numbers were never very 
 great, nor have they increased as in the United States ; 
 while the mixed and copper-colored constitute nearly 
 
 1 For these facts, I rely principally on Wilkes's Exploring Expedition, 
 vol. i, pp. 36, 56-68, 89, and Brazil and La Plata, by C. S. Stewart, U. 
 S. N. In Brazil, as in other slaveholding states, there seem to be no 
 beggars.
 
 SLAVERY IN SOUTH AMERICA. CCVI1 
 
 oue-third of the entire population. The negroes were es- 
 timated, in 1853, at only 80,000, which is scarcely one- 
 thirtieth. In 1821, just after the Revolution, a law was 
 passed by the Republic of Colombia, for the gradual 
 manumission of slaves, and all born after that date were 
 declared free at the age of eighteen. By a law of 1851, 
 slavery was entirely abolished in !N"ew Grenada, by 
 giving liberty to all who remained slaves, on the 1st of 
 January, 1852, provision being made for the payment 
 of the owners. 1 The results of this emancipation have 
 been the same with similar efforts elsewhere. The ne- 
 groes, as a class, are idle, immoral, vicious, preferring to 
 beg and steal rather than work. The destruction and 
 desolation in some of the finest agricultural districts, 
 consequent upon the Act of 1821, are described as de- 
 plorable in the extreme. The want and destitution of 
 the poorer classes are pitiable. " Their morals can sink 
 no lower, and their religion can raise them no higher." 3 
 Slavery exists in other portions of South America. In 
 Chili and Peru there seem to be but few negroes. In 
 the latter the slaves are treated with great kindness. It 
 is no unusual sight to see a mistress and her slave kneel- 
 
 1 Memoir on the Physical and Political Geography of New Grenada, 
 by General De Mosquera, ex-President of the same. 
 
 2 New Grenada, by Isaac P. Holton, pp. 173, 269, 527, 533. I am 
 indebted for some of the facts stated, to letters from Col. King and Judge 
 Bowlin, late ministers of the United States to New Grenada. The latter 
 says, " The universally admitted characteristics of the negro, when un- 
 restrained, of indigence, improvidence, and indolence, are strikingly 
 exemplified in New Grenada, where every avenue is equally open to 
 him as to the white man, to elevate his condition ; yet, if he does not 
 recedo, he certainly makes no advance in the progress to a higher civili- 
 zation." Living on tropical fruits, and indulging in intoxicating drinks, 
 he adds, "He generally goes in a state of nudity: and when he does not, 
 he merely wears a coarse shirt, or a shirt and pantaloons made of coarse 
 cotton." " Take them all in all, they are a miserable race, encumber- 
 ing the earth, whose vicious qualities civilization seems only to develop 
 more strongly."
 
 CCV111 HISTOKICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 ing in a cathedral, side by side, on the same piece of 
 clothJ 
 
 The negroes in La Plata are more numerous. Com- 
 modore Stewart saw more than one thousand negro 
 washerwomen at one. time on the shores of the river. 
 In the late Revolution the negroes were offered their 
 liberty, without compensation to their masters, on condi- 
 tion of enlisting as soldiers for the war. Many availed 
 themselves of this privilege. 9 
 
 1 Wilkes's Exp. Exp. vol. i, 257 ; vol. ix, Races of Man, by Dr. Picker- 
 ing. 
 
 2 Brazil and La Plata, by C. S. Stewart.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 . SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 slavery continues to exist in fifteen of the 
 United States of America. In Virginia, Kentucky, and 
 Missouri, attempts have been made to bring about eman- 
 cipation by the State governments ; it being admitted by 
 all that the Federal Government has no power to interfere 
 with or seek to regulate the institution within the States. 
 In 1787, the first abolition society was formed, since which 
 time they have greatly increased, their obj ect being to bring 
 to bear upon the slaveholding States the powerful public 
 sentiment of the other States ; to bring into action the 
 powers of Congress, wherever legitimately to be exer- 
 cised, against the continuance of the institution, and 
 thus indirectly to effect what could not be done directly. 
 The infatuated zeal of many fanatics has carried them 
 farther, and induced them to endeavor, by incendiary 
 publications and agents, to excite insurrections among 
 the slaves, and in other ways to force the masters to 
 consent to their emancipation. In later years, some of 
 the more excited have inveighed against the Constitution 
 of the United States, as a "league with hell," because 
 its provisions limited the powers of the general govern- 
 ment on this subject. In fact, the history of abolition- 
 ism in the United States has been the history of fanati- 
 cism everywhere, whose later deeds are not even shadowed 
 forth in its earlier years ; and with whom obstacles and 
 impediments, the more insurmountable they are in fact,
 
 CCX HISTOKICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 but feed the flame of zeal, and more effectually dethrone 
 the reason. This class of abolitionists, however, have 
 ever been comparatively few in number ; while those who 
 sympathize with the objects above-mentioned (the legiti- 
 mate use of means to extinguish slavery), have ever been, 
 in the non-slaveholding States, numerous and respect- 
 able. The points of conflict in our national assemblies, 
 upon which difficulties have arisen between the advo- 
 cates of these doctrines and their opponents, are based 
 upon the question, what powers were given by the Con- 
 stitution to Congress, and at what time and in what way 
 they could be exercised ? Such have been the questions 
 as to the admission of new States into the Union, where 
 slavery was recognized ; the abolition of slavery and the 
 slave-trade in the District of Columbia, and in the forts 
 and arsenals, and other public property belonging to the 
 United States, and situated within the slaveholding 
 States ; the prohibition of slavery within the territories 
 of the United States, before their application for admis- 
 sion as States, and the regulation of the domestic slave- 
 trade between the slaveholding States. 
 
 It is not my purpose to extend this sketch, by giving 
 the history of the conflicts upon each of these questions. 
 They have threatened, seriously, the existence of the 
 government. Suffice it to say, that the right of each 
 State to regulate for itself its domestic relations, so far 
 as this question is concerned, seems now to be acknow- 
 ledged by the statesmen of the country ; and that, hence, 
 the existence of slavery in a State is no ground for re- 
 jecting its admission into the Union. The slave-trade 
 in the District of Columbia has been properly abolished ; 
 and slavery therein, and in the public forts, &c., is left, 
 as required by good faith, to abide the fate of the insti- 
 tution in the adjacent States by which they were ceded. 
 The right to prohibit slavery in the territories of the 
 United States has been denied by the Supreme Court, in
 
 SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. CCX1 
 
 a late and most elaborate decision. 1 And the same 
 Court long since decided, that an attempt to regulate 
 the domestic slave-trade between the States, would give 
 virtually to Congress the right to abolish or establish 
 slavery in every State of the Union. 2 That these ques- 
 tions may be allowed, here to rest, and be no longer used 
 as hobbies by interested demagogues to excite sectional 
 strifes for personal advancement, should be the sincere 
 wish of every true American citizen. 3 
 
 Having been generally well-treated, the slaves have 
 never exhibited that disposition to revolt so frequently 
 seen in the West Indies. To Maroons have infested our 
 mountains; no wars of the Maroons stain our annals. 
 But one insurrection, worthy the name, has ever oc- 
 curred, and that was in Virginia in the year 1800. The 
 plot (as all others will be) was made known by faithful 
 slaves to their masters, and effectual measures taken for 
 its suppression. Several negroes, leaders in the rebel- 
 lion, were tried and executed. The evidence on their 
 trial showed that they were instigated by a white man, 
 and that their whole plans manifested a weakness in con- 
 ception unequalled except by the history of the negro. 4 
 
 Cases of individual manumission have been frequent 
 in all the States. In many of them, the idle and lazy 
 habits of the free negroes, and the continual agitation 
 of the question of abolition by Northern fanatics, have 
 
 1 Dred Scott v. Sandford, 19 Howard. The other and interesting 
 question decided in this case, whether a negro can become a citizen of 
 the United States, will be considered at another place. 
 
 2 Groves v. Slaughter, 15 Peters, 449. 
 
 3 M. Levavasseur exposes, in a masterly manner, the policy of Great 
 Britain, in fomenting the abolition excitement in the United States; 
 hoping thereby, to retard their march towards universal empire on the 
 American Continent. I would that every citizen of the Union could 
 read the remarks of this disinterested philosopher. Esclavage de la race 
 noire, p. 31, et suiv. 
 
 * See the documents, respecting the insurrection, published in the Rich- 
 mond Recorder, April 3d, 6th, and 9th, 1803.
 
 CCX11 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 induced the legislatures to prohibit domestic emancipa- 
 tion, and thereby compelled masters, thus disposed, to 
 send their slaves either to other States or to Africa in 
 order to receive their freedom. This influx of free 
 negroes has not been acceptable to the non-slaveholding 
 States, especially the new States of the "West, to which 
 they were principally sent. Hence most, if not all of 
 them, some by their constitution, and some by legisla- 
 tive acts, have prohibited the introduction of free negroes 
 into their territory. Liberia is therefore left as the only 
 home of the emancipated negro. Africa gave birth to 
 the negro. Africa alone offers him, as a freeman, a 
 grave. 
 
 The work to which this sketch is an introduction, is 
 intended to exhibit the exact status of the slave in the 
 United States ; a repetition here upon these points 
 would be inappropriate. That their bondage has been 
 mild is evidenced by their great and rapid increase. For 
 about 333,000 slaves imported, there are now more than 
 4,000,000. Their physical development is unquestionably 
 much superior to that of the negro in his native country. 
 Their longevity is remarkable. Their mental develop- 
 ment has advanced very considerably, still retaining, 
 however, the negro characteristics, except in the case of 
 the mulattoes, where the traits of the white parents are 
 sometimes developed. But above all, their moral im- 
 provement is most evident. Though still inclined to 
 superstition, they are frequently exemplary Christians, 
 and generally inclined to be religious. An avowed in- 
 fidel is a rara avis among the negroes. The statistics of 
 the different churches in the slaveholding States show 
 a greater number of negroes converted^ and admitted 
 into the Church than all the conversions which have 
 crowned the missionary efforts of the world. The im- 
 proved negro, however, exhibits still the moral weak- 
 nesses of the native Ebo; his sins, if any, are theft, lust, 
 and falsehood.
 
 SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. CCX111 
 
 Both politically and socially negro slavery has its 
 benefits and its evils. To the negro himself the former 
 greatly preponderate. To the owners, the masters, the 
 question is a greater problem, and there is more room 
 for honest differences of opinion. 
 
 Politically, slavery is a conservative institution. The 
 mass of laborers not being recognized among citizens, 
 every citizen feels that he belongs to an elevated class. 
 It matters not that he is no slaveholder ; he is not of 
 the inferior race ; he is a freeborn citizen ; he engages 
 in no menial occupation. The poorest meets the richest 
 as an equal ; sits at his table with him ; salutes him as a 
 neighbor; meets him in every public assembly, and 
 stands on the same social platform. Hence, there is no 
 war of classes. There is truthfully republican equality 
 in the ruling class. 
 
 The laborers being slaves, there is not the same dan- 
 ger of conflicts between labor and capital, nor the same 
 liability to other excitements in crowded masses, which 
 end in riots. These are unknown in pure slaveholding 
 communities. 
 
 Raising their own laborers, there is no inducement 
 for foreign immigration into slaveholding communities. 
 Their citizens imbibe freedom with their mother's milk. 
 
 The leisure allowed to the slaveholder gives him an 
 opportunity of informing himself upon current ques- 
 tions of politics, and his interest being identical with 
 his neighbors, in preserving existing institutions, the 
 Southern politician addresses always a body of men 
 having a common sentiment, and not to be influenced 
 to so great an extent by the "humbugs" of demagogues. 
 This is an influential element in forming public opinion, 
 and acts thus conservatively upon the public men of the 
 South. 
 
 Official position is not very consistent with the interest 
 of the slaveholder, and hence is never sought for its
 
 CCX1V HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 pecuniary emoluments. It is coveted only by those 
 ambitious of distinction. Hence, the public men of the 
 South do not find themselves supplanted by unprovided 
 aspirants, but their services are frequently gratefully 
 received by their constituents. Born to command, and 
 habituated to rule, they frequently commend themselves 
 to the nation by their firmness, their independence, and 
 their fearlessness. These are important elements in the 
 character of a statesman. 
 
 Slavery is a protection from pauperism, the bane for 
 which the wisdom of civilized man has not yet prepared 
 an antidote. In America, affliction, old age, and idleness, 
 are the only sources of pauperism. Where the laborers 
 are slaves the master is compelled by law to provide 
 against the former, and is authorized to protect himself 
 against the latter. The poorhouse, therefore, is almost 
 unknown. 1 
 
 The severities of winter and the depression of finan- 
 cial crises, bring no horrors to the laborers of the South. 
 The interest of the master as well as the law of the 
 land protect the negro against the former, while a change 
 of masters is the worst result which can befall him from 
 the latter. 
 
 As already intimated, there is perhaps no solution of 
 the great problem of reconciling the interests of labor 
 and capital, so as to protect each from the encroachments 
 and oppressions of the other, so simple and effective as 
 negro slavery. By making the laborer himself capital, 
 the conflict ceases, and the interests become identical. 
 
 On the other hand, a slaveholding State call never be 
 densely populated. The slaves, moreover, occupying 
 
 1 See a very instructive and interesting table, on this subject, in the 
 Abstract of the Seventh Census, p. 28, by which it appears that the 
 small State of Rhode Island returned 2560 paupers, as receiving support 
 during the year ending 1st June, 1850, while in Georgia there were only 
 1036.
 
 SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. CCXV 
 
 the places of free laborers, and three-fifths only of their 
 number being estimated under the Constitution of the 
 United States, for representative purposes, the result is 
 inevitable that the slaveholding States must ever have a 
 smaller voice, politically, than the same territory would 
 command with free labor. To this extent slavery de- 
 stroys their political equality in the nation. 
 
 Another result of a sparse population is, that a perfect 
 system of thorough common school education is almost 
 an impossibility. Extensive plantations, occupied by 
 slaves only, independent of the exhausting crops culti- 
 vated and annually adding to barren fields, render a per- 
 fect system of common schools impossible. 
 
 In a slaveholding State, the greatest evidence of wealth 
 in the planter is the number of his slaves. The most 
 desirable property for a remunerative income, is slaves. 
 The best property to leave to his children, and from 
 which they will part with greatest reluctance, is slaves. 
 Hence, the planter invests his surplus income in slaves. 
 The natural result is, that lands are a secondary consi- 
 deration. Ko surplus is left for their improvement. The 
 homestead is valued only so long as the adjacent lands 
 are profitable for cultivation. The planter himself, 
 having no local attachments, his children inherit none. 
 On the contrary, he encourages in them a disposition to 
 seek new lands. His valuable property (his slaves) are 
 easily removed to fresh lands ; much more easily than to 
 bring the fertilizing materials to the old. The result is 
 that they, as a class, are never settled. Such a popula- 
 tion is almost nomadic. It is useless to seek to excite 
 patriotic emotions in behalf of the land of birth, when 
 self-interest speaks so loudly. On the other hand, where 
 no slavery exists, and the planter's surplus cannot be in- 
 vested in laborers, it is appropriated to the improvement 
 or extension of his farm, the beautifying of the home- 
 stead where his fathers are buried, and where he hopes
 
 CCXVI HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 to lie. Of course we speak of classes, not of individuals. 
 The result is the withdrawal of all investments from the 
 improvement of the lands, another deleterious effect of 
 slavery to the State. 
 
 It has been asserted that slave labor is exhausting to 
 lands. So far as the cause already alluded to withdraws 
 the planter from the improvement of his land, it is true. 
 But the more satisfactory explanation of the exhausting 
 cultivation of Southern lands, is the nature of the crops 
 planted. Being " clean" crops, the exposure of the 
 naked ploughed lands to the long-continued heat of the 
 summer sun, would be followed by sterility, partial or 
 complete, whether free or slave labor was used in their 
 cultivation. 
 
 It has often been asserted that free labor is cheaper 
 than slave, and evidence has been industriously sought 
 in the British colonies to show that the labor of the 
 emancipated negro there, is cheaper than that of the 
 slave. 1 In dense populations, where the question is labor 
 or hunger, the assertion is generally true ; for the amount 
 invested, either in the purchase or rearing of the laborer, 
 is necessarily that much more than the cost of food and 
 raiment, which both free and bond must have, and which 
 is all that, under such circumstances, competition and 
 necessity leave to the free laborer. If either one of two 
 facts existed, the assertion might be true of the Southern 
 slaveholding States, viz., the successful introduction of a 
 dense white population to take the place of the slaves ; 
 or, the introduction into the negro nature of some prin- 
 ciple to counteract that sloth which abhors work, and 
 that absence of pride and principle which prefers theft 
 and beggary to industry and thrift. To the possibility 
 of the former two great obstacles arise, in the first place, 
 climate and disease, which bring death to the Saxon, 
 and health and immunity to the African ; in the second, 
 
 1 See Gurney's West Indies.
 
 SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. CCXV11 
 
 the impossibility of cultivating extensively the staple 
 productions of the South, rice, sugar, cotton, and to- 
 bacco, except by associated labor, not subject to the con- 
 tingencies of "strikes" or caprices. 
 
 The possibility of the latter contingency is shown not 
 to exist, by the examples of the negro character wherever 
 and whenever emancipated. The free negroes of the 
 United States, North and South, of the West Indies, and 
 of Liberia, show an indisposition to labor, except from 
 absolute necessity, which manifests a characteristic of 
 the race. 1 The introduction of Coolies, by both Great 
 Britain and France, into their colonies, is upon the 
 avowed allegation of the idleness of the negro. 
 
 While, then, the general proposition, that free labor is 
 cheaper than slave, may be true, it would seem that 
 slave labor is the only effectual, and therefore cheapest, 
 labor which the Southern States can use in the produc- 
 tion of their staples. Experience, at the South, has 
 shown this to be true in the building of railroads. Slave 
 labor must be used successfully on uniform work, re- 
 quiring physical strength, without judgment or discre- 
 tion. Wherever such work in large quantity can be 
 found in the Southern climate, slave labor is the cheapest 
 that can be applied. 
 
 As a social relation, negro slavery has its benefits and 
 its evils. That the slave is incorporated into and be- 
 comes a part of the family, that a tie is thus formed 
 between the master and slave, almost unknown to the 
 relation of master and hireling, that in consequence 
 even the young spendthrift experiences a pang in sun- 
 dering a relation he has recognized from his infancy, 
 that the old and infirm are thus cared for, and the young 
 
 1 Antigua is frequently referred to as an example of voluntary free 
 labor by negroes. The island is small, the inhabitants few ; but at the 
 same time, fully occupying the whole territory. The whites have been 
 wise and humane, and the experiment, on this small scale, has been more 
 successful than elsewhere.
 
 CCXV111 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 protected and reared, are indisputable facts. Interest 
 joins with affection in promoting this unity of feeling. 
 To the negro, it insures food, fuel, and clothing, medi- 
 cal attendance, and in most cases religious instruction. 
 The young child is seldom removed from the parent's 
 protection, and beyond doubt, the institution prevents 
 the separation of families, to an extent unknown among 
 the laboring poor of the world. 1 It provides him with 
 a protector, whose interest and feeling combine in de- 
 manding such protection. 
 
 To the master, it gives a servant whose interests are 
 identical with his own, who has indeed no other interest, 
 except the gratification of a few animal passions, for 
 which purpose he considers it no robbery to purloin his 
 master's goods. 
 
 In short, the Southern slavery is a patriarchal, social 
 system. The master is the head of his family. Next 
 to wife and children, he cares for his slaves. He avenges 
 their injuries, protects their persons, provides for their 
 wants, and guides their labors. In return, he is revered 
 and held as protector and master. Nine-tenths of the 
 Southern masters would be defended by their slaves, at 
 the peril of their own lives. 
 
 The evils of the system are equally unquestionable. 
 That it engenders in the youth of the South that over- 
 bearing and despotic spirit, ascribed to the relation by 
 Mr. Jefferson, is not true to the extent he alleges. The 
 fact, that Northern men are sometimes the most exact- 
 ing masters, is well known. The reason of this is that 
 they expect from the slave the amount of work which 
 they have received from a hireling. This he never will 
 do, and the Southern-bred master does not look for it. 
 The security of his place, as well as the indolence of his 
 
 1 On my father's plantation, an aged negro woman could call together 
 more than one hundred of her lineal descendants. I saw this old negro 
 dance at the wedding of her great granddaughter. She did no labor 
 for my father for more than forty years before her death.
 
 SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. CCX1X 
 
 nature, do not furnish the necessary stimulus. It is true, 
 however, that the young man of the South is accustomed 
 to rule, and even the son of a poor man, without a slave, 
 to a certain extent, commands obedience from the negro 
 population. The result is a spirit of independence, 
 which brooks not opposition. Within a proper limit 
 this is not an evil. Indulgence makes it a sin. 
 
 A good consequence of this is, a more perfect equality 
 in social life, among the rich and poor, than can be had 
 where the menial servants are of the same color. An 
 evil consequence is a too great sensitiveness on questions 
 of personal honor, and a corresponding disposition to 
 settle them "by wager of battle." 
 
 An evil attributed to slavery, and frequently alluded 
 to, is the want of chastity in female slaves, and a cor- 
 responding immorality in the white males. To a certain 
 extent this is true ; and to the extent that the slave is 
 under the control and subject to the order of the master, 
 the condition of slavery is responsible. 
 
 Every well-informed person at the South, however, 
 knows that the exercise of such power for such a pur- 
 pose is almost unknown. The prevalence of the evil is 
 attributable to other causes. The most prominent of 
 these is the natural lewdness of the negro. It is not 
 the consequence of slavery. The free negro in Africa, 
 in the West Indies, in America, exhibits the same dis- 
 position, perhaps not to the same degree when living in 
 a Christian community. 1 Another causers the fact that 
 the negress knows that the offspring of such intercourse, 
 the mulatto, having greater intelligence, and being in- 
 
 1 The ratio of mulattoes to blacks, among the free colored population 
 of the Northern States, shows this to be true among them. In Maine, 
 51; New Hampshire, 54; Vermont, 40; Massachusetts, 34; Connecticut, 
 30 ; and Rhode Island, 24, out of every 100 were mulattoes, in 1850- 
 See Mortality Statistics of the Census of 1850, p. 35. Bowen alludes to this 
 vice in Liberia, but hopes it is not so prevalent, " if report may be trusted, 
 as with the people of Sierra Leone, or of France." Central Africa, p. 32.
 
 CCXX HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 deed a superior race, has a better opportunity of enjoy- 
 ing the privileges of domestics ; in other words, is elevated 
 by the mixture of blood. Her sin does not entail mis 
 fortune but good fortune on her children. Nor does she 
 lose any social position even with her own race. Under 
 such circumstances the prevalence of this sin is not sur- 
 prising. 
 
 It is undoubtedly true, that from this cause the poor 
 white females of the slaveholding States are not subject 
 to as great temptations and importunities as they would 
 be under other circumstances. That the ignorant poor, 
 under the heating Southern sun, would compare unfavor- 
 ably with those of colder climates in this particular, ex- 
 cept for this institution, is manifested by the immorality 
 of some ignorant districts in slaveholding States, where 
 but few negroes are found. How far such a result 
 counterbalances the evil admitted, can be weighed only 
 by the great Arbiter of the universe. 
 
 A social evil of no small magnitude, arising from this 
 condition, is the imbibing by children of the supersti- 
 tions, fears, and habits, of the negroes, with whom they 
 are necessarily, to some extent, reared. The negro is 
 not yet more than semi-civilized. The marvellous and 
 the unearthly, ghosts, witches, and charmings, are min- 
 gled even with his religion. Great caution is necessary, 
 on the part of the Southern mother, to protect the young 
 child from such influences. 
 
 The inability of the slave parents to control and govern 
 their own children from the intervention of another 
 power, the master's, has been considered an evil of this 
 social system. Theoretically it is ; practically it is not, 
 for two reasons : first, the master never interferes with 
 but rather encourages such government ; it is an aid to 
 him. And, second, unless the child in some way inter- 
 feres with the comfort or wishes of the parent, the negro 
 has no disposition to control his waywardness or his
 
 SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. CCXX1 
 
 That the marriage relation between slaves is not re- 
 cognized or protected by the law, is another evil to the 
 negro attending the system, and to a qualified extent it 
 is an evil. In practice, public opinion protects the rela- 
 tion. The unfeeling separation of husband and wife, is 
 a rare occurrence. It never happens when both belong 
 to the same master. To regulate properly this relation 
 by legislation, so as to prevent inhumanity on the one 
 hand, and not to bind too much the owner's power of 
 selling an unworthy or unruly slave on the other, requires 
 great sagacity and prudence. 
 
 It would require a prophetic vision to foretell the 
 future of the American negro slaves. Emancipation, in 
 their present location, can never be peacefully effected. 
 Until the white race of the South is exterminated or 
 driven off, it can never be forcibly effected. Amalga- 
 mation, to any great extent, is a moral impossibility. 
 Colonization on the coast of Africa could be effected 
 only at immense cost, and at the sacrifice of the lives of 
 at least one-fourth of the emigrants. So long as climate 
 and disease, and the profitable planting of cotton, rice, 
 tobacco, and cane, make the negro the only laborer in- 
 habiting safely our Southern savannas and prairies, 
 just so long will he remain a slave to the white man. 
 Whenever the white laborer can successfully compete 
 with him in these productions and occupy this soil, the 
 negro will either be driven slowly through the Isthmus, 
 to become amalgamated with the races of South America, 
 or he will fall a victim to disease and neglect, begging 
 bread at the white man's door.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 
 
 Two attempts have been made to colonize the negro 
 in Africa. During the American war of revolution, 
 Great Britain, to induce the slaves to join her standard, 
 promised to all such freedom. At the close of the war, 
 Biich negroes as had accepted the offer were carried 
 temporarily to Nova Scotia, and finally colonized at 
 Sierra Leone, on the coast of Africa. To these have 
 been added large numbers of captured Africans found 
 on board of slavers, which have fallen into the hands of 
 British cruisers. No special attention has been aroused 
 in the mother country, among the benevolent and Chris- 
 tians, to this colony ; and so far as the same maybe con- 
 sidered as an effort to evidence the capacity of the negro 
 for self-elevation, it is an admitted failure. "Without 
 dwelling longer on its history, we turn to Liberia, where 
 everything has been done which philanthropy or religion 
 could suggest, to develop to its fullest capacity the moral 
 and intellectual growth of the negro. 
 
 Satisfied that the only condition in which the white 
 and black races could live together, to their mutual ad- 
 vantage, was that of slavery to the latter, and looking 
 to Africa, the birthplace of the negro, for a home and 
 a grave, the friends of the negro in the United States 
 inaugurated an effort, in 1816, to test his capacity for a 
 self-sustaining civilization upon its shores. The philan- 
 thropists of the entire Union joined heartily in this en-
 
 AFRICAN COLONIZATION. CCXX111 
 
 terprise, some of the noblest names of the Republic 
 being recorded as its earliest friends. The legislatures 
 of the States, North and South, with great unanimity, 
 approved of the movement, and earnest, zealous, active 
 friends have devoted time, talents, wealth, health, and 
 life, to insure its success. Never in the history of the 
 world has a colony been planted from purer philanthropy, 
 nor cherished with greater munificence, nor followed 
 by more ardent prayers. Liberia is the child of philan- 
 thropy and religion. The sympathies of the civilized 
 world have been with her. She has had no human ene- 
 mies, save the savages of her own race, surrounding her 
 borders, and a few fanatical abolitionists in our own 
 country. 
 
 It is not necessary to our purpose to trace minutely 
 its history. A few facts will present its inception and 
 its present position. The first emigrants were sent out 
 in 1820. In April, 1822, the American flag was first 
 hoisted at the spot now occupied by Monrovia, the capi- 
 tal of the Republic. From that date to 1847, white 
 Governors, appointed by the American Colonization 
 Society, presided over its destinies. During that year 
 steps were taken to declare its independence, and on 
 the 3d of January, 1848, Governor Roberts was inaugu- 
 rated President of the Republic. From that time to 
 the present it has maintained its separate existence, 
 although the Colonization Society has continued, not 
 only its friendly advice and sympathy, but has annually 
 sent out, at its own expense, large numbers of emigrants, 
 besides frequent direct contributions of money for vari- 
 ous purposes. The British Government presented to 
 the young Republic "a man-of-war." The French 
 Government presented her a supply of arms. Their 
 and the American cruisers have been ever ready to ex- 
 tend to her their assistance and protection. 1 Her entire 
 
 1 Africa and the American Flag, by Com. Foote, 181, 182.
 
 CCXX1V HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 territory, extending along the coast seven hundred miles, 
 has been purchased and paid for by the contributions of 
 friends. These and similar facts only show the favora- 
 ble circumstances which have attended the new Re- 
 public. 
 
 Too much should not be expected from an infant 
 colony ; but remembering that these emigrants, in the 
 main, represent the most worthy and most energetic of 
 the negro and mixed race of the United States ; that 
 they have annually received a fresh supply of similar 
 emigrants from the States ; that they have been fostered 
 as before stated ; and that thirty-seven years have elapsed 
 since the planting of the colony, we are permitted to 
 look, to some extent, for the evidence of their capacity 
 for a self-sustaining civilization. 
 
 From this view, we will not say that the effort is a 
 failure. The prospect of the negro being used as the 
 instrument of civilizing his birthplace ; and that, torn 
 away a savage from his native land by the cupidity and 
 avarice of his fellow-man, he shall be restored, a Chris- 
 tian, by the philanthropy of his brother man, has in it 
 something of that sublimity which would evidence the 
 purpose of God. We should be slow to disbelieve such 
 a purpose, though " his ways are not as our ways." 
 
 In 1845, a census of the colony, with several interest- 
 ing statistical tables, was published. From these we 
 learn that the total number of emigrants sent out up to 
 that date was 4454. Of these there were left in the 
 colony only 1736. Of the remainder, 2198 had died, and 
 520 had removed. The Thirty-fifth Annual Report of 
 the Society shows that, in 1851, the number of emigrants 
 sent out had increased to 8636. In 1 852 and 1853, there 
 were sent out 1449 more, making 10,085 emigrants to 
 that date. Estimating 700 for the four last years each, 
 would give us 12,885. How many of these survive and 
 remain in the colony, I have no means of deciding. The
 
 AFRICAN COLONIZATION. CCXXV 
 
 total civilized population of the Republic does not now 
 amount to exceeding 8000 souls. 1 The increase of 
 population does not show physical improvements. I 
 am aware of the numbers who fall victims to the accli- 
 mating fever, greater, I doubt not, than publications 
 admit. I am aware also of Dr. Lugenbeel's account of 
 the diseases of the colony, the most troublesome and 
 fatal of which, according to him, have their origin in a 
 want of cleanliness, precisely what one would fear, at 
 all acquainted with negro character. 2 
 
 Another striking fact to be deduced from the tables 
 alluded to, is the congregation of all the emigrants in 
 the towns and villages, and their adherence to traffic, 
 rather than agricultural or mechanical employments. 3 
 The love of a negro for a town, and his aversion to 
 regular labor, which are proverbial, 4 he seems to retain in 
 Liberia, where, with a rich and productive soil, agricul- 
 ture seems confined to the natives. Hence, the current 
 report of the emigrants holding slaves, so often contra- 
 dicted. 5 That many of the emigrants have amassed 
 considerable property by their industry, is a gratifying 
 fact; although it would be more satisfactory did we 
 
 1 Commander Foote,U. S. N., estimates them at 7500, in 1854. Africa 
 and the American Flag, 198. Bowen estimates them, from the best au- 
 thorities, at 7792, in 1857. Central Africa, 35. 
 
 2 Sketches of Liberia, ch. vii (published by Am. Col. Soc.). 
 
 3 Bowen estimates those devoted to agriculture, at 8 per cent. ; mecha- 
 nics, 5 per cent., p. 35. 
 
 4 Mr. Gerrit Smith gives a striking illustration of this fact in a letter, 
 stating the number of free negroes to whom he has donated farms, in 
 Western New York, and the very small number who have cultivated 
 them. 
 
 6 Dr. Lugenbeel says, " that comparatively few of the present citizens 
 of Liberia are regularly and systematically engaged in the cultivation of 
 the soil." Again, " A more regular, systematic, and persevering course 
 of farming operations must be introduced." The italics are his own. 
 Foote says, " The want of agricultural industry has been the difficulty 
 with the Liberians." 194. Bowen says, "A majority of the colonists 
 appear to be, more or less, engaged in traffic." p. 35. 
 o
 
 CCXXV1 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 know how much they carried with them, and also how 
 many of these successful traders were pure negroes. 
 That there are very many idlers and some beggars in the 
 Republic, is an admitted fact. 1 
 
 It is not easy to arrive at a satisfactory opinion as to 
 the intellectual progress of the Liberians. Their Consti- 
 tution was framed, to a great extent, for them. 3 The 
 addresses of Governor Roberts (a mulatto), and the pro- 
 ductions of the pens of others, indicate thinking minds, 
 and some considerable education. These, however, were 
 trained in America. In the census referred to, the name 
 of every child born in the colony is given, and the ex- 
 tent of the education of each. The highest specified 
 was, "can read and write," though many had reached 
 twenty years of age. Not one is reported as having a 
 liberal or classical education. It does not speak well for 
 the appreciation of education by the Liberians, that every 
 school in the Republic is maintained by the charity of 
 religious sects in the United States ; 3 nor the additional 
 fact, that the "classical school," established by the Pres- 
 byterians, the only one in the Republic, numbered, in 
 1852, only eight scholars, out of the entire population. 
 
 As to the moral progress of the Liberians, we cannot 
 
 1 " It is said that the young people are too much addicted to idleness.'' 
 Bowen's Central Africa, 33 (1857). u Indolence is the only just reason 
 why beef, milk, and butter are not abundant in this country, where they 
 are now almost unknown." p. 45. 
 
 "Some are rich, some are doing well, and some are just able to get 
 along in the world ; others are poor, and there are those that beg." 
 "We see farms and lots of many grown over with bushes, and not a single 
 potato planted in them. In the very countenance of some, we see indus 
 try and enterprise depicted, but with others, we discover the reverse." 
 Fuller and Janifer's Reports to Maryland Col. Soc. " If they exerted 
 themselves a little more, and depended not so much on the natives, they 
 would have no complaints to make." Ibid. 
 
 2 Report of R. R. Gurley, p. 21. 
 
 3 Bowen's Central Africa, p. 32 (1857); School Reports, attached to 
 census of Africa's Redemption, 203.
 
 AFRICAN COLONIZATION. CCXXV11 
 
 speak with any degree of certainty. They seem to re- 
 tain many of the characteristics of the negroes in the 
 United States. Foote speaks of their disposition to 
 deal in superstition and the supernatural. 1 Their reli- 
 gious teaching is almost exclusively confined to the 
 labors of missionaries, sent from and supported by 
 American Christians. From the tables accompanying 
 the census, above referred to, it appears that the crimes 
 to which they are addicted in Liberia, partake much of 
 the same character with those committed by the negroes 
 of America. Of 373 reported trials for offences, 308 ' 
 were for larceny of different degrees. Kidnapping, riot- 
 ing, rape, and murder, complete the list. Lust, the be- 
 setting sin of the negro, seems to accompany him to 
 Liberia, and a want of chastity in the female. 2 The 
 proportion of the population, who are professing Chris- 
 tians, is perhaps larger than that of the slaves in the 
 United States. 
 
 The emigrants have waged several wars successfully 
 against neighboring tribes, with great disparity of num- 
 bers. They have rendered some efficient service in re- 
 pressing the slave-trade along their coasts. 3 They have 
 not been guilty of the excesses, the turbulence, nor the 
 restlessness of the emancipated negroes of the West 
 Indies. All these facts speak in favor of their civiliza- 
 tion. How far they may be accounted for, on other 
 grounds, it is unnecessary to discuss. Let us hope that 
 they indicate a developing civilization. For the present, 
 African colonization is an experiment. Its disinterested 
 and not too zealous friends, are not prepared to announce 
 its success. Foote says, " In devising measures for the 
 benefit of Liberia, one thing was pre-eminently to be 
 
 1 Africa and the American Flag, 197. 
 
 2 Bowen's Central Africa, p. 32. 
 
 3 The abolitionists deny this, and say that the trade was carried on in 
 the Colony. No reliance, however, can be placed on these statements. 
 See Slavery and Anti-Slavery, by Goodell, 352, and note.
 
 CCXXV111 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 kept in view, which was, that the people be prevented 
 from sinking back to become mere Africans." Dr. 
 Lugenbeel, who resided long in Liberia, speaks with 
 hesitation of its future : "I am quite satisfied that if the 
 Republic of Liberia shall ingloriously fall, and her in- 
 stitutions be demolished, the result will indubitably ex- 
 hibit the melancholy fact, that the maintenance of an 
 independent government, by the colored race, is at least 
 a subject of doubtful practicability." 
 
 I have referred only to a few facts admitted by the 
 best friends of colonization, which seem to indicate that 
 the negro has undergone no radical change by removal 
 to his native shores. The danger is, that as the genera- 
 tion of emigrants becomes extinct, their descendants 
 will relapse gradually into the heathenism and barbarism 
 which surround them. So long as annual exportations 
 from the United States, of the most energetic and intel- 
 ligent of our free colored population continue, an appear- 
 ance of activity and life will be exhibited. But to prove 
 the capacity of the negro for a self-evolving civilization, 
 he must be left to himself for a few generations. Good 
 men and wise men differ as to the final result. I must 
 confess my own incredulity.
 
 THE 
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY,
 
 THE 
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 I PROPOSE to consider the Law of Negro Slavery 
 as it exists in the United States of America ; to ex- 
 amine into its origin, its foundation, and its present 
 condition ; to note the striking differences in the 
 legislation of the various slaveholding States, and 
 occasionally to suggest amendments to the existing 
 laws. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY, AND ITS FOUNDATION IN THE 
 NATURAL LAW. 
 
 1. Absolute or Pure Slavery js the condition of 
 that individual, over whose life, liberty, and pro- 
 perty another has the unlimited control. The for- 
 rnftr is tfjTnftd fl. sln.ve; fhf> Utter i 
 
 Slavery, in its more usual and limited signifi- 
 cation, is applied to all involuntary servitude, which
 
 4 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 is not inflicted as a punishment for crime. 1 The 
 former exists at this day in none of the civilized 
 nations of the world ; the latter has, at some time, 
 been incorporated into the social system of every 
 nation whose history has been deemed worthy of 
 record. 2 In the former condition the slave loses all 
 
 personality, and is viewed merely as property ; in 
 the latter, while treated under the general class of 
 
 i things, he possesses various rights as a person, and 
 
 'is treated as such by the law. 3 
 
 2. A preliminary inquiry presents itself, and 
 demands our first consideration, viz. : By what law 
 or authority does this dominion of one man over 
 another exist ? by the law of nature, or by munici- 
 pal law ? And a satisfactory reply to this inquiry 
 is absolutely necessary to the true resolution of many 
 
 1 The definitions of slavery have been various. According to 
 
 the Institutes it was " constitutio juris gentium, qua quis domino 
 
 alieno, contra naturam subjicitur." This definition was adopted 
 
 verbatim from the Stoic philosophers. See Heinec. Opera V, p. 
 
 "20. 
 
 Heineccius defines slavery as follows : a Servi sunt personse ; 
 qui ad dominorum utilitatem operis suis, vel pro certa mercede 
 alimentisque, vel pro solis alimentis promovendam obstricti sunt." 
 Jus Nat. et Gent. cap. iv, 77. 
 
 The Civil Code of Louisiana defines a slave to be " one who is 
 in the power of a master, to whom he belongs." Arts. 35 and 
 173. 
 
 3 See Preliminary Sketch, &c. 
 
 8 Among the Romans, the slave was classed as a thing : Res. 
 He was " Homo sed non persona." Heinec. Elem. Jur. Lib. I, 
 75. He was considered "pro nullo et mortuo, quia nee statu 
 familia3 nee civitatis nee libertatis gaudet." Ibid. 77. See also 
 Kaufmann's Mackeldey; State v. Edmund, 4 Dev. 340; Neal v. 
 Farmer, 9 On. Rep. 582.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 5 
 
 of the perplexing questions which arise from that 
 relation. In the laws of Henry I, we find the de- 
 claration, " servi alii natura, alii facto, alii empcione, 
 alii redempcione, alii sua vel alterius dacione servi." 1 
 The Institutes, on the contrary, declared all slavery 
 to be " contra naturam," and this declaration, which 
 might be true of a system which ignored entirely 
 the existence of the slave as a person, has been al- 
 most universally adopted by courts and jurists. 2 
 Upon the investigation of the truth of this proposi- 
 tion we propose to enter. 
 
 3. That slavery is contrary to the law of nature, "^ 
 has been so confidently and so often asserted, that / 
 slaveholders themselves have most generally per- S 
 mitted their own minds to acknowledge its truth / 
 unquestioned.) QHence, even learned judges in slave-, 
 holding States, adopting the language of Lord Mans- f 
 field, in Somerset's case, have announced gravely, / 
 that slavery being contrary to the law of nature/ 
 can exist only by force of positive law^j The course 
 of reasoning, by which this conclusion is attained, is 
 very much this : That in a state of nature all men 
 are free. That one man is at birth entitled by 
 nature to no higher rights or privileges than another, 
 nor does nature specify any particular time or cir- 
 cumstances under which the one shall begin to rule 
 and the other to obey. Hence, by the law of nature, 
 
 1 Ancient Laws and Institutes of England ; Leges Henr. I, ch. 
 Ixxvi, 3. 
 
 a For the modification or explanation of this expression in the 
 Institutes, see post : 12. 
 
 8 Case of the Antelope, 10 Wheat. 120; State v. Jones, Walker's 
 Miss. Rep. 83.
 
 6 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 no man is the slave of another, and hence all slavery 
 is contrary to the law of nature. 
 
 4. For a proper inquiry into the truth of this 
 proposition, it becomes very important that we 
 should have a definite understanding of what is 
 meant by the law of nature. Jurists have declared 
 it to be the only true foundation of all law. Inter- 
 national law is defined to be but the law of nature 
 as applied to the conduct and affairs of nations. 
 Philosophers have vied with each other in pronounc- 
 ing encomiums upon its pure morality and unadul- 
 terated justice; and in the prophetic vision of the 
 greatest of Roman orators, it was calculated to bind 
 the world in one great bond of justice, when, in pro- 
 cess of time, there should be " non alia lex Romae, 
 alia Athenis, alia nunc, alia posthac, sed una lex 
 et sempiterna prevalebit." Hooker, in strains no 
 less sublime, has said, " Of this law, no less can be 
 said than that her seat is the bosom of God, her 
 voice the harmony of the world ; all things in heaven 
 and earth do her homage, the very least as feeling 
 her care, the greatest as not exempted from her 
 power ; both angels and men, and creatures of what 
 condition soever, though each in different sort and 
 manner, yet all, with uniform consent, admiring her 
 as the mother of their peace and joy." 1 
 
 5. Yet we find it very difficult to cull from them 
 all, a clear, concise, tangible definition of what is 
 meant by the law of nature. The Roman lawyers 
 and others applied the term to that "law which 
 nature teaches all living creatures" thereby causing 
 
 1 Ecclesiastical Polity, conclusion of Book I.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 7 
 
 it to include all animals, beasts as well as men. 1 
 To this others have demurred, and insist_tbat law 
 can be applied only to creatures who have reason 
 and will, to perceive an obligation and to adapt their 
 acts accordingly. 2 And Potgiesseri very properly 
 observes, that even when applied to men it assumes 
 a double aspect : " Vel, ut concipiuntur omnes et 
 singuli homines in naturali libertate, nullique im- 
 perio subjecti vivere; vel, ut intelliguntur cum ali- 
 quibus tantum in societatem civilem coivisse, cum 
 reliquis autem nullo, nisi communi humanitatis 
 vinculo colligari." 3 
 
 6. As great diversity exists when we come to 
 examine the rules deduced from this law. Hobbes 
 found one of its fundamental rules to be, that war 
 was the natural condition of mankind. Montesquieu, 
 on the contrary, declares peace to be the first law of 
 nature. 4 Cicero, as we have seen, supposed its obli- 
 gations to be sufficient to be a rule of conduct for all 
 
 1 Just. Lib. I, tit. 2. "Jus naturale," says Ulpian, "est quod 
 natura omnia animalia docuit." Puff. Bk. II, ch. iii, 2, 3 j 
 Ward's Law of Nat. vol. i, 41. St. Ambrose, upon this principle, 
 declared the copulation of asses and mares, by which mules are 
 produced, forbidden, the same being an unnatural connection. 
 Hexsemeri, Lib. V, c. 3, quoted by Puff. 
 
 2 Puffendorf, Bk. II, ch. iii, 2; Rutherforth's Just. Ij 
 Ayliffe's Civil Law, Bk. I, tit. 2. 
 
 Thus Hesiod, Op. & Dier. Lib. I : 
 
 " This law did Jove for human race ordain; 
 The beasts, the fishes, and the feathered train, 
 He left to mutual spoil and mutual prey, 
 But justice gave to man." 
 
 3 De Statu Servorum, Proleg. 3. 
 
 * Montesquieu, Spirit of Laws, Bk. I, ch. ii.
 
 8 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 nations. Yet "Ward, after examining its claims with 
 great attention, is forced to conclude, in the language 
 of another writer, that " To speak of one fixed, im- 
 mutable, and universal law of nature, is framing an 
 imaginary scheme, without the least foundation in 
 the nature of things, directly contrary to the present 
 order of the whole creation." 1 
 
 7. The expression " law of nature" is sometimes, 
 though unphilosophically, used to express those de- 
 ductions which may be drawn from a careful exami- 
 nation of the operations of the natural world. Hence, 
 it is said that slavery is contrary to the law of nature, 
 because we find no counterpart or analogous operation 
 in the natural world. To this we may say, in the 
 first place, that by such a definition of the law of 
 nature, cannibalism and every other horrid crime of 
 savage or natural man would be justified. Among 
 lower animals, the destruction of their own species is 
 of frequent occurrence. In the second place, that the 
 fact does not exist as stated, for not only is slavery 
 found to coexist with the human race, but even 
 among the lower animals and insects, servitude, in 
 every respect the counterpart of negro slavery, is 
 found to exist. It is a fact, well known to entomolo- 
 gists, and too well established to admit of contradic- 
 tion, that the red ant will issue in regular battle 
 array, to conquer and subjugate the black or negro 
 ant, as he is called by entomologists. And, that 
 
 1 Ward's Law of Nations, vol. i, ch. ii, p. 119. In the four- 
 teenth century, Bartholus, the most famous civilian of his day, con- 
 tended gravely, that the Emperor of Germany was the Emperor of 
 the world ; and Dante, another civilian, gave as the reason for it ; 
 because it was for their good. Ibid. 77.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 9 
 
 these negro slaves perform all the labor of the com- 
 munities into which they are thus brought, with a 
 patience and an aptitude almost incredible. These 
 facts, originally noticed and published by Huber, 
 have subsequently been verified by many observers ; 
 and M. Latreille has demonstrated, that the rufescent 
 ants, on account of the form of their jaws and the 
 accessory parts of their mouth, have not the physical 
 ability either to prepare habitations for their family, 
 to procure food, or to feed them. 1 Upon this defini- 
 tion, therefore, of the law of nature, negro slavery 
 would seem to be perfectly consistent with that 
 law. 
 
 8. With other writers, the law of nature is held 
 to be the general conduct of mankind under any given 
 state of circumstances. Thus, " the whole of this 
 interesting question resolves itself, at last, into the 
 history of man. For, in vain do we pursue the 
 matter through all the subtleties of intellect, in vain 
 are the profoundest metaphysics made use of to prove 
 anything concerning the nature of man a priori. Of 
 that nature I can obtain no knowledge, except 
 through the same channel by which I become ac- 
 quainted with the nature of any other animal ; nor 
 can I tell what it is that nature demands of man to 
 do, except by inquiring what he has actually done." 2 
 If this be the test, the answer is easily given to the 
 
 1 Considerations nouvelles, &c., p. 408. For very interesting 
 accounts of the facts here stated, and many others equally as re- 
 markable, see Spence & Kirby's Entomology, vol. ii, pp. 68-88 ; 
 Silliman's Journal, vol. xiii, pp. 177, 178 ; Natural History of 
 Insects, vol. viii, Harper's Family Library, pp. 130, et seq. 
 
 a Ward's Law of Nations, vol. i, 67.
 
 10 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 inquiry as to the consistency of slavery with the law 
 of nature. Its universality through every age of the 
 world, since Noah announced the curse of Canaan, is 
 too well established to require argument. 
 
 9. What then is the law of nature ? Grotius, 
 the father of modern natural law, defines it to be 
 "the dictate of reason, by which we discover whether 
 an action be good or evil, by its agreement or dis- 
 agreement with the rational social nature of man." 1 
 Blackstone and many other writers define it to be 
 "the will of the Creator." 2 The Roman law made 
 it synonymous with " natural justice and equity, and 
 the rules of abstract propriety ;" and a late English 
 writer (Wildman), adopts this as the more simple 
 and tangible definition. 3 Cicero defines this law to 
 be " right reason, implanted in man by nature, com- 
 manding those things which ought to be done, and 
 forbidding the contrary." 4 The object of this law 
 he declares to be " God, our neighbor, and ourselves." 5 
 Erskine, the Scotch commentator, adopts the defini- 
 tion of Grotius. 6 Ayliffe, in his Pandects of the civil 
 law, approves best that of Cicero. 7 Rutherford says, 
 " Natural laws are those which mankind are obliged 
 
 1 In another place, he says, " Bonum et aequum, id est rerum 
 naturae jus." Lib. II, 18, 3. 
 
 3 Comm. vol. i, p. 39. The writers on the common law, gene- 
 rally, have adopted this definition. See Kent's Comm. vol. i, pp. 2, 
 4, and notes; Manning's Comm. Law of Nations, Bk. II, ch. i; see 
 also Heineccius, De Jur. Nat. & Gent. Lib. I, cap. i, 12. 
 
 3 Wildman's International Law, ch. i, p. 3. 
 
 4 De Legibus, Lib. I. 5 Tusc. Qusest. Lib. I, c. 26. 
 8 Institutes, &c., Bk. I, tit. i, 7. 
 
 ? Book I, tit. 2, 1.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 11 
 
 to observe from their nature and constitution." 1 
 Similar is the exposition of Puffendorf, that it is 
 "that most general and universal rule of human 
 actions, to which every man is obliged to conform, 
 as he is a reasonable creature." 2 Vattel says, " The 
 general law of natural society is, that each individual 
 should do for the others everything which their 
 necessities require, and which he can perform with- 
 out neglecting the duty which he owes to himself." 3 
 The editor of the English translation of this author 
 (ed. 1797), defines the law of nature to be those 
 " rules which man must follow in order to attain 
 the great end of his being, viz., the most perfect 
 happiness of which he is susceptible." 4 "Ward adopts 
 the same idea, when he declares the fundamental 
 principles of this law to be " the desire of happiness, 
 the pursuit of good, and the rejection of evil." 5 The 
 same view is taken by Chancellor d'Aguesseau, 
 when he says, that " for a man to live according to 
 nature, is to follow in all things that course, which 
 conducts most surely to his true end, which is to be 
 as perfect and happy as is consistent with his 
 nature." 6 Similar is the definition of Burlamaqui : 
 " Those rules which nature alone prescribes to man, 
 in order to conduct him safely to the end which 
 every one has, and indeed ought to have, in view, 
 
 1 Institutes of Natural Law, Bk. I, ch. i, 5. 
 
 a Law of Nature and Nations, Bk. II, ch. iii, 1. 
 
 8 Law of Nations, Bel. Bk. p. 9. 
 
 4 Note to page Iviii. 5 Law of Nations, vol. i, p. 71. 
 
 6 Meditations Metaphysiques, xix; Oeuvres, torn, xiv, p. 460.
 
 12 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 namely, true and solid happiness." 1 Carlyle, speak- 
 ing in reference to negro slavery, says, " This is the 
 eternal law of nature for a man, that he shall be 
 permitted, encouraged, and if need be compelled, to 
 do what work the Maker of him has intended, by 
 the making of him for this world." 2 
 
 10. These varying definitions might be multi- 
 plied to almost any extent. 3 Sufficient have been 
 adduced for our purpose, viz. : first, to show that as 
 a general rule, men have very indefinite ideas, when 
 they speak of the law of nature, and would many 
 times be puzzled to explain their own meaning ; 
 second, to deduce from these the most satisfactory 
 idea of this law, for the investigation which we 
 undertake. From what has been said, it is evident 
 that whatever definition we adopt, the,_na_ture [_pf 
 man enters as a very important element, and if that 
 nature is subject to any variation, from race, or cli- 
 mate, or history, to that extent the consequences of 
 the law of nature must vary when applied to him. 4 
 
 1 The Principles of Natural Law, Pt. I, ch. i. 
 
 3 Letter on Rights of Negroes. So, again, "If thou do know 
 better than I, which is good and right, I conjure you, in the name 
 of God, force me to do it; were it by never such brass collars, whips, 
 and handcuffs, leave me not to walk over precipices." Past and 
 Present, Bk. Ill, ch. xiii. So again, "It is the everlasting pri- 
 vilege of the foolish to be governed by the wise, to be guided in the 
 right path by those who know it better than they. This is the 
 'first right of man.' " Latter Day Pamphlets, No. 1. 
 
 8 See Burrill's Law Dictionary; Bouvier's Law Dictionary; Web- 
 ster's Dictionary; Jacob's Law Dictionary; Holthouse's Law Dic- 
 tionary; Wheaton's Law of Nations, ch. i. 
 
 4 Sir James Mackintosh recognizes this fact, in his Introductory 
 Discourse on the Law of Nature and Nations. Essays, p. 29, 35.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 13 
 
 To illustrate. The German student, immersed for 
 years amid the ponderous tomes of some university 
 library, finds nothing in his voluntary imprisonment 
 uncongenial to his nature. But the American Indian 
 submitting to the same fate, would do violence to 
 the law of his nature, because his pursuit tends 
 nothing to the great end of his existence, the greatest 
 happiness of which he is susceptible. And hence 
 slavery jmji3r_be_uitej:lyjj^ 
 
 nature when applied to one race of men, and yet be 
 perfectly consistent with the nature of others. 1 
 
 11. Again. We must be careful to distinguish 
 between the state of nature and the law of nature. 
 Many things are contrary to the state of nature, 
 which are not contrary to the law of nature. Mar- 
 riage, government, all civilization is adverse to a 
 state of nature, yet it would be hardly asserted, that 
 thereby violence was done to the law of nature. A 
 celebrated Scotch commentator applies this distinc- 
 tion clearly and philosophically to the subject of 
 slavery : " It is indeed contrary to the state of 
 nature, by which all men were equal and free ; but 
 it is not repugnant to the law of nature, which does 
 not command men to remain in their native freedom, 
 nor forbid the preserving persons at the expense of 
 their liberty," &c. 2 Heineccius points out clearly the 
 same distinction, for while with all writers on the 
 
 So also Cicero, "Natura enim juris explicanda est nobis, eaque ab 
 hominis repetenda natura." De Leg. Lib. I, c. v. 
 
 1 Montesquieu, Spirit of Laws, Bk. XV, ch. viii. 
 
 3 McDouall's Institutes, Bk. I, tit. 2, 77, p. 66. Burlaraaqui 
 seems to favor this distinction, though not pointedly, in his Prin- 
 ciples of Natural Law, Pt. I, ch. iv, 11.
 
 14 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 civil law, he declares the natural freedom of all 
 men, he adds : " Posset videri servitus juri naturae 
 repugnare; sed id, merito negatur; servitus enim, in 
 se nihil aliud est, quam obligatio ad perpetuas 
 operas. Si non injustum est obligari ad annuas 
 operas, quidni et ad perpetuas ?"* " It may appear 
 that slavery is repugnant to the law of nature ; but 
 that may be properly denied. For slavery in itself 
 is nothing but an obligation for perpetual service. If 
 it be not wrong to be bound to serve for a year, why 
 not also for life ?" 2 And again, " Juri naturae, hujus 
 modi servitus non repugnant, sed tamen non est 
 juris naturae; quae ssepe auctores confundunt." 3 
 " This kind of slavery is not repugnant to the law of 
 nature, but yet is not of natural right, which often- 
 times authors confound." The admission therefore 
 of the proposition that " all men are created free," 
 or are free in a state of nature, does not carry with 
 it as a consequence that slavery is inconsistent with 
 the law of nature. " Jus natures tamen id non 
 impedit." 4 
 
 12. So the Roman law defined slavery to be a 
 condition, "qua quis dominio altero contra naturam, 
 
 1 PrEelec. Ac. in H. Grot. Lib. II, cap. v, 27. 
 
 3 Heinec. Prgelec. Ac. in H. Grot. Lib. II, cap. v, 27. 
 8 Ibid. 32. 
 
 4 Heinec. Prselec. Ac. in H. Grot. Lib. II, cap. v, 27. So also 
 Potgiesseri, speaking of slavery by captivity, " Tametsi servitus 
 ex captivitate orta sit contra naturam, id est, libertatem naturalem, 
 non tamen, hoc ipso, contra jus naturae erit." De statu serv. prol. 
 25. After stating the arguments, pro and con, he comes to the 
 same conclusion as to slaves by birth, 26, 27, 29. And as to 
 slaves by penalty of the law, 31.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 15 
 
 subjicitur." 1 But the commentators upon that law 
 warn us, " Id non intelligi debere ac si juri naturae 
 adversetur, sed tantum statui natural! sive primaevo, 
 in quo quilibet liber nascitur." 2 " This is not to be 
 understood as if it was opposed to the law of nature, 
 but only to that natural or primeval condition, in 
 which every one is born free." So Vinnius : " Hoc 
 est contra cominunem illam omnium hominum con- 
 ditionem, quam ab initio habuerunt a natura, quan- 
 quam justitiae natural! non repugnat, ex pactione aut 
 delicto servum fieri." 3 " This is contrary to that 
 common condition of all men, which they had, by 
 nature, from the beginning, although it is not repug- 
 nant to natural justice to become a slave, either by 
 contract or by crime." So Huberi : "Dicitur contra 
 naturam et contra jus naturae. Hoc est contra 
 statum naturae primaevum ut jus pro facultate accipi- 
 atur, non contra dictaraen rectse rationis : vel est con- 
 tra jus naturae permittens non praecipiens." 4 And 
 again, "servitutem cum ratione non pugnare, diximus 
 modo." 5 It is said to be contrary to nature and con- 
 trary to the law of nature. This is contrary to the 
 original state of nature, that right should be derived 
 from power, but it is not opposed to the dictates of 
 right reason, nor is it contrary to the law of nature, 
 which permits, but does not enjoin it, and we have 
 said above, that servitude does not conflict with reason. 
 13. The same distinction was taken by the 
 
 1 Just. Lib. I, tit. 2, 2. 
 
 a Potgiesseri, De statu servorum, proleg. XIII. 
 
 1 Vinnius, Comm. Lib. I, tit. 3, 2. 
 
 * Frselect. Lib. I, tit. 3, 3. Ibid. 6.
 
 16 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 Fathers of the Church, on the subject of slavery. 
 Bishop England, reviewing them at length, says : 
 " Thus, a state of voluntary slavery is not pro- 
 hibited by the law of nature." " All our theolo- 
 gians have, from the earliest epoch, sustained, that 
 though in a state of pure nature all men are equal, 
 yet the natural law does not prohibit one man from 
 having dominion over the useful actions of another, 
 as his slave." The following, quoted by him from 
 St. Thomas of Aquin, makes the point clearly : 
 " This man is a slave, absolutely speaking, rather a 
 son, not by any natural cause, but by reason of the 
 benefits which are produced ; for it is more beneficial 
 to this one to be governed by one who has more 
 wisdom, and to the other to be helped by the labor 
 of the former." 1 Cassagnac, pursuing the same idea, 
 gives us the views of other Fathers, to the same 
 effect. Thus, Saint Basil says : " He who, by the 
 weakness of the intellect, has not in him that which 
 nature requires, finds it to his interest to become the 
 slave of another, the experience of his master being 
 to him what the pilot is to the vessel." 2 
 
 14. With these preliminary remarks, we adopt, 
 as the law of nature, when applied to man in his 
 intercourse with his fellow-man, that obligation 
 which reason and conscience impose, so to shape 
 his course as to attain the greatest happiness, and 
 arrive at the greatest perfection of which his nature 
 
 1 Letters of Bishop England to Hon. John Forsyth, pp. 22, 23. 
 He quotes from St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. John Chrysostom, 
 Pope Gelasius I, &c. For the opinions of other Christian Fathers 
 on the subject of slavery, see ante, Preliminary Sketch. 
 
 9 Cassagnac, Voyage aux Antilles, torn, ii, p. 413. He quotes 
 also from St. Bernard.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 17 
 
 is susceptible. Consequently, whatever interferes 
 with the attainment of this happiness and perfec- 
 tion does violence to the law of his nature, and 
 whatever promotes or is consistent therewith is 
 sanctioned by the law of his nature. In this view, 
 natural rights depend entirely upon the nature of 
 the possessor, not of the right ; for, it is the former 
 and not the latter that determines the question of 
 right. Hence, to speak of the natural right to per- 
 sonal liberty is unphilosophical, until the previous 
 question is settled, that such liberty will conduce to 
 the happiness and perfection of the possessor. 
 
 15. In this view, is Negro Slavery consistent 
 with the Law of Nature ? We confine the inquiry 
 to negro slavery, because, upon the principles 
 already established, it is undoubtedly true, that the 
 enslavement, by one man or one race, of another 
 man or another race, physically, intellectually, and 
 morally, their equals, is contrary to the law of 
 nature, because it promotes not their happiness, 
 and tends not to their perfection. Much of the 
 confusion upon this subject has arisen from a failure 
 to notice this very palpable distinction. The ancient 
 Greeks were so far the superiors of their contempo- 
 raries, that it did no violence to the existing state 
 of things for their philosophers to declare their pre- 
 eminence, and draw thence the conclusions which 
 legitimately followed. Hence, Aristotle declared 
 that some men were slaves by nature, and that sla- 
 very was absolutely necessary to a perfect society. 1 
 
 } Polit. Lib. I, cap. i. Hence Euripides, Iphig. : 
 "Tis fit barbarians own the Grecian sway, 
 And not that Greece should serve a barbarous lord. 
 2
 
 18 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 16. On the contrary, the slaves of Europe during 
 the middle ages, and of Britain prior to the Norman 
 invasion, were many of the same race with their 
 masters, their equals in intelligence and in strength, 
 and nothing but the accidents of their birth distin- 
 guished them apart. It is not strange, therefore, 
 that their philosophers and jurists should see in such 
 slavery palpable violations of the law of nature, 
 and should have proclaimed that nature made them 
 all free and equal. 1 Montesquieu perceived this dis- 
 tinction and the different conclusions to which these 
 different states of fact gave rise, and hence, whilst 
 he says all slavery must be accounted unnatural, 
 yet he admits, that " in some countries it is founded 
 on natural reason," viz., " countries where the ex- 
 cess of heat enervates the body, and renders men so 
 slothful and dispirited, that nothing but the fear of 
 chastisement can oblige them to perform any labori- 
 ous duty." 2 Hence, he says, that " natural slavery 
 must be limited to some particular parts of the 
 world." 3 So Puffendorf says : " It is most evident 
 that some men are endued with such a happiness of 
 wit and parts, as enables them not only to provide 
 
 Wise nature made the law ; 'twas nature formed 
 Them to obey, and us to be obeyed."' 
 
 It is a curious fact, that Sir Thomas More, one of England's 
 purest and wisest judges, in his celebrated creation of fancy, Uto- 
 pia, provided each of his families, in this imaginary perfect world, 
 with two slaves to perform the menial offices, thereby confirming 
 Aristotle's opinion of the necessity of slavery to a perfect society. 
 
 1 Puffendorf, Bk. Ill, ch. ii; Montesquieu, Esprit des Lois, 
 Liv. XV, ch. yiii. 
 
 3 Spirit of Laws, Bk. XV, ch. vii. Ibid. ch. viii.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 19 
 
 for themselves and their own affairs, but to direct 
 and govern others. And that some again are so 
 extremely stupid and heavy, as to be unfit to 
 govern themselves, so that they either do mischief 
 or do nothing, unless others guide and compel them. 
 And farther, that these last being commonly fur- 
 nished by nature with strong and hardy bodies, are 
 capable of bringing many notable advantages to 
 others by their labor and service. Now, when these 
 have the fortune to live in subjection to a wise 
 director, they are without doubt fixed in such a 
 state of life as is most agreeable to their genius and 
 capacity." 1 
 
 17. So Heineccius : " Ipsa quorundam natura ad 
 servitutem aptissiina et tota comparata est, it a ut 
 nee actiones suasdirigere necvictum et amictum sibi 
 lucrari possint." 2 " The nature itself of some is so 
 fitted and prepared for servitude, that they can 
 neither direct their own actions nor furnish food and 
 clothing for themselves." Potgiesseri advances the 
 same opinion : " Ita enim societas humana comparata 
 est, ut alii licet se pacto, ad operas adhibendas 
 obstrinxerint, eas tamen, segniter et perfidiose per- 
 
 1 Law of Nature and Nations, Bk. Ill, ch. ii, 8 ; see also Bk. 
 VI, ch. iii, 2. He quotes from Apuleius as follows : " It is 
 most agreeable that a man who is neither by nature or industry 
 prepared for a right way of living, should not govern, but be 
 governed; should be a servant, not a master; should, upon account 
 of his own weakness and incapacity, be under the control of others; 
 should sustain the part of obeying, not of commanding." Carlyle 
 adopts the same reasoning, Latter Day Pamphlets, No. 1. Potgies- 
 seri advances the same opinion. 
 
 9 Praelec. Ac. ad H. Grop. Lib. H, cap. v, 27.
 
 20 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 ficiant, adeo, ut eos castigationibus ad officium sui 
 cogi necessum sit ; alii vero, a prgestatione mutuaa 
 opis sint alienissimi, et libertatem effrenam prsefer- 
 ant honestae et tolerabili addictioni, atque malint, 
 ex rapto et latrociniis vivere, et in furcam agi quam 
 licitis mediis inopiae suae consulere." 1 "For human 
 society is so constituted, that it is lawful for some 
 to bind themselves by contract to the performance 
 of duty, so that it maybe necessary to compel them 
 to its performance by stripes." So another learned 
 writer, in speaking of the slavery among the Turks, 
 says, " Non omnium ingenia inopem ferunt liberta- 
 tem, nee omnes ita nati sunt, ut se regere et suo 
 arbitrio recte uti sciant." " The natural tempera- 
 ment of all will not suffer helpless liberty, nor are 
 all so born that they know how to govern them- 
 selves, and rightly to use their own power." He 
 says, "Ceteroquin qui apud nos mendicant, apud 
 eos (the Turks) serviunt." " Otherwise, those who 
 beg with us, serve among them." And concludes, 
 " At nescio, an optime rebus nostris consuluit qui 
 servitutem primus sustulit." " And, I doubt whether 
 he consulted best our interests, who first abolished 
 slavery." 2 So Hertius, quoting Aristides : " Legem 
 esse naturse a potentioribus plane clariorem factam, 
 ut majoribus, minora pareant." " That this is the 
 law of nature, clearly is made to appear by the most 
 eminent, that the less should obey the greater." And 
 also Halicarnassus : " Naturae legem esse omnibus 
 
 1 De Statu Servorum, Proleg. 32. 
 
 9 Busheq. In Epistol. Turcie, Epist. III.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 21 
 
 insitam, quam nullum tempus dissolvat, deterioribus 
 semper imperare meliores." That this law of nature 
 is engrafted upon all, which no time destroys ; that 
 the noble always govern the ignoble. Also Plutarch : 
 "Naturae legem semper velle potiorem imperare 
 deterioribus." " That the law of nature always prefers 
 that the nobler should govern the ignoble." Hertius 
 adds: "Quanquam, ut dixi, hoc non sit proprie, 
 stricteque dicendum jus naturale. quoniam jus exi- 
 gendi nullum tribuit." "Though, as I have said, 
 this cannot be properly and strictly called a natural 
 right, since it gives no right of exaction." 1 
 
 18. Resuming then the inquiry as to the consis- 
 tency of negro slavery with the law of nature, the 
 first question which demands our attention, and 
 necessarily is preliminary to all other investigation, 
 is, what is the nature of the negro ? Were this ques- 
 tion asked of a mere animal, our inquiry would be 
 confined to his physical nature alone, and could we 
 show that, like the horse and the cow, the domesti- 
 cation and subjection to service did not impair, but 
 on the contrary improved his physical condition, the 
 conclusion would be inevitable, that such subjection 
 was consistent with his natural development, and 
 therefore not contrary to his nature. But we recog- 
 nize in the negro a man, endowed with reason, will, 
 and accountability, and in order to justify his sub- 
 jection we must inquire of his intellectual and moral 
 nature, and must be satisfied that its development is 
 thereby promoted. If this be true, if the physical, > 
 intellectual, and moral development of the African 
 
 1 De Coll. Leg. I, 3.
 
 22 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 X" 
 
 race are promoted by a state of slavery, and their 
 happiness secured to a greater extent than if left at 
 liberty, then their enslavement is consistent with 
 the law of nature, and violative of none of its provi- 
 sions. Is the negro's own happiness thereby best 
 promoted ? Is he therein most useful to his fellow- 
 man ? Is he thereby more surely led to the dis- 
 charge of his duty to God ? These, as we have seen, 
 are the great objects of the law of nature, " God, our 
 neighbor, and ourselves." 
 
 19. In this investigation, we should understand 
 distinctly the meaning to be attached to " Negro." 
 The black color alone does not constitute the negro, 
 nor does the fact of a residence and origin in Africa. 
 Agassiz very properly remarks, that "in Africa, 
 we have the Hottentot and Negro races in the south 
 and central portions respectively, while the people 
 of Northern Africa are allied to their neighbors in 
 Europe, just as we have seen to be the case with 
 the zoological fauna in general." 1 The language and 
 history of the nations of Northern Africa show them 
 to have a different and Asiatic origin. The people 
 we are inquiring of are thus described by Cuvier : 
 " The negro race is marked by a black complexion, 
 crisped or woolly hair, compressed cranium, and a 
 flat nose. The projection of the lower parts of the 
 face and the thick lips evidently approximate it to 
 the monkey tribe. The hordes of which it consists 
 have always remained in the most complete state of 
 utter barbarism." 2 And even of this very extensive 
 
 1 Principles of Zoology, by Agassiz and Gould, 180; see also Mar- 
 tin's Natural History of Man and Monkeys, p. 279. 
 
 Animal Kingdom, McMurtrie's translation of Bimanu ; p. 50.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 23 
 
 negro race, there are a great number of tribes, differ- 
 ing not so much in their physical as moral nature, 
 and adapting them more or less for a state of servi- 
 tude. This difference was well known among the 
 native tribes long before the Dutch, Portuguese, and 
 English vied with each other in extending the slave- 
 trade ; and the Mandingo slave-dealer had deter- 
 mined this question long before a mart was opened 
 for him by European enterprise. 1 Our inquiry, there- 
 fore, is properly confined to those tribes of negroes 
 who were in a state of servitude in their native 
 land, viz. : the Fantis, Ashantis, Krumen, Quaquas, 
 Congos, Ibos or Eboes, Whydah or Fidohs, Coro- 
 mantines, Mandingoes, c., and their descendants in 
 America. 
 
 20. First then is the inquiry as to the physical 
 adaptation of the negro to a state of servitude. His 
 black color peculiarly fits him for the endurance of 
 the heat of long-continued summers. 2 The arched 
 leg and receding heel seem to indicate a natural pre- 
 paration for strength and endurance. 3 The absence 
 of nervous irritability gives to him a complete ex- 
 
 1 See an interesting paper on this subject, by R. G. Latham, and 
 read in a course of Lectures, before the Royal Institution, Man- 
 chester, in " Ethnology of the British Colonies," pp. 33 to 75. 
 The planters in America soon discovered this difference, and hence 
 a Caffre or Cafir negro was never a favorite in their markets. See 
 upon this subject, also, Martin's Nat. Hist, of Man and Monkeys, 
 220, 280, 299. Cassagnac's Voyage aux Antilles, vol. ii, p. 129 ; 
 Levavasseur, Esclavage de la race noire, 77, n. 
 
 2 Copland's Diet, of Pract. Medicine, Article " Climate," A 
 Tribute for the Negro, p. 70 ; Chambers's Information for the 
 People, Art. "Physical History of Man." 
 
 3 Cassagnac, Voyage aux Antilles, torn, i, p. 130.
 
 24 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 emption from those inflammatory diseases so destruc- 
 tive in hot and damp atmospheres, and hence the 
 remarkable fact, that the ravages of that scourge of 
 the tropics, the yellow fever, never reach the negro 
 race. 1 In other portions of the body, especially the 
 formation of the pelvis, naturalists have discovered 
 a well-defined deterioration in the negro which, a late 
 learned observer, Yrolik, of Amsterdam, has declared, 
 shows "a degradation in type, and an approach 
 towards the lower form of animals." 2 So the arched 
 dome of the head and the perpendicularity of the 
 vertebral column are said, by an observant writer, 
 to be characteristic, and to fit the negro peculiarly 
 for the bearing of burdens upon the head. 3 
 
 1 Types of Mankind, by Nott & Gliddon, 68 ; Dr. Mosely's 
 Treatise on Tropical Diseases. He says: "What would be the 
 cause of insupportable pain to a white man, a negro would almost 
 disregard. I have amputated the legs of many negroes, who have 
 held the upper part of the limbs themselves." See also, on the 
 peculiar diseases of negroes, Guenebault's Nat. Hist, of Negro 
 Race, 76 ; White's Regular Gradation in Man, 73-79 ; see also 
 Indigenous Races of Man, p. 380, et seq. No case of yellow fever 
 has ever occurred in Liberia. 
 
 3 I am indebted for this fact to Prichard's Nat. Hist, of Man, p. 
 123. 
 
 3 Smith's Nat. History of Human Race, 191. Professor Soem- 
 mering enumerates forty-six distinct differences in the anatomy 
 of the Negro from the European race. Ueber die koerperliche 
 Verschiedenheit des Negers, v. d. Europ., 1785, referred to in 
 Guenebault's Natural History of the Negro Race, p. 57. 
 
 Lawrence (p. 246), describing the negro variety, says, " 1. Nar- 
 row and depressed forehead, the entire cranium contracted ante- 
 riorly; the cavity less, both in its circumference and transverse 
 measurements. 2. Occipital foramen and condyles placed further 
 back. 3. Large space for the temporal muscles. 4. Great deve- 
 lopment of the face. 5. Prominence of the jaws altogether, and
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 25 
 
 21. As a connecting link between the physical 
 and mental capacity of the negro, we may consider 
 
 particularly of their alveolar margins and teeth; consequent obli- 
 quity of the facial line. 6. Superior incisors slanting. 7. Chin 
 receding. 8. Very large and strong zygomatic arch, projecting 
 towards the front. 9. Large nasal cavity. 10. Small and flat- 
 tened ossa nasi ; sometimes consolidated and running into a point 
 above. In all the particulars just enumerated, the negro structure 
 unequivocally approximates to that of the monkey. It not only 
 differs from the Caucasian model, but is distinguished from it in 
 two respects : the intellectual characters are reduced ; the animal 
 features enlarged and exaggerated. . . . This inferiority of orga- 
 nization is attended with corresponding inferiority of faculties, 
 which may be proved, not so much by the unfortunate beings who 
 are degraded by slavery, as by every fact in the past history and 
 present condition of Africa." 
 
 Nott & Gliddon say, "A man must be blind not to be struck by 
 similitudes between some of the lower races of mankind, viewed 
 as connecting links in the animal kingdom, nor can it be rationally 
 affirmed that the ourang-outang and chimpanzee are more widely 
 separated from certain African and Oceanic negroes, than are the 
 latter from the Teutonic or Pelasgic types." Types of Mankind, 
 457. 
 
 Dr. "Wyman, of Harvard University, after pointing out clearly 
 the difference between the negro and ourang-outang, adds : " Yet 
 it cannot be denied, however wide the separation, that the negro 
 and ourang-outang do afford the points where man and the brute 
 when the totality of their organization is considered most nearly 
 approach each other." 1 
 
 Charles White, a naturalist of Manchester, as early as 1795, 
 published a work, in which he pointed out twenty-eight distinct 
 points of difference between the African and European, and in all 
 of which the latter approached the brute creation. 9 
 
 I am indebted to the Indigenous Races of Man, and the Arti- 
 
 1 Troglodytes Gorilloe, Boston Jour, of Nat. Hist. 1847, p. 27. Quoted by 
 Dr. Nott, p. 457. 
 
 * An Account of the Regular Gradation in Man (London), 83.
 
 26 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY, 
 
 the osteological formation of his head, and compara- 
 tive size of the brain. The opinion of Cuvier we 
 have already noticed. Good, in describing the negro, 
 says : " The head is narrow ; the face narrow, pro- 
 jecting to the lower part. The countenance, in this 
 variety, recedes farther than in any other from the 
 European, and approaches much nearer than in any 
 other that of the monkey." 1 Camper, Soemmering, 
 Lawrence, Virey, Ebel, and Blumenbach, agree that 
 the brain is smaller ; and Gall, Spurzheim, and 
 Combe, that it is so distributed as to denote less 
 capacity for reasoning and judging. 2 On the con- 
 trary, Prof. Tiedemann, in a paper giving the result 
 of his investigations and experiments on a large 
 number of skulls, concludes that in mere bulk the 
 brain of the negro is very nearly equal that of the 
 European. 3 Dr. Morton's experiments and observa- 
 
 cle by F. Pulszky, for the following anecdote, taken from Petro- 
 nius, who wrote in the days of Nero, going to show that the distinc- 
 tive features of the negro were well known in his day : Three 
 vagrants, having taken passage on a vessel, discovered that the 
 merchant owner was a person formerly robbed by them. One pro- 
 poses to black their faces with ink, and pass as Ethiopians ; but 
 the other exclaims, in reply, " As if color alone could transform 
 our shape ! for many things have to conspire that the lie might be 
 maintained, under any circumstances ; or can we fill our lips with 
 an ugly swelling ? can we crisp our hair with an iron ? and mark 
 our forehead with scars? and distend our shanks into a curve? 
 and draw our heels down to the earth ?" p. 191. 
 
 1 Book of Nature, p. 214. 
 
 8 Martin's Nat. Hist, of Man and Monkeys, 301 ; Bachman on 
 the Unity of the Race, 224 ; Guenebault's Nat. Hist, of Negro 
 Race, 33 ; Types of Mankind, 403. 
 
 8 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1836 ; p. 
 479.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 27 
 
 tions seem to have led him to the conclusion that 
 the brain of the negro was somewhat smaller. 1 
 Without seeking to hold the balance between these 
 authorities, we may remark, that it is too well 
 settled now to be a matter of doubt, that the size of 
 the brain is not the only criterion for deciding upon 
 the mental capacity of the possessor ; and philoso- 
 phers least disposed to profess faith in phrenology 
 as a science, are forced to admit that the arrange- 
 ment and location of the brain, by some mysterious 
 law, are, as a general rule, indicative of the mental 
 power. 2 The application of Camper's facial line and 
 facial angle demonstrated the inferiority of the negro 
 in this particular, and Prof. Tiedemann does not 
 seek to deny the correctness of the result thus 
 tested. 3 
 
 22. Second. The mental inferiority of the negro 
 has been often asserted and never successfully de- 
 nied. An inviting field for digression is offered here, 
 in the much-mooted question of the unity of the 
 human race. It is unnecessary for our purposes to 
 enter these lists. The law deals with men and 
 things as they are, and whether the negro was origi- 
 nally a different species, or is a degeneration of the 
 
 1 Germanic nations, 92 cubic inches; negroes, 83; Types of 
 Mankind, p. 454 ; see Tables prepared by Dr. Meigs, in Indi- 
 genous Kaces of Man, p. 257 ; Bachman on Unity of Race, 227. 
 
 9 Consult, directly on this point, Combe's Review of Morton's 
 Crania Americana; Amer. Journal of Science and Art, vol. 
 xxxviii, No. 2. 
 
 3 Phil. Trans, of Royal Soc. 1836; see also Prichard's Nat. Hist. 
 of Man, 111, 112; and the Natural History of the Human Species, 
 by Lieut. Charles H. Smith, p. 190 ; Martin's Nat. Hist, of Man 
 and Monkeys, p. 296.
 
 28 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 same, is a matter indifferent in the inquiry as to his 
 proper status in his present condition. We deal 
 with him as we find him, and according to the mea- 
 sure of his capacity, it is our duty to cultivate and 
 improve him, leaving to time to solve the problem, 
 whether he is capable of restoration to that pristine 
 equality, from which his admirers maintain that he 
 has fallen. 1 
 
 23. Mentally inferior, now, certainly he is. 
 Says Lawrence : " The mind of the negro is inferior 
 to that of the European, and his organization also is 
 less perfect." 2 And this he proves, " not so much 
 by the unfortunate beings who are degraded by 
 slavery, as by every fact in the past history and 
 present condition of Africa." 3 Says Charles Hamil- 
 ton Smith whose opportunities for observing and 
 judging, for ten years, on the Coast of Africa and in 
 the West Indies (1797 to 1807), were unsurpassed, 
 and whose sympathies he confesses are with the 
 negro, " The typical woolly-haired races have 
 never invented a reasoned theological system, dis- 
 covered an alphabet, framed a grammatical lan- 
 guage, nor made the least step in science or art. 4 
 
 1 The following curious fable is translated from the Arabic, by 
 Rosenrnuller : "Niger in die quodam exuit vestas suas, incipit 
 que capere nivem et fricare cum ea corpus suum. Dictum autem 
 ei fuit : quare fricas corpus tuuin nive ? Et dixit ille, fortasse 
 albescam. Venitque vir quidam sapiens qui dixit ei : tu, ne 
 afflige te ipsum : fieri enim potest ut corpus tuum nigram faciat 
 nivem, ipsum autem non amittet nigredinem." Locmanni, Fabula 
 XXIII. 
 
 As to the probability of time effecting a radical change, see 
 Types of Mankind, p. 260, et seq. 
 
 * Lectures on Slavery, p. 74. 8 Page 246. 
 
 * F. Pulszky, iu his Iconographic Researches, furnished
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 29 
 
 They have never comprehended what they have 
 learned, or retained a civilization taught them by 
 contact with more refined nations, as soon as that 
 contact had ceased. They have at no time formed 
 great political states, nor commenced a self-evolving 
 civilization ; conquest with them has been confined 
 to kindred tribes and produced only slaughter. 
 Even Christianity, of more than three centuries 
 duration in Congo, has scarcely excited a progres- 
 sive civilization." 1 Says Knox : " The grand quali- 
 ties which distinguish man from the animal ; the 
 generalizing powers of pure reason ; the love of per- 
 fectibility ; the desire to know the unknown ; and 
 last and greatest, the ability to observe new pheno- 
 mena and new relations, these mental faculties are 
 deficient or seem to be so in all dark races. But if 
 it be so, how can they become civilized ? What 
 hopes for their progress?" 2 These questions are 
 
 Messrs. Nott & Gliddon, for their late work on the Indigenous 
 Races of Man, speaking of the black race, says, " Long as his- 
 tory has made mention of negroes, they have never had any art of 
 their own. Their features are recorded by their ancient enemies, 
 not by themselves." p. 188. 
 
 Hume, in his Essay on National Characters, after arguing for the 
 superiority of the whites over all other races, and attributing to 
 them all civilization, says, "There are negro slaves dispersed all 
 over Europe, of which none ever discovered any symptoms of 
 ingenuity." 
 
 1 The Natural History of the Human Species, its Typical Forms, 
 &c. (Edinburgh), p. 196. " In no part of this extended region 
 (Negro Africa) is there an alphabet, a hieroglyphic, or even a pic- 
 ture, or symbol of any description." Murray's Encyclopaedia of 
 Geography, vol. iii, p. 38 ; see also Chambers's Information for the 
 People, Art. Physical History of Man. 
 
 3 Lectures on the Races of Men, 190.
 
 80 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 answered by a most observant and intelligent French 
 traveller in the West Indies : " The friends of use- 
 ful and moral liberty should strive to maintain the 
 supremacy of the white race, until the black race 
 understands, loves, and practises the duties and 
 obligations of civilized life." 1 
 
 24. Carlyle places this question in an eccentric 
 but plain view, addressing himself to the emancipated 
 negroes of the West Indies : " You are not slaves 
 now ! nor do I wish, if it can be avoided, to see you 
 slaves again ; but decidedly you will have to be ser- 
 vants to those that are born wiser than you, that 
 are born lords of you ; servants to the whites if they 
 are (as what mortal man can doubt they are?) born 
 wiser than you. That, you may depend on it, my 
 obscure black friends, is and was always the law of 
 the world for you and for all men to be servants, the 
 
 more foolish of us to the more wise Heaven's 
 
 laws are not repealable by earth, however earth 
 may try?" 2 
 
 25. The intelligent, unprejudiced writers of the 
 nori-slaveholding States of America, are constrained 
 to admit the inferiority of the negro mind. Pauld- 
 ing, speaking of amalgamation, says : " It is a scheme 
 for lowering the standard of our nature, by approxi- 
 mating the highest grade of human beings to the 
 lowest." 3 And, " We have a right to conclude, from 
 all history and experience, that there is an equal 
 disparity of mental organization." " The experience 
 
 1 Cassagnac, Voyage aux Antilles, torn, ii, p. 291. 
 * Letter on Rights of Negroes ; inserted, at length, in Negroma- 
 nia, 502, et seq. 
 
 3 Paulding, on Slavery in the United States, 61.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 31 
 
 of years stands arrayed against the principle of 
 equality between the white man and the black." 
 " All that the black man has ever done is to ap- 
 proach to the lowest scale of intellectual eminence, 
 and the world has demonstrated its settled opinion 
 of his inferiority by pronouncing even this a wonder." 1 
 Dr. Morton, impartial and scientific as he is acknow- 
 ledged to be, says : " It makes little difference whether 
 the mental inferiority of the negro, the Samoyede, 
 or the Indian, is natural or acquired; for if they ever 
 possessed equal intelligence with the Caucasian, they 
 have lost it, and if they never had it, they had 
 nothing to lose. One party would arraign Providence 
 for creating them originally different, another for 
 placing them in circumstances by which they inevi- 
 tably became so. Let us search out the truth, and 
 reconcile it afterwards." 2 Judge Conrad says : " The 
 negro in the North has equal, if not superior, advan- 
 tages to the mass of poor white men. ... It cannot, 
 however, be boasted that his intellectual character 
 has been materially elevated, or his moral nature 
 greatly improved." 3 George H. Calvert says : " At 
 one end of the human scale is the black man, at the 
 other the white ; between them the brown and the 
 yellow. The white man never comes into contact 
 and conflict with the others, that he does not con- 
 quer them." 4 We might add the names of Browne, 
 the triumphant opponent of Prichard, on the sub- 
 
 1 Pages 66 and 67. 
 
 3 Letter to Mr. Gliddon, quoted in Types of Mankind, p. lii 
 of Memoir. 3 Plea for the South, 230. 
 
 * Scenes and Thoughts in Europe, 2d Series, p. 72.
 
 32 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 ject of the hair of the negro, English/ Van Am- 
 bridge, 2 and others. 
 
 26. Puynode, a French philanthropist, says : 
 " We no longer consider negroes as devoted to the 
 hatred of God, but we hold them generally, almost 
 universally, as our inferiors by their own nature." 3 
 Levavasseur, another, says : " In times past, as now, 
 it seems that the negro race, left to themselves, can- 
 not arrive at civilization." 4 
 
 27. In this opinion of the mental inferiority of 
 the negro, every distinguished naturalist agrees. 
 We have already seen that most of them agree as 
 to their physical inferiority in the size of the brain. 
 To those already named, we might add White, Bory 
 St. Vincent, Long, and last, in order of time, Count 
 A. de Gobineau, whose much-praised " Essai sur 
 1'Inegalite des races humaines," I regret I have not 
 been able to examine. Prichard, it is true, who, in 
 maintaining the unity of the race, sees fit to become, 
 very unnecessarily, the defender and apologist of the 
 negro, yet even he is forced to admit that, " by the 
 animality or degradation of the forms of the pelvis, 
 peculiar to the negress and the Bushman or Hotten- 
 tot, is implied an approach towards the forms of 
 these latter species" (the chimpantsi and ourang- 
 outang). 5 The great Humboldt, in his late "Cosmos," 
 while declining virtually to enter the lists on the 
 question of monogeny, without discussing the ques- 
 
 1 See Types of Mankind, 50 ; Negromania, 430. 
 On Nat. Hist, of Man (Negromania, 369). 
 8 De PEsclavage et des Colonies, 12. 
 
 4 L'Esclavage de la race noire, 77, 80, 84. 
 
 5 Nat. Hist, of Man, 125.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 33 
 
 tion, "repels the assumption of superior and inferior 
 races of men." 1 Even so great an authority must 
 yield to stubborn facts. 
 
 28. Even the champions of the negro's freedom, 
 who have distinguished themselves by their zeal, 
 both in England and America, are forced to admit 
 the apparent inferiority, and to ascribe the same to 
 the degradation of slavery and other causes, which, 
 in their opinion, if removed, would enable the negro 
 to assert and prove his equality. Says Buxton : 
 " I beg to call attention to certain indications, faint 
 no doubt, but, considering the difficulties and impedi- 
 ments to improvement in Africa, encouraging indi- 
 cations, of a capability for better things." 2 Says 
 Armistead, in a late elaborate " Tribute for the 
 Negro :" " The present apparent inferiority of the 
 negro race is undoubtedly attributable, in a great 
 measure, to the existence of the slave-traffic in 
 Africa." 3 Wilberforce admitted the same fact, and 
 referred it to the same cause. 4 
 
 29. The American philanthropists have been 
 equally constrained to acknowledge the apparent 
 inferiority, and equally industrious in accounting 
 therefor. 5 " The Caucasian," says Theodore Parker, 
 
 1 Vol. i, p. 358 (Harper's edition). As to the correctness of 
 this translation, see Indigenous Races of Man, 405, et seq. 
 3 The Slave-Trade and Remedy, by T. F. Buxton, p. 459. 
 
 3 A Tribute for the Negro, by Wilson Armistead, Manchester, 
 1848, p. 19. 
 
 4 Appeal in behalf of the Negro Slaves of the "West Indies. 
 
 5 Channing on Slavery, ii, 66 ; Bacon on Slavery, p. 171 ; Miss 
 Beecher on the Slave Question, 143 ; Godwin's Lectures on Sla- 
 very, 153-156 ; Freeman's Plea for Africa, 18 ; Andrews on Sla- 
 very and the Slave-Trade, in the United States, 21 ; Mrs. Childs's 
 
 3
 
 34 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 " differs from all other races. He is humane, he is 
 civilized, he progresses. He conquers with his head 
 as well as with his hand. It is intellect, after all, 
 that conquers, not the strength of a man's arm. The 
 Caucasian has often been the master of other races, 
 never their slave. Republics are Caucasian. All 
 the great sciences are of Caucasian origin. All in- 
 ventions are Caucasian. Literature and romance 
 come of the same stock." 1 It will be noticed, that 
 among these names, cited and quoted, no slaveholder 
 appears, not even that of Mr. Jeiferson, who is so 
 often quoted as authority against the slaveholder. 2 
 We might add the names of many men whose intel- 
 lects were too bright to be dimmed by interest, and 
 whose hearts were too pure to be closed to the claims 
 of humanity. We refer to Dew, Harper, Campbell, 
 Calhoun, Simms, Hammond, Fletcher, Priest, and 
 others. 
 
 30. Our conclusion from this investigation must 
 be, that the negro race is inferior mentally to the 
 Caucasian. Whether or not this inferiority is the 
 result of centuries of barbarism or of the degrading 
 effects of a state of slavery, we will presently briefly 
 inquire. Certain it is that the negro, as we now find 
 
 Appeal, 155. She says, p. 189, "The opinion that negroes are 
 naturally inferior in intellect, is almost universal among white 
 men." See also Second Annual Hep. of New England Anti-Sla- 
 very Society, pp. 18, 19, 22, 23; and Fourth Annual Rep. of Mass. 
 Anti-Slavery Society, p. 28. 
 
 1 Quoted by Nott, Types of Mankind, 462. 
 
 " See his Notes on Virginia, where he says, " Never yet could I 
 find that a black had uttered a thought above the level of plain 
 narration ; never saw even an elementary trait of painting or sculp- 
 ture."
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 35 
 
 him, whether in a state of bondage or in his native 
 wilds, exhibits such a weakness of intellect that, in 
 the words of Puffendorf, " when he has the fortune 
 to live in subjection to a wise director, he is, with- 
 out doubt, fixed in such a state of life as is most 
 agreeable to his genius and capacity." 1 
 
 31. The prominent defect in the mental organi- 
 zation of the negro, is a want of judgment. He 
 forms no definite idea of effects from causes. He 
 cannot comprehend, so as to execute the simplest 
 orders, unless they refresh his memory as to some 
 previous knowledge. 2 He is imitative, sometimes 
 eminently so, but his mind is never inventive or 
 suggestive. 3 Improvement never enters into his 
 imagination. A trodden path, he will travel for 
 years, without the idea ever suggesting itself to his 
 brain, that a nearer and better way is present before 
 him ; what he has seen another do, he can do also, 
 and practice will make him perfect in its execution, 
 but the discovery of a better, easier, or cheaper pro- 
 
 1 Law of Nature and Nations, Bk. Ill, ch. ii, 8. 
 
 2 Ca. da Mosto, the earliest of modern European travellers in 
 Africa (1454), says, "Although very ignorant and awkward in 
 going about anything which they have not been accustomed to, yet 
 in their own business which they are acquainted with, they are as 
 expert as any Europeans can be." Astley's Voyages, vol. i, p. 582. 
 
 3 The following is from the Keport of one of the visitors to the 
 schools, including white and negro children : " I have uniformly 
 found the blacks inferior to the whites, in every branch of educa- 
 tion requiring mental effort. In writing and painting they bear a 
 tolerable comparison j but in reading, grammar, geography, and 
 more particularly arithmetic, requiring the greatest mental effort, 
 they are vastly below the level of a comparison." Extracted from 
 Paulding, on Slavery in the United States, 279, 280.
 
 36 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 cess never engages his thoughts. Faustin I, can 
 imitate with ludicrous nicety all the pageantry of 
 the Grand Emperor, but when his model ceases, his 
 genius has executed its utmost. 1 This mental defect, 
 connected with the indolence and want of foresight 
 of the negro, is the secret of his degradation. The 
 imitative faculty makes the negro a good musician, 
 yet he never originates a single air, nor invents a 
 musical instrument. 2 This faculty, combined with 
 memory, sometimes might distinguish him in the 
 acquisition of language, yet he never would originate 
 an alphabet or distinguish the parts of speech. 3 The 
 earlier training of the child at school exercises 
 largely and depends much upon memory and imita- 
 tion. Hence negro children would learn with equal 
 facility with the white, during the first essays in the 
 school-room, but so soon as education reaches the 
 point where reason and judgment and reflection 
 are brought into action, the Caucasian leaves the 
 negro groping hopelessly in the rear. 4 
 
 32. Our next inquiry is as to the moral cha- 
 racter of the negro race, and how far that character 
 adapts them for a state of slavery. The degraded 
 situation of the barbarous tribes of Africa is well 
 attested by every observer. So debased is their 
 
 1 Travellers inform us that everything in Liberia is a mere tran- 
 script of American ideas. See Bowen's Central Africa. 
 
 3 Nat. Hist, of Human Species, &c., by Lieut.-Col. Smith (Lon- 
 don, 1848), p. 190. 8 Types of Mankind, 456. 
 
 4 Xat. Hist, of Human Species, by Lieut.-Col. Smith, 191 ; 
 Lyell's Second Visit to United States, vol. i, p. 105. Mrs. Stowe 
 admits this fact, but seeks to account for it on different principles. 
 Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, Pt. I, ch. xii.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 37 
 
 condition generally, that their humanity has been 
 even doubted. It is not of the negro in this state of 
 barbarism alone, that we should inquire. The deve- 
 lopment of his moral character, when in contact 
 with civilization, and under the fostering care of 
 religious instruction, is also to be considered. View- 
 ing him then in both these relations, we find, first, 
 that the negro race are habitually indolent and in- 
 disposed to exertion, whether seen in their native 
 country, according to the concurrent testimony of 
 all travellers, 1 or in the condition of slavery in 
 America, or as free negroes after emancipation. 2 
 With reference to the first fact, we are told that the 
 hot climate and the free productions of the earth, on 
 the one hand enervate, and on the other take away 
 all stimulus for exertion. With reference to the 
 second, that it is the degrading effect of slavery, 
 leaving no hope to the slave. With reference to the 
 third, that it is the prejudice of color that depresses 
 the spirits of the free negro of America. We will 
 not stop to inquire as to the truth of these apologies. 
 One thing is certain, that the ingenuity of the phi- 
 lanthropist is severely taxed in behalf of the negro 
 
 1 I am aware that some expressions may be found in the works 
 of travellers, varying from the general current. These may serve 
 well the purposes of fanatics; but to the mind of those accustomed 
 to decide upon testimony, they make no impression. 
 
 3 "The blacks living in London are generally profligate. . . . 
 Being friendless and despised, on account of their complexion, 
 and too many of them being really incapable of any useful occu- 
 pation, they sink into abject poverty." Walstron's Essay on Colo- 
 nization. As to the free blacks of the North, see Paulding, on 
 Slavery in United States, p. 66. As to the Liberians, see Prelimi- 
 nary Sketch, ch. xvii.
 
 38 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 race, for wherever found they exhibit the same cha- 
 racteristics, and the reasons are obliged to be varied 
 to suit the varying circumstances. Perhaps it is 
 but right to remark, that this enervating effect of 
 climate has never proved so powerful upon the 
 white race, physically less prepared to withstand it; 
 that slavery did not to this extent destroy the spirit 
 of the Israelites in Egypt, nor of the villains in 
 England, nor of the homines proprii of Germany. 1 
 And that in Hay ti, in Jamaica, in Brazil, and New 
 Granada, no such prejudice of color exists, and yet 
 notwithstanding the variant testimony of prejudiced 
 observers, there can be no question that neither the 
 enjoyment of liberty, nor the ingenuity of British 
 statesmanship, has been sufficient to infuse energy 
 and activity, where the Maker stamped indolence 
 and sloth. 2 
 
 33. In connection with this indolent disposition, 
 may be mentioned the want of thrift and foresight 
 in the negro race. When enslaved, there is no great 
 necessity for the development of this faculty, and 
 this may account for its absence, but unfortunately 
 for the friends of negro equality, it displays itself 
 more palpably in the free negro than in the slave. 3 
 We speak of course of the general character, admit- 
 
 1 See remarks, on this point, of J. K. Paulding, in his Treatise 
 on Slavery in the United States, p. 69, et seq. 
 
 2 See Wallon, de 1'Esclavage dans les Colonies, 81. For a faith- 
 ful representation of the effects of liberty upon the Haytians, and 
 the inhabitants of French Guiana, see Levavasseur's Esclavage de la 
 race noire, p. 22, et seq. j Schoelcher's Colonies Etrangeres, vol. ii, 
 Haiti." 
 
 3 See Walstron's Essay on Colonization, as above ; Paulding, on 
 Slavery in the United States, 59.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 39 
 
 ting the existence of individual exceptions. In their 
 native wilds, with a most productive soil, they have 
 recourse to the " most revolting food, as frogs, li- 
 zards, serpents, spiders, the larvaa of insects, &c. 
 &C." 1 In the free West India Islands, the same in- 
 dolence appears, and is excused on account of cli- 
 mate, &c. And, even in the cold climate of the 
 Northern States, where the apology fails to apply, 
 the result of the labored efforts of philanthropists, 
 aided by the sympathies of the whole community, is 
 " idleness, insolence, and profligacy." 2 
 
 34. The negro is not malicious. His disposition 
 is to forgive injuries, and to forget the past. 3 His 
 gratitude is sometimes enduring, and his fidelity 
 often remarkable. His passions and affections are 
 seldom very strong, and are never very lasting. 
 The dance will allay his most poignant grief, 4 and"" 
 a few days blot out the memory of his most bitter 
 bereavement. His natural affection is not strong, 
 and consequently he is cruel to his own offspring, 
 and suffers little by separation from them. 5 He is 
 superstitious and reverential, and consequently is 
 very susceptible of religious impressions, exhibiting, 
 in many individual instances, a degree of faith un- 
 surpassed, and a Christian deportment free from 
 
 1 Lawrence's Lectures on Slavery, 324. 
 
 2 Paulding, on Slavery in the United States, 66, et seq. 
 
 3 Channing, on Slavery ; Candler's Brief Notices of Hayti. 
 
 * It is a curious fact, that upon one of the monuments in Egypt, 
 a company of negro slaves are represented in a dance, 1300 years 
 before Christ. 
 
 5 Lawrence, Lectures on Slavery, 325 ; Cassagnac's Voyage aux 
 Antilles, vol. i, pp. 167, 169, 235.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 blemish. He is passive and obedient, and conse- 
 quently easily governed. 1 
 
 35. The negro is naturally mendacious, and 
 as a concomitant, thievish. 3 His apologists have 
 referred these traits to his bondage, and have in- 
 stanced the Israelites borrowing the Egyptian gold, 
 and the cases of Europeans enslaved by the barba- 
 rians in Africa, to show that such is the effect of 
 slavery. Unfortunately, however, the prisons and 
 court records of the non-slaveholding States show 
 that enfranchisement has not taught the negro race 
 honesty, nor caused them to cease from petty pil- 
 fering. 3 And the census of Liberia shows the same 
 disposition, as exhibited by their criminal court 
 calendar. 4 
 
 36. Another striking trait of negro character is 
 lasciviousness. Lust is his strongest passion ; and 
 hence, rape is an offence of too frequent occurrence. 
 Fidelity to the marriage relation they do not under- 
 stand and do not expect, neither in their native 
 country nor in a state of bondage. 5 The latter, to 
 
 1 See A Tribute for the Negro, 163 ; Nat. Hist, of Human 
 Species, Lieut.-Col. Smith, 196. 
 
 a Ca. da Mosto says, "They are liars and cheats;" Astley's Voy- 
 ages, vol. i, p. 582. 
 
 8 Paulding, on Slavery in the United States, 59. Judge Conrad, 
 in his Plea for the South (1836), says, "The, free blacks are, in 
 the mass, the most ignorant, voluptuous, idle, vicious, impoverished, 
 and degraded population of this country. . . . They have sunk 
 lower than the Southern slaves, and constitute but a melancholy 
 proof of the advantages of abolition." p. 230. 
 
 * Of 373 offences, 308 were for larceny of different degrees. See 
 Census of 1845. 
 
 5 See Lawrence's Lectures on Slavery, pp. 325, 326, for proofs 
 as to their debauchery, sensuality and cruelty.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 41 
 
 some extent, is the fault of the law. Yet, colonized 
 on their native shores, the same disregard for the 
 marriage tie is noticed, and regretted by their 
 friends. 
 
 37. Let us now briefly notice the positions of 
 those who deny the inferiority of the negro race. 
 When the fact is stated that, living for centuries in 
 contact with civilization, yet the negro tribes of 
 Africa have never received or exhibited its influ- 
 ences ; that they never have produced a single 
 example of organized government ; that they have 
 never exhibited the first evidence of a self-evolving 
 civilization, not even in the formation of an alpha- 
 bet, a hieroglyphic, or a symbol, much less a gram- 
 matical language, we are referred to Egypt, the 
 cradle of literature and the sciences, and trium- 
 phantly asked if Africa was not the very fountain 
 whence all the streams of enlightenment flow ; and 
 the authority of Herodotus is invoked, to show that 
 the ancient Egyptians were of " a black complexion 
 and woolly-haired." Cuvier, Morton, Gliddon, and 
 others, versed in Egyptian antiquities, have proven 
 so many errors in the account that the " Father of 
 History" has given of the land of the Nile, as to 
 discredit his testimony, and to cause doubts even as 
 to his having ever visited the country. 1 That there 
 were negroes in Egypt, as slaves, at that period, 
 there can be no doubt, but, that the ruling castes of 
 
 1 Types of Mankind ; Morton's Crania Egyptiaca, 22-29 j In- 
 dustrial Resources of the South, vol. ii, p. 200, et seq. Dr. Pri- 
 chard, himself, seems to have little confidence in the accuracy of 
 Herodotus; see Analysis of Egyptian Mythology (London, 1838), 
 p. 374; and Examination, &c., of Egyptian Chronology, p. 17.
 
 42 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 the Egyptians were of the Caucasian race is equally 
 free from difficulty. 1 Was there no other evidence? 
 the ten thousand mummies, that have been ex- 
 humed and examined, and the numerous deeds, de- 
 scribing the persons of the contractor, are, every one, 
 witnesses to disprove the assertion of the negro origin 
 of the Egyptians. 2 The lower castes (herdsmen, 
 agriculturists, and artisans), were very numerous, 
 and many of these, doubtless, were negroes. In fact, 
 it was the boast of one of the Pharaohs that no 
 native Egyptians had placed a brick in one of the 
 huge pyramids that he built. Herodotus being igno- 
 rant of the language of the Egyptians, and not very 
 accurate in his observations, may have thus mistaken, 
 the numerous for the ruling caste. This interesting 
 question opens an inviting field for digression. We 
 must content ourselves with referring the curious to 
 the authorities relied on for our conclusions. 
 
 38. The uncertain and as yet unlocated Ethiopia 
 of the ancients, is also referred to as an example of 
 negro civilization. 3 When discovered, and its monu- 
 ments, and people, and works of art, and records of 
 history, are brought before the world, we will be 
 called on to examine the witness, and determine his 
 
 1 See Industrial Resources of the South, vol. ii, p. 200 ; Types 
 of Mankind, passim, and Negromania, 108 ; Lawrence's Lectures 
 on Slavery, 229-237; see Prichard's Analysis of Egyptian Mytho- 
 logy (London, 1838), p. 374. 
 
 3 Authorities cited above. 
 
 3 The first book of the Iliad comes as near locating as any other 
 authority, where the mother of Achilles tells him that Jupiter is 
 "not at home," having set off with all the gods "to feast with the 
 excellent Ethiopians."
 
 WHAT IS SLAVEKY. 43 
 
 competency and credibility. From the examination 
 I have been able to give this question, I am disposed 
 to believe, that with the ancients Ethiopia included 
 all unknown or little known and unexplored coun- 
 tries. It certainly included India and Central Africa. 
 39. The ancient kingdom of Meroe has also 
 been referred to sometimes as evidence of a negro 
 self-sustaining and self-evolving civilization. The 
 Zerah of the Bible (2 Chron. 14 : 9), is supposed to 
 have been one of its kings, and its high civilization 
 and great power are almost beyond question. Its 
 situation, at the head of the Nile, in the midst of 
 Ethiopia, is referred to as positive proof of the negro 
 type of its inhabitants. Much learning and research 
 have been exhibited in tracing its history and 
 fathoming its fate. 1 Into this field we are forbidden 
 to go. To conclusions alone we must address our- 
 selves, and since the labors of the Prussian scientific 
 mission, many of the former opinions of scientific 
 men have been proven fallacious. Chev. Lepsius 
 states the fact to be now undoubted, that the 
 Meroites, the people who built the Pyramids, and 
 left other undoubted traces of civilization, were a red 
 people, and of the Caucasian race. He adds, that 
 there is not to be drawn from Meroe, the slightest 
 trace of an Ethiopian civilization properly so called. 2 
 For many years, and during her prosperity, Meroe 
 was an Egyptian dependency. So soon as she 
 
 1 Cf. Heeren. Ideen. vol. i, p. 385, et seq. Oxford trans. ; An- 
 thon's Class. Diet. "Meroe/' and authorities there cited; Morton's 
 Crania Egyptiaca. 
 
 3 Letter to John Pickering, translated in Types of Mankind, pp. 
 203, 204.
 
 44 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 became independent, and was " cut off from Egyp- 
 tian blood and civilization, the influx of negroes 
 deteriorated her people, until, by the fifth century 
 after Christ, she sank amid the billows of surround- 
 ing African barbarism, mentally and physically ob- 
 literated forever." Were these truths doubtful before, 
 the bas-reliefs upon her monuments, and the in- 
 scriptions upon her pyramids, would dispel these 
 doubts forever. 1 
 
 40. Few have the hardihood to refer to Hayti, 
 Jamaica, or even Liberia, as successful experiments 
 of negro civilization. Their apologists beg for time, 
 that the baneful influences of former slavery may be 
 removed. Be it so. The reaction may come, but 
 the fate of Meroe checks the hope of the philan- 
 thropist. 
 
 41. But passing from communities, when we 
 ask for individual instances of superior intellect de- 
 veloped in the negro, we are referred to Origen, 
 Cyprian, St. Augustine, Tertullian, Clemens Alex- 
 andrinus, and Cyril, among the fathers of the Church, 
 to Hanno and Hannibal among warriors, and to 
 Terence and Phaedrus among poets, as examples of 
 strongly marked genius in the negro race. The 
 reference excites a smile, and the answer is already- 
 given in the fact, that the people inhabiting the 
 northern portion of Africa, along the coast of the 
 Mediterranean Sea, are as distinct from the negro 
 proper, as the Caucasian origin of the one should 
 make them different from the negro origin of the 
 other. African and negro are not synonymous, a 
 fact which these philanthropists seem to forget. 
 
 1 Types of Mankind, pp. 259-261.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 45 
 
 42. In a work lately issued under the auspices 
 of British abolitionists, entitled " A Tribute for the 
 Negro," 1 all the examples of negro intellect, which 
 the research and industry of the author could collect, 
 are brought together, and short memoirs are given 
 of some threescore of the most remarkable. This 
 collection is drawn from the entire negro family for 
 eighteen hundred years, in all portions of the world, 
 and the meagreness of the material could not be 
 better proven, than by the book before us. Were 
 it proper, we would be amused by a review of these 
 lives, many of whose highest and only achievement 
 was " moving in the first circles in society in Great 
 Britain." 2 For excellence in poetry we have Phillis 
 Wheatley, whose productions Mr. Jefferson pro- 
 nounced to be " beneath criticism." In composition, 
 is Gustavus Vasa, whose only work was a narrative 
 of himself (by whom written, or revised we know 
 not), which would hardly give credit to a schoolboy 
 in his teens. Among warriors, is Toussaint L'Ouver- 
 ture, who exhibited perhaps more energy, more 
 treachery, and less principle, than any negro whose 
 memoirs are included in the volume. Of the three- 
 score selected for immortality in this negro Thesau- 
 rus, four-fifths were developed under the " baneful 
 influences of slavery;" having been at some time, 
 and generally for the most part of their lives, slaves. 
 Of the remaining one-fifth, very few if any belong to 
 those African tribes that have supplied the Ameri- 
 
 1 By Wilson Armistead, 1848 (Manchester and London). This 
 book is but an enlargement of a work published at Paris, by H. 
 Gregoire, Bishop of Blois, in 1808, entitled "De la Litterature des 
 Negres," &c. a Page 136.
 
 46 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 cans with slaves. The inference would seem irre- 
 sistible, from the testimony of this volume, that the 
 most successful engine for the development of negro 
 intellect is slavery. 
 
 43. But were we without other witnesses to the 
 inferiority of the negro, the instinct of the Caucasian 
 would be of itself demonstration clear. It is called 
 the ^ prejudice of color," but such a prejudice is 
 never wholly unfounded. Intellect, energy, and 
 moral worth, do not supplicate but demand respect. 1 
 It is said to arise from their state of bondage, yet 
 strange to say, it exists where they were never 
 known in bondage, and is strongest where no 
 slavery exists. We find it in the capital of the 
 British empire, among the courteous French, in the 
 slaveholding States of America, and in those States 
 where slavery has been abolished, but strongest than 
 all, in those States where negro slavery never ex- 
 isted. 2 
 
 44. This inquiry into the physical, mental, and 
 moral development of the negro race, seems to point 
 them clearly, as peculiarly fitted for a laborious 
 class. Their physical frame is capable of great and 
 long-continued exertion. Their mental capacity 
 renders them incapable of successful self-develop- 
 ment, and yet adapts them for the direction of a 
 wiser race. Their moral character renders them 
 
 1 Paulding, speaking of a prudent free negro at the North, says, 
 " There is every disposition to encourage and foster his efforts. 
 He is looked upon as something remarkable, an exception to his 
 kind, a minor miracle." Slavery in the United States, 67. 
 
 3 De Tocqueville's Democracy in America; Levavasseur, Escla- 
 vage de la race noire, 89, et seq.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 47 
 
 happy, peaceful, contented, and cheerful in a status 
 that would break the spirit and destroy the ener- 
 gies of the Caucasian or the native American. 1 
 
 45. History and experience confirm this conclu- 
 sion. Probably no better test could be adopted, to 
 determine the adaptation of a system to a race, 
 than their relative increase while living under it. 2 
 Nature has so constituted the animal creation, that 
 when any portion of it is placed in a position doing 
 violence to the law of their nature, it dwindles and 
 becomes extinct. Thus domestication is destruc- 
 tion to many animals ferce naturce, while it perfects 
 the development of the horse, the cow, and others. 
 So bondage has ever proved annihilation to the 
 American Indian, whether under the Spanish 
 Hidalgo, 3 or the New England Puritan, or the Vir- 
 ginia Cavalier. What has been its effect, in this 
 respect, upon the negro ? The answer to this ques- 
 tion is, the voice of Nature, whether her law is vio- 
 lated in his enslavement. 
 
 46. The census of the United States exhibits a 
 
 1 For proof of their contentment and happiness, see Cassagnac's 
 Voyage aux Antilles, vol. i, pp. 149, 155, 239. 
 
 3 Puynode, a French abolitionist, feeling the importance of 
 this view, strives to show that slavery diminishes the increase of 
 the slave population. De 1'Esclavage et des Colonies, p. 35. 
 
 3 The Conquerors of the New World, and their Bondsmen, vol. 
 ii, p. 151, gives a striking instance where several thousand Indians 
 and fifty negroes were employed by the Spaniards in transporting 
 the timbers for vessels across the Isthmus. The Indians perished 
 by hundreds not a single negro died. As early as 1511, the 
 King of Spain directs his Colonial Governor " so to act, that the 
 Indians may increase, and not diminish, as in Hispaniola." Ibid, 
 vol. i, p. 232.
 
 48 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 steady and remarkable increase in the slave popula- 
 tion. From a few hundred thousand, they now num- 
 ber more than four millions; and, making allow- 
 ance for emigration and other causes, the ratio of 
 increase is at least equal to that of the white popu- 
 lation of the same States. 1 On the contrary, the 
 increase among the free black population of the 
 Northern States, notwithstanding the element of 
 fugitives from the South, and emancipated slaves, 
 shows a ratio of increase very inferior. 2 The Cen- 
 sus of 1850 shows, also, the fact, that the duration 
 of life is greater among the slaves of the South, 
 than among the free negroes of the North. 3 The 
 same unerring testimony also shows, that there are 
 three times as many deaf mutes, four times as many 
 blind, more than three times as many idiots, and 
 more than ten times as many insane, in proportion 
 to numbers, among the free colored persons, than 
 among the slaves. 4 The same is true of the free 
 blacks of Liberia. Notwithstanding the constant 
 influx from America, the census of that colony 
 
 1 The whole number imported is estimated at 333,000. In 1850, 
 they were 3,800,000; see Carey's Slave-Trade, Domestic and 
 Foreign, ch. iii; Census of the United States for 1850. The same 
 is true as to the increase of slaves in the French West Indies. See 
 Cassagnac's Voyage aux Antilles, vol. i, p. 183 ; Schoelcher, Colo- 
 nies Frangaises, p. 20. 
 
 3 The increase of free colored persons, from 1840 to 1850, was 
 hardly 1 } per cent, per annum j while that of the slaves was very 
 nearly 3 per cent, per annum. See Compendium of Seventh Cen- 
 sus, pp. 68, 87. 
 
 3 Abstract of Seventh Census, p. 13. 
 
 * Ibid. p. 26. The number of total afflicted is nearly four times 
 greater among the former than the latter.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 49 
 
 shows no ratio of increase ; but, on the contrary, for 
 more than 12,000 emigrants, it contains now a civi- 
 lized population of not exceeding 8000. 
 
 47. From the same observation, we learn that 
 the mere physical development of the negro is im- 
 proved by his transport and enslavement. As an 
 animal, in stature, in muscular energy, in activity, 
 and strength, the negro has arrived at his greatest 
 development while in slavery. 1 
 
 48. In mental and moral development, slavery, 
 so far from retarding, has advanced the negro race. 2 
 The intelligence of the slaves of the South compares 
 favorably with the negro race in any country, but 
 more especially with their native tribes. 3 While, by 
 means of this institution, the knowledge of God and 
 his religion has been brought home, with practical 
 effect, to a greater number of heathens than by all 
 the combined missionary efforts of the Christian 
 world. But remove the restraining and controlling 
 power of the master, and the negro becomes, at once, 
 the slave of his lust, and the victim of his indolence, 
 relapsing, with wonderful rapidity, into his pristine 
 barbarism. Hayti and Jamaica are living witnesses 
 to this truth ; 4 and Liberia would probably add her 
 
 1 See notes to preceding section. 
 
 8 See the pertinent remarks of Lawrence, in his Natural History 
 of Man, pp. 325, 326. This fact is admitted, in A Tribute for 
 the Negro, pp. 151, 152, 153; see also Cassagnac's Voyage aux 
 Antilles, vol. i, pp. 240, 246. 
 
 8 Levavasseur, Esclavage de la race noire, 77. 
 
 4 See Cassagnac's Voyage aux Antilles, vol. ii, 283 ; Levavas- 
 seur, Esclavage de la race noire, p. 22, et seq., 43 et seq. ; espe- 
 cially the extract from an eye-witness, in Jamaica, M. Mollien, 
 both before and after the Act of Emancipation, pp. 46 ; 47, and 48; 
 4
 
 50 LAW OF NEGKO SLAVEKY. 
 
 testimony, were it not for the fostering care of philan- 
 thropy, and the annual leaven of emancipated 
 slaves. 1 
 
 49. The history of Africa is too well known to 
 require of us an argument or an extended notice, to 
 show, that left to themselves, the negro races would 
 never arrive at any high degree of civilization. In 
 the words of an intelligent French writer : " Ni les 
 sciences de 1'Egypte, ni la puissance commerciale de 
 Carthage, ni la domination des Remains en Afrique, 
 n'ont pu faire penetrer chez eux la civilisation." 3 
 We have neither space nor inclination to prove the 
 fact, well known to naturalists and ethnologists, that 
 the Abyssinians and others, exhibiting some faint 
 efforts at civilization, are not of the true negro race, 
 but are the descendants of the Arabs and other Cau- 
 casian tribes. 8 
 
 While this fact may be admitted, we are told that 
 after, by means of slavery and the slave-trade, the 
 germs of civilization are implanted in the negro, if 
 he is then admitted to the enjoyment of liberty, he 
 is capable of arriving at a respectable degree of en- 
 lightenment. Charles Hamilton Smith, an English- 
 man, and an acute observer, says, " They have 
 never comprehended what they have learned, nor 
 
 see also Southern Quarterly Review, vol. xii, p. 91, an able and 
 dispassionate article by Judge Campbell, of the Supreme Court of 
 the United States. 
 
 1 Nott & Gliddon's Types of Mankind, 402, see Prel. Sketch. 
 
 3 Levavasseur, Esclavage de la race noire, 77 ; see similar views 
 of Paulding, on Slavery in the United States, 70. 
 
 3 Chas. H. Smith's Nat. History of Human Species, &c., 196 ; 
 Levavasseur, Esclavage de la race noire, 77.
 
 WHAT IS SLAVERY. 51 
 
 retained a civilization taught them by contact with 
 more refined nations, as soon as that contact had 
 ceased." 1 The emancipated slaves of the French and 
 English West Indies, have corroborated this state- 
 ment. Hayti, once " la plus belle colonie" of France, 
 despite the apologies made for her excesses is, to-day, 
 fast retrograding to barbarism. Jamaica, and the 
 other English islands, notwithstanding the care and 
 deliberation to avoid the shock of too sudden liberty, 
 have baffled the skill and ingenuity of the master 
 minds of the British government. In a preliminary 
 historical sketch, we have examined the facts in 
 detail. The important truth is before us from his- 
 tory, that contact with the Caucasian is the only 
 civilizer of the negro, and slavery the only condition 
 on which that contact can be preserved. 2 
 
 50. The history of the negro race then confirms 
 the conclusion to which an inquiry into the negro 
 character had brought us : that a state of bondage, 
 so far from doing violence to the law of his nature, 
 develops and perfects it ; and that, in that state, he 
 enjoys the greatest amount of happiness, and arrives 
 at the greatest degree of perfection of which his 
 nature is capable. And, consequently, that negro 
 slavery, as it exists in the United States, is not con- 
 trary to the law of nature. Whenever the laws 
 regulating their condition and relations enforce or 
 allow a rigor, or withdraw a privilege without a cor- 
 responding necessity, so far they violate the natural 
 
 1 Nat. Hist, of Human Species, its Typical Forms, &c., 196. 
 
 3 Paulding, on Slavery in the United States, 271, 272. " No 
 two distinctly marked races can dwell together on equal terms." 
 Types of Mankind, by Nott & Gliddon, p. 79.
 
 52 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 law, and to removal of such evils should be directed 
 the efforts of justice and philanthropy. Beyond 
 this, philanthropy becomes fanaticism, and justice 
 withdraws her shield. 
 
 That the system places the negro where his 
 natural rights may be abused, is true ; yet this is no 
 reason why the system is in itself wrong. In the 
 words of an enlightened cotemporary, " It becomes 
 us then to estimate the value of the declamations of 
 those who oppose the institution of slavery in the 
 Antilles and the United States, on account of the 
 partial abuses which sometimes happen. Judicial 
 records are filled with processes for adultery ; yet we 
 should not, for that, destroy marriage. Every day 
 our tribunals visit with severity parents who abuse 
 their children, yet we would not, for that, abolish 
 the paternal power. Every system has its abuses 
 and its excesses. It becomes us to correct the ex- 
 cess, punish the abuse, and ameliorate the system. 
 If we should deliberately compare the evils of colo- 
 nial slavery, with its beneficial effects, in civilization, 
 agriculture, and commerce, we would be quickly 
 convinced upon which side the balances would fall." 1 
 
 1 Cassagnac's Voyage aux Antilles, vol. ii, p. 292.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SLAVERY VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF REVELATION. 
 
 51. WE have examined the question of the con- 
 sistency of negro slavery with the law of nature, 
 outside of revelation. But the law of nature is the 
 will of God, " summa ratio in Deo existens." 1 To 
 be content, in searching for that will, without open- 
 ing the book of His Revelation, would be unbecoming 
 the Christian philosopher. I feel compelled, there- 
 fore, to enter upon the field, so much more fitting to 
 the theologian, and to give a condensed statement of 
 the Biblical argument on either side of this question. 
 The necessity of the investigation does not require 
 the extended and learned research which others 
 have bestowed. I shall not, therefore, stop to inquire 
 the true rendering of Greek and Hebrew words, but 
 take the English Bible as a correct translation. 2 
 
 52. In a preliminary historical sketch of slavery, 
 we have seen the nature of this institution among 
 the Jews, and many of the rules by which it was 
 governed. Was this evidence of the sanction and 
 approval of God ? 
 
 1 Halm's Collegium Polemicum, Controv. IX. 
 
 a Of the denial that slavery existed among the Jews, Dr. Way- 
 land says : "I wonder that any one should have had the hardihood 
 to deny so plain a matter of record." Letters to Dr. Fuller, IV.
 
 54 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 The first great revelation of moral precepts was 
 given upon Mount Sinai, and condensed in that most 
 wonderful code, the Decalogue. Its precepts are not 
 only pure, but " the law of the Lord is perfect" 1 Its 
 general teachings are not only true, but, by no im- 
 plication can sin find an apology or excuse therein. 
 This law was not intended for any particular age or 
 people. It is that universal law of God which Christ 
 came " not to destroy, but to fulfil." When he was 
 asked by the young man, What shall I do to inherit 
 eternal life? his reply was, Keep the command- 
 ments. The last of these commandments is, " Thou 
 shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not 
 covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor 
 his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any- 
 thing that is thy neigJibor's" 2 The right of property 
 in the man-servant and maid-servant is not only 
 here plainly recognized, but is protected even from 
 covetousness. 
 
 53. But again : God sought for a man in whose 
 "seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;" 
 who should be called the friend of God," 3 and " the 
 father of all them that believe." 4 He found him in 
 Abraham, a large slaveholder. 5 And God blessed 
 him. How? By opening his eyes to the sin of 
 slavery ? No ; but by " giving him flocks and herds, 
 and silver and gold, and men-servants and maid-ser- 
 vants, and camels and asses." 6 And God made a 
 covenant with him, and established a church with 
 a sign of that covenant for every member of that 
 
 1 Psalm 19 : 7. 2 Ex. 20 : 18. 
 
 8 James 2 : 23. * Horn. 4 : 11. 
 
 * Gen. 14 : 14. 8 Gen. 24 : 35.
 
 SLAVERY VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF REVELATION. 55 
 
 church. To whom did that covenant extend, and 
 who were admitted into that church ? Along with 
 the master Abraham was him " that is bought with 
 thy money," his slave j 1 thereby teaching his chosen 
 servant the great lesson upon this question to be 
 found throughout the sacred Scriptures, that while 
 God recognizes domestic slavery, in some cases, as a 
 necessary part of civil government, and would regu- 
 late it as such, the master and the slave are both 
 alike the subjects of his care, and the recipients of 
 his mercy. 
 
 54. God not only gave slaves to Abraham, as 
 evidence of his blessing, but he commanded the Jews 
 to make slaves of the heathen round about them : 
 " Of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. 
 Moreover, of the children of the strangers that do 
 sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of 
 their families that are with you, which they begat in 
 your land, and they shall be your possession ; and 
 ye shall take them as an inheritance for your chil- 
 dren after you to inherit them for a possession. 
 They shall be your bondmen forever." 2 This com- 
 mand being given very shortly after the escape of 
 the Israelites from Egypt, was probably before they 
 owned a slave, was the charter under which they 
 enslaved the Canaanites. At the same time, God 
 commanded them, that " if thy brother by thee be 
 waxen poor and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not 
 compel him to serve as a bond servant, but as a hired 
 servant and a sojourner." 3 Revelation here sustain- 
 
 1 Gen. 17 : 12, 13. Lev. 25 : 44, 46. 
 
 3 Ib. 39 : 40. See also Deut. 24 : 7 ; 1 Kings 9 : 22 ; Neh. 
 5:8; Joel 3:3; Jer. 34 : 9, et seq.
 
 56 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 ing the conclusion to which the natural law points, 
 that inferiority of race is necessary to make slavery 
 consistent with the Divine will. The Jews under- 
 stood thoroughly this distinction, and when the 
 Saviour announced to them that this truth should 
 make them free, they answered, " We be Abraham's 
 seed, and were never in bondage to any man ; how 
 sayest thou ye shall be made free ?" 1 
 
 55. It is unnecessary to follow the history of 
 the Jews, and note the numerous instances in which 
 they enslaved others, under the direct command of 
 the Almighty ; nor to refer to the various provisions 
 of the Mosaic law, regulating the relation of master 
 and slave. And yet, nowhere do we find it con- 
 demned. When the Jews failed to abide by the 
 regulation, giving liberty to the Hebrew servant on 
 the year of jubilee, Jehovah failed not to pronounce 
 his anathema. " Ye have not hearkened unto me, 
 in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother, and 
 every man to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim a 
 liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the 
 pestilence, and to the famine." 2 So, when they op- 
 pressed or defrauded the hireling of his wages, the 
 prophets of the Almighty did not wink at the 
 offence : " Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant 
 that is poor and needy." 3 " And I will be a swift 
 witness against those that oppress the hireling in 
 his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that 
 turn aside the stranger, and fear not me, saith the 
 Lord of Hosts." 4 It is very strange that labor should 
 
 1 John 8 : 32, 33. ' Jer. 34 : 17. 
 
 3 Deut. 24 : 14. * Mai. 3 : 5.
 
 SLAVERY VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF REVELATION. 57 
 
 be robbed of its wages so long, in the persons of 
 Jewish slaves, and yet the cry of the oppressed 
 never reached the ears of the God of Sabaoth. 
 
 56. It is argued, that the privilege of enslaving 
 the heathen was granted only to the Hebrews, and 
 for peculiar reasons, and hence is no argument in 
 favor of other domestic slavery. The reply is, if 
 slavery is sinful, morally wrong, per se, and under 
 all circumstances, God could not in his nature have 
 authorized or enjoined it. 1 If it was not sinful in the 
 Jews, it is not sinful under all circumstances ; and 
 the question of its morality in every case depends 
 upon its circumstances, precisely the conclusion to 
 which we have previously arrived. 
 
 57. But it is said by others, that the same argu- 
 ment may be used to support polygamy as slavery. 
 That both were practised by the patriarchs, and 
 against neither did Jehovah pronounce his curse. 
 The facts do not show the similarity. No such 
 regulations can be found emanating from the Al- 
 mighty, in reference to polygamy, as we have shown 
 in reference to slavery. To say the least, the law 
 was silent as to the former. Whenever the marriage 
 relation is spoken of, man and wife, " they twain 
 shall be one flesh," is the teaching of the law. 2 
 " Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest, all 
 the days of thy vanity." 3 And " thy wife shall be 
 as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house, thy 
 children like olive plants round about thy table. 
 
 1 " 0, mighty God, thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, 
 and canst not look on iniquity." Hahakkuk 1 : 12, 13. 
 
 2 Gen. 2:20, 24 ; 7:9; Ex. 20 : 17 ; Deut. 5 : 21, 22 ; 
 Matt. 19 : 4, 5 j Eph. 5:31. 8 Eccl. 9 : 9.
 
 58 LAW OP NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that 
 feareth the Lord." 1 
 
 But suppose the analogy was complete, and that 
 there is nothing in the Old Testament, either directly 
 or indirectly, showing monogamy to be the will of 
 God, or that polygamy in the Hebrews was disap- 
 proved by him. The conclusion is simply, that 
 polygamy in the Jews was not sinful, " for sin is the 
 transgression of the law," 2 and hence that polygamy 
 is not necessarily a sin, but becomes so so soon as it 
 is the transgression of the law. 
 
 58. But let us enter into the bright light of 
 Christianity, as developed in the New Testament, 
 and examine the question there. That there is no 
 direct positive prohibition of slavery, nor even an 
 intimation by Christ or his Apostles that its prin- 
 ciple or practice was violative of the Divine will, is 
 admitted. Various excuses are given for this want 
 of fidelity in the Saviour, in his great duty and 
 mission, the rebuking of sin. The universality of 
 its existence, the terrible results consequent upon 
 the upheaving of the whole social system, his absti- 
 nence from all interference with civil institutions, 
 have each been suggested as explanatory of his 
 silence. Other sins went not unrebuked because of 
 their prevalence. He hesitated not in any other 
 call of duty from motives of expediency, trusting 
 ever to the power of the truth to make its sure way 
 over every human obstacle ; and the suggestion that 
 it was merely a civil institution, is an admission that 
 it was not morally a sin. We must look farther for 
 a satisfactory explanation. 
 
 1 Ps. 128 : 3, 4. 3 1 John 3 : 4.
 
 SLAVERY VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF REVELATION. 59 
 
 59. But first, how is slavery treated in the New 
 Testament ? It did not escape the notice of the 
 Lord, for we find him illustrating the great truths 
 that he taught, by references to the relation of mas- 
 ter and slave. It is true that he used other human 
 conduct, wrong in itself, such as the unjust steward, 
 as the foundation of parables ; yet, in every instance, 
 he either at the time or on other occasions con- 
 demned the sin. On this sin he was silent. When 
 the rich young man came to ask a blessing from 
 him, though his heart yearned towards his loveli- 
 ness, he saw the sinful love of wealth, and rebuked 
 it. But when the Roman centurion came to ask his 
 blessing upon a sick slave, one whom he commanded 
 to do, and he was forced to obey, though he com- 
 mended his humility and his faith, did not the 
 Saviour perceive the great sin of slaveholding ad- 
 hering to his skirts ? Why did he not rebuke this 
 sin, as he had rebuked the young man's love of 
 gold? 
 
 60. But Christ went farther : he recognized dis- 
 tinctly and approved the master's superiority : " But 
 which of you having a servant ploughing, or feeding 
 cattle, will say unto him, by and by, when he is 
 come from the field, Go and sit down to meat, and 
 will not rather say unto him, Make ready where- 
 with I may sup, and gird thyself and serve me, till 
 I have eaten and drunken, and afterward thou shalt 
 eat and drink ? Doth he thank that servant because 
 he did the things that were commanded him ? I 
 trow not." 1 " For whether is greater, he that sitteth 
 
 1 Luke 17: 7, 8,9.
 
 60 LAW OP NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 at meat, or he that serveth ? Is not he that sit- 
 teth at meat?" 1 " Verily, verily, I say unto you, the 
 servant is not greater than his Lord." 2 
 
 61. The apostles went farther, and laid down in 
 express terms, rules regulating the relation of mas- 
 ter and slaves. " Servants, be obedient to them that 
 are your masters according to the flesh, with fear 
 and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto 
 Christ. Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but 
 as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from 
 the heart. . . . Knowing that whatsoever good thing 
 any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the 
 Lord, whether he be bond or free. And ye masters, 
 do the same things unto them, forbearing threaten- 
 ing ; knowing that your Master also is in heaven. 
 Neither is there respect of persons with him." 3 "Let 
 as many servants as are under the yoke count their 
 own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of 
 God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And 
 they that have believing masters, let them not de- 
 spise them, because they are brethren ; but rather 
 do them service, because they are faithful and be- 
 loved partakers of the benefit. These things teach 
 and exhort. If any man teach otherwise, and con- 
 sent not to wholesome words, even the words of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is ac- 
 cording to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, 
 but doting about questions and strifes of words." 4 
 "Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own 
 masters, and to please them well in all things, not 
 
 1 Luke 22 : 17. a John 13 : 16. 
 
 3 Eph. 6 : 5, 6, 8, 9. See also Col. 3 : 22, 23, 24. 
 * 1 Tim. 6 : 1, 2, 3, 4.
 
 SLAVERY VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF REVELATION. 61 
 
 answering again, not purloining, but showing all 
 good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of 
 God our Saviour in all things." 1 " Servants, be sub- 
 ject to your masters with all fear ; not only to the 
 good and gentle, but also to the froward." 2 " Let 
 every man abide in the same calling wherein he was 
 called. Art thou called, being a servant, care not 
 for it, but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather; 
 for he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is 
 the Lord's freeman ; likewise also, he that is called, 
 being free, is Christ's servant." 3 
 
 62. From these passages, it cannot be inferred 
 that Christ and his apostles recommended slavery, 
 such as they saw it ; or that these precepts exhorted 
 the establishment of the institution where it does 
 not exist, or the continuance of it in all cases. They 
 simply treated slavery as they did all other civil 
 government, as of God, so long as in his providence 
 he permitted it to exist ; and regulated, by precepts, 
 the relation, as they did that of ruler and subject. 
 The only legitimate inference to be drawn is, that 
 the relation is not necessarily and per se sinful. That 
 it may or may not be, according to the circumstances 
 of each particular case, thus harmonizing with the 
 conclusion to which we were brought by an inquiry 
 into the unrevealed law of nature. 
 
 63. But it is said, that while the Saviour did 
 not expressly prohibit the institution, he announced 
 principles with which it is utterly inconsistent, and 
 the legitimate fruits of which must be its extinction. 
 These principles are, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
 as thyself. And whatsoever ye would that men 
 
 1 Tit. 2 : 9, 10. 1 Pet. 2 : 18. 1 Cor. 7 : 20, 21, 22.
 
 62 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." The 
 argument is legitimate, if the conclusion is correctly 
 drawn. Let us examine it. The analysis of the 
 rule is, we should act towards others, not as they act 
 towards us, not as the laws of the land allow us to 
 act, but as we would have them to act towards us, 
 were our respective situations reversed. How would 
 we have them to act toward us in all cases ? Ac- 
 cording to our whims or childish desires ? If so, we 
 must give free scope to the crude wishes of our chil- 
 dren ; we must release the condemned convict, for 
 thus it is that we would have them to act toward us 
 were our situations reversed. Such is not the rule. 
 We would have them to act toward us, in all cases, 
 in that manner which would tend most to promote 
 our real good and happiness, even though we could 
 not ourselves see it. Hence we should control the 
 child, though its wishes be adverse, for its ultimate 
 good. We should punish the criminal however he 
 may regard it, for his interest as a citizen requires 
 the execution of the laws. We should deal in the 
 same way with the slaves. We should act towards 
 them, in all cases, in that manner which tends most 
 to promote their real good and happiness ; in that 
 manner which will most surely elevate them, physi- 
 cally, intellectually, and morally : for so, according 
 to the golden rule, would we have them to act to- 
 ward us. If the condition of bondage does actually 
 promote their real good and happiness, then this 
 precept sanctions and enjoins it. If, on the con- 
 trary, it diminishes their real good, and does not 
 promote their true happiness, it runs counter to this 
 great precept, and should cease to exist. The test 
 then is, does the institution of negro slavery tend to
 
 SLAVERY VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF REVELATION. 63 
 
 promote the physical, intellectual, and moral growth 
 of the negro race ? The very test to which we ar- 
 rived by our investigation of the unrevealed natural 
 law. 
 
 64. It is said, that were the great principles of 
 Christianity perfectly implanted in every heart, so 
 as to control every action, the institution of slavery 
 would end. So far as that institution involves the 
 idea of the control of the inferior by the will of the 
 superior, this is true. And so would it be true of 
 all government. Revelation teaches us, that God 
 gave different gifts to different men. To one five 
 talents, to another two, to another one. To one the 
 gift of tongues. To another, government. It teaches 
 us to repress every feeling of envy, strife, ambition; 
 and whatever may be our situation in life suited to 
 our capacity therewith to be content. If every man 
 in the community thoroughly appreciated his own 
 gifts, and was therewith content, then each would, 
 unbidden, assume that position in the scale of life 
 to which his talent fitted him. The rulers would 
 be pointed out of God ; the subjects would rejoice to 
 obey. The master would recognize a brother in his 
 servant ; while the servant would take pleasure in 
 the service of his Lord. Nothing would be of con- 
 straint. Everything would be of free-will. Such is 
 the Apostle's idea of the perfect law of liberty in 
 Christ. 1 To be such is to be Christ's freemen. 
 " Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 8 
 Such a man needs no restraint, whatever may be his 
 situation. If " called, being a servant, he cares not 
 
 1 James 1 : 25. See Psalm 119 : 45. 
 1 2 Cor. 3
 
 64 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 for it." " For, brethren, ye have been called unto 
 liberty ; only use not liberty for an occasion to the 
 flesh, but by love serve one another." 1 Such would 
 be the glorious fruits of the complete triumph of the 
 Gospel of Christ. In the present dispensation, it 
 would seem that we need hardly expect it. For 
 when the prophetic vision of St. John saw the 
 " heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled to- 
 gether," there were "bondmen" as well as "freemen," 
 who " hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks 
 of the mountains." 2 
 
 65. From this investigation into the law of nature, 
 the will of God, our conclusion is, that until the na- 
 ture of the African negro becomes by some means 
 radically changed, there is nothing in his enslave- 
 ment contrary to the law of his nature. In this, we 
 speak of the limited or qualified slavery, such as 
 exists at present in the United States, and not of 
 absolute or pure slavery, as defined by us. For the 
 latter includes the power over life, the jus vitce et 
 necis; and as it cannot be said that the physical, in- 
 tellectual, or moral nature of the slave, can be im- 
 proved, or his happiness promoted, by the existence 
 or exercise of such a power as this, so we find in the 
 law of nature no justification of or foundation for 
 this power. 3 
 
 1 Gal. 5 : 13. See also 1 Pet. 2 : 16. 
 
 8 Rev. 6 : 14, 15. In replying to the argument to show slavery 
 a sin from the Bible, I have not referred to the authors by express 
 reference. The reader will perceive that I have examined the 
 objections made by Sharp, Barnes, Channing, and Wayland, and 
 repeated in varied forms by smaller imitators. 
 
 3 This is the conclusion to which Grotius arrives. De Jure 
 Belli et Pacis, Lib. II, c. v.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE ORIGIN AND SOURCES OF SLAVERY. 
 
 66. WE have seen in a preliminary sketch the 
 history of the introduction of negro slavery into the 
 United States. The origin of the system is found, /-? 
 therefore, in purchase, of persons already in a state of 
 slavery in their own land. The law does not go back 
 of that fact, to inquire into the foundation of that 
 slavery there, 1 but recognizing the rights of the mas- 
 ter there to sell, sustains the title of the purchaser 
 from him. 2 It was alleged, and, doubtless, was true,, 
 that the slave-traders sometimes stimulated or werei 
 engaged in kidnapping free negroes on the coast of 
 Africa, who were afterwards sold as slaves. Such a 
 foundation could not sustain a legal claim to the 
 bondage of the victim. 
 
 67. A few of the slaves in America are the de- 
 scendants of conquered Indians. The foundation of 
 their enslavement is the right of conquest, which 
 has been recognized in all countries as one of the 
 
 1 Mary v. The Vestry, &c., 3 Harr. & McH. 501 j Hudgins v. 
 Wright, 1 Hen. & Munf. 134 j Davis v. Curry, 2 Bibb. 238. 
 
 2 The presumption is in favor of slavery there. 3 Harr. & Mc- 
 Hen. 501. 
 
 5
 
 66 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 sources of slavery. 1 The presumption in relation to 
 the Indian, is that he is free, and it is incumbent 
 on the party alleging slavery to show his title. 2 
 
 68. White persons may not be enslaved or held 
 as slaves, except by express statutory enactment. 3 
 The presumption of freedom arises from the color, 
 
 1 State v. Van Waggoner, 1 Halsted, 374 ; Marguerite v. Chou- 
 teau, 2 Miss. 71 ; 3 Ib. 540 ; Seville v. Chretien, 5 Martin, 275 ; 
 1 Dallas, 167. 
 
 In Georgia, by the Act of 1770 (New Digest, 971), all Indians 
 were declared slaves, " except free Indians in amity with this 
 Government." In Virginia, since 1691, no American Indian could 
 be reduced to slavery. See Gregory v. Bough, 4 Rand. 611, for 
 a full history. See also note to Code of Virginia (1849), p. 456. 
 In South Carolina, Indians, prisoners of war, were directed to be 
 bought and sold as slaves. 2 Statutes at Large, 325. And all 
 theretofore bought and sold as slaves, declared slaves, 8 Ibid. 352, 
 371, 385. 
 
 Mr. Stroud, in his " Sketch of the Law of Slavery," has in- 
 dulged in great indignation at the enslavement of Indians. It 
 certainly is in accordance with the law of nations, and was prac- 
 tised by all the colonies. See " General Laws and Liberties of 
 Massachusetts Bay," ch. xii, 2. And is preferable to the treat- 
 ment in other places of conquered Indians, where " the old men, 
 the women, and babes, perished by hundreds in the fire." Bancroft's 
 King Philip's War, vol. ii, pp. 104, 105. 
 
 * Ulzire et al. v. P. Farra, 14 Martin, 504 ; Hudgins v. Wright, 
 1 Hen. & Munf. 134; Hook v. Nancy Pagee, 2 Munf. 379; 
 Gregory v. Baugh, 2 Leigh, 686 ; S. C. 4 Rand. 632 ; Gatliffe's 
 Admr. et al. v. Rose et al., 8 B. Monr. 632. 
 
 8 Gentry v. McMinnis, 3 Dana, 382. 
 
 In Maryland, by the Act of 1663, a white woman marrying a slave, 
 became with the issue slaves. This act was repealed in 1681. But 
 the descendants of those marrying in the meanwhile have been 
 held to be slaves. Butler v. Boarman, 1 Har. & McHen. 371; 
 Butler v. Craig, 2 Har. & McHen. 214.
 
 ORIGIN AND SOUKCES OF SLAVERY. 67 
 
 and it is incumbent on the person claiming title to 
 rebut that presumption. 1 
 
 69. As all the negroes introduced into America 
 were brought as slaves, the black color of the race 
 raises the presumption of slavery, 2 contrary to the 
 principles of the common law, which would presume 
 freedom until the contrary is shown. 3 This presump- 
 tion is extended, in most of the States, to mulattoes 
 or persons of mixed blood, casting upon them the 
 onus of proving a free maternal ancestor. 4 In others, 
 it is confined to the negroes. 5 In those States where 
 slavery has been abolished, no such presumption 
 would attach, except to persons proven to be fugi- 
 tives from a slaveholding State. 6 
 
 1 Hook v. Nancy Pagee and her children, 2 Munf. 379; Gentry 
 v. McMinnis, 3 Dana, 382 ; Gatliffe's Admr. v. Rose et al., 8 B. 
 Monr. 632. 
 
 8 Remick v. Chloe, 1 Miss. 197 ; Macon & W. R. R. Co. v. 
 Holt, 8 Ga. 157 ; Davis v. Curry, 2 Bibb. 238 ; Gibbons v. Morse, 
 2 Hals. 253 ; 3 Ibid. 375 ; Kegler v. Miles, Mart. & Yerg. 427 ; 
 Tritigot v. Byers, 5 Cowen, 480 ; Adele v. Beauregard, 1 Mart. 
 183 ; Gober v. Gober, 2 Hayw. 170 ; 3 Dana, 382 ; 6 Gill & J. 
 136 ; 1 Dev. 376 ; 5 Sm. & Mar. 609 ; 4 Har. & McH. 295. 
 
 8 Coke Lit. 128 a; 3 Harrington, 551, 559; 3 Scammon, 232; 
 4 Har. & McHen. 295. 
 
 4 In many of the States by statute, Georgia (New Dig. 971), 
 Maryland (1 Dorsey's Laws, 28), South Carolina, 7 Stat. at Large, 
 352, 371, 385. In Virginia and Kentucky, one-fourth negro blood 
 presumes slavery, less than that, freedom. Gentry v. McMinnis, 3 
 Dana, 385 ; Rev. Code Va. 1849, 457, note. 
 
 5 2 Hay wood, 170 ; Scott v. Williams, 1 Dev. 376 ; State v. 
 Muller, 7 Iredell, 275 ; State v. Cecil, 2 Martin, 208 ; Gober v. 
 Gober, 1 Taylor (Lou.), 164. 
 
 8 Kinney v. Cook, 3 Scammon, 232 ; Stoutenborough v. Havi- 
 land, 3 Green, 266.
 
 68 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 70. The issue and descendants of slaves, in the 
 maternal line, are slaves. The rule, partus sequitur 
 ventrem, has been adopted in all the States. 1 The 
 
 1 1 Hen. & Munf. 134; 1 Hayw. 234; 1 Cook, 381; 2 Bibb. 
 298; 5 Dana, 207; 2 Ib. 432; 2 Miss. 71; 3 Ib. 540 ; 8 Peters, 
 220; 15 Sergt. & Rawle, 18; 2 Brev. 307; 20 John. 1; 12 
 Wheat. 568. In several of the States this rule is adopted by 
 statute. South Carolina, 7 Stat. at Large, 397 ; Georgia, New Dig. 
 971 ; Mississippi, Hutchinson's Code, 512 ; Virginia, Rev. Code 
 (1849), 457 ; Louisiana, Civil Code, Art. 183 ; Maryland, semble, 
 1 Dorsey, 28; formerly otherwise, 1 Har. & McH. 370. 
 
 Mr. Stroud, in his " Sketch of the Laws regulating Slavery in 
 the United States," has indulged in considerable abuse of the 
 slaveholding States for the adoption, by their statutes and by their 
 courts, of this principle of the civil law in preference to the doc- 
 trine of the common law. He calls it " a degrading principle" 
 (p. 11), " a measure of cruelty and avarice" (p. 12), " a reproach 
 to our republics" (p. 13), &c. ; and urges, that the doctrine of the 
 common law, coupled with the other principle, that all bastards are 
 free, would have emancipated all mulattoes (p. 14). I have re- 
 ferred to these remarks more to show the spirit in which this sketch 
 is written, than seriously to argue the question. I cannot refrain 
 from remarking, however, that a moment's reflection would have 
 shown Mr. Stroud that it is the latter principle, viz., the freedom 
 of all bastards, that would effect the object so desirable in his eyes, 
 the freedom of mulattoes ; and that, independent of this principle, 
 it is a matter of secondary importance as to the end he has in view, 
 whether the civil or common law rule be adopted. In fact, were 
 the common law rule adopted, the issue of a free white woman, by 
 a slave, would be slaves. Such was the rule for a short period of 
 time in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and most heartily does Mr. 
 Stroud condemn the consequence (pp. 10, 19). The truth is, Mr. 
 Stroud wrote to make slavery odious. In a note to p. 23, Mr. 
 Stroud says, that "the harsh features of slavery were never known 
 in New England." Yet this " degrading principle" of " cruelty 
 and avarice," was adopted in all their courts ! See Slavery as It 
 Is, p. 191. The principle changes wonderfully in turpitude as 
 
 comes south of the Potomac.
 
 ORIGIN AND SOURCES OF SLAVERY. 69 
 
 reason of this rule, as given by the civilians, was, 
 " Ex juris principiis foetus, tanquam accessio ventris, 
 ad dominum ventris pertinet." " From principles of 
 justice, the offspring, the increase of the womb, be- 
 longs to the master of the womb." 1 This rule has 
 been almost universal among those nations recog- 
 nizing slavery. 2 It was certainly the Levitical law, 
 which provided, that when the Hebrew slave, at the 
 end of six years, went free, " the wife and her chil- 
 
 1 Heineccius, Elem. Jur. Lib. I, tit. iii, 81 ; Potgiesser, De 
 Statu Servorum, Proleg. xxix ; Domat, 99. See also Ruther- 
 forth's Institutes, 247, for the reasons of the rule. Grotius says, 
 that by the law of nature the issue should be the common property 
 of the masters of both parents, " Quia uterque parens sit causa 
 partus." Hein. Prgelec, in H. Grot. Lib. II, c. v, 29. 
 
 2 Among all the German nations, Heinec. Elem. Jur. Lib. I, 
 86. See also Vol. VI, oper. 13. 
 
 Among the Austrians and Swedes, Potg. De Statu Serv. Lib. I, 
 c. i, xi, note c. In Helvetia, Batavia, and Denmark, Ibid. L. II, 
 c. ii, 50. 
 
 Among the ancient Germans and Franks, the issue followed the 
 condition of the most ignoble (deterior) parent, whether father or 
 mother. Hence, if either was a slave, the issue were slaves. Ibid. 
 Lib. I, cap. i, xi, xii. The Bavarian law excepted cases where 
 the mother was ignorant of the ignoble condition of the father. 
 Ibid. All bastards and infants exposed were, on this principle, 
 slaves. So also were hermaphrodites. Ibid. xiii. This was the 
 Roman law as to infants exposed. Ibid. By the custom of Ravens- 
 berg, the eldest child of a free woman, by a slave, was free ; the 
 remainder were slaves. Ibid. 50. 
 
 Le Code Noir, for the regulation of slavery in the French colo- 
 nies prescribes, that " Les enfans qui naissent d'un mariage entre 
 esclaves, sont aussi esclaves, et appartiennent au maitre de la femme 
 esclave, et non a. celui du mari, si le mari et la femme ont des 
 maitres differents." Merlin, Report de Juris, verbo Esclavage. 
 " Et si le pere est libre, et la mere esclave, les enfants sont pareille- 
 ment esclaves." Ibid.
 
 70 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 dren shall be her master's, and he (the Hebrew 
 father) shall go out by himself." 1 
 
 71. Lord Coke announced the common law to 
 be different, and subsequent writers have followed 
 this high authority. The older authors, Bracton, 
 Britton, and Fleta, announce the civil law rule as 
 the law of England ; except that they regulate the 
 status by the condition of the mother at the time of 
 conception and not of birth, 2 and this principle seems 
 
 1 See Lev. 25 : 45, 46 j Grotius, De Jure, &c., L. II, ch. v. To 
 this there is this curious note : " Seneca has observed, that chil- 
 dren belong equally to both father and mother." De Benefic. Lib. 
 VII, cap. xii. In the laws of the Visigoths this question is asked : 
 "If a son is produced by the concurrence of both parents, why 
 should he share the condition of his mother only, since he could 
 not have existed without a father ?" From which it is concluded, 
 that, " according to the law of nature, children born of two slaves, 
 belonging to different masters, are to be divided equally between 
 them both." Lib. X, tit. i, 17. The children of two Sclavonians 
 followed their father, as appears from the Speculum Saxonicum, iii, 
 73. The same thing was practised in some parts of Italy. See 
 the Decretals, Lib. IV, tit. ix, De Conjug. Servorum, cap. iii. 
 Among the Lombards and Saxons, the children shared the fate of 
 that parent whose condition was lowest. Speculum Saxonicum, i, 
 16. So also among the Visigoths in Spain, in Isidore's time, as 
 appears from the canon law. Can. xxxii, Quest, iv, c. xv. 
 The laws of the Visigoths formally declare, that a child born of a 
 free father and a mother that is a slave, thereby became a slave. 
 Lib. Ill, tit. ii. 3 ; Lib. IV, tit. v, 7 ; Lib. IX, tit. i, 16. Those 
 that were born of two slaves, served the masters of both their 
 parents equally. If there was but one son, he belonged to the 
 father's master, on paying the mother's master half his value. In 
 regard to those termed originarii, the father's master had two-thirds 
 and the mother's master the other, according to the edict of King 
 Theodoric, in Cassiodore, c. 67. 
 
 a Bracton, Lib. I, ch. 6, 4, 5 ; Britton, ch. 31 ; Fleta, Lib. I, 
 ch. 3, 2; Glanville, Lib. V, ch. 6.
 
 ORIGIN AND SOURCES OF SLAVERY. 71 
 
 to be as old as the Penitentials of Theodore and 
 Egbert. 1 The common law, as announced by Little- 
 ton, was, that "if a freeman married a niefe (slave), 
 their issue shall be free." 2 Bracton gives the reason 
 which Lord Coke adopts : " The niefe marrying the 
 freeman is enfranchised during the coverture, and 
 therefore, by the common law, the issue is free." 3 
 But without marriage, the bastard followed the con- 
 dition of the mother. 4 Littleton, on the contrary, 
 says, all bastards are free ; a deduction from the fact, 
 that the father being unknown, the presumption is 
 in favor of liberty. But this falls to the ground if 
 the earlier writers were correct, that without mar- 
 riage, the issue of a niefe followed the condition of 
 the mother. 5 Upon this inference of Littleton, Lord 
 Coke announced a rule for the common law, different 
 from that of the civil law. 6 
 
 71 a. By the civil law rule, adopted as before 
 stated, the status of the issue is determined by that 
 of the mother at the time of the birth, and not at 
 
 1 Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, 273. 
 Lib. II, 187. 
 
 8 Fol. 78 b. So if a freewoinan married a niefe, she became a 
 slave. Bracton, Lib. IV, ch. 6, 4. 
 
 4 Bracton, Lib. I, p. 5 a ; Britton, fol. 78, ch. 31 j Fleta, Lib. 
 I, ch. 4 ; The Mirror, ch. 2, 28 ; Fortescue, ch. 42 ; Glanville, 
 Lib. V, ch. 6. 
 
 5 Potgiesser notices this disagreement of the English authori- 
 ties. Lib. II, cap. ii, 50. 
 
 6 As to all inferior animals, the English law follows the rule : 
 " Vitulus autem inatris est, cujuscumque taurus alluserit." See 
 Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, title Leges, R. Hen. I, 
 art. Ivii ; De Solucione Liberi vel Servi, and notes thereto.
 
 72 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 the time of conception. 1 Being fixed at the birth, 
 it matters not how soon thereafter the condition of 
 the mother may be changed, that of the issue is 
 fixed. Hence, if a female slave is emancipated by 
 will or deed, to take effect at a future period, and, 
 before that period arrives, she has issue, the issue 
 are slaves. 2 
 
 72. And so, if the mother is free at the time of 
 the birth, the issue is free, and no subsequent en- 
 slavement of the mother will deprive the child 
 of freedom. 3 Indeed, so unbending is the prin- 
 ciple, that it has been held, that if a deed emanci- 
 pating a female slave reserves her future increase as 
 slaves, the reservation is void : the Court observing, 
 
 1 Ned et al. v. Beal, 2 Bibb. 298 ; Rawlings v. Boston, 3 Har. 
 & McH. 139; Adams v. Barrett, 2 Howard U. S. 496; Miller 
 v. Dwilling, 14 S. & K. 446; 2 Hand. 246; 4 Rand. 600. By 
 the Saxon law, the status was determined at the time of concep- 
 tion. Theod. Pen. xvi, 33, n. 2; Egb. Conf. c. 25; Ancient 
 Laws, &c. 272 ; Glanv. Lib. V, ch. 6. A late law at Rome made 
 the issue free, if the mother was free at any time during the preg- 
 nancy. Paulus, S. R. II, tit. xxiv; Dig. Lib. I, tit. i, 5. 
 
 8 McCutchen v. Marshall, 8 Pet. 220; 8 Martin, 218 ; 2 Rand. 
 228; 6 Har. & John. 526; 2 Bibb. 298; 3 Iredell, 224; 5 Dana, 
 207; 3 B. Monr. 60; 12 Ala. (N. S.) 728; 2 Harrington, 77. 
 A different decision has been made in some of the courts, arising 
 from their construing such cases to be an immediate emancipation, 
 with a reservation only of services. Pleasants v. Pleasants, 2 Call. 
 206 ; Harris v. Clarissa, 6 Yerg. 227. This construction is now 
 followed only by the courts of Tennessee. See decision of RuflSn, 
 C. J-, in Mayho v. Sears, 3 Ired. 226; Hartsell v. George, 3 
 Humph. 255. In some of the States, it has been declared by 
 statute, that the issue of statuliberi shall be free when the mother 
 becomes free. 
 
 8 Barrington v. Logan's Admrs. 2 Dana, 432; Charles v. French, 
 6 J. J. Marsh. 331.
 
 ORIGIN AND SOURCES OF SLAVERY. 73 
 
 "A free mother cannot have children who are slaves. 
 Such a birth would be monstrous, both in the eye 
 of reason and of law." 1 So a female slave, emanci- 
 pated by her owner, is subject to sale for indebt- 
 edness previously contracted, but her issue, born 
 while she is enjoying her freedom, are not thus 
 subject. 2 
 
 73. A more difficult question arises when the 
 emancipation of the mother is to take effect upon 
 the happening of some event in future as, for in- 
 stance, the assent of the Legislature to the act of 
 manumission whether the issue born pending 
 the contingency are slave or free. Upon principle, 
 the proper rule would seem to be, that where, upon 
 the happening of the contingency, the act of manu- 
 mission relates back to the period when it first be- 
 came inchoate, the issue should be free, the mother's 
 freedom dating from that period. And, on the con- 
 trary, where the mother's freedom dates only from 
 the happening of the event, the issue are slaves. 3 
 Thus, should a testator, in one of the States where 
 emancipation is not allowed, except with the assent 
 of the Legislature, bequeath to a female slave her 
 freedom, instructing his executors to procure the 
 assent of the Legislature to the bequest, and such 
 assent was subsequently obtained, it would seem 
 
 1 Fulton v. Shaw, 4 Rand. 597 ; see also Maria et al. v. Sur- 
 baugh, 2 Rand. 240. 
 
 9 Parks v. Hewlett, &c. 9 Leigh, 511. 
 
 3 Maria et al. v. Surbaugh, 2 Rand. 234 j Henry v. Bradford, 
 1 Robinson, 54; Black v. Meaux,4 Dana, 188; Sydney v. White, 
 12 Ala. (N. S.) 728 ; Johnson's Admrs. v. Johnson's Heirs, 8 B. 
 Monroe, 470.
 
 74 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 that such assent would relate back to the death of 
 the testator, and the issue born since the death and 
 before the act of the Legislature would be free. 1 On 
 the contrary, if the bequest of a female slave be to 
 A. for life, and, at his death, to B., if he survive A., 
 and if B. die before A., then the slave to be free. 
 Upon the happening of this contingency, issue born 
 during the life of A. would be slaves. 2 
 
 74. Another class of cases is, where the mother 
 is emancipated, to take effect at a future period, 
 and in the meantime remains in a state of sla- 
 very. 3 Such persons, by the civil law, were termed 
 statuliberi, and their issue, born prior to the time 
 when their freedom took effect, were slaves. 4 Thus, 
 where the testator devised to his wife all of his 
 slaves, " provided that at her death they should be 
 set free, with the exception of those who should not 
 be of age at the death of his wife, who were to re- 
 
 1 See opinion of Roane, J., in Pleasants v. Pleasants, 2 Call. 286; 
 see also Donaldson v. Jude, 2 Bibb. 57; Lewis v. Simonton, 8 
 Humph. 189. So, where a female slave is emancipated by will, 
 and the probate thereof is caveated, and pending the litigation, a 
 child is born, upon the establishment of the will, the child is 
 held to be free, a nativitate. Black v. Meaux, 4 Dana, 188. And 
 where a testator gave to his slaves an election to go to Liberia, and 
 by his will "emancipated all such/' on the slaves electing to go, 
 the emancipation related back to the death ; and issue born since 
 were held to be free. Graham's Exr. v. Sam, 7 B. Monroe, 403. 
 
 3 McCutchen et al. v. Marshall et al., 8 Peters, 220; Maria v. 
 Surbaugh, 2 Rand. 228. 
 
 3 It has been held, in some of the States, that no such qualified 
 or middle state, between slavery and freedom, can exist. Thus in 
 Virginia, Wynn et al. v. Carrell et al., 2 Grattan, 227 ; see also 
 Henry v. Nunn, 11 B. Monroe, 239. 
 
 * Huberi, Prael. Lib. I, tit. iii, 5.
 
 ORIGIN AND SOURCES OF SLAVERY. 75 
 
 main under the control of certain persons until they 
 became of age, when they were to be set free." The 
 females had issue pending the life estate. As to 
 their status, Thompson, J., delivering the opinion 
 of the Supreme Court of the United States, says : 
 " If this was an open question, it might be urged 
 with some force that the condition of the female 
 slaves, during the life of the widow, was not that of 
 absolute slavery, but was, by the will, converted into 
 a modified servitude, to end upon the death of the 
 widow or on their arrival at the age of twenty-one, 
 should she die before that time. If the mothers 
 were not absolute slaves, but held in the condition 
 just mentioned, it would seem to follow that their 
 children would stand in the same condition, and be 
 entitled to their freedom on their arrival at the age 
 of twenty-one years. But the course of decisions in 
 the State of Tennessee, and some other States, where 
 slavery is tolerated, goes strongly, if not conclu- 
 sively, to establish the principle, that females thus 
 situated are slaves ; that it is only a conditional 
 manumission, and until the contingency happens 
 upon which the freedom is to take effect, they re- 
 main, to all intents and purposes, absolute slaves, 
 and the Court do not mean to disturb the principle." 
 75. So also, where a master made a deed, eman- 
 cipating a female slave " with the qualification and 
 condition, that she shall hold and enjoy freedom im- 
 mediately after my death, but during my life, she 
 is to remain in my service and power," &c. The 
 
 1 McCutchen et al. v. Marshall et al., 8 Peters, 220; see also 
 opinion of Ruffin, C. J. ; in Mayho v. Sears, 3 Ired. 224.
 
 76 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 issue born during the lifetime of the master, were 
 held to be slaves by the Supreme Court of Louisiana, 
 the mother " being of that class of persons known 
 to the Roman law by the appellation of statuli- 
 5m'." 1 Such also is the rule of the civil law, from 
 which we have adopted the principles controlling 
 the status of the issue of slaves. 2 
 
 76. It will be seen from the cases referred to 
 and other decisions of the courts, that while they 
 do not deny, that if the condition of slavery of the 
 mother becomes qualified, the condition of the issue 
 would be either the same 3 or absolute freedom, yet 
 they incline to hold the condition of the mother, 
 under the facts of each case, to be that of absolute 
 slavery. 4 This being established, the consequence 
 
 1 Catin v. d'Orgenoy's Heirs, 8 Martin, 218. "Statuliber est 
 qui statutam et destinatam in tempus vel conditionem libertatem 
 habet." Dig. Lib. XL, tit. vii, 1. By the civil law, if a female 
 were bequeathed to another, to be by him set free at a future time, 
 or upon a condition, and the time had come, or the condition been 
 performed, but the slave not actually manumitted, and thereafter, 
 before an actual emancipation, had a child born, the child was a 
 slave, belonging to the person bound to manumit. But in that 
 case he. was bound to transfer the child to the mother, that he 
 might be, by that means, set free. Dig. Lib. XL, tit. v, 13. 
 Cited by Green, J., 2 Rand. 242. In Maryland, by statute, the 
 person manumitting may prescribe, in such a case, whether the 
 issue shall be bond or free. If he fails to do so, they are slaves. 
 Dorsey's Laws, &c. 593. 
 
 3 Just. Inst. Lib. I, tit. iii, 14; Dig. Lib. XL, tit. vii, 1. 
 
 8 Pleasants v. Pleasants, 2 Call. 319 ; Harris v. Clarissa, 6 Yerger, 
 227. 
 
 4 Henry v. Bradford, 1 Robinson (Va.), 53 ; Crawford v. Moses, 
 10 Leigh, 277 ; Ned v. Beal, 2 Bibb. 298 ; Jameson v. Emeline, 
 5 Dana, 207 ; 3 B. Monroe, 60. The conflict of the authorities
 
 ORIGIN AND SOURCES OF SLAVERY. 77 
 
 follows, that the issue are slaves. But, wherever 
 the deed of manumission changes the condition 
 of the mother from slavery to mere servitude, 
 though the time of the enjoyment of perfect freedom 
 be postponed, issue born subsequent to the deed, 
 and pending the service of the mother, are free. 1 
 According to the civil law, in such a case the slave 
 would be free immediately, and the condition an- 
 nexed of servitude is nugatory. " Libertas ad tempus 
 dari non potest. Ideoque, si ita scriptum sit, usque 
 ad decem annos liber esto, temporis adjectio super- 
 vacua est." 2 
 
 77. The same principle applies, in those States 
 where laws have been passed for the gradual aboli- 
 tion of slavery, whereby the condition of the slaves 
 at certain times and under circumstances varying 
 according to the provisions of the respective acts, is 
 changed to a state of servitude or apprenticeship. 
 The issue born during this state are free, subject 
 only to such services as the respective acts may im- 
 
 upon this question, arises from the different views the courts take 
 of the character of the bequest, or gift of freedom to the slave. 
 See an elaborate review of the cases, by Ruffin, C. J., in Mayho v. 
 Sears, 3 Ired. 226. 
 
 i McCutchen et al. v. Marshall et al., 8 Peters, 221 ; Isaac v. 
 West, G Rand. 652 j Scott v. Waugh, 15 Serg. & Rawle, 17; 
 Harris v. Clarissa, 6 Yerger, 227 ; Hudgens v. Spencer, 4 Dana, 
 589 ; Charles v. French, 6 J. J. Marsh. 331 ; Johnson's Admrs. 
 v. Johnson's Heirs, 8 B. Monroe, 471 ; O'Bryan, v. Goslee, 10 B. 
 Monroe, 100 ; Civil Code, Louisiana, Art. 196. In some of the 
 States, however, it has been held that there can be no middle con- 
 dition between slavery and freedom, and that all deeds and bequests, 
 seeking to create such a condition, are void. Wynn et al. v. Carrell, 
 2 Grattan, 227. 
 
 a Dig. Lib. XL, tit. iv, 33, 34.
 
 78 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 pose. 1 If, however, the act provides for the freedom 
 of children of slaves " born within the State," and 
 after the passage of the act, a female slave is sold 
 and removed into another State, where no such law 
 exists, issue born after her removal are not free. 2 
 
 78. If the instrument emancipating the mother, 
 declared that the mother " and her increase" shall 
 be free at a future period, children born after the 
 making of the deed, and before the time arrives, will 
 be free at that time. 3 So also, where a testator 
 bequeaths his negroes to A. for life, and " at her 
 death all his negroes to be free," the issue born, 
 pending the life estate, are entitled to their freedom 
 at the termination of the life estate. 4 So also, where 
 a testator emancipated "all his negroes," upon their 
 electing to go to Liberia, and to enable them to 
 transport themselves, fair wages were to be allowed 
 them, and pending the time of their service issue 
 was born, such issue have also the right of elec- 
 tion. 8 
 
 79. Another question of importance arises where 
 the law of the place of the birth and the law of the 
 domicile of the mother are conflicting. By which 
 
 1 Barrington v. Logan's Admrs. 2 Dana, 432 ; Gentry v. 
 McMinnis, 3 Dana, 382 ; Spotts v. Gillaspie, 6 Rand. 566 ; Mil- 
 ler v. Dwilling, 14 Serg. & Rawle, 442 ; Boon v. Juliet, 1 Scam- 
 mon, 258. 
 
 3 Spotts v. Gillespie, 6 Rand. 566 ; Frank v. Shannon's Exrs. 
 1 Bibb, 615. 
 
 8 Fanny v. Bryant, 4 J. J. Marshall, 368. 
 
 * Erskine v. Henry and wife, 9 Leigh, 188 ; see also Campbell 
 v. Street, 1 Ired. 109 ; Hart v. Fanny, 6 Monroe, 49 ; Hamilton 
 v. Cragg, 6 Har. & John. 16. 
 
 5 Adams v. Adams, 10 B. Monroe, 69.
 
 ORIGIN AND SOURCES OF SLAVERY. 79 
 
 law is the status of the issue to be decided ? Where 
 the mother is regularly domiciled at the time of the 
 birth, the law of the place of the birth, will deter- 
 mine the status of the issue. 1 But where a female 
 slave, at the time of the birth of a child, is either 
 temporarily or wrongfully within a different juris- 
 diction from that of her true residence and domicile, 
 the law of her domicile and not the law of the place 
 of the birth, must determine the status of the issue. 2 
 Hence, if a slave, taken by her master temporarily 
 to a State where slavery does not exist, or a fugitive 
 slave in such a State is delivered of a child, the 
 mother's condition of slavery in either case remain- 
 ing unchanged, the offspring are slaves. 3 
 
 80. Another conflict of laws arises where the 
 domicile is changed subsequent to the birth, and 
 the law of the new domicile, in which the trial of 
 the question of freedom is heard, is different. In 
 such a case the lex fori yields, not only from comity, 
 but because the status of the offspring being deter- 
 mined eo instanti upon the birth, a change of resi- 
 
 1 Sidney v. White, 12 Ala. (N. S.) 731 ; Spotts v. Gillespie, 6 
 Rand. 566. 
 
 2 Graham v. Strader, 5 B. Monroe, 179 ; S. C. 7 Ibid. 635. 
 
 8 For the discussion of the question as to the effect of the volun- 
 tary removal of a slave into a State not tolerating slavery, for a 
 temporary purpose, see post, ch. vii. I am aware that a decision, at 
 variance with the text, was made by the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- 
 vania, in The Commonwealth v. Holloway, 2 Serg. & Rawle, 305. 
 That decision, however, was made upon an express provision in 
 their statute, and does not meet the question. If it was not so 
 made, it would not deserve consideration ; as the real difficulty, viz., 
 the conflict of laws, seems never to have been suggested by 
 either Court or counsel.
 
 80 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 dence cannot operate as a change of rights. 1 This 
 rule as laid down, applies to cases where slavery is 
 recognized and exists in both the original and new 
 domicile. The extent to which the comity of nations 
 requires the tribunals of a State to recognize and 
 enforce the private rights of citizens of another State, 
 will be considered hereafter. 
 
 81. A still more complicated case of conflict 
 might arise, where the deed or other instrument, 
 determining the rights of the applicant for freedom, 
 is executed within one jurisdiction, the birth occurs 
 in another, and the trial of the question of freedom 
 is heard in still another. In other words, the lex 
 loci contractus, the lex soli natalis, and the lex fori 
 all differ. In such a case the lex loci contractus 
 would generally control the question. 2 But if it be 
 in conflict with the policy of the law of the forum 
 where the trial is had, the Court will not enforce a 
 rule, contravening the policy of their own govern- 
 ment. 3 
 
 81 a. If the domicile of the female slave, at the 
 time of the execution of the deed or other instru- 
 ment of emancipation, be within another jurisdic- 
 tion, which subsequently becomes the solum natale 
 of the child, in that case, the law of the domicile 
 would control the lex loci contractus, it being the 
 policy of all the slaveholding States to regulate the 
 condition of all slaves domiciled within their juris- 
 diction, so long as they remain within that juris- 
 diction. 
 
 1 Sidney v. White, 12 Ala. (N. S.) 728. 
 
 3 Story's Conf. of Laws, 242, et seq. ; Blackmore v. Phill, 7 
 Yerger, 452. 
 
 3 Story's Conf. of Laws, 244, and authorities there cited.
 
 ORIGIN AND SOURCES OF SLAVERY. 81 
 
 82. We shall hereafter consider, in another con- 
 nection, the law of domicile, as applied to slaves. 1 
 For the present, it is sufficient to state that, as a 
 general rule, the domicile of the master is that of the 
 slave, and this not being " of choice" of the slave, 
 but by operation of law (necessarium) , by no act of 
 his can it be changed. 8 
 
 1 Sections 129-133. 
 
 3 Phillimore on the Law of Domicile, 25, 60.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF THE SLAVE AS A PERSON PERSONAL SECURITY. 
 
 83. HAYING ascertained the origin and sources 
 of negro slavery, and having traced that origin to 
 the pure or absolute slavery existing among the 
 tribes of Africa, and having seen that negro slavery 
 is in no wise opposed to the law of nature, except so 
 far as the power to kill or to maim may be claimed 
 therefrom, it follows, that no actual enactment of 
 the legislative power is necessary for its introduc- 
 tion into any country where no municipal law is 
 thereby infringed. Hence, we find it true, that, 
 with the exception of Georgia (where it was at first 
 prohibited), 1 no law is found on our statute books 
 authorizing its introduction. 
 
 84. The condition of these slaves in their native 
 country having been one of absolute slavery, includ- 
 ing the power over life, such would be their condi- 
 tion in the country to which they were removed, 
 except so far as the same may be modified by the 
 existing laws of their new domicile, and such subse- 
 quent legislative enactments as may have been made 
 for their benefit. The law of nature, denying the 
 power over life and limb, being a part of the law of 
 
 1 See Stephens' History of Georgia, vol. i.
 
 THE SLAVE AS A PERSON. 83 
 
 every civilized state, such power never existed in 
 any of the United States, although it required muni- 
 cipal law to prescribe the punishment for such 
 offences. 1 Many subsequent legislative enactments 
 have been made, regulating the power of the master, 
 and protecting and giving rights to the slave. 
 Having none prior to these enactments, to the muni- 
 cipal law we look for all his rights. 
 
 84 a. In the Eoman law, a slave was a mere 
 chattel (res). He was not recognized as a person. 
 But the negro slave in America, protected as above 
 stated by municipal law, occupies a_clmible character 
 o.f_person ajid property. Having now ascertained 
 who are and may be slaves in America, a natural 
 division of our subject suggests itself in considering 
 the slave, first, AS A PERSON, and then, AS PROPERTY. 
 
 85. In treating of slaves as persons, we shall 
 inquire of their rights and disabilities, of the autho- 
 rity and rights of the master, and of the relation of 
 slaves to persons other than their masters. To a 
 great extent, these necessarily will be considered 
 together, yet, as far as possible, we shall endeavor 
 to treat them in the order in which they are named. 
 
 86. Of the three great absolute rights guaranteed 
 to every citizen by the common law, viz., the right 
 of personal security, the right of personal liberty, 
 and the right of private property, the slave, in a 
 state of pure or absolute slavery, is totally deprived, 
 being, as to life, liberty, and^property, under the 
 absolute and uncontrolled dominion of his master, 2 
 
 1 See The State v. Mann, 2 Dev. Law, 268. 
 
 2 Coke Litt. 116 b; Neal v. Farmer, 9 Geo. Rep. 555; The 
 State v. Mann, 2 Dev. Law, 265; Jackson ex dem. &c. v. Lervey, 
 5 Cow. 397; Fable v. Brown, 2 Hill Ch. 396.
 
 84 LAW OP NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 so that infringements upon these rights, even by 
 third persons, could be remedied and punished only 
 at the suit of the master for the injury done him in 
 the loss of service or the diminution in value of his 
 slave. 1 As before remarked, however, no such state 
 of slavery exists in these States. And so modified 
 is the slavery here, partly by natural law, partly by 
 express enactment, and more effectually by the in- 
 fluence of civilization and Christian enlightenment, 
 that it is difficult frequently to trace to any purely 
 legal sources many of those protecting barriers, the 
 denial of whose existence would shock an enlight- 
 ened public sense. 
 
 1 87. Statute law has done much to relieve the 
 slave from this absolute dominion, and the master 
 from this perilous power, more especially so far as 
 regards the first great right of personal security. In 
 all of the slaveholding States, the homicide of a 
 slave is held to be murder, and in most of them, has 
 been so expressly declared by law. 2 In Georgia, 
 
 1 Authorities cited above. The rule seems to be held different 
 in North Carolina ; the battery of a slave by a third person, being 
 held indictable. State v. Hall, 2 Hawks, 582. Upon close exami- 
 nation, however, the decision seems to be based upon a usage sanc- 
 tioned by the acquiescence of the legislature. In Athens the same 
 rule applied. See Smith's Diet, of Or. and Rom. Ant. " Servus." 
 But murder of a slave was punished; see same, and authorities 
 cited. In Rome, the master might kill the slave at pleasure, until 
 a constitution of Claudius enacted that it should be murder. Sue- 
 tonius Claud. 25. 
 
 2 Rev. Code of N. C. 192 ; Statutes at Large of S. C. vol. vi, 158 ; 
 New Digest (Cobb) Geo. 785, 982 ; Laws of Alabama (1823), 639 j 
 Hutchinson's Code Miss. 519 ; Civil Code, Louisiana, Art. 192 j 
 Rev. Code of Missouri, ch. xlvii, art. viii, 39; Laws of Ten-
 
 THE SLAVE AS A PERSON. 85 
 
 Alabama, Texas, and Arkansas, the provisions for 
 the protection of the person of the slave are inserted 
 in their respective Constitutions, thus making it a 
 part of the fundamental law, and beyond the reach 
 of ordinary legislation. Nor has the legislation of 
 the States stopped at the protection of their lives, 
 but the security of limbs and the general comfort of 
 the body are, in most of the States, amply provided 
 for, various penalties being inflicted on masters for 
 their cruel treatment ; which will be more particu- 
 larly considered in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 88. The question has been much mooted, 
 whether in the absence of statute laws, the homi- 
 cide of a slave could be punished under the general 
 law prescribing the penalty for murder. By some 
 courts it has been held, that so soon as the progress 
 of civilization and Christian enlightenment elevated 
 the slave from the position of a mere chattel, and 
 recognized him for any purpose as a person, just at 
 that moment, the homicide of him, a human being, 
 in the peace of the State, with malice aforethought, 
 was murder. So long as he remained purely and 
 unqualifiedly property, an injury upon him was a 
 trespass upon the master's rights. When the law, 
 by providing for his proper nourishment and cloth- 
 ing, by enacting penalties against the cruel treat- 
 ment of his master, by providing for his punishment 
 for crimes, and other similar provisions, recognizes 
 his existence as a person, he is as a child just born, 
 brought for the first time within the pale of the 
 
 nessee, Car. & Nich. 676; Laws of Texas (Hartley), 76; Statutes 
 of Arkansas (1848), 4$.
 
 86 LAW OF NEGEO SLAVERY. 
 
 law's protecting power; his existence as a person 
 being recognized by the law, that existence is pro- 
 tected by the law. 1 
 
 89. It has been objected to this conclusion, that 
 if the general provision of the law against murder 
 should be held to include slaves, why would not all 
 other penal enactments, by the same course of rea- 
 soning, be held to include similar offences when 
 committed on slaves, without their being specifically 
 named ? The reply made is twofold. 1st. ZT.be, 
 law, by recognizing the existence of the slave as^n. 
 person, thereby confers no rights or privileges except 
 such as are necessary to protect that existence. All 
 Qther_rights_ mjisi u be_^rjiiil{LspCjLally . Hejice, the 
 penalties for rape would not and should jnqt, by 
 such implication, be made to extend to carnal forcible 
 knowledge of a slave^ the^ojfen^e^not^fectin^ the 
 existence of the slave, and that existence being the 
 extent of the right which the implication of the law 
 granJs,. 2d. Implications of law will always be 
 rebutted by the general policy of the law, and it is 
 clearly against the policy of the law to extend over 
 this class of the community, that character of pro- 
 tection which many of the penal statutes are in- 
 tended to provide for the citizen. 
 
 1 State v. Reed, 2 Hawks, 454 ; The State v. Tackett, 1 Hawks, 
 217; McGren v. Gate's Executors, Minor's (Ala.) Rep. 8; Mid- 
 dleton v. Holmes, 3 Porter, 424 j The State v. Jones, Walker's 
 Miss. Rep. 83; Fields v. The State, 1 Yerger, 156; Kelly & 
 Little v. The State, 3 S. & M. 518. See also The Common- 
 wealth v. Booth, 2 Va. Cases, 394 ; and The Commonwealth v. 
 Turner, 5 Rand. 678; Worley v. The State, 11 Humph. 172.
 
 THE SLAVE AS A PERSON. 87 
 
 90. In addition to these reasons, some of the 
 courts have striven to assimilate the condition of the 
 slave to that of the villain in Britain, and thence to 
 apply to slavery here such rules as were applicable 
 to villanage there. That no such identity exists as 
 would justify this conclusion, has been as strenu- 
 ously demonstrated. 1 Other courts have applied to 
 
 1 Neal v. Farmer, 9 Geo. 555 ; The Commonwealth v. Turner, 
 5 Rand. 683 ; Fable v. Brown's Exr. 2 Hill Ch. 390. That 
 slavery existed among the Saxons prior to the Norman invasion, 
 there can oe no doubt; and, as far back as the laws of King 
 Aethelbirht, we find penalties prescribed for the homicide of a 
 slave by a stranger. Ancient Laws and Institutes, 3. So, in the 
 laws of King Alfred, we find, "He who smiteth his own slave, 
 and he die not on the same day, though he live (but) two or three 
 nights, he is not altogether so guilty, because it was his own pro- 
 perty ; but if he die the same day, then let the guilt rest on him." 
 Ibid. 22; with which compare Exodus, ch. 21 : 20, 21. So also 
 by the laws of King Etheldred, " If an Englishman slay a Danish 
 thrall, let him pay for him with a pound." Ancient Laws, &c., 
 122. The penalty differed much from that for slaying a free- 
 man. So among the laws of William the Conqueror, " Si quis 
 convictus vel confessus fuerit, in jure alium occidisse, det were 
 suum, et insuper domino occisi, manbote viz. pro homine libero x 
 sol, pro servo, xx sol." Ibid. 203. Among the laws of "William, 
 we also find, "Item si servi permanserint sine calumpnia per 
 annum et diem in civitatibus nostris vel in burgis, vel muris vallatis, 
 vel in castris nostris, a die ilia liberi efBciantur; et liberi a jugo 
 servitutis sue sint in perpetuum." Ibid. 213. Strabo informs us 
 that during the Anglo-Saxon times, slaves were one of the prin- 
 cipal English exports. Strabo, Lib. IV, p. 199 (Ed. Paris, 1620); 
 Barr. on Stat. 274. (Consult here Studies on Slavery, 304.) 
 
 Britton says (fol. 77), that villanage commenced after Noah's 
 flood ; the conquerors making villains of the vanquished " to use 
 at their pleasure," "a user al so pleasur." See also Brooks's Abr., 
 title Villenage, pi. 65. The old writers, Bracton, Britton, and 
 Fleta, use Villanus and Servus as synonymous. Bracton, 6 b, 7,
 
 88 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 the master and slave, the principles of law appli- 
 cable to masters and apprentices. This proposition, 
 however, has not been adhered to with any tenacity. 
 Another able judge assumes the position, that " the 
 true state of the slave must be ascertained by refer- 
 ence to the disabilities of an alien enemy, in which 
 light the heathen were anciently regarded." 1 
 
 91. To all of this reasoning and these conclu- 
 sions other courts have withheld their assent, and 
 while they acknowledge that the feelings of huma- 
 nity, and the dictates of conscience enlightened by 
 Christianity, would lead them to these conclusions, 
 yet they have been unable in the law itself to feel 
 themselves justified in so declaring it. In their 
 view, the slave remains in a state of pure slavery, 
 until relieved by legislative enactment, and the pro- 
 visions of those enactments are the extent of their 
 
 24 b, 25, et seq.; Brit. c. xxxi; Fleta, Lib. IV, ch. xi; see 2 
 Black. Comm. 92 ; Bun-ill's Law Diet. Villein. 
 
 The Norman Conquest, with its introduction of feudal tenures, 
 so far modified the condition of the Saxon slaves, as to make the 
 conditions of villains materially different from that of African 
 slaves. Yet, it is an undoubted fact, that African slavery not only 
 existed in fact, in England, but was recognized fully by its courts, 
 prior to the decision in Somersett's case. " The personal traffic 
 in slaves resident in England," says Lord Stowell (in the case of 
 the slave Grace, 2 Hagg. Adm. Rep. 105), " had been as public 
 and as authorized in London, as in any of our West India Islands. 
 They were sold on the Exchange, and other places of public resort, 
 by parties themselves resident in London, and with as little reserve 
 as they would have been in any of our West India possessions. 
 Such a state of things continued without impeachment, from a 
 very early period, up to nearly the end of the last century." See 
 also pages 108, 109. The decision in Somersett's case was in 1772, 
 prior to our Revolution. 
 
 1 Fable v. Brown's Exr. 2 Hill Ch. 391, 392.
 
 THE SLAVE AS A PERSON. 89 
 
 rights and protection ; that by the rules for the con- 
 struction of statutes, which are adopted to regulate 
 the conduct of citizens, slaves are not included within 
 their provisions unless specifically named ; that 
 tkojigli jaurder is defined to be the killing of a 
 human being, &c., yet rape is defined to be the 
 carnal forcible knowledge of a female, and if the 
 killing of a slave be murder, the carnal forcible 
 knowledge pfjbfemale_slave is rape; and further, 
 that the fact that every slaveholding State has, by 
 penal enactment, provided punishment for such 
 offences when committed on the persons of slaves, is 
 a legislative declaration that such offences were 
 before that time unprovided for. That the Colonies 
 having adopted the common law, and negro slavery 
 having no existence in Great Britain, there could be 
 necessarily no provision of that law in reference to 
 it, and consequently the power of the master until 
 limited by legislation was absolute. 1 This view of 
 the question seems to have prevailed in the courts 
 of the British West Indies, as appears from the act 
 passed in Jamaica, in 1792, providing punishments 
 for the murder and maiming of slaves. 2 
 
 92. The view we have taken of the law of 
 nature leads us to a different conclusion from either 
 of these, viz., that by that law, and without statu- 
 tory enactment, the homicide or maiming of a negro 
 slave is prohibited and unlawful, but that it requires 
 statutory enactment to provide punishment for such 
 
 1 Neal v. Farmer, 9 Geo. Rep. 555 j Fable v. Brown's Exrs. 2 
 Hill Ch. 395; State v. Fleming, 2 Strobh. 464. 
 8 1 Brown's Civil Law, 106, note.
 
 90 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 offences. Such statutes having been passed long 
 since in all the slaveholding States, the question 
 arises now only collaterally ; and generally upon the 
 point whether the master is bound to prosecute 
 criminally, before entering his civil complaint for 
 damages. 
 
 93. The same course of reasoning that would 
 \ make the killing of a slave murder, without statu- 
 y tory enactment, would extend to the offences of 
 , manslaughter, mayhem, wounding, and assault with 
 intent to murder, all of these affecting the life of the 
 slave. 1 It would not extend to an ordinary battery, 
 and it would seem clear upon principle, that the 
 battery of a slave, without special enactment, could 
 not be prosecuted criminally. 2 The master's civil 
 remedy would be the only mode of redress against a 
 stranger. Where the battery was committed by the 
 master himself, there would be no redress whatever, 
 for the reason given in Exodus 21 : 21, "for he is 
 his money." 3 The powerful protection of the 
 master's private interest would of itself go far to 
 remedy this evil. Legislators, however, have taken 
 care, as before remarked, in all the States, to protect 
 
 1 Fields v. The State, 1 Yerger, 126 ; see State v. Piver, 2 
 Hayw. 79 ; State v. Raines, 3 McCord, 533. 
 
 3 A different rule has been adopted in North Carolina, so far as 
 the battery by a stranger is concerned. The Court seem, however, 
 to base their decision upon usage, acquiesced in by the Legislature. 
 State v. Hall, 2 Hawks, 582 ; see also Commonwealth v. Booth, 2 
 Virginia Cases, 394. In accordance with the text, see The 
 State v. Maner, 2 Hill (So. Ca.), 454; Hilton v. Caston, 2 Bailey, 
 98. 
 
 8 The State v. Mann, 2 Dev. (Law) Rep. 263; The Common- 
 wealth v. Booth, 2 Virginia Cases, 394.
 
 THE SLAVE AS A PERSON. 
 
 by stringent enactments, the slave from the cruel 
 treatment of his master. 
 
 94. The protection of the person of the slave 
 depending so completely upon statute law, it be- 
 comes a question of importance, what words in a 
 statute would extend to this class of individuals ? 
 Generally, it would seem that an Act of the Legis- 
 lature would operate upon every person within the 
 limits of the State, both natural and artificial j 1 yet, 
 where the provisions of the statute evidently refer 
 to natural persons, the courts will not extend them 
 to artificial. 2 Nor will statutes ever be so construed 
 as to lead to absurd and ridiculous conclusions. 3 
 perience has proidiat 
 monstrateo~that 
 
 tion, in rights, inj3iitiej3,J ; hej^ 
 
 of a common system of laws. 4 Hence, the conclu- 
 
 sion, that statutory enactments never extend to or 
 include the slave, neither to protect nor to render 
 him responsible, unless specifically named, or in- 
 cluded by necessary implication. 5 
 
 1 Smith's Commentaries on Statute, &c., 544. If, from a view 
 of the whole statute, the intention of the legislature to include 
 slaves is manifest, they will be considered as included in the word 
 " person." State v. Edmund, 4 Dev. 340. 
 
 a Blair v. Worley, 1 Scammon, 178. 
 
 3 Smith's Commentaries, &c., 517, 518, et seq. ; Domat's Civil 
 Law, Bk. I, tit. i, 2, pi. 7 ; United States v. Fisher, 2 Crunch, 
 400; Reports of Judges, 7 Mass. 523. 
 
 4 Per Nisbet, J., in Neal v. Farmer, 9 Geo. 579. 
 
 5 I am aware that a different rule has been adopted in Virginia. 
 See Dolly Chappie's case, 1 Virginia Cases, 184 ; Commonwealth 
 v. Carver, 5 Rand. 660. In accordance with the text, see Wash
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 95. Statutes having declared and affixed penal- 
 ties to the offences affecting the personal security of 
 slaves, it behooves us to inquire, jbow^faiMth 
 
 ^iar relatipnjpf_the__glave jnay affect thejdeiences of 
 tho^ejihfli^l^ith^^ It 
 
 would seem that from the very nature of slavery, and 
 the necessarily degraded social position of the slave, 
 many acts would extenuate the homicide of a slave, 
 and reduce the offence to a lower grade, which would 
 not constitute a legal provocation if done by a white 
 person. 1 Thus, in The State v. Tackett, it was held 
 competent for one charged with the murder of a 
 slave to give in evidence that the deceased was tur- 
 bulent, and insolent, and impudent to white persons. 2 
 ^S.nd an assault or striking by a slave would, in 
 /many cases, amount to a justification of a homicide, 
 which, in a white person, would only mitigate the 
 offence. 3 If the slave is in a state of insurrection, 
 the homicide is justifiable, in most of the States, by 
 statute. And if a slave is killed, who, bging found 
 at an unlawful assemblv^j^QjiikimniTo rebel, refuses 
 to surrender and resists by force, thehomicide is 
 justifiable. 4 
 
 Ub'. 5ut while the law, from the necessity of the 
 case, will thus subject the slave to the partial con- 
 
 v. The State, 14 S. & M. 120 ; Opinion of Nott, J. ; in The State 
 v. Whyte & Sadler, 2 N. & McC. 175. 
 
 1 Pierce v. Myrick, 1 Dev. 345. 
 
 3 1 Hawks, 210; see also Ex parte Boylston, 2 Strobh. 41. 
 
 3 Arthur v. Wells, 2 Rep. Con. C. 314; The State v. Cheatwood, 
 2 Hill (So. Ca.), 461; State v. Crank, 2 Bailey, 75. 
 
 Smith v. Hancock, 4 Bibb's Rep. 222. In Maryland, see 
 Dorse/s Laws, &c., 65, 93.
 
 THE SLAVE AS A PERSON. 93 
 
 trol of all the freemen of the country, yet it will 
 not sanction any wanton violation of the person of 
 the slave. Thus, it has been held, that a white 
 citizen is not justified in shooting a negro who he 
 orders to stop, and who refuses to do so, even though 
 the negro be a fugitive or runaway. 1 And in the 
 case of Witsell v. Earnest and another, it was held, 
 that even though the negro be suspected of a felony, 
 and be a fugitive, a person not clothed with the au- 
 thority of law to apprehend him, cannot lawfully 
 kill such slave while flying from him f nor would 
 an overseer be justified in shooting a negro who fled 
 from punishment. 3 
 
 And so, also, the mere fact that the party com- 
 mitting the homicide was a patrolman, and in the 
 exercise of his duties as such, will not justify the 
 killing of a slave flying from him. 4 
 
 97. No settled rule can be laid down as to the 
 extent of the justification which the circumstances 
 of each case may unfold. This we may say, ,the 
 lawjooks favorably u^on^sucb^conduct as tends toj 
 thejjrpper subordination^ of the slave ; bul_ajL_the 
 game jirne looks jwJtha_jealous_eye upon jill such 
 conduct as tends to unnficesaary a,nd ^ruel {.rgfli.- 
 ment. 
 
 98. The personal security of the slave being 
 thus protected by express law, becomes quasi a right 
 belonging to the slave as a person. 5 How far may 
 
 1 Arthur v. Wells, 2 Rep. Con. C. S. 0. 314. 
 1 Nott & McC. 182. 
 
 3 The State v. Will, 1 Dev. & Bat. 166 ; Copeland v. Parker, 3 
 Ired. 513. * Brooks v. Ashburn, 9 Geo. Rep. 298. 
 
 5 I cannot agree with the Court, in South Carolina, that "every
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 the slave go to protect that right ? Subordination 
 on the part of the slave is absolutely necessary, not 
 only to the existence of the institution, but to the 
 peace of the community. The policy of the law, 
 therefore^ requires that the slave should look to his 
 master and the courts to avenge his wrongs. The 
 rule, therefore, that justifies the freeman in repelling 
 force by force, applies not to the slave. 
 
 If, however, the life or limb of the slave is en- 
 dangered, he may use sufficient force to protect and 
 defend himself, even if in so doing he kills the ag- 
 gressor. 1 Such seems to have been the civil law. 2 
 
 99. The law in its mercy goes still farther, and 
 while it will not justify the slave in resisting force 
 by force, except in the case stated, yet, in regard for 
 the frailty of human nature, if the passions of the 
 slave be excited into unlawful violence by the in- 
 
 attempt to extend to the slave positive rights, is an attempt to recon- 
 cile inherent contradictions." Kinloch v. Harvey, Harp. 514. 
 Nor that "in the very nature of things, he is subject to despotism." 
 Ex parte Boylston, 2 Strobh. 43. There is no inconsistency in 
 speaking of the rights of a slave, where those rights are well de- 
 fined by law, nor is there any inherent difficulty in enforcing those 
 rights by law, even against his own master. Every statute passed 
 to protect the life or limb of the slave, gives to him a right to the 
 protection provided. And if the law omitted, the Court should pro- 
 vide a remedy. The slaves of other countries have positive rights, 
 and yet are not relieved from slavery. 
 
 1 The State v. Will, a negro, 1 Dev. & Bat. 121-165, a well-con- 
 sidered cause, decided by Judge Gaston. Per Thatcher, J., in 
 Kelly & Little v. The State, 3 S. & M. 526 ; Dave v. The State, 
 22 Ala. N. S. 33. Says Blackstone, "Self-defence, as it is justly 
 called the primary law of nature, so it is not, neither can it be, 
 in fact, taken away by the law of society." Vol. iii, ch. i ', see 
 also Puffendorf, Lib. II, ch. v, 10, p. 151 ; Montesquieu, Bk. 
 XV, ch. xvi. 
 
 3 "Vim vi defendere, omnes leges omniaque jura permittunt."
 
 THE SLAVE AS A PERSON. 95 
 
 humanity of his master or others, it will extenuate 
 the offence, and if a homicide be committed, will 
 hold these circumstances as a rebuttal of the pre- 
 sumption of malice. 1 This extenuation has been 
 by some courts confined to cases of homicide by 
 a slave of one of his own condition, the reason 
 given being " a stern and unbending necessity." 3 I 
 cannot yield my assent fully to this proposition as 
 being well-founded in law. The duty of the slave 
 to obey, and his habit of subordination, would re- 
 quire a greater provocation to justify an " infirmity 
 of temper or passion ;" but still there are circum- 
 stances, where such provocation might be given, es- 
 pecially by others than the master, as to reduce the 
 offence by the slave from murder to manslaughter. 3 
 100. In some of the States the statutes provide 
 only for the punishment of the murder of a slave, 
 without specifying or referring to the minor offences 
 of manslaughter, or an assault with intent to mur- 
 der, being most probably an oversight on the part 
 of the draughtsman. In such a case, a verdict of 
 guilty of manslaughter, it would seem, would leave 
 the Court to pass judgment as if no statute had been 
 enacted. 4 
 
 1 Per Gaston, J., in State v. Will, 1 Dev. & Bat. 171 ; see also 
 Dave v. The State, 22 Ala. N. S. 33. This principle was carried very 
 far in the case of The State v. Csesar, 9 Ired. 391, where the slave 
 was declared guilty only of manslaughter, for killing a white man, 
 who was beating his friend. The Chief Justice dissented, and I 
 think, properly. 
 
 2 John v. The State, 16 Geo. 203 ; William v. The State, 18 
 Geo. 356. 
 
 3 See post, 322, 323 j and The State v. Jarrott, 1 Ired. 76 ; 
 Dave v. The State, 22 Ala. 33. 
 
 4 The State v. Fiver, 2 Hayw. 79.
 
 96 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 101. The law is different, however, as to the 
 offence of an assault with intent to murder, for the 
 statute, by making the killing of a slave murder, con- 
 stituted the offence, at the same time, a felony. 
 And, according to the common law, an attempt to 
 commit a felony, even though the felony be created 
 by statute, is indictable : such attempt being a mis- 
 demeanor. 1 
 
 102. Before leaving the subject of the homicide 
 of slaves, it is, perhaps, well to remark, that where 
 a slave is killed, the presumption of law is the same 
 as in other cases of homicide, that it was done mali- 
 ciously. 2 On account of the frequent and necessa- 
 rily private relation of master and slave, remote 
 most generally from the presence and view of any 
 white person competent to be a witness, this pre- 
 sumption may and must often operate to the preju- 
 dice of the slayer, there being no means of proving 
 the provocation given. Under this view, the Act of 
 South Carolina provides, that where the homicide is 
 committed, and no competent witness is present at 
 the time to testify to the whole transaction, the affi- 
 davit of the accused is admitted before the jury, 
 explanatory and exculpatory of his conduct on the 
 occasion. 3 In the other States, upon principle, it 
 would seem, that while the presumption is admitted, 
 the jury should consider the peculiar relations of 
 master and slave, as to some extent rebutting its 
 force and effect. 
 
 * The State v. Maner, 2 Hill (So. Ca.), 453 ; 1 Hawkins's Pleas 
 of the Crown, 73, 113. The State v. Cheatwood, 2 Hill, 464. 
 8 The State v. Raines, 3 McC. 533.
 
 ) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 OF PERSONAL SECURITY. CONTINUED. 
 
 103. WITH reference to the minor offences 
 created by statute, protecting the person of the slave 
 from torture, wounding, maiming, and cruel and in- 
 human treatment, the great diversity of the statu- 
 tory provisions and penalties prescribed in the dif- 
 ferent States, renders it impossible, within the limits 
 of this treatise, to analyze carefully each statute, 
 and consider its practical operation. A few general 
 remarks, upon the general current of legislation, will 
 suffice our purpose. 
 
 104. On account of the perfectly unprotect( 
 and helpless position of the slave, w r hen his master 
 is placed in opposition to him : not being allowed to 
 accumulate property, with which to provide means 
 for the prosecution of his rights ; his mouth being 
 closed as a witness in a court of justice ; his hands 
 being tied, even for his own defence, except in the 
 extreme cases before alluded to ; his time not being 
 at his service, even for the purpose of procuring 
 testimony; and his person and conduct being en- 
 tirely under the control of him against whom he 
 stands arrayed, the courts should, and do, feel them- 
 selves to be his guardian and protector, and will 
 7
 
 LAW OP NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 provide for the defence of his rights, as for a ward 
 of the Court. Hence, in some of the States, by 
 statute, the court is required to assign him counsel 
 learned in the law; 1 and, in others, the very penalty 
 affixed to a conviction for cruel treatment by the 
 master, is the emancipation of the slave. 2 In others, 
 the penalty is, in part, the sale of the slave. 3 
 
 105. This is one of the most vulnerable points 
 in the system of negro slavery, and should be far- 
 ther guarded by legislation. Large compensation 
 should be provided for informers, upon the convic- 
 tion of the'master of cruel treatment; and perhaps 
 the best penalty that could be provided upon con- 
 viction, would be not only the sale of the particular 
 slave cruelly treated, but of all the slaves owned by 
 the offender, and a disqualification forever of owning 
 or possessing slaves. 
 
 106. As to what amounts to cruel treatment, is 
 a question which necessarily, to some extent, must 
 be submitted to the jury. 4 The general principle 
 would be. that the master's right to enforce obedience 
 and subordination on the part of the slave should, 
 
 1 Constitution of Arkansas, Art. IV, 25 ; of Missouri, Art. Ill, 
 27 ; Rev. Stat. of N. Ca. 583 ; Eev. Code of Va. 787, and 
 others. 
 
 8 Civil Code of Louis. Art. 192. In Tennessee, if a slave is not 
 " comfortably fed and clothed," the master is bound to pay for 
 everything he steals. Caruthers & Nicholson's Digest, 675. 
 
 8 By the Constitutions of Alabama and Texas, in such cases, the 
 slave shall be sold by law. Laws of Ala. 638 ; Hartley's Digest, 
 76. 
 
 4 Kelly & Little v. The State, 3 Sm. & M. 518; The State v. 
 Bowen, 3 Strobh. 573.
 
 PERSONAL SECURITY. 99 
 
 as far as possible, remain intact. Whatever goes 
 beyond this, and from mere wantonness or revenge 
 inflicts pain and suffering, especially unusual and 
 inhuman punishments, is cruelty, and should be 
 punished as such. And though the statute creating 
 the offence specifies particular acts of cruelty, yet 
 it has been held, that other acts of cruelty, though 
 of a minor grade than those specified, were indict- 
 able under the general description of cruel punish- 
 ment. 1 
 
 107. Another consequence of slavery is, that 
 the violation of the person of a female slave, car- 
 ries with it no other punishment than the damages 
 which the master may recover for the trespass upon 
 his property. 2 Among the Romans there was also 
 given the master, an action for the corruption of his 
 slave, in which double damages were given. 3 This, 
 however, was founded also upon the idea of the in- 
 jury to the property. Among the Lombards, if a 
 master debauched his slave's wife, the slave and his 
 wife were restored to their freedom. 4 The laws of 
 King Alfred provided a pecuniary compensation to 
 the master for the ravishment of his slave. 5 These 
 laws are suggestive of defects in our own legislation. 
 
 It is a matter worthy the consideration of legis- 
 
 1 The State v. Wilson, Cheves R. 163. 
 3 Dig. Lib. XLVII, tit. x, 25. 
 
 3 Digest, Lib. XI, tit. 3, lj Lib. XLVIII, tit. v, 6; Lib. 
 XLVII, tit. x, 25 ; Heinec. Antiq. Rom. Lib. Ill, tit. iii, 9. 
 
 4 Lib. I, tit. 32, 5. 
 
 5 Ancient Laws, &c. 35. The penalty against a male slave for 
 a rape of a female slave was, " let him make lot with his testicles." 
 Ibid.
 
 100 LAW OP NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 lators, whether the offence of rape, committed upon 
 a female slave, should not be indictable ; and whether, 
 when committed by the master, there should not be 
 superadded the sale of the slave to some other mas- 
 ter. The occurrence of such an offence is almost un- 
 heard of; and the known lasciviousness of the negro, 
 renders the possibility of its occurrence very remote. 
 Yet, for the honor of the statute-book, if it does 
 occur, there should be an adequate punishment. 1 
 
 108. Having thus inquired into the condition of 
 the slave in reference to personal security under the 
 laws of the United States, it might be profitable to 
 compare this condition with that of slaves in other 
 countries and at other ages. Among the Jews the 
 killing of a slave went unpunished, unless the 
 death was immediate. If the master maimed the 
 slave by putting out an eye or knocking out a tooth, 
 the slave was thereby emancipated. 2 A similar law 
 was enacted by Alfred the Great, as to the murder 
 of a slave by his master, though no civil punishment 
 was prescribed. 3 Among the Anglo-Saxons the 
 murder of a slave by his own master was entirely 
 unpunished by the civil courts. 4 If the homicide 
 was committed by a stranger, the punishment was 
 the payment to the master of a pound. 5 So, also, 
 .the laws of Henry I, of England. " Qui servum 
 suum occiderit suum peccatum est et dampnum ; si 
 
 1 See Montesq. Book XV, ch. xi. 
 
 3 Exodus, ch. xxi, v. 20, 21, 26, 27. 
 8 Ancient Laws and Institutes, 22. 
 
 4 Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, 272, n. cii. 
 
 5 Ancient Laws, &c. 122; Laws of King Ethelred, 5 ; so, also, 
 Laws of William the Conqueror, Ibid. 213.
 
 PERSONAL SECURITY. 101 
 
 ipso die, quo vulneratus est, vel alio modo afflictus, 
 tanquam in manibus domini sui moriatur crudelius 
 est et gravius, sicut in lege Moysis scriptum est." 1 
 When Saxon slavery became modified, and feudal 
 villanage took its place, the murder or maiming of a 
 villain was indictable, but no other cruel treatment 
 was within the interdict of the law. 2 The Roman 
 law gave the master absolute power over the life 
 and limbs of the slave. He might maim or destroy 
 them at pleasure. It is related of a citizen that he 
 caused the head of a slave to be cut off, for the 
 gratification of a guest who had never witnessed such 
 an exhibition. 3 
 
 Subsequently, however, by a constitution of Clau- 
 dius, the killing of a slave was declared murder ; 
 and certain cruel treatment worked an emancipation 
 of the slave. 4 And by a previous constitution of 
 Antoninus, if the master was convicted of cruel 
 treatment to his slave, he was compelled to sell him, 
 
 1 Ibid. 253. By the laws of Henry I, the penalty on a stranger 
 for the murder of a slave was increased to a larger fine. Ibid. 251. 
 
 8 Smith's Master and Servant, xxvii. An appeal of murder was 
 given to the villain for the murder of his father. The judgment on 
 conviction was the freedom of the villain. Co. Litt. 123 a. 
 
 8 Juvenal, Sat. V, represents a lady ordering the death of her 
 slave, who was represented to her as being innocent. Her answer 
 was: 
 
 " Nil fecerit esto, 
 Sic volo, sic jubeo, stet pro ratione mea voluntas." 
 
 So, also, he represents another lady, in Sat. VI, 223, exclaiming : 
 " 0, demens ! ita servus homo est ?" 
 4 Sueton. Claud. 25, cited in Smith's Diet.
 
 102 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 and the slave was empowered to make his complaint 
 to the proper authority. 1 
 
 109. In ancient Athens, the life and person of a 
 slave were protected by law. And in case of cruel 
 treatment by his master, the slave could take shelter 
 in the temple of Theseus, and there claim the privi- 
 lege of being sold by him. 2 
 
 By the provisions of the Code Noir, a negro slave 
 in the French West Indian Islands, by cruel treat- 
 ment, was forfeited to the crown, 3 and owners con- 
 victed of such offences were obliged to sell all the 
 slaves they had, and incapacitated from afterwards 
 holding such property. 4 
 
 In the Spanish and Portuguese colonies the laws 
 seem still more favorable for the slave. Ill-usage 
 entitled the slave to enfranchisement, or else a sale 
 to another master, or the purchase of his own free- 
 dom upon a fair valuation. 5 
 
 Among the German states, the jurisdictio patri- 
 monialis gave to the lord or patron the right to chas- 
 tise in moderation (modice castigandi) their serfs or 
 prsedial slaves. 6 But among the ancient Germans 
 
 1 Seneca, De Benef. iii, 22 ; Heinec. in Elem. Jur. Pandec. Pt. I, 
 Lib. I, 134, says, " Verum etiam omnis ssevitia dominorum extra 
 ordinem vendicatur." 
 
 3 Xenoph. De Rep. Ath. i, 10 j Eurip. Hec. 287, 288 ; Meier. 
 Att. Proc. p. 403 j Smith's Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Ant. " Servus," 
 and many authorities there cited. Becker's Charicles, 276, et 
 seq. 3 Code Noir, Art. 42. 
 
 4 Les Annales du conseil souverain de la Martinique, tome i, pp. 
 282-284, cited in Stephens on West Indian Slavery, vol. i, 119. 
 
 5 See Stephens, on West Indian Slavery, vol. i, 119, and autho- 
 rities there cited. 
 
 6 Heinec. Elem. Jur. Pand. Lib. I, 137.
 
 PERSONAL SECURITY. 103 
 
 and Franks, the master exercised the "jus vitse 
 necisque," though we are told, " non atrociter, sed 
 turn demum si servi hostilem induissent animum." 1 
 
 After the introduction of Christianity, though the 
 homicide of a slave was unpunished by law, the 
 Church inflicted penalties therefor. 2 Subsequently, 
 about the twelfth century, it was modified by law, 
 as stated by Heineccius, into the jurisdictio patrimo- 
 nialis. 3 
 
 110. The law of slavery in the British East 
 Indies (being the Hindoo and Mohammedan Law, 
 adopted and enforced by the British courts), 4 treated 
 the slave as the absolute property of the master, 
 made no provision for the protection of the slave 
 from the cruelty of his master, not limiting the 
 master's power, even over the life and limb of the 
 slave. 5 
 
 In ancient Spain, Gaul, Poland, Russia, Bohemia, 
 Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, and Helvetia, the power 
 of the master or lord over his slave or serf was ab- 
 solute, he being the sole judge in all cases, and being 
 allowed to coerce "verberibus flagellis, aliisque 
 poenis." 6 This differed from the condition of the 
 
 1 Potgiesser, De Stat. Serv. Lib. II, cap. i, 4, 6, 7. 
 
 2 Ibid. 10. 3 Ibid. 28-33. 
 
 4 Slavery in India, by W. Adams, 26 ; Harrington's Analysis of 
 Laws, vol. i, pp. 1, 5, 6, 20, 67, 68 ; McNaghten's Hindoo Law, 
 vol. i, p. 113. 
 
 5 Colebrooke's Official Report, found in Harrington's Analysis, 
 and also in Appendix to Adam, on Slavery in India, pp. 246, 
 247. 
 
 6 Potgiesser, De Statu Servorum, Lib. II, cap. i, 37, 38, and 
 authorities cited.
 
 i 
 
 104 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 slave at Rome in later days in this, that the master's 
 power over the latter, though recognized by law, was 
 subject to the supervision of the civil courts, while 
 among the German nations and those of German 
 extraction, the master or lord had jurisdiction inde- 
 pendent of other courts, of all questions touching 
 the vassal or slave. 1 
 
 1 Potgiesser, De Statu Servorum, Lib. II, cap. i, 39, 40, and 
 41.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OF PERSONAL LIBERTY. 
 
 111. THE right of personal liberty in the slave 
 is utterly inconsistent with the idea of slavery, and 
 whenever the slave acquires this right, his condition 
 is ipso facto changed. Hence, the enjoyment of it 
 for a number of years has been held to be strong pre- 
 sumptive evidence of former emancipation. 1 
 
 112. Blackstone defines this personal liberty to 
 " consist in the power of locomotion, of changing 
 situation or moving one's person to whatsoever place 
 one's own inclination may direct, without imprison- 
 ment or restraint, unless by due course of law." 2 
 The slave, while possessing the power of locomotion, 
 moves not as his own inclination may direct, but at 
 the bidding of his master, who may, of his own will,* 
 imprison or restrain him, unless he thereby infringes 
 some provision of statute law. So utterly opposite 
 is the position of the slave from that of the freeman 
 in respect to this right, that we could not better de- 
 fine his condition, than to say it is the reverse of 
 that of the freeman. 
 
 1 The State v. Hill, 2 Speers, 150; Hunter v. Shaffer, Dudley 
 (Ga.) Rep. 224; Fox v. Lambson, 3 Halsted, 275; Linam v. 
 Johnson, 2 Bailey, 137. 
 
 B. I, p. 134.
 
 106 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 112 a. But while the slave's power of locomotion 
 is thus within the absolute control of the master, no 
 third person has any right to restrain or imprison 
 him, except by order of the master, or in cases pro- 
 vided by law. Hence, disobedience of a slave to the 
 order of a person who has no right to control him, 
 in the absence of statute law, would be no justifica- 
 tion to such person for a battery or other injury 
 committed on the slave. 1 
 
 113. Reasons of policy and necessity, however, 
 require that so long as two races of men live together, 
 the one as masters and the other as dependents and 
 slaves, to a certain extent, all of the superior race 
 shall exercise a controlling power over the inferior. 2 
 If the sla.ve feels that he is solely under the power 
 and control of his immediate master, he will soon 
 become insolent and ungovernable to all others. If 
 the white man had, then, no right by law to control, 
 the result would be, the excitement of angry pas- 
 sions, broils, and bloorj^prl JTTpnpp have arisen, in 
 
 lie States, the various police and patrol regulations, 
 iving to white persons other than the master, under 
 ertain circumstances, the right of controlling, and, 
 a some cases, correcting slaves. But if the white 
 erson exceeds the authority given, and chastises a 
 lave who has given no provocation, he is liable for 
 lie trespass. 3 
 ""$~114:. Necessarily, much of the time of the slave 
 
 1 White v. Chambers, 2 Bay. 70. This case goes still farther, 
 and holds, that insolence from the slave would not justify a bat- 
 tery. See also ante, 96. 
 
 3 Ex parte Boylston, 2 Strobh. 43 ; ante, 96. 
 
 8 Caldwell v. Langford, 1 McMul. 275.
 
 PERSONAL LIBERTY. 
 
 is not employed in his master's service. The long 
 hours of the night, the Sabbath day, and the various 
 holidays, are times when, by the permission of mas- 
 ters, slaves enjoy a quasi personal liberty. At such 
 times, it cannot be expected that the watchful eye 
 of the master can follow them. Frequent and large 
 collections of them would necessarily occur, and, 
 having no business to occupy their thoughts and 
 conversation, mischief and evil would be the conse- 
 quence of their assemblage. It has been found ex- 
 pedient and necessary, therefore, in all the slave- 
 holding States, to organize, in every district, a body 
 of men, who, for a limited time, exercise certain 
 police powers, conferred by statute, for the better 
 government of the slave, and the protection of the 
 master. Upon these policemen or patrol, for the 
 time, greater powers and privileges are necessarily 
 conferred, for the execution of their office, in con- 
 trolling the liberty and movements of the slave. 
 
 115. The power and authority of the patrol, 
 however, are limited by the statutes prescribing them, 
 and they are not at liberty to overleap these bounds. 1 
 Hence, in South Carolina, it was held, that under 
 the authority to disperse unlawful assemblies of ne- 
 groes, the patrol had no right to interfere with an 
 open assemblage, for the purpose of religious wor- 
 ship, where white persons were also assembled. 2 Nor 
 with an orderly meeting of slaves, with the consent 
 of their masters, upon the premises of a slaveholder, 
 
 1 Per Johnson, J., in Bell v. Graham, 1 N. & McC. 281 j Tate 
 v. O'Neal, 1 Hawks, 418. 
 
 a Bell v. Graham, 1 N. & McC. 281.
 
 108 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 with his permission and occasional presence. 1 Nor 
 can the patrol correct a slave giving no provocation, 
 who is without his master's inclosure, with a permit 
 or ticket authorizing it. 2 
 
 If the patrol inflict excessive punishment upon a 
 slave, they will be liable to the master for the tres- 
 pass. Some degree of discretion, however, is neces- 
 sarily allowed them. 3 
 
 116. The necessity for patrol regulations being 
 to control slaves when not under the control of their 
 masters, it would seem that the patrol, upon prin- 
 ciple, could never interfere with the master's control 
 of his own slave, and upon his own premises. 4 It 
 would require very express enactment to justify such 
 interference. 
 
 117. Yet the master's privilege extends only to 
 his own slaves, and he cannot so act towards them 
 as to interfere or injure his neighbors. Hence, the 
 enactments in many States, against persons permit- 
 ting assemblages of the slaves of others upon their 
 premises, without the consent of their owners. 5 
 Hence, also, a master, in many States, is prohibited 
 from furnishing spirituous liquors to his own slaves 
 in such quantities as to enable them to furnish 
 others. 6 Hence, also, in almost all the States, the 
 penalties against the master for permitting his slaves 
 
 1 State v. Boozer, 5 Strobh. 21 ; The State v. Boyce, 10 Ired. 
 536. Caldwell v. Langford, 1 McMul. 275. 
 
 3 Tate v. O'Neal, 1 Hawks, 418 ; see ante, 96. 
 
 4 The State v. Boozer, 5 Strobh. 21. 
 
 5 Commonwealth v. Booth, 6 Rand. 669 ; Commonwealth v. 
 Foster, 5 Grat. 695 ; State v. Brown, 8 Humph. 89. 
 
 The State v. Weaks, 7 Humph. 522.
 
 PERSONAL LIBERTY. 109 
 
 to hire their own time, or to go at liberty, to the 
 injury of others. 1 
 
 118. To restrain the slave altogether from leav- 
 ing his master's premises, during the time that he 
 is not employed in his master's business, would be 
 unnecessarily harsh towards that dependent class. 
 Hence, by the permission of the master, the slave 
 may be allowed to travel the highway, or to visit 
 and remain at other places ; in which event, he is 
 not subject to be controlled or corrected by the 
 patrol, unless found violating some provision of law. 3 
 The evidence of such permission is called a permit 
 or pass. The particularity with which it should be 
 written, and what it should contain, must necessa- 
 rily depend upon the requisition of the statutes 
 regulating patrols. A substantial compliance with 
 the statute is sufficient. 3 On the other hand, the 
 master is not permitted to violate the whole policy 
 of the legislation of a State by giving his slave a 
 " permit" or " pass" for an indefinite or unreasonable 
 period of time, especially if it professes to allow the 
 slave privileges forbidden to the slave, and penal in 
 the master. 4 
 
 119. From this ^<m liberty of the slave, during 
 the Sabbath and other holidays, flow many interest- 
 ing questions as to the liability of the master or 
 hirer for the acts of the slave at such times, which 
 will be considered hereafter. 
 
 1 Commonwealth v. Gilbert, 6 J. J. Marsh. 184; Parker v. Com- 
 monwealth, 8 B. Monr. 30. 
 
 2 The State v. Boozer, 5 Strobh. 21. 
 
 3 Caldwell v. Langford, 1 McMul. 275. 
 
 * Jarrett v. Higbee, 5 Monroe, 550, 551.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 120. The slave being deprived of the right of 
 personal liberty, cannot, by any act of his, obtain it 
 without the consent of his master. Hence, though 
 he escapes from the actual personal control of the 
 master, and while a fugitive enjoys actual liberty, 
 he is at all times subject to be retaken, and placed 
 again under the power of the master. In fact, by 
 placing himself beyond the pale of the master's pro- 
 tecting power, and being, for the time and pro tanto, 
 in a state of rebellion to his lawful authority, he 
 deprives himself of the exemption from the inter- 
 ference of strangers, which at home he enjoys, and 
 becomes, to a limited extent, an outlaw in the com- 
 munity, j As such, he may be arrested and im- 
 pnsonedoy any one, even on the Sabbath day, just 
 
 a criminal caught flagrante delicto. 1 
 
 121. Any person harboring or concealing him, 
 or aiding or abetting him in making his escape, is 
 not only liable to the master civilly, 2 but, in all the 
 States, is made responsible criminally. 
 
 Any person hiring or employing a runaway slave, 
 is responsible to the master for his services ; and this 
 is true with or without notice to the employer, of 
 the fact of his being a fugitive, the rule in such cases 
 being analogous to that adopted in reference to mas- 
 ters and apprentices. 3 And although the master is 
 
 1 Abrahams v. The Commonwealth, 1 Robinson's Virginia Rep. 
 675 ; Commonwealth v. Griffith, 2 Pick. 12 ; Johnson v. Tomp- 
 kins et al. 1 Baldw. C. C. 571 ; Jarrett v. Higbee, 5 Monroe, 552. 
 
 2 Trongott v. Byers, 5 Cowen, 480. Such was also the Roman 
 law, Smith's Diet. " Servus ;" see also The Laws of King Ina, '24, 
 29 j Ancient Laws and Institutes, pp. 51, 52. 
 
 3 Trongott v. Byers, 5 Cowen, 480 ; James v. Le Roy et al. 6
 
 PERSONAL LIBERTY. Ill 
 
 bound to furnish necessary food and clothing to his 
 slave, yet the wrongdoer, in such a case, could not 
 set-off against the master's claim, advances made to 
 the slave, however necessary they were. 1 
 
 122. The master may recapture his slave at 
 any time or place, whether in a slaveholding or non- 
 slaveholding State ; and in order to do so, he may 
 enter upon the premises of another without being 
 guilty of a trespass, provided he does so peaceably, 
 and without committing any breach of the peace. 2 
 Such was the rule in reference to a master and his 
 apprentice at common law ; and an advertisement, 
 by the master, in a public newspaper, of his run- 
 away apprentice, has been held sufficient authority 
 to justify a third person in entering upon the pre- 
 mises of another to arrest the apprentice. 3 Such was 
 the rule, also, in reference to the lord and his villain, 
 provided the recapture was within a year and a day; 
 and this privilege extended to any portion of the 
 realm to which the villain may have escaped. Thus 
 Fleta : " Servus fugitivus non solum infra annum et 
 diem capi poterit in feodo domini, sed ubicunque in- 
 ventus fuerit in regno, dum tamen recenter post 
 
 John. 273. So also the law of King Aethelstan, "Et qui alterius 
 hominem suscipiet intra marcam vel extra, quern pro malo suo 
 dimittat et castigare non possit; reddat regi centum viginti solidos, 
 et redeat intus unde exivit, et rectum faciat ei sui servi ut antea." 
 Ancient Law, &c. 92. 
 
 1 Trongott v. Byers, 5 Cowen, 480. 
 
 2 Johnson v. Tompkins et al. Bald. C. C. R. 581 ; Collomb v. 
 Taylor, 9 Humph. 689; Bogard v. Jones, Ibid. 739; Prigg v. 
 The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 16 Peters, 541. 
 
 3 State v. Kerr et al. Addison's Pa. Rep. 325 ; cited with ap- 
 probation by Justice Baldwin, in Johnson v. Tompkins et al. 
 Baldw. C. C. R. 581.
 
 112 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 fugam sequatur, comprehend! poterit, etiam impune 
 retineri." 1 Fugitive villains, upon recaption, were 
 branded in the forehead. 2 
 
 123. According to the Roman law, the master's 
 rights over his slaves were in no wise affected by 
 his running away. 3 A class of persons called Fugi- 
 tivarii made it their business to recover runaway 
 slaves. The master's right of recaption extended 
 everywhere in the realm, and it was the duty of all 
 authorities to give him aid in recovering the slave. 
 The fugitive slave when captured was branded in 
 the forehead." Such cruel punishment was sometimes 
 added, that Ulpian relates an instance of one who 
 killed himself for fear of returning to his master. 5 
 No length of time nor acquisition of honors debarred 
 the master's right of recovery. 6 It was otherwise, 
 however, if another possessed him as a slave. 7 An 
 action was given to the master against any one who 
 persuaded the slave to fly to a statue for refuge. 8 
 
 124. Fugitive slaves were the subject of recapture 
 in the French Empire during the middle ages. And 
 the Emperor Charlemagne is applauded for providing, 
 that if a lord claimed his villain or slave (colonus 
 
 1 Fleta, Lib. IV, cap. xi, 23. 
 
 3 Mahoney, see 4 Harr. & McC. 295. 
 
 3 Digest, II, tit. iv, De Fugitivis. 
 
 4 Smith's Diet. " Servus," p. 1038. 
 
 5 Referred to by Heinec. De Reliq. &c. Exer. xviii, 32, Op. 
 torn, ii, 688. 
 
 6 The reason is curious, " Qui in juste aufugit, seque alicubi pro 
 libero gerit, sui ipsius fur habetur, nee unquam ideo libertatem 
 adquirit," &c. Heinec. De Prescrip. &c. Exer. xxvi, 10 ; see 
 also Code, Lib. XI, tit. xlvii. 7 Ibid. 
 
 8 Heinec. Elem. Jur. Pand. Pt. VII, Lib. XLVII, 128.
 
 PERSONAL LIBERTY. 113 
 
 sice servus), who had escaped beyond his territory, 
 he was not to be given up until strict inquiry was 
 made as to the truth of the claim. 1 
 
 125. In all the German states fugitive slaves 
 were the subjects of recapture. And no length of 
 prescription could bar the master's claim. Thirty 
 years' possession by another master was subsequently 
 declared a bar. Among the Lombards, thirty years' 
 enjoyment of freedom prescribed the master's claim. 3 
 The law of the Visigoths enacted severe penalties 
 against those who concealed a slave, refused to de- 
 liver him to a judge, released him from his chains, 
 aided him in his flight, or gave him a refuge. It 
 also prescribed the condition of his wife, who mar- 
 ried him supposing him to be free, and also of the 
 children born of such a marriage. In some cases, 
 stripes were provided as the punishment. 3 Most of 
 the German states made provision by law for the 
 delivery of the fugitives from other states. 4 If the 
 delivery of the fugitive slave was refused, a war 
 frequently ensued. 5 To avoid these controversies, 
 the emperors at different times prescribed a certain 
 length of time to peaceable residence, after which 
 the master's rights were barred. 8 Some of the em- 
 
 1 Hallam's Mid. Ages, Vol. I, Pt. II, ch. ii, p. 89, n. 
 
 2 Heinec. De Praescrip. &c. Exer. xxvi, 11; Opera, torn, ii, p. 
 895. 
 
 3 Heinec. Elem. Jur. Germ. Lib. II, tit. xxix, 355. 
 
 4 Ibid. 
 
 5 Heinec. De Praescr. &c. Exer. xxvi, 12, citing Lehmann, 
 Chron. Spir. Lib. VII, cap. Ixxi; Hertius, De Horn. Prop. Sect. 
 iii, 10. See also Potg. Lib. II, cap. ix, 20. 
 
 8 Potg. Lib. II, cap. ix, 20. 
 8
 
 114 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 perors refused to receive fugitives within their 
 states to the prejudice of their masters. 1 
 
 126. The right of recapture existed in ancient 
 Greece, and branding was a common punishment 
 for a runaway slaves 
 
 In the West Indies, the punishment of a fugitive 
 was very severe. By the " Code Noir" he was 
 branded and his ears cut off, for the first and second 
 offences, and for the third, he lost his life. In the 
 Spanish colonies he was hung, if absent longer than 
 six months. 3 Up to the year 1819, a fugitive slave 
 who had been absent for thirty days, was hung in 
 the English colony of Barbadoes. 4 
 
 127. The Church, since the apostolic day, has 
 ever followed the example of Paul in restoring to his 
 master the fugitive Onesimus, and in which Paul 
 only pursued the teaching of the Spirit of the Lord, 
 that instructed Hagar in the wilderness to return 
 and submit herself to the hand of her mistress. 
 Saint Basil gave full instructions on the subject of 
 fugitive slaves, requiring all the inferior clergy, 
 where refuge was sought in the convents or other 
 sacred places, after having enlightened and made 
 
 1 Potgiesser gives the decrees of Frederick II, Henry VI, Ru- 
 dolphus I, Ludovicus IV, Lib. II, cap. ix, 21. 
 
 2 Becker's Charicles, 279. 
 
 8 Code Noir. Schoelcher, Colonies Franchises, p. 102. The 
 severity of these provisions accounts for the great number of fugi- 
 tives, who, under the name of Maroons, infested their mountains. 
 Napoleon the Great decreed the sale of any free black, and his 
 family, if he was detected harboring a fugitive slave. Schoelcher, 
 103. 
 
 4 Substance of the three Reports of Commissioners on the Law 
 of the "West Indies, p. 13.
 
 PERSONAL LIBERTY. 115 
 
 them better, to restore them to their masters. 1 So, 
 by the decrees of several councils, any person ad- 
 vising a slave to abandon the service of his master, 
 or advising him not to serve with good faith and the 
 most profound respect, was subject to the anathema 
 of the Church. 2 
 
 1 S. Basil. Kegul. fus. Tractat. Int. xi; translated in Cassagnac's 
 Voyage aux Antilles, tom. ii, 416. 
 
 8 Cassagnac's Voyage aux Antilles, torn, ii, 440 ; Bishop Eng- 
 land's Letters to Forsytb.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING OR CARRIED INTO OTHER STATES 
 PERSONAL STATUTES, AS APPLIED TO SLAVES. 
 
 128. THE fugitive slave may escape beyond the 
 limits of the State of the master's residence. If the 
 place of his refuge is a slaveholding State, there is 
 no doubt that his condition of slavery is not thereby 
 affected, and that by the comity of nations, he would 
 be delivered up upon the requisition of the master. 
 
 A more difficult and vexed question arises when 
 the place of his refuge is a State where slavery 
 does not exist. A conflict of laws then exists, the 
 proper solution of which staggered the judgment of 
 Lord Mansfield, 1 has placed in such direct anta- 
 gonism the opinions of the ablest of foreign jurists, 
 that Judge Story was forced to exclaim, " Non nos- 
 trum inter vos tantas componere lites," 2 has engaged 
 for more than half a century the judicial mind of 
 America; and even while I write is mooted and 
 argued as an unsettled question in the courts of 
 more than one of the non-slaveholding States. 
 
 128 a. Such a question I approach with diffidence, 
 and ask only the judgment of honesty and candor, 
 
 1 Somersett Case, 20 Howell's State Trials, 21. 
 3 Story's Conflict of Laws, 58, et seq.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 117 
 
 for the conclusions to which I may arrive. In con- 
 sidering it, I shall not confine the investigation to 
 fugitives, but shall inquire also how far the condi- 
 tion of the slave is changed by the voluntary re- 
 moval of his master into a non-slaveholding State. 
 If, upon examination, we shall find that in the latter 
 case, under any circumstances, the condition of 
 slavery continues, a fortiori it will continue in the 
 former where the removal is invito domino. 
 
 129. A preliminary question arises as to what 
 constitutes the domicile of a slave. We have seen 
 that, as a general rule, it is that of the master. 
 And this not being of choice of the slave, but by 
 operation of law (necessarium) , by no act of his can 
 it be changed. 1 
 
 130. That mere residence in a country without 
 the animus per manendi, does not effect a change of 
 domicile, so as to subject the resident to the personal 
 laws of the country, is well settled by the jurists of 
 all civilized nations, as we shall see. It is frequently 
 a question of great nicety to determine what facts 
 will amount to a change of domicile, and many cri- 
 teria are laid down to aid in elucidating this ques- 
 tion. 3 It would lead us too far from our main sub- 
 
 1 Phillirnore, on the law of Domicile, 25, 60. So Menochius, 
 in treating of Domicile, says, " Servus enim pro nihilo habetur 
 cum mortuo comparetur." De Presumptionibus, Presumptio, xxx, 
 19, p. 1035, quoted at length in Appendix to Phillimore; Burge 
 Comm. on Col. Law, &c. i, pp. 33, 702, 751 ; see also 2 Martin, 
 Lin. Rep. N. S. 408; Anderson v. Garrett, 9 Gill. 120. 
 
 8 Phillimore, on the Law of Domicile, pp. 101, 150, to which 
 the inquiring reader is referred. See also Mascardus, De Proba- 
 tionibus, Conclusio, dxxxv; quoted at large in Appendix to Phil- 
 limore.
 
 118 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 ject to follow the many interesting questions arising 
 from this source, though each of them may, at some 
 time, in practice need investigation in connection 
 with the subject now discussed. We must content 
 ourselves, here, with laying down the general rule, 
 that the length of time of the residence, and the 
 intention of remaining (to be decided from all the 
 circumstances, and even against express declara- 
 tions), are the important criteria in most cases, and 
 that these must coexist in order to constitute a new 
 domicile. 1 For the intention to change a domicile, 
 without the actual removal, will not effect a change. 
 And, on the other hand, many jurists hold, that no 
 length of time of residence, without the animus re- 
 manendi, will effect a change of domicile. Thus 
 Mascardus : Domicilium non contrabitur etiam per 
 mille annos, si quis habet animum recedendi. 2 And 
 adds, " So I was taught by the chief of all inter- 
 preters of the law, by Bartolus." 3 Many of the 
 civilians, however, held, that residence for ten years 
 (decennalis habitatio) created a legal presumption of 
 change of domicile ; while others again supposed it 
 to be a matter within the discretion of the judge, 
 according to the circumstances of the particular case. 4 
 Lord Stowell entered his protest against the doctrine, 
 that the mere fact that the original residence was 
 for a special purpose, and with the animus revertendi, 
 should perpetually bar the presumption of a change 
 
 1 Phillimore, 146, and American authorities there cited. 
 
 2 De Probationibus, Conclusio, dxxxv, Summarium, 12, vol. i, 
 248. 8 xiii, 249. 
 
 4 Phillimore, 141 ; Pothier, Coutumes des Duche, Bailliage et 
 Prvote d'Orleans, ch. i.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 119 
 
 of domicile, and insisted, that " a general residence 
 might grow on a special purpose." 1 
 
 131. There can be no doubt that such a pre- 
 sumption would arise, if the residence were continued 
 after the " special purpose" ceased to exist. 2 And 
 we might add, that a vague definite intention to 
 return to one's country at some future time, is not 
 sufficient to rebut the presumption of a change of 
 domicile. Thus Lord Thurlow : " A person's being 
 at a place, is prima facie evidence that he is domi- 
 ciled at that place, and it lies on those who say 
 otherwise to rebut that evidence." 3 It may be re- 
 butted, no doubt. A person travelling, on a visit, 
 he may be there for some time on account of his 
 health or business; the case of soldiers, ambassa- 
 dors, &c. But what will make a man's domicile or 
 home, in contradistinction to these cases, must occur 
 to every one. A British man settles as a merchant 
 abroad ; he enjoys the privileges of the place ; he 
 may mean to return when he has made his fortune, 
 but if he die in the meantime, will it be maintained 
 that he had his domicile at home ? 4 If the residence 
 be not voluntary, but by virtue of authority, such 
 as a military officer's, at a post to which he has been 
 
 1 2 Robinson's Adm. Reports, pp. 224, 225; see also Stanley v. 
 Bemis, 3 Hagg. EC. Rep. 373. 
 
 3 Pothier, Coutumes des Duche, Bailliage et Prevote d' Orleans, 
 ch. i, 1 ; Phillimore, on the Law of Domicile, 148. 
 
 3 This is true, yet " animus mutandi domicilium nunquam pre- 
 sumitur, nisi probetur." Mascardus, De Probationibus, vol. i, p. 
 248. (Turin. 1591.) 
 
 4 Bruce v. Bruce, reported in a note to Marsh v. Hutchinson, 2 
 Bos. & Pul. 219 j see also Elbers & Kraffts v. The United Insur- 
 ance Co. Johnson's Cases; Guvier v. 0' Daniel, 1 Binney, 349.
 
 120 LAW OP NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 ordered by his superior, then the change of resi- 
 dence does not evidence an intention to change the 
 domicile. 1 
 
 132. Another rule, perhaps, deserves to be 
 noticed, and that is the domicile of origin (which is 
 "that arising from a man's birth and connections") 2 
 must prevail, unless it be proved that the party has 
 acquired another by residence, and abandoning his 
 domicile of origin. 3 
 
 Hence it would follow, that a citizen of a non- 
 slaveholding State cannot evade the law by claiming 
 a domicile in a slaveholding State, and thus seek the 
 protection afforded by the comity of nations. Nor 
 will the mere removal, temporarily, to a slavehold- 
 ing State, effect this; there must be a bond fide 
 change of domicile ; an abandonment of the domicile 
 of origin. 
 
 133. As the animus or intention is a very mate- 
 rial question in determining the place of domicile, it 
 is perhaps well to remark, that the oral declaration 
 of the party, as well as his letters, are admissible in 
 evidence, to be weighed according to the circum- 
 stances under which they were spoken or written. 4 
 
 1 Opinion of Judge Campbell, in the Dred Scott case, p. 101. 
 
 2 Sommerville v. Sommerville, 5 Vesey, 570. " Est autem ori- 
 ginis locus in quo quis natus est, aut nasci debet, sicut forte reipsa 
 alibi natus esset, matre in peregrinatione parturiente." I. Lv. t. i, 
 91. 
 
 8 See Decisions of Lord Chancellor Cottenham, in Munro v. 
 Munro, 7 Clarke & Finnelly; Keport of Cases, in the House of 
 Lords, 842. See Phillimore, p. 101, where the opinions and deci- 
 sions of foreign jurists and courts are collected. 
 
 4 Phillimore, on the Law of Domicile, 112 ; Munro v. Munro, 
 7 Clarke & Finnelly, 842 ; Sommerville v. Sommerville, 5 Vesey,
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 121 
 
 In general questions of this kind, the intention is 
 ascertained from motives, pursuits ; on conditions of 
 the family and fortune of the party. And no change 
 will be inferred, unless evidence shows that one 
 domicile was abandoned, and there was an intention 
 to acquire another. 1 
 
 134. Having disposed of this preliminary in- 
 quiry, we resume our investigation. As a general 
 rule, the capacity or incapacity of persons is to be 
 governed by the law of the place of their domicile. 2 
 Huber lays it down, as a universal doctrine, that 
 personal qualities, impressed upon any person by the 
 law of any place, surround and accompany him 
 everywhere, with this effect : that wherever he goes 
 he enjoys, and is subject to, the same law that such 
 persons elsewhere enjoy and are subject to. 3 All 
 foreign jurists agree upon this as a general principle, 
 though expressed differently; varying, however, 
 widely among themselves as to what are personal 
 and what real statutes. 4 Thus Boullenois : "Ces 
 
 570. Such also is the French law, Code Civil, t. iii, Du Domicile, 
 105 ; and the Spanish law, Codice Civile, t. iii, Del Domicilis, 
 68. 
 
 1 Justice Campbell, in the Dred Scott case, p. 101, and authori- 
 ties cited by him. 
 
 3 (Euvres D' Aguesseau, torn, v, p. 256, 257, 8vo. edition ; 
 Pothier, Int. Coutumes D'Orleans, Int. ch. i, 7; D'Argentre", 
 Coutume de Bretagne, Art. 218, Glos. vi, n. 5, et suiv. 
 
 3 " Qualitates personales, certo loco, alicui jure impressas, ubique 
 circumferri et personam comitari, cum hoc effectu, ut ubique loco- 
 rum eo jure, quo tales personse, alibi gaudent vel subjecti sunt, 
 fruanturet subjiciantur." Huberus, De Conf. Leg. Lib. I, tit. iii, 
 12. 
 
 * Story's Conflict of Laws, ch. iv, on Capacity of Persons. 
 (Euvres D' Aguesseau, torn, v, 256.
 
 122 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 lois personelles affectent la personne d'une qualite 
 qui lui est inherente, et la personne est telle par- 
 tout." 1 So Rodenburg : " Cum de statu ac condi- 
 tione hominum queritur, uni solummodo judici et 
 quidem domicilii, universum in ilia jus sit attribu- 
 tum." " Whenever it becomes necessary to inquire 
 into the state or condition of persons, there is but 
 one judge, viz., that of his domicile, to whom the 
 whole question is to be referred." 2 " Hinc," says 
 Hertius, " status et qualitas personse regitur (regun- 
 tur) a legibus loci, cui ipsa sese per domicilium sub- 
 jecit." 3 " Hence, the state and quality of a person are 
 governed by the laws of that place to which, by his 
 domicile, he subjects himself." Froland, Bouhier, 
 Pothier, Foelix, Stockmannus, and others, lay down 
 the same rule. 4 
 
 135. Vinnius goes farther, and applies the rule 
 directly to the question of slavery, thus : " Status 
 est persons conditio aut qualitas quas efficit ut hoc 
 vel illo jure utatur, ut esse liberum, esse servum, esse 
 ingenuum, esse libertinum, esse alieni, esse sui juris." 5 
 "The status is that condition or quality of a person, 
 which makes him free or slave, noble or ignoble, 
 capable or incapable, by whatever law he may be 
 judged." 
 
 1 1 Prin. Gen. p. 4. 2 De Div. Stat. tit. i, ch. iii, 4-10. 
 8 Hertius, De Collis. Leg. 4, n. 5, p. 122. 
 
 4 Story's Conf. of Laws, 3d edit. 51 a. I cannot forbear quoting 
 the language of Stockmannus, for the sensible reason he gives for 
 the rule : " Unde, recte, eum qui inhabilis est in uno loco, etiam in 
 alio inhabilem censeri ; et si aliter statuamus, incertus et varius erit 
 personarum status; cum tamen uti personam ubique eandem, ita 
 qualitatem personse inherentem, velut ejus accidens, ubique unifor- 
 mem esse conveniat." Decis. 125, 6. 
 
 5 Vinnius, Lib. I, De Jure Personal!, tit. iii, Introd.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 123 
 
 In fact, so general is this principle, that we find 
 it announced as maxims : " Habilis vel inhabilis in 
 loco domicilii est habilis vel inhabilis in omni loco." 1 
 " Capable or incapable in the place of domicile, is 
 to be capable or incapable everywhere." And also, 
 "Quando lex in personam dirigitur, respiciendum 
 est ad leges illius civitatis, quse personam habet sub- 
 jectam."* "When the law is directed to the person, 
 we must look to the laws of that state of which the 
 person is a subject." The figure used by Potgiesser, 
 in defining the meaning of status, is still stronger : 
 "Omnis autem homo, quicunque fuerit, vivit in 
 statu quodam, qui eum, velut umbra corpus ubique 
 comitatur, et sine quo ut agens considerari nequit." 3 
 " Every man, whoever he may be, lives in a certain 
 status^ which accompanies him everywhere, as the 
 shadow does the body, and without which he cannot 
 be considered as an actor." 
 
 136. Among American writers, we find the 
 same broad principle distinctly acknowledged and 
 laid down. Wheaton says, " In general, the laws of 
 the state applicable to the civil condition and per- 
 sonal capacity of its citizens, operate upon them 
 even when resident in a foreign country. Such are 
 those universal personal qualities, which take effect 
 
 from birth, &c The laws of the state 
 
 affecting all these personal qualities of its subjects, 
 travel with them wherever they go, and attach to 
 them in whatever country they are resident." 1 
 
 1 Boullenois, Dis. sur les conflits des lois, Ed. 1732, Disc. Prel. 
 p. 20 ; Regie, 10. 
 
 a Hertius, De Collis. Leg. 4, Art. 8, p. 123, ed. 1737. 
 
 3 De Statu Servorum, Proleg. 11. 
 
 * Wheaton's Elements of International Law, Part II, ch. ii, 6,
 
 124 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 Burge, the only English writer upon the conflict 
 of laws, agrees that this is the general rule. 1 
 
 137. If. there is an actual change of domicile, 
 animo remanendi, a different principle applies, and 
 the better opinion undoubtedly is, that the law of 
 the new domicile governs as to capacity. 3 This is 
 a case very materially different from that of a so- 
 journer for pleasure, or on business ; and a disregard 
 to this difference we conceive, as we shall hereafter 
 show, has misled many of the courts in their de- 
 cisions in reference to the question under considera- 
 tion. 
 
 138. The general principle that the capacity or 
 incapacity of a person is governed by the law of his 
 domicile, has been frequently recognized in the Eng- 
 lish courts. It more frequently arises in reference 
 to questions connected with marriage and divorce, 
 infancy, or legitimacy. Thus, in Beasley v. Beasley, 3 
 the Court say, " There is a preliminary considera- 
 tion, the capability of the parties to contract mar- 
 riage ; and the true question is, whether that capa- 
 bility is to be determined by the law of Scotland or 
 the law of England. The former would say, the 
 parties are capable ; the latter would say, they are 
 incapable. The parties in this case being domiciled 
 in England, though the marriage was consummated 
 in Scotland, they were held incapable, and the mar- 
 
 p. 132. He refers, as an authority, to Pardessus, Droit Commer- 
 ciale, Pt. VI, tit. 7, ch. ii, 1, and to Foelix, Droit International 
 Prive, Lib. I, tit. i, 31. 
 
 1 Treatise on Col. and For. La'w, vol. i, 7. 
 
 2 Story's Conf. of Laws, 55, 69, et seq., and authorities cited. 
 
 3 3 Hagg. 639.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 125 
 
 riage void." So, in the case of Sheddon v. Patrick, 
 the law of the State of New York was enforced by 
 the English courts in reference to the legitimacy of 
 a child born before the marriage of the parents. 
 The same decision was made in the Strathmore 
 Peerage case. 1 In accordance with these cases is 
 the declaration of Lord Stowell, in Dalrymple v. 
 Dalrymple. 2 " Being entertained in an English 
 court, it must be adjudicated according to the prin- 
 ciples of English law, applicable to such a case. But 
 the only principle applicable by the law of England 
 is, that the validity of Miss G.'s marriage rights 
 must be tried by reference to the law of the country 
 where, if they exist at all, they had their origin. 
 Having furnished this principle, the law of England 
 withdraws altogether, and leaves the legal question to 
 the exclusive judgment of the law of Scotland." 3 With 
 equal clearness does Lord Ellenborough state the rule 
 in Potter v. Brown, when he says, " We always import 
 together with their persons the existing relations of 
 foreigners as between themselves, according to the 
 laws of their respective countries ; except, indeed, 
 where those laws clash with the rights of our own 
 subjects here, and one or other of the laws must 
 
 1 These two last cases I take from the argument of counsel, in 
 Doe v. Vardill, 5 Barn. & Cr. 438 ; see also that case. 
 
 3 2 Hagg. Consist. Rep. 59. 
 
 8 See also Birdwhistle v. Vardill, 9 Bligh. 45. In this case the 
 Court refused to extend the principle to the inheritance of realty 
 situate in England. It is unnecessary for our purposes to examine 
 the correctness of this exception /rom the general rule j suffice it 
 to say, it is at war with the opinions of all foreign jurists on this 
 subject. See Story's Conf. of Laws, 93, r.
 
 126 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 necessarily give way, in which case our own is en- 
 titled to the preference." 1 
 
 139. The same principle, that the personal status 
 is to be governed by the law of the domicile, has 
 been frequently recognized by the courts of the 
 United States. 
 
 140. Having established the general principle 
 that the status of a person is to be determined by 
 the law of his domicile, it becomes us next to in- 
 quire whether the condition of slavery is one of the 
 exceptions to the rule, or is embraced within its 
 general operation. 
 
 To determine these questions, we must seek for 
 the reasons upon which exceptions to the rule are 
 based. Huber gives us that reason as follows : 
 " Rectores imperiorum id comiter agunt, ut jura 
 cujusque populi,intra terminos ejus exercita, teneant 
 ubique vim suam, quatenus nihil potestati aut juri 
 alterius imperantis ej usque civium prsejudicetur." 3 
 "The rulers of nations observe this principle through 
 comity, that the laws of each state, enforced within 
 its own limits, shall retain the same force every- 
 where, so long as no injury is done to the power 
 or laws o.f the state where they are sought to be 
 enforced." 
 
 141. The rule and the exceptions are here 
 given together. The laws of a nation have no extra 
 territorial effect per se. But the recognition and 
 enforcement of these laws in a vast variety of cases, 
 
 1 5 East, 131. 
 
 3 Saul v. His Creditors, 17 Martin, R. 590. See a masterly 
 exposition, by Lockwood, J., in Willard v. The People, 4 Scam. 
 472. s De Conf. Leg. Bk. I, tit. iii.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 127 
 
 have been found to contribute so largely to promote 
 justice between individuals and to produce a friendly 
 intercourse between the sovereignties to which they 
 belong, that courts of justice have continually acted 
 upon it as a part of the voluntary law of nations. 1 
 
 Thus far the comity of nations requires the courts 
 to go. Whenever the enforcement of the foreign law 
 is contrary to the policy or prejudicial to the interests 
 of the state where its recognition is invoked, the 
 courts will " prefer the laws of their own country to 
 that of the stranger." 2 For example, if two parties 
 contract a marriage within one jurisdiction, and sub- 
 sequently remove to another domicile, the question 
 as to the validity of the marriage, as a general rule, 
 will be determined by the law of the domicile at 
 the time of the marriage. But if the marriage, 
 according to the law of their new domicile, were in- 
 cestuous, or if the husband sought to retain more 
 than one wife, because polygamy was allowed by the 
 law of his former domicile, incest and polygamy 
 being contrary to the policy of the law of his new 
 domicile, that law would be enforced by the courts. 3 
 
 142. Having arrived at the reason of the excep- 
 tion, the question recurs, how far would the recog- 
 nition of slavery interfere with the policy" or be pre- 
 judicial to the interest of a non-slaveholding nation? 
 This question we will first examine upon principle, 
 and then upon authority. 
 
 1 See remarks of Taney, C. J., in Bank of Augusta v. Earle, 13 
 Peters, 589. 
 
 3 Per Porter, J., in Saul v. His Creditors, 17 Mart. 596 ; Story's 
 Conf. of Laws, 32. 
 
 3 Story's Conf. of Laws, 113, 113 a (3d Ed.).
 
 128 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 If the residence of the slave in the new domicile 
 was animo remanendi, there can be no doubt that to 
 continue his status as a slave, would be to introduce 
 a new system of servitude, violative of the policy of 
 the laws of his domicile, where such a system is not 
 recognized, but may possibly have been abolished by 
 law. No nation could require of another, through 
 comity, to change its social system, or to establish 
 within its bounds an institution contrary to the 
 policy of its laws. The conclusion is manifest, that 
 a master removing to a non-slaveholding State, with 
 a view to a change of domicile, and carrying with 
 him his slaves, would thereby emancipate them. 
 
 143. On the other hand, if a citizen of a slave- 
 holding State, removing to another where slavery 
 was established, should be compelled by necessity or 
 misfortune to pass through the territory of a non- 
 slaveholding State with his slaves, it is equally clear, 
 upon the principles before stated, that the status of 
 the slave is not changed; and the declaration, by 
 the courts of such a State, that this transit contra- 
 vened the policy of their laws, or was prejudicial to 
 the interests of their government, would be viewed 
 by all candid minds as a mere pretence and evasion. 
 I shall, hereafter, consider how far the government 
 of such State might go in prohibiting such transit, 
 without violating the law of nations. I am con- 
 sidering the question now in the absence of such 
 express prohibition. 
 
 144. I am aware that to this position it may be 
 replied, in the words of Lord Mansfield, that "Slavery 
 is so odious, that it can exist only by positive law ;" 1 
 
 1 See Commentary of Lord Stowell on this remark of Lord 
 Mansfield, in 2 Hagg. Adm. Rep.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 129 
 
 and that, so soon as the slave is removed beyond 
 the limits of the slaveholding State, he is beyond 
 the influence of the positive law. But mark ! ad- 
 mitting that it exists by positive law, the conclusion 
 is in direct violation of the principle we have esta- 
 blished, that the courts of every nation will enforce 
 " the positive law" of every other nation, 1 except 
 where it contravenes its own policy. Does it con- 
 travene that policy ? 
 
 145. " Slavery," it is said, "is a state of despot- 
 ism, and it is contrary to the policy of a free govern- 
 ment to recognize despotism in any shape." Is this 
 a true proposition ? The government of Great Bri- 
 tain is a free government ; that of Kussia is despo- 
 tic. The Czar of Kussia visits Westminster with 
 his court. Is their allegiance instanter dissolved ? 
 Stripped of his power, would the Czar stand before 
 a British court with no other power over his suite 
 but that of a British citizen ? I am aware that it 
 may be replied, that the intercourse of courts and 
 the comity of nations have established certain prin- 
 ciples governing the rights and privileges of sove- 
 reigns, and even of their ambassadors. Yet that 
 comity which will recognize the rights of the sove- 
 reign is too weak to enforce the rights of the citizen. 
 
 146. But let us sift the proposition. " Slavery 
 is despotism." For the sake of the argument, 
 granted. " It is contrary to the policy of a free 
 
 1 Equally unfounded is the remark in Forbes v. Cochran, 2 Barn. 
 & Cress. 448, that " the reason why a foreign slave is free in Eng- 
 land, is because there is no law to restrain him." There is a law 
 to restrain him, the law of his domicile, enforced by the English 
 courts, ex comitate.
 
 130 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 government to recognize despotism in any shape." 
 By the policy of a government, we are to under- 
 stand that uniform and fundamental principle which 
 is evidenced by the general tenor of its acts. The 
 policy of a free government then, would be to secure 
 liberty and the blessings of liberty to all who owe it 
 allegiance. A Quixotic crusade against the institu- 
 tions of other governments has never been acknow- 
 ledged as being embraced within that policy. The 
 transit of the master with his slave, in the case sup- 
 posed, interferes not with the liberty of any citizen, 
 nor the fruition of that liberty. It does not bring 
 the labor of the slave in competition with free labor. 
 In no possible light can it be seen, that the rights, or 
 interests, or liberties, of the citizen, are thereby im- 
 paired. And hence the inevitable conclusion, that 
 the policy of the government is not contravened. 
 
 147. We must be careful to distinguish between 
 the phrases, " contrary to the law of a government," 
 and " contrary to the policy of a government," as 
 many things may be contrary or different from the 
 law of a government, which at the same time may 
 not be contrary to its policy. Thus, a marriage by 
 the civil law legitimates antenuptial children. Aliter 
 by the common law. Yet the courts of all countries 
 where the common law is adopted, recognize the 
 legitimacy of such children, when such is the law of 
 the domicile of the parents at the time of the mar- 
 riage. 
 
 Hence, the fact that slavery is not recognized, or 
 is actually abolished by the laws of a State, does not 
 of itself make it "contrary to the policy of the 
 State," under any circumstances, to recognize sla-
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 181 
 
 very. Another step is necessary. Some detriment 
 to the rights, interests, liberties, or morals, of the 
 people, or to the laws of the State, must be shown, 
 to constitute the right sought to be enforced "con- 
 trary to the policy of the State." 
 
 148. We must be careful, also, to distinguish 
 between the recognition of a right which is sought 
 to be permanently enjoyed within the limits of a 
 nation, and of a right, the temporary enforcement 
 of which is sought, ex comito-te, to secure its ulterior 
 enjoyment elsewhere. The former may be against 
 the policy of a nation, while the latter is not. Thus 
 polygamy being, in Christian nations, deemed contra 
 bonos mores, is prohibited by the civil and criminal 
 codes of all such nations. Were a Turk with his 
 harem, therefore, to seek, in a Christian nation, per- 
 manently to reside, he would be forced to abandon 
 his plurality of wives. The right he seeks would 
 be detrimental to the morals of the people, and con- 
 trary to the law of his new domicile. But if, in 
 passing from his own to some other nation where 
 polygamy is allowed, by stress of weather or other 
 cause, he should be forced to enter within a Chris- 
 tian port, or to pass over the territory of a Christian 
 nation, could it be supposed that he thereby sub- 
 jected himself to a criminal prosecution for bigamy; 
 or that his wives were relieved from the obligations 
 of the marriage tie the instant their feet trod the 
 soil of a Christian nation ? 
 
 149. In thus noticing the objections that might 
 be raised to the truth of the proposition, that the 
 mere transit of the slave through the territory of a 
 non-slaveholding State, does not emancipate him, I 
 have not pretended to reply to the declaration (it
 
 132 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 does not deserve the name of argument where prin- 
 ciples are discussed), that "the air of a free state 
 is too pure for a slave to breathe." 1 I am aware 
 that this fashionable piece of eloquence originated 
 in France as early as 1738, when one of the counsel, 
 in his zeal, announced among other things, " La 
 France, mere de laliberte, nepermet aucunsesclaves," 
 and " II n'y a en France aucuns esclaves, et la cou- 
 tume y est telle que, non seulement les FranQais, 
 mais aussi les etrangers, prenant port en France, et 
 criant France et Liberte, sont hors de la puissance 
 de celui qui les possedait." 2 I am aware that Eng- 
 lish lawyers of high fame have been willing to 
 reiterate the declaration in the presence of excited 
 multitudes, and perhaps in the hearing of an inti- 
 midated court ; that even judges have been found 
 who were willing gravely to announce, as a princi- 
 ple, the outburst of Parisian enthusiasm. 
 
 150. I am also aware that, at the time the sen- 
 timent was announced in France, and until the time 
 of the great Revolution, there were in that nation 
 serfs or " mainmortes, whose condition, if it were 
 not strictly speaking slavery, undoubtedly bore a 
 very strong resemblance to that status" 3 That at 
 
 1 It is a little curious, that so much influence should be given to 
 the air. Heineccius informs us, that the air of some countries, 
 ipso facto, makes some persons slaves. Speaking of the various 
 sources of slavery, he says, " Per commorationem in illis locis, ubi 
 aer dicitur servos facere." Elem. Jur. de Pand. Lib. I, 138. 
 
 3 13 Causes celebres. Argument of M. Le Clerc, p. 549. 
 
 3 20 Howell's State Trials, -1369; see also Encyclopedia, tit. 
 Mainmorte. M. Favre, Cod. Lib. VII, tit. iii, def. 3, says of the 
 mainmortes of France, "Negari non potest, quin servis proxime 
 accedant, illamque naturalem libertatem, quae hominibus omnibus
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 133 
 
 the time it was caught up in England, and pro- 
 claimed as a principle, " the laws of England had 
 not rejected servitude." Villanage was worn out, 
 but the law of villanage was unrepealed upon the 
 statute-book.' That at that moment thousands of 
 West Indian slaves were owned by residents in 
 England. That at the very time that paeans of 
 triumph were being sung over the abolition of 
 slavery in the West Indies, a larger body of slaves 
 were under British rule and governed by British 
 law in the East Indies. 2 That the slave-trade was 
 carried on to furnish her with slaves, and that such 
 
 communis est, valde imniunitam habeant." President Bouhier 
 quotes this opinion with approbation. Observ. sur la Gout, du 
 Duche de Bourgogne, ch. Ixiv, 3. He says, " On nous donne 
 en effet pour axiome de notre Droit Frangais que toutes personnes 
 sont franches en ce Royaume ; et que sitot qu'un esclave a atteint 
 les marches d'icelui, se faisant baptiser, il est affranchi. Mais il 
 est certain que cela doit seulement etre entendu du droit dont nous 
 usons depuis quelques siecles. Car tout le monde convient, que 
 non seulement sous les deux premieres races de nos Rois, mais 
 nicme sous les premiers de la troisieme, on ne connoissoit point cette 
 espece d'affranchisements dont je viens de parlerj en sorte qu'il 
 etoit permis d'avoir des esclaves autant qu'on en vouloit, ou qu'on 
 pouvoit avoir." Obser. ch. Ixiv, p. 420. Again, speaking of main- 
 mortes personnels, he says, " Ce qui fait voir 1'erreur de ceux qui ont 
 pretendu qu'il n'y avoit point de servitude personelle en notre pro- 
 vince." Ibid. The children of mainmortes followed the condition of 
 the father. Ibid. Because the wife, according to the custom of Bur- 
 gundy, follows the condition of the husband. Ibid. ch. Ixvi, 56. 
 Even if she is a noble. Ibid. 74. 
 
 1 20 Howell's State Trials, 74. Argument of Mr. Dummig. 
 Lord Mansfield himself, thirteen years later, declared that "villains 
 in gross, may, in point of law, subsist at this day" (1785). 4 
 Douglas, 302.' (26 E. C. L. R. 369.) 
 
 3 Slavery in India, by W. Adam, 626.
 
 134 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 slavery continues and is authorized by British law 
 to this day. 1 That long after Groenewegen had 
 written, that in Holland, "ej usque nomen (servitus) 
 apud nos exolevit," there was in that country invo- 
 luntary servitude for life, and death the penalty for 
 non-performance ; 2 and that when the same senti- 
 ment was applauded in the courts of Scotland, an 
 hereditary servitude for life, and with few if any 
 privileges above slavery, existed, and continued long 
 after to exist, in the salt-works and collieries of that 
 country. 3 The sentiment was pleasant to speak and 
 gratifying doubtless to hear, and would be very ap- 
 propriate in a popular harangue, on the festival of 
 the anniversary of some day sacred to liberty. But 
 it weighs nothing in a court where questions of law 
 are decided according to the principles of law. 
 
 151. In support of the proposition we have ad- 
 vanced, that the bare transit of a slave through the 
 territory of a non-slaveholding State, does not change 
 his status of slavery, another principle of the law of 
 nations might be invoked, viz., that strangers have 
 a right to pass with their property through the ter- 
 ritories of a friendly nation. 4 And the question of 
 what is " property," is to be decided by the laws of 
 the domicile of the owner. 5 
 
 152. Two positions upon principle we consider 
 as established. First. Upon a change of domicile 
 
 1 Slavery in India, by W. Adam, 31, 129, 218. 2 Ibid. p. 75. 
 
 3 20 St&te Trials, 7, note ; see also Barrington's Observations on 
 Anct. Stat. 1 Rich. 2, note. 
 
 * Vattel, Law of Nations, Bk. II, ch. ix, 123-186 ; Puffen- 
 dorf, Bk. Ill, ch. iii, 5-10. 
 
 5 Vattel, Bk. II, ch. viii, 81.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 135 
 
 from a slaveholding to a non-slaveholding State, 
 animo remanendi, the status of the slave is changed, 
 and he becomes free. Second. The mere transit of a 
 slave, either from necessity or convenience, through 
 the territory of a non-slaveholding State, does not 
 change his status or condition of slavery. Between 
 these extremes there are many intermediate points. 
 The temporary residence for business or pleasure of 
 a master with his slave, the sojourning for a season 
 for health, or the constant travelling in search of 
 novelty and pleasure, in short, the many varied cir- 
 cumstances, differing, and distinguishing each case as 
 it arises. On the one hand, the mere announcement 
 by the master of an intention to return to his domi- 
 cile, at some future and uncertain period, should not 
 operate so as to introduce, by such an evasion of the 
 law, into a State an institution repugnant to its 
 laws. On the other, a mere detention for a limited 
 season of a master, by business or pleasure, could not 
 operate so as to change the status of his slave, when 
 he thereby in no way contravenes the policy of the 
 local law. 
 
 153. Where then is the line to be drawn ? So 
 long as the residence of the master and his slave is 
 bond fide for a temporary purpose, it would seem the 
 comity of nations would protect the master's right. 
 Whenever this privilege of temporary residence is 
 used to evade the law (as at the time of the trial of 
 Somerset's case, when there were in the British 
 Isles 1^,000 slaves), it would be the duty of the 
 courts to refuse to extend *the principle of comity. 
 In fact, upon all questions of this character, much 
 necessarily has to be left to the discretion of the
 
 136 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 courts. In his Conflict of Laws, Judge Story says, 
 " Upon the continent of Europe some of the prin- 
 cipal states have silently suffered their courts to 
 draw this portion of their jurisprudence (viz., ques- 
 tions arising under the comity of nations), from the 
 analogies furnished by the civil law, or by their own 
 customary or positive code. France, for instance, 
 composed as it formerly was of a great number of 
 provinces, governed by different laws and customs, 
 was early obliged to sanction such exertion of autho- 
 rity by its courts, in order to provide for the con- 
 stantly occurring claims of its own subjects, living 
 and owning property in different provinces, in a con- 
 flict between the different provincial laws. In Eng- 
 land and America, the courts of justice have hitherto 
 exercised the same authority in the most ample 
 manner ; and the legislatures have in no instance (it 
 is believed) interfered to provide any positive regu- 
 lations. The common law of both countries has 
 been expanded to meet the exigencies of the times, 
 as they have arisen, and so far as the practice of 
 nations or the jus gentium privatum has been sup- 
 posed to furnish any general principle, it has been 
 followed out with a wise and manly liberality." 1 
 
 154. Upon this examination of the principles 
 upon which the comity of nations enforces, in every 
 state, the laws of other and foreign governments, 
 we arrive at three conclusions : 
 
 1. That where there is a change of domicile, from 
 a slaveholding to a non-slaveholding nation, the 
 animus remanendi works of itself and instanter 
 
 1 Conflict of Laws, 24.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 137 
 
 (simul ac imperil fines intrarunt) the emancipation 
 of the slave. 
 
 2. That the mere transit of the master with his 
 slave, either from necessity or convenience, through 
 the territory of a non-slaveholding state, does not 
 change the status of the slave. 
 
 3. That, as a general rule, where there is a bond 
 fide temporary residence of a master, with his slave, 
 in a non-slaveholding nation, the animus revertendi 
 will protect the master's rights in his slave to the 
 extent of his personal service, and the right to return 
 with him to his domicile. At the same time, if this 
 privilege is used to evade the local laws of the nation 
 with reference to slavery ; or the exercise of it be- 
 comes so general as to interfere with the policy, or 
 be prejudicial to the interest of the government or 
 its people, the courts will not violate the principles 
 of comity in refusing their aid to enforce these 
 rights. 
 
 155. It will be remarked, that in this investiga- 
 tion we have been considering the principles govern- 
 ing the courts of distinct and totally independent 
 nations. How far these principles will be modified, 
 and with how much greater force the requisitions of 
 comity should apply to the States of this Union, 
 bound together by a common constitution, and form- 
 ing all together, in one view, a single sovereignty, 
 we shall consider fully hereafter.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED, AND EXAMINED IN THE 
 LIGHT OF THE OPINIONS OF FOREIGN JURISTS. 
 
 156. HAYING examined, upon principle, the ques- 
 tion, whether the condition of slavery is an exception 
 to the general rule, that the status of an individual 
 is to be determined by the law of his domicile, and 
 having arrived at certain conclusions, our next duty 
 is to consider how far these conclusions are supported 
 by the authority of adjudged cases or the opinions 
 of distinguished jurists. 
 
 157. Judge Story, in his Conflict of Laws, 1 says, 
 " There is a uniformity of opinion among foreign 
 jurists and foreign tribunals, in giving no effect to 
 the state of slavery of a party, whatever it might 
 have been in the country of his birth, or of that in 
 which he had been previously domiciled, unless it is 
 also recognized by the laws of the country of his 
 
 i Section 96. Burge, in his Treatise on Colonial and Foreign 
 Law, vol. i, p. 738, makes the same assertion, almost verbatim; 
 evidently with Judge Story's work before him ; and refers to the 
 same authorities with Judge Story, viz., Christinaeus and Grrene- 
 wegen. Burge also refers to the Conflict of Laws, as an authority, 
 and the later editions of that work refer to Burge as an authority. 
 It is easy to multiply authorities in this way.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING IKTO OTHER STATES. 139 
 
 actual domicile, and where he is found, and it is 
 sought to be enforced." 
 
 Let us examine into the correctness of this broad 
 statement ; J and we will first inquire as to the 
 opinions of foreign jurists, and next the decisions of 
 foreign tribunals. 
 
 158. In support of his statement, as to the 
 opinions of foreign jurists, Judge Story quotes as 
 follows : " Christinaeus states this as a clear rule, 
 affirmed by judicial decisions, ' Propter libertatis 
 personarum usum, hie per aliquot saacula continue 
 observatum.' Groenewegen, speaking of slavery, 
 says, 'Ejusque nomen, hodie apud nos, exolevit. 
 Adeo quidem ut servi qui aliunde hue adducuntur, 
 simul ac imperii nostri fines intrarunt, invitis ipsis 
 dominis, ad libertatem proclamare possint. Id quod 
 et aliarum Christianarum gentium moribus receptum 
 est.'" 2 These are the only foreign jurists that the 
 research of the learned and indefatigable commen- 
 tator has been able to array in favor of an opinion 
 of great practical moment. Let us inquire who 
 these writers are ; the weight to which their opinions 
 
 1 As a precedent for disputing the opinions of a jurist so learned 
 in the law, I extract the following from the Life and Letters of 
 Joseph Story, by his son. In the case of Rust v. Low, a note of 
 Lord Hale's to Fitzherbert's Natura Brevium was quoted by the 
 opposing counsel. Mr. Story, in opening, said, " I think I shall 
 satisfy the Court that Lord Hale is mistaken." " What ! Brother 
 Story," said Chief Justice Parsons, "you undertake a difficult 
 task." "Nevertheless," was my father's reply, "I hope to satisfy 
 your Honors that he has really misapprehended the authorities on 
 this point." He satisfied the Court of Lord Hale's error. Vol. 
 i, pp. 116-118. a Conf. of Laws, 96.
 
 140 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 are entitled ; and the extent to which these opinions 
 go. 
 
 159. Christingeus was a Belgian lawyer of the six- 
 teenth century, and the work from which this extract 
 was made was entitled, " Practicarum Qugestionum, 
 Rerumque, in Supremis Belgarum Curiis, actarum et 
 observatarum, Decisiones." Groenewegen was also a 
 Dutch lawyer, and the work from which the extract 
 was made was entitled, "De Legibus abrogat, in Hol- 
 landia," &c. It will be seen, from the very subject of 
 these works, that neither of these authors pretended to 
 enter upon the great field of International Law, but 
 their investigations were confined to the local laws of 
 their own nation. In proof of which, I am inclined, 
 from a cursory examination, to believe that this is 
 the only place in the treatise of Judge Story, on the 
 Conflict of Laws, in which Groenewegen is cited as 
 an authority. In fact, were it not for a note, in 
 which the commentator states that "Groenewegen 
 cites many authorities in support of his opinion," I 
 should shrewdly suspect that the extract above 
 quoted came secondhand, as I find the same verba- 
 tim in a note to Mr. Hargraves's argument, in the 
 celebrated Somersett case. 1 These then, indeed, are 
 foreign jurists ; but their opinion should weigh little 
 upon a branch of jurisprudence which was foreign 
 to the subject of their studies ; and more especially 
 should it conflict with the opinions of those who 
 have made the conflict of laws and the comity of 
 nations the subject of earnest and lifelong investiga- 
 tion. 
 
 1 20 Howell's State Trials, 62.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 141 
 
 160. But let us see what is the extent to which 
 these opinions go. The quotation from Christinseus 
 is, " Propter libertatis personarum usum, hie per ali- 
 quot saecula continue, observatum." Which literally 
 means : " This has been observed, here, uninterrup- 
 tedly for some ages, with a view to the security of 
 personal liberty." 1 Upon examining the context, it 
 appears that Christineeus was referring to the ques- 
 tion now under consideration, and makes this state- 
 ment upon the authority of Molanus, Lib. Ill, Canonic, 
 ch. 34. Not having access to this book. I cannot 
 test his accuracy. He certainly does not pretend to 
 argue the question, but merely states an historical 
 fact. 2 
 
 161. The quotation from Grcenewegen is, "Ejus- 
 que nomen hodie apud nos exolevit. Adeo quidem 
 ut servi, qui aliunde hue adducuntur, sirnul ac im- 
 perii nostri fines intrarunt, invitis ipsis dominis, ad 
 libertatem proclamare possint. Id, quod et aliarum 
 Christianarum gentium moribus receptum est." Ren- 
 dered thus, " And its name at this time hath grown 
 out of use among us. So much so indeed that slaves 
 who are brought hither from elsewhere, so soon as 
 they shall have entered the limits of our govern- 
 ment, even against the will of their masters, can 
 appeal to the Judiciary (proclamare), in behalf of 
 
 1 Burge, in his Treatise on Colonial and Foreign Law, vol. i, p. 
 749, states, that Christinaeus and Gudelin, in this case, both agreed 
 that if the slave returned to the slaveholding State, the original 
 status revived. 
 
 2 It would appear, from Van Leuwen's Koman Dutch Law, Lib. 
 I, ch. v, and the authorities there cited, that the decision referred 
 to by Christinseus, was founded on some local statute or edict.
 
 142 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 their freedom. Which hath also been adopted among 
 the usages of other Christian nations." Upon this 
 authority I remark, that the author is giving only 
 the law of Holland, and we know not but that 
 it was so ordained by statute. 1 But even were he 
 speaking of the law of nations, under a particular 
 set of circumstances, the quotation would be cor- 
 rect law ; were the slaves brought within the realm, 
 animo remanendi, we have seen that the effect de- 
 scribed by Groenewegen would follow. But under a 
 different state of facts we have seen that this effect 
 would not follow. The objection then that I make 
 to the quotation as law is, that it does not specify 
 under what circumstances such is the law. 2 As a 
 universal principle we have seen that it is incorrect. 
 The context here too might place the author right ; 
 unfortunately I have not access to it. 3 Certain it is, 
 
 1 Since writing the above, I find my suggestion partially con- 
 firmed. The following is Mr. Henry's translation of the first and 
 second articles of the Customs of Amsterdam, as collected by Roze- 
 boom. " Within the city of Amsterdam, and its freedom, all men 
 are free, and none are slaves. Also, all slaves who shall come or 
 be brought within this city and its freedom, are free, and out of 
 the power of their masters, and their wives," &c. Henry's Points 
 in Manumission, 160. 
 
 2 By-the-by, the same objection applies to all that Judge Story 
 says on the subject of slavery, in his work on the Conflict of Laws. 
 Usually accurate and minute, he seems nowhere to consider that 
 the circumstances under which the slave comes within the juris- 
 diction of another State, affects in any manner the question as to 
 his status. See 25, 27, 96, et seq. 
 
 3 Since writing the above, by the kindness of Professor Green- 
 leaf, a short time before his decease, I have a copy of the entire 
 title, and find that my criticism is correct. The words quoted are all 
 the author says upon the subject, and he is not pretending to dis- 
 cuss the question under our consideration.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 143 
 
 this quotation does not justify the declaration of the 
 " uniformity of foreign jurists on this subject." 
 
 162. But even if this authority fully supported 
 Mr. Story, that author should have been aware that 
 in 1736, the Supreme Court of Holland, with the 
 celebrated Bynkershrek as its President, in a case of 
 a fugitive slave, declared the law to be precisely the 
 reverse of the quotation from Groenewegen, and just 
 as we are now contending to be correct. 1 To put an 
 end to all further doubt upon this question, a statute 
 was passed 23d May, 1776, confirming the law as 
 pronounced by the Supreme Court. 2 
 
 163. But to show there is no such "uniformity," 
 
 1 This case is reported in the Observations of the Society of 
 Advocates on Grotius's Introduction to the Laws of Holland. I 
 have availed myself of Mr. Henry's translation, and, as it is acces- 
 sible to but few, I give here the case in full. " A slave named 
 Claas, who had run away from his mistress, at Curaoa, and got 
 to Holland, was reclaimed there on the part of his owner; and on 
 proceedings being instituted before the magistrates of Amsterdam, 
 the slave obtained a sentence in his favor. On appeal to the Pro- 
 vincial Court, on the 23d of March, 1736, the following sentence 
 was given. ' The Court having heard the report of the Commissa- 
 ries, before whom the parties have appeared, and seen the proofs- 
 verbal, with the other vouchers and documents, annul the sentence 
 of the magistrates of the city of Amsterdam, . . . and declare 
 the appellant entitled and permitted, by means of a substitute 
 schout of Amsterdam, or a marshal of this Court, to take the 
 respondent out of the place wherein he is now confined, and ship 
 him on board the first vessel bound to Curayoa,' &c. The slave 
 appealed from this judgment to the Supreme Court, who 'having 
 maturely deliberated on and weighed and considered everything 
 pertaining to this matter/ affirmed the decision of the Provincial 
 Court, 3d July, 1736." Henry's Points in Manumission, 156, et 
 seq. ; see also Van der Linden's Laws of Holland, Bk. I, ch. ii, 
 3. Ibid. 159.
 
 144 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 Vinnius, with whose works no jurist in America was 
 better acquainted than Judge Story, and who was 
 writing upon the very subject we are now consider- 
 ing, the jus personale, as we have before seen, ap- 
 plies the general rule as to capacity directly to the 
 slave. "Item, jus personse hie esse, quod statum et 
 conditionem personas sequitur. Nam status ipse est 
 personae conditio aut qualitas, quse efficit ut hoc vel 
 illo jure utatur, ut esse liberum esse servum, esse 
 ingenuum, esse libertinum, esse alieni, esse sui juris." 1 
 " A personal statute is that which follows the status 
 and condition of the person. For status itself is that 
 condition or personal quality which makes one free 
 or slave, noble or ignoble, capable or incapable, by 
 whatever law considered." With this opinion of Vin- 
 nius, Huber agrees, 2 whose treatise, " De Conflictu 
 Legum," was the model, after which Judge Story 
 wrote his work, " On the Conflict of Laws." 
 
 164. So Heineccius, speaking of fugitives : 
 " This indeed is no hindrance to the master, who 
 may claim his slave wherever found. So far is this 
 restriction from taking the slave from his master, 
 that there may be no safe refuge for him while a 
 fugitive, not even in the prefects and estates of 
 kings themselves. This appears from the Capitula- 
 ries of the Kings of the Franks, in which we read 
 thus : ' If any slaves belonging to the Church, or 
 any freeman, take refuge in our jurisdiction, and are 
 
 1 Lib. I, De Jure Personal!, tit. iii. This opinion of Vinnius 
 did not escape Judge Story's notice; as we find this very sentence 
 quoted by him in the same treatise on the Conflict of Laws, 93, c. 
 
 a Lib. I, tit. i, c. iii.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 145 
 
 demanded by their masters or their agents, if the 
 governor or steward shall perceive that he cannot 
 justly hold them within our dominion, let him eject 
 them, and let their masters take possession of them." 1 
 John Voet, after declaring the effect of personal 
 statutes, following the person everywhere, and ap- 
 plying it to questions of infancy, nobility, legitimacy, 
 &c., adds, " Nee ulla inutatione loci, aut illam quam 
 habet exuere, aut aliam induere posse qualitatein." 
 "And by no change of place can one put off the 
 status which he has, or put on another which he has 
 not/' 2 
 
 165. The modern civilians uniformly extend 
 the rule, that personal statutes follow the person into 
 any jurisdiction, to the question of freedom and 
 slavery. Thus, Rodenberg, after stating the gene- 
 ral rule, gives a reason for it : " Cum enim, ab uno 
 certoque loco statum hominis legem accipere ne- 
 cesse esset, quod absurdum earumque reruin natu- 
 raliter inter se pugna foret, ut in quo loco quis iter 
 facierit, aut navigans delatus fuerit, totidem ille 
 statum mutaret aut conditionem ; ut uno, eodem- 
 que tern pore hie sui juris, illic alieni futurus sit," &c. 
 " Because it must be necessary for the law to deter- 
 mine a man's status from a single and certain place, 
 to avoid the conflict and absurdity which would 
 arise, that whenever one made a journey, or was 
 driven by sea, so often he would change his status 
 and condition, so that at one and the same time, 
 here he would be free, and there he would be subject 
 
 1 Opera, vol. ii, 896 ; De Prsesc. 12. 
 * John. Voet, Lib. I, tit. iv, Parts II, 7. 
 10
 
 146 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 to another." 1 He extends this expressly to feudal 
 vassals, stating that such is the concurrent testimony 
 of the jurists, with two exceptions. 2 
 
 166. Boullenois, in his extended work on Per- 
 sonal Statutes, comments upon this statement of 
 Rodenberg at some length, and concurs with his 
 opinion. He cites and rebuts the contrary view 
 taken by M. Guizot. 3 Bouhier, speaking of Personal 
 Statutes, says, " Telles sont les loix qui fixent 1'age 
 de la puberte, et de la majorite ; celles qui reglent 
 la qualite de lapersonne libre ou non libre" " Such are 
 the laws which fix the age of puberty and majority ; 
 those which regulate the status of a person, whether 
 free or slave." 4 Merlin on the same point says, " Tels 
 sont les statuts qui regardent la naissance, la legitime, 
 la liberte," &c., " Such are those which look to birth, 
 legitimacy, freedom," &c., and adds, " Le statut de 
 domicile regie 1'etat de la personne, et sa capacite ou 
 incapacite personnelle." " The law of the domicile re- 
 gulates the age of the person and his personal capa- 
 city or incapacity." 5 Froland agrees fully with these, 
 and gives the rule broadly without exception. 6 
 
 167. Of English jurists we have no works from 
 which to deduce opinions upon this question. In 
 truth, the English lawyers seem to have been 
 
 1 Cap. iii, 4. Cap. v, 17. 
 
 3 Traite de la Personalite, Observation xxxi, torn, i, pp. 876, 878; 
 see also tit. i, ch. ii, Obs. iv, where he quotes, as authority, 
 Queen Elizabeth, " I do not wish my sheep marked with any other 
 mark than my own." 
 
 * Observations, &c., ch. xxiii, 16, p. 452. 
 
 5 Repertoire de Jurisprudence, mot Statut. 
 
 6 Mem., de Stat.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 147 
 
 strangers to the discussions among the jurists on the 
 continent. 1 Outside of their reports, we have the 
 opinion of only two of their learned jurists. In 
 1740, some difficulties having been suggested upon 
 this question, the English colonists applied to the 
 then attorney and solicitor general of England 
 (afterwards Lord Hardwicke and Lord Talbot), for 
 their opinion ; which, after due consideration, was 
 given, to the effect that the carrying of a negro slave 
 from the colonies to England, did in no manner inter- 
 fere with the master's control over him. 
 
 1 20 Howell's State Trials, 81.
 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED, AND DECISIONS OF FOREIGN 
 JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS EXAMINED. 
 
 168. WE come now to consider how far adjudged 
 cases in the courts of foreign tribunals sustain the 
 declaration quoted from the " Conflict of Laws," and 
 contravene the conclusions to which we have ar- 
 rived. 
 
 We have already alluded to the decision of the 
 Supreme Court of Holland, in the case of the slave 
 Claas. 1 
 
 In France, the first and only case which comes to 
 us in such a form as to be reliable, 2 is found in the 
 thirteenth volume of the " Causes Celebres," p. 492, 
 and is entitled, " La liberte reclamee par un negre 
 contre son maitre." This cause occurred in 1738, and 
 the slave was liberated by the Court. In the argu- 
 ment of counsel in this case, there is a great deal of 
 declamation about France, "Mere de la Liberte," "the 
 
 1 Note to 162. 
 
 a The cases mentioned by Bodin, De Kepublica, Lib. I, cap. v, 
 and referred to by Mr. Hargrave, in his argument in the Somersett 
 case, are too indefinitely reported to be commented on. The latter 
 is admitted, by Mr. Hargrave, to be wrong, being violative of the 
 rights of an ambassador, whose slave, it seems, could breathe, even 
 the pure air of France. See ante, note to 150.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 149 
 
 free air of France being too pure for a slave to 
 breathe," &c. ; which was as foreign to the case as it 
 was unbecoming a court professing to decide upon 
 principles of law. The facts of the case, and the 
 questions at issue, were simply as follows. In 1716, 
 Louis XVI, hearing that many of the colonists in 
 the French West Indies were desirous of bringing 
 or sending their slaves to France for the purpose of 
 being instructed in the doctrines and practices of the 
 Church, and of being taught in some art or trade, 
 and that such colonists were fearful that thereby 
 they would recover their liberty, issued an edict, 
 "concernant les esclaves negres des colonies," in 
 which, after reciting these fears, it is decreed that 
 such colonists may bring or send any of their slaves 
 to France, for these purposes, there to remain, upon 
 complying with certain prescribed regulations; and 
 the edict further provided that, on failure to comply 
 with these regulations, the negroes shall become 
 free, and the owners shall lose all property in them. 1 
 
 1 This edict, after reciting, inter alia, " Comme nous avous etc" 
 informes, que plusieurs habitans de nos iles de 1'Amerique desirent 
 envoyer en France quelques uns de leurs esclaves pour les confirmer 
 dans les instructions et dans les exercices de notre religion, et pour 
 leur faire apprendre quelque art et metier, dont les colonies rece- 
 vroient beaucoup d'utilite par le retour de ces esclaves j mais que 
 ces habitans craignent que les esclaves ne pretendent etre libres en 
 arrivant en France, ce qui pourroit causer aux dits habitans une perte 
 considerable, et les detourer d'un objet aussi pieux et aussi utile 
 
 " Le Hoi ordonne que si quelques uns des habitans des colonies, 
 ou des officiers employes dans 1'etat veulent amener avec eux des 
 esclaves negres, de 1'un ou de 1'autre sexe, en qualite de domes- 
 tiques ou autrement, pour les fortifier dans la religion, &c., les pro- 
 prietaires seront tenus, d'en obtenir la permission des gouverneurs
 
 150 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 A master of St. Domingo carried with him, in 1738, 
 to France, a negro slave, and failed to comply with 
 the requisitions of the edict. The only questions 
 submitted in that case and decided by the Court 
 were, 1st. Whether the party claiming the negro 
 was such a person, as by the French King's edict 
 of October, 1716, was permitted, under certain for- 
 mally prescribed conditions, to bring slaves from the 
 French West Indian Colonies into France, and to 
 retain them there ? 2d. Whether he had performed 
 those conditions? 1 
 
 169. It is evident that in this case the question 
 now under consideration could not arise. That the 
 Government of France had the right to prescribe 
 such regulations in reference to slaves coming from 
 their own colonies is unquestionable, and all that 
 the court decided was, the regulations had not been 
 complied with. Such was the view taken of this 
 case (when cited in the argument of the Somersett 
 case) by Lord Mansfield. "As to France," said he, 
 " the case stated decides no farther than that king- 
 
 generaux ou commandans, dans chaque isle ; laquelle permission 
 contiendra le nom du proprietaire, celui des esclaves, leur age et 
 leur signalement. 
 
 " Les proprietaires des dits esclaves seront pareillement obliges 
 de faire enregistrer la dite permission au grefie de la jurisdiction 
 du lieu de leur residence, avant leur depart, et en celui de 1'ami- 
 raute du lieu de debarquement, dans huitaine apres leur arrivee 
 en France." 
 
 After other things, it provides, "faute par les maitres des esclaves 
 d'observer les formalites prescrites par les precedens articles, les 
 dits esclaves seront libres, et ne pourront etre reclames." See 20 
 Howell's State Trials, pp. 12, 15, notes. 
 
 1 20 Howell's State Trials, 12, note.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 1,51 
 
 dom, and there freedom was claimed, because the 
 slave had not been registered in the port where he 
 entered conformably to the edict of 1716." 1 It may 
 be said, however, that the very existence of such an 
 edict, would show the opinion of the jurists of the 
 day, that under the law as it previously existed, such 
 a permission from the government was necessary to 
 authorize the introduction of slaves. This is doubt- 
 less true, for we have seen that the object of the 
 edict was to allow the slaves to remain in France 
 an indefinite time, and that such a residence would, 
 upon the principles heretofore discussed, work an 
 emancipation of the slave. 
 
 170. In Scotland, 2 two cases are reported in the 
 Dictionary of Decisions. The first, of Sheddan v. 
 A Negro, occurring in 1757, the latter, of Knight v. 
 Wedderburn, in 1778. In the first case, during the 
 investigation the negro died, and the point was not 
 determined. The case of Knight v. Wedderburn 
 
 ' 20 Howell's State Trials, 70. 
 
 a It may be well to remark, that in the Scotch Elementary 
 Treatises or Institutes, the subject of the Comity of Nations 
 obtains no place, and consequently, their authority is arrayed 
 directly on neither side. Forbes, whose Institutes of the Law of 
 Scotland, were published in 1722, says, " Slaves are those who 
 are at the arbitrary will of their masters, and may be sold by him 
 as his goods. We have no vestiges of slavery remaining in Scot- 
 land, except in coal-heavers and salt-makers ;" vol. i, 73. These, 
 he states, " without any express paction, are inthralled or astricted 
 during their life;" "and may be recovered by him from any un- 
 lawful possessor, to whom they unwarrantably revolt from their 
 master's service." Ibid. See also Erskine's Institutes of the 
 Law of Scotland, Bk. I, tit. vii, 61. He adds, 62, that 
 " there appears nothing repugnant, either to reason or the peculiar 
 doctrines of Christianity, in a contract, by which one binds himself
 
 152 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 (1778), we will examine more fully. The facts 
 were, " The commander of a vessel in the African 
 trade, having imported a cargo of negroes into 
 Jamaica, sold Joseph Knight, one of them, to Mr. 
 Wedderburn. Knight was then a boy, seemingly 
 about twelve or thirteen years of age. Some time 
 after Mr. Wedderburn came over to Scotland, and 
 brought this negro along with him, as a personal 
 servant. The negro continued to serve him for 
 several years without murmuring, and married in 
 the country. But afterwards, prompted to assert 
 his freedom, he took the resolution of leaving Mr. 
 Wedderburn's service, who being informed of it, got 
 
 to perpetual service under a master, who, on his part, is obliged to 
 maintain the other in all the necessaries of life ;" and cites for his 
 authority, Grotius de Jure Bel. Lib. II, ch. v, 27. He adds, as 
 a peculiar fact, that " by the practice of Holland, negro slaves, as 
 soon as they set their foot in the Dutch territory, may assert their 
 freedom from servitude, in spite of their masters ;" but does not 
 pretend that such was the law of Scotland. We have, therefore, 
 negatively his authority that such was not the law of Scotland. 
 
 McDouall, in his Institutes of the Law of Scotland, Bk. I, tit. ii, 
 says, that " slavery, in a proper sense, does not take place with us, 
 though it was anciently our law." He admits "the state of coaliers 
 and salters resembles, in some respects, that of slaves," meets 
 the idea that " slavery is inconsistent with Christian liberty," and 
 declares that "this opinion has no support from the apostolical 
 doctrine," and adds, " if it had prevailed in primitive times, it is 
 probable the Roman Empire would never have embraced Chris- 
 tianity*; for it had, in a great measure, been a forfeiture of men 
 of substance of those days, by withdrawing from them their pro- 
 perty in their slaves." 
 
 There certainly is nothing in these principles, announced by 
 these writers on Scotch law, inconsistent with the position we 
 maintain, that slavery is lawful where not abolished, and forms no 
 exception to the general rule, that the personal status is decided 
 by the law of the domicile.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 153 
 
 him apprehended on a warrant of the justices of the 
 peace." The case being brought before the Sheriff 
 of the County (Perthshire), after some procedure, 
 he decided : " That the state of slavery is not re- 
 cognized by the laws of this kingdom, and is incon- 
 sistent with the principles thereof; that the regula- 
 tions in Jamaica concerning slaves, do not extend 
 to this kingdom, and repelled the claim to perpetual 
 service of the defender, Mr. Wedderburn." This 
 cause was argued at length before the Court of Ad- 
 vocates, counsel for the master contending that Tie 
 had a right to his perpetual service in /Scotland, or to 
 send him back to the plantations. Counsel for the 
 negro do not seem to deny, that if the negro had 
 been enslaved in Jamaica according to any prin- 
 ciple recognized by the law of nations, "on the 
 grounds of equity, the court would give effect to the 
 laws of other countries ;" but they insist that this 
 negro being a child at the time he was carried to 
 Jamaica, could be enslaved "on force and usurpation 
 alone, which no writer on the law of nations has 
 vindicated as a justifiable origin of slavery." That 
 the law of Jamaica was consequently unjust, and 
 could not be supported. This view of counsel was 
 sustained by the Court, whose decision is given in 
 these words : " The Court were of opinion that the 
 dominion assumed over this negro under the law of 
 Jamaica, being unjust, could not be supported in this 
 country to any extent ; that therefore the defender 
 has no right to the negro's service for any space of 
 time, nor to send him out of the country against 
 his consent." 1 . 
 
 1 20 Howell's State Trials, note, pp. 1-7. It is a fact worthy
 
 154 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 171. This is the case in which Judge Story says 
 that it was solemnly adjudged, that "no effect what- 
 ever" would be given to the state of slavery, " what- 
 ever it might have been in the country of his birth," 
 unless it was also recognized by the laws of the 
 country where it is sought to be enforced. On the 
 contrary, I remark, upon this case, 1st. That directly 
 the opposite principle is adjudicated, the counsel ad- 
 mitting, and the decision of the Court sustaining the 
 counsel, that if the slavery of the negro, in Jamaica, 
 was justifiable, under the law of nations, the Court 
 would give it effect in Scotland. The decision is 
 based upon the want of title in the master under 
 the " law of nations." 1 
 
 2d. The facts show a case in which, upon the 
 
 of note, that such was the public feeling at the time of the deci- 
 sion of this case in Scotland, and Somersett's case in England, 
 that even the men of literature prepared arguments to be read in 
 the courts. That "faithful chronicler/' Boswell, has retained Dr. 
 Johnson's argument in this case, and it is worthy of examination, 
 as being " the seed argument in the propagation of abolition doc- 
 trines." Fletcher's Studies on Slavery, 68. The course of reason- 
 ing followed, is confirmatory of the view taken in the text, as to 
 the ground on which this decision is based. 2 Boswell's Life of 
 Johnson, 132. 
 
 1 Were it necessary, in this connection, to show that there are 
 circumstances under which slavery is justifiable, and recognized 
 by the law of nations, I would refer to Judge Story's own deci- 
 sion, in the case of La Jeune Eugenie (2 Mason K. 90), where, 
 in spite of the strong anti-slavery feeling, which biassed and warped 
 his judgment whenever the question of slavery came before him, 
 he says, " Sitting in an American Court of Judicature, I am not 
 permitted to deny that, under some circumstances, slavery may 
 have a lawful existence; and that the practice may be justified by 
 the condition or wants of society, or may form a part of the domes- 
 tic policy of a nation."
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 155 
 
 principles we have heretofore investigated, the 
 comity of nations would not have required the 
 courts of Scotland to have enforced the laws of Ja- 
 maica. For it seems that the negro had been actu- 
 ally domiciled in Scotland for " several years," and 
 had been permitted there to marry ; and the animus 
 remanendi appears from all the facts of the case. 
 
 So far then from opposing the views I have ad- 
 vanced, this case goes farther than principle would 
 require, in giving effect to the status of a slave, in 
 a new domicile. 
 
 172. I come now to examine the decisions of 
 the English courts. 
 
 Before doing so, it will be well enough to consider, 
 historically, the position not only of England, but 
 of the English law, at the time when the leading 
 decisions were made; not for the purpose so much 
 of avoiding the effect of the decisions, but with a 
 view to ascertain the amount and sources of infor- 
 mation of the courts and counsel, in order to deter- 
 mine the weight to which their dicta are entitled. 1 
 
 "- 
 
 1 We are too frequently prone to give weight to a name, without 
 going back to weigh the value of an opinion from the circum- 
 stances, &c., under which it was made. Because a Judge has 
 exhibited great learning on one branch of the law, we err in attri- 
 buting to him the same position on every branch. The opinion of 
 Sir Isaac Newton on a branch of science, e. g., Geology, to which 
 his attention was never devotedly turned, would not weigh a feather 
 with scientific men of this generation, in opposition to the researches 
 or opinions of others, much less distinguished, but much better ac- 
 quainted with the subject. So, in law, Coke, Holt, and Mansfield, 
 should weigh no more on a branch of jurisprudence foreign to their 
 studies. Of course, the onus is upon the declarant, to show that 
 any branch of the law escaped their attention.
 
 156 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 It is a fact too notorious to require proofs, that the 
 commerce of England had never extended itself 
 sufficiently to feel the trammels of the strict and 
 almost rude rules of the common law, until the days 
 of Lord Mansfield, to whom was due the honor, and 
 in whom was the capacity of, developing that system 
 of mercantile law which the necessity of the times 
 required. 
 
 It is but a fair inference from this fact, combined 
 with many others, suggesting themselves to any stu- 
 dent of history, that her international communica- 
 tion, prior to that period, was very limited with the 
 nations of Europe. The consequence was (what the 
 reports demonstrate), that questions of international 
 law were very rare in the courts of England. To 
 the bench and to the bar, therefore, no inducements 
 were held out for a close investigation and study of 
 this (at this day) important branch of jurisprudence. 
 Confirmatory of these views is the fact, that Judge 
 Story's work on the Conflict of Laws, was the first 
 treatise in the English language on this important 
 subject ; and the only treatise within the library of 
 the English jurists, until the work of Mr. Burge, on 
 " Foreign and Colonial Law." 1 
 
 173. Chancellor Kent says, "The doctrine of 
 the lex loci is replete with subtle distinctions and 
 embarrassing questions, which have exercised the 
 skill and learning of the earlier and more distin- 
 guished civilians of the Italian, French, Dutch, and 
 German schools, in their discussions on highly im- 
 
 1 Story's Conf. of Laws, 10 ; Surge's Comm. on For. and Col. 
 Law, Ded. p. 10.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 157 
 
 portant topics of international law. These topics 
 were almost unknown in the English courts prior to 
 the time of Lord Hardwicke and Lord Mansfield, 
 and the English lawyers seem generally to have been 
 strangers to the discussions on foreign law by the 
 celebrated jurists in continental Europe." 1 In this 
 opinion Mr. Burge agrees; for, in the Dedication of 
 his work, he says, "This branch of jurisprudence 
 (Conflict of Laws) does not appear to have excited 
 the interest of English lawyers." 2 
 
 174. The first case in the English Reports, 
 touching the question, is that of Butts v. Penny. 3 
 It was an action of trover for ten negroes and a half. 
 The special verdict found, that the negroes were 
 infidels, subjects to an infidel prince, and usually 
 bought and sold as merchandise. That the plaintiff 
 had bought them, and was in possession of them, 
 and that the defendant had taken them out of his 
 possession. The Court held, that negroes are, " by 
 
 1 2 Kent's Comm. Lect. xxxix, p. 455; see also Life and Letters 
 of Story, vol. i, 224. 
 
 * Burge, on For. and Col. Law, Ded. p. x. 
 
 3 2 Lev. 201; 3 Keb. 785; 15 Viner's Abr. 549, title Negro. 
 I have not alluded to the case of the Russian slave, relied on by 
 Mr. Hargrave, in his argument in the Somersett case, because 
 we have no report, nor record of any sort, of that case. Nor has 
 there been produced any evidence from the court-roll, of the exist- 
 ence of such a case. Mr. Hargrave relies on a single observation in 
 Rushworth's Historical Collections, vol. ii, p. 468. It is worthy of 
 notice, simply because we there find, for the first time, the announce- 
 ment of the false and ridiculous proposition that " the air of England 
 was too pure for a slave to breathe in." I think I am justified 
 in saying it is false, when Mr. Sumner, in his labored attack upon 
 the Fugitive Slave Law, in the Senate of the United States, was 
 forced to acknowledge that the claim was unfounded.
 
 158 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 usage, tanquam bona, and go to administrator until 
 they become Christians, and thereby they are en- 
 franchised." This decision seems to be speaking of 
 their status under the law of England. 
 
 175. The next case is that of Gelly and Cleve, 
 determined in the Common Pleas (at Hil. Term, 5 
 W. & M.) ; and of which we have it stated, in 1 Ld. 
 Raym. 147, that it was "adjudged that trover will 
 lie for a negro boy, for they are heathens, and there- 
 fore a man may have property in them, and that the 
 Court, without averment made, will take notice that 
 they are heathens." 
 
 176. The next case is that of Smith v. Gould, 1 
 where trover was brought for a negro, and other 
 articles of merchandise. Verdict for plaintiff, and 
 damages for the negro, 30. In arrest of judgment 
 it was contended, that trover did not lie, because 
 the owner's property was not absolute; "he could 
 not kill him as he could an ox." The Court held 
 that trover did not lie, " but seemed to think that 
 in trespass quare captivum suum cepit the plaintiff 
 might give in evidence that the party was his negro, 
 and he bought him." 
 
 177. The next case is that of Chamberlain v. 
 Harvey, 2 which was an action of trespass for taking 
 a negro. The special verdict found, " that the father 
 of the plaintiff was possessed of this negro and of 
 such a manor in Barbadoes, and that there is a law 
 in that country which makes the negro a part of the 
 real estate. That the father died seized, whereby 
 
 > 2 Salkeld, 666 ; 2 Lord Rayni. 1274. 
 
 2 1 Lord Raym. 146; 3 Ibid. 129; Garth. 396; 5 Mod. 186; 
 15 Viner's Abr. 549, title Negro.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 159 
 
 the manor descended to the plaintiff as son and heir, 
 and that he endowed his mother of this negro and 
 a third part of the manor. That the mother mar- 
 ried Watkins, who brought the negro into England, 
 where he was baptized without the knowledge of the 
 mother. That Watkins and his wife are dead, and 
 that the negro continued several years in England, 
 and that the defendant seized him," &c. After argu- 
 ment at the bar several times, it was adjudged that 
 the action would not lie, there being no averment of 
 a " per quod servitium amisit." The reasons for this 
 decision are not given in Lord Raymond's Reports: 
 whether the form of action was defective, or the 
 baptism of the negro released him from slavery, or 
 his residence in England had given him a new domi- 
 cile there, is not stated. The substance of the re- 
 port is given above. In 5 Mod. it is said, " The 
 Court were of opinion that no action of trespass 
 would lie for the taking away a man generally, but 
 that there might be a special action of trespass for 
 taking his servant per quod" &c. The same reason 
 is given for the decision in 15 Viner. There the 
 Court says, a negro " is no other than a slavish ser- 
 vant," and the master can maintain no other action 
 than trespass per quod, &c. 
 
 178. There is one other case reported in Salkeld, 1 
 
 1 Vol. ii, 666. Barrington, in his Treatise on Statutes, 1 Hie. 
 II, says : " It is laid down that trover will lie for a negro, in 2 Lev. 
 201 ; and it seems to be agreed by the two cases in Salkeld (vol. ii, 
 666), that some kind of action will lie for a negro, though not an 
 action of trover. I cannot say, indeed, that these cases are well 
 reported. The term slave is certainly not unknown to our law; as 
 by 1 Edw. VI, ch. iii, a vagabond, an idle servant, is to become
 
 160 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 Smith v. Brown and Cooper, the accuracy of which 
 is exceedingly doubtful. The report states that it is 
 an action of indeb. assumpsit for 20, for a negro 
 sold " in parochia beatae Mariae de Arcubus in Warda 
 de Cheape," and verdict for plaintiff, and on motion 
 in arrest of judgment, Holt, C. J., held, " that as 
 soon as a negro comes into England he becomes 
 free ; one may be a villain in England, but not a 
 slave." Et per Powell, J., " The law took no no- 
 tice of a negro." Holt, C. J., " You should have 
 averred in the declaration that the sale was in Vir- 
 ginia, and that by the laws of that country negroes 
 are saleable." " Therefore -he directed the plaintiff 
 should amend." " Then the Attorney-General coming 
 in, said, they were inheritances, and transferable by 
 deed, and not without ; and nothing was done." 
 Such is the substance of the report. Its accuracy 
 is doubtful, 1st. Because it gives neither date nor 
 location to the cause, but leaves it to be inferred 
 that it was in B. R. from the names of the Judges 
 presiding. 2d. Because it states that the same case 
 is found in Lord Raymond, in which it does not ap- 
 pear. 3d. From internal evidence of inaccuracy, viz., 
 the allowance of an amendment, after judgment and 
 upon the hearing of a motion in arrest, a proceeding 
 unheard of in the King's Bench. And, also, the 
 statement that negroes were inheritances in Virginia 
 at that date, and transferable only by deed. 4th. Lord 
 
 a slave to his master, and the expression is frequently repeated 
 in that statute." (p. 240, notes.) The same view of these cases 
 seems to be taken by the Reporter, in note to Noel v. Robinson, 
 I Vernon, 453.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 161 
 
 Mansfield gave another reason for its inaccuracy, 
 " that it was upon a petition to Lincoln's Inn Hall 
 after dinner; probably, therefore, might not, as he 
 believes the contrary is not unusual at that hour, 
 be taken with much accuracy." 1 Perhaps the re- 
 porter at that hour was more accurate than the 
 Judges. 5th. Because the reason given by the 
 Court for its judgment, viz., that the contract was 
 laid in London, and should have been laid in Vir- 
 ginia, was directly opposed to all the usage and 
 practice of the courts, which required such an alle- 
 gation in all such contracts, and which allegation 
 was not traversable. 
 
 179. In Noel v. Robinson, Mr. Sergeant May- 
 nard's case was cited, wherein it is stated that " by 
 his advice an action of trover was brought, and judg- 
 ment obtained for the fourth part of a negro." 2 This 
 is the only reference I find to this case. 
 
 180. These are the reported cases to be found 
 in the English reports, prior to the great case of the 
 negro Somersett. Upon them, we may remark, that 
 in them all, excepting Chamberlin v. Harvey, there 
 is a distinct recognition of the property of the mas- 
 ter in the slave under the laws of England. It must 
 be admitted that the views of the courts seem indis- 
 tinct, and the reports are very meagre. The idea of 
 the lawfulness of the enslavement being dependent 
 on the infidelity of the negro, was, at that day, a 
 very common one. The author of the Mirror seems 
 to recognize such a distinction (c. 2, 23), and the 
 
 1 20 Howell's State Trials, 70 ; Justice Best, in Forbes v. Coch- 
 rane & Cockburn, 2 13. & C. 448, agrees that this case is inaccu- 
 rately reported. - 1 Vernon, 453. 
 11
 
 162 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 particularity with which the fact is found in each of 
 the special verdicts in the cases referred to, would 
 strengthen the supposition that such was the opinion 
 of the courts. It is an undoubted historical fact, 
 that such an opinion prevailed among the planters 
 in both the English and French colonies, and in- 
 duced many to deny to their slaves Christian instruc- 
 tion and baptism. Hence, the application and in- 
 quiries of the English planters to Lord Talbot and 
 Lord Hardwicke, and their celebrated answers, to 
 which we have had occasion to refer. And hence, 
 also, a provision in the " Code Noir," with reference 
 to the baptism of negroes in the French colonies. 
 Lord Mansfield states, that the question was con- 
 sidered on a petition in Lincoln's Inn Hall, " on the 
 earnest solicitation of many merchants, to know 
 whether a slave was freed by being made a Chris- 
 tian. And it was resolved, "not." 1 In Sir Thomas 
 Grantham's case, it appeared that " A. brought a 
 man-monster from the Indies, having the perfect 
 shape of a child growing out of his breast, except 
 the head (as an excrescency), and showed him for 
 profit. This man turned Christian and was baptized, 
 and detained from A." On a Jiomine replegiando the 
 Court bailed him. 2 
 
 181. None of these cases certainly contravene 
 the positions we occupy with reference to the duty 
 of the courts in enforcing the comity of nations. 
 Whether they are sufficient to show that negro sla- 
 very once existed in England (against which idea 
 
 1 20 Howell's State Trials, 70. 
 
 3 15 Viner, 306, title Horn. Repl. 3 Mod. 120.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 163 
 
 all the ingenuity of Mr. Hargrave is brought to 
 bear), it is unnecessary for us to inquire, nor is 
 it necessary for us to show. 1 The case of Cham- 
 berlin v. Harvey, even if decided upon the ground 
 that the negro's residence in England had released 
 him from the master's control, would not be opposed 
 to the views we have advanced, for the length of 
 residence and the circumstances attending it, placed 
 the master's rights beyond the pale of comity. 
 
 182. We come now to consider the leading case 
 of the negro Somersett. 2 The questions arose upon 
 a return to a writ of habeas corpus, served upon 
 Captain Knowles, of the ship Ann and Mary. He 
 produced the body of Somersett, the negro, and re- 
 turned for cause of detainer, that Somersett was 
 a negro and native of Africa, in the regular course 
 of the slave-trade, bought, carried to Virginia, and 
 sold to the claimant, Charles Stewart. That, on the 
 first day of October, 1769, said Stewart left America 
 on a voyage to England, " having occasion to, and 
 for the purpose of, transacting certain affairs and 
 business in this kingdom, and with an intention to 
 return to America as soon as the said affairs and 
 business should be transacted." That Stewart 
 brought the negro along with him, to attend and 
 serve him during his stay, and with an intent to 
 carry him back when his business should be finished; 
 " which affairs and business are not yet transacted, 
 and the intention of the said Stewart to return to 
 America hath hitherto continued and still continues." 
 
 1 See the remarks of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, in Ma- 
 hony v. Ashton, 4 Har. & McH. 823, 324, upon these cases. 
 
 2 20 Howcll's State Trials, i, 82, S. C. Lofi't,
 
 164 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 That the negro served Stewart from the time of his 
 arrival until the 1st October, 1771, when he aban- 
 doned the service without the consent of his master. 
 That Stewart then delivered the negro to' the re- 
 spondent, Knowles, for the purpose of being carried 
 back to America to be sold. 
 
 Upon this return, argument was had at great 
 length. On the adjournment over of the Court, 
 Lord Mansfield said : " The distinction was difficult 
 as to slavery which could not be resumed after 
 emancipation, and yet the condition of slavery in its 
 full force could not be tolerated here. Much consi- 
 deration was necessary to define how far the point 
 should be carried. The Court must consider the 
 great detriment to proprietors, there being so great 
 a number in the ports of this kingdom, that many 
 thousands of pounds would be lost to the owners by 
 setting them free. (A gentleman observed no great 
 danger, for in a whole fleet usually there would not 
 be six slaves.) As to France, the case stated de-, 
 cides no farther than that kingdom ; and there free- 
 dom was claimed, because the slave had not been 
 registered in the port where he entered, conformably 
 to the edict of 1706. Might not a slave as well be 
 freed by going out of Virginia to the adjacent coun- 
 try, where there are no slaves, if change to a place 
 of contrary custom was sufficient ? A statute, by 
 the Legislature, to subject the West India property 
 to payment of debts, I hope will* be thought some 
 proof; another act divests the African Company of 
 their slaves, and vests them in the West India Com- 
 pany ; I say, I hope these are proofs the law has 
 interfered for the maintenance of the trade in slaves
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 165 
 
 and the transferring of slavery. As for want of 
 application properly to a court of justice, a common 
 servant may be corrected here by his master's pri- 
 vate authority. Habeas corpus acknowledges a right 
 to seize persons by force, employed to serve abroad. 
 A right of compulsion there must be, or the master 
 will be under the ridiculous necessity of neglecting 
 his proper business by staying here to have their 
 service, or must be quite deprived of those slaves he 
 has been forced to bring over. The case as to ser- 
 vice for life, was not allowed, merely for want of a 
 deed to pass it." 
 
 183. After farther argument, the decision was 
 delivered as follows : 
 
 LORD MANSFIELD. The question is, if the owner had a 
 right to detain the slave for the sending of him over to 
 be sold in Jamaica. In five or six cases of this nature, 
 I have known it to be accommodated by agreement be- 
 tween the parties ; on its first coming before me, I 
 strongly recommended it here. But if the parties will 
 have it decided, we must give our opinion. Compassion 
 will not, on the one hand, nor inconvenience on the 
 other, be to decide, but the law ; in which, the difficulty 
 will be principally from the inconvenience on both sides. 
 Contract for sale of a slave is good here ; the sale is a 
 matter to which the law properly and readily attaches, 
 and will maintain the price according to the agreement. 
 But here, the person of the slave himself is immediately 
 the object of inquiry ; which makes a material difference. 
 The next question is, whether any dominion, authority, 
 or coercion, can be exercised in this country, on a slave 
 according to the American laws? The difficulty of 
 adopting the relation without adopting it in all its con- 
 sequences, is indeed extreme ; and yet many of those 
 consequences are absolutely contrary to the municipal 
 law of England. We have no authority to regulate the 
 condition in which law shall operate. On the other 
 hand, we think the coercive power cannot be exercised.
 
 166 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 "Tis now about fifty years since the opinion given by 
 two of the greatest men of their own or any times (since 
 which no contract has been brought to trial, between 
 the masters and slaves). The service performed by the 
 slaves, without wages, is a sheer indication they did not 
 think themselves free by coming hither. The setting 
 14,000 or 15,000 men at once free, loose, by a solemn 
 opinion, is much disagreeable in the effects it threatens. 
 There is a case in Hobart (Coventry and TVoodfall), 
 where a man had contracted to go as a mariner ; but the 
 now case will not come within that decision. Mr. Stew- 
 art advances no claims on contract ; he rests his whole 
 demand on a right to the negro as slave, and mentions 
 the purpose of detainure to be the sending of him over 
 to be sold in Jamaica. If the parties will have judg- 
 ment, fiat justitia ruatcoelum, let justice be done, whatever 
 be the consequence. 50?. a head may not be a high price ; 
 then a loss follows to the proprietors of above 700,000/. 
 sterling. How would the law stand with respect to their 
 settlement; their wages? How many actions for any 
 slight coercion by the masters? We cannot, in any of 
 these points, direct the law, the law must rule us. In 
 these particulars, it maybe matter of weighty considera- 
 tion what provisions are made or set by law. Mr. Stew- 
 art may end the question by discharging or giving 
 freedom to the negro. I did think, at first, to put the 
 matter to a more solemn argument. But if my brother 
 agree, there seems no occasion. I do not imagine, after 
 the point has been discussed on both sides so extremely 
 well, any new light could be thrown on the subject. If 
 the parties choose to refer it to the Common Pleas, they 
 can give them that satisfaction whenever they think fit. 
 An application to Parliament, if the merchant think 
 the question of great commercial concern, is the best, 
 and perhaps the only method of settling the point for 
 the future. The Court is greatly obliged to the gentle- 
 men of the bar who have spoke on the subject ; and by 
 whose care and abilities so much has been effected, that 
 the rule of decision will be reduced to a very easy com- 
 pass. I cannot omit to express particular happiness in 
 seeing young men, just called to the bar, have been able 
 so much to profit by their reading. I think it right the 
 matter should stand over ; and if we are called on for a 
 decision, proper notice shall be given.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHEE STATES. 167 
 
 TRINITY TERM, JUNE 22, 1772. 
 
 LORD MANSFIELD. On the part of Somersett, the case 
 which we gave notice should be decided this day, the 
 Court now proceeds to give its opinion. I shall recite 
 the return to the writ of habeas corpus as the ground of 
 our determination ; omitting only words of form. The 
 Captain of the ship, on board of which the negro was 
 taken, makes his return to the writ in terms signifying 
 that there have been, and still are, slaves to a great 
 number in Africa ; and that the trade in them is autho- 
 rized by the laws and opinions of Virginia and Jamaica ; 
 that they are goods and chattels ; and, as such, saleable 
 and sold. That James Somersett is a negro of Africa, 
 and long before the return of the King's writ, was 
 brought to be sold, and was sold to Charles Stewart, Esq., 
 then in Jamaica, and has not been manumitted since ; 
 that Mr. Stewart, having occasion to transact business, 
 came over hither, with an intention to return, and 
 brought Somersett to attend and abide with him, and to 
 carry him back as soon as the business should be trans- 
 acted. That such intention has been, and still continues ; 
 and that the negro did remain, till the time of his depar- 
 ture, in the service of his master, Mr. Stewart, and 
 quitted it without his consent; and thereupon, before 
 the return of the King's writ, the said Charles Stewart 
 did commit the slave on board the Ann and Mary to 
 safe custody, to be kept till he should set sail, and then 
 to be taken with him to Jamaica, and there sold as a 
 slave. And this is the cause why he, Captain Knowles, 
 who was then, and now is, commander of the above 
 vessel, then and now lying in the river of Thames, did 
 the said negro, committed to his custody, detain ; and 
 on which he renders him to the orders of the Court. 
 
 AVe pay all due attention to the opinion of Sir Philip 
 Yorke and Lord Chief Justice Talbot, whereby they 
 pledged themselves to the British planters, for all 
 the legal consequences of slaves coming over to this 
 kingdom or being baptized, recognized by Lord Hard- 
 wicke, sitting as Chancellor, on the 19th of October, 
 1749, that trover would lie. That a notion had pre- 
 vailed, if a negro came over or became a Christian, he 
 was emancipated, but no ground in law ; that he and
 
 168 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 Lord Talbot, when Attorney and Solicitor General, were 
 of opinion that no such claim for freedom was valid ; 
 that though the Statute of Tenures had abolished vil- 
 lains regardant to a manor, yet he did conceive hut that 
 a man might still become a villain in gross by confessing 
 himself such in open court. We are so well agreed that 
 we think there is no occasion of having it argued, as I 
 intimated an intention at first, before all the Judges, as 
 is usual, for obvious reasons, on a return to a habeas 
 corpus; the only question before us is, whether the 
 cause on the return is sufficient ? If it is, the negro 
 must be remanded ; if it ia not, he must be discharged. 
 Accordingly, the return states that the slave departed 
 and refused to serve, whereupon he was kept to be sold 
 abroad. So high an act of dominion must be recognized 
 by the law of the country where it is used. The power 
 of a master over his slave has been extremely different 
 in different countries. The state of slavery is of such a 
 nature that it is incapable of being introduced on any 
 reasons, moral or political, but only positive law, which 
 preserves its force long after the reasons occasion, and 
 time itself from whence it was created, is erased from 
 memory. It is so odious that nothing can be suffered to 
 support it but positive law. Whatever inconveniences, 
 therefore, may follow from a decision, I cannot say this 
 case is allowed or approved by the law of England, and 
 therefore the black must be discharged. 
 
 184. This decision has been given at length for 
 several reasons, besides the fact of its being the lead- 
 ing case upon which many subsequent rulings have 
 been made. One of those reasons is, that many ex- 
 pressions and opinions have been attributed to Lord 
 Mansfield, which are nowhere included in or in- 
 ferable from his opinion, but which have been 
 taken from the arguments of counsel, especially that 
 of Mr. Hargrave, written out long after the deci- 
 sion, and which it is not pretended were ever deli- 
 vered upon the hearing. 1 Thus, even Lord Camp- 
 
 1 See note to page 23 ; 20 Howell's State Trials.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 169 
 
 bell has reported Lord Mansfield as having said that 
 " the air of England has long been too pure for a 
 slave to breathe," and that " villanage had ceased in 
 England and could not be revived," 1 none of which 
 appears in this report, and which we have the au- 
 thority of Lord Mansfield for asserting that he never 
 said. For, in a case arising thirteen years thereafter, 
 he stated that the decision " went no farther than 
 that the master cannot by force compel the slave to 
 go out of the kingdom," and in the same case de- 
 cided, that " villains in gross may, in point of law, 
 exist at that day" (1785) . 2 
 
 185. Before examining minutely the decision 
 itself it is worthy of remark, that the report, as well 
 as cotemporaneous history show, that there was a 
 great deal of public feeling and excitement created 
 by the investigation of the case. This is evidenced 
 
 ' Lives of Chief Justices, vol. ii, 320 (Amer. Ed.). Lord Camp- 
 bell gives a decision at length of Lord Mansfield's, and refers, as 
 his authority, to 20 Howell's State Trials ; not one word of which 
 will be found in the report referred to. The report of Lord Camp- 
 bell, moreover, is entirely inconsistent with the whole bearing and 
 manner of Lord Mansfield in this case. His is a polished, firm, 
 bold, literary production, closing with the Latin quotation, "Quam- 
 vis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses." Lord Mansfield's is a 
 vacillating, doubting, irregular, disjointed effusion, unworthy of his 
 greatness. For fear that I did Lord Campbell injustice, I addressed 
 him a letter requesting his authority for this decision. In reply to 
 this, he says, in a courteous note, dated Aug. 27th, 1855, " I am not 
 able to refer you to any printed authority for the words of the 
 judgment of Lord Mansfield, in Somersett's case, as I have given 
 it. It agrees, in substance, with the printed reports, and I have 
 every reason to believe that it is quite correct." 
 
 3 Rex v. Inhabitants of Thames Ditton, 3 Douglas, 300 (26 
 E. C. L. R. 367).
 
 170 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 by the report in many instances. The indecorous 
 interruption of the Court by a bystander, while de- 
 livering its judgment on the first argument. The 
 fact that the counsel for the respondent acknow- 
 ledged it to be his " misfortune to address an au- 
 dience, the greater part of which he feared were 
 prejudiced the other way. That he found it neces- 
 sary to disclaim intimating a wish in favor of slavery 
 by any means," and to defend his appearance by re- 
 ferring to his " duty to maintain those arguments 
 which are most useful to Captain Knowles ;" and 
 that in concluding his argument he was weak enough 
 to forget the Court and address the audience, and 
 after making his apologies, to express the " hope, that 
 he should not suffer in the opinion of those whose 
 honest passions are fired by the name of slavery ;" 
 and the farther hope, " that he had not transgressed 
 his duty to humanity." 1 The fact of the inflamma- 
 tory character of the arguments for the negro, and 
 the still more pregnant fact, the vacillating, doubt- 
 ing, unusual, and it might be truly added, discredit- 
 able manner in which the opinion of the Court was 
 delivered. 8 All of these facts, apparent upon the 
 face of the report, show that the public feeling was 
 oppressive to the counsel, and had its influence upon 
 the Court. Contemporaneous history confirms this 
 inference, the exciting questions of abolition of the 
 
 1 Argument of Mr. Dunning, 20 Howell's State Trials, 71-75. 
 
 3 This fact did not escape attention at the time. The decision was 
 declared to be a "delphic ambiguity," and the question left in 
 " grand uncertainty." Pamphlets were written, pro and con, to 
 explain and to attack. See Just Limitation of Slavery, by Gran- 
 ville Sharp, and Appendix, Nos. 8 and 9.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 171 
 
 slave-trade, and West India emancipation being just 
 then taking hold of the public mind and conscience, 
 and " Wilkes and Liberty" being the popular tocsin. 
 The fact that Dr. Samuel Johnson, the despot over 
 the literary world of that day, prepared an argu- 
 ment upon this question, to be used in the case of 
 Knight and Wedderburn, in the Scotch Courts, 
 almost cotemporaneously with this case, is confir- 
 matory of this opinion. 1 
 
 Without desiring in any manner to disparage the 
 deservedly great reputation of the great jurists that 
 delivered this opinion, it is nevertheless unques- 
 tionably true, and so admitted by his biographers 
 and eulogists, that a prominent defect in his charac- 
 ter was a want of that moral courage (that my Lord 
 Coke possessed in such an eminent degree) that could 
 withstand every influence when the law demanded 
 his obeisance." 
 
 186. The arguments of the counsel in this case 
 (written out and reported at length in 20 Howell's 
 State Trials), go far to sustain the opinion expressed 
 by Chancellor Kent, of their ignorance at that time 
 upon these vexed questions of International Law. 
 The subject of the Comity of Nations is never men- 
 tioned, eo nomine, by either of them ; and the prin- 
 ciples of that comity (the only ground on which the 
 master's rights could be supported), are never even 
 obscurely alluded to by the counsel representing 
 his interests. On the contrary, Mr. Dunning, the 
 leading counsel for the master, yielded the whole 
 
 2 Boswell's Life of Johnson, 132. 
 
 Campbell's Lives of the Chief Justices, vol. ii, p. 437 (Amer. 
 Ed.).
 
 172 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 question, when he admitted, in his argument, the 
 broad proposition, that "the municipal regulations 
 of one country are not binding on another" (p. 73). 
 In fact, the only allusion to the doctrine of comity, 
 deserving the name, made on either side, seems to 
 be an afterthought of Mr. Hargrave, in writing out 
 his argument for publication, where he speaks of 
 the lex loci (p. 60) ; and then his application of the 
 doctrine shows either strange ignorance, or a wanton 
 perversion. And this was evidently not mentioned 
 on the hearing, as his view is neither met by the 
 opposing counsel, nor alluded to by the Court. It 
 is true that it is said (p. 71), that "the Court ap- 
 proved Mr. Alleyne's opinion of the distinction how 
 far municipal laws were to be regarded ;" but Mr. 
 Alleyne's argument shows no distinction to have 
 been drawn by him. He says (p. 68), "Slavery is 
 not a natural, it is a municipal relation ; an institu- 
 tion, therefore, confined to certain places, and neces- 
 sarily dropped by passage into a country where 
 such municipal regulations do not exist." If this 
 be the distinction to which the Court alludes, they 
 place themselves very much in the category of the 
 counsel. 
 
 187. The truth is, the arguments show what 
 the decision of the Court clearly demonstrates that 
 the case was placed upon an entirely false issue, viz., 
 whether or not African slavery could be introduced 
 into England. The justly celebrated argument of 
 Mr. Hargrave is all directed to show that " the law 
 of England will not admit of a new slavery" (p. 35). 
 The argument of the counsel for the master strove 
 to demonstrate that the law of England recognized
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 173 
 
 slavery in villanage; and that, at most, it would 
 modify the state of absolute slavery to that of ser- 
 vitude for life. The true ground, that the law of 
 the domicile determined the status of the slave, and 
 that the English Courts, through comity, were bound 
 to enforce the municipal law of that domicile, when 
 it did not interfere with the policy or become preju- 
 dicial to the interests of England, was never sug- 
 gested to the consideration of the court. 1 
 
 188. When we come to examine the decision of 
 the Court, we find it equally wide of the mark. 
 Lord Mansfield seems to have arrived almost in 
 view of the point, when he said, " The now ques- 
 tion is, whether any dominion, authority, or coercion, 
 can be exercised, in this country, on a slave, accord- 
 ing to the American laws ? The difficulty of adopt- 
 ing the relation, without adopting it in all its con- 
 sequences, is indeed extreme; yet many of those 
 consequences are absolutely contrary to the muni- 
 cipal law of England. We have no authority to 
 regulate the conditions in which law shall operate." 
 His great mind, unaided, seems to have almost 
 borne him to the true solution; one step farther, 
 and there would have been no difficulty ; the step 
 subsequently taken by Lord Stowell, when he de- 
 clared that in cases coming under the Comity of 
 Nations, the business of the English law was sim- 
 ply to bring the parties to a hearing; and that 
 
 1 Lord Stowell says, " The arguments of counsel, in that decisive 
 case of Somersett, do not go farther than to the extinction of slavery 
 in England, as unsuitable to the genius of the country, and the 
 modes of enforcement." Case of Slave Grace, 2 Hagg. Admr. 
 109.
 
 174 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 effected, she stepped back, and left the decision to 
 the municipal law of the foreign state. But Lord 
 Mansfield seems to have sunk under the oppression 
 of the difficulties, and, instead of taking the other 
 step, goes rambling off in a dislocated jargon, about 
 " fiat justitia, mat coelum ;" "50?. a head not a high 
 price ;" suggestions to Mr. Stewart to emancipate his 
 negro, in order to relieve the Court, &c. &c., which, 
 taken altogether, is by no means calculated to ad- 
 vance his fame. 1 
 
 189. The final judgment of the Court, delivered 
 some five months thereafter, shows clearly what has 
 been formerly stated, that the case was decided upon 
 a false issue, viz., whether African slavery would be 
 lawful under the municipal law of England. Say 
 the Court, " The state of slavery is of such a nature 
 that it is incapable of being introduced on any 
 reasons, moral or political, but only by positive law." 
 " Whatever inconveniences, therefore, may follow 
 from the decision, I cannot say this case is allowed 
 or approved by the law of England ; and, therefore, 
 the black must be discharged." It would seem un- 
 questionable, that this decision denied the right of 
 introducing a slave animo remanendi. Yet Lord 
 Mansfield, in a subsequent case, where a slave was 
 introduced and retained in England, declared that 
 this "determination went no farther than that the 
 master cannot, by force, compel the slave to go out 
 
 1 Since penning this paragraph, I have been pleased to see that 
 this decision made a similar impression upon the minds of the pro- 
 fession soon after its delivery. See Argument of Luther Martin, 
 Attorney-General of Maryland, in 1799, in case of Mahoney v. 
 Abhton, 4 Bar. & McH. 320, 321.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 175 
 
 of the kingdom." 1 Barrington, in his Observations 
 on Statutes, published shortly after the decision, 
 refers to this case, and corroborates the remarks just 
 quoted of Lord Mansfield. He says, "There hath 
 lately, indeed, been a celebrated judgment in the 
 Court of King's Bench, with regard to a black ser- 
 vant ; but I conceive that the only point determined 
 in that case was, that a master hath not a right to 
 send such a slave out of the kingdom, in order that he 
 may be sold." 2 
 
 190. Lord Stowell, in the case of the slave 
 Grace, decided in 1827 (2 Hagg. Adm. Rep. 94), 
 has reviewed, at some length, the decision in Somer- 
 sett's case ; and while he disclaims the' "presumption 
 of questioning any obiter dictum that fell from that 
 great man" (Lord Mansfield), he combats, and suc- 
 cessfully, the only foundation upon which the deci- 
 sion is based, viz., that " slavery cannot be esta- 
 blished without positive law." He says (p. 107), 
 " I trust, I do not depart from the modesty that 
 belongs to my situation, and I hope to my character, 
 when I observe that ancient custom is generally re- 
 cognized as a just foundation of all law. That vil- 
 lanage, which is said to be the prototype of slavery, 
 had no other origin than ancient custom; that a 
 great part of the common law itself, in all its rela- 
 tions, has little other foundation than the same 
 custom." Of the judgment in the case, he says (p. 
 109), "There is hardly anything else that is ex- 
 
 1 Rex v. Inhabitants of Thames Ditton, 4 Douglas, 300 (26 
 E. C. L. R. 367). 
 
 The italics are his own. Observ. on Statutes 1 Ric. II, p. 312 
 (5th Edition, 1796).
 
 176 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 pressed, save several well-merited civilities to the 
 gentlemen of the bar; and some expressions of con- 
 tempt for the danger and jealousy that might be 
 encountered, but of which none ever appear to have 
 occasioned any reasonable alarm." Of the very 
 favorite expression of later days, " that the air of 
 England was too pure for a slave to breathe," Lord 
 Stowell says, with well-deserved sarcasm (p. 109), 
 " How far this air was useful for the common pur- 
 poses of respiration, during the many centuries in 
 which the two systems of villanage maintained their 
 sway in this country, history has not recorded." 
 
 191. And as conclusive proof that this case 
 went no farther than Lord Mansfield declared in 
 the case in Douglas, is the fact, that for fifty years 
 after the decision in Somersett's case, slaves were 
 continually brought from the West Indies to Eng- 
 land, the masters relying upon their voluntary 
 return. Says Lord Stowell, in the case cited, p. 112, 
 " Black seamen have, ever since, navigated West 
 India ships to this island, but we have not heard of 
 other Somersetts, nor has the public been much 
 gratified with complaints of their desertion." "And 
 what excuse is to be offered for Lord Mansfield, who 
 long survived the change of the law which he had 
 made, and yet never interposed in the slightest 
 manner to correct the total misapprehension, if it 
 is so to be considered, of the law which he himself 
 had introduced." (p. 114.) 
 
 192. Having examined the decision of the Court 
 as made, let us view the case made by the return, in 
 the light of those rules which we have deduced from 
 the principles of international law governing these
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 177 
 
 questions. It appears that the master had been re- 
 siding two years in England with this slave, " for 
 the purpose of transacting certain business," and 
 " with the intention of returning to America at the 
 close of that business." The nature of that busi- 
 ness, and the probable duration of the master's stay, 
 are not stated. The farther fact appears, upon the 
 hearing, that near 15,000 slaves were at that time, 
 under various pretexts, introduced into England. It 
 is a doubtful question whether, under such circum- 
 stances and with so vague a return, the Court would 
 not have been justified in the exercise of its dis- 
 cretion, in "refusing to extend the principle of 
 comity." 1 
 
 193. The judgment of the Court, upon the case 
 made, therefore, does not necessarily contravene the 
 principles we have laid down. The reasons given 
 by the Court for that judgment, we dissent from. 
 Those reasons, not the case, have been the fruitful 
 source of erroneous decisions, as our farther review 
 of the cases will abundantly show. 
 
 194. In the case of Williams v. Brown, 2 decided 
 in 1802, the question incidentally arose as to the con- 
 dition of a fugitive slave, who, having enjoyed freedom 
 in England, voluntarily returned to the West Indies, 
 whence he had fled. The Court of Common Pleas 
 were unanimous in the opinion, that his state of sla- 
 very existed upon his return. Which decision was 
 
 ' This appears to be the view of this case taken by Lord Stowell, 
 in a letter to Judge Story, and which view was fully approved by 
 the latter. Life and Letters of Story, vol. i, 555, 558. 
 
 a 3 Bos. & Pul. 69. 
 
 12
 
 178 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 affirmed, as we shall see, upon elaborate argument, in 
 the subsequent case of the slave Grace. 
 
 195. The next case in England, worthy of at- 
 tention, is that of Forbes v. Cochrane & Cockburn 
 (decided in 1824). * The question made there, and 
 decided by the Court, does not, in any manner, affect 
 the point under review ; and Bay ley, J., who de- 
 livers the judgment of the Court, expressly waives 
 " giving any opinion" upon the question, whether 
 " a slave, the instant he leaves his master's planta- 
 tion, and gets upon other land where slavery is not 
 tolerated, becomes, ex necessitate, to all intents and 
 purposes, a freeman." Nor would it be necessary to 
 refer to the case, except that some of the Judges, in 
 concurring in the judgment, had taken occasion to 
 throw out dicta that have been since referred to as 
 law. Let us examine these dicta. 
 
 Holroyd, J., asserts broadly, that " the moment a 
 slave puts his foot upon the shores of this country, 
 his slavery is at an end." The reason is given thus : 
 " He ceases to be a slave in England, only because 
 there is no law which sanctions his detention in sla- 
 very." The reason given is not true. There is a 
 law in England which sanctions his detention. That 
 law is the municipal law of the domicile of the mas- 
 ter, and which, by comity, the English Court is 
 bound to enforce, under certain circumstances. The 
 difficulty with Justice Holroyd is, that he does not 
 discriminate between the cases of the introduction 
 of slavery as a permanent institution, and the intro- 
 
 1 2 Barnewall & Cresswell, 448 (9 E. C. L. R. 138-150).
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 179 
 
 duction of a slave for a temporary purpose. Best, J., 
 seems to have worked himself into a passion before 
 he had an opportunity of delivering his opinion, and 
 in the outset, gives notice that his " feelings are ex- 
 cited," and may " betray him into some warmth of 
 expression." 
 
 This warning would be a sufficient justification to 
 the cool inquirer after truth for passing by his opi- 
 nion, but proper respect suggests a moment's exami- 
 nation. He speaks of slavery as " a crime ;" denies 
 that " in any case an action has been held to be 
 maintainable in the municipal Courts of England, 
 founded upon a right arising out of slavery ;'" de- 
 clares the law of Florida to be " anti-christian" and 
 " contrary to the law of God," and consequently 
 should not be recognized, and concludes by declaring 
 that it was a maxim, that the comity of nations 
 " cannot prevail in any case where it violates the 
 law of our own country, the law of nature, or the 
 law of God.' 1 If it were necessary, oyer might be 
 claimed of this maxim, as to its latter branch, and 
 Justice Best would be probably puzzled to produce 
 it. However, the necessity does not exist, for Afri- 
 can slavery violates neither the one nor the other. 
 
 196. In the case of the slave Grace, which sub- 
 sequently arose before Lord Stowell in the Admiralty 
 Court, the question was, whether upon the return of 
 a slave to the slaveholding state, the master could 
 
 1 In addition to the cases referred to by us, there was before the 
 Court, at this time, the then recent case of Madrazzo v. Willes, 3 
 B. & A. 353, where Justice Best himself gave judgment for the 
 plaintiff for 18,180Z., the value of a cargo of slaves.
 
 180 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 assert his authority over her, or whether she was 
 free ? The decision of Lord Stowell maintained the 
 authority of the master, holding that the Somersett 
 case did not decide that the removal to a non-slave- 
 holding state worked an emancipation, but simply 
 that the courts of England would not lend their aid 
 to enforce his rights. 1 
 
 In this case, Lord Stowell enters upon the exami- 
 nation of the question with great candor. He un- 
 hesitatingly affirms that African slavery not only 
 existed in fact, but was recognized by the courts 
 prior to the case of Somersett. He refers particu- 
 larly to the judgment of Lord Chancellor Hard- 
 wicke, in 1749, sustaining the counsel he had pre- 
 viously given the colonists as Sir Philip Yorke, and 
 says that this judgment was reversed by Lord Mans- 
 field. He speaks of Lord Mansfield's decision as " a 
 change of the law," and as law which Lord Mansfield 
 " himself had introduced." 2 
 
 197. Such are the English authorities. Those 
 prior to Somersett's case, would seem to recognize 
 slavery as existing under the municipal law of Eng- 
 land. The dicta of some of the Judges in the later 
 cases go to the opposite extreme, while that of Lord 
 Stowell sustains it in full. At the date of the 
 former there seems to have been but little informa- 
 tion on the peculiar questions of international law. 
 At the date of the latter, there seems to have been 
 much excitement and zeal on the subject of slavery 
 and the slave-trade, which the judicial ermine could 
 
 1 2 Hagg. Adm. Rep. 94. a Pages 109, 114.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 181 
 
 not exclude from the courts of justice. 1 About them 
 all we may remark, that in no single case was the 
 question made and decided as to the extent to which 
 the comity of nations required the enforcement of 
 the foreign law in the courts of England. 
 
 1 Lord Stowell, even in a letter to Judge Story, glories in the 
 appellation of "an abolitionist." Life and Letters of Story, vol. i, 
 555.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. HOW FAR THE QUESTION 
 IS AFFECTED BY OUR FORM OF GOVERNMENT AND 
 CONSTITUTION. 
 
 198. WE have thus examined the opinions of 
 foreign jurists and the adjudged cases in foreign 
 courts, to see whether their decisions controvert the 
 correctness of those conclusions to which upon prin- 
 ciple we arrived. 1 We must think that to the honest 
 
 1 Ante, 174. Through communications in the public journals, 
 I see the decision of a cause very lately (1856), in the highest 
 judicial tribunal of Prussia, where the question was distinctly made 
 and ruled as I lay down the law. Not having an authoritative 
 report, I cannot insert it in the text. " The case was that of Dr. 
 Ritter, a citizen of Brazil, against one Marcinello, his slave, whom 
 he had brought to Berlin, where he told him he would simply treat 
 him as a servant, but on his return home he should expect him to re- 
 enter on his former condition. The slave, however, left his master, 
 and instituted a suit against him, praying that he be called upon to 
 prove his property within a given period, or be forever debarred, &c. 
 The local tribunal of Berlin gave judgment in favor of the slave, but 
 the Court of Appeals reversed this judgment, and the Supreme Court 
 of Justice confirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals. Mr. 
 Grrund also adds that, in the written reasons for this decision, which 
 are always furnished by the Judges in Germany, the Court held that 
 Dr. Ritter had good cause to claim Marcinello as his slave; it being 
 proved that the relation of master and slave subsisted, and still
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 183 
 
 candid mind those conclusions remain, if not sup- 
 ported, at least uncontradicted, by the authorities. 
 
 199. If these are the principles upon which the 
 slaveholder's rights would be adjudicated in the 
 courts of foreign independent nations, should the 
 same principles determine the relative rights of 
 master and slave within the States of the Union ? 
 And is the obligation to observe this comity greater 
 or less among the States of this Union, than among 
 totally independent States ? These questions de- 
 mand now our consideration. 
 
 200. The very name " Comitas inter communi- 
 tates" exhibits the foundation of these principles. It 
 is comity, courtesy, founded upon mutual respect, and 
 promotive of mutual interest, the offspring of com- 
 merce and enlightenment, the handmaid of justice 
 and peace. Surely it does not require an argument 
 to prove that there is nothing in the nature of the 
 union of these States, which weakens those bonds 
 that bind together even independent States. 
 
 201. On the contrary, the obligation to re- 
 subsists lawfully in Brazil, the domicile of both the plaintiff and 
 defendant; that by the plaintiff's own confession, defendant had 
 bought him for a certain sum of money; that it was proved by a 
 competent witness, a merchant by the name of Ree, that Marci- 
 nello, while at Rio Janeiro, lived in the defendant's house as a slave, 
 using the language and wearing the badge of servitude (going 
 barefooted), by which slaves in Brazil are recognized; and, finally, 
 because Marcinello's name occurs in the passport as a slave, belong- 
 ing to the defendant. The relations between master and servant 
 are regulated by the laws of the country where both are domici- 
 liated, and a promise on the part of the master, within a certain 
 limited time and space not to use his rights over his slave to the 
 fullest extent, is not tantamount to their relinquishment."
 
 184 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 spect and observe this comity, is greater upon the 
 Courts of the States of this Union, than upon the 
 Courts of independent States. The very Union 
 itself was framed to establish justice, insure domes- 
 tic tranquillity, and promote the general welfare of 
 the people of these United States. If, then, we 
 mete out to each other no farther privileges, no 
 greater courtesy than if no bond of union existed, 
 " what thanks have we ? Do not the publicans the 
 same?" Wherein is this Union made "more per- 
 fect," if it leaves the courts of the several States 
 regulating the rights of the sister States, by the 
 scanty courtesy of foreign tribunals? So long as 
 this Union exists, there is but one body, though 
 many members. The States are not foreign to each 
 other, for every purpose ; and more especially in the 
 application of those principles of comity, which are 
 calculated so much to "insure domestic tranquillity." 
 The language of Judge Lockwood 1 is as praiseworthy 
 for its patriotism, as it is remarkable for its clear 
 legal conclusions. " The relations we sustain to our 
 sister States, also, furnish strong reasons why the 
 law of comity should be expanded, so as to meet 
 the exigencies arising out of that relation. What, 
 then, are the relations we sustain to other States, 
 which ought to affect our public policy towards 
 them? They are not foreign States. We are 
 bound up with them by the Constitution of the 
 United States into a Union, upon the preservation 
 of which no one can doubt that our own peace and 
 welfare greatly depend. Other nations may cherish 
 
 1 Willard v. The People, 4 Scammon, 475.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 185 
 
 friendly relations with each other, and endeavor to 
 promote alliances and frequent intercourse, from 
 fear of foreign war, or a desire of commercial pros- 
 perity. But to us, these relations and this in- 
 tercourse, have a value and importance which are 
 inestimable. They are the grounds of safety for 
 our domestic peace, and for our hopes of the con- 
 tinuation of the happy government under which 
 we live. Whatever injures one State, injures the 
 others. It is, consequently, our duty to consult the 
 good of all the States, and so to frame and admi- 
 nister our laws, that we give our sister States no 
 real cause of offence. We ought to do them all the 
 kind offices in our power, consistently with our duty 
 to ourselves. Thus will be produced that concord, 
 that union of affection and interest among the States, 
 which may prove an enduring cement to that happy 
 and glorious Union, upon the continuation of which 
 our hopes of domestic peace and rational freedom so 
 eminently depend. By the law of nations, it 
 would be considered just cause of complaint, if we 
 should arbitrarily refuse to the citizens of foreign 
 nations at peace with us, permission to pass through 
 our territories with their property. If this be so, 
 as regards the citizens of foreign nations, how much 
 greater propriety does there exist that we should 
 extend this boon, if boon it be, to our fellow-citizens, 
 who are also our friends, our neighbors, our relations. 
 That our denial to the people of our sister States to 
 have the right of passage for themselves and their 
 slaves, would inflict on them a most serious injury, 
 cannot be doubted. The bitterness which usually 
 characterizes border animosities admonishes us of
 
 186 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 the propriety of cultivating, by every just means in 
 our power, that social intercourse with our neighbors 
 which will be productive of mutual esteem and good 
 will. Should we refuse them the privilege of taking 
 their slaves through our State, would there not be 
 danger that such refusal would engender feelings, on 
 their part, not favorable to a continuance of our 
 happy union ? Are there reasons of sufficient mag- 
 nitude to induce us to risk such consequences? I 
 think not. Our interest, our duty, our love to our 
 whole country, conspire to prove the propriety of 
 allowing our fellow-citizens of our sister States, the 
 right to travel through this State, either as emigrants 
 or travellers, with their slaves, unless serious injury 
 will result to ourselves by giving such permission. 
 How injury can result to the people of this State, 
 by such a permission, I am entirely at a loss to con- 
 ceive. On the contrary, it might be shown that in 
 many instances it was to their decided advantage."' 
 202. This general view is confirmed by a closer 
 examination of our frame of government. A refusal 
 on the part of an independent nation to extend to 
 another the benefit of this comity, would leave to the 
 nation thus treated the alternatives, either to reta- 
 liate, through her own courts, or to cease all commer- 
 cial intercourse with the offending nation ; or, if the 
 magnitude of the case justified it, to declare war for 
 this denial of her rights, under the Law of Nations. 1 
 How is it with the States of this Union ? If Mas- 
 
 1 Such wars have been waged, for the refusal to deliver up fugi- 
 tive slaves. Heineccius, De Prasscr. &c. Exr. xxvi, 12, citing 
 Lehmann, Chron. Spir. Lib. VII, cap. Ixxi; Hertius, De Horn: 
 propr. Sect, iii, 10.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 187 
 
 sachusetts denies to Georgia the benefit of this 
 comity, what alternatives has Georgia? She can- 
 not cease commercial intercourse, because, under 
 the Constitution, Congress has exclusive control 
 over that subject. She cannot declare war, for of 
 that power, also, is she divested by the terms of 
 Union. She cannot even stipulate by treaty for 
 the allowance of this comity to her citizens, for, by 
 the same clause (Sect. X, Art. I), is she prohibited 
 from entering into any agreement or compact with 
 another State. The poor, miserable alternative of 
 retaliating through her own courts, is all that is 
 left to her one little calculated to "secure domestic 
 tranquillity." It cannot be believed that the wise 
 framers of our Constitution, whose foresight and pro- 
 vidence amounted almost to " prophetic ken," have 
 left so fruitful a source of disturbance, so dangerous 
 a rock of offence, without some principles to govern 
 us and some power to enforce. For every other 
 conceivable cause of difficulty between the States 
 provision is made, and the tribunals pointed out by 
 which the conflicting rights are to be decided ; and 
 every power is taken away from the States, which, 
 it was supposed, could be used for the purpose of 
 annoying or vexing each other. Thus, the lay- 
 ing of tariffs on articles brought from other States, 
 the regulation of commerce generally between the 
 States, the keeping a standing army, or ships of 
 war, &c., are all prohibited to the States. And, in 
 other cases, where prohibition was impossible, but 
 difficulties might arise, the duties of the several 
 States are clearly defined; such as the cases of 
 fugitives from justice, and from service, the privi-
 
 188 LAW OF NEGKO SLAVERY. 
 
 leges of citizens, the credit given to judicial proceed- 
 ings, &c. Under this view of the Constitution (with- 
 out stopping to inquire how far the several States 
 have yielded any portion of their sovereignty), the 
 conclusion is inevitable, that the spirit of this com- 
 pact of Union imposes a weighty obligation upon 
 every State composing it, with scrupulous nicety to 
 extend to the citizens of every other State, the full 
 measure of their rights under the Comity of Nations. 1 
 
 203. It may at some day become a question of 
 great practical importance, what remedy is provided, 
 if any, to the other States, for the enforcement of 
 this comity upon a State disposed to disregard this 
 obligation. For instance, if one State should enact 
 that while, by the comity of nations, her courts are 
 bound to enforce the municipal law of the other 
 States in certain enumerated cases ; yet, by virtue 
 of her sovereign right to regulate all her internal 
 affairs, she enacts that her courts shall thencefor- 
 ward cease to respect this comity, and to enforce 
 this law. Are the other States remediless? Can it 
 be possible that the rights of the citizens of all the 
 other States, are thus placed at the mercy of a re- 
 fractory State ? 
 
 204. In the supposed case, the issue stands thus : 
 The remaining States demand of the offending State, 
 through her courts, to enforce their municipal laws, 
 in those cases where, by the comity of nations, those 
 laws should decide the rights of the parties. She 
 
 1 See 3 Story Comm. on Const. 1303 ; Green v. Sarmiento, 1 
 Peters C. C. R. 78, 79 ; Opinion of Livingston, J., in Mills v. 
 Duryee, 7 Cranch, 486.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 189 
 
 refuses to do so. The other States cannot declare 
 war. They cannot lay a tariff on her productions. 
 They cannot even purchase from her their peace. 
 They can look only to the Constitution, and the 
 powers granted thereby, for redress. Do they pro- 
 vide for the case ? 
 
 205. The fourth Article of the Constitution of 
 the United States seems to have for its principal 
 object the regulation of the intercourse of the several 
 States with each other. The first and second sec- 
 tions of this Article are exclusively devoted to this 
 object. An anxious solicitude is evidenced in these 
 sections to provide for every possible cause of diffi- 
 culty between the several States. Prominent and 
 first in these provisions stands this section : 
 
 " Full faith and credit shall be given in each 
 State to the public acts, records, and judicial pro- 
 ceedings of every other State. And the Congress 
 may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which 
 such acts, records, and proceedings, shall be proved, 
 and tlie effect thereof" 
 
 206. That the words " public acts" refer to the 
 laws of the several States, is admitted by all com- 
 mentators upon this clause. 1 And this opinion was 
 acted on by the Congress of 1790 (composed partly 
 of the men who framed this instrument), when, in 
 the act passed to carry out this section, they pro- 
 vided for the authentication of the acts of the legis- 
 latures. 2 If there could be any doubt on this point, 
 
 1 Story, on the Constitution, vol. iii, 1298 ; Bayard's Exposi- 
 tion of the Constitution, 120; Sergeant's Constitutional Law, 386. 
 
 2 Statutes at Large, vol. i, p. 122; see U. S. v. Amedy, 11 
 Wheat. 407.
 
 190 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 the history of the clause would remove it. In the 
 original draft of a Constitution reported by the Com- 
 mittee, the words were inserted in full, " acts of the 
 legislature/' 1 and was so agreed to. The present 
 verbiage was adopted subsequently, when another 
 more important alteration was made in the clause. 
 In the first draft it read, " Full faith and credit shall 
 be given, in each State, to the acts of the legisla- 
 tures, and to the records and judicial proceedings of 
 the courts and magistrates of every other State." 
 No power, it will be perceived, was given to Con- 
 gress to enforce this obligation on the States. The 
 clause, as thus reported, was almost a transcript of 
 a similar provision in the Articles of Confederation. 
 The resolutions of instructions, passed by the Con- 
 vention, and referred by them to the Committee of 
 Detail, solemnly declared that Congress ought to pos- 
 sess the right " to legislate in all cases in which the 
 harmony of the United States may be interrupted 
 by the exercise of individual legislation." 2 In ac- 
 cordance with, and in the spirit of this instruction, 
 originated the second clause of this section, reported 
 thus by the Committee : "And the Legislature shall, 
 by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such 
 acts, records, and proceedings, shall be proved, and 
 the effect which judgments obtained in one State 
 shall have in another." " Congress may" was sub- 
 stituted, by amendment, for " Legislature shall ;" and 
 then a motion was made to amend by substituting 
 the words " and the effect thereof," for the words 
 
 1 Proceedings and Debates of Convention, 267. 
 
 2 Secret Proceedings and Debates, &c. 250.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 191 
 
 "and the effect which judgments obtained in one 
 State shall have in another." In other words, to 
 make the power general, instead of confining it to 
 the effect of judgments only. The amendment was 
 carried by the vote of six States against three, and 
 thus came the present verbiage of this clause. 1 
 Moreover, Mr. Madison's report of the debates on 
 this section, shows conclusively that the framers of 
 the instrument understood, by " public acts," the 
 " statute laws." Thus, " Mr. Wilson and Dr. Johnson 
 supposed that the acts of the legislatures should be 
 included for the sake of acts of insolvency," &c. ; and 
 Mr. Randolph proposed a substitute, reading : " the 
 act of any State, whether legislative, executive, or 
 judicial." 2 
 
 207. What is the full force and meaning of the 
 words "and the effect thereof?" A diversity of 
 opinion has arisen among learned courts as to the 
 proper construction of these words ; some referring 
 them to the authentication, and limiting the power 
 of Congress to prescribing the effect of such authen- 
 tication as evidence. 3 Others referring them to the 
 " acts, records, and judicial proceedings," and thereby 
 conferring on Congress the power of prescribing the 
 effect of such acts, records, and judicial proceedings. 4 
 
 1 Journal of Convention, pp. 228, 305, 320, 321 ; 3 Story, on 
 Constitution, 1298. a 5 Elliott's Debates, 488. 
 
 8 Opinion of Livingston, J., in Hitchcock v. Aicken, 1 Caine's 
 Kep. 471 ; Bissell v. Briggs, 9 Mass. 443 (Sewall, J., dissenting). 
 
 4 Opinions of Radcliff, J., Kent, J., and Lewis, C. J., in Hitch- 
 cock v. Aicken, 1 Caine's Rep. 471; Armstrong v. Carsons, 2 
 Ball. 302 ; Bartlett v. Knight, 1 Mass. 401 ; Green v. Sarmiento, 
 1 Peters C. C. Rep. 78 ; see Federalist, No. xlii.
 
 192 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 The history of this clause, given in the foregoing 
 section, favors the latter construction. 
 
 In addition to the facts stated, it appears that 
 when the clause was under discussion, Mr. Madison 
 advocated it upon the express ground, that "he 
 wished the Legislature (Congress) might be autho- 
 rized to provide for the execution of judgments in 
 other States, under such regulations as might be 
 expedient. He thought this might be safely done, 
 and was justiiied by the nature of the union." Mr. 
 Governeur Morris moved to commit, with the clause, 
 the following proposition, which was done nem. con. : 
 " The Legislature shall, by general laws, determine 
 the proof and effect of such acts, records, and pro- 
 ceedings." 1 This last proposition, agreed to without 
 a dissenting voice, seems to place beyond question 
 the construction put upon this section by the framers 
 of it. In the Virginia Convention, the Constitution 
 underwent a most critical examination, section by 
 section. The stern State Right views of Mr. George 
 Mason were alarmed at this clause, and he said, " How 
 far it may be proper that Congress shall declare the 
 effects of acts, I cannot clearly see into." Mr. 
 Madison replied, that " this was a clause which was 
 absolutely necessary," and it was adopted without a 
 dissenting voice. 2 So that it appears that the con- 
 ventions ratifying, as well as the framers of this 
 clause, so construed it. And such seems to be the 
 interpretation of it by the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, in the leading case of Mills v. Duryee, 3 
 
 1 5 Elliott's Debates, 488. * 3 Elliott's Debates, 584. 
 
 3 7 Cranch, 481 ; Hampden v. McConnell, 3 Wheaton, 234.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 193 
 
 which has been adopted and approved ever since. 
 In that case Mr. Justice Johnson dissented from the 
 opinion of the Court, insisting that "faith and credit 
 were terras strictly applicable to evidence," and that 
 the record of a judgment authenticated under the 
 Act of 1790, was only priina facie evidence of in- 
 debtedness. And considerable difference of opinion 
 exists in the courts, as to the effect of the Act of 
 1790, declaring that the records, "authenticated as 
 aforesaid, shall have such faith and credit given to 
 them in every court within the United States, as 
 they have, by law or usage, in the courts of the State 
 from whence the said records are taken ;" the one 
 side holding that Congress, though authorized to 
 declare the effect of the judgment in this act, has 
 declared only the effect of the record as evidence ; 
 the others contending, that under this act Congress 
 has declared the judgment as conclusive as in the 
 State where it is rendered. This controversy is 
 foreign to our purpose, and reference is made to it 
 only to show that neither side necessarily deny the 
 construction of the clause in the Constitution to 
 which we lean, though some of the advocates of the 
 latter opinion have done so, as we have seen above. 
 208. We cannot forbear here to quote a portion 
 of the very satisfactory reasoning of Mr. Justice 
 Washington, in construing this clause of the Consti- 
 tution. In the case of Green v. Sarmiento, 1 he 
 says, " That the intention of the Constitution to in- 
 vest Congress with the power to declare the judg- 
 ments of the courts of one State conclusive in every 
 
 1 1 Peters C. C. Kep. 78, 79. 
 13
 
 194 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 other, and even to clothe them with a still more ex- 
 tended force and effect, corresponded with the strong 
 and unambiguous expressions used in this article, 
 will appear from the following considerations. First. 
 It is presumable that the enlightened framers of 
 that instrument knew that by the general comity of 
 nations, and by the long-established rules of that 
 country, whose decisions were once of binding au- 
 thority in the United States, and to a certain period 
 were still observed and adopted, a foreign judg- 
 ment might be made the foundation of an action 
 here, and was primd facie evidence of its own cor- 
 rectness. It is highly probable, therefore, that the 
 Constitution intended something more than merely 
 to recognize an established rule of law. ... If 
 nothing more was meant, the provision was certainly 
 unnecessary. It would on the contrary seem more 
 natural that the Constitution, which was intended to 
 ' form a more perfect union,' and a more close and 
 intimate connection of the States than had existed 
 under the Confederation, would consider the judg-, 
 ments of the several States in relation to each other 
 as domestic rather than foreign j udgments. Secondly. 
 The change of the language of this section of the 
 Constitution from the parallel section of the Articles 
 of Confederation, affords a strong reason for the opi- 
 nion, that the former was intended to give to the 
 judgments of each State, within the other States, a 
 more extensive force and effect than the rule of law, 
 founded on mere comity, had allowed to foreign judg- 
 ments." 
 
 209. Mr. Story, in his Commentaries on the 
 Constitution, when considering this section, indulges
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 195 
 
 in a similar train of thought. " It is hardly con- 
 ceivable," he says, 1 " that so much solicitude should 
 have been exhibited to introduce, as between con- 
 federate States, much less between States united 
 under the same national government, a clause 
 merely affirmative of an established rule of law, 
 and not denied to the humblest or most distant 
 foreign nation. It was hardly supposable that the 
 States would deal less favorably with each other on 
 such a subject, where they could not but have 
 a common interest, than with foreigners. A mo- 
 tive of a higher kind must naturally have directed 
 them to the provision. It must have been to ' form 
 a more perfect union,' and to give to each State a 
 higher security and confidence in the others by at- 
 tributing a superior sanctity and conclusiveness to 
 the public acts and judicial proceedings of all. There 
 could be no reasonable objection to such a course ; 
 on the other hand, there were many reasons in its 
 favor. The States were united in an indissoluble 
 bond with each other. The commercial and other 
 intercourse with each other would be constant and 
 infinitely diversified; credit would be everywhere 
 given and received, and right and property would 
 belong to citizens of every State in many other 
 States than that in which they resided." 
 
 210. The attention of these learned jurists was 
 turned only to the evils which would flow from a 
 denial by the States to each other, of those princi- 
 ples of enlightened comity, which applied more 
 directly to the judgments and records of the courts; 
 
 1 Vol. iii, 1303.
 
 196 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 and the possibility of such evils, in their judgment, 
 justified the enlightened framers of the Constitution 
 in inserting the section now under consideration. 
 When we look to the still greater and momentous 
 evils which would flow from a denial by the States 
 to each other, of those principles of comity by which, 
 under certain circumstances, the citizen carries with 
 him into another State the protection of the muni- 
 cipal law of his domicile, the necessity for such a 
 provision in the Constitution in reference to the laws 
 of the several States is much more obvious, and 
 every consideration suggested in favor of the exer- 
 cise of such a power in reference to judgments, 
 applies with tenfold power to the exercise of it in 
 reference to the laws. 
 
 211. Yet it is an undeniable fact, that the na- 
 ture and extent of this power given to Congress, 
 while it has undergone scrupulous investigations so 
 far as records and judgments are concerned, has 
 never attracted attention in the courts in that more 
 important light, viz., the declaring the effect of the 
 laws of one State, over the citizens of that State 
 and their property, when within the territorial 
 jurisdiction of another. In this light, this clause of 
 the Constitution is not deserving the comment of 
 the Federalist, that it " can be of little importance 
 under any interpretation which it will bear." 1 
 Nor does it afford an argument against this con- 
 struction, that hitherto so important a power has 
 remained dormant and unnoticed. The occasion for 
 its exercise, so long as good faith and comity exist 
 
 1 Federalist, No. xlii.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 197 
 
 between the States, can never arise. " The Consti- 
 tution," says the Supreme Court, " was not intended 
 to provide merely for the exigencies of a few years, 
 but was to endure through a long lapse of ages, the 
 events of which were locked up in the inscrutable 
 purposes of Providence. It could not be foreseen 
 what new changes and modifications of power might 
 be indispensable to effectuate the general objects of 
 the charter; and restrictions and specifications which, 
 at the present, might seem salutary, might in the 
 end prove the overthrow of the system itself. 
 Hence, its powers are expressed in general terms ; 
 leaving to the legislature from time to time to adopt 
 its own means, to effectuate legitimate objects, and 
 to mould and model the exercise of its powers as 
 its own wisdom and the public interests should re- 
 quire." 1 
 
 212. It may be replied, that this is a construc- 
 tion dangerous to the rights and sovereignty of the 
 States, by which, carried to its utmost limits, Con- 
 gress might declare the legislative acts of one State 
 binding upon the citizens and property of every 
 other State. But, non sequitur, it could be as well 
 and more plausibly argued, that because Congress 
 can declare the effect of a judgment, and render that 
 conclusive which before was only primd facie evi- 
 dence, a power never denied, that Congress might 
 go farther, and give to the judgments of one favored 
 State a priority of lien throughout the United States. 
 This clearly cannot be done, and the same reason 
 defeats both conclusions. Congress can give no 
 
 1 Martin, heir of Fairfax v. Hunter's Lessee, 1 Wheat. 304.
 
 198 LAW OP NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 effect to a judgment in another State, which it did 
 not have under the laws of the State where ren- 
 dered. It may authorize it to follow into another 
 State property upon which its lien had attached in 
 its own State, but it cannot give it a lien on pro- 
 perty upon which the laws of the State where it is 
 rendered are powerless to create a lien. Congress 
 may declare it to be record evidence, and hence con- 
 clusive, for such it is in the State where it is ren- 
 dered ; but it cannot provide a process to issue 
 thereon against the body of the defendant in ano- 
 ther State, when no such process is authorized in the 
 State of its rendition. 
 
 213. So, likewise, of the legislative acts of a 
 State. It is not within the power of Congress to 
 extend their effect over persons or property to which 
 they did not apply proprio vigore, but it is within 
 the competency of Congress to declare their effect 
 and extend their protection over such persons and 
 property wherever found within the limits of the 
 United States. If, in the exercise of this power, 
 Congress should infringe upon any of those rights 
 reserved to the States, for example, the control bond 
 fide of their internal police regulations, the act would 
 be unconstitutional and inoperative. 1 It may be a 
 difficult question to decide, where the State's power 
 to regulate police ends, and when this power is exer- 
 cised bond fide. This must be left necessarily to the 
 wisdom of the respective governments, and the 
 purity and independence of the judiciary. 
 
 1 See Prigg v. Commonwealth of Pa. 16 Peters, 471, 625; Wil- 
 lard v. The People, 4 Scammon, 470.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. If 9 
 
 214. Our conclusion then is, that should any 
 one of the States prove so recreant to the great ob- 
 ligation resting upon her under the bond of union, 
 as by legislative enactment to deny to the citizens 
 of the other States, who may be within her borders, 
 the protection of their municipal laws, to which they 
 are entitled under the comity of nations, a correc- 
 tive power is lodged by the Constitution in the Con- 
 gress of the United States. Hence, should any 
 State, by its local enactments, deny to the slave- 
 holder, those privileges and protection which we 
 have seen are awarded to him, through comity, by 
 the courts of independent nations, it would be the 
 solemn, though delicate duty of the national legisla- 
 ture, to exercise this power in his behalf. 
 
 215. From this view of the nature and powers 
 of the Union, under the Constitution, our conclu- 
 sions, upon mere abstract reasoning, would be, that 
 the rules heretofore deduced from the principles of 
 the comity of nations, as recognized by independent 
 States, with increased sanction apply to the courts 
 of the several States. Those rules were, 
 
 1st. That where there is a change of domicile from 
 a slaveholding to a non-slaveholding State, the ani- 
 mus remanendi works of itself, and instanter, a change 
 of the status of the slave so long as he remains within 
 that territory. 
 
 2d. That the mere transit of the master with his 
 slave, either from necessity or convenience, through 
 the territory of a non-slaveholding State, does not 
 change the status of the slave. 
 
 3d. That as a general rule, where there is a bond 
 fide temporary residence of a master with his slave
 
 200 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 in a non-slaveholding State, the animus revertendi 
 will protect the master's right in his slave, to the 
 extent of his personal service, and the right to re- 
 turn with him to his domicile. At the same time, if 
 this privilege is used to evade the local laws of the 
 State in reference to slavery, or the exercise of it 
 becomes so general as to interfere with the policy 
 or be prejudicial to the interest of the government 
 or its people, the courts will not violate the princi- 
 ples of comity in refusing their aid in enforcing these 
 rights. t
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. DECISIONS OF OUR OWN 
 COURTS EXAMINED. 
 
 216. HAVING arrived at those rules which ought 
 to govern the decision of this delicate question, let 
 us examine the adjudged cases, to see how far they 
 have been recognized by the Federal and State courts. 
 It would be proper to premise, that with us, as in 
 England, these peculiar questions of international 
 law have not, until lately, received that attention to 
 which they were entitled. Having adopted, almost 
 universally, the common law of England, and with 
 it many of its unfounded prejudices against the civil 
 law, the profession have confined their researches 
 very generally to those fountains whence the com- 
 mon law flowed. Upon these questions, we have 
 seen that they were indeed " broken cisterns." Mr. 
 Story, it is true, broke through the barriers, and has 
 enriched his many valuable treatises with the wis- 
 dom of the continental jurists. Unfortunately for 
 us, however, upon the question we are now consider- 
 ing, he permitted his anti-slavery prejudices to bias 
 his judgment and blind his vision; and his work on 
 the " Conflict of Laws" has rather tended to make 
 the " darkness visible," than to place upon a sound
 
 202 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 basis the determination of the question at issue. 1 
 The same prejudices have necessarily, to a great ex- 
 tent, entered into the adjudication of the several 
 courts ; the cases generally arising in a non-slave- 
 holding State, and the decisions being pronounced 
 generally by anti-slavery men. Hence, we find in 
 almost every decision, the announcement of the erro- 
 neous principle, that African slavery is contrary to 
 the law of nature, and is supported solely by muni- 
 cipal law ; a position which, we think, is success- 
 fully shown to be incorrect. 
 
 217. This question has never been directly 
 decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 It was alluded to in the argument and decision of 
 the case of Prigg v. The Commonwealth of Pennsyl- 
 vania, 2 but only incidentally, it not being at all 
 necessary to the decision of that case. The opinion 
 was written out by Mr. Justice Story, and his dicta 
 upon this question deserve our notice. He says : 
 " By the general law of nations, no nation is bound 
 to recognize the state of slavery, as to foreign slaves 
 within its territorial dominions, when it is in oppo- 
 sition to its own policy and institutions, in favor of 
 the subjects of other nations where slavery is recog- 
 nized. If it does it, it is as a matter of comity, and 
 not as a matter of international right. The state of 
 
 1 To such an extent did this prejudice carry him, that in the 
 case of La Jeune Eugenie, he held the " slave-trade to be a viola- 
 tion of the law of nations/' against the decision of every court in 
 England and America. Upon which decision Mr. Wildman, an 
 English writer, remarks, that it is " elaborately incorrect." Wild- 
 man's International Law, 11. 
 
 2 16 Peters, 610.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING IXTO OTHER STATES. 203 
 
 slavery is deemed to be a mere municipal regulation, 
 founded upon and limited to the range of territorial 
 laws. This was fully recognized in Somersett's case. 
 It is manifest, from this consideration, that if the 
 Constitution had not contained this clause (in refer- 
 ence to fugitive slaves), every non-slaveholding 
 State in the Union would have been at liberty to 
 have declared free all runaway slaves coming within 
 its limits, and to have given them entire immunity 
 and protection against the claims of their masters ; 
 a course which would have created the most bitter 
 animosities, and engendered perpetual strife between 
 the different States." 
 
 218. In this extract, truth and error are strangely 
 blended ; a characteristic of all that fell from this 
 distinguished jurist on the subject of slavery. The 
 proposition announced in the outset, is true, being 
 the exception, viz., " when it is in opposition to its 
 own policy and institutions." The second clause is 
 ridiculous, viz., "if it does it, it is a matter of 
 comity," &c., for when did a nation, through comity, 
 ever recognize the municipal law of another, " in 
 opposition to its own policy?" That these principles 
 were settled in Somersett's case, we have shown to 
 be untrue, as they were never alluded to, and could 
 not be settled. And then his conclusion, that " from 
 this consideration," &c., the clause in the Constitu- 
 tion is the only protection of the slaveholding States, 
 is a perfect non sequitur. Or rather, in more logical 
 phrase, it is apetitio principii; for he assumes the 
 fact to exist, that the recognition of foreign slavery 
 would be violative of the interests and policy of the 
 non-slaveholding States. The closing remark is
 
 2C4 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 eminently true, that the denial of this comity, on 
 the part of the non-slaveholding States, would be 
 "a course creating the most bitter animosities, and 
 engendering perpetual strife between the different 
 States." That such would have been the law, in the 
 absence of the clause in the Constitution referred to, 
 we cannot admit. We adopt rather, the more satis- 
 factory and enlightened opinion of Mr. Justice Bald- 
 win, that "the Constitution does not confer but 
 secures the right to reclaim fugitive slaves against 
 State legislation." 1 To which latter opinion the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, in the late case 
 of Jones v. Van Zandt, have given their unqualified 
 approval. 2 
 
 219. The case of Butler v. Hopper, 3 decided by 
 Mr. Justice Washington, on the Circuit, proceeds 
 entirely and correctly upon the local law of Penn- 
 sylvania, which protected the sojourner in the use 
 of his slave. This act, in this particular, was affir- 
 matory of the principles for which we are contend- 
 ing; and the decision in Butler v. Hopper was correct, 
 in the absence of the local law. 
 
 220. Vaughn v. Williams, 4 decided by Mr. Jus- 
 tice McLean, on the Circuit, affirms the principle, 
 that an owner of slaves who takes them into a non- 
 slaveholding State, keeps them at labor for six 
 months, announces his determination to become a 
 resident of such State, and in pursuance thereof 
 casts his vote at elections, thereby forfeits his right 
 to them as slaves. 
 
 1 Johnson v. Tompkins efc al. 1 Baldwin's Rep. 571. 
 
 a 5 Howard, 229. 
 
 3 1 Wash. C. C. R. 499. * 3 McLean's Reports, 530.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 205 
 
 221. In Jones v. Van Zandt, 1 the same Judge 
 presiding, this dictum appears : " If a person held in 
 slavery go beyond the jurisdiction where he is so 
 held, and into another sovereignty where slavery is 
 not tolerated, he becomes free. And this would be 
 the law of these States, had the Constitution of the 
 United States adopted no regulation upon the sub- 
 ject." No argument or authority is offered to sup- 
 port this dictum, and the only remark necessary for 
 our purpose is, that in the decision on appeal of this 
 case by the Supreme Court, the very opposite doc- 
 trine is asserted, and acquiesced in by the whole 
 Court, Justice McLean being one of them. 2 
 
 222. In Strader et al. v. Graham, 3 where slaves 
 who had been temporarily taken to Ohio, returned to 
 Kentucky, and subsequently sought to base a claim 
 for freedom thereon, the Supreme Court held that 
 it had no jurisdiction; the question being one which 
 belonged exclusively to the State of Kentucky. 
 "The condition of the negroes, therefore, as to free- 
 dom or slavery, after their return, depended alto- 
 gether upon the laws of that State, and could not 
 be influenced by the laws of Ohio." I am not pre- 
 pared to sanction, fully, this statement ; for, if the 
 residence in Ohio has effected the emancipation of 
 the slave, that status would not be changed by a 
 return to the slaveholding State. 
 
 223. We come now to consider the case of Dred 
 Scott v. Sanford, decided by the Supreme Court, 
 December Term, 1856." The question we are con- 
 
 1 2 McLean's Rep. 601. 
 
 9 Jones v. Van Zandt, 5 Howard (U. S.), 229. 
 
 8 10 Howard, 2. 19 Howard, 1.
 
 206 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 
 
 sidering was only incidental to the point decided, 
 which was identical with that decided by Lord 
 Stowell, in reference to the slave Grace, and was 
 adjudicated by the Court in accordance with that 
 decision. The Chief Justice (Taney), who delivered 
 the opinion of the Court, did not pretend to consider 
 the point we are arguing ; Mr. Justice Nelson ex- 
 pressly declined to enter upon the investigation. 
 Others of the Court did, and we will examine briefly 
 their views. Mr. Justice Daniel comments upon 
 the Somersett case, and restricts the decision to the 
 mere question of the detention of the slave in bond- 
 age, within the realm of England, and shows how 
 the decision of Lord Stowell so restricts it. 
 
 224. But Mr. Justice Campbell enters more at 
 large upon the question, and shows a familiarity with 
 it, exhibited in few judicial opinions reported in our 
 books. In the absence of any prohibitory law he 
 shows, that the slave would not be liberated by the 
 accident of his introgression into a State, and adds : 
 " The relation of domestic slavery is recognized by 
 the law of nations, and the interference of the au- 
 thorities of one State with the rights of a master 
 belonging to another, without a valid cause, is a 
 violation of that law." 1 He shows that the reclaim- 
 ing of slaves was universally allowed by the public 
 law of Europe for many years, and that it was first 
 curtailed by the enactment of laws of prescription 
 in favor of privileged communes. Bremen, Spire, 
 Worms, Vienna, and Ratisbon, in Germany ; and 
 Carcassonne, Beziers, Toulouse, and Paris, in France, 
 
 1 19 Howard, 101.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 207 
 
 acquired these privileges at an early period. This 
 fact explains the cases, referred to by Bodin, and 
 cited in the discussion of the case in " Causes Cele- 
 bres," already referred to. He then examines the 
 Somersett case, and shows the extent of that deci- 
 sion, especially as explained by Lord Stowell in the 
 case of the slave Grace, and affirms this latter deci- 
 sion. He ridicules justly the excited and inflamma- 
 tory declamation of the French advocates, in the 
 case of Verdelin, and shows how unfounded was the 
 pretence, that negro slavery, and other bondage 
 equally as severe, never existed in England. 
 
 225. Mr. Justice McLean, in his dissenting 
 opinion, maintains the opposite doctrine ; basing his 
 whole argument upon the principle asserted by Judge 
 Story in Prigg v. The State of Pennsylvania, that 
 " the state of slavery is deemed to be a mere muni- 
 cipal regulation, founded upon and limited to the 
 range of the territorial laws." Having shown that 
 this is not correct, in a former chapter, it is unneces- 
 sary to consider the corollaries drawn therefrom. 1 
 We may remark, that Judge McLean refers to seve- 
 ral cases decided by the Supreme Courts of Mis- 
 souri and other States, in almost all of which, upon 
 examination, it will be found that the slave acquired 
 a domicile in the free State ; and hence, on returning 
 to a slaveholding State, carried the status acquired 
 in the new domicile. A principle we have seen to 
 be perfectly correct, unless it be against the policy 
 of the old domicile to allow the increase of free 
 negroes within it. We admit, however, that there 
 
 1 19 Howard, 135-170.
 
 208 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 are cases where the Judges in slaveholding States 
 have carelessly recognized the deduction drawn from 
 the Soraersett case. 
 
 226. Mr. Justice Curtis also dissented. He lays 
 down clearly and correctly the rule as to personal 
 statutes following the person, and says, " that the 
 laws of a country do not rightfully operate upon and 
 fix the status of persons within its limits in itinere, 
 or who are abiding there for definite temporary pur- 
 poses, as for health, curiosity, or occasional busi- 
 ness." That it is true that a State may, by law, 
 declare its determination not to recognize this comity, 
 and such a law the courts must obey. But until 
 such a law is passed, " it is not within the province 
 of any judicial tribunal to refuse such recognition 
 from any political considerations, or any view it 
 may take of the exterior political relations between 
 the State and one or more foreign States, or any 
 impressions it may have, that a change of foreign 
 opinion and action, on the subject of slavery, may 
 afford a reason why the State should change its own 
 action." Applying these principles to the case before 
 him, Judge Curtis finds that law in the ordinance 
 which prohibited involuntary servitude or slavery 
 within the territory of Wisconsin, where the negro 
 had been taken. He argues the question at length 
 upon the several provisions of the statute, and adds, 
 " I must conclude, therefore, that it was the will of 
 Congress that the state of involuntary servitude of 
 a slave, coming into the territory with his master, 
 should cease to exist." (p. 200.) If this was a cor- 
 rect inference, the law is correctly expounded by 
 him. We must dissent from this inference. The
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 209 
 
 principle, however, as we have laid it down, is fully 
 recognized and clearly stated. 1 
 
 227. We come now to consider the decisions of 
 the courts of the several States. From their great 
 number, we are not allowed to examine them with 
 that minuteness that would otherwise be desirable. 
 We shall look briefly at the adjudications of each 
 State. 
 
 Prominent and chiefly relied on by those who hold 
 the opposite opinion stands the case of The Common- 
 wealth v. Aves, decided in Massachusetts. 3 The 
 case was elaborately and well argued by counsel on 
 both sides. The points were distinctly made before 
 the Court. The claim of the master was placed 
 upon its proper basis by his counsel, Mr. Curtis ; and 
 no better answer could be made to the decision of 
 the Court, than is furnished in the published brief 
 of the counsel. The Court admit the doctrine, that 
 the personal status of the slave is not changed by 
 the removal into a non-slaveholding State ; and the 
 general principle, that by the comity of States, the 
 courts of one will recognize and enforce, in certain 
 cases, the municipal laws of the other. But the 
 Court decides that this doctrine does not apply, " be- 
 cause if it did, it would follow as a necessary conse- 
 quence that all those persons, who, by force of local 
 laws, and in all foreign places where slavery is per- 
 mitted, have acquired slaves as property, might 
 bring their slaves here and exercise over them the 
 rights and power which an owner of property might 
 exercise, and for any length of time short of acquir- 
 
 1 19 Howard, 197 et seq. 3 18 Pick. 193-225. 
 
 14
 
 210 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 ing a domicile ; that such an application of the law 
 would be wholly repugnant to our laws, entirely in- 
 consistent with our policy and our fundamental 
 principles, and is therefore inadmissible." In a sub- 
 sequent portion of the decision, the Court disclaims 
 giving any opinion " upon the case where an owner 
 of a slave in one State is bond fide removing to an- 
 other State where slavery is allowed, and in so doing, 
 necessarily passes though a free State ; or where, by 
 accident or necessity, he is compelled to touch or 
 land therein, remaining no longer than necessary." 
 
 228. The difficulty into which the Court has 
 fallen, is almost self-evident. If the master can con- 
 trol the slave for an hour, while passing in tran- 
 situ, why will not the same law protect him for a 
 day, a week, a month ? The only sensible distinc- 
 tion is, that the courts will protect him so long as 
 that protection contravenes not their own public 
 policy, and no longer. The Court errs, in saying, 
 that " a necessary consequence" of applying the doc- 
 trine of comity to the case then at bar, was, that it 
 would protect all masters in any residence " short of 
 acquiring a domicile." There might be such a case 
 truly "repugnant to their laws," and hence without 
 the pale of comity ; while the case then at bar was 
 in no wise repugnant to their laws, as was clearly 
 shown by the argument of Mr. Curtis. Moreover, 
 as Mr. Justice Curtis shows in his decision in the 
 Dred Scott case, just examined, this is a question 
 for legislative and not judicial discretion. Until the 
 legislature speak, either directly or by necessary in- 
 ference, the courts are bound to respect the comity
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 211 
 
 of States. This case has been since followed by the 
 Courts of Massachusetts. 1 
 
 229. In Connecticut, this question was directly 
 made and decided, in the case of Jackson v. Bullock, 2 
 the year succeeding the decision in Commonwealth 
 v. Aves (1837). It was not necessary to the case, 
 on account of a statute of Connecticut, upon which 
 a majority of the Court rested their decision. The 
 Court divided in their opinion, three Judges affirm- 
 ing the case Commonwealth v. Aves, and two main- 
 taining the principles for which we contend; The 
 majority of the Court declined to enter upon the 
 examination of the authorities upon this question, 
 adopting simply the decision in the case referred to. 
 Our remarks in reference to that case, consequently 
 apply to their decision. It is a curious fact, how- 
 ever, that the majority state that " it had been con- 
 ceded that the master could claim nothing by 
 comity," when that was the very question before 
 them for decision. The dissenting opinion of Mr. 
 Justice Bissell, concurred in by Church, J., is able, 
 liberal, and convincing. Grasping the whole sub- 
 ject, while he admits his sympathies to be with the 
 slave, he drives away every prejudice, and boldly 
 follows to those conclusions to which principle and 
 law guided him. So far from considering it to be 
 conceded that the master claimed nothing from 
 comity, he understood his rights to rest solely upon 
 it. Clearly laying down the general rule as to status, 
 and the principles of comity, he necessarily is brought 
 
 1 Commonwealth v. Taylor, 3 Mete. 72. 
 2 12 Connecticut Rep. 38.
 
 212 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 to consider the question, the only question in such 
 cases, does the enforcement of such comity contra- 
 vene the public policy of the State, or the rights of 
 its citizens? His argument upon this question is 
 worthy of great consideration. " Do the claims set 
 forth in this return, so far clash with the rights of 
 our citizens, and are they so opposed to the institu- 
 tions and the essential interests of this community, 
 as that the law of the domicile must yield ? This, 
 as it seems to me, is the whole inquiry, and it lies 
 within very narrow limits." 
 
 230. " The discussion, however, has taken a wide 
 range, and many considerations have been urged upon 
 us, which, in my judgment, have very little to do with 
 the case to be decided. Much has been said of the in- 
 justice and immorality of slavery ; and both moral and 
 political writers have been summoned to our bar to bear 
 testimony to the enormities of the system. Those con- 
 siderations might very properly be urged, and have their 
 influence elsewhere. They might with propriety and 
 should have been addressed to our pilgrim fathers, when 
 they were about to introduce the system, and to bring 
 this foul stain upon our otherwise free institutions. They 
 may properly enough be urged upon the legislative de- 
 partment of the government. And I am not about to 
 deny the propriety of urging them upon the moral sense 
 and feelings of the community. "With these topics, and 
 with the excitement that is abroad on this subject, 
 whether favorable or adverse to the present claim, I can 
 have nothing to do. Sitting here to administer the law, 
 I cannot undertake to be wiser than the laws and con- 
 stitution of my country, nor purer than those great and 
 good men by whom they were ordained. As a citizen 
 and as a man I may admit the injustice and immorality 
 of slavery ; that its tendencies are all bad ; that it is 
 productive of evil, and of evil only. But as a jurist, I 
 must look at that standard of morality which the law 
 prescribes. 'Whatever,' says Chief Justice Marshall, 
 ' might be the answer of a moralist to the question, a
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 213 
 
 jurist must search for its solution in those principles of 
 action, which are sanctioned by the usages, the national 
 acts, and the general assent of that portion of the world 
 of which he considers himself a part, and to whose har 
 the appeal is made.' 
 
 " Again, it has been urged, that slavery is opposed to 
 the laws of nature and of God ; that its existence among 
 us is forbidden by our obligation to these laws ; and that 
 they are paramount to the law of the domicile. 
 
 " I may be permitted to inquire here, what is the pre- 
 cise meaning of this argument ; and how far it is in- 
 tended to be carried ? Is it meant that the whole law 
 of slavery is absolutely void ? And that no obligation 
 whatever can grow out of it ? Is it to be seriously urged, 
 that no obligation, no contract, bottomed on slavery, as 
 a system, can be enforced in our courts of justice ? Un- 
 less the argument is to be carried this length, it is diffi- 
 cult to see'its application to the case; and before we can 
 be called upon to take this ground, we must be asked to 
 denounce a system, which has prevailed among us for 
 more than a century, to blot out from our statute-book 
 the various enactments by which it has been recognized 
 and regulated, and to reverse the repeated decisions of 
 this Court. 
 
 "Again, it is insisted with much apparent reliance on 
 the objection, that if we hold this return to be sufficient, 
 we sanction and adopt the whole law of slavery, as it 
 exists in Georgia, and that we establish their system 
 among us, with all its odious and revolting features. I 
 cannot so understand the law. The simple inquiry upon 
 this demurrer is, whether the claim of the respondent, as 
 stated on the return, conflicts with our laws ? It might 
 as well be urged, were a native of Hindostan to come 
 here to reside for a season, that by allowing him to re- 
 tain the custody of his infant child, we adopted the 
 laws and the customs of Hindostan in regard to that re- 
 lation, and of course must allow the parent either to 
 sacrifice his child to his idols or expose him to perish. 
 
 " And again : it has been urged, that if we suffer this 
 respondent to take his slave with him to Georgia, she 
 will there be subjected to all the rigors and injustice of 
 their system. This may be true ; and we may regret that 
 it is so ; but are we, therefore, to say that she is emanci- 
 pated ? The State of Georgia, in the exercise of her
 
 214 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 undoubted rights as a sovereign State, has enacted laws 
 upon this subject, which she deems essential to the secu- 
 rity of her citizens, and the protection of their interests; 
 and so long as she enforces these laws within her own 
 jurisdiction, we surely are not to sit in judgment upon 
 them. If, indeed, she seeks to enforce them here, and 
 calls upon our tribunals to assist in so doing, we may 
 then, as we are now called upon to do, determine 
 whether their execution here will conflict with our own 
 laws and institutions." 
 
 231. In Pennsylvania, as early as 1780, an act 
 was passed providing for the abolition of slavery, 
 but excepting from its operation " slaves attending 
 upon delegates in Congress, foreign ministers and 
 consuls, and persons passing through or sojourning 
 in" the State. In case of sojourners, it was " pro- 
 vided, that such slaves be not retained in the State 
 longer than six months." Many decisions have been 
 made, construing this statute, in none of which have 
 the views of the Court denied the principles for 
 which we contend. 1 
 
 In New York, Khode Island, and New Jersey, 
 similar statutes were passed soon after the adoption 
 of the Federal Constitution. 2 
 
 232. In Illinois this question underwent a most 
 searching and thorough examination in the case of 
 "Willard v. The People. 3 It was well argued by the 
 counsel, and fully considered by the Court. The 
 case made was that of the transit of a master with 
 
 1 See Butler et al. v. Delaplaine, 7 Serg. & Rawle, 378 ; Com- 
 monwealth v. Halloway, 6 Binney, 213; 1 Browne, 113; 1 Watts, 
 155 ; 4 Yeates, 204 ; Addis, 284 ; 2 S. & R. 305. 
 
 3 1 Revised Laws of New York, 657 ; Laws of Rhode Island 
 (Ed. of 1798), 607 ; Laws of New Jersey, 679. 
 
 s 4 Scammon Rep. 461-477.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 215 
 
 his slave through the territory of Illinois. The 
 whole Court concurred in the opinion, that the mas- 
 ter's rights were in no wise affected by this transit ; 
 and Justice Scates, who delivered the opinion of the 
 Court, says, " It would be productive of great and 
 irremediable evils of discord, of heartburnings, and 
 alienation of that kind and fraternal feeling which 
 should characterize the American brotherhood, and 
 tend greatly to weaken the common bond of union 
 among us, and our nationality of character, interest, 
 arid feeling. It would be startling, indeed, if we 
 should deny to our neighbors and kindred that com- 
 mon right of free and safe passage which foreign 
 nations would hardly dare deny. The recognition 
 of this right is no violation of our Constitution. It 
 is not an introduction of slavery into this State, as 
 was contended in argument, and the slave does not 
 become free by the Constitution of Illinois, by coming 
 into the State for the mere purpose of passage 
 through it." 
 
 Lockwood, J., and Wilson, C. J., while concurring 
 in the judgment of the Court, were not satisfied with 
 the narrow grounds on which it was based. The 
 former delivered a separate opinion, in which the 
 latter concurred, placing the decision upon the broad 
 ground of " comitas inter communitates ;" denying 
 that it contravened the policy of the State, or intro- 
 duced slavery therein. 
 
 233. In Indiana, a similar view has been taken 
 of the law. On a return to a habeas corpus, before 
 Justice Morris, the question was distinctly made. He 
 says : " By the law of nature and of nations, and 
 the necessary and legal consequences resulting from
 
 216 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 the civil and political relations subsisting between 
 the citizens as well as the States of this federative 
 republic, I have no doubt but the citizen of a slave 
 State has a right to pass, upon business or pleasure, 
 through any of the States, attended by his slaves or 
 servants; and while he retains the character and 
 rights of a citizen of a slave State, his right to re- 
 claim his slave would be unquestioned." 1 
 
 234. In Kentucky, in an early and leading case, 
 this doctrine underwent investigation, and the dis- 
 tinction contended for, drawn clearly by the Court, 
 viz. : that a " fixed residence," or being domiciled in 
 a non-slaveholding State, would operate to release 
 the slave from the power of the master ; but that the 
 transient passing or sojourning therein, had no such 
 effect. The Court argues the question at great 
 length, and upon the law of nations, and adds : " If 
 nations, amidst all their jealousies and thirst for 
 power, could adopt such rules to govern themselves, 
 with regard to their neighbors, how much stronger 
 is the reason and propriety of the rule when applied 
 between the different branches of the American 
 family ? Can it be for a moment supposed that any 
 one of them would reject a principle so strongly 
 based in reason, propriety, and the nature of things?" 3 
 The subsequent decisions in Kentucky, maintain 
 clearly the distinction laid down in this leading 
 case. 3 In the last case, before the Court of Appeals of 
 
 1 3 Amer. Jurist, 407. 
 
 3 Eankin v. Lydia, 2 A. K. Marsh. 467. 
 
 8 Bush's Kep. v. White and wife, 3 Monroe, 104 ; 1 Bibb, 
 423; Graham v. Strader, 5 B. Monr. 173; 7 B. Monr. 635; 
 Davis v. Tingle et al. 8 B. Monr. 545; 9 B. Monr. 565. In 8 B.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 217 
 
 Kentucky, 1 all the previous cases are ably reviewed 
 by Chief Justice Marshall, and the decisions de- 
 fended both upon principle and authority. 
 
 235. In Missouri there have been numerous 
 adjudications. In the early and leading case of 
 Winny v. Whiteside, 2 the Court maintained that a 
 traveller through a non-slaveholding territory, does 
 not thereby lose his property in his slave, " nor do 
 we believe that any advocate for this portion of the 
 species ever seriously calculated on such a decision." 
 The true criterion was, whether the master, " by 
 his length of residence, indicated an intention of 
 making that place his residence, and that of his 
 slave." In many of the later cases this true crite- 
 rion is preserved. 3 In the case of Julia v. McKin- 
 ney, 4 though the decision of the Court is right upon 
 the facts, yet the majority of the Court, in giving 
 their reasons, lost sight of the true distinction. 
 Wash, Judge, however, in his dissenting opinion, 
 tenaciously held to the question of intention, as the 
 criterion ; and in the subsequent case of Nat v. 
 Buddie, 5 the Court again returned to their old moor- 
 ing. In two subsequent cases, the Court seem to 
 adopt a new test, viz., whether the master made any 
 unnecessary delay in the non-slaveholding territory, 
 thereby placing an incident and fact as the criterion, 
 
 Monr. 546, the query is suggested, whether the owner of a life 
 interest in a slave can, by domiciling him in another State, defeat 
 the rights of the remaindermen. 
 
 1 9 B. Monr. 565. 
 
 1 Missouri Rep. 472. 
 
 8 La Grange v. Chouteau, 2 Missouri, 19; Milly v. Smith, Ibid. 
 37; Ralph v. Duncan, 3 Missouri, 194; Nat v. Ruddle, Ibid. 400. 
 
 * 3 Missouri, 270. 5 Ibid. 400.
 
 218 LAW OP NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 instead of the intention of becoming resident. 1 In 
 a still later case, Robert v. Melugen, however, the 
 Court base their decision upon the question of inten- 
 tion. 2 
 
 236. In Louisiana, the true distinction was early 
 taken in the case of Lunsford v. Coquillon. 3 The 
 Court state that great stress was laid upon the re- 
 moval to Ohio, " with the intention of settling, and 
 it is this circumstance which governs the case" There 
 has been no variation in the subsequent decisions. 4 
 
 237. In Virginia, the opinions of the courts 
 have been equally clear. Lewis v. Fullerton, 5 an 
 early case, established that the removal of a slave 
 into a non-slaveholding State, "fora mere transitory 
 purpose, and with the animus revertendi" did not 
 effect the emancipation of the slave. And this de- 
 cision has been not only followed, but distinctly ap- 
 proved in the subsequent cases. 6 
 
 238. In Maryland, this question underwent the 
 earliest and perhaps most thorough investigation 
 which, at that time, it had ever received on this 
 side of the Atlantic. The case arose in 1799, upon 
 a negro, brought by Lord Baltimore from England ; 
 and Somersett's case was invoked to show that the 
 mere fact of the foot of a slave touching British soil, 
 worked an emancipation. The case was most tho- 
 
 1 Rachel v. Walker, 4 Missouri, 350 ; Wilson v. Melvin, Ibid. 
 592. 3 9 Miss. 170. 
 
 3 14 Martin's Rep. 401. 
 
 4 Josephine v. Poultney, 1 La. Ann. R. 329 ; Louis v. Cabarrus 
 et al. 7 Louis. Rep. 170. 5 1 Rand. 15. 
 
 6 Hunter v. Fulcher, 1 Leigh, 172 ; Gilmer, 143.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 219 
 
 roughly and learnedly argued upon the law of Eng- 
 land, the argument following, to a great extent, the 
 course pursued by the counsel in Somersett's case. 
 The Court of Appeals denied the authority of that 
 case, and held that the negro was still a slave. 1 In 
 this case, the principle of the comity of nations was 
 not invoked nor considered. The subsequent cases, 
 however, seem to be in accordance with this prin- 
 ciple. 2 
 
 239. This review of the decisions of the courts 
 of the Union, shows that the weight, both of num- 
 bers and authority, preponderate in sustaining those 
 conclusions to which we arrived upon principle, and 
 we may safely say that neither of those Courts 
 whose decisions are opposed to these conclusions, 
 have either met or attempted to answer the argu- 
 ments from which they must inevitably follow. 
 We may add, that in all of the States, it has been 
 held, wherever the question arose, that upon the 
 slave being subsequently found within a slavehold- 
 ing State, the master's rights and authority were 
 not impaired by the temporary sojourn of the slave 
 within the limits of a non-slaveholding State. 3 
 
 1 Mahony v. Ashton, 4 Harr. & McH. 322. 
 
 8 David v. Porter, 4 Harr. & McH. 418; Porter v. Butler, 3 
 Harr. & McH. 168. 
 
 3 Story's Conf. of Laws, 96 a (3d Ed.); Collins v. America, 9 
 B. Monr. 575 ; Batty et al. v. Horton, 5 Leigh, 622 ; Hunter v. 
 Fulcher, 1 Leigh, 179; Lewis v. Fullerton, 1 Randolph, 15; Louis 
 v. Cabarrus et al. 7 Louisiana, 170; Graham v. Strader, 7 B. 
 Monr. 635. Judge Tucker, in his opinion, in 5 Leigh, 622, seems 
 to lay stress upon the fact that there was no judgment of the Courts 
 of the free State, declaring the slave free. In that event, he seems
 
 220 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 to think the judgment would be conclusive everywhere. In this 
 opinion, he is opposed to Judge Roane and the whole Court of 
 Appeals, in the case of Lewis v. Fullerton, 1 Rand. 15, where it 
 was held that a judgment on a habeas corpus, in Ohio, in favor of 
 the slave, does not establish his right to freedom in Virginia. It 
 seems clear that the judgment could not be conclusive, unless the 
 master was a party to the case; nor, indeed, until Congress should 
 by law prescribe the effect of such judgments in other States. See 
 also 5 B. Monr. 173.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. FUGITIVE SLAVES, AND OF 
 THE RIGHT OF THE MASTER TO REMOVE THE SLAVE. 
 
 240. HAVING thus shown, upon principle and 
 authority, that the voluntary removal of a slave, by 
 the master, into a non-slaveholding State, does not 
 necessarily, but only in specified cases, emancipate 
 the slave, it follows, a fortiori, that the escape of the 
 slave into a non-slaveholding State would not im- 
 pair the master's rights. 1 For even in Holland, where, 
 according to Christinaeus and Groenewegen, the 
 comity of nations is disregarded, when invoked in 
 behalf of a master, the decisions have never been 
 extended to fugitives ; on the contrary, they are ex- 
 pressly withdrawn from the operation of the deci- 
 sion. 2 
 
 241. In the United States, this latter question 
 is provided for in the fundamental law. The Consti- 
 tution of the United States, in the fourth Article and 
 
 1 Louis v. Cabarrus et al. 7 Louisiana, 170. 
 
 3 Van der Linden, on the Laws of Holland, Bk. I, ch. ii, sect, 
 iii, translated by J. Henry, and authorities there cited. In the 
 West Indies, prior to the abolition of slavery by Great Britain, the 
 extradition of fugitives was universal. After that time, the British 
 Islands became the house of refuge for them ; the Governors re- 
 fusing to deliver them up. Schoelcher, Colonies Franchises, 115.
 
 222 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 2d Section, providing, that " no person held to ser- 
 vice or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, 
 escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any 
 law or regulation therein, be discharged from such 
 service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim 
 of the party to whom such service or labor may be 
 due." 1 
 
 242. In 1793, Congress passed an act for the 
 purpose of carrying this provision into execution. 2 
 This act was found to be ineffectual, on account of 
 submitting the owner to the State Courts and Judges 
 for the adjudication of his rights. In 1850, a more 
 stringent and effectual statute was passed, constitut- 
 ing Federal officers for the execution of its provi- 
 sions. When we come to examine the master's 
 right to the slaves as property, we may consider 
 more minutely the provisions of these acts, and the 
 decisions of the Courts upon them. 3 
 
 243. For nearly fifty years the Act of 1793 was 
 executed and enforced without its validity or con- 
 stitutionality being seriously questioned. 4 In Mas- 
 sachusetts, in 1823, the question was directly made 
 as to its constitutionality, and the Supreme Judicial' 
 
 1 Statutes at Large of U. S. vol. i, p. 302. 
 
 2 Ibid. 
 
 3 For the present, we refer only to some of the cases. See Hill 
 v. Low, 4 Wash. C. C. Rep. 327 ; Ex parte, Simmons, Ibid. 396 ; 
 Ibid. 461; Baldwin's C. C. R. 577, 579; Prigg v. Commonwealth 
 of Pa. 16 Peters, 539 ; Stuart v. Laird, 1 Cranch, 299 ; 1 Wheat. 
 304 ; 6 Ibid. 264 ; Jones v. Van Zandt, 2 McLean's C. C. R. 596. 
 
 4 Opinion of Judge Story, Prigg v. Comm. of Pa. 16 Peters, 
 621 ; Wright v. Deacon, 5 Serg. & Rawle, 63 ; Glen v. Hodges, 9 
 John. R. 67; In the matter of Clark, 9 Wend. 219; Jack v. Mar- 
 tin, 12 Wend. 311.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 223 
 
 Court were unanimous in affirming the validity of 
 the statute, although there was a dissenting opinion 
 upon a collateral point. 1 In New York, in 1834, 
 the same question came before the Supreme Court, 
 and the constitutionality of the act unanimously 
 affirmed. 3 Nor indeed has any court in any of the 
 States ever declared these acts to be void, yet their 
 validity has been distinctly denied before the courts, 
 and though there fully and unqualifiedly sustained, 
 is still denied even in the highest legislative depart- 
 ment of the government. 3 In Prigg v. The Com- 
 monwealth of Pennsylvania (1836), the question 
 was most elaborately discussed before the Supreme 
 Court of the United States ; and though the Court 
 differed in their reasons for the judgment rendered, 
 yet they were unanimous in the opinion of the con- 
 stitutionality and validity of the Act of 1793. Judge 
 Story, who delivered the opinion of the majority in 
 that case, argues the question with convincing abi- 
 lity.* In Jones v. Van Zandt (1847), the Supreme 
 Court of the United States again unanimously affirm 
 the validity of the act. 
 
 1 Commonwealth v. Griffith, 2 Pick. 11-19. 
 
 2 Jack v. Martin, 12 Wend. 323. 
 
 3 Appendix to Cong. Globe, vol. xxv, p. 1100. 
 
 4 16 Peters, 539-674. Mr. J. Wayne says (p. 637), " All of the 
 Judges concur in the declaration that the provision of the Constitu- 
 tion was a compromise between the slaveholding and the non-slave- 
 holding States, to secure to the former fugitive slaves as property. 
 All of the members of the Court, too, except my Brother Baldwin, 
 concur in the opinion, that legislation by Congress, to carry the pro- 
 vision into execution, is constitutional ; and he contends that the 
 provision gives to the owners of fugitive slaves all the rights of 
 seizure and removal which legislation could give) but he concurs
 
 224 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 244. With such an unbroken chain of authority 
 upon the side of this legislation, it would be an act 
 of supererogation in a work of this character to dis- 
 cuss at length the arguments of the objectors. These 
 arguments are diligently collected, and most elabo- 
 rately, ingeniously, and eloquently presented, by Mr. 
 Sumner, in a speech delivered before the Senate of 
 the United States, on the 26th of August, 1852. No 
 better reply need be given to that speech than that 
 contained in the speeches of Senators on that occa- 
 sion ; and more especially that of Mr. Badger, 
 whose effort is as distinguished for its logical reason- 
 ing as its withering sarcasm. 1 I cannot refrain from 
 quoting, in this connection, from the opinion of Mr. 
 Justice McLean, in Prigg v. The Commonwealth, 
 &c., 2 one portion of his reply to the favorite argu- 
 ment, that this clause in the Constitution is a com- 
 pact between the States, and must be executed by the 
 States and not by the General Government. " The 
 necessity for this provision was found in the views 
 and feelings of the people of the States opposed to 
 slavery ; and who, under such an influence, could 
 not be expected favorably to regard the rights of the 
 master. Now, by whom is this paramount law to 
 be executed ? It is contended that the power to 
 execute it rests with the States. The law was de- 
 signed to protect the rights of the slaveholder against 
 the States opposed to those rights ; and yet by this 
 argument, the effective power is in the hands of 
 
 in the opinion, if legislation by Congress be necessary, that the 
 right to legislate is exclusively in Congress." 
 
 1 Appendix to Congressional Globe, vol. xxv, p. 1102, et seq. 
 
 2 16 Peters, 661.
 
 SLAVES ESCAPING INTO OTHER STATES. 225 
 
 those on whom it is to operate. This would pro- 
 duce a strange anomaly in the history of legislation. 
 It would show an inexperience and folly in the 
 venerable framers of the Constitution, from which, 
 of all public bodies that ever assembled, they were, 
 perhaps, most exempt." 
 
 246. Among the Saxons, although the master 
 had a perfect dominion over the slave within the 
 kingdom, yet, in many cases, and especially upon 
 the conversion of the slave to Christianity, the mas- 
 ter was prohibited from transporting and selling him 
 without the realm, "et maxime infidelibus, ne anime 
 in dampnacionem vendantur, pro quibus Christus 
 vitam impendit." 1 And thus the Saxon slave en- 
 joyed one of the fruits of liberty, the right of re- 
 maining within the kingdom. So, also, the villains 
 regardant, in England ; the colliers, in Scotland ; the 
 coloni or adscriptitii glebae, of Rome ; the helots of 
 Sparta, and the penestse, of Thessaly, 2 while under 
 the dominion of the master, could not be removed 
 from the land to which they were attached. The 
 Roman slaves generally, however, might be removed 
 by the master at will, without the realm. Such is 
 the condition of the African slave in America. 
 
 1 Ancient Laws, &c. 145, 162, 208 ; Laws of Ethelred, viii, 
 5 ; Laws of King Cnut, Sect, iii ; Laws of "William the Conqueror, 
 41. 
 
 2 Smith's Diet, of Greek and Koman Antiq. " Servus." 
 
 15
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 OF THE PRIVILEGE OF A SLAVE TO BE A WITNESS. 
 
 s 
 
 247. ONE of the consequences of the want of 
 liberty in the slave is his disqualification to be 
 a witness in cases affecting the rights of freemen. 
 This disqualification has been the prolific theme for 
 much complaint and abuse of the system. Mr. 
 Stephen, and his imitator and copyist, Mr. Stroud, 
 have declared the rule unparalleled, and without 
 " the authority of any country, either ancient or 
 modern." 1 They deny positively its origin in the 
 common law, and refer it to the civil law, declaring, 
 at the same time, that we have increased its rigors. 
 Yet, we find it to exist wherever we find negro sla- 
 very, and even where slavery has ceased, the dis- 
 qualification is continued in some of the United 
 States, 2 showing that it is founded not only upon 
 the servile condition of the negro, but also upon his 
 known disposition to disregard the truth. We shall 
 examine the correctness of the charge made by Mr. 
 Stephen and Mr. Stroud. 
 
 1 Stephen, on West Indian Slavery, 166, et seq.; Stroud's 
 Sketch, &c. 70, et seq. 
 
 2 Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, &c.
 
 PRIVILEGE OF SLAVE TO BE A WITNESS. 227 
 
 248. How stands the common law ? The term 
 " law," according to the common law, is defined to 
 be " a freeman's privilege of being sworn in Court 
 as a juror or witness." A freeman only was deemed 
 to be "othesworth" and this privilege of being sworn 
 was one of the distinctive traits and characteristics 
 of a "liber et legalis homo." It was otherwise called 
 " frank law," and sometimes " the law of the land." 1 
 So Bracton, speaking of a freeman's loss of this privi- 
 lege, says : " Perpetuam infamiam incurrant et legem 
 terrge amittant, et ita quod nunquam postea ad sacra- 
 mentum admittantur, quia de cetero non erunt otlies- 
 worth nee ad testimonium recipientur." 2 " They 
 incur perpetual infamy and lose their privilege of 
 the law, so that never afterwards are they admitted 
 to the sacrament, and, among things, shall not be 
 ' othesworth,' or received as witnesses." This was a 
 part of the punishment of jurors who had been con- 
 victed of a false verdict. 3 So Blackstone says that 
 in the " wager of law" or " trial by battle," if either 
 party pronounced the horrible word " craven," he 
 was condemned "amittere liberam legem," and there- 
 fore never to be put upon a jury, or admitted as a 
 witness in any cause. 4 And this is probably the 
 
 i Burrill's Law Dictionary, Frank Law; Jacob's Law Diet. 
 Frank Law; see also Cromp. Jur. 156. The laws of King With- 
 raed expressly forbade the "theow," or slave, his oath, 23; An- 
 cient Laws and Institutes, 18. 
 
 3 Bracton, folio, 292 b. 
 
 3 Glanville, Lib. II, c. iii; Co. Litt. 294 b. 
 
 4 3 Black. Comm. 340 ; see to same effect, Co. Litt. 6 b ; Fortesc. 
 ch. xxvi.
 
 228 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 true origin of the rule that excludes from testifying 
 persons convicted of infamous offences. Fleta gives 
 this as the reason : " Repellitur autem sacramento 
 infamis, qui alias convictus fuerit de perjurio, quia 
 jam legem liberam amisit, nee ulterius dignus est 
 legis libertate gaudere quia publice in legem com- 
 misit." 1 "The infamous person convicted of perjury 
 is denied the sacrament, because he has lost his 
 privilege of the law, nor is he ever worthy to enjoy 
 this liberty, because of this public disregard of it." 
 
 249. Subsequently, when feudal tenures were 
 substituted for the former servitude, and the villain 
 gradually became to be considered as a freeman, as 
 against every one, save his lord, it seems that the 
 privileges of a freeman (and among others, that of 
 being sworn as a witness), were extended to him. 
 This, however, is itself a matter of doubt, and it is 
 very possible that it was not until tenure by vil- 
 lanage fell into entire disuse, that the villain was 
 admitted as a witness. 2 
 
 250. The civil law in excluding the testimony 
 of slaves, gave precisely the same reason for the ex- 
 clusion as the common law : "Etenim testis, homo 
 liber esse debet." 3 The civil law extends the dis- 
 
 1 Fleta, Lib. IV, cap. viii, 2. This is a much more sensible 
 reason for, and origin of the rule, than the one given by Baron 
 Gilbert, in his Treatise on Evidence, 142, 143, and which has 
 been adopted by subsequent writers. See McNally, Ev. 207 ; 1 
 Phillips, on Ev. 14, 15 ; 1 Starkie, on Ev. 83 ; 1 Greenl. on Ev. 
 372. 
 
 8 Hallam's Mid. Ages,Pt. II, ch. ii, p. 91, n.; Smith, on Master 
 and Servant, Introd. p. 28. 
 
 Huber, Pralec. Lib. XXV, tit. v, 2.
 
 PRIVILEGE OF SLAVE TO BE A WITNESS. 229 
 
 credit arising from the menial occupation, even to 
 the hireling, domestic! testimonii fides improbatur. 1 
 
 251. Whether founded upon the same reason or 
 not, certain it is that this rule of exclusion has been 
 universal, wherever slavery or villanage has ex- 
 isted. 2 By the Code Noir, the evidence of slaves was 
 excluded in all cases in the French Colonies, whether 
 for or against freemen or slaves. The Judges were 
 allowed to hear their evidence, as suggestions to 
 illustrate other testimony, but they were prohibited 
 from drawing thence, " aucune presomption, ni con- 
 jecture, ni adminicule de preuve." 3 The same rule 
 obtained in the British West Indies, and it is a little 
 remarkable that the commissioners appointed to in- 
 quire into their condition, with a view to meliorat- 
 ing the status of the slave, hesitated to recommend 
 a different rule, except in criminal cases. 4 Among 
 the Jews, Josephus informs us that the testimony 
 of servants was rejected " on account of the igno- 
 bility of their soul." 5 
 
 252. So universal was this rule of exclusion in 
 
 1 Leg. 3, Cod. 4, 20. 
 
 2 In Greece. See Becker's Charicles, 278 ; Recueil des Histo- 
 riens, torn, xiv, Pref. p. 65; Hallam's Mid. Ages, Pt. II, ch. ii; 
 Taylor's Law Glossary, 425 ; Du Cange, Glossary, Voce "Servus," 
 vol. vi, p. 451; Potgiesser, De Statu Serv. Lib. I, cap. iii. 
 
 3 Code Noir, Art. 30. By the French Civil Code, the domestique 
 or menial servant is disqualified as a witness; the Court, in its dis- 
 cretion, being allowed to hear his evidence. Touillier, Droit Civil 
 Frangais, vol. ix, p. 496. 
 
 4 Substance of the Three Reports, p. 450 (London, 1827). 
 
 5 Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. IV, ch. viii, 15. Mr. Stroud 
 doubts the truth of this, because Deuteronomy is silent on this 
 subject. Sketch, &c. p. 69, note.
 
 230 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 the middle ages, that the Church specified as an ele- 
 ment of its early persecution the admission against 
 them of the testimony of slaves. 1 And afterwards, 
 by their decrees, the Pope rejected slaves as accusers 
 and witnesses. 2 
 
 253. In the United States the rule is enforced, 
 without exception, in all cases where the evidence 
 is oifered for or against free white persons. 3 In most 
 of the States this exclusion is by express statutes. 4 
 In others, by custom and the decision of the Courts. 5 
 In all the slaveholding States, and in Ohio, Indiana, 
 Illinois, and Iowa, by express statute, the rule has 
 been extended to include free persons of color, or 
 emancipated slaves. 6 This is right upon principle, 
 as we shall see hereafter, when we come to consider 
 the effect of manumission upon the status of the 
 slave. In all the slaveholding States the negro is 
 a competent witness in cases where slaves or free 
 negroes are the only parties. 7 And this testimony 
 
 ' Neander's Hist, of the Church, Translation, vol. i. 
 3 See Bishop England's Letters to Forsyth, 42, quoting decree 
 of Stephen I, and others. 
 
 3 Winn. Adm. &c. v. Jones, 6 Leigh, 74. 
 
 4 Civil Code, Louisiana, Art. 177 ; N. C. Kev. Stat. 583 ; Kev. 
 Code of Virginia, 663; Dorsey's Laws of Maryland, 56, 564; 
 Stat. at Large of S. C. vi, 489 ; vii, 427; Hutchinson's Missis- 
 sippi Code, 515. 
 
 5 In Georgia. Berry v. The State, 10 Geo. 519. See provision 
 in Alabama Code, 3318. 
 
 6 Jordan v. Smith, 14 Ohio Rep. 199 ; Rusk v. Sowerwine, 3 
 Har. & J. 97. 
 
 7 The State v. Samuel, a slave, 2 Dev. & Bat. 177. In Dela- 
 ware, the testimony of free negroes is admitted on criminal prose- 
 cutions, in some cases. Rev. Code of 1852, p. 381. In some 
 States, the testimony of a single negro must be corroborated. N.
 
 PRIVILEGE OF SLAVE TO BE A WITNESS. 231 
 
 has been allowed even where a white person has 
 been vouched upon his warranty by one of the 
 parties. 1 In suits where negroes are the only parties, 
 the same rules of evidence govern, as to competency 
 and admissibility and relevancy, as in ordinary cases, 
 except perhaps that marriage not being recognized 
 among them, that quasi relation does not exclude 
 the evidence of either. 2 
 
 254. The negro being excluded as a witness, 
 his declarations to others, as a general rule, are of 
 course inadmissible. 3 There are exceptions, however, 
 founded partly in the necessity of the case ; in other 
 cases the declarations are admissible upon other rules 
 of evidence. Thus, the declarations of a negro to a 
 physician or others as to the symptoms of his disease, 
 or the seat of his sufferings, are admissible in evi- 
 dence ; 4 but his declarations as to the cause of his 
 injury or disease, or as to the length of time of its 
 existence or duration, are inadmissible. 5 
 
 255. And again, if a white person refers to a 
 negro for information, the declarations of the negro, 
 under such circumstances, are admissible against the 
 person so referring, he having thereby given credit 
 to and adopted as his own the statement of the 
 
 C. Kev. Stat. 581; Stat. at Large of S. C. vii, 356; Dorsey's 
 Laws of Maryland, 92. 
 
 1 Meechum v. Judy, 4 Miss. 361. 
 
 2 The State v. Samuel, 2 Dev. & Bat. 177 ; The State v. Ben, 
 1 Hawks, 434. 3 Tumey v. Knox, 7 Monroe, 91. 
 
 4 Opinion of Owsley, J., in Tumey v. Knox, 7 Monr. 92; Brown 
 v. Lester, Ga. Dec. Pt. I, p. 77 ; McClintock v. Hunter, Dudley, 
 S. C. 327 ; Marr v. Hill, 10 Mo. 320. 
 
 5 Tumey v. Knox, 7 Monroe, 90 ; McClintock v. Hunter, Dud- 
 ley, S. C. 327.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 negro. So if a person accused of a crime, agrees 
 that a negro shall tell all he knows, the declarations 
 of the negro in his presence, and uncontradicted by 
 him, are admissible in evidence against him. 1 The 
 silence of a party, as a general rale, however, would 
 not make the declarations of a negro in his presence 
 admissible against him, for the law would not require 
 of a free white person to deny the misstatements of 
 every negro in his presence. The circumstances 
 must be such as to require the party, as a reasonable 
 man, to pay attention, and give a denial to the state- 
 ments of the negro, in order to render them admis- 
 sible in evidence against him. Where a conversa- 
 tion is heard between a negro and a white person, the 
 remarks of the negro may be given in evidence against 
 the white person, in all cases, by way of inducement, 
 and as illustrating the remarks of the white person. 2 
 So, also, it is admissible for a witness to state that 
 he was induced to waylay a party, suspected of a 
 design to commit a felony, from information derived 
 from a negro, this being only in explanation of the 
 witness's own conduct. 3 And, it has been held that 
 on the trial of an accessory to a murder committed 
 by slaves, the confessions of guilt by the slaves were 
 admissible to prove that fact. 4 
 
 r 7 "? 256. That this universal exclusion of a negro 
 
 \ from testifying may, in many supposable cases, ope- 
 
 I rate harshly and to the defeat of justice,' especially 
 
 I in reference to the cruel treatment of slaves, is an 
 
 undeniable fact ; and yet it is equally true, that the 
 
 f Berry v. The State, 10 Ga. 520, 521. 3 Ibid. 
 
 8 Whaley v. The State, 11 Ga. 123. 
 * State v. Simes, 2 Bailey, 29. 
 
 I
 
 PRIVILEGE OF SLAVE TO BE A WITNESS. 233 
 
 indiscriminate admission and giving credit to negro ' 
 testimony would not only, in many cases, defeat 
 justice, but would be productive of innumerable 
 evils in the relation of master and slave. Even 
 Mr. Stephen admits that " it might be right even 
 wholly to exclude the testimony of slaves, when the 
 master has any interest in the cause. They ought 
 never, perhaps, to be heard, but when he himself is 
 no party, and would, if called as a witness, be free 
 from every exception." 1 He admits further, that the 
 testimony should always be wanting in credit, because 
 of the " general presumption against his moral cha- 
 racter, more especially in the article of veracity." 1 ,. 
 That the negro, as a general rule, is mendacious, is 
 a fact too well established to require the production 
 of proof, either from history, travels, or craniology. 1 
 
 257. Perhaps it might be well to permit 
 negro to testify as to the cruel treatment of himself 
 or his fellows by persons other than his master, when 
 no competent white witness is present to testify as 
 to the transaction. In such case, the credibility of 
 his testimony should be specially submitted to the 
 jury, and the accused should be allowed to state, 
 under oath, his own version of the transaction, the 
 credibility of which testimony should also be sub- 
 mitted to the jury. Under such a rule, in most 
 cases, the jury would arrive at a very correct ver- 
 dict, notwithstanding the objectionable character of 
 all the evidence. In some such extreme cases, it 
 appears that the civil law admitted the testimony 
 
 1 Stephen, on West Ind. Slav. vol. i, p. 177. a Ibid. 
 
 8 See Jones, on the Religious Instruction of Negroes.
 
 234 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 of slaves. " Causa sit ardua, ad reipublicoB spectans 
 utilitatem, aut alise desint probationes." 1 But this 
 did not extend to civil cases. 2 And, in ancient 
 Athens also, in cases of murder, the testimony of 
 slaves was received with credit. 3 
 
 1 Voet, Comm. ad Pandect, Lib. XXII, tit. v, 2. 
 
 2 Heinec. De Lubric. Jur. Sup. Exer. xvii, 17. 
 
 3 Plato, Leg. xi, 937 ; see Becker's Charicles, 270.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 OF THE RIGHT OF PRIVATE PROPERTY. 
 
 258. OF the other great absolute right of a free- 
 man, viz., the right of private property, the slave is 
 entirely deprived. His person and his time being 
 entirely the property of his master, whatever he 
 may accumulate by his own labor, or is otherwise 
 acquired by him, becomes immediately the property 
 of his master. 1 If he has several masters, his gains 
 belong to them all pro rata. 2 Though our law allows 
 of no peculium to the slave, yet, as a matter of fact, 
 such peculium is permitted, ex gratid, by the master. 3 
 And such was the Roman law, for the peculium of 
 the slave was there a matter not of right but of 
 favor ; of which the master might at any time de- 
 prive him. 4 
 
 259. Such was the condition also of the English 
 
 1 Jackson v. Loovey, 5 Cow. 397 ; 1 Bailey, 633 ; 2 Hill's Ch. 
 397 j 2 Rich. 424; 6 Humph. 299; 1 Stewart, 320; 5 B. Monr. 
 186. 
 
 3 Heinec. Elem. Jur. Pars VII, Lib. XLV, 26. 
 
 3 Mr. Stephen admits the fact to exist in the West Indies, vol. 
 i, 61. Louisiana allows the peculium by statute. 
 
 4 Institutes, Lib. II, tit. ix, 3; Gaius, i, 52; Domat. Prel. Bk. 
 tit. ii, sect, ii, 97 ; Huberi Prsel. Lib. II, tit. ix, 162 e ; Heinec. 
 Elem. Jur. Lib. Ill, tit. xviii; Smith's Diet, of Antiq. "Servus."
 
 236 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 villain, for, " quicquid acquiritur servo, acquiritur 
 domino," saith my Lord Coke. 1 Fleta gives the rule 
 in almost the same words : " Quicquid per ipsum 
 juste acquiritur, id domino acquiritur; et cum ipse a 
 domino suo possideatur, nihil possidere potest, nee 
 aliquid proprium habere." 2 So also Glanville : " No- 
 tandum est quod non potest aliquis, in villenagio 
 positus, libertatem suam propriis denariis suis quse- 
 rere," &c. " It is to be remembered that a villain 
 cannot even seek to purchase his own liberty with 
 his own money." 3 The villain might acquire and 
 convey, however, provided he did so before the lord 
 took possession of his acquisitions. 4 The earnings 
 of an apprentice, and everything purchased there- 
 with, in the same way, belong to his master. 5 
 
 260. The same rule prevails in every country 
 where negro slavery exists. In the Spanish, Danish, 
 and French West Indian colonies, by express statute, 
 the slave was permitted to accumulate enough to 
 purchase his freedom. 6 Among the Germans, the 
 famines proprii originally could hold no property. 7 
 At a later day they were allowed to accumulate and 
 hold all exceeding the stipulated wages, " operas et 
 censum" 8 The same rule exists in the East Indies. 9 
 
 1 Co. Litt. Lib. II, 172. 2 Lib. IV, ch. xi, 4. 
 
 8 Lib. V, ch. v. * Co. Litt. Lib. II, 173. 
 
 Smith, on Master and Servant, 80, 81; Salk. 68; Reaves, 
 Dom. Rel. 343. 
 
 8 Schrelcher, Colonies Franchises, and Colonies Etrangeres, vol. 
 ii; Stephen, on West Indian Slavery, i, pp. 60, 119, and authorities 
 there cited; Gurney's West Indies. 
 
 7 Potg. De Statu Serv. Lib. II, cap. x. 
 
 8 Hcinec. Elem. Jur. Lib. I, 85. 
 
 9 Adam, on Slavery in India, 246, 247.
 
 THE RIGHT OF PRIVATE PROPERTY. 237 
 
 2G1. If a slave obtains valuable property, by 
 finding, his possession is considered that of his mas- 
 ter ; and the master may maintain an action against 
 any one who receives or forcibly takes such property 
 away from the slave. 1 If the slave be in the posses- 
 sion of one not his master, e. g., a hirer, according 
 to the Roman law, the possessor could claim no gains 
 of the slave, except it arose from his own labor or 
 by means of the property of the possessor. 3 
 
 262. The slave in Rome could not assent to 
 take a legacy, except by his master's order; and in 
 such case, the legacy vested immediately in the 
 master. 3 Certain slaves who had no master, could 
 not, therefore, give assent, and the legacy was simply 
 void. 4 If a legacy were given to an African slave, 
 there seems to be no reason why the legacy should 
 be void, and if delivered by the executor to the 
 slave, the title would vest immediately in the 
 master. 5 The master, however, cannot bring suit 
 for such a legacy, as he cannot bring suit upon an 
 executory contract with his slave. 6 So if a chattel 
 
 1 Brandon v. The Huntsville Bank, 1 Stewart, 320^Fable v. 
 Brown Exr. 2 Hill's Ch. 396. 
 
 8 Ulpian, Frag. tit. xix ; Inst. Lib. II, tit. ix, 4. 
 
 8 Gaius, ii, 87, et seq.; Inst. Lib. II, tit. ix, 3; Heinec. Elem. 
 Jur. Lib. II, tit. xiv, 536. 
 
 4 Smith's Diet, of Antiq. "Servus," and authorities there cited. 
 
 5 Williams v. Ash, 1 How. U. S. 1. By the Civil Code of 
 Louisiana, a legacy to one occupying the position of a statuliber 
 was good, and was preserved for him till he became free. If he 
 died before this time, it reverted to the donor and his heirs. Arts. 
 193, 195. 
 
 Fable v. Brown Exr. 2 Hill's Ch. R. 378, 396; Hall v. Mul-
 
 233 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 were given and delivered to a slave, the title thereto 
 would vest in the master; and it seems if land were 
 conveyed to a slave, and possession given, by parity 
 of reasoning, the master would be seized of the 
 land. 1 
 
 263. A slave cannot take by descent, there 
 being in him no inheritable blood. 2 This was true 
 of the Roman slave : they were not objects of cogna- 
 tion or affinity. 3 The same provision is inserted in 
 the Civil Code of Louisiana. By it, however, the 
 succession to the estate of free persons, related to 
 the slave and which the slave would have inherited 
 had he been free, may pass through him to a manu- 
 mitted descendant. 4 
 
 264. The slave not being capable of acquiring 
 property, it follows, that he cannot convey or give 
 it away. Thus, Fleta, in enumerating those who 
 cannot make donations, expressly includes slaves. 5 
 
 lin, 5 Har. & J. 190 ; Leech v. Cooley, 6 S. & M. 93 j aliter, 
 Alston v, Coleman et al. 7 Ala. N. S. 795; 5 How. (Missis.), 
 305; Trotter, Admr. v. Blocker and wife, 6 Porter, 269. 
 
 1 Per Harper, C. in Fable v. Brown Exr. 2 Hill, Ch. E. 396. 
 See also remarks of Colcock, J., in Gregg v. Thompson, 2 Kep. 
 Cons. Ct. 332. 
 
 2 Jackson v. Lervey, 5 Cowen, 397 ; Opinion of Dulany, 1 Har. 
 & McH. 560, 561. 
 
 3 Taylor's Elements of Civil Law, 429 ; Heinec. Antiq. Rom. 
 Lib. II, tit. vii, 1 ; Opera, torn, iv, p. 402 ; and also of the 
 German, Potgies. De Stat. Serv. Lib. II, cap. xi. This was only 
 partially true of the agrestic slaves. Their children remained on 
 the land, and inherited all agricultural tools and household goods. 
 Ibid. 23. 
 
 * Civil Code, Art. 176. From this right of the master arose 
 the feudal doctrine of mortuaries. Ibid. 
 5 Lib. Ill, cap. iii, 10.
 
 THE RIGHT OF PRIVATE PROPERTY. 
 
 As a consequence, a slave cannot make a testament, 
 and this was true even in those nations where the 
 slave was allowed his peculium; on his death, it 
 belonged to his master. 1 
 
 * Taylor's Law Glossary, note to Servitus est, &c. ; Potg. De 
 Statu Serv. Lib. II, cap. xi.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 OF CONTRACTS BY SLAVES, AND HEEEIN OF MARRIAGE. 
 
 265. IN this connection we may properly notice 
 another disability of the slave, and that is, his in- 
 ability to contract, or to be contracted with. 1 In 
 this respect the Roman law differed from ours to 
 this extent, that the pecidium of the slave might 
 be reached by his creditors, and in the event of sub- 
 sequent manumission, the creditors might prosecute 
 their debts, previously contracted. 3 Sometimes, 
 also, it was agreed between the Roman master and 
 his slave, that the slave should purchase his freedom 
 with his peculium, when it amounted to a certain 
 sum, and it would seem as if such contracts were 
 enforced. 3 These privileges, however, were ex gratia. 
 Strictly the slave could acquire nothing by contract, 
 " Servus nee persona est, nee sibi quidquam adquirit, 
 sed domino. Ergo et stipulatione sibi nihil." 4 
 
 1 Hall v. Mullin, 5 Har. & J. 190; Gregg v. Thompson, 2 Hep. 
 Con. Ct. S. C. 331 ; Jenkins v. Brown, 6 Humph. 299 ; 5 Cowen, 
 397; Emerson v. Howland et al. 1 Mason, 51; Bland and another 
 v. Bowling, 9 Gill & J. 27. 
 
 8 Smith's Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Ant. " Servus/' and authorities 
 cited. Inst. Lib. IV, tit. vi, de Actionibus, 10. 
 
 Tacit. Ann. xiv, 42. 
 
 4 Heinec. Elem. Jur. Lib. Ill, tit. xviii.
 
 CONTRACTS BY SLAVES, AND OF MARRIAGE. 241 
 
 266. In this respect, also, our slave differs from 
 the ancient villain, who might contract, and enforpe 
 his contracts, even as against his lord. 1 The same 
 seems to be true of the Russian serf, 2 the German, 
 and the Polish slave. 3 But this principle is true of 
 the African slave, wherever he exists. 4 
 
 267. Hence, it follows, that an agreement by 
 the master with his slave, to give to the slave all of 
 his earnings, beyond stipulated wages, is not binding 
 on the master ; and, however it may be opposed to 
 good morals, the master can sue for and recover such 
 earnings from a third person, with whom they have 
 been deposited by the slave. 5 If, however, these 
 earnings were accumulated by the slave, prior to the 
 purchase by his master, they belong to his former 
 owner, and do not pass with the title to the slave. 6 
 If the depositary of the slave, at his request, invest 
 the fund in real or personal property, taking the title 
 in his own name, the master cannot recover the pro- 
 perty, nor make the purchaser a trustee for him. He 
 can only recover the sum deposited by his slave. 7 
 
 1 Co. Litt. Sect. 177; Bro. Abr. tit. Villenage, pi. 14, 50, etc. 
 
 2 The Knout and The Russians. 
 
 8 Heinec. Elem. Jur. Lib. I, 85 ; Potgies. De Statu Servorum, 
 Lib. II, cap. ii, 13 ; Wraxall's Memoirs of Court of Berlin, 
 vol. ii, let. 21. 
 
 4 Stephens, on West Indian Slavery, 58. 
 
 B Jenkins v. Brown, 6 Humph. 299; Gist v. Toohey, 2 Rich. 
 425. 
 
 6 Shanklin v. Johnson, 9 Ala. N. S. 275. This authority sus- 
 tains only the latter proposition. The former is equally true. 
 
 7 Shanklin v. Johnson, 9 Ala. N. S. 271. The case of Sally v. 
 Beatty, 1 Bay, 260, extended this principle very far; "farther," 
 says Judge O'Neal, 2 McMul. 471, "than I desire to go." Both 
 
 16
 
 242 LAW OP NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 268. If the contract with the slave be fully exe- 
 cuted, the property conveyed to the slave becomes 
 instanter the property of the master ; and the pro- 
 perty conveyed by him, upon his master's implied 
 assent, vests in the contracting party. 1 An execu- 
 tory contract, however, such as a promissory note, pay- 
 able to a slave, vests no right of action in the master. 2 
 
 Hence, also, an executory contract with the mas- 
 ter to emancipate the slave, cannot be enforced by 
 the slave, not even though made with a third person, 
 the slave being no party thereto. 3 Though it may 
 be enforced by the parties themselves. 4 
 
 269. In some of the States, the contract by the 
 master with the slave for his emancipation, has been 
 excepted in favorem libertatis from the general rule 
 as to the contracts of slaves, and such contracts 
 have been enforced. 5 Indeed, it may be worthy of 
 inquiry, how far contracting with his slave by im- 
 plication emancipates him ? 6 In several of the 
 States, contracts with slaves (mechanics, &c.) made 
 by third persons, with the implied consent of the 
 master, are expressly prohibited. 
 
 270. The inability of the slave to contract ex- 
 Judge and jury seemed carried away with enthusiasm, at the "ex- 
 traordinary benevolence of the wench." 
 
 1 Gist v. Toohey, 2 Rich. 425 j Carmille v. Admr. of Carmille, 2 
 McM. 470 j Hobson v. Perry, 1 Hill, 277. 
 
 2 Gregg v. Thompson, 2 Rep. Con. Ch. 331 ; Fable v. Brown, 
 2 Hill Ch. 378 ; 2 Rich. 425 ; Gist v. Toohey, 2 Rich. 425. 
 
 8 Gatliff 's Admr. v. Rose et al. 8 B. Monr. 633 ; Beall v. 
 Josephs, Hardin's Rep. 51. 
 
 * Thompson v. Wilmot, 1 Bibb, 422. 
 
 5 Victoire v. Dusseau, 4 Martin (La.), 212. 
 
 6 Keane v. Boycott, 2 H. Black. 573; see post, 369.
 
 CONTRACTS BY SLAVES, AND OF MARRIAGE. 
 
 tends to the marriage contract, and hence there is 
 no recognized marriage relation in law between 
 slaves. 1 This was true of the Roman slaves. There 
 was among them a recognized relation, termed 
 " contubernium," from which certain consequences 
 flowed, especially after manumission. For instance, 
 it was incest for a manumitted slave to contract 
 marriage with his manumitted sister. 3 The same 
 effects have been held to flow from a marriage 
 during slavery, after manumission, in Louisiana. In 
 fact, the courts there seem to hold, that after manu- 
 mission, the marriage contract becomes valid for all 
 purposes. 3 
 
 271. The marriage relation existed among the 
 villains of England. If the villain neife married a 
 freeman, she became thereby enfranchised, and her 
 husband compensated her lord for her loss. 4 And, 
 e converso, it would seem, that if a villain married a 
 free woman, the woman became a neife. 5 If the father 
 
 1 Jackson v. Lervey, 5 Cowen, 397 ; The State v. Samuel, 2 
 Dev. & Bat. 177 ; see Opinion of Mr. Dulaney, in App. to 1 Har. 
 & McH. R. 560, 561. 
 
 2 Dig. Lib. XXIII, tit. ii, 14 ; Cooper's Notes to Institutes, 
 420 ; Taylor's Elements, Civil Law, 429 ; Smith's Diet. Gr. and 
 Rom. Antiq. "Servus." 
 
 8 Girod v. Lewis, 6 Martin R. 559. 
 
 4 Bro. Abr. Villenage, pi. 10 ; Lit. Lib. II, cap. xi, 187. 
 Upon the death of her husband, however, she returned to her 
 former state of slavery. Mirror, ch. ii, 18. This seems ap- 
 proved by Lord Coke. Co. Litt. 123. 
 
 5 Co. Litt. 123, says, "And when a bondman marrieth a free- 
 woman, they are all one person in law ; and duoe animce in came una; 
 and uxor subjecta est viro et sub potestate viri." See also Bro. Abr. 
 tit. Villenage, PL 23, 39. Such, certainly, was the law of France. 
 Marculfi Formulae, L. II, 29. And of Burgundy and Lombardy.
 
 244 
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 and mother were both villains, and belonged to dif- 
 ferent lords, the issue were equally divided between 
 the respective masters. 1 
 
 272. The marriage relation existed at a later 
 day among the homines proprii of the German na- 
 tions. 2 But until the ninth century, the contuber- 
 nial relation alone was recognized. 3 Potgiesser 
 boasts that the Germans were the first who united 
 their servants together in the name of Christ. 4 
 Without the consent of the master, however, the 
 marriage was void, and the parties punished se- 
 verely. 5 
 
 273. It seems that the Hebrew law did not re- 
 cognize marriage among slaves of other than Hebrew 
 origin, but a relation existed similar to the contu- 
 bernium of Rome. Certain it is, that the separation of 
 the man from his wife and children, was in certain 
 cases expressly commanded. 
 
 274. The marriage of free men and women with 
 slaves was very much discouraged by the laws, civil 
 and ecclesiastical, of the middle ages. Heavy penal- 
 ties were annexed, and the right was even conceded 
 to parents to kill a daughter who persisted in such 
 
 Potgies. Lib. II, cap. ii, 30. In Flanders, a man that married a 
 villain became one himself, after living with her for a twelvemonth. 
 Recueil des Historiens, torn, xiii, p. 350. So, also, among the 
 Franks. Potgies. Lib. II, cap. ii, 31. 
 
 1 Qui vero procreantur ex nativa unius et native alterius propor- 
 tionabiliter inter dominos sunt dividendi. Coke Litt. 123. 
 
 3 Heinec. Elem. Jur. Lib. I, 85. 
 
 3 Potgies. Lib. I, cap. iii ; Lib. II, cap. ii. 
 
 4 Lib. II, cap. ii, 10. 5 Ibid. 12, 13, et seq. 
 
 6 See Potgies. Lib. II, cap. ii, 2, and authorities cited by him, 
 from the opinions of Jewish Rabbins.
 
 CONTRACTS BY SLAVES, AND OF MARRIAGE. 245 
 
 an alliance. The question was submitted to the 
 See of Rome, whether a freeman might put away a 
 wife, taken from the servile class, and take a free- 
 woman to his bed. Leo responded in the affirma- 
 tive. 1 Among the Germans three years were given 
 to a free woman to repent of her course and dissolve 
 the relation. In such case, however, the issue pend- 
 ing the coverture were slaves. 2 
 
 275. The contract of marriage not being recog- 
 nized among slaves, of course none of its conse- 
 quences follow from the contubernial state existing 
 between them. Their issue, though emancipated, 
 have no inheritable blood. 3 In trials of slaves, they 
 may be witnesses for and against each other. 4 Yel 
 as the fact of cohabiting, and living together as man 
 and wife, is universal among slaves, and the privi- 
 leges of parents over children, in correcting and con-( 
 trolling them, are universally acceded to them, in all 
 trials of slaves for offences committed by them, these 
 relations are recognized by the Courts, and the 
 merciful extenuations of the law, to the conduct of 
 the husband and father, are extended to the slave 
 standing in the same situation. 
 
 276. How far this contubernial relation between 
 slaves may be recognized and protected by law, is a 
 question of exceeding nicety and difficulty. The 
 unnecessary and wanton separation of persons stand- 
 
 1 Potgies. Lib. II, cap. ii, 37 ; see note to 271. 
 
 2 Ibid. Lib. II, cap. ii, 34. 
 
 8 Jackson v. Lervey, 5 Cow. 397. 
 
 4 Tbe State v. Samuel, 2 Dev. & Bat. 177. In this case it is 
 held, that the recognition of this state of concubinage, in many of 
 the statutes of North Carolina, does not legalize the marriage, so 
 as to give any of the effects of the marriage relation thereto.
 
 246 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 ing in the relation of husband and wife, though it 
 may rarely, if ever, occur in actual practice, is an 
 event which, if possible, should be guarded against 
 by the law. And yet, on the other hand, to fasten 
 upon a master of a female slave, a vicious, corrupt- 
 ing negro, sowing discord, and dissatisfaction among 
 all his slaves ; or else a thief, or a cut-throat, and to 
 provide no relief against such a nuisance, would be 
 to make the holding of slaves a curse to the master. 
 It would be well for the law, at least, to provide 
 against such separations of families by the officers 
 of the law, in cases of sales made by authority of 
 the Courts, such as sheriffs' and administrators' sales. 
 How much farther the lawgiver may go, requires 
 for its solution all the deliberation and wisdom of 
 the Senator, guided and enlightened by Christian 
 philanthropy. 1 
 
 277. The incapacity of a slave to contract, 
 being a part and consequence of his personal status, 
 extends to every place he may go, so long as he re- 
 mains a slave. D'Aguesseau gives the incapacity 
 to contract as an illustration of the meaning and 
 effect of a personal statute. 2 Hence, a fugitive slave, 
 though he may be in a State where slavery does not 
 exist, is still incapable of contracting, his status re- 
 maining unchanged. 3 And, even though the slave 
 be afterwards manumitted, he cannot be made re- 
 sponsible upon a contract entered into while in a 
 state of slavery. 4 
 
 1 See the Act in Georgia, on this subject. 
 
 2 (Euvres, torn, v, 256, 8vo. ed. 
 
 3 Giles v. Hodges, 9 Johns. R. 67 ; Trongott v. Byers, 5 Cow. 
 480 ; Per Lord Alvanley, Williams v. Brown, 3 Bos. & Pul. 71. . 
 
 4 Free Lucy and Frank v. Denham's Admr. 4 Monr. 169.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 OF SUITS FOR FREEDOM. 
 
 278. ANOTHER disability of the slave, which may 
 be properly considered in this connection, is his inabi- 
 lity to be a suitor in any of the Courts of justice, either 
 as plaintiff or defendant, except in suits for freedom, 
 which, in most of the States, is provided for and re- 
 gulated by statute. 1 This was the rule of the civil 
 law, 2 of the ancient Britons, 3 Germans, and Franks, 
 and other European nations.* This disability extends 
 to statuliberi, or those whose manumission takes 
 effect infuturo. 5 It accompanies the slave to every 
 jurisdiction, so long as his status is unchanged. It 
 has been held, however, that for a trespass upon his 
 
 1 Bland & Woolfolk v. Negro Beverly Bowling, 9 Gill & J. 19 ; 
 Amy v. Smith, 1 Litt. 326 ; Cateche et al. v. The Circuit Court, 
 &c. 1 Miss. 608; Matilda v. Crenshaw, 4 Yerg. 303; Susan v. 
 Wells, 3 Brev. 11; 4 Gill, 249; Berard v. Berard, 9 Louis. 156; 
 Free Lucy, &c. v. Denham's Admr. 4 Monr. 169. 
 
 2 Taylor's Elem. of Civil Law, 429; Heineccius gives the reason, 
 "ut nee servus, qui persona plane non est, agere possit." Elem. 
 Jur. de Pand. Pars II, Lib. V, 14. The suit for freedom was 
 termed " Actio de liberali causa." Dig. Lib. IV, 8, 32. 
 
 8 Fleta, Lib. IV, cap. xi, 1, 4. 
 
 4 Potgiesser, Lib. II, cap. i, 17, 37. 
 
 5 Dorothee v. Coquillon, 19 Mart. L. R. 350.
 
 248 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 person, while within the jurisdiction of a non-slave- 
 holding State, he might maintain an action. 1 
 
 279. As before remarked, in all the States the 
 negro may institute proceedings to recover his free- 
 dom, when unlawfully detained in bondage. Many 
 of the States prescribe by statute the nature and 
 form of the proceedings, 2 and in such case it must 
 be strictly pursued. 3 In others, these are mere 
 creatures of the Court. Trespass for an assault and 
 false imprisonment is frequently adopted as the form 
 of action. 4 In many of the States, a guardian or 
 prochein ami appears in behalf of the slave, and is 
 responsible for the costs. 5 To avoid vexatious and 
 unfounded suits, the slave not being liable to be 
 mulcted in costs, other States require a previous 
 application to the presiding Judge, and, on a primd 
 facie case being made, liberty is granted to the slave 
 to appear in forma pauperis, and counsel are assigned 
 for him. 
 
 1 Polydore v. Prince, 1 Ware, Dist. Ct. Rep. 410. 
 
 3 Georgia, New Dig. 999, 1011; Mississippi, Hutchinson's Code, 
 523; Maryland, Dorsey's Laws, &c. 341; Virginia, Rev. Code 
 (1849), 464; Alabama, Code of 1852, 2049-2055; Arkansas, 
 Dig. of 1848, ch. 74, p. 543 ; Missouri, Rev. Stat. (1845), ch. 
 69, p. 531; Delaware, Rev. Code (1852), ch. 80, Sect. 20. 
 
 3 Richard v. Demors, 5 S. & M. 609 ; Peters v. Van Lear, 4 
 Gill, 249. But see Union Bank of Tenn. v. Benham, 23 Ala. 
 143. Whereas, against creditors of the nominal master, another 
 proceeding was allowed. 
 
 4 Matilda v. Crenshaw, 4 Yerg. 303 ; Pleasants v. Pleasants, 2 
 Call. 293 ; Evans v. Kennedy, 1 Haywood, N. C. 422. 
 
 5 The civil law, to the time of Justinian, required the slave to 
 appear by next friend, called adsertor. The difficulty of finding 
 persons to occupy this position, induced him to allow them to appear 
 directly. Cod. Lib. VII, 17, 1. 
 
 8 Missouri, Rev. Stat. 1845, ch. 69 ; Arkansas, Dig. of 1848,
 
 SUITS FOR FREEDOM. 249 
 
 280. In other States, to prevent slaves from 
 harassing their masters with unfounded suits, the 
 Courts were allowed, in their discretion, to cause 
 corporal punishment to be inflicted upon the claim- 
 ant, if the jury should return a verdict adverse to 
 his claim of freedom. 1 Mr. Stroud has compared 
 this legislation to the " feast of Damocles," consider- 
 ing the " conduct of Dionysius supreme beneficence 
 compared with the terms of mercy contained in this 
 act." 2 It is the only judgment that can be entered 
 against a slave, and when we remember that it is 
 entered at the suit of the master, who can by law, 
 at his own pleasure, inflict the same punishment, 
 and that it is regulated by the discretion of a disin- 
 terested and impartial and humane Judge, sworn to 
 administer the law in mercy, the provision seems 
 indeed to be very unnecessary and ineffectual (hav- 
 ing for its object more the deterring of the slave 
 from an unfounded suit, than his actual punish- 
 ment), yet it certainly does not deserve the denun- 
 ciation with which Mr. Stroud has treated it. In 
 other States, penalties have been affixed upon the 
 attorney prosecuting the case, or others aiding and 
 abetting in the cause, where the claim of freedom 
 proves to be unfounded. 3 
 
 ch. 74 ; Bodine's Will, 4 Dana, 476 ; Dempsey v. Lawrence, Gil. 
 333. 
 
 1 In South Carolina. Georgia, New Digest, 971. Query, Does 
 not the Act of 1837 repeal this provision ? Ibid. 101 1. 
 
 fl Sketch, &c. 79. 
 
 8 Maryland, Dorsey's Laws, 341 j Virginia, Kev. Code (1849), 
 465. By the civil law, the slave could appear only by his next 
 friend (adsertor), of whom security was required for the person of 
 the slave, and also for costs. Justinian abolished this law, and
 
 250 LAW OP NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 281. These various restrictions, while founded 
 upon a regard for the peace and protection of the 
 master, are unnecessary, public opinion being a suffi- 
 cient guarantee against such an evil. They are in 
 fact dead letters on the statute-book, as the reports 
 of the several States will make manifest. They 
 serve only as food for the appetite and texts for the 
 pens of Abolition fanatics, and had better be ex- 
 punged. 
 
 282. The freedom of the claimant frequently 
 depends upon the will of his previous master. Until 
 admitted to probate, it is inchoate, and the question 
 has arisen, whether the slave thus emancipated may 
 propound the will for probate ? It is not strictly a 
 suit for freedom. It is merely to establish a part of 
 the title, and being slaves until their title to free- 
 dom is established, the disability as slaves to sue 
 attaches to them. In some of the States it has been 
 held, that they might propound, 1 even where the 
 will emancipates upon a future or uncertain contin- 
 gency. 2 
 
 283. The course most consonant with principle, 
 would seem to be for the slave to institute his suit 
 for freedom,, and upon the trial to prove the execu- 
 
 allowed the slave to appear by attorney. Cod. VII, 17, 1. See 
 Livy, Bk. Ill, ch. xlvi; Henry's Points in Manumission, 43, et 
 seq. 
 
 1 Ben Mercer et als. v. Kelso's Admr. (so says the Keporter), 4 
 Grattan, 106 j Bodine's Will, 4 Dana, 476. 
 
 a Bodine's Will, 4 Dana, 476. The civil law gave an equitable 
 action to compel the performance of a trust under a will, in favor 
 of freedom. Dig. 40, 5, 17. In Tennessee, by special Act (1829), 
 if the executor refused to apply to the County Court for its assent, 
 the slaves might file a bill by their next friend. Fisher's Negroes 
 v. Dabbs, 6 Yerger, 119.
 
 SUITS FOR FREEDOM. 251 
 
 tion of the will, his inability to propound being a 
 sufficient reason why the will has not been passed 
 upon by the Probate Court ; or else, pending the 
 suit for freedom, to allow the slave to file a bill in 
 equity, compelling the executor to propound, or at 
 least to produce the will for probate. 1 Such a bill 
 has been allowed at the instance of slaves manu- 
 mitted by will, to compel the executor to make ap- 
 plication to the County Court for the assent neces- 
 sary to make valid the manumission. 2 And a similar 
 proceeding has been allowed against the executor of 
 a will of another than the master, by which will the 
 slaves were required to be purchased and manu- 
 mitted. 3 
 
 284. To prevent the removal of the applicants 
 for freedom, pending the suit, many of the States 
 require the person having them in possession to give 
 bond and security for their forthcoming. 4 In others, 
 where no such provision is made, a bill in the nature 
 of a quia timet, lies at the instance of the slave. 5 
 And even the statutory provision has been held no 
 bar to a bill for the purpose. 6 
 
 1 Isaac et al. v. McGill, 9 Humph. 616 ; Wade et al. v. Amer. 
 Col. Soc. 7 S. & M. 663 ; Peters et al. v. Van Lear, 4 Gill. 249. 
 
 a Isaac et al. v. McGill, 9 Humph. 616 ; see also Peters et al. 
 v. Van Lear, 4 Gill. 249. 
 
 8 Marie v. Avart, 6 Mart. Louis. K. 731. 
 
 4 Georgia, New Digest, 1011; South Carolina, Carpenter v. Cole- 
 man, 2 Bay. 436; Tennessee, Act of 1817, c. 103; Alabama, 
 Code of 1852, 2052. A similar provision in civil law. See 
 Henry's Points, &c. 47, n. 
 
 5 Sylvia & Phillis v. Covey, 4 Yerg. 297; Fenwick v. Chapman, 
 9 Pet. 475. 
 
 6 Sylvia & Phillis v. Covey, 4 Yerger, 297 ; see Harriet v. Ridgely, 
 9 Gill. & J. 174.
 
 252 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 285. The suit for freedom is allowed only to 
 those who are actually free, and are wrongfully de- 
 tained in bondage. Hence, it does not lie to- enforce 
 an executory contract, by which freedom is promised 
 to the slave. Here the plaintiff is still a slave, and 
 the disability of the slave to sue attaches to him. 1 
 We shall see hereafter how far such contracts are 
 binding on the master. We may remark here, that 
 if a slave is bequeathed to a legatee for the purpose 
 of manumission, this is good reason for a specific 
 performance, if the executor, or other person having 
 him in possession, refuses to deliver him up. 2 
 
 286. The suit for freedom is viewed favorably 
 by the courts, on account of the imbecile condition 
 of the claimants, 3 and may be instituted wherever 
 the slaves may be held in custody, although the 
 right to freedom accrued under the laws of another 
 jurisdiction. 4 Nor will the courts require any nicety 
 or technicality in pleading. 5 It must be commenced, 
 however, against the person actually claiming and 
 holding them, and not against a previous owner who 
 has parted with the possession. 6 It may be brought 
 against the executor of a deceased owner, although 
 creditors may be interested in the issue. 7 Where 
 
 1 Henry v. Nunn, 11 B. Monr. 239. 3 Code, 7, 5, 17. 
 
 3 Hudgins v. Wright, 1 Hen. & M. 143 ; Lee v. Lee, 8 Pet. 44. 
 Such was the civil law. See Henry's Points in Manumission. 
 
 4 Rankin v. Lydia, 2 A. K. Mar. 467. 
 
 5 Pleasants v. Pleasants, 2 Call. 350; Hudgins v. Wright, 1 Hen. 
 & Munf. 134 j McMichen v. Anios et al. 4 Rand. 134. 
 
 8 John et al. v. Walker, 8 B. Monr. 605. 
 
 7 Fenwick v. Chapman, 9 Pet. 461. The judgment is not con- 
 clusive against the creditors. Allen v. Negro Jim Sharp, 7 Gill. 
 & J. 96.
 
 SUITS FOR FREEDOM. 253 
 
 the claim to freedom of several slaves depends upon 
 the same title and proof, a joint action, by them, has 
 been allowed. 1 The propriety of this, however, 
 where the action sounded in tort, has been questioned 
 and denied. 2 The common law allowed two or more 
 to join in the writ de homine replegiando. 3 The 
 right to bring the suit for freedom is personal ; and 
 hence, so long as the negro is content, no one else 
 can sue for him. Nor can his freedom be set up as a 
 defence against a suit by his nominal master, for 
 trespass to him, or other action founded on his pos- 
 sessions 
 
 287. The issue made in all suits for freedom, is 
 the right of the claimant to liberty. It is not com- 
 petent, therefore, to seek a recovery by showing a 
 want of title in the defendant. 5 Like all other 
 plaintiffs, the claimant must remove the onus pro- 
 bandi which is upon him. 6 If the alleged freeman 
 had been in the enjoyment of freedom, the civil law 
 cast the onus upon the master, he being defendant. 7 
 A personal inspection is not only allowable but 
 
 1 Harris v. Clarissa et al. 6 Yerg. 227 ; Coleman v. Dick & Pat, 
 1 Wash. 233 ; Peters v. Van Lear, 4 Gill, 249. 
 
 2 Violet and another v. Stephens, Lit. Sel. Cas. 147 ; Beaty v. 
 Judy, 1 Dana, 103. 
 
 8 Thomas's Coke, vol. iii, p. 340, n. 2. 
 
 4 Calvert v. Steamboat Trinoleon, 15 Miss. 595. 
 
 5 Harriet v. Ridgely, 9 Gill. & J. 174 j Berard v. Berard, 9 
 Louis. R. 157 ; Johnson v. Tompkins et al. Bald. C. C. R. 577. 
 
 6 Vaughn v. Phebe, Mart. & Yerg. 20 ; Berard v. Berard, 9 
 Louisiana R. 157; Mary v. Morris etal. 7 Louis. R. 135; Hudgins 
 v. Wright, 1 Munf. 134, 138. Such was the civil law also. Dig. 
 40, 12, 7, 41. 
 
 ? De Except. Dig. 44, 1, 12.
 
 254 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 proper for the jury; and the color of the applicant, 
 whether white or black, affords a corresponding pre- 
 sumption for or against his freedom. 1 The rules of 
 evidence, in such cases, are the same as in ordi- 
 nary cases. 3 Hearsay or reputation is admissible to 
 prove pedigree, 3 but is inadmissible to prove any 
 specific fact which is in its nature susceptible of 
 being proved by witnesses who speak from their own 
 knowledge. 4 Hence, it is not allowable, to prove by 
 hearsay or general reputation, that the ancestor of 
 the applicant was free. 5 So the declarations of a 
 previous owner are admissible or not, according as 
 they were made before or after parting with posses- 
 sion. 6 So, also, the manner of attacking the credi- 
 bility of witnesses, is the same ; and evidence that 
 the applicant's witness associated with negroes, is 
 inadmissible. 7 On account of the condition of sub- 
 jection of the slave, and the control of the master, 
 admissions made by him against his right to freedom, 
 
 i Hook v. Nancy Pagee and her children, 2 Munf. 379 ; Hudgins 
 v. Wright, 1 Hen. & M. 133 ; Gentry v. Polly McMinnis, 3 Dana, 
 385. See ante. 
 
 3 Mima Queen and child v. Hepburn, 7 Cranch, 295; Field v. 
 Walker, 23 Ala. 155. 
 
 3 John Davis et al. v. Wood, 1 Wheat. 6 ; Vaughn v. Phebe, 
 Mart. & Yerg. 5 ; Pegram v. Isabel, 2 Hen. & M. 193. 
 
 4 Mima Queen and child v. Hepburn, 7 Cranch, 290. 
 
 5 Davis et al. v. Wood, 1 Wheat. 6 ; Walls v. Hemsley et al. 4 
 Har. & J. 243 ; Gregory v. Baugh, 4 Rand. 611 ; aliter, 4 Harr. 
 & McH. 63 ; see also 2 Leigh, 665 ; 1 Hen. & M. 142. 
 
 6 Gentry v. Polly McMinnis, 3 Dana, 382 ; Garnett v. Sam & 
 Phillis, 5 Munf. 542; Free Jack v. Woodruff, 3 Hawks, 106; 
 Caroline v. Burgwin, 3 Dev. & Bat. 28. 
 
 ? Thomas v. Pile, 3 Har. & Me. H. 241.
 
 SUITS FOR FREEDOM. 255 
 
 should be received with great caution, and allowed 
 but little weight. 1 
 
 288. Though the slave is allowed thus to sue 
 and become a party in court, yet until judgment 
 affirms his right to freedom, he is a slave. 2 Hence, 
 he is not entitled in the progress of the cause to 
 make affidavit for the purpose of changing venue, 
 or otherwise to be heard as a freeman. 3 His guar- 
 dian, or prochein ami, may be heard in his behalf, 
 or, where he sues directly in his own name, his at- 
 torney. 
 
 289. The question has been much discussed, 
 whether, upon a verdict establishing the freedom of 
 the applicant, damages, or hire, should be given to 
 the plaintiffs. In some of the States, such damages 
 are given by special statute. 4 In the absence of 
 statutory enactment, in analogy to other actions, 
 many of the courts have allowed damages by way of 
 mesne profits, some from the time of the commence- 
 ment of the suit, 5 and others for the whole period 
 of their illegal detention, together with the expenses 
 of litigation. 6 In others still, the question of da- 
 
 1 Vincent v. Duncan, 1 Missouri R. 214. The civil law ex- 
 cluded it altogether. Cod. 7, 16, 6. 
 
 a The civil law was otherwise. He was entitled to his liberty, 
 pendente lite, by giving security for his appearance. Henry's 
 Points in Man. 51. 
 
 8 Queen v. Neale, 3 Har. & J. 158 j Peter et al. v. Hargrave et 
 al. 5 Grat. 14. 
 
 4 In Georgia, New Digest, 971 ; Virginia, Rev. Code (1849), 
 465. 
 
 5 Gordon v. Duncan, 3 Miss. 385; Matilda v. Crenshaw, 4 Yerg. 
 299. 
 
 8 Pepoon v. Clarke, 1 Rep. Const. Ct. S. C. 157.
 
 256 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 mages is made to depend upon the bona fides of the 
 defendant's claim. 1 Other courts insist, and with great 
 force, that the peculiar condition of the slave, and 
 relation that he bears to the white race, the difficul- 
 ties surrounding the master, and the interest of the 
 freedman himself, render it inexpedient to make his 
 freedom relate back farther than the judgment pro- 
 nouncing him free. In these courts all damages are 
 refused. 2 Unless allowed by statute it is usually re- 
 covered in a subsequent suit. 3 
 
 290. The effect of the judgment in favor of or 
 against the freedom of the applicant is governed 
 generally by the same rules with other judgments. 
 Hence, the record of such judgment establishing the 
 freedom of the ancestor is not evidence, unless be- 
 tween parties or privies. Between them it is not 
 admissible to sustain the application of a descendant 
 born prior to the judgment, 4 but is admissible and 
 conclusive evidence in favor of or against issue born 
 subsequent to the judgment. 5 A judgment against 
 
 1 Scott v. Williams, 1 Dev. Law, 376 j Woolfolk v. Sweeper, 2 
 Humph. 88, 96 ; Phillis v. Gentin, 9 Louis. 208 ; Thompson v. 
 Wilmot, 1 Bibb, 422. 
 
 2 Peter et al. v. Hargrave et al. 5 Grat. 12; Paul's Adrnr. v. 
 Mingo et al. 4 Leigh, 163 ; Henry et al. v. Bollar et al. 7 Leigh, 
 19 ; Pleasants v. Pleasants, 2 Call. 250. 
 
 3 Woolfolk v. Sweeper, 2 Humph. 88. Under the civil law, 
 a freedman, wrongfully claimed as a slave, might sue for the 
 calumny. Cod. 7, 16, 30. 
 
 4 Davis v. Wood, 1 Wheat. 6 ; Pegram v. Isabel, 1 Hen. & M. 
 388; aliter, Vaughn v. Phebe, Martin & Yerg. 5; see also 
 Pegram v. Isabel, 2 Hen. & Munf. 199, Judge Tucker's Opinion. 
 See James v. Jones, 10 Humph. 334. 
 
 5 Chancellor v. Milton, 1 B. Monr. 25 ; Alexander v. Stokely, 7 
 Sergt. & R. 299 ; Shelton v. Barbour, 2 Wash. 64 ; Pegram v.
 
 SUITS FOR FREEDOM. 257 
 
 the claim for freedom would be a bar to another suit 
 in the name of a different next friend. 1 The record 
 of the judgment in favor of freedom is also admis- 
 sible as primd facie evidence of an eviction, against 
 the warrantor of the title who was vouched by the 
 party. 2 
 
 292. The same rule was early adopted as to vil- 
 lains in England. In trespass, for taking a villain, 
 it appeared that the ancestor in a former suit, in 
 which it was alleged that he was a villain regardant, 
 had answered that he was free, and verdict accord- 
 ingly. The son relied upon this finding as an es- 
 toppel, and it was so held. 3 
 
 293. There suit for freedom, not being for the 
 recovery of property, is not within the ordinary 
 statutes of " limitation of actions," and on account 
 of the poverty, general ignorance, and enslaved con- 
 dition of the applicants, no length of time will be 
 held by the Courts to bar the right to sue. 4 Nor 
 will the applicant be estopped by the fact of allow- 
 ing himself to be sold as a slave without giving 
 notice of his claim to freedom. 5 On the other hand, 
 
 Isabel, 2 Hen. & Munf. 193 j Koberts v. Smiley, 5 Monr. 271. But 
 see Wood v. Stephen, 1 S. & R. 175. 
 
 1 The rule was formerly different by the civil law, but Justinian 
 adopted the rule laid down in the text. Cod. 7, 17, 1. 
 
 3 Roberts & Co. v. Smiley, 6 Monr. 270 ; Brown v. Shields, 6 
 Leigh. 440. 3 Year Books, 13 Ed. IV, 2, 3, 4. 
 
 4 Gentry v. McMannis, 3 Dana, 382 ; G-atliff 's Admr. v. Rose, 
 8 B. Monr. 631. Per Roane, J., in Hudgins v. Wright, 1 Hen. 
 & Munf. 141. Such was the civil law. Cod. 7, 22, 2, 3. 
 
 5 G-uillemette v. Harper, 4 Rich. 186. Such was the civil law, 
 but an action lay against him in favor of the deceived purchaser. 
 Dig. Lib. XL, 12, 14. 
 
 17
 
 258 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 it appears, no length of time of the enjoyment of 
 freedom will bar the master's rights. Such was the 
 Eoman law, and the same principle was generally 
 adopted among the Franks and Germans. 1 The 
 lord of the villain, on the contrary, it seems, had to 
 reclaim him within a year and a day. 2 
 
 294. Frequently strong prejudices exist in the 
 minds of jurors either in favor or against the claim 
 of freedom. Such jurors are not "indifferent between 
 the parties," and though no bias may exist in the 
 particular case, yet such general prejudice should 
 be allowed as a challenge to the favor. 3 
 
 295. In trial of questions of freedom among the 
 Franks and Germans, where the right was doubtful, 
 it was decided by " wager of battle." And then the 
 alleged slave was allowed to enter the lists in his 
 own behalf. In other cases, he who detained him 
 from the master "waged the battle" for him. 4 It is 
 probable, that in this species of causes was the 
 " wager of battle" first introduced as an appeal to 
 Deity to favor the right. It seems to have arisen 
 as a sequence to the "wager of law :" where neither 
 party could bring the requisite compurgatores, one of 
 them would propose to produce his own unsupported 
 
 1 Heinec. De Praescr. &c. Exr. xxvi, 10, 11 ; Opera, vol. ii, 
 894, 895 ; Potgies. De Stat. Serv. Lib. II, cap. ix, 16, et seq. 
 The civil law allowed a prescription of thirty years to avail, in 
 some cases. Henry's Points in Man. 71. 
 
 3 Fleta, Lib. IV, cap. xi, 23. 
 
 3 Mima Queen v. Hepburn, 7 Cranch, 290 ; Chouteau v. Pierre, 
 9 Miss. 3. 
 
 4 Potgies. De Stat. Serv. Lib. II, cap. ix, 14, 15.
 
 SUITS FOR FREEDOM. 259 
 
 oath, and challenge the other party to deny by his 
 oath, in which event the appeal was to arms. 1 
 
 1 Thus the law of the Frisians, " Si aut calumniator, aut ille cui 
 calumnia irrogata est, se solum ad sacramenti mysterium perficien- 
 dum obtulerit, et dixerit : ego solus jurare volo si tu audes negare 
 sacramentum meum, et annis mecum contende ! Faciant etiam 
 illud si hoc eis placuerit ; juret unus, et alius neget, et in campum 
 exeant." Potgies. Lib. II, cap. ix, 14.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 OF OTHER DISABILITIES OF SLAVES. 
 
 <"" 296. THE marriage relation not being recog- 
 nized among slaves, none of the relative rights and 
 
 /duties arising therefrom, belong strictly to the slave. 
 "We have before noticed the fact that, in the Crimi- 
 nal Courts, the contubernial relation is so far recog- 
 nized that the motives and acts of slaves, charged 
 with crimes, are adjudged accordingly. We may 
 make the same assertion in reference to the relation 
 of parent and child. In some of the States, both of 
 these relations are so far recognized by the legisla- 
 ture, as to provide by statute against their disrup- 
 
 __tion in public sales. 
 
 297. From the very nature of slavery, it is im- 
 possible for the slave to hold any office of public or 
 private trust. He consequently cannot be executor 
 to a will, nor guardian to a ward. 1 In this respect 
 villanage in later days differed widely from African 
 
 slavery, the villain being capable of acting as exe- 
 cutor, and in such capacity being allowed to bring 
 suit even against his lord. 3 
 
 298. Possessing none of the privileges of citizen- 
 ship, the slave is not bound to any of its duties. He 
 
 1 Civil Code Louis. Art. 177. a Lit. Inst. Lib. II, 191.
 
 OTHER, DISABILITIES OF SLAVES. 261 
 
 may, however, rightfully bear arms in a war under 
 the orders of his master. 
 
 299. A slave cannot be constituted an agent for 
 a third person other than the master. 2 He may, 
 however, act as agent for his master or employer, 
 and, where the master's or employer's affirmation of 
 the agency is proved, he will be bound by the acts 
 of his agent. 3 This affirmation may arise from acts 
 as well as express authority. Thus, where a slave 
 has been in the habit of purchasing goods of a trades- 
 man, upon the credit of the master, and the bills are 
 paid without complaint, or notice not to continue 
 the credit, the master's assent to the agency will be 
 presumed. The presumption^ however, is against 
 the agency, and the onus lies upon the tradesman to 
 prove its existence. 
 
 300. The Roman master employed his slave as 
 his agent in a great many capacities. They were 
 their factors in the management of business, me- 
 chanics and artisans, and some were employed as 
 readers, amanuenses, and copyists. 4 They were some- 
 times employed as electioneerers for their masters, 
 and were then called monitors, and sometimes far- 
 tores (stuffers), "because they stuffed their master's 
 name in the ears of the citizens." 5 
 
 1 Grrotius, De Bel. et Pace, Lib. V, ch. v, 3. He cites Aris- 
 totle, in support of this principle. See also Puffendorf, Lib. VIII, 
 ch. ii, note. 
 
 a The State v. Hart, 4 Ired. 246. 
 
 8 The State v. Hart, 4 Ired. 250 ; Chastain v. Bowman, 1 Hill 
 S. C. 270. 
 
 * Smith's Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Antiq. verb. " Servus." 
 
 5 Heinec. Antiq. Rom. Lib. IV, tit. xviii, 77 (Op. vol. iv, 631).
 
 262 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 301. For the protection of the community, many 
 of the States have, by special enactment, prohibited 
 masters from employing slaves in certain capacities, 
 where the opportunity and temptation to injure 
 others were placed before them, such as employing 
 them in drug stores, or to administer medicine, even 
 to other slaves not belonging to the master. 1 
 
 1 Macon v. The State, 4 Humph. 421.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 OF OFFENCES COMMITTED BY SLAVES. 
 
 302. WE have^alreadj^ seen that ^statutory 
 
 cluded by necessary im- 
 The result is, that the ordinary penal 
 code of a slaveholding State does not cover offences 
 committed by slaves, and the penalties thereby pre- 
 scribed cannot be inflicted upon them. A moment's 
 reflection would show the propriety of this principle. 
 To deprive a freeman of his liberty, is one of the 
 severest punishments the law can inflict ; and one of 
 the most ordinary, especially when the penitentiary 
 system is adopted. But to the slave this is no v 
 punishment, because he has no liberty of which to 
 be deprived. |Cyery slaveholding State has, hence, 
 found it necessary to adopt a slave code, defining 
 the offences of which a slave may be guilty, and 
 affixing the appropriate penalties therefor. 2 We 
 
 ' Ante, 94. 
 
 2 In South Carolina, it has been held, that the expression, " if 
 the crime by law deserve death," applied by implication to the 
 slave all capital crimes defined in the code. The State v. Posey, 
 4 Strobh. 125. The Alabama Code specifies how far slaves and 
 free persons of color are within its provisions, 3305.
 
 264 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 shall, hereafter, consider how far free negroes have 
 been included therein, and the reasons for this 
 course. 
 
 303. If the general penal code does not include 
 slaves, it must follow, that where the presence of 
 two or more persons is necessary, under that code, 
 to constitute an offence, slaves cannot be enumerated 
 so as to make out the offence against the white per- 
 sons present. Thus, if by statute the presence of 
 three persons is necessary to the commission of a riot, 
 two white persons cannot be found guilty on proof 
 of the presence of a slave aiding and abetting. 1 
 
 So, also, a person gaming with a slave cannot be 
 convicted under the general provisions against gam- 
 ing ; and if there be no statutory penalty, must go 
 unpunished. 2 
 
 304. Another and interesting question arises, as 
 to how far a white person may become an accessory 
 before the fact, to a slave. There seems to be no 
 difficulty in saying that a white person and a slave 
 may jointly commit an offence, and each be tried 
 and punished under their respective codes, although 
 the punishments may vary. A difficulty, however, 
 arises (in the absence of statutes) with reference to 
 accessories. For instance, the ordinary penal code 
 prescribes that the punishment for accessories before 
 the fact shall be the same with that of the principal. 
 The punishment, by the slave code, prescribed for an 
 assault with intent to murder a white person, is 
 
 1 1 am aware that it was decided otherwise in The State v. 
 Thackain & Magson, 1 Bay. 358, but, as I conceive, against prin- 
 ciple. z State v. Pemberton & Smith, 2 Dev. 281.
 
 OFFENCES COMMITTED BY SLAVES. 265 
 
 death ; while for the same offence by a white man, 
 it is merely imprisonment. If, then, a white man 
 was convicted as an accessory to a negro, in this 
 offence, what punishment would be inflicted on him? 
 The principal's punishment is death. Can the ac- 
 cessory's be the same? The difficulty is easily 
 relieved, by a provision, by statute, making the pun- 
 ishment the same as if the principal had been a 
 white person. There being no legal difficulty in the 
 way of a white person being accessory to a person 
 capable by law of committing a crime, even if that 
 person is his own slave, the Courts, without legisla- 
 tion, might construe the punishment to be as indi- 
 cated above. 1 
 
 305. If the criminal act is committed by a slave 
 under the compulsion of the master, who has the 
 right to enforce obedience, the law considers the 
 slave as the mere passive instrument in the hands 
 of the master, and inflicts punishment on him. And 
 if the person, commanding the slave to commit the 
 offence, be not the master, still, if the act is done 
 under such influence, the person commanding is 
 treated as a principal offender. In some of the 
 States, this principle has been extended to persons 
 persuading slaves to commit offences. 2 
 
 306. In minor offences, the command of the 
 master would be a perfect defence to the slave, obey- 
 ing, in good faith, such command. 3 In graver offences, 
 
 1 The State v. Posey, 4 Strobh. 103. 
 
 3 See Statutes in Georgia on this subject, New Digest (1851), 
 780, 781. 
 
 3 By express statute, in South Carolina, Statutes at Large, vii, 
 343 ; see also New Digest of Statutes of Georgia, 780, 781. 

 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 and especially capital crimes, public policy would 
 forbid such a defence as a justification, while it 
 would be always admitted in extenuation or as ex- 
 planatory of the motives of the offender. 
 
 307.) The condition of the slave renders it impos- 
 
 sible to inflict upon him the ordinary punishments, by 
 pecuniary fine, by imprisonment, or by banishment. 1 
 ('He can be reached only through his body, and hence, 
 /in cases not capital, whipping is the only punish- 
 /nient which can be inflicted. In the case of man- 
 slaughter, some of the States prescribe branding on 
 the cheek as an additional punishment, more parti- 
 cularly with a view to protect distant and innocent 
 purchasers from negroes who have been guilty of a 
 homicide. 3 The extremes, death and whipping, being 
 the only available punishments, it becomes neces- 
 sary, in forming a slave code, to throw all offences 
 < under the one or the other. Hence, many offences 
 /are, from public policy, necessarily made capital, 
 Vhich, when committed by a white person, are not. 
 /Such are, rape upon a white female ; arson in a town 
 / or city ; attempts to poison ; insurrection, &c. This 
 necessity has been felt in every country where there 
 has been slavery, and this consequent difference in 
 
 1 In Maryland, banishment is prescribed in some cases. Dorsey's 
 Laws, 702 ; also in Virginia, Rev. Code (1849), 106, 753, 754. 
 
 2 The earlier slave codes provided other punishments, mutilating 
 the bodies of the slaves, such as slitting the nose, cutting off the 
 ears, castrating, &c. These have been gradually abolished and 
 superseded. See Dorsey's Laws of Maryland, 777. Mr. Stroud 
 comments at length on the former law ; but does not allude to the 
 repealing act, which had been in existence six years before his 
 sketch was published.
 
 OFFENCES COMMITTED BY SLAVES. 267 
 
 punishments for the same offence, when committed 
 by a freeman or a slave, has always existed. 
 
 308. Another consequence of being restricted 
 to these two modes of punishment is, that in all 
 offences not capital, very great discretion neces- 
 sarily must be given to the tribunal trying the 
 offence, in regulating the amount of punishment for 
 each individual case. The varying circumstances of 
 the case, the previous character of the offender, the 
 condition of his health, &c., render it impossible for 
 a scale of punishments to be adopted, leaving nothing 
 to judicial discretion. Protected as the slave always 
 is by the presence and interest of his master, no ill 
 consequence to him ever follows this discretion. 
 
 309. These peculiarities as to the punishment 
 inflicted for the offences, thus shown to be necessary, 
 are the fruitful theme for vituperation and abuse 
 against the slaveholding States, by Mr. Stroud, in 
 his "Sketch of the Laws of Slavery," in which he 
 has only copied from Mr. Stephen similar strictures 
 on the Penal Laws of the British West Indies. 
 Theoretically it may be considered an evil, that the 
 list of capital offences should be enlarged. Practi- 
 cally the punishment is never inflicted undeservedly. 
 The slave's situation is such that the temptation to 
 commit the higher offences is very slight, and only 
 the most vicious are ever guilty of them. Execu- 
 tions of slaves for any of these offences are very 
 rare. 
 
 310. Every State, by its code, has constituted 
 the tribunals before whom slaves charged with 
 offences shall be tried. The minor offences are 
 usually disposed of by courts called together for the
 
 268 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 purpose, so as to avoid delay and costs. Capital 
 offences are, in most of the States, tried before the 
 highest County Courts ; and every guard, thrown 
 around the citizen to protect his innocence, is allowed 
 to the slave. 1 Counsel is not only allowed, but if 
 the master fails to afford it, by the laws of all and 
 the Constitutions of some, the Courts are bound to 
 appoint counsel. 2 It being the duty of the master 
 to protect the slave, and furnish him everything 
 necessary to that protection, he cannot abandon him 
 when charged with an offence. It is his duty to 
 furnish him with counsel ; if he fails to do so, he 
 will be liable for reasonable fees to such counsel as 
 afford that protection which he was bound to give. 3 
 It would seem, however, that when counsel is ap- 
 pointed by the Court, the master is not liable, as the 
 attorney is then discharging a duty incumbent on 
 him, by virtue of his relation to the Court. 4 
 
 311. A fair trial by jury, in all graver cases, is 
 
 1 Maryland, Dorsey's Laws, &c. 92 ; Virginia, Kev. Code (1849), 
 753, 754; North Carolina, Rev. Statutes (1837), 581, 582, &o.; 
 South Carolina, Statutes at Large, vii, 354 et seq.; Georgia, Cobb's 
 New-Digest (1851), 851, 982, 986, 1019; Alabama, Code of 1852, 
 595 ; Mississippi, Hutchinson's Code, 521, 949 ; Arkansas, Dig. 
 of 1848, Part XII, ch. li; Missouri, Rev. Statutes (1845), 413; 
 Tennessee, Caruthers & Nich. Dig. 675, 683; Texas, Hartley's 
 Digest, 2539 et seq. ; Delaware, Rev. Code (1852), ch. Ixxx, 
 25. 
 
 2 See Rev. Statutes of North Carolina (1837), 583 ; Rev. Code 
 of Virginia (1849), 787 ; Constitution of Arkansas, 25 ; Consti- 
 tution of Missouri, Art. iii, 27. 
 
 3 See Macon v. Davis, 13 Ga. 68 ; Rev. Stat. of North Carolina, 
 583; Rev. Code of Virginia, 787; Code of Alabama (1852), 
 3329 ; Hutchinson's Miss. Code, 522. 
 
 * Manning v. Cordell, 6 Miss. 471.
 
 OFFENCES COMMITTED BY SLAVES. 269 
 
 granted by the statutes of every State; and the 
 same safeguards, to secure impartiality, are thrown 
 around their selection, as is afforded to a citizen 
 charged with a like offence. 1 
 
 So, also, that principle of law which protects a 
 citizen from being twice charged criminally with the 
 same offence, throws its shield over the slave. So 
 that, if an inferior Court take cognizance of an act 
 committed by a slave, and inflicts punishment there- 
 for, this sentence may be pleaded in bar in a higher 
 tribunal, where the slave is charged capitally for the 
 same offence. 2 
 
 312. The same rules which govern the Courts, 
 as to the frame of the indictment and the order of 
 pleading in ordinary cases, apply to cases against 
 slaves, except where they are necessarily inappli- 
 cable from the nature and condition of the slave. 3 
 Descriptive allegations in the indictment should 
 therefore be made with reasonable certainty ; 4 and if 
 the Court be of limited jurisdiction, the facts neces- 
 sary to give jurisdiction should be stated. 5 If, how- 
 ever, the Court is of general jurisdiction, these alle- 
 gations are unnecessary. 6 
 
 313. The right of the master to control his 
 
 1 In the following States, by their Constitutions, Alabama, Mis- 
 souri, Arkansas, Texas. By statutes, Maryland, Virginia, North 
 Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, 
 Mississippi. In North Carolina, by Act of 1793, the jury must be 
 of slave-owners. See State v. Ivin, 1 Dev. 142. 
 
 2 Ex parte, Jesse Brown, 2 Bailey, 323. In Georgia by statute, 
 Cobb's New Dig. 984. 
 
 3 The State v. Posey, 4 Strobh. 103. 
 
 Wash v. The State, 14 S. & M. 120. 
 5 State v. Peter, Geo. Dec. Pt. I, 46. 
 8 Anthony v. The State, 9 Geo. 264.
 
 270 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 slave is subordinate to the right of the State to hold 
 the slave amenable to its laws ; but it continues even 
 during the trial of the slave, so far as it does not 
 interfere with the latter and superior right. Hence, 
 the master, during the progress of the cause, may 
 make consents and waivers which' will be binding 
 on the slave, such as agreements to a mistrial, or the 
 withdrawal of a juror. 1 
 
 All motions or responses to motions, must be made 
 by the master or the counsel of the slave. 
 
 314. A consequence of the subordination of the 
 master's rights to the superior rights of the State is, 
 that the master cannot legally obstruct his arrest or 
 assist his escape. For the latter case, many of the 
 States have provided penalties. 2 Independent of 
 these, the master would not only be an accessory 
 after the fact, but any sale of the slave, even to an 
 innocent purchaser, would be void, as against public 
 policy. 3 
 
 315. The rules of evidence are the same as those 
 which are administered in other criminal cases, 4 ex- 
 cept that slaves and free persons of color are compe- 
 tent witnesses for or against the prisoner. 6 Hence, 
 it is illegal to admit in evidence the opinion of the 
 committing magistrate, that the slave was guilty of 
 
 1 Elijah v. The State, 1 Humph. 102. 
 3 Georgia, New Dig. (1851), 975. 
 
 3 Doughty v. Owen, 24 Miss. 404. 
 
 4 The State v. Ben, 1 Hawks, 434. In Georgia, by express 
 statute, Cobb's New Dig. (1851), 986. 
 
 * In Maryland and South Carolina, their testimony must be cor- 
 roborated by pregnant circumstances. Dorsey's Laws, &c. 92 ; Stat. 
 at Large, vii, 356.
 
 OFFENCES COMMITTED BY SLATES. 271 
 
 a capital offence. 1 So, also, the good character of 
 the slave is admissible to repel the presumption of 
 guilt. 3 And, on the other hand, his bad character 
 cannot be placed in issue, except in the same man- 
 ner as- that of other persons charged with a crime. 
 So, as a general rule, confessions made by slaves are 
 admissible in evidence on the same terms as in other 
 cases, but they should be received with great caution, 
 and allowed but little weight, especially when made 
 to the jailor or arresting officers, for the habit of 
 obedience in the slave compels him to answer all 
 questions of the idlest curiosity, while his menda- 
 cious disposition will always involve even the most 
 innocent in the most contradictory inconsistencies. 
 
 316. Is the master a competent witness for or 
 against the slave ? In the former case he has large 
 pecuniary interests in securing an acquittal. In the 
 latter, in many of the States, he is liable for costs 
 on conviction, and, quoad hoc, is a party to the case. 
 The better opinion is, that he is a competent wit- 
 ness in either case. In the words of Chief Justice 
 Henderson, " the interest at stake being so entirely 
 different from that which is brought forward to pro- 
 tect the witness from giving evidence, or to exclude 
 him if willing, is not to be weighed in the same 
 balances with mere pecuniary interest. It is so 
 transcendent in its nature, that its weight is not to 
 be ascertained by mere money balances." 3 
 
 1 Allen v. The State, 9 Geo. 492. 
 
 2 Pierce v. Myrick, 1 Dev. 845 ; Dave v. The State, 22 Ala. 
 N. S. 33. 
 
 3 The State v. Charity, 2 Dev. 547. The judgment of the Court 
 was the other way; but I adopt, as the better law, the dissenting
 
 272 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 317. A more difficult question is presented in 
 the admissibility of confessions made by the slave 
 to the master. The former is bound, and habituated 
 to obey every command and wish of the latter. He 
 has no will to refuse obedience, even when it involves 
 his life. The master is his protector, his counsel, 
 his confidant. He cannot, if he will, seek the advice 
 and direction of legal counsel. Every consideration 
 which induces the law to protect from disclosures 
 confidential communications made to legal advisers, 
 applies with increased force to communications made 
 (l>y a slave to his master. Moreover, experience 
 shows, that the slave is always ready to mould his 
 \answers so as to please the master, and that no con- 
 (fidence can be placed in the truth of his statements. 
 Such communications should be excluded from the 
 jury; nor should they be admitted even if the mas- 
 ter was willing to testify ; for, unfortunately, there 
 are many masters who would not have the moral 
 courage to plead their privilege, under such circum- 
 stances. 1 
 
 318. Slaves, not being included in the ordinary 
 criminal laws, cannot be bailed by the master after 
 commitment, and before trial, unless by express sta- 
 tutory provision. Should bail be allowed, the master 
 and his sureties might be responsible on their bond 
 as a voluntary obligation, but the officer taking it 
 would be liable for an escape. 
 
 319. We shall see hereafter how far the master 
 
 opinion of the Chief Justice. In Georgia, he is made, by statute, 
 a competent witness. New Dig. 974. 
 
 1 The State v. Charity, 2 Dev. 543; especially the able Opinion 
 of C. J. Henderson.
 
 OFFENCES COMMITTED BY SLAVES. 273 
 
 is liable for the acts of his slave. Criminal acts not 
 done by his order, do not create a responsibility upon 
 the master. Hence, in the absence of express sta- 
 tute, he would not be liable for the costs upon a con- 
 viction. In nearly all the States, this question has 
 been regulated by statute. On the other hand, he 
 would have no claim upon the State for his loss, 
 arising from the execution of the slave. In some of 
 the States, to induce masters not to screen their 
 slaves from prosecution for offences, a part or all of 
 the value of a slave executed is paid by the State. 
 
 320. It will not be within our plan to analyze 
 the several slave codes of each State, and specify the 
 acts which, when committed by slaves, are declared 
 thereby to be crimes ; nor to point out the tribunals 
 established in each State, for the trial and punish- 
 ment of these crimes. These laws vary somewhat 
 in the several States, being more or less rigid, ac- 
 cording to the situation and feelings of the citizens 
 of each. Thus, in some States, insolence of a slave 
 towards a white person, is an offence for which he 
 may be tried and punished. 1 While, in most of the 
 States, such conduct is left to be punished by the 
 master on complaint, or redressed by the person so 
 offended by chastisement, he being liable for any 
 excess. 2 It follows, from what we have previously 
 said, that no Court has jurisdiction of offences by 
 slaves, except those to which such jurisdiction is 
 granted by statute. 3 
 
 1 Per O'Neal, J., in Ex parte Boylston, 2 Strobh. 41 ; Hutch- 
 inson's Mississippi Code, 517. 
 8 State v. Jarrott, 1 Ired. 76. 
 See State v. Mary Hage, 1 Bailey, 275. 
 18
 
 274 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 321. If the statute defining the crimes of which 
 slaves may be guilty, does not enumerate them, but 
 after specifying capital crimes, declares that " all 
 other offences," when committed by slaves, shall be 
 punished, &C., 1 the Court must look to the general 
 penal code for the " other offences," in their nature 
 applicable to slaves, and cannot punish for any act 
 not thereby declared penal. 2 
 
 322. We have heretofore considered how far the 
 slave is justified in repelling force by force. 3 " Vim 
 vi defendere, omnes leges omniaque jura permit- 
 tunt." " To repel force by force, all systems of 
 law permit." But as a certain amount of force is 
 legally exercised over the slave, to justify^ is resist- 
 ance by force it must appear that such resistance 
 was^necess^ary^ to protect his right of self-preserva- 
 tion^either as to life or limb. But even this must 
 be receivecTwlth some qualification, for if the slave 
 was originally the wrongdoer, and resisting lawful 
 authority, he cannot afterwards justify a homicide, 
 by showing a reasonable sense of imminent danger 
 to his own life. 4 
 
 323. We have also seen that, while the homi- 
 cide of a white person by a slave may be the offence 
 of manslaughter, 5 yet the same provocation which 
 will so reduce the offence in a citizen, will not in a 
 slave. A legal provocation for a slave, is such as, 
 having due regard to the relative condition of the 
 
 > As in Georgia, New Dig. 987. 
 
 3 See Grady v. The State, 11 Geo. 253. 
 
 3 Ante, 98, 99. 
 
 4 Dave v. The State, 22 Ala. N. S. 35; The State v. Will, 1 
 Dev. & Bat. 121. 5 Ante, 99.
 
 OFFENCES COMMITTED BY SLAVES. 275 
 
 white man and the slave, and the obligation of the 
 latter to conform his instinct and his passions to his 
 condition of inferiority, would provoke a well-dis- 
 posed slave into a violent passion. 1 Hence, the mere 
 fact of an engagement, on a sudden heat of passion, 
 would not of itself form such a provocation. 2 
 
 324. Subordination and obedience being not only 
 the duty of the slave, but absolutely necessary to the 
 preservation of social order, insubordination, and in- 
 surrection or rebellion, are offences recognized and 
 punished severely in all the States. The slave be- 
 comes an outlaw so soon as he places himself in a 
 state of insurrection, and by many of the codes his 
 homicide is justified. It becomes, then, a question 
 of importance to define accurately what constitutes 
 the offence of insurrection or rebellion. Mere in- 
 subordination does not, else every fugitive slave 
 would be in a state of insurrection ; and yet, to a 
 certain extent, every runaway is rebelling against 
 the authority of the master. On the other hand, it 
 is not necessary that there should be a concerted 
 plot or conspiracy, on the part of several slaves, to 
 constitute an insurrection, else a single slave might 
 defy all peaceable attempts to recapture him. The 
 ingredients, therefore, necessary to place a slave in 
 a state of insurrection or rebellion are, that he 
 
 1 The State v. Jarrott, 1 Ired. 76. An able Opinion by Judge 
 Gaston. 
 
 2 Ibid. In The State v. Caesar, 9 Ired. 391, the beating of 
 prisoner's friend by drunken rowdies, was held a sufficient provo- 
 cation by a majority of the Court. But qucere of the correctness 
 of this decision ? Had it been his wife, or his child, there would 
 have been more excuse for the sudden heat of passion.
 
 276 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 should be openly resisting lawful authority, and that 
 this resistance should be by such force as indicates 
 an intention to maintain it to the shedding of blood. 1 
 
 325. It follows from this, that a master, over- 
 seer, or employer, cannot be justified in killing or 
 maiming a slave merely for the purpose of subduing 
 him. 2 Nor would either of these, or a patroller, be 
 authorized to maim or kill a slave who is seeking, 
 without such force, to escape from their control. 3 
 Much less would one, who had no lawful right to 
 control the slave, be protected in perpetrating such 
 acts. 4 
 
 326. A question suggests itself here which, per- 
 haps, would more properly be considered hereafter, 
 in connection with the master's rights for illegal 
 interference with and trespasses upon his slave ; and 
 that is, how far a third person, who persuades or 
 compels, or otherwise induces a slave to commit a 
 crime by which his life is forfeited, is liable to the 
 master in damages for the injury to his property. It 
 has been held, properly, that if a person furnishes 
 spirituous liquors to a slave, sufficient to intoxicate 
 him, and this drunkenness causes the slave to expose 
 himself so as to produce death, the person furnishing 
 the liquors is liable to the master for the value of 
 his slave. 5 On principle, it would seem, that if the 
 
 See Dave v. The State, 22 Ala. N. S. 33. 
 
 3 Wooley v. The State, 11 Humph. 172. 
 
 3 Ante, 96; Brooks v. Ashburn, 9 Ga. 298; The State v. Will, 
 1 Dev. & Bat. 166 ; Copeland v. Parker, 3 Ired. 513. 
 
 Arthur v. Wells, 2 Rep. Con. C. S. C. 314; 1 Nott & McC. 
 182. 
 
 5 Harrison v. Berkeley, 1 Strobh. 125.
 
 OFFENCES COMMITTED BY SLAVES. 277 
 
 crime by the slave is the immediate and proximate 
 effect of the conduct of the person commanding or 
 persuading, he would be liable to the master in 
 damages. But if the crime cannot be traced as the 
 natural and proximate consequence of such person's 
 misconduct, and uncontrolled by the agency of the 
 slave himself, he is not liable. 1 
 
 1 Kelly v. The City Council, 4 Rich. 426.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 OF MANUMISSION, AND HEREIN OF DIRECT 
 MANUMISSION BY DEED. 
 
 327. WE come next to consider in what manner 
 the slave may be relieved from his bondage, and the 
 effect of such release. Manumission is as universal 
 as slavery ; wherever the latter existed, the privi- 
 lege of being relieved therefrom has concurrently 
 been acknowledged, more or less trammelled by for- 
 malities or conditions, according to the policy of the 
 State.' 
 
 The act, manumission, derives its name from the 
 Roman law. The English writers adopted with the 
 name, the definition and explanation. Thus Glan- 
 ville : " Est libertatis datio, nam quamdiu quis in 
 servitute est, manui et potestati sui domini sup- 
 positus est ; et cum manumissus fuerit, iose est a 
 manu et potestate domini sui liberatus." 3 " It is the 
 gift of liberty ; for one in slavery is supposed to be 
 in the hand or power of his master, and when he is 
 manumitted, he is liberated from the hand and power 
 
 1 Colchester v. Lyme, 13 Conn. 277. 
 3 Institutes, Lib. I, tit. v. 
 
 8 Lib. V, ch. v ; Lib. II, ch. xiv ; see also Bracton, Lib. I, ch. 
 v, 8; Brit. fol. 78.
 
 MANUMISSION. 279 
 
 of his master." So Littleton : " Manumittere quod 
 idem est quod extra manum, vel extra potestatem 
 alterius ponere." 1 " To manumit, which is to place 
 one beyond or without the hand (manum) or power 
 of another." 
 
 328. The right to manumit a slave, arising from 
 the power of the owner of property to renounce his 
 right to him, requires no permission or sanction of 
 law to give it validity and effect. On the contrary, 
 it requires the most explicit prohibition of law to 
 restrain this right. 2 Considerations of public policy 
 have imposed restraints upon, and in some cases pro- 
 hibited entirely, the exercise of this right. 3 We will 
 consider these as we progress in this investigation. 
 Unrestrained by statute, then, every owner may 
 manumit his slave, provided he or she labors not 
 under some disability, such as nonage, or coverture, 
 or lunacy, or duress. 4 
 
 329. Manumission being the disclaimer of 
 ownership, of course no one can manumit who is not 
 the owner. 5 Hence, one of several joint owners 
 
 1 Sect. 204 ; see Coke's Comments. 
 
 3 McCuthen et al. v. Marshall et al. 8 Peters, 238. 
 
 3 Ibid. Montesquieu, in vindication of the necessity and policy 
 of such restraints, mentions the fact of the freedmen among the 
 Volsinienses, becoming masters of the suffrages, making an abo- 
 minable law, giving themselves the right of lying first with the girls 
 married to the free born. Esprit des Lois, Liv. XV, ch. xvii. 
 
 4 In some States, infants above a certain age, though still minors, 
 may manumit. Minney v. Cartwright, 3 Marsh. 493. Like all 
 other contracts by infants, the manumission is only defeasible by 
 him. 10 John. 132. The civil law allowed minors to manumit 
 under certain circumstances. Henry's Points in Manumission. 
 
 5 Ferguson et al. v. Sarah, 4 J. J. Marsh. 103; Wallingsford v. 
 Allen, 10 Peters, 583. So a deed by the true owner will not effect
 
 280 LAW OF NEGRO 'SLAVERY. 
 
 cannot, and the result would be the renunciation of 
 his right to the benefit of his co-tenants ; the exer- 
 cise of it, by the slave, being inconsistent with their 
 rights. 1 Such was the German law : " Servus com- 
 munis ab uno sociorum, e manu dimissus illico, liber 
 non fieret, quin potius altera pars servi accresceret 
 alteri socio, qui in manumissionem non consensisset." 3 
 "A slave held in common, and manumitted by one 
 of the co-tenants, will not be made free, but rather 
 the interest of the other tenant, who did not consent 
 to the manumission, will be increased to that extent." 
 
 The manumission is effectual so far as to deprive 
 the person manumitting of his interest, which he 
 cannot recall. 3 
 
 330. So the persons entitled only to the use and 
 profits of slaves cannot manumit them, they having 
 no title. Thus the ecclesiastics could not manumit 
 the slaves attached to the Church. In favor of 
 liberty, one of the councils decreed, that such manu- 
 
 emancipation against one who has held by adverse possession for 
 the period limited by the statute. Givens and another v. Mann, 
 6 Munf. 191. Such was also the civil law. Voet, ad Pandectas, 
 tit. De Rei Vindicatione, N. 17. 
 
 1 Thompson v. Thompson, 4 B. Monr. 505. This was in accord- 
 ance with the civil law right, "jus accrescendi." Justinian, 
 however, decreed that the joint owner should accept a fair compen- 
 sation for his interest from the slave. Dig- xl, 12, 30 ; 2 Inst. 
 tit. 7 ; contra Oatfield v. Waring, 14 John. R. 188. The rule of 
 this case is correct, perhaps, when the co-tenant manumitting has 
 exclusive possession. His co-tenant may treat the manumission as 
 a conversion. Even this, however, would be at his election. 
 
 2 Potgies. De Stat. Serv. Lib. IV, cap. ii, 3. 
 
 3 Thompson v. Thompson, 4 B. Monr. 505 j 8 Id. 544. In the 
 latter case, it is held, that if a majority of the co-tenants join in the 
 manumission, the gift of liberty is perfect. But qucere?
 
 MANUMISSION. 281 
 
 mission should be valid if the ecclesiastics would 
 replace two slaves for every one thus manumitted. 1 
 
 So, a tenant for life cannot enfranchise the slave, 
 to the destruction of the interests in remainder ; and 
 as the law cannot recognize a temporary freedom, 
 the gift would operate as a renunciation of the life- 
 estate in favor of the remaindermen. 2 On the con- 
 trary, the remaindermen may manumit, to take 
 effect at the death of the tenant for life. 
 
 So, also, in those States where the widow is enti- 
 tled to one-third of her husband's personal estate, a 
 clause of manumission in his will cannot affect her 
 rights. 3 In fact, even the State cannot manumit a 
 slave so long as slavery exists, without the master's 
 consent. 4 
 
 331. So, again, a person may not manumit his 
 slave, so as to relieve himself from any forfeiture or 
 liability which he may have incurred by reason of 
 such ownership, either for the support of the aged 
 and infirm, or for damages for injuries done to ano- 
 ther. Nor can an insolvent manumit his slaves to 
 the damage of his creditors. 5 The Roman law re- 
 
 1 Potgies. Lib. IV, cap. ii, 4. 
 
 3 See Tom Davis v. Tingle, 8 B. Monr. 542. 
 
 8 See Virginia Rev. Code, 525; Miss. Rev. Code, 386; 2 Litt. 
 & Swift's Dig. 1246. 
 
 4 Allen v. Peden, 2 Law Rep. 638. 
 
 5 Allen v. Jim Sharp, 7 Gill & J. 96. The onus of impeaching 
 the deed lies on the creditor. 7 Gill & J. 96. If the slave has 
 actually enjoyed freedom under the deed of manumission, and the 
 deed is set aside, not for fraud, but simply as avoiding the rights 
 of creditors, it has been held, that it was effectual till set aside, 
 and issue born pending the time are free. Parks v. Hewlett, &c. 
 9 Leigh, 511 ; Union Bank v. Benham, 23 Ala. 143.
 
 282 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 quired that it should be done with intent to defraud, 
 else it should be valid. The same distinction is re- 
 cognized in some of the States. 1 
 
 So, also, the Roman law forbade persons con- 
 demned to die, or those condemned to slavery as a 
 punishment to manumit their slaves. 2 
 
 332. Almost every State has placed some re- 
 straint as to the slaves capable of being manumitted. 
 Thus, the old and sick, who would become burdens 
 on the community, and the young and feeble, inca- 
 pable of supplying their own wants, are by many 
 laws forbidden the right of emancipation ; certain 
 ages being specified between which the right of ac- 
 cepting freedom is allowed. 3 
 
 So, also, the disposition to manumit has in some 
 countries so depopulated the farms and multiplied 
 the number of idle drones, that restrictions have 
 been found necessary as to the number emanci- 
 pated. 4 
 
 Restraints on manumission were common in all 
 the English West Indies prior to the Emancipation 
 "Act. Manumission by implication was not recog- 
 nized. In St. Vincents, one hundred pounds sterling 
 
 > Ayliffe's Pandect of Civil Law, Bk. II, tit. viii, p. 90. Fer- 
 guson et al. v. Sarah, 4 J. J. Marsh. 103. See Revised Code of 
 Virginia, 434 ; Mississippi Rev. Code, 386 ; Civil Code of Loui- 
 siana, Art. 190 ; 2 Litt. & Swift's Digest, 1155. 
 
 2 Aylifle, as above. The Lex Aelia Sentia, and Lex Junia Nor- 
 bana, were the principal laws restraining manumission. The Lex 
 Fusia Caninia was made to prevent imprudent manumissions by 
 will. 
 
 3 Trudeau's Exr. v. Robinette, 4 Martin (La.), 577. 
 
 4 Potgies. Lib. IV, cap. ii ; 6. Thomas, Dissertat. de Imped. 
 Manumis. cap. iv.
 
 MANUMISSION. 
 
 was required to be paid into the treasury, for each 
 slave sought to be manumitted. 1 
 
 333. Manumission may be either in presenti or 
 infuturo, unless restricted by statute. In the latter 
 case the condition of slavery remains until the time 
 when the manumission takes effect. 3 Such persons 
 are called by the Roman law statuliberi. In the 
 meantime, their issue are slaves. In the former 
 case, the manumission takes effect immediately, and 
 their future issue are free. A reservation in the 
 deed that the issue shall be slaves, would be void. 3 
 We have, under a former chapter, considered the 
 several questions arising from these general princi- 
 ples as to the status of the issue, and shall not re- 
 peat them here.4 
 
 334. There is no middle ground between slavery 
 and freedom ; no such thing as qualified freedom, or 
 qualified slavery. If the negro is a slave, he cannot 
 enjoy any of the rights of a freeman, denied to 
 other slaves. If he is free, he cannot be forced to 
 submit to any bonds, not imposed on other free per- 
 sons of color. 5 
 
 335. At the same time the law does not prohibit 
 a master, either in a sale, or gift, or bequest, from in- 
 serting a provision looking to the comfort of a slave, 
 such as the payment of a small annuity, the en- 
 
 1 2 H. Black. 514, note. 
 
 * Mayho v. Sears, 3 Iredell, 227. 
 8 Fulton v. Shaw, 4 Rand. 597. 
 
 * Ante, chap, iii, 70 to 82. 
 
 5 Henry v. Nunn, 11 B. Monr. 239; Wynn et al. v. Carroll et 
 al. 2 Grat. 227.
 
 284 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 forcement of humane treatment, &C. 1 And, though 
 the slave has no legal remedy by which to enforce 
 such provisions, a condition for the forfeiture of the 
 title upon a failure to perform, would be enforced in 
 favor of the person entitled in such an event. 
 
 336. Manumission may be either direct and in- 
 tentional, or indirect and by implication ; of the former 
 class are manumission by deed, by will, or by con- 
 tract ; of the latter, are manumission by effect of 
 law, either foreign or domestic, and by implication. 
 "We will consider of these as far as possible in the 
 order in which they are named. 
 
 337. Manumission by deed has been as ancient 
 as the art of writing ; a but in this class we include 
 not only written deeds, but every express act, inter 
 vivos, granting liberty to the slave. These were very 
 various in different nations. 
 
 No particular formality was prescribed by the 
 Grecian laws, nor were such required at Rome 
 during the earlier days of the kingdom and repub- 
 lic. Subsequently, by various decrees, certain pre- 
 'scribed forms were to be complied with ; and, at a 
 
 1 Spalding v. Grigg. 4 Geo. 75; Drane v. Beall, 21 Ga. 23. But 
 see Cunningham v. Cunningham, Conf. Rep. 353. 
 
 * The following is the form of an ancient deed of manumission : 
 "Te ilium aut ilium ex familia nostra a presente die, ab omni vin- 
 culo servitutis absolvimus, ita ut deinceps, tanquam si ab ingenuis 
 parentibus fuisses procreatus, vitam ducas ingenuam, et nulli 
 hsereduin aut prohasredum nostrorum vel cuicunque servitium nee 
 libertinitatis obsequium debeas, nisi soli Deo, cui omnia subjecta 
 sunt ; peculiari concesso, quod habes, aut deinceps elaborare poteris." 
 Marculfus, Lib. II, forms 32, 33, 34. For various forms, see Du 
 Gauge's Glossary, " Manumissio ;" also Appendix to Potgiesser, 
 p. 920 et seq.
 
 MANUMISSION. 285 
 
 still later day, the consent of a tribunal, established 
 for that purpose, was necessary to make valid the 
 manumission. The usual forms were the census his- 
 trails, the vindicta, and the testamentum. 1 The first 
 was effected by the master's entering the name of 
 the slave upon the list of citizens. The second was 
 the stroke from the vindicta, or freedom-rod, of the 
 preetor. 2 The last was by will, thus : Cicero, si neque 
 censu, neque vindicta, nee testamento liber factus est, 
 nan est liber* The former mode went into disuse 
 about the time of Vespasian. Constantine substi- 
 tuted in its place the manumission in sacrosanctis 
 ecclesiis, whereby, in the presence of the congrega- 
 tion, on a feast day, either orally or in writing, de- 
 clared the slave to be free. In the time of Justinian 
 other modes were allowed, as by letter, in the pre- 
 sence of friends, &c. 4 Among the Germans and 
 Lombards, the manumission in the church, circa 
 altare, gave the name of tabularii to the freedmen. 
 A mode peculiar to the Franks was, for the master 
 to strike a small piece of money (denarius) from 
 the hands of the slave in the presence of the king! 
 These freedmen were called denariales.' Another 
 
 i Brown's Civil Law, Bk. I, ch. iii. 
 
 3 After the slave was tapped with the vindicta or praetor's rod, 
 his head was shaved, and the cap of liberty put upon it. Hence, 
 doubtless, the origin of the liberty cap elevated on a wand, in the 
 hands of the Goddess of Liberty. 
 
 8 Heinec. Elem. Juris. Lib. I, tit. v, 94 et seq. 
 
 4 Heinec. as above. Justin. Inst. Lib. I, tit. v, 1, 2 ; Ayliffe's 
 Pand. 90. Potgiesser throws some doubt upon Constantino's being 
 entitled to the credit of originating this mode of manumission. 
 Lib. IV, ch. iv, v. 
 
 5 These occupied a more honorable position than the ordinary 
 freedmen. Potgies. Lib. IV, cap. iii, 7.
 
 286 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 mode among the Lombards was to carry a slave to a 
 point where two roads crossed, and then to utter, in 
 the presence of witnesses, these words : " De quatuor 
 viis, ubi volueris ambulare, liberam habeas potesta- 
 tem." 1 There were other modes, per Hantradam, 
 per impetus, per sagittam, per arma, in mallo publico, 
 &c., practised among these nations, but not worthy 
 a specific description. 2 
 
 338. In England, similar modes of manumis- 
 sion were adopted from the earliest time. Manu- 
 mission at the altar is provided for as early as the 
 laws of King Withraed. 3 Full directions to be fol- 
 lowed at the County Court are given in the laws of 
 William the Conqueror, even to the " libera arma, 
 scilicet lancea et gladium," which were to be given 
 to the freedmen. The laws of Henry I prescribed 
 four different places where manumission might be 
 effected : in ecdesid, vel mercato, vel comitatu, vel liun- 
 dreto, and a record thereof is required to be kept. 
 The reason given is rather curious : " Quia multi 
 potentes volunt, si possunt, defendere homines suos, 
 modo pro servo, modo pro libero, sicut interim faci- 
 lius sit." 4 It would seem from this, that the differ- 
 ence between the actual condition of the slave and 
 the bondman was not very distinctly marked. 
 
 339. In America, unless restricted by statutory 
 regulations, it has been held, in accordance with the 
 principles of the common law, that no formal mode 
 
 1 Heinec. Elem. Jur. Germ. Lib. I, tit. ii, 49 to 53 ; Potgies. 
 De Stat. &c. Lib. IV, cap. iii. 
 
 8 Potgies. De Stat. Serv. Lib. IV, cap. i, v. 
 3 Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, 17. 
 * Ibid. 213, 254.
 
 MANUMISSION. 287 
 
 or prescribed words were necessary to effectuate the 
 manumission of slaves j 1 that it might be effected 
 by parol, and any words were sufficient which evi- 
 denced a renunciation of dominion on the part of 
 the master, either in presenti or at a specified future 
 period. 2 On the contrary, declarations of an inten- 
 tion, however specific, will be insufficient, unless 
 subsequently carried into effect. 3 
 
 340. In every slaveholding State, however, re- 
 strictions, more or less stringent, have been placed 
 upon the manumission of negro slaves, and condi- 
 tions prescribed to regulate the exercise of this pri- 
 vilege by the master. According as the policy of 
 the legislation of each State inclined for or against 
 the increase of a free colored population, so the ten- 
 dency of the Courts has been either to adopt the 
 maxim of the civil law, " In obscura voluntate 
 manumittentis favendum est libertati," 4 or, on the 
 other hand, to hold the exercise of this privilege by 
 the master within the strict letter of the law. The 
 result is, a contrariety of decisions, varying more 
 according to the " latitude" of the Courts than the 
 ability of the Judges. Our course shall be "the 
 middle way, in which is safety." 5 
 
 1 Lewis v. Simonton, 8 Humph. 189; Fox v. Lanbron, 3 Halst. 
 275. 
 
 3 The State v. Admrs. of Prall, Coxe, 4 ; Geer v. Huntington, 
 2 Root, 364. 
 
 3 The State v. Frees, Coxe, 259 ; Bazzi v. Rose, &c. 8 Mart. 
 149; In the matter of Nan Mickel, 14 John. 324; 19 John. 53. 
 
 4 Dig. Lib. L, tit. xvii, 179. 
 
 5 For the laws as to manumission : 
 
 In Maryland, Dorsey's Laws, &c. 337, 342, 597 V 
 " Virginia, Revised Code, 458-9, and note to 459.
 
 288 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 341. Where the law requires the manumission 
 to be by " instrument in writing," no formal words 
 are necessary. A certificate or letter of manumis- 
 sion will be a compliance with the statute. 1 If there 
 be a condition precedent to its taking effect, such as 
 that the slave shall serve faithfully a certain period 
 of time, then the deed takes effect only when that 
 condition is performed. 2 If, however, the manumis- 
 sion be immediate, and there is a subsequent reser- 
 vation of services, the slave is emancipated, not- 
 withstanding a failure to perform those services. 3 
 A sale, subsequent to the deed in the former case, 
 and prior to the performance of the condition, would 
 convey a perfect title to the purchaser. In the 
 latter, the sale would pass no title, the master 
 having parted with his dominion. 4 
 
 342. To effect manumission by a written instru- 
 ment, it must show a renunciation, by the master, 
 
 In North Carolina, Revised Statutes (1837), 585 et seq. 
 " South Carolina, Stat. at Large, viii, 442, 443, 459; Abstract 
 
 of Slave Laws by Judge O'Neal. 
 " Georgia, Cobb's New Dig. (1851), 983, 991, 1125. 
 " Alabama, Code of 1852, 2044, 5 to 8. 
 ' Mississippi, Hutchinson's Code, 523, 539. 
 ' Louisiana, Civil Code, Art. 184 et seq. 
 1 Arkansas, Dig. of 1848, 65, 476. 
 ' Missouri, Digest of Statutes (1845), ch. 167, Art. 2. 
 ' Tennessee, Caruthers & Nicholson's Dig. 277 et seq. 
 ' Texas, Hartley's Digest, Constitution, 37. 
 1 Delaware, Rev. Code (1852), ch. 80, sec. 5. 
 > Minney v. Cartwright, 3 Marsh. 493. 
 
 2 Julien v. Langlish, 9 Mart. (La.) 205 ; Dunlap v. Archer, 7 
 Dana, 30 ; Kettletas v. Fleet, 7 John. 324. 
 
 3 Isaac v. West, 6 Rand. 561. 
 
 4 Thrift v. Hannah, 2 Leigh, 300; Case of Tom, 5 John. 365.
 
 MANUMISSION. 289 
 
 of his dominion over the slave. Hence, a mere 
 permit to the slave " to go about his lawful busi- 
 ness," with the addition, " this is not to operate as 
 a pass if he should ever return to the State of Mary- 
 land, but he shall be liable to be taken up and treated 
 as a slave," was held not to be a manumission, the 
 negro having returned to Maryland. 1 But, if there 
 be an actual manumission, such a condition subse- 
 quent, would be inconsistent with the gift, inopera- 
 tive and void. 2 
 
 343. Wherever the State has prescribed certain 
 formalities which must be complied with, or placed 
 any restrictions upon the exercise of the power of 
 manumission, it is necessary to show a compliance 
 with these formalities or restrictions, before the deed 
 can take effect. 3 Thus, if the statute requires the 
 registry of the deed, the slave is not free until the 
 record is complete. 4 So, where the assent of the 
 State, through its Legislature, or County Court or 
 other officer, is necessary to manumission, the act is 
 not complete until such assent is given. 5 It seems, 
 
 1 Maverick v. Stokes, 2 Bay. 511 j 1 Brev. 273. 
 
 3 Spencer v. Dennis, 8 Gill. 314; Forward v. Tharner, 9 Grat- 
 tan, 537. 
 
 Clara v. Meagher, 5 Har. & J. Ill ; 14 John. 324 ; 19 Ib. 53 ; 
 The State v. Emmons, 1 Penn. 10; Roberts v. Mellugen, 9 Miss. 
 170. But see State v. Pitney, Coxe, 165 ; Reuben v. Parrish, 6 
 Humph. 122. 
 
 4 Givens v. Mann, 6 Munf. 191; Donaldson v. Jude, 1 Bibb, 
 57 (see 2 J. J. Marsh. 230); Sawney v. Carter, 6 Rand. 173; 
 Thrift v. Hannah, 2 Leigh, 300 ; Miller v. Herbert, 5 Howard, 
 U. S. 72. 
 
 4 Bryan v. Dennis, 4 Florida, 445. Held otherwise in Tennes- 
 see. 8 Humph. 185 ; 10 Ibid. 332. 
 19
 
 290 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 however, that this assent may be given even before 
 the deed is executed ; and in that event the deed 
 takes effect immediately. 1 It is not necessary, in 
 those States where the assent of a Court is required 
 to be given on certain conditions, that the order of 
 the Court should show that these conditions were 
 complied with. The judgment of the Court will 
 be conclusive until set aside, and cannot be' collate- 
 rally attacked. 3 It is not conclusive, however, as to 
 facts recited outside of the action of the Court. 
 Thus an order, that a slave be manumitted "agree- 
 ably to a deed which said G. had filed," is not con- 
 clusive evidence that such a deed was duly exe- 
 cuted. 3 
 
 344. In several of the States domestic manu- 
 mission, that is, manumission to take effect within 
 the State, is prohibited, the increase of free negroes 
 being declared against their policy. Of course all 
 deeds or wills attempting to manumit in opposition 
 to such policy, are pro tanto void. 4 But even in 
 these States it is allowed, by deed or will, to provide 
 for the immediate transfer of the slaves to some 
 other State or country where manumission is allowed, 
 
 1 6 Yerg. 119 j or afterwards see Donaldson v. Jude ; 2 Bibb, 57. 
 
 2 Samson v. Burgwin, 3 Dev. & Bat. 28 ; Hartsell v. George, 3 
 Humph. 255 ; Greenlow v. Rawlings, 3 Humph. 90 ; Stringer v. 
 Burcham, 12 Ired. 41; Lewis v. Simonton, 8 Humph. 185. Even 
 in another State. Maria v. Alterbery, 9 Miss. 369 ; see Cully v. 
 Jones, 9 Ired. 168, as to the effect of a failure to give bond, when 
 required by the Court. 
 
 3 Talbot v. David, 2 A. K. Marsh. 603. 
 
 * Moses v. Deniger, 6 Rand. 561 ; Finley v. Hunter, 2 Strobh. 
 Eq. 208.
 
 MANUMISSION. 291 
 
 for the purpose of being there emancipated. 1 If, 
 however, the provision is made for a future emigra- 
 tion for that purpose, it would be void ; it being in 
 contravention of that public policy to increase the 
 number of statuliberi within the limits of the State. 
 Hence, in a gift of slaves to A. for life or years, and 
 at the expiration of that estate, a provision for their 
 emigration to a foreign State, for the purpose of 
 manumission, the latter provision would be void. 2 
 But a bequest of slaves to an executor, requiring 
 him to apply to the Legislature for a special act, 
 allowing their manumission within the State, and 
 on failure to obtain that, directing their transmission 
 to another country for this purpose, would be valid. 3 
 And a direction to the executor to pay a legacy to 
 such slaves, in their new home, would be valid, not- 
 withstanding their incapacity to take while slaves. 4 
 345. Any attempt to avoid the operation of 
 these acts, forbidding manumission by a trust, either 
 open or secret, for the benefit of the slave, will be 
 
 1 Cox v. Williams, 4 Ired. Eq. 15; Thompson v. Newlin, 8 Ired. 
 Eq. 32 ; Wooten v. Becton, Ibid. 66.J Vance v. Crawford, 4 Geo. 
 445 ; Sibley v. Maria, 2 Florida, 553 ; Wade v. Am. Col. Soc. 7 
 S. & M. 663. But this is prohibited in South Carolina; and it 
 was held that the act applied to a will, admitted to probate before 
 the passage, of which qucere f 2 Rich. Eq. 43 ; see 7 Humph. 388. 
 
 * Pinckard v. McCoy, 22 Ga. 28 ; Drane v. Beall, 21 Ga. 23 ; 
 Thornton v. Chisolm, 20 Ga. 338. 
 
 Cleland et al. v. Waters, 19 Ga. 35. 
 
 < Vance v. Crawford, 4 Ga. 445; Wade v. Amer. Col. Soc. 7 S. 
 & M. 663 ; Cooper v. Blakely, 10 Ga. 263 ; Cameron v. Com. of 
 Raleigh, 1 Ired. Eq. 436 ; Cooper v. Blakely, 10 Ga. 263.
 
 292 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 illegal and void. 1 And such trust may be proven by 
 parol, outside of the deed. 2 
 
 346. The trust being void, does the deed or will 
 convey any title to the trustee? If he had no 
 agency in creating the illegal trust, was not a party 
 to the attempt to evade the law by assenting thereto, 
 or agreeing to carry out the same, then the trust 
 only is void, and the trustee takes the title freed 
 from the illegal trust. 3 But the whole conveyance 
 or bequest is void if the trustee was a particeps cri- 
 minis in the attempt to violate or evade the law. 
 The grantor himself might not be heard, however, 
 to set up his own wrong ; and the principle, in pari 
 delicto, &c., has been held to apply where the statute 
 does not declare the deed to be absolutely void." 
 
 So, also, an illegal bequest of freedom in remainder 
 to slaves, after a life-estate, does not destroy or ren- 
 der the latter ineffectual. 5 
 
 347. A question of some nicety arises, where 
 a deed of manumission is made in a State allowing 
 thereof, and to take effect at a future time, but before 
 that period arrives the slave is carried into another 
 State, where such manumission is prohibited. When 
 
 1 White v. White, 1 Dev. & Bat. 260 ; Wright v. Lowe, 2 
 Murph. 354 ; The State v. Singlebury, Dudley, S. C. 220; Cun- 
 ningham v. Cunningham, Conf. Rep. 353. 
 
 * Robinson v. King, 6 Geo. 539. 
 
 8 The State v. Singlebury, Dudley, S. C. 220 ; Weathersby v. 
 Weathersby, 13 S. & M. 685 ; Broughton v. Telfer, 3 Rich. 431 ; 
 Cline v. Caldwell, Hill, S. C. 423; Smith v. Dumoody, 19 Ga. 666; 
 Drane v. Beall, 21 Ga. 23. 
 
 4 Cline v. Caldwell, 1 Hill, S. C. 423. 
 
 5 Dougherty v. Dougherty, 2 Strobh. Eq. 63.
 
 MANUMISSION. 293 
 
 the period arrives, what is the status of the slave ? 
 Although the legislature had prohibited manumis- 
 sion within the State, and the increase of a free 
 colored population is not desired, until the legislature 
 either refuse ingress into the State to negroes occupy- 
 ing the position of statuliberi, or otherwise declares 
 its will, the lex loci must, upon principle, control and 
 give freedom to the slave. 1 In such case, it has been 
 held, that the applicants for freedom must prove, as 
 a fact, the existence of the lex loci. 2 The propriety 
 of this ruling we must doubt. We have seen that, 
 in the absence of statutory inhibition, the right to 
 manumit was undoubted. The presumption of law 
 therefore is, that the owner has such a right by the 
 lex loci, and the party suggesting statutory restric- 
 tions should prove them. 3 
 
 348. If, however, the deed or will is made with 
 reference to slaves within another jurisdiction, or is 
 made with a view to evade the laws prohibiting 
 manumission in another State, the Courts of that 
 State will not regard the lex loci, but will enforce 
 their own statutes. 4 So, also, if slaves are sent out 
 of the State and emancipated, with a view to return 
 
 ' Sidney v. White, 12 Ala. N. S. 728; Nancy v. Snell, 6 Dana, 
 148, 151 ; Reuben v. Parrish, 6 Humph. 122 ; Sam v. Fore, 12 
 S. & M. 413 ; Sidney v. White, 12 Ala. 728. 
 
 2 Sain v. Fore, 12 S. & M. 413; Sidney v. White, 12 Ala. 728; 
 Remick v. Chloe, 7 Miss. 197. 
 
 8 These remarks do not apply to the case in 12 Ala. There the 
 applicant set up that the law of Tennessee, in construing certain 
 deeds differing from the general current of decisions, he was rightly 
 required to prove it. 
 
 4 Lewis v. Fullerton, 1 Rand. 15 ; Mahomer v. Hooe, 9 S. & M. 
 247.
 
 294 LAW OF NEGKO SLAVERY. 
 
 after emancipation, being a fraud on the law, the 
 manumission is void. 1 
 
 349. Although a deed of manumission is not 
 good against the claim of creditors, if the grantor is 
 insolvent, yet it is good until set aside in the proper 
 court. Hence, the executor of the grantor cannot 
 treat such manumitted slave as assets, but must re- 
 sort to his legal remedy to vacate the deed. 2 A 
 court of equity has jurisdiction for this purpose, and 
 may frame a decree so as to sell the negro only for 
 a term of years, if thereby the creditors will be paid. 3 
 Issue born after the deed, and before its vacation, 
 are free. 4 If the deed is made by the insolvent, 
 with a view to defeat creditors, it is still good 
 against him. 5 
 
 350. If a deed of manumission be of doubtful 
 construction, the usual rules of interpretation should 
 be applied; and, among others, that it is to be taken 
 most strongly against the grantor. 6 If it be lost, 
 secondary evidence of its contents may be admitted. 
 But if lost before registry, parol evidence of its con- 
 tents will not authorize a record. 7 
 
 1 Green v. Lane, 8 Ired. Eq. 70. Held otherwise in Blackniore 
 v. Phill, 7 Yerg. 452. 
 
 2 Allen v. Sharp, 7 Gill. & J. 96; Snead v. David, 9 Dana, 350; 
 Thomas v. Wood, 1 Md. Ch. Dec. 296. 3 Ibid. 
 
 4 Parks v. Hewlett, 9 Leigh, 511 j 23 Ala. 143. 
 
 5 So was the civil law. Cod. vii, 8, 5. 
 
 6 Isaac v. West, 6 Rand. 652. The civil law rule was, that in 
 case of doubt the construction should be in favor of liberty. " In 
 obscura voluntate naanumittentis favendum est libertati." See 
 Dig. xxxv, 2, 32. Pothier lays down the same rule, in notes 
 to tit. De Regulis Juris. 
 
 7 Mimey v. Cartricht, 3 A. K. Marsh. 493.
 
 
 MANUMISSION. 295 
 
 351. Sometimes the courts presume a deed of 
 manumission when the owner permits the slave, for 
 a number of years, to do acts inconsistent with a 
 state of slavery. It is a question generally sub- 
 mitted to the jury, but upon which the courts, in 
 different States, vary in their rulings. 1 This pre- 
 sumption may, of course, be rebutted by proof of 
 acts inconsistent with freedom. 8 
 
 352. If the record shows that the Court has 
 acted on a case not authorized by the statute, the 
 judgment is of no effect. As in North Carolina, the 
 petition was to emancipate the slave "when the 
 owner thinks proper ;" and the decree granted per- 
 mission "on the owner's complying with the sta- 
 tutes;" it was held, that the proceeding was invalid. 3 
 
 1 Burke v. Joe, 6 Gill & John. 136 ; Wells v. Lane, 9 John. 
 144; Miller v. Reigne, 2 Hill S. C. 592; State v. McDonald, Coxe, 
 332; Wilson v. Barnett, 8 Gill. & J. 159; State v. Hill, 2 Speers, 
 150; Stringer v. Burcham, 12 Ired. 41; Anderson v. Garrett, 9 
 Gill. 120 ; Henderson v. Jason, 9 Gill. 483. 
 
 2 Sampson v. Burguin, 3 Dev. & Bat. 28. 
 
 3 Bryan v. Wadsworth, I Dev. & Bat. 384.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 OF MANUMISSION BY WILL OR EXECUTOR'S CONTRACTS. 
 
 353. WHAT has been said in reference to manu- 
 mission by deed, applies with equal force to manu- 
 mission by will, except in those States where such 
 manumission is prohibited. The number of slaves 
 thus set free has caused, in some of the States, a 
 prohibition of manumission by will. 1 In the ab- 
 sence of that, a testator may order his executor to 
 do that which he himself could have done while in 
 life. There are other questions, however, which 
 arise peculiarly on manumission by will, to which 
 we will now attend. 
 
 354. The will must be executed with the same 
 formalities as is necessary to pass title to slaves to 
 other legatees; 2 and if not executed in that manner, 
 it cannot be aided or made effectual by a mere refer- 
 ence to it in some other conveyance. 3 So, also, a 
 nuncupative will cannot effect emancipation where 
 
 4 Mississippi, 9 S. & M. 247 ; Alabama, 14 Ala. 76. In Mary- 
 land, deeds of manumission made during the last illness, are void. 
 2 Har. & McH. 198. 
 
 2 Mullins v. Wall, 8 B. Monr. 445. This was a case of the frau- 
 dulent destruction of the will by the heirs. 
 
 3 Henry v. Nunn, 11 B. Monr. 239.
 
 MANUMISSION BY WILL. 297 
 
 it is insufficient to pass a bequest of slaves. 1 The 
 assent of the executor is as necessary to a manu- 
 mitting clause as to any other legacy, but this assent 
 may be presumed from his acts. 3 
 
 355. A will having no effect until the death of 
 testator, a sale or gift of the negro, to whom freedom 
 was bequeathed by the testator in his lifetime, is 
 pro tanto a revocation of the will. 3 But it takes 
 effect immediately after death, and hence, a child 
 born after the death of testator and before probate 
 of the will, of a slave manumitted by the will, is 
 free. 4 And this is true, even if the manumission is 
 conditional upon the slave's electing to go to Li- 
 beria. 5 
 
 The mere expression of a desire, in a will, that a 
 slave shall be free, does not amount to a manumis- 
 sion, if, from other provisions, it appears that the 
 intention of testator was not to part with the do- 
 minion over such slave. 6 Nor would a bequest of 
 freedom, if the executor or heir shall be willing, ac- 
 cording to the civil law, amount to manumission. 7 
 
 356. In construing a bequest of freedom, some 
 of the courts have announced that the law favors 
 liberty, and hence, the courts will incline in favor 
 
 1 Cooke v. Cooke, 3 Litt. 238 ; aliter, where it would pass a 
 bequest of slaves, even though the statute requires manumission 
 to be done by writing. Phoebe v. Boggers, 1 Grat. 129. 
 
 2 Nicholas v. Burruss, 4 Leigh, 289; Nancy v. Snell, 6 Dana, 
 148. 
 
 8 Matter of Nan Mitchell, 14 John. 324 ; Stewart v. Williams, 
 3 Md. 425. Black v. Meaux, 4 Dana, 188. 
 
 5 Graham v. Sam, 7 B. Monr. 403. 
 
 6 Rucker v. Gilbert, 3 Leigh, 8; Taylor v. The American Bible 
 Soc. 7 Ired. Eq. 201. 7 Dig. Lib. xxx, 1, 75.
 
 298 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 of manumission, 1 while others have announced that 
 the increase of a free colored population is against 
 the policy of a slaveholding State, and hence the 
 courts will incline against manumission. 2 The true 
 principle of hermeneutics is, that the Court should 
 incline neither the one way or the other, but should 
 inquire, first, what is the intention of testator? and, 
 second, has he used sufficient words to carry out his 
 intention ? 3 If, in either of these particulars, the 
 bequest is insufficient, it must fail, unless in the 
 latter case the facts make out such a case as, under 
 the general rules of law, will authorize the Court to 
 supply words, in which event, such words will be 
 supplied. 4 
 
 357. We have seen heretofore that manumis- 
 sion cannot be effected to the prejudice of credi- 
 tors. If the estate, therefore, is insolvent, the be- 
 quest fails, 5 nor can the executor, by assenting to 
 the legacy before the solvency of the estate is ascer- 
 tained, deprive the creditors of their right to look 
 to the slaves as assets. 6 If there be a sufficiency of 
 assets, and the executor still refuses to assent, the 
 slaves cannot commence their petition for freedom, 
 
 1 Nancy v. Snell, 6 Dana, 149; 7 Serg. & R. 378; Cuffy v. Cas- 
 tillon, 5 Mart. 494. Such was the rule of the civil law. "Quoties 
 dubia libertatis interpretatio est." Dig. Lib. 1, 17, 20. 
 
 2 Charlotte v. Chouteau, 11 Miss. 193. 
 
 8 See Monica v. Mitchell, 1 Md. Ch. Dec. 355 j Robinson v. 
 King, 6 Ga. 539 ; Lanham v. Meacham, 4 Strobh. Eq. 203 ; Cle- 
 land v. Waters, 16 Ga. 491. 
 
 < Cleland v. Waters, 16 Ga. Rep. 496. 
 
 5 Cornish v. Wilson, 6 Gill. 299. 
 
 6 6 Gill. 299 ; Fenwick v. Chapman, 9 Peters, 461. It is good 
 against him. Nancy v. Snell, 6 Dana, 155 ; 9 Peters, 461.
 
 MANUMISSION BY WILL. 299 
 
 and rely upon these facts to show their right to 
 their liberty, but must institute another proceeding, 
 usually in Chancery, to compel the executor to as- 
 sent, 1 in which case, the Court does not decree the 
 liberty of the slaves, nor that the executor make 
 deeds of manumission, but that he assent to the 
 legacy. 2 If the executor is an improper person to 
 administer the assets, so as to secure the solvency of 
 the estate, some of the courts have placed the assets 
 in the hands of a commissioner for this purpose. 8 
 If the executor should wrongfully sell a slave thus 
 manumitted, where there is a sufficiency of assets to 
 pay the debts, the sale would not be good, even to 
 an innocent purchaser, against the claim of the 
 negro to freedom. In facf, the will being of record, 
 is notice to the purchaser. 4 
 
 358. Is real estate assets for the payment of 
 debts, so as to secure the bequest of manumission ? 
 In those States where real estate is made assets on 
 the same footing with personalty, for the payment 
 of debts, it should be exhausted before the manu- 
 mitting clause should fail entirely. 5 If, however, 
 slaves are held as personalty, and the law of the 
 State requires that species of property to be ex- 
 hausted before the realty should be looked to as 
 assets, upon principle, the right of the heir is 
 
 1 Cornish v. Wilson, 6 Gill. 299 ; Peters v. Van Lear, 4 Gill. 
 249. 
 
 8 6 Gill. 299 ; see also Anderson v. Garrett, 9 Gill. 120. 
 8 Graham v. Sam, 7 B. Mo'nr. 403. 
 
 * Nancy v. Snell, 6 Dana, 149, 151; Patty v. Colin et al. 1 Hen. 
 & Munf. 525; Bpyce v. Nancy, 4 Dana, 238. 
 
 * Thomas v. Wood, 1 Md. Ch. Dec. 296.
 
 300 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 superior to that of the manumitted slave. The tes- 
 tator may, by his will, charge his debts upon the 
 realty in order to secure freedom to his slave, in 
 which event, of course, his will should be executed. 1 
 By the civil law, if a testator bequeathed freedom 
 to a slave, supposing himself to be the owner, when 
 in reality he was not, the heir was bound to purchase 
 him at a reasonable price, to effectuate this pur- 
 pose. 3 
 
 359. There may be a sufficiency of assets at the 
 death of testator, and subsequent thereto these may, 
 without fault of the executor, prove insufficient, in 
 which event the bequest of freedom must fail. 3 
 And, e converse, if the assets were originally insuffi- 
 cient, and subsequently became sufficient, the be- 
 quest is good. 4 If the insufficiency does not amount 
 to the value of the manumitted slaves, a Court of 
 Chancery may order their sale only for a term of 
 years, until the proceeds shall satisfy the debts. 5 If 
 there is a sufficiency of assets, and the executor as- 
 sents to the manumission, a sale of the manumitted 
 slave under a fi. fa. against the executor would be 
 void and convey no title. 6 
 
 360. Before the bequest is declared invalid on 
 
 1 When the intention to manumit, at all events, is manifest, slight 
 words will amount to a charge. The words " after my debts and 
 funeral charges are paid, 1 devise and bequeath as follows," held 
 sufficient to charge the debts on real estate, in order to give effect to 
 a manumitting clause. Fenwick v. Chapman, 9 Peters, 461. 
 
 3 Dig. xl, 5, 39. 
 
 3 Wilson v. Ann Barnett, 9 Gill. & John. 158. 
 
 * 9 Gill. & J. 158. 
 
 5 Cornish v. Wilson, 6 Gill. 299 ; Nancy v. Snell, 6 Dana, 151. 
 
 6 Rice v. Spear, Harper's Law Rep. 20.
 
 MANUMISSION BY WILL. 301 
 
 account of the insufficiency of assets to pay debts, 
 there should be an accurate account of all the assets 
 subject to this purpose ; and where the realty is so 
 subject, the heir at law should be called in to account 
 therefor. 1 An order passed by the Orphans Court, 
 directing the administrator to sell the slaves, would 
 not be conclusive evidence xrf the insufficiency of the 
 
 361. If the residuum be insufficient to pay the 
 debts, and specific legacies must abate to furnish a 
 fund for this purpose, the question may arise, 
 whether the bequest of freedom to a slave (being 
 estimated as of the value of the slave) should abate 
 pro rata with other legacies ? Some of the courts 
 seem to incline against such abatement, on the 
 ground of the favored character of the bequests. 
 Upon principle, it should be treated as other specific 
 legacies, and abate pro rata . 
 
 362. In those States where manumission by will 
 or domestic manumission is prohibited, the question 
 arises, whether the heirs or distributees at law, or 
 the residuary legatee, is entitled to slaves to whom 
 a void bequest of freedom is given. It has been 
 held that they fall into the residuum. 4 
 
 363. It has been suggested by the courts of one 
 of the States, that a slave is incapable of making a 
 choice ; and hence, a bequest providing for an elec- 
 
 ' Allein v. Sharp, 7 Gill. & J. 96; Thomas v. Wood, 1 Md. Ch. 
 Dec. 296; George v. Corse's Admr. 2 Har. & Gill. 1. 
 
 Wilson v. Barnett, 8 Gill. & J. 160. 
 
 8 Nancy v. Snell, 6 Dana, 152, 153. 
 
 4 Roberson v. Roberson, 21 Ala. 273 ; 7 Ib. 795 ; Lanham v. 
 Meacham, 4 Strobh. Eq. 203.
 
 302 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 tion by the slave, to remain in bondage or be removed 
 to a non-slaveholding State, would fail by reason of 
 this incapacity. 1 This suggestion has not been ap- 
 proved by other courts, 2 and we cannot see the force 
 of it. The theory of a complete annihilation of 
 will in the slave, is utterly inconsistent with all recog- 
 nition of him as a person, especially as responsible 
 criminally for his acts. 
 
 364. It sometimes occurs, that a testator directs 
 his slaves to be removed to another State for the 
 purpose of manumission, and the execution of this 
 provision becomes impossible, from the refusal of 
 such State to admit free negroes within its limits. 
 It has been held, that in such cases the bequest 
 fails. 3 It may be a question whether, in such a case, 
 the primary intention of the testator to emancipate 
 his slaves may nqt, on the principle of approxima- 
 tion or cy-pres, be carried out, regardless of the 
 secondary intention as to the particular manner of 
 effecting it. 
 
 365. Wherever the legislature directs the re- 
 moval of the slave after emancipation, or imposes 
 any other condition upon the execution of bequests 
 of manumission, they must be strictly complied 
 with.* If, however, there is unavoidable delay in 
 removal, beyond the time specified ; or if there is a 
 fraudulent collusion to violate the law, in order to 
 
 1 Carroll v. Bromby, 13 Ala. 102. 
 
 2 Leech v. Cooley, 6 S. & M. 93; John v. Moreman, 8 B. Monr. 
 100; 10 Ib. 69; Isaac v. McGill, 9 Humph. 616; Washington v. 
 Blunt, 8 Ired. Eq. 253. 
 
 3 Nancy v. Wright, 9 Humph. 597 ; Cleland et al. v. Waters, 
 18 Ga. Rep. 563. 4 Spencer v. Dennis, 8 Gill. 314.
 
 MANUMISSION BY WILL. 80S 
 
 
 
 deprive the slave of the benefit of the bequest, such 
 failure to comply will not avoid the manumission. 1 
 
 366. We have seen heretofore how slaves, inte- 
 rested under a will, could be heard in a motion to 
 have the will proven, without a violation of the 
 principle which denies, to them, while slaves, the 
 right to sue. 2 We may add here, that if a slave is 
 bequeathed to a legatee for the purpose of manu- 
 mission, this is good reason for a court of equity to 
 decree a specific performance, if the executor, or 
 other person having him in possession, refuses to 
 deliver him up. 3 In those States where domestic 
 manumission is forbidden and foreig^Temancipation 
 is allowed, a question may arise, how a direction to 
 executors to remove slaves to a foreign State for 
 this purpose, can be enforced ? In the absence of 
 statutory enactment, both public policy and the 
 principles of justice require, that the courts should 
 devise some means by which a faithless executor 
 should be compelled to execute the trust. In similar 
 cases, the civil law gave the slave an equitable 
 action to enforce the trust. 4 
 
 367. A slave being incapable of making a con- 
 tract, and all of his earnings belonging to his master, 
 it would follow necessarily that no executory con- 
 tract between the master and the slave, looking to 
 future manumission, could be enforced, even where 
 the slave could show a complete compliance on his 
 
 Wade v. Am. Col. Soc. 7 S. & M. 663. 
 
 2 283, 284. See also Bedford v. Peggy, 6 Rand. 316; and 
 Manus v. Givens, 7 Leigh, 689. 
 
 3 Code, Lib. vii, 5, 17. 
 
 4 Dig. xl, 5, 17 j Cod. vii, 16, 25, and 26.
 
 304 LAW OP NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 part. 1 Such was the civil law. 2 Yet, under certain 
 circumstances, such contracts have been enforced 
 both under that law and in some of the States. 3 If 
 the contract is for immediate manumission, and made 
 in conformity with law, the master may subsequently 
 enforce from the manumitted slave a compliance 
 with its terms. 4 Such was also the civil law. 5 
 
 368. A very different result follows a contract 
 made by the master, with a third person, for the 
 manumission of the slave. Such a contract, if not 
 forbidden by the law, stands on the same footing 
 with all other contracts, and can be enforced by the 
 parties thereto. 6 The slave, however, is not a party 
 to the contract ; nor can he, like another cestui que 
 trust, apply for its execution in his favor. 7 Accord- 
 
 1 Beall v. Joseph, Hardin, 51 j Cooke v. Cooke, 3 Litt. 238; 
 Bland v. Bowling, 9 Gill. & J- 19 ; Willis v. Bruce, 8 B. Monr. 
 548. In Louisiana, these contracts are excepted from the general 
 incapacity of the slave to contract, and if in writing, may be enforced 
 by the slave, after a full compliance with the terms. Victoire v. 
 Dussuau, 4 Mart. 212 j 5 Mart. 494. 
 
 2 Dig. xv, 1, 11 j Dig. xl, 1, 4; Ibid. 1, 19. 
 
 3 Dig. as above. Stiles v. Kichardson, 4 Yeates, 82 ; Kettletas 
 v. Fleet, 7 John. 324 ; State v. Prall, Coxe, 4 j Sally v. Beaty, 1 
 Bay. 260. 
 
 4 Keane v. Boycott, 2 H. Black. 511 ; Williams v. Brown, 3 
 Bos & Pul. 69 ; Opinions of Heath, Kooke, and Chanibre, JJ. ; 
 Commonwealth v. Clements, Tj Binney, 206; Stiles v. Kichardson, 
 4 Yeates, 82 ; Kettletas v. Fleet, 7 John. 324. Held otherwise 
 in Commonwealth v. Cook, 1 Watts, 155 ; and Commonwealth v. 
 Robinson, Ib. 158 ; but placed on a statute of Pennsylvania. 
 
 5 Dig. iv, 3, 8. 
 
 8 Gatliffe's Admr. v. Rose et al. 8 B. Monr. 633 ; Thomson v. 
 Wilmot, 1 Bibb, 422 j Cato v. Howard, 2 Har. & J. 323. 
 
 7 Gatliffe's Admr. v. Rose et al. 8 B. Monr. 633 ; Dunlap v. 
 Archer, 7 Dana, 30.
 
 MANUMISSION BY WILL. 305 
 
 ing to the civil law, a slave sold with a covenant 
 that the purchaser should manumit him, became 
 free without farther act. 1 If a future time was 
 specified, he became free at that time. 2 
 
 369. Where manumission is not required to be 
 effected by written instrument, nor otherwise re- 
 stricted by statute, a contract by a master with his 
 slave, for his manumission, might effect an imme- 
 diate emancipation by implication; as the master 
 thereby recognizes in the slave the power to con- 
 tract, a power belonging only to freemen. 3 
 
 ' Dig. xl, 8, 9. 2 Cod. iv, 57, 4. 
 
 3 Keane v. Boycott, 2 H. Black. 514, and note. 
 
 20
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 OF INDIRECT MANUMISSION. 
 
 370. WE come now to consider of indirect manu- 
 mission ; which may be effected either by the opera- 
 tion of law, or by implication, from the acts of the 
 master. 
 
 371. Manumission by operation of law, may be 
 either of foreign laws acting on the slave when pro- 
 perly subject to their influence ; or of domestic laws, 
 the violation of which works the emancipation of 
 the slave. We have heretofore considered, at length, 
 the effect of foreign laws upon a slave voluntarily or 
 by flight coming within their jurisdiction ; and have 
 laid down the rules which we considered govern 
 such cases. 1 We will not repeat them here. We 
 may add, that as the animus morandi, the change of 
 domicile, is essential in order to work emancipation, 
 such animus cannot be imputed to one who is not 
 sui juris, and capable of choosing a domicile, such as 
 an infant or one under duress. 2 
 
 372. So, also, one who has only a temporary 
 interest in a slave, as a hirer or even a tenant for 
 
 1 134-239. 
 
 2 Porter v. Butler, 3 Har. & McHen. 168 ; David v. Porter, 4 
 Har. & McHen. 418.
 
 INDIRECT MANUMISSION. 307 
 
 life, cannot destroy the interest of the owner, in fee 
 or in remainder, by changing the domicile of the 
 slave to a foreign State. 1 One of several joint owners 
 could destroy the entire interest ; for, having a right 
 to the possession of the slave equally with the others, 
 he can choose a domicile for the slave, and his co- 
 tenants must look to him for damages in thus de- 
 stroying the joint property. But a mortgagor cannot 
 thus destroy the interest of the mortgagee. The 
 slave can recover freedom only by satisfying the 
 mortgage debt. 3 
 
 373. If manumission be once effected by the 
 operation of foreign laws, it is as complete and effec- 
 tual to secure liberty to the slave, as manumission 
 by deed ; and the subsequent return of the negro to 
 the original domicile would not restore to the master 
 the dominion over him. 3 Of course it is otherwise 
 where the residence in the foreign State is tempo- 
 rary, and the status of slavery has never been 
 changed, even though the courts of such foreign 
 State refused to aid the master in asserting his 
 dominion within their jurisdiction. 4 
 
 374. Many of the slaveholding States, conceiv- 
 ing it to be their policy not to admit a farther im- 
 migration of slaves, except with their masters, bond 
 fide intending to become citizens, have passed laws 
 
 1 Butler v. Delaplaine, 7 Serg. & R. 378; Davis v. Tingle, 8 B. 
 Monr. 545-6. 2 Milly v. Smith, 2 Miss. 171. 
 
 Marie Louise v. Mariot et al. 8 Louis. Rep. 475 ; Mimey v. 
 Whitesides, 1 Miss. 472 ; Bland v. Dowling, 9 Gill. & J. 19 ; 
 Josephine v. Poulteney, 1 La. An. Rep. 329. 
 
 * Case of slave Grace, 2 Hagg. Ad. Rep. 94 j Dred Scott case, 
 19 How. 1.
 
 308 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 prohibiting such immigration, and have annexed 
 various penalties to their violation. In some, one of 
 the penalties is the manumission of the slave. 1 In 
 such States, slaves imported in violation of the law, 
 or whose masters have failed to comply with those 
 requisites as to registry, oath, &c., prescribed by the 
 statutes to avoid evasions, are free. 2 If, however, 
 this is not a penalty prescribed, the slave is not free, 
 though imported in violation of the law. 3 
 
 375. If an infant or feme covert should fail to 
 comply with the requisites of the statute, as to 
 registry, &c., the Courts will not permit their failure 
 to work a forfeiture of their title so long as the dis- 
 ability continues. 4 It has been held, also, that an 
 agent intrusted with the importation of the slaves, 
 might comply with the formalities of the statute, 
 even to the taking of the oath prescribed. 5 Nor 
 does the statute apply to any but voluntary impor- 
 tations ; and hence, one forced to fly from St. Do- 
 mingo with her slaves, and temporarily residing in 
 Maryland, was held not to be within the operation 
 
 1 Laws of Maryland, on this subject, Dorsey's Laws, &c. pp. 334, 
 1108, 1112, 2325; Laws of Virginia, Revised Code, 749 ; Laws 
 of South Carolina, Stat. at Large, vii, 447. 
 
 2 Henderson v. Tom, 4 Har. & John. 282; Scott v. Ben, 6 
 Cranch, 1 ; Boisneuf v. Lewis, 4 Har. & McH. 414 ; Fulton v. 
 Lewis, 3 Har. & J. 564. 
 
 3 Gromez v. Bonneval, 6 Mart. 626. 
 
 4 Haney v. Waddle, 3 Har. & John. 557 ; Sprigg v. Mary, 3 
 Har. & J. 491. 
 
 5 Montgomery v. Fletcher, 6 Rand. 612. A wife may not. 
 McMichen v. Amos, 4 Rand. 134.
 
 INDIRECT MANUMISSION. 309 
 
 of the law. 1 So, if a slave is brought into the State 
 without the consent of the true owner, he does not 
 become free. 2 
 
 376. If a slave be removed to another State, 
 and acquire a domicile there, the subsequent return 
 of such slave into the State is an importation within 
 the statute. 3 If, however, the master's residence in 
 such other State was temporary, on his return with 
 his slaves he need not comply with the formalities 
 prescribed by the statute. 4 
 
 377. Slaves introduced into the State for a mere 
 temporary purpose, as by a hirer for a year, are not 
 imported in violation of the law. 5 After long pos- 
 session in the State, the Court may presume a com- 
 pliance with the statutory regulations. 8 Under cer- 
 tain circumstances, also, parol evidence has been 
 admitted to supply an omission in the certificate 
 given by the collector of the tax imposed on slaves 
 imported. 7 
 
 378. It is almost unnecessary to say, that where 
 the statute requires the registry of slaves for the 
 
 1 Baptist et al. v. De Volunbrun, 5 Har. & J. 86 ; Ib. 99, n. 
 Aliter if the residence be permanent. Fulton v. Lewis, 3 Har. & 
 John. 564. 
 
 2 Scott v. London, 3 Cranch, 324; Pocock v. Hendricks, 8 Gill. 
 & J. 421 ; see also 6 Munf. 12 ; 4 Rand. 67. 
 
 8 Wilson v. Isbell, 5 Call. 425; Sprigg v. Pressly, 3 Har. & J. 
 493 ; Betty v. Horton, 5 Leigh, 615. 
 
 * Murray v. McClarty, 2 Munf. 393 ; Barnett v. Sam, 1 Gilmer, 
 232; Adams v. Leverton, 2 Har. & McH. 382. 
 
 5 Henry v. Ball, 1 Wheat. 1. 
 
 6 Mason v. Matilda, 12 Wheat. 590 ; Abraham v. Matthews, 6 
 Munf. 159. 
 
 7 Harry v. Lyles, 4 Har. & McHen. 215.
 
 310 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 purpose of gradual abolition, or for any other pur- 
 pose, and prescribes freedom as a penalty for a non- 
 compliance, the master failing to comply, forfeits his 
 interest in the slave. 1 If he registers by a wrong 
 name, it has been held that parol evidence was in- 
 admissible to show the mistake. 2 And the registry 
 by one not the owner or his agent, has been held 
 insufficient. 3 
 
 379. In some of the States the exportation of 
 slaves, under certain circumstances, is illegal, and 
 emancipation is the penalty. A violation of such 
 a statute gives immediate liberty to the slave. 4 The 
 carrying of a slave out of the State on a temporary 
 travel or sojourning, does not come within the inhi- 
 bition of the law. 5 
 
 380. It remains for us to consider of manumis- 
 sion by implication, from the acts of the master. 
 Where manumission may be effected by parol, and 
 no formalities are prescribed by the law, acts of the 
 master recognizing the slave as a freeman, were held 
 by the Courts sufficient evidence to presume a pre- 
 vious manumission. When freedom was declared 
 upon such evidence, the manumission was implied, 
 and hence the title, " by implication." From this 
 view of its origin, it is evident that manumission 
 can never be implied in any State where public for- 
 malities are required to make it effectual. 
 
 381. In the civil law, and especially before any 
 
 1 Giles v. Meeks, Addis. 384. 
 
 2 Lucy v. Pumfrey, Addis. 380. 
 
 8 Elson v. McCullough, 4 Yeates, 115. 
 
 4 Allen v. Sarah, 2 Barring. 434 j 3 Ibid. 560. 
 
 5 Cross v. Black, 9 Gill. & J. 198.
 
 INDIRECT MANUMISSION. 311 
 
 restraints were placed on manumission, various acts 
 by the master were considered sufficient to justify 
 the Courts to imply freedom ; such as appointing 
 the slave guardian or tutor by will j 1 giving him a 
 legacy; 3 living in a state of concubinage with a 
 female slave, and not mentioning her in his will ; 3 
 abandoning him in sickness, 4 and all similar acts 
 showing i a withdrawal of the dominion of the 
 master. 
 
 382. So it has been held in America, that the 
 bringing of an action by the master against the 
 slave, 5 or a devise of property, real or personal, to 
 the slave by the master, 6 implied manumission. 
 
 1 Inst. i, 14. 2 Ibid, ii, 14. 
 
 s Code, vii, 15, 3. Dig. xl, 8, 2. 
 
 5 Oatfield v. Waring, 14 John. 188. 
 
 6 Hall v. Mullin, 5 Har. & John. 190 j Guillemette v. Harper, 
 4 Rich. 186. Such implied manumission is expressly forbidden by 
 the Civil Code of Louisiana, Art. 184.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 OF THE EFFECT OF MANUMISSION, AND HEREIN OF 
 THE STATUS OF FREE PERSONS OF COLOR. 
 
 383. MANUMISSION once effected, removes forever 
 the dominion of the master, and by no act of his 
 can it be restored ;* nor can even the legislative 
 power of the State deprive the freedman of his 
 liberty, except for some violation of the law. 2 By 
 the Roman law, the freedman became the client of 
 the master, who, as patron, continued to exercise 
 considerable power over him. This, however, was 
 the result of municipal law. 
 
 384. To withdraw his dominion, is the privi- 
 lege of the master. To incorporate a new citizen 
 into the body politic, is only within the power of 
 the State. The freed negro does not become a citi- 
 zen by virtue of his manumission. It requires the 
 act of another party, the State, to clothe him with 
 civil and political rights. 3 Before such act he stands 
 
 1 The civil law carried this principle so far as to protect freedom 
 acquired by fraud. Dig. iv, 3, 24. See Article 189, of Louisiana 
 Civil Code. 
 
 3 1 am aware of the decision in Blackman v. Gordon, 2 Eich. 
 Eq. 43 ; but I conceive the text to be in accordance with principle. 
 
 3 Crandall v. The State, 10 Conn. 340 ; Bryan v. Walton, 14 Ga.
 
 EFFECT OF MANUMISSION. 313 
 
 in the position of an alien friend, and in the absence 
 of legislation he would be entitled to all such pri- 
 vileges as are allowed to such residents. 1 He occu- 
 pies in such a case the position of the freedmen of 
 Rome (liberti or libertini), before the right of citizen- 
 ship was conferred upon them. 2 They were capable 
 of all those rights founded on the jus naturale and 
 jus gentium, but not political rights or those apper- 
 taining to citizenship. They were as to these in the 
 same condition with alien friends (peregrini) . 8 
 
 385. I regret, in this opinion, to differ from the 
 conclusions of the Supreme Court of Georgia, in 
 Bryan v. Walton, 14 Ga. 185. I agree with them 
 as to the status of the freed negro in Georgia, but 
 that status, in my opinion, is derived from the legis- 
 lation of the State, by which he " can act only by 
 and through his guardian," and by which " he is in 
 a state of perpetual pupilage or wardship." 
 
 386. Free persons of color, unless restricted by 
 statute, may contract marriage with those of their 
 own condition, or any free person capable of con- 
 tracting. Intermarriage with the whites is prohi- 
 bited in a large majority of the States of the Union. 
 They may make contracts, and dispose of their 
 
 185 ; 1 Meiggs's Kep. 331 j N. Bacon'sBiscourse on the Laws of 
 England, 35; Decision of J. Daniel, in SKt v. Sandford, 19 How. 
 83. The case of the State v.Mdniundpt Dev. 340, seems to be 
 otherwise. A close examinatron of it, however, shows that it is 
 merely a construction of a penal statute. The case of The State 
 v. Manuel, 4 Dev. & Bat. 20, is placed on the statutes of the State. 
 
 1 See Fable yBrown's Exr. 2 Hill's Ch. 391. 
 
 2 Inst. LibXtit. v, Art: 3 j tit. xvi, 4. 
 
 3 KauWn's Mackeldey, Div. II, ch. i, 119. 
 
 V
 
 314 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 estates by will. In the absence of a will, adminis- 
 tration will be granted on their estates, and unless 
 otherwise directed by statute, they will be subject 
 to the ordinary and general law of distribution. 1 
 
 387. Public policy has made it necessary for the 
 slaveholding States, by statute, to impose other re- 
 strictions upon free persons of color. They have 
 been forced to extend over them their patrol and 
 police regulations, to deny to them the privilege of 
 bearing arms, to require of them the selection of a 
 guardian, who shall stand as patron, and contract 
 for them ; to restrain their acquisition of negro 
 slaves as property ; to place them on the same foot- 
 ing with slaves as to their intercourse with white 
 citizens ; such as purchasing spirituous liquors, &c. 2 
 These various restrictions, differing in the different 
 States, place the free negro but little above the 
 slave as to civil privileges. Hence, the penal slave 
 
 1 In Georgia, their estates go to their "descendants," which has 
 been held not to include collaterals. Bryan v. Walton, 20 Ga. 512 j 
 Akin v. Anderson, 19 Ga. 229. 
 
 9 Maryland, see Dorse/s Laws, 335, 340, 510, 543, 858, 1071, 
 1072. 
 
 Virginia, Kev. Code (1849), 458, 465, 468, 748, 753, 754. 
 
 North Carolina, Kev. Statutes (1837), 588, 590, 591." 
 
 South Carolina, Stat. at Large, vii, 462 et seq. 474. 
 
 Georgia, Cohb's New Dig. (1851) 991-997, 1008, 1010, 1017. 
 
 Alabama, Code of 1852, 1033, 1034 et seq. 
 
 Mississippi, Hutchinson's Code,*524, 525, 540. 
 
 Arkansas, Dig. of 1848, p. 546 et seq. 
 
 Missouri, Dig. of Statutes (1845), ch. 123. 
 
 Tennessee, Caruthers & Nich. Dig. 330, 354, 355. 
 
 Texas, Hartley's Dig. 2539 et seq. 
 
 Delaware, Rev. Code (1852), pp. 144, 145, 146.
 
 EFFECT OF MANUMISSION. 315 
 
 code usually embraces the free negro. They occupy, 
 therefore, a position very similar to that of the class 
 of freedmen in Rome known as dedititii, whose con- 
 dition was but slightly removed from that of the 
 slave. 1 
 
 388. The free negro, in the non-slaveholding 
 States, occupies the position we have assigned him, 
 without the restrictions just named, viz., that of 
 alien friends, until the State grants him the rights 
 of citizenship. We have seen, heretofore, his status 
 in the several States of the Union. 2 But when a 
 State, by virtue of its sovereignty, grants to the free 
 negro the rights of citizenship, an interesting ques- 
 tion arises, under the peculiar form of our govern- 
 ment, whether he is thereby incorporated as a citizen 
 of the United States, and entitled to those privileges 
 belonging exclusively to citizens. 
 
 389. The universal principle is, that it is the 
 privilege of every government to confer citizenship, 
 and that none have it except those upon whom the 
 privilege has been conferred. Previous to the adop- 
 tion of the Constitution, every State had the power 
 to adopt persons, within its community, as citizens ; 
 and all the whites who had been so adopted prior to 
 that, were recognized as citizens under the General 
 Government. The Constitution evidently intended 
 to give that power, in future, to the General Govern- 
 ment, for to it is given the express power to enact 
 
 1 Inst. Lib. I, tit. v, 3 j Kaufman's Mackeldey, vol. i, p. 130 ; 
 Bryan v. Walton, 14 Ga. 204. 
 
 2 Preliminary Historical Sketch, ch. XT.
 
 316 LAW OP NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 naturalization laws. That the laws enacted in pur- 
 suance of that power, necessarily exclude the intro- 
 duction of negroes into the body politic, is evident, 
 from the fact that they expressly confine their ope- 
 ration to white persons. Can a State, since the 
 organization of the Federal Government, confer 
 citizenship in that government ? The very question 
 answers itself, unless power is expressly given by 
 the Constitution for that purpose. The State can 
 confer citizenship within itself; and all privileges 
 given by the Constitution to citizens of a State, as 
 such, can be claimed by the negro citizen. But 
 those privileges given to citizens of the United States, 
 as such, can be exercised and enjoyed only by those 
 who have been regularly admitted into this body 
 politic. Under these views, it has been decided that 
 a negro citizen cannot sue in the Federal Courts, 
 that privilege being confined to citizens of the United 
 States, and foreign States under certain circum- 
 stances. 1 
 
 390. Negroes in the condition of statuliberi, to be 
 free at a future day, are protected by the statutes of 
 several of the States, and should be by all, from 
 being removed or fraudulently sold, so as to defeat 
 the future freedom. 3 The introduction of such 
 negroes is prohibited in other States, under severe 
 penalties. 3 
 
 391. In all the slaveholding States, and in many 
 
 1 Scott v. Sandford, 19 Howard, S. C. 1. 
 
 2 Maryland, Dorsey's Laws, 658, 660, 661 ; Civil Code of Louis- 
 iana, Art. 194. 
 
 3 North Carolina, Kev. Stat. (1837), 575.
 
 EFFECT OF MANUMISSION. 317 
 
 of the non-slaveholding States, the admixture of 
 negro blood is a disqualification for citizenship. The 
 quantum varies in the different States. In many of 
 them, the mode of trial of the question of citizen- 
 ship is prescribed by statute. 
 
 Having concluded our view of the negro slave as 
 a person, we shall hereafter consider of those rules 
 of law to which as property he is subject. In that 
 investigation we shall find that his nature as a man, 
 and his consequent power of volition and locomo- 
 tion, introduce important variations in those rules 
 which regulate property in general. 
 
 NOTE. This branch of the subject will be considered in another 
 volume.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 HISTOEICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, 
 by East India Company, 55. 
 first agitated in the United States, 169. 
 effects of American Revolution on, 169. 
 in Vermont, 171. 
 in Massachusetts, 171. 
 in New Hampshire, 171. 
 in Rhode Island, 171. 
 in Connecticut, 171. 
 in Pennsylvania, 171. 
 in New York, 172. 
 in New Jersey, 172. 
 in Hayti, 179. 
 
 society for, formed in Great Britain, 188. 
 Act providing for, passes Parliament, 189. 
 in St. Bartholomew, 192. 
 by Denmark, 192. 
 agitation of, in France, 192. 
 by French Republic, 195. 
 effects of, in West Indies, 196. 
 a failure in the British West Indies, 197. 
 effects of, in Guiana, 200. 
 effects of, in Southern Africa, 200. 
 effects of, in Mauritius, 200. 
 effects of, in Danish colonies, 200. 
 effects of, on negroes in the United States, 201. 
 effects of; in New Grenada, 207. 
 first society for, formed in the United States, 209.
 
 320 INDEX. 
 
 ABOLITION OF SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 by the United States, 163. 
 
 by Great Britain, 165. 
 
 by France and other countries, 165. 
 AFRICA. 
 
 number of negroes exported from, 154. 
 
 effects of abolition in Southern, 200. 
 AFRICANS. 
 
 as servants. See NEGROES. 
 AFRICAN. 
 
 Royal Company, 143. 
 AMERICA. 
 
 effects of discovery of, on slave-trade, 135. 
 
 negroes introduced into, 138. 
 AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 effect of, on slavery, 169. 
 AMIENS. 
 
 peace of, signed, 183. 
 ANNE, QUEEN. 
 
 engages in slave-trade, 144. 
 APPRENTICE SYSTEM. 
 
 in West Indies, 189. 
 
 recommended by French Commission, 193. 
 ARABS. 
 
 slave-trade carried on by, 58. 
 ARISTOTLE. 
 
 thinks slavery essential in a republic, 59. 
 . treatment of slaves, 98. 
 ASSYRIA. 
 
 slavery in, 56. 
 
 eunuchs in, 56. 
 
 caste in, 56. 
 
 sources of slavery in, 56. 
 AZURARA, FATHER. 
 
 describes condition of captive slaves, 135. 
 
 BAGAUDAN. 
 
 conspiracy, 114. 
 BAPTIST. 
 
 missionaries, charged with inciting riot, 189. 
 BIASSON. 
 
 commands the negroes, 178. 
 BLANCHELAND. 
 
 governor, joins mulattoes, 177.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 321 
 
 BOAKMANN. 
 
 death of, 176. 
 BOND SERVANTS. 
 
 among the Jews, 40. 
 
 perpetual service of, 40. 
 
 rigorous treatment of, 41. 
 
 status of, 41. 
 BORGHELLA. 
 
 succeeds Rigaud, 187. 
 BOURBONS. 
 
 restored, 187. 
 BOYEB. 
 
 North of Hayti, surrendered to, 186. 
 
 causes Richard to be shot, 187. 
 
 becomes master of Hayti, 187. 
 
 accepts terms of Charles X, 187. 
 BRAHMINS. 
 
 in India, 50. 
 BRAZIL. 
 
 treaty with, to cease slave-trade, 146. 
 
 slavery in, 206. 
 BRITISH. 
 
 rule in India, 53. 
 
 slavery under, law in India, 53. 
 
 contests of, in Hayti, 179. 
 BRITONS. 
 
 freedom of, 122. 
 
 sold as slaves, 122. 
 BROGLIE. 
 
 Due de, reports to, 192. 
 BUXTON. 
 
 Mr., urges abolition in Parliament, 188. 
 
 CASTE. 
 
 in Egypt, 47. 
 
 effects of, 48. 
 
 in India, 50. 
 
 in Assyria, 56. 
 CATO. 
 
 on treatment of slaves, 98. 
 CHARLES V. 
 
 licenses importation of negroes, 139. 
 CHARLES I. 
 
 grants charters for carrying on slave-trade, 143. 
 21
 
 322 INDEX. 
 
 CHARLES X. 
 
 sends fleet to Hayti, 187. 
 CHILI. 
 
 slavery in, 207. 
 CHINA. 
 
 slavery in, 57. 
 sources of slavery, 58. 
 treatment of slaves, 58. 
 CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 effects of, upon slavery among the Romans,*%. 
 in the German States, 106. 
 teachings of, on slavery, 107. 
 effects in Great Britain, 127. 
 CHRISTIAN NATIONS. 
 
 efforts of, to abolish slave-trade, 162. 
 CHRISTOPHE. 
 
 burns the Cape, 183. 
 nominated President of Hayti, 186. 
 is deposed, 186. 
 is declared king, 186. 
 suicide of, 186. 
 CICERO. 
 
 justifies cruel treatment of slaves, 98. 
 CIRCASSIAN SLAVES, 
 in Egypt, 4ft. 
 in Turkey, 118. 
 CLARKSON. 
 
 labors for the abolition of slave-trade, 164. 
 of slavery, 188. 
 COLONIZATION. ' 
 African, 222. 
 in Sierra Leone, 222. 
 in Liberia, 222. 
 American, Society, 223. 
 still an experiment, 227. 
 COLUMBIA, DISTRICT OP. 
 
 abolition of slave-trade in, 210. 
 COLUMBUS. 
 
 sends home Indians as slaves, 137. 
 COMMISSION. 
 
 to inquire into condition of French colonies, 192. 
 CONCUBINES. 
 
 Hebrew women as, 39. 
 
 female slaves as, in Greece, 62.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 323 
 
 CONGRESS. 
 
 slavery conflicts in, 210. 
 
 at Vienna, denounces slave-trade, 165. 
 CONGRESS, CONTINENTAL. 
 
 resolves that no slaves be imported, 153. 
 
 prohibits the importation of slaves, 163. 
 CONSTANTINE. 
 
 makes exposure of children penal, 75. 
 
 laws of, on slavery, 97. 
 CONNECTICUT? 
 
 slavery in, 148. 
 CONSULAR GOVERNMENT. 
 
 confirms Toussaint in his powers, 182. 
 COOLIES. 
 
 introduced into British West Indies, 199. 
 
 into Mauritius, 200. 
 COURT. 
 
 Supreme, of United States, decisions of, on slavery, 211. 
 
 DE BRESA. 
 
 licensed to import negroes, 139. 
 DELAWARE. 
 
 slavery in, 150. 
 DEMOSII, 66. 
 DENMARK. 
 
 ameliorates the condition of the slave, 191. 
 
 abolishes slavery, 192. 
 
 effects of abolition on colonies of, 200. 
 DESSALINES. 
 
 revolt of, 184. 
 
 overcomes Rochambeau, 185. 
 
 becomes Governor-General of Hayti, 185. 
 
 orders massacre of whites, 185. 
 
 becomes Emperor, 186. 
 
 is assassinated, 186. 
 DIOCLETIAN. 
 
 denies the power of sale of children, 75. 
 DIODORUS. 
 
 mentions abolition of slavery for debt in Egypt, 45. 
 DUTCH. 
 
 engage in slave-trade, 146. 
 
 EAST. 
 
 slavery in, unchanged by Greek, Roman, or Mohammedan oc- 
 cupation, 58.
 
 324 INDEX. 
 
 EAST INDIA COMPANY. 
 
 obtains possession of India, 53. 
 
 abolishes slavery, 55. 
 EGYPT. 
 
 slavery in, 44. 
 
 sources of slavery in, 45. 
 
 public slaves in, 45. 
 
 rigorous treatment of slaves in, 46. 
 
 caste in, 47. 
 
 Circassian slaves in, 49. 
 ELIZABETH, QUEEN. 
 
 engaged in slave-trade, 143. 
 EMANCIPATION. 
 
 under Mohammedan law, 53. 
 
 of Helots, 64. 
 
 begins in Hayti, 179. 
 
 in British West Indies, 189. 
 
 in New Grenada, 207. 
 
 attempts to effect, in Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, 209. 
 ENFRANCHISEMENT. 
 
 modes of, in India, 52. 
 
 of serfs, in France, 115. 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 negroes brought to, 142. 
 ENGLISH COLONISTS. 
 
 treatment of slaves by, 159. 
 EUNUCHS. 
 
 in Egypt, 46. 
 
 among the Jews, 46. 
 
 in India, 55. 
 
 in Assyria, 56. 
 
 the Medes and Persians, 56. 
 
 in Greece, 67. 
 EUROPE. 
 
 slavery in, during the Middle Ages, 99. 
 
 sources of slavery in, 100. 
 
 early existence of slavery in, 100. 
 
 different names for slaves in, 101. 
 
 FEASTS. 
 
 observance of, by slaves, among the Jews, 43. 
 
 the Medes and Persians, 57. 
 
 in Greece, 70. 
 
 the Romans, 89. 
 
 by freedmen, in Great Britain, 124.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 325 
 
 FERRAND, GENERAL. 
 
 garrison under, 185. 
 FEUDAL SYSTEM. 
 
 leads to the emancipation of serfs, 47. 
 FOOTE. 
 
 speaks of Liberians, 227. 
 FRANCE. 
 
 slavery in, 110. 
 
 condition of slaves iij, 111. 
 
 two classes only, 112. 
 
 the serf in, 112. 
 
 cruel treatment of serfs, 112. 
 
 mainmorte, 113. 
 
 children of serfs, 113. 
 
 tormenting slaves, 114. 
 
 prelibation, 114. 
 
 Saracen slaves, 115. 
 
 enfranchisement of serfs, 115. 
 
 feudal system continued in, 116. 
 
 engages in slave-trade, 144. 
 
 abolition of slave-trade, 166. 
 
 agitation of abolition, 192. 
 
 efforts to improve the condition of slaves, 194. 
 
 Republic of, abolishes slavery, 195. 
 FRANCOIS, JEAN, 178. 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
 president of first Abolition Society, in Pennsylvania, 170. 
 FRENCH COLONIES. 
 
 condition of, 193. 
 
 GAUL. 
 
 burning slaves in, 102. 
 
 feudal system in, 110. 
 GENOESE. 
 
 engage in slave-trade, 139. 
 GEORGIA. 
 
 slavery prohibited, 150. 
 
 prohibition withdrawn, 152. 
 
 prohibits slave-trade, 153. 
 GERMAN STATES. 
 
 slavery in, 101. 
 
 early slavery mild, 101. 
 
 increases in severity, 102. 
 
 sources of slavery, 103.
 
 326 INDEX. 
 
 GERMAN STATES, Continued.'. 
 
 punishment of slaves, 103. .^9-- 
 
 iugitives, 104. 
 
 ameliorated condition of slaves, 105. 
 
 villanage, 110. 
 GRACE, SLAVE. 
 
 case of, 160. 
 GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 slavery in, 122. 
 
 under the Romans, 122. 
 
 the Saxons, 123. 
 
 the Normans, 127. 
 
 condition of villains, 128. 
 
 manumission of villains, 129. 
 
 extinction of villanage, 129. 
 
 present condition of laboring classes, 131. 
 
 negro slaves, 146. 
 
 prohibits the slave-trade, 165. 
 GREECE. 
 
 slavery in, 59. 
 
 early existence of slavery, 59. 
 
 earliest inhabitants, 60. 
 
 sources of slavery, 61. 
 
 children of female slaves, 62. 
 
 agrestic and domestic slaves, 63. 
 
 domestic slaves, 66. 
 
 white slaves, 67. 
 
 fugitives, 68. 
 
 female slaves, 68. 
 
 number and condition of slaves, 68. 
 
 slaves not considered persons, 71. 
 
 could not appear as suitors in the courts, 72. 
 
 labor performed by, 72. 
 
 punishment of slaves, 73. 
 GUIANA. 
 
 effects of abolition in, 200. 
 
 HABERSHAM. 
 
 advocates the introduction of slaves, 152. 
 HAM. 
 
 curse of, 35. 
 HAWKINS, SIR JOHN. 
 
 first English commander of slave-ship, 142.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 327 
 
 HAYTI. 
 
 three classes of inhabitants, 174. 
 
 three parties, 175. 
 
 dissensions among the whites, 175. 
 
 insurrection of slaves, 176. 
 
 contests between mulattoes and whites, 176. 
 
 hostilities, 177. 
 
 Toussaint becomes prominent, 180. 
 
 becomes master, 182. 
 
 becomes governor for life, 183. 
 
 hostilities recommence, 184. 
 
 is declared independent, 185. 
 
 efforts of Prance to regain, 187. 
 
 independence acknowledged, 187. 
 
 effects of abolition, 196. 
 HEBREW SERVANTS. 
 
 term of service of, 38. 
 
 could become bond servants, 38. 
 
 status of, 39. 
 
 law of release disregarded, 41. 
 HEDONVILLE, GENERAL. 
 
 sent to Hayti, 182. 
 HELLENES. 
 
 slavery among the, 60. 
 HELOTS, 64. 
 
 treatment of, 65. 
 HENRY I. 
 
 king of Hayti, 186. 
 HENRY, PATRICK. 
 
 opposed to slavery, 170. 
 HERODOTUS. 
 
 mentions negro slavery in Egypt, 44. 
 
 eunuchs in Persia, 57. 
 HINDOO LAW OF SLAVERY, 51. 
 HISPANIOLA. 
 
 decrease of negro population, 139. 
 
 revolt of negroes in, 141. 
 HOMER. 
 
 mentions slavery, 59. 
 
 INDIA. 
 
 slavery in, 50. 
 
 caste, 50. 
 
 sources of slavery, 51.
 
 328 INDEX. 
 
 INDIA, Continued. 
 
 master's power over slaves, 52. 
 
 under Mohammedan law, 53. 
 
 under British rule, 53. 
 
 British law making slaves, 53. 
 
 servile class, 54. 
 
 negroes, 54. 
 
 slave-trade, 54. 
 
 treatment of slaves, 55. 
 INDIANS. 
 
 enslaved by Spaniards, 137. 
 
 effect of slavery on, 138. 
 
 decrease of, in Hispaniola, 139. 
 IRELAND. 
 
 villains in, 131. 
 
 JAMAICA. 
 
 mountains of, infested by Maroons, 157. 
 
 end of apprentice system, 190. 
 
 decrease of negroes, 191. 
 
 present condition, 198. 
 JAMES I. 
 
 grants a license for carrying on slave-trade, 143. 
 JAPAN. 
 
 slavery in, 58. 
 JAY. 
 
 opposed to slavery, 170. 
 JEAN, FRANCOIS, 178. 
 JEFFERSON. 
 
 opposed to slavery, 170. 
 JEWS. 
 
 two classes of slaves among the, 38. 
 
 Hebrew servants, 39. 
 
 bond servants, 40. 
 
 rigorous treatment of bond servants, 41. 
 
 value of slaves, 42. 
 
 public slaves, 42. 
 
 manumission, 42. 
 
 continuance of slavery, 43. 
 
 eunuchs, 46. 
 
 KLAROT^E. 
 
 of Crete, 65. 
 
 LA PLATA. 
 
 negroes in, 208.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 329 
 
 LAS CASAS. 
 
 urges the importation of negroes, 138. 
 LAVAUX. 
 
 appointed Governor, 180. 
 
 imprisoned, 180. 
 LECHEVALIER. 
 
 reports of, 192. 
 LE CLERC. 
 
 goes to Hayti, 183. 
 
 opposed by Toussaint: changes his tactics, 184. 
 
 arrests Toussaint : attempts to restore slavery, and dies, 184. 
 LIBERIA, 212. 
 
 colonization in, 222. 
 
 independence of, 223. 
 
 population, 225. 
 
 colonization an experiment, 227. 
 LIBERIANS. 
 
 intellectual progress of, 226. 
 
 moral progress of, 227. 
 LOUIS LE HUTIN. 
 
 enfranchises slaves, 115. 
 LUGENBEEL, DR. 
 
 account of diseases in Liberia, 225. 
 
 on the future of Liberia, 228. 
 
 MAINMORTE, 113. 
 MALENFANT. 
 
 opposes emancipation of slaves, 178. 
 MANUMISSION. 
 
 among the Jews, 42. 
 
 in India, 52. 
 
 under Mohammedan law, 53. 
 
 in Greece, 73. 
 
 among the Romans, 92. 
 
 restrictions on, under Augustus, 94. 
 
 encouragement of, by Constantine and Justinian, 94. 
 
 in Germany, 104. 
 
 in Russia, 117. 
 
 in Great Britain, 126. 
 
 of villains, 129. 
 
 in United States, 211. 
 MARMELADE, RICHARD, DUKE OF. 
 
 conspires against Christophe, 186. 
 
 his death, 187.
 
 330 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 MAROONS, 157. 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 slavery in, 148. 
 
 manumission, 148. 
 MAURITIUS. 
 
 effect of abolition on negroes, 200. 
 MEDES AND PERSIANS. 
 
 slavery among, 56. 
 
 sources of slavery, 56. 
 
 power of master over slaves, 57. 
 MENU. 
 
 account of creation of men, 50. 
 MERGE. 
 
 ancient kingdom of, 196. 
 METHODIST MISSIONARIES. 
 
 charged with inciting rebellion of slaves, 189. 
 METICS, 63. 
 MIDDLE PASSAGE. 
 
 horrors of, 155. 
 
 increased by prohibitions against slave-trade, 167. 
 MOHAMMEDAN. 
 
 law of slavery, 52. 
 
 sources of slavery, 52. 
 
 slave-markets, 161. 
 MULATTOES. 
 
 in Hayti, 175. 
 
 contests with whites, 177. 
 
 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 
 
 establishes a new nobility in France, 116. 
 
 passes an order for abolition of slave-trade, 165. 
 
 resolves to restore slavery in Hayti, 183. 
 
 restores slavery in other West India islands and Guiana, 192 
 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 
 
 decrees political privileges to all free persons in Hayti, 175. 
 
 annuls and reissues decree, 177. 
 
 abolishes slavery, 179. 
 NEGROES. 
 
 trade in, 135. 
 
 introduced into America, 139. 
 
 superiority over Indians as slaves, 140. 
 
 revolt in Hispaniola, 141. 
 
 brought to England, 142.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 331 
 
 NEGROES, Continued. 
 
 number imported into America, 152. 
 
 number exported from Africa, 154. 
 
 different tribes of, 154. 
 
 contentment of, 156. 
 
 decrease in West Indies, 191. 
 
 increase in United States, 191. 
 
 effect of abolition on, in the "West Indies, 199. 
 
 in the United States, 201. 
 
 intellectual and moral condition, 202. 
 
 improvement in United States, 212. 
 
 idleness, 217. 
 
 lewdness, 219. 
 
 future in America, 221. 
 
 aversion to labor, 225. 
 
 incapacity for independent civilization, 228. 
 NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 among the Jews, 40. 
 
 the Egyptians, 45. 
 
 in India, 54. 
 
 in Assyria, 56. 
 
 in the East, 58. 
 
 in Greece, 66. 
 
 in Rome, 81. 
 
 in Turkey, 118. 
 
 early existence of, 134. 
 
 in Great Britain, 146. 
 
 adapted to the South, 172 
 NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 slavery in, 147. 
 NEW GRENADA. 
 
 slavery in, 206. 
 
 emancipation, 207. 
 NEW JERSEY. 
 
 slavery in, 149. 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 slavery in, 148. 
 NORMANS. 
 
 effect of invasion of, 127. 
 NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 slavery in, 150. 
 NUNEZ, VASCO. 
 
 employs Africans, 140
 
 332 INDEX. 
 
 OGE, VINCENT. 
 
 demands the execution of decree recognizing rights of mulat- 
 toes, 1Y5. 
 
 defeat and death, ITS. 
 ORTIZ DE ZUNIGA. 
 
 ecclesiastical annals of, 135. 
 OVANDO. 
 
 instructions of Spanish court to, 138. 
 
 PAEIS. 
 
 treaty of, 185. 
 PARLIAMENT. 
 
 acts of, regulating wages, 130. 
 
 reports to, 132. 
 
 efforts to improve the condition of the poor, 133. 
 
 makes free the African trade, 143. 
 
 encourages slave-trade, 145. 
 
 restricts the number of slaves to be carried on vessels, 156. 
 
 appoints committees to inquire into the expediency of emanci- 
 pation, 189. 
 
 efforts to improve the condition of the West Indies, 198. 
 PELASGI, 60. 
 PENEST^E. 
 
 of Thessaly, 65. 
 PENN. 
 
 proposes to improve condition of slaves, 149. 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 slavery in, 149. 
 PERIOIKI, 63. 
 
 of Crete, 65. 
 PERSIANS. 
 
 Medes and. See MEDES. 
 PERU. 
 
 slavery in, 207. 
 PETION. 
 
 conspires against Dessalines, 186. 
 
 elected president of Hayti, 186. 
 
 course of, 186. 
 
 cruelty, 186. 
 PHILIP V. 
 
 enters into a treaty on the slave-trade, 145. 
 PLATO. 
 
 thinks slavery essential in a republic, 59. 
 
 speaks of treatment of slaves, 69.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 333 
 
 POLAND. 
 
 slavery in, 1 1 7. 
 
 slave-trade, 135, 146. 
 POLVEREL. 
 
 consents to liberation of blacks, 179. 
 
 publishes agricultural regulations, 179. 
 PORT AU PRINCE. 
 
 partly consumed, 177. 
 
 destroyed, 178. 
 
 surrendered to the British, 179. 
 POWER OF MASTER OVER SLAVES. 
 
 in India, 52. 
 
 under Mohammedan law, 53. 
 
 among the Medes and Persians, 57. 
 
 among the Romans, 86. 
 
 in Russia, 117. 
 
 in Turkey, 118. 
 
 under Saxon rule, 123. 
 PRELLBATION. 
 
 right of, 114. 
 PUFFENDORF. 
 
 opinion on the origin of slavery, 36. 
 
 QUAKERS. 
 
 oppose slavery, 162. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 slavery in, 148. 
 RICH, SIR ROBERT. 
 
 obtains a charter for carrying on the slave-trade, 143. 
 RIGAUD. 
 
 assumes an independent position, 181. 
 
 driven out by Toussaint, 182. 
 
 returns to Hayti, 187. 
 
 dies, 187. 
 RIGHT OF SEARCH. 
 
 to prevent slave-trade, 166. 
 ROBERTS, GOVERNOR. 
 
 of Liberia, 223. 
 ROCHAMBEAU. 
 
 succeeds Le Clerc, 185. 
 
 character, 185. 
 
 overcome by Dessalines, 185.
 
 334 INDEX. 
 
 EOLLIN, M. LEDRU. 
 
 proposes to redeem slaves, 195. 
 ROMANS. 
 
 sources of slavery, 74. 
 
 paternal power, 75. 
 
 power of debtor to sell himself, 75. 
 
 abolition of law permitting it, 76. 
 
 violation of law a source of slavery, 76. 
 
 wars a source of slavery, 77. 
 
 piracy a source, 78. 
 
 tyranny of Proconsuls, 78. 
 
 law, regulating the sale of slaves, 80. 
 
 slave-dealers odious, 81. 
 
 number of slaves, 82. 
 
 uses of slaves, 84. 
 
 fugitive slaves, 88. 
 
 punishment of slaves, 92. 
 
 freedmen, 94. 
 
 cessation of slavery, 95. 
 
 causes of cessation, 96. 
 
 effects of Christianity upon slavery, 96. 
 RUSSIA. 
 
 slavery in, 117. 
 
 power of master over slaves, 117. 
 
 emancipation, 117. 
 
 SALZBURGHERS. 
 
 oppose slavery, 151. 
 SAXONS. 
 
 slavery among the, 123. 
 
 condition of slaves, 123. 
 
 sources of slavery, 123. 
 
 fugitive slaves, 125. 
 
 price of slaves, 125. 
 
 punishment of slaves, 125. 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 villanage in, 130. 
 SEMIRAMIS. 
 
 introduced the custom of making eunuchs, 56. 
 SENECA. 
 
 treatment of slaves, 98. 
 SERFS. 
 
 in France, 112. 
 
 character of, in Russia, 118. 
 
 efforts to improve condition of, 119. 
 
 in Hungary and Transylvania, 119.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 335 
 
 SHARP, GRANVILLE. 
 
 opposes slave-trade, 164. 
 SIERRA LEONE, 222. 
 SLAVES. 
 
 value of, among the Jews, 42. 
 
 public slaves, 42. 
 
 in Egypt, 45. 
 
 in India, 55. 
 
 number in India, 55. 
 
 public slaves in Greece, 66. 
 
 price in Greece, 66. 
 
 protection at Athens, 70. 
 
 homicide of, at Athens, 71. 
 
 not considered as persons, 71. 
 
 torture as witnesses, 72. 
 
 different kinds in Rome, 81. 
 
 number of, 82. 
 
 used as gladiators, 84. 
 
 price in Rome, 85. 
 
 status, 85. 
 
 peculium, 88. 
 
 value in France, 113. 
 
 condition of Saxon slaves, 123. 
 
 price in Great Britain, 125. 
 
 introduced into United States, 147. 
 
 price in United States, 156. 
 
 insurrection in Hayti, 176. 
 
 crown slaves liberated, 188. 
 
 insurrections, 189. 
 
 want of chastity of females, 218. 
 SLAVERY. 
 
 early existence and universality of, 35. 
 
 for debt, abolished in Egypt, 45. 
 
 when unprofitable, 47. 
 
 universal in the East, 57. 
 
 continues unchanged, 58. 
 
 introduced into Grecian mythology, 91. 
 
 ceases among the Romans, 95. 
 
 morality of, among the Romans, 97. 
 
 exists in fact on the continent, 119. 
 
 of females, in Saxony, 120. 
 
 effect on the Indians, 138. 
 
 becomes a social institution, 160. 
 
 unprofitable in the Northern States, 170.
 
 336 INDEX. 
 
 SLAVERY, Continued. 
 
 character of, in British West Indies, 190. 
 
 in Brazil, 206. 
 
 in New Grenada, 206. 
 
 benefits and evils of, 213. 
 
 conservatism of, 213. 
 
 comparative cheapness, 216. 
 
 social benefits and evils, 217. 
 
 a patriarchal institution, 218. 
 SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
 early origin of, 26. 
 
 among the Jews, 40. 
 
 in India, 54. 
 
 among the Medes and Persians, 56. 
 
 the Romans, 79. 
 
 effects of wars on, 115. 
 
 in Great Britain, 125. 
 
 negro, origin of, 135. 
 
 commencement in America, 139. 
 
 conducted by Genoese, 140. 
 
 English companies chartered, 143. 
 
 France and Portugal engage in, 144. 
 
 treaty between England and Spain, 145. 
 
 sanitary regulations, 145. 
 
 encouraged by Parliament, 145. 
 
 carried on by Portugal, France, and Holland, 146. 
 
 approved by Massachusetts, 147. 
 
 opposed by Virginia, Maryland, and South Carolina, 153. 
 
 prohibited by Georgia, 153. 
 
 general extension of, 160. 
 
 efforts of Christian nations to abolish, 162. 
 
 declared to be piracy, 166. 
 
 continues unabated, 167. 
 SLAVE-MARKETS. 
 
 among the Egyptians, 45. 
 
 in Greece, 66. 
 
 in Rome, 79. 
 
 in Constantinople, 118. 
 SOMERSETT. 
 
 case, 160. 
 SOLON. 
 
 relief law, 61. 
 SONTHONAX. 
 
 proclaims liberty to slaves, 179.
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SLAVERY. 337 
 
 SOUDRAS, 51. 
 SOUTH CAEOLINA. 
 
 slavery planted with, 150. 
 
 prohibits introduction of slaves, 164. 
 SPAIN. 
 
 treaty for cessation of slave-trade, 166. 
 
 declares war with France, 178. 
 
 reacquires St. Domingo, 185. 
 SPANIARDS. 
 
 religious fervor of, 136. 
 
 enslaved Indians, 137. 
 
 treatment of slaves, 157. 
 SPARTA. 
 
 Helots of, 64. 
 SPARTANS. 
 
 treatment of slaves, 65. 
 STATES, FREE. 
 
 prohibit the introduction of free negroes, 212. 
 ST. DOMINGO, 174. 
 
 Central Assembly convened, 183. 
 
 receded to Spain, 185. 
 
 revolt, 187. 
 SWEDEN. 
 
 ameliorates the condition of the slave, 123. 
 
 abolishes slavery, 192. 
 
 TECMESA, 62. 
 TIBA, 39. 
 TOUSSAINT. 
 
 made general of brigade, 180. 
 
 drives out the English, 181. 
 
 desires independence of Hayti, 182. 
 
 becomes master of Hayti, 182. 
 
 confirmed in his power, 182. 
 
 takes possession of Spanish portion, 182. 
 
 becomes governor for life, 183. 
 
 opposes Le Clerc, is deserted, arrested, and dies, 184. 
 TRANSYLVANIA. 
 
 serfs in, 119. 
 TREATMENT. 
 
 of Hebrew servants, 39. 
 
 of bond servants, 41. 
 
 of slaves in Egypt, 46. 
 
 in India, 55. 
 
 22
 
 338 INDEX. 
 
 TREATMENT, Continued. 
 
 in China, 58. 
 
 in Greece, 69. 
 
 in Rome, 87. 
 
 in German States, 102. 
 
 of serfs in France, 112. 
 
 in Turkey, of slaves, 118. 
 
 by Spaniards, 157. 
 
 by English colonists, 158. 
 TROPLONG, M. ' 
 
 describes the effects of Christianity, 97. 
 TURKEY. 
 
 slavery in, 118. 
 
 slave-market, 118. 
 
 right of redemption, 118. 
 TYRE. 
 
 revolt of slaves, 97. 
 
 ULYSSES. 
 
 the son of a concubine, 62. 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 slaves first introduced, 147. 
 
 cotton first cultivated, 147. 
 
 Constitution limits slave-trade, 153. 
 
 increase of negroes, 191. 
 
 effects of abolition on negroes, 201. 
 
 slavery in, 209. 
 
 first abolition society, 209. 
 
 decisions of Supreme Court on slavery, 211. 
 
 treatment of slaves, 212. 
 
 increase and improvement of negroes, 212. 
 
 VENICE. 
 
 slavery in, 116. 
 VILLAINS. 
 
 in Germany, 110. 
 
 in Great Britain, 129. 
 
 manumission by Edward III, 129. 
 
 in Ireland, 131. 
 VILLANAGE. 
 
 in Germany, 110. 
 
 in Great Britain, 128. 
 
 base villanage gives way to privileged, 129. 
 
 extinction in Great Britain, 129. 
 
 in Scotland, 130.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 339 
 
 VILLATTE. 
 
 imprisons Governor Lavaux, 180. 
 defeated, 180. 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 in favor of emancipation, 170. 
 insurrection of slaves, 211. 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 emancipates his slaves, 170. 
 WEST INDIES, BRITISH. 
 
 decrease of slaves, 191. 
 
 effects of abolition, 197. 
 WHITFIELD, REV. GEORGE. 
 
 advocates introduction of slaves, 151. 
 WILBERFORCE. 
 
 labors for the abolition of slave-trade, 164. 
 
 of slavery, 188. 
 
 XIMENES, CARDINAL. 
 
 undeservedly praised for opposition to the introduction of ne- 
 groes, HI. 
 
 YEAMANNS, SIR JOHN. 
 
 introduces slaves into South Carolina, 150. 
 YORK, DUKE OF. 
 
 engages in slave-trade, 143. 
 
 ZENDAVESTA. 
 
 recognizes castes, 56. 
 ZOROASTER. 
 
 regulations of, recognize caste, 58. 
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 
 
 (The references are to sections.) 
 
 ACTION. 
 
 for injury to slave, 93. 
 
 for battery of, 112 a. 
 
 against patrol for excessive punishment, 115. 
 
 for causing death of, 326. 
 
 for inciting to crime, 326. 
 
 by slave in a non-slaveholding jurisdiction, 278.
 
 340 INDEX. 
 
 ACTION, Continued. 
 
 does not lie by slave, 278. 
 
 except suits for freedom, 278. 
 
 same rule in other countries, 278. 
 
 master cannot sue on executory contract of stranger with slave, 
 262. 
 
 nor a promissory note to, 268. 
 
 nor for legacy to, 262. 
 
 may sue for deposits of, 267. 
 
 but not for purchases with such investments, 267. 
 
 on contract with stranger for emancipation. 268, 368. 
 
 or with slave, 367. 
 
 does not lie on contract made before emancipation, 277. 
 
 suits for freedom, how regulated, 279, 295. 
 
 when right depends on unproved will, 282, 283. 
 
 bill quia timet to prevent removal pending suit for freedom, 284. 
 
 suits for freedom, favored, 285. 
 
 parties and pleadings in, 286. 
 
 joinder of parties, 286. 
 
 stranger cannot institute, 286. 
 
 exclusive remedy to determine right, 286. 
 
 issue in, 287. 
 
 want of title in claimant immaterial, 287. 
 
 aliter under civil law, 287. 
 
 evidence in, 287. 
 
 inspection of person, 287. 
 
 admissions of alleged slave, 287. 
 
 practice as to motions, &c., 288. 
 
 damages in, 289. 
 
 effect of judgment, 290. 
 
 same rule in case of villeins, 292. 
 
 estoppel, 291, 292. 
 
 statute of limitations does not include, 293. 
 
 no prescription against, 293. 
 
 jurors in disqualification of, 294. 
 
 wager of battle in, 295. 
 
 remedy for provision for slave will, 335. 
 
 where manumitted by will, 357. 
 
 where executor or possessor refuses to surrender, 366. 
 
 freedom of alleged slave no bar to other action by possessor, 286. 
 ADMISSIONS. 
 
 by slave, 255, 287, 317. 
 AGENT. 
 
 slave incapacitated except for master, 299.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 341 
 
 AGENT, Continued. 
 
 when implied for master, 299. 
 
 Roman law, 300. 
 
 prohibitions against employment, 301. 
 AMENDMENTS OF LAW SUGGESTED. 
 
 evidence of, 257. 
 
 marriage relation, 276. 
 
 protection of statuliberi, 390. 
 
 rape, 107. 
 
 suits for freedom, 281. 
 ASSETS. 
 
 marshalling of, 358. 
 
 manumitted slave, when and how made assets, 349, 357. 
 
 where deficiency is less than value of slave, 359. 
 
 deficiency, how ascertained to avoid manumission, 360. 
 
 BAIL, 318. 
 
 BILL QUIA TIMET. 
 
 to prevent removal pending suit for freedom or probate of will 
 emancipating, 284. 
 
 CITIZEN. 
 
 citizenship is gift of State only, 384. 
 mixture of blood disqualifies, 391. 
 negro not a citizen by manumission, 354. 
 grant of right of by one State to negro, 388, 38J3. 
 COMITY. 
 
 part of law of nations, 140. 
 
 exceptions and grounds of rule, 140. 
 
 permanent retention of slave in free State, not allowed by, 142. 
 
 transit of slaves permissible by, 143, 201. 
 
 Lord Mansfield's doctrine conflicts with rule, 144. 
 
 does not violate policy of free State, 145. 
 
 right of strangers to carry property, 155, 233, 234. 
 
 law of domicile of owner governs title, 234. 
 
 limit of the rule, 153, 235. 
 
 law framed by courts, 153. 
 
 Story's view examined, 157 et seq. 
 
 effect of union of the United States, 198 et seq. 
 
 remedy for disregard by one State, 203 et seq. 
 
 excluded only by express law, 226. 
 
 American decisions as applied to slavery, 227 et seq.
 
 342 INDEX. 
 
 CONFLICT OF LAWS. 
 
 domicile and residence of mother of slave, 79. 
 
 change of mother's domicile after birth of, 80. 
 
 instruments construed by lex loci contractus, 81. 
 
 unless contrary to policy of forum, 81. 
 
 when instrument operates on mother, domiciled abroad and 
 
 issue is born, 81 a. 
 fugitive slaves, 128, 224. 
 law of personal qualities and capacities accompanies resident 
 
 abroad, 136. 
 
 until new domicile acquired, 137, 235. 
 or there is an express law, 226. 
 sojourner does not lose law of domicile, 137. 
 cases of marriage, infancy, &c., 138. 
 existing relations imported with persons, 138. 
 express law of forum, superior there, 138. 
 permanent retention of slaves in free State not required by 
 
 comity, 142. 
 
 aliter of one removing from necessity or temporarily, 143, 224. 
 doctrine of Lord Mansfield examined, 144. 
 property of travellers, 151, 153. 
 slavery, whether exceptional, 156, 167. 
 opinions of jurists on the question, 167. 
 decisions of foreign courts examined, 168, 197, 198, n. 
 of English courts, 172, 197. 
 superiority of continental jurists, 173. 
 effect of union of the United States, 198 et seq., 234. 
 effect of return from free to slave State, 222, 239, 373. 
 American decisions, 216 et seq. 
 
 emancipation Statute, not operative on slave in transitu, 232. 
 incapacity of slave to contract accompanies him, 277. 
 removal of statuliberi to State prohibiting such manumission, 
 
 347. 
 
 onus probandi of legality of foreign manumission, 347. 
 foreign deed or will operating on slaves within the jurisdiction, 
 
 348. 
 CONTRACT. 
 
 slave cannot, 265. 
 
 Roman law, 265. 
 
 effect of subsequent manumission, 265. 
 
 law of domicile of master accompanies slave on removal, 278. 
 
 hiring of time to slave, 267. 
 
 deposits recoverable by master, 267. 
 
 executory, with stranger, void, 268.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 343 
 
 CONTRACT, Continued. 
 
 executed, voidable by master, 268. 
 
 with stranger, for emancipation, 268, 368. 
 
 with slave, 367. 
 
 effect of, by master with slave, 269, 369. 
 
 by slaves, prohibited, 369. 
 
 of marriage between slaves, a nullity, 270. 
 CONTUBERNIUM, 270. 
 CONSTITUTION. 
 
 effect on law of comity, 198, 215. 
 
 effect of restraints on force, 202. 
 
 remedy for refusal of a State to exercise comity, 203, 214. 
 
 art. 4, sections 1, 2, apply to laws, 205 et seq. 
 
 power to determine the effect thereof, 207. 
 
 effect of judgments under, 208. 
 
 Story's view, 209. 
 
 power to determine effect of State laws, extraterritorially, never 
 exercised, 211. 
 
 argument against it considered, 212, 213. 
 
 secures (not confers) reclamation of fugitives, 218, 241. 
 
 act of 1793, 243. 
 
 citizenship granted, by one State, to negroes, 388, 389. 
 CRIMINAL LAW. 
 
 injuries to person or life of slave, 83, 93, 103. 
 
 statutes for protection of, 87. 
 
 effect of ordinary statutes, 88, 91. 
 
 penalties for offences against slave statutory only, 92. 
 
 jurisdiction statutory only, 320. 
 
 cruelty to, 106. 
 
 violation of female only punishable civilly, 107. 
 
 manslaughter of, how punishable, 100. 
 
 assault on, with intent to kill, 101. 
 
 presumptions in case of homicide of slave, 102. 
 
 regulations in South Carolina, 102. 
 
 laws in United States, compared with others, 108, 110. 
 
 not a person within ordinary legislation, 303. 
 
 presence of slave will not make a riot, 303. 
 
 gaming with, not within statute, 303. 
 
 extenuation of crimes against, 95. 
 
 of homicide by, 98, 99. 
 
 harboring fugitives, 121. 
 
 declarations, when admissible, 254. 
 
 confessions of, against white accessories, 255. 
 
 husband and wife competent against each other, 275.
 
 344 INDEX. 
 
 CRIMINAL LAW, Continued. 
 
 evidence, 315, 317. 
 
 extenuation of crime, by quasi marital relation, 275. 
 
 when committed under influence of master, 305, 300. 
 
 punishments of slaves, 302, 307. 
 
 discretion of courts, 308, 309. 
 
 accessories, 304. 
 
 courts for trial of, 310, 320. 
 
 practice on trials of, 310, 320. 
 
 trial by jury, when secured, 311. 
 
 auterfois acquit or convict pleadable, 311. 
 
 averments in indictments, 312. 
 
 right of master pending trial, 313. 
 
 bail, 318. 
 
 statutes relating to slave, construction of, 321. 
 
 justification by slave, 322. 
 
 insurrection and rebellion defined, 323. 
 
 penal slave code applies to free negroes, 387. 
 CRUELTY. 
 
 to slave, 104, 106. 
 
 DAMAGES. 
 
 in suits for freedom, 289. 
 DEBTOR AND CREDITOR. 
 
 issue born after manumission, voidable by creditors, 72, 341). 
 
 manumission by an insolvent, 331. 
 
 valid until avoided, 349. 
 
 proceedings to determine fact, 349. 
 
 by will of an insolvent, 349. 
 
 and see title ASSETS. 
 DEED OF MANUMISSION. 
 
 reservation of issue, void, 72, 333. 
 
 construction of, 78, 342, 350. 
 
 what it includes, 337. 
 
 requisites of, 339. 
 
 reservation of title on condition subsequent, void, 342. 
 
 contravening statutory policy, 344. 
 
 evading law, 346, 348. 
 
 operating on slaves in another jurisdiction, 348. 
 
 fraudulent as to creditors, 331, 349. 
 
 presumption of, 351. 
 DEPOSITES. 
 
 right of master to sue for, 267. 
 DESCENT. 
 
 part us sequitur ventrem, 70.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 345 
 
 DESCENT, Continued. 
 
 common law rule, 71. 
 
 bastard, 71. 
 
 slave has no inheritable blood, 263, 275. 
 
 manumitted slave may trace descent through slave, 263, 275. 
 DOMICILE. 
 
 what constitutes, 130. 
 
 of origin, 132. 
 
 change of, must be proved, 132. 
 
 law of mother's, determines status of offspring, 79. 
 
 of master, that of slave generally, 82. 
 
 slave cannot alter, 82, 129. 
 
 change of, how effected, 130, 133. 
 
 intent to return not conclusive, 130, 131. 
 
 residence, prima facie evidence of, 131. 
 
 involuntary residence inoperative, 131. 
 
 declarations, evidence on question, 133. 
 
 law of, to what it extends, 134. 
 
 until new domicile is acquired, 137. 
 
 determined status of slave, 135. 
 
 effect on marriage, infancy, &c., 138. 
 
 on traveller, or sojourner with slave, 143. 
 
 property of strangers on transit, 151, 153. 
 
 express statute, necessary to exclude law of, 226. 
 
 contracts governed by, 277. 
 
 ELECTION OF FREEDOM, 78, 363. 
 EMANCIPATION. 
 
 manumission defined, 327. 
 , different kinds of, 336. 
 effect on issue, when conditional, 71 a, 72. 
 when voidable by creditors, issue is free, 72. 
 conditional, of mother, 73, 75. 
 or at her election, 73, 75. 
 
 future or immediate, with postponement of enjoyment, 76, 78,333. 
 condition of issue in such cases, 76, 78, 333. 
 reservation of issue void, 333. 
 statutes for gradual abolition, effect on issue, 77. 
 confined to issue born within State, when, 77. 
 construction of instruments of, 78, 342, 350. 
 at election, 78, 342, 350. 
 by removal to free State, 142, 235, 371. 
 aliter if for transit only, 143, 149. 
 or for temporary purpose, 165, 198, n. a. v. 221. 
 or by owner incompetent to contract, 371.
 
 346 INDEX. 
 
 EMANCIPATION, Continued. 
 or under duress, 371. 
 or being one of several, 372. 
 or tenant for life, 372. 
 or mortgagor, 372. 
 
 removal with intent to reside, 220, 235. 
 Jones v. Van Zandt remarked upon, 221. 
 return from free to slave State, 222, 239. 
 statute for, inoperative on slave in transitu, 232. 
 not effected by escape, 240. 
 contract for, with third person, 268. 
 contracting with slave, effect of, 269, 369. 
 does not confer inheritable blood, 275. 
 nor validate contract made while slave, 277. 
 right of, coextensive with slavery, 327. 
 not dependent on express law, 328, 329. 
 law regulates and restrains only, 328, 329. 
 master, capable of contracting, may, 328, 329. 
 where several, all must unite, 329. 
 effect of, by one of several, 329. 
 owner of profits cannot, 330. 
 nor owner of particular estate, 330. 
 remainder-man may, 330. 
 to evade liability for maintenance, 331. 
 by an insolvent, 331, 349, 357. 
 Roman law, 331, 349, 357. 
 when restrained, 332, 340. 
 qualified, illegal, 334. 
 by deed, what is included, 337. 
 formalities under Roman law, 337. 
 in England, 338. 
 requisites, 339, 342. 
 
 declaration of future intent insufficient, 339, 342. 
 judicial interpretation affected by State policy, 340. 
 form, when written instrument is required, 341, 342. 
 conditions precedent and subsequent, 341, 342. 
 effect of sale after manumission, 341, 342. 
 statutory regulations, 340. 
 reservation of title on return to State, void, 342. 
 compliance with statutory regulations, 343. 
 contrary to statutory policy, void, 344, 348. 
 statuliberi removed to State prohibiting such emancipation, 
 
 347. 
 
 onus probandi as to lawfulness of foreign manumission, 347. 
 of slaves sent abroad, with intent to return, 348.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 347 
 
 EMANCIPATION, Continued. 
 
 presumption of, 353. 
 
 judgment of court on, when void, 352. 
 
 by will, valid unless prohibited, 353. 
 
 formalities required, 354. 
 
 not aided by reference in a conveyance, 354. 
 
 assent of executor requisite, 354. 
 
 revocation of sale or gift, 355. 
 
 issue born before probate, 355. 
 
 construction of wills, 355, 356. 
 
 remedy of slave, when other assets are sufficient, 357. 
 
 sale by executor under such circumstances, 357. 
 
 marshalling of assets, 358. 
 
 where deficiency is less than value of slave, 359. 
 
 sale under execution against executor, when void, 359. 
 
 deficiency, how ascertained, 360. 
 
 abatement of legacy of freedom with other legacies, 361. 
 
 when illegal, falls into residue, 362. 
 
 at election of slave, whether void or not, 78, 363. 
 
 on condition of removal, prohibited by lex loci, 364. 
 
 delay of executor in complying with statutory regulations, 365. 
 
 not avoided by collusion of executor, 365. 
 
 remedy of legatee for manumission, 366. 
 
 sale with condition for, 368. 
 
 by laws of State, 371 et seq. 
 
 of mortgaged slave, 372. 
 
 not affected by return from place where freed by law, 373. 
 
 by violations of law, imposing this penalty, 374, 378, 379. 
 
 aliter if this penalty not imposed, 374, 378, 379. 
 
 by failure to comply with regulations, 374, 378, 379. 
 
 failure of infant or feme covert, 375. 
 
 regulations apply only to voluntary importations, 375. 
 
 presumption of, from acts of master, 380, 382. 
 
 once perfected, cannot be altered, 383. 
 
 effect on citizenship, 384 et seq. 
 
 suits for freedom. See ACTION. 
 ESTOPPEL. See ACTION. 
 EVIDENCE. 
 
 presumptions of status of slavery, 67, 68. . 
 
 origin of, 69. 
 
 to whom it extends, 69. 
 
 enjoyment of personal liberty presumes freedom, 111. 
 
 disqualification of slave, 247. 
 
 justification of rule, 256. 
 
 common law rule, 248. 
 
 under feudal system, 249.
 
 348 INDEX. 
 
 EVIDENCE, Continued. 
 of civil law, 250. 
 ofCodeNoir, 251. 
 
 report of British Commissioners on this, 251. 
 Jewish rule, 251. 
 
 complaint of violation of this rule, 252. 
 statutory regulations iu United States, 253. 
 prohibition on free negroes in some States, 253. 
 husband and wife competent, 253. 
 declarations, 254. 
 
 agreement may render slave competent, 255. 
 silence as to statements of slaves, 255. 
 conversations with whites admissible against them, 255. 
 information received from slave as explanatory of conduct, 255. 
 confessions admissible against accessories, 255. 
 amendment suggested, 257. 
 in suits for freedom, 287. 
 of agency for master, 299. 
 in criminal cases, 315. 
 master competent witness for, 316. 
 confessions of slave, 317. 
 judgment, when requisite to emancipation, how far evidence, 
 
 343. 
 
 when void, 352. 
 
 presumption of deed of manumission, 351. 
 of manumission from acts of master, 380, 382. 
 parol, to supply omission in collector's certificate, 377. 
 
 FREE PERSONS OF COLOR. 
 
 not citizens by emancipation, 384. 
 
 status, that of alien friend, 384. 
 
 in Georgia, 385. 
 
 rights of, 384. 
 
 may contract marriage, 386. 
 
 marriage with whites prohibited, 386. 
 
 may make will or contract, 386. 
 
 estates subject to ordinary laws, 386. 
 
 guardian for, required, 387. 
 
 prohibited from acquiring slaves, or purchasing liquors, 387. 
 
 Penal Slave Code, generally embraces, 387. 
 
 grant of citizenship by one State, 388, 389. 
 
 cannot sue in the Federal Courts, 389. 
 FREEDOM. 
 
 suits for, see ACTION.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 349 
 
 FUGITIVES. 
 
 issue of, 79, s. v. n. 3. 
 
 homicide of, unlawful, 96. 
 
 though suspected of felony, 96. 
 
 liabilities of, 118. 
 
 how far outlaw, 118. 
 
 harboring or concealing, 121. 
 
 set-off for necessaries, 121. 
 
 right of recapture, 122, 164. 
 
 stranger may arrest, 120, 122. 
 
 Roman law, 123. 
 
 law of France, 124. 
 
 of Germany, 125. 
 
 Greece, 126. 
 
 West Indies, 126. 
 
 ecclesiastical, 127. 
 
 escape into another State, 128, 164. 
 
 conflict of laws, where that is non-slaveholding, 128, 164. 
 
 opinions of jurists, 158 et seq., 198 n. 
 
 produces no change in status, 240. 
 
 reclamation secured by Constitution, 218, 242. 
 
 Act of 1793, for return of, 242. 
 constitutionality of that Act, 243. " 
 contracts of, governed by law of domicile, 277. 
 
 GIFTS. 
 
 to slave, 262. 
 
 HOMICIDE. 
 
 of slave, what extenuates, 95, 323, 325. 
 
 of fugitives, unlawful, 96, 325. 
 
 foy overseer, when negro flies from punishment, 96. 
 
 nor when suspected of felony, 96. 
 
 by slave, when justifiable, 98, 322. 
 
 when extenuated, 99. 
 
 manslaughter of slave, how punishable, 100. 
 HUSBAND AND WIFE. 
 
 relation not recognized among slaves, 253. 
 
 does not exclude them as witnesses, 253. 
 
 IMPORTATION. 
 
 where prohibited, 374, 375. 
 
 return after removal, animo remanendi, 376. 
 
 by hirer not within, 377. 
 
 parol evidence, to supply omission in collector's certificate, 377.
 
 350 INDEX. 
 
 INSURRECTION. 
 
 what amounts to, 323. 
 ISSUE. 
 
 partus sequitur ventrem, 70. 
 
 common law rule of, 71. 
 
 of mother emancipated in future, 71 a. 
 
 subsequent enslavement of mother immaterial, 72. 
 
 future issue cannot be reserved by deed presently emancipating 
 
 mother, 72. 
 
 avoidance of manumission by creditors, 72, 349. 
 conditional emancipation of mother, 73. 
 of statuliberi, 74, 75. 
 effect of future or immediate emancipation, with postponement 
 
 of enjoyment, 76, 78. 
 
 effect of statutes for gradual abolition, 77. 
 when these confined to those born within State, 77. 
 law of mother's domicile determines status, 79. 
 change of mothers domicile after birth, 80. 
 lex loci contractus as to mother yields to law of domicile of 
 
 issue, 81 a. 
 of slave manumitted by will, born before probate, 355. 
 
 JUDGMENT. 
 
 on manumissions, effect of, 343. 
 
 when void, 352. 
 JURORS. 
 
 in suits for freedom, when disqualified, 294. 
 
 LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 what it is, 4, 9, 14. 
 
 varies with races and habits, 10. 
 
 distinguished from state of, 11. 
 
 slavery of negroes alone consistent with, 15. 
 LEGACIES. 
 
 to slave, 262. 
 
 by slave, 263. 
 
 to slave, to be emancipated, 344. 
 
 abatement of legacy of freedom, 361. 
 LIMITATIONS, STATUTE OF. 
 
 suits for freedom, not within, 293. 
 
 nor right of master barred by, 293. 
 
 MANSFIELD, LORD. 
 
 opinions as to slavery, 182.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 351 
 
 MANUMISSION. See EMANCIPATION. 
 MASTER. 
 
 defined, 1. 
 
 power over slave, 85 et seq. 
 
 assemblies on his premises, 117. 
 
 furnishing liquor, 117. 
 
 hiring time to slaves, 117. 
 
 permitting slave to go at large, 117. 
 
 restraint .on grant of permits, 118. 
 
 not liable for necessaries furnished fugitive, 121. 
 
 right to recapture, 122. 
 
 to property or gains of slave, 258.. 
 
 where several masters, 258. 
 
 peculium, 258. 
 
 law of villains, 259. 
 
 in other countries, 260. 
 
 property found by slave, 261. 
 
 legacies to slave, 262. 
 
 cannot sue on executory contract of stranger with slave, 262, 
 268. 
 
 nor on promissory note to, 268. 
 
 peculium on death of master goes to master, 264. 
 
 cannot contract with slave, 267. 
 
 hiring of time to, void, 267. 
 
 may recover deposits, 267. 
 
 but not property purchased with, 267. 
 
 contract with stranger for emancipation, 268. 
 
 no prescription against right of, 293. 
 
 aliter as to villains, 293. 
 
 right of, subordinate to that of Commonwealth, 313. 
 
 remains during trial of slave, 313. 
 
 obstructing arrest of slave by, 314. 
 
 penalties for, 314. 
 
 sale after crime committed by slave, 314. 
 
 competent witness for slave, 316. 
 
 liability for consequences of slave's crimes, 319. 
 
 not for costs of prosecution, 319. 
 
 action by, for consequential injuries to slave, 326. 
 
 or for causing death of, 326. 
 
 or for inducing to crime, 326. 
 
 limits to right of manumission, 328. 
 
 effect of manumission by one of several, 329. 
 
 owner of profits merely cannot manumit, 330. 
 
 nor tenant of particular estate, 330. 
 
 remainderman may, 330.
 
 352 INDEX. 
 
 MASTER, Continued. 
 
 manumission, when voidable, 331. 
 
 by an insolvent, 331. 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 of slave, not recognized by law, 270. 
 
 Roman law, 270. 
 
 effect of subsequent emancipation, 270. 
 
 existed among villains, 271. 
 
 among the Germans, 272. 
 
 among the Hebrews, 273. 
 
 between the free and the slave, 274. 
 
 legal consequences of, do not exist, 275. 
 
 issue cannot inherit, 275. 
 
 power of parents over children, 275. 
 
 extenuation of crime by the relation, 275. 
 
 NEGRO. 
 
 defined, 19. 
 
 alone subject of slavery, 15. 
 
 advantages to from slavery, 18. 
 
 physical adaptation for, 20, 47. 
 
 peculiarities of, 21, 34, 35. 
 
 mental inferiority. 22, 31. 
 
 adaptation of, general character for slavery, 32, 36. 
 
 history of civilization of, 37, 49. 
 
 adaptation to slavery, 44, 48, 50. 
 NOTICE. 
 
 purchaser from executor has notice of emancipation by will. 
 387. 
 
 OFFICE. 
 
 slave incapacitated for either public or private, 297. 
 
 PARENT AND CHILD. 
 
 relation among slaves not wholly recognized, 296. 
 
 regulated in some States, 296. 
 
 power over children, 275. 
 PARTUS SEQUITUR VENTREM, 70. 
 
 common law rule, 71. 
 PECULIUM, 258, 264, 265. 
 PERMITS. 
 
 defined, 118. 
 
 limits of master's right to grant, 118.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 353 
 
 POLICE. 
 
 regulations consequent on slavery, 113, 114. 
 
 power of patrol, 115. 
 
 homicide of slave by, 96. 
 
 assemblies of slaves, 115. 
 
 interference on premises of master, 116. 
 POLICY. 
 
 of Free State, not violated by temporary holding of slaves, 
 145. 
 
 how far this extends, 146. 
 
 when rule applies, 147. 
 
 distinction between what is contrary to law and to policy, 147. 
 
 between temporary and permanent rights, 148. 
 
 prohibitions of, extend not to sojourner from necessity, 148. 
 PRESCRIPTION. (See LIMITATIONS.) 
 PROMISSORY NOTES. 
 
 to slave, void, 268. 
 PROPERTY. 
 
 acquisition of, by slave, 258. 
 
 villein, 259. 
 
 law of other countries, 260. 
 
 when found by slave, 261. 
 
 peculium the property of master on death of slave, 264. 
 
 extra earnings belong to master, 267. 
 
 deposits of, 267. 
 
 but not property purchased with, by third person, 267. 
 
 RAPE. 
 
 of female slave, not punishable, 107. 
 REBELLION. 
 
 what is, 323. 
 REGISTRY. 
 
 omission of, under statutes, 378. 
 
 SALE OF. 
 
 when void, 314, and see TITLE. 
 SET-OFF. 
 
 not allowed for necessaries furnished runaway, 121. 
 SLAVE. 
 
 defined, 1, 112. 
 
 condition under pure slavery, 86. 
 
 under ordinary, 86. 
 
 partus sequitur ventrem, 70. 
 
 domicile of, 82. 
 
 23
 
 354 INDEX. 
 
 SLAVE, Continued. 
 
 personal security of, 83, et seq. 
 
 master's power over life and limb restrained, 84. 
 
 punishment for injuries to, are statutory only, 83, 93. 
 
 how considered, under Roman law, 84 a. 
 
 statutes for protection of, 87. 
 
 whether express mention in necessary, 88, 91, 94. 
 
 crimes against, how extenuated, 94, 323. 
 
 when justified, 97, 322. 
 
 law of crimes against, compared with that of other countries, 
 
 108,110. 
 
 police regulations of, 113, 114. 
 homicide of, when unlawful, 96, 325. 
 quasi right to personal security, 98. 
 right to resist violence, when, 98, 322. 
 personal injuries to, 104. 
 treated as ward of court, 104, 279. 
 cruelty to, 106. 
 violation of, 107. 
 
 personal liberty presumes freedom, 111, 
 restraint by stranger unlawful, 1 1 2 a. 
 disobedience of stranger lawful, 112 a. 
 police regulations of, 113, 114. 
 assemblies of, when lawful, 1 15. 
 license to travel, 118. 
 liabilities of fugitive slaves, 120. 
 restrictions on removal among Saxons, &c., 246. 
 none in America, 246. 
 disqualified as witness, 247, 257. 
 right of holding property, 258. 
 gains divided among several masters, pro rata, 258. 
 law of other countries, 260. 
 property found by, 261. 
 Roman law, where slave hired, 261. 
 gifts to, 262. 
 cannot inherit, 263. 
 nor make a will, 264. 
 cannot contract, 265. 
 villeins may, 266. 
 
 agreement between master and slave, when void, 2G7. 
 earnings, beyond wages, belong to master, 267. 
 master may recover deposits, 267. 
 but not purchased by bailee, 267. 
 executed and executory contracts with, 2G8.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 355 
 
 SLAVE, Continued. 
 
 cannot enforce contract made with third person, for emancipa- 
 tion, 268. 
 
 marriage of, a nullity, 270. 
 laws of other nations, as to marriage and quasi marriage, 271, 
 
 of Louisiana, 271. 
 
 extenuation of crimes, by quasi relation of, 275. 
 
 contracts governed by law of domicile, 277. 
 
 suits for freedom, how regulated, and effect of, 278, 295. 
 
 cannot hold office, 297. 
 
 nor be executor, or guardian, 297. 
 
 aliter, as to villeins, 297. 
 
 not liable to duties of citizen, 298. 
 
 bearing arms by, 298. 
 
 cannot be agent, except of master, 299. 
 
 implied agency for him, 299. 
 
 prohibited employments, 301. 
 
 subordination and obedience, 324. 
 
 rebellion denned, 324. 
 
 qualified manumission, 334. 
 
 remedy for provision for, 335. 
 
 sale after manumission, 341. 
 
 election of freedom by, 363. 
 SLAVERY. 
 
 defined, 1. 
 
 by Roman law, 12, 84 a, 
 
 pure, 1. 
 
 ordinary, 1. 
 
 original right of, 2. 
 
 whether contrary to law of nature, 3, et seq. 
 
 ecclesiastics, opinions of, 13. 
 
 of negro alone, consistent with law of nature, 15. 
 
 superiority and inferiority of race a ground for, 15, 1C, 17, 24. 
 
 advantage to negro, 18, 45, 46. 
 
 adaptiveness for, 44. 
 
 historical view of, 37, 49, 150. 
 
 Jewish system, 51, 57. 
 
 under Christian system, 58, 65. 
 
 legal origin, 66, 190. 
 
 kidnapping no title, 66. 
 
 conquest, 66. 
 
 presumption of, 67. 
 
 as to whites or Indians, 67. 
 
 origin of presumption, 69.
 
 356 INDEX. 
 
 SLAVERY, Continued. 
 
 to whom it extends, 69. 
 
 of statutory origin in Georgia only, 83. 
 
 modified in America, 86. 
 
 is a status governed by law of domicile, 135. 
 
 Story's view examined, 156, et seq. 
 
 removal, with intent to remain, 142. 
 
 by sojourner, or traveller, from necessity, 143, 165. 
 
 Lord Mansfield's doctrine examined, 144. 
 
 whether policy of Free State violated by transit, 145. 
 
 effect of air on status, 149. 
 
 existed in France and England, 150. 
 
 transit through free State, no effect on status, 151, 153, 198, n. 
 
 Story's opinion, 156, et seq. 
 
 of foreign jurists, 156,167. 
 
 foreign courts, 168, 197. 
 
 English courts, 172, 197. 
 
 effect of the Union on the question, 198, 215. 
 
 error in the basis of American decisions, 216. 
 
 remarks on Story, J., judgment in Prigg v. The Com'th, 217, 
 218. 
 
 decisions of American courts, on effect of removal to free State, 
 216, 244. 
 
 qualified manumission, 334. 
 SOMERSET'S CASE. 
 
 stated, 182, 183. 
 
 examined and remarked on, 184, 189. 
 STATULIBERL 
 
 definition of, 74, 333. 
 
 emancipation avoided by creditors, has no effect on children, 72. 
 
 issue of, are slaves, when, 74, 75. 
 
 when removed to State prohibiting such emancipation, 347. 
 
 protected by statute from fraudulent removal or sale, 390. 
 
 importation prohibited } 390. 
 STATUTE. 
 
 for protection of slaves, 87. 
 
 whether slaves must be expressly mentioned, 88, 91, 94. 
 
 construction of, defining crimes, 321. 
 
 necessary to exclude law of stranger's domicile, 226. 
 
 ordinance of N. W. territory, 226. 
 
 emancipation act of Pennsylvania, New York, &c., 231. 
 
 does not operate on person in transitu, 232. 
 
 instruments intended to evade, 344, 348.
 
 LAW OF NEGRO SLAVERY. 357 
 
 STATUS. 
 
 defined, 163. 
 
 cf issue dependent on that of mother at birth, 70, 71 a, 79. 
 
 temporary residence of mother immaterial, 79. 
 
 governed by law of domicile, 134, 140, 165. 
 
 whether slavery is an exception, 156, 167. 
 
 opinions of Story and other jurists, 156, 167. 
 
 existing relations imported with the person, 138. 
 
 removal with intent to remain subjects to law of new domicile, 
 142. 
 
 Lord Mansfield's doctrine conflicts with law of comity, 144. 
 
 mere transit has no effect, 151. 
 
 effect of the Union on question, 198, et seq. 
 
 determines invalidity of contracts, 277. 
 STOWELL, LORD. 
 
 opinion on law of slavery, 190. 
 SUITS FOR FREEDOM. (See ACTION.) 
 
 TITLE. 
 
 legal origin of, in slave, 66, 190. 
 
 statutory in Georgia only, 83. 
 
 sale of slave after manumission, 341. 
 
 by executor of negro manumitted by will, confers no title, 357. 
 
 under execution against executor, when void, 359. 
 TRESPASS. (See ACTION.) 
 TRUSTS. 
 
 master may recover deposits by slave, 267. 
 
 but not purchases by depositee with the money, 267. 
 
 evading policy against manumission, 345. 
 
 devisee or trustee, when he takes the title or not in such case, 
 346. 
 
 slave cannot enforce trust for manumission against master, 368. 
 
 VENDOR AND PURCHASER. 
 
 notice of manumission by will, 357. 
 
 WILL. 
 
 legacies to slave, 262. 
 slave cannot make, 264. 
 contravening policy void, 344. 
 directing future emancipation, 344. 
 or removal for that purpose, 344. 
 or devising to them when emancipated, 344. 
 bequest of life estate with illegal remainder, 346. 
 24
 
 358 INDEX. 
 
 WILL, Continued. 
 
 operating on slaves in another jurisdiction, 348. 
 
 emancipation by, where prohibited, 353. 
 
 formalities of, required, 354. 
 
 not aided by reference in another instrument, 354. 
 
 assent of executor to manumission by, 354. 
 
 revocation by sale or gift, 355. 
 
 construction of, 355, 356. 
 
 manumission by an insolvent, 357. 
 
 by one supposing himself owner, 358. 
 
 slaves illegally manumitted by, fall into residue, 362. 
 
 where condition of emancipation prohibited by foreign law, of 
 place of performance, 364. 
 
 collusion or delay of executor will not avoid, 365. 
 
 remedy where executor refuses to deliver to legatee for manu- 
 mission, 366.
 
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