14 J in the Law of Slavery, (2) in their relations #ith Slaves, (3) in their relations with each other and with Society, and (4) in that uncon- ciousness which renders them insensible to their true character. (1.) As in considering the Character of Slavery, so in considering the Character of Slavemasters, we must begin with the Law of Sia- very, which, as their work, testifies against them. In the face of such an unutterable abomination, where impiety, cruelty, brutality, and robbery, all strive for mastery, it is in vain to assert the humanity or refinement of its authors. Full well I know that the conscience which speaks so powerfully to the solitary soul, is often silent in the corporate body, and that, in all ages and countries, numbers, when gathered in communities and States, have sanctioned acts from which the individual revolts. And yet I know no surer way of judging a people than by its laws, especially where those laws have been long continued and openly maintained. Whatever may be the eminence of individual virtue—and I would not so far disparage humanity as to suppose that the offences which may be general where Slavery exists are universal—it is not reasonable or logical to infer that the masses of Slave-masters are better than the Law of Slavery. And since the Law itself degrades the slave to be a chattel, and submits him to their irresponsible control, with power to bind and to scourge; to usurp the fruits of another’s labor; to pollute the body; and to outrage all ties of family, making marriage impossible—we must conclude that such enormities are sanctioned by Slave-masters, while the exclusion of testimony, and prohibition of instruction—by supplementary law— complete the evidence of their complicity. And this conclusion must stand unquestioned just so long as the Law of Slavery exists unrepealed. Cease, then, to blazon the humanity of Slavemasters. Tell me not of the lenity with which this cruel Code is tempered to its unhappy subjects. Tell me not of the sympathy which overflows from the mansion of the master to the cabin of the slave. In vain you assert such u happy accidents.” In vain you show that there are' individuals who do not exert the wickedness of the law. The Barbarism still endures, solemnly, legislatively, judicially attested in the very Slave Code, and proclaims constantly the character of its authors. And this is the first .article in the evidence against Slave-masters. (2.) I am next brought to Slave-masters in their relations with Slaves ; and here the argument is founded upon facts, and upon presumptions irresistible as facts. Only lately has inquiry burst into that gloomy world of bondage, and disclosed its secrets. But enough is already known to arouse the indignant condemnation of mankind. For instance, here is a simple advertisement—one of thousands—from the Georgia Messenger: “ Run Away—My man Fountain ; has holes in his ears, a sear on the right side of his forehead ; has been shot in the hind parts of his legs; is marked on his back with the whip. | Apply to Robert Beasley, Macon, Ga.” Holes in the ears; scar on the forehead; shot in the legs, and marks of the lash on the back I Such are the tokens by which a Slave- I master proposes to identify his slave. And here is another advertisement, revealing Slave-masters in a different light. It is from । the National Intelligencer, published at the Capital; and I confess the pain with which I cite such an indecency in a journal of such respectability. Of course, it appeared without the knowledge of the editors; but it is none the less an illustrative example: “Fob Sale.—An accomplished and handsome lady’s maid. She is just sixteen years of age; was raised in a genteel family in Maryland; and is now proposed to be sold, not for any fault, but simply because the owner has no further use for her. A note directed to C. D., Gadsby’s Hotel, will receive prompt attention.” A sated libertine, in a land where vice is legalized, could not expose his victim with apter words. These two instances will illustrate a class. In the recent work of Mr. Olmstead, a close observer and traveller in the Slave States which abounds in pictures of Slavery, expressed with caution, and evident regard to truth, will be found still another, where a Slave-master thus frankly confesses his experience: “ I can tell yon how you can break a nigger of running away, certain,” said the Slave-master. “ There was an old fellow I used to know in Georgia, that always cured his so. If a nigger ran away, when be caught him, he would bind his knee over a Jog, and fasen him so he couldn’t stir; then he’d lake a pair of pincers, and pull one of his toe-nails out by the roots; and tell him that if he ever run away again, he would pull out two of them; and if he run away again after that, he told him he’d pull out four of them, and so on, doubling each time. He never1 had to do it more than twice; it aiways cured them.”—Olmstead’s Texas Journey, 105. Like this story, which is from the lips of a Slave-master, is another, where the master, angry because his slave had sought to regain his God-given liberty, deliberately cut the tendons of his heel, thus horribly maiming him for. life! It is in vain that these instances are denied. Their accumulating number, authenticated in every possible manner, by the press, by a cloud of witnesses, and by the confession of Slavemasters, stares us constantly in the face. And here we are brought again to the slave code, under the shelter of which these and I worse things may be done, with complete impunity. Listen to the remarkable words of Chief Justice Ruffin, of North Carolina, who, in a solemn decision, thus po-rtrays, affirms, and deplores, this terrible latitude: “The obedience of the slave,” he says, “is the consequence only of uncontrolled authority over the body. * * * The power of the master must be absolute to render the submission of the slave perfect. I must freely confess my sense of the harshness of this proposition. I feel it as deeply as any man caii. And, as a principle of moral right, every person in his retirement must repudiate it. But, in the actual condition of things, it must be so. There is no
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