The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware advertiser., 1826-11-02

' eAeePt among tho ownprc ,c
negro slavess tor precedent to Justify -.
exclusion of testimony, because the ,, .ue
tors OF the witaess had been Of sery;le 80
dition. eol'
lt surely deserves the sober consider,t..
of the Legislators of free and eDl;ph,."',
people, how far the rule of evidence ,d,..
ed in this State as we'll as many Of our si,,.,
Republics, can be reconciled with tb, r,s
cipies OF justice, or the duty they owe ),
their constituents. The attainment of r..
tice requires the truth to be known, and bo,,
can it be ascertained, If none are perm;,,.,
to state what they know, except personv :
particular hue?
Were the general principles Of law in :.
lation to evidence allowed their course ~.
credit due to coloured witnesses would nroh
ably be seldom oyerrated. White nerson.
are frequently admitted as comheteat viii
nesses where the credit allowed them is :,
the lowest grade. Why not extend III,
same principles to persons Of darker shad,,
1t their comhetency was admitted witbout
other limitations than such as apply to oor
own noble breed, no doubt our preiud;.
ces would make the needful deduct;on,
from their credit, at least while they are
themselves excluded from the bench and H..
ry box.
In Pennsylvania, where incompetcncy as
witness is not affixed to black skin or
curly head, it would, probably, be difficult
to cite case in which an innocent white man
had suffered, in life or property, from the
unsupported testimony of a negro. And l
am not aware, that, among the numerous
petty offences for which these people arc
ariagned in the courts of that Common
wealth, wilful perjury has ever been noted
as one.
1t is difficult, upon any principle, except
the unfortunate association above noted, to
account for that harsh feature which till
lately existed in the Jurisprudence of this
state, and which rendered person, with an
African dye, liable to be incarccrated upon
suspicion of having eloped from some IN.
known possessor. and upon failure of cvi-
dence, to justify the suspicior, to be sold for
limited time to- defray the costs Of detention.
A process by which free person, lnconvct.
ed and unaccused Of any crime, might readily
be transformed into slave for life. Though
white person as causelessly confined would
be entitled to punitory damages. Negro
slavery has, in almost every State of the
Union, given character to our usages and
laws, in relation to our whole coloured popu.
lation which is not easily reconciled with
the principles of just and liberal Legislation
While they are obnoxious to the same pen
alties and restraints as white citizens, they
are excluded from all participation intthe
enactment of the laws by which they ara
governed, and in criminal prosecutions never
allowed trial by their peers. "That is tree
dom where the laws rule, and the people are
party to the law"
Among the nations of antiquity, the
slaves were generally prisoners of war
These wars being mostly waged between
nelshbourng nations, the slave was seldom
distinguished from his master by any obvi.
GUS national characteristic. In these con.
tests the chances were often nearly equal,
and death or servitude the lot of the van.
quished, whoever was victorious. In
those piratical expeditions, which furnished
a part OF the slaves of antiquity, the assail-
ant, IT vanquished, was himself reduced to
the condition of slave. Hence, slavery
must have appeared as the result of the for
tune OF war, and not as the peculiar lot of
the inhabitants of any particular part Of the
globe. The odium Of slavery would, there
fore, be mostly confined to those in actual
servitnde. In regard to intellectual attain
ments, the superiority was frequently on the
side OF the slave. There is no reason to sup
pose that the Israelites, at the time Of the
Babylonish captivity, were less enlightened
than their Chaldean invaders. The Romans
were instructed in science and the fine arts
by their Grecian captives. IN the progress
slve subversion of the Roman empire by the
northern invaders, the superiority in arts
and science, must have been generally, if not
always, on the side of the vanquished.-.
"lhe Victors in general must have been So