Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1837-11-03

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are the moral obligations of the Americas
Eslaye2 Yet if we,slndersland your. CORES
|pondent he feels bound by moral obligation,
to defend practical slavery, that is. he Womb
condemn il 10 the abstract, and Justify Il n.
practised in the United States. h'lsf't
That you may have the argument on the
fa,ctnfness OF slavery have copied from
volume II, First edition Of American En-
encyclopedias, printed 1903. Articlc.ASlaye
Try ti1at hna ~ 1IIllf l'iu i ~
Having given this ample detail of the
rise and progress Of Slavery in the world
and shown that it has prevailed in every ace
and under all religions, we shall now pro.
coed TO enqiire whether practice so gener
al be IN any instance lawful; and if Il be
how 4 must be modified, in order TO be rem.
dered consistent with the rights OF man and
the immutable laws Of virtue af
| That in state of nature nns man has .
right to seize upon another, and compel him
by force to labor for his subsistence. is DO.
sition which we believe has never been seri.
ously maintained. But independent, com.
monites stand to each other in the very same
relation that individuals do in a state of ma
ture; and therefore in such state, the man
| OF greater bodily strength or mental sagaci.
~ would have no right TO convert his weaker
neighbor into personal property, neither can
the more powerful and enlightened nation
have right to carry off by force, or en,ice
by lfaud, the subjects Of weaker aud more
ear6arous community for the purpose Of re.
ducing ,hem 10 a state OF servitude This is
truth so obvious as to admit neither OF proof
nor Of denial ahla 'fr
F..
In thus stating the case between two in
dependent nations, we have in our eve that
traffic in slaves which is carried on between
the civilized Europeans and the barharous
Africans; and the utmost length which we
think an apologist for that trade can 90 is to
contend, that we may lawfully purchase
slaves in those countries where from time
immenorial they have been a common
branch OF commerce. But the European
right to purchase cannot be better than the
African right TO sell; and we have never
yet been informed what gives one African a
right to sell another. Such right canno,
be natural, Cor the reason which we have
elsewhere assigned (see RIomT); neither
can il be adventurous, for adventurous rights
are Immediately derived from the municipal
law, which is the public law of the State
But the State has no right to deprive an in
nocent man Of his personal freedom. or OF
the produce Of his own labor for il is only
to secure these, by protecting the weak from
the violence ofthe strong. that States are for.
med, and individuals united under civil gov
eminent ,s.5 httt s,.-,.ft- b. sff
ut may perhaps be said. that by patiently
submitting 10 governments which authorize
thetraffic in human flesh. men virtually give
up their personal liberty. and vest their gov.
ernors with a right to sell them ms slaves
but no man can vest another with right
which he possesses not himself and we
shall not hesitate to affirm. that in state of
nature. where all have equal rights, no indi.
vidual can submit himself to the absolute
disposal OF another without being guilty Of
the greatest crime The reason is obvious.
From the relation in which men stand TO
one another as fellow-creatures. and 10 God
as their common Creator, there are duties
incumbent upon each, peculiar to himself
in the performance of which he can be guild.
ed only by his own reason, which was given
him for that very purpose But be who re.
nounces his personal freedom. and submits
Internationally 10 the caprice of a MASTER
impiously attempts 10 sci himself free from
the obligation of that law which is inieworen
with his very being. 81 chooses directorof his
conduct different from that which God has as
signed him. A mantherefore cannot put him
self in a state OF unconditional servitude;
and what he cannot do for himself he surely
cannot anthorise others TO do for him, either
by tacil or by an open consent.
.i"These considerations have often made
US regret that writers, for whose talents and
integrity we havethe highest respect. should.
without accurately defining what they mean
by slavery. have percinpiorily affirmed. that,
consistently with The law Of nature men may
be reduced 10 that stale as n punishment for
crimes. OIL discharge debis. which they
cannot otherwise pay.l5T That criminal.
who has forfeited his life to the laws Of his
country, may have his punishment commutrd
for hardlabor, ill death in the course OF nature
shall put period to- his Terrestrial existence.is
a truth whichwe apprehend cannot becontro-
verted but to make such communication Of
consistent with thelaws of Da,nre
& natures God.i appears to us that the kind e.
degree Of labor must be precisely ascertain
ed, and the conduct of the criminal not left
to The caplicious direction of any individ-
ual.Ba M n.ssf aaA RI h3a i
u" Puulshments can be Justly inflicted only |
for one or other OF two ends, or for BOTH
They NAV be calculated either TO reform the /
criminal, or TO be warming to the innocent
and those which most effcctually answer
both these purposes are surely to be prefer
red to such as answer but one ofthem For
kso - l.b,