New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-02-08
THE SLAVE MOTHER.


States Commissioner These are in themselves
sufficient to arouse the attention of every man
who is interested in an impartial administration OF
law: but beyond these is a moral question, adj
dressing itself to the sympathies Of all humane
and noble hearts. The former we shall discuss IN
due time. and therefore, confne our remarks for
the present to the latter.
Our readers are aware that among the slaves ar
rested at Cincinnati was a mother, who preferred
to put one Of her children to death rather than 1t
should be returned to the grippe of the saye-catch'
ers. Her case is remarkable one. We have
heard a great deal Of the benefcent influences OF
Slavery, and Of the wonderful tenacity with which
even the slaves themselves cling to its benefits.
Every time that poor negro, disappointed with
the experiences of free life, or longing for the
esh.pois of Virginia, returns to his original condl
ton, the fact is trumpeted to the four winds OF
heaven We are called upon to admire the beau
tfu effects Of the institution which causes its very
victims to fall in love with it, and to denounce that
insane philanthropy which seeks to interfere with
so happy condition.
But what have such reasOners TO say of the re-
cent incident in Ohio How do they account for
the fact that mother, fresh from the blessings oil
bondage, and with all mothers senslbility and
tenderness-w yet draw the knife across the
throat of her innocent babe in preference to ri;
storing him to the state from which she has just
escaped They will denounce the deed as
crme-they will ascribe it to O sudden and be-
wildering frenzy-they Will say that the woman
WAS demented-that she was overcome by panic,
of fear and that she knew not what she did.
Well, we will admit the crime, and, granting the
intense excitement under which she abOred, ask
how il was that she was thrown into such mad
ness of feeling If Slavery is 50 agreeable con-
diton to the slaves; if they are so well nurtured
and cared for under it, how comes ii that this
woman was crazed by the thought Ofbeing returned
TO it, How comes il that she could forget all the
dictates of mother heart, and condemn her child
to death by her own hands, rather than rellnquish
the possession of it to its pretended owner How
comes it that her companions, who are arrested as
accomplices in this crime of murder, say that they
would rather be tried for their lives and afIerward
marched TO the gallOws, than be sent back to Ken
tuckyl They know what Slavery is, and they
know what death is, and, with many that have
gone before them in this world, they cry, - Death
before Slavery"
Our Southern friends who extol the delights of
servitude will have to revise their theory or leave
events like these out of the account. These slaves
it seems to us are after all, men, with all the feel
ings, instincts aid aspirations of men. There Is
something in them which tells of higher objects OF
life to human being than "pOssum-fat and homi-
nv" or the most delectable external relations.
There is something which whispers to them that
the body is more than raiment, and the freedom of
the soul infinitely greater than the comforts of the
body. Like the rest of us, they yearn for freedom
and having achieved freedom though but for few
days, they welcome the grave as the alternative to
bondage.
But, in doing this, they have in history some
pertinent and illustrious examples The annals of
man are filled with similar incidents. There are
names that have been rescued from that mortality
which follows all human affairs, solely on the
ground of such exhibitions as we have seen in Gin
cinnati. Not TO mention the thousand occurrences
in rude barbarian times-where fathers and brothers
departing of safety have destroyed those who
were most dear to them-let US recall one or two
from the pages Of more civilized story. When
Mthridates was defeated by Lucullus he ordered
the sacrifice Of his wife and sister to prevent their
falling into the hands of the enemy; and the
writers who narrate the tale are accustomed TO
dilate upon the act as a proof of the dignity and
grandeur of his soul. When Virgnius summoned
BY Appius Claudius TO surrender his daughter as a
slave, plunges the dagger into her bosom rather
than yield to the demand, the pen of the historian
warns into eloquence as he describes the heroic
virtue of the Roman father, and the imaCinations
of the poets are kindled into tragic sublimity.
Tie finest of the Lays of Rome, written BY Ma.
caulay is decidedly that in which he tells the tale
of the hapless Virginia. one of the most touching
and effective Of recent tragedies is founded upon
the same pathetic subject. We have seen the lat
ter, indeed, as enacted upon the stage, melt the
eyes and stir the Utmost depths of emotion in large
audiences, in whose shuddering sympathy with the
child was always mingled lurking admiration for
the stern heroism Of the parent. Yet in what re-
sIect does the act Of the Roman Virginius differ
from that of the poor slaye-mother on the banks of
the Ohio In the one case the daughter was
claimed a slave, under an Infamous law of Rome
trumped up for the OCCASION and the father. rather
than submit to it, plunged his knife in the heart of
that daughter. In the other case the child is
claimed as 4 slave under an Infamous law of the
Union passed in q moment of political fanaticism
and the mother rather than yield to it, draws the
knife across the throat of that child In the form
er, however, the crime becomes classic; history
celebrates ii; artists spread it upon their canvas