Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1860-01-06


out wages, and giveth him not for his work-Jer, xx
10.
, Dor, working with his hands."-Eph ~. %.
1woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees and
that write grevousnes which they have prescribed; 20
turn aside the needy from Judgment and to take away
the right from the poor that widows may be their prey
anil that they may rob the fttheress."sa., X l. 2.
fI did despise he of my man-servant or Of my
maidservant when they contended with me-, what then
shall 10 when God iseth up. and when he vsteth what
shall answer Himi"-Job. XXI; 10, IA.
"rhou hast sent widows away empty the Of the
faheres have been broken. Therefore round
about thee aud sudden fear tronbeh he and darkness,
that thou canst not see."-Job, xii; 9, 10. IL.
"Behod the hire ofyour laboer that have reaped down
your fields which is Of you keptbac by fraud creth; and
the cries Of them which have reaped entered into the
ears Of the Lord Ye have lived pleasure on the EARTH
and been wanon; ye have nourshed your hearts as In
dtv Of slaughter; ye have condemned and killed the just
james, va
If the appropriateness Of these texts is not
apparent | will try TO make it so, by evi-
dence drawn entirely from Southern sources
: The Abolilionists ARE not such an ignorant
set Of fanatics as you suppose. They know
whereof they affirm. They are familiar with
the laws of the Slave States, which are
alone sufficient to inspire abhorrencc in any
humane heart or rejecting mind not pcrvcrt-
ed by the prcjudices of education and Gus
tom. might ill many letters with signif-
cant extracts from your statute books but
have space only 10 glance at few, which
Indicate the leading features of the system
you cherish so tenacously.
The universal rule of the slave States is
= that the child follows the condition Of It's
, mother. This is an index to many things.
; Marriages between white and colored people
, are forbidden 10y law; yet very large num-
Der of the slaves are brown or yellow
/ When Lafayette visited this country in his
old age, he said he was very much struck
, by the great change in the colored popula-
tion of Virginia; that in the time of the
: Revolution nearly all the household slaves
, were black, but when he returned to Amer
| lea he found very few of them black The
Q advertisements in Southern newspapers Of
ten describe runaway slaves that pass them
S selves off for white men Sometimes they
4 arc described as having straight, light
, hair, blue eyes, and clear complexion."-
This could not be, unless theirfathers, grand
/, fathers, and great-grandfathers had been
e white men. But rs their mothers were
f slaves, the law pronounccs them slaves, sub
d ject to be sold on the block whenever the
= necessities or convenience of their masters
f or mistresses require it. The sale of one,
o own children, brothers, or sisters has an ug
It y aspect to those who are unaccustomed tc
y it; and, obviously, it cannot have gooC
c moral influence that law and custom should
render lcentiousness profitable vice.
/. Throughout the slave States, the testi,
}, mony of no colored person, bond or free
| can be received against white man,
s You have some laws which on the face o.
: them, would seem to restrain iphuman mer
n from numbering or mutilatDg slaves; bu
S they are rendered nearly null by the law
t have cited. Any drunken master, overseer
a or patrol, may go into the negro cabins and
t commit what outrages he pleases, with per
C feet impunity, if no white person is present
e who chooses to witness againsthim. Nortl
= CarolinP and Georgia leave large loop
g hole for escape, even if white persons arc
l. present, when murder is committed. A law
e to punish persons for "mahciousy killing I
d slave has this remarkable qualification
r "Always provided that this act shall not ex
d tend to slave dying of moderate correction.
J. We at the North find it difficult to under
1t stand how moderate punishment can caus,
If death. have read several of your Law
)f books attentively, and | find no cases o
IS punishment for the murder of slave, ex
n cept by fines paid to the owner to indemni
fly him for the loss of his property; tn
er same as if hishorSe or COW had been killed
to In the South Carolina Reports is cas-
n, where the State indicted Guy Ranes fo
Ir the murder of slave named Isaac.
is was proved that William Gray, the ownC
Sc of Isaac, had given him a thousand LdShe,
o. The poor creature made his escape, but wa
caught and delivered to the custody c
Raines, to be carried to the county jail
Because he refused to 60, Raines gave hin
FIVE hundred la3heS, and he died soon after
~ The counsel for Raines proposed that h
=, should be allowed to acquit himself by HI
Il oWn oath. The Court decided against i
- because white witnesses had testified bu
u the Court of Appeals aflerward decide
~ that he ought to have been cxculpated b
J y his own oath, and he was acquitted Sma
- ~ indeed is the chance for justice to a sav
~ when those of his own colorare notalowe
Z to testify, if they see him manned or h
~ !" children murdered; when he has slaveholt
y" ers for judges and Jurors; when the murde
~, er can exculpate himself by his own oatl
rJs and when the law provides that it is I
" murder to kill slave by "moderate corre
-. tionp
=" % Your laws uniformly.declare that "a sla,
~ shall be deemed chattel personal in Il
~ hands Of his owner, To all intentS, constru
- tions, and purposes whatsoever" Yo
laws also make it death for him to resist
Oh white man, however brutally he may
~ treated, or however much his family mi
80 :. be outraged before his eyes, If no :
- tempts to run away, your laws allow al
man to shoot him.
TO By your laws, all slaves earnings |
IN long to his master. He can neilherTecei
ith donations nor transmit property. If
'th. master allows him some hours to work
TO himself, and by great energy and persev
ant ance he earns enough to buy hisown bon
not and sinews, his master may make him p
~, two or three times over, and he has no
dge dress. Three such cases have come with
~ my own knowledge. Even written pro
pet Use from his own master has no legal Vall
because slave can mako no contracts.
ye- Your laws also Systematically aim
,ol- keeping the minds of the colored people
the the most abject state of ignorance.
white people attempt TO teach them to re
aud or write, they are punished by imprsc