The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1860-01-24

master. even Christ; anl all ycare brethren. -
! Matt. xiii. 2, 10.
Whatsoever yc would that men should do unto
! you. DO ye even unto them. Matt, Nil. IL.
is not this the fast that have chosen, to loose
| the bonds OF wickCdacss, Ia undo the heavy bur
dcns. and let the oppressed go free, and that ye
break every yoke. ''-Isa.. lyiil, o,
"rhcy have given boy for a haIlot,an sold n
girl for wine, that they might drink '-Juel, III. 3
lie that opprcsseth the poor, reproaeheth ms
! Maker. Prov xiv, 81.
tRob not the POOR. because he is poor neither
opprcss tho afflicted. For the Lord will plead
their cause, and spoil the soul Of those that spoil
! eth them. Prov. xxii. GO. 49,
''Woe unto him that useth his noighhors ser
vice Will out wages, end giyCth INN not for his
work '-Jer., xNii. l3.
Let him that stole, steal mo more hut rather
let him labor. working with his hands. .'-Eph,
Woe unto them that decree unrightoous de-
crces, and that write Cricvousncas, which they
judgement, and tn take away the right from the
poor. that widows may he their prey, aud that
they may not rob the ia,herlcss. ."-lsa X, l, >.
III did dcspse the cause of mau-scryant. or
of my mail-serynnt. when the c"ntendcd with
me, what then shall DO when God riseth up?--
and when he yisteth, what shall answer iiIrI.
Job. XxNIi, 10, Il.
Thou has sent widows away empty and the
, arms of the iatherless have been broken. There.
fore snarcs are ronnd about thee. and sudden fear
see. .'-Jnb., xxi, ., 10, Il.
Behold the hire of your laborers who have
renped down your fields. which is of you kept
back by fraud crrth and the cries Of them
which have reaped are entered into the cars of
the Lord We have lived in pleasure on thu earth
and been wantnn; We have ugishet Your hcaftS
Is in day slaughter, yc have condemned and
killed the just. james. Y. 1
II the appropriateness Of these texts is
not apparent, | will try to make it so, hv
evidence dlawn entirely from Somdern
sources. The Ahol,tionists are not such
an ignorant set Of fanatics rs you suppose.
They kaow whereof they affirm. They
arc familiar with the laws of the
Slave States, which are alone sufficient to
inspire adherence in any humane heart or
rejecting mind not perverted by the prcju-
diccs OF education and custom. | might
fill many letters with significant extracts
from your statue. books; but have space
only to glance at few, which Indicate
the leading features Of the system You
cherish so tcnaciously.
The universal rule of the Slave States
is that ''thc child follow the condition Of
its m0ther." This is an index TO many
things. Marriages between white and col.
orcd people arc forbidden by law; yet
very large number Of the slaves are brown
or yellow. When Lafayette visited this
country in his old agc, he said he was
very much struck 10y the great change in
the colored population Of Eirginia; that
in the time of the Revolution neatly all
the household slaves were bla,k. but when
he returned to America he found very few
cf lhcm black. Tho advertisements in
Southern newspapers often describe runa,
way slaves that pass themselves for white
men," Sometimes they are described a5
having straight, light hair, blue eyes,
and clear complexion. This could lot
be, unless their fathers, grand(athers, and
great grandflthcrs had been white men
But as their mothers wero slaves. the law
pronounsrs item slaves, subject to be soil
ON the auction block whenever the neccs>i
ties or convenience Of their masters or mis-.
trcsscs require it. The sale Of ones own
/ Chiilrans, brothers, or sisters, has an ug-
! ly aspect to those who are unaccustoned
to il; and obviously, it cannot have
good moral Influence that law and custom
shoull render liccntiausaess a prefta5le
/ vice.
Throughout the Slave States, tho test;.
mony of no colorcl person, bend or free,
can be received against white man.
You have some laws, which, on the face
of them, would seem to restrain inhuman
men from numbering or mutiating slaves;
bnt they are rendered nearly null by the
law have cited. Any drunken master,
oycrsccr, OF patrol, may 60 into ths negro
cabins and commit what 0ut'agcs he pleas.
cs, with perfect imp'inity, if no white man
is present who chooses to witness against
him. North Carolina and Georgia leave
a largo loop hole for escape, even if white
persons arc present, when murder is COM
mittcd. \ law to punish persons for "ma-
liciously killing q slave has this remarka-
lie qualification: "Always provided that
this act shall not extend to any slave dying
of moderate correction" We at the
North fnd it difficult to understand how
moderate punishment can cause death. !
have read several Of your law books alton
lively, and | find no cases of punishment
for the murder of slave, except by fines
paid to the owncr, to indemnify him for
the loss of his property; the same MS if his
horse or cow had been killed. In the
South Carolina Reports is a case where tho
State indicted Guy Raines for the murder
n slave named Isaac. 1t was proved that
William Gray, the owner of Isaac, had
given him n thousand lashss. Tho poor
creature made his escape, but was caught
and delivered to the custody of Raincs to
be carried to the county Jail. Because he
refused to 90, Raines gave him five hun
dred lashes, and he died soon after. The
counsel for Ranes proposed that he should
bo allowed to acquit himself by his own
oath. The Comt decided against it, be-
cause white Vitnesses had testified; but
the Court Of Appeals afterward decided
that he ought to have been cxculpated by
his own oath, and ho WIS acquitted
Small indeed is the chance for justice to n
slave, when his own color are not allowed
to testify, il they see him MANNED or his
children murdered; when he has slayehold-
ors for Judges and Jurors; when the mur.
dcrer can oxcupato himself by his own
oath; and when the law provides that it
is no murder TO kill slave by "modcrate
correction"
Your laws uniformly declare that "a
save shall be deemed chattol personal in
tne hands OF his owner, to all intents, con.