The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1860-06-28

consideration of the assumption of consti-
tutional law.
I, In presenting the CHARACTER OF
SLAVERY, there is little for me to do, ex
cept to allow Slavery to paint.itsolf. When
this is done, the picture will need no ex-
planatory words.
a. | begin with the LaV Of Slapcry
aud It's Origin, and here this Barbarism
paints itself in its own chosen definition.
1t is simply this; Man, created in the
image of God, is divested of his human
character, and declared to be chattel"
that is, beast, thing or article of
property. That this statement may not
seem to be put forward without precise
authority, [ quote the statutes Of three
different States, beginning with South
Carolina, whose voice for Slavery always
has an uuerring distinctiveness. Here is
the definition supplied by this State:
"slaves shall be deemed, held, taken, re-
puted, and adjudged in law, to be chattels per-
soaal in the hands of their owners and pos
SCISSORS and their executors, administrators,
and assigns to all intehtS. constructions, aud
purposes whatsoever" "-BrsU. Dig, 229.
And here is the definition supplied By
the Civil Code of Louisiana.
81 \ slave is one who is in the power of a
master to whom he belongs. The master may
sell him. dispose of his person, his industry,
and his labor He can do nothing, POSSESS
nothing, nor acquire anything but what must
belong to his master" - CiUH Code, drt. 80.
In similar spirit, the law Of Maryland
thus directly defnes slave as an arttcfc'
"In case the personal property of ward
shall consist Of specific articles, such as slaUes
working beasts, animals Of any kind, the
court; if it deem it advantageous for the ward
may at any time pass an order for the sale
thereof" ."-Statutes Of NaryIdad.
Not to cecupy time unnecessarily, l
present a summary of the pretended laH
! defining Slavery in all the Slave States,
as made by careful writer, Judge Stroud,
in work of juriSdieial as we'll as philan-
thropic merit;
"The cardinal principle of Slayery-that
the slave is not to be ranked among sent5ent
beings, but among hings-is an article OF
property-a chat:el pea sonal-obtains as un-
doubted law.in all of these [Save] States"
--Strouds Laac Of Slavery, p. y.
Out of this definition. as from solita-
ry germ, which in its pettiness might be
crushed by the hand, towers odr Upas
Tree and all its gigantic poison. Study
it, and you wall comprehend the whole
monstrOus growth.
Sir, look at its plain import, and see
the relation which it establishes. The
slave is held simply for the use Of his
master, to whose behests, his life, liberty,
and happiness, are devoted, and by whom
he may be bartered, leased, morteaged,
beq9eathed, invoiced, shipped as cargo,
stored as goods, sold on execution, knock
ed of at public auction, and even staked
at the gaming table on the hazard OF
card OF a die; all according to law. Nor
is there anything, within the limit of life
inflicted on a beast which may net be In
ficted Oh the slave. He may be marked
like hog, branded like mule, yoked
like an OK, hobbled like horse, driven
! like an ass, sheared like sheep, manned
like cur, and constantly beaten like a
brute; all according to law. And should
life itself be taken, what is the remedy?
The Law of Slavery, initiating that rule
of evidence which, in barbarous days and
barbarous countries, prevented Chris
tian from testifying against Mahomedan,
openly pronounces the incompetency OF
the whole African race-whether bond or
free-to testify in any case against a
white man, and, thus having already sur
rendered the slave to all possible outrage,
crowns its tyranny, by excluding the very
testimony through which the bloody cru
city of the Slave-master might be ex-
posed
Thus in its Law does Slavery paint
itself; but it is only when we look at de-
tails, and detect its essential clements
foe in numJer-all inspired by single
n,otire, that it's character becomes con-
pletely manifest.
Foremost, of course, in these clements,
is the impossible pretension, where Bar
barism is lost in impiety, by which man
claims property IN nodn. Against such
arrogance the argument is brief Ac-
cording to the law Of nature, written by
the same hand that placed the planets in
their orbits, and like them, constituting
part of the eternal system Of the Uni
verse, every human being has a complete
title to himself direct from the Almighty.
Naked lie is born but this birthright is
inseparable from the human form. A
man may be poor in this worlds goods
bat he owns himself. No war or robbery,
ancient or recent DO capture no middle
passage no change of cline no purchase
money; no transmission from hand to
hand, no matter how many times, and no
matter at what price, can defeat this in-
defeasibie God given franchise. And