The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1860-07-04
has an unerring distinctiveness. Here is the de.
fnit;on supplied by this State:

Hnit'ou suPpNeo Dy tn!S Slste'
Saves shall be deemed LeIi .ak-n, reput-d an. a
judged in law 10 be oha- ,eya In the hands of th,
owners and possesors and their executors, adunisr
tors ana assgus, TO al in,snts constructions, and
ses whatsoever - Brer Dig %
And here is the definition supplied by the Civ
. Code Of Louisiana:
"a slave is cne who is in the power Of a master
whom be belongs The master may sell him, dispose
his person, his industry and his labor. He do not
ing possess nothing, acquire anything but what
belong to his master"
In similar spirit, the law of Maryland thus il
directly defines slave as an article:
"In the personal property Of Q ward shall eons
OF specific articles such idres, king beasts ana
OF any kind the court, deem it advantageous for Il
ward. may at time pass order for the sale ther
of"-Nas'acs Of Maryland
Not to occupy time unnecessarily, present
summary of the pretended law defining SLAYER
in all the slave States, as made by careful wr
ter, Judge Stroud, in q work of juridical as we
as philanthropic merit:
"The cardinal principle of slarery-that the slave
not to be ranked among snnt beings but among thing
las An article OF propery-a ehstiei personal-obtan
as undoubted Law in all these ls.ave States-Strotd
Ldw q NareTy, p. %
Out of this definition, as from solitary germ
which in its pettiness might be crushed by tn,
hand, towers our Upas tree, and all its giganti,
poison. Study it, and you will comprehend tn,
whole monstrous growth.
Sir, look at its plain import, and see the rela
ton which it establishes. The slave is held sim
| ply for the use Of has master, to whose behests
his life, liberty and happiness, are devoted, anG
by whom he may be bartered, leased, mOrtgaged
bequeathed, invoiced, shipped as cargo, stored
| as goods, sold on execution, knocked off at pub
lie auction, and even staked at the gaming table
on the hazard of a card or die all according
to law. Nor is there anything, within the limit
OF life, inflicted On beas: which may not be in.
fiicted on the slave. He may be marked like o
hog, branded like mule, yoked like an OK, hob.
bled like horse, driven like an ass, sheared like
sheep, manned like a cur, and constantly
beaten like brute; all according to law. And
should life itself be taken, what is the remedy !
The law Of slavery, initiating that rule of eyi.
dence which, in barbarous days and barbarous
countries, prevented Christian from testifying
against Mahomedan, openly pronounces the
incompetency fthe whole African Bace-whether
bond or free-to testify in any case against a
white man, and, thus having already surrendered
the slave to all possible outrage, crowns its tyr
amy by excluding the very testimony through
which the bloody cruelty of the slave.master
might be exposed.
Thus in its law does slavery paint itself; but
it is only when We look at details, and detect its
essential elements-.fys in number-all inspired
by single motive, that its character becomes
completely manifest.
Foremost, of course, in these elements, is the
impossible pretenson, where Barbarism is lost
in impiety, by which man claims property in
man. Against such arrogance the argument is
brief. According 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 Universe, every human
being has complete title to himself direct
from the Almighty. Naked he is born; but
this birthright is inseparable from the human
form. A man may be poor in this worlds
goods; but he owns himself. No war or rob-
berry, ancient or recent; no capture; no mid.
die 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 indefeasible God
given franchise. And a Divine mandate,
strong as that which guards Life, guards Liber.
ty also. Even at the very morning of Creation,
when God said, let there be Light-earlier than
the malediction against murder-He set an ev-
erlasting difference between man and chattel,
giving to man dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every liv.
ing thing that movsth upon the earth:
that right hold,
BY his donation but man over men
Resecvng, human left from human free
Slavery tyrannically assumes a power which
Heaven denied, while, under its barbarous nec-
rOmancy, borrowed from the Source of Evil, a
man is changed into chattel-a person Is with
cred into thing-a soul is shrunk into merchan.
disc. Say, sir, in your madness, that you own
the sun, the stars, the moon; but do not say
that you own a man, endowed with soul that
shall live immortal, when sun and moon and
stars have passed away.
Secondly Slavery paints itself again in its
complete abrogation of marriage, recognized as
Q sacrament by the church, and recognised as q
contract wherever civilization prevails. Under
the law of Slavery, no such sacrament is respcc-
ted, and no such contract can exist. The ties
that may be formed between slaves are all SUBJ
ect to the selfish interests or more selfish lust of
the master, whose license knows no check. Nat
ural affections which have come together are
rudely torn asunder; nor is this all. Stripped
of every defence, the chastity of a whole race
is exposed to violence, while the result is recor-
ded in the tell.tale faces Of children, glowing
with their masters blood, but doomed for their
mothers skin to Slavery, through all descending
generations. The Senator from Mississippi Mr..
Brown ia CALLED by the comparison between
Slavery and Polygamy, and winces. hail this
sensibity as the sign of virtne. Let him reflect,
and he will confess, that there are many disgust
ing elements in Slavery, which are not present in
Polygamy, while the single disgusting elements
in Polygamy is more than present in Slavery. By
the icence Of Polygamy, one man may have
many wives, all bound to him by the marriage
tie, and in other respects protected by law. By
the licence of Slavery, a whole race is delivered
over to prostitution and concubinage, without
the protection Of any law. Sir, is not Slavery
barbarous?
Thirdly. Slavery paints itself again in its
complete a6royation Of the parental relation,
which God in his benevolence has provided
for the nurture and education of the human
family, and which constitutes an essential part
of Civilization itself. And yet, by the law of
Slavery-happily beginning to be modified in
some places-this relation is set at naught, and
in its place is substituted the arbitrary control
OF the master, at whose mere command little
children, such as the Saviour called unto him,
though clasped by a mothers arms may be
swept under the hammer of the auctioneer.
do not dwell on this exhibition. Sir, is not Sla.
very barbarous?
Fourth!y. Slavery paints itself again in elo-
sing the gates of knopledgs, which are also the
shining gates of civilization. Under its plain
unequivocal law, the bondman may, a. the unre-
strained will of his master, be shut out from all
instruction, while in many places, incredible to
relate! the law itself, by cumulative provisions,
positively forbids that he shall be taught
to read. Of course, the slave cannot be
allowed to read, for his soul would then expand
in larger air, while he saw the glory of the
North Star, and also the helping truth, that God,
who made iron never made a slaye: for he