The only means of understanding precisely1 what a civil institution is are an examination of the laws which regulate it. In different ages and nations, very different things have been called by the name of slavery. Patriarchal servitude was one thing, Hebrew servitude was another, Greek and Roman servitude still a third; and these institutions differed very much from each other. What, then, is American slavery, as we have seen it exhibited by law, and by the decisions of courts?
Let us begin by stating what it is not.
1. It is not apprenticeship2.
2. It is not guardianship3.
3. It is in no sense a system for the education of a weaker race by a stronger.
4. The happiness of the governed is in no sense its object.
5. The temporal improvement or the eternal well-being4 of the governed is in no sense its object.
The object of it has been distinctly stated in one sentence, by Judge Ruffin,—“The end is the profit of the master, his security, and the public safety.”
Slavery, then, is absolute despotism, of the most unmitigated form.
It would, however, be doing injustice5 to the absolutism of any civilized6 country to liken American slavery to it. The absolute governments of Europe none of them pretend to be founded on a property right of the governor to the persons and entire capabilities7 of the governed.
This is a form of despotism which exists only in some of the most savage8 countries of the world; as, for example, in Dahomey.
The European absolutism or despotism, now, does, to some extent, recognize the happiness and welfare of the governed as the foundation of government; and the ruler is considered as invested with power for the benefit of the people; and his right to rule is supposed to be somewhat predicated upon the idea that he better understands how to promote the good of the people than they themselves do. No government in the civilized world now presents the pure despotic idea, as it existed in the old days of the Persian and Assyrian rule.
The arguments which defend slavery must be substantially the same as those which defend despotism of any other kind; and the objections which are to be urged against it are precisely those which can be urged against despotism of any other kind. The customs and practices to which it gives rise are precisely those to which despotisms in all ages have given rise.
Is the slave suspected of a crime? His master has the power to examine him by torture (see State v. Castleman). His master has, in fact, in most cases, the power of life and death, owing to the exclusion9 of the slave’s evidence. He has the power of banishing10 the slave, at any time, and without giving an account to anybody, to an exile as dreadful as that of Siberia, and to labors12 as severe as those of the galleys14. He has also unlimited15 power over the character of his slave. He can accuse him of any crime, yet withhold16 from him all right of trial or investigation17, and sell him into captivity18, 121with his name blackened by an unexamined imputation19.
These are all abuses for which despotic governments are blamed. They are powers which good men who are despotic rulers are beginning to disuse; but, under the flag of every slave-holding state, and under the flag of the whole United States in the District of Columbia, they are committed indiscriminately to men of any character.
But the worst kind of despotism has been said to be that which extends alike over the body and over the soul; which can bind20 the liberty of the conscience, and deprive a man of all right of choice in respect to the manner in which he shall learn the will of God, and worship Him. In other days, kings on their thrones, and cottagers by their firesides, alike trembled before a despotism which declared itself able to bind and to loose, to open and to shut the kingdom of heaven.
Yet this power to control the conscience, to control the religious privileges, and all the opportunities which man has of acquaintanceship with his Maker21, and of learning to do his will, is, under the flag of every slave state, and under the flag of the United States, placed in the hands of any men, of any character, who can afford to pay for it.
It is a most awful and most solemn truth that the greatest republic in the world does sustain under her national flag the worst system of despotism which can possibly exist.
With regard to one point to which we have adverted,—the power of the master to deprive the slave of a legal trial while accusing him of crime,—a very striking instance has occurred in the District of Columbia, within a year or two. The particulars of the case, as stated, at the time, in several papers, were briefly22 these: A gentleman in Washington, our national capital,—an elder in the Presbyterian church,—held a female slave, who had, for some years, supported a good character in a Baptist church of that city. He accused her of an attempt to poison his family, and immediately placed her in the hands of a slave-dealer, who took her over and imprisoned23 her in the slave-pen at Alexandria, to await the departure of a coffle. The poor girl had a mother, who felt as any mother would naturally feel.
When apprized of the situation of her daughter, she flew to the pen, and, with tears, besought24 an interview with her only child; but she was cruelly repulsed25, and told to be gone! She then tried to see the elder, but failed. She had the promise of money sufficient to purchase her daughter, but the owner would listen to no terms of compromise.
In her distress26, the mother repaired to a lawyer in the city, and begged him to give form to her petition in writing. She stated to him what she wished to have said, and he arranged it for her in such a form as she herself might have presented it in, had not the benefits of education been denied her. The following is the letter:
Washington, July 25, 1851.
Mr. ——.
Sir: I address you as a rich Christian27 freeman and father, while I am myself but a poor slave-mother! I come to plead with you for an only child whom I love, who is a professor of the Christian religion with yourself, and a member of a Christian church; and who, by your act of ownership, now pines in her imprisonment28 in a loathsome29 man-warehouse, where she is held for sale! I come to plead with you for the exercise of that blessed law, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them.”
With great labor13, I have found friends who are willing to aid me in the purchase of my child, to save us from a cruel separation. You, as a father, can judge of my feelings when I was told that you had decreed her banishment30 to distant as well as to hopeless bondage31!
For nearly six years my child has done for you the hard labor of a slave; from the age of sixteen to twenty-two, she has done the hard work of your chamber32, kitchen, cellar, and stables. By night and by day, your will and your commands have been her highest law; and all this has been unrequited toil33. If in all this time her scanty34 allowance of tea and coffee has been sweetened, it has been at the cost of her slave-mother, and not at yours.
You are an office-bearer in the church, and a man of prayer. As such, and as the absolute owner of my child, I ask candidly35 whether she has enjoyed such mild and gentle treatment, and amiable36 example, as she ought to have had, to encourage her in her monotonous37 bondage? Has she received at your hands, in faithful religious instruction in the Word of God, a full and fair compensation for all her toil? It is not to me alone that you must answer these questions. You acknowledge the high authority of His laws who preached a deliverance to the captive, and who commands you to give to your servant “that which is just and equal.” O! I entreat38 you, withhold not, at this trying hour, from my child that which will cut off her last hope, and which may endanger your own soul!
It has been said that you charge my daughter with crime. Can this be really so? Can it be that you would set aside the obligations of honor and good citizenship,—that you would dare to sell the guilty one away for money, rather than bring her to trial, which you know she is ready to meet? What would you say, if you were accused of guilt39, and refused a trial? Is not her fair name as precious to her, in the church to which she belongs, as yours can be to you?
122Suppose, now, for a moment, that your daughter, whom you love, instead of mine, was in these hot days incarcerated40 in a negro-pen, subject to my control, fed on the coarsest food, committed to the entire will of a brute41, denied the privilege commonly allowed even to the murderer—that of seeing the face of his friends? O! then, you would FEEL! Feel soon, then, for a poor slave-mother and her child, and do for us as you shall wish you had done when we shall meet before the Great Judge, and when it shall be your greatest joy to say, “I did let the oppressed free.”
Ellen Brown.
The girl, however, was sent off to the Southern market.
The writer has received these incidents from the gentleman who wrote the letter. Whether the course pursued by the master was strictly42 legal is a point upon which we are not entirely43 certain; that it was a course in which the law did not in fact interfere44 is quite plain, and it is also very apparent that it was a course against which public sentiment did not remonstrate45. The man who exercised this power was a professedly religious man, enjoying a position of importance in a Christian church; and it does not appear, from any movements in the Christian community about him, that they did not consider his course a justifiable46 one.
Yet is not this kind of power the very one at which we are so shocked when we see it exercised by foreign despots?
Do we not read with shuddering47 that in Russia, or in Austria, a man accused of crime is seized upon, separated from his friends, allowed no opportunities of trial or of self-defence, but hurried off to Siberia, or some other dreaded48 exile?
Why is despotism any worse in the governor of a state than in a private individual?
There is a great controversy49 now going on in the world between the despotic and the republican principle. All the common arguments used in support of slavery are arguments that apply with equal strength to despotic government, and there are some arguments in favor of despotic governments that do not apply to individual slavery.
There are arguments, and quite plausible50 ones, in favor of despotic government. Nobody can deny that it possesses a certain kind of efficiency, compactness, and promptness of movement, which cannot, from the nature of things, belong to a republic. Despotism has established and sustained much more efficient systems of police than ever a republic did. The late King of Prussia, by the possession of absolute despotic power was enabled to carry out a much more efficient system of popular education than we ever have succeeded in carrying out in America. He districted his kingdom in the most thorough manner, and obliged every parent, whether he would or not, to have his children thoroughly51 educated.
If we reply to all this, as we do, that the possession of absolute power in a man qualified52 to use it right is undoubtedly53 calculated for the good of the state, but that there are so few men that know how to use it, that this form of government is not, on the whole, a safe one, then we have stated an argument that goes to overthrow54 slavery as much as it does a despotic government; for certainly the chances are much greater of finding one man, in the course of fifty years, who is capable of wisely using this power, than of finding thousands of men every day in our streets, who can be trusted with such power. It is a painful and most serious fact, that America trusts to the hands of the most brutal55 men of her country, equally with the best, that despotic power which she thinks an unsafe thing even in the hands of the enlightened, educated and cultivated Emperor of the Russias.
With all our republican prejudices, we cannot deny that Nicholas is a man of talent, with a mind liberalized by education; we have been informed, also, that he is a man of serious and religious character;—he certainly, acting56 as he does in the eye of all the world, must have great restraint upon him from public opinion, and a high sense of character. But who is the man to whom American laws intrust powers more absolute than those of Nicholas of Russia, or Ferdinand of Naples? He may have been a pirate on the high seas; he may be a drunkard; he may, like Souther, have been convicted of a brutality57 at which humanity turns pale; but, for all that, American slave-law will none the less trust him with this irresponsible power,—power over the body, and power over the soul.
On which side, then, stands the American nation, in the great controversy which is now going on between self-government and despotism? On which side does America stand, in the great controversy for liberty of conscience?
Do foreign governments exclude their population from the reading of the Bible?—The slave of America is excluded by the most effectual means possible. Do we say, “Ah! but we read the Bible to our slaves, and present the gospel orally?”—This is precisely what religious despotism in Italy says. Do we say that we have no objection to our slaves reading the Bible, if they will stop there; but that with this there will come in a flood of general intelligence, which will upset the existing state of things?—This is precisely what is said in Italy.
Do we say we should be willing that the slave should read his Bible, but that he, in his ignorance, will draw false and erroneous conclusions from it, and for that reason we prefer to impart its truths to him orally?—This, also, is precisely what the religious despotism of Europe says.
Do we say, in our vain-glory, that despotic government dreads58 the coming in of anything calculated to elevate and educate the people?—And is there not the same dread11 through all the despotic slave governments of America?
On which side, then, does the American nation stand, in the great, last QUESTION of the age?
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1
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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2
apprenticeship
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| n.学徒身份；学徒期 | |
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3
guardianship
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| n. 监护, 保护, 守护 | |
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4
well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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5
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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7
capabilities
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| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
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8
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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9
exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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banishing
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的现在分词 ) | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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12
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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13
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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14
galleys
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| n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房 | |
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unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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16
withhold
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| v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡 | |
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17
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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18
captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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19
imputation
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| n.归罪，责难 | |
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20
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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21
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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23
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
besought
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| v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
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repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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26
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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27
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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28
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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29
loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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30
banishment
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| n.放逐，驱逐 | |
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31
bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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32
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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candidly
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| adv.坦率地，直率而诚恳地 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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38
entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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39
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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40
incarcerated
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| 钳闭的 | |
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41
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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42
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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43
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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44
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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45
remonstrate
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| v.抗议，规劝 | |
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46
justifiable
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| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
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47
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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48
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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49
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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50
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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51
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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52
qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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53
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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54
overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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55
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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56
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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57
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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58
dreads
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| n.恐惧，畏惧( dread的名词复数 )；令人恐惧的事物v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的第三人称单数 ) | |
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