Part 6 (1/2)
1. If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto another nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.
2. If he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
3. If he take him another wife, her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
4. If he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out _free_ without money.
On these laws I will give you Calmet's remarks; ”A father could not sell his daughter as a slave, according to the Rabbins, until she was at the age of p.u.b.erty, and unless he were reduced to the utmost indigence.
Besides, when a master bought an Israelitish girl, it was _always_ with the presumption that he would take her to wife. Hence Moses adds, 'if she please not her master, and he does not think fit to marry her, he shall set her at liberty,' or according to the Hebrew, 'he shall let her be redeemed.' 'To sell her to another nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her;' as to the engagement implied, at least of taking her to wife. 'If he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters;' i.e., he shall take care that his son uses her as his wife, that he does not despise or maltreat her. If he make his son marry another wife, he shall give her her dowry, her clothes, and compensation for her virginity; if he does none of these three, she shall _go out free_ without money.”
Thus were the _rights of female servants carefully secured by law_ under the Jewish Dispensation; and now I would ask, are the rights of female slaves at the South thus secured? Are _they_ sold only as wives and daughters-in-law, and when not treated as such, are they allowed to _go out free?_ No! They have _all_ not only been illegally obtained as servants according to Hebrew law, but they are also illegally _held_ in bondage. Masters at the South and West have all forfeited their claims, (_if they ever had any,_) to their female slaves.
We come now to examine the case of those servants who were ”of the heathen round about;” Were _they_ left entirely unprotected by law?
Horne, in speaking of the law, ”Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor, but shalt fear thy G.o.d,” remarks, ”this law, Lev. xxv, 43, it is true, speaks expressly of slaves who were of Hebrew descent; but as _alien born_ slaves were ingrafted into the Hebrew Church by circ.u.mcision, _there is no doubt_ but that it applied to _all_ slaves:” if so, then we may reasonably suppose that the other protective laws extended to them also; and that the only difference between Hebrew and Heathen servants lay in this, that the former served but six years, unless they chose to remain longer, and were always freed at the death of their masters; whereas, the latter served until the year of Jubilee, though that might include a period of forty-nine years,--and were left from father to son.
There are, however, two other laws which I have not yet noticed. The one effectually prevented _all involuntary_ servitude, and the other completely abolished Jewish servitude every fifty years. They were equally operative upon the Heathen and the Hebrew.
1. ”Thou shalt _not_ deliver unto his master the servant that is escaped from his master unto thee. He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose, in one of thy gates where it liketh him best: thou shalt _not_ oppress him.” Deut. xxiii, 15, 16.
2. ”And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim _Liberty_ throughout _all_ the land, unto _all_ the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you.” Lev. xxv, 10.
Here, then, we see that by this first law, the _door of Freedom was opened wide to every servant who_ had any cause whatever for complaint; if he was unhappy with his master, all he had to do was to leave him, and _no man_ had a right to deliver him back to him again, and not only so, but the absconded servant was to _choose_ where he should live, and no Jew was permitted to oppress him. He left his master just as our Northern servants leave us; we have no power to compel them to remain with us, and no man has any right to oppress them; they go and dwell in that place where it chooseth them, and live just where they like. Is it so at the South? Is the poor runaway slave protected _by law_ from the violence of that master whose oppression and cruelty has driven him from his plantation or his house? No! no! Even the free states of the North are compelled to deliver unto his master the servant that is escaped from his master into them. By _human_ law, under the _Christian Dispensation_, in the _nineteenth century we_ are commanded to do, what _G.o.d_ more than _three thousand_ years ago, under the _Mosaic Dispensation_, _positively commanded_ the Jews _not_ to do. In the wide domain even of our free states, there is not _one_ city of refuge for the poor runaway fugitive; not one spot upon which he can stand and say, I am a free man--I am protected in my rights as a _man_, by the strong arm of the law; no! _not one_. How long the North will thus shake hands with the South in sin, I know not. How long she will stand by like the persecutor Saul, _consenting_ unto the death of Stephen, and keeping the raiment of them that slew him. I know not; but one thing I do know, the _guilt of the North_ is increasing in a tremendous ratio as light is pouring in upon her on the subject and the sin of slavery. As the sun of righteousness climbs higher and higher in the moral heavens, she will stand still more and more abashed as the query is thundered down into her ear, ”_Who_ hath required _this_ at thy hand?” It will be found _no_ excuse then that the Const.i.tution of our country required that _persons bound to service_ escaping from their masters should be delivered up; no more excuse than was the reason which Adam a.s.signed for eating the forbidden fruit. _He was condemned and punished because_ he hearkened to the voice of _his wife_, rather than to the command of his Maker; and _we_ shall a.s.suredly be condemned and punished for obeying _Man_ rather than _G.o.d_, if we do not speedily repent and bring forth fruits meet for repentance. Yea, are we not receiving chastis.e.m.e.nt even _now_?
But by the second of these laws a still more astonis.h.i.+ng fact is disclosed. If the first effectually prevented _all involuntary servitude_, the last absolutely forbade even _voluntary servitude being perpetual_. On the great day of atonement every fiftieth year the Jubilee trumpet was sounded throughout the land of Judea, and _Liberty_ was proclaimed to _all_ the inhabitants thereof. I will not say that the servants' _chains_ fell off and their _manacles_ were burst, for there is no evidence that Jewish servants _ever_ felt the weight of iron chains, and collars, and handcuffs; but I do say that even the man who had voluntarily sold himself and the _heathen_ who had been sold to a Hebrew master, were set free, the one as well as the other. This law was evidently designed to prevent the oppression of the poor, and the possibility of such a thing as _perpetual servitude_ existing among them.
Where, then, I would ask, is the warrant, the justification, or the palliation of American Slavery from Hebrew servitude? How many of the southern slaves would now be in bondage according to the laws of Moses; Not one. You may observe that I have carefully avoided using the term _slavery_ when speaking of Jewish servitude; and simply for this reason, that _no such thing_ existed among that people; the word translated servant does _not_ mean _slave_, it is the same that is applied to Abraham, to Moses, to Elisha and the prophets generally. _Slavery_ then _never_ existed under the Jewish Dispensation at all, and I cannot but regard it as an aspersion on the character of Him who is ”glorious in Holiness” for any one to a.s.sert that ”_G.o.d sanctioned, yea commanded slavery_ under the old dispensation.” I would fain lift my feeble voice to vindicate Jehovah's character from so foul a slander. If slaveholders are determined to hold slaves as long as they can, let them not dare to say that the G.o.d of mercy and of truth _ever_ sanctioned such a system of cruelty and wrong. It is blasphemy against Him.
We have seen that the code of laws framed by Moses with regard to servants was designed to _protect them_ as _men and women_, to secure to them their _rights_ as _human beings_, to guard them from oppression and defend them from violence of every kind. Let us now turn to the Slave laws of the South and West and examine them too. I will give you the substance only, because I fear I shall trespa.s.s too much on your time, were I to quote them at length.
1. _Slavery_ is hereditary and perpetual, to the last moment of the slave's earthly existence, and to all his descendants to the latest posterity.
2. The labor of the slave is compulsory and uncompensated; while the kind of labor, the amount of toil, the time allowed for rest, are dictated solely by the master. No bargain is made, no wages given. A pure despotism governs the human brute; and even his covering and provender, both as to quant.i.ty and quality, depend entirely on the master's discretion[A].
[Footnote A: There are laws in some of the slave states, limiting the labor which the master may require of the slave to fourteen hours daily.
In some of the states there are laws requiring the masters to furnish a certain amount of food and clothing, as for instance, _one quart_ of corn per day, or _one peck_ per week, or _one bushel_ per month, and ”_one_ linen s.h.i.+rt and pantaloons for the summer, and a linen s.h.i.+rt and woolen great coat and pantaloons for the winter,” &c. But ”still,” to use the language of Judge Stroud ”the slave is entirely under the control of his master.--is unprovided with a protector,--and, especially as he cannot be a witness or make complaint in any known mode against his master, the _apparent_ object of these laws may _always_ be defeated.” ED.]
3. The slave being considered a personal chattel may be sold or pledged, or leased at the will of his master. He may be exchanged for marketable commodities, or taken in execution for the debts or taxes either of a living or dead master. Sold at auction, either individually, or in lots to suit the purchaser, he may remain with his family, or be separated from them for ever.
4. Slaves can make no contracts and have no _legal_ right to any property, real or personal. Their own honest earnings and the legacies of friends belong in point of law to their masters.
5. Neither a slave nor a free colored person can be a witness against any _white_, or free person, in a court of justice, however atrocious may have been the crimes they have seen him commit, if such testimony would be for the benefit of a _slave_; but they may give testimony _against a fellow slave_, or free colored man, even in cases affecting life, if the _master_ is to reap the advantage of it.
6. The slave may be punished at his master's discretion--without trial--without any means of legal redress; whether his offence be real or imaginary; and the master can transfer the same despotic power to any person or persons, he may choose to appoint.
7. The slave is not allowed to resist any free man under _any_ circ.u.mstances, _his_ only safety consists in the fact that his _owner_ may bring suit and recover the price of his body, in case his life is taken, or his limbs rendered unfit for labor.
8. Slaves cannot redeem themselves, or obtain a change of masters, though cruel treatment may have rendered such a change necessary for their personal safety.
9. The slave is entirely unprotected in his domestic relations.
10. The laws greatly obstruct the manumission of slaves, even where the master is willing to enfranchise them.
11. The operation of the laws tends to deprive slaves of religious instruction and consolation.
12. The whole power of the laws is exerted to keep slaves in a state of the lowest ignorance.