Would that we could say, that the moral and religious teaching in the slave states were better than the laws but, alas! we cannot. The slave, to remain a slave, must be sensible that there is no appeal from his master.' Where the slave is placed by law entirely under the control of the man who claims him, body and soul, as property, what else could be expected than the most depraved social condition? The marriage relation, the oldest and most sacred institution given to man by his Creator, is unknown and unrecognised in the slave laws of the United States. The slave is entirely subject to the will of his master, who may correct and chastise him, though not with unusual rigour, or so as to maim and mutilate him, or expose him to the danger of loss of life, or to cause his death. He can do nothing, possess nothing, nor acquire anything, but what must belong to his master. The master may sell him, dispose of his person, his industry, and his labour. In all the slave states, the law says:-'Slaves shall be deemed, sold, taken, reputed, and adjudged in law to be chattels personal in the hands of their owners and possessors, and their executors, administrators and assigns, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever.' A slave is one who is in the power of a master to whom he belongs. This fact is, of itself, the best evidence of the degraded and immoral condition of the relation of master and slave in the United States of America. John Randolph, a distinguished slaveholder of Virginia, and a prominent statesman, said in a speech in the legislature of his native state, that 'the blood of the first American statesmen coursed through the veins of the slave of the South.' In all the cities and towns of the slave states, the real negro, or clear black, does not amount to more than one in every four of the slave population. The late Henry Clay, some years since, predicted that the abolition of negro slavery would be brought about by the amalgamation of the races.

Society does not frown upon the man who sits with his mulatto child upon his knee, whilst its mother stands a slave behind his chair. WITH the growing population of slaves in the Southern States of America, there is a fearful increase of half whites, most of whose fathers are slaveowners, and their mothers slaves. You should visit Browse Happy and update your internet browser today! The embedded audio player requires a modern internet browser.

Clotel