lish tenure of pure villenage," is of opinion, that predial servitude really existed in England, so late as the reign of Elizabeth; and that the observation of Lilburn, that the air of England was, at that time, too pure for a slave to breathe in, was not true in point of fact. Be that as it may, there is no such thing now as the admission of slaves, or slavery, in the sense of the civil law, or of the laws and sages in the West Indies, either in England, or in any part of Europe; and it is very generally agreed, that the African slave trade is unjust and cruel. It is no less true than singular, that domestic slavery prevailed with uncommon rigour in the free states of antiquity; and it cannot but diminish very considerably our sympathy with their spirit, and our reverence for their institutions. A vast majority of the people of ancient Greece, were in a state of absolute and severe slavery. The disproportion between freemen and slaves, was in the ratio of 30 to 400. At Athens, they were treated with more humanity than in Thessaly, Crete, Argos, or Sparta. They were entitled to sue their master for excessive ill-usage, and compel him to sell them; and they had also the privilege of purchasing their freedom. In the Roman republic, the practice of domestic slavery was equally countenanced and abused. There were instances of private persons owning singly no less than four thousand slaves;d and by the Roman law, slaves were considered in the light of goods and chattels, and could be sold or pawned. They could be tortured, and even put to death, at the discretion of their masters. By a succession of edicts, which humanity, reason, and policy dictated, and which were enacted by Claudius, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Constantine, the jurisdiction of life and death over slaves was taken a Observations on the Statutes, chiefly the more ancient, p. 232–241. b 1 Mitf. Hist. 355. c 1 Potter's Antiq. of Greece, 57–67-72. 41 Gibbon's Hist. 66—68. from their masters, and referred to the magistrate; and the Ergastula, or dungeons of cruelty, were abolished.a The personal servitude which grew out of the abuses of the feudal system, and to which the Germans had been accustomed even in their primitive settlements, was exceedingly grievous; but it is not supposed to have equalled in severity, or degradation, the domestic slavery of the ancients, or among the European colonies on this side of the Atlantic. The feudal villein of the lowest order was unprotected as to property, and subjected to the most ignoble services; but his circumstances distinguished him materially from the Greek, Roman, or West India slave. No. person, in England was a villein in the eye of the law, except as to his master. To all other persons he was injuries his master was anSo, also, the life and chas a freeman; and for excessive swerable at the king's suit. tity of the female vassal, even of the lowest degree, were protected, (feebly, probably, in point of fact, but effectually in point of law,) by the right of prosecution of the lord, by appeal, by, or on behalf of the injured vassal. Domestic slavery existed throughout these United States when they were colonies of Great Britain. It exists to this day in all the southern states of the Union; but it has become entirely extinct in this and the eastern states, and probably it is in a course of abatement and extinction in some others. In Pennsylvania, by an act of March, 1780, passed for the gradual extinction of slavery, this great evil a 1 Gibbon, ubi supra. Taylor's Elem. of the Civil Law, 433-435. The horrible excesses and cruelty inflicted upon slaves, in ancient times, and particularly by the Romans, and the barbarous manners, and loss of moral taste and just feeling, which were the consequence, are strikingly shown and illustrated from passages in the classics, by Mr. Hume, in his very learned Essay on the Populousness of Ancient Nations b Littleton's Ten. sec. 189, 190. Hallam's View of the Middle Ages, vol. i. 122. 124. vol. ii. 199. must shortly be removed from them, if it has not already, with the aid of some other provisions, ceased. In Massachusetts, it was judicially declared, soon after the revolution, that slavery was virtually abolished by their constitution, and that the issue of a female slave, though born prior to their constitution, was born free." But though this be the case, yet the effect of the former legal distinctions is still perceived, for it is said, that by statute, a marriage between a white person and a negro, indian, or mulatto, is absolutely void. In Connecticut, statutes were passed in 1784 and 1797, which have, in their operation, totally extinguished slavery in that state. I shall not attempt, nor have I at hand the means, to collect and review the laws of the southern states on this subject of domestic slavery. They are, doubtless, as just and mild as is compatible with the public safety, or with the existence and preservation of that species of property. We will close this division of the subject, with a brief historical detail of our own laws concerning the origin, progress, and final extinction of domestic slavery in this state. Our domestic annals afford sufficient matter for alternate humiliation and pride, for painful and for exulting contemplation. The system of domestic slavery, under the colony laws of New-York, was as firmly and as rigorously established, as in any part of this country; and, as it would seem, with more severity than in either Massachusetts or Connecticut. In the year 1706, it was declared by statute,d that no slave should be a witness for or against any freeman, in any matter civil or criminal. The consequence of this was, that a slave found alone, could be beaten with impunity a See cases cited in Winchendon v. Hatfield, 4 Mass. Rep. 128. b Dane's Abr. ch. 46. art. 2 s. 3. & Reeve's Domestic Relations, p. 340. d Colony Laws, Smith's edit. vol. i. 69, by any freeman, without cause. It was shortly after enacted, that if any slave talked impudently to any Christian, he should be publicly whipped, at the discretion of any justice of the peace, not exceeding forty stripes. An act in 1730, declared, that slaves were in possession of too great liberty, and the debasenrent of their civil condition was greatly augmented. The master and mistress were authorized to punish their slaves at discretion, not extending to life or limb, and each town was authorized to appoint a common whipper to their slaves, to whom a salary was to be allowed. "If guilty of any of the numerous capital offences of that day, they were to be tried by three justices of the peace, and five freeholders, and were denied the benefit of the testimony of their associates, if in their favour, though it might be used against them; and they were to be put to death in such manner as this formidable tribunal thought proper.c In the year 1740, it was observed by the legislature, that all due encouragement ought to be given to the direct importation of slaves, and all smuggling of slaves condemned as "an eminent discouragement to the fair trader."d Such were the tone and policy of our statute law on the subject of domestic slavery, during the whole period of the colony history; but after the era of our independence, the principles of natural right and civil liberty were better known and obeyed, and domestic slavery speedily and sensibly felt the genial influence of the revolution. The first act that went to relax the system, was passed in 1781, and it gave freedom to all slaves who should serve in the e American army for the term of three years, or until regularly a Colony Laws, vol. i. 72. b Colony Laws, vol. i. 193-199. c They were occasionally adjudged to the stake, and an execution of this kind, and probably the last of this kind, was witnessed at Poughkeepsie shortly before the commencement of the revolutionary war. d Colony Laws, vol i, 283, 284. course discharged. A more liberal provision was made in 1786, by which all slaves becoming public property by attainder, or confiscation of their master's estates, were iminediately set free; and if unable to maintain themselves, they were to be supported by the state. These were only partial alleviations of a great public evil. In 1788, a more extensive and effectual stroke was aimed at the practice of domestic slavery. It put an absolute stop to all further importation of slaves after the 1st of June, 1785, by prohibiting future sales of such slaves. Facilities were also given to the manumission of slaves. The penal code was greatly meliorated in respect to slaves. In capital cases they were to be tried by jury according to the of the common law, and the testimony of slaves was made admissible for, as well as against each other, in criminal cases. In one single case, the punishment of slaves was made different from that of whites. If convicted of crimes under capital, and the court should certify transportation to be a proper punishment, they might be transported to foreign parts by the master. In 1799, the legislature took a step towards the final removal, as well as the intermediate mitigation of this evil. They commenced a system of laws for the gradual abolition of slavery. was declared, that every child born of a slave within this state, after the 4th of July, 1799, should be born free, though liable to be held as the servant of the proprietor of the mother, until the age of twenty-eight years in a male, and twenty-five in a female, in like manner as if such persons had been bound by the overseers of the poor to service for that period. This law was further enlarged It a Act of 20th of March, 1781, ch. 32. s. 6. |