They are entitled to the restraints, the protection, and the
encouragement, which a prudent administration of a system of good laws
is calculated to afford. A part of this is secured to them by the
civil government; but a large part is left to the discretion and
fidelity of the master. The civil government assumes that the
pecuniary interest of the master and the duty which he owes his slaves
coincide so perfectly, that the performance of certain duties may with
propriety be left to him. He is the patriarch of his whole house. His
family is his empire, subordinate, it is true, to the civil
government, but still an empire. He commands the time and labor of his
children and his slaves--the one for a definite period in life, the
other for an indefinite period. He gives law to the one and to the
other. So long as he does not violate the constitution and laws of the
political commonwealth of which he is himself a subject, his authority
is absolute. All the rights of his children and his servants appeal to
him. He is responsible to the civil government not to violate its
provisions, and he is responsible to God for the faithful performance
of his duties to his children and his servants; for the sin of
omitting to do his duty to his children or servants could rarely be
reached by the civil authority.
The duty of the master to his slaves as social beings is to give them
laws within the limits prescribed by the civil government, and to
govern them according to the principles of justice and equity.
As his empire is constantly under his eye, or the eye of his immediate
agent, it is not necessary that he have recourse to a code of laws
definitely drawn up and formally announced. As the teacher in his
room, and the mother in her nursery, may have their rules, and have
them obeyed without these formalities, so may the master. But these
rules should not relate merely to the economical use of the slave’s
time and labor, but should be adapted to his character as a social
being. Hence, it is not proposed to give a code of laws for the
plantation, but to discuss certain principles which should influence
the conduct of the master in the government of his domestic empire.
1. _In regard to punishments._ Neither the magistrate, the parent, nor
the master, should bear the sword in vain. Disobedience, which, in all
wise governments, is wickedness, must be restrained, and in extreme
cases by severe punishments. It would be great weakness to forbear.
But one law, however, should govern in the infliction of punishments.
They should be inflicted for the purpose of correction, or as “a
terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well,” and not to
gratify passion or resentment. Punishments inflicted from motives of
resentment merely, and often repeated, tend directly to cow the
spirit, stultify the intellect, destroy self-respect, and greatly
weaken the power of arbitrary volition. Such a man approximates the
nature of a brute, and is, in fact, scarcely of the value of a common
horse. He is a human being, but in circumstances in which he has few
motives of action above those which influence a brute--namely, the
indulgence of his animal nature, restrained only by the fear of
present punishment. He is not as serviceable as a brute, and is far
more dangerous than a brute. A slave to whose sense of what is right
and proper to be done nothing can be trusted, and from whom nothing
can be gotten but that which is extorted from his fears, is of no
value unless it be to a master of the same genus--that is, like
himself, a brute. The prodigality as well as wickedness of this course
requires no comment. There is a more excellent way of maintaining
authority, and it lies upon the conscience of every master no less
than upon his purse to observe it as a duty: it is _to punish for the
purpose of correction only--not to destroy, but to save_.
Punishments can only be salutary as a means of moral discipline in the
measure in which they produce shame and mortification. But one who has
no self-respect can have no shame. The effect of punishment in such a
case is lost only so far as it may help to brutalize him. A desire to
secure the favor and preserve the confidence of those upon whom we are
dependent is the highest guaranty for faithfulness. But he only who
respects himself will value the respect and confidence of others. And
it is difficult for any man to retain his self-respect when he knows
that no one respects him. It is not impossible to be done; but only
men of great moral firmness and conscious integrity succeed in doing
it. We have no right to expect it from slaves. They universally
concede the superior intelligence of the whites. And for one of these,
accustomed from early childhood to hear himself disparaged in company,
and degraded by harsh epithets for his stupidity and disobedience by
those whom he thinks to be superior in every thing, to grow up with
the necessary self-respect, is not to be expected. It would be
singular, indeed, even if one who had been better brought up should be
able to retain his self-respect under this kind of treatment. And
without self-respect, punishment can have no moral effect. Why then
should we thus sin against God? How much better to regard the counsel
of Paul: “_And ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing
threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven._” Ephesians
vi. 9. He hath enjoined upon servants to serve their “_masters in
singleness of heart as unto Christ_,” “_with good will doing service
as to the Lord, and not to men_.” _Masters_ are then commanded to “_do
the same things unto them, forbearing threatening_;” that is,
carefully avoiding all those hasty, unjust, and petulant censures,
which display themselves in idle threatenings, or _scoldings_, do your
duty to your servants as an act of duty to God; or, with a view to his
approbation, govern them according to the principles of justice,
equity, and kindness--remembering that your Master is in heaven, from
whose forbearance you may have need of more than you now extend to
your servants.
“I desire to be kind to my servants; but they are often so perverse,
they will not allow me to make their situation as comfortable as I
would.” We sometimes meet with these remarks. There is often a great
deal of reason for them. Our slaves have many faults. They are
ignorant, careless, slothful, and sometimes perverse. These things are
at all times vexatious, and sometimes a great temptation to sin. But
then it should not be forgotten that our children sometimes give us
more trouble, and furnish stronger temptations to sin, than our slaves
could possibly do. Having all the perverseness of the slave, their
superior intelligence may make them much more potent for evil. But
still they are our children. The wisest and best parents will have to
be blind to a great many faults, and ultimately bear in silence with a
great deal which cannot be concealed. The parent that does his best,
and commits results to God, will find in the end that things turn out
a great deal better than his fears dictated they would do. So our
slaves are ours still. They are God’s poor, committed to us. We must
control and protect them for their profit, as well as work them for
our mutual profit. They have great faults. Still, they are our
heritage both for good and for evil. We may not dissolve the relation
between us and them, any more than that between us and our children.
We dare not turn them loose in the savage wilds of Africa, any more
than we dare allow them to be hunted down as wild beasts by the
advances of a superior race, with whom they cannot be permitted to
amalgamate. To govern as well as work them, is, then, a moral
necessity. We cannot fulfil our duty without perhaps a great deal of
trouble in given cases. At all times we must be blind to many faults,
and bear with some others which cannot be concealed. There is no
release from this war. Penalties, severe penalties must be inflicted
occasionally. Every steady government will sometimes have to wield
authority with a strong hand. This is a source of trouble to all, and
often of great pain to good people. Still, there are views to be taken
of the condition of the African which go far to relieve the whole
subject of its difficulties. Many of those faults which are sources of
so much annoyance are to be traced to _ignorance_ and a _want of
self-respect_, and these are oftentimes their infirmities. They are by
nature slow to learn, and hence their ignorance; and few perhaps have
taken pains to cultivate in them much self-respect. Do not these facts
plead in their behalf? Again, what master who desires to do justly can
be wholly indifferent to their good qualities? For a more docile and
kind-hearted race of people are not to be found than the Africans of
the Southern States. Readiness to forgive, gratitude in their rude
notions of it, hospitality to strangers, and affection for friends,
are characteristics of the race. Cases of ingratitude and resentment
are the exceptions, not the rule. Confide, then, in your slaves, as
far as these qualities will allow you to do it. They will not
disappoint your confidence, as seriously, at least, as many others
with the same opportunities would probably do it. Give attention to
their comfort in little things. This will not cost you much, and will
show your care for them. Pay due respect to their feelings and their
reputation. This may cost you no more than a pleasant look or a kind
word. Never be backward under proper circumstances to trust them in
any thing in which it is proper to trust persons in a menial position.
This course will not be without its effect. Confidence will beget
confidence. For one to be respected by others, goes far to beget
respect in one’s self. With a reasonable degree of self-respect in the
slave, and confidence in the kindness and justice of his master, his
discipline cannot fail to be salutary. He may punish in cases of
disobedience with great firmness, and to a merited extent, and it will
not fail to produce shame and mortification. His authority will be “a
terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well.” The public
opinion of his little commonwealth will fully sustain his
administration. The counsels of age, the cutting jokes of early
manhood, and the merry laugh of the young, will all unite to teach the
offender a valuable lesson. He who governs a plantation of slaves
without the aid of a certain measure of public opinion, is a loser in
the end. Some masters affect to despise this. Brute force may sustain
them; but the public opinion even of so humble a commonwealth as a
plantation of slaves is not to be despised. The sensible and humane
master, who would obey the apostolic precept, and maintain a sound and
judicious discipline among his slaves, will obey what is equally
implied in another injunction, and entitle himself to the respect and
confidence of his subjects. Tyrants who have operated upon wider and
nobler fields have affected to despise public opinion, and lost their
crowns. The petty tyrants of whom we treat cannot fail to lose the
respect of their neighbors. It is impossible to respect a man whose
policy infests the neighborhood with a band of freebooters, and this
policy will rarely fail to reduce such a man to poverty also.
2. _In regard to the social principle._ They are social beings. There
are among them those great impulses of our nature, general love for
society, and attachment to the sexes, out of which arise the affection
of husband and wife, the love of parents to children, and children to
parents, and all the various modifications of affection, resulting
from collateral and more distant relationships. Besides these, there
is the feeling of friendship between individuals of similar habits and
corresponding pursuits. All these social principles are common to our
African population. Any evidence to the contrary is only a proof of a
low state of civilization. Now, it is an easy matter for some minds to
overlook the fact that they are _social_ and not _mere_ sentient
beings. But all the elements of simple society are to be found among
them. They associate together as other races. It is not peculiar to
them to wish to be together and to find pleasure in each other’s
society. They obey the common law of humanity. These elements of the
social nature give rise to various relations and duties among
themselves. They do not operate mechanically, but morally. Hence their
society is subject to all the mutations, the conflict of rights and
the violation of duties, of any other simple society, under like
restrictions. As in any other society, these relations must be
understood and made to operate within certain limits. These rights
must be guarded and protected by the observance of certain duties
enforced by certain penalties. Otherwise they may herd together, as in
the wilds of Africa; but they cannot dwell together as rational
beings. For the impulses of nature are not fulfilled when they are
permitted merely to herd together. At this point, the master owes an
important duty to his slaves. Its observance will greatly promote
their progress in civilization, and enhance the value of his property.
He is their civil lawgiver, and the judge in all the grave
controversies which arise among them. He should not be derelict in
duty. He should not think it beneath him to arrest their broils by
authority, and settle their controversies by a kind of judicial
decision. A sensible man will not content himself by saying: “There
were no bones broken: no one was killed or crippled,” or, “A fine
child is born.” These are not the only things which concern his
interest or his duty. It is not doing as he would be done by. The
civil government which protects him would not be worth a tithe of the
taxes, if it concerned itself no further to protect his rights of
property and his happiness. His decisions, therefore, should regulate
the relations of this society, should protect such rights of property
as he allows among them, and enforce the observance of such contracts
as he allows them to negotiate either among their own fellow-servants
or those of another plantation. At the same time that he sees that
they keep themselves within the position which they hold in the great
community of whites, in which they are subordinate members, he should
see that they are not overborne and oppressed by their superiors.
The first and most important of all the social relations is _the
marriage relation_. The civil government has not thought it wise to
interfere with this. It leaves this to the control of the master. His
interest and his duty afford a high guaranty that he will consult the
interests of his slaves in this matter. He should encourage the young
to marry. He should not only positively forbid the herding together
in indiscriminate intercourse, but he should promote marriage by all
suitable arrangements and influences. It is an important interest and
duty with him to have his slaves suitably married and at home. He
should not scruple to buy and to sell to effect proper marriages among
the slaves of his own plantation. And when this cannot be done, he
should permit his slaves to intermarry with those of a neighboring
plantation. There should be in all cases separate apartments for
families, and separate houses as soon as they can be provided.
From causes which need not be enumerated, they are peculiarly addicted
to licentious indulgences, and particularly disposed to violate the
marriage-bed. No master is at liberty to neglect or overlook these
immoralities. He should not allow any to marry without understanding
the obligations of the relation, and he should enforce, as far as his
discipline can reach the case, the obligations of the marriage-bed.
The custom of leaving one wife and taking another, should be
positively prohibited. Those masters whose policy actually makes this
custom in a good degree necessary, cannot be too severely censured. If
slaves were mere chattels, as abolitionists affirm they are, there
might be an apology for this. But as it is, there is no apology for
it. The custom of separating man and wife is the remnant of a
barbarous age: any gentleman should be ashamed of it. The civilization
of the age may not be expected to countenance it. Those who think to
maintain the institution of slavery under so palpable a violation of
the laws of morality, may expect to meet the unqualified censure of
the civilized world. No: the marriage relation must be maintained. To
be maintained, it must be respected. Indiscriminate intercourse should
be restrained. Those masters whose policy renders this custom in a
good degree necessary should revise their system, and they must revise
their system unless they would continue to outrage the moral sense of
their fellow-citizens. For myself, I do not feel at liberty--and I
speak as a citizen--to treat the marriage relation among slaves other
than as a most sacred relation. Those marriages which are maintained
in good faith, no master should feel himself at liberty to violate.
Nothing but conjugal infidelity or some capital offence which subjects
the party offending to imprisonment for life, to banishment, or to
death, can dissolve the marriage obligation. “Those whom God hath
joined together, let not man put asunder.”
I have said that the Africans are a kind and docile race of people;
but still it is true of them, as of all other barbarous people, that
they have but little conception of moral influence as an element of
government. Fear is the motive to which in all cases they appeal--and
with the best intentions. They have but little idea of any thing else.
Whatever authority, therefore, is placed in their hands is likely to
be exercised with great harshness, perhaps with cruelty. Many masters
avail themselves of the services of an intelligent servant, and make
him “head-man,” instead of incurring the expense of an overseer. In
many cases the plan succeeds remarkably well. But in most cases of the
kind, the master owes an important duty to his other slaves: it is to
overlook the exercise of the delegated authority, and restrain the
tendency to excessive severity.
There are other points at which this tendency is liable to display
itself. The husband is likely to exhibit it in the authority exercised
over the wife, and both the husband and the wife in the authority
exercised over the children. The husband is often found to beat and
otherwise maltreat the wife. In fits of passion, some of them are
extremely cruel. The children are brought up in the same way. They are
often subjected to cruel treatment. Impatience, fretfulness, and
stunning blows, make up the system of cabin-discipline. The child is
often stultified in early life, and, without self-respect, grows up a
stupid, slovenly, and insufferable eye-servant. Thus, that which made
the young slave a source of so much annoyance in the kitchen, the
chamber, and the dining-room, began in the discipline of the cabin,
and with those who themselves were good servants, and who, for the
most part, intended to do their duty in their humble way to their
children. Now, there are many families of great moral worth among us
who entirely neglect the discipline of the cabin. They take no account
of the young negro, nor do they inquire into the treatment of wives.
This is a fault--a great fault. It presses with great force upon the
interests of the master, as well as upon the domestic happiness of the
African family and the moral character of the rising generation. The
duty of the master is urgent. He should restrain the exercise of
cruelty to wives. He should do the same in behalf of the children.
Both his example and his precepts should unite to introduce a sounder
system of discipline. A well-trained slave, who respects himself, is
far more valuable in any view than a stupid eye-servant. The master
who will not condescend to pay some attention to the discipline of the
cabin must content himself with the latter.
_The sick and the aged_ should be suitably cared for. It is not enough
that provision be made for these: the master owes them a duty in the
_kind_ of provision which he makes for them. The regular nurse can
serve them with a little medicine, a cup of water, and help them to
the couch of straw, or support their heads in death; but they are
social beings: their claims reach far beyond these things, and the
duty of the master is imperative. It certainly should not come short
of the service rendered by the good Samaritan. He who can free his
conscience short of this, is low enough in the scale of civilization
to change places with many slaves of our acquaintance. Humanity claims
something for the sick and aged on the score of _comfort_ as well as
necessity. Why may they not be frequently ministered unto by their
friends? Do we think that the laws of friendship and consanguinity do
not operate among them? If so, we are mistaken; for they are social
beings, as we are. Why, then, deny them this boon, when it can be
afforded them, as it often can, at so small a cost? I do not scruple
to say that there are many circumstances in which any humane man would
allow the husband and the child to quit even the harvest-field to
minister as occasion might demand to the sick wife and mother, and to
soothe her sorrows in a dying-hour. And the aged father! Shall no
child or grandchild support his tottering limbs to his couch, and lay
him down to die in peace? Shall all these delicate services, if
performed at all, be left to stranger hands? Shall those who never
knew mother, who never cared for grandfather, or who were never
reckoned among their friends, be left to perform these last services?
There may be masters whose business or whose want of thought may lead
them to be inattentive to the social sorrows of the sick and the aged;
but they should remember that “_they also have a Master in heaven_.”
Would they have Him to be as inattentive to their sorrows in sickness
and in age? Let them beware “_lest the same measure they mete be
measured to them again_!”