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recognizing, by law, of the marriage of negroes; and surrounding the domestic relations of our servants with a bulwark as sacred, as that which protects our own families. So long as the marriage tie among negroes continues, as now, a mere legal nullity, the husband and wife, the parents and children, may, at any moment, be sundered hopelessly and for ever,[1] at the caprice of the master, or at the demand of his creditors, or at the pleasure of the administrators of his estate. This is wrong, it is an outrage to humanity, it is an insult to God!—I am not guilty of sedition in thus expressing myself. I am but exercising a right appertaining to each and every citizen, that of discussing the merits of public measures and public enactments. If I deem a law unjust, unconstitutional, or impolitic, I have a right to say so, at any time and on any occasion, and to state also my reasons for desiring an alteration of the law. Our laws are defective in omitting to sanction the marriage of slaves, so that the marriage tie among them may be deemed equally sacred with that among freemen. The omission is of injurious tendency; and I am persuaded that a large proportion of our respectable slaveholders so regard it, and they would gladly sanction the amendment of the law, if any one would but have the firmness to step forward and propose it in due place and form. The man who shall do this—and carry it through successfully—will entitle himself to the veneration and gratitude of generations yet unborn. Such an alteration in our laws would speedily correct the loose notions now prevailing among negroes on this subject. It would bind the negroes together in strong family ties, it would endear them to each other, and attach them to their masters. It would supply powerful motives to chastity and self-respect among servants, and it would awaken in the bosom of parents among them, a desire to train their children up under suitable moral restraints, that they may become good and orderly and respectable. An honest, faithful, and virtuous servant is as truly entitled to respect, as the wealthy and perhaps accomplished master; for, in his humble sphere, he bows to the will of God, and does his duty. And what can the best among us all do more? "With God there is no respect of persons." Master and servant are alike responsible to him.
Careful instruction in every moral duty, and the employment of all suitable influences to induce him to be moral, the master owes to his
- ↑ It is true this can be done; and in cases of the administration of an estate, and of the emigration of families to distant places, it is often done. But it is also true that the feeling in the community is strong against it, and great care is usually taken to avoid this separation of families. But the law ought to interpose an effectual prohibition.
