unishing the murder of a slave, other than a pecuniary fine,
there were, I will venture to say, at least ten murders of freemen, for
one murder of a slave. Yet it is supposed they are all less protected,
or less secure than their masters. Why they are protected by their very
situation in society, and therefore less need the protection of law.
With any other person than their master, it is hardly possible for them
to come into such sort of collision as usually gives rise to furious and
revengeful passions; they offer no temptation to the murderer for gain;
against the master himself, they have the security of his own interest,
and by his superintendence and authority, they are protected from the
revengeful passions of each other. I am by no means sure that the cause
of humanity has been served by the change in jurisprudence, which has
placed their murder on the same footing with that of a freeman. The
change was made in subserviency to the opinions and clamor of others who
were utterly incompetent to form an opinion on the subject; and a wise
act is seldom the result of legislation in this spirit. From the fact
which I have stated, it is plain that they less need protection. Juries
are, therefore, less willing to convict, and it may sometimes happen
that the guilty will escape all punishment. _Security_ is one of the
compensations of their humble position. We challenge the comparison,
that with us there have been fewer murders of slaves, than of parents,
children, apprentices, and other murders, cruel and unnatural, in
society where slavery does not exist.

But short of life or limb, various cruelties may be practiced as the
passions of the master may dictate. To this the same reply has been
often given--that they are secured by the master's interest. If the
state of slavey is to exist at all, the master must have, and ought to
have, such power of punishment as will compel them to perform the duties
of their station. And is not this for their advantage as well as his? No
human being can be contented, who does not perform the duties of his
station. Has the master any temptation to go beyond this? If he inflicts
on him such punishment as will permanently impair his strength, he
inflicts a loss on himself, and so if he requires of him excessive
labor. Compare the labor required of the slave, with those of the free
agricultural or manufacturing laborer in Europe, or even in the more
thickly peopled portions of the non-slaveho