impunity! This is untrue--nothing could be more false. In the eye of
the law, there is no difference between the man that murders his
slave, and the man that murders his neighbor; and the laws not only
punish men for cruel and unnecessary punishment inflicted on slaves,
but there are penal statutes against the unnecessary and barbarous
abuse and destruction of horses, and other species of property. She
may tell us that the penal statutes, so far as slaves are concerned,
are a dead letter; that they are inoperative; that they have no force
or effect whatever. This also, I know to be untrue, from personal
observation. I admit that slaveholders often evade the punishment due
their crimes, and so do men everywhere. The crimes of men of wealth
and influence too often go unpunished, not only in the slave States,
but wherever the foot of man has trodden the soil. All will admit,
that as a general rule, so far as free men are concerned, the laws are
based on principles of justice and equality, and yet, the wealthy, the
influential and the powerful, in many instances, find but little
difficulty in evading the law, and perverting justice whenever they
come in contact with the indigent and ignorant. From a superiority of
knowledge, wealth and station, men derive advantages in legal
transactions as well as in everything else. It is but one of the
misfortunes incident to poverty and ignorance.

Much has been said, and much has been written about the harsh and
cruel treatment of Southern slaves; but there is a vast deal of error
and misconception among those unacquainted with the facts, and too
much misrepresentation among those, who are, or ought to be better
informed. The Southern slave is not amenable to the civil laws for his
conduct, except in a qualified sense, and under certain circumstances.
He is accountable to his master, and his master is amenable to the
civil laws. If suit is instituted for damages, in consequence of
depredations committed by a slave, it is brought against the master,
and not against the slave. Hence, when a slave is guilty of a
misdemeanor, the authority to punish is vested in the master, and not
in the legal authorities. I do not pretend to say, that this is the
exact letter of the law, but this I know, by common consent, is the
practice in the South. The right to punish being vested in the master,
he inflicts the punishment in his own way, and to some extent, at his
own discretion. The master is judg