and humanity in making a just and
equitable provision for such poor and decrepit slaves as might find
themselves turned out to charity after a long life of unrequited
toil. Slavery was in itself "the sum of all villanies,"--the blackest
curse that ever scourged the earth. To buy and sell human beings; to
tear from the famishing breast of the mother her speechless child; to
separate the husband from the wife of his heart; to wring riches from
the unpaid toil of human beings; to tear down the family altar, and
let lecherous beasts, who claim the name of "Christian," run over
defenceless womanhood as swine over God's altar!--is there any thing
worse, do you ask? Yes! To work a human being from youth to old age,
to appropriate the labor of that being exclusively, to rob it of the
blessings of this life, to poison every domestic charity, to fetter
the intellect by the power of fatal ignorance, to withhold the
privileges of the gospel of love; and then, when the hollow cough
comes under an inclement sky, when the shadows slant, when the hand
trembles, when the gait is shuffling, when the ear is deaf, the eye
dim, when desire faileth,--then to turn that human being out to die is
by far the profoundest crime man can be guilty of in his dealings with
mankind! And slavery had so hardened men's hearts, that the above act
was found to be necessary to teach the alphabet of human kindness. No
wonder human forbearance was strained to its greatest tension when
masters, thus liberating their slaves, assumed the lofty air of
humanitarians who had actually done a noble act in manumitting a
slave!

In 1708 the General Court was called upon to legislate against the
commercial communion that had gone on between the slaves and free
persons in an unrestricted manner for a long time. Slaves would often
steal articles of household furniture, wares, clothing, etc., and sell
them to white persons. And, in order to destroy the ready market this
wide-spread kleptomania found, an Act was passed making it a
misdemeanor for a free person to purchase any article from slaves. It
is rather an interesting law, and is quoted in full.

"Whereas divers rude and evil minded persons for the sake of
filthie lucre do frequently receive from Indians, malattoes
and negro servants, money and goods stolen or obteined by
other indirect and unlawful means, thereby incouraging such
servants to steal from their masters and others: for redress