THE LATE RIOTS. Judex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur. THERE has been no series of events, since the first moment of our national existence, at the mention or remembrance of which Americans have so much cause to blush and hang their heads with shame, as the base, outrageous violations of all law, all decency, and all moral and religious principle, that have taken place within two months, in or near the three chief cities of the union. They form a climax of horrors, exceeded only by the mad atrocities of the French Revolution. First the temples of God's worship were attacked, dishonored, and destroyed; then murders were committed, not perhaps intentionally, but in the blindness of popular fury; and, to complete the disgraceful catalogue, helpless, unoffending women were assailed, despoiled of their possessions, startled from their slumbers at the dead of night, and driven forth to seek a precarious shelter at the hand of charity, with no light to guide them on their way but the glare of their own burning plundered home! Have these scenes been acted in civilized America? In the very bosom of "the most enlightened people under heaven?" Oh, shame for the proud eagle! Black, eternal spot on our escutcheon! Who shall dare, henceforth, to lift his voice against the reviler of our country? There is some little shadow of excuse for us, in the unexpected manner of the evil's coming; we had no warning; no criterion by which to judge of the extent to which outrage might be carried, or of the means required for its suppression. But Charlestown and Philadelphia can lay no such flattering unction to their souls; they had a guage by which to measure the height, and depth, and breadth, of popular violence and fury; they should have been prepared at the first signal, with means so energetic as to quell the lawless mob, at once and forever. They should have learned from our unfortunate example, that palliatives-half measures-would be of no avail. But, on the other hand, there is a deeper stain of guilt in our subsequent proceedings; in the mockery of punishment with which we pretended to visit the offenders. Who can wonder that bold bad men in other cities should entertain no fear of retribution, when they saw how crimes of such atrocity were left unpunished here? Of the hundreds who took an active part in our riots, what one has been brought to justice? A few miserable vagrants were arrested; more than half of these suffered to go free, after a hurried trial; and the rest, some eight or ten, let off with a month's imprisonment! Could we have done more to encourage others? To produce conviction of the impotence of law and public justice? Then what have we done for the sufferers? Nothing; absolutely nothing. In England their losses would be made up by the country; here we leave them, in the wreck of their possessions, to the doubtful aid of charity. Will our example be followed in Massachusetts? We hope not; it is the duty of the state to rebuild that nunnery, and replace the destroyed and plundered possessions of the wronged inmates, not merely to the uttermost farthing, but ten-fold. If this be not done, and done exc.usively by Massachusetts, that state, once so justly called the proud and generous, is disgraced forever. He lifts my heart-he makes me free- I'm with him at his temple's shrine, IV. I follow, where his voice may guide- I trace him through the angry spray, The God is in that fearful view— V. Upon the awful verge I stand I crouch-I dare not yet look down- Down pours the storm, unceasing still, VI. Cold drops are starting to my brow Beneath the sun's strong gleam. How should we bless thy beam, LINUS. NEGRO SLAVERY.* We have before us a pamphlet on the subject of negro slavery in South Carolina. It owes its origin, apparently, to the late commotions, in New York and other places, on the same subject, and may answer a very useful purpose in showing what the true condition and character of slavery is, in the southern country. It certainly puts the subject in a light rather new to us. Trusting to the loud declamations of an active class in our neighborhood, we had been taught to look upon the slave as the victim of a petty despotism, out of the pale of society, and only nominally within the protection of the laws. The writer of the pamphlet before us, who is evidently a man of clear perceptions and good sense, tells a very different story, and should certainly produce, if not entire conviction, at least a cautious reserve in the expression of our judgment. He divides his essay into the four following parts, which he insists are absolutely necessary to a fair consideration of the subject, viz :-I. That a system of slavery has existed in every age of the world-was established in the Old, and sanctioned in the New Testament. II. That the system was forced upon South Carolina by the trade of Great Britain and of the northern and eastern states. III. That the Carolina slave, at this time, enjoys most of the civil and religious immunities of his master. IV. That no plan yet devised can better his present condition. The two last of the propositions are the most important. Indeed, the consideration of the first we hold entirely unnecessary. The existence of slavery among the Jews, at all periods of their history, is not to be denied, and not necessary, therefore, to be discussed. The truth is everywhere admitted, and proves nothing essential to the question,-the abstract proposition as to the propriety, and in justification of slavery, being left just where we find it. The second topic-namely, the origin of slavery in South Carolina-does no more than acquit the Carolinians of the direct trade in question, while transferring it to the shoulders of Great Britain and some of the northern and eastern colonies. As matter of history, it is very well referred to ;— it may apply, by way of rebuke, to those of the present day, who, without being innocent themselves, are yet very liberal and ready in casting the first stone. The next assertion, that the slave in Carolina enjoys most of the civil immunities of his master, is rather more important, and if true, will be fatal to the zeal of that mad philanthropy, which, of late days, has been so active in urging the necessity of reform, not to say revolution, in behalf of the slave population of the south. Under this head the author tells us that the slave of Carolina enjoys by the laws of the state, * An Appeal to the People of the Northern and Eastern States, on the Subject of Negro Slavery in South Carolina. By a South Carolinian. New York, 1834. "the protection of life, limb, reputation, and property." As this portion of the pamphlet must be new to many of our readers, we make a free sclection for their benefit. Virtually, the slave in Carolina possesses most of the civil freedom of the white man. Civil freedom there, as it is recognised all over the world, is nothing more than the protection of life, limb, reputation, and property. The Carolina master enjoys these advantages, and no more; while the slave, with a few exceptions, and those in his favor, has all these rights secured likewise to himself. Against him, as against his master, you cannot make an assault with impunity. If you take his life, yours must pay the forfeit-if he takes yours, like you, he has the benefit of a regular form of trial by sworn freeholders, who, from the fact of their being, in most cases, the owners of slaves themselves, are generally rather inclined to evade the law, than to vindicate its exactions. In all criminal prosecutions against him, his master, or guardian, by a simple plea, can have him either immediately brought to trial, or can traverse his case until all excitement against him shall have subsided. Upon trial, his accusers must confront him; and he is entitled to compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor. He can have the ablest counsel employed in his behalf, with a court if at all partial, favorably so, from the reasons already urged in this particular. If found guilty, he has the right of appeal, can be reprieved, and finally pardoned. When any one assails his reputation, and asperses his character for honesty and faithfulness, (and this of itself should speak volumes in reply to those who regard and denounce the southern slave-holder as a ruthless tyrant,) his master, or guardian, may bring an action for damages, and no judge or jury in the country dare refuse to award them. Indeed, such is the humanity of public feeling in his behalf, that out of the many cases of this nature in our reports, there is not one, where, for an assault against him, the damages have not been greater than in the instance of the free white man. Does any one steal from him, whether white or black, the offender is made amenable to the laws, and receives, according to the circumstances, the full punishment for felony. It is true, the slave cannot, upon the stand of justice, bear witness against the white man; nor can he of himself bring his claim for redress into court; but in all instances, his master, or his guardian, can do so for him; and we say it, without fear of contradiction, that the instance is not known in the state of South Carolina, in which, upon proper provocation or necessity, they have ever failed to do so. To go even farther, such is the sensitiveness with which the Carolina master views every violation of the rights of his slave, that the cases are numerous, where, for this cause alone, the severest disputes have taken place, as well in court as out of it, between their proprietors. Indeed, public opinion there has almost made it a general rule of honor, that any interference with the privileges of the slave in the faithful exercise of his duties, or of his own rights, on the part of others, must be considered an indignity to the master, which should be as quickly resented as if directly put upon himself. Nor, in a political point of view, is the condition of the slave so deficient in advantages and privilege, or so irksome to his pride and feelings, as some would make it out. In name, we must admit, that he is deprived of his suffrage. But if this right means (as it undoubtedly does) that which secures him a representation, then the slave has little of which to complain. Substantially, he is represented as much as his master; for the interest of the proprietor is emphatically that interest which best provides for the well being of the subordinate. Every page of local legislation in that state proves the truth of this remark. As regards his personal rights, the law has not left him unprotected. While it compels the master to furnish him with proper food, shelter, and clothing, it forbids that he shall be worked more than fourteen hours out of the twenty-four; and while defining strictly what the punishment shall be, affixes its penalty on all excess in its exercise. In addition to these statutory provisions, the feelings of the master, together with, and powerfully acted on by, publie opinion, in a great degree, aids the kindly intentions of the law. Thus, while in Europe, whole communities have perished from famine and disease, neglected, and without concern, public or private, among the southern slave population even the apprehension of these influences has never been known. In health they are always provided with clothing, and all necessary and healthy, though plain, food. In sickness, the obvious interest of the master impels him to procure for them the best medical attendance; which, indeed, on most plantations, is generally secured by annual contract with some regular physician. Thus provided for—with physical pain as much mitigated as is practicable with science, the approach of death is free from those thousand |