any crime for so doing [1705. c. 49.]: And if any such slave were
apprehended, he might be punished at the discretion of the county court,
either by _dismembering_, or in any other manner not _touching life_.
The inhuman rigour of this act was afterwards [1723. c. 4. 1748. c. 31.]
extended to the venial offence of going abroad by night, if the slave
was _notoriously_ guilty of it.--Such are the cruelties to which a state
of slavery gives birth; such the horrors to which the human mind is
capable of being reconciled, by its adoption. The dawn of humanity at
length appeared in the year 1769, when the power of dismembering, even
under the authority of a county court, was restricted to the single
offence of _attempting_ to ravish a white woman [1769. c. 19.], in which
case perhaps the punishment is perhaps not more than commensurate to the
crime. In 1772 some restraints were laid upon the practice of outlawing
slaves, requiring that it should appear to the _satisfaction_ of the
justices that the slaves were outlying, and _doing mischief_ [1772. c.
9.]. These loose expressions of the act, left too much in the discretion
of men, not much addicted to weighing their import.--In 1792, every
thing relative to the outlawry of slaves was _expunged_ from our code
[Edit. 1794. c. 103.], and I trust will never again find a place in it.
By the act of 1680, a Negroe, mulattoe, or Indian, bond or _free_,
presuming to lift his hand in opposition to any Christian, should
receive thirty lashes on his bare back for every offence [1680. c. 10.
1705. c.]. The same act prohibited slaves from carrying any club, staff,
gun, sword, or other weapon, offensive or defensive. This was afterwards
extended to all Negroes, mulattoes and Indians whatsoever, with a few
exceptions in favour of housekeepers, residents on a frontier
plantation, and such as were enlisted in the militia [1723. c. 4.].
Slaves, by these and other acts [1705. c. 49. 1723. c. 4. 1748. c. 31.
1753. c. 2. 1785. c. 77.], are prohibited from going abroad without
leave in writing from their masters, and if they do, may be whipped: any
person suffering a slave to remain on his plantation for four hours
together, or dealing with him without leave in writing from his master,
is subject to a fine. A runaway slave may be apprehended and committed
to jail, and if not claimed within three months (being first advertised)
he shall be hired out, having an iron collar first put about his neck:
and