nce of his
_master_, _overseer_, &c., and of _their_ property. In Maryland, a
colored man, even if he be _free_, may have his ears cropped for
striking a white man. In Kentucky, it is enacted that "if any negro,
mulatto, or Indian, bond or _free_, shall at any time lift his or her
hand, in opposition to _any_ person not colored, they shall, the offence
being proved before a justice of the peace, receive thirty lashes on his
or her bare back, well laid on." There is a ridiculous gravity in the
following section of a law in Louisiana: "Free people of color ought
never to insult or strike white people, nor presume to conceive
themselves equal to the whites; but on the contrary, they ought to yield
to them _on every occasion_, and never speak or answer them but with
respect, under the penalty of imprisonment, according to the nature of
the offence."

Such laws are a positive _inducement_ to violent and vicious white men
to oppress and injure people of color. In this point of view, a negro
becomes the slave of every white man in the community. The brutal
drunkard, or the ferocious madman, can beat, rob, and mangle him with
perfect impunity. Dr. Torrey, in his "Portraiture of Domestic Slavery,"
relates an affecting anecdote, which happened near Washington. A free
negro walking along the road, was set upon by two intoxicated ruffians
on horseback, who, without any provocation, began to torture him for
_amusement_. One of them tied him to the tail of his horse, and thus
dragged him along, while the other followed, applying the lash. The poor
fellow died by the roadside, in consequence of this treatment.

The _owner_ may prosecute when a slave is rendered unfit for labor, by
personal violence; and in the reports of these cases many painful facts
come to light which would otherwise have remained for ever unknown. See
Judicial Reports.

PROP. 8.--_Slaves cannot redeem themselves or change masters._

Stroud says, "as to the right of _redemption_, this proposition holds
good in all the slaveholding States; and is equally true as it respects
the right to compel a _change of masters_, except in Louisiana.
According to the new civil code of that State, the latter privilege may
sometimes, perhaps, be obtained by the slave. But the master must first
be _convicted_ of cruelty--a task so formidable that it can hardly be
ranked among possibilities; and secondly, it is _optional_ with the
judge, whether or not, to make the decree in fa