herein, at the discretion of the justice before whom complaint shall
be made."

In Louisiana it is enacted, that "the slaves shall be allowed half an
hour for breakfast, during the whole year; from the first of May to the
first of November, they shall be allowed two hours for dinner; and
from the first of November to the first of May, one hour and a half for
dinner: provided, however, that the owners, who will themselves take the
trouble of having the meals of their slaves prepared, be, and they are
hereby authorized to abridge, by half an hour a day, the time fixed for
their rest."

All these laws, _apparently_ for the protection of the slave, are
rendered perfectly null and void, by the fact, that the testimony of
a negro or mulatto is _never_ taken against a white man. If a slave be
found toiling in the field on the Sabbath, who can _prove_ that his
master commanded him to do it?

The law of Louisiana stipulates that a slave shall have _one_ linen
shirt,[K] and a pair of pantaloons for the summer, and _one_ linen shirt
and a woollen great-coat and pantaloons for the winter; and for food,
one pint of salt, and a barrel of Indian corn, rice, or beans, every
month. In North Carolina, the law decides that a quart of corn per day
is sufficient. But, if the slave does not receive this poor allowance,
who can _prove_ the fact. The withholding of proper sustenance is
absolutely incapable of proof, unless the evidence of the sufferer
himself be allowed; and the law, as if determined to obstruct the
administration of justice, permits the master to exculpate himself by
an oath that the charges against him are false. Clothing may, indeed,
be ascertained by _inspection_; but who is likely to involve himself in
quarrels with a white master because a poor negro receives a few rags
less than the law provides? I apprehend that a person notorious for such
gratuitous acts of kindness, would have little peace or safety, in any
slaveholding country.

[Footnote K: This shirt is usually made of a coarse kind of bagging.]

If a negro be compelled to toil night and day, (as it is said they
sometimes are,[L] at the season of sugar-making) who is to _prove_ that
he works more than his fourteen or fifteen hours? No slave can be a
witness for himself, or for his fellow-slaves; and should a white man
happen to know the fact, there are ninety-nine chances out of a hundred,
that he will deem it prudent to be silent. And here I would remark tha