unnecessary to go into the details of
evidence.[M] The power to separate mothers and children, husbands and
wives, is exercised only in the British West Indies, and the _republic_
of the United States!

[Footnote M: A white man engaged in a disturbance was accompanied by
three or four slaves; his counsel contended that there were not
_persons_ enough in the affair to constitute a riot, because the slaves
were mere _chattels_ in the eye of the law. It was, however, decided
that when liable to the _punishment_ of the law, they were persons.]

In Louisiana there is indeed a humane provision in this respect: "If at
a public sale of slaves, there happen to be some who are disabled
through old age or otherwise, and who have children, such slaves shall
not be sold but with such of his or of her children, whom he or she may
think proper to go with." But though parents cannot be sold apart from
their children, without their consent, yet the master may keep the
parents and sell the _children_, if he chooses; in which case the
separation is of course equally painful.--"By the _Code Noir_, of Louis
the Fourteenth, husbands and wives, parents and children, are not
allowed to be sold separately. If sales contrary to this regulation are
made by process of law, under _seizure for debts_, such sales are
declared void; but if such sales are made _voluntarily_ on the part of
the owner, a wiser remedy is given--the wife, or husband, children, or
parent retained by the seller, may be claimed by the purchaser, without
any additional price; and thus the separated family may be re-united
again. The most solemn agreement between the parties contrary to this
rule has been adjudged void." In the Spanish, Portuguese, and French
colonies, plantation slaves are considered _real estate_, attached to
the soil they cultivate, and of course not liable to be torn from their
homes whenever the master chooses to sell them; neither can they be
seized or sold by their master's creditors.

The following quotation shows how the citizens of this country bear
comparison with men _called_ savages. A recent traveller in East Florida
says: "Another trait in the character of the Seminole Indians, is their
great indulgence to their slaves. The greatest pressure of hunger or
thirst never occasions them to impose onerous labors on the negroes, or
to dispose of them, though tempted by high offers, if the latter are
unwilling to be sold."

PROP. 4.--_Slaves can hav