correct and chastise him, though not with unusual rigor, nor so as to maim or mutilate him, or to expose him to the danger of loss of life, or to cause his death.'" Who shall decide what punishment is unusual?
In Missouri, if a slave refuses to obey his or her master, mistress, overseer, or employer, in any lawful commands, such slaves may be committed to the county jail there to remain as long as his owner pleases.
In some of the States there are indeed restraining laws; but they are completely ineffectual from the difficulty of obtaining the evidence of white men.
"The same despotic power can be exerted by the attorney, manager, driver, or any other person who is, for the time being, placed over the slave by order of the owner, or his delegates. The following is the language of the Louisiana code; and it represents the established customs of all the slave holding States: 'The condition of a slave being merely a passive one, his subordination to his master, and to all who represent him, is not susceptible of any modification, or restriction, [except in what can incite the slave to the commission of crime] in such manner, that he owes to his master, and to all his family a respect without bounds, and an absolute obedience; and he is consequently to execute all the orders, which he receives from his said master, or from them.'"
What chance of mercy the slave has from the generality of overseers, may be conjectured from the following testimony given by a distinguished Virginian: Mr Wirt, in his "Life of Patrick Henry," speaking of the different classes in Virginia, says: "Last and lowest, a feculum of beings called overseers—the most abject, degraded unprincipled race—always cap in hand to the Dons who employed them, and furnishing materials for the exercise of their pride, insolence, and spirit of domination."
The Gentoo code, the most ancient in the world, allowed a wife, a son, a pupil, a younger brother, or a slave to be whipped with a lash, or bamboo twig, in such a manner as not to occasion any dangerous hurt; and whoever transgressed the rule, suffered the punishment of a thief. In this case, the slave and other members of the family were equally protected.
