the author found it necessary to abridge a large mass of matter, which he had originally prepared for this work.

Hence, the reader will find here, that number of facts only, which is barely sufficient to give a connected view of the question under notice, and by no means all that might be presented upon it.

The author hopes this little book may not prove an unacceptable vade mecum, to all the friends of the AntiSlavery cause, and especially to Anti-Slavery Agents, and others who may wish to plead the cause of God's suffering poor.

"Facts are stubborn things." Those here offered for the notice of the reader, will speak for themselves. If the arguments in the following pages are deemed incon clusive, it remains for our opponents to confute them. New-York, March 27, 1837.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. I.

American Slavery.

CHAP. II.

Who may be held as Slaves in the United States.

CHAP. III.

Number enslaved.

CHAP IV.

Civil condition of the enslaved.

CHAP. V.

Moral condition of the enslaved.

CHAP. VI.

Bearing of Slavery upon the moral character of Slaveholders.

CHAP. VII.

Bible Arguments in favor of American Slavery, answered.

CHAP. VIII.

Jewish servitude unlike American Slavery.

CHAP. IX.

Scripture Arguments Against Slavery.

CHAP. X.

Sentiments favorable to the perpetuity of American

Slavery:

CHAP. XI.

Practical Slavery.

CHAP. XII.

Immediate Emancipation.

CHAP. XIII.

Explanation.

CHAP. XIV.

Facts demonstrating the safety of Immediate and Unconditional Emancipation.

CHAP. XV.

Facts Demonstrating the danger of continued Slavery.

CHAP. XVI.

The United States a Slave holding Nation.

CHAP. XVII.

Reasons for discussing the subject of Slavery at the North.

CHAP. XVIII.

American Slave Trade.

CHAP. XIX.

Abolitionists.

CHAP. XX.

Constitution of the United States.

CHAP. XXI.

United States' Laws against the Slave Trade.

CHAP. XXII.

Freedom of Speech and of the Press.

CHAP. XXIII.

Objections Answered.

ANTI-SLAVERY MANUAL.

CHAPTER I.

AMERICAN SLAVERY.

By American Slavery is meant the condition of those Americans who are claimed, held and treated, in these United States, as property.

A slave is one who is in the power of a master to whom he belongs. The master may sell him, dispose of his person, his industry, and his labor; he can do nothing, possess nothing, nor acquire any thing, but what must belong to his master.-Louisiana Code.

The same code, speaking of the legal nature of slave property, says :

Slaves, though movable by their nature, are considered immovable by the operation of law.

"Goods they are," says the civil code, "and goods they shall be esteemed."-Taylor's Elements, p. 429.

Slaves shall be deemed, sold, taken, and reputed to be chattels personal in the hands of their owners and possessors, their executors, administrators, and assigns, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever.— Laws of South Carolina, Stroud, p. 22-3.

This dominion of the master is as unlimited as that which is tolerated by the laws of any civilized community in relation to brute animals-to 'quadrupeds,' to use the words of the civil law.-Stroud, p. 24.

In case the personal property of a ward shall consist of specific articles, such as slaves, working beasts, animals of any kind, stock, furniture, plate, books, and so forth, the Court, if it shall deem it advantageous for the ward, may, at any time, pass an order for the sale thereof.Laws of Maryland, 1798.

Slaves shall always be reputed and considered real estate; shall be, as such, subject to be mortgaged, according to the rules prescribed by law, and they shall be seized and sold as real estate.-Laws of Louisiana, 1806.

Hence it appears, that the distinguishing principle of American Slavery is this: slaves are not to be ranked among rational beings, but they are to be CLAIMED, HELD, and TREATED as things, as articles of property, to all intents, constructions, and purposes

whatsoever."

Consequently it does not allow to the slave the rights of his own reason and conscience.

It annihilates the family state: prevents the parents from obeying the command of God with regard to their children; it prohibits, or nullifies, the marriage rites, and prevents husbands and wives from obeying the commands of God with regard to each other.

It enjoins, or sanctions, promiscuous intercourse between the sexes, without the rites of marriage. It holds all the religious privileges of the slave at the mere mercy of his master, whether that master be infidel, papist, or protestant.

It prevents the slave from obeying that command of God, which makes it the duty of all men to "search the Scriptures."

Its direct tendency is to crush the minds of God's intelligent creatures, by forbidding and preventing all schools for "mental instruction."