UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

80 KEY TO UNCLE TOM'S CABIN.
aforesaid, the prisoner untied the deceased from chargedin the indictment. The indictment contains
the tree in such way
as to throw him with violence
fifteen counts, and sets forth a case of the
to the ground; and he then and there did most cruel and excessive whippingand torture.*
knock,kick,stamp and beat the deceased upon
his head,temples, and various parts of his body. It is believed that the records of criminal jurisprudence,
That the prisonerthen had the deceased carried
do not contain a case of more atrocious
into a shed-room of his house, and there he com- and wicked crueltythan was presentedupon the
one of his slaves,in his
Eelled
presence, to conne
the deceased's feet in stocks,by making his earnestly by his counsel that his
trial of Souther ; and yet it has been gravelyand
legs fast to a piece of timber,and to tie a rope offenceamounts to manslaughter only.
about the neck of the deceased, and fasten it to It has been contended by the counsel of the
a bed-postin the room, therebystrangling, chok-
prisoner that a man cannot be indicted and prosecuted
and suffocating the deceased. And that whilst
for the cruel and excessive whippingof his
the deceased was thus made fastin stocks as aforesaid,
own slave. That it is lawful for the master to
the prisoner kick,knock, stamp and beat chastise his slave,and that if death ensues from
him upon his head,face,breast,bellyșides,back such chastisement, unless it was intended to produce
and body; and he againcompelled his two slaves death,it is like the case of homicide which
to apply fireto the bodyof the deceased,whilst he is committed by a man in the performanceof a
was so made fast as aforesaid. And the count lawful act, which is manslaughteronly. It has
charged that from these various modes of punishment
been decided by this court in Turner's case, 5
and torture the slave Sam then and there died. Rand,that the owner of a slave,for the malicious,
It appeared that the prisoner commenced the punishment
cruel and excessive beatingof his own slave,cannot
of the deceased in the morning, and that it be indicted ; yet it by no means follows,when
was continued throughou the day : and that the such malicious, cruel and excessive beatingresults
deceased died in the presence of the prisoner, and in death,though not intended and premeditated,
one of his slaves,and one of the witnesses, that the beating is to be regardedas lawful for the
the punishment was still progressing.
purpose of reducingthe crime to manslaughter,
Field J. delivered the opinionof the court. when the whipping is inflictedfor the sole purpose
The prisonerwas indictedand convicted of murder
of chastisement. It isthepolicyofthe law,in respect
in the second degree, in the Circuit Court of to the relation of master and slave,and for the sake
Hanover, at its April term last past, and was
ofsecuringproper subordination and obedience on the
sentenced to the "penitentiary for fiveyears, the fartof the slave țo protectthe master fromprosecution
of time ascertainedby
Seriod
jury. The murer
consisted in the killing negro man-slave ishment be ?nalicious, cruel and excessive. But in so
in all such cases, even ifthe whippingand pnn-
by the name of Sam, the property of the prisoner, inflicting punishmentfor the sake of punishment,
by cruel and excessiveAvhipping and torture,inflicted
the owner of the slave acts at his peril; and if
by Souther,aided by two of his other slaves, death ensues in consequence of such punishment,
on the 1st day of September,1849. The prisonerthe relation of master and slave affords no ground
moved for a new trial, upon the groundthat the of excuse or palliation. principlesof the
offence,if any, amounted only to manslaughter. common law, in relation to homicide,applyto his
The motion for a new trialwas overruled, case without qualification or exception ; and according
bill of exceptions taken to the opinion of the court,
to those principles, the act of the prisoner,
setting forth the facts proved, or as many of in the case under consideration, amounted to murder.
them as were deemed material for the consideration
* * *
The crime of the prisoner
not
of the application for a new trial. The bill manslaughter, but murder in the firstdegree.
of exceptionstates : That the slave Sam, in the
indictment mentioned,was the slave and On the case now presented there are
property
of the prisoner Ṭhat for the purpose
of chastising
remarks to be made.
the slave for the offence of gettingdrunk, This scene of torture, it seems, occupied
and dealing as the slave confessed and allegedabout twelve hours. It occurred in the
with Henry and Stone, two of the witnesses for the
Stateof
Commonwealth, he caused him to be tied and Virginia, in the Countyof Hanover.
punished in the presence of the said witnesses, Two white men were witnessesto nearly the
with the exception slightwhipping with peach whole proceeding, and,so far as we can see,
or apple-treeswitches,before the said witnesses made no effortto
arrived at the scene after they were sent for arouse the neighborhood,
by the
prisoner(who were presentby requestfrom the defendant),
and bring in help to stop the outrage. What
and of several slaves of the prisoner, in sort of an education, what habits of thought,
the manner and by the means chargedin the indictment
does this presuppose in these men ?
; and the said slave died under and from The case was broughtto trial. It rethe
inflictionof the said punishment, presence
of the prisoner,
of his slaves,and of
* one The followingis Judge Field's statement of the punishment
of the witnesses for the Commonwealth. But itdid
:
not appear that it was the design of the The
prisoner
negro
was tied to a tree and whipped with swit.hes
to killthe said slave,unless such design be When Souther became fatiguedwith the labor of whipping,
he called upon a
negro
man of his,and made him
properlyinferable from the manner, means and cob Sam with a shingle. He also made a woman
negro of
duration of the punishment.And, on the contrary, his helpto cob him. And, after cobbingand whipping,he
it did appear that the prisoner frequently declared, appliedfireto the body of the slave. * * * * He
while the said slave then caused him to be washed down with hot water, in
was undergoingthe punishment,
which
that he believedthe said slave was
pods
feigning,
pepper had been steeped. The negro
and pretending to be suffering and injured when
was also tied to a logand to the bed-postwith ropes, which
choked him, and he was kicked and stamped by
he was not. The judge certifiesthat the slave This sort of punishmentwas continued and repeateduntil
was punished in the manner and by the imans the negro died under its infliction.