Page:An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans.djvu/58

44, 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."

4.—Slaves can have no legal claim to any property.

The civil code of Louisiana declares: "All that a slave possesses belongs to his master—he possesses nothing of his own, except his peculium, that is to say, the sum of money or movable estate, which his master chooses he should possess."—"Slaves are incapable of inheriting or transmitting property."—"Slaves cannot dispose of, or receive, by donation, unless they have