OCR Text |
Show 48 NO'fES ON general custom is one that is followed by most ; and the custom in question is neither univcrs:tl nor general. My . opinion is, (and it ought to be worth as much as ~Irs. Stowe's, considering our respective. means of forming one,) my opinion is, that not one in ten of sla.vc men, ::md not one in one hundred of slave women, arc ever thus punished, and when they arc, it is for crimes and misUcmca.nors, such as arc punished in the free States by fine or imprisonment, or both; but to fine a. slave would be absurd, and to imprison him, would be wholly incfl'cctivc, while it woul(l be n. great inconvenience aml loss to the master. 'Vbipping, then, seems to be the only thin:; left. If Mrs. Stowe knows of any other equally cfl'cctivc und less unplcusant mode of discipline, :md will make it known, I will a:nswcr for it, every Southern Legislature will adopt it at once. Thien do not whip for the mere love of whipping; I ha.YO heard of amateur hangmen, but of an ama.tcur whipper, never. It is as a necessary punishment that it is resorted t6. ~frs. Stowe admits its necessity, or, at any rate, its utility, in tho training of chi!· drcn, for she tells us that it made part of that training in New England one hundred years ago, and that "it is an undisputed fact that our grandmothers raised some tol~rably fair men and women under this regime." (Vol. ii. p. 38.) In this she is undoubtedly right, and I am glad to sec that she docs not set herself up, like so many at the present day, for a. wiser than Solomon. 'l'l1e truth is, thCy who make such an outcry against whipping arc novices not only in theology, but in physiology. ' Vhcn a. child is angry, whip· ping acts as a counter irritation, and tlms as a sedative, soothing the nerves, nnd allaying tho excitement of tho passions. I have known many a hoy \\ho cou1d not be made to listen to reason, till you ha~l given him a sound whipping, and then he would be as rational as you could wish. 13ut, it will be said, the objection is to the whipping of UNCLE TOM 'S CATIIN. 40 adults, not of children. Well, if the adult in body, is a child in mind, with passions dominant, and reason undeveloped, why should not the same mode of discipline be appropriate to him? An(1 such in the present instance is the fuct; what the poet says of men in general, is literally true of the slaves of the South-they arc but children of a lar~er gro,Yth, with a.ll the faults and many of the excellencies 0of childhood, and requiring a similar discipline. 11o attempt to govern them as you wouhl the whites would be absurd; and yet cvrn the wl1itcs cannot always be controlled without tho Josh. It is but ycstc•·day that flogging was abolished in the navy and the comrnerciul mai:inc, and already a movement is nwking to restore it; and that not merely by tho officers, but by the men. They novel' sought its abolition, and it was anything but popular with them. 'l'hcy know tht if the bad may shirk with impunity, the good will have to do double duty, and they do not relish the prospect. If indeed the crews of our vessels were composed of picked men, o1· even of the aYerage of labouring men on shore, it might do; but made up, as they arc, to a. very great extent, of the riff-raff of socicty,-men of all nations, and no cluu~acter,-to talk of managing them without flogging, may soUnd very fine in th~o~·y, but won't do in practice; this is not mcrelj my op1mon, but that of one whose sound judgment nnd freedom from prejudice ~frs. Stowe, at least, will not question. (Sec Appcnuix, II.) . But in the paragr~ph ~ncler consideration, it is the whip. pmg of females that 1s ObJected to. Well, if they will unsex themselves, they must expect to be treatctl accordingly. I am not nware that the free States make any distinction in tne punishment of a m::tlc and female thief or murderer. If any distinction were made, it ought to be in favour of the former, for on the principle, Oor?'ztptio opltmi pessima, women when they are bad, m·e bad: they a.re 7 E |