She could whip her to death and"--
"And be punished for it," said I, "as surely as you would be for
whipping a servant to death."
"She is at liberty to punish more severely than the case warrants," said
he, "and then she can shield herself under the laws."
"I presume," said I, "a Northern parent never gives a hasty box on the
ear, never strikes one passionate blow in the chastisement, never shakes
a child a single trill beyond the due harmony of parental affection,
never scourges it with the tongue to momentary madness! What a dreadful
thing parental authority is! Would it not be well to abolish the
authority of parents over children! Indeed, would it not be well to go
further, and interdict the public lands of the United States from being
settled; for as surely as men live there, every form of wickedness will,
in its turn, be perpetrated. How much better the calm and holy silence
of the woods and fields, than if the tumultuous passions of men should
roll over them!"
"But, my dear sir," said he, "I maintain that oppression is inseparable
from the holding of a slave. I insist that this Southern lady, if all
her feelings and conduct toward her servants are like her letter, is an
exception among her people.
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