the general sentence “Whosoever sheddeth man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed.” This sentence is repeatedly and emphatically ratified by the Mosaic Law, “He that smiteth a man so that he die, he shall surely be put to death.” “He that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.” It is expressly enacted that the punishment of death shall be inflicted on the murderer of an alien as well as on the murderer of a Hebrew.[1] It is not likely that more protection would be given to the life of the alien than to that of the Hebrew bondman, who is treated throughout as a member of the commonwealth, though his labour for a certain time belongs to another. And the law draws no distinction in these respects between the Hebrew bondman and the foreign slave.
By parity of reasoning both classes of bondmen would seem to be protected, as against any one but their master, by the general law respecting personal injuries. “And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him; breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.”[2]
To the Hebrew slave the fact that he was his master’s money would always be a real, though not always a sufficient protection. The interest of the master would never lead him to use his slaves up, as it appears slaves are sometimes used up by capitalists on the great Cuban plantations. To this kind of slow murder, against which it would be scarcely possible for any
