What a pitiful and wicked mockery it is thus to expound to slaves the seventh commandment! (Jones's "Catechism," pp. 110, 111):
"Q. Should persons be married in a public or in a private way?--A. In a public way.
Q. And by whom should the ceremony be performed?--A. By a minister or some other lawful person.
Q. Is God really present to witness the marriage?--A. Yes.
Q. How near of kin may a man marry?--A. His first cousin.
Q. After marriage, can husband and wife separate whenever they please?--A. No.
Q. Has any person whatever power to separate them if he pleases?--A. No.
Q. What saith our Saviour, 'What, therefore, God hath joined'? A. 'What, therefore, God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.'
Q. Can husband and wife ever separate?--A. Yes.
Q. What is the first?--A. When either of them commits adultery.
Q. What is the second?--A. When either of them dies.
Q. After one dies, may the other lawfully marry again?--A. Yes.
Page 112: Q. How will God punish those who break this commandment in the world to come?--A. In everlasting fire."
How sacred is the marriage of slaves! They cannot even go through the _form_, without the consent of their owners. And if the owner of two bodies consents to the performance of the ceremony "by a minister or some other lawful person," and God himself "is really present to witness the marriage," the law, notwithstanding, declares the so-called marriage to be as complete a nullity as the union of any other kind of live-stock! It declares that those whom God hath joined may be put asunder, whenever the owner pleases; as if, wishing to raise money to pay his debts, he finds it more convenient to sell the wife at auction to pledging his bank-stock; or if, wishing to remove, he thinks it will be better economy to take his stock with him than sell out, perhaps at a sacrifice, and buy again an inferior article! In order to be able to live with his wife at all, Henry Brown was obliged to hire her of her owner for fifty dollars a year; and, when her master became short of funds, he sold the wife and three children, before Brown's very face, to a Methodist minister,--one of those holy men who are "called of God" and "solemnly set apart" to preach to all men the gospel of love! So sacred is the marriage of slaves!