“Any free person, who shall teach, or attempt to teach, any slave to read or write, the use of figures excepted, or shall give or sell to such slave any book or pamphlet, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, if a white man or woman, shall be fined not less than one hundred nor more than two hundred dollars, or imprisoned, and if a free person of color, shall be fined, imprisoned, or whipped, not exceeding thirty-nine nor less than twenty lashes.” That abomination, Sir, is set forth in the Revised Code of North Carolina, chap. 34, sec. 82. But lest it should fail by the employment of slaves as school-teachers, we have the following prohibition. “It shall not be lawful for any slave to teach, or attempt to teach, any other slave or free negro to read or write, the use of figures excepted.”[93] The punishment of slaves for this offence is whipping, repeated for every act. But, Sir, here is another specimen. “If any person shall wilfully bring into the State, with an intent to circulate, or shall wilfully circulate or publish within the State, or shall aid or abet the bringing into, or the circulation or publication of within, the State, any written or printed pamphlet or paper, whether written or printed in or out of the State, the evident tendency whereof is to cause slaves to become discontented with the bondage in which they are held by their masters and the laws regulating the same, and free negroes to be dissatisfied with their social condition and the denial to them of political privileges, and thereby to excite among the said slaves and free negroes a disposition to make conspiracies, insurrections, or resistance against the peace and quiet of the public, such person so offending shall be deemed guilty of felony, and on conviction thereof shall, for the first offence, be imprisoned not less than one year, and be put in the pillory and whipped, at the discretion of the court, and for the second offence _shall suffer death_.”[94] Here is yet another. “If any free person of color shall preach or exhort in public, or in any manner officiate as a preacher or teacher in any prayer meeting, or other association for worship, where slaves of different families are collected together, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall, for each offence, receive not exceeding thirty-nine lashes on his bare back.”[95] And now one more.