eral provision was abridged so that
"no man of color, unless he shall have been for three years a citizen
of this State, and for one year next preceding any election, shall be
seized and possessed of a freehold estate of $250 over and above all
debts and encumbrances charged thereon, and shall have been actually
rated and paid a tax thereon, shall be entitled to vote at any such
election. And no person of color shall be subject to direct taxation
unless he shall be seized and possessed of such real estate as
aforesaid." In 1846, and again in 1850, a Constitutional amendment
conferring equal privileges upon the Negroes, was voted down by large
majorities.

A school for Negro slaves was opened in the city of New York in 1704
by Elias Neau, a native of France, and a catechist of the "Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." After a long
imprisonment for his public profession of faith as a Protestant, he
founded an asylum in New York. His sympathies were awakened by the
condition of the Negroes in slavery in that city, who numbered about
1,500 at that time. The difficulties of holding any intercourse with
them seemed almost insurmountable. At first he could only visit them
from house to house, after his day's toil was over; afterward he was
permitted to gather them together in a room in his own house for a
short time in the evening. As the result of his instructions at the
end of four years, in 1708, the ordinary number under his instruction
was 200. Many were judged worthy to receive the sacrament at the hands
of Mr. Vesey, the rector of Trinity Church, some of whom became
regular and devout communicants, remarkable for their orderly and
blameless lives.

But soon after this time some Negroes of the Carmantee and Pappa
tribes formed a plot for setting fire to the city and murdering the
English on a certain night. The work was commenced but checked, and
after a short struggle the English subdued the Negroes. Immediately a
loud and angry clamor arose against Elias Neau, his accusers saying
that his school was the cause of the murderous attempt. He denied the
charge in vain; and so furious were the people that, for a time, his
life was in danger. The evidence, however, at the trial proved that
the Negroes most deeply engaged in this plot were those whose masters
were most opposed to any means for their instruction. Yet the offence
of a few was charged upon the race, and even the provincial government
le