of Slavery in Massachusetts," expresses a doubt whether slavery
legally came to an end in Massachusetts at the period stated above;
and perhaps not before the adoption of the fourteenth amendment to the
Constitution. He says: "It would not be the least remarkable of the
circumstances connected with this strange and eventful history, that
though _virtually_ abolished before, the actual prohibition of slavery
in Massachusetts, as well as Kentucky, should be accomplished by the
votes of South Carolina and Georgia." p. 242.

[27] Dr. Belknap says the clause "all men are born free and equal" was
inserted in the Declaration of Rights of Massachusetts "not merely as
a moral and political truth, but with a particular view to establish
the liberation of the negroes on a general principle, and so it was
understood by the people at large; but some doubted whether it was
sufficient"--p. 203. That some persons had this result in view is
probable; but contemporaneous records and acts of the citizens do not
justify the statement that "so it was understood by the people at
large." Dr. Belknap was living in New Hampshire at the time, and did
not come to Boston till 1786. The construction put upon the clause, by
the Supreme Court, was evidently a happy afterthought; and was
inspired by that _public opinion_ to which Dr. Belknap himself, in his
reply to Judge Tucker, ascribes the extinction of slavery.

[28] The Pennsylvanian Society assumed all the expenses of the
Convention, of entertaining the delegates, and of printing the
proceedings. The delegates of the Pennsylvanian Society were William
Rogers, Samuel P. Griffiths, Samuel Coats, William Rawle, Robert
Patterson, and Benjamin Rush. The printed proceedings of this
convention, which is in the New York Historical Society's library, I
have not had access to. Joseph Bloomfield, of New Jersey, an officer
of the Revolution, attorney-general, governor of the state from
1801-12, and member of Congress from 1817-21, was president of the
Convention.

[29] The memorial was presented in both branches of Congress, January
28, 1794. The record in the House was as follows: "A memorial from the
several societies formed in different parts of the United States, for
promoting the abolition of slavery, in convention assembled at
Philadelphia, on the first instant, was presented to the House and
read, praying that Congress may adopt such measures as may be the most
effectual and expedient for the ab