own benefit, and were
not without hope of emancipation some day. But under the English
government the condition of the slave was clearly defined by law and
one of great hardships. On the 24th of October, 1684, an Act was
passed in which slavery was for the first time regarded as a
legitimate institution in the Province of New York under the English
government.[232]

The slave-trade grew. New York began to feel the necessity of a larger
number of slaves. In 1702 her "most gracious majesty," Queen Anne,
among many instructions to the royal governor, directed that the
people "take especial care, that God Almighty be devoutly and duly
served," and that the "Royal African Company of England" "take
especial care that the said Province may have a constant and
sufficient supply of merchantable Negroes, at moderate rates."[233] It
was a marvellous zeal that led the good queen to build up the Church
of England alongside of the institution of human slavery. It was an
impartial zeal that sought their mutual growth,--the one intended by
our divine Lord to give mankind absolute liberty, the other intended
by man to rob mankind of the great boon of freedom! But with the
sanction of statutory legislation, and the silent acquiescence of the
Church, the foundations of the institution of slavery were firmly laid
in the approving conscience of a selfish public. Dazzled by
prospective riches, and unscrupulous in the methods of accumulations,
the people of the Province of New York clamored for more exacting laws
by which to govern the slaves.[234] Notwithstanding Lord Cornbury had
received the following instructions from the crown, "you shall
endeavor to get a law passed for the restraining of any inhuman
severity ... to find out the best means to facilitate and encourage
the conversion of Negroes and Indians to the Christian religion," the
Colonial Assembly (the same year, 1702) passed severe laws against the
slaves. It was "_An Act for regulating slaves_," but was quite lengthy
and specific. It was deemed "_not lawful to trade with negro slaves_,"
and the violation of this law was followed by fine and imprisonment.
"_Not above three slaves may meet together:_" if they did they were
liable to be whipped by a justice of the peace, or sent to jail. "_A
common whipper to be appointed_," showed that the justices had more
physical exercise than they cared for. "_A slave not to strike a
freeman_," indicated that the slaves in New York as in Virg