ne years there had been no Negro slaves imported into the
colony; that in 1696 fourteen had been sold to the colonists for
between thirty pounds and thirty-five pounds apiece; that this was the
only time a vessel direct from the coast of Africa had touched in this
colony; that the supply of Negro slaves came from Barbadoes, and that
the colonists who would purchase slaves were supplied by the offspring
of those already in the plantation; and that the colonists preferred
white servants to black slaves. The best that can be said of Gov.
Cranston's letter is, it was very respectful in tone. The following
table was one of the enclosures of the letter. It is given in full on
account of its general interest:--

"A list of the number of freemen and militia, with the
servants, white and black, in the respective towns; as also
the number of inhabitants in Her Majesty's colony of Rhode
Island, &c., December the 5th, 1708.

+-------------+-------+--------+---------+---------+-----------+
| | | | | | TOTAL |
| TOWNS. |FREEMEN|MILITIA.| WHITE | BLACK | NUMBER OF |
| | | |SERVANTS.|SERVANTS.|INHABITANTS|
+-------------+-------+--------+---------+---------+-----------+
| Newport | 190 | 358 | 20 | 220 | 2,203 |
| Providence | 241 | 283 | 6 | 7 | 1,446 |
| Portsmouth | 98 | 104 | 8 | 40 | 628 |
| Warwick | 80 | 95 | 4 | 10 | 480 |
| Westerly | 95 | 100 | 5 | 20 | 570 |
| New Shoreham| 38 | 47 | -- | 6 | 208 |
| Kingstown | 200 | 282 | -- | 85 | 1,200 |
| Jamestown | 33 | 28 | 9 | 32 | 206 |
| Greenwich | 40 | 65 | 3 | 6 | 240 |
+-------------+-------+--------+---------+---------+-----------+
| Total | 1,015 | 1,362 | 56 | 426 | 7,181 |
+-------------+-------+--------+---------+---------+-----------+

"It is to be understood that all men within this colony,
from the age of sixteen to the age of sixty years, are of
the militia, so that all freemen above and under said ages
are inclusive in the abovesaid number of the militia.

"As to the increase or decrease of the inhabitants within
five