“Be it therefore further enacted, and by the authority aforesaid, it is enacted, that when any owner or owners of any slave or slaves in this colony, shall suspect that a slave or slaves, to him, her or them belonging, is, or are, on board any private man of war, or merchant ship or vessel, the owner or owners of such slave or slaves may make application, either to the owner or owners, or to the commander or master of the said ship or vessel, before its sailing, and inform him or them thereof, which being done in the presence of one or more substantial witness or witnesses, the said information or application shall amount to, and be construed, deemed and taken to be a full proof of his or their knowledge thereof, provided, the said slave or slaves shall go in any such ship or vessel.

“And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if the owner or owners of any slave or slaves in this colony, or any other person or persons, legally authorized by the owner or owners of a slave or slaves, shall attempt to go on board any privateer, or a merchant ship or vessel, to search for his, her or their slave or slaves, and the commander or master of such ship or vessel, or other officer or officers on board the same, in the absence of the commander or master, shall refuse to permit such owner or owners of a slave or slaves, or other person or persons, authorized, as aforesaid, to go on board and search for the slave or slaves by him, her or them missed, or found absent, such refusal shall be deemed, construed, and taken to be full proof that the owner or owners, commander or master of the said privateer or other ship or vessel, hath, or have a real knowledge that such slave or slaves is, or are on board.

     “And this act shall be forthwith published, and therefrom
     have, and take force and effect, in and throughout this
     colony.

     “Accordingly the said act was published by the beat of drum,
     on the 17th day of June, 1757, a few minutes before noon, by

“THO.  WARD, Secretary."[472]

The education of the Negro slave in this colony was thought to be inimical to the best interests of the master class.  Ignorance was the sine qua non of slavery.  The civil government and ecclesiastical establishment ground him, body and spirit, as between “the upper and nether millstones.”  But the Negro was a good listener, and was not unconscious of what was going on around him.  He was neither blind nor deaf.

The fires of the Revolutionary struggle began to melt the frozen feelings of the colonists towards the slaves.  When they began to feel the British lion clutching at the throat of their own liberties, the bondage of the Negro stared them in the face.  They knew the Negro’s power of endurance, his personal courage, his admirable promptitude in the performance of difficult tasks, and his desperate spirit when pressed too sharply.  The thought of such an ally for the English army, such an element in their rear, was louder in their souls than the roar of the enemy’s guns.  The act of June, 1774, shows how deeply the people felt on the subject.