or servant
for life ... or by laws he has good right and authority to
do...."[19]

The Chief Justice based his opinion on what he called the "Common Law
of the Colonies"--and although that expression was ridiculed at the
time and has been since, there is no difficulty in understanding it.
He meant custom recognized as law not contained in an express
legislative enactment. In that sense a modern lawyer will agree that
he was right. Practically all the English colonies had slavery
thoroughly recognized and often without or before legislation; and all
the well known legal maxims asserted the cogency of such custom.[20]
Mr. Justice Allen considered that no human power could justify
slavery--and his brother Saunders agreed with him. It would seem that
these judges were concerned with what the law should be, the others
with what it actually was.[21]

In the result the return was held sufficient and the master had his
slave. But the decision of the divided court had its effect. Agnew
reconveyed Nancy to William Bailey from whom he had bought her and she
bound herself to serve for fifteen years, then to receive her
freedom.[22] The result of this case was that while slavery was not
formally abolished, it before many years practically ceased to
exist.[23]

Prince Edward Island was called Isle St. Jean until 1798. In this
island slavery had the same history as in the other maritime
provinces. Shortly after the peace Negro slaves were brought into the
Island by their United Empire Loyalist masters. As late as 1802 we
find recorded the sale of "a Mulatto boy three years old called Simon"
for L20, Halifax currency, then L18 sterling, and a gift of "one
Mulatto girl about five years of age named Catherine." We also find
Governor Fanning (1786-1804), freeing his two slaves and giving one of
them, Shepherd, a farm.

In Cape Breton which was separate from 1784 to 1820, Negro slaves were
found as early as the former date: "Cesar Augustus, a slave and Darius
Snider, black folks, married 4th September 1788," "Diana Bestian a
Negro girl belonging to Abraham Cuyler Esq" was buried September 15,
1792 and a Negro slave was killed in 1791 by a blow from a spade when
trying to force his way into a public ball in Sydney.[24] In this
province, too, slavery met the same fate.

There is now to be mentioned an interesting series of
circumstances.[25] During the War of 1812-15 the British navy occupied
many bays and rivers in United States te