ight to freedom as
we have. You know my mind upon this subject."[391]

The Negroes of Massachusetts were not mere passive observers of the
benevolent conduct of their white friends. They were actively
interested in the agitation going on in their behalf. Here, as in no
other colony, the Negroes showed themselves equal to the emergencies
that arose, and capable of appreciating the opportunities to strike
for their own rights. The Negroes in the colony at length struck a
blow for their liberty. And it was not the wild, indiscriminate blow
of Turner, nor the military measure of Gabriel; not the remorseless
logic of bludgeon and torch,--but the sober, sensible efforts of _men_
and _women_ who believed their condition abnormal, and slavery
prejudicial to the largest growth of the human intellect. The
eloquence of Otis, the impassioned appeals of Sewall, and the zeal of
Eliot had rallied the languishing energies of the Negroes, and charged
their hearts with the divine passion for liberty. They had learned to
spell out the letters of freedom, and the meaning of the word had
quite ravished their fainting souls. They had heard that the royal
charter declared all the colonists British subjects; they had devoured
the arguments of their white friends, and were now prepared to act on
their own behalf. The slaves of Greece and Rome, it is true,
petitioned the authorities for a relaxation of the severe laws that
crushed their manhood; but they were captives from other nations,
noted for government and a knowledge of the science of warfare. But it
was left to the Negroes of Massachusetts to force their way into
counts created only for white men, and win their cause!

On Wednesday, Nov. 5, 1766, John Adams makes the following record in
his diary:--

"5. Wednesday. Attended Court; heard the trial of an action
of trespass, brought by a mulatto woman, for damages, for
restraining her of her liberty. This is called suing for
liberty; the first action that ever I knew of the sort,
though I have heard there have been many."[392]

So as early as 1766 Mr. Adams records a case of "suing for liberty;"
and though it was the first he had known of, nevertheless, he had
"heard there have been many." _How_ many of these cases were in
Massachusetts it cannot be said with certainty, but there were "many."
The case to which Mr. Adams makes reference was no doubt that of Jenny
Slew _vs._ John Whipple, jun., cited by Dr.