llowed him to infer that his life was a little more
than that of the brute that perisheth; that he could not be dragged by
malice through the forms of a trial, without jury, witness, counsel,
or friend, to an ignominious death, that was to be regretted only by
his master, and his regrets to be solaced by the Legislature paying
"the price;" that the law regarded him as a man, whose life was too
dear to be committed to the disposition of irascible men, whose
prejudices could be mollified only in extreme cruelty or cold-blooded
murder. It had much to do toward elevating the character of the Negro
in New Jersey. It first fired his heart with the noble impulse of
gratitude, and then led him to _hope_. And how much that little word
means! It causes the soul to spread its white pinions to every
favoring breeze, and hasten on to a propitious future. And then the
fact that Negroes had rights acknowledged by the statutes, and
respectfully accorded them by the courts, had its due influence upon
the white colonists. The men, or class of men, who have rights not
challenged, command the respect of others. The fact clothes them with
dignity as with a garment. And then, by the inevitable logic of the
position of the courts of East Jersey, the colonists were led to the
conclusion that the Negroes among them had other rights. And, as it
has been said already, they received better treatment here than in any
other colony in the country.

In West Jersey happily the word "slave" was omitted from the laws.
Only servants and runaway servants were mentioned, and the selling of
rum to Negroes and Indians was strictly forbidden.

The fear of insurrection among Indians and Negroes was general
throughout all of the colonies. One a savage, and the other untutored,
they knew but two manifestations,--gratitude and revenge. It was
deemed a wise precaution to keep these unfortunate people as far
removed from the exciting influences of rum as possible. Chapter
twenty-three of a law passed in West Jersey in 1676, providing for
publicity in judicial proceedings, concludes as follows:--

"That all and every person and persons inhabiting the said
province, shall, as far as in us lies, be free from
oppression and slavery."[476]

In 1702 the proprietors of East and West Jersey surrendered their
rights of government to the queen. The Province was immediately placed
with New York, and the government committed to the hands of Lord
Cornbury.[47