doth lay claim to his or her freedom upon all or any
of the said accounts, the same shall be finally heard and
determined by the Governor and council of this
Province."[483]

The above section was re-enacted into another law, containing
forty-three sections, passed on the 23d of February, 1722. Virginia
declared that children should follow the condition of their mothers,
but never passed a law in any respect like unto this most remarkable
Act. South Carolina has the unenviable reputation of being the only
colony in North America where by positive statute the Negro was doomed
to perpetual bondage.[484] On the 10th of May, 1740, an act regulating
slaves, containing fifty sections, recites:--

"Whereas, in his Majesty's plantations in America, slavery
his been introduced and allowed, and the people commonly
called negroes, Indians, mulattoes and mustizoes, have been
deemed absolute slaves, and the subjects of property in the
hands of particular persons, the extent of whose power over
such slaves ought to be settled and limited by positive
laws, so that the slave may be kept in due subjection and
obedience, and the owners and other persons having the care
and government of slaves may be restrained from exercising
too great rigour and cruelty over them, and that the public
peace and order of this Province may be preserved: We pray
your most sacred Majesty that it may be enacted."[485]

The first section of this Act was made more elaborate than any other
law previously passed. It bore all the marks of ripe scholarship and
profound law learning. The first section is produced here:--

"1. _And be it enacted_, by the honorable William Bull,
Esquire, Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-chief, by and
with the advice and consent of his Majesty's honorable
Council, and the Commons House of Assembly of this Province,
and by the authority of the same, That all negroes and
Indians, (free Indians in amity with this government, and
negroes, mulattoes and mustizoes, who are now free,
excepted,) mulattoes or mustizoes who now are, or shall
hereafter be, in this Province, and all their issue and
offspring, born or to be born, shall be, and they are hereby
declared to be, and remain forever hereafter, absolute
slaves, and shall follow the condition of the mother, and
shall be deemed, held, taken,