them shall think best, and thereof be as
fully members as any freemen. But yet no slave shall hereby
be exempted from that civil dominion his master hath over
him, but be in all things in the same state and condition he
was in before....

"110th. Every freeman of Carolina, shall have absolute
power and authority over his negro slaves, of what opinion
or religion soever."[498]

Though the Locke Constitution was adopted by the proprietaries, March
1, 1669, it may be doubted whether it ever had the force of law, as it
was never ratified by the local Legislature. Article one hundred and
ten, granting absolute power and authority to a master over his Negro
slave, is without a parallel in the legislation of the colonies. And
while the slave might enter the Christian Church, and his humanity
thereby be recognized, it was strangely inconsistent to place his life
at the disposal of brutal masters, who "neither feared God nor
regarded man."

The Negro slaves in North Carolina occupied the paradoxical position
of being eligible to membership in the Christian Church, and the
absolute property of their white brothers. In the second draught of
the constitution, signed in March, 1670, against the eloquent protest
of John Locke, the section on religion was amended so as, while
tolerating every religious creed, to declare "the Church Of England"
the only true Orthodox Church, and the national religion of the
Province. This, in the face of the fact that the great majority of all
the Christians who flocked to the New World were dissenters,
separatists, and nonconformists, can only be explained in the light of
the burning zeal of the Church of England to out-Herod Herod,--to
carry the Negroes into the communion of the State church for political
purposes. It was the most sordid motive that impelled the churchmen to
open the church to the slave. His membership did not change his
condition, nor secure him immunity from the barbarous treatment the
institution of slavery bestowed upon its helpless victims.

In the eyes of the law the Negro, being _absolute property_, had no
rights, except those temporarily delegated by the master; and he acted
in the relation of an agent. Negro slaves were not allowed "to raise
horses, cattle or hogs;" and if any stock were found in their
possession six months after the passage of the Act of 1741, they were
to be seized by the sheriff of the county, and sold by the
chur