218 HISTORY OF THE [book iv. 
in whose favour a particular act has been passed by 
the legislature. In this respect they seem to be 
placed on a worse footing than the enslaved ne¬ 
groes, who have masters that are interested in their 
protection, and who, if their slaves are maltreated, 
have a right to recover damages, by an action on 
the case.* 
Secondly; They are denied the privilege of being 
eligible to serve in parochial vestries and general 
assemblies ; or of acting in any office of public 
trust, even so low as that of a constable; neither 
are they permitted to hold commissions even in 
the black and mulatto companies of militia. They 
are precluded also from voting at elections of mem¬ 
bers to serve in the assembly. It may be urged, 
however, that the laws of England require baptism, 
and a certain degree of property, in similar cases. 
Thirdly; By an act of the assembly of Jamaica, 
passed in the year 1762, it is enacted, that a testa¬ 
mentary devise from a white person to a negro or 
mulatto, not born in wedlock, of real or personal 
estate, exceeding in value £. 2,000 currency, shall 
be void, and the property descend to the heir at 
law. 
As some counterbalance however to these re¬ 
strictions, the assembly, on proper application, is 
* In Jamaica this grievance has been partly redressed since the pub¬ 
lication of the former editions. 
