Judge Sewall referred to the "numerouſneſs" of the ſlaves in the province in 1700. Gov. Dudley's report to the Board of Trade, in 1708, gave four hundred as then in Bofſon, one half of whom were born there; and in one hundred other towns and villages one hundred and fifty more—making a total of five hundred and fifty. He ſtated that negroes were found unprofitable, and that the planters there preferred white ſervants "who are ſerviceable in war presently, and after become planters." From January 24, 1698, to 25 December, 1707, two hundred negroes arrived in Maſſachuſetts.
Gov. Shute's information to the Lords of Trade, in 1720, Feb. 17, gave the number of ſlaves of Maſſachuſetts at 2,000, including a few Indians. He added that, during the ſame year, thirty-ſeven male and ſixteen female negroes were imported, with the remark, "No great difference for ſeven years laſt paſt." Felt, Coll. Amer. Stat. Aſſoc., i., 586.
In 1735, there were 2,600 negroes in the Province.
In 1742, there were 1,514 in Boſton alone. Douglaſs, i., 531. Theſe are probably very imperfect eſtimates, as it is well known that regular enumerations of the population were conſidered very objectionable by the people of the Bay. Some recalled the numbering of Iſrael by David, and perhaps all were jealous of the poſſible deſigns of the Government in England in obtaining accurate information of their numbers and reſources. It is a curious fact that the firſt cenſus in Maſſachuſetts, was a cenſus of negro ſlaves.
In 1754, an account of property in the Province liable to taxation being required, Gov. Shirley ſent a
