A school for Negro slaves was opened in the city of New York in 1704 by Elias Neau, a native of France, and a catechist of the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." After a long imprisonment for his public profession of faith as a Protestant, he founded an asylum in New York. His sympathies were awakened by the condition of the Negroes in slavery in that city, who numbered about 1,500 at that time. The difficulties of holding any intercourse with them seemed almost insurmountable. At first he could only visit them from house to house, after his day's toil was over; afterward he was permitted to gather them together in a room in his own house for a short time in the evening. As the result of his instructions at the end of four years, in 1708, the ordinary number under his instruction was 200. Many were judged worthy to receive the sacrament at the hands of Mr. Vesey, the rector of Trinity Church, some of whom became regular and devout communicants, remarkable for their orderly and blameless lives. But soon after this time some Negroes of the Carmantee and Pappa tribes formed a plot for setting fire to the city and murdering the English on a certain night. The work was commenced but checked, and after a short struggle the English subdued the Negroes. Immediately a loud and angry clamor arose against Elias Neau, his accusers saying that his school was the cause of the murderous attempt. He denied the charge in vain; and so furious were the people that, for a time, his life was in danger. The evidence, however, at the trial proved that the Negroes most deeply engaged in this plot were those whose masters were most opposed to any means for their instruction. Yet the offence of a few was charged upon the race, and even the provincial government lent its authority to make the burden of Neau the heavier. The common council passed an order forbidding Negroes "to appear in the streets after sunset, without lanthorns or candles"; and as they could not procure these, the result was to break up the labors of Neau. But at this juncture Governor Hunter interposed, and went to visit the school of Neau, accompanied by several officers of rank and by the society's missionaries, and he was so well pleased that he gave his full approval to the work, and in a public proclamation called upon the clergy of the province to exhort their congregations to extend their approval also. Vesey, the good rector of Trinity Church, had long watched the labors of Neau and witnessed the progress of his scholars, as well as assisted him in them; and finally the governor, the council, mayor, recorder, and two chief justices of New York joined in declaring that Neau "in a very eminent degree deserved the countenance, favor, and protection of the society." He therefore continued his labors until 1722, when, "amid the unaffected sorrow of his negro scholars and the friends who honored him for their sake, he was removed by death."