An ACT for establishing a Registry of Negro and other Slaves on the Island of Grenada and its Dependencies.

WHEREAS the restoration of general peace may render the evasion of the laws now in force for the abolition of the slave trade, less difficult to evil-disposed persons, and on this account, as well as for the satisfaction of the mother country, it is expedient that, in addition to the laws now in force in these Islands for ascertaining the annual state of the population, and of the increase and decrease of the slaves therein, that a separate and distinct registry, on a more minute and extended scale, should be established under the rules and regulations hereinafter contained; May it therefore please Your Most excellent Majesty, that it may be enacted, and be it and it is hereby enacted by his Excellency the Governor and Commander in chief in and over the Island of Grenada and its dependencies, the members of His Majesty’s Council, and the representatives of the people in General Assembly convened, and it is hereby enacted and ordained by the authority of the same, That from and after the publication of this Act, there shall be established in this Island a public registry for the registration and enrolment, in manner hereinafter directed, of the names and descriptions of all negroes, mulattoes, or others, who now are or at any time hereafter shall be in a lawful state of slavery within the said Island and its dependencies, and who shall be respectively registered or returned for registration as hereinafter directed, on or before the thirty-first day of July in in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventeen.

[Clause 2] And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Governor or Commander in chief for the time being of the said Island and its dependencies, from time to time to appoint any proper person to be registrar during pleasure, for the purposes hereinafter mentioned; and that such registrar, so to be appointed, shall act personally, and not by deputy; and before he shall be competent to act in that capacity, he shall take, before the Governor or Commander in chief for the time being, (who is hereby authorized to administer the same,) the oath following; that is to say,

“I, A.B. [naming himself,] do solemnly Swear, That I will, according to the best of my judgment and ability, faithfully and impartially execute the office of registrar, pursuant to the directions of the Act under which I have been appointed to that office.:

“So help me GOD.”

And shall also enter into a recognizance before the Governor or Commander in chief for the time being in council, himself in the sum of three thousand pounds currency, and two sureties, to be approved of by the Council and Assembly, in the sum of two thousand five hundred pounds like currency, each conditioned for the faithful, impartial, and personal discharge of his duty as registrar; which sureties shall seve-[2]rally make oath that they are worth the sums contained in their recognizances, after payment of their just and lawful debts.

[Clause 3] And be it further enacted, That the registrar under this Act to be appointed, shall provide, at the public expense, the necessary books, strongly and durably bound, for the purpose of the registries and enrolments hereinafter directed; in which books shall be entered and registered, as hereinafter directed, the names and descriptions of all the slaves in this Island and its dependencies.

[Clause 4] And be it further enacted, That between the first day of May and thirty-first day of July one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, all and every person and persons who shall then be resident in this Island, or any of its dependencies, and who shall be in possession of any slave or slaves within the same, whether as proprietor, mortgagee, trustee, sequestrator, receiver, lessee, attorney, agent, executor, administrator, guardian or committee, or in any other right or character, whatever his her or their title, trust or interest in any such slave or slaves may be, shall respectively make and deliver, or cause to be made and delivered, unto the said registrar, to be recorded by him, such schedules, lists, and particulars, agreeably to the form hereunto annexed, marked (A.) subscribed by him her or them, to be called his or their return of slaves, as are hereinafter mentioned; (that is to say,) a list or schedule as aforesaid, together with a duplicate thereof, containing in the first place, his her or their name or names and descriptions, and the name or description of such other person or persons, being the owner or owners, claimant or claimants of such slave or slaves in whose behalf the return is made, according to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person or persons respectively making such returns, and the right or character in which the party making such returns holds possession of or claims title to such slave or slaves, namely, whether as proprietor, lessee, mortgagee, sequestrator, guardian, committee, trustee, receiver, executor, administrator, attorney, agent, or otherwise, and shall proceed to name, describe and enumerate distinctly therein the several negro, mulatto, or other slaves which shall belong to or be held in possession by him her or them, on the thirtieth day of April next ensuing; and the names of the estates (if any) upon which such slaves respectively are usually worked, by lists, to be entitled in manner following; (that is to say,) “A List of Slaves belonging to or in the lawful possession of A.B.” And such lists shall be divided into separate columns or compartments, the one to be entitled “A general List of Male Slaves belonging to or in the possession of A.B.” The Schedule or paper containing each of the said columns to be subdivided into perpendicular columns of convenient breadths, respectively entitled at the heads thereof, “Names, Age, Colour, Country, Conspicuous Marks,”---- according to the said schedule hereunto annexed, marked (A.); and one of the said returns shall be kept by the registrar, and be deposited in his office, and the other, signed and certified by the registrar, as corresponding with the one kept by him, shall be delivered back to the person making the same; and upon receiving each return, the registrar shall number both parts thereof with the same number, according to the order in which such return is received, and shall give a receipt specifying the number of such return, and the day of receiving the same; the intent of such numbers being, that the registrar may and he is hereby required and directed to examine and register the returns in the exact order in which they are respectively received by him; and in the first of the said columns shall be inserted the name of such slaves; and the name by which each slave shall first be returned and registered shall continue for ever after to be the name of such slave, and shall not afterwards be changed; in the second of the said columns the supposed age of the said slave; in the third of the said columns shall be inserted, negro, mulatto or mustee, as the case may be, and such other designation of shades of colour (if any) as is in use within the Colony; and in the fourth of the said columns shall be inserted whether the slave is an African or Creole; and in the fifth of the said columns shall be inserted the conspicuous mark of such slave; and at the end of each of the said returns shall be summed up, and set down in words at length, the whole number of slaves contained therein; and for the better ascertaining of the proper form of such returns of slaves as are hereby required to be made, a form or example of such returns is contained in the schedule to this Act annexed, to which all persons are required to conform, and the registrar is hereby required to provide, at the public expense, printed blank copies of the said forms of returns, and deliver them gratis to all persons applying for the same.

[Clause 5] And whereas it will tend greatly to the convenience of the said registrar, and of the several persons required by this Act to make the returns hereinbefore directed, that stated periods should be appointed for the inhabitants of the town of St. George, and the different parishes of the said Island, and of the Grenadines annexed to the government thereof, for giving in such returns to the said registrar; Be it, and it is hereby further enacted, That all and every the returns required by this Act to be given in for the town of St. George, shall be made and delivered to the said registrar from the first to the fifteenth day of May next inclusive. The returns for the parish of St. George shall, in like manner, be made and delivered from the sixteenth to the thirtieth day of the said month of May inclusive. The returns for the parishes of St. John and St. Mark, from the first to the fifteenth day of June next inclusive. The returns for the parish of St. Patrick shall in like manner be made and delivered to the said registrar from the sixteenth to the thirty-first day of June next inclusive. The returns for the parish of St. Andrew shall in like manner be made and delivered to the said registrar from the first to the fifteenth days of July next inclusive; and the returns for the parish of St. David shall in like manner be made and delivered to the said registrar from the sixteenth to the thirty-first day of July next ensuing; and the returns for the island of Carriacou, and the other islands dependent on the said island of Grenada, shall and may in like manner be made and delivered to the said registrar at any time between the said first day of May and thirty-first day of July next ensuing.

And be it further enacted, That any and every person making and subscribing any and every such schedule or return, and before the same shall be received by the registrar for registration, such person or persons so making and subscribing any and every such schedule or return, shall make oath before the registrar or (in case of sickness) before any of His Majesty’s justices of the peace (such cases of sickness to be proved before such justice by the oath of a medical practitioner) to the purport and effect following; which oath the said registrar, or in case of sickness as aforesaid, any of His Majesty’s justices of the peace is hereby authorized and required to administer without fee or reward; such oath to be annexed to the said return.

“I, A.B. do solemnly Swear, That the Schedule or Return hereunto annexed contains, as I verily believe, a just, true, and full return, account and description of all the slaves in the possession of or belonging to or worked upon the Plantation therein named [or, belonging to or in the possession of the owner, or the parties therein named, as the case may be, and being within this Colony] save and except as to such slaves as may have absented and secreted themselves, or absconded, whose names are therein set forth [when the same is the case]; and I do further Swear, That the said Return or Schedule is made by me, according to the best of my knowledge and belief, truly and without fraud, deceit or evasion.

                “So help me GOD.”          

[Clause 7] And be it further enacted, That as soon as any such returns as aforesaid shall have been duly made and received by the registrar, he shall proceed to register and copy the same, with all convenient speed, in a fair, distinct and legible manner, in a proper book or set of books to be kept by him, precisely conformably with the said returns.

[Clause 8] And be it further enacted, That on the thirty-first day of December next ensuing, the registrar shall finally close and authenticate the primary or original registration of all slaves in this Island and its dependencies, which shall thenceforth be called, “The Original Registry of Slaves of the Island of Grenada and its Dependencies,” in manner following; to wit, in each of the said books, or in the last of any set of such books, the said registrar shall write with his own hand, in large legible characters, immediately after the last entry of the said returns or lists of slaves, either on the same, folio or double page, or on the back of the last leaf containing the same “Registry of Slaves of the Island of Grenada and its Dependencies, up to the thirtieth day of April one thousand eight hundred and seventeen:” And the said registrar shall thereto subscribe his name and affix his seal; and below the said signature shall be written in like characters, by the said registrar, the following affidavit: 

“Before A.B. [inserting the name and title of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or civil Commander in chief for the time being] personally appeared C.d. [meaning himself] the registrar of slaves in the said Island of Grenada and its Dependencies, who being duly sworn on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, makes oath and says, That the said C.D. has carefully examined and compared all the preceding entries in this book [or, in the set of books] with all the different returns of slaves delivered to him; that the preceding registry of slaves of the Island of Grenada and its Dependencies, is in all respects correctly and faithfully made.”

Which affidavit being subscribed by the said registrar, shall be sworn before the said Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in chief for the time being, who is hereby authorized to administer the same oath, and who shall subjoin thereto the following certificate under his hand and the great seal of this Island.

“I, A.B. [inserting his name and title of office] do hereby certify, That the above affidavit was duly sworn before me, this [blank] day of [blank] one thousand eight hundred and [blank] Witness my hand and the great seal of the Island of Grenada and its Dependencies, this [blank] day of [blank] one thousand eight hundred and [blank]

“A. B.”                   (L.S.)

[Clause 9] And be it further enacted, That the registrar shall make out for each of the said books, or set of books of original registry, a full alphabetical index, and all returns of attached slaves shall be therein doubly indexed (that is to say,) The names of estates in respect of which returns shall have been respectively made, and also the names of the persons on whose behalf the same respectively shall have been made, shall be indexed; and as to personal or unattached slaves, the names of the respective owners by whom or the persons on whose behalf the same respectively shall have been made, shall be inserted in the same index, and the same index shall refer as well to the respective numbers of all returns as to the pages of the books, in which pages the same are respectively registered.

[Clause 10] And it is hereby further enacted, That within two calendar months at latest, after the said original registry shall be closed and authenticated as aforesaid, the said registrar shall complete accurate and perfect duplicates of the said books, or set of books of original registry, with their respective indexes, by causing the same respectively to be carefully transcribed into other books of like sizes and forms to be provided for that purpose, and shall authenticate and certify each of the said duplicates, in the same manner and form in all respects as is hereinbefore directed in regard to the said originals respectively, except that in the affidavits and certificates to be thereunto annexed, the same shall be described as duplicates of the original registries; and the said duplicate book or books, when so authenticated and certified, shall be delivered by the registrar to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Command in chief for the time being, who shall, by the first safe conveyance, transmit the same under his official seal to His Majesty’s principal secretary of state for the colonial department in England.

[Clause 11] And be it further enacted, That on or before the thirty-first day of January in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, and on or before the thirty-first day of January in each and every succeeding year (the first return to be for the preceding eight months only,) every person resident in this Island or any of its dependencies, who shall be in the possession of any slave or slaves within this Island, or any of its dependencies, whether as proprietor, mortgagee, sequestrator, trustee, receiver, lessee, attorney or agent, committee or guardian, executor or administrator, or in any other character, or who shall own or possess any personal slave or slaves whatsoever within this Island, or any of its dependencies, whatever his or her title, trust or interest in any such slave or slaves may be, shall make and deliver, or cause to be made and delivered to the registrar, an account or schedule in writing, by him or her subscribed (agreeable to the form or schedule hereunto annexed,) marked (B.) which schedule shall be called the Annual Return of the Increase and Decrease of Slaves, together with a duplicate thereof, containing a true and particular account of all births and deaths which, during the immediately preceding year ending on the thirty-first day of December, shall have happened of slaves belonging to the person or persons on whose behalf such return is made, and the causes of such deaths respectively shall be certified by the surgeon, or principal medical attendant of the plantation on which such deaths shall happen, as directed by an Act of this Colony, passed in the month of December one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, intituled, “An Act for [5] the better protection, and for promoting the natural increase and population of the Slaves within the Island of Grenada, and such of the Grenadines as are annexed to the government thereof, for compelling an adequate provision for and care of them, as well in sickness and old age as in health; and for constituting and appoint Guardians to effectuate and carry into execution the Regulations and purposes of this Act:” And also an account of all deductions from, or additions to the former stock of slaves belonging to or in the possession of such person or persons within the same period, by other means than deaths or births, whether the same shall have happened by desertion, sale, or other transfer of property, or enfranchisement, or by the return of fugitive or absent slaves, or by any other ways or means whatsoever; which particular cause or mode of deduction or addition, shall in all cases be distinctly specified in such last-mentioned returns; and in case of purchase, or other acquisition, or sale, or other transfer or manumission of slaves formerly registered, the registered name, and description of every such newly purchased or acquired, or transferred, or manumitted slaves, and of his or her former owner or owners, claimant or claimants, shall also be set forth at large in such annual returns; and every such return shall also contain all such further particulars in respect of every newly acquired slave named therein, as are hereinbefore directed to be contained in the said original returns; and when by the death of the owner, or any other cause, there shall have been, within the period to which the return relates, any change of property in and possession of any slave from the owner or owners under whose name or names the same were registered, such change of property and possession shall also be mentioned in the said annual returns; and such returns shall also state the aggregate number of slaves respectively comprised in the immediately preceding returns, as well as the aggregate number of slaves belonging to or possessed by the person or persons at the time of making such returns respectively; but when there has been no alteration since the last return in the number or description of the slaves belonging to or possessed by the person or persons by or for whom the return is made, or the property thereof, it shall be sufficient to state the whole number of slaves, and to add, “No alteration required by law to be specified, has taken place since the last return:” and one of the said annual returns shall be kept by the registrar and deposited in his office, and the other shall be immediately compared therewith, and if found to correspond, shall be then certified and delivered back by the said registrar to the person making the same.

[Clause 12] And be it further, That every person making and subscribing any such annual return shall take the following oath before the registrar, such oath to be annexed to the said annual return.

“I, A.B. do solemnly Swear, That the contents of the annexed Schedule or Return are true, and that the same contains, to the best of my knowledge and belief, a full, fair and correct account of all the births and deaths which have happened among the slaves belonging to or possessed by the owner or owners, possessor or possessors therein named, and being within this Island or any of its dependencies, since the original registration thereof, or during the preceding year, and of all other additions or deductions from the said slaves within the same period, and of the whole number of slaves now actually belonging to [or, in the lawful possession of] the said [blank]

“So help me GOD.”

[Clause 13] And it is hereby further enacted, That as soon as any such annual returns as aforesaid, shall have been duly made and received by the registrar, he shall proceed to register and copy the same in a fair, distinct and legible manner, in a proper book or set of books to be kept by him for that purpose, precisely conformable with such annual returns, and shall make out an index thereof in the same manner as is hereinbefore directed with respect to the said books of original registration; and the said registrar shall also make out duplicates of all and every such books containing the annual returns, and of the indexes thereto, and shall subscribe both the original and duplicate thereof, with his name, and shall subjoin to each of the same an affidavit in the following form, to be made before the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in chief for the time being, who is hereby authorized to take the same.”

“Personally appeared C.D. [meaning himself,] who being duly sworn on the Holy Evangelists, makes oath and says, That the preceding entries are [6] true copies of the Returns for the year ending one thousand eight hundred and [blank] he having carefully compared the same with the said Returns remaining in his office.”

Which affidavit being subscribed by the said registrar, shall be sworn before the said Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in chief, who shall certify the same to have been sworn in manner hereinbefore directed, in respect of the said original books of registry, and the said last-mentioned duplicate shall be thereupon delivered to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in chief, who shall carefully transmit the same by the first safe conveyance under his official seal to His Majesty’s principal secretary of state for the colonial department in England.

[Clause 14] And be it further enacted, That when and so soon as the original returns delivered to the registrar agreeably to the provisions of this Act, shall have been respectively entered and enrolled as aforesaid, the registrar shall forthwith give notice thereof to the Governor or Commander in chief for the time being, who shall thereupon publicly notify to the inhabitants, in such manner as he shall deem most fit and effectual, that the registry of slaves is ready to be verified before him; and that the same is and will continue open at the proper office for the space of two months, for the inspection of all persons who may be interested therein; and if at any time within the term prescribed by the said notification any owner or possessor of slaves shall make it appear to the satisfaction of the said Governor or Commander in chief for the time being, that the non-delivery of his or her return to the registrar within the allotted period, or any error or omission therein has arisen from accident, unsurmountable impediment, or any other sufficient cause, it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in chief for the time being, to make an order in writing by him subscribed and directed to the registrar, commanding him to receive and enrol any such return or rectified return, as if the same had been made and delivered to him in proper time, which order the registrar is hereby enjoined to obey.

[Clause 15] And be it further enacted, That no erasure shall on any pretence, or for any cause whatsoever, be at any time permitted to be in any of the said books of registry; but if any clerical error shall occur in the insertion of any name, description, or other particular therein, so that the same shall differ from the name, description, or particulars contained in the return from which the same was made, or if any other mistake shall occur in the making and keeping the said books of registry, a line of red ink shall be drawn through any word or words improperly inserted, so as to leave the original word or words legible; and the correction thereof, by the insertion of any word or words which may have been erroneously omitted, shall be either interlined or written in the margin, and always when practicable, by the same hand as the rest of the same list or entry, and registrar shall either under such word or words written in the margin, or under a mark of reference there made to any such interlineation, subscribe his name at length; but after the registry of original returns of slaves shall have been completed and certified upon oath as hereinbefore directed, no interlineation, insertion or other correction of the registry of any such original return, shall on any account be made or permitted, except as is hereinafter expressly provided.

[Clause 16] And be it further enacted, That if any person shall wilfully neglect or omit to make and deliver a schedule or return of the slaves in his or her possession, pursuant to the directions and requisitions of this Act, within the period allotted for enrolment in the original, or any annual registry, every such person so offending, shall forfeit for every slave so wilfully neglected or omitted to be returned, the sum of two hundred pounds of current gold and sliver money of the said Island, to be recovered as hereinafter mentioned, the one moiety of such penalty to be paid into the public treasury for the use of the Colony, and the other moiety to the person who shall sue for the same; and in case the party so offending shall have possession of any such slave or slaves so wilfully neglected or omitted to be returned for registration as aforesaid, in the capacity or character of mortgagee, trustee, sequestrator or receiver, lessee, attorney executor or guardian, or other representative of any person or persons, he or she shall not only forfeit for every slave so wilfully neglected or omitted to be returned, the said sum of two hundred pounds of money aforesaid, to be recovered and accrue [7] in manner above stated; but shall moreover be liable to the civil suits or actions of all and every person or persons, who shall or may sustain any damage or injury by any such wilfully neglect or omission, and who shall, besides full reparation for every such damage or injury, be entitled to recover against the party so offending in treble costs of suit: Provided always, that no person shall be liable to any penalty as aforesaid, for or in respect of any slave or slaves, who may have absconded or have been out of his or her control at the time of making such original or subsequent return as aforesaid, so that such person do and shall specify the name or names of such slave or slaves in the affidavit hereinbefore required to be annexed to the respective schedules or returns.

[Clause 17] And it is hereby further enacted, That the collectors of the customs of the ports of St. George and Grenville respectively, shall once in six months, after the passing of this Act, return to the registrar a list of all slaves who in the course of the preceding six months shall have been exported from these ports respectively, with the name or names of the person or persons licensed to export such slave or slaves; and in case, at the period of any such annual return as aforesaid, it shall be proved to the satisfaction of the registrar, that there is no person within this Colony, either by reason of chance of residence or otherwise, liable to make such annual return of the slave or slaves so exported, the and in every such case the registrar is hereby authorized and directed to enter in his registry the name or names of the last-mentioned slave or slaves, corresponding with the returns made to him by the collectors or chief officers of the respective ports aforesaid; and every such registration as last aforesaid, signed by the registrar, and certified by him to be correct to the best of his knowledge and belief, shall be deemed and taken as a sufficient registration within the intent and meaning of this Act, and be as valid as if made by the owners or possessors of such slave or slaves.

 [Clause 18] And be it further enacted, That any person or persons whosoever who shall knowingly and wilfully make, or aid, abet and assist in making, any false or fraudulent entry in any of the said books of registry, or the duplicates thereof respectively, hereby directed to be made, or shall fraudulently erase, obliterate, or alter, or aid, abet and assist in fraudulently erasing, obliterating or altering any entry which shall have been duly made in any of the said books of registry, shall upon conviction of any such offence suffer death, as in the cases of felony without benefit of clergy.

[Clause 19] And be it further enacted, That if the registrar shall in the exercise of his said office, wilfully neglect or refuse to receive for registration any return, and to give a receipt for the same, or to make any entry which he ought to make, according to the directions hereinbefore contained, and the true intent and meaning of this Act, the registrar so offending shall, upon conviction of any such offence in the supreme court of judicature, be punished by fine not exceeding five hundred pounds, nor less than two hundred pounds current money of Grenada, to be paid into the public treasury of this Island, and for the public uses thereof; and every registrar so offending, shall be removed from his office or appointment, and shall be, and he is hereby declared to be incapable of enjoying the same office and appointment again, and shall moreover, with his securities, be liable to the civil suits or actions of all persons who shall sustain any damage or injury by any such offence, who, besides full reparation for every such damage or injury, shall recover against such offenders double costs of suit.

[Clause 20] And be it further enacted, That a copy or extract, certified by the registrar, of the registered list or schedule of slaves belonging to any plantation, or to any particular owner or owners, or of any such annual return as is hereinbefore directed to be made, shall at any time after the registry thereof, at the request of any person or persons whomsoever, at the expense of the person or persons requiring the same, be made and delivered to him her or them by the registrar; and all persons shall have free liberty to inspect the said books at all times, in the presence of the registrar, or of any one or more of his clerks, from nine o’clock in the morning until three o’clock in the afternoon of each day, (Sunday excepted,) paying such fee as hereinafter is mentioned.

[Clause 21] And be it further enacted, That there shall be paid to the registrar, out of the public treasury of these Islands, a salary at the rate of eight hundred pounds currency, for the first year, and a salary at the rate of two hundred pounds, like currency, for each of the following years, during his residence within this government, and performing the duties of his office, such salary to be paid quarterly, the first [8] quarterly payment thereof to be made at the expiration of three calendar months next after the date of his appointment, in pursuance of this Act, and so in proportion for any less time than a quarter of a year.

[Clause 22] And be it further enacted, That the said registrar shall be entitled to demand and receive the following fees of office and no more, (that is to say,) for every search into each separate return of slaves in his registry, the sum of four shillings and six-pence currency, for every copy or extract from his books of registry, not exceeding ninety-six words, the sum of two shillings and three pence  currency, and for every such copy or extract exceeding ninety-six words, at the rate of two shillings and three-pence currency, for every ninety-six words therein contained, and so in proportion for any additional number of words under that amount, such fees to be paid by the persons respectively requiring such extracts, copies, or certificates as aforesaid.

[Clause 23] And be it further enacted, That in case any person or persons whatsoever, shall be guilty of any false and wilful forswearing, in taking any oath under the proceedings of this Act, or shall unlawfully and corruptly procure or subborn any person to take any such oath falsely, he she or they being thereof duly convicted, shall for every such offence, incur the pains and penalties inflicted by law on all such persons as shall commit wilful and corrupt perjury, or shall procure or subborn any person to commit any wilful and corrupt perjury.

[Clause 24] And be it further enacted, That if any action, bill, plaint, suit, or prosecution shall be brought against any person or persons for any act, matter or thing to be done, or for any default in omitting any act, matter or thing directed to be done by virtue of this Act, it shall and may be lawful to and for all and every persons and person sued or prosecuted as aforesaid, to plead thereto the general issue, that he she or they is not or are not guilty, and to give such special matter in evidence to the jury which shall try the issue; which special matter being pleaded, had been good and sufficient matter in law to have discharged the said defendant or defendants of the matter or thing, or default, laid to his her or their charge.

[Clause 25] And be it further enacted, That the person so to be appointed registrar, if in possession of any slave or slaves, shall and he is hereby required to take such oath before the Governor or Commander in chief for the time being, as he is required to administer to person giving in returns of slaves aforesaid, for the purpose of being registered under this Act.

[Clause 26] And be it further enacted, That the registrar’s office shall at all times be in the Town of St. George, and the hours of attendance shall be from the hour of nine o’clock in the morning until three o’clock in the afternoon.

Whereas the present Act being of great importance, and may not, in its present enactments, be calculated to answer all the purposes intended thereby, but may by experience be found defective, and require alteration; in order, therefore, to afford the legislature an opportunity to give the measure a fair trial, and to remedy any defects or imperfections that may be found therein,---

Be it further enacted, That this Bill shall continue and be in force from the day of the publication thereof, for and during the period of four years and no longer

Passed the Assembly this fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventeen.

(Signed)                               Geo. Hyde, Acting Clerk of Assembly

Passed the Council this twenty-eighth day of Match, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventeen.

(Signed)                               Owsley Rowley, Deputy Clerk of the Council.

Dated at the town of St. George and Island of Grenada, this thirty-first day of March, in the fifty-seventh year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, and so forth; and in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventeen.

(Signed)                                               Geo. Gun Munro, Speaker

Assented to by his Excellency the Governor and Commander in chief in and over the Island of Grenada and its dependencies, Chancellor, Ordinary and Vice-admiral of the same, this thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventeen.

Signed                  Owsley Rowley, Deputy Clerk of the Council.

Duly published at the town of St. George, in the Island of Grenada, the 31st day of March 1817.

(Signed)               Tho. White, D.P.M. Phineas (L.M.S.) Riall.

(A true Copy.)                                                    (Signed)               Owsley Rowley, D. Secretary.