An Act to prevent the selling of Powder to rebellious, or any other Negroes whatsoever.

WHEREAS it may reasonably be conjectured that the great Number of Places where Powder is at present vended in all Parts of this Island contributes very much to the supplying of rebellious Negroes therewith, which tends to the increasing their Numbers, being a Means not only of supplying themselves with Provisions, but likewise of robbing and plundering the remote Parts of this Island, to the great Discouragement of new Settlements: We therefore, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Governor, Council, and Assembly of Jamaica, do most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the Governor, Council, and Assembly of this Island, and by the Authority of the same, That no Person whatsoever within this Island shall, after the Twentieth Day of February next, sell, or otherwise dispose of by Retail, in any Quantity less than Fifty Pounds Weight, any Sort of Gunpowder to any Person whatsoever within this Island, before such Person shall first have obtained a Licence from under the Hand and Seal of the Governor, or Commander in chief for the Time being; which Licence is not to be granted but upon a Certificate from the Justices and Vestry of the Parish where such Person resides, that he is duly qualified, and fit to be trusted with the Sale of such Powder; which Certificate shall be recorded in the Secretary's Office before such Licence shall be granted.

 

II. AND such Person or Persons obtaining such Licence or Licences, aforesaid, shall be obliged, before he or they shall vend, sell, or dispose of any Powder, to take the following Oath before the Governor, or Commander in chief for the Time being, or before the Custos of the Precinct where he or they reside, viz.

 

I A.B. do swear, That I will not vend, sell, or dispose of, or suffer any Person or Persons in my Service or Employ, or under my Command, to vend, sell, or dispose of any Gunpowder to any white Person or Persons not knowing them to be House-keepers, unless such Person or Persons shall have a Certificate from some Justice of the Peace of the Precinct where he  or they shall reside, or commissioned Officer of the Company or Troop of Militia to which he or they belong, that they are Persons proper to be instrusted with the same; and that I will not vend, sell, dispose of, or deliver or suffer to be vended, sold, disposed of, or delivered to any free Mulatto, Negro, or Indian, any Powder without a Certificate from the Captain of the Company in the Precinct to which he belongs; and that I will not vend, sell, or dispose of, or deliver, or suffer to be vended, sold, disposed of, or delivered, any Powder to any Mulatto, Negro, or Indian Slave, upon any Pretence whatsoever. So help me God. 

 

III. AND that no Person shall have a Licence granted unto him or them for the Sale of Powder, as aforesaid, without first becoming bound to our Sovereign Lord the Kind in a Bond, with sufficient Surety or Sureties in the Secretary's Office of this Island, in the Sum of Five Hundred Pounds for the due Performance of the said Trust, agreeable to the said Oath.

 

IV. AND that there shall not be Licences granted to more than one Person in each of the three Towns of St. Jago de la Vega, Port-Royal, and Kingston, where Powder shall be sold by Retail as aforesaid only; and for each of which Licences the Person or Persons to who they are granted shall pay the Sum of Five Pounds of current Money of this Island per Annum; and the said respective Sums of Five Pounds shall be, and are hereby appointed to the Use of Parties; each such Person and Persons shall also pay Fifteen Shillings to the Secretary for taking the said Bond, recording the Certificate, and passing the Licence, and no more. 

 

V. AND that no Person or Persons whatsoever, not having a Licence, as aforesaid, shall vend, sell, dispose of, or deliver any Gunpowder by Retail in any Quantity less that Fifty Pounds Weight, under the Penalty of Five Hundred Pounds,and six Months Imprisonment without Bail or Mainprize; which Forfeiture and Penalty shall be heard, adjudged, recovered, and determined by the Judges of His Majesty's Supream Court of Judicature of this Island; and that the Evidence of any one white Person shall be sufficient to convict such Offender or Offenders, if against a white Person, and if against a Mulatto, Indian, or Negro Slave, the Evidence of any one Mulatto, Indian, or Negro shall be sufficient to convict him, her, or them; any Law, Custom, or Usage to the contrary notwithstanding. 

 

VI. AND the Person so licences to sell Powder and Ammunition in any of the Three Towns, shall, in order to prevent any Dangers that may happen, be obliged to put and keep all his Powder, excepting the Quantity of Two Barrels at a Time, in the Magazines. 

 

VII. AND the Captain of the Fort, and all others that have the Custody of the said Magazines, or any of them, are hereby obliged and required to receive and keep the said Powder, and deliver out the same as Occasion shall require, under the Penalty of One Hundred Pounds; for which he shall have and receive from the Owner at and after the Rate of Two Shillings and Six Pence per Barrel. 

 

VIII. AND to prevent such Persons to whom such Licences shall be granted, as aforesaid, from extorting or demanding a larger Price than what is common and usual for Gunpowder, be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That they shall not demand or receive above One Shilling and Ten Pence Halfpeny per Pound for the best Pistol Powder in each of the Three Towns aforesaid, under the Penalty of Forty Shillings for every such Offence; to be recovered upon the Oath of any one white Person, before any of His Majesty's Justices of the Parish where such Offence shall be committed; one Half whereof shall be to the Informer, and the other Half paid to the Receiver-General, to be by him applied for the Use of Parties; any Law, Custom, or Usage to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.