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XIV. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no free Man or Trader whatsoever, shall buy, sell, trade, barter, or borrow any Commodities whatsoever, with, to, or from any Apprentice or Servant, whether so by Indenture or otherwise, or with any Slave within this Government, without the Consent of the Master, Mistress, or Owner of such Apprentice, Servant, or Slave, upon Pain of forfeiting treble the Value of the Commodity or Commodities so traded for, bartered or sold; and also, shall pay the Sum of six Pounds, Proclamation Money, to the Use of the said Master, Mistress, or Owner; to be recovered, in the Court of the County where the Offence shall be committed, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information, where no Essoin, Protection, Injunction, or Wager of Law, shall be allowed or admitted of: And if it shall so happen, that the Person so offending shall not be able to pay treble the Value of the Commodities so traded for, sold or bartered, and the Sum of six Pounds, such Persons shall then be adjudged, by the County Court, to be sold as a Servant for the same.
XXIII. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person or Persons already have, or shall hereafter, import into this Government, and shall here sell, or retain for his own Use, as a Slave, any Person or Persons that shall have been free in any Christian Country, Island, or Plantation, or Turk or Moor, in Amity with his Majesty, such Importer or Seller as aforesaid shall forfeit and pay, to the Party from whom the said free Person shall recover his or her Freedom, double the Sum for which such free Person was sold; to be recovered in any Court of Record within this Government, according to the Course of common Law, wherein the Defendant shall not be admitted to plead, in Bar, any Act or Statute for Limitation of Actions: And moreover, such Importer or Seller of any such free Person as aforesaid, shall be committed until he enter into Bond, before the said Court, with two good and sufficient Sureties, in the Sum of five hundred Pounds, sterling Money of Great Britain, payable to our Sovereign Lord the King, his Heirs and Successors, with Condition, That he shall and do, within one Year then next ensuing, transport and land (Danger of the Seas and Life only excepted,) such free Person sold by him as a Slaves as aforesaid, (if he or she shall so require,) in the Country, Island, or Plantation from whence he or she was indirectly brought as aforesaid; and shall produce an authentic Certificate of his Performance thereof to the said Court.
XXIV. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That each and every Justice of the Peace for several Counties within this Government, are hereby empowered and directed, upon the Complaint of any Person who now is, or hereafter shall be, imported into this Government, and who was free in any Christian Country, Island, or Plantation, before his or her transportation hither, who is kept or sold as a Slave, to cause the pretended Owner of such Person complaining, to appear before him, together with such Evidence or Evidences as shall be material; and after examination taken, in Writing, shall bind them over to appear at the next County Court of which he is a Member, where the said Complaint shall be heard and determined without any formal Process of Law.
XXV. Repealed and otherwise provided for by Act, Jan. 1779, Ch. 11.
XXVII. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person or Persons whatsoever, shall, directly or indirectly, at any Time after the Ratification of this Act, tempt or persuade any Negro or Negroes, or other Slave or Slaves, to leave his, her, or their Master or Mistress’s Service, out of an Intent and Design to carry or convey away him, her, or them, out of this Government, or shall harbour or conceal him, her, or them, for that Intent and Purpose, and thereof be convicted, by his, her, or their own Confession, or the Oath of one credible Witness, such Person or Persons shall, by the two next Justices of the Peace, be committed to Gaol, or bound over to the next Court to be held for the County where the Offence shall be committed, and shall be prosecuted, by Indictment, for the said Offence; and being thereof lawfully convicted, shall, by the said Court, be adjudged to pay, to the Master or Mistress, for each Negro or other Slaves so enticed or persuaded, for the Purpose aforesaid, the Sum if twenty-five Pounds, Proclamation Money, or the Value thereof; to be levied by the Order of the said Court: But in Case the Party so offending shall not be found worth Lands, Goods, or Chattels, to the Value aforesaid, then the said Court shall adjudge him, her, or them, to serve the Owner of such Slave or Slaves, or his Assigns, five Years; and so deliver him, her, or them, over to the Master, Mistress, or Owner of such Slave or Slaves, so tempted or persuaded as aforesaid, and make Record thereof: But if any Person or Persons shall so tempt and practice with any Negro or Negroes, or other Slave or Slaves, and him, her or them, so tempted, shall actually convey away, or send out of this Government, and be afterwards apprehended, and convicted thereof, he, she, or they, shall, by the said Court, be severally adjudged and condemned as guilty of Felony; and shall suffer accordingly.
XXVIII. AND for the Encouragement of all Persons to take up Runaways, Be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That for the taking up Servants or Slaves, if ten Miles or under, from the House or Quarter where such Servant or Slave was kept, there shall be allowed, by the Master, if known, and residing in the County, if not, by the Public, as a Reward to the Taker-up, seven Shillings and six Pence, Proclamation Money, and for every Mile above ten, three Pence, over and above the said Sum; which said several Rewards shall be paid by the Churchwardens of the Parish where such Taker-up shall reside, or where he shall bring such Runaway before a Justice of the Peace; and shall be levied again by the Churchwardens of the said Parish, upon the said Master or Owner of such Runaway, for Reimbursement of the same to the Parish: And for the greater Certainty in paying the said Rewards, and reimbursing the Parish, every Justice of the Peace before whom such Runaway shall be brought, upon the taking up, shall grant a Certificate thereof, in which he shall mentioned the proper Name and Surname of the Taker-up, and the County of his or her Residence, together with the Time and Place of taking up the said Runaway, and shall also mention the name of the said Runaway, and the proper Name and Surname of the Master or Owner of such Runaway, and the County of his or her Residence, together with the Distance of Miles, in the said justices Judgment, from the Place of taking up the said Runaway, to the House or Quarter where such Runaway was kept; upon producing which Certificate to the Churchwardens of the Parish where the same was granted, they shall pay, to the Taker-up of such Runaway, or his Assigns, the Reward aforesaid; and shall levy the same again as aforesaid: But if it should happen, that the Master or Owner of such Runaway should not reside, or have Effects in the County where the said Certificate shall be granted by the Justice as aforesaid, the said Churchwardens shall transmit the said Certificate to the Sheriff of the County where the Owner of such Runaway resides, or hath Effects, who shall, upon Receipt thereof, immediately levy the same upon the Goods and Chattels of the Master or Owner if such Runaway, and return the same to the Churchwardens aforesaid, or their Order; any Law, Usage, or Custom to the contrary, notwithstanding.
XXIX. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Negro or other Person, who shall be taken up as a Runaway, and brought before any Justice of the Peace, and cannot speak English, or, through Obstinacy, will not declare the Name of his or her Owner, such Justice shall, in such Case, and he is hereby required, by a Warrant under his Hand, to commit the said Negro Slave or Runaway to the Gaol of the County wherein he or she shall be taken up; and the Sheriff, or Under-Sheriff, of the County into whose Custody the said Runaway shall be committed, shall forthwith cause Notice, in writing, of such Commitment, to be set up on the Court-house Door of the said County, and there continued, during the Space of two Months; in which Notice, a full Description of the said Runaway, and his Cloathing, shall be particularly set down; and shall cause a Copy of such Notice to be sent to the Clerk or Reader of each Church or Chapel within his County, who are hereby required to make Publication thereof, by setting up the same in some open and convenient Place, near the said Church or Chapel, on every Lord’s Day during the Space of two Months, from the Date thereof: And every Sheriff failing to give such Notice as herein is directed, shall forfeit and pay five Pounds, Proclamation Money; which said Forfeiture shall and may be recovered, with Costs, in any Court of Record in this Government, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information; wherein no Essoin, Privilege, Protection, Injunction, or Wager of Law, shall be allowed: The one Moiety whereof shall be to the Churchwardens, for the Use of the Parish, as well as towards the defraying the Charges that shall arise and become due by Virtue of this Act, and the other Moiety to the Person who shall sue for the same.
XXX. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if within the Space of two Months, the Owner of any such Negro Slave or Runaway cannot be known, or doth not claim the same, that the Sheriff of the said County to whose Custody such Runaway shall be committed, shall cause the said Runaway to be delivered to the next Constable, to be by him delivered to the next Constable, and so from Constable to Constable, to the public Gaol of this Government, after such Manner, and to receive such Punishment, as in this Act is mentioned and directed.
XXXI. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That when any Negro or Runaway, as aforesaid, shall be delivered to the Keeper of the public Gaol of this Government, by Virtue of this Act, and his or her Master or Owner cannot be known, it shall and may be lawful for the Keeper of the said Gaol, upon his Application to the General Court, or the nearest County Court to the said Gaol, or to any two Justices, out of Court, with the Consent of either of the Courts, or two Justices, as aforesaid, to let the said Negro or Runaway to Hire, to any Person or Persons whom they shall approve of, for such Sum or Sums of Money, or Quantity of Commodities, and for such Term or Time, as they shall direct; and that out of the Money or Commodities, arising by such Hire, all Fees relating to the taking up, Imprisonment, and conveying to Gaol, and Charges of maintaining such Negro or Runaway, shall be first paid and discharged, and the Overplus, if any, disposed of as such Court, who shall order the said Negro or Runaway to let out to Hire, shall direct.
XXXII. PROVIDED always, That when the Owner of such Negro or Runaway shall demand the same, the Person to whom such Negro or Runaway shall be let out to Hire, shall forthwith deliver him or her into the Custody of the Keeper of the public Gaol, and shall then also pay the Hire, in Proportion to the Time the said Runaway hath served; and the Keeper of the said Gaol shall deliver the said Runaway to his Master or Owner, he or she paying down all Fees and Charges of taking up, Imprisonment, conveying to Gaol, and maintaining such Runaway, in Case the Hire of the said Runaway be not sufficient to satisfy the same.
XXXIII. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That when the Keeper of the said public Gaol shall, by Direction of such Court as aforesaid, let out any Negro or Runaway to Hire, to any Person or Persons whomsoever, the said Keeper shall, at the Time of his Delivery, cause an iron Collar to be put on the Neck of such Negro or Runaway, with the letters P.G. stamped thereon; and that thereafter the said Keeper shall not be answerable for any Escape of the said Negro or Runaway.
XXXIV. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That when any Runaway Servant or Slave shall be brought before any Justice of the Peace within this Government, such Justice shall, by his Warrant, commit the said Runaway to the next Constable, and therein also order him to give the said Runaway so many Lashes as the said Justice shall think fit, not exceeding the Number of thirty-nine, well laid on, on the bare Back of such Runaway; and then to be conveyed from Constable to Constable, until the said Runaway shall be carried home, or to the public Gaol, as aforesaid.
XXXVI. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Sheriff, Under-Sheriff, or Constable, shall set to work, employ, or let out to Hire, without Order of Court as aforesaid, any Runaway Servant or Slave committed to the Custody of any of them, or shall detain such Runaway longer in his or their Custody than by this Act is directed, he or they so offending, shall forfeit and pay five Pounds, Proclamation Money; to be recovered, in any Court of Record in this Government, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information, wherein no Essoin, Protection, Privilege, or Wager of Law, shall be allowed; One Moiety whereof to be paid to the Churchwardens, for the Use of the Parish where the Offence shall be committed, and the other to him or them who shall sue for the same: And if any Sheriff, or his Under-Sheriff, or Constable, into whose Hands any Runaway Servant or Slave shall be committed, by Virtue of this Act, shall negligently or wilfully suffer such Runaway to escape the said Sheriff, Under-Sheriff, or Constable, he or they shall be liable to the Action of the Party grieved, for Recovery of his Damages, at the common Law, with Costs.
XXXIX. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That when any Negro or other Runaway whose Owner is supposed to be resident in any other Province, shall be committed to any public Gaol of this Government, the Keeper of the said Gaol shall, by the first Opportunity after such Commitment, sent a Description of such Negro or Runaway, together with the Account of the Time of the Commitment, and the County where such Runaway is committed, to the Press, to be advertised in the Virginia, or South-Carolina Gazette; for which he shall be reimbursed by the Owner of the said Slave or Runaway.
XL. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Slave shall go armed with Gun, Sword, Club, or other Weapon, or shall keep any such Weapon, or shall hunt or range with a Gun in the Woods, upon any Pretence whatsoever, (except such Slave or Slaves who shall have a Certificate, as is herein after provided: ) and if any Slave shall be found offending herein, it shall and may be lawful for any Person or Persons to seize and take, to his own Use, such Gun, Sword, or other Weapon, and to apprehend and deliver such Slave to the next Constable, who is enjoined and required, without further Order or Warrant, to give such Slave twenty Lashes, on his or her bare Back, and to send him or her home: and the Master or Owner of such Slave shall pay to the Taker-up of such armed Slave, the same Reward as by this Act is allowed for taking up of Runaways.
XLI. PROVIDED always, That Nothing in this Act shall be construed or extended, to prohibit or debar any Master or Owner of any Slave or Slaves within this Government, from employing any one Slave in each and every distinct Plantation, from hunting in the Woods on their Master’s Lands with a Gun, to preserve his or her Stock, or to kill Game for his or her Family.
XLII. PROVIDED also, That such Master or Owner shall first deliver into the County Court, and Account, in writing, of the Name of any such Slave to be employed as aforesaid; and the Chairman of the Court shall sign a Certificate that such Slave is allowed to carry a Gun, and hunt in the Woods on his Master or Mistress’s Lands: And the Master, Mistress, or Overseer of such Slave shall give him the said Certificate, which such Slave shall always carry about him, on Pain of being apprehended and punished as aforesaid: Any Thing herein before contained to the contrary, notwithstanding.
XLIII. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Slave shall go from off the Plantation or Seat of Land where such Slave shall be appointed to live, without a Certificate of Leave, in writing, for so doing, from his or her Master or Overseer, (Negroes wearing Liveries always excepted.)
XLIV. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Slave shall be permitted, on any Pretence whatsoever, to raise any Horses, Cattle, or Hogs; and all Horses, Cattle, and Hogs, that six Months from the Date hereof, shall belong to any Slave, or of any Slave’s Mark in this Government, shall be seized, and sold by the Churchwardens of the Parish where such Horses, Cattle, or Hogs shall be, and the Profit thereof be applied, one Half to the Use of the said Parish, and the other Half to the Informer.
XLV. AND whereas many Times Slaves run away, and lie out hid and lurking in Swamps, Woods, and other obscure Places, killing Cattle and Hogs, and committing other Injuries to the Inhabitants of this Government: Be if therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That in all such Cases, upon Intelligence of any Slave or Slaves lying out as aforesaid, any two Justices of the Peace for the County wherein such Slave or Slaves is or are supposed to lurk or do Mischief, shall, and they are hereby empowered and required, to issue Proclamation against such Slave or Slaves, (reciting his or their Name or Names, and the Name or Names of the Owner or Owners, if known,) thereby requiring him or them, and every of them, forthwith to surrender him or themselves; and also, to empower and require the Sheriff of the said County to take such Power with him as he shall think fit and necessary, for going in Search and Pursuit of, and effectual apprehending such outlying Slave or Slaves; which Proclamation shall be published on a Sabbath Day, at the Door of every Church or Chapel, or for Want of such, at the Place where Divine Service shall be performed in the said County, by the Parish Clerk, or Reader, immediately after Divine Service: And if any Slave or Slaves against whom Proclamation hath been issued, stay out and do not immediately return home, it shall be lawful for any Person or Persons whatsoever, to kill and destroy such Slave or Slaves, by such Ways and Means as he or she shall think fit, without Accusation or Impeachment of any Crime for the same.
XLVI. Repealed by Act, Nov. 1786, Ch. 17.
XLVII. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Number of Negroes or other Slaves, that is to say, three, or more, shall, at any Time hereafter, consult, advise, or conspire to rebel, or make Insurrection, or shall plot or conspire the Murther of any Person or Persons whatsoever, every such consulting, plotting, or conspiring, shall be adjudged and deemed Felony; and the Slave or Slaves convicted thereof, in Manner herein after directed, shall suffer Death.
XLVIII. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That every Slave committing such Offence, or any other Crime or Misdemeanor, shall forthwith be committed, by any Justice of the Peace, to the common Gaol of the County within which the said Offence shall be committed, there to be safely kept; and that the Sheriff of such County, upon such Commitment, shall forthwith certify the same to any Justice in the Commission for the said Court, for the Time being resident in the County, who is thereupon required and directed to issue a Summons for two or more Justices of the said Court, and four Freeholders, such as shall have Slaves in the said County; which said three Justices, and four Freeholders, Owner of Slaves, are hereby empowered and required, upon Oath, to try all Manner of Crimes and Offences that shall be committed by any Slave or Slaves, at the Court-house of the County, and to take for Evidence, the Confession of the Offender, the Oath of one or more credible Witnesses, or such Testimony of Negroes, Mulattoes, or Indians, bond or free, with pregnant Circumstances, as to them shall seem convincing, without the Solemnity of a Jury; and the Offender being them found guilty, to pass such Judgment upon such Offender, according to their Discretion, as the Nature of the Crime or Offence shall require: and on such Judgement, to award Execution.
L. AND to the End such Negro, Mulatto, or Indian, bond or free, not being Christians, as shall hereafter be produced as an Evidence on the Trial of any Slave or Slaves for capital or other Crimes, may be under the greater Obligation to declare the Truth; Be it further enacted, That where any such Negro, Mulatto, or Indian, bond or free, shall, upon due Proof made, or pregnant Circumstances, appearing before any County Court within this Government, be found to have given a false Testimony, every such Offender shall, without further Trial, be ordered, by the said Court, to have one Ear nailed to the Pillory, and there stand for the Space of one Hour, and the said Ear to be cut off, and thereafter the other Ear nailed in the like Manner, and cut off, at the Expiration of one other Hour, and moreover, to order every such Offender thirty-nine Lashes, well laid on, on his or her bare Back, at the common Whipping-post.
LI. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That at every such Trial of Slaves committing capital or other Offences, the first Person in Commission sitting on such Trial, shall, before the Examination of every Negro, Mulatto, or Indian, not being a Christian, charged such to declare the Truth.
LII. PROVIDED always, and it is hereby intended, That the Master, Owner, or Overseer of any Slave, to be arraigned and tried by Virtue of this Act, may appear at the Trial, and make what just Defence he can for such Slave or Slaves; so that such Defence do not relate to any Formality in the proceeding on the Trial.
LIII. Repealed by Act, Nov. 1786, Ch. 17.
LIV. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if in the dispersing any lawful Assemblies of rebel Slaves or Conspirators, or seizing the Arms and Ammunitions of such as are prohibited by this Act to keep the same, or in apprehending Runaways, or in Correction by Order of the County Court, any Slave shall happen to be killed or destroyed, the Court of the County where such Slave shall be killed, upon Application of the Owner of such Slave, and due Proof thereof made, shall put a Valuation, in Proclamation Money, upon such Slave so killed, and certify such Valuation to the next Session of Assembly; that the said Assembly may make suitable Allowance thereupon, to the Master or Owner of such Slave.
LV. PROVIDED always, and be it further enacted, That Nothing herein contained, shall be construed, deemed, or taken, to defeat or bar the Action of any Person or Persons, whose Slave or Slaves shall happen to be killed by any other Person whosoever, contrary to the Directions and true Intent and Meaning of this Act; but that all and every Owner or Owners of such Slave or Slaves, shall and may bring his, her, or their Action, for Recovery of Damages for such Slave or Slaves so killed.
LVI. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Negro or Mulatto Slaves shall be set free, upon any Pretence whatsoever, except for meritorious Services, to be adjudged and allowed of by the County Court, and Licence thereupon first had and obtained: And that where any Slave shall be set free by his or her Master or Owner, otherwise than is herein before directed, it shall and may be lawful for the Churchwardens of the Parish wherein such Negro, Mulatto, or Indian, shall be found, at the Expiration of six Months, next after his or her being set free, and they are hereby authorised and required, to take up and sell the said Negro, Mulatto, or Indian, as a Slave, at the next Court to be held for the said County, at public Vendue; and the Monies arising by such Sale, shall be applied to the Use of the Parish, by the Vestry thereof: And if any Negro, Mulatto, or Indian Slave, set free otherwise than is herein directed, shall depart this Province, within six Months next after his or her Freedom, and shall afterwards return into this Government, it shall and may be lawful for the Churchwardens of the Parish where such Negro or Mulatto shall be found, at the Expiration of one Month, next after his or her Return into this Government, to take up such Negro or Mulatto, and sell him or them, as Slaves, at the next Court to be held for the County, at public Vendue; and the Monies arising thereby, to be applied, by the Vestry, to the Use of the Parish, as aforesaid.
LVII. Not now in Force.
LVIII. AND be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all and every other Act and Acts, and every Clause and Article thereof heretofore made, so far as relate to Servants and Slaves, onto any other Matter or Thing whatsoever, within the Purview of this Act, is and are hereby repealed and made void, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the same had never been made.
SIGNED by
GABRIEL JOHNSTON, Esq. Governor.
WILLIAM SMITH, President.
JOHN HODGSON, Speak