Order in Council, WHEREBY several of the provisions contained in the Order of the 18th February, by which a new slave law was established for the Island of St. Lucia, are revised and amended.

 

WHEREBY several of the provisions contained in the Order of the 18th February, by which a new slave law was established for the Island of St. Lucia, are revised and amended.

 

By His Excellency John Montagu Mainwaring, Major-General, Commanding His Majesty’s Forces, Governor and Commander in Chief of the Island of St. Lucia, Vice-Admiral of the same, &c.

 

(L.S.) (Signed) J.M. MAINWARING, Major-General, Governor.

 

HIS MAJESTY having been pleased, in expressing generally His gracious approbation of the orders in Council of the 8th February last, relative to slaves, to direct that certain parts of the enactments contained in the second order of the above date, whereby a new slave law was established for this island, should be revised and amended; and His Majesty having been also pleased to authorize the Governor to promulgate and carry into immediate operation, provisionally, and until His Majesty’s further pleasure be known, any further act which might be passed in amendment of it.

 

And having submitted such His Majesty’s pleasure, as contained in a dispatch from the Right Honourable the Earl Bathurst, of 21st February last to the consideration of His Majesty’s Privy Council in this island, -

 

I, John Montagu Mainwaring, Major-General, Commanding His Majesty’s Forces, Governor and Commander in Chief of the Island of St. Lucia, and Vice Admiral of the same, do now, by and with the advice of the said Privy Council, and in virtue of the powers in me vested, enact and ordained, and it is hereby enacted and ordained: -

1. In addition to the provisions respecting the Protector, that nothing in the said order in Council contained, shall extend to prevent His Majesty from disunited the office of Protector of Slaves from the office of Procureur-General, and from appointing a distinct and separate officer to act as and be a Protector of Slaves, in case His Majesty shall see fit so to do.

 

2. And it is hereby further ordered that the said Protector of Slaves shall establish and keep an officer in the town of Castries, and shall regularly attend at such office, on such days, and during such hours of the day as the Governor, or officer administering the government of the said Colony, by any general or special orders to be by him from time to time issued, may appoint; and shall at such office, and not elsewhere, keep, deposit, and preserve the several records, books, papers, and writings hereinafter directed to be kept by him.

 

3. And it is further ordered, that the said Protector of Slaves shall not be the owner or proprietor of any plantation situate within the said colony, or of any slave or slaves employed or worked upon any plantation or on any kind of agriculture, and shall not have any share or interest in, or any mortgage or security upon, any such plantation, slave, or slaves; and shall, and he is hereby declared to be incompetent to act as, or be the manager, overseer, agent, or attorney of, for, or upon any plantation or estate within the said colony, or to act as the guardian, trustee, or executor of any person or persons having or being entitled to any such plantation, or any slave or slaves; and in case any such Protector of Slaves within the said colony shall have, acquire, hold, or possess, either in his own right or in right af [sic] his wife, or in trust for any other person or persons, any plantation situate within the colony, or any slave or slaves employed or worked upon any plantation, or in any kind of agriculture, or any share or interest in, or any mortgage or security upon, any such plantation, or slave or slaves, or shall act as a manager, overseer, agent, attorney, guardian, trustee, or executor, as aforesaid, he shall henceforth de factor cease to be such Protector of Slaves, and forfeit such his salary, and some other fit and proper person shall forthwith be appointed to succeed to the said office.

 

Provided, nevertheless, that all acts which may be done by, or by order of any such Protector of Slaves, after any such avoidance as aforesaid of such officer, and before the same shall by public notice in the Gazette of the said colony be declared void, shall be as valid and effectual in the law as if no such avoidance of office had occurred.

 

4. And it is further ordered, that the said Protector of Slaves shall be resident within the said colony, and shall not quit the same without a special licence, to be granted for that purpose by His Majesty, through one of his principal Secretaries of State, or by the Governor, or officer administering the government for the time being, of the said colony; and no such licence shall be granted in any case by the Governor, or officer administering the government, for any time exceeding three months, nor shall any such licence be granted by any such Governor, or officer administering the government as aforesaid, unless it shall be made to appear to him, on the oath of some medical practitioner, that such absence is necessary for the recovery of the health of said Protector of Slaves.

 

5. And it is further ordered, that upon the death or resignation of the said Protector of Slaves, or in the event of his sickness, or other bodily or mental incapacity, or during his temporary absence from the said colony, it shall be lawful for the Governor, or officer administering the government of the colony, to nominate and appoint some other fit and proper person to act as Protector, or as the Deputy for the said Protector of Slaves, as the case may be, until His Majesty’s pleasure shall be known; and the said Deputy shall receive such allowance, to be deducted from and out of the salary of the said Protector of Slaves, as the Governor, or officer administering the government for the time being, of the said colony, shall be pleased to appoint.

 

Provided always, that the person to be appointed as Deputy Protector shall, if in all other respects qualified for the office, be selected from those who are neither proprietors of slaves, nor have any interest in slave property, unless it be impossible to find a proper person not possessed of such property, and willing to undertake the trust, and competent to the efficient and faithful execution of it, whereby it may become absolutely necessary to appoint one interested in slave property, in which case it shall be the duty of the Governor, or officer administering the government for the time being, to transmit to His Majesty’s Secretary of State, a statement of the peculiar circumstances justifying the departure from the general law.

 

Provided that the Protector of Slaves in the said colony, shall at all times perform his duty in person, and not by deputy, except in cases in which the Governor, or officer administering the government of the said colony, is hereinbefore authorized to appoint a Deputy for that purpose.

 

6. And it is hereby ordered, that the said Protector or Deputy Protector of Slaves shall have power to administer an oath in all matters relating to the duties of his office; and all such authority, of what nature or kind soever, as is now by law vested in the Commissaries Commandant of the several districts of the colony, for the maintenance of the public peace and good order, shall be, and the same is hereby vested in the said Protector of Slaves, to be by him exercised throughout each and every district of the said colony.

 

7. And it is hereby further ordered, that all actions, suits, and prosecutions which may at any time hereafter be brought or commenced in any tribunal or Court of Justice within the said Island, wherein any slave may be charged with any offence punishable by death or transportation, or wherein any question may arise as to the right of any alleged slave to freedom, or wherein any person may be charged with the murder of any slave, or with any offence against the person of a slave, or wherein any question may arise respecting the right of any slave to property, then in every such case due notice shall be given to the Protector and Guardian of Slaves of every such action, suit, or prosecution. And the Protector and Guardian of Slaves shall, and is hereby required to attend the trial or hearing, and all other the proceedings in every such action, suit, or prosecution, as the Protector of such slave, and on his or her behalf, or to retain counsel to act therein, in such manner as may be most conducive to the benefit and advantage of any such slave, as fully but in such manner only as counsel could be allowed to act if the said slave were of free condition.

 

8. And it is further ordered, that the said Protector shall, on the first day of may, and the first day of November in every year, deliver to the Governor, or officer administering the government for the time being, particulars of all the returns which by virtue of this order may have been made to him by the Assistant Protector of Slaves, or Commissary Commandant in the several districts of the Colony, with a report in writing, exhibiting an exact account of the manner in which the duties of his office shall have been performed during the periods respectively embraced by those returns, and specially stating the number of actions, suits, and prosecutions in which he may have acted as the Protector of any slave or slaves during the said period respectively, with the date and effect of all proceedings therein, and the names of the persons, if any, against whom he may have instituted any criminal prosecution under and by virtue of this order, and the Governor or officer administering the Government for the time being, shall thereupon administer to the said Protector of Slaves an oath, that such Report contains a true and accurate statement of the several matters and things therein referred to; and when, and so soon as the said Protector of Slaves shall have made his half-yearly report, and shall in manner aforesaid have been sworn to the truth thereof, then, and not before, the said Governor or officer administering the Government shall issue to the said Protector of Slaves, a warrant upon the Treasurer for the amount of his salary for the half-yearly period embraced by those returns, and the Governor or officer administering the Government shall, and is hereby required by the first convenient opportunity, to transmit such report to His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies.

 

And it is further ordered, that if the Protector of Slaves or any assistant Protector of Slaves, or the person performing his duties as aforesaid, shall wilfully and fradulently [sic] make, or cause to be made, any erasure or interlineation in any of the books, records, or returns as aforesaid, or shall wilfully falsify or cause to be falsified such documents, or burn, cancel, or obliterate the same, the person or persons so offending shall incur such penalty or imprisonment as shall be imposed at the discretion of the Court, and if such person be the Protector of Slaves, he shall moreover be thereby disqualified from holding his office.

 

9. It is further ordered, that an Assistant Protector, or Procureur du Roi’s substitute, shall be appointed to reside at Vieux Fort or Souffrière; that he shall receive out of the colonial chest a salary of one hundred pounds sterling per annum; that he shall be subject to all the disqualifications and conditions set forth in the 3d, 4th, and 5th Sections hereof; that he shall make oath faithfully to excute [sic] and perform the duties of the office of the Assistant Protector and Procureur du Roi’s substitute to the best of his abilities without fear, favour, or partiality; that he shall possess the powers of the Protector in his absence, and be aiding and assisting the said Protector in the execution of the powers committed to him, and for that purpose he shall obey and carry into execution such lawful instructions as he may from time receive from the said Protector, or from the Procureur General in relation to his office.

 

10. And it is hereby ordered, that the 20th section of the said Order in Council relating to usufructuaries, tenants, and others having the temporary enjoyment of estates, be, as it is hereby, cancelled.

 

11. And it is hereby ordered, until Sunday markets be utterly abolished, that from and after the 30th day of June next, Sunday markets throughout the Island shall be limited to the hour of eleven o’clock in the forenoon, and that due warning shall be given by the ringing of a bell at half past ten, to all persons to prepare to depart; and that after the said hour of eleven no person or persons whatsoever shall show forth or expose for sale any meat, poultry, fruits, provisions, wares, merchandize, goods, or effects, on pain of the forfeiture of the goods or effects so exposed.

 

And it is also ordered, that the owners of all stores or shops kept open on Sundays after the said hour of eleven for the purpose of trade, shall forfeit and pay five pounds sterling.

 

Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall extend to the prohibition of dressing or selling meat in inns or victualling houses, or to the sale of fish, provided the same shall not take place during the hours set apart for divine service.

 

12. And in explanation of No. 22, to settle all doubts as to the proper meaning and intention of the said section, it is hereby declared, that it is and was originally intended that plantation slaves, not being domestics, or employed in bringing grass or fodder, should not be worked on Sundays without being paid their wages or the time being made up to them as mentioned therein, nor shall they be employed, on payment of wages, except on emergencies.

 

And it is declared that it shall not be nor is it necessary to give proof, that the slaves have been urged to work by actual compulsion, but on the contrary the penalties shall be incurred whenever slaves shall have been employed on Sunday, except in the cases herein and by the said section excepted.

 

13. In lieu of the Fête-Dieu, the Festival to be observed, will be in future the Fête Patronale of the quarter

 

14. In addition and explanation of the 24th section, it is further ordered, that when the slaves are employed at night, they shall under any and every circumstance be entitled to eight hours rest consecutively out of the twenty-four hours, on the penalty provided by the section 43.

 

15. And it is further ordered with reference to the 30th section, that when the master shall allow his slaves to work in their provision grounds during one whole day in every week throughout the year, in addition to the whole day out of crop and half a day in crop, besides Sundays, as already mentioned in said section, he shall be required to furnish them with no provisions whatever.

 

16. And for the full and effectual enforcement of the provisions contained in section 37th, it is further ordered that on the day fixed by the commission for the inspection of the several plantations, whereof public notice shall be given by the public officer attached to each commission for at least eight days previous to the day appointed; the Proprietor, Attorney, Manager or other chief person in authority on each estate shall meet and accompany the Commission throughout their inspection of the said estate, unless prevented by sickness or some other unavoidable cause, which shall be deemed satisfactory by the said Commission, on a penalty of ₤25 sterling, besides being called on to defray the expenses attending a second visit, or a new Commission.

 

17. The 39th section is cancelled and in lieu thereof it is ordered, that it shall thenceforth be illegal for any person or persons within the said Colony to carry a whip or any other instrument of punishment into the field or elsewhere, either as a badge of authority or as a stimulus to labor; and all and every person acting against the true meaning hereof, or directing or authorising such illegal act, shall, if a free person, incur the penalty prescribed in section 43d, and if a slave, he shall be subject to corporal punishment.

 

18. The 40th section from and after the 1st November next, is to be taken and considered as cancelled, and in lieu thereof the following is substituted: -

 

The punishment of flogging shall not be inflicted by or on the part of the master upon females above ten years of age, except in the execution of a sentence of a court, or of any order from the Protector of Slaves, the Procureur du Roi, or Assistant Protector; and the mode of inflicting such punishment shall in all and every case be subject to the rule laid down for males, in section 38th of the slave law.

Such punishment is replaced with respect to females, by the stocks, by handcuffs, and solitary confinement.

 

19. In addition to section 41st, it is ordered, that on the infliction of the stocks or hand cuffs, a free person or six slaves shall be present to witness the infliction of the punishments, long enough to ascertain that they are not inflicted in an illegal manner, or converted into instruments of cruelty.

 

20. In addition to section 42, it is hereby further ordered that the Plantation Return shall further specify the name of the person by whose authority every punishment required to be recorded, was inflicted.

And that the Commandants themselves shall make oath to the correctness of their Returns, and deliver in the same to the Protector or Assistant Protector, within the time specified in the said section.

 

21. The 50th section is cancelled, and in lieu thereof it is hereby ordered, that the limitation of twelve months for the prosecution of offences shall only extend to the offences for which penalties are provided in the 43d, 44th, 45th, 46th, and 47th sections, and which offences are set forth in the 21st, and subsequent down to the 42d sections, according to the original intent of the said 50th section.

 

22. The 58th section is amended, in as much as the Procureur General was thereby authorised to decide on the sufficiency of all objections which might be made to the marriage of slaves. And it is therefore ordered that the Procureur General, shall in all cases grant his permission to solemnize marriages among slaves, unless it be shewn that such permission would be injurious to the slaves themselves.

 

And it is further ordered, that all slave marriages shall be performed gratuitously.

 

23. The first clause of the 74th section is cancelled, and in lieu of the said clause the following is substituted. It is hereby ordered, that slavery shall not operate as a disqualification for a witness, except in cases where his master has an interest, and that in such cases, the evidence of a slave shall not be received either for or against the master.

 

24. The 75th clause is cancelled, and in lieu thereof it is ordered that the six slaves called in lieu of a free person to witness punishments where such substitution is allowed by law, are to be permitted to give evidence as to such punishments for or against the master.

 

Done and passed in Council before His Excellency John Montagu Mainwaring, Major General Commanding His Majesty’s Forces, Governor and Commander in Chief in and over the Island of Saint Lucia, and Vice Admiral thereof, this twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, and in the eighth year of His Majesty’s reign.

 

By His Excellency’s command,

(Signed) FREDERIC MAINWARING

Private Secretary.