A BILL for establishing a registry of negro and other slaves in the island of St. Vincents and its dependencies. (Incomplete)

[Full version in: Further papers relating to the treatment of slaves in the colonies. House of Commons, HC 433, 1818.]

WHEREAS it is expedient that a periodical return of the several negroes and other slaves in these islands should be made from time to time for the purpose of ascertaining the numbers and identifying the persons of such negroes and other slaves, and their progressive increase and decrease: And whereas such returns will be best accomplished by means of a public registry being established for the registration and enrolment of the several negroes and other slaves in manner herein-after mentioned: May it therefore pleasure your most Excellent Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by Your Majesty’s Governor in Council and Assembly of this Your island of St. Vincent and its dependencies, and it is hereby enacted and ordained by the authority of the same, That from and after the passing of this act there shall be established in these islands a public registry for the registration and enrolment, in manner herein-after directed, of the names and descriptions of all negroes, mulattoes, or others, who now are or at any time hereafter shall be held in a state of slavery within the said island and its dependencies, and who shall be respectively registered or returned for registration, as herein-after directed, on or before the [blank] from the passing of this act.

[Clause 2] And be it further enacted, That the secretary of these islands shall provide the necessary books, strongly and durably bound, for the purpose of the registry, and the enrolment herein-after directed, in which books shall be entered and registered, as herein-after directed, the names and descriptions of all the slaves in these islands.

[Clause 3] And be it further enacted, That on or before the [blank] day of [blank] next, every person who shall then be resident in these islands, and who shall be in possession of any slave or slaves within the same, whether as proprietor, mortgagee, trustee, sequestrator and receiver, lessee, manager, attorney, guardian, or committee, or in any other right or character whatever his or her title, trust, or interest in any such slaves or slave may be, shall respectively make and deliver, or cause to be made and delivered in upon oath to the secretary of these islands, or his lawful deputy, to be recorded by the said secretary, such schedules, lists, and particulars in writing, subscribed by him, her, or them, and to be called his, her, or their return of slaves, as are herein-after mentioned; (that is to say), a list or schedule in writing, containing in the first place his or her own name and description, and the name and description of such other person or persons, being the owner or owners, claimant or claimants of such slave or slaves on whose behalf the return is made, and the right or character in which the party making such return holds possession of and claims title to such slave or slaves, namely, whether as proprietor, lessee, mortgagee, sequestrator, guardian, committee, trustee, receiver, executor, administrator, attorney, or otherwise and shall proceed to name, describe, and enumerate distinctly therein the several negro, mulatto, or other slaves then belonging to or held in possession by him, her, or them, 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 other, a general list of female 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, name, colour, employment, age, and country; and the more clearly to distinguish the description of each particular slave, as many horizontal lines, with convenient spaces between them, shall be drawn across the said perpendicular lines or columns as are equal in number to the number of slaves to be inserted in each list; and in the first of the said columns shall be inserted the name of each slave, and the name by which each slave shall first be returned and registered shall continue for ever after to be the names of such slave, and shall not afterwards be changed; in the second of the said columns shall be inserted negro, mulatto or mustie, as the case may be, or such designation of intermediate shades of colour (if any) as are in use in these colonies; in the third of the said columns shall be inserted the particular trade, occupation, or ordinary employment of the slave, specifying, in the cases of mechanics, artisans, or handicraftsmen, the particular art or business in which he or she is usually employed; in the cases of domestic slaves, the particular domestic service or department in which he or she is usually employed; and in cases of ordinary plantation slaves, describing them as labourers only; in the fourth of the said columns shall be inserted the age of the slaves according to the best of the knowledge and belief of the owner or other party making the return; and in the fifth of the said columns shall be inserted not only whether the slave is an African or Creole negro, but if an African, the name and of the country and district of Africa from which he or she was brought, to the best of the knowledge and belief the party making the return; and if a Creole slave, the name of the island or colony in which such slave was born, or from which he or she was brought according to the best of the knowledge or information and belief of the owner or other party making the return; and at the end of the said return respectively shall be summed up and set down in words at length the whole number of slaves then belonging to or in the lawful possession of the owner or owners, claimant or claimants, on whose behalf such returns are made: 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 as are hereby required to be made is contained in a schedule to this Act annexed, to which all persons are required, as far as shall be found practicable to conform.

[Clause 4] And be it further enacted, That every person making and subscribing any and every such schedule or return shall cause the same to be delivered to the secretary or his lawful deputy at his office in the said island, having first made oath to the purport or effect following, before one of the justices of the peace in these islands; such oath to be annexed to the said return.

‘I A.B. [name the deponent] do solemnly swear, that the schedule or return now by me delivered to be recorded, contains, as I verily believe, a just, true, and full return, account, and description of all the slaves belonging to (or in the lawful possession of the owner or owners, claimant or claimants therein named), and being within these islands (save and except to such slaves as may have absconded or secreted themselves from their owners, c. as hereafter mentioned, whose names shall be here set forth); and that the said return is made by me according to the best of my knowledge and belief; and, after having made diligent enquiry, no one of the said slaves has been imported into these islands contrary to an act of parliament passed in the forty-seventh year of the Reign of His present Majesty King George the Third, intituled ‘ An act for the abolition of the slave trade.’   

‘So help me GOD.’

[Clause 5] And be it further enacted, That as soon as any such return or schedule as aforesaid shall have been duly made and received by the secretary of these islands, he shall proceed to register and copy the same with all convenient speed in a fair, distinct, and legible hand, in a proper book or set of books to be kept by the said secretary precisely conformable with the said returns.

[Clause 6] And be it further enacted, That no erasure shall on any pretence, or for any cause whatsoever, be at any time permitted 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 schedule or return from which the same was made, or if any other mistake shall occur in the making up 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 either be interlined or written in the margin, and always, when practicable, by the same hand as the rest of the same list or entry; and the secretary shall, either under such word or words written in the margin, or under a mark of reference there made to any mark of interlineation, subscribe his name at length; but after the registry of original returns of slaves, shall have been completed and certified upon oath as herein-after 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 herein-after expressly provided.

[Clause 7] And be it further enacted, That an office copy, certified by the secretary, of the registered list or schedule of slaves belonging to any plantation, or to any particular owner or owners, shall at any time after the registering thereof, at the request and charge of the owner or owners thereof, or claimant or claimants, or party or parties, who made the return of such list or schedule, be made and delivered to him, her, or them by the said secretary, and for which there shall be charged no more than at the rate of [blank] for every slave therein named; and all persons shall have free liberty to inspect the said registry books, in the presence of the secretary or his assistants, for the purpose of ascertaining that the returns and lists or schedule by them and on their behalf delivered have been accurately registered in manner aforesaid.

[Clause 8] And be it further enacted, That when and so soon as all the original returns or schedules which shall have been delivered to the secretary of these islands pursuant to this order shall have been entered and registered as aforesaid, the secretary shall give notice thereof forthwith to the governor, lieutenant-governor, or civil commander in chief of these islands for the time being, and such governor, lieutenant-governor, or civil commander in chief shall thereupon publicly certify to the inhabitants of these islands, in such manner as he shall deem most fit and effectual, that the registry of slaves is ready to be verified before him as far as respects the original registry of slaves, and that the same is and will continue open at the proper office for the inspection of all persons who have made returns of slaves for insertion therein, or who are desirous of such inspection, for the term of [blank] from the date of such notification, to the intent that all persons interested may be satisfied of the accuracy of the said registry; and also that if any owners or possessors of slaves within or belonging to these islands shall from any accident or unavoidable impediment have till that time omitted to return full and proper schedules or lists of their slaves into the said registry as by this act is required, they must immediately apply to the said governor, lieutenant-governor, or civil commander in chief, who, upon satisfactory proof that such omission has not been wilful, has power to make an order for the admission and registration or correction of their returns or schedules by the secretary.

[Clause 9] And be it further enacted, That if, during the term prescribed by the last-mentioned notification, any owner or possessor, owners or possessors of slaves, shall apply to the said governor, lieutenant-governor, or civil commander in chief, and make it appear to his satisfaction that the non-delivery of his, her, or their return or returns of slaves to the said secretary within the term before prescribed, or any default or omission in such return or returns, has arisen from accident, or some other cause which may appear to the said governor, lieutenant-governor, or civil commander in chief as a satisfactory ground for complying with the request of the said party, and not from and wilful delay or default, and shall then produce his, her, or their return or returns, or corrected return or returns, and make oath that no slave therein named has been imported or brought into these islands within [blank] then next preceding, it shall and may be lawful for the said governor, lieutenant-governor, or civil commander in chief, if he shall think fit to make an order in writing, by him subscribed and addressed to the said secretary, commanding him to receive and register any such return or returns, or corrected return or returns, as if the same had been delivered in due time; which order the secretary is hereby required to obey, so as every such new or corrected return may be registered in the said books in manner aforesaid before the end of said term of [blank] last before mentioned.

[Clause 10] And be it further enacted, That at the end of the said last-mentioned term of [blank] the secretary shall proceed finally to close and authenticate the primary or original registration of all the slaves in these islands, which shall thenceforth be called the original registry of slaves of the island of Saint Vincent 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 secretary 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, “Here ends the original registry of slaves of the island of Saint Vincent and its dependencies;” and the said secretary shall thereto subscribe his name and affix his seal of office, and below the said signature shall be written in like characters by the said secretary 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. [naming himself] the secretary of slaves in this island of Saint Vincent and its dependencies, who, being sworn on the Holy Evangelists, makes oath and says, that he the C.D has twice carefully examined and compared all the preceding entries in this book [or this set of books] with all the different returns of slaves delivered to him, or, to his knowledge and belief, to any deputy clerk or assistant by him appointed; first, by examining the said entries while his clerk or assistant read the original returns respectively entered therein, and afterwards by examining the said returns while his clerk or assistant read the said entries in the book [or set of books] respectively made therefrom; and that he is enabled thereby to depose, and does depose, that the preceding original registry of slaves of the island of Saint Vincent and its dependencies is in all respects correctly and faithfully made.’

Which affidavit, being subscribed by the said secretary, shall be sworn before the said governor, lieutenant-governor, or civil commander in chief, who shall subjoin thereto the following certificate under his hand and the great seal of these islands:

‘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] ‘ [blank] Witness my hand, and the great seal of these islands, this [blank] day of [blank] one thousand eight hundred and [blank] ‘A.B.’ (L.S.)

[Clause 11] And be it further enacted, That after the expiration of three years to be computed from the time when any such original registry shall be completed and authenticated as aforesaid, and after every succeeding period of [blank] years in time to come, on the first day of January in the next following year, or within [blank] after that day, every person resident in these islands, who shall be in the lawful possession of any slave or slaves within these islands, whether as proprietor or mortgagee, sequestrator, trustee, or receiver, lessee, manager, or attorney, committee or guardian, or in any other character, or who shall own or possess any personal slave or slaves whatsoever, within these islands, whatsoever 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, (upon oath) to the secretary of these islands for the time being, an account or schedule in writing by him or her subscribed, to be called ‘The [blank] Return of Slaves,’ containing a true and perfect account of all births and deaths of slaves belonging to the person or persons on whose behalf such return is made, within the [blank] years next preceding since the said original or last [blank] returns were made; and also an account of all deductions from or additions to the former stock of slaves belonging to or in the lawful possession of such person or persons within the same period, by other means than deaths or births, whether the same shall have happened by permanent desertion, sale or other transfer of property, or enfranchisement, or by the return of fugitive or absent slaves, or by any other lawful ways and 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 cases of purchase or other acquisition, or of 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 slave, or of his or her former owner or owners, claimant or claimants, shall also be set forth at large in such [blank] return; and every such return shall also contain all such further particulars, in respect of every newly-acquired slave named therein, as are herein-before 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 names the same were registered, to any such owner or owners, such change of property and possession shall also be mentioned in the said returns; and such return shall also state the whole number of slaves then belonging to or possessed by the person or persons mentioned in such return; 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 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.”

[Clause 12] And be it further enacted, That any person making and subscribing any such return shall take the following oath before any one of his Majesty’s justices of peace duly qualified in the said islands.

‘I A.B. do solemnly swear, that the contents of the schedule or return so by me delivered 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 therein named], and being within these islands since the registration thereof [or, during the last {blank} years], and of all other additions to 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 be it further enacted, That if any person who by this act is directed to make and deliver a return of the slaves in his or her possession for registration as aforesaid, shall omit or neglect so to do, whereby such slave or slaves shall be omitted to be duly registered in the original or any subsequent registry pursuant to this act, every such person so offending shall forfeit for every slave so omitted to be registered as aforesaid the sum of [blank] pounds of sterling money, to be recovered in such manner as any other penalty or forfeiture may be recovered in these islands by any law thereof, the one moiety of such penalty to be to the use of his Majesty, his heirs and successors, for the support of the government of these islands, and the other moiety to the person suing for the same; and in case the party so offending shall have possession of any such slave or slaves omitted to be registered as aforesaid in the capacity of mortgagee, trustee, sequestrator or receiver, manager or attorney, guardian or committee, for any other or others, or in any other right or character whatever, such person shall not only forfeit for every slave omitted to be registered as aforesaid the like sum of [blank] pounds sterling money, to be recovered and go in manner herein-before 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 omission as aforesaid, and who, besides full reparation for every such damage or injury, shall recover against the party offending double costs of suit.

[Clause 14] And whereas it may happen in some instances, that owners and possessors of slaves within these islands at the time of the said first or original registration, or of some subsequent registration, may from accident or unavoidable impediment omit to return the same for registration within the times hereby respectively limited for that purpose, or that persons in possession of slaves not their own absolute property may wilfully or negligently make such omission without the concurrence or consent of the absent owners or persons interested in such slaves; be it therefore further enacted, That if any owner or owners, possessor or possessors of slaves within these islands shall have omitted to make his, her, or their returns thereof within the time herein-before limited for the said first or original registration, or subsequent registration within the time in that respect herein-before limited; and if such owner or owners, possessor or possessors, or any other person or persons who at the time of such omission was, or who shall have since become the owner or possessor, whether in his own right or in the right of any other person or persons, of any slave or slaves so omitted to be returned, shall at any time after making his or their [blank] return next after any such omission or default apply to the governor, lieutenant-governor, or civil commander in chief of these islands, and prove to his satisfaction, by such credible evidence as from the nature of the case may be reasonably expected and required, that such omission was not wilful, but arose from some specified accident or other unavoidable impediment, or from the neglect or default of some person or persons other than the true and absolute owner or owners of the said slave or slaves, or from some other cause which may appear to the said governor, c. as a satisfactory ground for the complying with the request of the said party, it shall be lawful for such governor, lieutenant-governor, or civil commander in chief, to order that such party or parties so making his, her, or their return next after such omission or default to the said secretary, shall be at liberty to insert the names and descriptions of all other particulars herein-before required of and relating to all and every slave and slaves the subject of any such former omission or default, and also in such return such account as is herein-before directed of the births and deaths, and of all other deductions from and additions to the stock of slaves in respect of which such return is made, which shall have occurred within the preceding years; and such return, when duly made and registered, together with the cause of the former omission or default, and the date of the order for supplying the same, which shall be certified and signed by the said secretary on the registry of such return in the proper books, shall from thenceforth be deemed and taken to be as valid and effectual for all the purposes of this act as if the matters therein contained had been duly returned and registered at the proper period.

[Clause 15] Provided always, and be it further enacted, That if any secretary shall, in the exercise of his said office, wilfully refuse to receive for registration any return or to make any entry which he ought to receive and make, according to the directions herein contained and the true intent and meaning of this act, or shall knowingly and wilfully, contrary to the said directions and to the true intent and meaning hereof, receive for registration any return, or make, or cause or suffer any entry which ought not to be so received or made, or in case any secretary shall wilfully make, or knowingly permit or suffer to be made, any false or fraudulent entry in the books of registry in his office, or either of them, or in any of the said accounts or abstracts hereby directed to be made out, or shall fraudulently erase, obliterate, or alter, or knowingly permit or suffer to be fraudulently erased, obliterated, or altered, any entry which shall have been duly made in the said books of registry, or either of them, the said secretary shall, upon conviction of any such offence, not only be liable to all such pains and penalties as ought, by the laws in force within these islands at the time of such offence, to be inflicted on person convicted of forging or fraudulently altering public judicial records, but shall for ever forfeit his said [7] office, and be incapable of ever after holding the same, and shall moreover be liable to the civil suits or actions of all and every person or 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 secretary double costs of suit; and if any deputy, assistant, or clerk, or clerk of any secretary, shall commit, or knowingly permit or suffer to be committed, any such offence as aforesaid, he shall, upon conviction thereof, not only in like manner be liable to all such pains and penalties as ought by the laws of these islands to be inflicted on persons convicted of forging or fraudulently altering public judicial records, but shall forfeit such his office or employment, and be incapable of ever after holding the same; and if any other person or persons in these islands shall wilfully make or cause or procure to be made any false or fraudulent entry in the said books of registry or either of them, or in the said returns, or shall fraudulently erase, obliterate, or alter, or cause or procure to be erased, obliterated, or altered, any entry which shall have been made in the said books of registry or return, or either of them, every such person or persons so offending shall, upon conviction, not only be liable to all such pains and penalties as ought by the laws of these islands to be inflicted upon persons convicted of forging or fraudulently altering public judicial records, but shall forfeit to His Majesty, his heirs and successors, all his, her, or their estate, right, title, property, and interest in and to any slave or slaves that shall be the subject or subjects of any such false and fraudulent entry, erasure, obliteration, or alteration.

[Clause 16] And be it further enacted, That if any person or persons making any such original or subsequent return of slaves as aforesaid in these islands, shall falsely and wilfully insert therein any name or names, description or descriptions, of any slave or slaves or pretended slave or slaves as shall be so named and described, which doth not or do not in fact belong at the time of making such return to him, her, or them (except such slaves as are herein-after mentioned), every such person or persons so offending shall forfeit for every slave or pretended slave so falsely return the sum of [blank] pounds sterling money, to be recovered in such manner as any other penalty or forfeiture may be recovered in these islands by any law thereof; the one moiety thereof to the use of His Majesty, his heirs and successors, for the support of the government of these islands, and the other moiety thereof to the use of such person as shall inform, sue, and prosecute for the same: Provided always, that no person shall be liable to any such penalty or forfeiture as last aforesaid, in respect of any slave or slaves which he or she shall prove to have been at the time of the return actually employed upon the plantation or in the service of the asserted owner or owners, claimant or claimants, to whom the same were represented by such return to belong, although he or she shall not be able to prove that the property in such slave or slaves was such as was stated in the return, except when the prosecutor shall give evidence beyond the satisfaction of the return in the point of property, to shew that the same was fraudulent or wilfully false: Provided also, that no person shall be liable to any such penalty or forfeiture as last aforesaid, in respect of any slave or slaves who may have absconded or secreted themselves from the service or employ of their respective owner or owners, claimant or claimants, or other person or persons entitled to such slave or slaves, or be out of his, her, or their control at the time of making such original or subsequent return of slaves as aforesaid, so nevertheless that such owner or owners, claimant or claimants, or other person or persons do and shall specify the names of all such slaves in the affidavit herein-before mentioned, and shall moreover set forth in such return or returns the most faithful and accurate description (which, under the circumstances of the case, can be furnished) of all absent or missing slave or slaves, together with a particular statement of the facts and circumstances which prevent the owner or owners, claimant or claimants, or other person or persons from complying with the direction herein-before contained, and making such return as is herein-before required.

[Clause 17] And be it further enacted, That the certificate of the secretary of these islands, by him subscribed, certifying any copies or extracts from the books in his office, or the non-registration of any slave or slaves therein, shall be received in all courts and by all judges in His Majesty’s dominions as sufficient evidence of the authority of such copy or extract, and a sufficient evidence prima facie of the matters so certified; saving nevertheless to the party or parties against whom such evidence is adduced, the right of contradicting, impeaching, or correcting the same by an inspection of and a comparison with the original book or books of registry.

[Clause 18] And be it further enacted, That the secretary of these islands shall be entitled to demand and receive the following fees of office, and no more, (that is to say), for receiving and registering every return of any slave or slaves by him registered, the sum of [blank] pounds current money of these islands, and the further sum of [blank] of life money for every slave named and described in such return; for every search in his registry the sum of [blank]; for every certificate by him given and subscribed, the sum of [blank]; and for every copy of or extract from entries in his registry, the sum of [blank] for every hundred words therein contained.

[Clause 19] And be it further enacted, That from and after the final closing and authentication of such original registry as aforesaid, on complaint or information in writing, on oath, by any party claiming title to any slave or slaves, as owner, mortgagor, mortgagee, tenant for life or years, or in remainder, or in reversion, or otherwise, or on complaint or information, on oath as aforesaid, by any persons interested as creditor by judgment or otherwise, or claiming any other legal or equitable lien upon or against any slave or slaves, or the owner or owners thereof, that such slave or slaves have been omitted to be returned for registration by the party or parties to be named and described in such complaint or information in possession of such slave or slaves, and on production of a certificate from the secretary of these islands (who is hereby required in all such cases, after making due search in his registry, to deliver the same on payment of his requisite fee) to the party or parties requiring any such certificate, that no return appears in his said registry to have been given in by the party or parties complained of, of any such slave or slaves as shall be by him or them named and described, it shall thereupon be lawful to and for the said governor, lieutenant governor, or civil commander in chief of these islands for the time being, and he is hereby empowered and directed, to nominate and appoint by summary order some fit and proper person (having due regard to the choice and nomination of the party or parties interested or complaining) to take possession forthwith as receiver of all such slave or slaves as shall be then unregistered, belonging to or in the possession of the person or persons against whom such information or complaint shall be preferred, and also of any plantation or other estate or property in the holding or possession of any such person or persons, to which any unregistered slave or slaves may be attached or belong: Provided always, that such receiver so appointed as aforesaid shall in all cases be subject to the future order of the court of chancery, and shall not only enter into such security as is usually taken in cases of receivership, but shall also enter into further security in [blank] to render to the governor, lieutenant governor, or civil commander in chief, a full and accurate return of all such slave or slaves of which he shall so take possession within [blank] after taking possession; and the said governor, lieutenant governor, or civil commander in chief shall adopt all such measures as to him shall seem expedient and necessary, for effectually enforcing the due and prompt execution of any such order; and all and every justice or justices of the peace, acting in and for the district wherein such order is to be executed, and all and every other His Majesty’s subjects, shall be aiding and assisting therein, when directed for that purpose by any such justice of the peace as aforesaid, under and subject to a penalty of [blank].

[Clause 20] And be it further enacted, That every such receiver so appointed as aforesaid shall within next [blank] after obtaining possession of any such slave or slaves, render to the said governor, lieutenant governor, or civil commander in chief, a like and full accurate return thereof, as is here-before required for the purpose of registration, subject to the penalty of [blank] for every slave who shall be omitted therein, and which return he the said governor, lieutenant governor, or civil commander in chief shall direct and authorize the secretary of these islands to register and enrol in the registry books for slaves accordingly.

[Clause 21] And be it further enacted, That from and after the [blank] any slave or slaves not duly registered in pursuance of this act, shall and may be prosecuted for non-registration by any of His Majesty’s subjects, and the same shall be condemned as forfeited to His Majesty, his heirs and successors, for the use of the government of these islands, for the purpose of divesting and barring all such property, right, title, and interest whatever which before existed or might afterwards be set up or claimed in or to such slave or slaves so prosecuted and condemned; and the attorney general of these islands for the time being shall, at the instance of every such person or persons, and on production of the certificates of the secretary of these islands of the non-registration of any such slave or slaves, order and direct the clerk of the supreme court to proceed to inquiry, &c. (N.B. Apply the directions and proceedings of the 9th Geo. 3d. cap. 9. to this act.)

[Clause 22] And be it further enacted, That on such inquiry being proceeded in as aforesaid, the said governor, lieutenant-governor, or civil commander in chief for the time being of these islands, shall make such orders and regulations as to him shall seem most expedient for the safe custody, disposal, employment, and support of any such slave or slaves so prosecuted for non-registration under the authority of this act, until final judgment therein shall be given.

[Clause 23 not indicated]

[Clause 24] And be it further enacted, That in case any person or persons whomsoever 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 suborn any person to take any such oath falsely, he or she 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 perjury, or shall procure and suborn any person to commit any wilful or corrupt perjury.

[Clause 25] And be it further enacted, That all negroes or persons of colour arriving in these islands shall, in addition to the regulations imposed by the alien act, report themselves to the registrar within twenty-four hours after their arrival, and produce their freedom, signed by the governor or commander in chief for the time being of some other colony, and in default thereof they shall be deemed runaway slaves, and shall be proceeded against according to the laws in that case made and provided.