An Act to amend, consolidate and bring into one Act, the several Laws relating to Slaves, and for giving them further protection and security, and for suspending several Acts and Clauses of Acts therein mentioned, and for other purposes.

An Act to amend, consolidate and bring into one Act, the several Laws relating to Slaves, and for giving them further protection and security, and for suspending several Acts and Clauses of Acts therein mentioned, and for other purposes. 

[passed, but waiting royal assent. Governor believes it should receive assent]

BAHAMA ISLANDS:—An Act to amend, consolidate and bring into one Act, the several Laws relating to Slaves, and for giving them further protection and security, and for suspending several Acts and Clauses of Acts therein mentioned, and for other purposes.

WHEREAS it is expedient that the laws which from time to time have been enacted for the government of slaves should be amended, consolidated and brought into one Act, and other provisions made for their protection, and the promoting of their moral and religious instruction, and by means thereof their general comfort and happiness, so far as is consistent with due order and subordination, and the well-being of this colony; may it therefore please Your Majesty, that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by his Excellency Sir James Carmichael Smyth, baronet, Major-general of Your Majesty’s forces, Governor and Commander-in-Chief, the Council and Assembly of Your Majesty’s Bahama Islands, and it is hereby enacted and ordained by the authority of the same, that from and after the pass­ing of this Act, all and every the hereinafter mentioned laws, and clauses and parts of laws, so far forth as the same do relate to negroes or other slaves, or to free blacks and free people of colour, be and the same are hereby suspended for and during the continuance of this Act, anything in the said laws, or clauses of laws, or in any other law to the contrary notwithstanding; that ,is to say, an Act passed in the seventh year of the reign of his late Majesty King George the Third, intituled “An Act for governing Negroes, Mulattos and Indians;” also one other Act, passed in the eighth year of his said late Majesty’s reign, intituled “An Act for suspending a Clause in an Act intituled ‘An Act for governing Negroes, Mulattos and Indians, and for amending the said Act;'” also one other Act, passed in the twentieth year of his said late Majesty’s reign, intituled “An Act for suspending parts of certain Clauses, and amending other Clauses, in an Act, intituled ‘An Act for governing Negroes, Mulattos and Indians;’” also one other Act, passed in the year last aforesaid, intituled, “An Act for governing Negroes, Mulattos, Mustees and Indians, and for suspending several Acts therein mentioned also one other Act, passed in the same year last aforesaid, intituled “An Act to amend a Clause in an Act passed in the seventh year of his late Majesty’s reign, intituled ‘An Act for governing Negroes, Mulattos and Indians;’” also one other Act, passed in the twenty-fourth year of his said late Majesty’s reign, intituled “An Act for govern­ing Negroes, Mulattos, Mustees and Indians, and for suspending several Acts therein mentioned;” also all and every Act and Acts, clause and clauses of Acts, respecting the governing of negroes, mulattos, mustees and Indians, which in and by the said last recited Act were or are thereby suspended during the continuance of the said Act.

II. And whereas it is due to good policy, as well as to humanity and justice, that the condition of slaves should be rendered as comfortable as possible, by supplying them with good, wholesome and sufficient provisions, with proper clothing and other necessaries, and it is expedient that the same should be regulated by law; be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the master, owner or possessor of every plantation, pen or other lands whatsoever, within these islands, shall provide and give to every slave above the age of ten years at and after the rate of one peck of unground Indian or Guinea corn, or twenty-one pints of wheat flour, or seven quarts of rice, or fifty-six pounds of potatoes, cocoas or yams, per week, over and above a sufficient quantity of land, as and for the proper ground of every such slave, and one half of the aforesaid allowance to each child below the aforesaid age of ten years; and that every master or owner shall provide and give to every slave in his or her possession, two suits of proper and sufficient clothing in the course of every year, under the penalty of fifty pounds for every offence.

III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the passing of this Act, no manumission, gift, sale, assignment, devise, bequest or other conveyance of slaves, shall be valid or effectual in law or equity, unless by nuncupative or other last will and testament, duly executed and published accord­ing to law, or by deed of gift, deed of bargain and sale, or other instrument in writing, duly executed under seal, or otherwise attested by at least one literate, free, competent and disinterested witness; all which wills, deeds and other instruments of writing, shall and may be proved, recorded and dealt with, in the proper court or office of this Government, in manner and form, and to the same effect, and under the same regulations as wills and deeds are proved, recorded and dealt with accord­ing to law in other cases: provided however, that nothing herein contained shall invalidate or in any manner affect any manumissions, gifts, sales, devises, bequests or other conveyances of slaves, granted or made at any time before the passing of this Act: and provided also, that in the wills and deeds and other instruments of writing as aforesaid, hereinbefore required, no particular form of words shall be con­sidered necessary, but the same shall be taken and understood according to the true intent and meaning of the same, as therein written and expressed: and provided also, that all manumissions and conveyances of slaves, in fraud of creditors, or others having a legal or equitable interest in the same, shall as heretofore be void (so far as the interests of such creditors, or others having such legal or equitable interest therein, are concerned), anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any master, owner or possessor of any slave, whether in his or her own right, or as attorney, guardian, trustee, executor or otherwise, shall manumit, discard or turn away any slave, by reason of such slave being rendered incapable of labour, by sickness, age or infirmity, all such manumissions shall be valid; but nevertheless every such master, owner or possessor shall be and he is hereby obliged (notwithstanding such manumission, and without prejudice thereto) to keep every such sick, infirm, disabled or superannuated slave, or manumitted person, on his estate and premises or elsewhere, so long as such sickness, infirmity or inability shall continue, and to find and provide him or her with wholesome necessaries of life, and not to suffer any such slave or manumitted person to be in want thereof, or to wander about and become burthensome to others, under a penalty not exceeding ten pounds for every offence, to be recovered in a summary way before any two justices of the peace, who are hereby authorized and required to cause any master, owner or possessor, offend­ing in the premises, or his or her or their agent or attorney, and such other persons as they shall judge necessary, to be summoned before them, to enable them to judge of the justice of such charge, and to determine whether any such master, owner or possessor ought to incur the aforesaid penalty; and in the meantime, and until such trial can be had, the said justices of the peace, on their view, or on the infor­mation of any white person on oath, are hereby required to lodge any such wander­ing, sick, aged or infirm slave, or manumitted person, in the nearest workhouse or other place of security, there to be clothed and fed, but not compelled to work, at the expense of such master, owner or possessor, until such trial as aforesaid can be had; and if it shall appear to the said justices, upon such trial, that the party or parties complained of is or are guilty of the offence alleged, and he, she or they shall refuse to pay the said penalty, together with the workhouse-fees and charges of conviction, the said justices are hereby authorized and required to commit such offender or offenders to the next common gaol for a term not exceeding three months, there to remain without bail or mainprize, or until he, she or they shall pay the same.

V. And whereas by reason of deaths or removals of proprietors of slaves, or of slaves having heretofore been manumitted without any suitable provision being made for their maintenance, and from other causes, some such slaves or manumitted persons, rendered unable to labour by disease, old age, or other means, have become burthensome to the inhabitants; for remedy whereof, be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful for the vestries of the several parishes and islands, once in every year, to lay a tax upon the inhabitants, in the same manner as the parochial taxes are usually laid, for the purpose of raising such sum as they shall judge necessary for the maintenance, clothing, medical care and attendance of all such negro, mulatto or other slaves, or other such manumitted per­sons; and any two justices of the peace are hereby authorized and required, upon application being made to them, to order all such slaves or other persons as afore­said to be removed and conveyed to the workhouse of the parish where (if a slave) the former owner or owners, proprietor or proprietors, lived or resided, or (if a person of colour made free) where the person or persons who manumitted or set free such person of colour resided before his or her manumission, there to be lodged and taken care of; and the justices of the peace and vestries of the several islands or parishes are hereby authorized and required from time to time to make such regulations for the purposes aforesaid as to them shall seem necessary and expe­dient.

VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all and every Act and Acts, clause and clauses thereof, whereby any tax or duty whatever is or hath been imposed on the manumission of any slave or slaves within these Islands, shall be and the same are (so far as relates to the imposition of any such tax or duty) suspended for and during the continuance of this Act, and that no duty, or tax or fee of office whatsoever, shall be paid or payable within the said islands, upon, for or in respect of the manumission of any slave, or the enrolment of any deed of manumission, save and except a fee not exceeding the sum of eight shillings of lawful money of the said islands, which shall be paid to the public secretary and registrar of records thereof, for the enrolment of any such deed of manumission ; and if any person within the said islands shall hereafter take, demand or receive any such duty, tax or fee of office, save as aforesaid, the person so offending shall incur and become liable to the payment of a fine not exceeding forty pounds of lawful money of the said islands, to be recovered and applied in manner hereinafter directed.

VII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the passing of this Act, at no sale or transfer of slaves hereafter to be made, whether by private contract or public sale, or under or by virtue of any mortgage, execution for debt, or other legal process whatever, or otherwise howsoever, shall the husband and wife (or reputed husband and wife), and child (or reputed child) of such hus­band and wife (or reputed husband and wife),—the said husband and wife (or reputed husband and wife), and the said child (or reputed child) of such husband and wife (or of such reputed husband and wife), or of either of them, being the pro­perty of the same owner or owners, and the said child being below the age of four­teen years,—be sold or transferred, the one without the other, or otherwise than in one entire lot, and in one and the same lot, and to one and the same person or persons; nor shall any executor or other person taking upon himself the burthen of execution of any last will, assent to any specific legacy of a slave, or deliver to any legatee or legatees any slave or slaves, to him, her or them, by the testator or testatrix of such executor or administrator specifically bequeathed, in any case wherein the effect of any such assent or delivery would be to separate or cause to be separated from each other the husband and wife (or reputed husband and wife), or separate or cause to be separated any child under the age of fourteen years from his or her parents (or reputed parents), or either of them, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this Act; but such executor or administrator in every such case, after such inventory and appraisement of the goods and chattels of his or her testator or testatrix made, had and returned, as by law is required, shall sell or dispose of every such husband and wife (or reputed husband and wife), and every such child (or reputed child), and his or her parents (or reputed parents), or either of them, in one separate and entire lot, and in one and the same lot, and to the same person or persons; and all claim, right, title, interest or demand whatever (either in law or equity) which any such legatee or legatees, without the provisions of this Act, might or could have had or claimed, in, to or against any such slave so bequeathed as aforesaid by any such testator or testatrix, and afterwards so sold and disposed of by any such executor or administrator, shall thenceforward and for ever thereafter be transferred to and exist in the net proceeds of the lot in which the slave to such legatee as aforesaid bequeathed shall have been included and sold, and shall be rated and proportioned in amount according to the rate or proportion which the sum at which such slave shall have been appraised, shall bear comparatively in relation to the several sum and sums at which other the slave or slaves in the same lot included shall have been also appraised.

VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person or persons, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this Act, shall wilfully and know­ingly make or cause to be made any transfer or sale of any such slave or slaves, or if any executor or other such administrator of any last will shall assent to the specific legacy of any such slave, or shall deliver or cause to be delivered to any such legatee or legatees the slave or slaves to him, her or them, so as aforesaid bequeathed, every person so offending shall for every such offence forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred pounds, to be recovered and applied in manner hereinafter provided: provided always, that nothing herein contained shall extend or be con­strued to extend to affect any mortgage or mortgages of slaves duly made and executed previous to the passing of this Act, and which shall have been recorded or registered in the public office in Nassau, on or before the first day of July one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.

IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that alt sales, bargains, gifts, grants, bequests, and other conveyances of slaves, whether under seal or otherwise, or by indenture or otherwise, the purport and effect of which shall be to separate families contrary to the provisions and true intent and meaning of this Act, shall, so far as relates to any such separations, be null and void, in law and equity, to all intents and purposes whatsoever.

X. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all masters and owners, or in their absence, their overseers, shall as much as in them lies endeavour to instruct their slaves in the Christian religion, and shall do their endeavour to fit them for baptism, and as soon as conveniently may be shall cause to be baptized all such slaves as they can make sensible of a Deity and of the Christian faith.

XI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful for slaves, by and with the consent of their owner or owners, and not other­wise, to intermarry with slaves and with persons of free condition, in manner and form, and to the same effect, and according to the same laws, restrictions and pro­visions, canonical and civil, as marriages are now or may be solemnized between free white persons in these islands, with the exception that a permission or consent in writing of the owner or owners of such slave or slaves, so to intermarry, shall supersede the necessity of any publication of banns, or other license whatsoever; provided that such permission shall be delivered under the hand or hands of such owner or owners to the officiating minister or magistrate, or other person authorized to solemnize such marriage, at least fourteen days before the solemnization of any such slave marriage; and that the same shall be solemnized on a Sunday in the usual public manner, and in some church or public place of religious worship (when there shall be such within a reasonable distance of the residence of the par­ties to be so married), between the hours of eight in the morning and twelve at noon.

XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that in and by virtue of every permission or consent of the owner or owners of such slave or slaves as aforesaid, any clergyman of the established church of England and Ireland, or any minister of the kirk of Scotland, or any public teacher of religion within the said islands, being a free white person, and carrying on there no other business, profes­sion or occupation, with a view to profit, except that of a schoolmaster (or in case there shall be no such clergyman, minister, or public teacher of religion, on the island or key whereat such marriage is to be celebrated, then any justice of the peace there), shall be authorized to solemnize the marriage of such slaves, or of such slave and free person : provided always, that no such public teacher of religion (not being a clergyman of the church of England, or a minister of the kirk of Scotland) shall be so authorized to solemnize any such marriage, unless the Governor or Commander in chief for the time being shall have first granted to such public teacher a written license to celebrate marriages, nor unless such license shall have been duly registered in the proper office of this Government, and shall continue to be in force at the time of his being so authorized to solemnize any such marriage.

XIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful for any such clergyman, minister, public teacher, or justice aforesaid, upon and after the receipt of any such permission aforesaid, forthwith to solemnize any such marriage as aforesaid, and the same, when so solemnized, shall be to all intents, constructions and purposes whatsoever, binding, valid and effectual in the law: provided nevertheless, that no such marriage shall confer or be construed to confer on any such slave or slaves, or on his, her or their issue, any right or interest incon­sistent with the duties which shall or may be owing by the said slave or slaves to his, her or their owner or owners, or to the Government, or be at variance with those rights which the owner or owners, and the Government respectively, are by law entitled to assert and exercise over such slave or slaves and their progeny.

XIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the person by whom any such marriage may be so solemnized by virtue of any such permission as aforesaid, shall within six months after any such solemnization, transmit (under a penalty of not more than twenty pounds of lawful money of the said islands of like money for every refusal and neglect) a certificate of such solemnization to the secretary of these islands, at his office in Nassau; and the said secretary shall register, in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, every marriage which may [44] have been so solemnized, with the date thereof, and the names, descriptions and place of abode of the parties contracting, and of the persons solemnizing every such marriage, without any charge or fee whatever.

XV. Provided always, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to render any marriage between a slave and person of free condition valid and effectual in the law, which would be illegal and void if both such persons were of free condition.

XVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any master, owner or other person whatsoever, who shall wilfully mutilate any slave, or cause, permit or suffer any slave to be mutilated, with his or her privity or consent, shall be liable to be indicted and prosecuted in the general court for the same, and upon conviction shall be punished by fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, and im­prisonment not exceeding twelve months, for every offence; and such punishment is declared to be without prejudice to any action that could or might be brought by the owner or proprietor for recovery of damages for or on account of the same; and in cases where the owner of any such slave shall be guilty of any such offence, it shall and may be lawful for the court, if it shall deem necessary for the future protection of such slave, to declare him or her to be free and discharged from all manner of servitude to all intents and purposes whatever; and in all such cases it shall and may be lawful for the court to order the fine to be paid to the vestry of the parish to which such slave belonged, to the use of the said parish, the vestry, in considera­tion thereof, paying to such slave so made free an annuity of ten pounds per annum during life; and in case any slave or slaves shall suffer any such mutilation as aforesaid, any justice of the peace is hereby authorized and required, on view of the fact, to send such slave to the nearest workhouse, there to be kept and carefully attended to, at the expense of the parish, until such time as there can be a meeting of the justices and vestry of such parish, which justices and vestry are hereby created a council of protection for such slave, and are authorized and required to make a full inquiry respecting the mutilation of such slave, and if to them it shall appear proper, shall cause the owner or owners of such mutilated slave to be indicted and prosecuted, the expense of which prosecution shall be paid by the parish where such offence shall be committed; and in case the owner or owners of such slave or slaves shall be able to pay the costs and charges of such prosecution, the church­wardens and vestry are hereby required to commence a suit or suits against such owner or owners, in which they shall recover all costs and charges by them laid out and expended in such criminal prosecution and civil action; and the keeper of the workhouse to which any such slave shall have been committed is hereby required, upon due notice of the meeting of such justices and vestry, to produce such mutilated slave or slaves for their inspection, under a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds for every neglect.

XVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall not be lawful for any court of justice to pass any sentence whereby any slave shall be directed to be mutilated or maimed, for any offence whatever.

XVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person shall wilfully and with malice aforethought kill, or cause to be killed, any negro or other slave, every such person shall be adjudged guilty of felony and murder, and shall suffer death without benefit of clergy; provided always, that no such conviction shall extend to the corruption of blood, or to the forfeiture of lands and tenements, goods and chattels, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.

XIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person shall wantonly or cruelly whip, maltreat, beat, bruise, wound, imprison or keep in confinement, without sufficient support, any slave or slaves, he, she or they shall be subject to be indicted for the same in the general court, and shall suffer such punishment, by fine or imprisonment, or both, as the court shall think proper to inflict; and such punishment is declared to be without prejudice to any action that may be brought for recovery of damages, in case such slave shall not be the pro­perty of the offender.

XX. And in order to restrain arbitrary punishment, be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no slave shall on any account receive more than twenty lashes at any one time, or for any one offence, unless the owner or employer of such slave, or supervisor of the workhouse, or keeper of the gaol, shall be present; and that no such owner, employer, supervisor or gaol keeper shall on any account punish a slave with more than thirty-nine lashes at one time and for one offence, nor inflict or suffer to be inflicted any second punishment on the same day, nor until the delinquent shall have recovered from the effects of any former punishment; nor shall any female slave above the age of twelve years be punished otherwise than in private, under the penalty of ten pounds for every offence: provided always nevertheless, that nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to authorize or empower the keeper of any gaol, or the supervisor of any work­house, to inflict any manner of corporal punishment on slaves committed to their custody, without authority from the owners or employers of such slaves, or other lawful representatives of such owners or employers, or of some court or magistrate having competent jurisdiction in the premises: provided also, that the keepers of goals or workhouses shall not be hereby precluded from placing refractory prison­ers in close confinement, or otherwise under lawful restraint, so far as the same may be temporarily necessary for the maintenance of discipline in such gaols or workhouses.

XXI. And whereas it is customary for owners to commit their slaves to the com­mon gaol for slight offences which are not punishable under this Act; be it there­fore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that in all cases where any owner or possessor of a slave shall send him or her to gaol for any such trivial offence, the provost ­marshal or his deputy or gaoler shall forthwith take and receive such slave into custody, and him or her safely keep until released by the owner, and shall receive for his trouble three shillings, together with one shilling for every day such slave shall have remained in gaol, provided such slave shall have been maintained by the provost-marshal.

XXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it is and shall henceforth be unlawful for any person or persons within the said Bahama Islands to use any whip, cat, or other instrument of the like nature, while superintending the labour of any slave or slaves in or upon the fields of any plantation, or at or about any salt-pond within the said islands, for the purpose of impelling or coercing any slave or slaves to perform labour of any kind or nature whatsoever; and in case any person or persons, contrary to the provisions of this Act, shall use any whip, cat, or other instrument as aforesaid, while superintending the labour of any slave or slaves in or upon the fields of any such plantation, or at or about any such salt­ponds, for the purpose of impelling or coercing any slave or slaves to perform labour of any kind or nature whatsoever, then and in every such case the person or persons so offending, and each and every the person or persons thereunto directing, authorizing, instigating, or procuring or aiding, assisting or abetting, shall be deemed guilty of a misdeameanor.

XXIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it is and hence­forth shall be unlawful for any person or persons within these said islands to inflict in any one day upon any slave, for any offence, or upon any ground, or for any reason whatsoever, any number of stripes or lashes exceeding thirty-nine in the whole, or to inflict upon any such slave any punishment or correction by the whip­ping, scourging or beating of his person, unless the person of such slave shall at the time of such punishment or correction be free from any laceration occasioned by any previous whipping, scourging or beating, or to inflict upon any such slave any punishment or correction as aforesaid, unless the owner or other person by whose authority the punishment is inflicted shall be present at and witness the infliction of the whole of such punishment; and in case any person or persons, contrary to the provisions of this Act, shall inflict in any one day upon any one slave, for any one offence, or upon any ground, or for any reason whatsoever, any number of stripes or lashes exceeding thirty-nine in the whole, or shall whip, scourge or beat any such slave at any time when there may be upon his person any laceration occasioned by any former whipping, scourging or beating, or shall in­flict upon any such slave any such punishment or correction as aforesaid, without the presence and attendance, during the whole of such punishment, of the owner or other person by whose authority such punishment is inflicted, then and in every such case the person or persons so offending, and each and every the person or persons thereunto directing, authorizing, instigating, or procuring or aiding, assist­ing or abetting, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor: provided nevertheless, that nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to any punish­ment or punishments which may be inflicted upon any such slave under or by virtue of any sentence or judgment of any magistrate or magistrates, or other court of competent jurisdiction: provided also, that nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to require the presence of the owner or other person by whose authority the punishment is inflicted, when the same shall be inflicted by the keeper of a goal or supervisor of a workhouse.

XXIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it is and hence­forth shall be unlawful to correct or punish by whipping or flogging any female slave within the said islands, for any offence committed by any such slave, in the presence of any male person, excepting only the owner or owners of such slaves, or others by whose authority such punishment is inflicted, and the persons actually inflicting the same; and if any person or persons within the said islands shall whip, flog or correct any such female slave otherwise than as aforesaid, then and in every such case the person or persons so offending, and each and every person or persons thereunto directing, authorizing, instigating, or procuring or aiding, or assisting or abetting, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

XXV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any slave shall hereafter commit any offence within the said islands, which by the law or laws now in force there are punishable by whipping or flogging, it shall and may be lawful for the owner, manager or other person or persons in charge of any such offending slave, at the discretion of any such owner, manager or other persons in charge as aforesaid, to commute the punishment of flogging for one or other of the punish­ments or modes of punishment hereinafter mentioned; that is to say, first, by soli­tary confinement, with or without work, in any fit and proper place, on any plantation or estate, or elsewhere within the said islands, provided that no such solitary con­finement shall continue for any greater period of duration than fourteen days at a time for any one offence, and that no such slave shall be subjected to any such punishment by solitary confinement more than twenty-one days in any one calendar month; secondly, by field-stocks, for confinement of the hands, provided that the period of any such confinement shall not at any one time exceed six hours, and shall not be repeated a second time until twenty-four hours between the time of any by such repetition and the termination of any such previous punishment; thirdly, by house-stocks, for the hands and feet, or either of them, with or without hats, during any period of the day, provided that the period of any such confinement shall not exceed four hours for any one offence, and that no such punishment shall be re­peated twice within the period of twelve hours; fourthly, by bed-stocks, for the con­finement of the feet during the night, provided that no such punishment shall be repeated within the period of twelve hours; fifthly, by distinguishing dresses, to be used either with or without the stocks, provided that such punishment be not continued for any longer period than ten days for any one offence, and that the same be not repeated within one week between the time of any such repetition and the termination of any such previous punishment.

XXVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person or persons shall repeat any such punishment as aforesaid at an earlier period than is hereby allowed, or shall continue any such punishment beyond the period of duration for that purpose herein prescribed and limited, or shall use any stocks for the pur­pose of punishment in any such manner as to affect the health of the slave confined therein, or to inflict any permanent injury on his or her person, or shall fail to supply the slave undergoing any such punishment, when the same shall continue for more than twelve hours, with a proper quantity of prepared farinaceous food, and with a proper supply of water, or who shall punish any woman known or supposed by him to be pregnant, by solitary confinement, or by stocks applied in such a man­ner as to produce the risk of a miscarriage, then and in every such case the person or persons so offending, and each and every the person or persons thereunto directing, authorizing, instigating, or procuring or aiding, assisting or abetting, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

XXVII. And whereas a mischievous practice is said to have at one time prevailed in certain colonies of punishing ill-disposed slaves, and such as are apt to abscond from their owners, by fixing iron collars with projecting bars or hooks; be it enacted and declared, that such practice is utterly unlawful within the said islands, and that no person shall on any account whatever punish any negro or other slave, whether his own property or otherwise, by fixing or causing to be fixed, any iron or other collar round the neck of such slave, or by loading the body or limbs of such slave [47] with chains, irons or weights of any kind, other than such as are absolutely neces­sary for securing the person of such slave while in confinement, under the penalty of fifty pounds; and any justice of the peace is hereby authorized and required, on in­formation or view of such offence, to order such collars, chains, irons or weights to be immediately taken off, under the penalty of one hundred pounds for every neg­lect or refusal.

XXVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every slave within these islands shall be allowed the usual number of Christmas holidays, to wit, Christmas-day, and the two following working-days.

XXIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every overseer who shall absent himself from the estate under his care or management on any of the aforesaid holidays, without leave of his employer, shall for every such offence forfeit the sum of five pounds for each day.

XXX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no negro or other slave shall be allowed to hunt any horned cattle, horses, mares, mules, asses or other animals, with lavers, guns, cutlasses, or other arms, unless in the company of his master, overseer, or some other white person, or by his permission in writing; and any negro or other slave who shall offend contrary to the true intent and meaning of this Act, shall suffer such punishment by whipping as any two justices of the peace shall think proper to inflict, not exceeding fifty lashes.

XXXI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every person from whose service any slave shall abscond, shall within fourteen days thereafter, give notice thereof by public advertisement, wherein shall be inserted the name and description of such runaway, by means whereof he or she may be more easily known and apprehended; and in case the owner shall neglect to do so, he or she shall not be entitled to any satisfaction from the treasury for any such slave executed or trans­ported by virtue of this Act for any crime whatever.

XXXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall not be lawful either to sell or buy any runaway slave, and that any person selling or buying any such slave, while absent, shall forfeit the sum of thirty pounds.

XXXIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all slaves who shall run away and continue absent for a time not exceeding six months, shall, upon conviction before any two justices of the peace, suffer such punishment as the said justices shall think proper to inflict, not extending to life or limb.

XXXIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any slave who shall run away from his owner or lawful possessor, and be absent for more than six months, being duly convicted, shall be sentenced to be transported for life, or shall suffer such punishment, not extending to life or limb, as the court shall think proper to inflict.

XXXV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any person of free condition who shall knowingly aid, abet, or in any manner assist in harbouring or concealing any runaway slave or slaves, or in their deserting and going off these islands to another, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall suffer fine or imprisonment, or both, at the discretion of the court in which the offender shall be tried, and also further imprisonment until such fine shall be paid; provided however, that the Governor or Commander-in-chief for the time being may, with the advice and consent of His Majesty’s Council in and for these islands, with the assent of the convicted offender, commute the imprisonment in either case to banishment for life from these islands, but at the sole proper charge and expense of such offender, and in such manner and on such conditions, as to the time within which such offender shall depart, as the Governor or Commander-in-chief shall designate or appoint; and should such offender not so depart within the time so limited or appointed, or after having departed shall be again found at large within the limits of this Government, such offender shall on conviction thereof be sentenced to imprisonment for life; provided however, that in case of unavoidable accident or necessity, the Governor or Commander-in-chief may enlarge at discretion the time for the departure of any such offender as aforesaid; and all slaves guilty of like offences as aforesaid, shall on conviction thereof be punished by flogging, and receive not more than two hundred nor less than fifty stripes on the bare back, at the discretion of the court before whom they shall be tried; provided however, that nothing in this Act contained shall in any manner preclude any person or persons injured by desertion of slaves, from any action of damages which he, she or they might otherwise lawfully have against him, her or them, who shall have so harboured such runaways, or assisted them in their desertion as aforesaid.

XXXVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful to proceed against the person or persons so aiding, assisting and abetting such slave or slaves in going off these islands, whether the principal or principals be convicted or not, anything in this or any other Act, or any law, usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

XXXVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every slave who shall take up any such runaway slave, so that such runaway may be taken and restored to his or her owner or owners, shall be entitled to such reward as any two justices of the peace shall think reasonable and just, not exceeding three pounds, to be paid by such person or persons as the said justices shall deter­mine ought to pay the same.

XXXVIII. And whereas it is dangerous to the peace and safety of these islands to suffer slaves to continue out as runaways, and it is absolutely necessary to declare what slaves shall be deemed runaways; be it therefore enacted and declared, that every slave who shall be absent from his or her owner or employer, without leave, for ten days together, and shall be found at the distance of eight miles from the house, plantation or settlement to which he or she belongs, without a ticket or permit to pass (such only excepted as are going with firewood, grass, fruit, pro­visions, or small stock, and other goods which they may lawfully sell, to market, and returning therefrom), shall be deemed a runaway.

XXXIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any free person who shall apprehend any runaway slave shall be entitled to receive from the owner, employer, overseer or manager of such slave, the sum of twenty shillings and no more, besides mile-money, at the rate of two shillings per mile for the first five miles, and one shilling per mile afterwards, provided such slave has absented himself or herself ten days without the privity, knowledge or consent of the pro­prietor, owner, or other white person residing on the plantation or place to which such slave shall belong; which term of absence shall be declared on the oath of such proprietor, overseer, or other white person as aforesaid, if required by the party taking up the slave; but it is the true intent and meaning of this Act, that every person who shall apprehend any slave that is actually runaway, shall be entitled to the aforesaid reward although such slave shall not be eight miles from home, and although the aforesaid term of ten days shall not have elapsed.

XL. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any slave who shall take or kill another slave in actual rebellion, shall receive from the church­wardens of the parish in which any such slave shall have been so killed, the sum of five pounds, and ten pounds if taken alive, also a blue cloth coat with a red cross on the right shoulder, the whole expenses of which shall be reimbursed by the receiver-general for the time being, out of any money in his hands unappropriated.

XLI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any slave shall be killed by any person or persons in the execution of this Act, or under the authority of the same, the person or persons by whom such slave may be killed shall (as speedily as possibly may be) give information thereof to some justice of the peace, who is hereby required to take his examination, and also the evidence or information of any person or persons respecting the same; and any white person or free person of colour, killing any such slave, who shall neglect forthwith to give the information hereby required, shall forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred pounds.

XLII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any person or persons apprehending any runaway slave, shall convey him or her to his or her owner, employer or manager, if resident on the island in which such slave shall have been apprehended; but if not therein resident, or if payment of the reward and other charges hereinbefore mentioned shall not be made, then to the nearest gaol or workhouse, the keeper whereof is hereby authorized and required to receive such slave into his custody, and to pay the party delivering such slave the sum of twenty shillings and mile-money as aforesaid, and no more, under the penalty of [49] five pounds; provided nevertheless, that no gaoler or workhouse-keeper shall pay any such sum or sums before such person shall have taken an oath (which oath such gaoler and workhouse-keeper shall file in his office, and produce when there­unto required by the owner or possessor of such slave, under the penalty of five pounds) that the slave so apprehended was at the reputed distance of eight miles from the house, plantation or settlement to which such slave belongs (except as is before excepted), and that such slave had no ticket or permit in writing from his or her owner or possessor, employer or overseer, at the time of being apprehended, and that such slave had been first carried to his or her owner, employer or manager, provided such owner, employer or manager shall be in the island where such slave shall have been apprehended, and the payment of the reward and charges aforesaid was neglected or refused to be made.

XLIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that whensoever any slave or alleged slave shall be arrested, or lodged in any gaol or workhouse (except by or under the authority, directly or indirectly, of the owner of such alleged slave), on a charge or under a suspicion of being a runaway slave, such alleged runaway shall, as soon as it may conveniently be done, be taken by the person arresting such alleged runaway, or the keeper of such gaol or workhouse, before a magistrate for examination, which magistrate shall thereupon, after due inquiry into the circum­stances of the case, either commit the prisoner to gaol, as a slave to be claimed, or otherwise dispose of him or her according to law; provided however, that no such commitment on that account shall be for a longer space than one year; and if on the expiration of that year, the prisoner, after having been duly advertised as herein­after directed, shall not be claimed as a slave, he or she shall then again be taken as before to a magistrate, and by him discharged from custody, or otherwise dealt with according to law; provided also that no runaway slave shall on any account be committed to gaol by any magistrate of a parish where there shall be a work­house established, but to such workhouse only.

XLIV. And to the end that the owners and proprietors of slaves so apprehended as aforesaid may obtain information of the gaol or workhouse in which they are confined; be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the keeper of every workhouse or gaol shall and they are hereby required, once in every month, to advertise in the Royal Gazette, or other public newspaper, and at the most public place in the island on which such negro shall be apprehended, the height, names, marks and sex, and also the country (when the same can be ascertained) of every runaway slave then in his custody, and also the name or names of the owner or owners thereof, if known, under the penalty of ten pounds for every neglect or omission; and for the expense of such advertisement it shall and may be lawful for the keeper of every gaol or workhouse to charge the owner or owners of each runaway slave at and after the rate of twelve shillings per month, and no more, and to detain any such slave in custody until the same, together with the charges of apprehending and other fees, and poundage after the rate of two shillings in the pound, shall be paid; and also one shilling for every twenty-four hours such slave shall have been in custody, for subsistence, and sixpence per day for medical care and extraordinary nourishment when necessary; and the gaoler, workhouse-keeper or supervisor shall attest every such account upon oath.

XLV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the keeper of. every workhouse or gaol within these islands shall provide and furnish every such slave confined in such workhouse or gaol, a sufficient quantity of good and whole­some provisions, according to the allowance hereinbefore required to be given upon every plantation, under the penalty of ten pounds for every neglect.

XLVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no gaoler or workhouse-keeper shall on any pretence whatever employ any slave sent to his custody, on any plantation belonging to him or in his possession, nor hire nor lend any such slave to work for any person or persons, under the penalty of fifty pounds for every offence.

XLVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any negro or other slave who shall be confined in any workhouse or other place of confinement, and shall escape therefrom before trial or the expiration of his or her sentence, upon being retaken, and proof being made of his or her identity before any two justices of the peace, shall be adjudged to be sent back to confinement, and shall receive punishment by whipping not exceeding fifty lashes.

XLVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if the provost ­marshal or his deputy, or any constable, gaoler or workhouse-keeper, shall willingly or negligently suffer any slave to escape, so that such slave shall not be retaken, such marshal, constable, gaoler or workhouse-keeper shall forfeit a sum not exceed­ing twenty pounds, without prejudice to the owner’s action of damages.

XLIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any negro or other slave, at any time of invasion or appearance of an enemy, shall be killed in service of the country, the owner shall be paid out of the public treasury the full value of such slave, to be ascertained by any two justices of the peace.

L. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any master, owner, guardian or attorney, of any plantation or settlement shall suffer any strange slaves, exceeding twelve in number, to assemble together and beat their drums, or blow their horns or shells, in any place under his or her or their care or manage­ment, or shall not endeavour to disperse or prevent such meeting by giving notice thereof to the next magistrate or commissioned officer, that a proper force may be sent for the purpose, every such master, owner, guardian or attorney shall forfeit for every such offence the sum of fifty pounds, provided information of such offence be given upon oath, within five days after the commission of such offence.

LI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all officers civil and military, shall be and they are hereby empowered and required to enter into any place whatever in order to disperse any unlawful assembly of slaves, and to sup­press and prevent all riotous unlawful drumming or other noise, any law, custom or usage to the contrary notwithstanding.

LII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any slave who shall hereafter be found to have concealed in his or her house, or otherwise in his or her possession, any fire-arms, gunpowder, slugs or balls, shall on conviction before any two justices, suffer such punishment as the said justices shall think proper to inflict by whipping.

LIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any slave who shall use any threats of unlawful violence or injury, or any scandalous or other abusive language to any white person, shall be punished with such punishment, not extending to life or limb, as the court shall think proper to inflict, provided such conflict or striking be not by cammand [sic] of the owner of such slave, or his or her attorney, overseer or other person having authority over such slave, or in the lawful defence of his owner’s person or property.

LIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any slave shall assault a white person with a dangerous weapon, whereby the life of the person so assaulted may be greatly endangered, or make any assault of a violent nature (except in defence of his or her owner’s or employer’s person or property), he or she shall suffer death.

LV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any negro or other slave shall mix or prepare, with intent to give, any poison or poisonous drug, or shall actually give or cause to be given any such poison or poisonous drug, although death may not ensue from the taking thereof, such slave, together with all and every accessary and accessaries, as well before as after the fact (being slaves), being thereof duly convicted, shall suffer death, transportation for life, or such other punishment as the court shall think proper.

LVI. And whereas horned cattle, sheep, horses, mares, mules and asses, are frequently stolen and killed by negro and other slaves in so secret and private a manner as to render conviction very difficult; for prevention thereof, be it further enacted, that if any negro, or other slave or slaves, shall fraudulently have in his, her or their possession any fresh beef, mutton or veal, or the flesh of any horse, mare, mule or ass, in any quantity exceeding five pounds, and not exceeding twenty-eight pounds, every such negro or other slave shall, upon con­viction before any two justices of the peace, be whipped in such manner as such justices shall direct, not exceeding thirty-nine lashes; and if there shall be found fraudulently as aforesaid in his, her or their custody or possession a larger quantity than twenty-eight pounds weight of such beef or other flesh, that then every such negro or other slave shall suffer such punishment as the justices shall think proper to direct, not extending to life or limb.

LVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any negro or other slave shall feloniously steal any horned cattle, sheep, horse, mare, gelding, mule or ass, or shall kill any such horned cattle, sheep, horse, mare, gelding, mule or ass, with intent to steal the same, or any part of the flesh thereof, such negro or other slave shall suffer death or such other punishment as the court shall think proper to inflict.

LVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no negro or other slave shall on any pretence whatever barter or carry about for sale any dry goods of any kind whatever, unless by a ticket or consent in writing of his or her owner or owners to that effect, specifying the articles they may have for sale; and in default of such ticket or consent, it shall and may be lawful for any white person to take and seize all such goods, and to deliver them to the provost­ marshal or his deputy, who shall forthwith sell the same at public auction, and pay the net proceeds thereof into the public treasury.

LIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no negro or other slave shall vend or retail any spiritous liquors whatever; and if any slave without the knowledge of his or her owner or employer shall send or vend any spirituous liquors whatsoever, such slave for every such offence shall be publicly whipped, by order of any two justices of the peace, but if it shall appear to have been done with the knowledge of his or her owner or employer, then and in that case such owner or employer shall forfeit the sum of forty pounds, to be recovered in manner hereinafter directed.

LX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every slave who shall play at dice or cards, or be guilty of any other kind of gaming, shall be publicly whipped, by order of any two justices of the peace; and any keeper of a tavern, or punch-house, who shall suffer any slave or slaves to game, get drunk or tipple in or about his or her house, shop or premises, or to remain in or about the same after the hour of nine o’clock at night, or shall at any other time sell rum or other spirituous liquors to any slave to whom he or she shall have been forbidden by the owner or employer of such slave to sell liquor, or shall suffer any such slave, after having been so forbidden, to loiter or remain in or about his or her house, shop or premises, shall forfeit the sum of twenty pounds.

LXI. And whereas the improvement which for several years past has been in progress in the moral condition of the slave population of these islands, renders it at this time safe and expedient to admit slaves, with certain exceptions and under certain restrictions, to give evidence in cases civil and criminal; be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the passing of this Act, all slaves who shall have been sufficiently instructed in the Christian religion to understand the nature and obligation of an oath, to be certified as is hereinafter set forth, shall during the continuance of this Act, and no longer, be admitted as wit­nesses in all civil cases (except as is hereinafter excepted) in the several courts of these islands, and before all magistrates and other authorities legally competent to administer oaths; and also in like manner in all criminal cases (except as herein­after excepted) prosecuted or to be prosecuted by way of indictment, according to the course of the common law; it being hereby provided and it is further enacted, that no slave shall, under any pretence, be admitted to give evidence in the prose­cution of free persons by way of libel, plaint, or other proceedings at law, in cases of penalty or forfeiture or otherwise, on any account whatever, when the facts of the same are tried otherwise than by trial by jury, according to the usual course of the common law, or some Act or Acts of the General Assembly of these islands; neither shall any slave be admitted to give evidence in the prosecution of free persons by way of information, ex officio or otherwise, in any court of law or equity, even in cases in which the facts of the case may be tried by a jury.

LXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the passing of this Act, every clergyman of the established church of England, and every minister of the kirk of Scotland, and every justice of the peace on any island where there is no such resident clergyman or minisier, shall be and he is hereby authorized to transmit or deliver under his hand, to the clerk of .the Crown, certifi­cates setting forth the name or names and place or places of abode of any slave or slaves, together with the name or names of the owner or owners, and the colour and probable age of each, who in the judgment and belief of the party so certifying [52] may be sufficiently instructed in the principles of religion to understand the nature and obligation af [sic] an oath; and the said clerk of the Crown to whom any such certificates shall have been so transmitted or delivered, shall forthwith register the same in a book, to be kept by him for that purpose, stating therein the date of every such certificate, and the name and place of abode of the person by whom the same may have been granted, together with the name or names of the owner or owners, and the colour, sex and probable age of each and every slave mentioned and in­cluded therein; and for every such certificate so registered by the clerk of the Crown, he shall, be entitled to the sum of two shillings, to be paid to him quarterly, by warrant of the Governor or Commander-in-chief, in council, or the treasurer of the colony, in the same manner as other quarterly accounts against the public are usually rendered and paid: provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be held or in any manner construed to prevent any competent magistrate or jury from examining any witness, on his or her voire dire or otherwise, as to his or her religious instruction and capacity to understand the nature and obligation of an oath, and decide accordingly as to the competency or credibility, as the case may be, of all such witnesses, any such certificates as aforesaid to the contrary notwith­standing.

LXIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no person shall henceforth be rejected as a witness, or considered as incompetent to give evidence in any court of civil or criminal justice within the said Bahama Islands, in any case or cases in which slaves shall be competent to give evidence in pursuance of the provisions of this or any other Act of the General Assembly of these islands, and not otherwise, by reason of his or her being in a state of slavery, if the person or persons by whom such slave may be produced and tendered as a witness, shall also produce and exhibit to the court, a certificate, under the hand of the said clerk of the Crown, that such proposed witness is registered in the before-mentioned book; and the said clerk of the Crown shall and he is hereby required to grant, without fee or reward, to any person making application for the same, a certificate of the fact whether any such proposed witness is or is not registered in the said book: provided always, that no person being in a state of slavery shall be admitted to give evidence in any case wherein a white person may be charged with or prosecuted for any offence punishable with death, or against the owner or owners of such slave or slaves in any criminal prosecution whatsoever; provided also, that nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to render any slave a com­petent witness in the law, in any case in which such slave would be incompetent to give evidence if he or she were a white person, or to detract, take away from or diminish any power or authority which any court of criminal justice within the said islands now already hath, to admit in any case the evidence of persons being in a state of slavery.

LXIV. Provided nevertheless, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no slave to be admitted as a witness under and by virtue of this Act, shall be allowed to give evidence of any fact whatsoever which may have been committed, or alleged to be committed, or to have taken place in any manner whatsoever, at any time previous to the date of the registration of his or her competency with the clerk of the Crown as aforesaid, anything herein contained to the contrary notwith­standing.

LXV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that slaves shall not, under any circumstances, be competent witnesses to attest or prove the execution of any deed or other instrument of writing, or the making or publishing of any last will and testament, or document at any time intended for such manumitting, or relating to the manumission of any slave or slaves, whether with or without conditions, limi­tations or restrictions, or in any manner whatsoever, or conveying, bequeathing, as­signing, transferring or disposing of any slave or slaves, or in any manner affecting the right, title, interest or property of any person or persons whatsoever in or to the same : provided, however, that slaves duly qualified to give evidence as afore­said, if sufficiently literate to read and write, shall be competent to attest and prove the execution of all other deeds, wills and instruments of writing; and provided also, that the attestation of any such last-mentioned instruments by a slave duly qualified to give evidence as aforesaid, shall be and be held good and valid in law, as to such part or parts of the said last-mentioned instruments as shall not in any manner relate to the manumission of or other disposition of property in slaves: [53]

and provided also, that nothing hereinbefore contained shall be held, construed or understood in any manner to prevent slaves, duly qualified as aforesaid, from being competent to give evidence in any matters concerning the right, title and interest of other slaves in and to any goods or effects, real or personal, debts, covenants or promises, or offences or injuries committed by or against the person or property of a slave, wherein no question of freedom, or one touching the property of any free person in slaves, shall be directly or indirectly involved.

LXVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the evidence of slaves, duly qualified as aforesaid, shall (except in the several cases hereinafter excepted, or concerning which provision is otherwise made in and by this Act) be admitted under oath, received, taken and acted on in the same manner and to the same effect in all respects as the evidence of others is now or may be admitted in similar cases, and subject to the same rules of law and practice, except that no slave shall in any case be examined de bene esse in any cause by commission or rule of court, or otherwise than vivâ voce in open court: provided however, that when any slave admitted to give evidence (whether in fact qualified according to the provisions of this Act or not), shall on any occasion commit wilful and corrupt perjury, or if any slave shall be guilty of subornation of perjury, in or touching any causes, trials, or other proceedings in the general court or court of admiralty ses­sions, or in any affidavit, examination or other proceedings before magistrates, coroners or other authorities, on which suits or prosecutions in the general court or court of admiralty sessions are usually grounded, the parties charged with such perjury or subornation of perjury shall be tried for the same in the same general court, but in all other cases of perjury or subornation of perjury, by slaves or others liable to be tried in slave courts, according to the form and effect of this or any other Act or Acts of Assembly in such case made and provided; and on the conviction of every slave as aforesaid, either in the general court, or other court of competent jurisdiction in the premises, of wilful and corrupt perjury, or subornation of perjury, the party convicted shall be forthwith punished with not more than one hundred nor less than fifty lashes, publicly inflicted on the bare back, and shall further be and utterly remain disqualified for giving evidence or deposing under oath in any case or legal proceedings whatsoever for ever afterwards.

LXVII. And whereas, in and by an Act passed in the fourth year of Your Majesty’s reign, intituled “An Act for granting a further extension of privileges to certain free Persons of Colour in certain cases,” it is enacted that all creole negroes, mulattos, and other persons of colour born within these islands or elsewhere, “although not free at the time of their birth, but who shall have been lawfully manu­mitted by bequest, deed of gift, or otherwise, and shall have actually and bonâ fide enjoyed a state of freedom for the space of five years at least within these islands, and professing the Christian religion, shall be admitted to all the rights, privileges and immunities of persons of colour born free within these islands, within the intent and meaning of this (the last above recited Act): provided however, that no such manumitted person or persons shall be allowed to give evidence of any treason, felony, misdemeanor or other offence against the peace, or trespasses with force, which shall or may have been committed or alleged to have been committed pre­vious to their emancipation:" and whereas it is expedient that the said proviso should be amended, be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all manu­mitted slaves who while in a state of slavery shall have been duly registered under the provisions of this Act, in the office of the clerk of the Crown, as competent witnesses, shall be allowed to give evidence as to any fact or facts committed or alleged to have been committed, or to have in any manner taken place subsequent to the date of their said registration, anything in the said last above recited Act to the contrary notwithstanding: provided however, that such manumitted slave shall not be competent to prove any fact or facts which shall have been or alleged to have been committed, or to have taken place in any manner whatsoever, at any time between his or her registration of competency as aforesaid, and his or her emancipa­tion, which shall or may bear in any manner directly or indirectly on any question as to the freedom or right to freedom of any slave or asserted slave, or affect the right of any white person, or the person, liberty or property of his or her late owner or owners in any criminal prosecution whatsoever.

LXVIII. Provided however, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no writ of subpœna ad testificandum,or other process of like nature, shall be [54] issued out of any court, or by any magistrate or other authority, to be addressed to or served upon any slave or slaves whatsoever, in any case civil or criminal, or in any manner whatsoever, and the issuing or service of any such writ or process shall be void and of none effect to all intents and purposes whatsoever, anything in this Act before contained to the contrary notwithstanding; but when the evidence of any slave or slaves shall or may on any occasion be lawfully required, the court in, or magistrate or other authority before which such evidence shall or may be so required, shall have authority to issue a writ or process in the nature of a habeas corpus ad testificandum, to be addressed to the owner, employers, or others having actual possession or charge of such slave or slaves, commanding the said owners or others as aforesaid to produce the body or bodies of such slave or slaves, naming them particularly, and designating their place of abode, and the name or names of the owner or owners, and the colour, sex and probable age of such slave or slaves, according to their registration respectively in the office of the clerk of the Crown as aforesaid, in pursuance of this or any other Act or Acts of Assembly in such case made and provided, at a certain time and place to be therein appointed, before such court, magistrate or other authority as aforesaid, to give evidence as aforesaid; and the names and descriptions as aforesaid of any number of slaves being actually the property of, or under the charge of the same person or persons, shall and may be included in the same writ or process of habeas corpusas aforesaid; and in case of refusal or neglect to obey any such last-mentioned writ or process aforesaid, those who shall so refuse or neglect to obey the same shall be liable to all and singular the same pains and penalties, suits and actions, as parties in contempt, being free persons, for disobedience to a subpoena ad testificandum, addressed to themselves by the said court, magistrates or other authorities as aforesaid respec­tively, are or would be liable to, and in the same manner and form, and to the same effect in every respect whatsoever; and for each and every slave so to be pro­duced in obedience to any writ or process of habeas corpus as aforesaid herein provided for, the owners or others having charge of such slave or slaves shall be entitled to receive from the party requiring the evidence of such slave or slaves, or from the public, when such evidence shall or may be required on the part of the Crown in any criminal prosecution, the same allowances in all respects for travelling expenses and subsistence as are or may be lawfully demanded by free persons subpœned to give evidence in like cases : provided however, that in all civil cases no writ or process of habeas corpus as aforesaid shall be so issued as aforesaid, commanding the production of any slave or slaves as witnesses as aforesaid, until after the party applying for such last-mentioned writ or process shall have made affidavit, or cause the same to be made by some one or more competent and credible person or persons, before the court, or some judge thereof, or the magistrate or other authority aforesaid before which such slave of slaves is or are about to be required to be produced for the purposes aforesaid, stating under oath that the evi­dence of such slave or slaves is absolutely material in the cause or matter in which such slave or slaves is or are to be examined, and that the party applicant does not require production as aforesaid of more than two of the said slaves to any one point at issue in the said cause or matter in which they are to be examined as aforesaid, or any one or more slaves to any points, matter or thing concerning which such slave or slaves shall be legally incompetent to testify or give evidence according to the provisions of this Act, or of any other Act of the General Assembly of these islands; all which affidavits shall in the general court be made according to the form and effect of the blank form unto this Act annexed, and in all other courts, and before all magistrates or other authorities aforesaid, the same in substance and as nearly as may be in form also, changing only what it may be necessary to change, so as to suit the style and practice of such other courts and authorities aforesaid respectively; and when any person or persons shall in any such affidavit as afore­said, wilfully depose to any statements therein, knowing the same to be, false, or not knowing the same to be true, he, she or they shall be guilty of wilful and corrupt perjury; and he, she or they, and any person or persons who shall suborn another so to commit wilful perjury as aforesaid, in any such affidavit as aforesaid, shall be liable to prosecution and punishment for wilful and corrupt perjury, or subornation of perjury (as the case may be), as is hereinbefore provided in such cases: and provided also, that in cases of criminal prosecution at the suit of the Crown, such writ or process of habeas corpus as aforesaid shall be issued only by the especial fiat of some judge, magistrate or authority as aforesaid, and shall require the production only of such slave or slaves, the materiality or probable [55]materiality of whose evidence shall distinctly appear in and by one or more of the affidavits or examinations already taken in or concerning the same matter: pro­vided however, that nothing herein contained shall be taken or in any manner understood to prevent criminal prosecutions from originating in or being grounded on the voluntary affidavits or examinations of slaves under oath, in all cases in which they may be competent witnesses according to the provisions of this Act.

LXIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that whensoever any owners or others in actual charge of any slave or slaves shall be served with any writ or process of habeas corpus aforesaid, requiring the production of any such slave or slaves for the purposes aforesaid, or any of them, and the said owners or others in charge as aforesaid shall attend in person with the said slave or slaves, in order to produce the same as aforesaid, or shall employ others to produce the same as aforesaid, there shall be allowed to such owners or others as aforesaid, so em­ployed in producing the said slave or slaves, such reasonable compensation as the court, magistrate or other authority as aforesaid may award, for their expenses and trouble in conducting such slave or slaves to such court, magistrate or other authority aforesaid, there producing the said slave or slaves for the purposes afore­said, and reconducting such slave or slaves to his, her or their place or places of employment, to be paid by the parties respectively requiring the testimony of such slaves, or the public, as is hereinbefore provided, in prosecutions on the part of the Crown; all which compensations and expenses last aforesaid shall in all civil cases be taxed with costs against the parties eventually liable to pay the same, unless when it shall appear to the court that a needless expense has been incurred through malice, wantonness or folly, in requiring the production of unnecessary slave witnesses, in which cases all such needless expenses shall be taxed only against the party which shall have so incurred the same.

LXX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the issuing of any such writ or process of habeas corpus as aforesaid, the slaves therein named shall nevertheless be and continue, and be considered as being wholly and exclusively in the charge, custody and keeping of their owners, or others acting directly or indirectly under the authority of such owners, or their lawful personal representatives, excepting only while such slaves shall be actually under examination before any such court, magistrate or other authority as aforesaid, during which time, and no longer, the said slaves shall be held and considered subject exclusively to the authority and under the immediate protection of such court, magistrate or authority aforesaid, anything in this Act contained to the contrary notwithstanding; provided however, that in all cases for prosecution for treason, felony or breach of the peace, it shall and may be lawful for all judges, magistrates and coroners to commit to safe custody, for the purpose of being pro­duced and examined as witnesses in such prosecutions, any slave or slaves who on their confession, or the evidence of others under oath, shall or may be considered material and legal witnesses on the part of such prosecutions, unless the owners of such slaves, or others duly qualified on their behalf, shall enter into recognizance, conditioned for the production of such witnesses at the trial of such prosecutions, in like manner as recognizances are or may be by law required, conditioned for the appearance of witnesses in like cases.

LXXI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the costs and charges to be allowed upon any such writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum as aforesaid, and the service thereof, shall be the same in all respects as those charge­able by law on a writ of subpoena ad testificandum, and no more.

LXXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no market whatever shall be held within these islands on any Sunday throughout the year, for the sale of any goods, wares or merchandize whatsoever, either by slaves or persons of free condition, under the penalty of the forfeiture of all such goods, wares and merchandize which may be offered or exposed for sale at any such markets; and it shall be lawful for any magistrate or constable to levy upon, seize and sell, or cause to be sold, all such goods, wares and merchandize so found for sale at such markets, and apply the proceeds of the sales thereof in the manner following, that is to say, one half to be paid into the treasury of these islands, in aid of defraying the expenses of the government thereof, and the other half to such use and uses as the seizor may think proper; provided, nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the sale, at public market or markets, of butcher’s [56]meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk or vegetables, or other like articles for immediate consumption, at any time between sun-rise and nine o’clock in the morning of all Sundays as aforesaid, at which hour of nine in the morning of Sundays as aforesaid all such markets shall be closed, under the penalty of twenty pounds of lawful money of these islands, to be paid by the clerk or other superintendent of such market for every such neglect; and all persons presuming to frequent any such markets for the purchase, sale or barter of any articles whatsoever, on any Sunday after the hour of nine o’clock in the morning of that day, shall be liable to a penalty of five pounds each for every offence, to be recovered by and to the use of any person or persons of free condition who may sue for the same.

LXXIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all warehouses, stores, shops and other like establishments for the sale or barter of any good, wares or merchandize within these islands, as well as all shops and booths, and other places in which liquor shall or may be sold by retail or otherwise, with or without license for that purpose, shall be and continue shut from and after nine o’clock on every Saturday night until day-light on the ensuing Monday morning; and all persons presuming to open or keep open any such warehouse, store, shop or booth during the hours last limited, or shall traffic or barter therein, whether shut or open, in or for any manner of goods, wares, merchandize or liquors as aforesaid, within the same hours so limited as aforesaid, shall be liable to a penalty of twenty pounds each for every such offence, to be recovered as hereinafter provided, and to be applied one half to the use of Your Majesty’s Government within these islands, and the other half to any person or persons of free condition who shall or may sue for the same.

LXXIV. Provided however, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that nothing hereinbefore contained shall be construed or understood to prevent or in any manner render penal the sale of medicines for the use of the sick, or other articles usually employed in the practice of medicine, surgery or pharmacy, or the keeping open of any shops or stores for the sale of the same at any time whatsoever.

LXXV. And whereas it hath never been usual within these islands to compel slaves to labour on a Sunday, and it may be deemed necessary to prohibit by law any such labour; be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person or persons shall compel or oblige a slave to perform or engage in any labour or employment on the Sabbath-day for the profit or advantage of his or her owner, manager or employer, whether in the field or about the salt-pond, or elsewhere, (or otherwise than in and about the necessary attendance of such slave in the family of his or her owner or employer, or upon the person of such owner or employer, or upon the person or persons of any of the family of any such owner or employer, or in and about the performance of such services and employments as the domestic con­cerns or affairs of such or of any other owner or employer usually and necessarily require, or otherwise than in and about the necessary and unavoidable preserva­tion of any cattle, live stock, or other property whatsoever and wheresoever, or in and about such work, labour and attendance as may be required of any such slave at any public market within the said islands), during the hours to which the same is limited and restricted according to the provisions of this Act, every person so offending shall incur and be liable to the payment of a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, to be recovered and applied in manner hereinafter provided.

LXXVI. And whereas by the usages of the Bahama Islands, persons in a state of slavery have hitherto been permitted to acquire and enjoy property free from the control or interference of their owners, and it is deemed expedient that such custom should be recognized and established by law, and that provision should be made for enabling such slaves to invest their said property in good security; be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no person in the said islands being in a state of slavery, shall, on account of such his or her condition, be or be deemed or taken to be incompetent in the law to purchase, inherit, acquire, possess, hold, occupy, enjoy, alienate, or dispose of property, but every such slave shall be and is hereby declared to be competent in the law to inherit, purchase acquire, possess, hold, occupy, enjoy, alienate, or dispose of lands situate within the said islands, or money, cattle, implements or utensils of husbandry, or household furniture, and other effects of such or of the like nature, of what value or amount soever, and to bring, maintain, prosecute, appear to, or defend any suit or action in any court of [57] justice within the colony, for or in respect of any such property, as fully and amply to all intents and purposes as if he or she were of free condition; provided nevertheless, that any such suit or action shall be prosecuted or defended by pro­chein amis or guardian, to be for that purpose by the said court to him or her assigned in that behalf, in such and in the same manner as if he or she were an infant under the age of twenty-one years; and that it shall be lawful for the said court, on application for that purpose duly made to it, and on affidavit of the party, plaintiff or defendant, stating therein that he or she is not worth the sum of ten pounds in the world (the wearing apparel of him or her, and the matter in contro­versy excepted), to suffer the party so applying, being a slave, to prosecute and defend any such suit or action in formâ pauperis: provided always, that every such prochein amisor guardian, shall be a person of free condition, and that nothing herein contained shall extend, or be construed to extend to authorize any slave to acquire or become the owner of a slave or slaves, or of any fire-arms, gunpowder or ammunition, without the especial permission of their owners, or others having charge of them respectively.

LXXVII. And for the better preserving of the property of any such slaves, be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the passing of this Act the receiver-general and treasurer of the colony shall open a chest of deposit, in which all slaves shall be allowed to deposit any monies which they may think proper to place therein for the safe keeping thereof; and all deputy receivers- general throughout these islands shall in like manner keep like chests of deposit for the benefit of the slaves within their respective districts, and that on every sum so to be deposited, and so long as such deposit shall continue, there shall be paid thereon, or on such part thereof as shall remain undrawn, to the party by whom any such deposit shall be made, or to any other slave who shall afterwards become entitled thereto in manner hereinafter provided, interest at and after the rate of six pounds per centum per annum, quarterly, out of the public monies of the coun­try, free of all charges whatsoever to the slave.

LXXVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any slave making a deposit in any such chest shall be at liberty to make a declaration of the manner in which, and of the person or persons to whom, in the event of his or her death, the amount of such his or her deposit or deposits there shall be then paid, applied or disposed of; and such declaration shall be recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose, by the said receiver-general and his deputies, where any such deposit may be made; and upon the death of the slave making such declara­tion, the same shall be deemed and taken to be the last will and testament of such slave, in the absence of any other last will and testament, and in case any slave shall marry after having made any such declaration, such marriage shall be, and be deemed and taken to be, a revocation in the law of any such declaration; and if any slave shall die intestate, and without having made any such declaration as afore­said, which may remain unrevoked at the time of his or her death, then and in every such case the property of such slave shall go and be disposed of, to and in favour of such person or persons as by virtue of any Act or Acts of Parliament for the distribution of the effects of intestates, in force within the colony, would be entitled to any such property : provided however, that in the absence of all legiti­mate issue and connections of any such deceased intestates, the goods and chattels and other property of the estate of all such deceased intestates shall be distributed among their putative children and connections in the same manner as if they were legitimate; and provided also, that all lands and lots of land, with the buildings and other improvements thereon, as well as all other hereditaments of slaves, shall be considered as personal property only, and chattels to all intents and purposes, as well for the satisfaction of debts of any slave during his or her lifetime, as to be assets in the hands of his or her executors or administrators, liable to his or her debts after his or her death, and to distribution among his or her kindred as afore­said, as personal chattels in manner hereinbefore provided for.

LXXIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no deposit of money exceeding the sum of two pounds of lawful money of the said islands in the whole shall at any one time, or in any one week, be so received in deposit as afore­said, unless the said slave at the time of tendering such other or greater deposit shall make it appear to the satisfaction of the treasurer or deputy receiver-general that the owner or owners of such slave, or other person or persons having charge of [58] such slave, have or has bad at least ten days full and sufficient notice of the inten­tion of such slave to make such last-mentioned deposit, which notice may be proved either by an acknowledgment in writing of the said owner or owners, or others in charge as aforesaid, or by the affidavit of the slave so wishing to make the deposit last aforesaid, together with one or more persons of character and credit; and all persons swearing to any such affidavit, not knowing the same to be true, shall be held guilty of wilful and corrupt perjury, and on conviction thereof shall be liable to all and singular the pains and penalties of wilful and corrupt perjury, and to all the disabilities consequent upon such conviction according to law.

LXXX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that when any slave or slaves shall contract any debt or debts upon his or their own credit and respon­sibility, and not for the use and by the express authority of his, her or their owner or owners, or others having charge of such slave or slaves, or shall make themselves in­dividually and personally liable for damages on any account whatsoever, the property of all such slave or slaves, whether the said property shall consist of money, goods, rights, credits, or other things of whatsoever description the same may be, shall be liable for the payment of such debts and the satisfaction of all such damages, and may be proceeded against by writ of attachment in the first instance, to be issued upon affidavit of debt or damages as aforesaid, to be made by or on behalf of any party plaintiff in any such proceedings, in or before any court of competent jurisdiction, as to the amount and nature of the debts or damages sued for, as in cases in which the parties litigant are free persons; provided however, that no such property shall be so attached unless the said affidavit shall be as full and positive as the nature of the case may admit of; and one of the judges of the court, or the judge or magis­trate from whom such process may be required, shall indorse an especial order on the writ, specifying the amount for which such attachment shall be laid; and the said property, whether in the possession of the said slave or others, shall be taken into the safe keeping of the officer to whom such process shall be addressed, unless sufficient security be given to him that the person or persons in possession of the same shall hold the same, or the full value thereof, ready to satisfy or answer, so far as the same may go, such judgment as the party plaintiff may eventually obtain in the premises; and if the party defendant shall, not appear, as by this or some other Act of Assembly is or may be provided for, within such time as free persons would be bound to appear upon the service of mesne process on their persons, and defend such suit, the party plaintiff may proceed to judgment by default and execu­tion thereon, in the same manner and form, as nearly as may be, and to the same effect, as if the suit had been instituted against free persons by personal attachment or summons; and all property so attached as aforesaid, or the value thereof, in whosesoever hands the same may be, shall be applied to the satisfaction of such judgment as the party plaintiff may obtain, whether the suit be defended or not: provided however, that whensoever the court shall have reason to suspect that the party to whom the attached property shall or may belong, had not good, reasonable and sufficient notice of the. attachment of his, her or their property as aforesaid, the court shall have full authority and power to stay all proceedings in any such case until satisfied that such notice has been given; and should any person or persons, other than the party defendant, be in actual possession of any property so attached as aforesaid, and the person or persons so in possession of the same shall not, within a reasonable time after the service of such attachment, give notice thereof to the owner or owners of such property, all such holders of such property shall be liable in damages to such party sued, for all injury sustained by the same by reason of such neglect as aforesaid of such holder or holders of the said property as aforesaid: and provided also, that whensoever any monies are attached in virtue of this Act, in the hands of the receiver-general and treasurer, or any deputy receiver-general of these islands, the said officers shall hold the said monies liable to all such judgments as may be obtained in pursuance of any such attachment or attachments, but shall not be compellable to give any security for the safe keeping of the same, anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary notwithstanding,

LXXXI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no such deposits as aforesaid shall be received or paid out except on Wednesdays, between the hours of twelve at noon and two in the afternoon, and that the books and accounts of the said receiver-general and treasurer, and of the said deputy receivers- general, shall be and be held and considered to be public records, to which all persons shall have a right of access, with the privilege of inspecting the same at any time within the usual office-hours of business, on the payment to the person keeping such books or accounts, as his fee, the sum of one shilling currency for each inspection.

LXXXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that whenever any court, judge or magistrate shall have reasonable grounds to suspect that any person or persons having any property attached in their keeping, possession or power, shall, when required to produce the same according to law, have concealed the same or any part thereof, such party may be ruled to show cause, under oath, why he, she or they should not be held in contempt by reason of such concealment, and shall also answer, under oath, such interrogations touching the same premises as the said court, judge or magistrate may think proper to administer to such suspected party; and if shall appear by the answer of that party that he, she or they have been guilty of any concealment, embezzlement or deterioration of any such attached property as aforesaid, while in his, her or their keeping, possession or power, the said court, judge or magistrate shall have authority to commit the said offender or offenders to prison until he, she or they shall satisfy and make good to the party defendant all losses in the premises: provided however, that no such proceedings as last aforesaid shall bar any party defrauded as aforesaid of any action which they may have against the party so examined, should he, she or they become purged of his, her or their con­tempt in the premises by false answers to any such interrogatories as aforesaid.

LXXXIII. And whereas it would be attended with great inconvenience to planters, and those having establishments for raking salt, or farms for raising corn, cattle, or live stock of any kind for market, if the slaves employed on or about such plantations, farms or other establishments as aforesaid, were allowed to deal or traffic in the same articles as those in which their owners deal or traffic; it is hereby further provided, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that nothing in this Act contained shall be construed or understood as preventing or intending to prevent the owners of slaves, or others in charge of the same, from prohibiting the said slaves from cultivating any cotton wool, or Indian or Guinea corn, or from raking salt, or from raising or keeping for breed any cattle or other live stock as aforesaid, provided such prohibition shall not extend to the cultivation of sugar canes, peas, beans, pumpkins, fruit of any kind, potatoes, yams, garden stuffs, or ground provisions of any kind, corn as aforesaid excepted, or to the cutting of tim­ber, dye woods, or woods of any kind, on the lands of them the said slaves, or of others, with the proprietors’ permission, and selling the same, or to their dealing and trafficking in any articles in which their owners shall not at the time deal or traffic, or even to their raising cotton wool, com or live stock, or raking salt, when their owners are not themselves actually engaged in raising cotton or corn, or live stock, or in raking salt for sale.

LXXXIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any person being in a state of slavery within the said islands shall be desirous to purchase his or her freedom, or the freedom of the wife or husband, or child, or brother or sister, or reputed wife or husband, or child, or brother or sister, of any such slave, it shall and may be lawful to and for any such slave so to purchase the freedom of himself or herself, or of any such person as aforesaid, at such price, and upon such terms, conditions and stipulations as shall or may be agreed on by and between the parties interested in such sale and purchase; and all such agreements bonâ fide entered into for that purpose shall be good, binding and valid in law, whether verbal or in writing, the condition of the one or more of the contracting parties being that of slavery, at the time of his, her or their entering into such agreement or agreements, to the contrary notwithstanding.

LXXXV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that should any difference exist between the parties aforesaid as to the price or value at which the slave or slaves in question shall or may be entitled to freedom, it shall be the duty of, and it shall and may be lawful for any magistrate, on the application of either party aforesaid to him made, either directly or indirectly to call to his aid any one or more other magistrate or magistrates, and it shall be the duty of the said magistrates when convened, and they or any two of them when so convened shall have full power and authority, to summon and cause the parties aforesaid to appear before them, and endeavour to accommodate all differences between them to the satisfaction of both; but failing therein, to cause two referees to be named, one by or on the part of the owner or owners of the slave or slaves in question, and the other by or on the part of the said slaves, with their consent and approbation, and the advice and assistance of the said magistrates; and it shall be the duty of he said referees, after diligent investigation of all matters submitted or offered to their consideration by the said parties, to award and determine the amount of such compensation as in their opinion the owner or owners of such slave or slaves shall or may be fairly and justly entitled to for such manumission; and such compensa­tion being actually paid or tendered to the said owner or owners of such slave or slaves, or duly and fully acknowledged to have been so tendered or paid in the presence of the said magistrates, or any one or more of them, it shall be the duty of the said magistrates, or any two of them, to transmit to the attorney-general of these islands a minute in writing, signed by them, of all and singular the several proceedings had before them in the premises, and it shall thereupon be the duty of the said attorney-general, should he be of opinion that the same are correct and regular according to law, and if necessary, after correcting, with the assent of the said magistrates, any errors in matter of form in the minutes of the same, to cause the same to be recorded in the proper office of this government, and thereupon the said slave or slaves shall become and be from thenceforth to all intents and pur­poses free persons.

LXXXVI. Provided however, and it is hereby enacted by the authority aforesaid, that should the said referees be unable to agree as to the amount of the compen­sation as aforesaid, the said referees shall name an umpire between them, and the decision of the said umpire shall be as good, valid and binding in the premises as if the same had been agreed to by the two referees first named; and provided also that the said two referees, and also the said umpire, when an umpire shall become necessary, before they enter upon the duties of any such reference or umpirage as aforesaid, shall take and subscribe, as nearly as may be, an oath or affidavit in writing, to the effect following; that is to say:

“ A. B. and B. C. of the island of D. [here their additions are to be inserted at length], referees indifferently chosen to award and determine between E. F. of the island of C [here the additions of the owner or owners afore­said are to be inserted at length], and H. I. [the slave or slaves being here named], the slave [or slaves] of the said E. F., touching the compensation which the said owner [or owners] ought to receive for the emancipation of his [her or their] said slave [orslaves], being duly sworn on their oaths, severally swear that they will fairly, justly and equitably, to the best of their skill and judgment, estimate the said compensation, not merely according to their view of the probable market prices of such slave [or slaves], if exposed to sale as such, but with due regard also to such further remuneration as the said owner [orowners] may show himself [herself or themselves] entitled to, to the satisfaction of them the said referees, under the special circum­stances of the case, in consequence of any loss or damage which the said owner [or owners] may sustain by reason of his [her or their] being deprived of the services of such slave [or slaves].”

And the affidavit of the umpire shall be, as nearly as may be, in the same form and to the same effect.

LXXXVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that when any owner or owners of slaves desirous of purchasing freedom as aforesaid, shall not be resident within these islands, or shall be under age, lunatic, or be married women living with their husbands, then and in all such cases the attornies or agents of such absent owners, resident within these islands, and the parents or guardians of such minors, and the guardians of such lunatics, or their lawful representatives resident within these said islands, and the trustees of such married women, or their lawful representatives resident within these said islands, shall be and be held and con­sidered as the owners of all such slaves for all and singular the purposes last afore­said, touching the purchase of the freedom of the said slaves of such owners who by reason of their absence, non-age, lunacy or coverture, as aforesaid, shall not be in a situation to attend in person to the matter aforesaid.

LXXXVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any magis­trate who, when duly required to perform any of the duties of a magistrate as last aforesaid, in, touching or concerning the purchase of freedom by slaves as aforesaid, shall refuse or neglect to perform the same, shall be liable to a penalty of fifty pounds of lawful money of these islands for every such offence; and should any [61] owners of slaves desirous of purchasing freedom as aforesaid, or the lawful repre­sentatives of such owners as aforesaid, contumaciously refuse to submit to the authority of the magistrates aforesaid in the execution of their said duties as afore­said, or intentionally or unnecessarily delay, or wantonly embarrass or impede their proceedings in the premises, all such offenders shall be liable to a fine of not less than ten nor more than fifty pounds of lawful money of these said islands for every offence; and on their conviction for any such offence, it shall and may be lawful for the court before which such conviction shall take place, so soon thereafter as justice may admit of under the circumstances of the case, to impannel a sworn inquest or jury of twelve disinterested persons, to inquire into and determine by verdict as to the value of the slave or slaves in question, and upon payment of the amount of such verdict, by or on account of the said slave or slaves, into court, the said slave or slaves shall, by sentence of the said court (to be duly recorded), be adjudged to be free; and the money so paid into court shall, after deducting the amount of the fine aforesaid, and all reasonable costs and charges of all and singular the several proceedings last aforesaid in the said court, be paid over to the said owners or their lawful representatives as aforesaid in this behalf.

LXXXIX. And it is also hereby provided, and be it further enacted by the autho­rity aforesaid, that nothing in this Act contained shall be in any manner taken, held or construed to destroy, diminish or impair, or otherwise injuriously affect the just rights of judgment creditors, mortgagees, joint proprietors, or reversioners of any description; but whensoever the property of owners in any slaves desirous of purchasing freedom as aforesaid, shall be bound by any judgment or mortgage, or any other person or persons shall have a joint or reversionary interest of any kind in the same, and the same be not made known in the course of any proceedings under or in virtue of this Act, to the referees as aforesaid, or to the court and jury as aforesaid, and any such information shall be knowingly and wilfully withheld in the premises, any slave conceiving himself or herself manumitted in virtue of such proceedings, or any of them, and who shall afterwards be proved to be still more or less a slave or liable to any manner of bondage afterwards, then and in that case, such slave or slaves shall be entitled to recover of and from any and all per­sons and person so having wilfully and knowingly concealed as aforesaid the fact of his, her or their being bound by any such judgment or mortgage, or of the existence of any such joint or reversionary interest as aforesaid, or who shall in any manner be aiding, abetting or conniving at any such concealment, double the amount of such compensation paid for the emancipation of such slave or slaves; and if the referees or court and jury as aforesaid, in the course of any of the proceedings aforesaid provided by this Act as aforesaid in the premises, shall have notice of any such judgment, mortgage, or joint or reversionary right as aforesaid, then and in that case it shall and may be lawful for such referees or jurors, by their award or verdict, to determine whether the whole, or any and what part of the compensation aforesaid ought in equity and good conscience to be paid to the judgment creditors, mortgagees, joint owner or reversioners as afore­said, as the case may be, and the same shall be so paid accordingly; and should any such judgment creditor, mortgagee, joint owner or reversioner, not be present to receive any monies so to him, her or them payable by reason of the premises, the same shall be deposited in the public treasury of the colony for him, her or them, and on his, her and their sole account; and for receiving and paying out the same, the treasurer shall receive, to be deducted from the same, a commission of one per cent, and no more.

XC. And it is hereby provided also, and be it further enacted, that children under fourteen years of age shall not be manumitted under this Act, except with the consent of the owners thereof, under any circumstances whatsoever, anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary notwithstanding; and provided also, that no slaves shall obtain their freedom under this Act, against the will of their owners (or others having them in charge), unless it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the referees or jury as before provided, that the funds from which the compensation is to be paid for their freedom shall have been honestly acquired, anything herein­before contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

XCI. And whereas it is deemed expedient and proper that the trial of slaves charged with treason, murder, or other felonious offence, not having the benefit of clergy, should hereafter be had and proceeded on in the general court of these [62] islands according to the form and practice of the said court, used and followed therein on the trial of white persons or free persons of colour, charged with the like offences; be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the passing of this Act, when any slave or slaves shall be charged with treason, murder, burglary, robbery, burning of houses, or other felony or offence whatsoever, from which the benefit of clergy is taken away by any statute or Act of Parliament of Great Britain, now or hereafter to be in force within the Bahama Islands, or by this or any other Act of the General Assembly of the same islands, the trial of such slave or slaves (a bill or bills of indictment being first found by the grand inquest for the body of the said Bahama Islands, and which bill or bills of indict­ment the attorney-general or other officer prosecuting in the name of His Majesty shall and lawfully may prefer) shall be had and proceeded upon in the general court of the said Bahama Islands, by and before the chief justice and assistant justices of the said court, or some or one of them, in the same manner and form, and according to the same course, usage and practice established, observed and followed therein for and upon the trial of any white person or free person of colour, charged with the like crimes and offences, save and except only that the evidence of slave against slave shall in all cases be received.

XCII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that when any slave or slaves shall be convicted in the said general court of any treason, murder or other felony or offence, from which the benefit of clergy is taken away as afore­said, it shall and may be lawful for the chief justice and assistant justices of the said general court, or some or one of them, to pronounce sentence of death upon such slave or slaves so convicted as aforesaid; and the provost-marshal of the said islands, or his lawful deputy, is hereby authorized and required to cause such sen­tence to be carried into execution at such time and place as such chief justice and assistant justices, or some or one of them, shall think proper to direct and appoint.

XCIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that so much and such part and parts of any Act or Acts of the General Assembly of the said Bahama Islands as prescribe or regulate any mode of proceeding on the trial of slaves, if accused of crimes punishable with death, different from that hereinbefore established and appointed, shall be and the same is and are hereby suspended, from and after the passing of this Act, for and during the continuance of this Act, and no longer.

XCIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that upon complaint being made to any justice of the peace of any clergyable felony or other offence committed by any slave or slaves, and which is hereby declared to be punishable with transportation, such justice shall issue his warrant for apprehending such offender or offenders, and for all persons that can give evidence to be brought before him or any other justice of the peace, and evidence of slave against slave shall in all cases be received; and if upon examination the charge shall appear to be well founded, the justice before whom such examination shall be had and taken shall commit the accused to prison, and bind over the witnesses to appear at a certain day and place, not less than ten or more than thirty days from the day on which the complaint shall have been made, and shall certify to any other justice of the peace the cause of such commitment, and require him to associate himself with him, which the said justice is hereby required to do under the penalty of forty pounds; and the said justices so associated shall issue their warrant to summon seven per­sons such as are liable to serve on ordinary juries (the master, owner or proprietor of the slave or slaves so complained of, or the attorney, guardian, overseer or ma­nager of such owner or proprietor, or the person prosecuting, his or her attorney, guardian, overseer or manager always excepted) personally to be and appear before the said justices at the day and place appointed for the trial, between the hours of eight and twelve of the clock in the forenoon, when and where the said justices shall cause the accused to be brought before them, and thereupon five of the persons so summoned shall (the charge or accusation being first reduced to writing and read) be sworn to try the matter before them, and give a true verdict according to evidence, which charge or accusation shall not be questioned for any want of form, but shall be deemed valid if sufficient in substance; and if the said jurors shall upon hearing the evidence unanimously find the said slave or slaves guilty of the offence of which he, she or they shall stand charged, the said justices [63] shall forthwith pass sentence upon such offender or offenders according to the nature of the offence, and shall cause such sentence to be carried into execution at such time and place as they shall think proper: provided always nevertheless, that the justices of the peace, or any two or more of them resident upon any of the islands within this government, shall and may hereafter hold slave courts upon the first Tuesday in January, April, July and October in every year, to continue and to be holden five days successively (if necessary) and not longer, and shall have full power and authority to inquire into, hear and determine all and all manner of clergyable offences or other offences committed by any slave or slaves, and which are hereby declared punishable with transportation or other punishment not ex­tending to life or limb; and shall open the said court by proclamation, declaring the same to be a slave court for such purpose, and that any two of the said justices shall thereupon proceed to try and deliver the workhouse or gaol within the islands or parish of all slaves who shall be in custody of the workhouse-keeper or gaoler charged with any such last-mentioned offence, and shall cause a jury, to be called and taken from the panel returned to the said court, forthwith to be sworn as they shall appear, to try all and every such slave and slaves as shall be brought before them charged with any of the offences last aforesaid, and to give a true verdict according to evidence as in other cases.

XCV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that not less than two justices and five jurors shall constitute any such slave court, and that upon any such trial no peremptory challenge of any juror, or any exception to the form of the indictment, shall be allowed.

XCVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any slave wil­fully giving false evidence on any trial to be had before any slave court under this Act, shall suffer the same punishment as the person or persons on whose trial such false evidence was given would, if convicted, have been liable to suffer, or such other punishment, not extending to life or limb, as the justices shall award.

LCVII. [sic] And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that in all cases in which according to the provisions of this Act any affidavits, oaths, examinations or depositions under oath, as in the case of witnesses on trial of fact or otherwise, are required or allowed to be administered, taken or sworn to, the people called Quakers shall be permitted to substitute their solemn affirmation in the place of all such oaths, anything in this Act contained to the contrary notwithstanding; provided however, that any such person so affirming to that which the person so affirming does not know to be true, shall be held guilty of wilful and corrupt perjury, and on conviction thereof shall suffer the pains and penalties of wilful and corrupt perjury, and shall be liable to all the disabilities legally consequent upon such conviction; and provided also, that no such affirmation shall be received in evidence on any trial for any offence for which the person tried would on conviction be liable to suffer death.

XCVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that when any slaves or slaves shall be discharged by proclamation, or shall die in custody, the marshal, gaoler or workhouse-keeper shall be entitled to receive out of the public treasury all such fees as shall be due for such slave or slaves at the time of such discharge or death.

XCIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the constables of the respective islands and districts shall be obliged to attend every such trial or court, under the penalty of twenty pounds for such neglect; and the constables executing any sentence shall be entitled to receive out of the public treasury the sum of twenty shillings, upon producing the certificate of the justices aforesaid.

C. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any person who shall be drawn and duly summoned to serve as a juror on any trial to be had by virtue of this Act, and who shall neglect to attend, or after appearance shall depart with­out leave, shall forfeit the sum of six pounds.

CI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no such trial of any slave shall be had until after reasonable and sufficient notice of such trial shall have been given to the owner or proprietor of such slave, or to his, her or their attorney or attornies, or other representative or representatives, when any such can conveniently be found within the colony, any law, usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

CII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that in all cases where any slave shall receive sentence of death or transportation, the jury shall appraise and value such slave, and the justices shall certify such valuation; provided always, that such valuation shall not in any case exceed sixty pounds for any one slave; and provided also, that if it shall appear that the owner or possessor of such slave had treated him or her with inhumanity, and that necessity or hard usage might have driven such slave to the commission of the offence of which he or she shall have been convicted, that then and in such case no valuation shall be made nor certificate granted, and the owner shall not be entitled to receive any allowance whatever for such slave from the public.

CIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that in all cases where any slave valued as aforesaid shall be executed or transported by virtue of this Act, such slave shall be paid for at the public expense, and the net money arising from the sale of any slave sold for transportation shall be accounted for on oath by the provost-marshal or his deputy, and paid over to the receiver-general for the use of the public.

CIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any negro or other slave who shall be transported from these islands by virtue of this Act, and shall wilfully return from transportation, shall upon conviction suffer death, without benefit of clergy.

CV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that when any war­rant shall be granted by any one or more of His Majesty justices of the peace against any slave who cannot be taken, the owner, attorney, possessor, guardian or overseer of every such slave shall be served with a copy of the said warrant, and if she or they do not send or produce such slave to the justice or justices to be dealt with according to law, and it shall afterwards be proved that such owner, attorney, possessor, guardian or overseer wilfully detained or concealed such slave, he, she or they shall forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds.

CVI. And whereas misdemeanors and offences of inferior degree are frequently committed by slaves, which ought to be punished in a summary way; be it there­fore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful for any two justices of the peace in a summary manner to hear and determine all crimes and misdemeanors below felony, or other offences whatsoever committed by every slave or slaves, and to which the punishment of transportation hath not been annexed by this Act, giving sufficient notice to the owner or owners of such slave or slaves, or his, her or their attorney or attornies, or to the person having the care of such slave or slaves, of the time or place of trial, and to order and direct such punishment to be inflicted on any such slave as the said justices in their discretion shall think fit, not exceeding fifty lashes; and the constable attending such trial and executing any such sentence shall be entitled to have and receive ten shillings, to be paid by the master, owner or possessor of such slave or slaves, on non-payment whereof it shall and may be lawful for the justices to issue their warrant for levying the same, together with costs and charges.

CVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that except in cases in which, in and by the provisions of this or some other Act or Acts of the General Assembly of these islands, the power of trying persons for offences is expressly vested in one or more magistrates, persons charged with any of the offences mentioned in this Act shall be tried for the same in the general court of these islands, according to the course of the common-law, or the provisions of this or some other Act of Assembly applicable in such cases, and on conviction shall suffer fine and imprison­ment, or either, within the limits prescribed by this Act, or otherwise by the laws of the colony; and in cases where no limits are so prescribed, then the party con­victed shall be sentenced to a fine of not less than five nor more than fifty pounds lawful money of these islands, and to imprisonment for any space of time not exceeding one month, or to fine or imprisonment only, within the same limits, at the discretion of the courts: provided however, that whenever any such offences last aforesaid shall be committed by slaves or others liable to be tried by slave courts, according to the form and effect of any Act or Acts of Assembly in such case made and provided, and now in force in these islands, the parties charged with such offences shall and may be tried by such slave courts accordingly, and on conviction be punished as by law is already therein provided, except as hereinbefore excepted, in cases where one or more magistrates shall have summary jurisdiction in the premises according to the provisions of this or some other Act of Assembly as aforesaid.

CVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that in all cases in which by this present Act, or any other Act of the General Assembly, any power or authority is vested in the justices and vestries, such power and authority shall be executed by the justices, or any two of them, in islands where there are no vestries, or by the vestrymen, or any six of them, in islands where there are no justices.

CIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all fines, forfeit­ures and penalties given by this Act, of which the recovery and application have not been otherwise directed, shall, if not exceeding twenty pounds, be recovered in a summary way, before any two of His Majesty’s justices of the peace, and shall be levied, together with costs, by distress and sale of the offender’s goods and chattels; and if exceeding twenty pounds, shall be recovered, together with costs, in the general court of these islands, by action of debt, bill, plaint or information, wherein no essoign, protection, wager of law, or non vult ulterius prosequi, shall be allowed or entered; and that the same shall be paid into the public treasury of the said islands, in aid of the support of His Majesty’s Government therein, and the contingent expenses thereof.

CX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that when any person or persons whatsoever shall or may be sued at law for anything done by the authority or in pursuance of this Act, or of any of the provisions of the same, the party defendant may plead the general issue, and under that issue give this Act and any special matter in evidence; and when in any such suit judgment shall pass for the party defendant, or the party plaintiff shall be nonsuited, or discontinue his, her or their action in the premises, the party defendant shall be entitled to double costs.

CXI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the passing of this Act all such part and parts, section and sections, clause and clauses, provision and provisions, passages and enactments of every other Act and Acts of the General Assembly of these islands, inconsistent with this Act, or any of the enactments and provisions of the same, or which may in any manner be con­strued to contravene the same, either wholly or in part, be and the same are hereby declared to be suspended for and during the continuance of this Act.

CXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that this Act shall continue and be in force for and during the term of ten years, and from thence to the end of the then next session of the General Assembly, and no longer.

Bahama Islands:—General Court, Hilary Term, 10th Geo. 4.

A. B. v. C. D.—Trespass in the case.

The above-named plaintiff, A. B., being duly sworn, saith that the following slaves, the alleged property of E. F. of the island of Eleuthera, planter, are, as this deponent is advised and believes, material witnesses on this deponent’s behalf in the above cause: namely, G. H., place of abode Governor’s Harbour at Eleuthera aforesaid, colour black, sex male, and about thirty years of age; also J. K., same place of abode, same colour, same sex, and about twenty-eight years of age; and also L. M., same place of abode, a mulatto, sex female, and about twenty-two years of age; as the said three several slaves are registered in the office of the clerk of the Crown of these islands as being competent to give evidence in the several courts of the same, in pur­suance of the Act of Assembly in that case made and provided. And the deponent on his said oath further saith that he doth not require the evidence of more than two of the slaves to any one point at issue in the above cause, or the evidence of any one of them to any point, matter or thing concerning which the said slaves, or any of them, as this deponent is advised and verily believes, are legally incompetent to give evidence on any account whatsoever. (signed) A. B.

Sworn to, this day of A. D. 1830, before me,

(signed) N. P. Prothonotary.

Passed the House of Assembly, December 10th, 1829.

(signed) J. B. Wylly, Speaker.

Passed the Council, 16th December 1829.

(signed) Wm. V. Munnings, President.

Assented to, the 11th of January 1830.     

(signed)          J. Carmichael Smyth.