Volume VI Part 16 (1/2)

IV. And whereas the condition of persons in a state of slavery is such that they are utterly unable to take advantage of any remedy which the laws may provide for their protection and the amendment of their condition, and have not the proper means of pursuing any process for the same, but are and must be under guardians.h.i.+p: and whereas it is not fitting that they should be under the sole guardians.h.i.+p of their masters, or their attorneys and overseers, to whom their grievances, whenever they suffer any, must ordinarily be owing:

[Sidenote: Attorney-General to be protector of negroes.]

[Sidenote: To inquire and file information _ex officio_.]

1. Be it therefore enacted, that his Majesty's Attorney-General for the time being successively shall, by his office, exercise the trust and employment of protector of negroes within the island in which he is or shall be Attorney-General to his Majesty, his heirs and successors; and that the said Attorney-General, protector of negroes, is hereby authorized to hear any complaint on the part of any negro or negroes, and inquire into the same, or to inst.i.tute an inquiry _ex officio_ into any abuses, formations and to call before him and examine witnesses upon oath, relative to the subject-matter of the said official inquiry or complaint: and it is hereby enacted and declared, that the said Attorney-General, protector of negroes, is hereby authorized and empowered, at his discretion, to file an information _ex officio_ for any offences committed against the provisions of this act, or for any misdemeanors or wrongs against the said negroes, or any of them.

[Sidenote: Power to challenge jurors.]

2. And it is further enacted, that in all trials of such informations the said protector of negroes may and is hereby authorized to challenge peremptorily a number not exceeding ---- of the jury who shall be impanelled to try the charge in the said information contained.

[Sidenote: To appoint inspectors of districts.]

[Sidenote: who are to report to him twice in the year the number and condition of the slaves.]

3. And be it enacted, that the said Attorney-General, protector of negroes, shall appoint inspectors, not exceeding the number of ----, at his discretion; and the said inspectors shall be placed in convenient districts in each island severally, or shall twice in the year make a circuit in the same, according to the direction which they shall receive from the protector of negroes aforesaid; and the inspectors shall and they are hereby required, twice in the year, to report in writing to the protector aforesaid the state and condition of the negroes in their districts or on their circuit severally, the number, s.e.x, age, and occupation of the said negroes on each plantation; and the overseer or chief manager on each plantation is hereby required to furnish an account thereof within [ten days] after the demand of the said inspectors, and to permit the inspector or inspectors aforesaid to examine into the same; and the said inspectors shall set forth, in the said report, the distempers to which the negroes are most liable in the several parts of the island.

[Sidenote: Instructions to be formed for inspectors.]

4. And be it enacted, that the said protector of negroes, by and with the consent the governor and chief judge of each island, shall form instructions, by which the said inspectors shall discharge their trust in the manner the least capable of exciting any unreasonable hopes in the said negroes, or of weakening the proper authority of the overseer, and shall transmit them to one of his Majesty's princ.i.p.al secretaries of state; and when sent back with his approbation, the same shall become the rule for the conduct of the said inspectors.

[Sidenote: Registry.]

5. And be it enacted, that the said Attorney-General, protector of negroes, shall appoint an office for registering all proceedings relative to the duty of his place as protector of negroes, and shall appoint his chief clerk to be registrar, with a salary not exceeding ----.

[Sidenote: Ports where negroes are to be landed. Vessels to be inspected.]

[Sidenote: Masters or officers offending to be fined.]

6. And be it enacted, that no negroes shall be landed for sale in any but the ports following: that is to say, ----. And the collector of each of the said ports severally shall, within ---- days after the arrival of any s.h.i.+p transporting negroes, report the same to the protector of negroes, or to one of his inspectors; and the said protector is hereby authorized and required to examine, or cause to be examined by one of his inspectors, with the a.s.sistance of the said collector, or his deputy, and a surgeon to be called in on the occasion, the state of the said s.h.i.+p and negroes; and upon what shall appear to them, the said protector of negroes, and the said collector and surgeon, to be a sufficient proof, either as arising from their own inspection, or sufficient information on a summary process, of any contravention of this act, or cruelty to the negroes, or other malversation of the said captain, or any of his officers the said protector shall impose a fine on him or them, not exceeding ----; which shall not, however, weaken or invalidate any penalty growing from the bond of the said master or his owners. And it is hereby provided, that, if the said master, or any of his officers, shall find himself aggrieved by the said fine, he may within ---- days appeal to the chief judge, if the court shall be sitting, or to the governor, who shall and are required to hear the said parties, and on hearing are to annul or confirm the same.

[Sidenote: Rates respecting the sale of negroes.]

7. And be it enacted, that no sale of negroes shall be made but in the presence of an inspector, and all negroes shall be sold severally, or in known and ascertained lots, and not otherwise; and a paper containing the state and description of each negro severally sold, and of each lot, shall be taken and registered in the office aforesaid; and if, on inspection or information, it shall be found that any negroes shall have, in the same s.h.i.+p, or any other at the same time examined, a wife, an husband, a brother, sister, or child, the person or persons so related shall not be sold separately at that or any future sale.

[Sidenote: Every island to be divided into districts.]

[Sidenote: A church to be built in each.]

8. And be it enacted, that each and every of his Majesty's islands and plantations, in which negroes are used in cultivation, shall be, by the governor and the protector of negroes for the time being, divided into districts, allowing as much as convenience will admit to the present division into parishes, and subdividing them, where necessary, into districts, according to the number of negroes. And the said governor and protector of negroes shall cause in each district a church to be built in a convenient place, and a cemetery annexed, and an house for the residence of a clergyman, with ---- acres of land annexed; and they are hereby authorized to treat for the necessary ground with the proprietor, who is hereby obliged to sell and dispose of the same to the said use; and in case of dispute concerning the value, the same to be settled by a jury, as in like cases is accustomed.

[Sidenote: Appointment of a priest and clerk.]

9. And be it enacted, that in each of the said districts shall be established a presbyter of the Church of England as by law established, who shall appoint under him one clerk, who shall be a free negro, when such properly qualified can be found, (otherwise, a white man,) with a salary, in each case, of ----; and the said minister and clerk, both or one, shall instruct the said negroes in the Church Catechism, or such other as shall be provided by the authority in this act named; and the said minister shall baptize, as he shall think fit, all negroes not baptized, and not belonging to Dissenters from the Church of England.

[Sidenote: Owner to deliver a list of negroes to the minister, and to cause them to attend divine service.]

10. And the princ.i.p.al overseer of each plantation is hereby required to deliver annually unto the minister a list of all the negroes upon his plantation, distinguis.h.i.+ng their s.e.x and age, and shall, under a penalty of ----, cause all the negroes under his care, above the age of ---- years, to attend divine service once on every Sunday, except in case of sickness, infirmity, or other necessary cause, to be given at the time, and shall, by himself or one of those who are under him, provide for the orderly behavior of the negroes under him, and cause them to return to his plantation, when divine service, or administration of sacraments, or catechism, is ended.

[Sidenote: Mister to direct punishment for disorderly conduct.]