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If marriage was to produce such consequences, it is not to be wondered at, that, to teach them Christianity, should, in after

Coke's West Indies, vol. ii. p. 117.

"6. Forbidding the working of slaves on the sabbath or the holidays of the Roman Catholic religion from one midnight to the next.

"7. Forbidding the holding of market on the above days.

"8. Every person, not of the Roman Catholic religion, incapable of contracting marriage.

9. Free persons who beget children with slaves, as well as the owners of such slaves permitting it, subject to a penalty of 2000 lbs. of sugar. If the master of

the slave be father of the children, he is deprived of slave and children, who become confiscated for the good of the hospital, and lose the right of ever being freed. If, however, the father be unmarried, by marriage with his slave (if his property) she becomes free, and the children legitimate.

"10. The formalities prescribed by the Ordinance of Blois, as well as by the Declaration of 1639, respecting marriages, to be observed as well with regard to free persons as to slaves, with this exception, that the consent of the father and mother of the slave is not necessary, but only that of the master.

"11. Forbidding all curés to marry slaves without the permission of their masters. Forbidding, likewise, masters to force their slaves to marry.

"12. Children born of slaves, although married, are still considered slaves, and belong to the master of the female slave, should they have different masters.

"13. If the slave-husband marries a free woman, the children, whether males or females, are of the condition of the mother, and considered free, notwithstanding the father be a slave. If the father is free, and the mother a slave, the children are slaves.

"14. Owners bound to inter their 'slaves in consecrated ground, and places destined for that purpose, should the slave be baptised. If a slave dies without having received baptism, to be interred during the night in some contiguous spot.

"15. Forbidding slaves to carry arms or large sticks, under pain of flogging, and confiscation of the arms: excepted, those who are sent out shooting by their masters, and are bearers of their permission.

"16. Forbidding slaves, belonging to different masters, to assemble together at night, at the dwelling of either master or elsewhere, under pretext of weddings or otherwise, nor in the high roads or byways, under pain of corporal punishment, which cannot be less than flogging and the fleur-de-lis; and in case of frequent repetitions, and under aggravated circumstances, they can be punished with death, at the discretion of the judges.

"17. Masters, convicted of having permitted or tolerated such assemblies, composed of others than their own slaves, shall be condemned to repair any injury caused by such assembly, to pay a fine of ten livres for the first offence, and double in case of repetition.

"18. Forbidding slaves to sell sugar canes, even with their master's permission, under pain of flogging for the slaves; a fine of ten livres tournois against the master; and the like sum against the buyer.

"19. Forbidding slaves to expose for sale, either in the market or at private houses, any kind of produce, not even fruits, vegetables, or grass, for feeding cattle, without a written permission from their masters. Articles so sold to be reclaimed by masters without repayment, and a fine of six livres against the buyer.

"20. Ordering that two persons shall be appointed for each market, for the purpose of examining the produce and merchandize which shall be exposed for sale by slaves, as also the permission granted by their masters.

"21. Authorizing all persons to seize articles which shall be found in the possession of slaves who have not their master's permission.

"22. Masters to allow to their slaves, from ten years of age and upwards, the following rations of provisions weekly: Two and a half pots (Paris measure) of farine manioc, or three cavassa, each weighing two pounds and a half at least, or its equivalent, with two pounds salt beef, or three pounds fish, or other things in proportion; and to infants, from the time of being weaned until they shall have attained ten years, half of the above allowance.

"23. Forbidding the allowance of spirituous liquors to slaves, in lieu of

times, be said to excite them to rebellion and massacre in the English islands.

Coke's West Indies, vol. ii. p. 117.

the subsistence allowed in the preceding article.

"24. Forbidding masters from allowing their slaves certain days in the week to work in lieu of subsistence.

"25. Masters to allow to each slave yearly two suits of clothes, or four ells of linen.

"26. Slaves, not clothed and fed by their masters, as laid down by foregoing` clauses, to make their complaint to the procureur du roi, who acts in their behalf, and prosecutes the masters ex officio, without expense. Procureur du roi to

act in a similar manner in all cases of improper treatment of slaves by their

masters.

"27. Slaves, infirm either from age, sickness, or otherwise, whether the disorder may be incurable or not, shall be fed and maintained by their masters; and, in the event of their being abandoned, the said slaves shall be sent to the hospital, and the masters obliged to pay ten sols per diem for the maintenance of each slave.

"28. Slaves can possess nothing independent of their masters. All that they may acquire by industry, or through the liberality of other persons, or otherwise, belong in full right to their masters, without the children of such slaves, their fathers, mothers, or their families, or others, pretending any right to the same, either by succession, gift, or otherwise; declaring all gifts, promises, or obligations, made by slaves, to be null and void, and as having been made by persons incapable of acting or contracting and disposing for themselves.

"29. Masters held responsible for what their slaves may do by their orders; also for their engagements in commerce, undertaken with master's consent. Should their masters have given no orders, they shall be bound only in as far as they may have reaped any profit; and in case of no profit arising to the master, the peculium of the slaves, which their masters might have permitted them to possess, shall be answerable; the master first paying himself out of this peculium whatever the slave may owe him; excepting the peculium consist of merchandise, which the slave had been allowed to make a traffic

of, in which case the master has no more claim than the other creditors.

"30. Slaves not allowed to be appointed to office, nor to any public situation, nor to be appointed agents to others than their masters, nor to be concerned in commerce, nor act as arbitrators or witnesses, either in civil or criminal matters; and, in the event of their being called upon as witnesses, their depositions can only serve to assist the judge, without being considered as a presumption or admission of proof.

"31. Slaves cannot be parties in civil matters, either as plaintiffs or defendants, nor be civil parties in criminal matters, reserving, however, to their masters to act for and defend them, and to demand in their behalf, in criminal matters, reparation for any ill treatment received by their slaves.

"32. Slaves can be prosecuted criminally, without their masters becoming parties, unless they be accomplices, and they are judged, in first instance, by the ordinary judges, and in appeal by the sovereign council (conseil souverain), with the same formalities as are observed in the cases of free persons.

"33. The slave who strikes his master, or the wife of his master, his mistress, or the husband of his mistress, or their children, and causes a contusion, or effusion of blood, to suffer death.

"34. Slaves guilty of ill-treating and striking free persons to be severely punished, even with death, as the case may be.

"35. Qualified thefts (vols qualifiés), even those of horses, mules, or horned cattle, committed by slaves, or persons enfranchised, to be severely punished, even with death, if the case require it.

"36. Thefts of sheep, goats, hogs, fowls, sugar canes, peas, corn, manioc, and other vegetables, committed by slaves, to be punished according to the nature of the theft, even by flogging by the public executioner, and stamping with a fleurde-lis.

"37. Masters, whose slaves have been guilty of robbery or other injuries, independent of the corporal punishment of the slaves, to be compelled to repair the injury done by such slaves; they are at

Sir Richard Dutton, the governor of Barbadoes, caused an additional duty to be laid upon sugar. The inhabitants peti

Coke's West Indies, vol. ii. p. 117.

liberty, however, to abandon their slaves to the person injured, provided the same be done within three days after condemnation.

"38. A slave who shall have absented himself for one month from the day in which his master shall have denounced him to justice, shall have his ears cut, and be stamped with the fleur-de-lis in one shoulder. If he absents himself a second time for a month, counting also from the day of his being denounced, he shall have his hams cut, and be marked with a fleur-de lis on the other shoulder. For the third offence, to suffer death.

"39. Persons enfranchised, who afford retreat to fugitive slaves, to pay (par corps) 3000 lbs. sugar to the master, for each day of retention of the slave; and other free persons affording such retreat, to pay ten livres tournois for each day's retention.

"40. The slave, who suffers death on denunciation of his master, not an accomplice in his crime, to be estimated before his execution by two principal inhabitants named by the judge, and the price of estimation to be paid to the master, out of a fund to be levied upon all Negroes liable to duty.

41. The judge, procureurs, and greffiers, are prohibited demanding any fees in criminal procedures against slaves.

"42. Masters, when they consider their slaves deserve punishment, per mitted only to chain them, and flog them with rods or cords. They are prohibited putting them to torture, or mutilating their limbs, under pain of confiscation of the slaves, and of the master being proceeded against extraordinarily.

"43. Masters or commandeurs (drivers), who kill a slave under their orders or protection, to be prosecuted criminally, and punished according to the nature of the offence.

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seizure," au sol la livre," after the payment of privileged debts.-The condition of slaves to be assimilated in all things to other moveables, with the following exceptions:

"47. Husband and wife, together with their children under the age of puberty, cannot, if belonging to the same owner, be sold separately; all sales of this description declared to be null and void, whether voluntary or otherwise. Any slaves so illegally retained to be adjudged to, and to belong to the purchaser of the other member of the family, without any additional sum being required.

48. Slaves from the age of fourteen to sixty years, working upon plantations, cannot be seized for debts, except for the sum due for their purchase, or except the estate be under real seizure, in which case all such slaves to be included in the seizure, and be sold together with the

estate.

"49. Children (slaves), born while an estate is under real seizure, not to be considered as fruits belonging to the judicial tenant.

"50. Such children to form a part of the property seized, and to be disposed of accordingly.

"51. In the distribution of the proceeds of the sale of a property seized really, the price of land and slaves to be considered as one.

"52. The retrait ligangée, i. e. repurchase of an estate by a relation of the person who sold it,) and feudal claims on fiefs, cannot be exercised against the land separately from the slaves.

"53. Guardians and others in occupation of estates to which slaves are attached, ordered to treat them with humanity; they are not obliged, after their administration, to account for slaves who may have died, or have decreased in value from sickness, or otherwise. Children born to be considered belonging to the owner of the slaves.

"54. Masters who shall have attained twenty years can free their slaves, without being obliged to give an account thereof.

"55. Slaves universal legatees to their masters, executors to their wills, or tutors

tioned the British Government for redress, but without success. Sir Richard returned to England, and appointed Colonel Edwin Stede, a gentleman who had been his secretary, deputy-governor during his absence. The Assembly made Colonel Stede a present of 1000 pounds, and thus established a precedent, which has continued. Every new governor considers this sum as his due, and the custom has been too long established to be revoked.

A thousand buccaneers landed, with the hope of surprising the city of Merida, in the province of Jucatan; but the Spaniards threw in a reinforcement of 700 men so promptly, and were otherwise so well prepared, that the attempt completely failed.

In August, the King of France issued letters patent for the establishment of a Sovereign Council and four Tribunals, on the coast of the island of St. Domingo.

The council to be established in the Bourg de Gouave, like those of the American islands under the same power, and be composed of two deputy-lieutenants, two majors, and twelve counsellors. This council was empowered to decide definitively all processes and disputes, civil as well as criminal, between the subjects of France, upon appeals against the sentences of the Tribunals, without any costs. They were to assemble on certain days, and at certain hours, and in whatever places they thought most convenient, at least once a month. The governor to preside, and in his absence the intendant of justice: and this order to apply to all the courts. The governors of the districts, as deputylieutenants, the two majors and twelve counsellors, to take place in the absence of either, according to the rank given them; each court to have a seneschal, a lieutenant, a "procureur," and a greffier."

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The one at Petit Gouave to have jurisdiction over le Grand and Petit Gouave, le Rochelois, Nipes, la Grande Anse, and l'Isle des Vaches. The other, at Leogane, to comprehend the establishments at l'Auchalle. The one at Port Pé to extend from Port François to Monleur Encolas, and all the island of Tortuga. That at the Cape to extend north to le Sel.

Histoire des Aventuriers Flibustiers, par Alexandre Oliver Oexmelin, tom. i. p. 300. Stephen on West Indian Slavery, p. 175.

to their children, reputed and declared free.

"56. Slaves manumitted in the colonies, the same as if they had been born free, do not require letters of naturalization to enjoy the advantages of other subjects of the government, although they may have been born in a foreign colony.

" 57. Slaves who have been manumitted are desired to be singularly respectful to their ancient masters, their

wives and children, so that any injury done to them will be more severely punished than if done to other persons; they are otherwise declared to be free of all other obligations to their former

owners.

59. Slaves manumitted to enjoy the same rights, privileges, and immunities as are enjoyed by persons born free.". "Further Papers" (Parliamentary), 1826, pp. 38-42.

1686.

The Sovereign Council of Martinico humbly prayed the King of France to permit the evidence of slaves to be received in all cases where there should not be sufficient proof by free witnesses. His Majesty listened to their remonstrance, and by an edict, dated 13th October, 1686, directed that the testimony of slaves might be received when white witnesses were wanting, except against their masters.

"Traité de Neutralité, conclu à Londres, le seizieme Novembre, 1686, entre Louis le Quatorzième, Roi de France, et Jaques le Second, Roi d'Angleterre, touchant les pays des deux Rois en Amerique.

"Le Tres-Haut et Tres-Puissant Prince, Louis le Quatorzième, Roi Tres-Chretien de France et de Navarre, et TresPuissant Prince, Jacques le Second, Roi de la Grande Bretagne, n'aiant rien plus à cœur, que d'etablir tous les jours de plus en plus une amitié mutuelle entre eux, et une sincère concorde et correspondance entre les roiaumes, estats, et sujets de leurs Majestez; et à cet effet ayant jugé, à propos de faire un Traité de Paix, bonne correspondance, et neutralité en Amerique pour prevenir, autant qu'il seroit possible, toutes les contestations et les differends qui pourroient naistre entre les sujets de l'une et de l'autre couronne dans ces pays eloignez : Leurs dites Majestez ont resolu d'envoyer de part et d'autre leurs Plenipotentiaires, pour en traiter et en convenir; sçavoir, Sa Majesté Tres Chretienne, le Sieurs Paul Barillon d'Amoncourt, Marquies de Branges, Conseiller Ordinaire en son Conseil d'Etat, et son Ambassadeur Extraordinaire; et Sa dite Majesté Britannique, les Sieurs Georges; Baron de Jeffreis de Wem, Grand Chancelier d'Angleterre; Laurent, Comte de Rochester, Grand Tresorier d'Angleterre; Robert, Comte de Sunderland, President du Conseil Privé, et Secretaire d'Etat; Charles de Middleton, aussi Secretaire d'Etat ; et Sidnei, Sieur de Godolphin, tous du Conseil Privé de sa Majesté; pour convenir, apres l'echange des lettres de pleinpouvoir, des articles suivent :

"1. Il a este conclu et accordé, que du jour du present Traité il y aura entre la nation Françoise et la nation Angloise, une ferme paix, union, concorde, et bonne correspondance, tant sur mer, que sur terre, dans l'Amerique Septentrionale et Meridionale, et dans les isles, colonies, forts, et villes, sans aucune distinction de lieux, seises dans les etats de Sa Majesté Tres-Chretienne, et de Sa Majesté Britannique, et gouvernées par les commandans de leurdistes Majestez respectivement.

Du Mont, tom. vii. partie 2. p. 141.

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