The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 06 (of 12)

Chaplain and assistant.

Clerk and catechist.6. That the African Company shall, at each fort or mart, cause to be erected, in a convenient place, and at a moderate cost, the estimate of which shall be approved by the Treasury, one church, and one school-house, and one hospital; and shall appoint one principal chaplain, with a curate or assistant in holy orders, both of whom shall be recommended by the Lord Bishop of London; and the said chaplain or his assistant shall perform divine service, and administer the sacraments, according to the usage of the Church of England, or to such mode not contrary thereto as to the said bishop shall seem more suitable to the circumstances of the people. And the said principal chaplain shall be the third member in the council, and shall be entitled to receive from the directors of the said African Company a salary of –, and his assistant a salary of –, and he shall have power to appoint one sober and discreet person, white or black, to be his clerk and catechist, at a salary of –.

Schoolmaster.

Carpenter and blacksmith.

Native apprentices.

Surgeon and mate.

Native apprentice.7. And be it enacted, that the African Company shall appoint one sufficient schoolmaster, who shall be approved by the Bishop of London, and who shall be capable of teaching writing, arithmetic, surveying, and mensuration, at a salary of –. And the said African Company is hereby authorized to provide for each settlement a carpenter and blacksmith, with such encouragement as to them shall seem expedient, who shall take each two apprentices from amongst the natives; to instruct them in the several trades, the African Company allowing them, as a fee for each apprentice, –. And the said African Company shall appoint one surgeon and one surgeon's mate, who are to be approved on examination, at Surgeons' Hall, to each fort or mart, with a salary of – for the surgeon, and for his mate –; and the said surgeon shall take one native apprentice, at a fee to be settled by the African Company.

How removable.8. And be it enacted, that the said catechist, schoolmaster, surgeon, and surgeon's mate, as well as the tradesmen in the Company's service, shall be obedient to the orders they shall from time to time receive from the governor and council of each fort; and if they, or any of them, or any other person, in whatever station, shall appear, on complaint and proof to the majority of the commissioners, to lead a disorderly and debauched life, or use any profane or impious discourses, to the danger of defeating the purposes of this institution, and to the scandal of the natives, who are to be led by all due means into a respect for our holy religion, and a desire of partaking of the benefits thereof, they are authorized and directed to suspend the said person from his office, or the exercise of his trade, and to send him to England (but without any hard confinement, except in case of resistance) with a complaint, with inquiry and proofs adjoined, to the African Company.

9. And be it enacted, that the Bishop of London for the time being shall have full authority to remove the said chaplain for such causes as to him shall seem reasonable.

No public officer to be concerned in the negro trade.10. That no governor, counsellor, inspector, chaplain, surgeon, or schoolmaster shall be concerned, or have any share, directly or indirectly, in the negro trade, on pain of –.

Journals and letter-books to be kept and transmitted.11. Be it enacted, that the said governor and council shall keep a journal of all their proceedings, and a book in which copies of all their correspondence shall be entered, and they shall transmit copies of the said journals and letter-book, and their books of accounts, to the African Company, who, within – of their receipt thereof, shall communicate the same to one of his Majesty's principal secretaries of state.

Chaplain to report to the Bishop of London.12. And be it enacted, that the said chaplain or principal minister, shall correspond with the Bishop of London, and faithfully and diligently transmit to him an account of whatever hath been done for the advancement of religion, morality, and learning amongst the natives.

Negroes to be attested before sale.13. And be it enacted, that no negro shall be conclusively sold, until he shall be attested by the two inspectors and chaplain, or, in case of the illness of any of them, by one inspector, and the governor, or one of the council, who are hereby authorized and directed, by the best means in their power, to examine into the circumstances and condition of the persons exposed to sale.

Causes for rejection.14. And for the better direction of the said inspectors, no persons are to be sold, who, to the best judgment of the said inspectors, shall be above thirty-five years of age, or who shall appear, on examination, stolen or carried away by the dealers by surprise; nor any person who is able to read in the Arabian or any other book; nor any woman who shall appear to be advanced three months in pregnancy; nor any person distorted or feeble, unless the said persons are consenting to such sale; or any person afflicted with a grievous or contagious distemper: but if any person so offered is only lightly disordered, the said person may be sold, but must be kept in the hospital of the mart, and shall not be shipped until completely cured.

Traders to be licensed by the governors.15. Be it enacted, that no black or European factor or trader into the interior country, or on the coast, (the masters of English ships only excepted, for whose good conduct provision is otherwise herein made,) shall be permitted to buy or sell in any of the said marts, unless he be approved by the governor of the mart in which he is to deal, or, in his absence or disability, by the senior counsellor for the time being, and obtaining a license from such governor or counsellor; and the said traders and factors shall, severally or jointly, as they shall be concerned, before they shall obtain the said license, be bound in a recognizance, with such surety for his or their good behavior as to the said governor shall seem the best that can be obtained.

Offences how to be tried and punished.16. Be it enacted, that the said governor, or other authority aforesaid, shall examine, by duty of office, into the conduct of all such traders and factors, and shall receive and publicly hear (with the assistance of the council and inspectors aforesaid, and of the commodore, captain, or other principal commander of one of his Majesty's ships on the said station, or as many of the same as can be assembled, two whereof, with the governor, are hereby enabled to act) all complaints against them, or any of them; and if any black or white trader or factor, (other than in this act excepted,) either on inquisition of office or on complaint, shall be convicted by a majority of the said commissioners present of stealing or taking by surprise any person or persons whatsoever, whether free or the slaves of others, without the consent of their masters, or of wilfully and maliciously killing or maiming any person, or of any cruelty, (necessary restraint only excepted,) or of firing houses, or destroying goods, the said trader or factor shall be deemed to have forfeited his recognizance, and his surety to have forfeited his; and the said trader or factor, so convicted, shall be forever disabled from dealing in any of the said marts, unless the offence shall not be that of murder, maiming, arson, or stealing or surprising the person, and shall appear to the commissioners aforesaid to merit only, besides the penalty of his bond, a suspension for one year; and the said trader or factor, so convicted of murder, maiming, arson, stealing or surprising the person, shall, if a native, be delivered over to the prince to whom he belongs, to execute further justice on him. But it is hereby provided and enacted, that, if any European shall be convicted of any of the said offences, he shall be sent to Europe, together with the evidence against him; and on the warrant of the said commissioners, the keeper of any of his Majesty's jails in London, Bristol, Liverpool, or Glasgow shall receive him, until he be delivered according to due course of law, as if the said offences had been committed within the cities and towns aforesaid.

Negroes exposed to sale contrary to the provisions of this act, how to be dealt with.17. Be it further enacted, that, if the said governor, &c, shall be satisfied that person or persons are exposed to sale, who have been stolen or surprised as aforesaid, or are not within the qualifications of sale in this act described, they are hereby authorized and required, if it can be done, to send the persons so exposed to sale to their original habitation or settlement, in the manner they shall deem best for their security, (the reasonable charges whereof shall be allowed to the said governor by the African Company,) unless the said persons choose to sell themselves; and then, and in that case, their value in money and goods, at their pleasure, shall be secured to them, and be applicable to their use,-without any dominion over the same of any purchaser, or of any master to whom they may in any colony or plantation be sold, and which shall always be in some of his master's [Majesty's?] colonies and plantations only. And the master of the ship in which such person shall embark shall give bond for the faithful execution of his part of the trust at the island where he shall break bulk.

18. Be it further enacted, that, besides the hospitals on shore, one or more hospital-ships shall be employed at each of the said chief marts, wherein slaves taken ill in the trading ships shall be accommodated, until they shall be cured; and then the owner may reclaim and shall receive them, paying the charges which shall be settled by regulation to be made by the authority in this act enabled to provide such regulations.

III. And whereas it is necessary that regulations be made to prevent abuses in the passage from Africa to the West Indies:

Slave ships to be examined on the coast.1. Be it further enacted, that the commander or lieutenant of the king's ship on each station shall have authority, as often as he shall see occasion, attended with one other of his officers, and his surgeon or mate, to enter into and inspect every trading ship, in order to provide for the due execution of this act, and of any ordinances made in virtue thereof and conformable thereto by the authorities herein constituted and appointed; and the said officer and officers are hereby required to examine every trading ship before she sails, and to stop the sailing of the said ship for the breach of the said rules and ordinances, until the governor in council shall order and direct otherwise: and the master of] the said ship shall not presume, under the penalty of –, to be recovered in the courts of the West Indies, to sail without a certificate from the commander aforesaid, and one of the inspectors in this act appointed, that the vessel is provided with stores and other accommodation sufficient for her voyage, and has not a greater number of slaves on board than by the provisions of this act is allowed.

Governor to give special instructions.2. And be it enacted, that the governor and council, with the assistance of the said naval commander, shall have power to give such special written instructions for the health, discipline, and care of the said slaves, during their passage, as to them shall seem good,

Presents and musical instruments to be provided.3. And be it further enacted, that each slave, at entering the said ship, is to receive some present, not exceeding in value –, to be provided according to the instructions aforesaid; and musical instruments, according to the fashion of the country, are to be provided.

Table of allowances.4. And be it further enacted, that the negroes on board the transports, and the seamen who navigate the same, are to receive their daily allowance according to the table hereunto annexed, together with a certain quantity of spirits to be mixed with their water. And it is enacted, that the table is to be fixed, and continue for one week after sailing, in some conspicuous part of the said ship, for the seamen's inspection of the same.

Negro superintendents to be appointed.5. And be it enacted, that the captain of each trading vessel shall be enabled and is to divide the slaves in his ship into crews of not less than ten nor more than twenty persons each, and to appoint one negro man to have such authority severally over each crew, as according to his judgment, with the advice of the mate and surgeon, he and they shall see good to commit to them, and to allow to each of them some compensation, in extraordinary diet and presents, not exceeding [ten shillings].

Communication with female slaves, how punished.6. And be it enacted, that any European officer or seaman, having unlawful communication with any woman slave, shall, if an officer, pay five pounds to the use of the said woman, on landing her from the said ship, to be stopped out of his wages, or if a seaman, forty shillings: the said penalties to be recovered on the testimony of the woman so abused, and one other.

Premium to commanders of slave-ships.7. And be it enacted, that all and every commander of a vessel or vessels employed in slave trade, having received certificates from the port of the outfit, and from the proper officers in Africa and the West Indies, of their having conformed to the regulations of this act, and of their not having lost more than one in thirty of their slaves by death, shall be entitled to a bounty or premium of [ten pounds].

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 guardianship: and whereas it is not fitting that they should be under the sole guardianship of their masters, or their attorneys and overseers, to whom their grievances, whenever they suffer any, must ordinarily be owing:

Attorney-General to be protector of negroes.

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 institute 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.

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.

To appoint inspectors of districts, 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, sex, 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.

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 principal secretaries of state; and when sent back with his approbation, the same shall become the rule for the conduct of the said inspectors.

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 –.

Ports where negroes are to be landed. Vessels to be inspected.

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 ship 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 assistance of the said collector, or his deputy, and a surgeon to be called in on the occasion, the state of the said ship 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.

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 ship, 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.

Every island to be divided into districts.

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.

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.

Owner to deliver a list of negroes to the minister, and to cause them to attend divine service.10. And the principal overseer of each plantation is hereby required to deliver annually unto the minister a list of all the negroes upon his plantation, distinguishing their sex 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.

Mister to direct punishment for disorderly conduct.11. And be it enacted, that the minister shall have power to punish any negro for disorderly conduct during divine service, by a punishment not exceeding [ten] blows to be given in one day and for one offence, which the overseer or his under agent or agents is hereby directed, according to the orders of the said minister, effectually to inflict, whenever the same shall be ordered.

Spirituous liquors not to be sold.12. And be it enacted, that no spirituous liquors of any kind shall be sold, except in towns, within – miles distance of any church, nor within any district during divine service, and an hour preceding and an hour following the same; and the minister of each parish shall and is hereby authorized to act as a justice of the peace in enforcing the said regulation.

Register of births, burials, and marriages.13. And be it enacted, that every minister shall keep a register of births, burials, and marriages of all negroes and mulattoes in his district.

Synod to assemble annually, and to form regulations,14. And be it enacted, that the ministers of the several districts shall meet annually, on the – day of –, in a synod of the island to which they belong; and the said synod shall have for its president such person as the Bishop of London shall appoint for his commissary; and the said synod or general assembly is hereby authorized, by a majority of voices, to make regulations, which regulations shall be transmitted by the said president or commissary to the Bishop of London; and when returned by the Bishop of London approved of, then, and not before, the said regulations shall be held in force to bind the said clergy, their assistants, clerks, and schoolmasters only, and no other persons.

and to report to the Bishop of London.15. And be it enacted, that the said president shall collect matter in the said assembly, and shall make a report of the state of religion and morals in the several parishes from whence the synod is deputed, and shall transmit the same, once in the year, in duplicate, through the governor and protector of negroes, to the Bishop of London.

Bishop of London to be patron of the cures.16. And be it enacted and declared, that the Bishop of London for the time being patron of the shall be patron to all and every the said cures in this act directed; and the said bishop is hereby required to provide for the due filling thereof, and is to receive, from the fund in this act provided for the due execution of this act, a sum not exceeding – for each of the said ministers, for his outfit and passage.

and to have power of suspending and removing ministers.17. And be it enacted, that, on misbehavior, and on complaint from the said synod, and on hearing the party accused in a plain and summary manner, it shall and may be lawful for the Bishop of London to suspend or to remove any minister from his cure, as his said offences shall appear to merit.

Schools for young negroes.18. And be it enacted, that for every two districts a school shall be established for young negroes to be taught three days in the week, and to be detained from their owner four hours in each day, the number not to be more or fewer than twenty males in each district, who shall be chosen, and vacancies filled, by the minister of the district; and the said minister shall pay to the owner of the said boy, and shall be allowed the same in his accounts at the synod, to the age of twelve years old, three-pence by the day, and for every boy from twelve years old to fifteen, five-pence by the day.

Extraordinary abilities to be encouraged.19. And it is enacted, that, if the president of the synod aforesaid shall certify to the protector of negroes, that any boys in the said schools (provided that the number in no one year shall exceed one in the island of Jamaica, and one in two years in the islands of Barbadoes, Antigua, and Grenada, and one in four years in any of the other islands) do show a remarkable aptitude for learning, the said protector is hereby authorized and directed to purchase the said boy at the best rate at which boys of that age and strength have been sold within the year; and the said negro so purchased shall be under the entire guardianship of the said protector of negroes, who shall send him to the Bishop of London for his further education in England, and may charge in his accounts for the expense of transporting him to England; and the Bishop of London shall provide for the education of such of the said negroes as he shall think proper subjects, until the age of twenty-four years, and shall order those who shall fall short of expectation after one year to be bound apprentice to some handicraft trade; and when his apprenticeship is finished, the Lord Mayor of London is hereby authorized and directed to receive the said negro from his master, and to transmit him to the island from which he came, in the West Indies, to be there as a free negro, subject, however, to the direction of the protector of negroes, relatively to his behavior and employment.

Negroes of Dissenters,