such deposit of money, exceeding the sum of 20 dollars, and the Owner or Manager of such Slave shall refuse his consent to such deposit being made, then, and in every such case, the Protector and Guardian of Slaves, upon application to him for that purpose made, shall issue a Summons under his Hand and Seal, requiring the Owner or Manager of such Slave, or the Persons under whose direction such Slave may be, to appear before him, by themselves or their agents, at some convenient time and place to be for that purpose appointed; and if such Owner or Manager, or other Person as aforesaid, being duly cited, shall fail to appear before the said Protector of Slaves, or appearing, shall fail to lay before him good and sufficient cause why such deposit ought not to be made, then, and in every such case, the said Protector and Guardian of Slaves shall issue an Order under his Hand and Seal, requiring the Manager of the Savings Banks to receive the amount of such deposit, and the same shall be received by him accordingly.

28. And it is hereby further ordered, That no duty, tax, or impost of any nature or kind whatsoever, and that no fee of Office shall be hereafter paid or payable within the said Island, upon, for, on account, or in respect of the Manumission of any Slave, or the enrolment or registration of any Deed of Manumission, saving and excepting a fee not exceeding 20 shillings sterling British Money, which shall by the said Protector and Guardian of Slaves be paid to the Registrar of Deeds of the said Island, for enrolling and registering every such Deed of Manumission, and which fee shall be repaid to such Protector and Guardian of Slaves out of the Public Revenue of the said Colony. And if any Person within the said Island shall hereafter take, demand, or receive any such tax, duty, impost, or fee of office, save as aforesaid, the Person so offending shall incur and become liable to the payment of a fine not exceeding 50 pounds, and not less than 10 pounds sterling British Money.

29. And it is hereby further ordered, That in case any Slave within the said Island shall be desirous to purchase the freedom of himself, or of his or her Wife, or Husband, or Child, or Brother or Sister, or reputed Wife, or Husband, or Child, or Brother, or Sister, it shall and may be lawful to and for any such Slave so to purchase the freedom of himself, or of any such other Person as aforesaid; and if the Owner or

Proprietor of any such Slave shall be unwilling to effect his or her Manumission, or shall, by reason of any mortgage, settlement, or lease, or other charge upon or interest in such Slave being vested in any other Person or Persons, be unable to execute a valid and effectual Manumission of any such Slave; or if the Owner or Proprietor, or any other Person having an interest in any such Slave, shall be a minor, or a married woman or idiot, or lunatic, or if the real and true Owner of any such Slave shall be absent from the said Island, or shall not be known, or if any Suit or Action shall be depending in any Court of Justice in the said Island, wherein the title to the said Slave, or the right to his services shall or may be in controversy, or if the Owner of any such Slave shall demand as the price of his or her Freedom a greater sum of money than may be the fair and just value thereof, then, and in each and every of the cases aforesaid, the Chief Judge of the said Island, on application to him for that purpose made by the Protector and Guardian of Slaves, shall issue a Summons under his Hand and Seal, requiring the Owner or Manager of such Slave, or the Persons or Person under whose direction such Slave may be, to appear before him, by themselves or their agents, at some convenient time and place to be for that purpose appointed; and notice shall also be published by the said Protector and Guardian of Slaves, in the Public Gazette of the said Island, on three several days, of the time and place appointed for the purpose aforesaid; and in such notice all Persons having or claiming to have any title or interest in or to the Slave proposed to be manumitted, either in their own right, or as the Guardians, Attornies, Trustees, or Executors of any other Person, shall be required to attend and prefer such claims.

30. And it is hereby further ordered, That at the time appointed for any such Meeting as aforesaid, the Chief Judge of the said Island, in the presence of the Protector and Guardian of Slaves, and also in the presence of the Owner or Manager of the Slaves or Slave proposed to be manumitted, or (upon proof being made to him, upon oath, of the due service, and publication of such notice as aforesaid, then if necessary) in the absence of such Owner or Manager, shall proceed to hear in a summary way, what may be alleged by the said Protector and Guardian of Slaves, and by the Owner or Manager, or other Persons claiming any interest in

the Slave proposed to be manumitted; and in case the Parties, or any of them, shall refuse to effect any such Manumission, or if it shall appear to the said Chief Judge, that a valid and effectual Manumission of any such Slave cannot legally be effected by private contract, or if it shall be made to appear to the said Chief Judge, that the Owner or Proprietor of any such Slave, or that any Person having any charge upon or interest in him or her, is a minor, or married woman, or idiot, or lunatic, or that the real and true Owner of any such Slave, or that any Person having any said charge upon, or interest in him or her, is absent from the said Island, or is unknown, or cannot be found, or that any Suit or Action is depending in any Court of Justice in the said Island, wherein the title to the said Slave or the right to his services is in controversy, or if it shall appear to the said Chief Judge, that any difference of opinion exists between the Protector and Guardian of Slaves of the said Island, and the Owner or Proprietor of any such Slave, respecting his or her price or value, then, and in every such case, the said Chief Judge shall require the Protector of Slaves, and the Owner, Manager, or Person having the direction of any such Slave, each to nominate an Appraiser of his or her value; and the said Chief Judge shall himself nominate an Umpire between such Appraisers. And the said Appraisers being first duly sworn before the said Judge, to make a fair and impartial appraisement, shall, within seven days next after such their appointment, make a joint valuation of the Slave proposed to be manumitted; and shall certify such their valuation to the Chief Judge, under their hands and seals. And in case such joint Certificate shall not be delivered to the said Chief Judge within the said term of seven days, then the said Umpire, being duly sworn in manner aforesaid, shall, within the next seven days, certify his valuation, under his hand and seal, to the said Chief Judge, and the valuation to be made in manner aforesaid, either by the said joint Appraisers, or in their default, by the said Umpire, shall be binding and conclusive, and shall be entered and enrolled in the Office of Registry in the said Island.

31. And it is hereby further ordered, That upon payment to the Treasurer of the said Island of the appraised value of any such Slave as aforesaid, after deducting therefrom the expense of the appraisement to be allowed by the said Chief

Judge, the said Treasurer shall grant to the Protector of Slaves receipt for the money so to be received by him. And such receipt shall be duly enrolled in the Office of Registry in the said Island, together with a declaration under the Hand and Seal of the said Chief Judge, that the proceedings required by Law for the Manumission of the Slave, by or on behalf of whom such money was paid, had been duly had before him, and thereupon such Slave shall be, and be deemed, taken, and reputed to be, free to all intents and purposes whatsoever.

32. And it is further ordered, That the money to arise from the Manumission of any Slave by virtue of the proceedings before-mentioned, shall and may be laid out and invested under the authority of the Chief Judge, on the application of any Person or Persons interested therein in the purchase of any other Slave or Slaves; or if no such application shall be made, then such money shall remain in the hands of the Public Treasurer of the said Island at interest, at and after the rate of 5 pounds per centum per annum; such Interest to be borne by, and defrayed out of, the Revenues of the said Colony, and the Slave or Slaves so to be purchased with the said money as aforesaid; or, in case of no such purchase being made, then the said money in the hands of the said Public Treasurer, and the Interest from time to time accruing due thereupon, shall be the Property of the Persons who were the proprietors of such manumitted Slave or Slaves, and shall be held upon, under and subject to all such and the same uses, trusts, limitations, conditions, mortgages, claims, and demands of what nature or kind soever, as such Slave or Slaves was or were held upon, under, or subject unto, at such the time of his, her, or their Manumission; and the said Treasurer shall hold the said money and the interest accruing thereupon, subject to such order as the Chief Judge of the said Colony may, upon a summary application of any Person interested therein, see fit to make, and such principal money and interest shall by the said Treasurer be paid, applied, and disposed of in pursuance of and obedience to any such order.

33. And it is hereby further ordered, That before the Manumission of any Slave by virtue of any private contract for that purpose between such Slave and his Owner, notice of such intended Manumission shall by the Owner of such Slave,

be given in Writing to the Protector and Guardian of Slaves, who, on behalf of the said Slave, shall be bound to ascertain that such Owner has good right and title in the Law, and is competent to effect such Manumission; and the said Protector and Guardian of Slaves, shall also, without fee or reward, prepare the proper Deed of Manumission, and the same shall in all cases be executed in the presence of the said Protector and Guardian of Slaves, or of some proper Witness, to be by him appointed for that purpose, and being so executed, shall, by such Protector and Guardian of Slaves, be enrolled in the Office of Registry in the said Island within one Calendar Month, next after the date and execution thereof. And in case any such Deed shall not be left for enrolment at the said Office of Registry within the said period of one Calendar Month, the said Protector of Slaves shall incur and be liable to the payment of a fine not exceeding fifty Pounds, nor less than ten Pounds Sterling English Money.

34. And it is hereby ordered, That in case any such Deed of Manumission as aforesaid shall be executed voluntarily, and without any valuable consideration passing to the Owner or other Person effecting such Manumission, the Slave or Slaves so to be manumitted shall, before the actual execution of any such Deed, appear before the said Protector and Guardian of Slaves, or before the Commandant of the Quarter in which such Slave may happen to be resident; and if it shall appear to the said Protector and Guardian of Slaves, or to such Commandant, as the case may be, that the Slave about to be so gratuitously manumitted, is under the age of six Years, or above the age of fifty Years, or is labouring under any habitual disease or infirmity of mind or body, the Owner or other Person about to effect such Manumission, shall, at the time of the execution of the Deed of Manumission, execute and deliver under his Hand and Seal a Bond to His Majesty, in the penal Sum of two hundred Pounds, with a Condition thereunder written, for the defeasance thereof, if the said Slave shall be properly fed, clothed, and maintained, until the age of fourteen Years, in the case of Infants, or during the term of his or her natural Life, in the case of Adults of the age of fifty Years, or labouring under any such Sickness, Disease, or Infirmity, as aforesaid; and no such Manumission shall be valid and effectual in the Law, or shall be received for enrolment at the Office of Registry, until [1823-24.]

L