CHAPTER V.

Of the Dwelling Houses and Hospitals for Slaves.

ALL masters of slaves must furnish them with houses, those of the men being distinct from those of the women, if they are not married. These houses must be commodious and sufficient to defend the slaves from the inclemencies of the weather; and they must be supplied with high beds, blankets, or necessary linen. Each slave shall have his own bed, and there shall be no more than two beds in a room. A building separated from the rest, which must be warm and commodious, shall be destined for the sick, who shall be assisted with every thing necessary. But if their owners prefer sending them to the public hospital, they shall contribute for their daily support there such a sum as shall be determined by the judges, in the manner and form mentioned in the second chap

ter.

And if any of the said slaves die, their owners shall be charged with the expenses of their burial,

CHAPTER VI.

Of Old and Infirm Slaves.

SLAVES Who, on account of old age, or illness, are unable to work, and likewise children of both sexes, must be maintained by their owners; who shall not emancipate them, in order to get rid of them,-except on condition of giving them sufficient means of support, to be approved of by the judges and the procurator and syndics.

CHAPTER VII.

Of the Marriages of Slaves.

THE Owners of slaves shall prohibit illicit intercourse between those of the two sexes, and encourage their marriage; not hindering their own slaves from intermarrying with

those of others. In this last case, if the estates of the different proprietors are so far distant from one another, that the consorts cannot fulfil the purpose of marriage, the wife shall follow her husband, whose owner may purchase her at a fair valuation, to be made by two skilful appraisers, of whom one shall be chosen by each party; and in case of disagreement, a third appraiser shall be appointed by the authority of justice. If the owner of the husband does not agree to the purchase, the owner of the wife may purchase the husband, at a valuation to be made in the manner above mentioned.

CHAPTER VIII.

Of the Correction of Slaves.

As the owners of slaves are obliged to maintain and educate them, and to employ them in useful works proportioned to their strength, age and sex, without forsaking their children or those who are old and sickly; there results a corresponding obligation on the part of the slaves to obey and respect their owners and managers, to perform the tasks and works allotted to them, according to their strength, and to venerate their masters as their parents: and every slave who shall fail in performing any of those obligations, ought to be and may be corrected by the master, or manager of such slave, according to the nature of the neglect or offence, by imprisonment, by being put in the stocks or in irons, or by whipping, not exceeding twenty-five lashes, to be inflicted with some mild instrument of chastisement, in such a manner as not to cause any severe contusion, or the effusion of blood. And none but the masters or overseers of slaves shall be authorized to chastise them.

CHAPTER IX.

Proceedings against slaves in criminal cases.

WHEN any slave shall commit a crime requiring a greater punishment than any of those mentioned in the preceding

chapter, the master, his manager, or any other person present at the commission of the crime, shall secure the offender: And thereupon information shall be duly laid before the competent judge, who having heard the master of the slave, (unless he shall abandon him to justice before contestation of suit) and the procurator syndic, in his quality of protector of slaves, shall proceed according to law in the trial, condemnation, and punishment of such slave, in the same manner as the laws prescribe in the case of criminals of free condition.

When the owner of the accused slave shall not abandon him to justice, and the latter shall be condemned to the payment of damages in favour of a third person, the master shall be answerable for the full amount of those damages, independent of the corporal punishment which the offending slave may suffer according to the nature of his offence.—And if such punishment extend to life or mutilation, it must be approved of by the royal audience before it is inflicted.

CHAPTER X.

Penalties imposed on those who maltreat their slaves.

EVERY owner, master, or manager of slaves, who shall neglect to do what is prescribed in the preceding chapters, with respect to the instruction, aliments, clothing, diversions, dwellings or hospitals of slaves, or who shall abandon their aged, infirm, or young slaves, shall be fined fifty dollars for the first offence, one hundred dollars for the second, and two nundred dollars for the third; and the said fines shall be paid by the master, even when the offence shall have been committed by his manager only; if the latter be not able to pay the same. The amount of these fines shall be distributed in three equal parts; one to the informer, one to the judge, and one to the fund of fines, which will be treated of hereafter. In case those fines should not produce the desired effect, heavier penalties shall be inflicted upon the offenders, as disobedient to my royal mandates. And let information, with proof of the facts, be given to me, that I may take measures

accordingly. When the masters or managers of slaves shall be guilty of punishing them to excess, so as to occasion grievous contusions, the effusion of blood, or mutilation of menbers, besides paying the above-mentioned fines, the offenders shall be prosecuted criminally, and punished according to the nature of the crime, in the same manner as if the injured person were free. And if the injured slave be able to work, he shall be confiscated and sold to another master; the price to be appropriated to the fund of fines. But if the slave cannot be sold, on account of being unable to work, he shall not be restored to his master, but the latter shall be obliged to allow him a daily sum, which shall be appointed by judicial authority, for his maintenance during the remainder of his life: and the said allowance shall be paid every three months in advance.

CHAPTER XI.

Proceedings against those who injure the slaves of others.

NONE but the masters or managers of slaves have authority to chastise them. If any other person shall abuse, chastise, wound, or kill any slave, the offender shall be liable to the punishments ordained by law against those who commit the like misdemeanors or crimes against free persons. The master of the injured slave shall prosecute the offender: or if he fail to do so, the prosecution shall be conducted by the procurator syndic in his quality of protector of slaves. The said protector shall also intervene in the cause in the former case, although there be another prosecutor.

CHAPTER XII.

Of the Lists of Slaves.

THE Owners and masters of slaves shall be obliged to deliver annually to the justices of the city or town, in whose jurisdiction their plantations may be situated, lists, signed and sworn to by them, of all the slaves they have in those

plantations, distinguishing the said slaves by their sexes and in order that the notary of the municipal body may ages, take account of them in a particular book, which shall be kept for that purpose, together with the lists aforesaid. And whenever any slave shall die, or be absent from the plantation, the master must give notice thereof to the judicial authority, within the term of three days, that it may be noted down in the said book; in order that all suspicion of the slave having been put to death by violence may be avoided. If the master fail in doing what is above required, he shall be obliged to prove fully either the absence or the natural death of the slave: or on default thereof, the procurator syndic shall institute a prosecution against him.

CHAPTER XIII.

Means of inquiring into the conduct of masters towards their

slaves.

-THE distance of many plantations from the towns, the inconvenience which would result from permitting slaves to go from their plantations without an order from their mas ters or overseers, under the pretext of making complaints, and the just regulations of the law, which ordains that no fugitive slave shall be assisted, protected, or concealed; require that means be provided,-conformably to all those circumstances, whereby it may be known how the said slaves are treated. One of those means is, that the priests, who go to the plantations to explain the Christian doctrine, and say mass to the slaves, shall obtain information from them how they are treated by their masters and overseers, and how the provisions of this instruction are observed: of all which the said priests shall give secret notice to the procurator syndics, in order that they may institute the necessary inquiries to ascertain whether the masters or their managers fail, in the whole or in part of their respective obligations. The priests, who shall give such secret notices or denunciations, shall not be in any wise answerable therefor,