The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke Volume VI Part 15

[Sidenote: Lands may be purchased.]

5. That the said African Company is hereby authorized to purchase, if the same may conveniently be done, with the consent of the Privy Council, any lands adjoining to the fort or princ.i.p.al mart aforesaid, not exceeding ---- acres, and to make allotments of the same; no allotment to one person to exceed (on pain of forfeiture) ---- acres.

[Sidenote: Churches and schoolhouses, and hospitals to be erected.]

[Sidenote: Chaplain and a.s.sistant.]

[Sidenote: 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 princ.i.p.al chaplain, with a curate or a.s.sistant in holy orders, both of whom shall be recommended by the Lord Bishop of London; and the said chaplain or his a.s.sistant 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 circ.u.mstances of the people. And the said princ.i.p.al chaplain shall be the third member in the council, and shall be ent.i.tled to receive from the directors of the said African Company a salary of ----, and his a.s.sistant 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 ----.

[Sidenote: Schoolmaster.]

[Sidenote: Carpenter and blacksmith.]

[Sidenote: Native apprentices.]

[Sidenote: Surgeon and mate.]

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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 inst.i.tution, 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.

[Sidenote: 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 ----.

[Sidenote: 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 princ.i.p.al secretaries of state.

[Sidenote: Chaplain to report to the Bishop of London.]

12. And be it enacted, that the said chaplain or princ.i.p.al 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.

[Sidenote: 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 circ.u.mstances and condition of the persons exposed to sale.

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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 a.s.sistance of the council and inspectors aforesaid, and of the commodore, captain, or other princ.i.p.al commander of one of his Majesty's ships on the said station, or as many of the same as can be a.s.sembled, 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.

[Sidenote: 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 pa.s.sage from Africa to the West Indies:

[Sidenote: 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 const.i.tuted 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.

[Sidenote: Governor to give special instructions.]

2. And be it enacted, that the governor and council, with the a.s.sistance 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 pa.s.sage, as to them shall seem good,

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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 quant.i.ty 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.

[Sidenote: 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].

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: 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 ent.i.tled to a bounty or premium of [ten pounds].